DOCSLIB.ORG

Vietnamese Existential Philosophy: a Critical Reappraisal

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Vietnamese Existential Philosophy: a Critical Reappraisal VIETNAMESE EXISTENTIAL PHILOSOPHY: A CRITICAL REAPPRAISAL A Dissertation Submitted to the Temple University Graduate Board In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy By Hi ền Thu Lươ ng May, 2009 i © Copyright 2009 by Hi ền Thu Lươ ng ii ABSTRACT Title: Vietnamese Existential Philosophy: A Critical Reappraisal Lươ ng Thu Hi ền Degree: Doctor of Philosophy Temple University, 2009 Doctoral Advisory Committee Chair: Lewis R. Gordon In this study I present a new understanding of Vietnamese existentialism during the period 1954-1975, the period between the Geneva Accords and the fall of Saigon in 1975. The prevailing view within Vietnam sees Vietnamese existentialism during this period as a morally bankrupt philosophy that is a mere imitation of European versions of existentialism. I argue to the contrary that while Vietnamese existential philosophy and European existentialism share some themes, Vietnamese existentialism during this period is rooted in the particularities of Vietnamese traditional culture and social structures and in the lived experience of Vietnamese people over Vietnam’s 1000-year history of occupation and oppression by foreign forces. I also argue that Vietnamese existentialism is a profoundly moral philosophy, committed to justice in the social and political spheres. Heavily influenced by Vietnamese Buddhism, Vietnamese existential philosophy, I argue, places emphasis on the concept of a non-substantial, relational, and social self and a harmonious and constitutive relation between the self and other. The Vietnamese philosophers argue that oppressions of the mind must be liberated and that social structures that result in violence must be changed. Consistent with these ends Vietnamese existentialism proposes a multi-perspective iii ontology, a dialectical view of human thought, and a method of meditation that releases the mind to be able to understand both the nature of reality as it is and the means to live a moral, politically engaged life. This study incorporates Vietnamese existential philosophy from 1954-1975 into the flow of the Vietnamese philosophical tradition while also acknowledging its relevance to contemporary Vietnam. In particular, this interpretation of Vietnamese existentialism helps us to understand the philosophical basis of movements in Vietnam to bring about social revolution, to destroy forms of social violence, to reduce poverty, and to foster equality, freedom, and democracy for every member of society. By offering a comparison between Vietnamese existential thinkers and Western existentialists, the study bridges Vietnamese and the western traditions while respecting their diversity. In these ways I hope to show that Vietnamese existentialism makes an original contribution to philosophical thought and must be placed on the map of world philosophies. iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I especially would like to thank my advisor, Professor Lewis Gordon, for working with me through these years and for his helpful advice, courses, and books on African existentialism and phenomenology that inspired me to write a dissertation on Vietnamese existential perspective. I would like to thank the Ho Chi Minh National Political Administrative Academy Board, the Department of International Cooperation and the Director of the department Dr. Luu Dat Thuyet, the Department of Human Resources, and the Department of Philosophy for offering me the time to complete the doctoral degree at Temple University. I especially would like to thank Dr. Tran Phuc Thang, the Director of the Philosophy Project funded by the Ford Foundation for his support of my study. I would like to thank the Ford Foundation for providing me the scholarship that enabled me to dedicate full time to the completion of my doctoral research in philosophy. I would especially like to thank Dr. Michael DiGregorio, Program Officer for Media, Arts, Culture and Education at the Ford Foundation Office in Hanoi, who understood how important philosophy is, especially in the context of Vietnam, and who had confidence in my abilities to contribute to the development of philosophy in Vietnam. Dr. DiGregorio’s vision has opened a significant door for me to enter the philosophical world and to broaden my horizon toward the standpoint of Sunyata . My studies at Temple have enabled me to come to a deeper understanding of Vietnamese and Western culture and philosophy. Building on my studies, I hope to be able to contribute to the development of Vietnamese scholarship and the world of practical affairs in Vietnam in the future. I would like to thank Professor Philip Alperson for his help since my very first step in applying to the Department of Philosophy at Temple University. I greatly appreciate Professor Alperson's efforts to make my dissertation oral defense a success. I would also like to thank the Center for Educational Exchange with Vietnam (CEEVN), its Director, Ms. Minh Kauffman, and Ms. Wanda Kraybil for their administrative and educational support that has significantly contributed to my scholarly achievement. I would like to thank The Center for Vietnamese Philosophy, Society, and Culture at Temple University and Dr. Sophie Quinn-Jedge for their support and their work in promoting Vietnamese studies in the United States. I would like to thank the Department of Philosophy Temple University for offering its resources and its courses which have helped me to broaden my scholarly horizon. I especially thank Professor J.N. Mohanty for sharing with me his knowledge of and v passion for phenomenology over countless hours in conversation. I deeply appreciate his kindness and generosity. I would also like to thank Professor Joseph Margolis for invaluable seminars on aesthetics and for his kindness. I am also indebted to Professor Kristin Gjesdal who encouraged my passion for philosophy and who generously shared with me her knowledge of Husserl, Heidegger, and Hegel. I would also like to thank my friends and colleagues who have helped me during the Ph.D. program: Ph ạm Anh Hùng, Tal Corem, Emily Nussdorfer, Dr. Ngô Thanh Nhàn, and Margaret Moore. Finally, I wish to thank Professor Mary Hawkesworth for all the knowledge I have gained from her through the lectures on social, political, and feminist philosophy and globalization she delivered in at the Ho Chi Minh National Political Administrative Academy inVietnam. I am deeply thankful to Professor Hawkesworth for encouraging me to rise to my best potential. My gratitude for her is beyond words. Writing a dissertation on a second language is a challenge. The final version of my dissertation benefited especially from the work of Professor Alperson, Professor Gordon, and Professor Hawkesworth. I am grateful for the generosity, help, support, and kindness I have received from the professors, colleagues, and friends I have met at Temple University. Studying for doctorate in philosophy at Temple University has been a wonderful education experience for me. vi DEDICATION To Philip Alperson who brought me to the endless open horizon of philosophy To Mary Hawskeworth who nourished the ideas and the writing of this study and who understood the nature of my project from the beginning To Cathy A. Barlow and Susan Karol Martel who were always there for me and who encouraged me to achieve my best potential To my Parents for whom my studies have their deepest meaning vii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ABSTRACT ....................................................................................................................... iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ...................................................................................................v DEDICATION .................................................................................................................. vii CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION TO EXISTENTIALISM AND HISTORY OF POST- 1975 VIETNAMESE CONTEMPORARY ASSESSMENTS OF EXISTENTIAL PHILOSOPHY ..............................................................................1 2. VIETNAMESE BUDDHISM AS A MODE OF EXISTENTIAL PHILOSOPHY .......................................................................................................51 3. WHO AM I? LY CHANH TRUNG ON THE SELF AND THE OTHER ...........98 4. WHAT SHOULD I DO? ON REVOLUTION ..................................................130 REFERENCES ................................................................................................................183 viii CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION AND A HISTORY OF POST-1975 CONTEMPORARY VIETNAMESE ASSESSMENTS OF EXISTENTIAL PHILOSOPHY Introduction “Philosophy of existence,” “existential philosophy,” and “existentialism” are all terms used to refer to a philosophy that gained much prominence in Europe during the first half of the twentieth century. Although many of the arguments of existential philosophy are as old as philosophy itself, it became identified as a philosophy primarily through the writings of Søren Kierkegaard and Friedrich Nietzsche in the nineteenth century and then in more systematic philosophical form in the thought of Karl Jaspers, Martin Heidegger, and Jean-Paul Sartre, among others, in the twentieth. This philosophy examines what it means to be human, to be free, and to be in a struggle with reason in the world, which William Barrett has described as the struggle of “irrational man.” It is the aim of this dissertation to demonstrate that the questions with which all existentialists struggle were also taken up by philosophers in Vietnam both explicitly and implicitly during the pre-colonial
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Retracing Augustine's Ethics: Lying, Necessity, and the Image Of
    Valparaiso University ValpoScholar Christ College Faculty Publications Christ College (Honors College) 12-1-2016 Retracing Augustine’s Ethics: Lying, Necessity, and the Image of God Matthew Puffer Valparaiso University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://scholar.valpo.edu/cc_fac_pub Recommended Citation Puffer, M. (2016). "Retracing Augustine’s ethics: Lying, necessity, and the image of God." Journal of Religious Ethics, 44(4), 685–720. https://doi.org/10.1111/jore.12159 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Christ College (Honors College) at ValpoScholar. It has been accepted for inclusion in Christ College Faculty Publications by an authorized administrator of ValpoScholar. For more information, please contact a ValpoScholar staff member at [email protected]. RETRACING AUGUSTINE’S ETHICS Lying, Necessity, and the Image of God Matthew Puffer ABSTRACT Augustine’s exposition of the image of God in Book 15 of On The Trinity (De Trinitate) sheds light on multiple issues that arise in scholarly interpretations of Augustine’s account of lying. This essay argues against interpretations that pos- it a uniform account of lying in Augustine—with the same constitutive features, and insisting both that it is never necessary to tell a lie and that lying is abso- lutely prohibited. Such interpretations regularly employ intertextual reading strategies that elide distinctions and developments in Augustine’sethicsoflying. Instead, I show how looking at texts written prior and subsequent to the texts usually consulted suggests a trajectory in Augustine’s thought, beginning with an understanding of lies as morally culpable but potentially necessary, and cul- minating in a vision of lying as the fundamental evil and the origin of every sin.
    [Show full text]
  • Racism and Bad Faith
    AN ABSTRACT OF THE THESIS OF Gregory Alan Jones for the degree ofMaster ofArts in Interdisciplinary Studies in Philosophy, Philosophy and History presented on May 5, 2000. Title: Racism and Bad Faith. Redacted for privacy Abstract approved: Leilani A. Roberts Human beings are condemned to freedom, according to Jean-Paul Sartre's Being and Nothingness. Every individual creates his or her own identity according to choice. Because we choose ourselves, each individual is also completely responsible for his or her actions. This responsibility causes anguish that leads human beings to avoid their freedom in bad faith. Bad faith is an attempt to deceive ourselves that we are less free than we really are. The primary condition of the racist is bad faith. In both awarelblatant and aware/covert racism, the racist in bad faith convinces himself that white people are, according to nature, superior to black people. The racist believes that stereotypes ofblack inferiority are facts. This is the justification for the oppression ofblack people. In a racist society, the bad faith belief ofwhite superiority is institutionalized as a societal norm. Sartre is wrong to believe that all human beings possess absolute freedom to choose. The racist who denies that black people face limited freedom is blaming the victim, and victim blaming is the worst form ofracist bad faith. Taking responsibility for our actions and leading an authentic life is an alternative to the bad faith ofracism. Racism and Bad Faith by Gregory Alan Jones A THESIS submitted to Oregon State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies Presented May 5, 2000 Commencement June 2000 Redacted for privacy Redacted for privacy Redacted for privacy Redacted for privacy Redacted for privacy Redacted for privacy Acknowledgment This thesis has been a long time in coming and could not have been completed without the help ofmany wonderful people.
    [Show full text]
  • The Problem of Evil in Augustine's Confessions
    University of South Florida Scholar Commons Graduate Theses and Dissertations Graduate School 2011 The rP oblem of Evil in Augustine's Confessions Edward Matusek University of South Florida, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd Part of the American Studies Commons, and the Philosophy Commons Scholar Commons Citation Matusek, Edward, "The rP oblem of Evil in Augustine's Confessions" (2011). Graduate Theses and Dissertations. http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/3733 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at Scholar Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Graduate Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Scholar Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. The Problem of Evil in Augustine’s Confessions by Edward A. Matusek A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Philosophy College of Arts and Sciences University of South Florida Major Professor: Thomas Williams, Ph.D. Roger Ariew, Ph.D. Joanne Waugh, Ph.D. Charles B. Guignon, Ph.D. Date of Approval: November 14, 2011 Keywords: theodicy, privation, metaphysical evil, Manichaeism, Neo-Platonism Copyright © 2011, Edward A. Matusek i TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract iii Chapter One: Introduction to Augustine’s Confessions and the Present Study 1 Purpose and Background of the Study 2 Literary and Historical Considerations of Confessions 4 Relevance of the Study for Various
    [Show full text]
  • Phenomenology As Philosophy and Method Applications to Ways of Doing Special Education
    Phenomenology As Philosophy and Method Applications to Ways of Doing Special Education JEAN C. McPHAIL ABSTRACT 1 HENOMENOLOGY IS A PHILOSOPHICAL MOVEMENT The theoretical positions of the preceding two texts THAT APPROACHES THE STUDY OF HUMAN BEINGS AND THEIR create significantly different orientations to the life worlds CULTURE DIFFERENTLY FROM THE LOGICAL POSITIVIST MODEL of people. The quote by Merleau-Ponty describes the USED IN THE NATURAL SCIENCES AND IN SPECIAL EDUCA- essential focus of the phenomenological movement in TION. PHENOMENOLOGISTS VIEW THE APPLICATION OF THE philosophy—human consciousness. The Individualized Edu- LOGICAL POSITIVIST MODEL TO THE STUDY OF HUMAN BEINGS cation Program written for a 13-year-old young man with AS INAPPROPRIATE BECAUSE THE MODEL DOES NOT ADDRESS learning disabilities characterizes the prevalent view of THE UNIQUENESS OF HUMAN LIFE. IN THIS ARTICLE, THE individuals working in the field of special education—an THEORETICAL ASSUMPTIONS AND METHODOLOGICAL orientation directed toward changing the behavior of indi- ORIENTATIONS OF PHENOMENOLOGY ARE DISCUSSED, viduals with disabilities. Whereas phenomenology privi- FOLLOWED BY THEIR APPLICATIONS TO WAYS OF DOING leges the nature of the meanings that people construct in RESEARCH IN SPECIAL EDUCATION. their lives and that guide their actions, special education focuses on the study and practice of behavioral change outside the context of the life meanings of individuals with disabilities. The shift that Bruner (1990) described in the early stages of the cognitive revolution from an emphasis on the "construction of meaning to the processing of mean- P. HENOMENOLOGY IS AN INVENTORY OF CON- ing" (p. 4) aptly characterizes the essential differences JLsciousness HEN( as of that wherein a universe resides.
    [Show full text]
  • Life with Augustine
    Life with Augustine ...a course in his spirit and guidance for daily living By Edmond A. Maher ii Life with Augustine © 2002 Augustinian Press Australia Sydney, Australia. Acknowledgements: The author wishes to acknowledge and thank the following people: ► the Augustinian Province of Our Mother of Good Counsel, Australia, for support- ing this project, with special mention of Pat Fahey osa, Kevin Burman osa, Pat Codd osa and Peter Jones osa ► Laurence Mooney osa for assistance in editing ► Michael Morahan osa for formatting this 2nd Edition ► John Coles, Peter Gagan, Dr. Frank McGrath fms (Brisbane CEO), Benet Fonck ofm, Peter Keogh sfo for sharing their vast experience in adult education ► John Rotelle osa, for granting us permission to use his English translation of Tarcisius van Bavel’s work Augustine (full bibliography within) and for his scholarly advice Megan Atkins for her formatting suggestions in the 1st Edition, that have carried over into this the 2nd ► those generous people who have completed the 1st Edition and suggested valuable improvements, especially Kath Neehouse and friends at Villanova College, Brisbane Foreword 1 Dear Participant Saint Augustine of Hippo is a figure in our history who has appealed to the curiosity and imagination of many generations. He is well known for being both sinner and saint, for being a bishop yet also a fellow pilgrim on the journey to God. One of the most popular and attractive persons across many centuries, his influence on the church has continued to our current day. He is also renowned for his influ- ence in philosophy and psychology and even (in an indirect way) art, music and architecture.
    [Show full text]
  • A Hermeneutic Phenomenological Inquiry Into the Lived Experiences of Taiwanese Parachute Students
    A HERMENEUTIC PHENOMENOLOGICAL INQUIRY INTO THE LIVED EXPERIENCES OF TAIWANESE PARACHUTE STUDENTS By Benjamin T. OuYang Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the University of Maryland, College Park in partial fulfillm ent Of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2004 Advisory Committee: Professor Francine Hultgren, Chair and Advisor Associate Professor Jing Lin Ms. Su -Chen Mao Associate Professor Marylu McEwen Dr. Maria del Carmen Torres -Queral Copyright by Benjamin T. OuYang 2004 ABSTRACT Title of dissertation: A HERMENEUTIC PHENOMENOLOGICAL INQUIRY INTO THE LIVED EXPERIENCES OF TAIWANESE PARACHUTE STUDENTS. Benjamin T. OuYang, Doctor of Philosophy, 2004 Dissertatio n directed by: Dr. Francine H. Hultgren Department of Education Policy and Leadership The purpose of this study is to understand the lived experiences of Taiwanese parachute students, so named because of their being sent to study in the United States, fr equently unaccompanied by their parents. Significant themes are revealed through hermeneutic phenomenological methodology and developed using the powerful metaphor of landing. Seven parachute students took part in several in -depth conversations with the researcher about their experiences living in the States, immersed in the English language and the American culture. Their stories are reflective accounts, which when coupled with literary and philosophic sources, reveal the essence of this experience of living in a foreign land. Voiced by teenage and young adult parachute students, the metaphor of landing as shown in their search for establishing a home and belonging, is the slate for the writing of this work’s main themes. The research opens up to a deeper understanding of this phenomenon in such themes as foreignness, landing and surveying the area; lost in the language; homesickness; and trying to establish friendships.
    [Show full text]
  • Post-Continental Philosophy: Its Definition, Contours, and Fundamental Sources
    Post-continental Philosophy: Its Definition, Contours, and Fundamental Sources NELSON MALDONADO-TORRES It is no accident that the global geographical framework in use today is essentially a cartographic celebration of European power. After centuries of imperialism, the presumptions of a worldview of a once-dominant metropole has become part of the intellectual furniture of the world…. Metageography matters, and the attempt to engage it critically has only begun. Martin W. Lewis and Kären W. Wigen, The Myth of Continents.1 or several decades now the contours of legitimate philosophy have been drawn by advocates of F so-called analytic and continental philosophies. Analytic philosophy is often referred to as a style of thinking centered on the question of whether something is true, rather than, as continental philosophy, on the multiple factors that constitute meaning.2 Analytic philosophy is also said to be closer to the sciences, while continental philosophy has more affinity with the humanities.3 One of the reasons for this lies in that while analytic philosophy tends to dismiss history from its reflections, continental philosophy typically emphasizes the relevance of time, tradition, lived experience, and/or social context. Fortunately, this situation is slowly but gradually changing today. A variety of intellectuals are defying the rigid boundaries of these fields. Some of the most notable are Afro- American, Afro-Caribbean, and Latina/o scholars using the arsenal of these bodies of thought to analyze and interpret problems related to colonialism, racism, and sexism in the contemporary world.4 These challenges demand a critical analysis of the possibilities and limits of change within the main coordinates of these different styles or forms of philosophizing.
    [Show full text]
  • Kirsten Ainley Virtue Ethics
    Kirsten Ainley Virtue Ethics Book section Original citation: Originally published in Oxford Research Encyclopedia of International Studies. Oxford University Press and the International Studies Association. © 2017 OUP/ISA This version available at: http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/69534/ Available in LSE Research Online: March 2017 This is a draft of a chapter that has been accepted for publication by Oxford University Press in the forthcoming book Oxford Research Encyclopedia of International Studies edited by Oxford University Press and the International Studies Association due for publication in 2017. LSE has developed LSE Research Online so that users may access research output of the School. Copyright © and Moral Rights for the papers on this site are retained by the individual authors and/or other copyright owners. Users may download and/or print one copy of any article(s) in LSE Research Online to facilitate their private study or for non-commercial research. You may not engage in further distribution of the material or use it for any profit-making activities or any commercial gain. You may freely distribute the URL (http://eprints.lse.ac.uk) of the LSE Research Online website. This document is the author’s submitted version of the book section. There may be differences between this version and the published version. You are advised to consult the publisher’s version if you wish to cite from it. Virtue Ethics Kirsten Ainley London School of Economics [email protected] For publication in the Oxford Research Encyclopaedia of International Studies (Oxford University Press and the International Studies Association) 2017.
    [Show full text]
  • Heidegger Letter on Humanism Translation GROTH
    Martin Heidegger LETTER ON "HUMANISM"*1 Translated by Miles Groth, PhD We still by no means think decisively enough about the essence of action. One knows action only as the bringing about of an effect, the effectiveness of which is assessed according to its usefulness. However, the essence of action is perfecting <something>. Perfecting means to unfold something in the fullness of its essence, <and in so doing> to bring it forth, producere. Therefore, <the> perfectible is actually only that which already is. Yet that which above all "is," is be[-ing]. Thinking perfects the relation of be[-ing] to the essence of man. It does not make or effect this relation. Thinking only bears it as that which is handed over to be[-ing]. This bearing consists in the fact that in thinking be[-ing] comes into language. Language is the place for be[- ing]. Man lives by its accommodation. Those who are thoughtful and those who are poetic are the overseers of these precincts. Overseeing for them is perfecting the evidence of be[-ing], insofar as they bring this up in their utterances and save it in language. Thinking does not in that way just turn into action in the sense that an effect issues from it or that it is applied <to something>. Thinking acts in that it thinks. This <kind of> action is presumably the simplest and at the same time the highest because it concerns the relation of be[-ing] to man. But all effecting 1Heidegger's marginal notes in his copies of the various editions of the lecture are included in GA 9.
    [Show full text]
  • Philosophy Emerging from Culture
    Cultural Heritage and Contemporary Change Series I. Culture and Values, Volume 42 General Editor: George F. McLean Associate General Editor: William Sweet Philosophy Emerging from Culture Edited by William Sweet George F. McLean Oliva Blanchette Wonbin Park The Council for Research in Values and Philosophy Copyright © 2013 by The Council for Research in Values and Philosophy Box 261 Cardinal Station Washington, D.C. 20064 All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Philosophy emerging from culture / edited by William Sweet, George F. McLean, Oliva Blanchette. -- 1st [edition]. pages cm. -- (Cultural heritage and contemporary change. Series I, Culture and values ; Volume 42) 1. Philosophy and civilization. 2. Philosophy. 3. Culture. I. Sweet, William, editor of compilation. B59.P57 2013 2013015164 100--dc23 CIP ISBN 978-1-56518-285-1 (pbk.) TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction: Philosophy Emerging From Culture 1 William Sweet and George F. McLean Part I: The Dynamics of Change Chapter I. What Remains of Modernity? Philosophy and 25 Culture in the Transition to a Global Era William Sweet Chapter II. Principles of Western Bioethics and 43 the HIV/AIDS Epidemic in Africa Workineh Kelbessa Chapter III. Rationality in Islamic Peripatetic and 71 Enlightenment Philosophies Sayyed Hassan Houssaini Chapter IV. Theanthropy and Culture According to Karol Wojtyla 87 Andrew N. Woznicki Chapter V. Al-Fārābī’s Approach to Aristotle’s Eudaimonia 99 Mostafa Younesie Part II: The Nature of Culture and its Potential as a Philosophical Source Chapter VI. A Realistic Interpretation of Culture 121 Jeu-Jenq Yuann Chapter VII. Rehabilitating Value: Questions of 145 Meaning and Adequacy Karim Crow Chapter VIII.
    [Show full text]
  • Continental Philosophies of the Social Sciences David Teira
    Continental philosophies of the social sciences David Teira 1. Introduction In my view, there is no such thing as a continental philosophy of the social sciences. There is, at least, no consensual definition of what is precisely continental in any philosophical approach. 1 Besides, there are many approaches in the philosophy of the social sciences that are often qualified as continental , but there is no obvious connection between them. The most systematic attempt so far to find one is Yvonne Sherratt’s (2006) monograph, where continental approaches would be appraised as different branches of the Humanist tradition. According to Sherratt, philosophers in this tradition draw on the ideas and arguments of the ancient Greek and Roman thinkers, since they understand philosophy as an accumulative endeavor, where the past is a continuous source of wisdom. Unlike empiricist philosophers in the analytic tradition, humanists see the world as an intrinsically purpose-laden, ethically, aesthetically, and spiritually valuable entity . However, once you adopt such a broad definition in order to encompass such different thinkers as Marx, Nietzsche, Heidegger or Foucault, it seems difficult not to see humanistic traits in analytic philosophers as well. Moreover, when it comes to the philosophical study of actual social sciences, it is not clear whether adopting a humanistic stance makes, as such, any difference in the analysis: as we will see below, the arguments of the continental philosophers discussed here do not presuppose a particular commitment with, e.g., ideas from classical Antiquity. Certain Greeks named those who did not speak their language Barbarians , but it was never clear who counted as a proper speaker of Greek.
    [Show full text]
  • Theory in Black: Teleological Suspensions in Philosophy of Culture Author(S): Lewis R
    Theory in Black: Teleological Suspensions in Philosophy of Culture Author(s): Lewis R. Gordon Source: Qui Parle , Vol. 18, No. 2 (Spring/Summer 2010), pp. 193-214 Published by: Duke University Press Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5250/quiparle.18.2.193 JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at https://about.jstor.org/terms Duke University Press is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Qui Parle This content downloaded from 154.59.124.53 on Mon, 03 Dec 2018 06:57:29 UTC All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms ARTICLES Theory in Black Teleological Suspensions in Philosophy of Culture lewis r. gordon My aim in this essay is to explore some challenges in the philoso- phy of culture that emerge from its often repressed but symbiotic relationship with what Enrique Dussel calls “the underside of mo- dernity.”1 Philosophy of culture and its forms in various disciplines of the human sciences have often avowed French, Germanic, and Scottish roots, through a repression or denial not only of the Afri- can, Native American, and Oceanic peoples who function as sourc- es of taxonomical anxiety but also of such sources from “within,” so to speak; Spanish infl uences, for instance, with their resources from Jewish and Muslim social worlds, acquired a peripheral sta- tus.
    [Show full text]