Christopher M. Cullen
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- January 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195149258
- eISBN:
- 9780199785131
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195149258.003.0012
- Subject:
- Religion, Philosophy of Religion
The question of time and history (as the order of events through time), took on tremendous urgency in Bonaventure's day. Bonaventure found himself enmeshed in debates about time and history both in ...
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The question of time and history (as the order of events through time), took on tremendous urgency in Bonaventure's day. Bonaventure found himself enmeshed in debates about time and history both in the university and in the Franciscan order. Bonaventure believed that creation necessarily involves having a beginning in time, i.e., having being at some point after not having being. Time is thus necessarily lineal, not cyclical. So as Bonaventure considers the question in the light of philosophy he concludes that creation has a beginning in time, and in the light of scripture he concludes that it will have an end.Less
The question of time and history (as the order of events through time), took on tremendous urgency in Bonaventure's day. Bonaventure found himself enmeshed in debates about time and history both in the university and in the Franciscan order. Bonaventure believed that creation necessarily involves having a beginning in time, i.e., having being at some point after not having being. Time is thus necessarily lineal, not cyclical. So as Bonaventure considers the question in the light of philosophy he concludes that creation has a beginning in time, and in the light of scripture he concludes that it will have an end.
Stephen Spector
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195368024
- eISBN:
- 9780199867646
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195368024.003.0007
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society, Judaism
This chapter examines the charge that their inflexible stand against territorial concessions allies Christian Zionists with Jewish religious nationalists who embrace the concept of a Greater Israel. ...
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This chapter examines the charge that their inflexible stand against territorial concessions allies Christian Zionists with Jewish religious nationalists who embrace the concept of a Greater Israel. It notes Menachem Begin’s role in establishing Israel’s alliance with evangelicals and traces these ties prior to that time. It discusses Begin’s association with Jerry Falwell. The chapter examines the Christian Zionist belief that God will punish anyone who attempts to divide the Land of Israel and Pat Robertson’s claim that this accounted for Ariel Sharon’s disabling stroke. It goes on to consider Robertson’s relationship to the Jewish state. The chapter also discusses the pulsa denura, a kabbalistic curse on anyone who gives away part of the Land of Israel.Less
This chapter examines the charge that their inflexible stand against territorial concessions allies Christian Zionists with Jewish religious nationalists who embrace the concept of a Greater Israel. It notes Menachem Begin’s role in establishing Israel’s alliance with evangelicals and traces these ties prior to that time. It discusses Begin’s association with Jerry Falwell. The chapter examines the Christian Zionist belief that God will punish anyone who attempts to divide the Land of Israel and Pat Robertson’s claim that this accounted for Ariel Sharon’s disabling stroke. It goes on to consider Robertson’s relationship to the Jewish state. The chapter also discusses the pulsa denura, a kabbalistic curse on anyone who gives away part of the Land of Israel.
Bettelou Los
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199274765
- eISBN:
- 9780191705885
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199274765.003.0004
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Historical Linguistics
This chapter argues that the occurrence of the to-infinitive after verbs expressing meanings like ‘intend’ or ‘want’, or the negative counterparts ‘fear’ or ‘avoid’ represents an innovation. Unlike ...
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This chapter argues that the occurrence of the to-infinitive after verbs expressing meanings like ‘intend’ or ‘want’, or the negative counterparts ‘fear’ or ‘avoid’ represents an innovation. Unlike the verbs discussed in the previous chapter, these verbs never occurred with a to-prepositional phrase, so that the presence of the to-infinitive requires a different explanation. The best predictor for the distribution of a to-infinitive after verbs of this group in Old English is that of the subjunctive þæt-clause. As subjunctive þæt-clauses and to-infinitives had occurred side by side as expressions of the adjunct of purpose and of the GOAL-argument, this may have led them to be analysed as each other’s equivalents, as if the to-infinitive had come to be regarded as a non-finite subjunctive clause. The chapter concludes with a discussion of the only environment in which bare infinitive and to-infinitive occur side by side: verbs with the meaning ‘begin’.Less
This chapter argues that the occurrence of the to-infinitive after verbs expressing meanings like ‘intend’ or ‘want’, or the negative counterparts ‘fear’ or ‘avoid’ represents an innovation. Unlike the verbs discussed in the previous chapter, these verbs never occurred with a to-prepositional phrase, so that the presence of the to-infinitive requires a different explanation. The best predictor for the distribution of a to-infinitive after verbs of this group in Old English is that of the subjunctive þæt-clause. As subjunctive þæt-clauses and to-infinitives had occurred side by side as expressions of the adjunct of purpose and of the GOAL-argument, this may have led them to be analysed as each other’s equivalents, as if the to-infinitive had come to be regarded as a non-finite subjunctive clause. The chapter concludes with a discussion of the only environment in which bare infinitive and to-infinitive occur side by side: verbs with the meaning ‘begin’.
Elizabeth Wicks
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- September 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199547395
- eISBN:
- 9780191594373
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199547395.003.0001
- Subject:
- Law, Human Rights and Immigration, Medical Law
The first chapter serves as an introduction to the concept of life by identifying the boundaries of life and investigating the issue of why human life should be singled out for special treatment. It ...
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The first chapter serves as an introduction to the concept of life by identifying the boundaries of life and investigating the issue of why human life should be singled out for special treatment. It is argued that the key factor in the special legal and ethical protection accorded to human life is the high level of consciousness the species enjoys compared to most other species. However, it is also argued that, once it is accepted that human life in general deserves such protection, it should also be accepted that each and every human life deserves it, regardless of whether an individual enjoys full, limited, or no consciousness. Instead of consciousness, the key requirement for an individual to qualify for the special legal and ethical protection given to human life is integrative function of a human organism which exists from viability to brain death.Less
The first chapter serves as an introduction to the concept of life by identifying the boundaries of life and investigating the issue of why human life should be singled out for special treatment. It is argued that the key factor in the special legal and ethical protection accorded to human life is the high level of consciousness the species enjoys compared to most other species. However, it is also argued that, once it is accepted that human life in general deserves such protection, it should also be accepted that each and every human life deserves it, regardless of whether an individual enjoys full, limited, or no consciousness. Instead of consciousness, the key requirement for an individual to qualify for the special legal and ethical protection given to human life is integrative function of a human organism which exists from viability to brain death.
Bede Rundle
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- February 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199575114
- eISBN:
- 9780191722349
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199575114.003.0009
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Metaphysics/Epistemology
A number of issues relating to time involve questions of possible asymmetry between past, present, and future. An example is given with matters concerning infinity: Could the universe extend ...
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A number of issues relating to time involve questions of possible asymmetry between past, present, and future. An example is given with matters concerning infinity: Could the universe extend infinitely into the future? Could it extend infinitely far back into the past? Bound up with the latter is the question of whether it makes sense to speak of a beginning of the universe. Another asymmetry concerns causation: must this always be from past or present to future, or can there be backwards causation? After an examination of the causal relation more generally, this question is answered in the negative. Time travel raises much the same issues as does backwards causation, and here too it is held that we do not have a real possibility.Less
A number of issues relating to time involve questions of possible asymmetry between past, present, and future. An example is given with matters concerning infinity: Could the universe extend infinitely into the future? Could it extend infinitely far back into the past? Bound up with the latter is the question of whether it makes sense to speak of a beginning of the universe. Another asymmetry concerns causation: must this always be from past or present to future, or can there be backwards causation? After an examination of the causal relation more generally, this question is answered in the negative. Time travel raises much the same issues as does backwards causation, and here too it is held that we do not have a real possibility.
Quentin Smith
- Published in print:
- 1995
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198263838
- eISBN:
- 9780191682650
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198263838.003.0004
- Subject:
- Religion, Philosophy of Religion, Theology
This chapter argues that there is sufficient evidence at present to warrant the conclusion that the universe probably began to exist over 10 billion years ago and that it began to exist without being ...
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This chapter argues that there is sufficient evidence at present to warrant the conclusion that the universe probably began to exist over 10 billion years ago and that it began to exist without being caused to do so. It also provides counter-arguments to the propositions that the universe was caused by God and that the universe is probably infinitely old. It analyses quantum mechanical considerations and concludes that the argument for a divine cause of the Big Bang based on the causal principle is unsuccessful.Less
This chapter argues that there is sufficient evidence at present to warrant the conclusion that the universe probably began to exist over 10 billion years ago and that it began to exist without being caused to do so. It also provides counter-arguments to the propositions that the universe was caused by God and that the universe is probably infinitely old. It analyses quantum mechanical considerations and concludes that the argument for a divine cause of the Big Bang based on the causal principle is unsuccessful.
William Lane Craig
- Published in print:
- 1995
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198263838
- eISBN:
- 9780191682650
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198263838.003.0005
- Subject:
- Religion, Philosophy of Religion, Theology
This chapter argues against Quentin Smith's proposition about the uncaused beginning of the universe. It suggests that Smith failed to carry the second prong of his argument that the universe began ...
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This chapter argues against Quentin Smith's proposition about the uncaused beginning of the universe. It suggests that Smith failed to carry the second prong of his argument that the universe began to exist without being caused to do so. It also shows that Smith misconstrued the causal principle in question, appealed to false analogies of ex nihilo, contradicted himself in holding the singularity to be the source of the universe, and trivialized his own argument through reduction of causation to predictability in principle.Less
This chapter argues against Quentin Smith's proposition about the uncaused beginning of the universe. It suggests that Smith failed to carry the second prong of his argument that the universe began to exist without being caused to do so. It also shows that Smith misconstrued the causal principle in question, appealed to false analogies of ex nihilo, contradicted himself in holding the singularity to be the source of the universe, and trivialized his own argument through reduction of causation to predictability in principle.
Jean-Luc Nancy
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- September 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780823275922
- eISBN:
- 9780823277056
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Fordham University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5422/fordham/9780823275922.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, History of Philosophy
Jean-Luc Nancy provides an analysis of the anti-Semitic aspects of Heidegger’s recently published Black Notebooks. Referring to Hannah Arendt’s notion of the “banality of evil,” Nancy offers an ...
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Jean-Luc Nancy provides an analysis of the anti-Semitic aspects of Heidegger’s recently published Black Notebooks. Referring to Hannah Arendt’s notion of the “banality of evil,” Nancy offers an analysis of the philosophical or “historial” anti-Semitism found in the Black Notebooks. He notes especially that this anti-Semitism is marked by the “banality” of ordinary anti-Semitism pervading Europe. He does this by linking Heidegger’s remarks to the well-known anti-Semitic forgery, The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, whose terms are strikingly similar. Heidegger’s thought is also placed in the broader context of Western thought and culture, particularly in relation to the notion of a “decline” and to the sense of crisis pervading Europe in the first half of the twentieth century, to which anti-Semitism was a frequent response. Nancy critiques Heidegger’s continual evocation of a “beginning,” to be found solely in Greek thought, that has been covered over but whose destiny must be renewed in “another beginning,” and he links this to the impulse in European thought, and especially in Christianity, toward ever more initial foundations of “self.” The rejection of Judaism by Christianity, in its very foundation, is compared with Heidegger’s insistence on “another beginning.” Nancy finds in this complex ensemble a hatred of self at the heart of the West.Less
Jean-Luc Nancy provides an analysis of the anti-Semitic aspects of Heidegger’s recently published Black Notebooks. Referring to Hannah Arendt’s notion of the “banality of evil,” Nancy offers an analysis of the philosophical or “historial” anti-Semitism found in the Black Notebooks. He notes especially that this anti-Semitism is marked by the “banality” of ordinary anti-Semitism pervading Europe. He does this by linking Heidegger’s remarks to the well-known anti-Semitic forgery, The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, whose terms are strikingly similar. Heidegger’s thought is also placed in the broader context of Western thought and culture, particularly in relation to the notion of a “decline” and to the sense of crisis pervading Europe in the first half of the twentieth century, to which anti-Semitism was a frequent response. Nancy critiques Heidegger’s continual evocation of a “beginning,” to be found solely in Greek thought, that has been covered over but whose destiny must be renewed in “another beginning,” and he links this to the impulse in European thought, and especially in Christianity, toward ever more initial foundations of “self.” The rejection of Judaism by Christianity, in its very foundation, is compared with Heidegger’s insistence on “another beginning.” Nancy finds in this complex ensemble a hatred of self at the heart of the West.
Dov-Ber Kerler
- Published in print:
- 1993
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198151661
- eISBN:
- 9780191672798
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198151661.003.0025
- Subject:
- Literature, European Literature
It is said that there is no pure form of early modern Yiddish literature. All of these have fragments, if not a substantial amount of Old Yiddish. This is however not to say that they are just a ...
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It is said that there is no pure form of early modern Yiddish literature. All of these have fragments, if not a substantial amount of Old Yiddish. This is however not to say that they are just a continuation of the Old Yiddish literature, not an original. These earlier texts paved the way for later modern forms, most prominent in the nineteenth century. It was this time that was termed the true beginning of the age of modern literature. The fast-paced changes in cultural and social aspects of the state have set a background for reform, not only in government, but in literature as well. Religious movements had their share in this transformation, their distinct rules and customs adding influence and impact.Less
It is said that there is no pure form of early modern Yiddish literature. All of these have fragments, if not a substantial amount of Old Yiddish. This is however not to say that they are just a continuation of the Old Yiddish literature, not an original. These earlier texts paved the way for later modern forms, most prominent in the nineteenth century. It was this time that was termed the true beginning of the age of modern literature. The fast-paced changes in cultural and social aspects of the state have set a background for reform, not only in government, but in literature as well. Religious movements had their share in this transformation, their distinct rules and customs adding influence and impact.
Eric T. Olson
- Published in print:
- 1999
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195134230
- eISBN:
- 9780199833528
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195134230.003.0005
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Mind
The Psychological Approach implies that none of us was ever an early fetus, for none of us is in any way psychologically continuous with an early fetus. This raises several problems. There follows a ...
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The Psychological Approach implies that none of us was ever an early fetus, for none of us is in any way psychologically continuous with an early fetus. This raises several problems. There follows a discussion of when we do come into being.Less
The Psychological Approach implies that none of us was ever an early fetus, for none of us is in any way psychologically continuous with an early fetus. This raises several problems. There follows a discussion of when we do come into being.
Gary Peters
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- January 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780226452623
- eISBN:
- 9780226452760
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226452760.003.0002
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Aesthetics
This chapter makes a distinction between the start of an improvisation and its beginning. The suggestion being that while composed or choreographed work start and begin at the same time, ...
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This chapter makes a distinction between the start of an improvisation and its beginning. The suggestion being that while composed or choreographed work start and begin at the same time, improvisation dramatizes the beginning as something that 'happens'. The 'magic' of being 'in the moment.'Less
This chapter makes a distinction between the start of an improvisation and its beginning. The suggestion being that while composed or choreographed work start and begin at the same time, improvisation dramatizes the beginning as something that 'happens'. The 'magic' of being 'in the moment.'
Gary Peters
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- January 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780226452623
- eISBN:
- 9780226452760
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226452760.003.0025
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Aesthetics
This conclusion briefly reflects on how one might bring something to an end. It also considers the arrogance of those who celebrate their own achievements in this regard. Finally it accepts that if ...
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This conclusion briefly reflects on how one might bring something to an end. It also considers the arrogance of those who celebrate their own achievements in this regard. Finally it accepts that if the book as a whole has managed to indicate what Nietzsche (writing of his own 'good books') describes as a 'new series of experiences,' then at least it might be considered a 'good' book. That's the claim anyway.Less
This conclusion briefly reflects on how one might bring something to an end. It also considers the arrogance of those who celebrate their own achievements in this regard. Finally it accepts that if the book as a whole has managed to indicate what Nietzsche (writing of his own 'good books') describes as a 'new series of experiences,' then at least it might be considered a 'good' book. That's the claim anyway.
Elliot R. Wolfson
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- May 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780823282005
- eISBN:
- 9780823284795
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Fordham University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5422/fordham/9780823282005.003.0012
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
This chapter addresses the co-dependence of people's conceptions of end and of beginning. To comprehend the beginning, one must think of it from the perspective of futurity, from the perspective, ...
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This chapter addresses the co-dependence of people's conceptions of end and of beginning. To comprehend the beginning, one must think of it from the perspective of futurity, from the perspective, that is, of the ultimate end. Consequently, the beginning lies not in the past but, rather, in the future. The chapter then relates this mode of philosophizing with the way people understand Jewish eschatology, which lies at the center of Jewish theorization about time. In Jewish eschatology, what is yet to come is understood as what has already happened, whereas what has happened is derived from what is yet to come. Martin Heidegger has dismissed Judaism as a religion that by its very nature cannot experience temporality authentically. Yet his own understanding of temporality accords well with rabbinic conceptions of temporality and later kabbalistic eschatologies.Less
This chapter addresses the co-dependence of people's conceptions of end and of beginning. To comprehend the beginning, one must think of it from the perspective of futurity, from the perspective, that is, of the ultimate end. Consequently, the beginning lies not in the past but, rather, in the future. The chapter then relates this mode of philosophizing with the way people understand Jewish eschatology, which lies at the center of Jewish theorization about time. In Jewish eschatology, what is yet to come is understood as what has already happened, whereas what has happened is derived from what is yet to come. Martin Heidegger has dismissed Judaism as a religion that by its very nature cannot experience temporality authentically. Yet his own understanding of temporality accords well with rabbinic conceptions of temporality and later kabbalistic eschatologies.
Fred Dallmayr
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780813165783
- eISBN:
- 9780813165813
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Kentucky
- DOI:
- 10.5810/kentucky/9780813165783.003.0002
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Theory
Among Western thinkers deeply embroiled in the transition between paradigms, two stand out from the rest: Friedrich Nietzsche and Martin Heidegger, the former serving in a way as precursor or ...
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Among Western thinkers deeply embroiled in the transition between paradigms, two stand out from the rest: Friedrich Nietzsche and Martin Heidegger, the former serving in a way as precursor or pacemaker of the second. This chapter illustrates Nietzsche and Heidegger’s anticipatory outlook by focusing on a limited number of their writings, detailing how the endeavors launched by Nietzsche were pursued and intensified by Heidegger in the changed twentieth-century context—a context marked by the rise of phenomenology, existentialism, and hermeneutics. Moreover, the chapter discusses how the closest parallel between Nietzsche and Heidegger resides in their critique of the antinomies of the modern philosophical paradigm and their commitment to an “overcoming” of traditional metaphysics through an “other thinking” and new beginning.Less
Among Western thinkers deeply embroiled in the transition between paradigms, two stand out from the rest: Friedrich Nietzsche and Martin Heidegger, the former serving in a way as precursor or pacemaker of the second. This chapter illustrates Nietzsche and Heidegger’s anticipatory outlook by focusing on a limited number of their writings, detailing how the endeavors launched by Nietzsche were pursued and intensified by Heidegger in the changed twentieth-century context—a context marked by the rise of phenomenology, existentialism, and hermeneutics. Moreover, the chapter discusses how the closest parallel between Nietzsche and Heidegger resides in their critique of the antinomies of the modern philosophical paradigm and their commitment to an “overcoming” of traditional metaphysics through an “other thinking” and new beginning.
Jean-Luc Nancy and Jeff Fort
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- September 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780823275922
- eISBN:
- 9780823277056
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Fordham University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5422/fordham/9780823275922.003.0006
- Subject:
- Philosophy, History of Philosophy
For Heidegger, the first beginning is Greek. The beginning is thus brought about by a people, whereas the decline is brought about by the mixing and indistinction of peoples. But this too is for ...
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For Heidegger, the first beginning is Greek. The beginning is thus brought about by a people, whereas the decline is brought about by the mixing and indistinction of peoples. But this too is for Heidegger brought about by a figure-people, a caricature of a people, drawn from the vulgarity and banality of The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, whose proximity to Heidegger’s language on calculation, democracy, manipulation and internationalism is clear enough as to leave no doubt. This is the case regardless of whether Heidegger read the Protocols or not, for he very clearly absorbed its language, as had his age more generally. Heidegger believes he is collecting banalities for the sake of higher ends, by way of a deconstruction/destruction of metaphysics which, for Heidegger, also points toward the necessity of a destruction of the West that will liberate it from its own destructive elements: a destruction of destruction. Could this be the sign of a constitutive self-rejection at the heart of the West?Less
For Heidegger, the first beginning is Greek. The beginning is thus brought about by a people, whereas the decline is brought about by the mixing and indistinction of peoples. But this too is for Heidegger brought about by a figure-people, a caricature of a people, drawn from the vulgarity and banality of The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, whose proximity to Heidegger’s language on calculation, democracy, manipulation and internationalism is clear enough as to leave no doubt. This is the case regardless of whether Heidegger read the Protocols or not, for he very clearly absorbed its language, as had his age more generally. Heidegger believes he is collecting banalities for the sake of higher ends, by way of a deconstruction/destruction of metaphysics which, for Heidegger, also points toward the necessity of a destruction of the West that will liberate it from its own destructive elements: a destruction of destruction. Could this be the sign of a constitutive self-rejection at the heart of the West?
Jean-Luc Nancy and Jeff Fort
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- September 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780823275922
- eISBN:
- 9780823277056
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Fordham University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5422/fordham/9780823275922.003.0012
- Subject:
- Philosophy, History of Philosophy
Heidegger’s thought absorbed the lesson of a very ancient history: any true beginning always fails to be such, to truly begin, and must struggle to reinstantiate itself without going astray or ...
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Heidegger’s thought absorbed the lesson of a very ancient history: any true beginning always fails to be such, to truly begin, and must struggle to reinstantiate itself without going astray or breaking down. The thinking of the beginning is thus burdened with a banal metaphysical doxa of authenticity, originarity and properness. Christianity has an important role to play in the history of this thinking, as it is marked by the will to constitute a new beginning. Heidegger attempted to think another beginning that would be simultaneously in the image and in the place of the other beginning that Christianity wanted to constitute. Christianity’s rejection and exclusion of Jews and Judaism, as something that would compromise the former’s own claim to initiality, is part of a long history in which the West has made the Jew a figure to which it agressively turns to denounce at points of crisis. One such point occurred in Heidegger’s own time, and Heidegger, like so many in that time, absorbed the banalities of anti-Jewish messages. This banality does not lessen the gravity of Heidegger’s faults, on the contrary it aggravates them. It also demands that we interrogate the broader dimensions of these problems, that we lay bare the roots of anti-Semitism, that we investigate the sacrifical thinking which grounds so much political and social violence, that we break with a model given by this history in which progress is identified with the human conquest of the world, and that we withdraw from being any name and any demand for a destination. We must learn to live without being and without destination.Less
Heidegger’s thought absorbed the lesson of a very ancient history: any true beginning always fails to be such, to truly begin, and must struggle to reinstantiate itself without going astray or breaking down. The thinking of the beginning is thus burdened with a banal metaphysical doxa of authenticity, originarity and properness. Christianity has an important role to play in the history of this thinking, as it is marked by the will to constitute a new beginning. Heidegger attempted to think another beginning that would be simultaneously in the image and in the place of the other beginning that Christianity wanted to constitute. Christianity’s rejection and exclusion of Jews and Judaism, as something that would compromise the former’s own claim to initiality, is part of a long history in which the West has made the Jew a figure to which it agressively turns to denounce at points of crisis. One such point occurred in Heidegger’s own time, and Heidegger, like so many in that time, absorbed the banalities of anti-Jewish messages. This banality does not lessen the gravity of Heidegger’s faults, on the contrary it aggravates them. It also demands that we interrogate the broader dimensions of these problems, that we lay bare the roots of anti-Semitism, that we investigate the sacrifical thinking which grounds so much political and social violence, that we break with a model given by this history in which progress is identified with the human conquest of the world, and that we withdraw from being any name and any demand for a destination. We must learn to live without being and without destination.
Torstein Theodor Tollefsen
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199605965
- eISBN:
- 9780191738227
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199605965.003.0005
- Subject:
- Religion, Early Christian Studies, Religion in the Ancient World
The chapter describes the doctrines of creation or of the external activity of God, in Gregory of Nyssa, Dionysius the Areopagite, and Maximus the Confessor. The author questions whether Dionysius ...
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The chapter describes the doctrines of creation or of the external activity of God, in Gregory of Nyssa, Dionysius the Areopagite, and Maximus the Confessor. The author questions whether Dionysius has an orthodox doctrine of creation. The section on Maximus raises the question of whether he could have been acquainted with the philosophy of John Philoponus, who played an important role in the Christian critique of Neoplatonist doctrines of creation. The Christian view is that the cosmos is the result of a definite divine will to create, and that it had its beginning a definite number of time units ago. The chapter also discusses how the three thinkers viewed the participation of created beings in the divine activity.Less
The chapter describes the doctrines of creation or of the external activity of God, in Gregory of Nyssa, Dionysius the Areopagite, and Maximus the Confessor. The author questions whether Dionysius has an orthodox doctrine of creation. The section on Maximus raises the question of whether he could have been acquainted with the philosophy of John Philoponus, who played an important role in the Christian critique of Neoplatonist doctrines of creation. The Christian view is that the cosmos is the result of a definite divine will to create, and that it had its beginning a definite number of time units ago. The chapter also discusses how the three thinkers viewed the participation of created beings in the divine activity.
Reuven Firestone
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199860302
- eISBN:
- 9780199950621
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199860302.003.0014
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
The War of Independence was considered by virtually all Jews everywhere as a war of defence against Arab armies and irregulars who attempted to destroy the nascent Jewish state. Its success after the ...
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The War of Independence was considered by virtually all Jews everywhere as a war of defence against Arab armies and irregulars who attempted to destroy the nascent Jewish state. Its success after the horrors of the Holocaust spawned an upsurge in messianic expectations that soon subsided under the pressure of building a state apparatus where none had existed previously. Much of the ideological fervour that drove the revolutionary movement of Zionism subsided in the face of the need for institution building and the absorption of masses of Jewish refugees from the Holocaust and Muslim lands in the Middle East and North Africa. The old ethos of avoiding war at all costs broke down during this period as well as punitive and pre-emptive military acts were carried out by Israeli forces against Arab militaries and civilian populations. Under the auspices of the military rabbinate, the Orthodox Jewish community begins to consider the sanctity of various portions of the traditional Land of Israel.Less
The War of Independence was considered by virtually all Jews everywhere as a war of defence against Arab armies and irregulars who attempted to destroy the nascent Jewish state. Its success after the horrors of the Holocaust spawned an upsurge in messianic expectations that soon subsided under the pressure of building a state apparatus where none had existed previously. Much of the ideological fervour that drove the revolutionary movement of Zionism subsided in the face of the need for institution building and the absorption of masses of Jewish refugees from the Holocaust and Muslim lands in the Middle East and North Africa. The old ethos of avoiding war at all costs broke down during this period as well as punitive and pre-emptive military acts were carried out by Israeli forces against Arab militaries and civilian populations. Under the auspices of the military rabbinate, the Orthodox Jewish community begins to consider the sanctity of various portions of the traditional Land of Israel.
Catherine Belling
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- January 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780199892365
- eISBN:
- 9780199950096
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199892365.003.0024
- Subject:
- Philosophy, General
This chapter focuses on the problem of narrative structure in the story of hypochondria. In the absence of diagnosed organic disease, the hypochondriac is refused the conventional beginning of the ...
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This chapter focuses on the problem of narrative structure in the story of hypochondria. In the absence of diagnosed organic disease, the hypochondriac is refused the conventional beginning of the illness narrative. Instead, the story of hypochondria is recursive in structure, with repeated false starts. It follows, then, that no clear ending-or closure-are possible either. Different writers who identify themselves as hypochondriacs have found different ways to address these narrative challenges, revealing both the particular fears and desires inherent in stories of hypochondria, and the power of narrative in the experience of any illness.Less
This chapter focuses on the problem of narrative structure in the story of hypochondria. In the absence of diagnosed organic disease, the hypochondriac is refused the conventional beginning of the illness narrative. Instead, the story of hypochondria is recursive in structure, with repeated false starts. It follows, then, that no clear ending-or closure-are possible either. Different writers who identify themselves as hypochondriacs have found different ways to address these narrative challenges, revealing both the particular fears and desires inherent in stories of hypochondria, and the power of narrative in the experience of any illness.
Peter W. Martens
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199639557
- eISBN:
- 9780191738135
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199639557.003.0010
- Subject:
- Religion, Early Christian Studies, Biblical Studies
The preceding chapters demonstrate the ways in which Origen contextualized interpreters of Scripture within the middle of the Christian drama of salvation. However, this drama stretched both behind ...
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The preceding chapters demonstrate the ways in which Origen contextualized interpreters of Scripture within the middle of the Christian drama of salvation. However, this drama stretched both behind and ahead of interpreters laboring over Scripture in this life—it had not simply a middle, but also a beginning and an end. This final chapter demonstrates how Origen located interpreters at the protological and eschatological horizons of the cosmic story of salvation, especially as this story is adumbrated in On First Principles. It argues that scriptural interpretation in this life both reprised what had fleetingly transpired at the very beginning of the mind's existence, as well as anticipated and prepared it for what would be practiced more perfectly in the ages to come.Less
The preceding chapters demonstrate the ways in which Origen contextualized interpreters of Scripture within the middle of the Christian drama of salvation. However, this drama stretched both behind and ahead of interpreters laboring over Scripture in this life—it had not simply a middle, but also a beginning and an end. This final chapter demonstrates how Origen located interpreters at the protological and eschatological horizons of the cosmic story of salvation, especially as this story is adumbrated in On First Principles. It argues that scriptural interpretation in this life both reprised what had fleetingly transpired at the very beginning of the mind's existence, as well as anticipated and prepared it for what would be practiced more perfectly in the ages to come.
