DOCSLIB.ORG

Philosophy Through Literature

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Philosophy Through Literature JUKKA MIKKONEN Philosophy through Literature The cognitive value of philosophical fiction ACADEMIC DISSERTATION To be presented, with the permission of the board of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences of the University of Tampere, for public discussion in the Auditorium Pinni B 1097, Kanslerinrinne 1, Tampere, on November 11th, 2011, at 10 o’clock. UNIVERSITY OF TAMPERE ACADEMIC DISSERTATION University of Tampere School of Humanities and Social Sciences Finland Distribution Tel. +358 40 190 9800 Bookshop TAJU Fax +358 3 3551 7685 P.O. Box 617 [email protected] 33014 University of Tampere www.uta.fi/taju Finland http://granum.uta.fi Cover design by Mikko Reinikka Acta Universitatis Tamperensis 1662 Acta Electronica Universitatis Tamperensis 1125 ISBN 978-951-44-8586-2 (print) ISBN 978-951-44-8587-9 (pdf) ISSN-L 1455-1616 ISSN 1456-954X ISSN 1455-1616 http://acta.uta.fi Tampereen Yliopistopaino Oy – Juvenes Print Tampere 2011 Acknowledgements First of all, I want to express my deepest appreciation and gratitude to five people without whom this study would not have been accomplished. My official supervisor and teacher Prof. Leila Haaparanta has provided me invaluable advice and greatly clarified my fuzzy thoughts over the years; Prof. Sami Pihlström (University of Jyväskylä) has given me valuable remarks and support especially in the beginning of my work; Dr. Päivi Mehtonen (University of Tampere) has taught me how to write and worked both as a midwife for and a great critic of my views; from Prof. Arto Haapala (University of Helsinki) I have learnt that rigour is the greatest virtue in philosophy and that one should always prefer reason and argument over intellectual trends currently in fashion; Dr. Timo Kaitaro (University of Helsinki) has given me dozens of truly insightful comments concerning literary works of art. All in all I have had the best imaginable advisers, and any flaws and mistakes in this study are due to my own stubbornness and thick- headedness. I also want to express my profound gratitude to the preliminary examiners Dr. John Gibson (University of Louisville) and Anders Pettersson (University of Umeå) for commenting and assessing my work. Further, I want to thank Dr. Eileen John and Dr. Martin Warner (University of Warwick) and Dr. Kathleen Stock (University of Sussex) for the help and detailed comments they gave me when finishing the dissertation on my brief research visit to the University of Warwick. I also want to thank Prof. Seppo Sajama (University of Eastern Finland), Dr. Petter Korkman (Helsinki Collegium for Advanced Studies), Prof. Erkki Sevänen (University of Eastern Finland) and Prof. Mika Hallilla (University of Jyväskylä) for their support and advice when completing my master’s degree in the University of Eastern Finland. There are dozens of scholars to whom I am thankful for correspondence and discussions in academic conferences: Prof. Noël Carroll (Temple University), Prof. Stephen Davies (University of Auckland), Prof. Susan L. Feagin (Temple University), Prof. Manuel García-Carpintero (University of Barcelona), Dr. Cynthia Grund (University of Southern Denmark), Prof. James Hamilton (Kansas State University), Prof. Rob Hopkins (University of Sheffield), Prof. Peter Kivy (Rutgers University), Prof. Peter Lamarque (University of York), Prof. Paisley Livingston (Lingnan University), Dr. Göran Rossholm (University of Stockholm), Prof. Robert Stecker (Central Michigan University), Dr. Cain Todd (University of Lancaster), and Prof. Kendall L. Walton (University of Michigan). I want to say gratias vobis ago to my academic colleagues and friends Tero Anttila, Jaakko Belt, Jani Hakkarainen, Mirja Hartimo, Joose Järvenkylä, Toni Kannisto, Antti Keskinen, Tapani Kilpeläinen, Alma Korko, Ilmari Kortelainen, Risto Koskensilta, Heikki J. Koskinen, Heikki A. Kovalainen, Heikki Kujansivu, Mikko Lahtinen, Ville Lähde, Wojciech Małecki, Erna Oesch, Mikko Pelttari, Kalle Puolakka, Panu Raatikainen, Petri Räsänen, Antti Salminen, Christopher W. Stevens, Sami Syrjämäki, Tuukka Tomperi, Jarkko Tontti, Jarkko S. Tuusvuori, Jenni Tyynelä, Tere Vadén, Maria Valkama, Pasi Valtonen, Timo Vuorio, and Tommi Vehkavaara. Your comments and company have been invaluable. In addition, I want thank Tommi Kakko for translating my Finglish into English. Finally, I want to thank my parents Jorma and Soile for always supporting and encouraging me, and my brother Jussi, my sister Maarit, her husband Jukka, their daughter Sohvi and their son Joonatan for being there. I am grateful to Helinä, Timo, Helmi and Taimi; Satu, Harri, Maikki, Tarmo and Toivo; Laura, Teo, Leo and Lumi; Leena and Lasse for their compassion. This book is dedicated to Kerttu and Pieti without whom my life would be nothing but fear, emptiness and despair. * * * Parts of the study have been drawn from previously published material of mine. These publications are ‘Philosophical Fiction and the Act of Fiction- Making’, SATS: Nordic Journal of Philosophy, Vol. 9, No. 2 (2008), pp. 116–132; ‘Intentions and Interpretations: Philosophical Fiction as Conversation’, Contemporary Aesthetics, Vol. 7 (2009); ‘The Realistic Fallacy, or: The Conception of Literary Narrative Fiction in Analytic Aesthetics’, Studia Philosophica Estonica, Vol. 2, No. 1 (2009), pp. 1–18; ‘Assertions in Literary Fiction’, Minerva, Vol. 13 (2009), pp. 144–180; ‘Truth-Claiming in Fiction: Towards a Poetics of Literary Assertion’, The Nordic Journal of Aesthetics, Vol. 38 (2009), pp. 18–34; ‘Literary Fictions as Utterances and Artworks’, Theoria, Vol. 76, No. 1 (2010), pp. 68–90; ‘Sutrop on Literary Fiction-Making: Defending Currie’, Disputatio, Vol. III, No. 28 (2010), pp. 151–157; ‘On the Body of Literary Persuasion’, Estetika: The Central European Journal of Aesthetics, Vol. 47, No. 1 (2010), pp. 51–71; ‘Contemplation and Hypotheses in Literature’, Philosophical Frontiers, Vol. 5, No. 1 (2010), pp. 73–83. I would like to thank the above journals for permissions to reprint material published in them. The study has been financed by the Tampere University Foundation, Alfred Kordelin Foundation, the Finnish Cultural Foundation Pirkanmaa Regional Fund, the Finnish Graduate School of Philosophy, and the University of Tampere. JUKKA MIKKONEN Otava September 2011 Abstract In this study, I examine how philosophical literary fictions convey truths and propositional knowledge. The study begins with an examination of the nature of fiction. After discussing different theories of fiction and showing them insufficient, I shall criticize the prevailing ‘make-believe theories of fiction’, mostly for neglecting certain authorial intentions. After that, I offer a Gricean- based definition of the literary-fictive utterance which defines fiction in terms of the author’s intention to produce a certain kind of response in the audience; I shall maintain that this literary-fictive stance is to be seen as consisting of different kinds of imagining: ‘suppositional’ and ‘dramatic’ imagination (the intrinsic level) and ‘truth-seeking’ imagining (the extrinsic level). The main thesis of this study is that philosophical fictions are, as a part of their design function, intended to convey truths; that the truths are significant and ought to be recognized in order to understand the works properly. The view I argue for and which I call the ‘moderate propositional theory of literary truth’, maintains that philosophical fictions make significant contributions to knowledge by communicating truths in roughly three ways. First, literary works can assert or claim truths, for instance, when the author speaks through one of her characters. Second, literary works can suggest truths, for instance, by implying theses by the work as a whole. Third, literary works provide the reader thoughts to contemplate and hypotheses to verify. Moreover, I shall argue that literary works persuade their readers in a distinct, broadly ‘enthymematic’ way. Finally, I shall examine the concept of the author, the role of her intentions in literary interpretation, and the meaning of literary works. I shall criticize ‘anti-intentionalist’ and ‘hypothetical intentionalist’ views of literary interpretation and argue for a ‘conversational philosophical approach’ which maintains that when looking for the philosophical meaning of a literary work, one has to look for the actual author’s intended meaning. I claim that in such an approach, a literary work may be considered a complex utterance of its author. Contents 1. INTRODUCTION .............................................................................. 10 1.1 THE PERENNIAL DEBATE ................................................................................. 10 1.2 LITERATURE AND FICTION ............................................................................... 12 1.3 PHILOSOPHY AND LITERATURE ........................................................................ 14 1.4 COGNITION, KNOWLEDGE, AND TRUTH ........................................................... 21 1.5 PROPOSITIONAL THEORY OF LITERARY TRUTH ................................................ 27 2. FICTIVE USE OF LANGUAGE ............................................................ 31 2.1 FICTION AS NEGATIVE DISCOURSE ................................................................... 31 2.1.1 The Falsity Theory ............................................................................................... 31 2.1.2 The Non-assertion Theory ..................................................................................... 33 2.1.3 The
Load more

Recommended publications
  • A Study of the Trope
    University of Nebraska at Omaha DigitalCommons@UNO Student Work 11-1-1968 A study of the trope Glenn Starnes Lindsey University of Nebraska at Omaha Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.unomaha.edu/studentwork Recommended Citation Lindsey, Glenn Starnes, "A study of the trope" (1968). Student Work. 352. https://digitalcommons.unomaha.edu/studentwork/352 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by DigitalCommons@UNO. It has been accepted for inclusion in Student Work by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@UNO. For more information, please contact [email protected]. A STUDY OF THE TROPE A Thesis Presented to the Department of English and the Faculty of the College of Graduate Studies University of Omaha In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts by Glenn Starnes Lindsey November 1968 UMI Number: EP72990 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Dissipation Publishing UMI EP72990 Published by ProQuest LLC (2015). Copyright in the Dissertation held by the Author. Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code uest ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106- 1346 Accepted for the faculty of the College of Graduate Studies of University of Omaha, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Master of Arts, m t irman Department Department 'sK.
    [Show full text]
  • Misreading Skepticism in the Long Eighteenth Century: Studies in the Rhetoric of Assent
    Misreading Skepticism in the Long Eighteenth Century: Studies in the Rhetoric of Assent By Adam Sneed A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (English Language and Literature) in the University of Michigan 2018 Doctoral Committee: Professor Marjorie Levinson, Chair Professor Gregg Crane Associate Professor Sean Silver Professor Silke Maria-Weineck Adam Sneed [email protected] ORCID iD: 0000-0002-9205-1715 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My first thanks must be to the University of Michigan for the opportunity and privilege to pursue the life of the mind. I am deeply grateful for the tremendous and constant support provided by faculty and staff of the UM English Department. I am indebted to the Rackham School of Graduate Studies for two timely dissertation fellowships and to the U-M LSA International Institute for the opportunity to pursue archival research in Scotland. I thank the members of my dissertation committee: Sean Silver for providing a constant model of passionate, creative scholarship; Gregg Crane for first dislodging me from a neo-Kantian, Skeptical perspective; Silke Maria-Weineck for cheering on the polemic; and my wonderful chair, Marjorie Levinson, for supporting and encouraging me at every stage of the dissertation process and for bearing with me as the project evolved over time. I would like to thank my dear friends Samuel Heidepriem, Emily Waples, Logan Scherer, Kristin Fraser Geisler, Ryan Hampstead, Joe Chapman, Anthony Losapio, Sarah Mass, Alice Tsay, Lizzy Mathie, and Amrita Dhar for their love and support through the years in Ann Arbor. Special thanks to my dear friends Kathryne Bevilacqua, John Paul Hampstead, and Julia Hansen, who read and commented on drafts in the final stages.
    [Show full text]
  • Pico Della Mirandola Descola Gardner Eco Vernant Vidal-Naquet Clément
    George Hermonymus Melchior Wolmar Janus Lascaris Guillaume Budé Peter Brook Jean Toomer Mullah Nassr Eddin Osho (Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh) Jerome of Prague John Wesley E. J. Gold Colin Wilson Henry Sinclair, 2nd Baron Pent... Olgivanna Lloyd Wright P. L. Travers Maurice Nicoll Katherine Mansfield Robert Fripp John G. Bennett James Moore Girolamo Savonarola Thomas de Hartmann Wolfgang Capito Alfred Richard Orage Damião de Góis Frank Lloyd Wright Oscar Ichazo Olga de Hartmann Alexander Hegius Keith Jarrett Jane Heap Galen mathematics Philip Melanchthon Protestant Scholasticism Jeanne de Salzmann Baptist Union in the Czech Rep... Jacob Milich Nicolaus Taurellus Babylonian astronomy Jan Standonck Philip Mairet Moravian Church Moshé Feldenkrais book Negative theologyChristian mysticism John Huss religion Basil of Caesarea Robert Grosseteste Richard Fitzralph Origen Nick Bostrom Tomáš Štítný ze Štítného Scholastics Thomas Bradwardine Thomas More Unity of the Brethren William Tyndale Moses Booker T. Washington Prakash Ambedkar P. D. Ouspensky Tukaram Niebuhr John Colet Abū Rayhān al-Bīrūnī Panjabrao Deshmukh Proclian Jan Hus George Gurdjieff Social Reform Movement in Maha... Gilpin Constitution of the United Sta... Klein Keohane Berengar of Tours Liber de causis Gregory of Nyssa Benfield Nye A H Salunkhe Peter Damian Sleigh Chiranjeevi Al-Farabi Origen of Alexandria Hildegard of Bingen Sir Thomas More Zimmerman Kabir Hesychasm Lehrer Robert G. Ingersoll Mearsheimer Ram Mohan Roy Bringsjord Jervis Maharaja Sayajirao Gaekwad III Alain de Lille Pierre Victurnien Vergniaud Honorius of Autun Fränkel Synesius of Cyrene Symonds Theon of Alexandria Religious Society of Friends Boyle Walt Maximus the Confessor Ducasse Rāja yoga Amaury of Bene Syrianus Mahatma Phule Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Qur'an Cappadocian Fathers Feldman Moncure D.
    [Show full text]
  • American Communication Theories and African Communication Research: Needjor a Philosophy of African Communication by Dr
    Africa Media Review Vol. 1. No. 2. 1987 © African Council on Communication Education American Communication Theories and African Communication Research: Needjor a Philosophy of African Communication by Dr. Charles Okigbo* Abstract This paper argues the case for a philosophy of communication in Africa so as to give meaning and direction of African communication research. Observing that philosophy as an activity is not alien to Africa, the author contends that it is the absence of a philosophy of communication in Africa that accounts for the lack of theoretical orientation in African communication research. He reviews the major American mass communication theories, and demonstrates that each of them is based on some American philosophy or world view. He then argues that any appropriate philosophy of mass communication in Africa must originate from African philosophy, defined in a fairly broad manner. Risumi Cet article prdconise une philosophic de la communication en Afrique afin de donner sens et direction a la recherche en matiere de communication sur le continent. En faisant remarquer que la philosophic en tant qu'activite' n'est pas e'trangere a l'Afrique, l'auteur soutlent que c'est l'absence d'une philosophic de la communication qui explique le manque d'orientation the'orique de la recherche en communication en Afrique. D passe en revue les grandes theories ame'ricaines sur la communication de masse et demontre que chacune d' elle est base^e sur une philosophic ou une vision du monde ame'ricaine. II affirme, des lors qu'une philosophic appropriate de la communication de masse en Afrique doit avoir son origine dans la philosophic Africalne, definie de manie"re assez generale.
    [Show full text]
  • American Communication Theories and African Communication Research: Needjor a Philosophy of African Communication by Dr
    The African e-Journals Project has digitized full text of articles of eleven social science and humanities journals. This item is from the digital archive maintained by Michigan State University Library. Find more at: http://digital.lib.msu.edu/projects/africanjournals/ Available through a partnership with Scroll down to read the article. Africa Media Review Vol. 1. No. 2. 1987 © African Council on Communication Education American Communication Theories and African Communication Research: Needjor a Philosophy of African Communication by Dr. Charles Okigbo* Abstract This paper argues the case for a philosophy of communication in Africa so as to give meaning and direction of African communication research. Observing that philosophy as an activity is not alien to Africa, the author contends that it is the absence of a philosophy of communication in Africa that accounts for the lack of theoretical orientation in African communication research. He reviews the major American mass communication theories, and demonstrates that each of them is based on some American philosophy or world view. He then argues that any appropriate philosophy of mass communication in Africa must originate from African philosophy, defined in a fairly broad manner. Risumi Cet article prdconise une philosophic de la communication en Afrique afin de donner sens et direction a la recherche en matiere de communication sur le continent. En faisant remarquer que la philosophic en tant qu'activite' n'est pas e'trangere a l'Afrique, l'auteur soutlent que c'est l'absence d'une philosophic de la communication qui explique le manque d'orientation the'orique de la recherche en communication en Afrique.
    [Show full text]
  • SELECTED LETTERS of Ananda K
    ^/\nanda Coomaraswamy SELECTED LETTERS OF Ananda K. Coomaraswamy Edited by A l v in M o o r e , J r . and R a m a P o o n a m b u l a m C oomaraswamy INDIRA GANDHI NATIONAL CENTRE FOR THE ARTS OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS DELHI BOMBAY CALCUTTA MADRAS 1988 ILLUSTRATIONS 1. Ananda K. Coomaraswamy at 52 years frontispiece facing page 2. “Progress” by Denis Tegetmcier, in Eric Gill, Unholy Trinity, London, Dent, 1942 32 3. Ananda K. Coomaraswamy at 58 years 108 4. An example of Coomaraswamy’s manuscripts—letter to Eric Gill 208 5. Coomaraswamy’s study in his home at Needham, Massachusetts 258 6. A room in Norman Chapel, Coomaraswamy’s home at Broad Campton, Gloucestershire, about. 1908 328 7. Albrecht Diirer’s ‘Virgin on the Crescent’ from his Life of the Virgin (1511) 362 8. Ananda K. Coomaraswamy at 70 years 440 FOREWORD In the wake of Ananda Coomaraswamy’s extensive writings, volumes of accolades have come forth in praise of his enormous erudition. But here in these letters for the first time we sec the man writing intimately about himself; not in an autobio­ graphical sense, which he detested, considering such portrai­ ture “a vulgar catering to illegitimate curiosity” (p 25), “a rather ghoulish and despicable trade” (p 25). This attitude was with him, moreover, “not a matter of ‘modesty’, but one of principle” (p 25). His writing of himself was rather in the sense of establishing a personal contact with each correspondent through the painstaking effort of getting a questioner to see the why and wherefore of his thought processes.
    [Show full text]
  • Chapter 2 Conceptual Clarification of 'Axiology', Its Antecedents And
    Chapter 2 Conceptual Clarification of ‘Axiology’, Its Antecedents And Parameters 2.1. Western Philosophy: 2.1.1. History of Western Philosophy: Philosophy in the Western world is traditionally traced back to ancient Greece, particularly to the region of Ionia, which includes Attica (especially Athens), Samos, Miletus, Ephesus, and the islands strung along the Aegean Sea from southeastern Greece to the western coast of Asia Minor. The three men regarded as the first philosopher were Thales (e.624-546 B.C.), Anaximander (e. 610-545 B.C.), and Anaximenes ( fl. 585-528 B.C.). Since they lived in Miletus (which was probably the capital of Ionia during the sixth century B.C.), these philosophers and their followers became known as the Milesian School. The Milesian philosophers are also referred to as Ionian Physicist because of their almost exclusive interest in physics, or more properly, cosmology, as this term used in philosophy. Cosmology is that branch of metaphysics which deals with the nature or essence of the orderly universe cosmos. History attributes remarkable intellectual accomplishments to Thales, the first of the Milesians, who predicted the eclipse of the sun (for May 28, 585 B.C.), determined height of the pyramids (by measuring their shadows), and invented a device for calculating the distance of ships at sea. Thale made his principle contribution to philosophy by postulating a single substance, water, as the cosmic stuff comprising the universe. It is not difficult to understand why he selected water as the basic component, for water exists in all three forms of matter: liquid, solid and gas.
    [Show full text]
  • The Son-Father Relationship and Christological Symbolism in the Gospel of John
    ABSTRACT The Son-Father Relationship and Christological Symbolism in the Gospel of John The relationship between Jesus the Son and God the Father plays a crucial role in the Johannine revelation of Christ. The Gospel of John symbolically portrays Jesus as the Son of God who is relationally inseparable from his Father. This research proposes that the Son-Father Relationship (SFR) is at the center of the network of Christological symbols in the Fourth Gospel. The SFR serves to fulfill the author’s stated purpose of John 20:31 and acts as an organizing principle that integrates and structures the Gospel’s unique symbolism. The uniqueness of Johannine symbolism is illustrated in the definition and theory of symbol formulated in this research using principles from theories propounded by Paul Ricoeur and Wilbur Urban. Two key passages in this study are the Prologue (John 1:1-18) and the Prayer (John 17:1-26). These passages are strategically positioned in the Gospel narrative and contain similar clusters of symbols, symbolic language, and themes centered on the SFR. The Prologue subtly and symbolically introduces the SFR; both SFR and symbolism are then developed through the words and actions of Jesus’ teaching ministry. The Prayer culminates Jesus’ teaching ministry and elevates the SFR to its highest point in the narrative, utilizing most of the symbolism introduced in the Prologue. This research unveils a symbolic network referred to as John’s Christological Symbology, through which the Gospel presents Jesus the Son in close relationship with God the Father. The Symbology, commencing in the Prologue and culminating in the Prayer before ending in the remainder of the Gospel, reveals the centrality of the SFR in Johannine symbolism.
    [Show full text]
  • The Principle of Sufficient Reason As the Principle of the Ultimate Ground of Being
    The Principle of Sufficient Reason as the Principle of the Ultimate Ground of Being Eric v.d. Luft The philosophical criticism of the principle of sufficient reason (PSR) divides into two main camps, which I shall name the analytic1 and the speculative.2 Respective paradigms of the two camps are Schopenhauer3 and Heidegger.4 The former camp sees the topic of PSR as causality or generation,5 and is likely to bracket, ignore, or discount the problem of infinite regress;6 while the latter sees the topic of PSR as the ultimate ground of being (Seinsgrund),7 and thus 1 A typical article in this tradition is: Christopher Hitchcock, "Prevention, Preemption, and the Principle of Sufficient Reason," Philosophical Review 116, 4 (October 2007): 495-532. 2 In "On the Principle of Sufficient Reason," Polish Journal of Philosophy 1, 1 (Spring 2007): 112, Jacek Wojtysiak designates as PSR-O, i.e., the ontological PSR, approximately what I call the speculative PSR. Within what I call the analytic PSR, he distinguishes PSR-E and PSR-M, i.e., the epistemological and methodological PSR. In "A Pragmatic Version of the Principle of Sufficient Reason," Philosophical Quarterly 45, 181 (October 1995): 439-459, George N. Schlesinger discusses something akin to Wojtysiak's PSR-M. Also on the analytic side, Lois Frankel, in "From a Metaphysical Point of View: Leibniz and the Principle of Sufficient Reason." Southern Journal of Philosophy 24, 3 (Fall 1986): 324, distinguishes between PSRg = "Every true proposition has a proof" and PSRc = "Every event or state of affairs has cause." 3 Arthur Schopenhauer, On the Fourfold Root of the Principle of Sufficient Reason, translated by E.F.J.
    [Show full text]
  • Rebuilding the Foundations of Deep Ecology a Nondualist Approach
    Rebuilding the Foundations of Deep Ecology A Nondualist Approach by Dara Linda Miriam Tatray A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2006 University Of New South Wales Contents Acknowledgments 5 Introduction 6 The Case Against Deep Ecology 9 A Qualified Nondualism 16 What is Required from a New Metaphysic 19 Aims 21 Approach 23 Thesis Outline 28 1. The Project of Ecophilosophy 32 Ecocentrism 33 Towards a More Realistic Philosophy of Nature 36 Is There a Need for a New Order in Ecophilosophy? 38 Addressing the Problem of Scientific Materialism 40 Panpsychism 45 Intrinsic Unity as the Basis of a New Axiology 47 Value and Nonduality 49 Nonduality and Nonlocality 53 Reverence For Life 55 Consciousness and Social Change 57 2. The Deep Ecology Approach 60 The Emergence of Deep Ecology 70 Deep Ecology and Green Consciousness 75 The Deep Ecology Approach 79 The Ecological Self 81 2 Self-Realisation 89 The Nature of the Self 92 Âtman as Pure Consciousness 96 The Deep Ecology Version of Self-Realisation 99 Freedom Not Attachment is the Way of Yoga 106 Capital “R” Realisation 110 3. Perennial Philosophy and its Association with Deep Ecology 112 Platonism 113 The Theory of Successive Emanations Re-evaluated 120 Central Tenets of Religio-Philosophy 125 Direct Intuitive Perception 127 Consciousness and the Intuitive Faculty 132 German Idealism 135 Developing the Faculties 140 Self-knowledge and German Idealism 144 Intuition Defined 147 The Deep Ecology version of “Perennial Philosophy” 148 A Tradition of Philosophic Dissent 152 4. Deep Ecology Under Fire 157 Problems with the Doctrine of Self-realisation 159 Deep Ecology Rides Rough-Shod over “Difference” 165 Popper and Plumwood on Unity 169 Deep Ecology Has Nothing to Contribute to Deliberative Democracy: Or Has It? 173 A Critique of Green Reason 175 3 Of What Use is a Green Identity? 179 Direct Action and Nonviolence 184 RIC Projects 186 Inspired Activism 189 5.
    [Show full text]
  • Shelley's Human Spirits of Language / by John Whatley
    SHELLEY'S HUMAN SPIRITS OF LANGUAGE John Whatley B.A. Chapman College California, 1969 M.A. Simon Fraser University, 1979 THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in the Department of English John Whatley 1990 SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY ' All rights reserved. This work may not be reproduced in whole or in part, by photocopy or other means, without permission of the author. APPROVAL NAME: John Whatley DEGREE: Doctcx of Pllilosophy (Eng'M) TITLE OF THESIS: Shelley's Human Spirits of Language - Paul Delany , Senfor SupeIviwr Professor of English . - ~{fry~as~ove Associate Professor of English Ian ~yiic Assistant Professor of History - -,.--- -&en ~uguid - Internal External Examiner Director, Extension Credit Programs Continuing Saxdies Tilottama ~ajd External Examiner Professor of English University of Wisconsin -Madison Date Approved: April 9, 1990 PARTIAL COPYRIGHT LICENSE I hereby grant to Simon Fraser University the right to lend my thesis, project or extended essay (the title of which is shown below) to users of the Simon Fraser University Library, and to make partial or single copies only for such users or in response to a request from the library of any other university, or other educational Institution, on its own behalf or for one of its users. I further agree that permission for multiple copying of this work for scholarly purposes may be granted by me or the Dean of Graduate Studies. It is understood Ohat copying or publication of this work for financial gain shall not be allowed without my written permission. Title of Thes i s/Project/Extended Essay She1 1 ey 's Human Spirits of Language ~~th~~:John What1 ey (signature) I ABSTRACT For romantic criticism since the Victorian age, the symbolism of Shelley's poetry has often been an object of reverence; Shelley's symbols enact, incorporate or invoke rather than simply signify and, for some, they can constitute a world.
    [Show full text]
  • University Microfilms International 300 North Zeeb Road Ann Arbor
    INFORMATION TO USERS This material was produced from a microfilm copy of the original document. While the most advanced technological means to photograph and reproduce this document have been used, the quality is heavily dependent upon the quality o f the original submitted. The following explanation of techniques is provided to help you understand markings or patterns which may appear on this reproduction. 1.The sign or "target" for pages apparently lacking from the document photographed is "Missing Page(s)". I f it was possible to obtain the missing page(s) or section, they are spliced in to the film along w ith adjacent pages. This may have necessitated cutting thru an image and duplicating adjacent pages to insure you complete continuity. 2. When an image on the film is obliterated w ith a large round black mark, it is an indication that the photographer suspected that the copy may have moved during exposure and thus cause a blurred image. You will find a good image o f the page in the adjacent frame. 3. When a map, drawing or chart, etc., was part of the material being photographed the photographer followed a definite method in "sectioning" the material. It is customary to begin photoing at the upper left hand corner of a large sheet and to continue photoing from left to right in equal sections w ith a small overlap. I f necessary, sectioning is continued again — beginning below the first row and continuing on until complete. 4. The m ajority o f users indicate th a t the textual content is o f greatest value, however, a somewhat higher quality reproduction could be made from "photographs" if essential to the understanding of the dissertation.
    [Show full text]