What is philosophy about and what are its methods? _Philosophy and Ordinary Language_ is a defence of the view that philosophy is largely about questions of language, which to a large extent means _ordinary_ language. Some people argue that if philosophy is about ordinary language, then it is necessarily less deep and difficult than it is usually taken to be but Oswald Hanfling shows us that this isn't true. Hanfling, a leading expert in the development of analytic philosophy, covers (...) a wide range of topics, including scepticism and the definition of knowledge, free will, empiricism, folk psychology, ordinary versus artificial logic, and philosophy versus science. Drawing on philosophers such as Austin, Wittgenstein, and Quine, this book explores the nature of ordinary language in philosophy. (shrink)

Wittgenstein's later writings generate a great deal of controversy and debate, as do the implications of his ideas for such topics as consciousness, knowledge, language and the arts. Oswald Hanfling addresses a widespeard tendency to ascribe to Wittgenstein views that go beyond those he actually held. Separate chapters deal with important topics such as the private language argument, rule-following, the problem of other minds, and the ascription of scepticism to Wittgenstein. Describing Wittgenstein as a 'humanist' thinker, he contrasts his (...) views on language, art humanity and philosophy itself with those of scientifically minded philosophers. He argues that 'the human form of life' calls for a kind of understanding that cfannot be achieved by the methods of emirical science; that consiousness, for example, cannot properly be regarded as a property of the bran; and that the resulting 'problem of consoiusness is an illusion. Wittgenstein and the Human Form of Life is essential reading for anyone interested in Wittgenstein's approach to what it means to be human. It will be invaluable to all Wittgenstein scholars, and all who are interested in the philosophy of mind, language and aesthetics. (shrink)

This book is a compact, accessible treatment of the main ideas advanced by the positivists, including Schlick, Carnap, Ayer, and the early Wittgenstein. Oswald Hanfling discusses such ideas as the 'verification principle' ('the meaning of this statement is the method of its verification') and the 'elimination of metaphysics, ' an attempt to show that metaphysical statements, for example about God, are unverifiable and therefore meaningless.

1. For more than two thousand years research into the origins of the Greek lexicon had been understood and carried on in the spirit exemplified but also mocked in the Platonic Kratylos. The revolutionary change came in the early nineteenth century when after many inspired guesses Franz Bopp finally and definitively proved in 1816 that Greek, in company with many European languages, derived, like Indian and Iranian, from one prehistoric ancestor, the whole family being dubbedIndo-Europeanby the well-known physician and physicist, (...) Dr Thomas Young, in 1813, three years before the publication of Bopp's work. But the first true etymologist was August Friedrich Pott who with the two volumes of hisEtymologische Forschungen, published in 1833 and 1836 respectively, laid the foundations of Indo-European, and therewith also Greek, etymology.Throughout the nineteenth century, and even down to our own days, the main emphasis has been on the IE origins of the Greek vocabulary. (shrink)

Excerpt from Grundlagen der Ästhetik Worten an die Englander einerseits und an Fechner ander seits unmittelbar anknüpft. Die Literaturangaben zu den einzelnen Abschnitten trennen Werke, die auf Külpe von Ein fluß gewesen sind, mit denen er sich eingehend auseinander gesetzt hat oder die unter seiner Einwirkung entstanden sind. Außer den nachgelassenen Papieren habe ich noch ein vollständiges Kollegheft, das in Külpes Bonner Zeit fleißig und sorgsam nachgeschrieben worden ist, durchweg ver glichen. Es hat der Arbeit vielleicht hie und da genützt, (...) daß es mir vergonnt war, in vertrautem Gesprach mit dem. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works. (shrink)

From the standpoint of decision research, investigating global heuristics like LEX is not fruitful, because we know already that people use partial heuristics instead. It is necessary (1) to identify partial heuristics in different tasks, and (2) to investigate rules governing their application and especially their combination. Furthermore, research is necessary into the adequate level of resolution of the elements in the toolbox.

This paper examines from a cognitive perspective the rhetorical and epistemic advantages that can be gained from the use of (extended) metaphors in political discourse. We defend the assumption that extended metaphors can be argumentatively exploited, and provide two arguments in support of the claim. First, considering that each instantiation of the metaphorical mapping in the text may function as a confirmation of the overall relevance of the main core mapping, we argue that extended metaphors carry self-validating claims that increase (...) the chances of their content being accepted. Second, we show how the recognition of an extended metaphor’s sophistication and relevance (on behalf of the addressee) can benefit the speaker’s perceived competence (ethos). We then assess whether these two arguments measure against the dual epistemic monitoring postulated in the notion of epistemic vigilance (i.e., assessment of the source of a message and assessment of the message) and conclude that extended metaphors may fulfil the requirements of epistemic vigilance and lead to the stabilisation of a belief. We illustrate our account with an analysis of the extended metaphor of the USA as an empire found in a political pamphlet written by the Swiss politician Oskar Freysinger. (shrink)

This article addresses the relationship between understanding and believing from the cognitive perspective of information-processing. I promote, within the scope of the Critical Discourse Analysis agenda, the relevance of an account of belief-fixation sustained by a combination of argumentative and cognitive insights. To this end, I first argue that discursive strategies fulfilling legitimization purposes, such as evidentials, tap into the same cognitive mechanisms as arguments. I then proceed to examine the idea that the most effective arguments are the ones that (...) manage to obscure or make irrelevant counter-evidence and propose, from a cognitive pragmatic perspective, a formulation of rhetorical effectiveness as a constraint on information-selection taking place at the interpretation stage and decisively influencing the evaluation stage responsible for belief-fixation. (shrink)

Oswald Hanfling; II*—What is Wrong with the Paradigm Case Argument?, Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society, Volume 91, Issue 1, 1 June 1991, Pages 21–38, http.

Die mit dem Buch von Oswald Schwemmer vorgestellte Grundlegung etabliert Kulturphilosophie als eine systematisch organisierte Disziplin, und zwar als Ansatz für Forschungen, die auch über die geistigen Verhältnisse der Menschen ein empirisches Wissen bilden können. Angesichts der historischen Kontingenz und Vielfalt der verschiedenen Kulturen konzentriert sich die vorliegende Darstellung auf die - z. B. bildlichen und begriffli-chen - Medien, die als kollektiver Grundbestand die Formen der menschlichen Artikulation und Sinnbildung in einer Kultur prägen. Das Buch bietet eine Grundlegung auch (...) für Leser, die sich in den oft verwirrenden Disputen der Philosophie noch nicht verfangen haben. Eine Orientierung auf dem gedanklichen Weg dieser Grundlegung soll die Begriffskette Artikulation und Medium - Medium und Symbol - Symbol und Form - Form und Sinn - Sinn und Bild - Bild und Begriff - Begriff und Kultur geben, mit der die einzelnen Kapitel über ihre Titel zusammengehalten werden. Die Titelbegriffe stehen dabei für die Themenfelder, mit denen sich die Überlegungen in den jeweiligen Kapiteln auseinandersetzen. Diese Fokussierung auf ganze Themenfelder erlaubt es, in einigen Exkur-sen auch Um- oder Seitenwege in diesen Gebieten zu gehen. Dass die gedanklichen Wege dieser Grundlegung am Ende wieder zu ihrem Ausgangsbegriff Kultur zurückführen, zeigt, dass das Ende auch als ein neuer Anfang, nämlich zur Fortsetzung des Projektes einer medientheoretisch orientierten Kulturphilosophie gelesen werden kann. (shrink)

Ernst Cassirer wird in diesem Buch als ein Denker vorgestellt, der geistig in der philosophischen Tradition wurzelt und sich gleichzeitig den Herausforderungen duch die europäische Moderne stellt: dem Festschreiben eines vor allem durch die Wissenschaften beglaubigten universalen Vernunftanspruchs auf der einen und der Anerkennung einer Vielfalt kultureller Welten auf der anderen Seite. Über die Analyse einiger Grundbegriffe des Cassirerschen Entwurfs einer "Philosophie der symbolischen Formen" - in die auch die Werke aus dem Nachlass Cassirers miteinbezogen werden - versucht der Autor, (...) die Spannungen sichtbar zu machen, die diesem Entwurf die Modernität geben und ihn offen machen für eine Weiterentwicklung. "Die Vielfalt der symbolischen Welten und die Einheit des Geistes", "der Werkbegriff im Denken Cassirers", "Ausdruck und symbolische Prägnanz", "die ethische Dimension des symbolischen Handelns", "das Denken der Renaissance und die Wurzeln der Moderne", sind die Titel, unter denen - von einer bestimmten Seite aus - jeweils ein Blick auf das Ganze des Cassirerschen Denksn gewonnen werden soll. Dass dieses Ganze kein geschlossenes "System" sein, sondern Wege zum Verstehen unserer geistigen und kulturellen SDituation freilegen will, zeigt der Autor in einer abschließenden Analyse, die auch die Bedeutung des Cassirerschen Entwurfs für die philosophische Diskussion der Gegenwart darzulegen versucht. (shrink)

Este artigo propõe-se a mostrar como é possível, em pleno acordo com a inspiração original do ceticismo pirrônico e não obstante o silêncio de Sexto Empírico sobre esses pontos, desenvolver uma concepção cética de verdade e elaborar uma noção de realismo cético, que fazem justiça às intuições básicas do senso comum.

The Emotional Intelligence of Jesus introduces readers to key principles of emotional intelligence--self-awareness, empathy, assertiveness, optimism, and stress management--illustrating them in the life of Jesus and offering practical applications for leaders today.

How can we rethink anthropology beyond itself? In this book, twenty-one artists, anthropologists, and curators grapple with how anthropology has been formulated, thought, and practised 'elsewhere' and 'otherwise'. They do so by unfolding ethnographic case studies from Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and Poland - and through conversations that expand these geographies and genealogies of contemporary exhibition making. This collection considers where and how anthropology is troubled, mobilised, and rendered meaningful. 'Across Anthropology' charts new ground by analysing the convergences (...) of museums, curatorial practice, and Europe's reckoning with its colonial legacies. Situated amid resurgent debates on nationalism and identity politics, this book addresses scholars and practitioners in fields spanning the arts, social sciences, humanities, and curatorial studies."--Page 4 of cover. (shrink)

This paper reevaluates Adorno’s theory of non-identity following from a critical examination of his reading of Hegel. The main discussion revolves around two theses central to both philosophers: 1. Conceptual thinking forms the centre of philosophical thought (identification). 2. Philosophical thought aspires to become everything (totality). The analysis of two distinct interpretations, one stricter and one more moderate, demonstrates that Adorno takes the hardline view. With the moderate view, however, not only do the limits of Hegelian philosophy become more pronounced, (...) they also reveal novel systematic connections with pivotal concepts inherent to Critical Theory – connections that have notably lacked substantial consideration within relevant research. (shrink)

First published in 1932, this book, based on an address delivered in 1931, presents a concise and lucid summary of the philosophy of the author of _The Decline of the West_, Oswald Spengler. It was his conviction that the technical age — the culture of the machine age — which man had created in virtue of his unique capacity for individual as well as racial technique, had already reached its peak, and that the future held only catastrophe. He argued (...) it lacked progressive cultural life and instead was dominated by a lust for power and possession. The triumph of the machine led to mass regimentation rather than fewer workers and less work — spelling the doom of Western civilization. (shrink)

The book exposes common misunderstandings about Wittgenstein, and examines in detail the celebrated 'private language' argument.

When writing about policy, do you think in green or white? If not, I recommend that you do. I suggest that writers and journal editors should explicitly label every policy ethics paper either ‘green’ or ‘white’. A green paper is an unconstrained exploration of a policy question. The controversial ‘After-birth abortion’ paper is an example. Had it been labelled as ‘green’, readers could have understood what Giubilini and Minerva explained later: that it was a discussion of philosophical ideas, and not (...) a policy proposal advocating infanticide. A serious policy proposal should be labelled by writer(s) and editor(s) as ‘white’. Its purpose should be to influence policy. In order to influence policy, I suggest three essential, and two desirable, characteristics of any white paper. Most importantly, a white paper should be set in the context in which the policy is to be made and applied. (shrink)

The biblical injunction to love one's neighbour has long been regarded as a central pillar of morality. It is taken to be an ideal which gives direction to our moral aspirations, even though most of us find it difficult to live up to, owing to our selfish natures. But the difficulties I wish to raise are of a logical kind, as distinct from those depending on personal character. They fall under three headings: the first concerns the scope of ‘my neighbour’, (...) the second the injunction to love, and the third the idea of loving oneself. The first will probably be the most familiar. (shrink)