DOCSLIB.ORG

Philosophy Henri Lefebvre

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Philosophy Henri Lefebvre l\'11� philosophy T /-\ Henri Lefebvre Edited with an introduction by Stuart Elden METAPHILOSOPHY HENRI LEFEBVRE TRANSLATED BY DAVID FERNBACH EDITED WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY STUART ELDEN Y VERSO London • New York Cet ouvrage publie dans le cadre du programme d'aide a la publication beneficiedu soutien du Ministrere des Affaires Etrangereset du Service Culturel de l'Ambassade de France represente aux Etats-Unis. This work received support from the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Cultural Services of the French Embassy in the United States through their publishing assistance programme. This English-language edition published by Verso 2016 Originally published in French as Metaphilosophie © Editions Syllepse 2000 Translation© David Fernbach 2016 Introduction© Stuart Elden 2016 All rights reserved The moral rights of the authors have been asserted 1 3 57 9 10 8 6 4 2 Verso UK: 6 Meard Street, London W 1F oEG US: 20 Jay Street, Suite 1010, Brooklyn, NY 11201 versobooks.com Verso is the imprint of New Left Books ISBN-13: 978-1-78478-274-0 (PBK) ISBN-13: 978-1-78478-273-3 (HBK) ISBN-13: 978-1-78478-276-4 (UK EBK) ISBN-13: 978-1-78478-275-7 (US EBK) British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record fo r this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data A catalog record fo r this book is available from the Library of Congress Typset in Minion by Hewer Text UK, Ltd, Edinburgh Printed in the US by Maple Press Contents Introduction: A Study of Productive Tensions by Stuart Elden vii 1. Prolegomena: Notice to Readers 1 2. The Superseding of Philosophy 13 3- Philosophy in Crisis 43 4. Opening of the Testament: Inventory of the Legacy 101 s. The Search for Heirs ll5 6. Mimesis and Praxis 161 ]. Philosophy as Message 245 8. Metamorphosis of Philosophy: Poiesis and Metaphilosophy 291 Postface: Marxism and Poetry by Georges Labica 325 Introduction: A Study of Productive Tensions Stuart Elden BEFORE 1965: THE PATH TO METAPHILOSOPHY While he is best known today fo r his writing on cities, everyday life and the production of space, Henri Lefebvre's work covered a vast range of topics. Metaphilosophy, a book he wrote in his sixties but which counts as a mid-career landmark, is an essential part of that story. 1 The book pre-dates all of his major texts on urban questions, including The Right to the City, The Urban Revolution and Marxist Thought and the City. 2 It comes several years before The Production of Space, and almost twenty-six years ahead of his final book Elements of Rhythmanalysis. 3 It appeared shortly after the second volume of 1 Henri Lefebvre, Metaphilosophie, second edition, Paris: Syllepse, 2001 [1965]. For Lefebvre's career, Remi Hess, Henri Lefebvre et l'aventure du siecle, Paris: A. M. Metailie, 1988, is invaluable. English studies of Lefebvre include my own Understanding Henri Lefebvre: Theory and the Possible, London: Continuum, 2004; Rob Shields, Lefebvre, Love & Struggle: Spatial Dialectics, London: Routledge, 1999; Andy Merrifield, Henri Lefebvre: A Critical Introduction, London: Routledge, 2006; and Lukasz Stanek, Henri Lefebvre on Space: Architecture, Urban Research, and the Production of Theory, Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2011. 2 La droit ala ville, Paris: Anthropos, 1968, translated and edited by Eleonore Kofman and Elizabeth Lebas as 'TheRight to the City', in Writings on Cities, Oxford: Blackwell, 1996, pp. 63-181; La revolution urbaine, Paris: Gallimard, translated by Robert Bonanno as The Urban Revolution, Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2003; Marxist Thought and the City, translated by Robert Bonnano, Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2016. 3 La production de l'espace, Paris: Anthropos, 1974, translated by Donald Nicholson-Smith as The Production of Space, Oxford: Blackwell, 1991; Elements de rythmanalyse: Introduction a la connaissance de rythmes, Paris: Syllepse, 1992, translated by Stuart Elden and Gerald Moore as 'Elements of Rhythmanalysis: Introduction to the Understanding of Rhythms', in Rhythmanalysis: Space, Time and Everyday Life, London: Continuum, 2004, pp. 1-69. viii METAPHILOSOPHY Critique of Everyday Life, and in the same year as his La proclamation de la Commune and his study of the Pyrenees.4 Lefebvre regularly stated that there were, for him, three key thinkers: Hegel, Marx and Nietzsche. Metaphilosophy clearly demonstrates this threefold debt, but it also brings a number of other figures into the conversation. In his earliest writings, dating back to the 1920s, Lefebvre was already under the spell of Hegel. He was part of a small group that fo unded the journal Philosophies, along with Georges Polizer, Norbert Guterman, Georges Friedmann and Pierre Morhange. Theirwork was partly orientated as a challenge to Henri Bergson, and under the influ­ ence of Leon Brunschvicg, whom Lefebvre references a couple of times in this study. Theywrote a manifesto of which excerpts were published in the Philosophies journal and then in its successor, Eesprit.5 Politzer translated Friedrich Schelling's On the Essence of Human Freedom and Lefebvre contributed a long introduction. 6 Lefebvre read Edmund Husserl around this time, and while he would continue to have an interest in phenomenology throughout his career, later reproached himself for his 'juvenile presumptions' towards what would become known as existentialism/ It is important to underline that little of Husserl was published at this time, and it pre-dates the publication of Martin Heidegger's Sein und Zeit in 1927. Lefebvre and his colleagues worked fo r a while with the surrealists, and then discovered Marx. Together with Guterman, Lefebvre founded the journal La Revue marxiste. Marx's important 1844 manuscripts had been published in 4 Critique de la vie quotidienne II: Fondements d'une sociologie de la quotidiennete, Paris: LArche, 1961, translated by John Moore as Critique of Everyday Life Volume II: Foundations for a Sociology of the Everyday, London: Verso, 2002; La proclamation de la Commune, Paris: Gallimard, 1965; Pyrenees, second edition, Pau: Cairn, 2000 [1965]. 5 On this period of his career, see Bud Burkhard, French Marxism between the Wars: Henri Lefebvre and the 'Philosophies', Atlantic Highlands: Humanity Books, 2ooo; and the work of Michel Trebitsch, including his introductions to the Verso translations of the Critique of Everyday Life. 6 'Introduction: Le meme et l'autre: in Friedrich Schelling, Recherches philosophiques sur !'essencede la liberte humaine et sur les problemes qui sy rattachent, translated by Georges Politzer, Paris: F.Rieder, pp. 7-64. For an English translation of Schelling's book, see Of Human Freedom, translated by James Gutmann, Chicago: Open Court, 1936. 7 See Lexistentialisme, second edition, Paris: Anthropos, 2001 [1946]. INTRODUCTION: A STUDY OF PRODUCTIVE TENSIONS ix German only in 1927, and it was a considerable coup for the journal to publish the firsttranslations of these, made by Guterman, in the first and second issues, in 1929.8 Lefebvre joined the French Communist Party, the PCF, that same year. In 1934 Lefebvre and Guterman followed this work with a collection of Marx's writings, spanning his entire career, and in 1938 produced a collection of Hegel's work and a translation of Lenin's notebooks on Hegel.9 But not simply serving as editors, Lefebvre and Guterman wrote an important introduction for each book and also collaborated on La conscience mystifiee, published in 1936.10 Shortly before the war broke out, Guterman, Jewish and with suspect papers, leftFrance for safety in New Yo rk. Further collab­ orations were therefore limited, though he and Lefebvre kept up a long correspondence over multiple decades. 11 This early period had a profound impact on Lefebvre's work, especially on analyses of the rela­ tion between Marx and Hegel, a major theme of his career. Opposing the prevailing political atmosphere in Europe, Lefebvre also wrote two stinging critiques of right-wing politics: La national­ isme contre les nations in 1937 and Hitler au pouvoir: les enseignements de cinq annees de fa scisme in 1938.12 While the first has gone through three editions and is widely available, the second is hard to find today, though it was recently translated into Italian.13 But, in terms of 8 Karl Marx, 'Travail et propriete privee', La Revue marxiste, no. 1, February 1929, pp. 7-28; 'Notes sur les besoins, la production et la division du travail: La revue marxiste, no. 2, June 1929, pp. 513-38. The Revue also published important texts by Engels. A few years later Lefebvre and Guterman published Marx's 'Critique de la dialectique hegelienne' in their new journal Avant-Paste in two parts: no. 1, June 1933, pp. 33-9, and no. 2, August 1933, pp. 110-16. 9 Marceaux choisis de Karl Marx, Paris: Gallimard, 1934; G. W. F. Hegel, Marceaux choisis, Paris: Gallimard, 1938; Cahiers de Lenine sur la dialectique de Hegel, Paris: Gallimard, 1938. 10 Henri Lefebvre and Norbert Guterman, La conscience mystifiee, third edition, Paris: Syllepse, 1999 [1936]. 11 Guterman's papers are archived in the rare books and manuscripts room of the Butler Library of Columbia University, and contain letters and manuscripts from Lefebvre, among other materials. 12 Le nationalisme contre les nations, second edition, Paris: Meridiens Klincksieck, 1988 [1937]; Hitler au pouvoir: les enseignements de cinq annees de fascisme, Paris: Bureau deditions, 1938. 13 Hitler al potere: Cinque anni di nazismo in Germania, translated by Cristiano Casalini, Milano: Medusa, 2012. X METAPHILOSOPHY Lefebvre's longer-term work and the direct antecedents to the present book, two books published in 1939 are perhaps most important: Dialectical Materialism and Nietzsche. 14 The former, one of his first books to be translated into English, develops a clear and nuanced appropriation of Hegelian-Marxist thought, using the same title but opposing Stalin's work on the topic.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Cutting Patterns in DW Griffith's Biographs
    Cutting patterns in D.W. Griffith’s Biographs: An experimental statistical study Mike Baxter, 16 Lady Bay Road, West Bridgford, Nottingham, NG2 5BJ, U.K. (e-mail: [email protected]) 1 Introduction A number of recent studies have examined statistical methods for investigating cutting patterns within films, for the purposes of comparing patterns across films and/or for summarising ‘average’ patterns in a body of films. The present paper investigates how different ideas that have been proposed might be combined to identify subsets of similarly constructed films (i.e. exhibiting comparable cutting structures) within a larger body. The ideas explored are illustrated using a sample of 62 D.W Griffith Biograph one-reelers from the years 1909–1913. Yuri Tsivian has suggested that ‘all films are different as far as their SL struc- tures; yet some are less different than others’. Barry Salt, with specific reference to the question of whether or not Griffith’s Biographs ‘have the same large scale variations in their shot lengths along the length of the film’ says the ‘answer to this is quite clearly, no’. This judgment is based on smooths of the data using seventh degree trendlines and the observation that these ‘are nearly all quite different one from another, and too varied to allow any grouping that could be matched against, say, genre’1. While the basis for Salt’s view is clear Tsivian’s apparently oppos- ing position that some films are ‘less different than others’ seems to me to be a reasonably incontestable sentiment. It depends on how much you are prepared to simplify structure by smoothing in order to effect comparisons.
    [Show full text]
  • Descriptive AI Ethics: Collecting and Understanding the Public Opinion
    Descriptive AI Ethics: Collecting and Understanding the Public Opinion GABRIEL LIMA, School of Computing, KAIST and Data Science Group, IBS, Republic of Korea MEEYOUNG CHA, Data Science Group, IBS and School of Computing, KAIST, Republic of Korea There is a growing need for data-driven research efforts on how the public perceives the ethical, moral, and legal issues of autonomous AI systems. The current debate on the responsibility gap posed by these systems is one such example. This work proposes a mixed AI ethics model that allows normative and descriptive research to complement each other, by aiding scholarly discussion with data gathered from the public. We discuss its implications on bridging the gap between optimistic and pessimistic views towards AI systems’ deployment. 1 INTRODUCTION In light of the significant changes artificial intelligence (AI) systems bring to society, many scholars discuss whether and how their influence can be positive and negative [21]. As we start to encounter AI systems in various morally and legally salient environments, some have begun to explore how the current responsibility ascription practices might be adapted to meet such new technologies [19, 33]. A critical viewpoint today is that autonomous and self-learning AI systems pose a so-called responsibility gap [27]. These systems’ autonomy challenges human control over them [13], while their adaptability leads to unpredictability. Hence, it might infeasible to trace back responsibility to a specific entity if these systems cause any harm. Considering responsibility practices as the adoption of certain attitudes towards an agent [40], scholarly work has also posed the question of whether AI systems are appropriate subjects of such practices [15, 29, 37] — e.g., they might “have a body to kick,” yet they “have no soul to damn” [4].
    [Show full text]
  • Naturalized Metaphilosophy
    Synthese DOI 10.1007/s11229-009-9662-1 Naturalized metaphilosophy David R. Morrow · Chris Alen Sula Received: 6 January 2008 / Accepted: 30 November 2008 © Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2009 Abstract Traditional representations of philosophy have tended to prize the role of reason in the discipline. These accounts focus exclusively on ideas and arguments as animating forces in the field. But anecdotal evidence and more rigorous sociological studies suggest there is more going on in philosophy. In this article, we present two hypotheses about social factors in the field: that social factors influence the develop- ment of philosophy, and that status and reputation—and thus social influence—will tend to be awarded to philosophers who offer rationally compelling arguments for their views. In order to test these hypotheses, we need a more comprehensive grasp on the field than traditional representations afford. In particular, we need more substantial data about various social connections between philosophers. This investigation belongs to a naturalized metaphilosophy, an empirical study of the discipline itself, and it offers prospects for a fuller and more reliable understanding of philosophy. Keywords Philosophy · Sociology · Networks · Reason · Naturalism In addressing questions of how to represent philosophy, we should begin—in good philosophical fashion—by first asking what philosophy is. Historical answers have often prized the role of reason in addressing questions of existence, knowledge, and value. Thus, Plato recommends contemplation of the forms, Descartes’ meditator at- tempts to deduce self-evident truths from first principles, Spinoza discusses an activity carried out sub specie aeternitatis by a rational thinker who has removed all traces of subjectivity and individuality from his thought, and Kant describes philosophy as D.
    [Show full text]
  • Edgar Morin’S Path of Complexity
    FOREWORD EDGAR MORIN’S PATH OF COMPLEXITY ALFONSO MONTUORI Ndlr: A Montuori et l’éditeur de ‘On Complexity’ nous autorisent à reprender ici le texte anglais de la préface de l’ouvrage d’Edgar Morin qu’ils publient « ON COMPLEXITY » The reform in thinking is a key anthropological and historical problem. This implies a mental revolution of considerably greater proportions than the Copernican revolution. Never before in the history of humanity have the responsibilities of thinking weighed so crushingly on us. Does knowing that knowledge cannot be guaranteed by a foundation not mean that we have already acquired a first fundamental knowledge? And should this not lead us to abandon the architectural metaphor, in which the term “foundation” assumes an indispensable meaning, in favor of a musical metaphor of construction in movement that transforms in its very movement the constitutive elements that form it? And might we not also consider the knowledge of knowledge as a construction in movement? We need a kind of thinking that reconnects that which is disjointed and compartmentalized, that respects diversity as it recognizes unity, and that tries to discern interdependencies. We need a radical thinking (which gets to the root of problems), a multidimensional thinking, and an organizational or systemic thinking. History has not reached a stagnant end, nor is it triumphantly marching towards the radiant future. It is being catapulted into an unknown adventure. Edgar Morin: A Biblio-biography Perhaps the best way to provide a contextual introduction to Morin’s work is through an outline of his intellectual trajectory, in the form of a “biblio-biography.” A review of Morin’s journey helps us, I believe, to better understand the man and his mission in the essays that follow.
    [Show full text]
  • Understanding Henri Lefebvre
    Understanding Henri Lefebvre Theory and the Possible Stuart Elden continuum LONDON • NEW YORK Continuum The Tower Building, 15 East 26th Street 11 York Road New York London SE1 7NX NY 10010 www.continuumbooks.com © Stuart Elden 2004 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publishers. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN: 0-8264-7002-5 (HB) 0-8264-7003-3 (PB) Typeset by Refinecatch Ltd, Bungay Suffolk Printed and bound in Great Britain by MPG Books Ltd, Bodmin, Cornwall Contents Acknowledgements v Introduction: Henri Lefebvre 1901-91 1 1 Rethinking Marxism 15 A new reading of Marx 15 The 'juvenile presumptions' of existentialism 19 Structuralism as the French ideology 22 Logic and dialectics 27 Applications of the dialectic 36 Alienation 39 Production 43 The Party and beyond 46 2 Engaging with philosophy 65 Beyond Marxism 65 The Philosophies group, Schelling and Hegel 67 Nietzsche against the fascists 73 Heidegger and the metaphysics of the Grand Guignol 76 Metaphilosophy 83 Descartes and literature 85 3 The critique of everyday life 110 A day in the life 111 A critique of the present 115 Festival and revolution 117 4 From the rural to the urban 127 The town and the country 129 A sack of potatoes 135 Reading rural spaces 13 7 The
    [Show full text]
  • Human Creation, Imagination and Autonomy a Brief Introduction to Castoriadis’ Social and Psychoanalytical Philosophy
    HUMAN CREATION, IMAGINATION AND AUTONOMY A BRIEF INTRODUCTION TO CASTORIADIS’ SOCIAL AND PSYCHOANALYTICAL PHILOSOPHY Theofanis Tassis University of Crete Introduction Cornelius Castoriadis has been one of the most important and innovative intellectuals of the second half of the 20th century. Philosopher, revolutionary, co-founder of the legendary group and journal Socialisme ou Barbarie, practicing psychoanalyst who revised Freudian theory, political intellectual who inspired workers and students during the May 1968 events in France, professional economist in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, recognized hellenist, distinguished representative of the radical left and supporter of the project of autonomy. As Jürgen Habermas states, Cornelius Castoriadis undertook “…the most original, the most ambitious and the most profound task to view … the liberating interference of history, society, inner and outer nature, as an act”.1 Octavio Paz refers to him as an intellectual “to whom we owe a precious elucidation of politics and philosophy”,2 Edgar Morin names him “a titan of the spirit”,3 and Axel Honneth characterizes him as “the last representative and renovator of the tradition of the European Left and the creator of an influential theory”.4 According to Hans Joas, 1 Jürgen Habermas, Der philosophische Diskurs der Moderne, Suhrkamp, 1985, p. 380. 2 Octavio Paz, “Itinerarum, Kleine politische Autobiographie”, in Frankfurt Allgemeine, 1993, p. 56. 3 Edgar Morin, « Castoriadis: un titan de l’esprit (necrologie) », in Le Monde, 30 December 1997, p. 1. 4 Axel Honneth, “Die Kreativität des Sozialen: Zum Tode von Cornelius Castoriadis”, in Frankfurter Rundschau, 30 December 1997. Philosophica, 37, Lisboa, 2011, pp. 197-213 198 Theofanis Tassis Castoriadis’s theory is “…the most original contemporary attempt to express a political philosophy through the notion of creativity”.5 However, for a long time, his ideas, circulated broadly, and became more famous than his name.
    [Show full text]
  • Socialisme Ou Barbarie: a French Revolutionary Group (1949-65)
    Socialisme ou Barbarie: A French Revolutionary Group (1949-65) Marcel van der Lindenl In memory of Cornelius Castoriadis, 11 March 1922 - 26 December 1997 The political and theoretical views developed by the radical group Socialisme ou Barbarie from 1949 onward, have only recently received some attention outside the French speaking world.2 For a long period things were little different in France where the group and its similarly named periodical also received scant attention. This only changed after the students' and workers' rebellion in May- June 1968. The remnants of the journal, which had been unsaleable up to then - it had stopped appearing three years earlier - suddenly became a hot-selling item. Many of the 'heretical' ideas published in it seemed to be confirmed by the unexpected revolt. In 1977 the daily Le Monde wrote on the intellectual efforts of Socialisme ou Barbarie: "This work - aIthough unknown to the public at large -has nevertheless had a powerful influence on those who played a role in May 1968." In the writings of the group one finds "most of the ideas which are being debated nowadays (from workers' control through to the critique of modern technology, of Bolshevism or of mar^)."^ In Socialisme ou Barbarie an attempt was made to consider the bureaucra- tization of social movements. The central questions were: is it an iron law that movements opposing the existing order either fall apart or change into rigid hierarchies? How can militants organize themselves without being absorbed or rigidified into a bureaucratic apparatus? Socialisme ou Barbarie first posed these questions because the group asked itself why things had gone wrong in the traditional labour movement.
    [Show full text]
  • An Invitation to Qualitative Research
    CHAPTER 1 An Invitation to Qualitative Research n recent years, binge drinking has caused considerable concern among admin - istrators at colleges and universities, compelled by statistics that show marked Iincreases in such behavior. A qualitative researcher studying this topic would seek to go behind the statistics to understand the issue. Recently, we attended a fac - ulty meeting that addressed the problem of binge drinking and heard concerned faculty and administrators suggest some of the following solutions: • stricter campus policies with enforced consequences • more faculty-student socials with alcohol for those over 21 years old • more bus trips into the city to local sites such as major museums to get students interested in other pastimes Although well-intentioned, these folks were grasping at straws. This is because although they were armed with statistics indicating binge drinking was prevalent and thus could identify a problem, they had no information about why this trend was occurring. Without understanding this issue on a meaningful level, it is diffi - cult to remedy. At this point, we invite you to spend 5 to 10 minutes jotting down a list of questions you think are important to investigate as we try to better under - stand the phenomenon of binge drinking at college. What Is Qualitative Research? The qualitative approach to research is a unique grounding—the position from which to conduct research—that fosters particular ways of asking questions and particular ways of thinking through problems. As noted in the opening dis - cussion of binge drinking in college, the questions asked in this type of research usually begin with words like how, why, or what.
    [Show full text]
  • Is There a French Philosophy of Technology? in Loeve, S
    Is there a french philosophy of technology ? General introduction Sacha Loeve, Xavier Guchet, Bernadette Bensaude Vincent To cite this version: Sacha Loeve, Xavier Guchet, Bernadette Bensaude Vincent. Is there a french philosophy of tech- nology ? General introduction. Sacha Loeve; Xavier Guchet; Bernadette Bensaude Vincent. French philosophy of technology. Classical readings and contemporary approaches, Springer, pp.1-20, 2018, Philosophy of engineering and technology, 978-3-319-89518-5. 10.1007/978-3-319-89518-5_1. halshs- 02013031 HAL Id: halshs-02013031 https://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-02013031 Submitted on 9 Feb 2019 HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est archive for the deposit and dissemination of sci- destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents entific research documents, whether they are pub- scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, lished or not. The documents may come from émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de teaching and research institutions in France or recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires abroad, or from public or private research centers. publics ou privés. Loeve, S., Guchet X., & Bensaude Vincent, B. (2018). Is There a French Philosophy of Technology? In Loeve, S. Guchet X., & Bensaude Vincent, B. (eds.), French Philosophy of Technology. Classical Readings and Contemporary Approaches , Cham: Springer, pp. 1-20. Post-print version. Is There a French Philosophy of Technology? General Introduction Sacha Loeve Institut de Recherches Philosophiques de Lyon (IRPhiL) Université Jean Moulin Lyon 3, France Xavier Guchet Connaissances, Organisation et Systèmes TECHniques (COSTECH) Université de Technologie de Compiègne, France Bernadette Bensaude Vincent Centre d’Etude des Connaissances, des Techniques et des Pratiques (CETCOPRA) Université Paris 1 Panthéon – Sorbonne, France Abstract The existence of a French philosophy of technology is a matter of debate.
    [Show full text]
  • Empiricism, Stances, and the Problem of Voluntarism
    Swarthmore College Works Philosophy Faculty Works Philosophy 1-1-2011 Empiricism, Stances, And The Problem Of Voluntarism Peter Baumann Swarthmore College, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://works.swarthmore.edu/fac-philosophy Part of the Philosophy Commons Let us know how access to these works benefits ouy Recommended Citation Peter Baumann. (2011). "Empiricism, Stances, And The Problem Of Voluntarism". Synthese. Volume 178, Issue 1. 27-36. DOI: 10.1007/s11229-009-9519-7 https://works.swarthmore.edu/fac-philosophy/13 This work is brought to you for free by Swarthmore College Libraries' Works. It has been accepted for inclusion in Philosophy Faculty Works by an authorized administrator of Works. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Empiricism, Stances and the Problem of Voluntarism Peter Baumann Synthese 178, 2011, 207-224 Empiricism can be very roughly characterized as the view that our knowledge about the world is based on sensory experience. Our knowledge about the world is "based" on sensory experience in the sense that we could not know what we know without relying on sense experience. This leaves open the possibility that sense experience is only necessary but not sufficient for the knowledge based upon it1-as long as the non-empirical elements are not themselves sufficient for the relevant piece of knowledge.2 The basing relation is not just a genetic one but also a justificatory one: Sense experience does not only lead to beliefs which happen to count as knowledge but also qualifies them as knowledge. In his important book The Empirical Stance Bas van Fraassen characterizes traditional empiricism at one point in a more negative way-as involving the rejection of "metaphysical" explanations which proceed by postulating the existence of something not 1 "But although all our cognition commences with experience, yet it does not on that account all arise from experience." (Kant, CpR, B1).
    [Show full text]
  • CH 01 Study Guide
    Okami Study Guide: Chapter 1 1 Chapter in Review 1. Psychology is the scientific study of mental processes and events (mind) and any potentially observable or measureable activity of a living organism (behavior). Psychological science uses methods grounded in modern scientific knowledge to conduct research in order to advance psychological knowledge. Variable topics and points of view characterize psychology. 2. Although people have always been interested in questions of mental life and the connection between mind and behavior, psychology as a concept did not exist in the ancient world. Early attempts to treat psychological questions include the teachings of Buddha, Aristotle, Chinese philosophers such as Confucius and Lao- tze, and Renaissance philosophers such as René Decartes (dualism) and John Locke (British empiricism). 3. Scientific psychology was born during the late 19th century as a union between philosophy and biology. Some important early schools of scientific psychology include structuralism (Titchener), functionalism (James), psychoanalysis (Freud), behaviorism (Watson, Skinner), and humanism (Rogers, Maslow). 4. Psychology today is distinguished by employment setting (university, hospital, business, clinic) and focus (research or application of research to solving real- world problems); by the psychologist’s field of study (e.g., developmental psychology, clinical psychology, cognitive psychology, etc.); and by the psychologist’s perspective, or point of view. Contemporary perspectives include cognitive, biobehavioral, psychodynamic, evolutionary, sociocultural, and positive psychology. 5. Science is an empirical method of gaining knowledge of the natural world. It is not the only empirical method of gaining this knowledge, but it is the best one. This is because science is less prone to bias than other methods, has built-in methods to change errors in thinking, and constantly refines knowledge gained in the past.
    [Show full text]
  • Phenomenology: a Philosophy and Method of Inquiry
    Journal of Education and Educational Developement Discussion Phenomenology: A Philosophy and Method of Inquiry Sadruddin Bahadur Qutoshi Karakorum International University, Pakistan [email protected] Abstract Phenomenology as a philosophy and a method of inquiry is not limited to an approach to knowing, it is rather an intellectual engagement in interpretations and meaning making that is used to understand the lived world of human beings at a conscious level. Historically, Husserl’ (1913/1962) perspective of phenomenology is a science of understanding human beings at a deeper level by gazing at the phenomenon. However, Heideggerian view of interpretive-hermeneutic phenomenology gives wider meaning to the lived experiences under study. Using this approach, a researcher uses bracketing as a taken for granted assumption in describing the natural way of appearance of phenomena to gain insights into lived experiences and interpret for meaning making. The data collection and analysis takes place side by side to illumine the specific experience to identify the phenomena that is perceived by the actors in a particular situation. The outcomes of a phenomenological study broadens the mind, improves the ways of thinking to see a phenomenon, and it enables to see ahead and define researchers’ posture through intentional study of lived experiences. However, the subjectivity and personal knowledge in perceiving and interpreting it from the research participant’s point of view has been central in phenomenological studies. To achieve such an objective, phenomenology could be used extensively in social sciences. Keywords: descriptive nature, interpretative nature, method of inquiry, phenomenology, philosophy Introduction Phenomenology as a philosophy provides a theoretical guideline to researchers to understand phenomena at the level of subjective reality.
    [Show full text]