Objective Beauty and Subjective Dissent in Leibniz’S Aesthetics
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Load more
Recommended publications
-
STEWART, DUGALD, 1753-1828. Dugald Stewart Letter to Olinthus Gregory, 1804
STEWART, DUGALD, 1753-1828. Dugald Stewart Letter to Olinthus Gregory, 1804 Emory University Pitts Theology Library 1531 Dickey Drive, Suite 560 Atlanta, GA 30322 404-727-4166 Descriptive Summary Creator: Stewart, Dugald, 1753-1828. Title: Dugald Stewart Letter to Olinthus Gregory, 1804 Call Number: Manuscript Collection No. 266 Extent: 0.01 cubic ft. (1 folder) Abstract: Consists of one handwritten letter addressed to Mr. Olinthus Gregory in Woolwich, from Dugald Stewart in Edinburgh. Language: Materials entirely in English. Administrative Information Restrictions on Access Unrestricted access. Terms Governing Use and Reproduction All requests subject to limitations noted in departmental policies on reproduction. Citation [after identification of item(s)], Dugald Stewart Letter to Olinthus Gregory, Archives and Manuscript Dept., Pitts Theology Library, Emory University. Processing Processed by Courtney Williams, 2003. Collection Description Biographical Note Dugald Stewart was born on November 22, 1753 in Edinburgh, Scotland. At the age of 13, he studied at the University of Edinburgh where his father was the chair of the mathematics department. He eventually taught in the mathematics department with his father, then took over as chair after his father’s death. In 1785, he was made the professor of moral philosophy at the University of Edinburgh. Emory Libraries provides copies of its finding aids for use only in research and private study. Copies supplied may not be copied for others or otherwise distributed without prior consent of the holding repository. Dugald Stewart Letter to Olinthus Gregory, 1804 Manuscript Collection No. 266 Stewart’s chief concern was to formulate a philosophy of the mind through the use of the inductive method of Sr. -
The Cosmos and Theological Reflection: the Priority of Self-Transcendence Paul Allen
Document generated on 09/30/2021 12:09 p.m. Théologiques The Cosmos and Theological Reflection: The Priority of Self-Transcendence Paul Allen Les cosmologies Article abstract Volume 9, Number 1, printemps 2001 In this article, I argue that the primary significance of cosmology for theology is through a notion of self-transcendence. It is an inherently theological notion URI: https://id.erudit.org/iderudit/005683ar arising within cosmology. It points to the realm of interiority claimed by DOI: https://doi.org/10.7202/005683ar contemporary theology. Employing the thought of Ernan McMullin in particular, I claim that self-transcendence emerges within cosmological See table of contents inquiry when it becomes philosophy, and when extrapolation is involved. A theological thrust to cosmology is confirmed when one understands the limits of cosmology as an empirical discipline amidst the existential questions that can be posed about the meaning of the universe, a development well illustrated Publisher(s) by the anthropic principle. Faculté de théologie de l'Université de Montréal ISSN 1188-7109 (print) 1492-1413 (digital) Explore this journal Cite this article Allen, P. (2001). The Cosmos and Theological Reflection: The Priority of Self-Transcendence. Théologiques, 9(1), 71–93. https://doi.org/10.7202/005683ar Tous droits réservés © Faculté de théologie de l’Université de Montréal, 2001 This document is protected by copyright law. Use of the services of Érudit (including reproduction) is subject to its terms and conditions, which can be viewed online. https://apropos.erudit.org/en/users/policy-on-use/ This article is disseminated and preserved by Érudit. -
Claudius Ptolemy: Tetrabiblos
CLAUDIUS PTOLEMY: TETRABIBLOS OR THE QUADRIPARTITE MATHEMATICAL TREATISE FOUR BOOKS OF THE INFLUENCE OF THE STARS TRANSLATED FROM THE GREEK PARAPHRASE OF PROCLUS BY J. M. ASHMAND London, Davis and Dickson [1822] This version courtesy of http://www.classicalastrologer.com/ Revised 04-09-2008 Foreword It is fair to say that Claudius Ptolemy made the greatest single contribution to the preservation and transmission of astrological and astronomical knowledge of the Classical and Ancient world. No study of Traditional Astrology can ignore the importance and influence of this encyclopaedic work. It speaks not only of the stars, but of a distinct cosmology that prevailed until the 18th century. It is easy to jeer at someone who thinks the earth is the cosmic centre and refers to it as existing in a sublunary sphere. However, our current knowledge tells us that the universe is infinite. It seems to me that in an infinite universe, any given point must be the centre. Sometimes scientists are not so scientific. The fact is, it still applies to us for our purposes and even the most rational among us do not refer to sunrise as earth set. It practical terms, the Moon does have the most immediate effect on the Earth which is, after all, our point of reference. She turns the tides, influences vegetative growth and the menstrual cycle. What has become known as the Ptolemaic Universe, consisted of concentric circles emanating from Earth to the eighth sphere of the Fixed Stars, also known as the Empyrean. This cosmology is as spiritual as it is physical. -
Plotinus on the Soul's Omnipresence in Body
Plotinus on the Limitation of Act by Potency Gary M. Gurtler, S.J. Boston College The limitation of act by potency, central in the metaphysics of Thomas Aquinas, has its origins in Plotinus. He transforms Aristotle’s horizontal causality of change into a vertical causality of participation. Potency and infinity are not just unintelligible lack of limit, but productive power. Form determines matter but is limited by reception into matter. The experience of unity begins with sensible things, which always have parts, so what is really one is incorporeal, without division and separation. Unity is like the esse of Thomas, since it is the act that makes a thing what it is and has its fullness in God. 1. Introduction Over fifty years ago Norris Clarke, S.J., published “The Limitation of Act by Potency: Aristotelianism or Neoplatonism,” The New Scholasticism, 26 (1952) 167–194, which highlighted the role of Plotinus in formulating some of the fundamental distinctions operative in medieval philosophy. He singled out the doctrine of participation and the idea of infinity and showed how they went beyond the limits of classical Greek thought. At the same time, his work challenged some of the basic historical assumptions of Thomists about the relation of scholastic philosophy, especially St. Thomas’s, to Plato and Aristotle. I have appreciated more and more the unusual openness and self critical character of Fr. Clarke’s historical method, and am pleased to have the chance in this response to Sarah Borden’s paper to explore some of the issues raised by Fr. Clarke’s seminal article in light of my own work on Plotinus. -
Parmenides' Theistic Metaphysics
Parmenides’ Theistic Metaphysics BY ©2016 Jeremy C. DeLong Submitted to the graduate degree program in Philosophy and the Graduate Faculty of the University of Kansas in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. ________________________________ Chairperson: Tom Tuozzo ________________________________ Eileen Nutting ________________________________ Scott Jenkins ________________________________ John Symons ________________________________ John Younger Date Defended: May 6th, 2016 ii The Dissertation Committee for Jeremy C. DeLong certifies that this is the approved version of the following thesis: Parmenides’ Theistic Metaphysics ________________________________ Chairperson: Thomas Tuozzo Date Defended: May 6th, 2016 iii Abstract: The primary interpretative challenge for understanding Parmenides’ poem revolves around explaining both the meaning of, and the relationship between, its two primary sections: a) the positively endorsed metaphysical arguments which describe some unified, unchanging, motionless, and eternal “reality” (Aletheia), and b) the ensuing cosmology (Doxa), which incorporates the very principles explicitly denied in Aletheia. I will refer to this problem as the “A-D Paradox.” I advocate resolving this paradoxical relationship by reading Parmenides’ poem as a ring-composition, and incorporating a modified version of Palmer’s modal interpretation of Aletheia. On my interpretation, Parmenides’ thesis in Aletheia is not a counter-intuitive description of how all the world (or its fundamental, genuine entities) must truly be, but rather a radical rethinking of divine nature. Understanding Aletheia in this way, the ensuing “cosmology” (Doxa) can be straightforwardly rejected as an exposition of how traditional, mythopoetic accounts have misled mortals in their understanding of divinity. Not only does this interpretative view provide a resolution to the A-D Paradox, it offers a more holistic account of the poem by making the opening lines of introduction (Proem) integral to understanding Parmenides’ message. -
Locke-Stewart-Mill: Philosophy of Science at Dartmouth College, 1771
INTERNATIONAL STUDIES IN THE PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE, VOL. 15, NO. 2, 2001 Locke–Stewart–Mill: philosophy of science at Dartmouth College, 1771–1854 DAVID K. NARTONIS Boston, USA American colleges began to teach Locke’s philosophy of science early in the 18th century. Many religious people, however, rejected the theological implications of Locke’s philosophy and in 1769 Princeton College initiated a popular reaction against it. That year, a new president dropped Locke’s text from the curriculum and replaced it with a book by Scottish professor, Thomas Reid (1710–1796). Teaching from Reid’s book, the new president attempted to reverse Locke’s effect on the American view of science by insisting that the study of nature is an essentially religious enterprise, consisting entirely of the collection, classi cation, and generalization of facts, with no room for conjectural theories (Bozeman, 1977, pp. 5, 7, 23–28, 45, 54–61; Laudan, 1970, pp. 103–131). This reactionary movement, often called Baconianism after the 17th century English philosopher, Francis Bacon, spread from Princeton to a large sector of American Protestantism and has had a long life in religious movements such as Fundamentalism and Creation Science (Noll, 1985, 1995). Because this long-lived reaction against Locke enjoyed wide popularity in the early national period, it might be thought that Princeton was typical of American colleges at the time. But, in fact, few colleges joined Princeton in rejecting Locke or adopting Reid. As an illustration of the way most American colleges dealt with Locke’s religious implications, this paper tells the story of the philosophy of science at Dartmouth College from its founding in 1771 until 1854. -
Gnostic Liberation from Astrological Determinism: Hipparchan "Trepidation" and the Breaking of Fate
GNOSTIC LIBERATION FROM ASTROLOGICAL DETERMINISM: HIPPARCHAN "TREPIDATION" AND THE BREAKING OF FATE BY HORACE JEFFERY HODGES Introduction Of all the intellectual systems of late antiquity, whether religious, philo- sophical, or some combination thereof, perhaps the one constructed by the Gnostics presented the most radically innovative view of things, for it quite literally demonized the cosmos. Being neither the embodiment of the Stoics' rational, all-pervading "logos," nor the result of the well-intentioned, Platonic demiurge's desire to emulate the ideal forms, nor an expression of the Old Testament god's glory and wisdom, the cosmos, instead, stemmed entirely from evil. All other ancient views, as Hans Blumenberg has demonstrated, preserve at least a residue of trust in the cosmos.' Consequently, Gnostics pursued their radical critique of the cosmos further than any other group, finding in the seemingly regular, predictable motions of the heavens only the expression of a malevolent plot designed to deceive and entrap them. This perspective thus predisposed them to view celestial irregularity as sig- nifying the possibility of a higher, more benevolent force, for such might suggest evidence of an extra-cosmic intervention in the world by a more powerful god of salvation. This article will argue that at least some Gnostics used Hipparchus's discovery of the precession of the equinoxes as evidence for such an intervention in the world by the soteriological god, a miracu- lous intervention that successfully shifted the zodiacal sphere to break the bonds of astrological fate and release the Gnostic elect from the power of the cosmos and its creator. -
Mathematics and Cosmology in Plato's Timaeus
apeiron 2021; aop Andrew Gregory* Mathematics and Cosmology in Plato’s Timaeus https://doi.org/10.1515/apeiron-2020-0034 Published online March 18, 2021 Abstract: Plato used mathematics extensively in his account of the cosmos in the Timaeus, but as he did not use equations, but did use geometry, harmony and according to some, numerology, it has not been clear how or to what effect he used mathematics. This paper argues that the relationship between mathematics and cosmology is not atemporally evident and that Plato’s use of mathematics was an open and rational possibility in his context, though that sort of use of mathematics has subsequently been superseded as science has progressed. I argue that there is a philosophically and historically meaningful space between ‘primitive’ or unre- flective uses of mathematics and the modern conception of how mathematics relates to cosmology. Plato’s use of mathematics in the Timaeus enabled the cosmos to be as good as it could be, allowed the demiurge a rational choice (of which planetary orbits and which atomic shapes to instantiate) and allowed Timaeus to give an account of the cosmos (where if the demiurge did not have such a rational choice he would not have been able to do so). I also argue that within this space it is both meaningful and important to differentiate between Pythagorean and Platonic uses of number and that we need to reject the idea of ‘Pythagorean/ Platonic number mysticism’. Plato’s use of number in the Timaeus was not mystical even though it does not match modern usage. -
The Living Cosmos of Jainism 207
Christopher Key ChappleThe Living Cosmos of Jainism 207 The Living Cosmos of Jainism: A Traditional Science Grounded in Environmental Ethics N THE ARISTOTELIAN SYSTEM of defining life, animals are grouped into genus and species. According to Aristotle, “Of ani- I mals, some resemble one another in all their parts, while others have parts wherein they differ. By ‘genus’ I mean, for instance, Bird or Fish; for each of these is subject to differ- ence in respect of its genus, and there are many species of fishes and of birds.”1 For several hundred pages, Aristotle goes on to describe the many particular varieties of animals, providing an encyclopedic collection of information. Jainism views animals and life itself in an utterly different light, reflecting an indigenous Asian scientific analysis that yields a different definition of the soul, the human person, the structure of the cosmos, and ethics. This alternate vision of reality, as will be explained below, results in the perception of a living cosmos and inspires an ecologically sensitive response on the part of adherents to the Jaina faith. This essay will focus on two primary aspects of Jaina teach- ings in light of two contemporary Western ecological thinkers.2 The first is its unique cosmology, which will be compared to the cosmological insights of contemporary science as presented by Brian Swimme. The second is the Jaina assertion that the seem- ingly inert, nonsensate world abounds with sensuousness. The Jainas posit that all the myriad living beings, from a clod of dirt or a drop of water to animals and humans themselves, possess one commonality: the capacity for tactile experience. -
Plotinus' Defense of the Platonic Cosmos and Its Demiurge
Plotinus' Defense of the Platonic Cosmos and its Demiurge C C Evangeliou Department of Philosophy, Towson University, Towson, MD 21204, United States of America Abstract In the histories of Philosophy, Plotinus is usually portrayed as an otherworldly philosopher whose ideal was "a life taking no pleasure in the things of earth,so much so that "he seemed ashamed of being in the body." 2 Yet, a careful reading of the Enneads and Porphyry's Vita Plotini reveals a different picture of this extraordinary man.3 For example, in his effort to revive Platonism and defend the Hellenic heritage in philosophy and culture, Plotinus was compelled to engage in polemics against Gnosticism which, in the circle of the philosophers, was considered to be a form of Barbarism.4 It is difficult for us to imagine the calm Plotinus in the role of a passionate advocate of Platonic doctrines and the Hellenic way of living in harmony with the world. Yet, that is exactly what we find in his Against the Gnostics.5 The purpose of this study is, through a critical examination of the above treatise and other relevant evidence, to provide an answer to the following related questions: How did the Gnostics, in Plotinus' view, use or abuse Plato? Who were these Gnostic opponents of Plotinus and why did he find it necessary to write against them himself and to instruct his students to do the same? What is the bearing of Plotinus' anti-Gnostic polemics on the problem of the relationship of Greek philosophy, and Platonism in particular, to Gnosticism as a religious movement? I shall begin with the question of the identity of Plotinus' Gnostic opponents; I shall proceed with their use and abuse of Plato in Plotinus' view; and I shall conclude with some remarks pertaining to the problem of the relationship between Platonism and Gnosticism. -
God's Life-Generating Power and Its Transmission in Aristotle's Biology
1 God’s Life-Generating Power and Its Transmission in Aristotle’s Biology and Cosmology Is it possible that Aristotle presented three very different phases in his philoso- phy and that only one of these was scientifically important? Such was Werner Jaeger’s claim in 1923, and still there is no alternative theory. Is it likely that, during his lectures in the Peripatos, Aristotle talked about a vital pneuma connected with the soul as the principle of life, but that pneuma plays no role in his seminal work On the Soul? Is it conceivable that he called God the “Great Leader” of the cosmos, but saw no divine governance in Nature? These critical questions about the standard theory on Aristotle have spurred the author of this book to develop a perspective on Aristotle’s philosophy that breaks with the accepted view. A crucial part is assigned to pneuma as the vital principle in all that lives. Pneuma is the fine-material carrier of all psychic functions and is governed by the soul as entelechy. The soul is the principle that controls the activity of pneuma in a goal-oriented way (oriented, that is, to the form of the living being). The entelechy is a cognitive principle that acts on the vital pneuma and is active from the very beginning of life, as a kind of automatic pilot. In human beings, however, the entelechy can also be “awakened” to intellectual- ity. All entelechies of living beings, including those of the stars and planets, are actuated by the Power that proceeds inexhaustibly from the divine, tran- scendent Intellect. -
Paganelli HOPE Adam Smith and the Scottish Enlightenment With
Recent Engagements with Adam Smith and the Scottish Enlightenment by Maria Pia Paganelli CHOPE Working Paper No. 2015-06 June 2015 Recent Engagements with Adam Smith and the Scottish Enlightenment Maria Pia Paganelli Trinity University [email protected] Forthcoming, History of Political Economy, 2015 Abstract Recent literature on Adam Smith and other 18th Scottish thinkers shows an engaged conversation between the Scots and today’s scholars in the sciences that deal with humans—social sciences, humanities, as well as neuroscience and evolutionary psychology. We share with the 18th century Scots preoccupations about understanding human beings, human nature, sociability, moral development, our ability to understand nature and its possible creator, and about the possibilities to use our knowledge to improve our surrounding and standards of living. As our disciplines evolve, the studies of Smith and Scottish Enlightenment evolve with them. Smith and the Scots remain our interlocutors. Keywords: adam smith, david hume, scottish enlightenment, recent literature JLE: A1; A12; A13; A14; B1; B3; B30; B31; B4; B40; B41; C9; C90 1 Forthcoming, History of Political Economy, 2015 Recent Engagements with Adam Smith and the Scottish Enlightenment 1 Maria Pia Paganelli David Levy once told me: “Adam Smith is still our colleague. He's not in the office but he's down the hall.” Recent literature on Adam Smith and the Scottish Enlightenment shows Levy right. At the time of writing, searching Econlit peer review journal articles for “Adam Smith” in the abstract gives 480 results since year 2000. Opening the search to Proquest gives 1870 results since 2000 (see Appendix 2 to get a rough sense of the size of recent literature).