Postmodern Nihilism: Theory and Literature
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Phil. 173: Metaethics Apr. 25, 2018 Lecture 27: Is Expressivism Nihilism? Is Relativism Nihilism? I
Phil. 173: Metaethics Apr. 25, 2018 Lecture 27: Is Expressivism Nihilism? Is Relativism Nihilism? I. Lewis’ Argument That Quasi-Realism Is Fictionalism (and Hence a Form of Nihilism) Suppose Blackburn’s quasi-realist project has succeeded perfectly on its own terms. Then the quasi-realist can, and will, echo everything the moral realist says. Rosen’s question: So what, then, makes the quasi-realist not simply a realist? Lewis’ reply: We shouldn’t look for something the realist says that the quasi-realist will not echo. Rather, we should look for something the quasi-realist says that the realist will not echo. In particular, even though at the end of the day the quasi-realist apes everything the realist says, at the beginning of the day the quasi-realist starts by expressing his commitment to projectivism. According to Lewis, this statement of projectivism acts as a disowning preface that turns the quasi-realist’s later realist-sounding assertions into fictive assertions of the sort uttered by a moral fictionalist. It’s as if the quasi- realist started out by saying, “Let’s make believe that moral realism is true, though it isn’t.” More formally, Lewis argues as follows (see p. 319): 1. One aim of quasi-realism is (to earn the right) to say what the moral realist says. [premise] 2. To say what the moral realist says is either to be a moral realist or to make-believedly be a moral realist. [premise] 3. So, an aim of quasi-realism is either to be a moral realist or to make-believedly be a moral realist. -
Sovereign Poetics: from Exception to Apocrypha
[Expositions 9.2 (2015) 16–34] Expositions (online) ISSN: 1747–5376 Sovereign Poetics: from Exception to Apocrypha ERIN FORBES University of Wyoming ABSTRACT This essay suggests an aesthetic solution to the problem of foundation in Carl Schmitt’s Political Theology by reading that work in relation to the Old English poem Judith. This is an essay that analyzes the dynamics of beginnings (those that are overt and locatable together with those that are concealed and irrecoverable). I myself begin by asking what might be gained by reading the Old English poem Judith, whose own beginning has gone missing, as a prelude to political philosopher Carl Schmitt’s Political Theology: Four Chapters on the Concept of Sovereignty. Political Theology is a text whose famous opening hovers suggestively between gnomic aphorism and clear definition: “Sovereign is he who decides on the exception.”1 Unlikely as the pairing of Judith and Political Theology might at first seem, I argue that this juxtaposition helps us think through the problem of what Kathleen Davis, following Schmitt, has described as the “absent foundation of sovereignty.”2 Ultimately, I propose that the philosophical problem that Schmitt’s theorization of the sovereign exception poses has an aesthetic solution in the fragmentary Judith. Although his theories of political life have been influential to both conservative and radical thinkers in recent decades, it remains the case that Schmitt is most often remembered for his association with Hitler’s totalitarian regime. Yet Schmitt objected to constitutional politics throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries because of their pretense to organic totality, not because of their failures of authority. -
Between Dualism and Immanentism Sacramental Ontology and History
religions Article Between Dualism and Immanentism Sacramental Ontology and History Enrico Beltramini Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies, Notre Dame de Namur University, Belmont, CA 94002, USA; [email protected] Abstract: How to deal with religious ideas in religious history (and in history in general) has recently become a matter of discussion. In particular, a number of authors have framed their work around the concept of ‘sacramental ontology,’ that is, a unified vision of reality in which the secular and the religious come together, although maintaining their distinction. The authors’ choices have been criticized by their fellow colleagues as a form of apologetics and a return to integralism. The aim of this article is to provide a proper context in which to locate the phenomenon of sacramental ontology. I suggest considering (1) the generation of the concept of sacramental ontology as part of the internal dialectic of the Christian intellectual world, not as a reaction to the secular; and (2) the adoption of the concept as a protection against ontological nihilism, not as an attack on scientific knowledge. Keywords: sacramental ontology; history; dualism; immanentism; nihilism Citation: Beltramini, Enrico. 2021. Between Dualism and Immanentism Sacramental Ontology and History. Religions 12: 47. https://doi.org/ 1. Introduction 10.3390rel12010047 A specter is haunting the historical enterprise, the specter of ‘sacramental ontology.’ Received: 3 December 2020 The specter of sacramental ontology is carried by a generation of Roman Catholic and Accepted: 23 December 2020 Evangelical historians as well as historical theologians who aim to restore the sacred dimen- 1 Published: 11 January 2021 sion of nature. -
The Inventory of the Alvin Epstein Collection #1717
The Inventory of the Alvin Epstein Collection #1717 Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center Epstein, Alvin #1717 2/17/06 Preliminary Listing I. Professional Materials. Box 1 A. Files, re: American Repertory Theater, unless noted; may include reviews; scores; scripts; notes; correspondence; printed materials; legal materials; photographs; artwork; audio material. 1. AAlliance for the Development of Theater Arts, Inc.@ [F. 1] 2. AAmerican Repertory Theater.@ [F.1-3] 3. AAspen Musical Festival.@ [F. 4] 4. ABeckett, Samuel.@ [F. 5] 5. AContracts.@ [F. 5-6] 6. AThe Cabinet of Dr. Caligari.@ [F. 7] 7. ACaligula - Yale Repertory Theater.@ [F. 8] 8. ACarnegie Hall.@ 9. ACharlie in the House of Rue,@ includes photographs; slides. 10. AThe Cherry Orchard.@ 11. AClerambard,@ includes printed material; telegram; photographs. [F. 9] 12. AColette,@ includes printed material. [F. 10] 13. AColette Scores.@ [F. 11] 14. ACrossing Niagra,@ includes printed material; telegram. [F. 12] 15. ACrimes and Crimes.@ 16. ADear Liar.@ [F. 13] Box 2 17. ADoctor=s Dilemma.@ [F. 1] 18. ADoing Life,@ includes contract. 19. ADon Juan.@ 20. ADream of the Red Spider.@ [F. 2] 21. ADynamite Tonite,@ includes sub-files: a. AYale Repertory Theater,@ includes 2 contracts, 11/14/06. b. ANew York,@ includes contract, 2/23/67. 22. AHamlet.@ 23. AOn Ne Badine Pas Avec L=Amour (No Trifling With Love),@ includes original sketches. [F. 2-4] 24. AOpera,@ includes printed material. [F. 5] 25. ARevue Material.@ 26. ASolider=s Tale.@ [F. 6] 27. AStory Theater.@ [F. 7] 28. ASalzburg American Seminar.@ 29. ATartuffe,@ includes printed material. [F. 8] 30. ATempest,@ American Repertory Theater and Yale Repertory Epstein, Alvin (2/17/06) Theater, MS, 200 p.; includes score; photograph. -
Heideggerian Marxism
1 2 3 4 5 Heideggerian Marxism 6 7 8 9 10 11 [First Page] 12 [-1], (1) 13 14 15 Lines: 0 to 16 ——— 17 * 429.1755pt 18 ——— 19 Normal Page 20 * PgEnds: PageB 21 22 [-1], (1) 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 1 european horizons 2 Series Editors 3 Richard Golsan, 4 Texas A&M University 5 6 Christopher Flood, 7 University of Surrey 8 Jeffrey T. Schnapp, 9 Stanford University 10 11 Richard Wolin, 12 The Graduate Center, [-2], (2) 13 City University of New York 14 15 Lines: 15 16 ——— 17 * 321.29399pt 18 ——— 19 Normal P 20 * PgEnds: 21 22 [-2], (2) 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 1 2 3 4 5 Heideggerian 6 7 8 9 Marxism 10 11 12 [-3], (3) 13 14 15 Lines: 36 to 16 ——— 17 0.78pt PgV 18 Herbert Marcuse ——— 19 Normal Page 20 * PgEnds: PageB 21 22 [-3], (3) 23 24 25 Edited by 26 27 Richard Wolin and John Abromeit 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 university of nebraska press 37 lincoln and london 1 © 2005 by the University of Nebraska Press 2 All rights reserved Manufactured in the United States of America 3 ⅜ϱ 4 The essays of Herbert Marcuse contained in this volume 5 are reprinted with the permission of the Literary Estate of Herbert Marcuse Peter Marcuse, executor. 6 Supplementary material from previously unpublished work of Herbert Marcuse, 7 much now in the archives of the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University 8 Frankfurt am Main, is being published by Routledge in a six-volume series edited by Douglas Kellner. -
The Liar Paradox As a Reductio Ad Absurdum Argument
University of Windsor Scholarship at UWindsor OSSA Conference Archive OSSA 3 May 15th, 9:00 AM - May 17th, 5:00 PM The Liar Paradox as a reductio ad absurdum argument Menashe Schwed Ashkelon Academic College Follow this and additional works at: https://scholar.uwindsor.ca/ossaarchive Part of the Philosophy Commons Schwed, Menashe, "The Liar Paradox as a reductio ad absurdum argument" (1999). OSSA Conference Archive. 48. https://scholar.uwindsor.ca/ossaarchive/OSSA3/papersandcommentaries/48 This Paper is brought to you for free and open access by the Conferences and Conference Proceedings at Scholarship at UWindsor. It has been accepted for inclusion in OSSA Conference Archive by an authorized conference organizer of Scholarship at UWindsor. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Title: The Liar Paradox as a Reductio ad Absurdum Author: Menashe Schwed Response to this paper by: Lawrence Powers (c)2000 Menashe Schwed 1. Introduction The paper discusses two seemingly separated topics: the origin and function of the Liar Paradox in ancient Greek philosophy and the Reduction ad absurdum mode of argumentation. Its goal is to show how the two topics fit together and why they are closely connected. The accepted tradition is that Eubulides of Miletos was the first to formulate the Liar Paradox correctly and that the paradox was part of the philosophical discussion of the Megarian School. Which version of the paradox was formulated by Eubulides is unknown, but according to some hints given by Aristotle and an incorrect version given by Cicero1, the version was probably as follows: The paradox is created from the Liar sentence ‘I am lying’. -
A Sociological Study of Nihilism: a Case Study
International Journal of Liberal Arts and Social Science ISSN: 2307-924X www.ijlass.org A Sociological Study of Nihilism: A Case Study Jahangir Jahangiri, PhD Assistant Professor of Sociology, Department of Sociology and Social Planning, Faculty of Social Sciences, Shiraz University, Eram Place, Shiraz, Fars, Iran Code Postal: 7194685115 Email: [email protected] Rayehe Ghareh M.A in Sociology, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran Email: [email protected] Abstract The present research aims at studying nihilistic thoughts among students of Shiraz University. The framework of the research is Crosby’s theory about nihilism. The study is based on a quantitative approach and employs a survey method so as to collect the required data. Statistical population of the study is the whole Students of Shiraz University that according to the formal statistics consists of 20000 students. 400 students are selected by multistage sampling method. The results show that there is a significant relationship between the independent variables of gender, adherences to religious practices, fatalism, fear of failure, need for achievement and the dependent variable nihilism. Stepwise regression method used to predict the dependent variable. Ordinarily, five variables of fatalism, fear of failure, Adherences to religious practices, gender and need for achievement could predict 33% of dependent variable (R2=0.338) Key Words: Nihilism, Sociology, University Students, Shiraz University, Iran Introduction Undoubtedly, the most fundamental question that every human being faces with, is about the purpose of life. Not only modern human, but also pre-modern human beings have been encountered with this question. The intolerable journey from birth to death, and relentless onslaughts of hopelessness and despair, persuade every human to answer the question, as possible. -
Intransitivity and Future Generations: Debunking Parfit's Mere Addition Paradox
Journal of Applied Philosophy, Vol. 20, No. 2,Intransitivity 2003 and Future Generations 187 Intransitivity and Future Generations: Debunking Parfit’s Mere Addition Paradox KAI M. A. CHAN Duties to future persons contribute critically to many important contemporaneous ethical dilemmas, such as environmental protection, contraception, abortion, and population policy. Yet this area of ethics is mired in paradoxes. It appeared that any principle for dealing with future persons encountered Kavka’s paradox of future individuals, Parfit’s repugnant conclusion, or an indefensible asymmetry. In 1976, Singer proposed a utilitarian solution that seemed to avoid the above trio of obstacles, but Parfit so successfully demonstrated the unacceptability of this position that Singer abandoned it. Indeed, the apparently intransitivity of Singer’s solution contributed to Temkin’s argument that the notion of “all things considered better than” may be intransitive. In this paper, I demonstrate that a time-extended view of Singer’s solution avoids the intransitivity that allows Parfit’s mere addition paradox to lead to the repugnant conclusion. However, the heart of the mere addition paradox remains: the time-extended view still yields intransitive judgments. I discuss a general theory for dealing with intransitivity (Tran- sitivity by Transformation) that was inspired by Temkin’s sports analogy, and demonstrate that such a solution is more palatable than Temkin suspected. When a pair-wise comparison also requires consideration of a small number of relevant external alternatives, we can avoid intransitivity and the mere addition paradox without infinite comparisons or rejecting the Independence of Irrelevant Alternatives Principle. Disagreement regarding the nature and substance of our duties to future persons is widespread. -
Master's Degree Project in Cognitive Neuroscience University of Skövde Advance Level
1 THE ANTECEDENTS OF FREE WILL – THE IMPORTANCE OF CONCEPT HETEROGENEITY IN RESEARCH INTERPRETATION AND DISCUSSION Master’s Degree Project in Cognitive Neuroscience University of Skövde Advance level - 30 ECTS Spring term 2018 Magnus J.C. Jensen Supervisor: Antti Revonsuo Examiner: Petri Kajonius 2 Abstract Scientific research on free will was started by Libet et al. (1982). They detected that the readiness potential (RP) proceeded urges with up to 350ms. One interpretation of the RP was that it represented motor planning. The research progress of antecedent brain activity in relation to conscious urges is investigated by looking at contemporary studies. How different assumptions and definitions of the free will concept influences interpretation of these studies is also discussed. The evidence is in favor that the RP is not representing motor planning. Antecedent activity has been detected with numerous technologies, most notably fMRI- classifiers which have been used to predict decisions in advance. Scrutiny of these results reveals that the experimental setups are dependent on time-locking trials which may construe the results. It is shown that predictions based on probabilistic antecedents can be interpreted in numerous ways. The review shows that free will positions differ from each other on several factors, such as whether free will is either-or or exists on a spectrum. Some notable positions are not dependent on antecedent activity at all. The notion of control is one of the pivotal factors deciding if a subject experience free will, not if they are the causer per se. Future discussion will be improved by systematizing the differences between the free will positions and communicating them clearly. -
Classic Novels: Meeting the Challenge of Great Literature Parts I–III
Classic Novels: Meeting the Challenge of Great Literature Parts I–III Professor Arnold Weinstein THE TEACHING COMPANY ® Arnold Weinstein, Ph.D. Edna and Richard Salomon Distinguished Professor of Comparative Literature, Brown University Born in Memphis, Tennessee in 1940, Arnold Weinstein attended public schools before going to Princeton University for his college education (B.A. in Romance Languages, 1962, magna cum laude). He spent a year studying French literature at the Université de Paris (1960−1961) and a year after college at the Freie Universität Berlin, studying German literature. His graduate work was done at Harvard University (M.A. in Comparative Literature, 1964; Ph.D. in Comparative Literature, 1968), including a year as a Fulbright Scholar at the Université de Lyon in 1966−1967. Professor Weinstein’s professional career has taken place almost entirely at Brown University, where he has gone from Assistant Professor to his current position as Edna and Richard Salomon Distinguished Professor of Comparative Literature. He won the Workman Award for Excellence in Teaching in the Humanities in 1995. He has also won a number of prestigious fellowships, including a Fulbright Fellowship in American literature at Stockholm University in 1983 and research fellowships from the National Endowment for the Humanities in 1998 (in the area of literature and medicine) and in 2007 (in the area of Scandinavian literature). In 1996, he was named Professeur Invité in American literature at the École Normale Supérieure in Paris. Professor Weinstein’s -
Finding Camus's Absurd in Faulkner's As I Lay Dying, the Sound and The
Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and Graduate Theses and Dissertations Dissertations 2009 Finding Camus's absurd in Faulkner's As I Lay Dying, The oundS and the Fury, and Absalom, Absalom! Stuart Weston Iowa State University Follow this and additional works at: https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/etd Part of the English Language and Literature Commons, and the Rhetoric and Composition Commons Recommended Citation Weston, Stuart, "Finding Camus's absurd in Faulkner's As I Lay Dying, The oundS and the Fury, and Absalom, Absalom!" (2009). Graduate Theses and Dissertations. 10628. https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/etd/10628 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and Dissertations at Iowa State University Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Graduate Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Iowa State University Digital Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Finding Camus’s absurd in Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying, The Sound and the Fury, and Absalom, Absalom! by Stuart Michael Weston A thesis submitted to the graduate faculty in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS Major: English (Literature) Program of Study Committee: Diane Price-Herndl, Major Professor Susan Yager Jean Goodwin Iowa State University Ames, Iowa 2009 ii Table of Contents Chapter One: A New Context for the Absurd…………………………………………. 1 Chapter Two: 'Something to Laugh at’: As I Lay Dying’s Absurdist Family Quest…. 10 Chapter Three: Absurd Americans: The Compsons’ Nihilistic Descent……………... 29 Chapter Four: Making Sense out of Absurdity………………………………………..55 Bibliography …………………………………………………………………………… 61 1 Chapter One: A New Context for the Absurd When literary critics speak of the absurd, they frequently do so in the context of those writers who developed and popularized the concept; the origins of the concept are European and are often traced back to Soren Kierkegaard’s The Sickness unto Death , published in 1849. -
Jean-Luc Nancy and the Deconstruction of Christianity By
Jean-Luc Nancy and the Deconstruction of Christianity by Tenzan Eaghll A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department for the Study of Religion University of Toronto ©Copyright by Tenzan Eaghll 2016 Jean-Luc Nancy and the Deconstruction of Christianity Tenzan Eaghll Doctor of Philosophy Department for the Study of Religion University of Toronto 2016 Abstract This dissertation is a study of the origins and development of the French philosopher Jean- Luc Nancy’s work on the “deconstruction of Christianity.” By situating Nancy's work in light of the broader Continental philosophical analysis of religion in the 20th Century, it argues that what Nancy calls the "deconstruction of Christianity" and the "exit from religion" is his unique intervention into the problem of metaphysical nihilism in Western thought. The author explains that Nancy’s work on religion does not provide a new “theory” for the study of religion or Christianity, but shows how Western metaphysical foundations are caught up in a process of decomposition that has been brought about by Christianity. For Nancy, the only way out of nihilism is to think of the world as an infinite opening unto itself, for this dis- encloses any transcendent principle of value or immanent notion of meaninglessness in the finite spacing of sense, and he finds the resources to think this opening within Christianity. By reading Christian notions like "God" and "creation ex nihilo" along deconstructive lines and connecting them with the rise and fall of this civilization that once called itself "Christendom," he attempts to expose "the sense of an absenting" that is both the condition of possibility for the West and what precedes, succeeds, and exceeds it.