The Synthesis of Empiricism and Innatism in Berkeley's Doctrine Of
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THE THEORY of MATHEMATICAL SUBTRACTION in ARISTOTLE By
THE THEORY OF MATHEMATICAL SUBTRACTION IN ARISTOTLE by Ksenia Romashova Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts at Dalhousie University Halifax, Nova Scotia August 2019 © Copyright by Ksenia Romashova, 2019 DEDICATION PAGE To my Mother, Vera Romashova Мама, Спасибо тебе за твою бесконечную поддержку, дорогая! ii TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES .................................................................................................................. iv ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................................... v LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS USED ....................................................................................... vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ..................................................................................................... vii CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................... 1 CHAPTER 2 THE MEANING OF ABSTRACTION .............................................................. 6 2.1 Etymology and Evolution of the Term ................................................................... 7 2.2 The Standard Phrase τὰ ἐξ ἀφαιρέσεως or ‘Abstract Objects’ ............................ 19 CHAPTER 3 GENERAL APPLICATION OF ABSTRACTION .......................................... 24 3.1 The Instances of Aphairein in Plato’s Dialogues ................................................. 24 3.2 The Use of Aphairein in Aristotle’s Topics -
SAGP SSIPS 2016 Abstracts
Binghamton University The Open Repository @ Binghamton (The ORB) The Society for Ancient Greek Philosophy Newsletter 10-2016 SAGP SSIPS 2016 Abstracts Anthony Preus Follow this and additional works at: https://orb.binghamton.edu/sagp Part of the Ancient History, Greek and Roman through Late Antiquity Commons, Ancient Philosophy Commons, and the History of Philosophy Commons Recommended Citation Preus, Anthony, "SAGP SSIPS 2016 Abstracts" (2016). The Society for Ancient Greek Philosophy Newsletter. 434. https://orb.binghamton.edu/sagp/434 This Announcement is brought to you for free and open access by The Open Repository @ Binghamton (The ORB). It has been accepted for inclusion in The Society for Ancient Greek Philosophy Newsletter by an authorized administrator of The Open Repository @ Binghamton (The ORB). For more information, please contact [email protected]. The 34th annual joint meeting of The Society for Ancient Greek Philosophy (SAGP) with The Society for the Study of Islamic Philosophy and Science (SSIPS) Abstracts Collection October 28-30, 2016 Fordham University, Lincoln Center, New York 113 West 60th Street, New York, NY 10023 Corner of Columbus (9th) Avenue and West 60th Street Sponsored by Fordham University The Society for Ancient Greek Philosophy (SAGP) The Society for the Study of Islamic Philosophy and Science (SSIPS) 2016 SAGP/SSIPS Conference Program, page 2 Claas Lattman, CAU Kiel, [email protected] 1A (Saturday 9:00) ROOM 502: “The Art of Land-Measuring. Diagrammatical Knowledge Between Egypt and Greece” Thales brought geometry from Egypt to Greece. Therefore he was the first Greek mathematician, wasn’t he? At least some of the ancients tell us so. -
Dr. Stephen H. Daniel
DR. STEPHEN H. DANIEL Department of Philosophy email: [email protected] Texas A&M University 979-845-5619/5660 (Office) College Station, Texas 77843-4237 979-324-4199 (Cell) CURRENT POSITION Texas A&M University Presidential Professor for Teaching Excellence (2007; permanent) Thaman University Professor in Undergraduate Teaching Excellence (2019–2022) Professor of Philosophy (1993- ) RECORD OF EMPLOYMENT 1983-present: Professor of Philosophy (1993- ), Associate Department Head (2017-2018, 1986-90), Murray and Celeste Fasken Chair in Distinguished Teaching (2007-2011); Associate Professor (1986-93); Assistant Professor (1983-86), Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas. 1978-1983: Assistant Professor of Philosophy; Department Chair (1982-83), Spring Hill College, Mobile, Alabama. (1979-1980) Visiting Scholar & NEH Fellow, University of Virginia, Department of English; Assistant Professor of Philosophy, Spring Hill College (on academic leave). 1977-1978: Assistant Professor of Philosophy, Mount St. Mary’s College, Los Angeles, California. 1973-1977: Graduate Instructor in Philosophy, St. Louis University, St. Louis, Missouri. EDUCATION Ph.D., Philosophy, Saint Louis University, 1977; Dissertation: “The Philosophic Methodology of John Toland.” M.A., Philosophy, Saint Louis University, 1974; Thesis: “Individuation in Giordano Bruno.” B.A., magna cum laude, Philosophy (major), History (minor), St. Joseph Seminary College, St. Benedict, Louisiana, 1972 PUBLICATIONS (Philosophy) Books (Authored): George Berkeley and Early Modern Philosophy. New York: Oxford University Press, 2021. xii + 340 pp. How Berkeley’s philosophy—especially his novel philosophy of mind—engages views developed by his predecessors and contemporaries. Contemporary Continental Thought. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 2005. xiii + 490 pp. A survey with readings in critical theory, hermeneutics, structuralism, deconstruction, psychoanalytic feminism, poststructuralism, postcolonialism, and postmodernism. -
Expressions of Mind/Body Dualism in Thinspiration
MIND OVER MATTER: EXPRESSIONS OF MIND/BODY DUALISM IN THINSPIRATION Annamarie O’Brien A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate College of Bowling Green State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS August 2013 Committee: Dr. Marilyn Motz, Advisor Dr. Rebecca Kinney Dr. Jeremy Wallach © 2013 Annamarie O’Brien All Rights Reserved iii ABSTRACT Dr. Marilyn Motz, Advisor Thinspiration images, meant to inspire weight-loss, proliferate online through platforms that encourage the circulation of user-generated content. Despite numerous alarmist critiques in mass media about thinspiration and various academic studies investigating ‘pro-anorexia’ sites, surprisingly little attention has been given to the processes of creation and the symbolic potential of thinspiration. This thesis analyzes the formal hybridity of thinspiration, and its use as an expressive medium. The particularities of thinspiration (including its visual characteristics, creative processes, and exhibition) may be considered carefully constructed instances of self- representation, hinging on the expression of beliefs regarding the mind and body. While these beliefs are deeply entrenched in popular body management discourse, they also tend to rely on traditional dualist ideologies. Rather than simply emphasizing slenderness or reiterating standard assumptions about beauty, thinspiration often evokes pain and sadness, and employs truisms about the transcendence of flesh and rebellion against social constraints. By harnessing individualist discourse and the values of mind/body dualism, thinspiration becomes a space in which people struggling with disordered eating and body image issues may cast themselves as active agents—contrary to the image of eating disorders proffered by popular and medical discourse. iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS First, I would like to thank my thesis committee chair, Dr. -
Bishop Berkeley Exorcises the Infinite
TWELVE Bishop Berkeley Exorcises the Infinite It all began simply enough when Molyneux asked the wonderful question whether a person born blind, now able to see, would recognize by sight what he or she knew by touch (Davis 1960). After George Berkeley elaborated an answer, that we learn to perceive by means of heuristics, the foundations of contemporary mathematics were in ruins. Contemporary mathematicians waved their hands and changed the subject.1 Berkeley’s answer received a much more positive response from economists. Adam Smith, in particular, seized upon Berkeley’s doctrine that we learn to perceive distance to build an elabo- rate system in which one learns to perceive one’s self-interest.2 Perhaps because older histories of mathematics are a positive hindrance in helping us under- stand the importance of Berkeley’s argument against in‹nitesimals,3 its conse- quences for economics have passed unnoticed. If in‹nitesimal numbers are ruled 1. The mathematically decisive event that changed the situation and let historians appreciate the past was Abraham Robinson’s development of nonstandard analysis. “The vigorous attack directed by Berkeley against the foundations of the Calculus in the forms then proposed is, in the ‹rst place, a brilliant exposure of their logical inconsistencies. But in criticizing in‹nitesimals of all kinds, English or continental, Berkeley also quotes with approval a passage in which Locke rejects the actual in‹nite. It is in fact not surprising that a philosopher in whose system perception plays the central role, should have been unwilling to accept in‹nitary entities” (Robinson 1974, 280–81). -
Continuity and Mathematical Ontology in Aristotle
Journal of Ancient Philosophy, vol. 14 issue 1, 2020. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.11606/issn.1981-9471.v14i1p30-61 Continuity and Mathematical Ontology in Aristotle Keren Wilson Shatalov In this paper I argue that Aristotle’s understanding of mathematical continuity constrains the mathematical ontology he can consistently hold. On my reading, Aristotle can only be a mathematical abstractionist of a certain sort. To show this, I first present an analysis of Aristotle’s notion of continuity by bringing together texts from his Metaphysica and Physica, to show that continuity is, for Aristotle, a certain kind of per se unity, and that upon this rests his distinction between continuity and contiguity. Next I argue briefly that Aristotle intends for his discussion of continuity to apply to pure mathematical objects such as lines and figures, as well as to extended bodies. I show that this leads him to a difficulty, for it does not at first appear that the distinction between continuity and contiguity can be preserved for abstract mathematicals. Finally, I present a solution according to which Aristotle’s understanding of continuity can only be saved if he holds a certain kind of mathematical ontology. My topic in this paper is Aristotle’s understanding of mathematical continuity. While the idea that continua are composed of infinitely many points is the present day orthodoxy, the Aristotelian understanding of continua as non-punctiform and infinitely divisible was the reigning theory for much of the history of western mathematics, and there is renewed interest in it from current mathematicians and philosophers of mathematics. -
Modern Wisdom
Modern Wisdom Jimmy Rising Philosophy is generally concerned with the nature of things: truths about reality, human nature, and why things are and do what they are and do. In this sense, philosophy fits its archaic name, “natural science.” Philosophy can also be described as the “pursuit or love of wisdom” (this is the origin of the word) and it is imagined that the philosophical life, a life characterized by contemplation and inquiry, is necessary to attain true wisdom. Modern philosophy, with its emphasis on breaking down old beliefs even more than con- structing new ones, is decidedly on the “science” side of philosophy. Nonetheless, I believe that all philosophers study the subject in part in hopes of understanding and gaining wis- dom. Every “advance” in philosophy as the natural science is associated with a refinement or change in the view of wisdom. For example, George Berkeley proclaims that philosophy is “nothing else but the study of wisdom and truth” in the introduction to his Principles, and then speaks hardly another word of the nature of wisdom. What is the wisdom of modern philosophy? More to the point, what is wisdom, according to various branches of modern philosophy, and to modern philosophy as a whole? 1 1 Definition of Wisdom To answer this question, even without trying to define wisdom before it’s definition is sought, we need to specify what we are looking for– that is, the indications of wisdom. Wisdom is: Knowledge – Wisdom, firstly, is a characteristic of the mind or the soul, not of the body. It is a kind of knowledge, skill, sense, or intuition the affects who one thinks. -
University of Groningen Spinoza's Theory of the Human Mind
University of Groningen Spinoza’s Theory of the Human Mind: Consciousness, Memory, and Reason Marrama, Oberto IMPORTANT NOTE: You are advised to consult the publisher's version (publisher's PDF) if you wish to cite from it. Please check the document version below. Document Version Publisher's PDF, also known as Version of record Publication date: 2019 Link to publication in University of Groningen/UMCG research database Citation for published version (APA): Marrama, O. (2019). Spinoza’s Theory of the Human Mind: Consciousness, Memory, and Reason. University of Groningen. Copyright Other than for strictly personal use, it is not permitted to download or to forward/distribute the text or part of it without the consent of the author(s) and/or copyright holder(s), unless the work is under an open content license (like Creative Commons). Take-down policy If you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact us providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim. Downloaded from the University of Groningen/UMCG research database (Pure): http://www.rug.nl/research/portal. For technical reasons the number of authors shown on this cover page is limited to 10 maximum. Download date: 27-09-2021 SPINOZA’S THEORY OF THE HUMAN MIND: CONSCIOUSNESS, MEMORY, AND REASON 1A_BW_Marrama .job © Oberto Marrama, 2019. All rights reserved. ISBN 978-94-034-1568-0 (printed version) ISBN 978-94-034-1569-7 (electronic version) 1B_BW_Marrama .job Spinoza’s Theory of the Human Mind: Consciousness, Memory, and Reason PhD thesis to obtain the degree of PhD at the University of Groningen on the authority of the Rector Magnificus Prof. -
Introduction to Berkeley
INTRODUCTION TO BERKELEY http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/berkeley/ George Berkeley, Bishop of Cloyne, was one of the great philosophers of the early modern period. He was a brilliant critic of his predecessors, particularly Descartes, Malebranche, and Locke. He was a talented metaphysician famous for defending idealism, that is, the view that reality consists exclusively of minds and their ideas. Berkeley's system, while it strikes many as counter-intuitive, is strong and flexible enough to counter most objections. His most- studied works, the Treatise Concerning the Principles of Human Knowledge (Principles, for short) and Three Dialogues between Hylas and Philonous (Dialogues), are beautifully written and dense with the sort of arguments that delight contemporary philosophers. He was also a wide-ranging thinker with interests in religion (which were fundamental to his philosophical motivations), the psychology of vision, mathematics, physics, morals, economics, and medicine. Although many of Berkeley's first readers greeted him with incomprehension, he influenced both Hume and Kant, and is much read (if little followed) in our own day. 2. Berkeley's critique of materialism in the Principles and Dialogues In his two great works of metaphysics, Berkeley defends idealism by attacking the materialist alternative. What exactly is the doctrine that he's attacking? Readers should first note that “materialism” is here used to mean “the doctrine that material things exist”. This is in contrast with another use, more standard in contemporary discussions, according to which materialism is the doctrine that only material things exist. Berkeley contends that no material things exist, not just that some immaterial things exist. -
Durham E-Theses
Durham E-Theses On some ancient and medieval roots of George Berkeley's thought Bradatan, Costica How to cite: Bradatan, Costica (2003) On some ancient and medieval roots of George Berkeley's thought, Durham theses, Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/4077/ Use policy The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in Durham E-Theses • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. Please consult the full Durham E-Theses policy for further details. Academic Support Oce, Durham University, University Oce, Old Elvet, Durham DH1 3HP e-mail: [email protected] Tel: +44 0191 334 6107 http://etheses.dur.ac.uk ON SOME ANCIENT AND MEDIEVAL ROOTS OF GEORGE BERKELEY'S THOUGHT A thesis submitted by Costica Bradatan in accordance with the requirements of the University of Durham for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Philosophy April 2003 The copyright of this thesis rests with the author. No quotation from it should be published without his prior written consent and information derived from it should be acknowledged. Declaration I declare that no part of this work has been submitted by me for any degree in this or any other university. -
Berkeley's Case Against Realism About Dynamics
Lisa Downing [Published in Berkeley’s Metaphysics, ed. Muehlmann, Penn State Press 1995, 197-214. Turbayne Essay Prize winner, 1992.] Berkeley's case against realism about dynamics While De Motu, Berkeley's treatise on the philosophical foundations of mechanics, has frequently been cited for the surprisingly modern ring of certain of its passages, it has not often been taken as seriously as Berkeley hoped it would be. Even A.A. Luce, in his editor's introduction to De Motu, describes it as a modest work, of limited scope. Luce writes: The De Motu is written in good, correct Latin, but in construction and balance the workmanship falls below Berkeley's usual standards. The title is ambitious for so brief a tract, and may lead the reader to expect a more sustained argument than he will find. A more modest title, say Motion without Matter, would fitly describe its scope and content. Regarded as a treatise on motion in general, it is a slight and disappointing work; but viewed from a narrower angle, it is of absorbing interest and high importance. It is the application of immaterialism to contemporary problems of motion, and should be read as such. ...apart from the Principles the De Motu would be nonsense.1 1The Works of George Berkeley, Bishop of Cloyne, ed. A.A. Luce and T.E. Jessop (London: Thomas Nelson and Sons, 1948-57), 4: 3-4. In this paper, all references to Berkeley are to the Luce-Jessop edition. Quotations from De Motu are taken from Luce's translation. I use the following abbreviations for Berkeley’s works: PC Philosophical Commentaries PHK-I Introduction to The Principles of Human Knowledge PHK The Principles of Human Knowledge DM De Motu A Alciphron TVV The Theory of Vision Vindicated and Explained S Siris 1 There are good general reasons to think, however, that Berkeley's aims in writing the book were as ambitious as the title he chose. -
A Historical Introduction to the Philosophy of Science, Fourth Edition
A Historical Introduction to the Philosophy of Science, Fourth edition John Losee OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS A Historical Introduction to the Philosophy of Science This page intentionally left blank A Historical Introduction to the Philosophy of Science Fourth edition John Losee 1 3 Great Clarendon Street, Oxford ox2 6dp Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide in Oxford New York Athens Auckland Bangkok Bogotá Buenos Aires Calcutta Cape Town Chennai Dar es Salaam Delhi Florence Hong Kong Istanbul Karachi Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Mumbai Nairobi Paris São Paulo Shanghai Singapore Taipei Tokyo Toronto Warsaw with associated companies in Berlin Ibadan Oxford is a registered trade mark of Oxford University Press in the UK and in certain other countries Published in the United States by Oxford University Press Inc., New York © John Losee , The moral rights of the author have been asserted Database right Oxford University Press (maker) First published All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of Oxford University Press, or as expressly permitted by law, or under terms agreed with the appropriate reprographics rights organizations. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside the scope of the above should be sent to the Rights Department, Oxford University Press, at the address above You must not circulate this book in any other binding or cover and you must impose this same condition on any acquirer British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Data available Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Data available ISBN ––– Typeset in Adobe Minion by RefineCatch Limited, Bungay, Suffolk Printed in Great Britain by Biddles Ltd., Guildford and King’s Lynn Preface This book is a historical sketch of the development of views about scientific method.