Arts and Humanities Commons^™

The Smallest Leap Of Faith: A New Worldview For A Postmodern World?, Kelly C. Smith

Publications

It is undeniable that religion provides a sense of purpose, ethical direction, and social belonging that most human beings for most of recorded history have found to be profoundly important. But it is equally undeniable that its supernatural metaphysics and dogmatic conservatism have retarded society’s progress in many ways and caused untold human suffering. An obvious question is thus: Is it possible to preserve the beneficial aspects of religion but excise the problematic ones?

Immanuel Kant fathered the postmodern age with his devastating critique of the possibility of human knowledge of the Ultimate. However, Kant himself was far from skeptical …

Nietzsche's Antichrist: The Birth Of Modern Science Out Of The Spirit Of Religion, Babette Babich

Articles and Chapters in Academic Book Collections

Nietzsche argued that the Greeks were in possessions of every theoretical, mathematical, logical, and technological antecedent for the development of what could be modern science. But if they had all these necessary prerequisites what else could they have needed? Not only had the ancient Greeks no religious world-view antagonistic to scientific inquiry, they also lacked the Judeo-Christian promissory ideal of salvation in a future life (after death). Subsequently, when Greek culture had been irretrievably lost, what Nietzsche regarded as the "decadent" Socratic ideal of reason ultimately and in connection with the preludes of religion and alchemy developed into modern science …

Nietzsche On Objects, Justin Remhof

Philosophy Faculty Publications

Nietzsche was persistently concerned with what an object is and how different views of objects lead to different views of facts, causality, personhood, substance, truth, mathematics and logic, and even nihilism. Yet his treatment of objects is incredibly puzzling. In many passages, he assumes that objects such as trees and leaves, tables and chairs, and dogs and cats are just ordinary entities of experience. In other places, he reports that objects do not exist. Elsewhere he claims that objects exist, but as mere bundles of forces. And sometimes he proposes that we bring all objects into existence. Nietzsche’s writings, then, …

Naturalism, Causality, And Nietzsche's Conception Of Science, Justin Remhof

Philosophy Faculty Publications

There is a disagreement over how to understand Nietzsche’s view of science. According to what I call the Negative View, Nietzsche thinks science should be reconceived or superseded by another discourse, such as art, because it is nihilistic. By contrast, what I call the Positive View holds that Nietzsche does not think science is nihilistic, so he denies that it should be reinterpreted or overcome. Interestingly, defenders of each position can appeal to Nietzsche’s understanding of naturalism to support their interpretation. I argue that Nietzsche embraces a social constructivist conception of causality that renders his naturalism incompatible with the views …

Ang Konsepto Ng Planetisasyon Ni Teilhard De Chardin: Isang Pagsusumubok Bigkasin Ang Meron, Wilhelm Patrick Joseph S. Strebel

Philosophy Department Faculty Publications

In his book Pambungad sa Metapisika, Roque J. Ferriols, SJ, stresses that metaphysics is a practicum. Metaphysics makes one aware of reality, and this awareness drives the person to affirm, respect, and work and move in accord to and within it. This response to reality is what Ferriols calls “pagbigkas sa meron.” Ferriols also devotes a chapter of his book to the thought of the French paleontologist, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, SJ. The paper explores how this understanding of Teilhard’s thought leads to the practicum identified above as “pagbigkas sa meron.” The paper begins with an exposition of the key …