Jonathan Jacobs
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- September 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199542833
- eISBN:
- 9780191594359
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199542833.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
This is a study of the key features of the moral psychology and metaethics of three important medieval Jewish philosophers, Saadia Gaon, Bahya ibn Pakuda, and Moses Maimonides. They are selected ...
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This is a study of the key features of the moral psychology and metaethics of three important medieval Jewish philosophers, Saadia Gaon, Bahya ibn Pakuda, and Moses Maimonides. They are selected because of the depth and subtlety of their thought and because of their relevance to central, enduring issues in moral philosophy. The book examines their views of freedom of the will, the virtues, the rationality of moral requirements, and the relation between rational justification and revelation. Their appropriations of Neoplatonic and Aristotelian thought are explicated, showing how their theistic commitments make crucial differences to moral psychology and moral epistemology. All three thinkers developed rationalistic philosophies and sought to show how Judaism does not include doctrines in conflict with reason. Maimonides receives the fullest attention, given that he articulated the most systematic and influential accounts of the main issues. While explicating the main claims and arguments of these thinkers, the book also shows the respects in which their thought remains relevant to several important issues and debates in moral philosophy. These thinkers' views of ‘the reasons of the commandments’ (in Torah) include resources for a sophisticated moral epistemology of tradition. The points of contact and contrast between medieval Jewish moral thought and the practical wisdom approach to moral theory and also natural law approaches are examined in detail.Less
This is a study of the key features of the moral psychology and metaethics of three important medieval Jewish philosophers, Saadia Gaon, Bahya ibn Pakuda, and Moses Maimonides. They are selected because of the depth and subtlety of their thought and because of their relevance to central, enduring issues in moral philosophy. The book examines their views of freedom of the will, the virtues, the rationality of moral requirements, and the relation between rational justification and revelation. Their appropriations of Neoplatonic and Aristotelian thought are explicated, showing how their theistic commitments make crucial differences to moral psychology and moral epistemology. All three thinkers developed rationalistic philosophies and sought to show how Judaism does not include doctrines in conflict with reason. Maimonides receives the fullest attention, given that he articulated the most systematic and influential accounts of the main issues. While explicating the main claims and arguments of these thinkers, the book also shows the respects in which their thought remains relevant to several important issues and debates in moral philosophy. These thinkers' views of ‘the reasons of the commandments’ (in Torah) include resources for a sophisticated moral epistemology of tradition. The points of contact and contrast between medieval Jewish moral thought and the practical wisdom approach to moral theory and also natural law approaches are examined in detail.
George E. Karamanolis
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- September 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780199264568
- eISBN:
- 9780191603990
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199264562.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Ancient Philosophy
This book breaks new ground in the study of later ancient philosophy by examining the interplay of the two main schools of thought, Platonism and Aristotelianism, from the first century BC to the ...
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This book breaks new ground in the study of later ancient philosophy by examining the interplay of the two main schools of thought, Platonism and Aristotelianism, from the first century BC to the third century AD. From the time of Antiochus and for the next four centuries, Platonists were strongly preoccupied with the question of how Aristotle’s philosophy compared with the Platonic model. Scholars have usually classified Platonists into two groups, the orthodox ones and the eclectics or syncretists, depending on whether Platonists rejected Aristotle’s philosophy as a whole or accepted some Peripatetic doctrines. The book argues against this dichotomy, claiming that Platonists turned to Aristotle only in order to discover and elucidate Plato’s doctrines and thus to reconstruct Plato’s philosophy. They did not hesitate to criticize Aristotle when judging him to be at odds with Plato. For them, Aristotle was merely auxiliary to their accessing and understanding Plato. The evaluation of Aristotle’s testimony on the part of the Platonists also depends on their interpretation of Aristotle himself. This is particularly clear in the case of Porphyry, with whom the ancient discussion reaches a conclusion, which most later Platonists accepted. While essentially in agreement with Plotinus’s interpretation of Plato, Porphyry interpreted Aristotle in such a way that the latter appeared to agree essentially with Plato on all significant philosophical questions, a view which was dominant until the Renaissance. It is argued that Porphyry’s view of Aristotle’s philosophy guided him to become the first Platonist to write commentaries on Aristotle’s works.Less
This book breaks new ground in the study of later ancient philosophy by examining the interplay of the two main schools of thought, Platonism and Aristotelianism, from the first century BC to the third century AD. From the time of Antiochus and for the next four centuries, Platonists were strongly preoccupied with the question of how Aristotle’s philosophy compared with the Platonic model. Scholars have usually classified Platonists into two groups, the orthodox ones and the eclectics or syncretists, depending on whether Platonists rejected Aristotle’s philosophy as a whole or accepted some Peripatetic doctrines. The book argues against this dichotomy, claiming that Platonists turned to Aristotle only in order to discover and elucidate Plato’s doctrines and thus to reconstruct Plato’s philosophy. They did not hesitate to criticize Aristotle when judging him to be at odds with Plato. For them, Aristotle was merely auxiliary to their accessing and understanding Plato. The evaluation of Aristotle’s testimony on the part of the Platonists also depends on their interpretation of Aristotle himself. This is particularly clear in the case of Porphyry, with whom the ancient discussion reaches a conclusion, which most later Platonists accepted. While essentially in agreement with Plotinus’s interpretation of Plato, Porphyry interpreted Aristotle in such a way that the latter appeared to agree essentially with Plato on all significant philosophical questions, a view which was dominant until the Renaissance. It is argued that Porphyry’s view of Aristotle’s philosophy guided him to become the first Platonist to write commentaries on Aristotle’s works.
Andrew Vincent
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- April 2004
- ISBN:
- 9780199271252
- eISBN:
- 9780191601101
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199271259.003.0006
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Theory
Continues the theme of the previous chapter by examining more recent forms of conventionalist argument, particularly those that try to reconstitute and revivify an older political vocabulary. It ...
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Continues the theme of the previous chapter by examining more recent forms of conventionalist argument, particularly those that try to reconstitute and revivify an older political vocabulary. It therefore analyses the conventionalist writings of nationalism, neo‐Aristotelianism, and republicanism.Less
Continues the theme of the previous chapter by examining more recent forms of conventionalist argument, particularly those that try to reconstitute and revivify an older political vocabulary. It therefore analyses the conventionalist writings of nationalism, neo‐Aristotelianism, and republicanism.
Stephen Gaukroger
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- January 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199296446
- eISBN:
- 9780191711985
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199296446.003.0003
- Subject:
- Philosophy, History of Philosophy
In the 13th century, natural philosophy changed status from an enterprise of marginal significance into one that formed the principal point of entry into the understanding of the world and our place ...
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In the 13th century, natural philosophy changed status from an enterprise of marginal significance into one that formed the principal point of entry into the understanding of the world and our place in it. This was effected through the introduction of Aristotelianism into the University of Paris at the beginning of the 13th century where, in its new role as a philosophical foundation for systematic theology, natural philosophy became the single point of entry into natural knowledge of the natural and supernatural realms. The compatibility of Aristotelian natural philosophy was never wholly resolved, however, and matters came to a head at the beginning of the 16th century on the question of the immortality of the soul, where Aristotelian natural philosophy and Christian teaching were in conflict. In many ways, this conflict, which centred around the work of Pomponazzi, provided a model for the later Copernicanism disputes.Less
In the 13th century, natural philosophy changed status from an enterprise of marginal significance into one that formed the principal point of entry into the understanding of the world and our place in it. This was effected through the introduction of Aristotelianism into the University of Paris at the beginning of the 13th century where, in its new role as a philosophical foundation for systematic theology, natural philosophy became the single point of entry into natural knowledge of the natural and supernatural realms. The compatibility of Aristotelian natural philosophy was never wholly resolved, however, and matters came to a head at the beginning of the 16th century on the question of the immortality of the soul, where Aristotelian natural philosophy and Christian teaching were in conflict. In many ways, this conflict, which centred around the work of Pomponazzi, provided a model for the later Copernicanism disputes.
Stephen Gaukroger
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- January 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199296446
- eISBN:
- 9780191711985
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199296446.003.0004
- Subject:
- Philosophy, History of Philosophy
There were three competing movements in 16th-century natural philosophy. Platonism was revived in the 15th century and Ficino and Patrizi attempted, unsuccessfully, to provide an alternative to ...
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There were three competing movements in 16th-century natural philosophy. Platonism was revived in the 15th century and Ficino and Patrizi attempted, unsuccessfully, to provide an alternative to Aristotelianism. The renaissance naturalism of the 16th century aimed to secure autonomy for natural philosophy by presenting an increasingly radicalized naturalistic picture of the natural realm. Late scholastic textbook writers, from the late 16th to the early 17th centuries, attempted, unsuccessfully, to reform and systematize Christianized Aristotelianism to meet the new demands placed on it by developments in natural philosophy.Less
There were three competing movements in 16th-century natural philosophy. Platonism was revived in the 15th century and Ficino and Patrizi attempted, unsuccessfully, to provide an alternative to Aristotelianism. The renaissance naturalism of the 16th century aimed to secure autonomy for natural philosophy by presenting an increasingly radicalized naturalistic picture of the natural realm. Late scholastic textbook writers, from the late 16th to the early 17th centuries, attempted, unsuccessfully, to reform and systematize Christianized Aristotelianism to meet the new demands placed on it by developments in natural philosophy.
Risto Saarinen
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199606818
- eISBN:
- 9780191729614
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199606818.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, History of Philosophy, Moral Philosophy
Weakness of will, the phenomenon of acting contrary to one's own better judgement, remains a prominent discussion topic in philosophy. The book covers the reflection on weakness of will between 1350 ...
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Weakness of will, the phenomenon of acting contrary to one's own better judgement, remains a prominent discussion topic in philosophy. The book covers the reflection on weakness of will between 1350 and 1650. It deals not only with a broad range of Renaissance authors (e.g. Petrarch, Donato Acciaiuoli, John Mair, Francesco Piccolomini), but also with the theologically coloured debates of the Reformation period (e.g. Martin Luther, Philip Melanchthon, John Calvin, Lambert Daneau). The book also discusses the impact of these authors on some prominent figures of early modernity (Shakespeare, Descartes, Spinoza, Leibniz). While most of the historical research on weakness of will has focused on the reception history of Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics, the present study pays attention to the Platonic and Stoic discussions and their revival during the Renaissance and the Reformation. The study also shows the ways in which Augustine's discussion of the divided will is intertwined with the Christian reception of ancient Greek ethics. The theological underpinnings of early modern authors do not rule out weakness of will, but they transform the philosophical discussion and drive it towards new solutions. In addition to the Aristotelian explanations of weakness of will, the Platonic and Stoic-Augustinian explanatory models feature prominently in the Renaissance and the Reformation.Less
Weakness of will, the phenomenon of acting contrary to one's own better judgement, remains a prominent discussion topic in philosophy. The book covers the reflection on weakness of will between 1350 and 1650. It deals not only with a broad range of Renaissance authors (e.g. Petrarch, Donato Acciaiuoli, John Mair, Francesco Piccolomini), but also with the theologically coloured debates of the Reformation period (e.g. Martin Luther, Philip Melanchthon, John Calvin, Lambert Daneau). The book also discusses the impact of these authors on some prominent figures of early modernity (Shakespeare, Descartes, Spinoza, Leibniz). While most of the historical research on weakness of will has focused on the reception history of Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics, the present study pays attention to the Platonic and Stoic discussions and their revival during the Renaissance and the Reformation. The study also shows the ways in which Augustine's discussion of the divided will is intertwined with the Christian reception of ancient Greek ethics. The theological underpinnings of early modern authors do not rule out weakness of will, but they transform the philosophical discussion and drive it towards new solutions. In addition to the Aristotelian explanations of weakness of will, the Platonic and Stoic-Augustinian explanatory models feature prominently in the Renaissance and the Reformation.
Frank Griffel
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- September 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195331622
- eISBN:
- 9780199867998
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195331622.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Theology, Islam
Al-Ghazali (d. 1111) is one of the most important theologians, philosophers, and Sufis of Islam. Born around 1056 in northeastern Iran, he became the holder of the most prestigious academic post in ...
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Al-Ghazali (d. 1111) is one of the most important theologians, philosophers, and Sufis of Islam. Born around 1056 in northeastern Iran, he became the holder of the most prestigious academic post in Islamic theology in Baghdad, only to renounce that position and teach at small schools in the provinces for no money. His contributions to Islamic scholarship range from responding to the challenges of Aristotelian philosophy to creating a new type of mysticism in Islam, and integrating both these traditions—falsafa and Sufism—into the Sunni mainstream. Using the most authoritative sources, including reports of his students, his contemporaries, and his own letters, this book reconstructs every stage in al-Ghazali’s turbulent career. The al-Ghazali that emerges still offers many surprises, particularly on his motives for leaving Baghdad and the nature of his “seclusion” afterwards. In its close study of al-Ghazali’s cosmology—meaning, how God creates things and events in the world, how human acts relate to God’s power, and how the universe is structured—the book reveals the significant philosophical influence on al-Ghazali. His cosmology has always been one of the most challenging aspects of his work. This book shows how al-Ghazali created a new discourse on cosmology that moved away from concerns held earlier among Muslim theologians and Arab philosophers. This new cosmology was structured to provide a framework for the pursuit of the natural sciences and a basis for science and philosophy in Islam to continue to flourish beyond the 12th century.Less
Al-Ghazali (d. 1111) is one of the most important theologians, philosophers, and Sufis of Islam. Born around 1056 in northeastern Iran, he became the holder of the most prestigious academic post in Islamic theology in Baghdad, only to renounce that position and teach at small schools in the provinces for no money. His contributions to Islamic scholarship range from responding to the challenges of Aristotelian philosophy to creating a new type of mysticism in Islam, and integrating both these traditions—falsafa and Sufism—into the Sunni mainstream. Using the most authoritative sources, including reports of his students, his contemporaries, and his own letters, this book reconstructs every stage in al-Ghazali’s turbulent career. The al-Ghazali that emerges still offers many surprises, particularly on his motives for leaving Baghdad and the nature of his “seclusion” afterwards. In its close study of al-Ghazali’s cosmology—meaning, how God creates things and events in the world, how human acts relate to God’s power, and how the universe is structured—the book reveals the significant philosophical influence on al-Ghazali. His cosmology has always been one of the most challenging aspects of his work. This book shows how al-Ghazali created a new discourse on cosmology that moved away from concerns held earlier among Muslim theologians and Arab philosophers. This new cosmology was structured to provide a framework for the pursuit of the natural sciences and a basis for science and philosophy in Islam to continue to flourish beyond the 12th century.
Jon McGinnis
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- September 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195331479
- eISBN:
- 9780199868032
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195331479.003.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Islam
This introductory chapter covers the historical, cultural, and intellectual background up to and during the time of Avicenna. It begins by presenting the Greek course curriculum taught at the ...
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This introductory chapter covers the historical, cultural, and intellectual background up to and during the time of Avicenna. It begins by presenting the Greek course curriculum taught at the Academies in Athens and Alexandria, with its emphasis on Aristotle in logic and the natural sciences, and then its increasing reliance on Plato, particularly as read through his Neoplatonic interpreters, for metaphysics, ethics, and politics. This course curriculum was in turn inherited by philosophers working in the medieval Islamic world, and provided the basis of Avicenna’s own education. The chapter then considers the factors and institutions indigenous to the Arabic-Islamic milieu in which Avicenna worked, such as Islamic theology and law, as well the immediate historical and political situation in which Avicenna found himself. It concludes with a detailed presentation of the life and works of Avicenna.Less
This introductory chapter covers the historical, cultural, and intellectual background up to and during the time of Avicenna. It begins by presenting the Greek course curriculum taught at the Academies in Athens and Alexandria, with its emphasis on Aristotle in logic and the natural sciences, and then its increasing reliance on Plato, particularly as read through his Neoplatonic interpreters, for metaphysics, ethics, and politics. This course curriculum was in turn inherited by philosophers working in the medieval Islamic world, and provided the basis of Avicenna’s own education. The chapter then considers the factors and institutions indigenous to the Arabic-Islamic milieu in which Avicenna worked, such as Islamic theology and law, as well the immediate historical and political situation in which Avicenna found himself. It concludes with a detailed presentation of the life and works of Avicenna.
Jonathan Jacobs
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- September 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199542833
- eISBN:
- 9780191594359
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199542833.003.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
This discusses the rationalism and the realism of the thinkers studied in this book. It explains why the work of these thinkers (Saadia Gaon, Bahya ibn Pakuda, and Moses Maimonides) is important to ...
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This discusses the rationalism and the realism of the thinkers studied in this book. It explains why the work of these thinkers (Saadia Gaon, Bahya ibn Pakuda, and Moses Maimonides) is important to long‐standing issues in moral psychology and metaethics. The succeeding chapters are briefly summarized, and the relations between their central concerns are indicated.Less
This discusses the rationalism and the realism of the thinkers studied in this book. It explains why the work of these thinkers (Saadia Gaon, Bahya ibn Pakuda, and Moses Maimonides) is important to long‐standing issues in moral psychology and metaethics. The succeeding chapters are briefly summarized, and the relations between their central concerns are indicated.
Charles Taylor
- Published in print:
- 1993
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198287971
- eISBN:
- 9780191596704
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198287976.003.0017
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Development, Growth, and Environmental
Taylor examines the forms of reasoning that people use when they argue that one way of life is better for human beings than another. Although such arguments always take place in a particular ...
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Taylor examines the forms of reasoning that people use when they argue that one way of life is better for human beings than another. Although such arguments always take place in a particular historical context and do not have the deductive structure that is associated with good scientific argument, they can nonetheless be perfectly reasonable, according to Taylor, and can succeed in showing that some ways of doing things are indeed better than others.Less
Taylor examines the forms of reasoning that people use when they argue that one way of life is better for human beings than another. Although such arguments always take place in a particular historical context and do not have the deductive structure that is associated with good scientific argument, they can nonetheless be perfectly reasonable, according to Taylor, and can succeed in showing that some ways of doing things are indeed better than others.
Filippo Del Lucchese
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- May 2020
- ISBN:
- 9781474456203
- eISBN:
- 9781474476935
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9781474456203.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, History of Philosophy
This volume is the first systematic investigation into the concept of monstrosity in ancient philosophy and culture. The Author suggests that far from being a peripheral problem, monstrosity is one ...
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This volume is the first systematic investigation into the concept of monstrosity in ancient philosophy and culture. The Author suggests that far from being a peripheral problem, monstrosity is one of the main conceptual challenges for every philosophical system. Ancient authors explores metaphysics, ontology, theology, politics attempting to respond to the threat presented by the radical alterity of monstrous manifestations, both in nature and in thought. Does order come from, and put an end to, chaos or is chaos the monstrous destiny of any supposed order? Is monstrosity a positive sign of the divine or is it its negation and perversion? Does everything, in nature have a meaning and a purpose and, if so, what is the purpose of monsters? Is monstrosity what we call the lowest level of nature's reassuring hierarchy or does it, more threateningly, speak about the absence of such a hierarchy and the illusion of axiology? These are only some of the questions that ancient authors discussed across the centuries, from the early mythical cosmogonies, through the classic and hellenistic period, up to late antiquity and early Christianism. This book offers a fundamental reading not only of the different answers to these questions, but also of the reasons why and the manners in which they have been asked in different cultural and intellectual contexts.Less
This volume is the first systematic investigation into the concept of monstrosity in ancient philosophy and culture. The Author suggests that far from being a peripheral problem, monstrosity is one of the main conceptual challenges for every philosophical system. Ancient authors explores metaphysics, ontology, theology, politics attempting to respond to the threat presented by the radical alterity of monstrous manifestations, both in nature and in thought. Does order come from, and put an end to, chaos or is chaos the monstrous destiny of any supposed order? Is monstrosity a positive sign of the divine or is it its negation and perversion? Does everything, in nature have a meaning and a purpose and, if so, what is the purpose of monsters? Is monstrosity what we call the lowest level of nature's reassuring hierarchy or does it, more threateningly, speak about the absence of such a hierarchy and the illusion of axiology? These are only some of the questions that ancient authors discussed across the centuries, from the early mythical cosmogonies, through the classic and hellenistic period, up to late antiquity and early Christianism. This book offers a fundamental reading not only of the different answers to these questions, but also of the reasons why and the manners in which they have been asked in different cultural and intellectual contexts.
Christian Moevs
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- April 2005
- ISBN:
- 9780195174618
- eISBN:
- 9780199835430
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195174615.003.0004
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Literature
In Christian thought, creation “out of nothing” is not an event or a process: there is no how, when, or where in the creation of the world. How, when, and where are all internal to finite being, and ...
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In Christian thought, creation “out of nothing” is not an event or a process: there is no how, when, or where in the creation of the world. How, when, and where are all internal to finite being, and more precisely to space and time: any account of creation that mentions events or things is not an account of creation, but a description of the world. Such an account says nothing (except analogically) about the relation of the world to the source and ground of its being. It is already implicit in Aristotle that there can be no explanation of the being of things, of “how” things depend on “the thought that thinks itself”, because there is no how, no relation in any common sense (as between things or events), nothing to explain: self-subsistent Intellect is not in itself a thing, and is what it thinks. To grasp the Christian understanding of creation is to grasp a non-reciprocal and non-dual “relation of dependence” between a radically contingent world (at every instant it exists) and the self-subsistent and dimension-less ground of its being (which can only be known as oneself, through a revelation prepared by the surrender of self). This chapter traces this understanding in Dante by discussing the tension between Neoplatonic emanation and “ Thomistic” creation, the meditation on unity in diversity of Paradiso 2; the relation between body and soul; and the “ birth” of time and of space in the Primo Mobile.Less
In Christian thought, creation “out of nothing” is not an event or a process: there is no how, when, or where in the creation of the world. How, when, and where are all internal to finite being, and more precisely to space and time: any account of creation that mentions events or things is not an account of creation, but a description of the world. Such an account says nothing (except analogically) about the relation of the world to the source and ground of its being. It is already implicit in Aristotle that there can be no explanation of the being of things, of “how” things depend on “the thought that thinks itself”, because there is no how, no relation in any common sense (as between things or events), nothing to explain: self-subsistent Intellect is not in itself a thing, and is what it thinks. To grasp the Christian understanding of creation is to grasp a non-reciprocal and non-dual “relation of dependence” between a radically contingent world (at every instant it exists) and the self-subsistent and dimension-less ground of its being (which can only be known as oneself, through a revelation prepared by the surrender of self). This chapter traces this understanding in Dante by discussing the tension between Neoplatonic emanation and “ Thomistic” creation, the meditation on unity in diversity of Paradiso 2; the relation between body and soul; and the “ birth” of time and of space in the Primo Mobile.
Elijah Millgram
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195376685
- eISBN:
- 9780199776306
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195376685.003.0009
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Moral Philosophy
One type of procrastination is a result of the surprising temporal structure of some important human goods, whose benefits cannot be accounted for as the sums of benefits of momentary goods. Virtue ...
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One type of procrastination is a result of the surprising temporal structure of some important human goods, whose benefits cannot be accounted for as the sums of benefits of momentary goods. Virtue for such a procrastinator consists in adopting compensating strategies, one of which is artificially imposing instrumental structure on an activity. If many agents are procrastinators and the device is widespread, then one of the deepest motivations for instrumentalism—the evident pervasiveness of instrumentally structured activity—is misleading.Less
One type of procrastination is a result of the surprising temporal structure of some important human goods, whose benefits cannot be accounted for as the sums of benefits of momentary goods. Virtue for such a procrastinator consists in adopting compensating strategies, one of which is artificially imposing instrumental structure on an activity. If many agents are procrastinators and the device is widespread, then one of the deepest motivations for instrumentalism—the evident pervasiveness of instrumentally structured activity—is misleading.
Garth Fowden
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691158532
- eISBN:
- 9781400848164
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691158532.003.0005
- Subject:
- History, Ancient History / Archaeology
This chapter examines “Aristotelianism” both as an autonomous philosophy and as a common denominator of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. The First Millennium was known for its generation of a Greek ...
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This chapter examines “Aristotelianism” both as an autonomous philosophy and as a common denominator of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. The First Millennium was known for its generation of a Greek philosophical synthesis plus mature versions of Islam, Judaism, and Christianity. Much of this was done in the language of Aristotle. The chapter first considers the rise of Aristotelianism in Greece before discussing how Alexandrian Aristotelianism was conveyed to Baghdad. It also looks at the translation of Aristotle's logical works into Latin, Armenian, Syriac, and Arabic. Finally, it assesses Aristotle's impact on the intellectual maturation of Islam up to Ibn Sīnā.Less
This chapter examines “Aristotelianism” both as an autonomous philosophy and as a common denominator of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. The First Millennium was known for its generation of a Greek philosophical synthesis plus mature versions of Islam, Judaism, and Christianity. Much of this was done in the language of Aristotle. The chapter first considers the rise of Aristotelianism in Greece before discussing how Alexandrian Aristotelianism was conveyed to Baghdad. It also looks at the translation of Aristotle's logical works into Latin, Armenian, Syriac, and Arabic. Finally, it assesses Aristotle's impact on the intellectual maturation of Islam up to Ibn Sīnā.
Christopher Tilmouth
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199212378
- eISBN:
- 9780191707254
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199212378.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, 17th-century and Restoration Literature
This book surveys ideas of passion, reason, appetite, and self-control in English literature and moral thought from 1580 to 1680. Drawing on tragedy, poetry, moral philosophy, and sermons, the book ...
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This book surveys ideas of passion, reason, appetite, and self-control in English literature and moral thought from 1580 to 1680. Drawing on tragedy, poetry, moral philosophy, and sermons, the book explores how Renaissance writers transformed their understanding of the passions, re-evaluating emotion so as to make it an important constituent of ethical life rather than the enemy within which allegory had traditionally cast it as being. Part One of the book describes various ethical positions available to early modern readers, including those of Erasmus, the Stoics, and Calvin. It then explores the role of psychomachia and a hostility to the passions in Spenser's Faerie Queene, before turning to plays by Shakespeare and Chapman (Hamlet, Julius Caesar, Troilus and Cressida, Bussy D'Ambois) which challenge the moral assumptions, and particularly the antipathy towards the emotions, prevalent in late Elizabethan England. It also examines the impact which Augustinianism and Aristotelianism had on the poetry of Herbert, Crashaw, and Milton. These latter traditions are shown to promote a positive evaluation of emotion when that emotion is inflected either by God's grace or by a principle of rational moderation. Part Two of the book traces the rise and fall of Restoration libertinism, particularly under the influence of Hobbes's philosophy and French libertinism. This tradition, which celebrated passion and appetite as natural, and accorded them free expression, is traced in works by Etherege, Dryden, and the Earl of Rochester. It is argued that such libertinism ultimately proved dissatisfying even on its own terms.Less
This book surveys ideas of passion, reason, appetite, and self-control in English literature and moral thought from 1580 to 1680. Drawing on tragedy, poetry, moral philosophy, and sermons, the book explores how Renaissance writers transformed their understanding of the passions, re-evaluating emotion so as to make it an important constituent of ethical life rather than the enemy within which allegory had traditionally cast it as being. Part One of the book describes various ethical positions available to early modern readers, including those of Erasmus, the Stoics, and Calvin. It then explores the role of psychomachia and a hostility to the passions in Spenser's Faerie Queene, before turning to plays by Shakespeare and Chapman (Hamlet, Julius Caesar, Troilus and Cressida, Bussy D'Ambois) which challenge the moral assumptions, and particularly the antipathy towards the emotions, prevalent in late Elizabethan England. It also examines the impact which Augustinianism and Aristotelianism had on the poetry of Herbert, Crashaw, and Milton. These latter traditions are shown to promote a positive evaluation of emotion when that emotion is inflected either by God's grace or by a principle of rational moderation. Part Two of the book traces the rise and fall of Restoration libertinism, particularly under the influence of Hobbes's philosophy and French libertinism. This tradition, which celebrated passion and appetite as natural, and accorded them free expression, is traced in works by Etherege, Dryden, and the Earl of Rochester. It is argued that such libertinism ultimately proved dissatisfying even on its own terms.
Michael Moriarty
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199291038
- eISBN:
- 9780191710599
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199291038.003.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, World Literature
The introdcutory chapter discusses 20th-century critiques by Sartre and Barthes of 17th-century moral writing as limited by its focus on the psychological and ethical, rather than the political and ...
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The introdcutory chapter discusses 20th-century critiques by Sartre and Barthes of 17th-century moral writing as limited by its focus on the psychological and ethical, rather than the political and social realm. It analyses the relationship between psychological investigation and ethical doctrines in the early modern period, considering three cases where it has been suggested that the study of the nature and behaviour of human beings, and of the working of their minds, is divorced from a concern with ethical norms: the essays of Montaigne, 17th-century dramatic writing, and new mechanistic philosophies, especially Descartes’s. It is argued that though the relation in the thought of the period between psychological and ethical concerns is complex and variable, it is anachronistic to posit a divorce between them. The selection of authors discussed is explained.Less
The introdcutory chapter discusses 20th-century critiques by Sartre and Barthes of 17th-century moral writing as limited by its focus on the psychological and ethical, rather than the political and social realm. It analyses the relationship between psychological investigation and ethical doctrines in the early modern period, considering three cases where it has been suggested that the study of the nature and behaviour of human beings, and of the working of their minds, is divorced from a concern with ethical norms: the essays of Montaigne, 17th-century dramatic writing, and new mechanistic philosophies, especially Descartes’s. It is argued that though the relation in the thought of the period between psychological and ethical concerns is complex and variable, it is anachronistic to posit a divorce between them. The selection of authors discussed is explained.
Michael Moriarty
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199291038
- eISBN:
- 9780191710599
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199291038.003.0002
- Subject:
- Literature, World Literature
Two broad approaches to human nature found in early modern writers are discussed. The first approach, descriptive, focuses on identifying and describing the key properties of human nature, and ...
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Two broad approaches to human nature found in early modern writers are discussed. The first approach, descriptive, focuses on identifying and describing the key properties of human nature, and frequently aims to use this description as grounds for ethical norms (as in the Aristotelian and Stoic traditions). La Bruyère’s Les Caractères takes this approach, but his characters are as much social as psychological types, and their behaviour is interpreted in terms of relationships rather than individual dispositions. His ‘essentialism’ is a vehicle not only of moral but of social critique. Finally, there is a discussion of how far women and children are incorporated into this vision of human nature. The second approach, problematic, emphasizes the difficulty of identifying the intrinsic properties of human nature. This is sometimes linked to a stress on the difficulty of self-discovery. But the contribution of Augustine’s theology is also crucial: original sin has transformed and corrupted human nature.Less
Two broad approaches to human nature found in early modern writers are discussed. The first approach, descriptive, focuses on identifying and describing the key properties of human nature, and frequently aims to use this description as grounds for ethical norms (as in the Aristotelian and Stoic traditions). La Bruyère’s Les Caractères takes this approach, but his characters are as much social as psychological types, and their behaviour is interpreted in terms of relationships rather than individual dispositions. His ‘essentialism’ is a vehicle not only of moral but of social critique. Finally, there is a discussion of how far women and children are incorporated into this vision of human nature. The second approach, problematic, emphasizes the difficulty of identifying the intrinsic properties of human nature. This is sometimes linked to a stress on the difficulty of self-discovery. But the contribution of Augustine’s theology is also crucial: original sin has transformed and corrupted human nature.
Mirella Capozzi and Gino Roncaglia
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- September 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195137316
- eISBN:
- 9780199867912
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195137316.003.0014
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Logic/Philosophy of Mathematics
This chapter begins with a discussion of humanist criticisms of scholastic logic. It then discusses the evolution of the scholastic tradition and the influence of Renaissance Aristotelianism, ...
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This chapter begins with a discussion of humanist criticisms of scholastic logic. It then discusses the evolution of the scholastic tradition and the influence of Renaissance Aristotelianism, Descartes and his influence, the Port-Royal Logic, the emergence of a logic of cognitive faculties, logic and mathematics in the late 17th century, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz's role in the history of formal logic, and Kant's influence on logic.Less
This chapter begins with a discussion of humanist criticisms of scholastic logic. It then discusses the evolution of the scholastic tradition and the influence of Renaissance Aristotelianism, Descartes and his influence, the Port-Royal Logic, the emergence of a logic of cognitive faculties, logic and mathematics in the late 17th century, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz's role in the history of formal logic, and Kant's influence on logic.
Christopher Tilmouth
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199212378
- eISBN:
- 9780191707254
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199212378.003.0002
- Subject:
- Literature, 17th-century and Restoration Literature
This chapter describes ideas of rational self-governance and assessments of the worth (or otherwise) of the passions put forward by: Erasmus and Plato; Cicero and the Stoics; Aristotle, Aquinas, and ...
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This chapter describes ideas of rational self-governance and assessments of the worth (or otherwise) of the passions put forward by: Erasmus and Plato; Cicero and the Stoics; Aristotle, Aquinas, and other Aristotelian writers; and Calvin and selected English Calvinists. The Platonists and Stoics are shown to be hostile to the passions, advocating psychomachia, i.e., a rational struggle against such emotions. By contrast, some of the Aristotelians — those whose thinking on the affections is scarcely taken up in Elizabethan England — think the latter can be habituated under reason's influence so as to assist virtue's purposes. Calvinists dismiss human nature (and hence also the passions) as utterly depraved and incapable of goodness except when visited by God's grace. Even when such grace is bestowed, this does not wholly redeem man's felt life.Less
This chapter describes ideas of rational self-governance and assessments of the worth (or otherwise) of the passions put forward by: Erasmus and Plato; Cicero and the Stoics; Aristotle, Aquinas, and other Aristotelian writers; and Calvin and selected English Calvinists. The Platonists and Stoics are shown to be hostile to the passions, advocating psychomachia, i.e., a rational struggle against such emotions. By contrast, some of the Aristotelians — those whose thinking on the affections is scarcely taken up in Elizabethan England — think the latter can be habituated under reason's influence so as to assist virtue's purposes. Calvinists dismiss human nature (and hence also the passions) as utterly depraved and incapable of goodness except when visited by God's grace. Even when such grace is bestowed, this does not wholly redeem man's felt life.
Christopher Tilmouth
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199212378
- eISBN:
- 9780191707254
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199212378.003.0006
- Subject:
- Literature, 17th-century and Restoration Literature
There are two themes in this chapter. The first examines Augustine's anti-Stoic argument that passions informed by a good will (a will centred around a love of God) are intrinsically valuable. This ...
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There are two themes in this chapter. The first examines Augustine's anti-Stoic argument that passions informed by a good will (a will centred around a love of God) are intrinsically valuable. This praise of sanctified affections, also taken up by English Calvinists such as Fenner and Counter-Reformation theologians like Senault and François de Sales, sheds light on Herbert and Crashaw's devotional lyrics. The latter meditate upon the spiritual love and the laudable passions which suffuse a regenerate heart. The chapter's second theme is the Aristotelian revival of the 17th century. Here, moral treatises and university plays are examined as expressions of an Aristotelian philosophy which identifies rationally moderated emotions as valuable. Both of these trends find further expression in Paradise Lost where Milton exploits both Augustinian and Thomist paradigms of self-governance to anatomize Adam and Eve's moral psychology, and also the mechanisms of sinful self-delusion.Less
There are two themes in this chapter. The first examines Augustine's anti-Stoic argument that passions informed by a good will (a will centred around a love of God) are intrinsically valuable. This praise of sanctified affections, also taken up by English Calvinists such as Fenner and Counter-Reformation theologians like Senault and François de Sales, sheds light on Herbert and Crashaw's devotional lyrics. The latter meditate upon the spiritual love and the laudable passions which suffuse a regenerate heart. The chapter's second theme is the Aristotelian revival of the 17th century. Here, moral treatises and university plays are examined as expressions of an Aristotelian philosophy which identifies rationally moderated emotions as valuable. Both of these trends find further expression in Paradise Lost where Milton exploits both Augustinian and Thomist paradigms of self-governance to anatomize Adam and Eve's moral psychology, and also the mechanisms of sinful self-delusion.
