History of Philosophy Commons^™

Teaching Kant To Undergraduates: Some Notes, Kurt Mosser

Kurt Mosser

No abstract provided.

The Noise Of Battle: Talking Philosophy On The Internet, Kurt Mosser

Kurt Mosser

Although the Internet is often used to talk with those with whom one agrees, this paper presents an "agonistic" strategy designed to help students find discussion partners with whom they disagree. This "agonistic" strategy has a number of advantages, specifically helping students' skills in writing, reading, logic, and rhetoric, as well as helping them recognizes the values of these skills and the importance of being well-informed when one enters a debate. As a further benefit, this approach has improved classroom discussion and improved the substance and form of those discussions. In contrast with those who fear that the Internet has …

The Philosophical Sins Of Stephen Pinker, Kurt Mosser

Kurt Mosser

No abstract provided.

Kant's General Logic And Aristotle, Kurt Mosser

Kurt Mosser

In the Critique of Pure Reason, Kant uses the term “logic” in a bewildering variety of ways, at times making it close to impossible to determine whether he is referring to (among others) general logic, transcendental logic, transcendental analytic, a "special" logic relative to a specific science, a "natural" logic, a logic intended for the "learned" (Gelehrter), some hybrid of these logics, or even some still-more abstract notion that ranges over all of these uses. This paper seeks to come to grips with Kant's complex use of "logic."

Kant is standardly regarded as saying that since Aristotle, there need be …

Development, Ethics And The Ethics Of Nationalism, Messay Kebede

Messay Kebede

In a world which exhibits so much power and yet does so little to drive back underdevelopment, it is not to be wondered if the thinking endeavour is shrouded with the impression of being confronted with the greatest enigma, with the most disconcerting sphinx of all times. However, concerning this most pressing and controversial issue of underdevelopment, of all the disciplines which study man, philosophy is the one which until now said the least. Is this due to simple insensitiveness, or to pure neglect, or to the feeling of not being directly concerned? Whatever the reasons may be, the simple …

Ecological Laws And Their Promise Of Explanations, Viorel Pâslaru

Viorel Pâslaru

Marcel Weber (1999) argued that the principle of competitive exclusion is a law of ecology that could explain phenomena (1) by direct application, or (2) by describing default states. Since he did not offer an account of explanation by direct application of laws, I offer an interpretation of explanation by direct application of laws based on a proposal by Elgin and Sober (2002). I show that in both cases it is the descriptions of mechanisms that explain phenomena, and not the laws. Lev Ginzburg and Mark Colyvan (2004) argued Malthus’ Law of Exponential Growth is the first law of ecology, …