Adūnīs, 1930-'s Jidhr al-sawsan; criticism and interpretation; Arab poetry; history and criticism.

This landmark work provides a systematic introduction to systems of modal logic and stands as the first presentation of what have become central ideas in philosophy of language and metaphysics, from the "new theory of reference" and non-linguistic necessity and essentialism to "Kripke semantics.".

Buku relatif kecil F. Budi Hardiman, dosen di Sekolah Tinggi Filsafat Driyarkarta, di Jakarta, ini merupakan sumbangan penting bagi pustaka berbahasa Indonesia tentang hak-hak asasi manusia. Bahkan, setahu peninjau buku ini, cara penulis mendekati hal hak-hak asasi manusia dalam pustaka berbahasa Jerman dan Inggris pun masih dicari. Kekhasan buku ini adalah bahwa Budi Hardiman membahas hak-hak asasi manusia dengan mendiskusikan enam kontroversi paling utama di sekitarnya, yaitu (1) kritik Hannah Arendt terhadap klaim universalitas hak-hak asasi manusia dari sudut republikanisme; (2) (...) polemik dari sudut teologi Islam; (3) tantangan dari sudut multikulturalisme; (4) hak-hak asasi manusia berhadapan dengan nilai-nilai Asia; (5) tuntutan agar deklarasi hak-hak asasi manusia dilengkapi oleh daftar kewajiban-kewajiban asasi; dan (6) pertanyaan mengapa dalam budaya-budaya Indonesia “peradaban hak-hak asasi manusia sulit terwujud.” Diskursus ini bukan hanya memiliki relevansi teoretis tinggi, tetapi juga langsung relevan di Indonesia. Budi Hardiman bertolak dari tesis “bahwa ide, motif atau pun intensi dasar yg mendorong praksis hak-hak asasi manusia adalah ’tuntutan universal’ untuk melindungi manusia dari pengalaman-pengalaman negatif dalam modernitas” (hlm. 18). Tesis ini langsung mengoreksi sebuah salah paham serius yang juga merancukan debat dalam BPUPKI pada Juli 1945: Bahwa hak-hak asasi manusia merupakan produk khas liberalisme untuk mengamankan kebebasan maksimal individu terhadap komunitas; jadi bahwa hak-hak asasi manusia merupakan wahana individualisme dan ekspresi sikap egois di mana individu seakan-akan hanya mau menjamin hak-haknya sendiri. Tetapi bukan itulah maksud inti hak-hak asasi manusia. Hak-hak asasi manusia merupakan jawaban terhadap kondisi terancam dan terhina manusia berhadapan dengan kekuatan-kekuatan raksasa modernitas. Hak-hak asasi manusia mau menjamin keutuhan mereka yang tidak berdaya untuk membela diri sendiri. Karena itu, pengakuan terhadap hak-hak asasi manusia menjadi bukti dan tolok ukur tanggung jawab sosial dalam suatu masyarakat................. Faktor kelima adalah agama. Agama sebenarnya memiliki “intuisi kemanusian yang melampaui suku-suku dan bangsa” (hlm. 141), akan tetapi agama bisa juga membatasi intuisi itu pada warganya sendiri. Maka unsur kunci dalam tantangan hak-hak asasi manusia bagi teologi Islam yang dibahas dalam bab 2 adalah perluasan dari perspektif yang terbatas pada umatnya sendiri ke perspektif “manusia qua manusia” (hlm. 54). Makin wawasan dibatasi pada syariah, loncatan itu kelihatan sulit. Tetapi loncatan itu harus berani dilakukan agar kesulitan Islami dengan beberapa hak asasi manusia, misalnya hak pergantian agama atau larangan terhadap hukuman kejam, dapat diatasi. Tantangan multikulturalisme: menjadi pertanyaan bagaimana kalau terjadi pertentangan antara kekhasan suatu budaya, biasanya budaya minoritas, dengan tuntutan hak asasi manusia dibahas dalam bab 3. Buku Budi Hardiman ini perlu dibaca oleh semua yang prihatin dengan diskursus hak-hak asasi manusia di negara kita yang tetap masih klise dan sering kurang bermutu. Penegasan inti penulis, bahwa tujuan dan fungsi jaminan hak asasi manusia adalah perlindungan bagi mereka yang menderita, miskin dan tereksploitasi harus terus-menerus diangkat. Alih-alih jalan ke egoisme dan individualisme hak-hak asasi manusia merupakan bukti solidaritas suatu masyarakat dengan warga-warganya yang paling lemah. (Franz Magnis-Suseno, Program Pascasarjana, Sekolah Tinggi Filsafat Driyarkara, Jakarta). (shrink)

İslâm’ın ilk dönemlerinden başlayarak âlimler neshin mahiyeti, delilleri ve Kur’an’da geçen emir ve nehiy ifadeleri yanında haber ifadelerinin neshin konusu olup olmayacağı meseleleri üzerinde yoğunlaşarak bir nesh teorisi meydana getirmişlerdir. Bu bağlamda şer’î hüküm içeren haber ifadelerinin emir ve nehiy manasında oldukları için metninin daha sonra gelen şer’î bir delille nesh edilmesi caiz görülmüştür. Haberin ifade ettiği şeye gelince; Allah’ın sıfatları ve kıyametin kopuşu gibi değişmesi mümkün olmayan şeylerden ise, yalana yol açacağı için, bunun nesh edilmesi caiz görülmemiştir. Bu iki (...) konuda âlimler ittifak etmişlerdir. Geçmişte olanları ve gelecekte olacak hâdiseleri bildiren haberin ifade ettiği şeyin neshin konusu olup olmayacağı konusunda ise ihtilafa düşmüşlerdir. Keza vaad ve vaid bildiren haberler ile ebedîlikle kayıtlanan haber ifadelerini neshin caiz olup olmayacağı da tartışma konusu olmuştur. Burada Kur’an’da geçen haber ifadelerinin hangisinin nesh edilmesinin mümkün, hangisinin mümkün olmadığı meselesinin ana hatlarıyla ortaya konulması amaçlanmıştır. (shrink)

The irreducibility thesis of phenomenal consciousness can only succeed against the sceptical attack and avoid solipsism iff it can coherently establish the transition from subjective certainty to the objectivity of knowledge. The sceptical attack on the relationship between the phenomenal qualitative character of experience about the subjects own mental fact and the awareness of the qualitative properties of the phenomenal object can be avoided through establishing the immediacy of experience. The phenomenal realist become successful in establishing the subjective certainty about (...) the knowledge of phenomenal consciousness, however, has been failed in establishing objective certainty of knowledge, which leads to several epistemological problems (i.e., scepticism about the independent existence of external world, knowledge about the external reality and the existence of other mind; popularly known as the harder problem of consciousness) in philosophy of mind. In this paper, my objective is to reveal the undesirable consequences of representationalism. Representationalism is not an ideal option for responding to the sceptical attack against the other minds and the reality of the external world. It always leaves an open question for us about the relation between the representation of the object of experience and consciousness. Representationalistic theories of experience violates the principles of phenomenality by rejecting the immediacy of experience and has been committing the pragmatic contradiction by reducing the phenomenal properties to representational properties. The categorization of knowledge about phenomenality as inferential knowledge by representationalist leave no room for foundational knowledge about phenomenality. (shrink)

The objective of this paper is to defend the non-reductive thesis of phenomenal consciousness. This paper will give an overview of the arguments for the non-reductive explanation of phenomenal consciousness and justify why the reductionist approach is implausible in the context of explaining phenomenal subjective experience. The debate between reductionist and non-reductionist on the project of demystifying and mystifying phenomenal consciousness is driven by two fundamental assumptions-1) Reductive-Naturalistic Objectivism, 2) Phenomenal Realism. There are several arguments for the irreducibility of phenomenal (...) consciousness; this paper will focus on the inverted spectrum argument, knowledge argument, and the conceivability argument. (shrink)

The problem of consciousness has become one of the biggest unsolved problem in philosophy from the last few decades. Qualia and intentionality are the two feature of consciousness. Qualia represents the conscious awareness, subjectivity or phenomenality whereas intentionality represents the understanding or object-directedness. These are the two major issues in the philosophy of mind while we address the problem of consciousness. The objective of this paper is to give an overview of these two features of consciousness namely intentionality and qualia. (...) Qualia is subjective in nature, whereas intentionality or object-directedness is objective in nature. This paper will focus on some major question regarding qualia and intentionality like, do qualia exist? What is the relationship between qualia and intentionality? Can qualia be reduced or to identify with intentionality or intentionality represent the qualia? Science by its nature objective whereas consciousness by its nature subjective so can there be a science of consciousness? And so on. My paper is divided into two parts, the first part will discuss the problem of qualia whereas the second part will focus on the intentionality and subjective-objective distinction both from the epistemological and ontological perspective. (shrink)

Hermeneutika adalah ilmu tentang pemahaman. Mengapa pemahaman perlu ada ilmunya? Karena, sebagaimana kita tahu dari pengalaman sehari-hari, kita sering salah paham. Kita mendengar persis apa yang dikatakan orang lain, tetapi kita salah tangkap juga dan terjadi masalah. Hal yang sama berlaku bagi ekspresi-ekspresi manusia lain. Misalnya, ada monumen. Ambil batu-batuan di Stonehenge di Inggris yang diperkirakan sudah berumur ribuan tahun. Tentang maksud tiang-tiang batu itu para ahli tetap masih menerka-nerka. Tetapi seorang penduduk Jakarta, begitu melihat fotonya, langsung merasa tahu apa (...) yang dimaksud oleh orang-orang Inggris kuno itu: Tentu Stonehenge adalah percobaan pertama umat manusia untuk membangun kereta monorail, dan, sama dengan di Jakarta, mereka pun gagal. Mana yang benar? Masalahnya sederhana, tetapi pemecahannya tidak. Yang sederhana: kita semua sudah mempunyai pengertian-pengertian tertentu, misalnya, bahwa tiang batu ke atas merupakan calon tiang kereta mono-rail. Tetapi mereka yang membangunnya di Stonehenge barangkali punya pikiran sama sekali lain. Yang tidak sederhana: bagaimana kita yang sekarang dapat mengerti apa yang dimaksud manusia dengan sebuah monumen, padahal manusia itu sudah lama mati dan tidak dapat ditanyai lagi. Persoalan ini tentu tidak hanya mengenai monumen, melainkan menyangkut bagaimana ungkapan orang lain dapat dipahami sesuai dengan apa yang dia maksud terutama muncul apabila kita membaca sebuah teks. Kita mengira bahwa teks itu sudah jelas maksudnya, tetapi andaikata kita masih bisa bertanya pada penulis apa yang sebenarnya dia maksud dengan menulis teks itu, bisa juga maksudnya berbeda dari pra-anggapan kita.... Buku ini berakhir dengan suatu bab Penutup sepanjang 24 halaman yang merupakan semacam rangkuman. Fokus penutup amat aktual, yaitu masalah literalisme, paham bahwa sebuah teks suci harus dipahami secara harafiah tak boleh ditafsir-tafsir, serta hubungan-nya dengan fundamentalisme, radikalisme, ekstremisme agama, serta mengapa literalisme justru tidak setia terhadap teks yang dikatakan mau diikuti secara harafiah. Buku ini memberikan pengertian yang cukup lengkap, dalam bahasa yang mudah diikuti, kepada filosof pemula, tetapi juga bagi filosof kawakan, buku Budi Hardiman itu bisa sangat membantu. Buku ini terutama sangat penting bagi para teolog, ulama dan ahli Kitab Suci segala agama. (Franz Magnis-Suseno, Guru Besar Ilmu Filsafat Emeritus, Sekolah Tinggi Filsafat Driyarkara, Jakarta). (shrink)

Appearing in English for the first time, Schelling’s 1842 lectures develop the idea that many philosophical concepts are born of religious-mythological notions.

The objective of this paper is to provide critical analysis of the Kantian notion of freedom ; its significance in the contemporary debate on free-will and determinism, and the possibility of autonomy of artificial agency in the Kantian paradigm of autonomy. Kant's resolution of the third antinomy by positing the ground in the noumenal self resolves the problem of antinomies; however, it invites an explanatory gap between phenomenality and the noumenal self; even if he has successfully established the compatibility of (...) natural causality and non-natural causality through his transcendental argument. This paper is also devoted to establishing the plausibility of the knowledge claim that Kantian reduction of phenomenality has served half of the purpose of the AI scientists on the possibility of Artificial Autonomous Agency. (shrink)

The objective of the current paper is to provide a critical analysis of Dretske's defense of the naturalistic version of the privileged accessibility thesis. Dretske construed that the justificatory condition of privileged accessibility neither relies on the appeal to perspectival ontology of phenomenal subjectivity nor on the functionalistic notion of accessibility. He has reformulated introspection (which justifies the non-inferentiality of the knowledge of one's own mental facts in an internalist view) as a displaced perception for the defense of naturalistic privileged (...) accessibility. Both internalist and externalist have been approved the plausibility of first-person authority argument through privileged accessibility; however, their disagreement lies on the justificatory condition of privileged accessibility. Internalist hold the view that the justificatory warrant for privileged accessibility is grounded on phenomenal subjectivity. In contrast to the internalist view, externalists uphold the view that the justificatory condition for privileged accessibility lies outside the domain of phenomenal subjectivity. As a proponent of naturalistic content externalism, Dretske defends the view that subject's privileged accessibility is not due to having access to the particular representational state (hence, they have the privilege of getting sensory representational information) and the awareness of mental fact rather the awareness of the whole representational mechanism. Having the knowledge of a particular representational state through privileged access is not the sufficient condition for the accuracy of knowledge about one’s own mental facts. The justificatory warrant lies external to the subject. Even though Dretske’s naturalistic representation is not plausible enough while dealing with the reduction of phenomenal qualities of experience, however, provides a new roadmap to compatibilists for the defense of privileged accessibility and has a major impact on transparency theorists. (shrink)

Tíscar se configura en época andalusí en un lugar de montaña que determina en buena medida la organización de los espacios productivos, defensivos y habitacionales. Estos espacios, aunque modificados, perviven en el paisaje. Nuestro objetivo ha sido identificarlos y entender las relaciones que se dan entre ellos. Para esta tarea se ha recurrido al reconocimiento superficial del terreno, al análisis de las fuentes escritas, islámicas y cristianas, y a la revisión de la bibliografía sobre la zona. También se han analizado (...) los datos procedentes de las intervenciones arqueológicas previas. Posteriormente, toda la evidencia recogida se ha procesado en un SIG. El análisis del conjunto de datos se ha volcado sobre un modelo digital del terreno que nos ha permitido comprender la gestión de los recursos naturales por parte de las comunidades campesinas de Tíscar a lo largo del periodo andalusí e identificar los lugares destinados para la explotación de los mismos. Esto nos ha permitido también comprender las relaciones que se dieron entre ellos y el papel que tuvo la fortaleza de Tíscar en la organización y gestión de los diferentes espacios en un lugar de montaña. (shrink)

Religious exclusivism is the biggest threat for multi-religious society at the same time, ambivalent thoughts among religion in religious pluralism due to religious diversity often yields religious violence. In both of the extreme, (religious exclusivism and religious pluralism) there is the possibility of religious violence, i.e., religious riots, terrorism, mob lynching, and communalism. The objective of this paper is to discuss the significance of interreligious dialogue (IRD), its basic principle, how IRD will help us for addressing the problems of humanity (...) (i.e., Religious diversity and contradictory thoughts in major religions, Religious Dogma, superstition, and terrorism). If there is any biggest challenge for religion in the 21st century, is this one that how religion can deal with these problems and became a good tool for establishing peace and prosperity in the region. (shrink)

With precision and profundity born of 30 years of devoted study, John Boyle offers an essential introduction to St. Thomas Aquinas on Scripture, shedding helpful light on the goals, methods, and commitments that animate the Angelic Doctor's engagement with the sacred page. Because the genius of St. Thomas's approach to the Bible lies not so much in its novelty but rather in the fidelity and clarity with which he recapitulates the riches of the preceding interpretive Tradition, this initiation into St. (...) Thomas's vision of Scripture is itself an orientation to the Church's vision of Scripture, from the Fathers through and beyond the Middle Ages. St. Thomas's embeddedness within the Church's Tradition and his own historical context is integral to his approach to Scripture, yet it sets him at some distance from modern readers, for whom his interpretive vision may seem perplexing or even impenetrable. In this Primer, Boyle first provides an acclimation to this medieval context through a survey and explanation of pertinent technical terminology used by St. Thomas and characteristic of the scholastic theology of the time. With an eye to the medieval practice of considering Scripture according to the fourfold division of causes, Boyle builds on this initial foundation by exploring in turn St. Thomas's accounts of the end or use of Scripture (final cause), its divine and human authorship (efficient cause), its order and division (material cause), and its literary styles or genres (formal cause). Drawing on writings from across St. Thomas's corpus, but especially his work On the Commendation and Division of Sacred Scripture and the prologues to his biblical commentaries, Boyle masterfully elucidates both the hermeneutical principles and deep wisdom of the Angelic Doctor's approach to Scripture, imparting invaluable guidance not only for reading and understanding St. Thomas and other great masters of the Tradition, but also-and ultimately-for understanding Scripture in light of this Tradition and reading it with greater benefit and joy. (shrink)

The objective of this paper is to provide a critical analysis of the Kantian notion of freedom (especially the problem of the third antinomy and its resolution in the critique of pure reason); its significance in the contemporary debate on free-will and determinism, and the possibility of autonomy of artificial agency in the Kantian paradigm of autonomy. Kant's resolution of the third antinomy by positing the ground in the noumenal self resolves the problem of antinomies; however, invites an explanatory gap (...) between phenomenality and the noumenal self; even if he has successfully established the compatibility of natural causality and non-natural causality through his transcendental argument. This paper is also devoted to establishing the plausibility of the knowledge claim that Kantian reduction of phenomenality has served half of the purpose of the AI scientists on the possibility of Artificial Autonomous Agency. (shrink)

Religious exclusivism is the biggest threat for multi-religious society at the same time, ambivalent thoughts among religion in religious pluralism due to religious diversity often yields religious violence. In both of the extreme, (religious exclusivism and religious pluralism) there is the possibility of religious violence, i.e., religious riots, terrorism, mob lynching, and communalism. The objective of this paper is to discuss the significance of inter-religious dialogue (IRD), its basic principle, how IRD will help us for addressing the problems of humanity (...) (i.e., Religious diversity and contradictory thoughts in major religions, Religious Dogma, superstition, and terrorism). If there is any biggest challenge for religion in the 21st century, is this one that how religion can deal with these problems and became a good tool for establishing peace and prosperity in the region. (shrink)

In this paper, my objective is to show how Sankarāchārya's concept of reality is deferent from the Kantian notion of reality, despite many similarities between them. Cartesian skepticism of universal doubt is a challenge for the Kantian notion of reality; however, it can't be applied to Sankarāchārya's concept of reality because of the acceptance of different paradigm to explain the reality and Sankarāchārya's non-representationalistic approach towards the reality. The attack on representationalism can't be applicable to Sankarāchārya's philosophy.

Purpose driven companies have developed their corporate culture with a commitment to stakeholders, Sustainable Development Goals, and social responsibility, prioritizing the management of organizational intangibles over capital. The overall objective of this research is to gain knowledge regarding the attention and emotional intensity registered by young Spanish university students when visualizing corporate purpose versus corporate visual identity, as well as the image of the Chairman of the main Spanish companies quoted on the IBEX 35. The techniques of eye tracking and (...) galvanic skin response have been used with 31 Spanish university students. The results suggest that brands with the highest brand equity in the Interbrand ranking are also the ones that receive the highest levels of attention and emotional arousal, and that a well-formulated corporate purpose is not enough to satisfy the public if company credibility is low due to previous perceptions of an organization. (shrink)

As good a place to begin as any is the meaning of the term ‘phenomenology’ itself. It is indeed a reasoned inquiry which discovers the inherent essences of appearances. But what is an appearance? The answer to this question leads to one of the major themes of phenomenology: an appearance is anything of which one is conscious. Anything at all which appears to consciousness is a legitimate area of philosophical investigation. Moreover, an appearance is a manifestation of the essence of (...) that of which it is the appearance. Surprising as it may sound, other philosophic points of view have refused to make this move. One can characterize phenomenological philosophy as centering on the following basic themes: a return to the traditional tasks of philosophy, the search for a philosophy without presuppositions, the intentionality of consciousness, and the rejection of the subject–object dichotomy. (shrink)

Emotional creativity (EC) is a pattern of cognitive abilities and personality traits related to originality and appropriateness in emotional experience. EC has been found to be related to various constructs across different fields of psychology during the past 30 years, but a comprehensive examination of previous research is still lacking. The goal of this review is to explore the reliability of use of the Emotional Creativity Inventory (ECI) across studies, to test gender differences and to compare levels of EC in (...) different countries. Thirty-five empirical studies focused on EC were retrieved and the coefficients required for the meta-analysis extracted. The meta-analysis revealed that women showed significantly higher EC than men (total N = 3,555). The same gender differences were also found when testing scores from three ECI subscales, i.e. emotional novelty, emotional preparedness and emotional effectiveness/authenticity. When comparing EC in 10 different countries (total N = 4,375), several cross-cultural differences were revealed. The Chinese sample showed a significantly lower average ECI total score than all the other countries. Based on the integration of results, the avenues for future research on EC and the breadth of influence of the concept of EC across different fields of psychology are discussed. Keywords: Emotional Creativity, Review, Meta-Analyses, Meta-Analysis, Definition, Emotional Creativity Inventory, ECI, Reliability, Gender Differences, Cross-cultural, Cross-culture, Personality Traits, NEO Personality Inventory, Big Five, Extraversion, Agreeableness, Openness to Experience, Introversion, Neuroticism, Emotions, Creativity, Cognition, Cognitive Abilities, Affect, Fantasy, Coping, Alexithymia, Anhedonia, Self-understanding, Motivation, Creativeness, Innovative Performance, Creative Ability, Artistic Creativity, Creative Thinking. MeSH Headings: Emotions, Creativity, Affect, Affective Symptoms, Gender, Sex, Gender Identity, Cross-Cultural Comparison, Transcultural Studies, Temperament, Extraversion, Neuroticism, Anhedonia, Creativeness, Cognition, Cognitive Function, Artistic Creativity, Creative Ability, Creative Thinking. (shrink)

The study suggests a model for understanding inter-group relations which has combined two psycho-social concepts: perceptions of collective narratives :26–38, 2002) and identity strategies . The model examined two minority groups of Israeli citizens: Palestinian Muslims and Christians, with a representative sample of 1,164 Muslims and 805 Christians, all Israeli citizens, aged 18–65. We used questionnaires which were developed and adapted for the unique population in this study. As expected, members of both groups mostly endorsed integration strategy. Stronger willingness for (...) competition and separation, as well as lower acceptance of the “other” collective narratives, were found among Christian participants compared to their Muslim counterparts. The expected pattern of inter-relations between the two psychosocial concepts was found: integration and assimilation strategies were related to higher rates of acceptance of the out-group collective narratives and to lower levels of legitimization of in-group collective narratives. In the same vein, the opposite pattern was found in the relations between strategies of competition and separation and the perceptions of collective narratives. The discussion focuses on the contribution of the theoretical model and the findings of our study to a better understanding of the complicated inter-group relations between Palestinian Muslims and Christians who are citizens of Israel. (shrink)

This field study aims to explore the effect of the forced separation between Palestinians who are Israeli citizens and Palestinians living in the West Bank on their perceptions of collective narratives (Sagy et al. in Am J Orthopsychiatry 72(1): 26–38, 2002) and their identity strategies (Berry in Nebraska symposium on motivation, University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln, 1990; Tajfel in Human groups and social categories, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1981). Two questionnaires, based on the theoretical categories and contents revealed in focus (...) groups, were administered to wide ranging samples, comprised of 1,104 Palestinians who are Israeli citizens (622 females), and 948 Palestinians (466 females) living in the West Bank, aged 18 and up. The results indicate differences between the two Palestinian groups: Palestinians living in the West Bank significantly tended to endorse integration and blamed Israel for the separation, but also endorsed separation and social competition with the other Palestinian group, in comparison to the Palestinians living in Israel. The latter exhibited stronger tendencies to preserve their in-group collective narratives compared to the West Bank Palestinians. The older members of both groups perceived the intergroup relations in a more positive way. The results are mainly interpreted according to the social identity theory and the complex situation of living “on both sides of the fence”. (shrink)

"The chief business of twentieth-century philosophy” is “to reckon with twentieth-century history," claimed R. G. Collingwood. In this remarkable collection of essays, Frank Ankersmit demonstrates the prescience of that remark and goes a long way toward meeting its challenge. Responding to the work of Hayden White, Arthur Danto, and Hans-Georg Gadamer, he examines such issues as the difference between historical representation and artistic expression, the status of metaphor in historical description, and the relation of postmodernism to historicism. Ankersmit's fluent grasp (...) of European thought and his ability to incorporate concepts from literary theory, art history, the philosophy of science, and political thought into his analyses assure that this collection will interest readers throughout the humanities. (shrink)

Life and work of George Edward Moore, 1873-1958, philosopher.

Ethics for Enemies comprises three original philosophical essays on torture, terrorism, and war. F. M. Kamm deploys ethical theory in her challenging new treatments of these most controversial practical issues. First she considers the nature of torture and the various occasions on which it could occur, in order to determine why it might be wrong to torture a wrongdoer held captive, even if this were necessary to save his victims. In the second essay she considers what makes terrorism wrong--whether it (...) is the intention to harm civilians, rather than harm to them being 'collateral damage,' or something else--and whether terrorism is always wrong. The third essay discusses whether having a right reason, in the sense of a right intention, is necessary in order for a war to be just. Kamm then examines ways in which the harms of war can be proportional to the achievement of the just cause and other goods that war can bring about, so as to make the declaration of war permissible. (shrink)

Vedanta philosophical school and sects; critical study.

This is an English translation of Schelling's Ideas for a Philosophy of Nature (first published in 1797 and revised in 1803), one of the most significant works in the German tradition of philosophy of nature and early nineteenth-century philosophy of science. It stands in opposition to the Newtonian picture of matter as constituted by inert, impenetrable particles, and argues instead for matter as an equilibrium of active forces that engage in dynamic polar opposition to one another. In the revisions of (...) 1803 Schelling incorporated this dialectical view into a neo-Platonic conception of an original unity divided upon itself. The text is of more than simply historical interest: its daring and original vision of nature, philosophy, and empirical science will prove absorbing reading for all philosophers concerned with post-Kantian German idealism, for scholars of German Romanticism, and for historians of science. (shrink)