- Table View
- List View
Arguments and Reason-Giving
by Matthew W. McKeonArguments help us to give reasons for things. We use them to advance reasons for their conclusions in order to explain why we believe or did something, to justify our beliefs or actions, and to persuade others to do or to believe something. In Arguments and Reason-Giving, philosopher Matthew W. McKeon addresses the uses of arguments to advance their premises as reasons for believing their conclusions, that is, for believing that their conclusions are true. This book has two parts. In the first part, McKeon develops a conception of reason-giving uses of arguments that aims to deepen our understanding of the argument-centric dimension of our practices of reason-giving in everyday contexts. Inference claims play a central role in reason-giving uses of arguments. You use an argument to advance its premises as reasons for believing the conclusion only if you claim that they are such reasons. Taking such reason-giving to be rationally intentional, you believe what you claim. In the second part of the book, McKeon appeals to this conception of reason-giving uses of arguments to shed light on the nature of their persuasive force, the nature of the inferential reasoning that is expressed, argumentative rationality, and intellectual honesty and intellectual integrity. The notions of inference claims, reasons for belief, and reflective inferences provide the conceptual framework for the book's engagement with reason-giving uses of arguments and rational persuasion, argumentative rationality, and intellectual honesty and integrity.
The Scope and Limits of Partiality
by Diane JeskeThe Scope and Limits of Partiality takes as its starting point the fact that we demonstrate partiality toward those to whom we stand in intimate relationships, a fact which presents both theoretical and practical challenges. At the theoretical level, Diane Jeske argues that we have fundamental reasons to care for our intimates, but that that fact alone does not justify our practices of partiality. This is because we also have fundamental reasons to care for persons in need, be they intimates or strangers. At the normative level, she argues that our intimate relationships, be they to other persons or to non-human animals, add great value to our lives, and that public policy ought to acknowledge the great diversity of intimate relationships rather than emphasizing romance and marriage in the way that it does. In the theoretical half of the book, Jeske defends the 'relationships view' of reasons of intimacy against its primary competitors. First, Jeske argues that consequentialist attempts to accommodate partiality fail to address the fundamental issues regarding our reasons to care for intimates. Second, she argues that the main non-consequentialist alternatives to the relationships view - the 'projects view' and the 'individuals view' - fail to present compelling cases against the relationships view. In the normative half of the book, Jeske offers a detailed picture of the intimate relationship of friendship, arguing against views that over intellectualize or romanticize friendship by drawing upon her own lived experience of friendship. She then considers our relationships to our companion dogs and cats, showing that these relationships are unique sites for intimacy, and, thus, for value. Finally, she turns to consider how intimacy is treated in the public sphere, focusing on the special cultural and legal attention given to marriage, and to how we ought to approach our intimate relationships and our reasons to care for our intimates in a highly imperfect world where so many people are deprived of the basic necessities of life. The Scope and Limits of Partiality presents a comprehensive account of intimacy and partiality in both theory and reality.
Hybrid Threats and Grey Zone Conflict: The Challenge to Liberal Democracies (Ethics, National Security, and the Rule of Law)
In the current geopolitical environment, liberal democracies vie for influence and prosperity with autocratic governments, such as those of China and Russia. While the great powers do not shy away from using aggressive force, much of their rivalry today takes place below the threshold of armed conflict, in a conceptual and practical 'grey zone' between war and peace. Autocratic states operate in this grey zone to target the vulnerabilities of liberal democracies, creating hybrid threats that rely on instruments ranging from economic, diplomatic, legal, and informational pressure all the way to military coercion. Law plays a critical role in this context. In the ethically and legally ambiguous grey zone, international law serves as a normative, yet malleable, framework within which geopolitical rivals compete. State and non-State actors invoke the law as the source of authority, while simultaneously hoping to shape the international legal order in their own strategic interests. Hybrid Threats and Grey Zone Conflict offers the first in-depth assessment of the legal and ethical aspects of hybrid threats and grey zone conflict. It explores the responses available to democratic nations for countering hybrid and grey zone threats whilst adhering to liberal democratic values and the rule of law. Bringing together diverse scholarly and practitioner perspectives, the volume introduces readers to the conceptual and practical difficulties arising in this area, the rich debates the topic has generated, and the challenges that countering hybrid threats and grey zone conflict poses for liberal democracies. This volume is essential reading for anyone interested in learning more about contemporary forms of strategic competition below the threshold of open hostilities.
Between the Lines: A Philosophy of Theatre
by Michael Y. BennettIn Between the Lines: A Philosophy of Theatre, theatre theorist, Michael Y. Bennett offers a systematic account of theatre--thinking about theatre metaphysically, epistemologically, and ethically. To investigate theatre and its in-between spaces, Bennett introduces some basic ideas about coherence and correspondence and, much more prominently, conversations surrounding subsumption and distinctness in order to better describe theatre as a form of art. Instead of limiting the concept and use of subsumption to suggest that constituent parts are subsumed within a distinct whole, Bennett broadens the concept to claim that many of the properties of a theatrical character and/or a theatrical world are subsumed within the text. Unlike some forms of literary fiction in which a narrator describes the properties of characters in general terms, theatre (particularly for the theatregoer) is largely devoid of distinct properties attributed to theatrical characters. Outside of the fact that theatrical characters speak and perform actions during the time of the play, there are little-to-no specified properties regarding theatrical characters and/or theatrical worlds. In thinking about the conceptual empty spaces of theatre, Bennett investigates three main topics: theatre as an art form, the properties of theatrical characters and theatrical worlds, and the difference between truth and truthfulness in the theatre.
Aristotle and Xunzi on Shame, Moral Education, and the Good Life (Emotions of the Past)
by Jingyi Jenny ZhaoDespite recent developments in the history of emotions and in comparative studies, sustained cross-cultural comparative studies of the emotions remain few and far between. Jingyi Jenny Zhao has produced the first major work that takes two philosophers from the ancient Greek and early Chinese traditions to stimulate discussion of an interdisciplinary nature on the rich and complex topic of the emotions-in particular, of shame. It features comparative analysis of Greek and Chinese texts while bringing the ancient materials to bear on modern controversies such as the role of shame in moral education and social cohesion. Although unalike in their social-historical and intellectual backgrounds, Aristotle and Xunzi bear striking similarities in several respects: they both conceptualize humans as essentially members of communities, as having a unique set of characteristics that set them apart from other living things, and as beings in need of moral training to fulfil their potential and become integrated into a well-ordered society. The two philosophers' discourses on shame reveal important insights into their ideals of human nature, moral education and the good life. This book tackles directly the methodological problems that are relevant to anyone interested in cross-cultural comparisons and organizes discussions of the ancient sources to facilitate a thorough integration of perspectives from the cultural traditions concerned. This approach provides sufficient focus to allow for detailed textual analysis while giving scope for making constant connections to the broader comparative questions at issue.
Between the Lines: A Philosophy of Theatre
by Michael Y. BennettIn Between the Lines: A Philosophy of Theatre, theatre theorist, Michael Y. Bennett offers a systematic account of theatre--thinking about theatre metaphysically, epistemologically, and ethically. To investigate theatre and its in-between spaces, Bennett introduces some basic ideas about coherence and correspondence and, much more prominently, conversations surrounding subsumption and distinctness in order to better describe theatre as a form of art. Instead of limiting the concept and use of subsumption to suggest that constituent parts are subsumed within a distinct whole, Bennett broadens the concept to claim that many of the properties of a theatrical character and/or a theatrical world are subsumed within the text. Unlike some forms of literary fiction in which a narrator describes the properties of characters in general terms, theatre (particularly for the theatregoer) is largely devoid of distinct properties attributed to theatrical characters. Outside of the fact that theatrical characters speak and perform actions during the time of the play, there are little-to-no specified properties regarding theatrical characters and/or theatrical worlds. In thinking about the conceptual empty spaces of theatre, Bennett investigates three main topics: theatre as an art form, the properties of theatrical characters and theatrical worlds, and the difference between truth and truthfulness in the theatre.
Hearing Double: Jazz, Ontology, Auditory Culture
by Brian KaneWhen we talk about a jazz "standard" we usually mean one of the many songs that jazz musicians repeatedly play as part of their core repertoire. But unlike musical works in the tradition of so-called classical music, standards--whether plucked from the "Great American Songbook" or from recordings by other jazz musicians--are always being transformed in performance. They are rearranged and improvised upon, given new chords and altered melodies. These transformations might be small and seemingly unimportant, or they might be radical revisions. Which raises the question: across all of these various performances, what gives a standard its identity? In Hearing Double author Brian Kane answers that question by offering a new theory of musical works that can account for the unique challenges presented by standards. Building from the bottom up--from the actual practices of jazz musicians toward their philosophical implications--he gives a comprehensive theory of how a standard can undergo radical musical transformations yet remain identifiable. Through an analysis of the historical and cultural conditions under which standards came to prominence he shows how popular music from the 1930s to the 1960s was circulated and distributed and provides new insight into why the era of the standard emerged when it did. In addition, Kane addresses the aesthetic significance of standards and describes a special mode of listening that standards require. According to Kane, we effectively "hear double"--hearing an ideal song in our minds at the same time as we hear the live performance with our ears. Filled with case studies and music analysis, Hearing Double will draw the reader's attention to unheard aspects of jazz performance as well as unrecognized philosophical, social, and cultural dimensions of the jazz repertoire.
Patient-Centered Measurement: Ethics, Epistemology, and Dialogue in Contemporary Medicine
by Leah M. McClimansContemporary medicine is Janus-faced. Evidence-based medicine is one face, emphasizing evidence, statistics, and method. Patient-centered care is the other, prioritizing patient experiences, judgement, and values. Government agencies, policy makers, major insurers and clinicians have sought ways to bring these approaches together, and the questionnaires that patients must fill out at the doctor's office or hospital are its most common manifestation. Leah M. McClimans examines one such integrative approach, patient-centered measurement. Patient-centered measurement is the idea that patient perspectives on, for instance, physical functioning or quality of life, should play an evidentiary role in determining how effective a drug is taken to be, the degree to which a hospital provides good quality care or whether a particular intervention should be funded by an insurer. Patient-centered measurement treats patient perspectives on par with more traditional metrics such as mortality, morbidity, and safety. But how can measurement, which relies on standardization, represent patient perspectives, which, if not idiosyncratic, are at least various and changeable? Leah M. McClimans investigates the history and philosophy of patient-centered measurement, examining the use and role of patient questionnaires, and explores how patient-centered measurement sits within the contemporary preoccupation with evidence-based medicine.
Hearing Double: Jazz, Ontology, Auditory Culture
by Brian KaneWhen we talk about a jazz "standard" we usually mean one of the many songs that jazz musicians repeatedly play as part of their core repertoire. But unlike musical works in the tradition of so-called classical music, standards--whether plucked from the "Great American Songbook" or from recordings by other jazz musicians--are always being transformed in performance. They are rearranged and improvised upon, given new chords and altered melodies. These transformations might be small and seemingly unimportant, or they might be radical revisions. Which raises the question: across all of these various performances, what gives a standard its identity? In Hearing Double author Brian Kane answers that question by offering a new theory of musical works that can account for the unique challenges presented by standards. Building from the bottom up--from the actual practices of jazz musicians toward their philosophical implications--he gives a comprehensive theory of how a standard can undergo radical musical transformations yet remain identifiable. Through an analysis of the historical and cultural conditions under which standards came to prominence he shows how popular music from the 1930s to the 1960s was circulated and distributed and provides new insight into why the era of the standard emerged when it did. In addition, Kane addresses the aesthetic significance of standards and describes a special mode of listening that standards require. According to Kane, we effectively "hear double"--hearing an ideal song in our minds at the same time as we hear the live performance with our ears. Filled with case studies and music analysis, Hearing Double will draw the reader's attention to unheard aspects of jazz performance as well as unrecognized philosophical, social, and cultural dimensions of the jazz repertoire.
Fruitfulness: Science, Metaphor, and the Puzzle of Promise (Oxford Studies in Philosophy of Science)
by Chris HaufeSome ideas seem to possess a disproportionate ability to lead to new insights, new discoveries, new ideas, and even entirely new ways of thinking. Such ideas are said to be fruitful. Looking across the history of science and mathematics, we see creative minds preoccupied with the search for ideas of this kind. More precious than truth, but far less plentiful, fruitful ideas provide those in pursuit of knowledge with a seemingly bottomless well of innovation from which to draw as they attempt to solve new problems and to refine solutions to old ones. Seasoned researchers have a nose for these ideas. They often know in an instant that some way of approaching a problem will eventually result in a solution to it and to a whole host of other problems, all of which suddenly seem related. In Fruitfulness, Chris Haufe explains how these ideas are detected and developed into large-scale frameworks for research. He argues for a philosophical perspective on scientific knowledge that places the search for fruitfulness at the heart of the scientific enterprise. This perspective demands a fundamental shift in our thinking about scientific theories, conceiving of them as metaphors to facilitate research instead of increasingly correct descriptions of nature.
Aristotle and Xunzi on Shame, Moral Education, and the Good Life (Emotions of the Past)
by Jingyi Jenny ZhaoDespite recent developments in the history of emotions and in comparative studies, sustained cross-cultural comparative studies of the emotions remain few and far between. Jingyi Jenny Zhao has produced the first major work that takes two philosophers from the ancient Greek and early Chinese traditions to stimulate discussion of an interdisciplinary nature on the rich and complex topic of the emotions-in particular, of shame. It features comparative analysis of Greek and Chinese texts while bringing the ancient materials to bear on modern controversies such as the role of shame in moral education and social cohesion. Although unalike in their social-historical and intellectual backgrounds, Aristotle and Xunzi bear striking similarities in several respects: they both conceptualize humans as essentially members of communities, as having a unique set of characteristics that set them apart from other living things, and as beings in need of moral training to fulfil their potential and become integrated into a well-ordered society. The two philosophers' discourses on shame reveal important insights into their ideals of human nature, moral education and the good life. This book tackles directly the methodological problems that are relevant to anyone interested in cross-cultural comparisons and organizes discussions of the ancient sources to facilitate a thorough integration of perspectives from the cultural traditions concerned. This approach provides sufficient focus to allow for detailed textual analysis while giving scope for making constant connections to the broader comparative questions at issue.
Patient-Centered Measurement: Ethics, Epistemology, and Dialogue in Contemporary Medicine
by Leah M. McClimansContemporary medicine is Janus-faced. Evidence-based medicine is one face, emphasizing evidence, statistics, and method. Patient-centered care is the other, prioritizing patient experiences, judgement, and values. Government agencies, policy makers, major insurers and clinicians have sought ways to bring these approaches together, and the questionnaires that patients must fill out at the doctor's office or hospital are its most common manifestation. Leah M. McClimans examines one such integrative approach, patient-centered measurement. Patient-centered measurement is the idea that patient perspectives on, for instance, physical functioning or quality of life, should play an evidentiary role in determining how effective a drug is taken to be, the degree to which a hospital provides good quality care or whether a particular intervention should be funded by an insurer. Patient-centered measurement treats patient perspectives on par with more traditional metrics such as mortality, morbidity, and safety. But how can measurement, which relies on standardization, represent patient perspectives, which, if not idiosyncratic, are at least various and changeable? Leah M. McClimans investigates the history and philosophy of patient-centered measurement, examining the use and role of patient questionnaires, and explores how patient-centered measurement sits within the contemporary preoccupation with evidence-based medicine.
Decolonizing Freedom (Studies in Feminist Philosophy)
by Allison WeirFreedom is celebrated as the definitive ideal of modern western civilization. Yet in western thought and practice, the freedom of some has typically been defined through opposition to the unfreedom of others. These exclusions are not secondary to a prior concept of freedom but are constitutive exclusions that have shaped the ways in which western theorists define what freedom is. Allison Weir draws on Indigenous political philosophies and practices of decolonization grounded in conceptions of relationality and resurgence, in dialogue with western philosophies, to reconstruct a tradition of relational freedom as a distinctive political conception of freedom: a radically democratic mode of engagement and participation in social and political relations with an infinite range of strange and diverse beings perceived as free agents in interdependent relations in a shared world. Through the work of Leanne Betasamosake Simpson, John Borrows, Glen Coulthard, Audra Simpson, Rauna Kuokkanen, Joanne Barker, Jodi Byrd, James Tully, and many others, this book traces a tradition of colonial unknowing in western conceptions of freedom from Hobbes through republican and critical theories, and explores a countertradition of relations between freedom and collective love, exemplified in Leanne Betasamosake Simpson's love of land and Hannah Arendt's love of the world. It considers Indigenous modes of world-creation as performative, affective, embodied strategies of democratic life, skilled modes of addressing diversity and conflict, fear and hostility, in practices of freedom that embrace polycentric knowledges and rooted dynamisms, in contexts of complexity and constant change. Weir argues that Indigenous women's struggles to belong to communities and participate in governance have engendered new theories of relational rights that combine politics of rights and resurgence, and calls for a coalitional politics guided by queer and feminist Indigenous models of transformative resurgence. Finally, Weir proposes an approach to critical theory as a practice of self-transformation through openness to the other, oriented toward relational freedom.
Religious Studies, Theology, and Human Flourishing (The Humanities and Human Flourishing)
by Justin Thomas Mcdaniel and Hector KilgoeReligious Studies, Theology, and Human Flourishing explores the implications of religious studies and theology for well-being, illuminating connections between theory, pedagogy, and practice with nuance and depth. Contributors to the volume, part of The Humanities and Human Flourishing series, construct and critique various conceptualizations of well-being and different approaches to its cultivation, both inside and outside of the classroom. From north India to the buckle of the American Bible Belt, the volume provides a variety of perspectives on approaches to the cultivation of well-being, including formations of the ideal life and the perfect death in antiquity and modernity in the Muslim world; constructions of existential meaning, purpose, and goodness in pastoral theology, care, and counseling; and skepticism surrounding understandings of religion and spirituality in positive psychology, among others.
Fruitfulness: Science, Metaphor, and the Puzzle of Promise (Oxford Studies in Philosophy of Science)
by Chris HaufeSome ideas seem to possess a disproportionate ability to lead to new insights, new discoveries, new ideas, and even entirely new ways of thinking. Such ideas are said to be fruitful. Looking across the history of science and mathematics, we see creative minds preoccupied with the search for ideas of this kind. More precious than truth, but far less plentiful, fruitful ideas provide those in pursuit of knowledge with a seemingly bottomless well of innovation from which to draw as they attempt to solve new problems and to refine solutions to old ones. Seasoned researchers have a nose for these ideas. They often know in an instant that some way of approaching a problem will eventually result in a solution to it and to a whole host of other problems, all of which suddenly seem related. In Fruitfulness, Chris Haufe explains how these ideas are detected and developed into large-scale frameworks for research. He argues for a philosophical perspective on scientific knowledge that places the search for fruitfulness at the heart of the scientific enterprise. This perspective demands a fundamental shift in our thinking about scientific theories, conceiving of them as metaphors to facilitate research instead of increasingly correct descriptions of nature.
The Oxford Handbook of Research Ethics (Oxford Handbooks)
by Ana S. Iltis, Douglas MackayThe Oxford Handbook of Research Ethics provides a critical overview of the ethics of human subjects research within multiple disciplines and fields, including biomedicine, public health, behavioral science, psychiatry, sociology, political science, and public policy. Featuring 45 original essays by leading research ethicists, it aims to improve scholarship in research ethics by encouraging cross-disciplinary engagement with critical issues concerning the treatment of research participants. Part 1 of the volume, The Practice and Institutional Context of Human Subjects Research, orients readers to the research ethics literature through discussion of historical, regulatory, and other features of human subjects research. It includes chapters on the nature of human subjects research, the highs and lows of research, and the regulations which govern it. Part 2, Key Concepts and Principles of Research Ethics, features cutting-edge critical overviews of the central ethical principles and requirements used to evaluate research, including chapters on respect for persons, social value, risk-benefit assessment, equipoise, and fair subject selection, among others. Part 3, Research Areas and Methods, explores how these principles and requirements apply across different disciplines and methodologies. It features chapters on the ethics of novel trial designs such as multi-arm platform trials as well as chapters addressing ethical issues which arise in different fields, including genetics and genomics, public health, behavioral science, sociology, political science, and public policy. Part 4, Research Participant Populations, concludes the volume with chapters addressing ethical questions that arise with research concerning certain populations, including Indigenous People, racial and ethnic minorities, women, and people with disabilities, among others.
The Aristotelian Tradition in Early Modern Protestantism: Sixteenth- and Seventeenth-Century Commentaries on the Ethics and the Politics (Oxford Studies in Historical Theology)
by Manfred SvenssonAristotle's moral and political thought formed the backbone of education in practical philosophy for centuries during the classical and medieval periods. It has often been presumed, however, that with the advent of the Protestant Reformation, this tradition was broken. Originally a topic belonging to Roman Catholic polemics, this interpretation of Protestant relations with Aristotle gradually became a part of the Protestant self-understanding as well. Lack of engagement with the actual curriculum of early Protestant schools allowed Luther's dismissive comments on Aristotle to be taken as representative of early Protestant teaching. In The Aristotelian Tradition in Early Modern Protestantism Manfred Svensson shows how the days of this view as a dominant narrative are over. Between 1529 and 1670, Protestants published around 55 commentaries on the Ethics and around 15 on the Politics, several of these in numerous editions. In academies and universities in Lutheran and Reformed territories throughout the Reformation and post-Reformation era, the exposition of these works continued to form the backbone of moral and political education. This tradition has, however, largely flown under the radar and is now for the first time presented in a comprehensive way. Offering a discussion of the medieval context and debt to Renaissance Aristotelianism, Svensson maps the relationships between these commentaries and their authors, presenting their shared understanding of practical philosophy in its relation to the Christian faith and offering in-depth discussions of key ethical and political concepts.
The Accursed Share, Volume I
by Georges BatailleFrom the acclaimed French philosopher, intellectual, and novelist, a brilliant account of the social and economic costs of civilizationIn this important work, Georges Bataille uses his novel economic theory as the basis for an incisive inquiry into the very nature of civilization. He introduces here his concept of the accursed share, the surplus energy that any system, natural or cultural, must expend; it is this expenditure, according to Bataille, that most clearly defines a society. His examples include sacrifice among the Aztecs, potlatch among the Northwest Coast Indians, military conquest in Islam, and Buddhist monasticism in Tibet.In this way, Bataille proposes a theory of a &“general economy&” based on excess and exuberance that radically revises conventional economic models of scarcity and utility. A brilliant blend of economics and aesthetics, ethics and anthropology, The Accursed Share provides an excellent introduction to Bataille&’s philosophic work. It will be of particular interest not only to readers of his fiction and essays but also to cultural theorists, anthropologists, and economists of all schools.
A Political History of Sport in Sweden (Palgrave Studies in Sport and Politics)
by Jens LjunggrenThis book presents a history of Swedish sport, highlighting in particular the relationship between sport politics and people’s changing attitudes towards sport from the eighteenth century until today. It scrutinizes the interaction between sport politics and people’s different approaches to sport in everyday life. By investigating how different ways of pursuing and conceptualizing sport have progressed and interacted, and how they have influenced as well been influenced by sport politics, this book discerns the role of both governmental and municipal politics in the development of sport in Sweden.
States of Health: The Ethics and Consequences of Policy Variation in a Federal System
by Leslie P. Francis John G. FrancisIs it morally or politically acceptable to have wide differences in the quality of health care when one crosses a state line? Federalism in the United States has been defended as a political structure that enables people to coexist in a single polity despite deep disagreements about some of the most fundamental aspects of human life. This federalism of the compound republic of the United States can create space for difference and latitude for innovation, and its flexibility in levels of policy enactment can allow for fruitful state-level experimentation, especially in the areas of health and health care, which has long been celebrated. However, when federalism results in significant differences in health care availability within a single country-with abortion being the tip of the iceberg of these differences, albeit a very pointed one-it can generate enormous ethical challenges for health care providers and their patients. These challenges often engender questions of what should be considered an enduring right: Which freedoms should transcend borders? States of Health identifies the practical relevance of federalism to people facing ethical decisions about health and health care, and it considers the theoretical justifications for permissible differences among states. It asks whether authority over important aspects of health is misaligned in the United States today, with some matters problematically left to the states while others are taken over by the federal government. Health care is a basic good, central to the ability of people to flourish. If state policies result in a landscape where residents of some states can flourish in ways that residents of other states cannot, the mutuality of a federal union might be threatened. States of Health reminds us that there are some divisions that a nation cannot endure.
A Brief History of the Philosophy of Time
by Adrian BardonThis thoroughly revised and updated edition of Adrian Bardon's A Brief History of the Philosophy of Time is a short introduction to the history, philosophy, and science of the study of time--from the pre-Socratic philosophers through Einstein and beyond. Bardon covers subjects such as time and change, the experience of time, physical and metaphysical approaches to the nature of time, the direction of time, time travel, time and freedom of the will, and scientific and philosophical approaches to cosmology and the beginning of time. He employs helpful illustrations and keeps technical language to a minimum in bringing the resources of over 2500 years of philosophy and science to bear on some of humanity's most fundamental and enduring questions.
Intersectionality: A Philosophical Framework (The Romanell Lectures)
by Naomi ZackIn Intersectionality, philosopher Naomi Zack presents a novel philosophical account of intersectionality - the process by which people already oppressed, experience more oppression because of their intersecting identities. Examples include women who experience racism or poor people who are under-served. Identifying such intersections allows for more precise analysis of oppression, as well as newly recognized identities, such as blackwomen or homeless people of colour. Zack here explores the meaning of intersectionality through analysis of current events and controversies including the #MeToo movement, the COVID-19 pandemic, and class opportunities for minorities in higher education. Her analysis develops a robust definition of intersectionality in terms of inclusion, recognition, and diversity; works out ontological issues about the relationship between persons, labels, and identity; explores the distinction between abstract philosophical thinking and activism; and discusses how intersectionality can be an effective basis for empowerment, as well as understanding. Zack's distinctively philosophical account explains how intersectionality, considered as a method of analysis, works and can be employed in many areas of progressive thought across varying disciplines. She concludes that identifying and challenging the injustice of oppressions logically requires a broad humanistic framework, that intersectionality cannot be reduced to mere talk of diversity and inclusion, and that intersectionality itself is a progressive method of analysis worthy of philosophical attention.
Regret
by Paddy McQueenPhilosopher Paddy McQueen provides a detailed examination of the nature of regret and its role in decision-making. Contrary to influential philosophical accounts of regret, he argues that we should only regret choices we make that were not justified at the time, based on the information that was available to us. Consequently, he suggests that many of us should have fewer regrets than we do, and we should worry less than we do about whether we might come to regret a decision. In making this case, he engages with important areas of philosophical debate, such as reasons, time and justification, the temporal self, values and valuing, responsibility, the causal framing of events, and self-forgiveness. The result is a complex, novel account of when we should regret the things that we do. In addition, McQueen explores how experiences of regret are shaped by social discourses, especially those about gender and parenthood. He examines how regret has become politicized in debates about abortion and trans identities and reveals ways in which regret is used to regulate people's reproductive choices. Through this cultural politics of regret, he challenges assumptions about gender identities and the expectations of regret that are attached to certain people's decisions. In so doing, he shows how confronting these assumptions and expectations can help to promote people's autonomy and well-being. Weaving these threads together, McQueen highlights the personal and political significance of regret.
Schelling's Mystical Platonism: 1792-1802
by Naomi FisherSchelling came of age during the pivotal and exciting years at the end of the eighteenth century, as Kant's philosophy was being incorporated into the German academic world. At this time, in addition to delving into the new Kantian philosophy, Schelling engaged in an intense study of Plato's dialogues and was immersed in a Neoplatonic intellectual culture. Attention to these aspects of Schelling's early philosophical development illuminates his fundamental commitments. Throughout the first decade of his adult life, from 1792-1802, Schelling was a mystical Platonist. Naomi Fisher argues that Schelling is committed to two overarching theses, which together comprise his mystical Platonism. First, Schelling considers the absolute to be ineffable: It cannot be described in conceptual terms. For this reason, it remains inferentially external to any given philosophical system and is only intimated to us in certain analogical formulations, in works of art, or in nature as a whole. Second, Schelling is committed to a kind of priority monism: All things are grounded in the absolute, but finite things possess an integral unity all their own, and so have a distinct and relatively independent existence. Highlighting these commitments resolves an interpretive dispute, according to which Schelling is a Fichtean idealist or a Spinozist, or he vacillates between these positions. Interpreting Schelling as advancing a mystical Platonism provides an alternative way of interpreting these early texts, such that they are by and large consistent. Fisher presents Schelling's early philosophy as a unique and compelling fusion of the old and new: Schelling fulfills the characteristic aims of post-Kantian philosophy in a way distinctive among his contemporaries, by drawing on and appropriating various strands of Platonism.
Schelling's Mystical Platonism: 1792-1802
by Naomi FisherSchelling came of age during the pivotal and exciting years at the end of the eighteenth century, as Kant's philosophy was being incorporated into the German academic world. At this time, in addition to delving into the new Kantian philosophy, Schelling engaged in an intense study of Plato's dialogues and was immersed in a Neoplatonic intellectual culture. Attention to these aspects of Schelling's early philosophical development illuminates his fundamental commitments. Throughout the first decade of his adult life, from 1792-1802, Schelling was a mystical Platonist. Naomi Fisher argues that Schelling is committed to two overarching theses, which together comprise his mystical Platonism. First, Schelling considers the absolute to be ineffable: It cannot be described in conceptual terms. For this reason, it remains inferentially external to any given philosophical system and is only intimated to us in certain analogical formulations, in works of art, or in nature as a whole. Second, Schelling is committed to a kind of priority monism: All things are grounded in the absolute, but finite things possess an integral unity all their own, and so have a distinct and relatively independent existence. Highlighting these commitments resolves an interpretive dispute, according to which Schelling is a Fichtean idealist or a Spinozist, or he vacillates between these positions. Interpreting Schelling as advancing a mystical Platonism provides an alternative way of interpreting these early texts, such that they are by and large consistent. Fisher presents Schelling's early philosophy as a unique and compelling fusion of the old and new: Schelling fulfills the characteristic aims of post-Kantian philosophy in a way distinctive among his contemporaries, by drawing on and appropriating various strands of Platonism.