Notes on Pragmatist Hermeneutics*
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The Unlimited Responsibility of Spilling Ink Marko Zlomislic
ISSN 1393-614X Minerva - An Internet Journal of Philosophy 11 (2007): 128-152 ____________________________________________________ The Unlimited Responsibility of Spilling Ink Marko Zlomislic Abstract In order to show that both Derrida’s epistemology and his ethics can be understood in terms of his logic of writing and giving, I consider his conversation with Searle in Limited Inc. I bring out how a deconstruction that is implied by the dissemination of writing and giving makes a difference that accounts for the creative and responsible decisions that undecidability makes possible. Limited Inc has four parts and I will interpret it in terms of the four main concepts of Derrida. I will relate signature, event, context to Derrida’s notion of dissemination and show how he differs from Austin and Searle concerning the notion of the signature of the one who writes and gives. Next, I will show how in his reply to Derrida, entitled, “Reiterating the Differences”, Searle overlooks Derrida’s thought about the communication of intended meaning that has to do with Derrida’s distinction between force and meaning and his notion of differance. Here I will show that Searle cannot even follow his own criteria for doing philosophy. Then by looking at Limited Inc, I show how Derrida differs from Searle because repeatability is alterability. Derrida has an ethical intent all along to show that it is the ethos of alterity that is called forth by responsibility and accounted for by dissemination and difference. Of course, comments on comments, criticisms of criticisms, are subject to the law of diminishing fleas, but I think there are here some misconceptions still to be cleared up, some of which seem to still be prevalent in generally sensible quarters. -
In Defence of Folk Psychology
FRANK JACKSON & PHILIP PETTIT IN DEFENCE OF FOLK PSYCHOLOGY (Received 14 October, 1988) It turned out that there was no phlogiston, no caloric fluid, and no luminiferous ether. Might it turn out that there are no beliefs and desires? Patricia and Paul Churchland say yes. ~ We say no. In part one we give our positive argument for the existence of beliefs and desires, and in part two we offer a diagnosis of what has misled the Church- lands into holding that it might very well turn out that there are no beliefs and desires. 1. THE EXISTENCE OF BELIEFS AND DESIRES 1.1. Our Strategy Eliminativists do not insist that it is certain as of now that there are no beliefs and desires. They insist that it might very well turn out that there are no beliefs and desires. Thus, in order to engage with their position, we need to provide a case for beliefs and desires which, in addition to being a strong one given what we now know, is one which is peculiarly unlikely to be undermined by future progress in neuroscience. Our first step towards providing such a case is to observe that the question of the existence of beliefs and desires as conceived in folk psychology can be divided into two questions. There exist beliefs and desires if there exist creatures with states truly describable as states of believing that such-and-such or desiring that so-and-so. Our question, then, can be divided into two questions. First, what is it for a state to be truly describable as a belief or as a desire; what, that is, needs to be the case according to our folk conception of belief and desire for a state to be a belief or a desire? And, second, is what needs to be the case in fact the case? Accordingly , if we accepted a certain, simple behaviourist account of, say, our folk Philosophical Studies 59:31--54, 1990. -
Thinking the Concept Otherwise: Deleuze and Expression
Thinking the Concept Otherwise: Deleuze and Expression PETER COOK University o/Sydney ABSTRACT: In What is Philosophy?, Deleuze and Guattari think the concept of concept otherwise. In keeping with Deleuze 's professed empiricism, he and Guattari study various concepts and 'extract' a new concept ofthe concept. This constructive method does not illuminate how and why their proposed concept diffors from the traditional. This paper considers how Deleuze and Guattari 's concept does differ, as afirst step towards arriving at some evaluation oftheir analysis. REsUME: Dans Qu' est-ce que la philosophie?, Deleuze et Guattari pensent Ie concept autrement. Tout en s 'en tenant aI 'empirisme avoue de Deleuze, ce dernier et Guattari analysent differents concepts et en 'extraient' un nouveau concept de concept. Cette methode constructive n 'eclaire cependant pas comment et pourquoi Ie concept qu 'ils proposent di.ffere du concept traditionnel. Apres avoir considere la faryon dont Ie concept de Deleuze et Guattari di.ffere en effit de l'acception traditionnelle, cet article pourra se pencher sur la question de I 'evaluation de leur analyse. " ... one can ... think ... the concept of concept otherwise ... "l In What is Philosophy?, Deleuze and Guattari think the concept of concept otherwise. In keeping with Deleuze's professed empiricism, he and Guattari study various concepts and 'extract' a new concept of the concept. This constructive method does not illuminate how and why their proposed concept differs from the traditional. In this paper I consider how Deleuze and Guattari's concept does differ, as a first step towards arriving at some evaluation of their analysis. -
Logic: a Brief Introduction Ronald L
Logic: A Brief Introduction Ronald L. Hall, Stetson University Chapter 1 - Basic Training 1.1 Introduction In this logic course, we are going to be relying on some “mental muscles” that may need some toning up. But don‟t worry, we recognize that it may take some time to get these muscles strengthened; so we are going to take it slow before we get up and start running. Are you ready? Well, let‟s begin our basic training with some preliminary conceptual stretching. Certainly all of us recognize that activities like riding a bicycle, balancing a checkbook, or playing chess are acquired skills. Further, we know that in order to acquire these skills, training and study are important, but practice is essential. It is also commonplace to acknowledge that these acquired skills can be exercised at various levels of mastery. Those who have studied the piano and who have practiced diligently certainly are able to play better than those of us who have not. The plain fact is that some people play the piano better than others. And the same is true of riding a bicycle, playing chess, and so forth. Now let‟s stretch this agreement about such skills a little further. Consider the activity of thinking. Obviously, we all think, but it is seldom that we think about thinking. So let's try to stretch our thinking to include thinking about thinking. As we do, and if this does not cause too much of a cramp, we will see that thinking is indeed an activity that has much in common with other acquired skills. -
The Philosophy of Mathematics: a Study of Indispensability and Inconsistency
Claremont Colleges Scholarship @ Claremont Scripps Senior Theses Scripps Student Scholarship 2016 The hiP losophy of Mathematics: A Study of Indispensability and Inconsistency Hannah C. Thornhill Scripps College Recommended Citation Thornhill, Hannah C., "The hiP losophy of Mathematics: A Study of Indispensability and Inconsistency" (2016). Scripps Senior Theses. Paper 894. http://scholarship.claremont.edu/scripps_theses/894 This Open Access Senior Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Scripps Student Scholarship at Scholarship @ Claremont. It has been accepted for inclusion in Scripps Senior Theses by an authorized administrator of Scholarship @ Claremont. For more information, please contact [email protected]. The Philosophy of Mathematics: A Study of Indispensability and Inconsistency Hannah C.Thornhill March 10, 2016 Submitted to Scripps College in Partial Fulfillment of the Degree of Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics and Philosophy Professor Avnur Professor Karaali Abstract This thesis examines possible philosophies to account for the prac- tice of mathematics, exploring the metaphysical, ontological, and epis- temological outcomes of each possible theory. Through a study of the two most probable ideas, mathematical platonism and fictionalism, I focus on the compelling argument for platonism given by an ap- peal to the sciences. The Indispensability Argument establishes the power of explanation seen in the relationship between mathematics and empirical science. Cases of this explanatory power illustrate how we might have reason to believe in the existence of mathematical en- tities present within our best scientific theories. The second half of this discussion surveys Newtonian Cosmology and other inconsistent theories as they pose issues that have received insignificant attention within the philosophy of mathematics. -
Validity and Soundness
1.4 Validity and Soundness A deductive argument proves its conclusion ONLY if it is both valid and sound. Validity: An argument is valid when, IF all of it’s premises were true, then the conclusion would also HAVE to be true. In other words, a “valid” argument is one where the conclusion necessarily follows from the premises. It is IMPOSSIBLE for the conclusion to be false if the premises are true. Here’s an example of a valid argument: 1. All philosophy courses are courses that are super exciting. 2. All logic courses are philosophy courses. 3. Therefore, all logic courses are courses that are super exciting. Note #1: IF (1) and (2) WERE true, then (3) would also HAVE to be true. Note #2: Validity says nothing about whether or not any of the premises ARE true. It only says that IF they are true, then the conclusion must follow. So, validity is more about the FORM of an argument, rather than the TRUTH of an argument. So, an argument is valid if it has the proper form. An argument can have the right form, but be totally false, however. For example: 1. Daffy Duck is a duck. 2. All ducks are mammals. 3. Therefore, Daffy Duck is a mammal. The argument just given is valid. But, premise 2 as well as the conclusion are both false. Notice however that, IF the premises WERE true, then the conclusion would also have to be true. This is all that is required for validity. A valid argument need not have true premises or a true conclusion. -
1 Critical Thinking: the Very Basics
1 CRITICAL THINKING: THE VERY BASICS - HANDBOOK Dona Warren, Philosophy Department, The University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point I. RECOGNIZING ARGUMENTS An argument is a unit of reasoning that attempts to prove that a certain idea is true by citing other ideas as evidence. II. ANALYZING ARGUMENTS 1. Identify the ultimate conclusion (the main idea that the argument is trying to prove). Sometimes, this is unstated. 2. Determine which other ideas are important. An idea is important if it helps the argument to establish the truth of the ultimate conclusion. 3. Figure out how these other ideas work together to support the ultimate conclusion. Ideas work together according to four basic patterns of cooperation. Basic Patterns: i. Premise / Ultimate Conclusion Idea Premise - an idea that the argument assumes to be true % without support Inference - the connection that holds between the idea(s) at the top of the arrow and the idea at the bottom of the arrow when the truth of the idea(s) at the top is supposed % to establish the truth of the idea at the bottom - often indicated by conclusion indicator expressions like “therefore” and reason indicator expressions “because.” Idea Ultimate Conclusion – what the argument is ultimately % trying to prove. 2 ii. Subconclusions Idea Idea Subconclusion – an intermediate idea on the way from the % premises to the ultimate conclusion Idea iii. Dependent Reasons Idea + Idea Dependent Reasons – neither idea can support the % conclusion alone but together they can support the conclusion Idea iv. Independent Reasons Independent Reasons – each idea can support the Idea Idea conclusion on its own % Idea This gives us independent lines of reasoning. -
PHIL 463/563 Author: Jacques DERRIDA Fall 2016 Instructor
PHIL 463/563 Author: Jacques DERRIDA Fall 2016 Instructor: Professor Beata Stawarska Noon - 1:50pm, T & TH, 250C SCH Office Hours: T 2-3:50pm & by appointment Office: SCH 247 E-mail: [email protected] Description This class surveys representative works by the contemporary Algerian-Jewish-French philosopher Jacques Derrida (1930-2004). We will focus especially on the tasks and methods of deconstruction, which is first and foremost a style of reading texts attending to their logical and rhetorical dimensions. A related focus will be on Derrida’s critique of Western metaphysics of presence with its set of violent and vertical dichotomies such as interiority and exteriority, speech and writing, male and female, self and other, and on his attempt to thematize difference in a more complex, dynamic, and non-hierarchical manner – both at the level of theory and practice. These two main foci determine the design of this class, which examines Derrida’s deconstructive reading of Husserl’s phenomenology of consciousness with its commitment to the primacy of sound and/or voice (The Voice and Phenomena); Plato’s Phaedrus and the undecidable status of writing as a pharmakon (remedy and/or poison) (Dissemination); and J. L. Austin’s and John Searle’s speech acts theory and its conception of the performative (Limited Inc). We will then address Derrida’s more recent, socially and politically situated work, especially the question of sexual difference and feminism (select essays from Psyche), of an indeconstructible and other- oriented justice (‘Force of Law: the Mystical Foundation of Authority’), and of linguistic and cultural identity within a post-colonial context (Monolingualism of the Other). -
Jacques Derrida Law As Absolute Hospitality
JACQUES DERRIDA LAW AS ABSOLUTE HOSPITALITY JACQUES DE VILLE NOMIKOI CRITICAL LEGAL THINKERS Jacques Derrida Jacques Derrida: Law as Absolute Hospitality presents a comprehensive account and understanding of Derrida’s approach to law and justice. Through a detailed reading of Derrida’s texts, Jacques de Ville contends that it is only by way of Derrida’s deconstruction of the metaphysics of presence, and specifi cally in relation to the texts of Husserl, Levinas, Freud and Heidegger, that the reasoning behind his elusive works on law and justice can be grasped. Through detailed readings of texts such as ‘To Speculate – on Freud’, Adieu, ‘Declarations of Independence’, ‘Before the Law’, ‘Cogito and the History of Madness’, Given Time, ‘Force of Law’ and Specters of Marx, de Ville contends that there is a continuity in Derrida’s thinking, and rejects the idea of an ‘ethical turn’. Derrida is shown to be neither a postmodernist nor a political liberal, but a radical revolutionary. De Ville also controversially contends that justice in Derrida’s thinking must be radically distinguished from Levinas’s refl ections on ‘the Other’. It is the notion of absolute hospitality – which Derrida derives from Levinas, but radically transforms – that provides the basis of this argument. Justice must, on de Ville’s reading, be understood in terms of a demand of absolute hospitality which is imposed on both the individual and the collective subject. A much needed account of Derrida’s infl uential approach to law, Jacques Derrida: Law as Absolute Hospitality will be an invaluable resource for those with an interest in legal theory, and for those with an interest in the ethics and politics of deconstruction. -
What Is a Logical Argument? What Is Deductive Reasoning?
What is a logical argument? What is deductive reasoning? Fundamentals of Academic Writing Logical relations • Deductive logic – Claims to provide conclusive support for the truth of a conclusion • Inductive logic – Arguments support a conclusion, but do not claim to show that it is necessarily true Deductive logic • Categorical propositions – Deductive arguments are either valid or invalid. – Premises are either true or not true. – If the argument is valid and the premises are true, then the conclusion is true. Deductive logic • Categorical propositions – All S is P. – No S is P. – Some S is P. – Some S is not P. • Quantity: Some or All • Quality: Positive or Negative (no, not) Deductive logic • Categorical propositions – All dogs are mammals. – No dogs are fish. – Some mammals are carnivores. – Some mammals are not carnivores. • The truth of a proposition is determined by its “fit” with the world. – “Some mammals are carnivores” is true if and only if there are some mammals that eat meat. Deductive logic • Categorical propositions – “Physicians licensed to practice in Japan must pass the National Medical Licensing Board Exam.” – All licensed physicians in Japan are people who passed the Licensing Board Exam. – All S is P. Exercise • Create one or more categorical statements of the following types. Compare your statements with your group members’. – All S is P. – No S is P. (= All S is not-P.) – Some S is P. – Some S is not P. Syllogisms • Syllogism: A conclusion inferred from two premises All Cretans are liars. All liars are dishonest. ∴ All Cretans are dishonest. Syllogisms All Cretans are liars. -
THE PRAGMATICS of DIRECT ADDRESS in the ILIAD: a STUDY in LINGUISTIC POLITENESS DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment Of
THE PRAGMATICS OF DIRECT ADDRESS IN THE ILIAD: A STUDY IN LINGUISTIC POLITENESS DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of the Ohio State University By H. Paul Brown The Ohio State University 2003 Dissertation Committee: Approved by Stephen V. Tracy, Advisor Victoria Wohl ________________________ Advisor Brian Joseph Department of Greek and Latin Daniel Collins Copyright by H. Paul Brown 2003 ABSTRACT The purpose of this paper will be to examine, in the text of Homer’s Iliad, some of the pragmatic and sociolinguistic factors in the choice of form of address (epithet). Specifically I will look at these in light of the Parry-Lord theory of oral composition and its claims of ‘economy of form.’ The results of this limited examination have important implications for the viability of such methods and for our understanding of oral, traditional literature. Milman Parry, as is well known, demonstrated that the choice of appellation for any character, between the given-name (e.g., ÉAgam°mnvn) and the patronymic (e.g., ÉAtre˝dhw) was a decision based on metrical considerations alone, and importantly, not on semantic ones. The two terms cannot simply be substituted for the other without changing the meter of the whole line. The choice between the two is, according to Parry, driven by metrical necessity alone and hence any possible distinction of meaning is automatically bleached. The two names mean the same thing (i.e., Agamemnon). In this study I will look specifically at the use types of address within the narrative frame of the Iliad, in light of two potentially contributing factors. -
Introduction to Logic and Critical Thinking
Introduction to Logic and Critical Thinking Version 1.4 Matthew J. Van Cleave Lansing Community College Introduction to Logic and Critical Thinking by Matthew J. Van Cleave is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. Table of contents Preface Chapter 1: Reconstructing and analyzing arguments 1.1 What is an argument? 1.2 Identifying arguments 1.3 Arguments vs. explanations 1.4 More complex argument structures 1.5 Using your own paraphrases of premises and conclusions to reconstruct arguments in standard form 1.6 Validity 1.7 Soundness 1.8 Deductive vs. inductive arguments 1.9 Arguments with missing premises 1.10 Assuring, guarding, and discounting 1.11 Evaluative language 1.12 Evaluating a real-life argument Chapter 2: Formal methods of evaluating arguments 2.1 What is a formal method of evaluation and why do we need them? 2.2 Propositional logic and the four basic truth functional connectives 2.3 Negation and disjunction 2.4 Using parentheses to translate complex sentences 2.5 “Not both” and “neither nor” 2.6 The truth table test of validity 2.7 Conditionals 2.8 “Unless” 2.9 Material equivalence 2.10 Tautologies, contradictions, and contingent statements 2.11 Proofs and the 8 valid forms of inference 2.12 How to construct proofs 2.13 Short review of propositional logic 2.14 Categorical logic 2.15 The Venn test of validity for immediate categorical inferences 2.16 Universal statements and existential commitment 2.17 Venn validity for categorical syllogisms Chapter 3: Evaluating inductive arguments and probabilistic and statistical fallacies 3.1 Inductive arguments and statistical generalizations 3.2 Inference to the best explanation and the seven explanatory virtues 3.3 Analogical arguments 3.4 Causal arguments 3.5 Probability 3.6 The conjunction fallacy 3.7 The base rate fallacy 3.8 The small numbers fallacy 3.9 Regression to the mean fallacy 3.10 Gambler’s fallacy Chapter 4: Informal fallacies 4.1 Formal vs.