How To Avoid Solipsism While Remaining An Idealist: Lessons From Berkeley And Dharmakirti,
2012
University of Hawaii at Manoa
How To Avoid Solipsism While Remaining An Idealist: Lessons From Berkeley And Dharmakirti, Jeremy E. Henkel
Comparative Philosophy
This essay examines the strategies that Berkeley and Dharmakirti utilize to deny that idealism entails solipsism. Beginning from similar arguments for the non-existence of matter, the two philosophers employ markedly different strategies for establishing the existence of other minds. This difference stems from their responses to the problem of intersubjective agreement. While Berkeley's reliance on his Cartesian inheritance does allow him to account for intersubjective agreement without descending into solipsism, it nevertheless prevents him from establishing the existence of other finite minds. I argue that Dharmakirti, in accounting for intersubjective agreement causally, is able to avoid Berkeley's shortcoming. I conclude …
Benevolent Government Now,
2012
Texas Tech University
Benevolent Government Now, Howard J. Curzer
Comparative Philosophy
Mencian benevolent government intervenes dramatically in many ways in the marketplace in order to secure the material well-being of the population, especially the poor and disadvantaged. Mencius considers this sort of intervention to be appropriate not just occasionally when dealing with natural disasters, but regularly. Furthermore, Mencius recommends shifting from regressive to progressive taxes. He favors reduction of inequality so as to reduce corruption of government by the wealthy, and opposes punishment for people driven to crime by destitution. Mencius thinks government should try to improve the character of the population by preventing or relieving poverty, by setting a good …
Whole Set Of Volume 3 No 1 (2012),
2012
San Jose State University
Whole Set Of Volume 3 No 1 (2012), Comparative Philosophy
Comparative Philosophy
No abstract provided.
Vol 3 No 1 Information Page,
2012
San Jose State University
Vol 3 No 1 Information Page, Comparative Philosophy
Comparative Philosophy
No abstract provided.
How Is This Paper Philosophy?,
2012
Michigan State University
How Is This Paper Philosophy?, Kristie Dotson
Comparative Philosophy
This paper answers a call made by Anita Allen to genuinely assess whether the field of philosophy has the capacity to sustain the work of diverse peoples. By identifying a pervasive culture of justification within professional philosophy, I gesture to the ways professional philosophy is not an attractive working environment for many diverse practitioners. As a result of the downsides of the culture of justification that pervades professional philosophy, I advocate that the discipline of professional philosophy be cast according to a culture of praxis. Finally, I provide a comparative exercise using Graham Priests definition of philosophy and Audre Lordes …
Vol 4 No 1 Cover Page,
2012
San Jose State University
Vol 4 No 1 Cover Page, Comparative Philosophy
Comparative Philosophy
No abstract provided.
Contemporary Confucian And Islamic Approaches To Democracy And Human Rights,
2012
Wesleyan University
Contemporary Confucian And Islamic Approaches To Democracy And Human Rights, Stephen Angle
Comparative Philosophy
Both Confucian and Islamic traditions stand in fraught and internally contested relationships with democracy and human rights. It can easily appear that the two traditions are in analogous positions with respect to the values associated with modernity, but a central contention of this essay is that Islam and Confucianism are not analogous in this way. Positions taken by advocates of the traditions are often similar, but the reasoning used to justify these positions differs in crucial ways. Whether one approaches these questions from an intra-traditional, cross-traditional, or multi-traditional perspective, the essay shows that there is great value in getting clear …
Mohist Approach To The Rule-Following Problem,
2012
National Chengchi University
Mohist Approach To The Rule-Following Problem, Chung-I Lin
Comparative Philosophy
The Mohist conceives the dao-following issue as "how we can put dao in words and speeches into practice." The dao-following issue is the Mohist counterpart of Wittgenstein's rule-following problem. This paper aims to shed light on the rule-following issue in terms of the Mohist answer to the dao-following problem. The early Mohist takes fa(法, standard)and the later Mohist takes lei(類, analogy)as the key to the dao-following issue. I argue that the way of fa is not viable. Fa comes in various forms, but all of them are regarded as being cut off from everyday life and therefore subject to various …
Reading Han Fei As "Social Scientist": A Case-Study In "Historical Correspondence",
2012
San Jose State University
Reading Han Fei As "Social Scientist": A Case-Study In "Historical Correspondence", Henrique Schneider
Comparative Philosophy
Han Fei was one of the main proponents of Legalism in Qin-era China. Although his works are mostly read from a historic perspective, the aim of this paper is to advance an interpretation of Han Fei as a social scientist. The social sciences are the fields of academic scholarship that study society and its institutions as a consequence of human behavior. Methodologically, social sciences combine abstract approaches in model-building with empiric investigations, seeking to prove the functioning of the models. In a third step, social sciences also aim at providing policy advice. Han Fei can be read as operating similarly. …
Vol 4 No 1 Information Page,
2012
San Jose State University
Vol 4 No 1 Information Page, Comparative Philosophy
Comparative Philosophy
No abstract provided.
Vol 4 No 1 Content Page,
2012
San Jose State University
Vol 4 No 1 Content Page, Comparative Philosophy
Comparative Philosophy
No abstract provided.
Vol 4 No 1 Editor's Words,
2012
San Jose State University
Introduction,
2012
National University of Singapore
Introduction, Sor-Hoon Tan
Comparative Philosophy
This is the introduction to the content of the jounrnal's special issue (vol. 4 no. 1 / January 2013) celebrating the tenth anniversary of the International Society for Comparative Studies of Chinese and Western Philosophy (ISCWP), which includes five peer-reviewed articles by ISCWP members.
A Daoist Model For A Kantian Church,
2012
Hong Kong Baptist University
A Daoist Model For A Kantian Church, Stephen R. Palmquist
Comparative Philosophy
Although significant differences undoubtedly exist between Daoism and Kants philosophy, the two systems also have some noteworthy similarities. After calling attention to a few such parallels and sketching the outlines of Kants philosophy of religion, this article focuses on an often-neglected feature of the latter: the four guiding principles of what Kant calls an invisible church (universality, purity, freedom, and unchangeableness). Numerous passages from Lao Zis classic text, Dao-De-Jing, seem to uphold these same principles, thus suggesting that they can also be interpreted as core features of a Daoist philosophy of life. A crucial difference, however, is that members of …
Mencius' Jun-Zi, Aristotle's Megalopsuchos, & Moral Demands To Help The Global Poor,
2012
San Jose State University
Mencius' Jun-Zi, Aristotle's Megalopsuchos, & Moral Demands To Help The Global Poor, Sean Walsh
Comparative Philosophy
It is commonly believed that impartial utilitarian moral theories have significant demands that we help the global poor, and that the partial virtue ethics of Mencius and Aristotle do not. This ethical partiality found in these virtue ethicists has been criticized, and some have suggested that the partialistic virtue ethics of Mencius and Aristotle are parochial (i.e., overly narrow in their scope of concern). I believe, however, that the ethics of Mencius and Aristotle are both more cosmopolitan than many presume and also are very demanding. In this paper, I argue that the ethical requirements to help the poor and …
Radical Buddhism, Then And Now: Prospects Of A Paradox,
2012
Bucknell University
Radical Buddhism, Then And Now: Prospects Of A Paradox, James Mark Shields
Faculty Journal Articles
No abstract provided.
Social Evolution,
2012
University of Arizona
Social Evolution, Gerald Gaus, John Thrasher
Philosophy Faculty Books and Book Chapters
"It is a mater of dispute how far back evolutionary explanations of social order should be traced. Evolutionary ideas certainly appear in the work of the ancient Greek philosophers, but it seems reasonable to identify the origins of modern evolutionary thinking in the eighteenth century natural histories of civil society such as Rousseau’s Discourse on the Origin and Foundations of Inequality Among Men (1750, Part III), Adam Ferguson’s An Essay on the History of Civil Society (1767), and Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations (1776, Book III). In these eighteenth century works, the explanation of current social institutions as an unplanned …
Comparative Philosophy Vol 3 No 2 (2011) Whole Set,
2012
San Jose State University
Comparative Philosophy Vol 3 No 2 (2011) Whole Set, Comparative Philosophy
Comparative Philosophy
No abstract provided.
(1.2) Well, Yes And No: A Reply To Priest,
2012
Michigan State University
(1.2) Well, Yes And No: A Reply To Priest, Kristie Dotson
Comparative Philosophy
No abstract provided.
Vol 3 No 2 Editor's Words,
2012
San Jose State University
