Rafael Ferber Key Concepts in Philosophy
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"There Is No Right to Be Stupid": a Voegelinian Analysis of Islamist
"There is No Right to Be Stupid": A Voegelinian Analysis of Islamist Terrorism with Reference to the "Elements of Reality" Copyright 2005 Celestino Perez, Jr. In the following essay I make three claims. First, in agreement with Eric Voegelin and Barry Cooper, I illustrate why a comprehensive study of politics requires that attention be paid to the symbols "God and man," "the Good", and "the soul" (Section I). I then briefly wonder if Voegelin and Cooper, despite offering cogent analyses of pernicious ideologies, ask too much of their readers? If so, what are the prospects for a competent political science and a healthy democratic populace (Section II)? In Section III, I suggest a different way of applying Voegelin's theory to an analysis of Islamist ideology, wherein I lay out ten "elements of reality" and five distilled "fundamental truths" derived from these elements. To the degree that someone distorts or neglects these elements of reality, he is a pneumopath. He may be very smart. But, alas, he is a "philosophical and religious ignoramus,"1 [1] and hence stupid. And, as Voegelin reminds us in Hitler and the Germans, "There is no right to be stupid." To be sure, if we allow ourselves to submit to stupidity, the gangster animals will be sure to mockingly let us know: 1 [1] Barry Cooper, New Political Religions, or An Analysis of Modern Terrorism ( Columbia : University of Missouri Press , 2004), xii. Cooper describes Sayyid Qutb's and other terrorists' "dogmatic certainty" as resulting from their being "philosophical and religious ignoramuses." "Yoohoo, silly ass!"2 [2] In the Concluding Notes, I lay out what I consider to be the gist of Cooper's argument, and I briefly comment on his Appendix in New Political Religions. -
Conservation and the Myth of Consensus
Essays Conservation and the Myth of Consensus M. NILS PETERSON,∗ MARKUS J. PETERSON,† AND TARLA RAI PETERSON‡ ∗Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Michigan State University, 13 Natural Resources Building, East Lansing, MI 48824-1222, U.S.A., email [email protected] †Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843-2258, U.S.A. ‡Department of Communication, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112-0491, U.S.A. Abstract: Environmental policy makers are embracing consensus-based approaches to environmental de- cision making in an attempt to enhance public participation in conservation and facilitate the potentially incompatible goals of environmental protection and economic growth. Although such approaches may pro- duce positive results in immediate spatial and temporal contexts and under some forms of governance, their overuse has potentially dangerous implications for conservation within many democratic societies. We suggest that environmental decision making rooted in consensus theory leads to the dilution of socially powerful con- servation metaphors and legitimizes current power relationships rooted in unsustainable social constructions of reality. We also suggest an argumentative model of environmental decision making rooted in ecology will facilitate progressive environmental policy by placing the environmental agenda on firmer epistemological ground and legitimizing challenges to current power hegemonies that dictate unsustainable practices. Key Words: democracy, environmental conflict, -
The Meaning and Significance of Dispute on Objectless Presentations
NeuroQuantology | December 2018 | Volume 16 | Issue 12 | Page 87-91| doi: 10.14704/nq.2018.16.12.1344 Seliverstov S., The Meaning and Significance of Dispute on Objectless Presentations The Meaning and Significance of Dispute on Objectless Presentations Vladimir Seliverstov* ABSTRACT This paper considers the evolution of understanding and the status of objectless presentations in the works of the three main authors of this tradition: “The Theory of Science” by B. Bolzano, “On Content and Object of Presentations” by K. Twardowski and “Intentional Objects” by E. Husserl. A critical analysis of these positions on objectless presentations is interesting, because here in one point, in one discussion, we have several very important philosophical theories that have had an impact on the philosophical debates in the twentieth century, particularly on the discussion Alexius Meinong and Bertrand Russell at the beginning of XX century. We want to show, how this Meinong’s conception has contemporary philosophy. Here author aims to show how theory of objects as such came into being and how its main ideasmade weresignificant discussed contribution and criticized into the in problemsubsequent of nonexistent philosophical objects thought. that Thisstill remainsdispute pushesone of theus tomost think debated that we in deal here with fundamental ideological differences between these conceptions. Therefore, it allowed to consider another important philosophical and methodological problem - the problem of incommunicability between logical and psychological conceptions. Key Words: Bolzano, Twardowski, Theory of Objects, Phenomenology, Objectless Presentations, Intentionality 87 DOI Number: 10.14704/nq.2018.16.12.1344 NeuroQuantology 2018; 16(12):87-91 The Problem he is often called a precursor of analytic philosophy. -
Either in Plain Text Format As Am Attached PDF) at the End of the Term
History of Analytic Philosophy410 — Syllabus Lecturer: SidneyFelder,e-mail: [email protected] Rutgers The State University of NewJersey, Spring 2021 “Office Hours” (i.e., individual discussions): By Appointment Formanyreasons, there is no uncontroversial general characterization of the range of work that tends to be classified under the heading “Analytic Philosophy”. For our purposes, an analytic philosopher is anyone whose work is conducted in awareness of the fundamental importance, for every variety of foundational and philosophical inquiry,ofobtaining a proper understanding of what properties of thought, perception, language, and the world, and what properties of their relationship, makepossible the meaningful ascription of truth, fal- sity,and referential significance of anykind to such things as thoughts, beliefs, sentences, propositions, and judgments. This course covers the early history of analytic philosophy, concentrating largely on writings of Gottlob Frege, Bertrand Russell, G.E. Moore, and Ludwig Wittgenstein, whose work secured recognition of the necessity as well as the great difficulty of this kind of inquiry. Weeks 1, 2, 3, 4 Transition from idealism, naturalism, and Kantianism Russell Our Knowledgeofthe External World (1914) Chapter I, Current Tendencies; Chapter II, Logic As the Essence of Philosophy Frege The Foundations of Arithmetic (1884) , Introduction and sections 1-28. Moore Principia Ethica (1903) , Chapters I, II, III (36-44) ,VI(110-121) Russell The Principles of Mathematics (1903) , Chapters I, III (Sections 37-38, 43-45) ,IV, V(56-60, 63-65) ,VI(66-74) , VIII (86-87, 93) ,IX, X, XVI, XXVI, XXVII (217-219) ,XLII, XLIII (337-341) ,LI Weeks 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 Construction of a Language for Mathematics. -
Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus</Em>
University of South Florida Scholar Commons Graduate Theses and Dissertations Graduate School 8-6-2008 Three Wittgensteins: Interpreting the Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus Thomas J. Brommage Jr. University of South Florida Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd Part of the American Studies Commons Scholar Commons Citation Brommage, Thomas J. Jr., "Three Wittgensteins: Interpreting the Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus" (2008). Graduate Theses and Dissertations. https://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/149 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]. Three Wittgensteins: Interpreting the Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus by Thomas J. Brommage, Jr. 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 Co-Major Professor: Kwasi Wiredu, B.Phil. Co-Major Professor: Stephen P. Turner, Ph.D. Charles B. Guignon, Ph.D. Richard N. Manning, J. D., Ph.D. Joanne B. Waugh, Ph.D. Date of Approval: August 6, 2008 Keywords: Wittgenstein, Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus, logical empiricism, resolute reading, metaphysics © Copyright 2008 , Thomas J. Brommage, Jr. Acknowledgments There are many people whom have helped me along the way. My most prominent debts include Ray Langely, Billy Joe Lucas, and Mary T. Clark, who trained me in philosophy at Manhattanville College; and also to Joanne Waugh, Stephen Turner, Kwasi Wiredu and Cahrles Guignon, all of whom have nurtured my love for the philosophy of language. -
Ethnicity As a Construct in Leisure Research: a Rejoinder to Gobster
Joumat of Leisure Research Copyright 2007 2007, Voi 39, No. 3, pp. 554-566 National Recreation and Park Association Ethnicity as a Construct in Leisure Research: A Rejoinder to Gobster Garry Chick The Pennsylvania State University Chieh-lu Li The University of Hong Kong Harry C. Zinn The Pennsylvania State University James D. Absher The USDA Forest Service Alan R. Graefe The Pennsylvania State University Gobster addresses several issues in our paper. These include, first, a suggestion that the measure of cultural values that we used is not appropriate for understanding possible variations in racial and ethnic patterns of' outdoor leisure preferences and behavior. He claims, as well, that we limit our use of ethnicity to alleged cultural differences among groups and, specifically, to cultural values, unlike what most leisure researchers have done. Second, Gobster questions our concern with the use of common racial and ethnic labels because these are part and parcel of the way in which people look at others. Third, grouping people by racial and ethnic labels has often contrib- uted to social justice. Fourth, ethnic groups in the U.S. are growing and what may have been small differences between groups in the past may be mag- nified in the future due to these demographic shifts. Fifth, research is con- strained by resources that limit sampling designs and, therefore, collapsing smaller ethnic and/or racial groups into larger ones may be required for statistical comparisons of adequate power to be made. Sixth, Gobster ex- presses concern over our use of' cultural consensus analysis, a single method, in claiming that ethnicity may not be a useful concept. -
Frege's Influence on Wittgenstein: Reversing Metaphysics Via the Context Principle*
Frege's Influence on Wittgenstein: Reversing Metaphysics via the Context Principle* Erich H. Reck Gottlob Frege and Ludwig Wittgenstein (the later Wittgenstein) are often seen as polar opposites with respect to their fundamental philosophical outlooks: Frege as a paradig- matic "realist", Wittgenstein as a paradigmatic "anti-realist". This opposition is supposed to find its clearest expression with respect to mathematics: Frege is seen as the "arch-pla- tonist", Wittgenstein as some sort of "radical anti-platonist". Furthermore, seeing them as such fits nicely with a widely shared view about their relation: the later Wittgenstein is supposed to have developed his ideas in direct opposition to Frege. The purpose of this paper is to challenge these standard assumptions. I will argue that Frege's and Wittgen- stein's basic outlooks have something crucial in common; and I will argue that this is the result of the positive influence Frege had on Wittgenstein. It would be absurd to claim that there are no important differences between Frege and Wittgenstein. Likewise, it would be absurd to claim that the later Wittgenstein was not critical of some of Frege's ideas. What, then, is the common element I see? My sugges- tion is that the two thinkers agree on what I call a reversal of metaphysics (relative to a standard kind of metaphysics attacked by both). This is not an agreement on one particu- lar thesis or on one argument. Rather, it has to do with what is prior and what is posterior when it comes to certain fundamental explanations in metaphysics (also, relatedly, in semantics and epistemology). -
Rights, Needs, and the Creation of Ethical Community Natalie Susan Gaines Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College
Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Doctoral Dissertations Graduate School 2011 Rights, needs, and the creation of ethical community Natalie Susan Gaines Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_dissertations Part of the Political Science Commons Recommended Citation Gaines, Natalie Susan, "Rights, needs, and the creation of ethical community" (2011). LSU Doctoral Dissertations. 2317. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_dissertations/2317 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized graduate school editor of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please [email protected]. RIGHTS, NEEDS, AND THE CREATION OF ETHICAL COMMUNITY A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University Agricultural and Mechanical College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in The Department of Political Science by Natalie Susan Gaines B.A., University of Louisville, 2005 M.A., Louisiana State University, 2008 December 2011 ©Copyright 2011 Natalie Susan Gaines All rights reserved ii To my wonderful parents, Kenneth and Charlotte, without whose unfaltering love and encouragement this dissertation never would have been possible iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I should probably begin by thanking the individual who set me on the road to academia, Dr. Gary L. Gregg, II at the University of Louisville. In my early years as an undergraduate, I was unsure of the path I would take after graduation. Dr. Gregg served as a wonderful mentor and opened my eyes to the vocation of teaching and the excitement of political theory. -
Theories of Truth
time 7 Theories of truth r A summary sketchl The object of this section is to sketch the main kinds of ~ theories of truth which have been proposed, and to indicate how they C relate to each other. (Subsequent sections will discuss some theories S'" p. in detail.) o Coherence theories take truth to consist in relations of coherence ~ among a set of beliefs. Coherence theories were proposed e.g. by '" ""C Bradley r9r4, and also by some positivist opponents of idealism, such o u as Neurath r932; more recently, Rescher r973 and Dauer r974 have C'" defended this kind of approach. Correspondence theories take the :l 0::'" truth of a proposition to consist, not in its relations to other proposi .= tions, but in its relation to the world, its cOllespondence to the facts. Theories of this kind were held by both Russell r9r8 and Wittgenstein r922, during the period of their adherence to logical atomism; Austin defended a version of the cOllespondence theory in r950' The prag matist theory, developed in the works of Peirce (see e.g. r877), Dewey (see e.g. r9or) and James (see e.g. r909) has affinities with both coherence and correspondence theories, allowing that the truth of a belief derives from its correspondence with reality, but stressing also that it is manifested by the beliefs' survival of test by experience, its coherence with other beliefs; the account of truth proposed in Dummett r959 has, in turn, quite strong affinities with the pragmatist VIew. 1 Proponents of the theories I shall discuss take different views about what kinds of items are truth-bearers. -
The Theatre of Death: the Uncanny in Mimesis Tadeusz Kantor, Aby Warburg, and an Iconography of the Actor; Or, Must One Die to Be Dead
The Theatre of Death: The Uncanny in Mimesis Tadeusz Kantor, Aby Warburg, and an Iconography of the Actor; Or, must one die to be dead. Twitchin, Mischa The copyright of this thesis rests with the author and no quotation from it or information derived from it may be published without the prior written consent of the author For additional information about this publication click this link. http://qmro.qmul.ac.uk/jspui/handle/123456789/8626 Information about this research object was correct at the time of download; we occasionally make corrections to records, please therefore check the published record when citing. For more information contact [email protected] The Theatre of Death: The Uncanny in Mimesis Tadeusz Kantor, Aby Warburg, and an Iconography of the Actor; Or, must one die to be dead? Mischa Twitchin Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy. 1 The Theatre of Death: the Uncanny in Mimesis (Abstract) The aim of this thesis is to explore an heuristic analogy as proposed in its very title: how does a concept of the “uncanny in mimesis” and of the “theatre of death” give content to each other – historically and theoretically – as distinct from the one providing either a description of, or even a metaphor for, the other? Thus, while the title for this concept of theatre derives from an eponymous manifesto of Tadeusz Kantor’s, the thesis does not aim to explain what the concept might mean in this historically specific instance only. Rather, it aims to develop a comparative analysis, through the question of mimesis, allowing for different theatre artists to be related within what will be proposed as a “minor” tradition of modernist art theatre (that “of death”). -
The Criterion of Truth
THE CRITERION OF TRUTH An article published in the Theosophical movement magazine, February 2017 THE STATED object of science is to discover truths about the natural world through strictly objective observation, experimental verification and theoretical explanations, free from all subjective biases. Testability and reproducibility of laws so discovered are the criterion of truth so far as modern science is concerned. Though science has made remarkable progress in unravelling laws of the physical world by empirical and inductive methods, and in their practical applications, leading scientists however confess that they have failed to develop a unified science with a single set of assumptions and terms to explain all observations as aspects of one coherent whole. In other words, they are still in search of one single universal principle, theoretical formulation of which will reconcile many different specialized observations resolvable into one grand synthetic whole which explains all the mysteries of the natural world. They admit that such a universal unifying principle alone is truth and that its discovery, by means of inductive method they adhere to, is still a far cry. Each one of the many sects of the world religions, resting on “Revelation,” lays claim to be the sole possessor of truth. Inasmuch as there is no other fertile source of mutual hatred and strife in the world than differences between the various religious sects, it is evident that none of them has the whole truth. Whatever truth they had originally possessed has been so mixed up with human error and superstitions over the centuries that they either repel and cause the reasoning and thinking portions of humanity to fall into agnosticism, or induce blind faith and superstitions in unthinking portions of the public who willingly submit to priestly authority. -
Book Reviews
Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology Volume 76 | Issue 2 Article 6 1985 Book Reviews Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarlycommons.law.northwestern.edu/jclc Part of the Criminal Law Commons, Criminology Commons, and the Criminology and Criminal Justice Commons Recommended Citation Book Reviews, 76 J. Crim. L. & Criminology 512 (1985) This Book Review is brought to you for free and open access by Northwestern University School of Law Scholarly Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology by an authorized editor of Northwestern University School of Law Scholarly Commons. 0091-4169/85/7602-512 THE JOURNAL OF CRIMINAL LAW & CRIMINOLOGY Vol. 76. No. 2 Copyright 0 1985 by Northwestern University, School of Law Printed in US.A. BOOK REVIEWS THE CONSENSUS-CONFLICT DEBATE. By Thomas J. Bernard. New York: Columbia University Press, 1983. Pp. 229. $28.00 (cloth), $14.00 (paper). Approximately fifteen years ago, a major debate raged in aca- demic sociology between theorists identified as consensus oriented and those defined as conflict oriented. A central theme of this great debate was whether social order was best described as emerging from a commonly held set of values and beliefs (the consensus posi- tion) or is, instead, due to power and coercion (the conflict posi- tion). Although much was written by both sides, the debate never attained satisfactory closure and the issue slowly faded from socio- logical attention. Now there appears in journals only scattered es- says related to the consensus-conflict debate. In his book, Thomas Bernard has not only resurrected the consensus-conflict debate, he has made it more general by examining the writings of classical moral and legal philosophers as well as sociologists.