In this presentation I want to offer some broad observations about the current state of academic
|
|
- Gabriel Atkins
- 5 years ago
- Views:
Transcription
1 Philosophy in the 21 st Century: A Plea for Generalism This is a slightly revised version of an essay presented at the conference Philosophy in the 21 st Century at the University of Pittsburgh, 19 May In this presentation I want to offer some broad observations about the current state of academic philosophy in the Western world, and to argue that work on both sides of the continental/ analytic divide could benefit from a renewed emphasis on generalism in philosophy. This is not intended as a polemic, but as an honest assessment by one philosopher admittedly young and new to professional academic philosophy of the status of the discipline, and as a first rallying cry for a fairly simple change in the way we think of our work. In the hopes of fostering a lively and inclusive discussion, my talk will be informal in tone and assume no specialized philosophical knowledge. What follows is an attempt to address the geography of the discipline as a whole. I. I use the term generalism in contrast to what seem to me to be some problematic but all-too-commonlyheld notions of pluralism in the profession today. I do not mean to imply that all conceptions of pluralism are suspect, or that there is not merit to pluralist conceptions of philosophy or of any other discipline. For my purposes here, however, to advocate mere pluralism in philosophy means to advocate for a wide diversity of stylistic, topical, and methodological approaches to studying philosophy, for the sake of that diversity itself, and without further concern for the meaning or coherence of the discipline as a whole. While pluralism rightly insists on the need for a variety of philosophical interests, methods and approaches, the mere pluralist all too often sees her own role exclusively in terms of providing usually in admirable depth, complexity, and detail the answers to a small subset of philosophical problems germane to her own area of inquiry and her inherited conception of philosophical practice. The pluralist's great faith in the diversity of philosophical thought too often leads her to assume that all other philosophers undertake a parallel enterprise within their own narrow specializations, and that 1
2 the sum total of these different individual enterprises represents an acceptably diverse if internally incoherent definition of philosophy. Generalism, by contrast, while not neglecting the specific foci of one's philosophical training and field(s) of specialization, is marked by its insistence that the question of the relation between different approaches to philosophical methods or problems, the question of the interrelation between the different sorts of problems philosophers address, and the question of what does or should constitute a philosophical problem, should themselves be considered important motivations in the background of all philosophical research, and valuable goals for education and dialogue in the profession. In this sense, while generalism also promotes valuing and appreciating diverse forms of inquiry in the profession, it refuses to advocate diversity in philosophical approaches simply for its own sake. It does not support a variety of viewpoints simply because more is always better, but because of a genuine desire to contribute to the project of understanding the status and role of the discipline as a whole, a whole which, it is hoped, can be more than the sum of its ill-fitting and highly argumentative parts. Advocating a renewal of generalism in philosophy does not entail the insistence that philosophers working in different sub-fields and traditions need agree on the status of the field as a whole, or on the question of progress in philosophy, or about philosophy's relation to other disciplines in the academy or to more general social, scientific and cultural concerns. But it does mean that philosophers must incorporate into their own philosophical practice the question of its relation to other ways of philosophizing. This will involve approaching alien conceptions of philosophy and philosophical practice with a principle of charity, treating them first and foremost as different and potentially informative perspectives on the same amorphous set of issues, and not as wrongheaded approaches to be dismissed on the grounds of one's own presuppositions about the discipline or as competing theories of philosophy to simply be disproved. This plea for generalism is a response to what I take to be the less-than-desirable current state of the discipline. The notion of coherence within academic philosophy has become humorous at best. Even the so-called main branches of Western philosophy in the 20 th century, the continental and the 2
3 analytic, have little or no internal coherence, and one is hard pressed to find a line of demarcation between them acceptable to all involved. But the problem is not that our inquiries, methods, and styles have become too diverse; the problem is that for too long that diversity has been pursued with a wanton lack of concern for the general whole. The story of continental and analytic philosophy in at least the second half of the 20 th century has been one of assumed increasing distance, on the basis of increasingly inaccurate characterizations of the other type of philosophy, such that the standard characterizations of analytic philosophy tacitly accepted by and often actively inculcated into students and young faculty at cutting edge continental philosophy departments bears almost no resemblance to the characterizations of analytic philosophy from those who consider themselves analytic philosophers. And the story is no different in the other direction. So long has the discipline been dominated by the mantra that philosophers from different traditions cannot talk to each other, few now bother even to try. The notion that there may be common ground, and even insight, from those working in a different tradition, has been ignored by a culture of intellectual isolation that prefers to ignore what it does not understand in the name of an accepting pluralism rather than accept the challenge of speaking, writing, and thinking about philosophical topics in ways that may expose us to ideas outside our comfort zones and expose our own ideas to less sympathetic critics. II. One common and obvious objection to this sort of meta-philosophical approach is that, in painting the contemporary philosophical landscape in such broad brush strokes, we so abstract from the intricacies of actual philosophical research that there is nothing interesting or important left to be said. As Scott Soames has noted, in defense of the specialization of analytic philosophers: The value of specialization is that it increases the chances of getting things right in each of the areas to be synthesized something that great philosophers from Plato to Descartes, Hume, and Kant have always recognized. Then there is the matter of quantity. In earlier eras, when it was not obvious that the scope of 3
4 human knowledge far exceeded what could be encompassed by a single mind, the challenge of explaining how everything hung together was not transparently unmanageable. Today when single minds cannot encompass substantial sub areas of any established discipline it is. The solution is not to do badly what cannot be done, but to do well what can to construct a series of limited, but accurate and overlapping, syntheses that together illuminate reality as we know it. This, I argue, is what we should ask of analytic philosophy. 1 There is great insight in Soames' remark: There is value in the specialization of philosophy, and this is a fact that has been recognized both in the history of philosophy and in the present day. And it seems plausible to say that the challenge of explaining how everything hangs together is probably transparently unmanageable in the contemporary philosophical environment. Generalism, as I am using the term here, is not a doctrine opposed to specialization, or to the insight underlying Soames' claim. But if all of our emphases lie on the side of specialization and accuracies, and none on the side of the overlap Soames mentions, then it is unclear what broader purpose such specialization can serve. It is probably true that the goal of explaining how everything hangs together is not possible although Soames may overstate his case in claiming that there were once philosophers who straightforwardly thought it was. But this does not mean that seeking some general insight into the question of how things might hang together, or continuing to be concerned with the status of philosophy as a whole, are objectives to be abandoned. To consider the impossibility of a complete view of the whole of the discipline to be a valid objection to one's work taking account of any generalist concerns whatsoever is to manifest a symptom of the problem: if nothing interesting or important can be gleaned from even attempting to understand the practice and interrelation of different strands of contemporary philosophical inquiry, then the state of the discipline as a whole is a sorry one indeed. A specialist is only a specialist, and the knowledge she purports to have is only of value, when her specialization is a specialization of something: when she understand her inquiry in relation to at least a basic conception of the larger-and more general-whole. This insight is what separates the generalism from mere pluralism as we have used these terms above. 1 Scott Soames, Letter to London Review of Books, Vol. 27 No. 5, 3 March In reply to Richard Rorty, How many grains make a heap?, London Review of Books, Vol. 27 No. 2, 20 January
5 And this also speaks to another obvious objection: That such a focus on generalism in the profession would detract from the highly specialized inquiry through which progress if there is such a thing in philosophy is made. As I suggested above, it seems to me that a renewed focus on generalism in the sense advocated here would not detract from our detailed and often highly specialized research, but rather strengthen it by helping us to situate our own immediate concerns within some notion of the shape of the discipline as a whole, and thereby to recognize possible paths of fruitful cross-pollination that may not be immediately obvious when we categorically refuse to consider the forest because of our ignorance of anything other than the immediately surrounding and most familiar trees. This does not mean that the specialist in contemporary metaphysics needs to pick up a secondary specialization in feminist social thought in her spare time, or that the Derridean should begin submitting highly specialized articles on deconstruction to Synthese and Analysis, but it does mean that each of these areas of inquiry could benefit from a better sense of its relation to the larger whole; that it would be beneficial to all parties if each of us had some map of the conceptual geography of the discipline as a whole and our own location within it, even if those maps do not exactly agree in their center or on all the cartographic details. For in the present state of the discipline philosophers are all too often navigating according to a pre-columbian cartography, according to which we needn't be concerned with the mysterious tales of other types of philosophical practice because they occur in a far off lands which don't concern us and are, according to our own highly limited geographical knowledge of the discipline, somewhere beyond the edges of the philosophical world. If it is indeed the case that some of the most elevated and remote inquiries of the specialist must suffer slightly in order for the expeditious researcher to maintain some view of the larger whole, I say so be it. But I am skeptical that the level of specialization in philosophical research would decrease in significant ways from the taking up of generalist concerns; it seems more likely that islands which once seemed to be the furthest points of the empire, accessible only via one specific and arduous path, will begin to be recognized as points of intersection, serving a variety of philosophical trade routes from a variety of directions in a global not two-dimensional and bounded 5
6 philosophical environment. It is unlikely that sailing into unfamiliar waters will result in falling off the edge of the world. III. The impediments to this more exploratory and generalist conception of philosophy are myriad, but I want to point to a few specific problems which seem to me to be the foremost obstacles in each of the current major continents of Western philosophical discourse: Among continental philosophers, the obsessive focus on historical figures and movements and on textual exegesis often leads us to mistake what is a legitimate and important scholarly concern for the telos of philosophical inquiry, and leads to an unwarranted rejection of figures, methods and issues not perceived to be part of one's favored tradition. Because of the focus on history, much of contemporary continental philosophy has begun to foster an unwarranted suspicion of systematic issues, such that graduate students often go on the job market as disciples of a single figure or historical school, and are not taken seriously by potential employers as philosophers with a legitimate systematic area of specialization. The rejection of systematic considerations may be easy for tenured professors in continental departments who can dismiss such concerns as remnants of the days they still had to worry about pleasing their more analytic teachers and colleagues, but it is still a major concern for graduate students in a difficult academic job market. In analytic philosophy, our focus on methodology and the modeling of philosophical inquiry on that of the sciences likewise legitimate ideals for scholarly activity too often falls into an instrumentalism in which we assume the specialized technical terms and concepts which have come to dominate a given debate to be the only adequate ones, and in which we presume our own contemporary research to function in independence from other areas of philosophy and the broader history of philosophy. In the context of a specialized literature that seems to become outdated every 20 years or so, young analytic philosophers often go on the job market with little detailed knowledge or understanding of 6
7 the broader history of the discipline except perhaps the history of their own specific area of specialization, and even then there is little effort made to understand historical figures or schools in terms other than those currently favored in the philosopher's specialized discourse. This is highly problematic in a job market in which the majority of entry-level positions are still at teaching colleges, most of which wish to maintain a focus on the history of philosophy, and it leads to the self-reinforcing practice of only working among those who share relatively narrow systematic specializations, resulting in further distancing from other aspects of the discipline and from philosophy's history. IV. Finally, I want to conclude by suggesting some more specific ways in which a focus on generalism could be beneficial for philosophy in the 21 st century, both theoretically and practically: At a theoretical level, it would help to foster communication between continental and analytic philosophers, and to address the current problematic situation in which the brightest young minds in the discipline have very little opportunity for (and often disturbingly little interest in) serious philosophical interaction with those of their peers working at institutions presumed to do an entirely different type of philosophy. The problem of not being able to talk to peers at institutions of different philosophical character is self-perpetuating. But in order to encourage such an increase in communication, we will first need to acknowledge that the time such real communication takes might lead to a decrease in publications and other quantifiable measures of academic productivity. Given the current rather extreme environment of publish or perish in many departments, this would probably need to be an approach taken by all, not just by some subset of the philosophical community, since a few individuals taking such steps unaccompanied by the rest of their peers would effectively be punished for their decrease in productivity for specialized outlets of research, in comparison to the work of their colleagues producing more work in isolation. But this is only speculation. At a more practical level, renewed focus on generalism would also be beneficial for the teaching 7
8 of philosophy at the undergraduate level, where students are too often taught philosophy from a perspective which reinforces rather than questions inherited presuppositions about what counts as good philosophy. In the long term, a greater emphasis on generalist concerns in philosophy might also help to promote positive changes in the structure of the academic job market, where narrow department interests and too-simple commitments to mere pluralism effectively limit the pool of potential candidates for a job to those trained at some small subset of graduate programs, and in which the hiring process is increasingly becoming a mechanism by which universities seek out specializations or research agendas rather than widely-trained and deep-thinking philosophers. V. As undergraduates first coming to philosophy, many of us were taught that one of the unique characteristics of the discipline was that it took its own coherence and identity seriously, as questions falling within its own domain of inquiry, in a way that, say, geology or art history did not. This conference is a proof of the continuing importance of that concern. What I am arguing for in this plea for generalism is that, in a sense, the focus of this conference should be a focus reflected in all our philosophical work. As philosophers, we must continue our specialized work but we would do well to do so with an eye and and ear to other developments in the discipline and to our place within it as a whole. In place of a mere pluralism which tolerates but fails to engage other ways of philosophizing, we need a generalism that actively engages them. In this sense the question of the status of philosophy in the 21 st century is not simple, but nor is it a specialized question: It is a very broad, complicated and irreducibly general one, and one that deserves to be asked and asked again for precisely that reason. The future of the discipline may just depend on it. Jacob Rump Emory University 8
A Review of Norm Geisler's Prolegomena
A Review of Norm Geisler's Prolegomena 2017 by A Jacob W. Reinhardt, All Rights Reserved. Copyright holder grants permission to reduplicate article as long as it is not changed. Send further requests to
More informationCare of the Soul: Service-Learning and the Value of the Humanities
[Expositions 2.1 (2008) 007 012] Expositions (print) ISSN 1747-5368 doi:10.1558/expo.v2i1.007 Expositions (online) ISSN 1747-5376 Care of the Soul: Service-Learning and the Value of the Humanities James
More informationTHE ENDURING VALUE OF A CHRISTIAN LIBERAL ARTS EDUCATION
CHRISTIAN RESEARCH INSTITUTE PO Box 8500, Charlotte, NC 28271 Feature Article: JAF4384 THE ENDURING VALUE OF A CHRISTIAN LIBERAL ARTS EDUCATION by Paul J. Maurer This article first appeared in the CHRISTIAN
More informationTHE CHALLENGES FOR EARLY MODERN PHILOSOPHY: EDITORIAL INTRODUCTION 1. Steffen Ducheyne
Philosophica 76 (2005) pp. 5-10 THE CHALLENGES FOR EARLY MODERN PHILOSOPHY: EDITORIAL INTRODUCTION 1 Steffen Ducheyne 1. Introduction to the Current Volume In the volume at hand, I have the honour of appearing
More informationHonours Programme in Philosophy
Honours Programme in Philosophy Honours Programme in Philosophy The Honours Programme in Philosophy is a special track of the Honours Bachelor s programme. It offers students a broad and in-depth introduction
More informationThe Qualiafications (or Lack Thereof) of Epiphenomenal Qualia
Francesca Hovagimian Philosophy of Psychology Professor Dinishak 5 March 2016 The Qualiafications (or Lack Thereof) of Epiphenomenal Qualia In his essay Epiphenomenal Qualia, Frank Jackson makes the case
More informationRECENT WORK THE MINIMAL DEFINITION AND METHODOLOGY OF COMPARATIVE PHILOSOPHY: A REPORT FROM A CONFERENCE STEPHEN C. ANGLE
Comparative Philosophy Volume 1, No. 1 (2010): 106-110 Open Access / ISSN 2151-6014 www.comparativephilosophy.org RECENT WORK THE MINIMAL DEFINITION AND METHODOLOGY OF COMPARATIVE PHILOSOPHY: A REPORT
More informationTwo Kinds of Ends in Themselves in Kant s Moral Theory
Western University Scholarship@Western 2015 Undergraduate Awards The Undergraduate Awards 2015 Two Kinds of Ends in Themselves in Kant s Moral Theory David Hakim Western University, davidhakim266@gmail.com
More informationWorld Religions. These subject guidelines should be read in conjunction with the Introduction, Outline and Details all essays sections of this guide.
World Religions These subject guidelines should be read in conjunction with the Introduction, Outline and Details all essays sections of this guide. Overview Extended essays in world religions provide
More informationPHILOSOPHY (PHIL) Philosophy (PHIL) 1
Philosophy (PHIL) 1 PHILOSOPHY (PHIL) PHIL 101 Introduction to Philosophy (3 crs) An introduction to philosophy through exploration of philosophical problems (e.g., the nature of knowledge, the nature
More informationIntroduction to Philosophy
Introduction to Philosophy As soon as Sophie had closed the gate behind her she opened the envelope. It contained only a slip of paper no bigger than envelope. It read: Who are you? Nothing else, only
More informationRobert Kiely Office Hours: Monday 4:15 6:00; Wednesday 1-3; Thursday 2-3
A History of Philosophy: Nature, Certainty, and the Self Fall, 2014 Robert Kiely oldstuff@imsa.edu Office Hours: Monday 4:15 6:00; Wednesday 1-3; Thursday 2-3 Description How do we know what we know? Epistemology,
More informationSection 1 of chapter 1 of The Moral Sense advances the thesis that we have a
Extracting Morality from the Moral Sense Scott Soames Character and the Moral Sense: James Q. Wilson and the Future of Public Policy February 28, 2014 Wilburn Auditorium Pepperdine University Malibu, California
More informationMODELS CLARIFIED: RESPONDING TO LANGDON GILKEY. by David E. Klemm and William H. Klink
MODELS CLARIFIED: RESPONDING TO LANGDON GILKEY by David E. Klemm and William H. Klink Abstract. We respond to concerns raised by Langdon Gilkey. The discussion addresses the nature of theological thinking
More informationPhilosophical Issues, vol. 8 (1997), pp
Philosophical Issues, vol. 8 (1997), pp. 313-323. Different Kinds of Kind Terms: A Reply to Sosa and Kim 1 by Geoffrey Sayre-McCord University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill In "'Good' on Twin Earth"
More informationBriggle, Adam; and Robert Frodeman. Thinking À La Carte. Social Epistemology Review and Reply Collective 7, no. 6 (2018): 8-11.
http://social-epistemology.com ISSN: 2471-9560 Thinking À La Carte Adam Briggle and Robert Frodeman, University of North Texas Briggle, Adam; and Robert Frodeman. Thinking À La Carte. Social Epistemology
More informationDave Elder-Vass Of Babies and Bathwater. A Review of Tuukka Kaidesoja Naturalizing Critical Realist Social Ontology
Journal of Social Ontology 2015; 1(2): 327 331 Book Symposium Open Access Dave Elder-Vass Of Babies and Bathwater. A Review of Tuukka Kaidesoja Naturalizing Critical Realist Social Ontology DOI 10.1515/jso-2014-0029
More informationCoordination Problems
Philosophy and Phenomenological Research Philosophy and Phenomenological Research Vol. LXXXI No. 2, September 2010 Ó 2010 Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, LLC Coordination Problems scott soames
More informationKant and his Successors
Kant and his Successors G. J. Mattey Winter, 2011 / Philosophy 151 The Sorry State of Metaphysics Kant s Critique of Pure Reason (1781) was an attempt to put metaphysics on a scientific basis. Metaphysics
More informationUnderstanding Truth Scott Soames Précis Philosophy and Phenomenological Research Volume LXV, No. 2, 2002
1 Symposium on Understanding Truth By Scott Soames Précis Philosophy and Phenomenological Research Volume LXV, No. 2, 2002 2 Precis of Understanding Truth Scott Soames Understanding Truth aims to illuminate
More informationAnswers to Five Questions
Answers to Five Questions In Philosophy of Action: 5 Questions, Aguilar, J & Buckareff, A (eds.) London: Automatic Press. Joshua Knobe [For a volume in which a variety of different philosophers were each
More informationINTELLECTUAL HUMILITY AND THE LIMITS OF CONCEPTUAL REPRESENTATION
INTELLECTUAL HUMILITY AND THE LIMITS OF CONCEPTUAL REPRESENTATION Thomas Hofweber Abstract: This paper investigates the connection of intellectual humility to a somewhat neglected form of a limitation
More informationFaculty of Philosophy. Double Degree with Philosophy
Faculty of Philosophy Double Degree with Philosophy 2018-2019 Welcome The Faculty of Philosophy offers highly motivated students the challenge to explore questions beyond the borders of their own discipline
More informationShafer-Landau's defense against Blackburn's supervenience argument
University of Gothenburg Department of Philosophy, Linguistics and Theory of Science Shafer-Landau's defense against Blackburn's supervenience argument Author: Anna Folland Supervisor: Ragnar Francén Olinder
More informationThe title of this collection of essays is a question that I expect many professional philosophers have
What is Philosophy? C.P. Ragland and Sarah Heidt, eds. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2001, vii + 196pp., $38.00 h.c. 0-300-08755-1, $18.00 pbk. 0-300-08794-2 CHRISTINA HENDRICKS The title
More informationPHILOSOPHY (413) Chairperson: David Braden-Johnson, Ph.D.
PHILOSOPHY (413) 662-5399 Chairperson: David Braden-Johnson, Ph.D. Email: D.Johnson@mcla.edu PROGRAMS AVAILABLE BACHELOR OF ARTS IN PHILOSOPHY CONCENTRATION IN LAW, ETHICS, AND SOCIETY PHILOSOPHY MINOR
More information-- did you get a message welcoming you to the cours reflector? If not, please correct what s needed.
1 -- did you get a message welcoming you to the coursemail reflector? If not, please correct what s needed. 2 -- don t use secondary material from the web, as its quality is variable; cf. Wikipedia. Check
More informationSYSTEMATIC RESEARCH IN PHILOSOPHY. Contents
UNIT 1 SYSTEMATIC RESEARCH IN PHILOSOPHY Contents 1.1 Introduction 1.2 Research in Philosophy 1.3 Philosophical Method 1.4 Tools of Research 1.5 Choosing a Topic 1.1 INTRODUCTION Everyone who seeks knowledge
More informationxiv Truth Without Objectivity
Introduction There is a certain approach to theorizing about language that is called truthconditional semantics. The underlying idea of truth-conditional semantics is often summarized as the idea that
More informationReligious Studies. Name: Institution: Course: Date:
Running head: RELIGIOUS STUDIES Religious Studies Name: Institution: Course: Date: RELIGIOUS STUDIES 2 Abstract In this brief essay paper, we aim to critically analyze the question: Given that there are
More informationPhilosophy of Economics and Politics
Philosophy of Economics and Politics Lecture I, 12 October 2015 Julian Reiss Agenda for today What this module aims to achieve What is philosophy of economics and politics and why should we care? Overview
More informationDO WE NEED A THEORY OF METAPHYSICAL COMPOSITION?
1 DO WE NEED A THEORY OF METAPHYSICAL COMPOSITION? ROBERT C. OSBORNE DRAFT (02/27/13) PLEASE DO NOT CITE WITHOUT PERMISSION I. Introduction Much of the recent work in contemporary metaphysics has been
More informationFull file at
Chapter 1 What is Philosophy? Summary Chapter 1 introduces students to main issues and branches of philosophy. The chapter begins with a basic definition of philosophy. Philosophy is an activity, and addresses
More informationTempleton Fellowships at the NDIAS
Templeton Fellowships at the NDIAS Pursuing the Unity of Knowledge: Integrating Religion, Science, and the Academic Disciplines With grant support from the John Templeton Foundation, the NDIAS will help
More informationAquinas on the Beginning and End of Human Life
136 International Journal of Orthodox Theology 6:3 (2015) urn:nbn:de:0276-2015-3106 Fabrizio Amerini Review: Aquinas on the Beginning and End of Human Life Translate by Mark Henninger Cambridge, Massachusetts,
More informationKantian Humility and Ontological Categories Sam Cowling University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Kantian Humility and Ontological Categories Sam Cowling University of Massachusetts, Amherst [Forthcoming in Analysis. Penultimate Draft. Cite published version.] Kantian Humility holds that agents like
More informationA-LEVEL Religious Studies
A-LEVEL Religious Studies RST3B Paper 3B Philosophy of Religion Mark Scheme 2060 June 2017 Version: 1.0 Final Mark schemes are prepared by the Lead Assessment Writer and considered, together with the relevant
More informationELEONORE STUMP PENELHUM ON SKEPTICS AND FIDEISTS
ELEONORE STUMP PENELHUM ON SKEPTICS AND FIDEISTS ABSTRACT. Professor Penelhum has argued that there is a common error about the history of skepticism and that the exposure of this error would significantly
More informationMitt Romney, BYU, and Abortion Rights
Utah Valley University From the SelectedWorks of Scott Abbott October 27, 2002 Mitt Romney, BYU, and Abortion Rights Scott Abbott, Utah Valley University Available at: https://works.bepress.com/scott_abbott/46/
More information1/12. The A Paralogisms
1/12 The A Paralogisms The character of the Paralogisms is described early in the chapter. Kant describes them as being syllogisms which contain no empirical premises and states that in them we conclude
More informationA CRITICAL INTRODUCTION TO RELIGION IN THE AMERICAS
A CRITICAL INTRODUCTION TO RELIGION IN THE AMERICAS INSTRUCTOR'S GUIDE A Critical Introduction to Religion in the Americas argues that we cannot understand religion in the Americas without understanding
More informationThe Third Path: Gustavus Adolphus College and the Lutheran Tradition
1 The Third Path: Gustavus Adolphus College and the Lutheran Tradition by Darrell Jodock The topic of the church-related character of a college has two dimensions. One is external; it has to do with the
More informationReview of Constructive Empiricism: Epistemology and the Philosophy of Science
Review of Constructive Empiricism: Epistemology and the Philosophy of Science Constructive Empiricism (CE) quickly became famous for its immunity from the most devastating criticisms that brought down
More informationResponse to Gavin Flood, "Reflections on Tradition and Inquiry in the Study of Religion"
Response to Gavin Flood, "Reflections on Tradition and Inquiry in the Study of Religion" Nancy Levene Journal of the American Academy of Religion, Volume 74, Number 1, March 2006, pp. 59-63 (Article) Published
More informationGraduate Studies in Theology
Graduate Studies in Theology Overview Mission At Whitworth, we seek to produce Christ-centered, well-educated, spiritually disciplined, and visionary leaders for the church and society. Typically, students
More information1 Hans Jonas, The Imperative of Responsibility: In Search of an Ethics for the Technological Age (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1984), 1-10.
Introduction This book seeks to provide a metaethical analysis of the responsibility ethics of two of its prominent defenders: H. Richard Niebuhr and Emmanuel Levinas. In any ethical writings, some use
More informationchange the rules, regulations, and the infrastructure of their environments to try and
Jung Kim Professor Wendy Cadge, Margaret Clendenen SOC 129a 05/06/16 Religious Diversity at Brandeis Introduction As the United States becomes more and more religiously diverse, many institutions change
More informationCosmopolitan Theory and the Daily Pluralism of Life
Chapter 8 Cosmopolitan Theory and the Daily Pluralism of Life Tariq Ramadan D rawing on my own experience, I will try to connect the world of philosophy and academia with the world in which people live
More information[MJTM 17 ( )] BOOK REVIEW
[MJTM 17 (2015 2016)] BOOK REVIEW Paul M. Gould and Richard Brian Davis, eds. Four Views on Christianity and Philosophy. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2016. 240 pp. Pbk. ISBN 978-0-31052-114-3. $19.99 Paul
More informationA Framework for the Good
A Framework for the Good Kevin Kinghorn University of Notre Dame Press Notre Dame, Indiana Introduction The broad goals of this book are twofold. First, the book offers an analysis of the good : the meaning
More informationBeyond Tolerance An Interview on Religious Pluralism with Victor Kazanjian
VOLUME 3, ISSUE 4 AUGUST 2007 Beyond Tolerance An Interview on Religious Pluralism with Victor Kazanjian Recently, Leslie M. Schwartz interviewed Victor Kazanjian about his experience developing at atmosphere
More informationSummary Kooij.indd :14
Summary The main objectives of this PhD research are twofold. The first is to give a precise analysis of the concept worldview in education to gain clarity on how the educational debate about religious
More informationSemantic Foundations for Deductive Methods
Semantic Foundations for Deductive Methods delineating the scope of deductive reason Roger Bishop Jones Abstract. The scope of deductive reason is considered. First a connection is discussed between the
More informationPrentice Hall U.S. History Modern America 2013
A Correlation of Prentice Hall U.S. History 2013 A Correlation of, 2013 Table of Contents Grades 9-10 Reading Standards for... 3 Writing Standards for... 9 Grades 11-12 Reading Standards for... 15 Writing
More informationSaving the Substratum: Interpreting Kant s First Analogy
Res Cogitans Volume 5 Issue 1 Article 20 6-4-2014 Saving the Substratum: Interpreting Kant s First Analogy Kevin Harriman Lewis & Clark College Follow this and additional works at: http://commons.pacificu.edu/rescogitans
More informationwhat makes reasons sufficient?
Mark Schroeder University of Southern California August 2, 2010 what makes reasons sufficient? This paper addresses the question: what makes reasons sufficient? and offers the answer, being at least as
More informationAcademic Council. Minutes of the Meeting of the Academic Council Thursday, March 24, (Minutes approved by voice vote without dissent)
Academic Council 012 Allen Building Campus Box 90928 Phone: (919) 684-6447 FAX: (919) 684-9171 E-mail: acouncil@duke.edu Minutes of the Meeting of the Academic Council Thursday, March 24, 2016 Nan Jokerst
More informationRationalism. A. He, like others at the time, was obsessed with questions of truth and doubt
Rationalism I. Descartes (1596-1650) A. He, like others at the time, was obsessed with questions of truth and doubt 1. How could one be certain in the absence of religious guidance and trustworthy senses
More informationIntroductory Kant Seminar Lecture
Introductory Kant Seminar Lecture Intentionality It is not unusual to begin a discussion of Kant with a brief review of some history of philosophy. What is perhaps less usual is to start with a review
More informationReviewed by Colin Marshall, University of Washington
Yitzhak Y. Melamed, Spinoza s Metaphysics: Substance and Thought, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013, xxii + 232 p. Reviewed by Colin Marshall, University of Washington I n his important new study of
More informationPostscript to Plenitude of Possible Structures (2016)
Postscript to Plenitude of Possible Structures (2016) The principle of plenitude for possible structures (PPS) that I endorsed tells us what structures are instantiated at possible worlds, but not what
More informationPrentice Hall United States History Survey Edition 2013
A Correlation of Prentice Hall Survey Edition 2013 Table of Contents Grades 9-10 Reading Standards... 3 Writing Standards... 10 Grades 11-12 Reading Standards... 18 Writing Standards... 25 2 Reading Standards
More informationComments on Scott Soames, Philosophical Analysis in the Twentieth Century, volume I
Comments on Scott Soames, Philosophical Analysis in the Twentieth Century, volume I (APA Pacific 2006, Author meets critics) Christopher Pincock (pincock@purdue.edu) December 2, 2005 (20 minutes, 2803
More informationThe Middle Path: A Case for the Philosophical Theologian. Leo Strauss roots the vitality of Western civilization in the ongoing conflict between
Lee Anne Detzel PHI 8338 Revised: November 1, 2004 The Middle Path: A Case for the Philosophical Theologian Leo Strauss roots the vitality of Western civilization in the ongoing conflict between philosophy
More informationHow Trustworthy is the Bible? (1) Written by Cornelis Pronk
Higher Criticism of the Bible is not a new phenomenon but a problem that has plagued the church for over a century and a-half. Spawned by the anti-supernatural spirit of the eighteenth century movement,
More informationWell-Being, Disability, and the Mere-Difference Thesis. Jennifer Hawkins Duke University
This paper is in the very early stages of development. Large chunks are still simply detailed outlines. I can, of course, fill these in verbally during the session, but I apologize in advance for its current
More informationTo Provoke or to Encourage? - Combining Both within the Same Methodology
To Provoke or to Encourage? - Combining Both within the Same Methodology ILANA MAYMIND Doctoral Candidate in Comparative Studies College of Humanities Can one's teaching be student nurturing and at the
More informationAre There Reasons to Be Rational?
Are There Reasons to Be Rational? Olav Gjelsvik, University of Oslo The thesis. Among people writing about rationality, few people are more rational than Wlodek Rabinowicz. But are there reasons for being
More information1. What is Philosophy?
[Welcome to the first handout of your Introduction to Philosophy Mooc! This handout is designed to complement the video lecture by giving you a written summary of the key points covered in the videos.
More informationThe Critical Mind is A Questioning Mind
criticalthinking.org http://www.criticalthinking.org/pages/the-critical-mind-is-a-questioning-mind/481 The Critical Mind is A Questioning Mind Learning How to Ask Powerful, Probing Questions Introduction
More informationOn The Logical Status of Dialectic (*) -Historical Development of the Argument in Japan- Shigeo Nagai Naoki Takato
On The Logical Status of Dialectic (*) -Historical Development of the Argument in Japan- Shigeo Nagai Naoki Takato 1 The term "logic" seems to be used in two different ways. One is in its narrow sense;
More informationExcerpt from J. Garvey, The Twenty Greatest Philosophy Books (Continuum, 2007): Immanuel Kant s Critique of Pure Reason
Excerpt from J. Garvey, The Twenty Greatest Philosophy Books (Continuum, 2007): Immanuel Kant s Critique of Pure Reason In a letter to Moses Mendelssohn, Kant says this about the Critique of Pure Reason:
More informationIntroduction to Technical Communications 21W.732 Section 2 Ethics in Science and Technology Formal Paper #2
Introduction to Technical Communications 21W.732 Section 2 Ethics in Science and Technology Formal Paper #2 Since its inception in the 1970s, stem cell research has been a complicated and controversial
More informationOctober 26-28, 2017 Harvard Divinity School Cambridge, MA CALL FOR PAPERS
45 FRANCIS AVENUE, CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS 02138 Ways of Knowing 2017 6 th Annual Graduate Conference on Religion at Harvard Divinity School October 26-28, 2017 Harvard Divinity School Cambridge, MA CALL
More informationHåkan Salwén. Hume s Law: An Essay on Moral Reasoning Lorraine Besser-Jones Volume 31, Number 1, (2005) 177-180. Your use of the HUME STUDIES archive indicates your acceptance of HUME STUDIES Terms and
More informationGUIDELINES FOR ESTABLISHING AN INTERFAITH STUDIES PROGRAM ON A UNIVERSITY OR COLLEGE CAMPUS
GUIDELINES FOR ESTABLISHING AN INTERFAITH STUDIES PROGRAM ON A UNIVERSITY OR COLLEGE CAMPUS In this document, American religious scholar, Dr. Nathan Kollar, outlines the issues involved in establishing
More informationIn Search of a Political Ethics of Intersubjectivity: Between Hannah Arendt, Emmanuel Levinas and the Judaic
Ausgabe 1, Band 4 Mai 2008 In Search of a Political Ethics of Intersubjectivity: Between Hannah Arendt, Emmanuel Levinas and the Judaic Anna Topolski My dissertation explores the possibility of an approach
More informationPARTICIPATIO: JOURNAL OF THE THOMAS F. TORRANCE THEOLOGICAL FELLOWSHIP
ELMER M. COLYER, Ph.D. Professor of Historical Theology, Stanley Professor of Wesley Studies University of Dubuque Theological Seminary ecolyer@dbq.edu During the spring of my senior year in high school
More informationAyer on the criterion of verifiability
Ayer on the criterion of verifiability November 19, 2004 1 The critique of metaphysics............................. 1 2 Observation statements............................... 2 3 In principle verifiability...............................
More informationOTTAWA ONLINE PHL Basic Issues in Philosophy
OTTAWA ONLINE PHL-11023 Basic Issues in Philosophy Course Description Introduces nature and purpose of philosophical reflection. Emphasis on questions concerning metaphysics, epistemology, religion, ethics,
More informationAspects of Western Philosophy Dr. Sreekumar Nellickappilly Department of Humanities and Social Sciences Indian Institute of Technology, Madras
Aspects of Western Philosophy Dr. Sreekumar Nellickappilly Department of Humanities and Social Sciences Indian Institute of Technology, Madras Module - 22 Lecture - 22 Kant The idea of Reason Soul, God
More informationVerificationism. PHIL September 27, 2011
Verificationism PHIL 83104 September 27, 2011 1. The critique of metaphysics... 1 2. Observation statements... 2 3. In principle verifiability... 3 4. Strong verifiability... 3 4.1. Conclusive verifiability
More informationAdapted from The Academic Essay: A Brief Anatomy, for the Writing Center at Harvard University by Gordon Harvey. Counter-Argument
Adapted from The Academic Essay: A Brief Anatomy, for the Writing Center at Harvard University by Gordon Harvey Counter-Argument When you write an academic essay, you make an argument: you propose a thesis
More informationGREAT PHILOSOPHERS: Thomas Reid ( ) Peter West 25/09/18
GREAT PHILOSOPHERS: Thomas Reid (1710-1796) Peter West 25/09/18 Some context Aristotle (384-322 BCE) Lucretius (c. 99-55 BCE) Thomas Reid (1710-1796 AD) 400 BCE 0 Much of (Western) scholastic philosophy
More informationUniwersytet Papieski Jana Pawła II w Krakowie
Recension of The Doctoral Dissertation of Mr. Piotr Józef Kubasiak In response to the convocation of the Dean of the Faculty of Catholic Theology at the University of Vienna, I present my opinion on the
More informationThe EMC Masterpiece Series, Literature and the Language Arts
Correlation of The EMC Masterpiece Series, Literature and the Language Arts Grades 6-12, World Literature (2001 copyright) to the Massachusetts Learning Standards EMCParadigm Publishing 875 Montreal Way
More informationPROSPECTS FOR A JAMESIAN EXPRESSIVISM 1 JEFF KASSER
PROSPECTS FOR A JAMESIAN EXPRESSIVISM 1 JEFF KASSER In order to take advantage of Michael Slater s presence as commentator, I want to display, as efficiently as I am able, some major similarities and differences
More informationPHILOSOPHY. Chair: Karánn Durland (Fall 2018) and Mark Hébert (Spring 2019) Emeritus: Roderick Stewart
PHILOSOPHY Chair: Karánn Durland (Fall 2018) and Mark Hébert (Spring 2019) Emeritus: Roderick Stewart The mission of the program is to help students develop interpretive, analytical and reflective skills
More informationMust We Choose between Real Nietzsche and Good Philosophy? A Streitschrift Tom Stern, University College London
Must We Choose between Real Nietzsche and Good Philosophy? A Streitschrift Tom Stern, University College London When I began writing about Nietzsche, working within an Anglophone philosophy department,
More informationFifty Years of History of Philosophy 50 th Chapel Hill Colloquium Don Garrett
Fifty Years of History of Philosophy 50 th Chapel Hill Colloquium Don Garrett When I was asked to speak briefly about the last fifty years of the history of philosophy, my first thought was: Sure just
More informationHoltzman Spring Philosophy and the Integration of Knowledge
Holtzman Spring 2000 Philosophy and the Integration of Knowledge What is synthetic or integrative thinking? Of course, to integrate is to bring together to unify, to tie together or connect, to make a
More informationUNDERGRADUATE STUDIES CERTIFICATE IN PHILOSOPHY (CERTIFICATES)
UNDERGRADUATE STUDIES GENERAL INFORMATION The Certificate in Philosophy is an independent undergraduate program comprising 24 credits, leading to a diploma, or undergraduate certificate, approved by the
More information1 What is conceptual analysis and what is the problem?
1 What is conceptual analysis and what is the problem? 1.1 What is conceptual analysis? In this book, I am going to defend the viability of conceptual analysis as a philosophical method. It therefore seems
More informationReflections on Mike Breen s Why the Missional Movement Will Fail
Reflections on Mike Breen s Why the Missional Movement Will Fail Original article and link to second article: http://www.vergenetwork.org/2011/09/14/mike-breen-why-themissional-movement-will-fail/ Link
More informationTHE MORAL FIXED POINTS: REPLY TO CUNEO AND SHAFER-LANDAU
DISCUSSION NOTE THE MORAL FIXED POINTS: REPLY TO CUNEO AND SHAFER-LANDAU BY STEPHEN INGRAM JOURNAL OF ETHICS & SOCIAL PHILOSOPHY DISCUSSION NOTE FEBRUARY 2015 URL: WWW.JESP.ORG COPYRIGHT STEPHEN INGRAM
More informationTaoist and Confucian Contributions to Harmony in East Asia: Christians in dialogue with Confucian Thought and Taoist Spirituality.
Taoist and Confucian Contributions to Harmony in East Asia: Christians in dialogue with Confucian Thought and Taoist Spirituality. Final Statement 1. INTRODUCTION Between 15-19 April 1996, 52 participants
More informationK.V. LAURIKAINEN EXTENDING THE LIMITS OF SCIENCE
K.V. LAURIKAINEN EXTENDING THE LIMITS OF SCIENCE Tarja Kallio-Tamminen Contents Abstract My acquintance with K.V. Laurikainen Various flavours of Copenhagen What proved to be wrong Revelations of quantum
More informationOSSA Conference Archive OSSA 5
University of Windsor Scholarship at UWindsor OSSA Conference Archive OSSA 5 May 14th, 9:00 AM - May 17th, 5:00 PM Commentary pm Krabbe Dale Jacquette Follow this and additional works at: http://scholar.uwindsor.ca/ossaarchive
More informationAn Easy Model for Doing Bible Exegesis: A Guide for Inexperienced Leaders and Teachers By Bob Young
An Easy Model for Doing Bible Exegesis: A Guide for Inexperienced Leaders and Teachers By Bob Young Introduction This booklet is written for the Bible student who is just beginning to learn the process
More informationSpinoza and Spinozism. By STUART HAMPSHIRE. (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 2005.
Spinoza and Spinozism. By STUART HAMPSHIRE. (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 2005. Pp. lviii + 206. Price 40.00.) Studies of Spinoza, both scholarly and introductory, have abounded in the 54 years since the publication
More information