Barbara Goff and Michael Simpson
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199217182
- eISBN:
- 9780191712388
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199217182.003.0001
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Literary Studies: Classical, Early, and Medieval
The Introduction pursues the theme of identity by considering the varieties of ‘family’ in the plays. The grounding of civilization is investigated by means of the dichotomy of orality and ...
More
The Introduction pursues the theme of identity by considering the varieties of ‘family’ in the plays. The grounding of civilization is investigated by means of the dichotomy of orality and literature, as well as the polarity between Thebes and Athens. To develop this analysis, the profile and potential of Oedipus and Antigone in Western and African philosophical traditions is examined. The book's argument about cultural transmission contends that the African-descended adaptations of Oedipus and Antigone indict colonial culture for the infliction of oedipal violence, while themselves enacting an oedipal bind as they simultaneously embrace and resist those cultures. Above and beyond this bind, the plays offer more benign models of transmission constituted within the African continent and diaspora. The Introduction recasts the arguments of Freud and Bloom by a focus on Fanon, and advocates a specific theoretical re-orientation of reception studies to equip it to do postcolonial analysis.Less
The Introduction pursues the theme of identity by considering the varieties of ‘family’ in the plays. The grounding of civilization is investigated by means of the dichotomy of orality and literature, as well as the polarity between Thebes and Athens. To develop this analysis, the profile and potential of Oedipus and Antigone in Western and African philosophical traditions is examined. The book's argument about cultural transmission contends that the African-descended adaptations of Oedipus and Antigone indict colonial culture for the infliction of oedipal violence, while themselves enacting an oedipal bind as they simultaneously embrace and resist those cultures. Above and beyond this bind, the plays offer more benign models of transmission constituted within the African continent and diaspora. The Introduction recasts the arguments of Freud and Bloom by a focus on Fanon, and advocates a specific theoretical re-orientation of reception studies to equip it to do postcolonial analysis.
Michael Morris
- Published in print:
- 1992
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198239444
- eISBN:
- 9780191679919
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198239444.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Metaphysics/Epistemology, Moral Philosophy
This book provides a radical alternative to naturalistic theories of content, and offers a new conception of the place of mind in the world. Confronting head-on the scientific conception of the ...
More
This book provides a radical alternative to naturalistic theories of content, and offers a new conception of the place of mind in the world. Confronting head-on the scientific conception of the nature of reality that has dominated the Anglo-American philosophical tradition, the book presents a detailed analysis of content and propositional attitudes, based on the idea that truth is a value. In the course of this analysis, the book rejects the causal theory of the explanation of behaviour and replaces it with an alternative, which depends upon a rich conception of the behaviour which is explained with reference to states of mind. According to the theory presented here, our understanding of other people is inextricably involved with our evaluation of what they do, and the objectivity of truth depends on the objectivity of moral goodness. The book's exposition of its argument challenges the naturalistic orthodoxy in areas as diverse as metaphysics, ethics, and cognitive science.Less
This book provides a radical alternative to naturalistic theories of content, and offers a new conception of the place of mind in the world. Confronting head-on the scientific conception of the nature of reality that has dominated the Anglo-American philosophical tradition, the book presents a detailed analysis of content and propositional attitudes, based on the idea that truth is a value. In the course of this analysis, the book rejects the causal theory of the explanation of behaviour and replaces it with an alternative, which depends upon a rich conception of the behaviour which is explained with reference to states of mind. According to the theory presented here, our understanding of other people is inextricably involved with our evaluation of what they do, and the objectivity of truth depends on the objectivity of moral goodness. The book's exposition of its argument challenges the naturalistic orthodoxy in areas as diverse as metaphysics, ethics, and cognitive science.
James Fodor
- Published in print:
- 1995
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198263494
- eISBN:
- 9780191682575
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198263494.003.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Theology
Meaning, truth, and reference are inseparably bound because belief is inalienable from those very actions and forms of life that give such language purchase in the first place. Sense is what is ...
More
Meaning, truth, and reference are inseparably bound because belief is inalienable from those very actions and forms of life that give such language purchase in the first place. Sense is what is stated in a linguistic expression, and reference is that about which it is stated. Sense can exist without reference. The Continental philosophical tradition conceives of language in altogether different terms. Language is conceived of primarily as form or structure, not substance or a relationship between signs and things. The relation between language and world is irretrievably hermeneutical in character. Discussions in this chapter include: locating questions of truth and reference; the Cartesian outlook and the ascendancy of the reference question; reference as a hermeneutical-theological category; reference, fictional objects, and the existence of God; and Christian self-description as method and as a dialogue.Less
Meaning, truth, and reference are inseparably bound because belief is inalienable from those very actions and forms of life that give such language purchase in the first place. Sense is what is stated in a linguistic expression, and reference is that about which it is stated. Sense can exist without reference. The Continental philosophical tradition conceives of language in altogether different terms. Language is conceived of primarily as form or structure, not substance or a relationship between signs and things. The relation between language and world is irretrievably hermeneutical in character. Discussions in this chapter include: locating questions of truth and reference; the Cartesian outlook and the ascendancy of the reference question; reference as a hermeneutical-theological category; reference, fictional objects, and the existence of God; and Christian self-description as method and as a dialogue.
Simon Glendinning
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780748624706
- eISBN:
- 9780748671885
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748624706.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Political Philosophy
The idea of Continental Philosophy has never been properly explained in philosophical terms. This book attempts finally to succeed where others have failed, although not by giving an account of its ...
More
The idea of Continental Philosophy has never been properly explained in philosophical terms. This book attempts finally to succeed where others have failed, although not by giving an account of its internal unity but by showing instead why no such account can be given. Providing a clear picture of the current state of the contemporary philosophical culture, it traces the origins and development of the idea of a distinctive Continental tradition, critiquing current attempts to survey the field of contemporary philosophy. The main argument of the book is that the very idea of a fruitfully distinguishable philosophical tradition of Continental philosophy is part of the mythological history of the movement that came to call itself analytic philosophy: the very idea of such a tradition is best thought of as an item that has its original home in the conceptual armoury of analytic philosophy. In this respect, “Continental philosophy” is less the name for another kind of philosophy than analytic philosophy, but a term that functions within analytic philosophy as the name of its own other, that part of its lexicon which represents what is not part of it: it is “the Other” of analytic philosophy.Less
The idea of Continental Philosophy has never been properly explained in philosophical terms. This book attempts finally to succeed where others have failed, although not by giving an account of its internal unity but by showing instead why no such account can be given. Providing a clear picture of the current state of the contemporary philosophical culture, it traces the origins and development of the idea of a distinctive Continental tradition, critiquing current attempts to survey the field of contemporary philosophy. The main argument of the book is that the very idea of a fruitfully distinguishable philosophical tradition of Continental philosophy is part of the mythological history of the movement that came to call itself analytic philosophy: the very idea of such a tradition is best thought of as an item that has its original home in the conceptual armoury of analytic philosophy. In this respect, “Continental philosophy” is less the name for another kind of philosophy than analytic philosophy, but a term that functions within analytic philosophy as the name of its own other, that part of its lexicon which represents what is not part of it: it is “the Other” of analytic philosophy.
Gordon Graham
- Published in print:
- 1997
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780192892553
- eISBN:
- 9780191670619
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780192892553.003.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, History of Philosophy, General
The study of history with the aim to understand the human past with some sense of detachment is a recent intellectual trend. In the past, a knowledge of history was aimed at ascertaining within ...
More
The study of history with the aim to understand the human past with some sense of detachment is a recent intellectual trend. In the past, a knowledge of history was aimed at ascertaining within history some hidden meaning: cosmic significance, general direction, or providential purpose. This chapter gives an overview of both the religious and secular philosophy of history including looking at Jewish, Christian, Hegelian, and Marxist ideas, and Idealism and Realism. The belief in historical development conceived as a philosophical history provides substantial material for conceptual elaboration and examination. The chapter evaluates the attitude of continental and analytical philosophical traditions toward the concept of grand historical narrative. The combination of the continental and analytical techniques for the purpose of philosophical history is still rare.Less
The study of history with the aim to understand the human past with some sense of detachment is a recent intellectual trend. In the past, a knowledge of history was aimed at ascertaining within history some hidden meaning: cosmic significance, general direction, or providential purpose. This chapter gives an overview of both the religious and secular philosophy of history including looking at Jewish, Christian, Hegelian, and Marxist ideas, and Idealism and Realism. The belief in historical development conceived as a philosophical history provides substantial material for conceptual elaboration and examination. The chapter evaluates the attitude of continental and analytical philosophical traditions toward the concept of grand historical narrative. The combination of the continental and analytical techniques for the purpose of philosophical history is still rare.
Adriaan T. Peperazak
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780823240173
- eISBN:
- 9780823240210
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Fordham University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5422/fordham/9780823240173.003.0004
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Mind
Education is the basic activity through which civilizations assure their continuation. It presupposes educators and pupils who are able to communicate with one another. Belonging to historical ...
More
Education is the basic activity through which civilizations assure their continuation. It presupposes educators and pupils who are able to communicate with one another. Belonging to historical communities similar enough to permit mutual understanding, they transmit a specific culture from generation to generation. The process of transmission has been called paradosis, traditio, tradition, giving or passing on to others what first has been received. Teaching philosophy is only one example of transmission, but an elementary analysis of it, especially if its historical dimension is not obscured, can show a temporal structure that, mutatis mutandis, recurs in all or most other examples. To be a teacher is to be involved in the transition of a past, through the present of teaching and learning, into a future in which the past continues its life, thanks to its renewal. This chapter discusses the role played by the philosophical tradition in today's education of philosophers. It examines tradition as memory and history as memory.Less
Education is the basic activity through which civilizations assure their continuation. It presupposes educators and pupils who are able to communicate with one another. Belonging to historical communities similar enough to permit mutual understanding, they transmit a specific culture from generation to generation. The process of transmission has been called paradosis, traditio, tradition, giving or passing on to others what first has been received. Teaching philosophy is only one example of transmission, but an elementary analysis of it, especially if its historical dimension is not obscured, can show a temporal structure that, mutatis mutandis, recurs in all or most other examples. To be a teacher is to be involved in the transition of a past, through the present of teaching and learning, into a future in which the past continues its life, thanks to its renewal. This chapter discusses the role played by the philosophical tradition in today's education of philosophers. It examines tradition as memory and history as memory.
Roger A. Ward
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- May 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780823223138
- eISBN:
- 9780823284740
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Fordham University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5422/fordham/9780823223138.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, American Philosophy
This fresh, provocative account of the American philosophical tradition explores the work of key thinkers through an innovative and counterintuitive lens: religious conversion. From Jonathan Edwards ...
More
This fresh, provocative account of the American philosophical tradition explores the work of key thinkers through an innovative and counterintuitive lens: religious conversion. From Jonathan Edwards to Cornel West, the book threads the history of American thought into an extended, multivalent encounter with the religious experience. Looking at John Dewey, William James, Charles Sanders Peirce, Richard Rorty, Robert S. Corrington, and other thinkers, the book demonstrates that religious themes have deeply influenced the development of American philosophy. This innovative reading of the American philosophical tradition will be welcomed not only by philosophers, but also by historians and other students of America’s religious, intellectual, and cultural legacy.Less
This fresh, provocative account of the American philosophical tradition explores the work of key thinkers through an innovative and counterintuitive lens: religious conversion. From Jonathan Edwards to Cornel West, the book threads the history of American thought into an extended, multivalent encounter with the religious experience. Looking at John Dewey, William James, Charles Sanders Peirce, Richard Rorty, Robert S. Corrington, and other thinkers, the book demonstrates that religious themes have deeply influenced the development of American philosophy. This innovative reading of the American philosophical tradition will be welcomed not only by philosophers, but also by historians and other students of America’s religious, intellectual, and cultural legacy.
Gregory Fernando Pappas
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780823233670
- eISBN:
- 9780823241804
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Fordham University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5422/fordham/9780823233670.003.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, American Philosophy
In the last ten years, investigators worldwide have focused on the connections between the philosophy of classical figures in American pragmatism (e.g., William James, Charles Peirce, and John Dewey) ...
More
In the last ten years, investigators worldwide have focused on the connections between the philosophy of classical figures in American pragmatism (e.g., William James, Charles Peirce, and John Dewey) and the Hispanic world. This book documents the results of this new and thriving area of research while also functioning as a primer that can guide and provoke further inquiry. The chapters, from North American, Spanish, and Latin American scholars, aim to fill a void in the humanities. They question gaps that never existed and instead build new bridges. The book hopes to provide the connections for a twenty-first-century dialogue between two great philosophical traditions.Less
In the last ten years, investigators worldwide have focused on the connections between the philosophy of classical figures in American pragmatism (e.g., William James, Charles Peirce, and John Dewey) and the Hispanic world. This book documents the results of this new and thriving area of research while also functioning as a primer that can guide and provoke further inquiry. The chapters, from North American, Spanish, and Latin American scholars, aim to fill a void in the humanities. They question gaps that never existed and instead build new bridges. The book hopes to provide the connections for a twenty-first-century dialogue between two great philosophical traditions.
Richard L. Velkley
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- September 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226852546
- eISBN:
- 9780226852553
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226852553.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, History of Philosophy
This book examines the complex philosophical relationship between Martin Heidegger and Leo Strauss. It argues that both thinkers provide searching analyses of the philosophical tradition’s origins in ...
More
This book examines the complex philosophical relationship between Martin Heidegger and Leo Strauss. It argues that both thinkers provide searching analyses of the philosophical tradition’s origins in radical questioning. For Heidegger and Strauss, the recovery of the original premises of philosophy cannot be separated from rethinking the very possibility of genuine philosophizing. Common views of the influence of Heidegger’s thought on Strauss suggest that, after being inspired early on by Heidegger’s dismantling of the philosophical tradition, Strauss took a wholly separate path, spurning modernity and pursuing instead a renewal of Socratic political philosophy. The book rejects this reading and maintains that Strauss’ engagement with the challenges posed by Heidegger—as well as by modern philosophy in general—formed a crucial and enduring framework for his lifelong philosophical project.Less
This book examines the complex philosophical relationship between Martin Heidegger and Leo Strauss. It argues that both thinkers provide searching analyses of the philosophical tradition’s origins in radical questioning. For Heidegger and Strauss, the recovery of the original premises of philosophy cannot be separated from rethinking the very possibility of genuine philosophizing. Common views of the influence of Heidegger’s thought on Strauss suggest that, after being inspired early on by Heidegger’s dismantling of the philosophical tradition, Strauss took a wholly separate path, spurning modernity and pursuing instead a renewal of Socratic political philosophy. The book rejects this reading and maintains that Strauss’ engagement with the challenges posed by Heidegger—as well as by modern philosophy in general—formed a crucial and enduring framework for his lifelong philosophical project.
RAN SPIEGLER
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195328318
- eISBN:
- 9780199851768
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195328318.003.0004
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Economic History
Certain methodological debates regarding behavioral economics seem to involve, more often than not, the notion of revealed preferences. As part of philosophical tradition, the principle of revealed ...
More
Certain methodological debates regarding behavioral economics seem to involve, more often than not, the notion of revealed preferences. As part of philosophical tradition, the principle of revealed preference entails how restrictions are handled when practiced professionally. This principle came about during a time when choice was not the only relevant factor in selecting a consumption bundle from a budget set. This principle implies that an economist's view is valid only when the utility functions are distinguishable from a pool of choices that are essential in taking on a policy issue. As one can observe that economists' attitudes appear to influence their views and opinions on paternalistic policies and how they evaluate specific economic models, this chapter takes a closer look at this linkage through examining its other aspects.Less
Certain methodological debates regarding behavioral economics seem to involve, more often than not, the notion of revealed preferences. As part of philosophical tradition, the principle of revealed preference entails how restrictions are handled when practiced professionally. This principle came about during a time when choice was not the only relevant factor in selecting a consumption bundle from a budget set. This principle implies that an economist's view is valid only when the utility functions are distinguishable from a pool of choices that are essential in taking on a policy issue. As one can observe that economists' attitudes appear to influence their views and opinions on paternalistic policies and how they evaluate specific economic models, this chapter takes a closer look at this linkage through examining its other aspects.
Kathy Eden
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- October 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780300087574
- eISBN:
- 9780300133646
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Yale University Press
- DOI:
- 10.12987/yale/9780300087574.003.0004
- Subject:
- Law, Intellectual Property, IT, and Media Law
This chapter shows how Plato, through the Symposium, gives philosophical attention to the question of traditionality and makes his case for the philosophical tradition as the best means of education. ...
More
This chapter shows how Plato, through the Symposium, gives philosophical attention to the question of traditionality and makes his case for the philosophical tradition as the best means of education. Grounded in friendship or philia, this tradition owes its genesis to its adversarial relation with poetry and sophistry. Prevailing over poet and sophist, Plato's philosopher, as characterized in this dialogue, passes on to his students not just an education but an educated way of life. The value of this way of life, the philosopher's role in passing it on and its compatibility with philosophia Christi echo throughout the Adages. In the 1508 Prolegomena to the Adages, Erasmus argues for the closest possible alignment between philosophy and proverbial statement. There he singles out Plato as not only the greatest philosopher but one without peer in the use of proverbs. Plato is, in Erasmus's words, paroimiodesteros—the master of proverbs.Less
This chapter shows how Plato, through the Symposium, gives philosophical attention to the question of traditionality and makes his case for the philosophical tradition as the best means of education. Grounded in friendship or philia, this tradition owes its genesis to its adversarial relation with poetry and sophistry. Prevailing over poet and sophist, Plato's philosopher, as characterized in this dialogue, passes on to his students not just an education but an educated way of life. The value of this way of life, the philosopher's role in passing it on and its compatibility with philosophia Christi echo throughout the Adages. In the 1508 Prolegomena to the Adages, Erasmus argues for the closest possible alignment between philosophy and proverbial statement. There he singles out Plato as not only the greatest philosopher but one without peer in the use of proverbs. Plato is, in Erasmus's words, paroimiodesteros—the master of proverbs.
Morny Joy
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- July 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780719055232
- eISBN:
- 9781781700792
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9780719055232.003.0002
- Subject:
- History, History of Religion
This chapter follows Irigaray's investigations of women and of their relation to the concept of otherness, particularly as this term has featured in acts of denial that have deprived women of an ...
More
This chapter follows Irigaray's investigations of women and of their relation to the concept of otherness, particularly as this term has featured in acts of denial that have deprived women of an identity of their own. It surveys the first and second phases of Irigaray's work—the criticism of the western philosophical and religious tradition and the ways that she recommends for women to challenge it. Irigaray is extremely critical of a Lacanian version of desire that denied women any access to a conscious expression of their own. She wishes to liberate women from such repression but proposes that their new expressions of desire will not engulf the other person. She does not support a literal revival of a goddess religion, but she recommends cultivating the values of tranquillity and harmony that she associates with this benevolent world. She advocates two inconsistent agendas. One is the dismantling, in the name of infinite possibility, of the univocal arrangements that have pervaded western traditions in the name of gender. At the same time, there is the endorsement of definite sex-specific qualities and a structure of relationship that is to be observed.Less
This chapter follows Irigaray's investigations of women and of their relation to the concept of otherness, particularly as this term has featured in acts of denial that have deprived women of an identity of their own. It surveys the first and second phases of Irigaray's work—the criticism of the western philosophical and religious tradition and the ways that she recommends for women to challenge it. Irigaray is extremely critical of a Lacanian version of desire that denied women any access to a conscious expression of their own. She wishes to liberate women from such repression but proposes that their new expressions of desire will not engulf the other person. She does not support a literal revival of a goddess religion, but she recommends cultivating the values of tranquillity and harmony that she associates with this benevolent world. She advocates two inconsistent agendas. One is the dismantling, in the name of infinite possibility, of the univocal arrangements that have pervaded western traditions in the name of gender. At the same time, there is the endorsement of definite sex-specific qualities and a structure of relationship that is to be observed.
Paul Kléber Monod
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- October 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780300123586
- eISBN:
- 9780300195392
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Yale University Press
- DOI:
- 10.12987/yale/9780300123586.003.0011
- Subject:
- History, European Early Modern History
This book concludes by showing that, although the occult has always been with us, it has always experienced change and has not remained the same. Within England and Scotland, this can be understood ...
More
This book concludes by showing that, although the occult has always been with us, it has always experienced change and has not remained the same. Within England and Scotland, this can be understood in two principal, and very dynamic, ways. First, the occult related to a philosophical tradition constructed during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries from Neoplatonic and Hermetic thought, which informed the theory and practice of alchemy, astrology, and ritual magic. While the occult philosophical tradition remained relevant to early nineteenth-century Romantic writers, it had begun to fragment into its component parts, which might be combined in startlingly unconventional ways. Since that point, the Renaissance occult tradition has been primarily a focus of scholarly interest rather than a starting point for new intellectual or religious movements. Second, the occult can be understood in more practical terms as a way of harnessing supernatural power or divine knowledge for human objectives.Less
This book concludes by showing that, although the occult has always been with us, it has always experienced change and has not remained the same. Within England and Scotland, this can be understood in two principal, and very dynamic, ways. First, the occult related to a philosophical tradition constructed during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries from Neoplatonic and Hermetic thought, which informed the theory and practice of alchemy, astrology, and ritual magic. While the occult philosophical tradition remained relevant to early nineteenth-century Romantic writers, it had begun to fragment into its component parts, which might be combined in startlingly unconventional ways. Since that point, the Renaissance occult tradition has been primarily a focus of scholarly interest rather than a starting point for new intellectual or religious movements. Second, the occult can be understood in more practical terms as a way of harnessing supernatural power or divine knowledge for human objectives.
Jeffrey Hart
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- October 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780300087048
- eISBN:
- 9780300130522
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Yale University Press
- DOI:
- 10.12987/yale/9780300087048.003.0002
- Subject:
- Sociology, Education
This chapter examines Athens in terms of the proliferation of Homer's epics. Homer, in a sense, was the educator of Greece, according to Plato, who was not only inspired by him, but tried to go ...
More
This chapter examines Athens in terms of the proliferation of Homer's epics. Homer, in a sense, was the educator of Greece, according to Plato, who was not only inspired by him, but tried to go beyond him as well. The chapter notes, however, how the Homeric epic material has roots in common with other major epic emerging in the Middle East—particularly that of the patriarchs and Moses in the Hebrew Bible. Because of Homer's enormous talent, epics like those of Beowulf and Gilgamesh cannot compete. Furthermore, Greek culture furthered his epics by using them to engage in developing a Greek philosophical tradition that existed long before Plato—one which has been called the “pre-Socratics.” This chapter examines the heroic phase in Greek culture, particularly in Athens, comparing it and analysing its similarities with the epic of Moses.Less
This chapter examines Athens in terms of the proliferation of Homer's epics. Homer, in a sense, was the educator of Greece, according to Plato, who was not only inspired by him, but tried to go beyond him as well. The chapter notes, however, how the Homeric epic material has roots in common with other major epic emerging in the Middle East—particularly that of the patriarchs and Moses in the Hebrew Bible. Because of Homer's enormous talent, epics like those of Beowulf and Gilgamesh cannot compete. Furthermore, Greek culture furthered his epics by using them to engage in developing a Greek philosophical tradition that existed long before Plato—one which has been called the “pre-Socratics.” This chapter examines the heroic phase in Greek culture, particularly in Athens, comparing it and analysing its similarities with the epic of Moses.
Frank A. Lewis
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- September 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780199664016
- eISBN:
- 9780191748431
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199664016.003.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Ancient Philosophy, Metaphysics/Epistemology
In his Metaphysics Zeta, Aristotle attempts to define (primary) substance, where the substances are the basic entities on which the reality of objects in the sublunary world must be based. The bulk ...
More
In his Metaphysics Zeta, Aristotle attempts to define (primary) substance, where the substances are the basic entities on which the reality of objects in the sublunary world must be based. The bulk of Zeta is concerned with characterizations of substance from the philosophical tradition, filtered in part through Aristotle’s own writings in other works. But the most striking “alien presence” is that of Plato, who appears sometimes as friend, but more often as foe. The notion of “levels” marks the divide between Aristotle’s discussion of “received” views, and the development of his own views, which are surprisingly recessive in this text. Why so much attention to the tradition, and so little exposition of his own considered theory of Aristotelian form and matter? Finally, the proper conclusion to Zeta is not that Aristotle’s forms are the primary substances, but rather the definition of substance that makes this so.Less
In his Metaphysics Zeta, Aristotle attempts to define (primary) substance, where the substances are the basic entities on which the reality of objects in the sublunary world must be based. The bulk of Zeta is concerned with characterizations of substance from the philosophical tradition, filtered in part through Aristotle’s own writings in other works. But the most striking “alien presence” is that of Plato, who appears sometimes as friend, but more often as foe. The notion of “levels” marks the divide between Aristotle’s discussion of “received” views, and the development of his own views, which are surprisingly recessive in this text. Why so much attention to the tradition, and so little exposition of his own considered theory of Aristotelian form and matter? Finally, the proper conclusion to Zeta is not that Aristotle’s forms are the primary substances, but rather the definition of substance that makes this so.
Christopher Norris
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- August 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780816672806
- eISBN:
- 9781452946887
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Minnesota Press
- DOI:
- 10.5749/minnesota/9780816672806.003.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Political Philosophy
This chapter provides an overview of the way Spinoza has been received by various philosophical traditions. It starts by observing the great conflict in the interpretation of Spinoza, namely, that ...
More
This chapter provides an overview of the way Spinoza has been received by various philosophical traditions. It starts by observing the great conflict in the interpretation of Spinoza, namely, that Spinoza has been viewed either as an atheist or as a mystic, either as a materialist or as a spiritualist. Tracing some aspects of this variegated history, the chapter argues that its latest incarnation divides an interpretation of Spinoza between analytic and continental philosophers. Spinoza’s radically monist understanding of body and mind or world and mind offers by far the most effective counterinstance to the whole way of thinking and its hold on philosophers from Descartes down. Thus, his work has very often been taken up by radicals or dissidents.Less
This chapter provides an overview of the way Spinoza has been received by various philosophical traditions. It starts by observing the great conflict in the interpretation of Spinoza, namely, that Spinoza has been viewed either as an atheist or as a mystic, either as a materialist or as a spiritualist. Tracing some aspects of this variegated history, the chapter argues that its latest incarnation divides an interpretation of Spinoza between analytic and continental philosophers. Spinoza’s radically monist understanding of body and mind or world and mind offers by far the most effective counterinstance to the whole way of thinking and its hold on philosophers from Descartes down. Thus, his work has very often been taken up by radicals or dissidents.
Nalini Bhushan, Jay L. Garfield, and Daniel Raveh (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- May 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780199795550
- eISBN:
- 9780190267636
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:osobl/9780199795550.003.0005
- Subject:
- Philosophy, General
In this chapter, Daya Krishna reflects on comparative philosophy. In particular, he identifies a problem that is at the core of all comparative studies—that what passes for a transcultural or ...
More
In this chapter, Daya Krishna reflects on comparative philosophy. In particular, he identifies a problem that is at the core of all comparative studies—that what passes for a transcultural or universal standard as the basis for all comparison is usually in fact a parochial, and indeed a Western standard. Krishna was interested not only in the comparison of East with West; he was also concerned with intra-Asian and even intra-Indian comparison. In the case of Indian philosophy, the first and foremost question that has engaged all those who have been seriously concerned with the country's so-called “philosophical” tradition relates to the issue as to how it can be regarded as “philosophy” proper when it is supposed to be primarily concerned with moksa, or liberation from the very possibility of suffering.Less
In this chapter, Daya Krishna reflects on comparative philosophy. In particular, he identifies a problem that is at the core of all comparative studies—that what passes for a transcultural or universal standard as the basis for all comparison is usually in fact a parochial, and indeed a Western standard. Krishna was interested not only in the comparison of East with West; he was also concerned with intra-Asian and even intra-Indian comparison. In the case of Indian philosophy, the first and foremost question that has engaged all those who have been seriously concerned with the country's so-called “philosophical” tradition relates to the issue as to how it can be regarded as “philosophy” proper when it is supposed to be primarily concerned with moksa, or liberation from the very possibility of suffering.
Peter Hare
Joseph Palencik, Douglas Anderson, and Steven A. Miller (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- January 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780823264322
- eISBN:
- 9780823266777
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Fordham University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5422/fordham/9780823264322.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, American Philosophy
This book is a collection of selected writings by the late Peter Hare, a leading proponent of the American philosophical tradition. The volume includes chapters on “holistic pragmatism” that the ...
More
This book is a collection of selected writings by the late Peter Hare, a leading proponent of the American philosophical tradition. The volume includes chapters on “holistic pragmatism” that the author developed in conversation with Morton White, as well as historical articles on William James and Charles Sanders Peirce and commentaries on the profession.Less
This book is a collection of selected writings by the late Peter Hare, a leading proponent of the American philosophical tradition. The volume includes chapters on “holistic pragmatism” that the author developed in conversation with Morton White, as well as historical articles on William James and Charles Sanders Peirce and commentaries on the profession.
Miriam T. Griffin
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- September 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780199245482
- eISBN:
- 9780191744969
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Discontinued
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199245482.003.0003
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Literary Studies: Classical, Early, and Medieval, Ancient Greek, Roman, and Early Christian Philosophy
This chapter first reviews the philosophical tradition before Seneca. Seneca points towards Stoic discussions of charis as the philosophical tradition to which De beneficiis belongs when he mentions ...
More
This chapter first reviews the philosophical tradition before Seneca. Seneca points towards Stoic discussions of charis as the philosophical tradition to which De beneficiis belongs when he mentions works by Chrysippus in the third century BC and Hecato in the first. By then there was already a rich tradition of theoretical thinking about giving and returning favours, for from the fourth century onwards euergesia and charis had become subjects of moral discourse. Xenophon and then Aristotle and his school provide the fullest surviving early contributions to the subject, and those most relevant to Seneca. The discussion then turns to the characteristics of Seneca's philosophical approach to beneficence.Less
This chapter first reviews the philosophical tradition before Seneca. Seneca points towards Stoic discussions of charis as the philosophical tradition to which De beneficiis belongs when he mentions works by Chrysippus in the third century BC and Hecato in the first. By then there was already a rich tradition of theoretical thinking about giving and returning favours, for from the fourth century onwards euergesia and charis had become subjects of moral discourse. Xenophon and then Aristotle and his school provide the fullest surviving early contributions to the subject, and those most relevant to Seneca. The discussion then turns to the characteristics of Seneca's philosophical approach to beneficence.
C. B. Bow (ed.)
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- May 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780198783909
- eISBN:
- 9780191826559
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198783909.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, History of Philosophy
This book explores the philosophical and historical significance of common sense philosophy in the Scottish Enlightenment. As one of eighteenth-century Scotland’s most original intellectual products, ...
More
This book explores the philosophical and historical significance of common sense philosophy in the Scottish Enlightenment. As one of eighteenth-century Scotland’s most original intellectual products, the Scottish ‘school’ of common sense philosophy developed as a viable alternative to modern philosophical scepticism known as the ‘Ideal Theory’ or ‘the way of ideas’. The philosophical writings of Thomas Reid and David Hume factor prominently in the volume as influential authors of competing ideas in the history and philosophy of common sense. In the chapters of this volume, which all embody original and innovative research, the contributors recover anticipations of Reid’s version of common sense in seventeenth-century Scottish scholasticism; re-evaluate Reid’s position in the realism versus sentimentalism dichotomy; shed new light on the nature of the ‘constitution’ in the anatomy of the mind; identify changes in the nature of sense perception throughout Reid’s published and unpublished works; examine Reid on the non-theist implications of Hume’s philosophy; show how ‘polite’ literature shaped James Beattie’s version of common sense; reveal Hume’s response to common sense philosophers; explore English criticisms and construction of the ‘Scotch school’; and illustrate how Dugald Stewart’s refashioning of common sense responded to a new age and the British reception of German Idealism. In recovering the ways in which Scottish common sense philosophy originally developed in response to the Ideal Theory in Britain during the long eighteenth century, this volume takes an important step toward a more complete understanding of ‘the Scottish philosophy’ in the age of Enlightenment.Less
This book explores the philosophical and historical significance of common sense philosophy in the Scottish Enlightenment. As one of eighteenth-century Scotland’s most original intellectual products, the Scottish ‘school’ of common sense philosophy developed as a viable alternative to modern philosophical scepticism known as the ‘Ideal Theory’ or ‘the way of ideas’. The philosophical writings of Thomas Reid and David Hume factor prominently in the volume as influential authors of competing ideas in the history and philosophy of common sense. In the chapters of this volume, which all embody original and innovative research, the contributors recover anticipations of Reid’s version of common sense in seventeenth-century Scottish scholasticism; re-evaluate Reid’s position in the realism versus sentimentalism dichotomy; shed new light on the nature of the ‘constitution’ in the anatomy of the mind; identify changes in the nature of sense perception throughout Reid’s published and unpublished works; examine Reid on the non-theist implications of Hume’s philosophy; show how ‘polite’ literature shaped James Beattie’s version of common sense; reveal Hume’s response to common sense philosophers; explore English criticisms and construction of the ‘Scotch school’; and illustrate how Dugald Stewart’s refashioning of common sense responded to a new age and the British reception of German Idealism. In recovering the ways in which Scottish common sense philosophy originally developed in response to the Ideal Theory in Britain during the long eighteenth century, this volume takes an important step toward a more complete understanding of ‘the Scottish philosophy’ in the age of Enlightenment.
