DOCSLIB.ORG

A Chapter Three

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
A Chapter Three SSStttooonnnyyy BBBrrrooooookkk UUUnnniiivvveeerrrsssiiitttyyy The official electronic file of this thesis or dissertation is maintained by the University Libraries on behalf of The Graduate School at Stony Brook University. ©©© AAAllllll RRRiiiggghhhtttsss RRReeessseeerrrvvveeeddd bbbyyy AAAuuuttthhhooorrr... The Science of Right in Leibniz’s Practical Philosophy A Dissertation Presented by Christopher Lowell Johns to The Graduate School in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Philosophy Stony Brook University August 2007 Copyright by Christopher Lowell Johns August 2007 Stony Brook University The Graduate School Christopher Lowell Johns We, the dissertation committee for the above candidate for the Doctor of Philosophy degree, hereby recommend acceptance of this dissertation. Jeffrey B. Edwards (Dissertation Advisor) Associate Professor Department of Philosophy Allegra de Laurentiis (Chairperson of the Defense) Associate Professor Department of Philosophy Clyde Lee Miller (Department Reader) Professor Department of Philosophy Manfred Baum (Outside Reader) Professor of Philosophy Bergische Universität Wuppertal This dissertation is accepted by the Graduate School Lawrence Martin Dean of the Graduate School ii Abstract of the Dissertation The Science of Right in Leibniz’s Practical Philosophy by Christopher Lowell Johns Doctor of Philosophy in Philosophy Stony Brook University 2007 This dissertation examines a neglected area of Leibniz’s philosophy, namely, natural right ( jus ). Contrary to prevailing views, I argue that his “science of right” is nothing less than the theoretical foundation of his moral/practical philosophy. In contemporary terms, Leibniz’s conception of right may be called “subjective right,” and is informed by a variety of sources, most dominantly Aristotle and Roman Law. His practical philosophy is motivated generally by two main concerns: (1) to establish the moral limitations on power , whether natural, political, or divine power; (2) to reconcile utilitas (conceived as the good for oneself) with honestas (conceived as the good for others). The resolution to these problems lies in Leibniz’s a priori “science” of right. A key feature of this science is Leibniz’s demonstrative method, according to which right is the moral power ( potentia moralis ) and obligation is the moral necessity of a person ( substantia rationalis ) to perform and to demand what is just. On this deontic basis Leibniz “derives” additional founding principles, such as the three precepts of right (harm no one , give to each his due , and live honorably ) and justice as “charity of the wise.” Most treatments of Leibniz’s practical philosophy focus on the requirements of pleasure, happiness, love, divine retribution, metaphysical perfection, or on the compatibility of divine freedom with an optimum world. However, I argue that the these requirements, including caritas sapientis , fundamentally depend on his science of right as their normative foundation. On the most basic level, right is the self-limiting freedom and necessity of a moral agent. On the broadest level it implies a perfectionist virtue ethics. I support these claims through a detailed examination of Leibniz’s most important writings on natural right, from earliest to latest (1666-1706). I aim to determine the philosophical basis for his arguments and to understand and evaluate them in relation to their historical context. The relevant commentary is also engaged. Overall, the dissertation shows that Leibniz’s “science of right” provides complex and well-grounded responses to foundational moral issues of considerable historical and contemporary relevance. iii I dedicate this dissertation to my Mother, Marlene Ann Talbott-Green, Ph.D To the memory of my Father, Jonathan Herman Johns And to the memory of my Stepfather, Donald Chase Boyer The more power he has, the less license he takes, because if it is happiness to have the power to do whatever one wants, it is virtue to want only what one may do, that is to say, to want only what one ought to do. • Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Le Portrait du Prince, tirés des qualités du duc Jean Frédéric (1679) • Klopp 4.480: “Plus qu’elle a de pouvoir, moins elle prend de licence, parce que s’il est de la felicité de pouvoir tout ce que l’on veut, il est de la vertu de ne vouloir que ce que l’on peut, c’est à dire de ne vouloir que ce que l’on doit faire.” Table of Contents Abstract...........................................................................................................................iii Preface............................................................................................................................vii Acknowledgements.........................................................................................................ix CHAPTER ONE : SUBJECTIVE RIGHT AND THE SCIENCE OF JURISPRUDENCE IN THE NOVA METHODUS . ..........................................................................................................................1 Section 1: Introduction..................................................................................................... 1 Section 2: General Remarks on Parts I and II of the Nova Methodus .............................2 Section 3: The “New Method” of jurisprudence and its definitions: jus and obligatio ...8 Section 4: The derivation of precepts : the three degrees of natural right......................24 Section 5: Chapter summary and conclusion.................................................................37 CHAPTER TWO : JUSTICE , LOVE , AND THE MODES OF RIGHT IN THE ELEMENTA JURIS NATURALIS ..........................................................................................................................42 Section 1: Introduction...................................................................................................42 Section 2: The just as equity; justice as virtue of the mean ...........................................46 Section 3: Right, just, justice, and the nature of love ....................................................54 Section 4: The normative logic of right .........................................................................77 Section 5: Leibniz’s demonstration of ‘the good person is one who loves everyone.’ .88 Section 6: Concluding considerations............................................................................98 CHAPTER THREE : THE MIDDLE PERIOD : IUS , CARITAS , AND THE CODEX JURIS GENTIUM DIPLOMATICI ....................................................................................................................103 Section 1: Introduction................................................................................................. 103 Section 2: Early letters: Hobbes, Arnauld, Johann Friedrich.......................................104 Section 3: The late 1670’s: Right, right reason, and justice as caritas sapientis .........106 Section 4: Preface to the Codex Juris Gentium Diplomaticus ..................................... 127 Section 5: Chapter conclusion .....................................................................................138 CHAPTER FOUR : LEIBNIZ ’S DEMONSTRATIVE METHOD ....................................................139 Section 1: Introduction................................................................................................. 139 Section 2: The distinction between necessary and contingent truths........................... 140 Section 3. Demonstration in general............................................................................ 147 Section 4: Definition defined....................................................................................... 152 Section 5: The case of the demonstrated moral conclusion.........................................159 Section 6: Did Leibniz demonstrate the proposition ‘justice is the charity of the wise’? ......................................................................................................................................163 Section 7: Chapter conclusion .....................................................................................164 CHAPTER FIVE : MORAL DOCTRINE AS A DEMONSTRATIVE SCIENCE IN THE NOUVEAUX ESSAIS ............................................................................................................................... 166 Section 1: Introduction................................................................................................. 166 Section 2: Locke on innate speculative and practical principles ................................. 167 Section 3: Leibniz on innate practical principles.........................................................173 Section 4: Moral doctrine, pure reason, and the science of right................................. 193 Section 5: Integration of principles in virtue ............................................................... 197 Section 6: Chapter conclusion .....................................................................................201 CHAPTER SIX : MONITA AND MEDITATION : CAUSES AND NOTIONS IN THE SCIENCE OF RIGHT .........................................................................................................................................203 v Section 1: Introduction................................................................................................. 203 Section 2: The Science of Right in Monita quaedam ad Puffendorfii Principia .........204 Section 3: The Science of Right
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Steps Toward a Computational Metaphysics∗ Ideal for the Exposition of Philosophical Theories
    Branden Fitelson & Edward N. Zalta 2 one. Since ancient times the axiomatic method has been important to philosophers both as an example of successful systematization in specific sciences (e.g., optics, acoustics and mathematics) as well as a possible Steps Toward a Computational Metaphysics∗ ideal for the exposition of philosophical theories. While the history of the application of the axiomatic method in philosophy is complex (Man- Branden Fitelson cosu 1996, 232, note 39), there is no doubt that Spinoza 1677 is the best known example of this tendency. Leibniz went a step further by including University of California–Berkeley a computational component, as can be seen from the following:1 and characteristica universalis Edward N. Zalta If we had it [a ], we should be able to reason in metaphysics and morals in much the same way as in Stanford University geometry and analysis. (Russell 1900, 169) If controversies were to arise, there would be no more need of dis- putation between two philosophers than between two accountants. Abstract For it would suffice to take their pencils in their hands, to sit down In this paper, the authors describe their initial investigations to their slates, and to say to each other . : Let us calculate. in computational metaphysics. Our method is to implement ax- (Russell 1900, 170) iomatic metaphysics in an automated reasoning system. In this paper, we describe what we have discovered when the theory of ab- Notice that the Latin word Russell translates as ‘accountants’ is ‘Com- prover9 stract objects is implemented in (a first-order automated putistas’, and the Latin word translated as ‘slates’ is ‘abacos’.
    [Show full text]
  • Existence As a Real Property
    Francesco Berto Existence as a Real Property The Ontology of Meinongianism For Graham Priest, Long-distance teacher Prologue: Much Ado About Nothing Some philosophers think that something’s having intuitive content is very inconclusive evidence in favor of it. I think it is very heavy evidence in favor of anything, myself. I really don’t know, in a way, what more conclusive evidence one can have about anything, ultimately speaking. –Saul Kripke, Naming and Necessity 1 In an episode of The Today Show of some years ago, Gene Shalit – NBC’s film and book critic, famous for his wits – reviews several books sharing the feature of bearing entertaining titles. The highpoint of the monologue comes with Nonexistent Objects, by the UCLA philosopher Terence Parsons. Shalit wonders how one could write a whole book on things that do not exist!1 This whole book, too, is about things that do not exist. But if one stops to think, one may find that, in a sense, there is nothing special about this. There are, in fact, thousands of books speaking about unreal things. You have probably read quite a few of them: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s stories portrait the adventures of the detective Sherlock Holmes; The Lord of the Rings speaks at length of Gandalf the wizard. Doyle represents Sherlock Holmes as a detective living in London, Baker Street (precisely, at number 221b), describes his remarkable observational and deductive abilities, makes of him the arch-enemy of the criminal mastermind Moriarty. J.R.R. Tolkien characterizes Gandalf as a wizard with a pointy hat and a grey robe (a white one, from a certain point of the story onwards), a heavy pipe-herb 1 The anecdote is reported by Roy Sorensen [2003], p.
    [Show full text]
  • Ernst Mally's Theory of Properties!
    ERNST MALLY'S THEORY OF PROPERTIES! Roberto POLl University of Trento 1. Of Meinong's pupils, Ernst Mally is the one who probably made the most significant contribution to furthering the ideas of his teacher.2 It is sufficient, in this regard, to cite Meinong's explicit acknowledgement of Mally's work in his "The Theory ofObjects".3 Of greatest importance in this respect are Mally's unravelling of the distinction between Sein and Sosein4 and between nuclear and extra-nuclear properties,S and his introduction of important termi­ nological refinements which for the most part Meinong accepted.6 Nevertheless, the recent revival of interest in Meinong's theories has not been matched by equal consideration of Mally's work and insights. If we inspect the literature of the last fifteen years, it is immediately apparent that the overwhelming majority of references to Mally concern just two passages in his works, the two that Findlay quotes and comments on in his classic book on Meinong.7 One 1. I thank Liliana A1bertazzi, Johannes Brandl, Rudolf Haller, Dale Jacquette, Karl Schuhmann, Barry Smith and Jan Wo1enski for their comments on a previous version of this paper. 2. Ernst Mally was born in Krainburg (now Kranj, Yugoslavia) in 1879 and died in Graz in 1944. He studied philosophy, mathematics and physics at the University of Graz and in 1913 wrote his dissertation in philosophy under Meinong's supervision. On Meinong's death he was appointed director of the psychology laboratory that has been established by Meinong. In 1925 he became full professor and retained his chair in the university until 1942.
    [Show full text]
  • The Intentionality Thesis and Its Developments: from Brentano to Meinong, Husserl, Ehrenfels and Mally
    o THE INTENTIONALITY THESIS AND ITS DEVELOPMENTSphilosophy,... N 2(26), june - 2013 THE INTENTIONALITY THESIS AND ITS DEVELOPMENTS: FROM BRENTANO TO MEINONG, HUSSERL, EHRENFELS AND MALLY Winfried Löffler (*) ccording to Otto Neurath and via his prominent pupils – was one of Rudolf Haller, philosophy in the most influential philosophers in Austria in the 19th and early European philosophy of all times. It is 20th had a very special character, and true that one important root of it is one of the main roots of modern analytic philosophy is the Austro - analytic philosophy: It was open to Polish one which essentially goes the sciences, it was anti-idealistic and back to Brentano, his pupils (like realistic in its ontological tendencies, Meinong and Twardowski) and it had an empiricist tendency and it second-generation-pupils (like Mally, went back to the longer influence of Łukasiewicz, and Tarski).(*)Furthermore, Catholic scholastic philosophy and the Brentano’s influence contributed to Leibniz - Wolff rationalism. This in the appointment of Ernst Mach as turn has to do with the Catholicism of professor in Vienna, and this endorsed the Habsburg emperors, and it a science-friendly climate among prevented a stronger reception of the philosophers and a broader audience. philosophies of Kant and the German Interestingly, also the phenomenological Idealists. Barry Smith proposed an movement – today often seen in harsh addition to this thesis: The central opposition to analytic philosophy – figure for this so - called “Austrian originates in Brentano and his school. philosophy” was Franz Brentano Edmund Husserl writes that without (1838 - 1917); he served as a professor his teacher Brentano, he would not in Vienna from 1874 to 1880 and then have turned into a philosopher, and as a private docent till 1895.
    [Show full text]
  • On Sober Platonism
    UNIVERSITÀ DEGLI STUDI DI MILANO Dipartimento di Filosofia UNIVERSITÉ PARIS 1 PANTHEON-SORBONNE IHPST - Insistut d’Histoire et de Philosophie des Sciences et des Techniques Costanza Brevini On Sober Platonism New Perspectives in Mathematical Platonism Beyond Strong Ontological Assumptions March, 4th 2016 SUPERVISORS: Marco Panza, Miriam Franchella MEMBERS OF THE JURY: Andrea Bottani Brice Halimi Sebastien Gandon Agustìn Rayo Andrea Sereni To you, the daring venturers and adventurers, and whoever hath embarked with cunning sails upon frightful seas; To you the enigma-intoxicated, the twilight-enjoyers, whose souls are allured by flutes to every treacherous gulf. NIETZSCHE, FRIEDRICH, Thus Spoke Zarathustra !2 TABLE OF CONTENTS: SINTESI 5 RÉSUMÉ 8 ABSTRACT 11 PRELIMINARY REMARKS 15 CHAPTER 1: PLATONISM 25 1.1 FROM PLATO TO CONTEMPORARY PLATONISM 25 1.2 INDEPENDENCE 30 1.3 EXISTENCE 35 1.4 EPISTEMOLOGY 40 1.4.1 THEORY OF KNOWLEDGE 41 1.4.2 TRUTH 45 1.4.3 REFERENCE 50 1.5 SOBER PLATONISM 54 CHAPTER 2: FULL-BLOODED PLATONISM 62 2.1 INTRODUCTION 62 2.1.1 THE PROBLEM OF FORMALIZATION 64 2.2 EPISTEMOLOGY 66 2.2.1 THE EPISTEMOLOGICAL ARGUMENT 66 2.2.2 THE FULL-BLOODED SOLUTION 70 2.3 CONSISTENCY 75 2.4 MATHEMATICAL CORRECTNESS AND MATHEMATICAL TRUTH 82 2.4.1 HOW TO DEAL WITH UNDECIDABLE SENTENCES IN MATHEMATICS 83 2.5 NON-UNIQUENESS 87 2.6 A DEFENSE OF FULL-BLOODED PLATONISM 93 CHAPTER 3: STRUCTURALISM 99 3.1 STRUCTURALISM 99 3.2 EXISTENCE 105 3.4 AXIOMS 114 3.5 EPISTEMOLOGY 118 3.6 REFERENCE 126 !3 3.7 STRUCTURALISM AND CAESAR’S PROBLEM 129 3.8
    [Show full text]
  • Edward N. Zalta
    Edward N. Zalta Curriculum Vitæ Address: CSLI/Cordura Hall, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305 Phone: 650-723-0488 (work) Marital Status: married, no children E-Mail: [email protected] Home Page: http://mally.stanford.edu/zalta.html Education Ph.D., Philosophy, University of Massachusetts/Amherst, February 1981 (Thesis Director: Terence Parsons) B.A., Cum Laude, Ideas and Methods, Rice University, May 1975 (approved by the departments of Philosophy, Biology, Behavioral Science, and Music) Areas of Specialization Metaphysics (Ontology) and Epistemology Philosophy of Mathematics Philosophical Logic/Philosophy of Logic Computational Metaphysics Areas of Competence Philosophy of Language/Intensional Logic Philosophy of Mind/Intentionality Contemporary Analytic Philosophy Contemporary History of Philosophy: Bolzano, Brentano, Husserl, Meinong, Frege, Russell, early Wittgenstein, Carnap, Quine Modern Philosophy: Rationalists, Empiricists, Kant Professional Experience Senior Research Scholar Center for the Study of Language and Information, Stanford University September 1997 { present Senior Researcher Center for the Study of Language and Information, Stanford University September 1989 { August 1997 1 Acting Assistant Professor Department of Philosophy, Stanford University September 1988 { August 1989 September 1987 { August 1988 September 1986 { August 1987 Postdoctoral Fellow Center for the Study of Language and Information, Stanford University September 1984 { August 1986 Assistant Professor Department of Philosophy, Rice University
    [Show full text]
  • Downloadable
    2016, 2 (1) ARGUMENTA The Journal of the Italian Society for Analytic Philosophy First published 2016 by University of Sassari © 2016 University of Sassari Produced and designed for digital publication by the Argumenta Staff All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior permission in writing from Argumenta. Editor Masssimo Dell'Utri (University of Sassari) Editorial Board Carla Bagnoli (University of Modena and Reggio Emilia), Francesca Boccuni (University San Raffaele, Milano), Clotilde Calabi (University of Milano), Stefano Caputo (University of Sassari), Massimiliano Carrara (University of Padova), Richard Davies (University of Bergamo), Ciro De Florio (Università Cattolica, Milano), Elisabetta Galeotti (University of Piemonte Orientale), Pier Luigi Lecis (University of Cagliari), Olimpia Giuliana Loddo (University of Cagliari), Giuseppe Lorini (University of Cagliari), Marcello Montibeller (University of Sassari), Giulia Piredda (IUSS-Pavia), Pietro Salis (University of Cagliari) Argumenta is the official journal of the Italian Society for Analytic Philosophy (SIFA). It was founded in 2014 in response to a common demand for the creation of an Italian journal explicitly devoted to the publication of high quality research in analytic philosophy. From the beginning Argumenta was conceived as an international journal, and has benefitted from the cooperation of some of the most distinguished Italian and non-Italian scholars in all areas of analytic
    [Show full text]
  • Mechanizing Principia Logico-Metaphysica in Functional Type Theory
    D. Kirchner, C. Benzmüller, and E. Zalta 2 system Isabelle/HOL. Initial experiments within this framework reveal a crucial but overlooked fact: a deeply-rooted and known paradox is reintroduced in AOT when the logic of complex terms is simply adjoined to AOT’s specially formulated comprehension Mechanizing Principia Logico-Metaphysica principle for relations. This result constitutes a new and impor- ∗ tant paradox, given how much expressive and analytic power is in Functional Type Theory contributed by having the two kinds of complex terms in the sys- tem. Its discovery is the highlight of our joint project and provides Daniel Kirchner strong evidence for a new kind of scientific practice in philosophy, Fachbereich Mathematik und Informatik namely, computational metaphysics. Our results were made technically possible by a suitable adap- Freie Universität Berlin tation of Benzmüller’s metalogical approach to universal reason- [email protected] ing by semantically embedding theories in classical higher-order logic. This approach enables one to reuse state-of-the-art higher- Christoph Benzmüller order proof assistants, such as Isabelle/HOL, for mechanizing and Fachbereich Mathematik und Informatik experimentally exploring challenging logics and theories such as Freie Universität Berlin AOT. Our results also provide a fresh perspective on the question [email protected] of whether relational type theory or functional type theory better serves as a foundation for logic and metaphysics. & Computer Science and Communications University of Luxembourg [email protected] 1 Abstract Summary Edward N. Zalta Principia Logico-Metaphysica (PLM) [16] is an online research monograph Center for the Study of Language and Information that contains a canonical presentation of Abstract Object Theory (AOT) arXiv:1711.06542v4 [cs.LO] 24 Jul 2019 Stanford University [17], [18], along with motivation for, and commentary on, the theory.
    [Show full text]
  • Download Download
    c:\users\kenneth\documents\type3401\rj 3401 196 red.docx 2014-05-17 9:24 AM NOTES AND CORRESPONDENCE FOR RUSSELL’S 1905 REVIEW OF MEINONG Bernard Linsky Philosophy / U. of Alberta Edmonton, ab, Canada t6g 2e5 [email protected] Bertrand Russell took fourteen pages of notes on Meinong’s Unter- suchungen zur Gegenstandstheorie und Psychologie [Studies in object theory and psychology] in preparation for his review of the book in Mind. Translations of Russell’s letters from Alexius Meinong, Rudolf Ameseder and Ernst Mally discuss their contributions to the volume (with transcriptions of the German originals appended in this journal’s online edition). Together the notes and correspondence record the or- igin of Russell’s famous criticisms of Meinong’s theory of non-existent objects, which appeared in both “On Denoting” and the review in Mind in October 1905. ertrand Russell published a review in Mind 1905 of a collection of papers by Alexius Meinong and his students, Untersuchun- =gen zur Gegenstandstheorie und Psychologie (1904).1 The review _appeared later in the same issue of Mind as Russell’s most famous paper from 1905, “On Denoting”, in which Meinong’s views are dis- cussed in passing. To prepare for writing the review Russell read through the book’s contents, making several comments in the mar- gins, and then wrote fourteen leaves of notes on the articles that figure in the review. Russell also corresponded with Meinong and two of his authors, Ernst Mally and Rudolf Ameseder, in early 1905.2 The read- ing notes are described in the prefatory notes to the edition of the 1 “Review of Meinong and Others, Untersuchungen zur Gegenstandstheorie und Psychol- ogie”, Mind 14 (Oct.
    [Show full text]
  • Content and Competence
    Rechtstheorie · Legal Theory herausgegeben von Thomas Gutmann, Tatjana Hörnle und Matthias Jestaedt 1 Jakob Weissinger Content and Competence A Descriptive Approach to the Concept of Rights Mohr Siebeck Jakob Weissinger, born 1986; study of law at the University of Münster; 2013 first legal state examination; academic assistant at the Institute for Criminal Law and Criminal Procedural Law at the University of Münster; 2018 dissertation; legal clerkship in Cologne and academic assistant at the Institute for Foreign and International Criminal Law at the University of Cologne. ISBN 978-3-16-157030-8 / eISBN 978-3-16-157031-5 DOI 10.1628/978-3-16-157031-5 ISSN 2629-723X / eISSN 2629-7248 (Rechtstheorie · Legal Theory) The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliographie; detailed bibliographic data are available at http://dnb.dnb.de. © 2019 Mohr Siebeck Tübingen, Germany. www.mohrsiebeck.com This work is licensed under the license “Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 Inter-national” (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0). A complete Version of the license text can be found at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/. An electronic version of this book is freely available, thanks to the support of libraries working with Knowledge Unlatched. KU is a collaborative initiative designed to make high quality books Open Access for the public good. More information about the initiative can be found at www.knowledgeunlatched.org. Any use not covered by the above license is prohibited and illegal without the permission of the publisher. The book was typeset by epline in Böblingen using Times typeface, printed on non-aging paper and bound by Gulde Druck in Tübingen.
    [Show full text]
  • Ii Studies and Articles Studije I Članci
    II STUDIES AND ARTICLES STUDIJE I ČLANCI UDK: 165.62 Meinong A. https://doi.org/10.2298/FID2001073C Original Scientific Article PHILOSOPHY AND SOCIETY Received: 03.05.2019. Accepted: 11.08.2019. VOL. 31, NO. 1, 001–138 Ekaterina Cherepanova JUSTIFICATION OF ATEMPORAL VALUES IN ALEXIUS MEINONG’S THEORY OF OBJECTS ABSTRACT KEYWORDS In the history of philosophy, Alexius Meinong’s interest in axiology has Meinong’s value traditionally been seen as confined to his earlier works. However, if we theory, subject of analyze his writing after 1917, in which Meinong discusses timeless desire, subject of values, it becomes clear that he became increasingly disinterested in axiological feelings, existence of absolute psychology. Moreover, since the theory of the object, in Meinong’s view, values, psychologism could not be a part of metaphysics, he had to deal with the additional methodological difficulty of proving that the good exists independently of human subjectivity. The article discusses A. Meinong’s understanding of the object of desire, the object of a value-feeling and the connection between ethical values as objects of consciousness and time. It is shown that, according to Meinong, language is where values actually reside and only through language can their reality be explained. Alexius Meinong’s theory of objects was brought to the forefront of public discussion owing to a debate initiated by Bertrand Russell and, to a certain extent, owing to the logical interpretation proposed by the former’s disciple and successor Ernst Mally (Mally 1912). Though Russell thought highly of Mei- nong’s works, his theory of objects came under criticism for being inconsistent and unpromising on the grounds that analytical philosophy cannot deal with non-existent objects (Russell 1923, Russell 1973).
    [Show full text]
  • The Barber Paradox: on Its Paradoxicality and Its Relationship to Russell’S Paradox
    The Barber Paradox: on its Paradoxicality and its Relationship to Russell's Paradox Jiˇr´ıRaclavsk´y Abstract The Barber paradox is often introduced as a popular version of Rus- sell's paradox, though some experts have denied their similarity, even calling the Barber paradox a pseudoparadox. In the first part of the paper, I demonstrate mainly that in the standard (Quinean) defini- tion of a paradox the Barber paradox is a clear-cut example of a non- paradox. Despite some outward similarities, it differs radically from Russell's paradox. I also expose many other differences. In the second part of the paper, I examine a probable source of the paradoxicality of the Barber paradox, which is found in a certain ambivalence in terms of meaning. The two different readings of the crucial phrase yield distinct existential assumptions which produce the paradoxical conclusion. One of the paradoxical aspects of the Barber paradox (BP) is that it is not a paradox, though many people still think it is (including some philosophers that address paradoxes, e.g., Nicholas Rescher, [14], pp. 143−147). It is also paradoxical that its authorship is often attributed to Bertrand Russell (e.g. [8]), even though he did not invent it,1 and even warned against it as a false analogy to Russell's paradox (RP).2 Finally, it is also somewhat paradoxical that despite what I have previously written, I will suggest a way to construe the BP as a real paradox. This paper begins with an exposition of both RP and the BP, mainly showing the ways in which they are not similar.
    [Show full text]