Freud On Writing: Some Historicist Perspectives,
2017
McMaster University
Freud On Writing: Some Historicist Perspectives, Sanja Perovic
Episteme
The author looks at three readings of Freud by Derrida, Michel de Certeau, and Deleuze/Guattari, trying to answer the question: For Freud, how does writing produce meaning and what does this historicizing function imply about the psyche in general? The author inspects two of Freud’s analogies that are to explain and justify psychoanalysis: books avoiding political censorship and the mystic writing pad. These become doorways to the ensuing criticisms. The three commentaries trace sections of Freud’s thought as they relate to his fundamental concepts and to the work those concepts are supposed to do. Read together, the readings each supply …
The Value Of Natural Kinds From A Kripkean Perspective: A Critique Of Eric Katz's 'Organism, Community And The "Substitution Problem",
2017
Tulane University
The Value Of Natural Kinds From A Kripkean Perspective: A Critique Of Eric Katz's 'Organism, Community And The "Substitution Problem", Jessica H. Mitchell
Episteme
The author endeavors to extend the Kripke/Putnam theory of reference in order to improve Eric Katz’s argument in “Organism, Community, and the ‘Substitution Problem.” Katz criticizes the organism model for species and supports the community model, which supposedly strikes a balance with a species’ intrinsic value and functional purpose within a natural ecosystem. But since it can be shown that the so-called organism model includes intrinsic value, too, the substitution problem (which had plagued it for Katz) is unfounded. Because Katz’s real goal is to differentiate between the intrinsic and instrumental value of a given species, Kripke’s theory of natural …
Persons, Materialism And Consciousness,
2017
University of Saskatchewan
Persons, Materialism And Consciousness, Brendan Neufeld
Episteme
In this article, the author criticizes the materialist theory of mind but salvages the causal insights put forth by neurophysiology’s linkage of the mind and the brain. P. M. S. Hacker’s exegesis of Wittgenstein argues that materialist philosophers and neuroscientists make grammatical contradictions when accounting for the mental. To begin to pinpoint the error of physicalism, the author provides examples that elaborate on Norman Malcolm’s two distinct senses of the term “consciousness.” Materialism’s (and neurophysiology’s) causal nature accounts for intransitive consciousness, but neither are especially promising when it comes to transitive consciousness. In the background, there is a major problem: …
Explanatory Pervasion And The Unity Of Science,
2017
Wartburg College
Explanatory Pervasion And The Unity Of Science, Andrew Miller
Episteme
The philosophy of science has seen a range of theories since the radical introduction of reductionism as an offshoot of the logical positivists. This author argues that while the various sciences may not be unified by law, there is every reason to believe that they are unified by explanation. In essence, Alan Garfinkel and David Owens are judged to be less convincing that the arguments given by Karen Neander and Peter Menzies. The author shows the insufficiency of Garfinkel’s attempt to illustrate the missing link between macro and micro explanation in the theory of explanatory pervasion. The author then supports …
General Rules And The Normativity Of Causal Inferences In The First Book Of Hume's Treatise,
2017
Harvard College
General Rules And The Normativity Of Causal Inferences In The First Book Of Hume's Treatise, Joshua Derman
Episteme
In the paper, the author has undertaken the task of illuminating the meanings and connections that constitute Hume’s account of causality. The author’s method is critical, questioning the logical consistency and explanatory power of Hume’s skeptical causality and inference, only to eventually reveal the validity of Hume’s argument. Much of the analysis is spent making sense of the seemingly contradictory or confusing statements Hume makes in his Treatise; lots of examples help this process. The paper includes addressing the paradoxical connection between our internal/subjective general rules and our customs. It also examines the interesting question of how to judge the …
Thomistic Metaphysics And The Synthetic A Priori,
2017
St. Francis Xavier University
Thomistic Metaphysics And The Synthetic A Priori, Brent D. Timmons
Episteme
Aquinas’ metaphysics is a powerful, comprehensive system, but one that is subtle and demands careful attention. The author here argues that Henry B. Veatch’s paper, which attempts to reconcile Aquinas with Kant’s metaphysics, mistakenly turns Aquinas’ thought into a mere empirical science. The article begins with an overview of Kant’s two types of judgments and Aquinas’ notion of principia per se nota, or first principles. Aquinas’ first principles are analytic on Kant’s analysis yet are also said to give information about the world, according to Thomist thought. But “how are the principia per se nota informative about the world?”—Kant would …
Inchoate Feminism In Plato's Republic V,
2017
University of Kansas
Inchoate Feminism In Plato's Republic V, Amy Coplan
Episteme
Is Plato a feminist from the classical era? No, but he comes closer than any other man from that time. Although by no means reducible to modern feminist arguments about equality, Book V of the Republic espouses some important ideas about women, nature, and society. There is no doubt that Plato challenged the prevailing wisdom in Athens and sought a utopia that produced the best possible men and women—at least for the guardian class. We should understand that it is Plato’s elitism, not his misogyny, which influences his handling of the lower social strata. And furthermore, his sexist remarks are …
A Question Of Ethics,
2017
Duke University
A Question Of Ethics, Joseph Landau
Episteme
“If we look around us, there is no doubt that the question of ethics is currently more complex than it has ever been,” writes the author of this paper, who examines the existential importance that the question of ethics carries in modern times. The author believes that out of this age of confusion and difference, what is needed is an ethic that emphasizes community and mutual understanding. We cannot rely on capital T truth or the ethicists that came before us. Instead, once we realize our dialectical, interdependent identity, we will be able to increase our mutual conversation and acceptance. …
And Levinas Created A Controversy About Women,
2017
Swarthmore College
And Levinas Created A Controversy About Women, Shulamit M. Shapiro
Episteme
Feminist critiques railed against Levinas are not convincing. The “politically correct” feminist critics miss the Biblical and Talmudic application in Levinas’ philosophy. In this paper, the author rejects Luce Irigaray’s argument about the importance of sexual pleasure. Neither does Catherine Chalier succeed with her argument that Levinas essentializes the feminine in a way that keeps women from “the highest destiny of human beings.” In point of fact, Levinas believes in the interdependence of men and women. He finds that the human psyche is better probed through the notion of ethical responsibility than sexual liberation. There’s not anything immoral about this …
Kant And The Noumenal Agent,
2017
Earlham College
Kant And The Noumenal Agent, Heather M. Kendrick
Episteme
This paper’s goal is to defend Kant’s version of freedom, in spite of the confusing metaphysical issues that surround Kant’s rational being (who belongs both to the world of phenomena and the world of noumena). Contrary to a certain line of criticism, the author argues for how Kant’s agent manages to be free—how the noumenal agent can affect action in the sensible world. Kant does not believe that our noumenal selves cause the world our phenomenal selves act in. Some readers misunderstand him. And while sure, Kant’s theory gives rise to questions about how our noumenal self can account for …
You Just Can't Crispin Brains In A Vat,
2017
Columbia University
You Just Can't Crispin Brains In A Vat, David Miguel Gray
Episteme
In this article, the author lays out a defense of Putnam’s controversial “Brains in a Vat” paper, and it’s famous refutation of the Cartesian brain-in-a-vat skeptic. The author looks closely at the paper, its argument, and its relation to skepticism. In addition to properly understanding the thought experiments and logical argument put forth by Putnam, one must also understand that his refutation is not aimed at the infinitely regressive skeptic, but rather the internal skeptic. The author shows this fact by inventing his own brain-in-a-vat scenario. So, although it remains a possibility that we are brains in a vat, we …
Subjectivity Vs. Use: A Heideggerian Critique Of Sartrean Values,
2017
Denison University
Subjectivity Vs. Use: A Heideggerian Critique Of Sartrean Values, Laura M. Bruce
Episteme
Dostoevsky laments: is everything truly permitted? This article illustrates how Heidegger avoids the phenomenological and ethical deficiencies found in Sartre’s philosophy. The author argues that a rejection of ethical absolutes does not inevitably lead to Sartrean relativism, because Heidegger’s account of Being critiques Sartre and considers shared practices of ordinary experience, which is necessary for values and ethics. Sartre’s phenomenology is characterized by Husserl’s influence and the subject/object distinction that finds values to arise necessarily from Nothingness. The author exposes why Sartre believes what he does and why Heidegger provides a substantially different ontology. Contrary to Sartre’s problematic phenomenology, Heidegger …
Nietzsche's Final Thoughts On Art And Existence: A Reply To Julian Young,
2017
Hope College
Nietzsche's Final Thoughts On Art And Existence: A Reply To Julian Young, David Evenhuis
Episteme
Everyone knows that Nietzsche’s thoughts on art do not remain static throughout the course of his writings. The author of this paper responds to Julian Young’s assessment of the ultimate progression of those thoughts. Is it true, as Young suggests, that Nietzsche, in 1888, returns to the pessimism that characterizes his first two works, his period of Wagner and Schopenhauer? No. Although Young picks up on the Apollonian strand of 1888 Nietzsche, the author argues that Young misses or ignores the positive, powerful Dionysian element that keeps Nietzsche’s final thoughts on art from sinking into nihilism. The artistic mood of …
A Modern Composition Of Hegel In Blue, Yellow, And Black: A Study Of Hegel's Aesthetics,
2017
College of the Holy Cross
A Modern Composition Of Hegel In Blue, Yellow, And Black: A Study Of Hegel's Aesthetics, Thomas J. Sullivan
Episteme
The paper investigates Hegel’s claim: “art is dead”. What does this phrase mean? What must we know about Hegel’s systematic thought before we can understand this question? Has Hegel claimed rightly? The author answers all of these questions in this study of Hegel, the qualities of Greek and Medieval art, and the meaning and purpose of modern art. The purpose of art, as with religion and philosophy, is to reveal the Absolute, the content of which is freedom. Hegel believes that because the modern human now asks the philosophical “Why?” art no longer can serve the highest function in culture. …
The Reconstruction Of Human Finitude: A 'Retrieval' Of Kierkegaard's Proto-Hermeneutics,
2017
University of Michigan
The Reconstruction Of Human Finitude: A 'Retrieval' Of Kierkegaard's Proto-Hermeneutics, Ernesto V. Garcia
Episteme
According to Kierkegaard, each person faces the knotty subject, the necessity of the subjective relationship of the existing individual to her eternal happiness: the God-relationship. In this article, the author focuses on what he finds to be Kierkegaard’s essentially negative reply to the question: “Can the truth be learned?” A study of the dialectical thinking of Johannes Climacus reveals that any positive knowledge, no matter its degree of theory or skepticism, is disingenuous—a position antithetical to philosophers like Hegel and Descartes. Kierkegaard’s thought, which anticipates deconstruction and hermeneutics, shows us that certainty is deceptive and impossible. Rather, we must recognize …
Some Thoughts On The Epicurean Critique Of Mathematics,
2017
American University of Kuwait
Some Thoughts On The Epicurean Critique Of Mathematics, Michael Aristidou
Journal of Humanistic Mathematics
In this paper, we give a comprehensive summary of the discussion on the Epicurean critique of mathematics and in particular of Euclid's geometry. We examine the methodological critique of the Epicureans on mathematics and we assess whether a 'mathematical atomism' was proposed, and its implications. Finally, we examine the Epicurean philosophical stance on mathematics and evaluate whether it was on target or not.
Hartmann, Kolb, Pippin And The Unhappy Consciousness,
2017
Carleton College
Hartmann, Kolb, Pippin And The Unhappy Consciousness, Kevin Thomson
Episteme
The author of this article critiques the exegesis offered in Neo-Kantian interpretations of Hegel coming from Klaus Hartmann, David Kolb, and Robert Pippin. They all suppose a thought/object dualism that Hegel rejects, and they all-too-easily “forgive” Hegel of philosophizing outside the bounds of the interpretation they use to describe his general thought. They offer interpretations of Hegel that answer Kantian transcendentalist questions, not ontological questions, which is in part due to their fixation on rigor, which binds them and limits their understanding. Even though the Logic is the most susceptible to a Kantian reading, the author argues for how such …
Revisioning Heidegger: Existentiell Crises And The Question Of The Meaning Of Being,
2017
Towson State University
Revisioning Heidegger: Existentiell Crises And The Question Of The Meaning Of Being, Paul Rector
Episteme
Being and Time may be read as calling the reader to overcome her tendency to avoid recognizing nothingness and our pending death. Most commentators believe that Heidegger prevents an existential crisis from being a possible impetus to the essential confrontation. Contrary to that understanding, the author here posits that it is possible and consistent with Heidegger’s thought to hold that certain existential crises are happenings to our world, not just within our world. Falling in love pulls the ground out from under us and is really something that alters the axis of meaning for our world. The same goes for …
The Origin Of An Inquiry: Evolutionary Epistemology In James' Pragmatism,
2017
University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth
The Origin Of An Inquiry: Evolutionary Epistemology In James' Pragmatism, J. Ellis Perry
Episteme
Have scholars collectively failed to recognize the important role Darwin plays in James’s 1906-1907 Lowell Institute lectures on pragmatism? The goal of the paper is to elicit a “yes” verdict from the reader, although the author believes his study is insufficient for proving his intuition that Darwin played a central role in James’s thought in these lectures. The contention is that, given the importance of Pragmatism and the continued relevance of Darwinian science, it is worth the effort to read this classic James work in light of Darwin’s influence, in spite of Philip Weiner’s (and practically everyone else’s) lack of …
Arendt And Macintyre On The Enlightenment's Failure,
2017
Hampshire College
Arendt And Macintyre On The Enlightenment's Failure, Andrew Janiak
Episteme
Arendt and MacIntyre, who come from two competing branches of contemporary philosophy, surprisingly both believe that the Enlightenment failed in large part due to the emptiness of the so-called “Rights of Man” and that this failure led the late-20th century to be a “post” era. But their critiques are distinct and beg comparison. The author endeavors to show that Arendt is better able to respond to MacIntyre than he to her, given the political—not philosophical—argument put forth by Arendt. The paper divides into four sections: the two overviews of each’s arguments concerning the Enlightenment, and each of their separate, imagined …
