G. E. R. Lloyd
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199654727
- eISBN:
- 9780191742088
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199654727.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, History of Philosophy, Ancient Philosophy
This book explores the variety of ideas and assumptions that humans have entertained concerning three main topics, first being, or what there is, secondly humanity – what makes a human being a human ...
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This book explores the variety of ideas and assumptions that humans have entertained concerning three main topics, first being, or what there is, secondly humanity – what makes a human being a human – and thirdly understanding, namely both of the world and of one another. Amazingly diverse views have been held on these issues by different individuals and collectivities in both ancient and modern times. The aim is to juxtapose the evidence available from ethnography and from the study of ancient societies, both to describe that diversity and to investigate the problems it poses. Many of the ideas in question are deeply puzzling, even paradoxical, to the point where they have often been described as irrational or frankly unintelligible. Many implicate fundamental moral issues and value judgements, where again we may seem to be faced with an impossible task in attempting to arrive at a fair-minded evaluation. How far does it seem that we are all the prisoners of the conceptual systems of the collectivities to which we happen to belong? To what extent and in what circumstances is it possible to challenge the basic concepts of such systems? This study examines these questions cross‐culturally and seeks to draw out the implications for the revisability of some of our habitual assumptions concerning such topics as ontology, morality, nature, relativism, incommensurability, the philosophy of language, and the pragmatics of communication.Less
This book explores the variety of ideas and assumptions that humans have entertained concerning three main topics, first being, or what there is, secondly humanity – what makes a human being a human – and thirdly understanding, namely both of the world and of one another. Amazingly diverse views have been held on these issues by different individuals and collectivities in both ancient and modern times. The aim is to juxtapose the evidence available from ethnography and from the study of ancient societies, both to describe that diversity and to investigate the problems it poses. Many of the ideas in question are deeply puzzling, even paradoxical, to the point where they have often been described as irrational or frankly unintelligible. Many implicate fundamental moral issues and value judgements, where again we may seem to be faced with an impossible task in attempting to arrive at a fair-minded evaluation. How far does it seem that we are all the prisoners of the conceptual systems of the collectivities to which we happen to belong? To what extent and in what circumstances is it possible to challenge the basic concepts of such systems? This study examines these questions cross‐culturally and seeks to draw out the implications for the revisability of some of our habitual assumptions concerning such topics as ontology, morality, nature, relativism, incommensurability, the philosophy of language, and the pragmatics of communication.
Joseph Raz
- Published in print:
- 1988
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198248071
- eISBN:
- 9780191598289
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198248075.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Moral Philosophy
This book explores, within a liberal framework, the nature, significance, and justification of political freedom or liberty. Against recent liberal positions, it is argued that political morality is ...
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This book explores, within a liberal framework, the nature, significance, and justification of political freedom or liberty. Against recent liberal positions, it is argued that political morality is neither rights‐based, nor equality‐based. What underlies rights, and the value of freedom, is a concern with autonomy. Autonomy requires, among other things, that individuals have an array of valuable options to choose from. The realm of values is marked by pluralism, incommensurability, and a dependence on social forms. Individualism is rejected and the importance of collective goods is given due emphasis. Though it is often assumed that liberal states must be committed to neutrality about valuable options, it is contended here that a concern with autonomy is perfectly consistent with perfectionism. The book also contains an extensive discussion of the connection between freedom and political authority.Less
This book explores, within a liberal framework, the nature, significance, and justification of political freedom or liberty. Against recent liberal positions, it is argued that political morality is neither rights‐based, nor equality‐based. What underlies rights, and the value of freedom, is a concern with autonomy. Autonomy requires, among other things, that individuals have an array of valuable options to choose from. The realm of values is marked by pluralism, incommensurability, and a dependence on social forms. Individualism is rejected and the importance of collective goods is given due emphasis. Though it is often assumed that liberal states must be committed to neutrality about valuable options, it is contended here that a concern with autonomy is perfectly consistent with perfectionism. The book also contains an extensive discussion of the connection between freedom and political authority.
Mark Wilson
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- January 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199269259
- eISBN:
- 9780191710155
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199269259.003.0010
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Language
The vital role of ‘concept’ as our chief means for expressing an evaluation of our present capacities for semantic diagnosis and control is reviewed, leading to chastened expectations that lie ...
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The vital role of ‘concept’ as our chief means for expressing an evaluation of our present capacities for semantic diagnosis and control is reviewed, leading to chastened expectations that lie intermediate between the excessive optimism of classical thinking and the radical pessimism endemic to pragmatism. These considerations indicate a crucial need for a temperate form of semantic scepticism within our philosophical thinking, a lesson that the present chapter applies to a number of controversies prominent in current debate. An allied viewpoint is brought to bear upon familiar worries about the role of ‘truth’ in our thinking and the problems involved in ‘understanding’ another culture.Less
The vital role of ‘concept’ as our chief means for expressing an evaluation of our present capacities for semantic diagnosis and control is reviewed, leading to chastened expectations that lie intermediate between the excessive optimism of classical thinking and the radical pessimism endemic to pragmatism. These considerations indicate a crucial need for a temperate form of semantic scepticism within our philosophical thinking, a lesson that the present chapter applies to a number of controversies prominent in current debate. An allied viewpoint is brought to bear upon familiar worries about the role of ‘truth’ in our thinking and the problems involved in ‘understanding’ another culture.
Lukas H. Meyer, Stanley L. Paulson, and Thomas W. Pogge (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199248254
- eISBN:
- 9780191714849
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199248254.001.0001
- Subject:
- Law, Philosophy of Law
This book brings together a collection of original papers on some of the main tenets of Joseph Raz's legal and political philosophy: legal positivism and the nature of law, practical reason, ...
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This book brings together a collection of original papers on some of the main tenets of Joseph Raz's legal and political philosophy: legal positivism and the nature of law, practical reason, authority, the value of equality, incommensurability, harm, group rights, and multiculturalism. It raises questions concerning Raz's notion of group rights and its application to claims of cultural and political autonomy, and examines his theory of multicultural society. It investigates the applicability of the notion of harm in the intergenerational context as well as the fundamental theoretical tenets of Raz's work. The book also looks at Raz's account of value pluralism and incommensurability in light of what are considered goods whose equal distribution must be valued for its own sake. It discusses traditional issues of jurisprudence and legal philosophy, with special attention to Raz's contribution, along with aspects of Raz's theory of practical reason and his interpretation of authority. The book concludes with a chapter by Joseph Raz in which he responds to arguments in the foregoing essays.Less
This book brings together a collection of original papers on some of the main tenets of Joseph Raz's legal and political philosophy: legal positivism and the nature of law, practical reason, authority, the value of equality, incommensurability, harm, group rights, and multiculturalism. It raises questions concerning Raz's notion of group rights and its application to claims of cultural and political autonomy, and examines his theory of multicultural society. It investigates the applicability of the notion of harm in the intergenerational context as well as the fundamental theoretical tenets of Raz's work. The book also looks at Raz's account of value pluralism and incommensurability in light of what are considered goods whose equal distribution must be valued for its own sake. It discusses traditional issues of jurisprudence and legal philosophy, with special attention to Raz's contribution, along with aspects of Raz's theory of practical reason and his interpretation of authority. The book concludes with a chapter by Joseph Raz in which he responds to arguments in the foregoing essays.
Avigail Eisenberg
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- February 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199291304
- eISBN:
- 9780191710704
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199291304.003.0004
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics, Political Theory
This chapter examines the first sceptical reservation to the public assessment of identity claims, namely that identity claims are incommensurable. The problem of incommensurability rests on the idea ...
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This chapter examines the first sceptical reservation to the public assessment of identity claims, namely that identity claims are incommensurable. The problem of incommensurability rests on the idea that no coherent basis exists upon which to evaluate conflicting views about how identity matters and how it is to be weighed against other putatively fundamental considerations at play in any given conflict. This challenge is explored in relation to conflicts that arise between claims to sexual equality and minority claims to cultural accommodation or autonomy. Two approaches, one of which is rights‐based and the other which focuses on resolving conflicts through democratic processes, often lead to inadequate resolutions. The identity approach is shown to provide a more helpful approach that does not founder on the problem of incommensurability. The chapter compares the three approaches in relation to conflicts about sexist membership rules in Indigenous communities, and in relation to polygamy.Less
This chapter examines the first sceptical reservation to the public assessment of identity claims, namely that identity claims are incommensurable. The problem of incommensurability rests on the idea that no coherent basis exists upon which to evaluate conflicting views about how identity matters and how it is to be weighed against other putatively fundamental considerations at play in any given conflict. This challenge is explored in relation to conflicts that arise between claims to sexual equality and minority claims to cultural accommodation or autonomy. Two approaches, one of which is rights‐based and the other which focuses on resolving conflicts through democratic processes, often lead to inadequate resolutions. The identity approach is shown to provide a more helpful approach that does not founder on the problem of incommensurability. The chapter compares the three approaches in relation to conflicts about sexist membership rules in Indigenous communities, and in relation to polygamy.
EYAL ZAMIR and BARAK MEDINA
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195372168
- eISBN:
- 9780199776078
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195372168.003.05
- Subject:
- Law, Philosophy of Law
This chapter tackles a number of methodological and principled objections to the incorporation of deontological constraints into economic analysis. It discusses the claims that such incorporation ...
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This chapter tackles a number of methodological and principled objections to the incorporation of deontological constraints into economic analysis. It discusses the claims that such incorporation would adversely affect the normative neutrality of economic analysis; that monetizing deontological constraints faces insurmountable obstacles; that it would lead to setting too low thresholds for constraints; and that it is incompatible with the expressivist role of the law. It concludes that most of these objections are unpersuasive, and none is conclusive.Less
This chapter tackles a number of methodological and principled objections to the incorporation of deontological constraints into economic analysis. It discusses the claims that such incorporation would adversely affect the normative neutrality of economic analysis; that monetizing deontological constraints faces insurmountable obstacles; that it would lead to setting too low thresholds for constraints; and that it is incompatible with the expressivist role of the law. It concludes that most of these objections are unpersuasive, and none is conclusive.
Michael Devitt
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- February 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199280803
- eISBN:
- 9780191723254
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199280803.003.0006
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Metaphysics/Epistemology, Philosophy of Science
This chapter rejects ‘Incommensurability’ — the semantic doctrine attributed to Kuhn and Feyerabend, who also subscribe to the neo-Kantian metaphysical doctrine of ‘Constructivism’. According to ...
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This chapter rejects ‘Incommensurability’ — the semantic doctrine attributed to Kuhn and Feyerabend, who also subscribe to the neo-Kantian metaphysical doctrine of ‘Constructivism’. According to Constructivism, we make ‘phenomenal’ worlds with our theories. Different theories make different worlds; the worlds we live in are theory-relative. Constructivism is clearly opposed to ‘Realism’. The chapter argues that the Incommensurability issue comes down to the Realism issue. On that issue, four arguments for Constructivism are rejected. Two Kantian arguments make the mistake of not putting metaphysics first: rather they proceed from an a priori epistemology or semantics to an a priori metaphysics. Two arguments by Hoyningen–Huene and co-authors support relativism but do nothing to support the Kantian core of Constructivism. Without Constructivism, Incommensurability is left unsupported. The chapter concludes by arguing against ‘meta-incommensurability’.Less
This chapter rejects ‘Incommensurability’ — the semantic doctrine attributed to Kuhn and Feyerabend, who also subscribe to the neo-Kantian metaphysical doctrine of ‘Constructivism’. According to Constructivism, we make ‘phenomenal’ worlds with our theories. Different theories make different worlds; the worlds we live in are theory-relative. Constructivism is clearly opposed to ‘Realism’. The chapter argues that the Incommensurability issue comes down to the Realism issue. On that issue, four arguments for Constructivism are rejected. Two Kantian arguments make the mistake of not putting metaphysics first: rather they proceed from an a priori epistemology or semantics to an a priori metaphysics. Two arguments by Hoyningen–Huene and co-authors support relativism but do nothing to support the Kantian core of Constructivism. Without Constructivism, Incommensurability is left unsupported. The chapter concludes by arguing against ‘meta-incommensurability’.
D. R. M. Irving
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- September 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195378269
- eISBN:
- 9780199864614
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195378269.003.0010
- Subject:
- Music, Ethnomusicology, World Music
This chapter emphasizes the importance of looking beyond the geocultural boundaries of Europe in the writing of music history. It calls for a neostructuralist approach to global music histories, one ...
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This chapter emphasizes the importance of looking beyond the geocultural boundaries of Europe in the writing of music history. It calls for a neostructuralist approach to global music histories, one that seeks to transcend the incommensurabilities of distinct (and seemingly irreconcilable) musical cultures within colonial contexts by reading sources contrapuntally and analyzing them with reference to macro‐historical frameworks. The conclusion goes on to summarize the main arguments of the book, and reiterates the proposal that European musical counterpoint mirrored many of the objectives of early modern imperialism, in terms of attempting to rationalize sound and society. Yet it also acknowledges that the thesis, antithesis, and synthesis embodied in colonial counterpoint can be subjected to more nuanced interpretations, and that contrapuntal structures could be inverted and subverted by subaltern societies.Less
This chapter emphasizes the importance of looking beyond the geocultural boundaries of Europe in the writing of music history. It calls for a neostructuralist approach to global music histories, one that seeks to transcend the incommensurabilities of distinct (and seemingly irreconcilable) musical cultures within colonial contexts by reading sources contrapuntally and analyzing them with reference to macro‐historical frameworks. The conclusion goes on to summarize the main arguments of the book, and reiterates the proposal that European musical counterpoint mirrored many of the objectives of early modern imperialism, in terms of attempting to rationalize sound and society. Yet it also acknowledges that the thesis, antithesis, and synthesis embodied in colonial counterpoint can be subjected to more nuanced interpretations, and that contrapuntal structures could be inverted and subverted by subaltern societies.
Joseph Raz
- Published in print:
- 1988
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198248071
- eISBN:
- 9780191598289
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198248075.003.0013
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Moral Philosophy
Two options are incommensurable if it is neither true that one of them is better than the other, nor true that they are of equal value. A test of incommensurability between two options, which yields ...
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Two options are incommensurable if it is neither true that one of them is better than the other, nor true that they are of equal value. A test of incommensurability between two options, which yields a sufficient but not necessary condition of incommensurability, is that there is, or could be, another option that is better than one but is not better than the other. Two incommensurable options may be of roughly equal value, but do not have to be. The existence of significant incommensurability is attested to in our refusal to compare the value of options, and this refusal to compare the value of options helps, in turn, to determine the nature of those values. Incommensurability also helps to illuminate the nature of moral dilemmas.Less
Two options are incommensurable if it is neither true that one of them is better than the other, nor true that they are of equal value. A test of incommensurability between two options, which yields a sufficient but not necessary condition of incommensurability, is that there is, or could be, another option that is better than one but is not better than the other. Two incommensurable options may be of roughly equal value, but do not have to be. The existence of significant incommensurability is attested to in our refusal to compare the value of options, and this refusal to compare the value of options helps, in turn, to determine the nature of those values. Incommensurability also helps to illuminate the nature of moral dilemmas.
Arkady Plotnitsky
Apostolos Doxiadis and Barry Mazur (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691149042
- eISBN:
- 9781400842681
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691149042.003.0012
- Subject:
- Mathematics, History of Mathematics
This chapter explores the relationship between narrative and non-Euclidean mathematics. It considers how non-Euclidean mathematics and the narratives accompanying it are linked: first, to the ...
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This chapter explores the relationship between narrative and non-Euclidean mathematics. It considers how non-Euclidean mathematics and the narratives accompanying it are linked: first, to the question of the potentially uncircumventable limits of thought and knowledge; and second, to the question of a certain heterogeneous and yet interactive multiplicity of concepts and of different fields such as algebra and geometry. The chapter starts with the Pythagoreans' discovery of the concept of “incommensurability,” or the irrationality of certain numbers, specifically the side and the diagonal of the square, and the narrative associated with this discovery. It then examines the transition from non-Euclidean physics to non-Euclidean mathematics by focusing on quantum mechanics and its relation to non-Euclidean epistemology. It also discusses the algebraic aspects of non-Euclidean geometry and concludes with the suggestion that non-Euclidean thinking retains the essential, shaping role of the movement of thought.Less
This chapter explores the relationship between narrative and non-Euclidean mathematics. It considers how non-Euclidean mathematics and the narratives accompanying it are linked: first, to the question of the potentially uncircumventable limits of thought and knowledge; and second, to the question of a certain heterogeneous and yet interactive multiplicity of concepts and of different fields such as algebra and geometry. The chapter starts with the Pythagoreans' discovery of the concept of “incommensurability,” or the irrationality of certain numbers, specifically the side and the diagonal of the square, and the narrative associated with this discovery. It then examines the transition from non-Euclidean physics to non-Euclidean mathematics by focusing on quantum mechanics and its relation to non-Euclidean epistemology. It also discusses the algebraic aspects of non-Euclidean geometry and concludes with the suggestion that non-Euclidean thinking retains the essential, shaping role of the movement of thought.
G. E. R. Lloyd
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199654727
- eISBN:
- 9780191742088
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199654727.003.0006
- Subject:
- Philosophy, History of Philosophy, Ancient Philosophy
This chapter draws out the philosophical implications of the previous studies in relation to four problems in particular, objectivity, truth, realism and relativism, and incommensurability. A measure ...
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This chapter draws out the philosophical implications of the previous studies in relation to four problems in particular, objectivity, truth, realism and relativism, and incommensurability. A measure of objectivity is attainable provided that (as Chapter 2 argued) our conceptual systems are revisable. While we can never attain total, theory-free, objectivity, that does not mean that all judgements are arbitrarily subjective. Neither a correspondence nor a coherence theory of truth is satisfactory: but we do not need a single overarching model of truth, good for all contexts. Rather we should focus on the contexts in which truth-telling and warranting are important (in evaluating witnesses for instance). Neither realism nor relativism is a single well-defined position and we should resist any idea that we have to choose between them. The multidimensionality of the phenomena and plural styles of inquiry enable features associated with both positions to be combined. Finally on incommensurability: it is undeniably the case that major shifts in the senses and references of key terms have occurred during theory change. But that does not mean that no communication is possible across paradigms. Rather the puzzles that conflicting views on being, humanity, and understanding generate should serve as a stimulus to learn from others, with implications for how we should live, particularly in the matter of how we should understand one another.Less
This chapter draws out the philosophical implications of the previous studies in relation to four problems in particular, objectivity, truth, realism and relativism, and incommensurability. A measure of objectivity is attainable provided that (as Chapter 2 argued) our conceptual systems are revisable. While we can never attain total, theory-free, objectivity, that does not mean that all judgements are arbitrarily subjective. Neither a correspondence nor a coherence theory of truth is satisfactory: but we do not need a single overarching model of truth, good for all contexts. Rather we should focus on the contexts in which truth-telling and warranting are important (in evaluating witnesses for instance). Neither realism nor relativism is a single well-defined position and we should resist any idea that we have to choose between them. The multidimensionality of the phenomena and plural styles of inquiry enable features associated with both positions to be combined. Finally on incommensurability: it is undeniably the case that major shifts in the senses and references of key terms have occurred during theory change. But that does not mean that no communication is possible across paradigms. Rather the puzzles that conflicting views on being, humanity, and understanding generate should serve as a stimulus to learn from others, with implications for how we should live, particularly in the matter of how we should understand one another.
Rod Cross
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199298839
- eISBN:
- 9780191711480
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199298839.003.0022
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, History of Economic Thought
This final chapter analyzes Samuelson's methodology through the work of the physicist, psychologist, and philosopher Ernst Mach, categorizing Mach's thoughts with a big ‘M’. Thoughts of Mach range ...
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This final chapter analyzes Samuelson's methodology through the work of the physicist, psychologist, and philosopher Ernst Mach, categorizing Mach's thoughts with a big ‘M’. Thoughts of Mach range from sensory observation to phenomenology, including other disciplines such as psychology to the extent that such disciplinary thoughts are in harmony with the stability of the concept. The chapter ventures that Samuelson's methodology arises from the consideration of many views of science. Faced with a blurred distinction between facts and theory, which highlighted by Orman Quine, and the argument that economics deals with the world of social phenomena, Samuelson maintains firm feet in reality, letting the facts tell their story. Samuelson also acknowledges that new thoughts such as Thomas Kuhn's paradigm regarding the notions of cumulative knowledge, and incommensurability contribute to the theory of science. He accepted that facts are numerous and therefore must be carefully sampled for their economy. Yet Samuelson maintains that we should be able to tell the ‘how’ and the ‘why’ of things and phenomena of the economic world.Less
This final chapter analyzes Samuelson's methodology through the work of the physicist, psychologist, and philosopher Ernst Mach, categorizing Mach's thoughts with a big ‘M’. Thoughts of Mach range from sensory observation to phenomenology, including other disciplines such as psychology to the extent that such disciplinary thoughts are in harmony with the stability of the concept. The chapter ventures that Samuelson's methodology arises from the consideration of many views of science. Faced with a blurred distinction between facts and theory, which highlighted by Orman Quine, and the argument that economics deals with the world of social phenomena, Samuelson maintains firm feet in reality, letting the facts tell their story. Samuelson also acknowledges that new thoughts such as Thomas Kuhn's paradigm regarding the notions of cumulative knowledge, and incommensurability contribute to the theory of science. He accepted that facts are numerous and therefore must be carefully sampled for their economy. Yet Samuelson maintains that we should be able to tell the ‘how’ and the ‘why’ of things and phenomena of the economic world.
Stephen Halliwell
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199570560
- eISBN:
- 9780191738753
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199570560.003.0003
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Literary Studies: Classical, Early, and Medieval
This chapter provides a new reading of the contest of tragedians in Aristophanes' Frogs. It rejects the current consensus which finds a teleological impetus, with endorsement of a ‘civic poetics’ of ...
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This chapter provides a new reading of the contest of tragedians in Aristophanes' Frogs. It rejects the current consensus which finds a teleological impetus, with endorsement of a ‘civic poetics’ of tragedy, in the design of the play. It argues instead that Frogs is best seen as a comic dramatization of the difficulty of establishing authoritative standards of poetic criticism. The contest is interpreted with special reference to Dionysus' trajectory of experience in the course of the play: starting out as a passionate lover of poetry, he is gradually reduced to radical instability of judgement by the clashing and partly incommensurable values of Aeschylus and Euripides. Stressing the failure of attempts to rationalize Dionysus' eventual choice of Aeschylus, and drawing out a number of peculiarities in the play's finale, the chapter finds in Frogs a brilliant exposé of some of the hardest problems of Greek poetics.Less
This chapter provides a new reading of the contest of tragedians in Aristophanes' Frogs. It rejects the current consensus which finds a teleological impetus, with endorsement of a ‘civic poetics’ of tragedy, in the design of the play. It argues instead that Frogs is best seen as a comic dramatization of the difficulty of establishing authoritative standards of poetic criticism. The contest is interpreted with special reference to Dionysus' trajectory of experience in the course of the play: starting out as a passionate lover of poetry, he is gradually reduced to radical instability of judgement by the clashing and partly incommensurable values of Aeschylus and Euripides. Stressing the failure of attempts to rationalize Dionysus' eventual choice of Aeschylus, and drawing out a number of peculiarities in the play's finale, the chapter finds in Frogs a brilliant exposé of some of the hardest problems of Greek poetics.
Robert J. "Richards and Lorraine Daston (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- September 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780226317038
- eISBN:
- 9780226317175
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226317175.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, History of Science, Technology, and Medicine
Kuhn’s Structure of Scientific Revolutions at Fifty is a collection of essay in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the publication of Thomas Kuhn’s famous book. The essays reconstruct the ...
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Kuhn’s Structure of Scientific Revolutions at Fifty is a collection of essay in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the publication of Thomas Kuhn’s famous book. The essays reconstruct the evolution of Kuhn’s thought from his college years to the reception and application of his conception of paradigms. Using archival evidence, the authors assess the impact of his early training in physics, his study of philosophy and psychology, and the politics of the “Red Scare” and “the Cold War.” Among the topics of special concern are Kuhn’s “Aristotle experience,” his immersion in the practice of physics during the war, his fascination with Gestalt psychology, the origin of the very concept of paradigm, and his conception of the scientific community and the utility of that conception beyond the discipline of physics. The authors critically evaluate the applicability of Kuhn’s notions to the history of science and to more contemporary science. They ask whether the structural analysis of scientific change has given way to a more historicist approach, one that makes problematic the very notion of scientific revolution. They are attentive, as well, to the diversity of disciplines using his ideas and the longevity of those ideas in the research community. The authors form the leading edge in their disciplines of history of science, philosophy of science, and sociology of science: Andrew Abbott, Angela Creager, Lorraine Daston, Peter Galison, Daniel Garber, Ian Hacking, David Kaiser, George Reisch, and Norton Wise.Less
Kuhn’s Structure of Scientific Revolutions at Fifty is a collection of essay in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the publication of Thomas Kuhn’s famous book. The essays reconstruct the evolution of Kuhn’s thought from his college years to the reception and application of his conception of paradigms. Using archival evidence, the authors assess the impact of his early training in physics, his study of philosophy and psychology, and the politics of the “Red Scare” and “the Cold War.” Among the topics of special concern are Kuhn’s “Aristotle experience,” his immersion in the practice of physics during the war, his fascination with Gestalt psychology, the origin of the very concept of paradigm, and his conception of the scientific community and the utility of that conception beyond the discipline of physics. The authors critically evaluate the applicability of Kuhn’s notions to the history of science and to more contemporary science. They ask whether the structural analysis of scientific change has given way to a more historicist approach, one that makes problematic the very notion of scientific revolution. They are attentive, as well, to the diversity of disciplines using his ideas and the longevity of those ideas in the research community. The authors form the leading edge in their disciplines of history of science, philosophy of science, and sociology of science: Andrew Abbott, Angela Creager, Lorraine Daston, Peter Galison, Daniel Garber, Ian Hacking, David Kaiser, George Reisch, and Norton Wise.
William Talbott
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- April 2005
- ISBN:
- 9780195173475
- eISBN:
- 9780199835331
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195173473.003.0003
- Subject:
- Philosophy, General
In this chapter, Talbott explains why one of the most attractive arguments for extreme cultural relativism about morality, the moral imperialism argument, is incoherent. The incoherence of the ...
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In this chapter, Talbott explains why one of the most attractive arguments for extreme cultural relativism about morality, the moral imperialism argument, is incoherent. The incoherence of the cultural imperialism argument shows that extreme cultural relativism is too wishy-washy. Talbott distinguishes between internal and external moral norms and articulates a less extreme form of cultural relativism that is compatible with the cultural imperialism argument, cultural relativism about internal norms. This sets the stage for an evaluation of this less extreme form of cultural relativism.Less
In this chapter, Talbott explains why one of the most attractive arguments for extreme cultural relativism about morality, the moral imperialism argument, is incoherent. The incoherence of the cultural imperialism argument shows that extreme cultural relativism is too wishy-washy. Talbott distinguishes between internal and external moral norms and articulates a less extreme form of cultural relativism that is compatible with the cultural imperialism argument, cultural relativism about internal norms. This sets the stage for an evaluation of this less extreme form of cultural relativism.
Steven R. Smith
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9781847426079
- eISBN:
- 9781447302209
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Policy Press
- DOI:
- 10.1332/policypress/9781847426079.003.0002
- Subject:
- Sociology, Social Stratification, Inequality, and Mobility
This chapter explores the specific character of individual attachments as related to the value incommensurability. The central claim in this chapter is that understanding individual attachments opens ...
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This chapter explores the specific character of individual attachments as related to the value incommensurability. The central claim in this chapter is that understanding individual attachments opens up conceptual and normative space for promoting value incommensurability, given that individuals will attach themselves to a range of specific ‘valued objects’ that are often incommensurable. Topics discussed include: value incommensurability and ‘covering values’; values and quantity versus quality; Platonic and Nietzchean viewpoints on value incommensurability; accidents, attachments and the creation of value or meaning; and regret and incommensurability.Less
This chapter explores the specific character of individual attachments as related to the value incommensurability. The central claim in this chapter is that understanding individual attachments opens up conceptual and normative space for promoting value incommensurability, given that individuals will attach themselves to a range of specific ‘valued objects’ that are often incommensurable. Topics discussed include: value incommensurability and ‘covering values’; values and quantity versus quality; Platonic and Nietzchean viewpoints on value incommensurability; accidents, attachments and the creation of value or meaning; and regret and incommensurability.
Alan Mittleman
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199583157
- eISBN:
- 9780191728952
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199583157.003.0002
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
This chapter argues that the Book of Genesis, both in itself and as refracted by subsequent Jewish interpretation, affirms the goodness of being. Goodness is primary (vis-à-vis evil, which is ...
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This chapter argues that the Book of Genesis, both in itself and as refracted by subsequent Jewish interpretation, affirms the goodness of being. Goodness is primary (vis-à-vis evil, which is derivative) and immanent in creation. Jewish understandings of metaphysics and ethics are informed by this radical assertion of the goodness of creation. Platonic and Aristotelian understandings of goodness overlap with biblical and Jewish ones but differ crucially as well. The nature and consequences of these differences are explored with particular attention to the significance of tragedy. The discussion connects biblical themes with some central issues of metaethics.Less
This chapter argues that the Book of Genesis, both in itself and as refracted by subsequent Jewish interpretation, affirms the goodness of being. Goodness is primary (vis-à-vis evil, which is derivative) and immanent in creation. Jewish understandings of metaphysics and ethics are informed by this radical assertion of the goodness of creation. Platonic and Aristotelian understandings of goodness overlap with biblical and Jewish ones but differ crucially as well. The nature and consequences of these differences are explored with particular attention to the significance of tragedy. The discussion connects biblical themes with some central issues of metaethics.
L. Jonathan Cohen
- Published in print:
- 1977
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198244127
- eISBN:
- 9780191680748
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198244127.003.0016
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Metaphysics/Epistemology, Philosophy of Science
This chapter provides an elaboration on the incommensurability of inductive support and mathematical probability. It begins by presenting the argument from the possibility of anomalies. If inductive ...
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This chapter provides an elaboration on the incommensurability of inductive support and mathematical probability. It begins by presenting the argument from the possibility of anomalies. If inductive support-grading is to allow for the existence of anomalies, it cannot depend on the mathematical probabilities involved. A second argument for the incommensurability of inductive support with mathematical probability may be built up on the basis of the conjunction principle for inductive support. If s[H,E] conforms to this principle, the actual value of pM[H] must be irrelevant to that of s[H,E] unless intolerable constraints are to restrict the mathematical probability of one conjunct on another. Since the actual value of pM[E,H] must also be irrelevant to that of s[H,E], and s[H,E] cannot possibly be a function of pM[E] alone, it follows that s[H,E] cannot be a function of the mathematical probabilities involved.Less
This chapter provides an elaboration on the incommensurability of inductive support and mathematical probability. It begins by presenting the argument from the possibility of anomalies. If inductive support-grading is to allow for the existence of anomalies, it cannot depend on the mathematical probabilities involved. A second argument for the incommensurability of inductive support with mathematical probability may be built up on the basis of the conjunction principle for inductive support. If s[H,E] conforms to this principle, the actual value of pM[H] must be irrelevant to that of s[H,E] unless intolerable constraints are to restrict the mathematical probability of one conjunct on another. Since the actual value of pM[E,H] must also be irrelevant to that of s[H,E], and s[H,E] cannot possibly be a function of pM[E] alone, it follows that s[H,E] cannot be a function of the mathematical probabilities involved.
Sarasij Majumder
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- May 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780823282425
- eISBN:
- 9780823284849
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Fordham University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5422/fordham/9780823282425.003.0001
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Asian Cultural Anthropology
The introduction frames the context and events that inform the central theme of the book. It also raises the theoretical questions regarding contradictory trends in populist politics. The declaration ...
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The introduction frames the context and events that inform the central theme of the book. It also raises the theoretical questions regarding contradictory trends in populist politics. The declaration of incommensurability between money and land is, the chapter claims, an index of villagers’ desires and aspirations, which remain largely unacknowledged in the dominant political representations of rural Indian villages as purely agricultural and populated by farmers, peasants, cultivators, or laborers. It argues that Landownership is a pause, a distance and a vantage point from which the world and the totalizing narratives of development and modernity make sense enabling them to imagine themselves as subjects of mobility and aspiration.Less
The introduction frames the context and events that inform the central theme of the book. It also raises the theoretical questions regarding contradictory trends in populist politics. The declaration of incommensurability between money and land is, the chapter claims, an index of villagers’ desires and aspirations, which remain largely unacknowledged in the dominant political representations of rural Indian villages as purely agricultural and populated by farmers, peasants, cultivators, or laborers. It argues that Landownership is a pause, a distance and a vantage point from which the world and the totalizing narratives of development and modernity make sense enabling them to imagine themselves as subjects of mobility and aspiration.
Sarasij Majumder
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- May 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780823282425
- eISBN:
- 9780823284849
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Fordham University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5422/fordham/9780823282425.003.0003
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Asian Cultural Anthropology
This chapter examines how local discourses and narratives about land and development connect property as things and property as relationships. “Land is our mother; it cannot be bought and sold,” ...
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This chapter examines how local discourses and narratives about land and development connect property as things and property as relationships. “Land is our mother; it cannot be bought and sold,” “Land is like gold, it is good even if weeds grow on it,” “We are the proprietors,” “Cash vanishes, land remains,” “We (the landed) are more civilized and developed than the landless.” These statements and the local political contexts of their emergence together provide landowning villagers with rhetorical strategies to imagine, talk about, and take positions regarding their relationships with the state, the political regime, and the landless lower caste.Less
This chapter examines how local discourses and narratives about land and development connect property as things and property as relationships. “Land is our mother; it cannot be bought and sold,” “Land is like gold, it is good even if weeds grow on it,” “We are the proprietors,” “Cash vanishes, land remains,” “We (the landed) are more civilized and developed than the landless.” These statements and the local political contexts of their emergence together provide landowning villagers with rhetorical strategies to imagine, talk about, and take positions regarding their relationships with the state, the political regime, and the landless lower caste.
