|
Books > Philosophy > Western philosophy
What is the relation between time and change? Does time depend on
the mind? Is the present always the same or is it always different?
Aristotle tackles these questions in the Physics, and Time for
Aristotle is the first book in English devoted to this discussion.
Aristotle claims that time is not a kind of change, but that it is
something dependent on change; he defines it as a kind of 'number
of change'. Ursula Coope argues that what this means is that time
is a kind of order (not, as is commonly supposed, a kind of
measure). It is universal order within which all changes are
related to each other. This interpretation enables Coope to explain
two puzzling claims that Aristotle makes: that the now is like a
moving thing, and that time depends for its existence on the mind.
Brilliantly lucid in its explanation of this challenging section of
the Physics, Time for Aristotle shows his discussion to be of
enduring philosophical interest.
Over the last four decades, John Dewey's pragmatist philosophy has
formed an intellectual core in design research, underpinning Donald
Schoen's theory of reflective practice, the experiential
perspective in HCI and the democratic commitments of participatory
design. Taking these existing connections as a starting point,
Brian Dixon explores how deeper alignments may be drawn between
Dewey's insights and contemporary design research's concern with
practice, meaning and collaboration. Chapter by chapter, a fresh
intellectual approach is revealed, one which recognises the
transformative power of doing, making and knowing as a force for
positive change in the world. We see that, for Dewey, experience
comes first. It connects us to surrounding world and the society of
which we are part; good things can happen and new realities are
possible-we just have to work for them. The implications for design
research are vast. We are offered a new way of understanding
designerly knowledge production, as well as the methodological
implications of adopting Deweyan pragmatism in design research.
Taken as a whole, Dewey and Design not only draws out the value of
Dewey's work for design research but also, crucially, offers a
clear articulation of the value of design itself.
This book is an important gateway through which professional
analytic philosophers and their students can come to understand the
significance of Hegel's philosophy to contemporary theory of
action. As such it will contribute to the ever-increasing erosion
of the sterile barrier between the continental and analytic
approaches to philosophy. Michael Quante has written the first book
to focus on what Hegel has to say about such central concepts as
action, person and will, and then to bring these views to bear on
contemporary debates in analytic philosophy. Crisply written, this
book will thus address the common set of preoccupations of analytic
philosophers of mind and action, and Hegel specialists.
The primary purpose for the production of my current book, I Am A
Key, is to assist readers in a clearer understanding of my first
book, The Mind Factory. My first book dealt with pure theory and,
while I made a gallant effort there to soften the language in that
field of discourse, it was not a complete success. It still turned
out not to be an easy read for the lay reader. As was my goal, I
needed to consolidate a lot of information in a relatively short
single volume. No doubt, for any diligent student of sociology or
philosophy it was a casual read; but I wanted the book to
accommodate the lay reader as well. In reviewing this issue of
clarity of exposition-after the fact-for my book, The Mind Factory,
I was reminded that I did not give interpretations for the anagrams
that I presented in that book. Moreover, since defining and
exhibiting anagrams was the central feature of the book, I
concluded that providing interpretations for those anagrams would
be the best way to pursue the immediate goal of opening up one's
understanding of the overall theory contained in that book.
Consequently, I present my readers with my current book, I Am A
Key. In my current book, I give a representation of the extended
version of the key defined and presented in the earlier book, I use
an example from the first book to detail just how an anagram is
derived, and I explain the meaning of an interpretation while also
providing interpretations for each of the 288 anagrams contained in
my other book. With this additional commentary I am satisfied that
I will have done as much as anyone could possibly do to initiate a
contemporary discussion and explanation of this theory. That is, to
explain the reality of the existence of the latent content in our
everyday language. Of course the secondary goal of these two books
is to show by way of demonstrate that by implication the word
"theory," as used within context here, does not mean something
unproven or yet to be proven, and the
The work of Aristotle (384-322 BC) is considered to be one of the
great achievements of the ancient world, and is a foundation of
both Western and Middle Eastern philosophy and science. Although
Aristotle left significant material on almost all branches of
learning, what has survived is a somewhat disorganized collection
of notes and lectures. Moreover, the centuries of interpretation
across various epochs and cultures tend to cloud our understanding
of him. Thomas Kiefer breaks through this cloud of interpretation
and provides an organized account of one key part of Aristotle's
philosophy, namely his theory of knowledge. This theory concerns
what is knowledge, what we can know, and how we can do so. Kiefer's
book is the first work that takes this theory as its sole focus and
reconstructs it systematically. Kiefer's work throughout provides
many new interpretations of key parts of Aristotle's philosophy,
including an unnoticed -but crucial-distinction between knowledge
in general and knowledge for us, the differences between his
semantic and psychological requirements for knowledge, and 'nous',
which is perhaps the most obscure notion in Aristotle's work. He
also concludes with a summary of Aristotle's theory in the terms
and style of contemporary epistemology. Kiefer's work should be of
interest to anyone involved in the history of philosophy or
contemporary epistemology.
Analysing the reception of contemporary French philosophy in
architecture over the last four decades, Adventures with the Theory
of the Baroque and French Philosophy discusses the problematic
nature of importing philosophical categories into architecture.
Focusing particularly on the philosophical notion of the Baroque in
Gilles Deleuze, this study examines traditional interpretations of
the concept in contemporary architecture theory, throwing up
specific problems such as the aestheticization of building theory
and practice. Identifying these and other issues, Nadir Lahiji
constructs a concept of the baroque in contrast to the contemporary
understanding in architecture discourse. Challenging the
contemporary dominance of the Neo-Baroque as a phenomenon related
to postmodernism and late capitalism, he establishes the Baroque as
a name for the paradoxical unity of 'kitsch' and 'high' art and
argues that the digital turn has enhanced the return of the Baroque
in contemporary culture and architectural practice that he brands a
pseudo-event in the term 'neobaroque'. Lahiji's original critique
expands on the misadventure of architecture with French Philosophy
and explains why the category of the Baroque, if it is still useful
to keep in architecture criticism, must be tied to the notion of
Post-Rationalism. Within this latter notion, he draws on the work
of Alain Badiou to theorize a new concept of the Baroque as Event.
Alongside close readings of Walter Benjamin, Theodor Adorno and
Michel Foucault related to the criticism of the Baroque and
Modernity and discussions of the work of Frank Gehry, in
particular, this study draws on Jacque Lacan's concept of the
baroque and presents the first comprehensive treatment of the
psychoanalytical theory of the Baroque in the work of Lacan.
The first essay in David Berman's new collection examines the full
range of Berkeley's achievement, looking not only at his classic
works of 1709-1713, but also Alciphron (1732) and his final book,
the enigmatic Siris (1744). The book also examines a key problem in
Berkeley's New Theory of Vision (1709): Why does the moon look
larger on the horizon than in the meridian? The third item
criticises the view, still uncritically accepted by many, that
Berkeley's attacks on materialism are levelled against Locke. Part
2 opens with Berman's two essays of 1982 - the first to show that
Berkeley came from a rich and coherent Irish philosophical
background. Next comes a discussion of the link between Berkeley
and Francis Hutcheson, and particularly their answers to the
Molyneux problem, which Berman takes to be the root problem of
Irish philosophy. The fourth essay looks at the impact of Golden
Age Irish philosophy on eighteenth-century American philosophy,
where, again, Berkeley had a central position. The last item
examines Berkeley's influence on Samuel Beckett. Part 3 shows the
multifaceted nature of Berkeley's career, which is missed by those
who concentrate exclusively on his work of 1709-1713. Each section
here presents new material on Berkeley's life, or on his works and
thought; most of these are new letters, not included in the
Luce-Jessop edition of the Works of Berkeley. This volume,
therefore, can be seen a supplement to volumes 8 and 9 of the Works
and also to Luce's Life of Berkeley.
The philosophy of Spinoza is increasingly recognised as holding a
position of crucial importance and influence in early modern
thought, and in previous years has been the focus of a rich and
growing body of scholarship. In this volume of essays, leading
experts in the field offer penetrating analyses of his views about
God, necessity, imagination, the mind, knowledge, history, society,
and politics. The essays treat questions of perennial importance in
Spinoza scholarship but also constitute critical examinations of
his worldview. Scholars of modern philosophy will value this volume
as a collection of some of the very best work done on Spinoza's
philosophy.
This work illustrates China's values and how they are practiced.
After introducing readers to the theories, systematical structure,
historical status, and influence of traditional Chinese values, it
points out major developmental trends in connection with
modernization. Further, it explores the significance of the
contemporary reconstruction of Chinese values and argues that these
values can be divided into three layers: values-based goals of
national development, Chinese values concepts, and norms of values
in a civil society. On this basis, it subsequently interprets the
core socialist values "Prosperity, Democracy, Civility and
Harmony," the value concepts "Freedom, Equality, Justice and Rule
of Law" and values-based norms "Patriotism, Dedication, Integrity
and Friendship."
Much attention has been paid to Wittgenstein's treatment of
solipsism and to Cavell's treatment of skepticism. But
comparatively little has been made of the striking connections
between the early Wittgenstein's view on the truth of solipsism and
Cavell's view on the truth of skepticism, and how that relates to
the claim that the later Wittgenstein sees privacy as a constant
human possibility. This book offers close readings of
representative writings by both authors and argues that an adequate
understanding of solipsism and skepticism requires taking into
account a set of underlying difficulties related to a
disappointment with finitude which might ultimately lead to the
threat of solipsism. That threat is further interpreted as a wish
not to bear the burden of having to constantly negotiate and
nurture the fragile connections with the world and others which are
the conditions of possibility for finite beings to achieve meaning
and community. By presenting Wittgenstein's and Cavell's responses
in an order which reflects the chronology of their writings, the
result is a cohesive articulation of some under-appreciated aspects
of their philosophical methodologies which has the potential of
reorienting our entire reading of their work.
The concept of schizoanalysis is Deleuze and Guattari's fusion of
psychoanalytic-inspired theories of the self, the libido and desire
with Marx-inspired theories of the economy, history and society.
Schizoanalysis holds that art's function is both political and
aesthetic - it changes perception. If one cannot change perception,
then, one cannot change anything politically. This is why Deleuze
and Guattari always insist that artists operate at the level of the
real (not the imaginary or the symbolic). Ultimately, they argue,
there is no necessary distinction to be made between aesthetics and
politics. They are simply two sides of the same coin, both
concerned with the formation and transformation of social and
cultural norms. Deleuze and the Schizoanalysis of Visual Art
explores how every artist, good or bad, contributes to the
structure and nature of society because their work either
reinforces social norms, or challenges them. From this point of
view we are all artists, we all have the potential to exercise what
might be called a 'aesthetico-political function' and change the
world around us; or, conversely, we can not only let the status quo
endure, but fight to preserve it as though it were freedom itself.
Edited by one of the world's leading scholars in Deleuze Studies
and an accomplished artist, curator and critic, this impressive
collection of writings by both academics and practicing artists is
an exciting imaginative tool for a upper level students and
academics researching and studying visual arts, critical theory,
continental philosophy, and media.
This volume presents a series of essays published by Charles Kahn
over a period of forty years, in which he seeks to explicate the
ancient Greek concept of Being. He addresses two distinct but
intimately related problems, one linguistic and one historical and
philosophical. The linguistic problem concerns the theory of the
Greek verb einai, "to be:: how to replace the conventional but
misleading distinction between copula and existential verb with a
more adequate theoretical account. The philosophical problem is in
principle quite distinct: to understand how the concept of Being
became the central topic in Greek philosophy from Parmenides to
Aristotle. But these two problems converge on what Kahn calls the
veridical use of einai. In the earlier papers he takes that
connection between the verb and the concept of truth to be the key
to the central role of Being in Greek philosophy. In the later
papers he interprets the veridical in terms of a more general
semantic function of the verb, which comprises the notions of
existence and instantiation as well as truth.
The German philosopher Robert Spaemann provides an important
contribution to a number of contemporary debates in philosophy and
theology, opening up possibilities for conversation between these
disciplines. He engages in a dialogue with classical and
contemporary positions and often formulates important and original
insights which lie beyond common alternatives. In this study Holger
Zaborowski provides an analysis of the most important features of
Spaemann's philosophy and shows the unity of his thought.
The question 'Who is a person?' is of increasing significance: Are
all human beings persons? Are there animals that can be considered
persons? What does it mean to speak of personal identity and of the
dignity of the person? Spaemann provides an answer to these
questions: Every human being, he argues, is a person and,
therefore, 'has' his nature in freedom. In order to understand the
person, Spaemann explains, we have to think about the relation
between nature and freedom and avoid the reductive accounts of this
relation prevalent in important strands of modern thought.
Spaemann develops a challenging critique of modernity,
incorporating analysis of modern anti-modernisms and showing that
these are also subject to a dialectical development, perpetuating
the problematic shortcomings of many features of modern reasoning.
If we do not want to abolish ourselves as persons, Spaemann
reasons, we need to find a way of understanding ourselves that
evades the dialectic of modernity. Thus, he reminds his readers of
'self-evident' knowledge: insights that we have once already known,
but tend to forget.
This book looks at Kierkegaard with a fresh perspective shaped by
the history of ideas, framed by the terms romanticism and
modernism. 'Modernism' here refers to the kind of intellectual and
literary modernism associated with Georg Brandes, and such later
nineteenth and early twentieth century figures as J. P. Jacobsen,
Nietzsche, Dostoevsky, Ibsen (all often associated with Kierkegaard
in early secondary literature), and the young Georg Lukacs. This
movement, currently attracting increasing scholarly attention, fed
into such varied currents of twentieth century thought as
Bolshevism (as in Lukacs himself), fascism, and the early
existentialism of, e.g., Shestov and the radical culture journal
The Brenner (in which Kierkegaard featured regularly, and whose
readers included Martin Heidegger). Each of these movements has,
arguably, its own 'Romantic' aspect and Kierkegaard thus emerges as
a figure who holds together or in whom are reflected both the
aspirations and contradictions of early romanticism and its later
nineteenth and twentieth century inheritors. Kierkegaard's specific
'staging' of his authorship in the contemporary life of Copenhagen,
then undergoing a rapid transformation from being the backward
capital of an absolutist monarchy to a modern, cosmopolitan city,
provides a further focus for the volume. In this situation the
early Romantic experience of nature as providing a source of
healing and an experience of unambiguous life is transposed into a
more complex and, ultimately, catastrophic register. In
articulating these tensions, Kierkegaard's authorship provided a
mirror to his age but also anticipated and influenced later
generations who wrestled with their own versions of this situation.
Kant's Elliptical Path explores the main stages and key concepts in
the development of Kant's Critical philosophy, from the early 1760s
to the 1790s. Karl Ameriks provides a detailed and concise account
of the main ways in which the later Critical works provide a
plausible defence of the conception of humanity's fundamental end
that Kant turned to after reading Rousseau in the 1760s. Separate
essays are devoted to each of the three Critiques, as well as to
earlier notes and lectures and several of Kant's later writings on
history and religion. A final section devotes three chapters to
post-Kantian developments in German Romanticism, accounts of
tragedy up through Nietzsche, and contemporary philosophy. The
theme of an elliptical path is shown to be relevant to these
writers as well as to many aspects of Kant's own life and
work.
The topics of the book include fundamental issues in epistemology
and metaphysics, with a new defense of the Amerik's 'moderate'
interpretation of transcendental idealism. Other essays evaluate
Kant's concept of will and reliance on a 'fact of reason' in his
practical philosophy, as well as his critique of traditional
theodicies, and the historical character of his defense of religion
and the concepts of creation and hope within 'the boundaries of
mere reason'. Kant's Elliptical Path will be of value to historians
of modern philosophy and Kant scholars, while its treatment of
several literary figures and issues in aesthetics, politics,
history, and theology make it relevant to readers outside of
philosophy.
This book is a consideration of Hegel's view on logic and basic
logical concepts such as truth, form, validity, and contradiction,
and aims to assess this view's relevance for contemporary
philosophical logic. The literature on Hegel's logic is fairly
rich. The attention to contemporary philosophical logic places the
present research closer to those works interested in the link
between Hegel's thought and analytical philosophy
(Stekeler-Weithofer 1992 and 2019, Berto 2005, Rockmore 2005,
Redding 2007, Nuzzo 2010 (ed.), Koch 2014, Brandom 2014, 1-15,
Pippin 2016, Moyar 2017, Quante & Mooren 2018 among others). In
this context, one particularity of this book consists in focusing
on something that has been generally underrated in the literature:
the idea that, for Hegel as well as for Aristotle and many other
authors (including Frege), logic is the study of the forms of
truth, i.e. the forms that our thought can (or ought to) assume in
searching for truth. In this light, Hegel's thinking about logic is
a fundamental reference point for anyone interested in a
philosophical foundation of logic.
Engaging with several emerging and interconnected approaches in the
social sciences, including pragmatism, system theory, processual
thinking and relational thinking, this book leverages John Dewey
and Arthur Bentley's often misunderstood concept of trans-action to
revisit and redefine our perceptions of social relations and social
life. The contributors gathered here use trans-action in a more
specific sense, showing why and how social scientists and
philosophers might use the concept to better understand our social
life and social problems. As the first collective sociological
attempt to apply the concept of trans-action to contemporary social
issues, this volume is a key reference for the growing audience of
relational and processual thinkers in the social sciences and
beyond.
For Kierkegaard the most important thing in life is to become a
single individual or a true self. We are all born as human beings,
but this makes us only members of a crowd, not true selves. To
become a true self, we must transcend what we are at any given time
and orient ourselves to the possible and to the actuality of the
possible, to which all that is possible owes itself. True selves
exist only in becoming, they are fragile, and that is their
strength. They are not grounded by their own activities, but in a
reality extra se, the flip side of which is a deep passivity that
underlies all their activity and allows them to continually leave
themselves and move beyond their respective actualities toward the
new and the possible. Therefore, without the passion of
possibility, there is no truly single individual. This study of
Kierkegaard's post-metaphysical theology outlines his existential
phenomenology of the self by exploring in three parts what
Kierkegaard has to say about the sense of self (finitude,
uniqueness, self-interpretation, and alienation), about selfless
passion (anxiety, trust, hope, and true love), and about how to
become a true self (a Christian in Christendom and a neighbor of
God's neighbors).
Salomon Maimon was one of the most important and influential Jewish
intellectuals of the Enlightenment. This is the first English
translation of his principal work, first published in Berlin in
1790. "Essay on Transcendental Philosophy" presents the first
English translation of Salomon Maimon's principal work, originally
published in Berlin in 1790. This book expresses his response to
the revolution in philosophy wrought by Kant's "Critique of Pure
Reason". Kant himself was full of praise for the book and it went
on to exercise a decisive influence on the course of post-Kantian
German idealism. Yet, despite his importance for the work of such
key thinkers as Fichte, Schelling and Hegel, Maimon never achieved
the prominence he deserved. Today interest in Maimon's work is
increasing rapidly, thanks in large part to prominent acclaim by
Gilles Deleuze. This long-overdue translation brings Maimon's
seminal text to an English-speaking audience for the first time.
The text includes a comprehensive introduction, a glossary,
translator's notes and a full bibliography. It also includes
translations of correspondence between Maimon and Kant and a letter
Maimon wrote to a Berlin journal clarifying the philosophical
position of the Essay, all of which bring alive the context of the
book's publication for the modern reader.
Jean Jacques Rousseau is one of the most important and influential
thinkers of the Enlightenment period and, indeed, of the whole
history of philosophy. His political theory heavily influenced the
French Revolution, development of socialist theory and the growth
of nationalism. Clearly and thematically structured, covering all
Rousseau's key works, Starting with Rousseau leads the reader
through a thorough overview of the development of Rousseau's
thought, resulting in a more thorough understanding of the roots of
his philosophical concerns. Offering coverage of the full range of
Rousseau's ideas, the book firmly sets his work in the context of
the Enlightenment and explores his contributions to social theory,
theories of human nature, philosophy of education, political
philosophy and autobiography. Crucially the book introduces the
major thinkers and events that proved influential in the
development of Rousseau's thought. This is the ideal introduction
for anyone coming to the work of this hugely important thinker for
the first time.
|
|