0101P115 Introduction to Philosophy
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Load more
Recommended publications
-
Traditional Institutions, Social Change, and Same-Sex Marriage
WAX.DOC 10/5/2005 1:41 PM The Conservative’s Dilemma: Traditional Institutions, Social Change, and Same-Sex Marriage AMY L. WAX* I. INTRODUCTION What is the meaning of marriage? The political fault lines that have emerged in the last election on the question of same-sex marriage suggest that there is no consensus on this issue. This article looks at the meaning of marriage against the backdrop of the same-sex marriage debate. Its focus is on the opposition to same-sex marriage. Drawing on the work of some leading conservative thinkers, it investigates whether a coherent, secular case can be made against the legalization of same-sex marriage and whether that case reflects how opponents of same-sex marriage think about the issue. In examining these questions, the article seeks more broadly to achieve a deeper understanding of the place of marriage in social life and to explore the implications of the recent controversy surrounding its reform. * Professor of Law, University of Pennsylvania Law School. 1059 WAX.DOC 10/5/2005 1:41 PM One striking aspect of the debate over the legal status of gay relationships is the contrast between public opinion, which is sharply divided, and what is written about the issue, which is more one-sided. A prominent legal journalist stated to me recently, with grave certainty, that there exists not a single respectable argument against the legal recognition of gay marriage. The opponents’ position is, in her word, a “nonstarter.” That viewpoint is reflected in discussions of the issue that appear in the academic literature. -
Dualistic Physicalism: from Phenomenon Dualism to Substance Dualism
Dualistic Physicalism: From Phenomenon Dualism to Substance Dualism Joseph Polanik, JD Table of Contents Preface.................................................................................................................7 §1 The Central Question......................................................................................9 §2 The Brain/Experience Relation....................................................................11 §2.1 The Elements of Dualism.......................................................................11 §2.2 Proceeding from Common Ground........................................................13 §2.2.1 Evaluating Dennett's Defense of Materialism.................................13 §2.2.1.1 The Contradiction in the Dennett Defense...............................14 §2.2.1.2 Other Problems .......................................................................15 §2.2.1.2.1 Referring to Non-Existents...............................................15 §2.2.1.2.2 Violation of Common Sense..............................................16 §2.2.1.2.3 Denial of Experience.........................................................16 §2.2.1.2.4 Anticipating Type-Z Materialism......................................18 §2.2.1.3 Standing Precisely Against Eliminative Materialism ..............20 §2.2.2 The Argument for Dualism from Experience..................................21 §2.2.3 What Sort of Dualism is This?.........................................................25 §2.2.3.1 Phenomenon Dualism is Not Predicate Dualism.....................26 -
Plato's Cosmic Animal Vs. the Daoist Cosmic Plant
RICHARD MCDONOUGH PLATO’S COSMIC ANIMAL VS. THE DAOIST COSMIC PLANT: RELIGIOUS AND IDEOLOGICAL IMPLICATIONS Richard McDonough Arium Academy, School of Arts and Sciences, Republic of Singapore. Email: [email protected], [email protected] Abstract: Heidegger claims that it is the ultimate job of philosophy to preserve the force of the “elemental words” in which human beings express themselves. Many of these elemental words are found in the various cosmogonies that have informed cultural ideologies around the world. Two of these “elemental words,” which shape the ideologies (ethics, aesthetics, and religion of a culture) are the animal-model of the cosmos in Plato’s Timaeus and the mechanical models developed in the 17th-18th centuries in Europe. The paper argues that Daoism employs a third, and neglected, plant-model of cosmogony and of human life that provides an illuminating contrast to the other more well-known models. First, Plato’s animal-model of the cosmos and, second, the alternative Daoist plant-model of the cosmos are discussed. Third, the paper replies to the objection that the organic model in general and the plant-model in particular cannot accommodate human freedom. Fourth, it is shown how the Daoist plant-model supports a novel account of the central Daoist notion of wu-wei (doing nothing, but everything gets done). Fifth, the paper rebuts the objection that the Daoist plant-model of the cosmos and human life is fatally nihilistic. Sixth, the paper argues that the Daoist account of the origin of human religion, art and historical feeling cannot be properly understood apart from its plant-model of the cosmos and human life. -
(Men Of) Reason
Dispensing with (Men of) Reason. Stephen Hetherington The University of N~\NSouth Wales Many philosophers of feminism believe that Genevieve Lloyd, in her book The Man of Reas~n,~struck a significant blow against traditional analytic epis- tem~logy.~Supposedly, she did this by showing that the concepts of reason and rationality have, in the historical hands of Western philosophy, become genderized-in particular, masculinized. In this paper, I will not comment on whether other areas of philosophy are guilty of that charge; my present aim is simply to defend epistemology in particular against it.4 I will argue, first of all, that Lloyd's discussion in particular-whatever its other merits might be- poses no fundamental threat to epistemology:' Although her reasoning is his- toricist, it fails to establish the historical links it needs to establish; indeed, it unwittingly provides some confirmation of epistemology's enduring impor- tance. But I will also argue, more fundamentally and more generally, that no feminist argument for Lloyd's kind of conclusion could pose any real threat to epistemology: The sort of genderization which Lloyd and others believe that she has uncovered would be most clearly explicable as being a failing as such, only via some standard elements of epistemology-which is to say that what- ever shortcomings, if any, such feminist discussions could ever uncover can easily be absorbed within the scope of standard epistemological explanation. Epistemology's own metaphilosophical potential will thus be seen to confirm its own continuing significance, even in the face of feminist-historicist argu- ments like Lloyd's. -
Matter and Consciousness
Matter and Consciousness Historical Parallels As the identity theorist can point to historical cases of successful Paul Churchland, 1984 intertheoretic reduction, so the eliminative materialist can point to historical cases of the outright elimination of the ontology of an older theory in favor of the ontology of a new and superior theory. For most of Chapter 2: The Ontological Problem (the Mind-Body Problem) the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, learned people believed that heat was a subtle fluid held in bodies, much in the way water is held in a sponge. A fair body of moderately successful theory described the way 5. Eliminative Materialism this fluid substance—called “caloric”—flowed within a body, or from one body to another, and how it produced thermal expansion, melting, The identity theory was called into doubt not because the prospects for a boiling, and so forth. But by the end of the last century it had become materialist account of our mental capacities were thought to be poor, but abundantly clear that heat was not a substance at all, but just the energy because it seemed unlikely that the arrival of an adequate materialist of motion of the trillions of jostling molecules that makeup the heated theory would bring with it the nice one-to-one match-ups, between the body itself. The new theory—the “corpuscular/kinetic theory of matter concepts of folk psychology and the concepts of theoretical and heat”—was much more successful than the old in explaining and neuroscience, that intertheoretic reduction requires. The reason for that predicting the thermal behavior of bodies. -
Maintaining Meaningful Expressions of Romantic Love in a Material World
Reconciling Eros and Neuroscience: Maintaining Meaningful Expressions of Romantic Love in a Material World by ANDREW J. PELLITIERI* Boston University Abstract Many people currently working in the sciences of the mind believe terms such as “love” will soon be rendered philosophically obsolete. This belief results from a common assumption that such terms are irreconcilable with the naturalistic worldview that most modern scientists might require. Some philosophers reject the meaning of the terms, claiming that as science progresses words like ‘love’ and ‘happiness’ will be replaced completely by language that is more descriptive of the material phenomena taking place. This paper attempts to defend these meaningful concepts in philosophy of mind without appealing to concepts a materialist could not accept. Introduction hilosophy engages the meaning of the word “love” in a myriad of complex discourses ranging from ancient musings on happiness, Pto modern work in the philosophy of mind. The eliminative and reductive forms of materialism threaten to reduce the importance of our everyday language and devalue the meaning we attach to words like “love,” in the name of scientific progress. Faced with this threat, some philosophers, such as Owen Flanagan, have attempted to defend meaningful words and concepts important to the contemporary philosopher, while simultaneously promoting widespread acceptance of materialism. While I believe that the available work is useful, I think * [email protected]. Received 1/2011, revised December 2011. © the author. Arché Undergraduate Journal of Philosophy, Volume V, Issue 1: Winter 2012. pp. 60-82 RECONCILING EROS AND NEUROSCIENCE 61 more needs to be said about the functional role of words like “love” in the script of progressing neuroscience, and further the important implications this yields for our current mode of practical reasoning. -
Some Unnoticed Implications of Churchland's Pragmatic Pluralism
Contemporary Pragmatism Editions Rodopi Vol. 8, No. 1 (June 2011), 173–189 © 2011 Beyond Eliminative Materialism: Some Unnoticed Implications of Churchland’s Pragmatic Pluralism Teed Rockwell Paul Churchland’s epistemology contains a tension between two positions, which I will call pragmatic pluralism and eliminative materialism. Pragmatic pluralism became predominant as his episte- mology became more neurocomputationally inspired, which saved him from the skepticism implicit in certain passages of the theory of reduction he outlined in Scientific Realism and the Plasticity of Mind. However, once he replaces eliminativism with a neurologically inspired pragmatic pluralism, Churchland (1) cannot claim that folk psychology might be a false theory, in any significant sense; (2) cannot claim that the concepts of Folk psychology might be empty of extension and lack reference; (3) cannot sustain Churchland’s critic- ism of Dennett’s “intentional stance”; (4) cannot claim to be a form of scientific realism, in the sense of believing that what science describes is somehow realer that what other conceptual systems describe. One of the worst aspects of specialization in Philosophy and the Sciences is that it often inhibits people from asking the questions that could dissolve long standing controversies. This paper will deal with one of these controversies: Churchland’s proposal that folk psychology is a theory that might be false. Even though one of Churchland’s greatest contributions to philosophy of mind was demonstrating that the issues in philosophy of mind were a subspecies of scientific reduction, still philosophers of psychology have usually defended or critiqued folk psychology without attempting to carefully analyze Churchland’s theory of reduction. -
Introduction to Philosophy Fall 2016—Test 3 Answers 1. According to Descartes
Introduction to Philosophy Fall 2016—Test 3 Answers 1. According to Descartes, … a. what I really am is a body, but I also possess a mind. b. minds and bodies can’t causally interact with one another, but God fools us into believing they do. c. cats and dogs have immortal souls, just like you and I. d. conscious states always have physical causes, but never have physical effects. E. WHAT I REALLY AM IS A MIND, BUT I ALSO POSSESS A BODY. 2. Which of the following would Descartes agree with? A. WE CAN CONCEIVE OF EXISTING WITHOUT A BODY. b. We can conceive of existing without a mind. c. We can conceive of existing without either a mind or a body. d. We can’t conceive of mental substance. e. We can’t conceive of material substance. 3. Substance dualism is the view that … a. there are two kinds of minds. B. THERE ARE TWO KINDS OF “ BASIC STUFF” IN THE WORLD. c. there are two kinds of physical particles. d. there are two kinds of people in the world—those who divide the world into two kinds of people, and those that don’t. e. material substance comes in two forms, matter and energy. 4. We call a property “accidental” (as opposed to “essential”) when ... a. it is the result of an car crash. b. it follows from a thing’s very nature. c. it is a property a thing can’t lose (without ceasing to exist). D. IT IS A PROPERTY A THING CAN LOSE (WITHOUT CEASING TO EXIST). -
The Old Master
INTRODUCTION Four main characteristics distinguish this book from other translations of Laozi. First, the base of my translation is the oldest existing edition of Laozi. It was excavated in 1973 from a tomb located in Mawangdui, the city of Changsha, Hunan Province of China, and is usually referred to as Text A of the Mawangdui Laozi because it is the older of the two texts of Laozi unearthed from it.1 Two facts prove that the text was written before 202 bce, when the first emperor of the Han dynasty began to rule over the entire China: it does not follow the naming taboo of the Han dynasty;2 its handwriting style is close to the seal script that was prevalent in the Qin dynasty (221–206 bce). Second, I have incorporated the recent archaeological discovery of Laozi-related documents, disentombed in 1993 in Jishan District’s tomb complex in the village of Guodian, near the city of Jingmen, Hubei Province of China. These documents include three bundles of bamboo slips written in the Chu script and contain passages related to the extant Laozi.3 Third, I have made extensive use of old commentaries on Laozi to provide the most comprehensive interpretations possible of each passage. Finally, I have examined myriad Chinese classic texts that are closely associated with the formation of Laozi, such as Zhuangzi, Lüshi Chunqiu (Spring and Autumn Annals of Mr. Lü), Han Feizi, and Huainanzi, to understand the intellectual and historical context of Laozi’s ideas. In addition to these characteristics, this book introduces several new interpretations of Laozi. -
A Daoist Model for a Kantian Church
Comparative Philosophy Volume 4, No. 1 (2013): 67-89 Open Access / ISSN 2151-6014 www.comparativephilosophy.org A DAOIST MODEL FOR A KANTIAN CHURCH STEPHEN R. PALMQUIST ABSTRACT: Although significant differences undoubtedly exist between Daoism and Kant’s philosophy, the two systems also have some noteworthy similarities. After calling attention to a few such parallels and sketching the outlines of Kant’s philosophy of religion, this article focuses on an often-neglected feature of the latter: the four guiding principles of what Kant calls an “invisible church” (universality, purity, freedom, and unchangeableness). Numerous passages from Lao Zi’s classic text, Dao-De-Jing, seem to uphold these same principles, thus suggesting that they can also be interpreted as core features of a Daoist philosophy of life. A crucial difference, however, is that members of a Daoist church would focus on contentment, whereas Kantian churches modeled on Christianity (the religious tradition Kant favored) would strive for perfection. The article therefore concludes by considering what a synthesis might look like, if a Kantian church were to be based on a Daoist interpretation of these four fundamental principles. Keywords: Kant, Lao Zi, church, Dao-De-Jing, Daoism, comparative philosophy To know and yet (think) we do not know is the highest (attainment); not to know (and yet think) we do know is a disease.1 1. KANT AND DAOISM: THE BASIS FOR COMPARISON Kant’s philosophy could be compared and contrasted with Daoist philosophy from various angles: his epistemology, moral/political philosophy, aesthetics, and ________________________ PALMQUIST, STEPHEN R.: Professor, Department of Religion & Philosophy, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong. -
'I Knew Jean-Paul Sartre': Philosophy of Education As Comedy
Edinburgh Research Explorer ‘I Knew Jean-Paul Sartre’ Citation for published version: Griffiths, M & Peters, MA 2012, '‘I Knew Jean-Paul Sartre’: Philosophy of education as comedy', Educational Philosophy and Theory. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131857.2012.721734 Digital Object Identifier (DOI): 10.1080/00131857.2012.721734 Link: Link to publication record in Edinburgh Research Explorer Document Version: Peer reviewed version Published In: Educational Philosophy and Theory Publisher Rights Statement: This is an Author's Accepted Manuscript of an article published in Educational Philosophy and Theory, 2012. Copyright Taylor & Francis, available online at: http://www.tandfonline.com/ 10.1080/00131857.2012.721734 © Griffiths, M., & Peters, M. A. ‘I Knew Jean-Paul Sartre’: Philosophy of education as comedy. Educational Philosophy and Theory. General rights Copyright for the publications made accessible via the Edinburgh Research Explorer is retained by the author(s) and / or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing these publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights. Take down policy The University of Edinburgh has made every reasonable effort to ensure that Edinburgh Research Explorer content complies with UK legislation. If you believe that the public display of this file breaches copyright please contact [email protected] providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim. Download date: 28. Sep. 2021 A serious and good philosophical work could be written consisting entirely of jokes. --Ludwig Wittgenstein, Culture and Value Let us ask ourselves: why do we feel a grammatical joke to be deep? (And that is what the depth of philosophy is.) (PI §111) -Ludwig Wittgenstein Dialogue. -
Confucian Self-Cultivation and Daoist Personhood: Implications for Peace Education
Front. Educ. China 2013, 8(1): 62–79 DOI 10.3868/s110-002-013-0006-0 RESEARCH ARTICLE Hongyu WANG Confucian Self-Cultivation and Daoist Personhood: Implications for Peace Education Abstract This essay argues that the concept of reaching peace within in order to sustain peace outside in classical Confucianism and Daoism offers us important lessons for peace education in the contemporary age. Building harmonious connections between differences in one’s personhood paves a path for negotiating interconnections across conflicting multiplicities in the outside world. The essay starts by discussing the Confucian and Daoist notions of personhood as a microcosmic universe connected to a macrocosmic universe. Second, the historical context of the Spring and Autumn and Warring States Period in which Confucianism and Daoism emerged are briefly reviewed. Third, Confucian self-cultivation and the Daoist conception of personhood are discussed. Fourth, relational issues of harmony in difference and tranquility in turbulence are analyzed. Lastly, inner peace reaching outer peace in leadership and governing is formulated in terms of the unity between means and end in peace education. Keywords peace, Confucianism, Daoism, harmony in difference Introduction While the contemporary age has brought unprecedented interconnectedness across the globe and in everyday life, it has also simultaneously witnessed fragmentation, conflict, and ethnic and religious warfare. Can Confucianism and Daoism, first formulated in ancient China, be useful for addressing our contemporary concerns about bringing peace out of conflict? This essay argues that the Confucian and Daoist traditions of reaching peace within in order to sustain peace outside offer us important lessons. Building harmonious connections between differences in one’s personhood paves a path for negotiating interconnections across conflicting multiplicities in the outside world.