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Books > Philosophy > Western philosophy > Modern Western philosophy, c 1600 to the present > Western philosophy, from c 1900 -
This book provides the first comprehensive account of Hume's
conception of objects in Book I of "A" "Treatise of Human Nature."
What, according to Hume, are objects? Ideas? Impressions?
Mind-independent objects? All three? None of the above? Through a
close textual analysis, Rocknak shows that Hume thought that
objects are imagined ideas. But, she argues, he struggled with two
accounts of how and when we imagine such ideas. On the one hand,
Hume believed that we always and universally imagine that objects
are the causes of our perceptions. On the other hand, he thought
that we only imagine such causes when we reach a "philosophical"
level of thought. This tension manifests itself in Hume's account
of personal identity; a tension that, Rocknak argues, Hume
acknowledges in the Appendix to the "Treatise." As a result of
Rocknak's detailed account of Hume's conception of objects, we are
forced to accommodate new interpretations of, at least, Hume's
notions of belief, personal identity, justification and
causality.
In Moral Creativity, John Wall argues that moral life and thought
are inherently and radically creative. Human beings are called by
their own primordially created depths to exceed historical evil and
tragedy through the ongoing creative transformation of their world.
This thesis challenges ancient Greek and biblical separations of
ethics and poetic image-making, as well as contemporary conceptions
of moral life as grounded in abstract principles or preconstituted
traditions. Taking as his point of departure the poetics of the
will of Paul Ricoeur, and ranging widely into critical
conversations with Continental, narrative, feminist, and
liberationist ethics, Wall uncovers the profound senses in which
moral practice and thought involve tension, catharsis, excess, and
renewal. In the process, he draws new connections between sin and
tragedy, practice and poetics, and morality and myth. Rather than
proposing a complete ethics, Moral Creativity is a meta-ethical
work investigating the creative capability as part of what it
means, morally, to be human. This capability is explored around
four dimensions of ontology, teleology, deontology, and social
practice. In each case, Wall examines a traditional perspective on
the relation of ethics to poetics, critiques it using resources
from contemporary phenomenology, and develops a conception of a
more original poetics of moral life. In the end, moral creativity
is a human capability for inhabiting tensions among others and in
social systems and, in the image of a Creator, creating together an
ever more radically inclusive moral world.
First published in 1924, this book examines one of the main
philosophical debates of the period. Focusing on Kant's proof of
causality, A.C. Ewing promotes its validity not only for the
physical but also for the "psychological" sphere. The subject is of
importance, for the problem of causality for Kant constituted the
crucial test of his philosophy, the most significant of the Kantian
categories. The author believes that Kant's statement of his proof,
while too much bound up with other parts of his particular system
of philosophy, may be restated "in a form which it can stand by
itself and make a good claim for acceptance on all schools of
thought".
First published in 1929, this book explores the crucial, ethical
question of the objects and the justification of punishment. Dr. A.
C. Ewing considers both the retributive theory and the deterrent
theory on the subject whilst remaining commendably unprejudiced.
The book examines the views which emphasize the reformation of the
offender and the education of the community as objects of
punishment. It also deals with a theory of reward as a compliment
to a theory of punishment. Dr. Ewing's treatment of the topics is
philosophical yet he takes in to account the practical
considerations that should determine the nature and the amount of
the punishment to be inflicted in different types of cases. This
book will be of great interest to students of philosophy, teachers
and those who are interested in the concrete problems of punishment
by the state. It is an original contribution to the study of a
subject of great theoretical and practical importance.
Several of Descarte's most ground-breaking essays and philosophic
treatises are contained in this quality edition. Written by Ren
Descartes in the 17th century and counted among the first great
philosophic works of Enlightenment era, these papers contain the
philosopher's thoughts on physical objects, presence and being.
Descartes describes a series of vivid dreams which, for their
realism, leave him in doubt as to whether he does indeed possess a
body or whether it is merely an illusion. Descartes reflects upon
the nature of dreams, and wonders whether their strangeness is not
a consequence of God playing a trick with his mind. Discounting God
as the culprit, Descartes instead places responsibility of the
illusion of reality at the feet of a 'malignant demon'. The
translations present in this edition were composed by the Scottish
poet and scholar of philosophy John Vietch, whose academic career
at The University of St. Andrews in Fife provided a firm grounding
in the philosophic disciplines.
In this original contribution to the American philosophical
tradition, Patrick Shade makes a strong argument for the necessity
of hope in a cynical world that too often rejects it as foolish.
While most accounts of hope situate it in a theological context,
Shade presents a theory rooted in the pragmatic thought of such
American philosophers as C. S. Peirce, William James, and John
Dewey. Shade first discusses the particular hopes we pursue and
then turns to the habits of hope - persistence, resourcefulness,
and courage - that are vital to their realization. Indeed, habits
of hope are the basis for developing hopefulness, a complex habit
that nurtures and sustains us even when we fail to realize
particular hopes. Hopefulness, Shade maintains, enables us to avoid
the paralysis of despair. Throughout the discussion, Shade gleans
insights from a variety of sources, most notably John Steinbeck's
The Grapes of Wrath and Stephen King's novella ""Rita Hayworth and
the Shawshank Redemption,"" but also from the real-life experiences
of such heroes as Cedric Jennings and Martha Manning. These
examples embody and illuminate the concept of hope and offer
incentive and illustrations for developing a hopeful life. Shade's
account shows how we can make hoping practical without forfeiting
its unique capacity to help us grow.
This is the first collection of original essays entirely devoted to
a detailed study of the Pyrrhonian tradition. The twelve
contributions collected in the present volume combine to offer a
historical and systematic analysis of the form of skepticism known
as "Pyrrhonism". They discuss whether the Pyrrhonist is an
ethically engaged agent, whether he can claim to search for truth,
and other thorny questions concerning ancient Pyrrhonism; explore
its influence on certain modern thinkers such as Pierre Bayle and
David Hume; and examine Pyrrhonian skepticism in relation to
contemporary analytic philosophy.
Rereading Freud assembles eminent philosophical scholars and
clinical practitioners from continental, pragmatic, feminist, and
psychoanalytic paradigms to examine Freud s metapsychology.
Fundamentally distorted and misinterpreted by generations of
English speaking commentators, Freud s theories are frequently
misunderstood within psychoanalysis today. This book celebrates and
philosophically critiques Freud s most important contribution to
understanding humanity: that psychic reality is governed by the
unconscious mind. The contributors focus on several of Freud s most
influential theories, including the nature and structure of dreams;
infantile sexuality; drive and defense; ego development; symptom
formation; feminine psychology; the therapeutic process; death; and
the question of race. In so doing, they shed light on the
ontological commitments Freud introduces in his metapsychology and
the implications generated for engaging theoretical, clinical, and
applied modes of philosophical inquiry."
"Contemporary Caribbean Writing and Deleuze" maps a new
intellectual and literary history of postcolonial Caribbean writing
and thought spanning from the 1930s surrealist movement to the
present, crossing the region's language blocs, and focused on the
interconnected principles of creativity and commemoration.
Exploring the work of Rene Menil, Edouard Glissant, Wilson Harris,
Derek
Walcott, Antonio Benitez-Rojo, Pauline Melville, Robert Antoni and
Nalo Hopkinson, this study reveals the explicit and implicit
engagement with Deleuzian thought at work in contemporary Caribbean
writing.Uniting for the first time two major schools of
contemporary thought - postcolonialism and post-continental
philosophy - this study establishes a new and innovative critical
discourse for Caribbean studies and postcolonial theory beyond the
oppositional dialectic of colonizer and colonized. Drawing
from Deleuze's writings on Bergson, Nietzsche and Spinoza, this
study interrogates the postcolonial tropes of newness, becoming,
relationality and a philosophical concept of immanence that lie at
the heart of a little-observed dialogue between contemporary
Caribbean writers and Deleuze.
This book approaches the topic of intercultural understanding in
philosophy from a phenomenological perspective. It provides a
bridge between Western and Eastern philosophy through in-depth
discussion of concepts and doctrines of phenomenology and ancient
and contemporary Chinese philosophy. Phenomenological readings of
Daoist and Buddhist philosophies are provided: the reader will find
a study of theoretical and methodological issues and innovative
readings of traditional Chinese and Indian philosophies from the
phenomenological perspective. The author uses a descriptive rigor
to avoid cultural prejudices and provides a non-Eurocentric
conception and practice of philosophy. Through this East-West
comparative study, a compelling criticism of a Eurocentric
conception of philosophy emerges. New concepts and methods in
intercultural philosophy are proposed through these chapters.
Researchers, teachers, post-graduates and students of philosophy
will all find this work intriguing, and those with an interest in
non-Western philosophy or phenomenology will find it particularly
engaging.
Nietzsche's metaphor of the spider that spins its cobweb expresses
his critique of the metaphysical use of language - but it also
suggests that we, spiders , are able to spin different,
life-affirming, healthier, non-metaphysical cobwebs. This book is a
collection of 12 essays that focus not only on Nietzsche's critique
of the metaphysical assumptions of language, but also on his effort
to use language in a different way, i.e., to create a new language
. It is from this viewpoint that the book considers such themes as
consciousness, the self, metaphor, instinct, affectivity, style,
morality, truth, and knowledge. The authors invited to contribute
to this volume are Nietzsche scholars who belong to some of the
most important research centers of the European Nietzsche-Research:
Centro Colli-Montinari (Italy), GIRN (Europhilosphie), SEDEN
(Spain), Greifswald Research Group (Germany), NIL (Portugal). In
2011 Joao Constancio and Maria Joao Mayer Branco edited Nietzsche
on Instinct and Language, also published by Walter de Gruyter. The
two books complement each other.
A key development in Wittgenstein Studies over recent years has
been the advancement of a resolutely therapeutic reading of the
Tractatus. Rupert Read offers the first extended application of
this reading of Wittgenstein, encompassing Wittgenstein's later
work too, to examine the implications of Wittgenstein's work as a
whole upon the domains especially of literature, psychopathology,
and time. Read begins by applying Wittgenstein's remarks on meaning
to language, examining the consequences our conception of
philosophy has for the ways in which we talk about meaning. He goes
on to engage with literary texts as Wittgensteinian, where
'Wittgensteinian' does not mean expressive of a Wittgenstein
philosophy, but involves the literature in question remaining
enigmatic, and doing philosophical work of its own. He considers
Faulkner's work as productive too of a broadly Wittgensteinian
philosophy of psychopathology. Read then turns to philosophical
accounts of time, finding a link between the division of time into
discrete moments and solipsism of the present moment as depicted in
philosophy on the one hand and psychopathological states on the
other. This important book positions itself at the forefront of a
revolutionary movement in Wittgenstein studies and philosophy in
general and offers a new and dynamic way of using Wittgenstein's
works.
The Philosophy of Philip Kitcher contains eleven chapters on the
work of noted philosopher Philip Kitcher, whose work is known for
its broad range and insightfulness. Topics covered include
philosophy of science, philosophy of biology, philosophy of
mathematics, ethics, epistemology, and philosophy of religion. Each
of the chapters is followed by a reply from Kitcher himself. This
first significant edited volume devoted to examining Kitcher's work
is an essential reference for anyone interested in understanding
this important philosopher.
Wittgenstein in America is a collection of essays exploring the legacy of Wittgenstein's work in contemporary American philosophy. The contributors (including several eminent philosophers) take a variety of approaches to Wittgenstein; they discuss such topics as rule-following, realism about mathematics, the method of the Tractatus, the relation between style and content in Wittgenstein, and his distinction between sense and nonsense. Wittgenstein is discussed in relation to subsequent philosophers such as Quine and Kripke. This will be essential reading for specialists in Wittgenstein, and will interest many other philosophers besides.
From Ego to Eco - Mapping Shifts from Anthropocentrism to
Ecocentrism investigates philosophical, political and aesthetic
formations of ecocentrism. Representing a variety of disciplines
and testing a broad scope of critical approaches, the contributors
of this volume argue that anthropocentrism is not - as often
claimed - a predominant world view but, rather, a widely contested
concept. Within various historical and national contexts, the
individual contributors of this book discuss the significance and
relevance of ecocentrism and offer new avenues to emerging
discourses in the humanities. Contributors are: Darrell Arnold,
Roman Bartosch, Aengus Daly, Gearoid Denvir, Elisabeth Jutten,
Karla McManus, Sabine Lenore Muller, Maureen O' Connor, Lillis O
Laoire, Helen Phelan, Tina-Karen Pusse, and Christian Schmitt-Kilb.
Kurt Gödel (1906-1978) was the most outstanding logician of the twentieth century. This second volume of a comprehensive edition of Gödel's works collects the remainder of his published work, covering the period 1938-1974. (Volume I included all of his publications from 1929-1936). Each article or closely related group of articles is preceded by an introductory note that elucidates it and places it in historical context. The aim is to make the full body of Gödel's work as accessible and useful to as wide an audience as possible, without in any way sacrificing the requirements of historical and scientific accuracy.
Despite the recent upsurge of interest in Theodor Adorno's work,
his literary writings remain generally neglected. Yet literature is
a central element in his aesthetic theory. Building on the current
emergent interest in modern philosophical aesthetics, this book
offers a wide-ranging account of the literary components of
Adorno's thinking. Bringing together original essays from a
distinguished international group of contributors, it offers the
reader a user-friendly path through the major areas of Adorno's
work in this area. It is divided into three sections, dealing with
the concept of literature, with poetry and poetics, and with
modernity, drama and the novel respectively. At the same time, the
book provides a clear sense of the unique qualities of Adorno's
philosophy of literature by critically relating his work to a
number of other influential theorists and theories including
contemporary postmodernist thought and cultural studies.
In this work, the author argues that the Oedipus complex represents
the core of psychoanalysis as well as the fundamental constitution
of the human being.
Professors Murphy and Choi use postmodern philosophy to expose
an important source of racism and cultural domination. They examine
foundationalism, which they see at the core of the Western
intellectual tradition and which is shown to foster a metaphysics
of domination. By contrast, postmodernism undermines this root of
racism.
They demonstrate that foundationalism is not needed to support
identity, institutions, or political order. Indeed, they assert
that true pluralism is possible once foundationalist approaches to
knowledge and order are set aside. Special attention is directed to
two current modes of discrimination: institutional racism and
symbolic violence. Murphy and Choi provide an intriguing look at
ways to undercut the justification for racism and other threats to
cultural difference. This volume will be of particular interest to
scholars and other researchers in the areas of race relations,
cultural studies, and political theory.
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