1 Hume and a Worry About Simplicity Stewart Duncan 5 August 2008 1
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Beauty on Display Plato and the Concept of the Kalon
BEAUTY ON DISPLAY PLATO AND THE CONCEPT OF THE KALON JONATHAN FINE Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY 2018 © 2018 Jonathan Fine All rights reserved ABSTRACT BEAUTY ON DISPLAY: PLATO AND THE CONCEPT OF THE KALON JONATHAN FINE A central concept for Plato is the kalon – often translated as the beautiful, fine, admirable, or noble. This dissertation shows that only by prioritizing dimensions of beauty in the concept can we understand the nature, use, and insights of the kalon in Plato. The concept of the kalon organizes aspirations to appear and be admired as beautiful for one’s virtue. We may consider beauty superficial and concern for it vain – but what if it were also indispensable to living well? By analyzing how Plato uses the concept of the kalon to contest cultural practices of shame and honour regulated by ideals of beauty, we come to see not only the tensions within the concept but also how attractions to beauty steer, but can subvert, our attempts to live well. TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements ii 1 Coordinating the Kalon: A Critical Introduction 1 1 The Kalon and the Dominant Approach 2 2 A Conceptual Problem 10 3 Overview 24 2 Beauty, Shame, and the Appearance of Virtue 29 1 Our Ancient Contemporaries 29 2 The Cultural Imagination 34 3 Spirit and the Social Dimension of the Kalon 55 4 Before the Eyes of Others 82 3 Glory, Grief, and the Problem of Achilles 100 1 A Tragic Worldview 103 2 The Heroic Ideal 110 3 Disgracing Achilles 125 4 Putting Poikilia in its Place 135 1 Some Ambivalences 135 2 The Aesthetics of Poikilia 138 3 The Taste of Democracy 148 4 Lovers of Sights and Sounds 173 5 The Possibility of Wonder 182 5 The Guise of the Beautiful 188 1 A Psychological Distinction 190 2 From Disinterested Admiration to Agency 202 3 The Opacity of Love 212 4 Looking Good? 218 Bibliography 234 i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS “To do philosophy is to explore one’s own temperament,” Iris Murdoch suggested at the outset of “Of ‘God’ and ‘Good’”. -
The Role of Simplicity in Science and Theory. C
East Tennessee State University Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University Undergraduate Honors Theses Student Works 5-2013 It's Not So Simple: The Role of Simplicity in Science and Theory. C. R. Gregg East Tennessee State University Follow this and additional works at: https://dc.etsu.edu/honors Part of the Theory and Philosophy Commons Recommended Citation Gregg, C. R., "It's Not So Simple: The Role of Simplicity in Science and Theory." (2013). Undergraduate Honors Theses. Paper 97. https://dc.etsu.edu/honors/97 This Honors Thesis - Withheld is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Works at Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Undergraduate Honors Theses by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University. For more information, please contact [email protected]. IT’S NOT SO SIMPLE: THE ROLE OF SIMPLICITY IN SCIENCE AND THEORY Thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of Honors By C. R. Gregg Philosophy Honors In Discipline Program East Tennessee State University May 3, 2013 (Updated) May 7, 2013 Dr. David Harker, Faculty Mentor Dr. Jeffrey Gold, Honors Coordinator Dr. Gary Henson, Faculty Reader Dr. Allen Coates, Faculty Reader Paul Tudico, Faculty Reader ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to sincerely thank: David Harker, my mentor and friend. Paul Tudico, who is largely responsible for my choice to pursue Philosophy. Leslie MacAvoy, without whom I would not be an HID student. Karen Kornweibel, for believing in me. Rebecca Pyles, for believing in me. Gary Henson and Allen Coates, for offering their time to serve as readers. -
St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas on the Mind, Body, and Life After Death
The University of Akron IdeaExchange@UAkron Williams Honors College, Honors Research The Dr. Gary B. and Pamela S. Williams Honors Projects College Spring 2020 St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas on the Mind, Body, and Life After Death Christopher Choma [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://ideaexchange.uakron.edu/honors_research_projects Part of the Christianity Commons, Epistemology Commons, European History Commons, History of Philosophy Commons, History of Religion Commons, Metaphysics Commons, Philosophy of Mind Commons, and the Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion Commons Please take a moment to share how this work helps you through this survey. Your feedback will be important as we plan further development of our repository. Recommended Citation Choma, Christopher, "St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas on the Mind, Body, and Life After Death" (2020). Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects. 1048. https://ideaexchange.uakron.edu/honors_research_projects/1048 This Dissertation/Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by The Dr. Gary B. and Pamela S. Williams Honors College at IdeaExchange@UAkron, the institutional repository of The University of Akron in Akron, Ohio, USA. It has been accepted for inclusion in Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects by an authorized administrator of IdeaExchange@UAkron. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. 1 St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas on the Mind, Body, and Life After Death By: Christopher Choma Sponsored by: Dr. Joseph Li Vecchi Readers: Dr. Howard Ducharme Dr. Nathan Blackerby 2 Table of Contents Introduction p. 4 Section One: Three General Views of Human Nature p. -
David Hume, "The Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion," and Religious Tolerance
University of Tennessee, Knoxville TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange Supervised Undergraduate Student Research Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects and Creative Work 5-2020 David Hume, "The Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion," and Religious Tolerance Jarrett Delozier [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_chanhonoproj Part of the History of Philosophy Commons, History of Religion Commons, Intellectual History Commons, and the Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion Commons Recommended Citation Delozier, Jarrett, "David Hume, "The Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion," and Religious Tolerance" (2020). Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects. https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_chanhonoproj/2382 This Dissertation/Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Supervised Undergraduate Student Research and Creative Work at TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. It has been accepted for inclusion in Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects by an authorized administrator of TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. For more information, please contact [email protected]. DeLozier 1 Introduction In the history of philosophy of religion and natural theology, David Hume is an immensely influential contributor. One of his most important works in the field is his Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion, which contains his greatest treatment of natural theology, specifically the design argument. However, there’s a big problem which the Dialogues present to understanding Hume. Eleven of the twelve parts of the Dialogues contain Hume’s sharp criticisms and attacks on the Design argument. But in the final part, in what is often called “Philo’s Reversal,” he seems to completely reverse course by renouncing his skepticism and endorsing the Design argument. -
Why the One Cannot Have Parts: Plotinus on Divine Simplicity
Why the One Cannot Have Parts 1 Why the One Cannot Have Parts: Plotinus on Divine Simplicity, Ontological Independence, and Perfect Being Theology By Caleb Murray Cohoe This is an Author's Original/Accepted Manuscript of an article whose final and definitive form, the Version of Record appears in: Philosophical Quarterly (Published By Oxford University Press): Volume 67, Issue 269, 1 OctoBer 2017, Pages 751–771: https://doi.org/10.1093/pq/pqx008 Abstract: I use Plotinus to present aBsolute divine simplicity as the consequence of principles aBout metaphysical and explanatory priority to which most theists are already committed. I employ Phil Corkum’s account of ontological independence as independent status to present a new interpretation of Plotinus on the dependence of everything on the One. On this reading, if something else (whether an internal part or something external) makes you what you are, then you are ontologically dependent on it. I show that this account supports Plotinus’s claim that any entity with parts cannot Be fully independent. In particular, I lay out Plotinus’s case for thinking that even a divine self-understanding intellect cannot Be fully independent. I then argue that a weaker version of simplicity is not enough for the theist since priority monism meets the conditions of a moderate version of ontological independence just as well as a transcendent But complex ultimate Being. Keywords: aseity, simplicity, ontological dependence, perfect Being, monism, Platonism 1. Introduction This paper draws on the works of Plotinus to present absolute divine simplicity as the natural consequence of principles aBout metaphysical and explanatory priority to which the theist (and the perfect Being theologian in particular) is already committed. -
Bayes and the Simplicity Principle in Perception
Rutgers Center for Cognitive Science Technical Report #80, 2004 Bayes and the Simplicity Principle in Perception Jacob Feldman Dept. of Psychology, Center for Cognitive Science Rutgers University Two governing principles of perceptual inference, the Likelihood principle and the Simplicity principle, have been much discussed by perceptual theorists, and often placed in opposition. Recently, Chater (1996) has argued that the two principles are actually consistent in that their decisions tend to agree asymptotically. This article seeks to relate in a more mathematically di- rect way what is arguably the most plausible version of a likelihood theory, Bayesian inference, with a recently-proposed generalized formal minimum principle (the maximum-depth rule of Minimal Model theory). Assuming qualitative information on the part of the observer, and equal prior probabilities among among all competing hypotheses, maximizing the Bayesian posterior probability turns out to be mathematically equivalent to choosing the maximum- depth interpretation from a hierarchical space of possible scene interpretations. That is, the maximum-depth rule is analytically equivalent to Bayes with a particular choice of priors. Thus this version of the Simplicity principle, as well as “full-blown Bayes,” each constitute distinct points in a well-defined continuum of possible perceptual decision rules. In a very literal math- ematical sense, the observer’s position in this continuum—and, consequently, the perceptual decision rule it employs—reflect the nature of its tacit assumptions about the environment. Simplicity vs. Likelihood of the principle (Hatfield & Epstein, 1985), paralleling an principles in Perception analogous debate about the rationale of Occam’s razor in the selection of scientific theories (Quine, 1965; Sober, 1975). -
Leibniz on China and Christianity: the Reformation of Religion and European Ethics Through Converting China to Christianity
Bard College Bard Digital Commons Senior Projects Spring 2016 Bard Undergraduate Senior Projects Spring 2016 Leibniz on China and Christianity: The Reformation of Religion and European Ethics through Converting China to Christianity Ela Megan Kaplan Bard College, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.bard.edu/senproj_s2016 Part of the European History Commons This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License. Recommended Citation Kaplan, Ela Megan, "Leibniz on China and Christianity: The Reformation of Religion and European Ethics through Converting China to Christianity" (2016). Senior Projects Spring 2016. 279. https://digitalcommons.bard.edu/senproj_s2016/279 This Open Access work is protected by copyright and/or related rights. It has been provided to you by Bard College's Stevenson Library with permission from the rights-holder(s). You are free to use this work in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights- holder(s) directly, unless additional rights are indicated by a Creative Commons license in the record and/or on the work itself. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Leibniz on China and Christianity: The Reformation of Religion and European Ethics through Converting China to Christianity Senior Project submitted to The Division of Social Studies Of Bard College by Ela Megan Kaplan Annandale-on-Hudson, New York May 2016 5 Acknowledgements I would like to thank my mother, father and omniscient advisor for tolerating me for the duration of my senior project. -
HUME and MILL on "UTILITY of RELIGION": a BORGEAN GARDEN of FORKING PATHS?L
TEAO~ Reuista Iberoamericana de Estudios Utilitaristas-2005, XlVII: 117-129 ISSN 1132-0877 HUME AND MILL ON "UTILITY OF RELIGION": A BORGEAN GARDEN OF FORKING PATHS?l JOSE L. TASSET2 University ofA Coruiia ABSTRACT This work is not a specific assessment of Utility ofReligion by John Stuart Mill, but a defence of what I think is a utilitarian, but not millian, view on the problem that work states, the question of the utility of religion in contemporary societies. I construct that view from neohumeanism more than from millian positions, notwithstanding, I postulate that view as a genuine utilitarian one. Every cultural tradition makes a different approach to ethical and political theories. Spanish and Ibero-American utilitarians make precisely it with Clas sical Utilitarianism. From that point of view, Ibero-American people identifies utilitarianism with radical and enlightened tradition linked with the reform that through XVIIIth and XIXth centuries tried to undermine the foundations of conservative society in our nations. This aim was not achieved, at least not completely; because of that, the pursuit of Utilitarianism remains opened between us. In the end,I will argue that Spanish and Ibero-American utilitarians connect utilitarianism with philosophical and political radicalism, and inside that His panic utilitarianism, plays an important role the criticism of social and political functions of Religion. Maybe, part of the future of Utilitarianism in our cultural context depends on a return of the Theory to its radical roots, also in religious subjects. Keywords: J ohn Stuart Mill, David Hume, Jorge Luis Borges, religion, deism, theism, functionalism, truth. RESUMEN Este trabajo no pretende ser una evaluaci6n especifica de la Utilidad de la Religi6n de John Stuart Mill, sino una defensa de 10 que creo es una posici6n 1 Date of acceptance: 26/07/2006. -
6. Simplicity
Rev: November 13, 2012 December 14, 2014 Minor typos corrected, June17, 2018 DRAFT Chapter from a book, The Material Theory of Induction, now in preparation. Simplicity as a Surrogate1 John D. Norton Department of History and Philosophy of Science University of Pittsburgh http://www.pitt.edu/~jdnorton 1. Introduction The idea is found almost everywhere, from the most prosaic to the most abstruse settings. Choosing the simpler option speeds you to the truth. In ordinary life, when the lights go out, we choose the simpler hypothesis that the electrical power has failed. We discard the more complicated hypothesis that all the bulbs malfunctioned at the same moment and, worse, that each malfunctioned for a different reason. In cosmology, we choose the simpler hypothesis that the same physical laws obtain here as in distant places and epochs, even though we cannot rule out that they may differ in parts quite remote from us. Do these judgments implement a universal principle of inductive inference that says: If two hypotheses are each adequate to the phenomena, the simpler is more likely true. My goal in this chapter is to deny the efficacy of any such universal principle of inductive inference. For the material theory of induction entails that no such rules are efficacious. To explain the popularity of appeals to simplicity, I will urge that good invocations of simplicity are really veiled references to background facts or assumptions whose content functions to license 1 My thanks to Fellows in the Center for Philosophy of Science, Fall 2012, for discussion of an earlier draft of this chapter. -
Simplicity and Truth Conduciveness
Simplicity and Truth Conduciveness Kevin T. Kelly Carnegie Mellon University [email protected] Abstract There is a long-standing puzzle concerning the connection of simplic- ity to truth in scienti¯c inference. It is proposed that simplicity does not point at or indicate the truth but nonetheless keeps science on the straightest or most direct route thereto. A theorem to that e®ect is presented, along with a fairly general de¯nition of empirical simplic- ity, a discussion of examples, and prospects for a new understanding of statistical model selection. 1. The Puzzle When faced with a choice among alternative theories compatible with current experience, scientists tend to side with the simplest one, where simplicity has something to do with minimizing independent entities, principles, causes, or equational coe±cients. Philosophers of science, statististicians, and, more re- cently, computer scientists, all recommend such an approach, called Ockham's razor, after the fourteenth century theologian and logician William of Ockham. But the practice raises an awkward question|a question that cuts to the very heart of scienti¯c method and, therefore, of scienti¯c education and outreach more generally: insofar as science is about ¯nding true theories rather than aes- thetic, useful, or comforting ¯ctions, how could Ockham's razor help one ¯nd the true theory? For if it is already known that the true theory is simple, science does not require Ockham's assistance. And if it is not known that the true theory is simple, what entitles one to assume that it is? There are many standard responses, but no satisfactory ones. -
Philosophy.Pdf
Philosophy 1 PHIL:1401 Matters of Life and Death 3 s.h. Contemporary ethical controversies with life and death Philosophy implications; topics may include famine, brain death, animal ethics, abortion, torture, terrorism, capital punishment. GE: Chair Values and Culture. • David Cunning PHIL:1636 Principles of Reasoning: Argument and Undergraduate major: philosophy (B.A.) Debate 3 s.h. Undergraduate minor: philosophy Critical thinking and its application to arguments and debates. Graduate degrees: M.A. in philosophy; Ph.D. in philosophy GE: Quantitative or Formal Reasoning. Faculty: https://clas.uiowa.edu/philosophy/people/faculty PHIL:1861 Introduction to Philosophy 3 s.h. Website: https://clas.uiowa.edu/philosophy/ Varied topics; may include personal identity, existence of The Department of Philosophy offers programs of study for God, philosophical skepticism, nature of mind and reality, undergraduate and graduate students. A major in philosophy time travel, and the good life; readings, films. GE: Values and develops abilities useful for careers in many fields and for any Culture. situation requiring clear, systematic thinking. PHIL:1902 Philosophy Lab: The Meaning of Life 1 s.h. Further exploration of PHIL:1033 course material with the The department also administers the interdisciplinary professor in a smaller group. undergraduate major in ethics and public policy, which it offers jointly with the Department of Economics and the PHIL:1904 Philosophy Lab: Liberty and the Pursuit of Department of Sociology and Criminology; see Ethics and Happiness 1 s.h. Public Policy in the Catalog. Further exploration of PHIL:1034 course material with the professor in a smaller group. Programs PHIL:1950 Philosophy Club 1-3 s.h. -
A Rationalist Argument for Libertarian Free Will
A rationalist argument for libertarian free will Stylianos Panagiotou PhD University of York Philosophy August 2020 Abstract In this thesis, I give an a priori argument in defense of libertarian free will. I conclude that given certain presuppositions, the ability to do otherwise is a necessary requirement for substantive rationality; the ability to think and act in light of reasons. ‘Transcendental’ arguments to the effect that determinism is inconsistent with rationality are predominantly forwarded in a Kantian manner. Their incorporation into the framework of critical philosophy renders the ontological status of their claims problematic; rather than being claims about how the world really is, they end up being claims about how the mind must conceive of it. To make their ontological status more secure, I provide a rationalist framework that turns them from claims about how the mind must view the world into claims about the ontology of rational agents. In the first chapter, I make some preliminary remarks about reason, reasons and rationality and argue that an agent’s access to alternative possibilities is a necessary condition for being under the scope of normative reasons. In the second chapter, I motivate rationalism about a priori justification. In the third chapter, I present the rationalist argument for libertarian free will and defend it against objections. Several objections rest on a compatibilist understanding of an agent’s abilities. To undercut them, I devote the fourth chapter, in which I give a new argument for incompatibilism between free will and determinism, which I call the situatedness argument for incompatibilism. If the presuppositions of the thesis are granted and the situatedness argument works, then we may be justified in thinking that to the extent that we are substantively rational, we are free in the libertarian sense.