Peter Lamarque and Stein Haugom Olsen
- Published in print:
- 1996
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198236818
- eISBN:
- 9780191679377
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198236818.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Aesthetics, Philosophy of Language
This book examines the complex and varied ways in which fictions relate to the real world, and offers a precise account of how imaginative works of literature can use fictional content to explore ...
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This book examines the complex and varied ways in which fictions relate to the real world, and offers a precise account of how imaginative works of literature can use fictional content to explore matters of universal human interest. While rejecting the traditional view that literature is important for the truths that it imparts, the authors also reject attempts to cut off literature altogether from real human concerns. Their detailed account of fictionality, mimesis, and cognitive value helps restore to literature its distinctive status among cultural practices. The authors also explore the limits of fictionality, particularly in relation to metaphysical and sceptical views, prevalent in modern thought, according to which the world itself is a kind of fiction, and truth no more than a cultural construct. They identify different conceptions of fiction in science, logic, epistemology, and make-believe, and thereby challenge the idea that discourse per se is fictional and that different modes of discourse are, at root, indistinguishable. They offer analyses of the roles of narrative, imagination, metaphor, and ‘making’ in human thought processes. Both in their methods and in their conclusions, the authors aim to bring rigour and clarity to debates about the values of literature, and to provide philosophically sound foundations for a genuine change of direction in literary theorizing.Less
This book examines the complex and varied ways in which fictions relate to the real world, and offers a precise account of how imaginative works of literature can use fictional content to explore matters of universal human interest. While rejecting the traditional view that literature is important for the truths that it imparts, the authors also reject attempts to cut off literature altogether from real human concerns. Their detailed account of fictionality, mimesis, and cognitive value helps restore to literature its distinctive status among cultural practices. The authors also explore the limits of fictionality, particularly in relation to metaphysical and sceptical views, prevalent in modern thought, according to which the world itself is a kind of fiction, and truth no more than a cultural construct. They identify different conceptions of fiction in science, logic, epistemology, and make-believe, and thereby challenge the idea that discourse per se is fictional and that different modes of discourse are, at root, indistinguishable. They offer analyses of the roles of narrative, imagination, metaphor, and ‘making’ in human thought processes. Both in their methods and in their conclusions, the authors aim to bring rigour and clarity to debates about the values of literature, and to provide philosophically sound foundations for a genuine change of direction in literary theorizing.
Stephen Gaukroger
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- January 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199296446
- eISBN:
- 9780191711985
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199296446.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, History of Philosophy
The West's sense of itself, its relation to its past, and its sense of its future have been profoundly altered since the 17th century as cognitive values generally have gradually come to be shaped ...
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The West's sense of itself, its relation to its past, and its sense of its future have been profoundly altered since the 17th century as cognitive values generally have gradually come to be shaped around scientific ones. The issue is not just that science brought a new set of such values to the task of understanding the world and our place in it, but rather that it completely transformed the task, redefining the goals of enquiry. This is a distinctive feature of the development of a scientific culture in the West and it marks it out from other scientifically productive cultures. This book examines the first stage of this development, from the 13th-century introduction of Aristotelianism and its establishment of natural philosophy as the point of entry into systematic understanding of the world and our place in it, to the attempts to establish natural philosophy as a world-view in the wake of the Scientific Revolution. It offers a conceptual and cultural history of the emergence of a scientific culture in the West from the early-modern era to the present. Science in the modern period is treated as a particular kind of cognitive practice and as a particular kind of cultural product, with aim to show that if we explore the connections between these two, we can learn something about the concerns and values of modern thought that we could not learn from either of them taken separately.Less
The West's sense of itself, its relation to its past, and its sense of its future have been profoundly altered since the 17th century as cognitive values generally have gradually come to be shaped around scientific ones. The issue is not just that science brought a new set of such values to the task of understanding the world and our place in it, but rather that it completely transformed the task, redefining the goals of enquiry. This is a distinctive feature of the development of a scientific culture in the West and it marks it out from other scientifically productive cultures. This book examines the first stage of this development, from the 13th-century introduction of Aristotelianism and its establishment of natural philosophy as the point of entry into systematic understanding of the world and our place in it, to the attempts to establish natural philosophy as a world-view in the wake of the Scientific Revolution. It offers a conceptual and cultural history of the emergence of a scientific culture in the West from the early-modern era to the present. Science in the modern period is treated as a particular kind of cognitive practice and as a particular kind of cultural product, with aim to show that if we explore the connections between these two, we can learn something about the concerns and values of modern thought that we could not learn from either of them taken separately.
TYLER BURGE
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199278534
- eISBN:
- 9780191706943
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199278534.003.0002
- Subject:
- Philosophy, History of Philosophy, Philosophy of Language
This introductory chapter begins with a brief discussion of how Gottlob Frege's name and work remain unknown to the wider intellectual public. It then describes Frege's contributions to philosophy, ...
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This introductory chapter begins with a brief discussion of how Gottlob Frege's name and work remain unknown to the wider intellectual public. It then describes Frege's contributions to philosophy, including concentration on language in the expression of knowledge and a recognition of the power of logic to illuminate the structure of language and its contribution to the expression of knowledge. It shows how Frege's positivist successors used his innovations against a background of philosophical attitudes that Frege did not share. They differed with him, in absolutely fundamental ways, about both meaning and knowledge. The chapter make some more specific philosophical remarks about Frege's contributions, as discussed in these three parts: truth, structure, and method; sense and cognitive value; and rationalism.Less
This introductory chapter begins with a brief discussion of how Gottlob Frege's name and work remain unknown to the wider intellectual public. It then describes Frege's contributions to philosophy, including concentration on language in the expression of knowledge and a recognition of the power of logic to illuminate the structure of language and its contribution to the expression of knowledge. It shows how Frege's positivist successors used his innovations against a background of philosophical attitudes that Frege did not share. They differed with him, in absolutely fundamental ways, about both meaning and knowledge. The chapter make some more specific philosophical remarks about Frege's contributions, as discussed in these three parts: truth, structure, and method; sense and cognitive value; and rationalism.
Stephen Gaukroger
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- January 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199594931
- eISBN:
- 9780191595745
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199594931.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Science, General
Understanding the emergence of a scientific culture—one in which cognitive values generally are modelled on, or subordinated to, scientific ones—is one of the foremost historical and philosophical ...
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Understanding the emergence of a scientific culture—one in which cognitive values generally are modelled on, or subordinated to, scientific ones—is one of the foremost historical and philosophical problems with which we are now confronted in understanding our own culture. The significance of the emergence of such scientific values lies above all in their ability to provide the criteria by which we come to appraise cognitive enquiry, which shapes our understanding of what it can achieve. The period between the 1680s and the middle of the eighteenth century is a very distinctive one in this development. It is then that we witness the emergence of the idea that scientific values form a model for all cognitive claims. It is also at this time that science explicitly goes beyond technical expertise and begins to articulate a world‐view designed to displace others, whether humanist or Christian. However, what occurred took place in a peculiar and overdetermined fashion, and the outcome in the mid‐eighteenth century was not the triumph of ‘reason’, as has commonly been supposed, but rather a simultaneous elevation of the standing of science and the beginnings of a serious questioning of whether science offers a comprehensive form of understanding.Less
Understanding the emergence of a scientific culture—one in which cognitive values generally are modelled on, or subordinated to, scientific ones—is one of the foremost historical and philosophical problems with which we are now confronted in understanding our own culture. The significance of the emergence of such scientific values lies above all in their ability to provide the criteria by which we come to appraise cognitive enquiry, which shapes our understanding of what it can achieve. The period between the 1680s and the middle of the eighteenth century is a very distinctive one in this development. It is then that we witness the emergence of the idea that scientific values form a model for all cognitive claims. It is also at this time that science explicitly goes beyond technical expertise and begins to articulate a world‐view designed to displace others, whether humanist or Christian. However, what occurred took place in a peculiar and overdetermined fashion, and the outcome in the mid‐eighteenth century was not the triumph of ‘reason’, as has commonly been supposed, but rather a simultaneous elevation of the standing of science and the beginnings of a serious questioning of whether science offers a comprehensive form of understanding.
Sally Haslanger
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- January 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780199892631
- eISBN:
- 9780199980055
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199892631.003.0012
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Moral Philosophy, Feminist Philosophy
Much of contemporary analytic epistemology has been concerned with the semantics of claims to know. For the most part, feminist epistemology pursues different questions about knowledge. The chapter ...
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Much of contemporary analytic epistemology has been concerned with the semantics of claims to know. For the most part, feminist epistemology pursues different questions about knowledge. The chapter argues that are there alternative ways of undertaking an analysis of knowledge on which feminist work often deemed irrelevant to the philosophical project is, in fact, highly relevant. Rather than pursuing a strategy of reflective equilibrium, we need to ask: what is our concept of knowledge for? And what conception could best achieve this? The chapter argues that we should consider what cognitive values beings like us ought to have, and to answer this feminist work on the self, the interdependence between selves, agency, and autonomy offer important insights.Less
Much of contemporary analytic epistemology has been concerned with the semantics of claims to know. For the most part, feminist epistemology pursues different questions about knowledge. The chapter argues that are there alternative ways of undertaking an analysis of knowledge on which feminist work often deemed irrelevant to the philosophical project is, in fact, highly relevant. Rather than pursuing a strategy of reflective equilibrium, we need to ask: what is our concept of knowledge for? And what conception could best achieve this? The chapter argues that we should consider what cognitive values beings like us ought to have, and to answer this feminist work on the self, the interdependence between selves, agency, and autonomy offer important insights.
Richard Gaskin
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- May 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780199657902
- eISBN:
- 9780191756337
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199657902.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Aesthetics, Philosophy of Language
According to the literary humanist, works of literature refer to the real world and make statements about that world which are of cognitive as well as aesthetic value; the two kinds of value are ...
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According to the literary humanist, works of literature refer to the real world and make statements about that world which are of cognitive as well as aesthetic value; the two kinds of value are indeed intimately connected. This humanist also holds that such works have an objective meaning which is fixed at the time of their production and which is the same for all readers, then and thereafter. This book aims to defend literary humanism, so understood, against attacks from two directions. On the one hand, some analytically minded aestheticians have argued that works of literature do not bear referentially on the world and do not make true statements about it; others hold that such works do not make a contribution to knowledge; others again allow that works of literature may have cognitive value, but deny that this depends on their having truth or reference. On the other hand, reception-theorists and deconstructionists have rejected the humanist’s objectivist conception of literary meaning, and typically take a pragmatist and anti-realist approach to truth and meaning. This latter, poststructuralist assault on the traditional understanding of literature has often been accompanied by a radical politicization of its study. In defending literary humanism against these various forms of criticism, this book shows that the reading and appreciation of literature is a cognitive activity on a par with scientific investigation, and that it can and should be approached disinterestedly for the sake of what can be learnt about the world and our place in it.Less
According to the literary humanist, works of literature refer to the real world and make statements about that world which are of cognitive as well as aesthetic value; the two kinds of value are indeed intimately connected. This humanist also holds that such works have an objective meaning which is fixed at the time of their production and which is the same for all readers, then and thereafter. This book aims to defend literary humanism, so understood, against attacks from two directions. On the one hand, some analytically minded aestheticians have argued that works of literature do not bear referentially on the world and do not make true statements about it; others hold that such works do not make a contribution to knowledge; others again allow that works of literature may have cognitive value, but deny that this depends on their having truth or reference. On the other hand, reception-theorists and deconstructionists have rejected the humanist’s objectivist conception of literary meaning, and typically take a pragmatist and anti-realist approach to truth and meaning. This latter, poststructuralist assault on the traditional understanding of literature has often been accompanied by a radical politicization of its study. In defending literary humanism against these various forms of criticism, this book shows that the reading and appreciation of literature is a cognitive activity on a par with scientific investigation, and that it can and should be approached disinterestedly for the sake of what can be learnt about the world and our place in it.
Richard Gaskin
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- May 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780199657902
- eISBN:
- 9780191756337
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199657902.003.0003
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Aesthetics, Philosophy of Language
In this chapter a provisional definition of literary humanism is given; it is argued that the theses associated with it by that definition are best understood in the context of a special application ...
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In this chapter a provisional definition of literary humanism is given; it is argued that the theses associated with it by that definition are best understood in the context of a special application of Frege’s sense–reference distinction. It is maintained that works of literature often have a paraphrase, which conveys the same referential content via a different sense, and that this referential content may be an object of propositional knowledge. It is further argued that the sense of a work of literature, as well as its reference, may be of cognitive value, and some examples of works (or parts of works) whose cognitive value resides in their reference (respectively, sense) are given. Finally, the chapter examines the respects in which rereading a work can bring cognitive benefit.Less
In this chapter a provisional definition of literary humanism is given; it is argued that the theses associated with it by that definition are best understood in the context of a special application of Frege’s sense–reference distinction. It is maintained that works of literature often have a paraphrase, which conveys the same referential content via a different sense, and that this referential content may be an object of propositional knowledge. It is further argued that the sense of a work of literature, as well as its reference, may be of cognitive value, and some examples of works (or parts of works) whose cognitive value resides in their reference (respectively, sense) are given. Finally, the chapter examines the respects in which rereading a work can bring cognitive benefit.
Richard Gaskin
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- May 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780199657902
- eISBN:
- 9780191756337
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199657902.003.0004
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Aesthetics, Philosophy of Language
In this chapter a distinction is made between propositional and non-propositional knowledge and it is argued, against a number of critics, that works of literature typically convey propositional ...
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In this chapter a distinction is made between propositional and non-propositional knowledge and it is argued, against a number of critics, that works of literature typically convey propositional knowledge. There is a defence of the claim advanced in the previous chapter that the cognitive value of many works of literature is intimately connected with their having reference to the real world and advancing true statements about it. It is maintained that truth and falsity in the paraphrase of a work of literature are pro tanto markers of aesthetic value and disvalue respectively. Finally, consideration is given to the status of contradictions in literature, and it is argued that that status is in all relevant respects comparable to their status in scientific discourse: the existence of a contradiction between two works of literature implies that one of them is false; and falsity in a work is, pro tanto, a blemish.Less
In this chapter a distinction is made between propositional and non-propositional knowledge and it is argued, against a number of critics, that works of literature typically convey propositional knowledge. There is a defence of the claim advanced in the previous chapter that the cognitive value of many works of literature is intimately connected with their having reference to the real world and advancing true statements about it. It is maintained that truth and falsity in the paraphrase of a work of literature are pro tanto markers of aesthetic value and disvalue respectively. Finally, consideration is given to the status of contradictions in literature, and it is argued that that status is in all relevant respects comparable to their status in scientific discourse: the existence of a contradiction between two works of literature implies that one of them is false; and falsity in a work is, pro tanto, a blemish.
Tom Cochrane
- Published in print:
- 2021
- Published Online:
- December 2021
- ISBN:
- 9780192848819
- eISBN:
- 9780191944055
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780192848819.003.0009
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Aesthetics
This chapter presents Aestheticism as a general approach to life. It is argued that a dedicated aestheticist will be inspired to create works of art. In alignment with this view an aesthetic ...
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This chapter presents Aestheticism as a general approach to life. It is argued that a dedicated aestheticist will be inspired to create works of art. In alignment with this view an aesthetic functionalist account of art is defended, incorporating aspects of the expression theory of art and the cognitive theory of art. It is then suggested that the way an artist creatively responds to the value of the world is an ideal of living well. Moreover, although there are other such ideals, the artistic paradigm can apply to a variety of human activities, including the pursuit and expression of one’s understanding (as in philosophy). In the latter part of the chapter it is then argued that, in distilling aesthetic values, the artist has an important social role to play. Artworks help us to discern value ideals, and our capacity to discern values is a vital component of virtue.Less
This chapter presents Aestheticism as a general approach to life. It is argued that a dedicated aestheticist will be inspired to create works of art. In alignment with this view an aesthetic functionalist account of art is defended, incorporating aspects of the expression theory of art and the cognitive theory of art. It is then suggested that the way an artist creatively responds to the value of the world is an ideal of living well. Moreover, although there are other such ideals, the artistic paradigm can apply to a variety of human activities, including the pursuit and expression of one’s understanding (as in philosophy). In the latter part of the chapter it is then argued that, in distilling aesthetic values, the artist has an important social role to play. Artworks help us to discern value ideals, and our capacity to discern values is a vital component of virtue.
Robert Stecker
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- May 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780198789956
- eISBN:
- 9780191876271
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198789956.003.0006
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Aesthetics, Moral Philosophy
This chapter has three main aims. The first is to argue for a modest view of the cognitive value of fiction in the context of the arts. This view asserts that we acquire from such works new ...
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This chapter has three main aims. The first is to argue for a modest view of the cognitive value of fiction in the context of the arts. This view asserts that we acquire from such works new conceptions or hypotheses that we then can test in the actual world. The second aim concerns the interaction of values. The claim we will make is that the kind of cognitive value typically possessed by representational art arises through the aesthetic experience of the work. The third aim is to argue against both more ambitious and more skeptical views about the cognitive value of fiction in art.Less
This chapter has three main aims. The first is to argue for a modest view of the cognitive value of fiction in the context of the arts. This view asserts that we acquire from such works new conceptions or hypotheses that we then can test in the actual world. The second aim concerns the interaction of values. The claim we will make is that the kind of cognitive value typically possessed by representational art arises through the aesthetic experience of the work. The third aim is to argue against both more ambitious and more skeptical views about the cognitive value of fiction in art.
Robert Stecker
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- May 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780198789956
- eISBN:
- 9780191876271
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198789956.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Aesthetics, Moral Philosophy
This book is about the universal human need to aesthetically experience the world around us. To this end, it examines three appreciative contexts where aesthetic value plays a central role: art, ...
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This book is about the universal human need to aesthetically experience the world around us. To this end, it examines three appreciative contexts where aesthetic value plays a central role: art, nature, and the everyday. The book concludes by asking: what is the place of the aesthetic in a good life? An equally important theme explores the way the aesthetic interacts with other values—broadly moral, cognitive, and functional ones. No important appreciative practice is completely centered on a single value and such practices can only be fully understood in terms of a plurality of intersecting values. Complementing the study of aesthetic appreciation are: (1) An analysis of the cognitive and ethical value of art; (2) an attempt to answer fundamental questions in environmental aesthetics, and an investigation of the interface between environmental ethics and aesthetics; and (3) an examination of the extent to which the aesthetic value of everyday artifacts derives from their basic practical functions. The book devotes special attention to art as an appreciative context because it is an especially rich arena where different values interact. Artistic value is complex and pluralistic, a value composed of other values. Aesthetic value is among these, but so are ethical, cognitive, and art-historical values.Less
This book is about the universal human need to aesthetically experience the world around us. To this end, it examines three appreciative contexts where aesthetic value plays a central role: art, nature, and the everyday. The book concludes by asking: what is the place of the aesthetic in a good life? An equally important theme explores the way the aesthetic interacts with other values—broadly moral, cognitive, and functional ones. No important appreciative practice is completely centered on a single value and such practices can only be fully understood in terms of a plurality of intersecting values. Complementing the study of aesthetic appreciation are: (1) An analysis of the cognitive and ethical value of art; (2) an attempt to answer fundamental questions in environmental aesthetics, and an investigation of the interface between environmental ethics and aesthetics; and (3) an examination of the extent to which the aesthetic value of everyday artifacts derives from their basic practical functions. The book devotes special attention to art as an appreciative context because it is an especially rich arena where different values interact. Artistic value is complex and pluralistic, a value composed of other values. Aesthetic value is among these, but so are ethical, cognitive, and art-historical values.
Robert Stecker
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- May 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780198789956
- eISBN:
- 9780191876271
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198789956.003.0003
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Aesthetics, Moral Philosophy
This chapter argues that artistic value is a distinct kind of value from aesthetic value. Artistic value is a function of, and derived from, a plurality of more basic values, including, but not ...
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This chapter argues that artistic value is a distinct kind of value from aesthetic value. Artistic value is a function of, and derived from, a plurality of more basic values, including, but not confined to, aesthetic value. Artworks are also valued as artworks for their cognitive value, ethical value, art-historical value, interpretation-centered value, and in other ways as well. To understand the artistic value of particular works requires understanding what the artist who makes the work is intending to do in it—what functions it is intended to fulfill or what it is intended to achieve. In order to defend this view, the chapter will show that artistic value is not reducible to aesthetic value.Less
This chapter argues that artistic value is a distinct kind of value from aesthetic value. Artistic value is a function of, and derived from, a plurality of more basic values, including, but not confined to, aesthetic value. Artworks are also valued as artworks for their cognitive value, ethical value, art-historical value, interpretation-centered value, and in other ways as well. To understand the artistic value of particular works requires understanding what the artist who makes the work is intending to do in it—what functions it is intended to fulfill or what it is intended to achieve. In order to defend this view, the chapter will show that artistic value is not reducible to aesthetic value.
Brady Bowman
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- April 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780199976201
- eISBN:
- 9780199395507
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199976201.003.0009
- Subject:
- Philosophy, History of Philosophy
Identifying cognition in general with propositional knowledge exposes the cognitive value of literature to abiding skepticism. This chapter argues that German romanticism has generated two competing ...
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Identifying cognition in general with propositional knowledge exposes the cognitive value of literature to abiding skepticism. This chapter argues that German romanticism has generated two competing views of the relation between literature and the overtly truth-seeking disciplines. One is a legacy of skepticism and antirealism that is powerless to give a positive account of literary value. The other is a complementarist legacy emphasizing literature’s cognitive priority to and its role as the cognitive fulfillment of discursive knowledge. This tradition offers important resources to aesthetic cognitivism for articulating and defending the value of literature and the institutions that support it.Less
Identifying cognition in general with propositional knowledge exposes the cognitive value of literature to abiding skepticism. This chapter argues that German romanticism has generated two competing views of the relation between literature and the overtly truth-seeking disciplines. One is a legacy of skepticism and antirealism that is powerless to give a positive account of literary value. The other is a complementarist legacy emphasizing literature’s cognitive priority to and its role as the cognitive fulfillment of discursive knowledge. This tradition offers important resources to aesthetic cognitivism for articulating and defending the value of literature and the institutions that support it.
Iskra Fileva (ed.)
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- November 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780199357703
- eISBN:
- 9780199357734
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199357703.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Moral Philosophy, Philosophy of Mind
This anthology brings together first-rate philosophers with a variety of backgrounds, as well as scholars from psychology, economics, and law in order to deliver a collection that captures the ...
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This anthology brings together first-rate philosophers with a variety of backgrounds, as well as scholars from psychology, economics, and law in order to deliver a collection that captures the multifaceted nature of human character. The chapters are organized thematically and grouped under five headings. Part I “Character in Ethics” contains chapters discussing character in relation to a number of moral philosophers and philosophies: Aristotle, Kant, Hume, Nietzsche, and consequentialism. The chapters in Part II “Character in Moral Psychology” constitute attempts to illuminate: the connections between being an autonomous agent and having character; the role of alienation from one’s motives; the conative and cognitive aspects of virtue; the explanatory role of traits; and the connections between traits and reasons explanations of action. Part III “Character in Psychology and X-Phi” contains chapters on situationist critiques of character, reputation, and gossip; the difference between traits and psychiatric disorders; and character from a psychoanalytic perspective. Part IV “Character and Society” includes chapters on the seeming tension between virtue and free market values; judicial virtues; and the way history shapes character. Finally, Part V “Character in Art” offers chapters on the ways in which characters from artistic works function as models, which audiences can apply to actual persons; the effect that reading fiction has on empathy: situationism and the cognitive value of literature; a chapter on miscasting actors in film; and one on character development in an opera by Mozart.Less
This anthology brings together first-rate philosophers with a variety of backgrounds, as well as scholars from psychology, economics, and law in order to deliver a collection that captures the multifaceted nature of human character. The chapters are organized thematically and grouped under five headings. Part I “Character in Ethics” contains chapters discussing character in relation to a number of moral philosophers and philosophies: Aristotle, Kant, Hume, Nietzsche, and consequentialism. The chapters in Part II “Character in Moral Psychology” constitute attempts to illuminate: the connections between being an autonomous agent and having character; the role of alienation from one’s motives; the conative and cognitive aspects of virtue; the explanatory role of traits; and the connections between traits and reasons explanations of action. Part III “Character in Psychology and X-Phi” contains chapters on situationist critiques of character, reputation, and gossip; the difference between traits and psychiatric disorders; and character from a psychoanalytic perspective. Part IV “Character and Society” includes chapters on the seeming tension between virtue and free market values; judicial virtues; and the way history shapes character. Finally, Part V “Character in Art” offers chapters on the ways in which characters from artistic works function as models, which audiences can apply to actual persons; the effect that reading fiction has on empathy: situationism and the cognitive value of literature; a chapter on miscasting actors in film; and one on character development in an opera by Mozart.
Richard Gaskin
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- May 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780199657902
- eISBN:
- 9780191756337
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199657902.003.0012
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Aesthetics, Philosophy of Language
This chapter looks at poststructuralism: this tendency has two distinct strands, a meaning-theoretic one, namely deconstruction, and an ideological one, in the form of political (usually Marxist) ...
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This chapter looks at poststructuralism: this tendency has two distinct strands, a meaning-theoretic one, namely deconstruction, and an ideological one, in the form of political (usually Marxist) criticism. The differences between linguistic idealism and deconstruction are revisited, and the question is addressed whether modern literary theory has lowered intellectual standards. Finally the issue of the politicization of literary criticism is reviewed, and it is argued that this trend wrongly instrumentalizes the study of literature. That study is a cognitively valuable activity which we should pursue in the confidence that all knowledge is grist to our mill; we should not elevate literary understanding above scientific understanding, but nor should we undervalue its benefits.Less
This chapter looks at poststructuralism: this tendency has two distinct strands, a meaning-theoretic one, namely deconstruction, and an ideological one, in the form of political (usually Marxist) criticism. The differences between linguistic idealism and deconstruction are revisited, and the question is addressed whether modern literary theory has lowered intellectual standards. Finally the issue of the politicization of literary criticism is reviewed, and it is argued that this trend wrongly instrumentalizes the study of literature. That study is a cognitively valuable activity which we should pursue in the confidence that all knowledge is grist to our mill; we should not elevate literary understanding above scientific understanding, but nor should we undervalue its benefits.
John Gibson
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- December 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780190698515
- eISBN:
- 9780190698553
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780190698515.003.0002
- Subject:
- Philosophy, History of Philosophy
This chapter uses an exploration of the nature of selfhood in Hamlet to stage a discussion of the concept of literary knowledge. What does it mean to claim for our various practices of literary ...
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This chapter uses an exploration of the nature of selfhood in Hamlet to stage a discussion of the concept of literary knowledge. What does it mean to claim for our various practices of literary production that they can yield, collectively if not always individually, a “form of knowing”: that there exist distinctly literary ways of making sense of the world and thus of presenting it as an object of understanding? Making sense of this, this chapter argues, requires an account of the nature of narrative and the manner in which it bestows a distinct form of intelligibility upon the events it relates. Hamlet brings to view a striking feature of the nature of this intelligibility and its role in generating the forms of meaning that make Hamlet, and literary narrative more generally, elusive.Less
This chapter uses an exploration of the nature of selfhood in Hamlet to stage a discussion of the concept of literary knowledge. What does it mean to claim for our various practices of literary production that they can yield, collectively if not always individually, a “form of knowing”: that there exist distinctly literary ways of making sense of the world and thus of presenting it as an object of understanding? Making sense of this, this chapter argues, requires an account of the nature of narrative and the manner in which it bestows a distinct form of intelligibility upon the events it relates. Hamlet brings to view a striking feature of the nature of this intelligibility and its role in generating the forms of meaning that make Hamlet, and literary narrative more generally, elusive.
David Davies
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- October 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780190689414
- eISBN:
- 9780190689452
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780190689414.003.0008
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Aesthetics
Emma Woodhouse misreads the intentions, and the significance of the actions, of those around her in ways that reflect both her projects and her own acknowledged or unacknowledged desires. Moreover, ...
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Emma Woodhouse misreads the intentions, and the significance of the actions, of those around her in ways that reflect both her projects and her own acknowledged or unacknowledged desires. Moreover, Emma is innovative in its wide use of “free indirect style”: readers view the fictional events largely through a third-person narrative inflected by Emma’s consciousness of these events. A consequence, for most critics, is that the first-time receiver will have difficulty detecting Emma’s misreadings. Contrary to this view, this chapter argues that, far from deliberately obscuring details of the narrative in this way, Austen’s particular use of the free indirect style allows her to furnish the receiver with the clues necessary to see Emma as the misreader that she is. The first-time receiver is intended to register Emma’s misreadings, and one who fails to do so is themselves misreading Emma. Emma, so understood, bears on debates about the cognitive values of literature.Less
Emma Woodhouse misreads the intentions, and the significance of the actions, of those around her in ways that reflect both her projects and her own acknowledged or unacknowledged desires. Moreover, Emma is innovative in its wide use of “free indirect style”: readers view the fictional events largely through a third-person narrative inflected by Emma’s consciousness of these events. A consequence, for most critics, is that the first-time receiver will have difficulty detecting Emma’s misreadings. Contrary to this view, this chapter argues that, far from deliberately obscuring details of the narrative in this way, Austen’s particular use of the free indirect style allows her to furnish the receiver with the clues necessary to see Emma as the misreader that she is. The first-time receiver is intended to register Emma’s misreadings, and one who fails to do so is themselves misreading Emma. Emma, so understood, bears on debates about the cognitive values of literature.
Stacie Friend
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- September 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780199669639
- eISBN:
- 9780191749384
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199669639.003.0012
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Aesthetics, Philosophy of Mind
There is a widespread assumption that we can learn facts from fiction: ordinary empirical facts about history, geography, society, biology, and so on. Although nothing about the nature of fiction ...
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There is a widespread assumption that we can learn facts from fiction: ordinary empirical facts about history, geography, society, biology, and so on. Although nothing about the nature of fiction precludes the acquisition of empirical knowledge, learning facts from fiction is far from straightforward. Fictional texts usually contain a mix of truths and falsehoods and are rarely vetted for accuracy. Readers should tread carefully in forming beliefs from fiction. Do they? According to various psychological studies, they do not. The evidence indicates that for some information, readers are at least as likely to believe what they read in fiction as in non-fiction. Friend claims that these results cast greater doubt on the possibility of empirical knowledge from fiction than standard objections in the literature. Drawing on work by Williamson and Sosa, she proposes that we meet this challenge by appeal to the competences exercised in reading fiction.Less
There is a widespread assumption that we can learn facts from fiction: ordinary empirical facts about history, geography, society, biology, and so on. Although nothing about the nature of fiction precludes the acquisition of empirical knowledge, learning facts from fiction is far from straightforward. Fictional texts usually contain a mix of truths and falsehoods and are rarely vetted for accuracy. Readers should tread carefully in forming beliefs from fiction. Do they? According to various psychological studies, they do not. The evidence indicates that for some information, readers are at least as likely to believe what they read in fiction as in non-fiction. Friend claims that these results cast greater doubt on the possibility of empirical knowledge from fiction than standard objections in the literature. Drawing on work by Williamson and Sosa, she proposes that we meet this challenge by appeal to the competences exercised in reading fiction.
Tzachi Zamir
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- June 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780199603671
- eISBN:
- 9780191796241
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199603671.003.0011
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Aesthetics, Philosophy of Language
This chapter calls into question the habit of explaining the relationship between philosophy and literature in terms of a ‘compensatory’ thesis according to which literature is able to bring to ...
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This chapter calls into question the habit of explaining the relationship between philosophy and literature in terms of a ‘compensatory’ thesis according to which literature is able to bring to perfection and so complete the forms of understanding philosophy pursues. The chapter argues that literature is often hostile to the compensatory thesis, and he offers a close reading of Paradise Lost to demonstrate that poetry’s pursuit of insight, even knowledge, often takes a distinctly aesthetic and literary, rather than philosophical, form. It is not a completion of the philosopher’s project but a distinctly poetic manner of pursuing and articulating knowledge. In this respect, there is a unique form of poetic knowledge, and we shouldn’t expect philosophy to take us very far in coming to possess it.Less
This chapter calls into question the habit of explaining the relationship between philosophy and literature in terms of a ‘compensatory’ thesis according to which literature is able to bring to perfection and so complete the forms of understanding philosophy pursues. The chapter argues that literature is often hostile to the compensatory thesis, and he offers a close reading of Paradise Lost to demonstrate that poetry’s pursuit of insight, even knowledge, often takes a distinctly aesthetic and literary, rather than philosophical, form. It is not a completion of the philosopher’s project but a distinctly poetic manner of pursuing and articulating knowledge. In this respect, there is a unique form of poetic knowledge, and we shouldn’t expect philosophy to take us very far in coming to possess it.