DOCSLIB.ORG

Theory of Subjectification in Gilles Deleuze: a Study of the Temporality in Capitalism Boram Jeong

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Theory of Subjectification in Gilles Deleuze: a Study of the Temporality in Capitalism Boram Jeong Duquesne University Duquesne Scholarship Collection Electronic Theses and Dissertations Summer 1-1-2017 Theory of Subjectification in Gilles Deleuze: A Study of the Temporality in Capitalism Boram Jeong Follow this and additional works at: https://dsc.duq.edu/etd Recommended Citation Jeong, B. (2017). Theory of Subjectification in Gilles Deleuze: A Study of the Temporality in Capitalism (Doctoral dissertation, Duquesne University). Retrieved from https://dsc.duq.edu/etd/170 This One-year Embargo is brought to you for free and open access by Duquesne Scholarship Collection. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Duquesne Scholarship Collection. For more information, please contact [email protected]. THEORY OF SUBJECTIFICATION IN GILLES DELEUZE: A STUDY OF THE TEMPORALITY IN CAPITALISM A Dissertation submitted to The McAnulty College and Graduate School of Liberal Arts, Duquesne University & École doctorale: Pratiques et théories du sens (Discipline: Philosophie), Université Paris 8 Vincennes Saint-Denis In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy By Boram Jeong August 2017 Copyright by Boram Jeong 2017 THEORY OF SUBJECTIFICATION IN GILLES DELEUZE: A STUDY OF THE TEMPORALITY IN CAPITALISM By Boram Jeong Approved July 12, 2017 ________________________________ ________________________________ Fred Evans, Ph.D Éric Alliez, Ph.D Professor of Philosophy Professor of Philosophy (Committee Chair) (Committee Member) ________________________________ ________________________________ Jay Lampert, Ph.D Daniel Selcer, Ph.D Professor of Philosophy Associate Professor of Philosophy (Committee Member) (Committee Member) ________________________________ ________________________________ Leonard Lawlor, Ph.D Guillaume Sibertin-Blanc, Ph.D Professor of Philosophy Associate Professor of Philosophy (Committee Member) (Committee Member) ________________________________ ________________________________ James Swindal, Ph.D Ron Polansky, Ph.D Dean, McAnulty College & Graduate Chair, Department of Philosophy School of Liberal Arts Professor of Philosophy Professor of Philosophy iii ABSTRACT THEORY OF SUBJECTIFICATION IN GILLES DELEUZE: A STUDY OF THE TEMPORALITY IN CAPITALISM By Boram Jeong August 2017 Dissertation supervised by Dr. Fred Evans and Dr. Éric Alliez This dissertation looks at time as a socially or psychologically imposed ‘structure’ that determines the ways in which past, present and future are weaved together in the subject. This inquiry presents (1) a critical role of temporality in the formation of the subject, (2) a specific temporality characteristic of contemporary financial capitalism, and (3) the pathologies of time found in the subjects of capitalism. The first two chapters provide an extensive analysis of Deleuze’s passive syntheses of time given in Difference and Repetition, which reveals the subject’s passive relation to time as a structure of ‘becoming.’ The following chapters examine how this ontological structure of time interacts with socio- economic temporalities in its production of the subject. I particularly focus on the temporal structure of debt, which has become a general condition of the subjects in the current economic system. I claim that the debt-based economy produces ‘melancholic subjectivity,’ characterized by a dominance of the past and the inhibition of becoming. iv DEDICATION To my parents, to whom I am infinitely indebted. v ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I would like to first express my most sincere gratitude and appreciation to my director, Fred Evans, for his incredible support, encouragement and friendship. I must also thank my co- director, Éric Alliez, for his insightful feedback, guidance and extraordinary generosity. I am deeply grateful for the extremely helpful contributions and intellectual inspiration provided by the two other members of the committee at Duquesne, Jay Lampert and Daniel Selcer. I would also like to acknowledge the thoughtful input offered by my external readers, Leonard Lawlor, Tamsin Lorraine and Guillaume Sibertin-Blanc. In addition, many thanks go out to the Philosophy Department at Duquesne University and École doctorale Pratique et théories du sens at Université Paris 8 for their administrative support, which allowed me the privilege of earning a dual degree. For their financial support including the dissertation fellowship, I am grateful to the McAnulty College and Graduate School of Liberal Arts. I would also like to thank Ronald Polansky, Joan Thompson and Kelly Arenson, whose guidance and generosity were invaluable in making my job search successful. I extend my heartfelt gratitude to David H. Kim for his exceptional support, intellectual guidance and faith in me. Thanks also to Constantin V. Boundas for encouraging me to publish an earlier version of the chapter on time and capitalism in Deleuze Studies. Finally, I would like to thank my dear friends and family, whose love sustained me and kept me sane throughout my graduate studies. I will never forget the groceries, the care packages and good laughs brought to me by them in hard times. Special thanks to J for walking alongside me on this journey. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction: Time, Subject and Capital .................................................................................. 1 I. Time and Movement: Deleuze’s Critique of ‘Time Subordinated to Movement’ .................... 5 1. Zeno’s Paradox: Confusion of time with space ................................................................. 6 2. Bergson’s view of movement and time ............................................................................. 10 2.1 Bergson’s theory of multiplicities ............................................................................ 10 2.2 Bergson’s analysis of movement ............................................................................. 13 3. Deleuze’s view on time and movement: Subordination of time to movement .................... 18 3.1 Time in antiquity: Circular movement ....................................................................... 19 3.2 Time as a succession of instants ................................................................................. 22 3.3 Time as an empty form .............................................................................................. 27 4. Deleuze’s notion of time: Temporalized difference ........................................................... 31 4.1. Time and the notion of difference: Time as self-differentiation .................................... 32 4.2. Time as internal difference: Auto-affection ................................................................ 39 II. Time and Subjectivity: Deleuze’s Three Syntheses of Time .................................................. 48 1. Deleuze’s reading of Kant’s syntheses .............................................................................. 52 2. The Passive Syntheses of Time: The Formation of the Subject .......................................... 68 2.1 Time and Subjectification: Memory as Auto-affection ................................................. 68 2.2 The first synthesis of habit: Originary subjectivity ....................................................... 72 2.3 Second synthesis of memory: Bergson’s pure past – the unconscious ........................... 79 2.4 Third synthesis of the future ...................................................................................... 93 3. Time and the Production of the Subject ........................................................................... 106 3.1 The virtual as a new transcendental: Critique of the ‘possible’ ..................................... 106 3.2 Subjectification in time .............................................................................................. 108 III. Time in Contemporary Capitalism: A System of Debt ........................................................ 111 1. Time and Capitalism ...................................................................................................... 113 1.1 Time and the movement of capital ............................................................................. 113 1.2 Deleuze’s reading of Marx through Suzanne de Brunhoff............................................ 117 1.3 The power of financial capital: Fictitious capital ......................................................... 128 2. Force of time: Temporal Structure of Debt ....................................................................... 134 2.1 Time value of money: Time subordinated to monetary movement ............................... 135 2.2 Debt and Memory ..................................................................................................... 141 IV. The Production of Melancholic Subjects: Subjectification through Debt .............................. 147 1. The Problem of Subjectification in Deleuze...................................................................... 148 1.1 Foucault-Deleuze Encounter: Power and Subject Formation ....................................... 148 1.2 Subjectification in A Thousand Plateaus: Capital as a point of subjectification ................ 155 2. Subjectification in the time of debt ................................................................................... 160 2.1 Debt as an instrument of power: From subjectification to subjection ............................ 161 2.2 Subjectification through debt: Melancholic temporality ..............................................
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Kant's Theoretical Conception Of
    KANT’S THEORETICAL CONCEPTION OF GOD Yaron Noam Hoffer Submitted to the faculty of the University Graduate School in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of Philosophy, September 2017 Accepted by the Graduate Faculty, Indiana University, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Doctoral Committee _________________________________________ Allen W. Wood, Ph.D. (Chair) _________________________________________ Sandra L. Shapshay, Ph.D. _________________________________________ Timothy O'Connor, Ph.D. _________________________________________ Michel Chaouli, Ph.D 15 September, 2017 ii Copyright © 2017 Yaron Noam Hoffer iii To Mor, who let me make her ends mine and made my ends hers iv Acknowledgments God has never been an important part of my life, growing up in a secular environment. Ironically, only through Kant, the ‘all-destroyer’ of rational theology and champion of enlightenment, I developed an interest in God. I was drawn to Kant’s philosophy since the beginning of my undergraduate studies, thinking that he got something right in many topics, or at least introduced fruitful ways of dealing with them. Early in my Graduate studies I was struck by Kant’s moral argument justifying belief in God’s existence. While I can’t say I was convinced, it somehow resonated with my cautious but inextricable optimism. My appreciation for this argument led me to have a closer look at Kant’s discussion of rational theology and especially his pre-critical writings. From there it was a short step to rediscover early modern metaphysics in general and embark upon the current project. This journey could not have been completed without the intellectual, emotional, and material support I was very fortunate to receive from my teachers, colleagues, friends, and family.
    [Show full text]
  • Science, Subjectivity & Reality
    CORE Metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk Provided by Science and Religion Dialogue Prints Journal of Consciousness Exploration & Research| April 2016 | Volume 7 | Issue 4 | pp. 333-336 333 Pereira, C. & Reddy, J. S. K., On Science & Phenomenology in Consciousness Studies Perspective Science, Subjectivity & Reality * Contzen Pereira & J. S. K. Reddy Abstract In this paper, we argue on the ability of science to capture the true subjective experience of life, blinded within the limits of its reductionist approaches. With this approach, even though science can explain well the physics behind the objective phenomenon, it fails fundamentally in understanding the various aspects associated with the biological entities. In this sense, we are skeptical to the present approach of science and calls out for a more fundamental theory of life that considers not only the objectivity aspect of a biological entity but also the subjective experience as well. It raises questions as to what does it takes to develop a new science from a subjective standpoint. Key Words: Science, subjectivity, reality, cosmos, peripersonal space. Modern science is based on the principle “Give us one free miracle and we’ll explain the rest.” The one free miracle is the appearance of all the matter and energy in the universe and all the laws that govern it from nothing, in a single instant - Terrence McKenna The Cosmos showers the experience of life graced by an enigmatic subject grounded in an objective fabric (or biological structure). The extent of the subjective experience is in a way bounded by the limitations of an objective fabric.
    [Show full text]
  • HEIDEGGER's TRANSCENDENTALISM Author(S): DANIEL DAHLSTROM Source: Research in Phenomenology, Vol
    HEIDEGGER'S TRANSCENDENTALISM Author(s): DANIEL DAHLSTROM Source: Research in Phenomenology, Vol. 35 (2005), pp. 29-54 Published by: Brill Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/24721815 Accessed: 23-01-2018 19:34 UTC 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 http://about.jstor.org/terms Brill is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Research in Phenomenology This content downloaded from 142.58.129.109 on Tue, 23 Jan 2018 19:34:17 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms HEIDEGGER S TRANSCENDENTALISM by DANIEL DAHLSTROM Boston University Abstract This paper attempts to marshall some of the evidence of the transcendental character of Heidegger's later thinking, despite his repudiation of any form of transcendental think ing, including that of his own earlier project of fundamental ontology. The transcen dental significance of that early project is first outlined through comparison and contrast with the diverse transcendental turns in the philosophies of Kant and Husserl. The paper then turns to Heidegger's account of the historical source of the notion of tran scendence in Plato's thinking, its legacy in various forms of transcendental philosophy, and his reasons for attempting to think in a post-transcendental way.
    [Show full text]
  • BY PLATO• ARISTOTLE • .AND AQUINAS I
    i / REF1,l!;CTit.>NS ON ECONOMIC PROBLEMS / BY PLATO• ARISTOTLE • .AND AQUINAS ii ~FLECTIONS ON ECONO:MIC PROBLEMS 1 BY PLA'I'O, ARISTOTLE, JJJD AQUINAS, By EUGENE LAIDIBEL ,,SWEARINGEN Bachelor of Science Oklahoma Agricultural and Mechanical Collage Stillwater, Oklahoma 1941 Submitted to the Depertmeut of Economics Oklahoma Agricultural and Mechanical College In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE 1948 iii f.. 'I. I ···· i·: ,\ H.: :. :· ··: ! • • ~ ' , ~ • • !·:.· : i_ ·, 1r 1i1. cr~~rJ3t L l: i{ ,\ I~ Y , '•T •)() 1 0 ,1 8 API-'HOV~D BY: .J ,.· 1.., J l.;"t .. ---- -··- - ·- ______.,.. I 7 -.. JI J ~ L / \ l v·~~ u ' ~) (;_,LA { 7 {- ' r ~ (\.7 __\ _. ...A'_ ..;f_ ../-_" ...._!)_.... ..." ___ ......._ ·;...;;; ··-----/ 1--.,i-----' ~-.._.._ :_..(__,,---- ....... Member of the Report Committee 1..j lj:,;7 (\ - . "'·- -· _ .,. ·--'--C. r, .~-}, .~- Q_ · -~ Q.- 1Head of the Department . · ~ Dean of the Graduate School 502 04 0 .~ -,. iv . r l Preface The purpose and plan of this report are set out in the Introduction. Here, I only wish to express my gratitude to Professor Russell H. Baugh who has helped me greatly in the preparation of this report by discussing the various subjects as they were in the process of being prepared. I am very much indebted to Dr. Harold D. Hantz for his commentaries on the report and for the inspiration which his classes in Philosophy have furnished me as I attempted to correlate some of the material found in these two fields, Ecor!.Omics and Philosophy. I should like also to acknowledge that I owe my first introduction into the relationships of Economics and Philosophy to Dean Raymond Thomas, and his com~ents on this report have been of great value.
    [Show full text]
  • Philosophy of Science -----Paulk
    PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE -----PAULK. FEYERABEND----- However, it has also a quite decisive role in building the new science and in defending new theories against their well-entrenched predecessors. For example, this philosophy plays a most important part in the arguments about the Copernican system, in the development of optics, and in the Philosophy ofScience: A Subject with construction of a new and non-Aristotelian dynamics. Almost every work of Galileo is a mixture of philosophical, mathematical, and physical prin~ a Great Past ciples which collaborate intimately without giving the impression of in­ coherence. This is the heroic time of the scientific philosophy. The new philosophy is not content just to mirror a science that develops independ­ ently of it; nor is it so distant as to deal just with alternative philosophies. It plays an essential role in building up the new science that was to replace 1. While it should be possible, in a free society, to introduce, to ex­ the earlier doctrines.1 pound, to make propaganda for any subject, however absurd and however 3. Now it is interesting to see how this active and critical philosophy is immoral, to publish books and articles, to give lectures on any topic, it gradually replaced by a more conservative creed, how the new creed gener­ must also be possible to examine what is being expounded by reference, ates technical problems of its own which are in no way related to specific not to the internal standards of the subject (which may be but the method scientific problems (Hurne), and how there arises a special subject that according to which a particular madness is being pursued), but to stan­ codifies science without acting back on it (Kant).
    [Show full text]
  • Aristotelian Habitus and the Power of the Embodied Self: Reflections on the Insights Gained from the Fakirs in Bangladesh
    23 Bangladesh e-Journal of Sociology. Volume 17, Number 2. July 2020. Aristotelian Habitus and the Power of the Embodied Self: Reflections on the Insights Gained from the Fakirs in Bangladesh Mohammad Golam Nabi Mozumder1, Abstract: This article traces back classical Greek and Medieval meanings of habitus to show that Bourdieu’s redefinition of habitus discarded a seminal feature of Aristotelian habitus—the power of radically transforming the self at will. I elaborate how the practices of purposefully training the embodied self remains marginalized in Pierre Bourdieu’s re-conceptualization of habitus. Examining Aristotle’s habitus, this paper brings back the focus on the long-neglected insight of the power of deliberately (re)training the self in constructing a heterodox but ethical way of being and socializing. As an example, I refer to the Fakirs in current Bangladesh, who cultivate antinomian life-practices. The main argument of the paper is that habitus in Bourdieu’s formulations is less suitable than Aristotle’s in analysing the praxis of the Fakirs. I suggest that instead of sticking to a universal conceptualization of habitus, sociologists should consider with equal importance both models of habitus articulated by Aristotle and Bourdieu. Doing that could benefit contemporary sociology in two ways: First, Aristotle’s conceptualization of habitus is an important tool in identifying the sociological importance of the praxis of marginalized groups, e.g., Fakirs in Bangladesh; and second, extending the focus of a key sociological concept, i.e., habitus, addresses the apparent disconnect between the wisdom of heterodox practitioners in the Global South and dominant social theories built upon the analyses of European and American social traditions.
    [Show full text]
  • Hegel and Aristotle
    HEGEL AND ARISTOTLE ALFREDO FERRARIN Boston University published by the press syndicate of the university of cambridge The Pitt Building, Trumpington Street, Cambridge, United Kingdom cambridge university press The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge cb2 2ru, uk 40 West 20th Street, New York, ny 10011-4211, usa 10 Stamford Road, Oakleigh, vic 3166, Australia Ruiz de Alarcón 13, 28014 Madrid, Spain Dock House, The Waterfront, Cape Town 8001, South Africa http://www.cambridge.org © Alfredo Ferrarin 2001 This book is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press. First published 2001 Printed in the United States of America Typeface Baskerville 10.25/13 pt. System QuarkXPress™ 4.04 [AG] A catalog record for this book is available from the British Library. Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Ferrarin, Alfredo, 1960– Hegel and Aristotle / Alfredo Ferrarin. p. cm.–(Modern European philosophy) Includes bibliographical references and index. isbn 0-521-78314-3 1. Hegel, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich, 1770–1831. 2. Aristotle – Influence. I. Title. II. Series. B2948 .F425 2000 193–dc21 00-029779 ISBN 0 521 78314 3 hardback CONTENTS Acknowledgments page xiii List of Abbreviations xv Introduction 1 § 1. Preliminary Notes 1 § 2. On the Object and Method of This Book 7 § 3. Can Energeia Be Understood as Subjectivity? 15 part i the history of philosophy and its place within the system 1. The Idea of a History of Philosophy 31 § 1. The Lectures on the History of Philosophy: Editions and Sources 31 § 2.
    [Show full text]
  • Dialectical Materialism and Subject: Monism and Dialectic
    経済学論纂（中央大学）第57巻第 3 ・ 4 合併号（2017年 3 月） 243 Dialectical Materialism and Subject: Monism and Dialectic Hideki Shibata Introduction Chapter 1 Critique of Tadashi Kato Chapter 2 Sartre’s Theory of Subject Chapter 3 Language and Subject: the Social Origin of Transcendental Beings Conclusion Introduction I have translated three of Tadashi Kato’s articles (Kato 2014; Kato 2015; Kato 2016). In these articles, Kato seizes Marx’s monistic argument, but divides dialectics into the dialectic of cognition and the dialectic of objects, and finally turns to the dualism of cognition and the objective world because of Engels’ influence. Hegel’s dialectic was born as the identity of substance and subject (substance is subject) in its birthplace, the Phenomenology of Spirit, but this means the identity of being and cogni- tion.1） It does not mean that there are two kinds of dialectic. To overcome the dualism that remained after Kant was one of the principle themes of German Idealist Philosophy, and Marx also inherited this critically important issue. Marx’s monism, however, does not mean that “we must understand man as a being who produces himself and his world” (Landgrebe 1966, p. 10). Marx’s monism does not character- ize the world as the product of the constitutive operations of the human subject. Sartre un- derstood Marx’s real intention, and developed it in his articles (Cf. Omote 2014). In the con- clusion of Transcendence of the Ego, Sartre writes, “a working hypothesis as fruitful as historical materialism,” and follows it with a criticism of Engels’ materialism, which “never This paper owes much to the thoughtful and helpful comments and advices of the editor of Editage(by Cactus Communications).
    [Show full text]
  • 2012 SPEP Program (Rochester
    SOCIETY FOR PHENOMENOLOGY AND EXISTENTIAL PHILOSOPHY Executive Co-Directors Anthony Steinbock, Southern Illinois University Carbondale Amy Allen, Dartmouth College Executive Committee Amy Allen, Dartmouth College Alia Al-Saji, McGill University Fred Evans, Duquesne University Brian Schroeder, Rochester Institute of Technology Anthony Steinbock, Southern Illinois University Carbondale Shannon Mussett, Utah Valley University, Secretary-Treasurer Graduate Assistant Christopher C. Paone, Southern Illinois University Carbondale Advisory Book Selection Committee Shannon Winnubst, The Ohio State University, Chair Ann V. Murphy, Fordham University Brad Elliott Stone, Loyola Marymount University Adrian Johnston, University of New Mexico David Carr, Emory University Brent Adkins, Roanoke College Daniela Vallega-Neu, Univeristy of Oregon James D. Hatley, Salisbury University Advocacy Committee Robin James, University of North Carolina Charlotte, Chair Peter Gratton, Memorial University of Newfoundland Gail Weiss, George Washington University Committee on the Status of Women Laura Hengehold, Case Western Reserve University, Chair Shannon Sullivan, The Pennsylvania State University Elaine Miller, Miami University of Ohio Racial and Ethnic Diversity Committee Falguni Sheth, Hampshire College, Chair Hernando Estévez, John Jay College/CUNY Devonya Havis, Canisius College LGBTQ Advocacy Committee Robert Vallier, Institut d’Études Politiques, Chair William Wilkerson, University of Alabama Huntsville Mary Bloodsworth-Lugo, Washington State University Webmaster Christopher P. Long, The Pennsylvania State University Local Arrangements Contacts Brian Schroeder, local contact and organizer, [email protected] Scott Campbell, book exhibit coordinator, [email protected] Lindsey Johnson, student volunteer coordinator, [email protected] All SPEP sessions will be held at the Rochester Riverside Convention Center (RRCC) on 123 East Main St., Rochester, NY. The RRCC is adjacent to the host hotel, the Hyatt Regency Rochester, to which it is connected by an enclosed skyway.
    [Show full text]
  • GALGAN, Gerald J., God and Subjectivity Roy Martinez
    Document generated on 09/30/2021 1:58 a.m. Laval théologique et philosophique GALGAN, Gerald J., God and Subjectivity Roy Martinez Volume 49, Number 1, février 1993 URI: https://id.erudit.org/iderudit/400749ar DOI: https://doi.org/10.7202/400749ar See table of contents Publisher(s) Faculté de philosophie, Université Laval ISSN 0023-9054 (print) 1703-8804 (digital) Explore this journal Cite this review Martinez, R. (1993). Review of [GALGAN, Gerald J., God and Subjectivity]. Laval théologique et philosophique, 49(1), 166–167. https://doi.org/10.7202/400749ar Tous droits réservés © Laval théologique et philosophique, Université Laval, This document is protected by copyright law. Use of the services of Érudit 1993 (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. Érudit is a non-profit inter-university consortium of the Université de Montréal, Université Laval, and the Université du Québec à Montréal. Its mission is to promote and disseminate research. https://www.erudit.org/en/ COMPTES RENDUS observed. At the foundation of this study, and present This disparity between the existence of the "this" like a shadow throughout it, is the Platonic-Christian and the cognizing agent posed no problem for first view of time as an image of eternity, and of ourselves philosophy since 'the other", or object of cognition, as redeemed from time, and able in part to compre• was simply given, there for apprehension or obser• hend it, through being in the image of God.
    [Show full text]
  • Aristotle's Subject Matter Dissertation Presented in Partial Fulfillment Of
    Aristotle’s Subject Matter Dissertation Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University Keren Wilson Shatalov, MLitt Graduate Program in Philosophy The Ohio State University 2019 Dissertation Committee: Allan Silverman, Adviser Tamar Rudavsky Lisa Downing ii Copyright by Keren Wilson Shatalov 2019 iii Abstract In my dissertation I examine Aristotle’s concept of matter by highlighting the tools from his Organon which he uses to introduce matter in his Physics. I make use of logical concepts Aristotle develops in his work on explanation in Posterior Analytics, especially his concept of subject or ὑποκείμενον, to argue that matter, for Aristotle, must be understood not as a distinct ontological category but as a term of art denoting a part of an explanation in natural philosophy. By presenting an analysis of Aristotle’s concept of ὑποκείμενον from his logical works, I show how Aristotle uses it to spell out just what explanatory role matter plays, and what this means for what it is to be matter. I argue that when Aristotle uses the term “ὑποκείμενον” to name a principle of change in Physics A, he is employing the logical concept which he had made use of and developed in his logical works, contra prominent readings which argue instead that the term in Physics is a distinct technical term, homonymous with the logical term. Further, I offer a new reading of the concept of ὑποκείμενον in the logical works. On my reading, a genuine ὑποκείμενον is something which, just by being what it is or ὅπερ x τι, is what is presupposed by something else, y, and which grounds and partially explains the presence of that y.
    [Show full text]
  • Notes for Our Seminar: Objectivity and Subjectivity
    Notes for our seminar: Objectivity and Subjectivity B.M. December 14, 2019 Contents I A preview and overview of the topics we may cover 2 1 The nature of our seminar-course 3 II Readings and Notes for the sessions of Sept 11, Oct 2, Oct 30, and part of Dec 4 13 2 Readings for the September 11 session 13 2.1 Excerpt from [9] . 14 3 Some notes for Sep 11: Subjectivity, Universal Subjectivity, Objectivity 15 3.1 Objective . 16 4 Readings for October 2: 25 5 Notes for Oct 21 session: Objectivity and Subjectivity in Mathematics 36 5.1 What is the number `A thousand and one'?....................... 37 5.2 Plato ............................................ 38 5.3 `Tower Pound' definition ................................ 39 1 5.4 J.S. Mill .......................................... 39 5.5 Georg Cantor: ...................................... 40 5.6 Gottlob Frege (∼ 1900) ................................ 41 5.7 Foundations::: or Constitutions ............................. 43 5.8 David Hilbert ....................................... 43 5.9 L.E.J. Brouwer ...................................... 46 5.10 The simple phrase \and so on::: "............................ 48 6 Readings for October 30, 2019: (Shades of Objectivity and Subjectivity in Epistemology, Probability, and Physics) 50 7 Notes for October 30, 2019:(Shades of Objectivity and Subjectivity in Epistemology, Probability, and Physics) 51 8 Subjectivity and Objectivity in Statistics: `Educating your beliefs' versus `Test- ing your Hypotheses' 55 8.1 Predesignation versus the self-corrective nature of inductive reasoning . 57 8.2 Priors as `Meta-probabilities' . 59 8.3 Back to our three steps . 61 8.4 A numerical example and a question . 62 9 Issues of Subjectivity and Objectivity in Physics 63 10 Consequentialism of Meaning|notes for part of session of December 4 65 11 Dealing with nonexistent objects 69 2 Part I A preview and overview of the topics we may cover 1 The nature of our seminar-course Phil273O (Objectivity and Subjectivity) will be the fourth seminar- course I've taught with Amartya Sen and Eric Maskin.
    [Show full text]