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Books > Humanities > Philosophy > Western philosophy > Modern Western philosophy, c 1600 to the present > Western philosophy, from c 1900 - > Phenomenology & Existentialism
This text presents and addresses the philosophical movement of
antiphilosophy working thru the texts of Christian thinkers such as
Pascal and Kierkegaard. The author as influenced by Alain Badiou,
portrays these Christian thinkers as of a subjective dimension
negating the possibility of an objective quest for truth. The claim
here is that antiphilosophy is abundant in the eyes of these two
thinkers who frame the thought event as represented by
Christianity, ultimately resigning itself to more or less the
opposite of philosophy itself. Readers will discover why
philosophical reason should never be convinced by that which denies
its very authority. Subjecting faith to the perils of philosophical
analysis, confronting the philosophical tradition with the truth of
the Christian faith, and occupying the space between the two: such
are the challenges facing an antiphilosophy of Christianity. This
text will appeal to researchers and students working in continental
philosophy, philosophy of religion and those in religious studies
who want to investigate the links between Christianity and
antiphilosophy.
Husserl's 20th-century phenomenological project remains the
cornerstone of modern European philosophy. The place of ethics is
of importance to the ongoing legacy and study of phenomenology
itself. Husserl's Ethics and Practical Intentionality constitutes
one of the major new interventions in this burgeoning field of
Husserl scholarship, and offers an unrivaled perspective on the
question of ethics in Husserl's philosophy through a focus on
volumes not yet translated into English. This book offers a
refreshing perspective on stagnating ethical debates that pivot
around conceptions of relativism and universalism, shedding light
on a phenomenological ethics beyond the common dichotomy.
Drawing on art, media, and phenomenological sources, Showing Off!:
A Philosophy of Image challenges much recent thought by proposing a
fundamentally positive relationship between visuality and the
ethical. In philosophy, cultural studies and art, relationships
between visuality and the ethical are usually theorized in negative
terms, according to the dyadic logics of seeing on the one hand,
and being seen, on the other. Here, agency and power are assumed to
operate either on the side of those who see, or on the side of
those who control the means by which people and things enter into
visibility. To be seen, by contrast - when it occurs outside of
those parameters of control- is to be at a disadvantage; hence, for
instance, contemporary theorist Peggy Phelan's rejection of the
idea, central to activist practices of the 1970's and 80's, that
projects of political emancipation must be intertwined with, and
are dependent on, processes of 'making oneself visible'.
Acknowledgment of the vulnerability of visibility also underlies
the realities of life lived within increasingly pervasive systems
of imposed and self-imposed surveillance, and apparently confident
public performances of visual self display. Showing Off!: A
Philosophy of Image is written against the backdrop of these
phenomena, positions and concerns, but asks what happens to our
debates about visibility when a third term, that of 'self-showing',
is brought into play. Indeed, it proposes a fundamentally positive
relationship between visuality and the ethical, one primarily
rooted not in acts of open and non-oppressive seeing or spectating,
as might be expected, but rather in our capacity to inhabit both
the risks and the possibilities of our own visible being. In other
words, this book maintains that the proper site of generosity and
agency within any visual encounter is located not on the side of
sight, but on that of self-showing - or showing off!
Bringing together leading scholars from across the world, this is a
comprehensive survey of the latest phenomenological research into
the perennial philosophical problem of truth. Starting with an
historical introduction chronicling the variations on truth at play
in the Phenomenological tradition, the book explores how Husserls
methodology equips us with the tools to thoroughly explore notions
of truth, reality and knowledge. From these foundations, the book
goes on to explore and extend the range of approaches that
contemporary phenomenological research opens up in the face of the
most profound ontological and epistemological questions raised by
the tradition. In the final section, the authors go further still
and explore how phenomenology relates to other variations on truth
offered up by hermeneutic, deconstructive and narrative
approaches.Across the 12 essays collected in this volume,
Variations on Truth explores and maps a comprehensive and rigorous
alternative to mainstream analytic discussions of truth, reality
and understanding.
Gabriel Marcel (1889-1973) stands outside the traditional canon of
twentieth-century French philosophers. Where he is not simply
forgotten or overlooked, he is dismissed as a 'relentlessly
unsystematic' thinker, or, following Jean-Paul Sartre's lead,
labelled a 'Christian existentialist' - a label that avoids
consideration of Marcel's work on its own terms. How is one to
appreciate Marcel's contribution, especially when his uvre appears
to be at odds with philosophical convention? Helen Tattam proposes
a range of readings as opposed to one single interpretation, a
series of departures or explorations that bring his work into
contact with critical partners such as Henri Bergson, Paul Ric ur
and Emmanuel Levinas, and offer insights into a host of
twentieth-century philosophical shifts concerning time, the
subject, the other, ethics, and religion. Helen Tattam's ambitious
study is an impressively lucid account of Marcel's engagement with
the problem of time and lived experience, and is her first
monograph since the award of her doctorate from the University of
Nottingham.
Kant's account of emotions has only recently begun to receive the
attention that this topic deserves, as it casts new light over the
manifold features of transcendental philosophy. The authors expand
the contemporary overview of the Kantian treatment from both a
neuroscientific and a continental philosophical perspective. The
volume opens paths to reevaluate neglected aspects of the Kantian
model of human rationality.
The transcendental turn of Husserl's phenomenology has challenged
philosophers and scholars from the beginning. This volume inquires
into the profound meaning of this turn by contrasting its Kantian
and its phenomenological versions. Examining controversies
surrounding subjectivity, idealism, aesthetics, logic, the
foundation of sciences, and practical philosophy, the chapters
provide a helpful guide for facing current debates.
Available in English for the first time, this first draft of
Heidegger's opus, "Being and Time", provides a unique insight into
Heidegger's Phenomenology. "The Concept of Time" presents
Heidegger's so-called Dilthey review, widely considered the first
draft of his celebrated masterpiece, "Being and Time". Here
Heidegger reveals his deep commitment to Wilhelm Dilthey and Count
Yorck von Wartenburg. He agrees with them that historicity must be
at the centre of the new philosophy to come. However, he also
argues for an ontological approach to history. From this
ontological turn he develops the so-called categories of Dasein.
This work demonstrates Heidegger's indebtedness to Yorck and
Dilthey and gives further evidence to the view that thought about
history is the germ cell of "Being and Time". However, it also
shows that Heidegger's commitment to Dilthey was not without
reservations and that his analysis of Dasein actually employs
Husserl's phenomenology. The work reopens the question of history
in a broader sense, as Heidegger struggles to thematize history
without aligning it with world-historical events. The text also
provides a concise and readable summary of the main themes of
"Being and Time" and as such is an ideal companion to that text.
Exploring the latest research in Husserl Studies, this collection
presents fifteen new essays on key topics in the field from an
international team of writers. "Epistemology, Archaeology, Ethics:
Current Investigations of Husserl's Corpus" presents fifteen
original essays by an international team of expert contributors
that together represent a cross-section of Husserl Studies today.
The collection manifests the extent to which single themes in
Husserl's corpus cannot be isolated, but must be considered in
relation to their overlap with each other. Many of the accepted
views of Husserl's philosophy are currently in a state of flux,
with positions that once seemed incontestable now finding
themselves relegated to the status of one particular school of
thought among several. Among all the new trends and approaches,
this volume offers a representative sample of how Husserlian
research should be conducted given the current state of the corpus.
The book is divided into four parts, each dedicated to an area of
Husserl Studies that is currently gaining prominence: Husserlian
epistemology; his views on intentionality; the archaeology of
constitution; and, ethics, a relatively recent field of study in
phenomenology.
This book explores a popular topic in Continental Philosophy - this
is a very active area of research, one that students often
encounter at upper-undergraduate/postgraduate level.In Heidegger's
"Early Philosophy", James Luchte sets forth a comprehensive
examination of Heidegger's phenomenology between 1924 and 1929,
during which time Heidegger was largely concerned with a radical
temporalization of thought. The book seeks to reconstruct
Heidegger's radical phenomenology through an interpretation of all
his published and unpublished works of the period, including the
1920s lecture courses and his published works, "Kant and the
Problem of Metaphysics" and his magnum opus, "Being and Time". The
book also explores Heidegger's relationship with other
philosophers, such as Husserl, Kant and Leibniz, with respect to
the question of the relationship of thought and temporality.The
book addresses a significant void in the treatment of Heidegger's
early phenomenology, emphasizing the importance of Heidegger's
lecture courses and other works besides "Being and Time", and
thereby investigates the many fragments of Heidegger's work so as
to more fully comprehend the meaning and significance of the
original project. James Luchte makes an extraordinary and hugely
important contribution to the field of Heidegger Studies.
Deathworlds are places on planet earth that can no longer sustain
life. These are increasing rapidly. We experience remnants of
Deathworlds within our Lifeworlds (for example traumatic echoes of
war, genocide, oppression). Many practices and policies, directly
or indirectly, are "Deathworld-Making." They undermine Lifeworlds
contributing to community decline, illnesses, climate change, and
species extinction. This book highlights the ways in which writing
about and sharing meaningful experiences may lead to social and
environmental justice practices, decreasing Deathworld-Making.
Phenomenology is a method which reveals the connection between
personal suffering and the suffering of the planet earth and all
its creatures. Sharing can lead to collaborative relationships
among strangers for social and environmental justice across
barriers of culture, politics, and language. "Deathworlds into
Lifeworlds wakes people up to how current economic and social
forces are destroying life and communities on our planet, as I have
mapped in my work. The chapters by scholars around the world in
this powerful book testify to the pervasive consequences of the
proliferation of Deathworld-making and ways that collaboration
across cultures can help move us forward." -Saskia Sassen is the
Robert S. Lynd Professor of Sociology at Columbia University and a
Member of its Committee on Global Thought. "Recognizing the
inseparability of experience, consciousness, environment and
problematics in rebalancing life systems, this book offers
solutions from around the world." -Four Arrows, aka Don Trent
Jacobs, author of Sitting Bull's Words for A World in Crises, et
al. "This unique book brings together 78 participants from 11
countries to reveal the ways in which phenomenology - the study of
consciousness and phenomena - can lead to profound personal and
social transformation. Such transformation is especially powerful
when "Deathworlds" - physical or cultural places that no longer
sustain life - are transformed into "lifeworlds" through
collaborative sharing, even when (or, perhaps, especially when) the
sharing is among strangers across different cultures. The
contributors share a truly wide range of human experiences, from
the death of a child to ecological destruction, in offering ways to
affirm life in the face of what may seem to be hopeless
death-affirming challenges." -Richard P. Appelbaum, Ph.D., is
Distinguished Research Professor Emeritus and former MacArthur
Foundation Chair in Global and International Studies and Sociology
at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He is also a
founding Professor at Fielding Graduate University, where he heads
the doctoral concentration in Sustainability Leadership.
"Deathworlds is a love letter for the planet-our home. By
documenting places that no longer sustain life, the authors
collectively pull back the curtain on these places, rendering them
meaningful by connecting what ails us with what ails the world."
-Katrina S. Rogers, Ph.D., conservation activist and author
"Deathworlds to Lifeworlds represents collaboration among Fielding
Graduate University, the University of Lodz (Poland), and the
University of the Virgin Islands. Students and faculty from these
universities participated in seminars on transformative
phenomenology and developed rich phenomenologically based
narratives of their experiences or others'. These phenomenological
protocol narratives creatively modify and integrate with everyday
experience the conceptual frameworks of Husserl, Schutz, Heidegger,
Habermas, and others. The diverse protocol authors demonstrate how
phenomenological reflection is transformative first by revealing
how Deathworlds, which lead to physical, mental, social, or
ecological decline, imperil invaluable lifeworlds. Deathworlds
appear on lifeworld fringes, such as extra-urban trash landfills,
where unnoticed impoverished workers labor to the destruction of
their own health. Poignant protocol-narratives highlight the plight
and noble struggle of homeless people, the mother of a dying
19-year-old son, persons inclined to suicide, overwhelmed first
responders, alcoholics who through inspiration achieve sobriety,
unravelled We-Relationships, those suffering from and overcoming
addiction or misogynist stereotypes or excessive pressures,
veterans distraught after combat, a military mother, those in
liminal situations, and oppressed indigenous peoples who still make
available their liberating spirituality. Transformative
phenomenology exemplifies that generous responsiveness to the
ethical summons to solidarity to which Levinas's Other invites us."
-Michael Barber, Ph.D., Professor of Philosophy, St. Louis
University. He has authored seven books and more than 80 articles
in the general area of phenomenology and the social world. He is
editor of Schutzian Research, an annual interdisciplinary journal.
"This book helps us notice the Deathworlds that surround us and
advocates for their de-naturalization. Its central claim is that
the ten virtues of the transformative phenomenologist allow us to
do so by changing ourselves and the worlds we live in. In this
light, the book is an outstanding presentation of the international
movement known as "transformative phenomenology." It makes
groundbreaking contributions to a tradition in which some of the
authors are considered the main referents. Also, it offers an
innovative understanding of Alfred Schutz's philosophy of the
Lifeworld and a fruitful application of Van Manen's method of
written protocols." -Carlos Belvedere, Ph.D., Professor, Faculty of
Social Sciences, University of Buenos Aires" "Moving beyond the
social phenomenology carved out by Alfred Schutz, this impressive
volume of action-based experiential research displays the efficacy
of applying phenomenological protocols to explore Deathworlds, the
tacit side of the foundational conception of Lifeworlds. Over
twenty-one chapters, plus an epilogue, readers are transported by
the train of Transformative Phenomenology, created during what's
been called the Silver Age of Phenomenology (1996 - present) at the
Fielding Graduate University. An international amalgam of students
and faculty from universities in Poland, the United States, the
Virigin Islands, Canada, and socio-cultural locations throughout
the world harnessed their collective energy to advance the
practical call of phenomenology as a pathway to meaning-making
through rich descriptions of lived experience. Topics include
dwelling with strangers, dealing with trash, walking with the
homeless, death of a young person, overcoming colonialism,
precognition, environmental destruction, and so much more. The
research collection enhances what counts as phenomenological
inquiry, while remaining respectful of Edmund Husserl's
philosophical roots." -David Rehorick, PhD, Professor Emeritus of
Sociology, University of New Brunswick (Canada) & Professor
Emeritus, Fielding Graduate University (U.S.A.), Vancouver, British
Columbia.
To Be a Jew deals with the question of the meaning and rationale
that the writer Joseph Chayim Brenner attributes to Jewish
existence. Many of Brenner's readers assumed that Brenner
completely negated Jewish existence and sought to form a new way of
life completely disconnected from the traditional Jewish existence.
In contrast to this perception, Avi Sagi proves that not only did
Brenner not reject the value of the Jewish existence, but the core
of his creation was written out of a deep Jewish commitment.
Brenner's greatest innovation is found in his new conception of
Jewish existence. To be a Jew, according to Brenner, involves the
willingness to discover solidarity with actual Jews, to participate
in a society in which Jews can live a free life and to fashion
their culture as they wish. Sagi presents the idea that Brenner's
is not a Utopian, but a realistic, conception of Jewish existence.
Thus this unique conception of Jewish existence is founded on an
infrastructure of existential thought.
Paul Ricoeur (1913-2005) was one of the most prolific and
influential French philosophers of the Twentieth Century. In his
enormous corpus of work he engaged with literature, history,
historiography, politics, theology and ethics, while debating
'truth' and ethical solutions to life in the face of widespread and
growing suspicion about whether such a search is either possible or
worthwhile.In Ricoeur and the Hermeneutics of Suspicion, Alison
Scott-Baumann takes a thematic approach that explores Ricoeur's
lifelong struggle to be both iconoclastic and yet hopeful, and
avoid the slippery slope to relativism. Through an examination of
the 'hermeneutics of suspicion', the book reveals strong
continuities throughout his work, as well as significant
discontinuities, such as the marked way in which he later distanced
himself from the 'hermeneutics of suspicion' and his development of
new devices in its place, while seeking a hermeneutics of recovery.
Scott-Baumann offers a highly original analysis of the hermeneutics
of suspicion that will be useful to the fields of philosophy,
literature, theology and postmodern social theory.
Hans Jonas (1903-1993) was one of the most important German-Jewish
philosophers of the 20th century. A student of Martin Heidegger and
close friend of Hannah Arendt, Jonas advanced the fields of
phenomenology and practical ethics in ways that are just beginning
to be appreciated in the English-speaking world. Drawing here on
unpublished and newly translated material, Lewis Coyne brings
together for the first time in English Jonas's philosophy of life,
ethic of responsibility, political theory, philosophy of technology
and bioethics. In Hans Jonas: Life, Technology and the Horizons of
Responsibility, Coyne argues that the aim of Jonas's philosophy is
to confront three critical issues inherent to modernity: nihilism,
the ecological crisis and the transhumanist drive to
biotechnologically enhance human beings. While these might at first
appear disparate, for Jonas all follow from the materialist turn
taken by Western thought from the 17th century onwards, and he
therefore seeks to tackle all three issues at their collective
point of origin. This book explores how Jonas develops a new
categorical imperative of responsibility on the basis of an
ontology that does justice to the purposefulness and dignity of
life: to act in a way that does not compromise the future of
humanity on earth. Reflecting on this, as we face a potential
future of ecological and societal collapse, Coyne forcefully
demonstrates the urgency of Jonas's demand that humanity accept its
newfound responsibility as the 'shepherd of beings'.
This book is a unique contribution to scholarship of the poetics of
Wallace Stevens, offering an analysis of the entire oeuvre of
Stevens's poetry using the philosophical framework of Martin
Heidegger. Marking the first book-length engagement with a
philosophical reading of Stevens, it uses Heidegger's theories as a
framework through which Stevens's poetry can be read and shows how
philosophy and literature can enter into a productive dialogue. It
also makes a case for a Heideggerian reading of poetry, exploring
his later philosophy with respect to his writing on art, language,
and poetry. Taking Stevens's repeated emphasis on the terms
"being", "consciousness", "reality" and "truth" as its starting
point, the book provides a new reading of Stevens with a
philosopher who aligns poetic insight with a reconceptualization of
the metaphysical significance of these concepts. It pursues the
link between philosophy, American poetry as reflected through
Stevens, and modernist poetics, looking from Stevens's modernist
techniques to broader European philosophical movements of the
twentieth century.
This book draws on existential theory and original research to
present the conceptual framework for an understanding of
existential authenticity and demonstrates how this approach might
be adopted in practice. The authors explore how a non-mediated
connection with authentic lived experience might be established and
introduced into everyday living. Drs. Jonathan Davidov and Pninit
Russo-Netzer begin by introducing readers to the core theoretical
concepts before illustrating how this might be applied in a
therapeutic practice. It appeals to scholars and practitioners with
an interest in existential psychology, phenomenology, and their
broad implications.
This is an introduction to one of Nietzsche's most important works
- a key text in nineteenth-century philosophy. Friedrich Nietzsche
was arguably the most important and influential thinker of the
nineteenth century. "The Birth of Tragedy", his first published
work, is a classic text that remains an essential read for those
seeking to understand the development of Nietzsche's ideas. Indeed,
it is difficult to make sense of Nietzsche as a philosopher and
writer without a thorough understanding of "The Birth of Tragedy",
without doubt one of his most influential texts. "Nietzsche's 'The
Birth of Tragedy': A Reader's Guide" offers a concise and
accessible introduction to this hugely important and yet
challenging work. Written specifically to meet the needs of
students coming to Nietzsche for the first time, the book offers
guidance on: philosophical and historical context; key themes;
reading the text; reception and influence; and, further reading.
"Continuum Reader's Guides" are clear, concise and accessible
introductions to key texts in literature and philosophy. Each book
explores the themes, context, criticism and influence of key works,
providing a practical introduction to close reading, guiding
students towards a thorough understanding of the text. They provide
an essential, up-to-date resource, ideal for undergraduate
students.
Merleau-Ponty and the Paradoxes of Expression offers a
comprehensive reading of the philosophical work of Maurice
Merleau-Ponty, a central figure in 20th-century continental
philosophy. By establishing that the paradoxical logic of
expression is Merleau-Ponty's fundamental philosophical gesture,
this book ties together his diverse work on perception, language,
aesthetics, politics and history in order to establish the
ontological position he was developing at the time of his sudden
death in 1961. Donald A. Landes explores the paradoxical logic of
expression as it appears in both Merleau-Ponty's explicit
reflections on expression and his non-explicit uses of this logic
in his philosophical reflection on other topics, and thus
establishes a continuity and a trajectory of his thought that
allows for his work to be placed into conversation with
contemporary developments in continental philosophy. The book
offers the reader a key to understanding Merleau-Ponty's subtle
methodology and highlights the urgency and relevance of his
research into the ontological significance of expression for
today's work in art and cultural theory.
The book is the first detailed and full exegesis of the role of
death in Heidegger's philosophy and provides a decisive answer to
the question of being. It is well-known that Heidegger asked the
"question of being". It is equally commonplace to assume that
Heidegger failed to provide a proper answer to the question. In
this provocative new study Niederhauser argues that Heidegger gives
a distinct response to the question of being and that the
phenomenon of death is key to finding and understanding it. The
book offers challenging interpretations of crucial moments of
Heidegger's philosophy such as aletheia, the history of being,
time, technology, the fourfold, mortality, the meaning of
existence, the event, and language. Niederhauser makes the case
that any reading of Heidegger that ignores death cannot fully
understand those concepts. The book argues that death is central to
Heidegger's "thinking path" from the early 1920s until his late
post-war philosophy. The book thus attempts to show that there is a
unity of the early and late Heidegger often ignored by other
commentators. Niederhauser argues that death is the fulcrum of
Heidegger's ontology and the turning point of the history of being.
Death resurfaces at the most crucial moments of the "thinking path"
- from beginning to end. The book is of interest to those invested
in current debates on the ethics of dying and the transhumanist
project of digital human immortality. The text also shows that for
Heidegger philosophy means first and foremost to learn how to die.
This volume speaks to continental and analytical philosophers and
students alike as it draws on a number of diverse Heidegger
interpretations and appreciates intercultural differences in
reading Heidegger.
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