Like all discourses on the ‘other’, Bataille’s heterology is faced with the problem of conceptualizing the heterogeneous, while preserving its alterity, its fundamental resistance to conceptual thought. This paper interrogates the potential parallels between this aspect of Bataille’s notion and some of the prevalent concerns of contemporary and traditional aesthetics. The argument is based on the idea that theories of the aesthetic, akin to Bataille’s heterology, are always inevitably confronted with the paradoxical task of conceptually framing an experience that, per (...) definition, resists philosophical or political appropriation. In relation to this my paper traces a development in Bataille’s thinking from an initial rejection of art and the aesthetic to their later reconfiguration as manifestations of sovereignty. Here I show how Bataille’s notion of sovereign art presents an implicit attempt to overcome some of the aporias to have surfaced in his earlier account of heterology. This development in Bataille’s thought is analysed in the context of his changing relationship with Surrealism. (shrink)

This paper reflects on a number of metaphysical and epistemological aspects of theatrical performance and the theatrical aspects of some philosophical writing. It tries to demonstrate that both philosophy and theater say and show philosophical truths while also giving some evidence for the truth of a pluralist view.

This paper reflects on a number of metaphysical and epistemological aspects of theatrical performance and the theatrical aspects of some philosophical writing. It tries to demonstrate that both philosophy and theater say and show philosophical truths while also giving some evidence for the truth of a pluralist view.

The release of a systematic metaphysical treatise, Being and Other Realities, and Volume 23 of the Library of Living Philosophers, The Philosophy of Paul Weiss, then, calls for an exposition of this latest expression and an inquiry into both Weiss's method and its role in the development of his thought up to this point. In what follows, the somewhat novel doctrine of Being and Other Realities will be briefly summarized. Then, Weiss's philosophical method and their role in the development of (...) his system will be addressed. The expressions "method" and "system" refer to the totality of Weiss's different methods and systems; their unities are not entirely clear. What Weiss's "method," is, that is, which one is foremost, has perplexed Weiss's readers for some time. It continues to do so. Here, several methods will be identified, including one based on his early theory of the propositions used in perceptual judgment. This will shed light on the continuity and consistency of his many systematic expressions. Although not an in-depth study of Being and Other Realities, this article is an attempt to place that work in the context of Weiss's entire opus, hopefully making both more accessible. (shrink)

This research monograph is the first book-length study of the philosophical premises of Bataille's theory of art and literature. In contrast to many former interpretations of Bataille's work, Dr Kennedy concentrates on Bataille's writings in the wake of World War Two, especially on the first and the last part of his trilogy, The Accursed Share.

Mr. Will articulates a theory of the legitimate governance of norms which emerges largely from and criticizes the Anglo-American analytic tradition. He advocates a nonfoundational, pragmatic, and holistic reconception of reasoning in reaction to the failures of "deductivism"--theories in which legitimate governance is restricted to recursive procedures to extant accessible norms whose authority is independent of their use. The inadequacies of the deductivist model of reasoning, as exposed by Hume, Kuhn, Wittgenstein, and Rorty, are presented. Will finds resources for moving (...) beyond deductivism in Toulmin's theory of the evolution of concepts, Waismann's theory of their open texture, Dewey's criticism of the reflex arc, and the Hegelian concrete universal. He defends Oakeshott's view of politics as the pursuit of "intimations," and as "conversation, not argument," against the charge that it represents blatant intuitionism. Contrary to Rorty's use of Oakeshott's insight, however, Will moves on to defend the legitimacy of nondeductive, or "ampliative," effects wrought on the body of norms in the course of their use. Ampliative effects occur in norms in three ways: through their application, particularly in hard or indeterminate cases; through interaction with other norms; and through the existential conditions of the world in which they operate. Since no deductive proof can be given for this wider conception of governance, the book is itself an example of reflective, ampliative, philosophical governance. (shrink)

Much recent analytic philosophy has dealt with the problem presented to realism by the possibility of alternative conceptual schemes: is it possible to know the world in contrasting, if not contradictory, ways and not thereby rule out the possibility of knowing an independent reality? Lynch argues that pluralism and realism are compatible and proposes what he calls a “relativized Kantianism.” We do not know the world the way it is in itself, but only by means of some conceptual scheme. The (...) model of a conceptual scheme employed is not Kantian, however, which allows for no alternatives, is identified by its foundationally structured categorical concepts, and involves a commitment to the analytic/ synthetic distinction. Nor is it Quinean, where the basic components are sentences accepted as true, the structure is holistic, the analytic/ synthetic distinction is abandoned, and the alternatives are untranslatable. Instead, a “Wittgensteinian” model is proposed. Composed of concepts, the alternatives share contextually basic but not nonbasic concepts. Fuzzy distinctions, like the analytic/synthetic, are usable. (shrink)