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Collection of Certainties

Krishnachandra Bhattacharyya

in Implications of the Philosophy of Kant: Kantadarsaner Tatparyya

This chapter briefly discusses judgment, which ascertains the qualifiers of an object. It relates Bhattacharyya's opinion on reverential contemplation, and emphasises that the relation found in moral ... More

This chapter briefly discusses judgment, which ascertains the qualifiers of an object. It relates Bhattacharyya's opinion on reverential contemplation, and emphasises that the relation found in moral judgments is only an increase of the knowledge of the self, which in turn serves as the Implication of Kantian philosophy. This chapter determines that a study of certitudes is a development of judgment as reverence and knowledge of the self as willing. It notes that while this development is not synthetic, it still serves as only an analysis of knowledge of the self. It also discusses the concepts of schematic judgment (where belief in the quantitative nature is not necessarily included in the belief in objecthood) and analytic judgment (where the predicate is adjectival or is a noun).Less

Struggles over Epistemology: The Religious A Priori

Mark D. Chapman

in Ernst Troeltsch and Liberal Theology: Religion and Cultural Synthesis in Wilhelmine Germany

This chapter examines the use of Kantian philosophy in theology which took hold with the revived interest in things Kantian in Germany following the centenary of 1904. The principal theme that ... More

This chapter examines the use of Kantian philosophy in theology which took hold with the revived interest in things Kantian in Germany following the centenary of 1904. The principal theme that dominated the philosophical debate of theologians during the first decades of the 20th century was the notion of ‘religious a priori’. This chapter discusses the views of leading theologians of the period on this issue, including Ernst Troeltsch, E.W. Mayer, and Wilhelm Herrmann.Less

Wilhelm Herrmann and the Philosophical Isolation of Christianity

Mark D. Chapman

in Ernst Troeltsch and Liberal Theology: Religion and Cultural Synthesis in Wilhelmine Germany

This chapter examines how systematic theology professor Wilhelm Herrmann developed a theological system based on a form of Kantian epistemology. Kantian philosophy provided Herrmann the context in ... More

This chapter examines how systematic theology professor Wilhelm Herrmann developed a theological system based on a form of Kantian epistemology. Kantian philosophy provided Herrmann the context in which to justify his rigorous distinction between the realms of faith and science. He used Kantian philosophy in defence of Christianity against its materialist and monist opponents in the early years of the 20th century. Herrmann was also influenced by Hermann Cohen, his colleague and a Jewish neo-Kantian philosopher.Less

Introduction

Thomas Ryckman

in The Reign of Relativity: Philosophy in Physics 1915-1925

The general theory of relativity (GTR) brought a revolutionary transformation in philosophical as well as physical outlook. The philosopher Mortiz Schick, student of Max Planck, played a pivotal role ... More

The general theory of relativity (GTR) brought a revolutionary transformation in philosophical as well as physical outlook. The philosopher Mortiz Schick, student of Max Planck, played a pivotal role in fashioning the received view that GTR implied the untenability of any type of Kantian philosophy. Schlick’s assessment ignored the philosophically motivated contributions to GTR by Hermann Weyl and Arthur Eddington. Paul Dirac in 1931 recognized the significance of a new method of a priori mathematical speculation in theoretical physics, tying it to Eddington (and to Weyl).Less

Logic

Nicholas Griffin

in Russell’s Idealist Apprenticeship

This chapter discusses Russell's attempts to fashion a Kantian philosophy of pure mathematics where the concept of quantity played a central role. The chapter also introduces another of Russell's ... More

This chapter discusses Russell's attempts to fashion a Kantian philosophy of pure mathematics where the concept of quantity played a central role. The chapter also introduces another of Russell's work, ‘An Analysis of Mathematical Reasoning’.Less

Kant, Materialism, and Theology

Mark D. Chapman

in Ernst Troeltsch and Liberal Theology: Religion and Cultural Synthesis in Wilhelmine Germany

This chapter examines how the disputes which dominated the theological arena in Germany were mirrored in the philosophical debates with which many theologians were occupied in the first decades of ... More

This chapter examines how the disputes which dominated the theological arena in Germany were mirrored in the philosophical debates with which many theologians were occupied in the first decades of the 20th century. These disputes include questions about the extent to which religion was sui generis and the extent to which it shared its epistemology with other forms of knowledge. This chapter discusses the theological appropriation of Kantian philosophy by post-Ritschlian theologians, the materialistic or naturalistic philosophy of Ernst Haeckel, and Ernst Troeltsch's criticism on Haeckel's gospel of monism.Less

Introduction

in The Equivocation of Reason: Kleist Reading Kant

This introductory chapter begins with a brief description of two letters, both written in March 1801, that reflect the Kant crisis that generated such varied responses in the literature on Kleist. It ... More

This introductory chapter begins with a brief description of two letters, both written in March 1801, that reflect the Kant crisis that generated such varied responses in the literature on Kleist. It then presents a reading of Kant that prepares the way for a number of claims relating to Kleist. In particular, it discusses Kantian and Kleistian conceptions of truth and reason.Less

Beyond the Living and the Dead: On Post-Kantian Philosophy as Historical Appropriation

Karl Ameriks

in Kantian Subjects: Critical Philosophy and Late Modernity

This chapter is about the philosophical use of history, especially as practiced in post-Kantian philosophy. It expands on the author’s earlier books, which have argued that philosophy has become most ... More

This chapter is about the philosophical use of history, especially as practiced in post-Kantian philosophy. It expands on the author’s earlier books, which have argued that philosophy has become most valuable recently when it has made an historical turn. It has focused on its own history through critical appropriation, which is forward looking and contrasts with either sticking with the “mere living” or just turning back to, or simply forgetting, the “dead.” The chapter argues that while some Hegelian approaches, such as Robert Brandom’s recent work, practice something like this approach, they also suffer from a lack of appreciation for other strands in post-Kantian thought, especially Early German Romanticism, and they offer a Hegelian approach to history that is not sufficiently radical in its understanding of change and autonomy. It contrasts systematic Idealist with Romantic approaches to history, and defends the latter while noting similarities between Bernard Williams’s work and the Romantics.Less

Introduction to an Extended Era

Karl Ameriks

in Kantian Subjects: Critical Philosophy and Late Modernity

In addition to outlining the chapters that follow, this introduction distinguishes three relevant meanings attached to the notion of “Kantian subjects.” The first meaning concerns the fact that a ... More

In addition to outlining the chapters that follow, this introduction distinguishes three relevant meanings attached to the notion of “Kantian subjects.” The first meaning concerns the fact that a number of subjects, in the sense of a wide range of topics, are worthy of contemporary study on account of Kant’s Critical philosophy in general. The second meaning concerns the more specific point that Kant’s Critical philosophy has a specific conception of being a subject, one which deserves close examination and defense. The third meaning concerns that fact that in the wake of the development of post-Kantian philosophy there has developed a general cultural notion of what it is to be a subject in the era after Kant’s, that is, the late modern period. A new conception of philosophical methodology and historical self-consciousness arises in this context.Less

On the Transcendental Import of Kelsen's Basic Norm *

Gerhard Luf

in Normativity and Norms: Critical Perspectives on Kelsenian Themes

In the enquiry into the import and function of the basic norm in Hans Kelsen's legal theory, the interpretations of special interest are those dealing with the notion of the basic norm as the ... More

In the enquiry into the import and function of the basic norm in Hans Kelsen's legal theory, the interpretations of special interest are those dealing with the notion of the basic norm as the ‘logico-transcendental’ condition for cognition in legal science, or with the relation of Kelsen's juridico-scientific method to Kant's practice philosophy. Two thinkers in particular have written along these lines, Norbert Leser and Ralf Dreier, respectively. This chapter begins by describing the positions taken up by the two authors. It then asks, whether in terms of Leser's thesis, it is in fact possible to maintain the notion of the transcendental character of the basic norm. It then turns to Dreier's suggested reinterpretation of the basic norm by appeal to the law of reason, examining the suggestion from the point of view of Kant's philosophy.Less

The limits of expression

Graham Priest

in Beyond the Limits of Thought

This chapter examines how the limits of expression or limits of the inexpressible, one of the four limits of thought, arose in pre-Kantian philosophy. It explains three reasons for assuming that ... More

This chapter examines how the limits of expression or limits of the inexpressible, one of the four limits of thought, arose in pre-Kantian philosophy. It explains three reasons for assuming that there are features of the world that transcend language. Good examples of these features are the ones that might be thought to constitute ultimate reality, such as the fundamental matter or God. This chapter analyses these two things based on Aristotle's account of prime matter and Nicholas Cusanus' account of God. It also discusses Cratylus' view of the flux of meaning.Less

Conclusions

Andrew Millie

in Philosophical Criminology

In this chapter the place of a philosophical criminology is considered. Criminology is an inter-disciplinary enterprise and, as such, it makes sense for criminologists to engage with other ... More

In this chapter the place of a philosophical criminology is considered. Criminology is an inter-disciplinary enterprise and, as such, it makes sense for criminologists to engage with other disciplines such as philosophy that have for centuries attempted to answer questions of importance to criminology. By engaging with philosophy, this book has demonstrated that textbook histories of criminological thought only present a partial picture of ideas central to criminological understanding. This concluding chapter reflects on the previous seven chapters and assesses the usefulness of a philosophical approach to criminology. There is particular emphasis on Kantian philosophy, especially regarding human dignity. Relatedly, the book has drawn on ideas concerning the Golden Rule and Paul Ricoeur’s (1990) work on Christian theology and an ‘economy of gift.’ Building on the common theme of dignity, respect and the economy of gift, the previous chapters consider the possibility of an empathetic criminology. This chapter concludes by reflecting on these chapter individually and on the merits of a philosophical criminology.Less

Introduction

Paul Schofield

in Duty to Self: Moral, Political, and Legal Self-Relation

This chapter introduces the concept of duties to the self, situating it within our everyday thought and talk, as well as within the history of moral philosophy. Contemporary dismissals of self-duty ... More

This chapter introduces the concept of duties to the self, situating it within our everyday thought and talk, as well as within the history of moral philosophy. Contemporary dismissals of self-duty are discussed, as are contemporary Kantian attempts to appeal to the notion without vindicating it, and it is concluded that there exists a need for a comprehensive defense of duties to the self. The chapter concludes by noting the lack of discussion of self-duty within political philosophy, and by raising the possibility of paternalistic law justified through appeal to state-enforced duties to the self.Less

Practicing “Intertextuality”: Ernst Cassirer and Hermann Cohen on Myth and Monotheism

Almut Sh. Bruckstein

in The Symbolic Construction of Reality: The Legacy of Ernst Cassirer

This chapter examines the influence of Hermann Cohen on Ernst Cassirer's work on myth and monotheism. It suggests that Cohen's reading of Jewish literature was a formative influence on Cassirer's ... More

This chapter examines the influence of Hermann Cohen on Ernst Cassirer's work on myth and monotheism. It suggests that Cohen's reading of Jewish literature was a formative influence on Cassirer's analysis of myth, and shows Cassirer's indebtedness to Cohen's critical idealist method and his prophetic humanism. The chapter also investigates how Cassirer carried critical idealism beyond Kantian philosophy in order to save its political and philosophical potency at a time when abstract, liberal idealism had most definitely lost its power.Less

Modernism and the Medium: On Greenberg and Weber

Simon Morgan Wortham and Gary Hall

in Experimenting: Essays with Samuel Weber

The subtle, but precarious delineation of the aesthetic idea came to a head later with the advent of modernist abstraction in the twentieth century. At once, the fine line between modern abstract art ... More

The subtle, but precarious delineation of the aesthetic idea came to a head later with the advent of modernist abstraction in the twentieth century. At once, the fine line between modern abstract art and design patterns or ornamentation appeared to have become frayed — meaning that the fine line between autonomous, purposeless art and purposeful design was not always readily apparent. At such moments, the recourse to Kantian formulations became quite pronounced in criticism, even though Kantian philosophy was rarely examined in any detail. In a general survey of art of the 1960s, Thomas Crow asserts that the vital issue for formalist accounts of art was the assumption that abstract painting — in contrast to design or ornamentation — constitutes an “expressive communication” between an artist and a “contemplative spectator.”Less