Philosophy: epistemology and theory of knowledge Books

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Book SynopsisDeveloping original accounts of the many aspects of belief, On Believing puts the believer at the heart of the story. Developing a novel account of the normativity of belief, Hunter argues that the ethics of belief concern how a believer ought to be positioned in a world of possibilities.Table of ContentsIntroduction 1: On the Nature of Believing 2: The Ontology of Believing 3: The Objects of Believing 4: Believing without Representing 5: Objectivity and Credal Illusions 6: Subjectivity and Credal Necessities 7: Credal Agency 8: Credal Norms

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Book SynopsisAn introduction to the mind-body problem, covering all the proposed solutions and offering a powerful new one.Philosophers from Descartes to Kripke have struggled with the glittering prize of modern and contemporary philosophy: the mind-body problem. The brain is physical. If the mind is physical, we cannot see how. If we cannot see how the mind is physical, we cannot see how it can interact with the body. And if the mind is not physical, it cannot interact with the body. Or so it seems.In this book the philosopher Jonathan Westphal examines the mind-body problem in detail, laying out the reasoning behind the solutions that have been offered in the past and presenting his own proposal. The sharp focus on the mind-body problem, a problem that is not about the self, or consciousness, or the soul, or anything other than the mind and the body, helps clarify both problem and solutions.Westphal outlines the history of the mind-body problem, beginning with Descartes. H

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Book SynopsisFor those working in Epistemology dizzying questions such as the following arise:â When are beliefs rational, or justified?â How should we update our beliefs in the light of new evidence?â Is it possible to gain knowledge, or justification?â How do we know what we know, and why do we care about whetherâand whatâothers know?â How can the exploration of pre-Socratic philosophical questions about knowledge assist with the design of twenty-first-century computer interfaces?Addressing the need for an authoritative and comprehensive reference work to enable users to answer these and other questions, and to make sense ofâand to navigate aroundâan ever more complex corpus of scholarly literature, Epistemology is a new title in Routledgeâs acclaimed Critical Concepts in Philosophy series. Edited by Ram Neta, it is a four-volume collection which brings together foundational and the very best cutting-edge scholarship in a unique one-stop âmini libraryâ.Supplemented with a full index, and including an introduction to each volume, newly written by the editor, which places the assembled materials in their historical and intellectual context, Epistemology is destined to be valued by scholars and students as a vital research resource.

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Book SynopsisPhilosophy of Language A-Z offers a broad coverage of theories, debates, concepts, problems and philosophers in the philosophy of language. It consists of concise and accessible entries on each of the key terms and issues in this area of philosophy.

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Book SynopsisThe Scottish philosopher and historian David Hume (1711-1776) has often been regarded as a key Enlightenment thinker. However, his image has been long contested between those who consider him a conservative and those who see him as a key liberal thinker. Hume''s Sceptical Enlightenment offers a new interpretation for such diverse images and demonstrates the uniqueness of Hume as an Enlightenment thinker, illustrating how his ''spirit of scepticism'' often leads him into seemingly paradoxical positions. This book will be of interest to Hume scholars, intellectual historians of 17th- to 19th-century Europe and those interested in the Enlightenment more widely.

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Book SynopsisLeading philosopher''s guide to the ideas that will shape the 21st century''Ideas are the cogs that drive history, and understanding them is half way to being aboard that powerful juggernaut rather than under its wheels''. This is a book that celebrates the power of ideas: thought can, and does, change the world. And, in turn, ideas evolve. Fundamentalism, environmentalism and bioethics are defining our future just as Marxism, feminism or existentialism have influenced our present. So what do we need to know as we move into the 21st century? More than a simple reference work, this is A.C. Grayling''s personal and heartfelt guide to the ideas, past and present, that shape our world. Covering religion, philosophy, scientific theory and political movements, each alphabetically ordered entry illuminates, elucidates and provokes. Written with Grayling''s customary fire and erudition, the result is a book that aims both to arm readers with knowledge and engage them in philosophical debate.

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Book SynopsisIn this important collection of papers, Dennis Patterson continues to show the importance of Wittgenstein''s thought for problems in legal theory. Ranging across issues in the philosophy of mind to questions of meaning and normativity, this collection of papers is essential reading for anyone with an interest in legal theory.Table of ContentsContents: Preface; Introduction; Moral evaluation and conceptual analysis in jurisprudential methodology (with John Oberdiek); Dworkin on the semantics of legal and political concepts; Wittgenstein on understanding and interpretation (comments on the work of Thomas Morawetz); Notes on the methodology debate in contemporary jurisprudence: why sociologists might be interested; Interpretation in law; Fashionable nonsense; Normativity and objectivity in law; Explicating the internal point of view; Langdell's legacy; Wittgenstein and constitutional theory; Conscience and the constitution; Law's pragmatism: a theory of law as practice and narrative; Law's practice; Realist semantics and legal theory; Interpretation in law: toward a reconstruction of the current debate; Name index.

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Book SynopsisJames Burton is a research fellow at the Institute for Cultural Inquiry in Berlin, Germany. A former Alexander von Humboldt fellow, he has been a lecturer at the universities of Goldsmiths, Kent and Klagenfurt. His interdisciplinary research across philosophy, literature, cultural and media studies, concerns the myriad critical, cultural and ethical relationships between fiction, technology and the posthuman.Trade ReviewBurton’s monograph masterfully recuperates the forgotten or maligned aspects of both Dick’s and Bergson’s works and raises genuinely interesting questions about sf’s capacity to affect, influence, and foster positive change in the world. * Science Fiction Studies *Through a lucid exposition of Bergson and a careful analysis of Dick’s novels, [Burton] convincingly argues for their compatible views of salvation ... [His] study is innovative, elegantly written, and not only will it be of interest for scholars of cultural studies and philosophy, but also for science studies scholars. * Pulse: A History, Sociology and Philosophy of Science Journal *In investigating both the prolific and controversial science fiction novelist Philip K. Dick (1928–82) and Henri Bergson (1851–1941), whom William James deemed an intellectual genius, Burton (Institute for Cultural Inquiry, Berlin) takes a bifurcated path. Examining the strange affinity between these two seemingly different thinkers, the author navigates ideas of mechanism and mysticism, immanence and transcendence, and the possibility and meaning of soteriology. Both Dick and Bergson balked at the push toward mechanization, in which destruction of the planet seemed so immanent (as it still does today). Only collaboration between a science fiction writer and a philosopher could lead, Burton argues, to a realistic outlook that sutures contradictory imperatives. Their respective approaches may be said to fuse in fictionalizing/fabulation, which is a powerful tool of mechanization, yet is also capable of implementing a device for its undoing. This reviewer's favorite chapter deals with Dick’s Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (1968), adapted for the screen as Blade Runner in 1982 under the direction of Ridley Scott. Here the author covers provocative themes like robot theology, creative destruction, and salvation. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty. * CHOICE *Thinking through the work of Philip K. Dick alongside the philosophy of Henri Bergson is no mere contrivance. By showing how each was writing at the edge of knowledge, both theirs and ours, Burton has fabulated a new thought with truly evental consequences for metafiction, ecology, and theology. * John Ó Maoilearca, Professor of Film and Television Studies, Kingston University, UK *In a brilliant act of superimposition, James Burton brings Henri Bergson’s evolutionary mysticism to bear on the divine invasions—in fiction and in life—of S-F writer Philip K. Dick. The vision of “immanent soteriology” that emerges, in which transcendent fictions jam the engines of necessity, not only illuminates the method behind Dick’s madness but reveals the crucial emancipatory role that fabulation can and does play within posthuman thought and religion. With clear thinking and graceful writing, Burton boldly indicates a “perturbation in the reality field” of contemporary materialism. * Erik Davis, author of TechGnosis: Myth, Magic and Mysticism in the Age of Information *Table of ContentsAcknowledgments Note on References Introduction Philosophy and Science Fiction The Edge of the Known The Ethics of Balking Philip K. Dick Studies Note on Terminology: Fabulation Chapter One: Fabulation: Counteracting Reality Mechanization and the War-instinct The Biological Origins of Society Countering the Intellect The Morality of Violence Open Morality and the Misdirection of Mechanism True Mysticism: Immanent Salvation An Incomplete Soteriology Fabulation for the Open Conclusion Chapter Two: Fabulating Salvation in Four Early Novels Solar Lottery The World Jones Made Vulcan’s Hammer Time Out of Joint Conclusion: Super–everyman to Solar Shoe Salesman Chapter Three: The Empire That Never Ended The Open and the Universal The Life-Death Chiasmus The Fictitious Event The Messianic Tension The Remnant and Messianic Time The Magic of Language Sci-fi: the genre of ‘as not’ Conclusion: Gnostic Politics Chapter Four: Objects of Salvation: The Man in the High Castle The Fabulation of History Mechanization and Paralysis Worldly Remains Openings Between Worlds The Tyranny of the Concrete Objects of Salvation Conclusion: Reality Fields Chapter Five: How We Became Post-Android The Mechanization of Pot-healing The Alien God The Saviour in Need Robot Theology Humans: the Cosmic Bourgeoisie Android and Theoid Creative Destruction Conclusion Chapter Six: The Reality of Valis Salvator Salvandus The Believer and the Sceptic The Pharmakonic God Reduplicative Paramnesia (Time Becomes Space) The Fabulative Cure Recursion: Valis as Limitlessly Iterative Soteriology Befriending God Conclusion Epilogue: Soter-ecologies Notes Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisFederico Campagna is an Italian philosopher based in London. He is the author of The Last Night: anti-Work, Atheism, Adventure (2013) and What We Are Fighting For: a Radical Collective Manifesto (2012) and visiting lecturer at Royal College of Art, UK.Trade ReviewFederico Campagna's book is a brilliant tour de force that oscillates between lucid analyses of philosophical concepts, bridging the gap between Eastern and Western frameworks, and radical propositions for alternative worlds. By attempting to galvanize human perception out of its paralyzed and bordered state, what William Blake refers to as ‘the narrow chinks of [our] cavern’, Campagna expertly unravels the very foundations upon which our contemporary reality sits. Technic and Magic gradually builds towards a new and striking reconfiguration of reality that merges together the past, present and future. -- Hans Ulrich Obrist, Artistic Director at the Serpentine Galleries, London, UKFederico Campagna’s brilliant Technic and Magic is essential reading for our desperate times. This stunning historical and philosophical exploration radically transforms our understanding of the global technological culture we now inhabit. -- Jonathan Crary, Meyer Schapiro Professor of Modern Art and Theory, Columbia University, USA, author of 24/7Both Technic and Magic are used by us to change the world. However, as Frederico Campagna argues, Technic serves the accumulation of power whereas Magic, on the contrary, protects life and its value. In his fascinating book Campagna makes a parcours through the Indian, Islamic and old Gnostic sources to discover the hidden, hermetic tradition of magical thinking that keeps its relevance also for our contemporary condition. -- Boris Groys, Global Distinguished Professor of Russian and Slavic Studies, New York University, USACampagna takes us on a philosophically rich journey that is signposted by new terms and concepts discussed with due reference to other philosophical settings, including as they developed in Persia. His engaging prose promises to make a distinct contribution to emerging fields of knowledge. -- Arshin Adib-Moghaddam, Professor in Global Thought and Comparative Philosophies, SOAS, University of London, and Chair of the Centre for Iranian Studies at the London Middle East Institute, UKThis is a book not only for philosophers but also for poets and their readers and for all those who try to uphold the dignity of their spiritual existence. Is magic still a liveable territory? Federico Campagna asks fundamental questions but also has original suggestions how to keep this high flame alive in a radically non-magical world. -- Adam Zagajewski, poet, novelist and translator, author of 'Mysticism for Beginners: Poems'Campagna breaks with tradition by advancing scholarship that explores a common past and common understandings of meta-philosophical concepts, crossing the geopolitical barriers between the East and the West. Rarely does one see such ability to discuss complex, metaphysical and philosophic themes in a light and poetic manner - Outstanding. -- Ghoncheh Tazmini, Centre for Iranian Studies, SOAS University of London, UKTable of ContentsPREFACE, ‘The Keymaker’ by Timothy Morton INTRODUCTION CHAPTER ONE – TECHNIC’S WORLD - Crisis of Reality - Technic - Measure and Infinity - No Outside - Crisis of Action, Crisis of Imagination CHAPTER TWO – TECHNIC’S COSMOGONY - Defining Terms - 1 Absolute Language - 2 Measure - 3 Unit - 4 Abstract General Entity - 5 Life As Vulnerability - Upper and Lower Limits: Ego Absconditus and Double Affirmation - Conclusion INTERMISSION – WHAT IS REALITY? - Between India and the West - Why Seek Reality? CHAPTER THREE – MAGIC’S COSMOGONY - Defining Terms - 1 The Ineffable as Life - 2 Person - 3 Symbol - 4 Meaning - 5 Paradox - Upper and Lower Limits: Double Negation and Deus Absconditus - Conclusion CHAPTER FOUR – MAGIC’S WORLD - Outside Within - Secret - Initiation - As if - Happy Ending Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisSami Pihlström is Professor of Philosophy of Religion at the University of Helsinki, Finland. His previous publications include Pragmatic Pluralism and the Problem of God (2013) and Taking Evil Seriously (2014). He is a board member of the Central European Pragmatist Forum and the Nordic Pragmatism Network.Trade ReviewSolipsism, the idea that my self is the only thing that exists while everything else is a product of my mind, belongs among the most radical and most curious philosophical positions. Nonetheless, Sami Pihlström lucidly and convincingly argues that solipsism is in fact extraordinarily relevant to our ethical choices. His superb book compels us to seriously rethink fundamental existential issues. * Leszek Koczanowicz, Professor of Philosophy and Psychology, SWPS University, Poland *Why Solipsism Matters is an intellectual joy/ Sami Pihlström demonstrates that Solipsism is no mere philosophical curiosity but is so intertwined with modern and contemporary modes of philosophy that direct refutation is not possible. His application of Wittgensteinean insights is breathtaking. The book challenges our common sense beliefs about self and reality and leads us to a self-critical vantage. * Kirill O. Thompson, Professor of Foreign Languages and Literatures, National Taiwan University, Taiwan *Table of Contentsprelims 1. Introduction 1.1. Why Solipsism? 1.2. Some Varieties of Solipsism 2. Metaphysical and Skeptical Solipsism 2.1. Historical Preliminaries and Contemporary Issues 2.2. Classical Metaphysical and Epistemological Solipsism: The Cartesian Legacy 2.3. Methodological Solipsism 3. Transcendental Solipsism 3.1. Kantian Idealism: The Rise of the Transcendental Ego 3.2. Phenomenology and Intersubjectivity 3.3. Transcendental Solipsism in Wittgenstein 4. Refuting Solipsism 4.1. Arguing against Solipsism 4.2. Solipsism vs. Realism 5. The Relevance of Solipsism 5.1. Facing Otherness 5.2. Solipsism and Death bibliography index

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Book SynopsisWhat can epistemology tell us about love? Here two philosophers use their training in arguments and reasoning to uncover the role of ungrounded beliefs when we fall in love. This not a self-help book, it is a philosophy book. Free of advice, methods and strategies for being successful in love, it does not offer solutions for problems. What it gives us instead is a reading of love as it actually is. The authors illustrate the fallacies of love by drawing on personal experiences, literary characters and imaginary individuals. They provide examples of ungrounded beliefs in Aesop's Fables, Cinderella and Don Giovanni amongst others, and illustrate love as an inexhaustible source of misperceptions, misunderstandings and misconceptions. By tackling those characteristic and all-too familiar ways in which ungrounded love beliefs arise, the book forces us to question why baseless beliefs are maintained and reinforced, showing us that many love beliefs are built on anything but logic.Trade Review[A Short Philosophical Guide to Fallacies of Love] would be useful for anyone who wants to explore the intersection of informal logic, epistemology and love. * Teaching Philosophy *Love is one of the strongest emotions we experience, and it is a key driver of our actions. Love makes us write poetry, compose sonatas, and climb mountains, and can drive us to despair, up to the point where we kill in jealous rage. If you have ever wondered how we come to know about love – our own and others’ – and whether the feelings that drive our actions are justified, then this is the book for you. Díez and Iacona offer an authoritative discussion of the epistemology of love and provide a compelling analysis of its fallacies. It’s a must-read both for novices and veterans in matters of love. * Roman Frigg, Professor of Philosophy, London School of Economics and Political Science, UK *Love is the object of libraries of books, many of which bemoan or celebrate its illusions, follies and deceptions en bloc. Diez and Iacona, on the other hand, itemize, for the first time, the main forms of the illusions to which love is heir. Each is clearly described, anatomized and illustrated. Few readers will fail to experience the shock or click of recognition on reading one or more of these portraits. They neither preach nor praise. They simply describe, one after another, the different illusions of lovers and the beloved. They write lucidly. The philosophical distinctions they employ are introduced with a light touch and deftly deployed. Their book is for everyone interested in understanding one of the most important parts of life - but perhaps not for lovers. * Kevin Mulligan, Honorary Professor of Analytic Philosophy, University of Geneva, Switzerland *It is said that people don’t pay much attention to philosophy because philosophy doesn’t pay much attention to people. Fallacies of Love is a rare example of philosophers giving what we care about its due, setting analytic acumen to work on real-life ways we all fall into traps in affairs of the heart. * Richard Davies, Professor of Philosophy, University of Bergamo, Italy *Acute and stylishly written, this book is one of the best I have ever read on love. Diez and Iacona's elucidation of love’s epistemology is interesting and illuminating. Their book opens up fresh perspectives and it is sure to become a reference point in future debates of this topic * Vera Tripodi, Adjunct Professor, University of Turin, Italy *Díez and Iacona’s book is a fun-to-read inquiry into one of the most common sources of misjudgments: love. Although poets and thinkers have considered the fallacies of love, the idea of the authors of fathoming love’s misguiding nature through the means of analytic epistemology is new, entertaining and instructing. * Giuliano Torrengo, Associate Professor of Philosophy, University of Milan, Italy *A provocative, enlightening and entertaining book. Through vivid and amusing examples, Díez and Icona use the tools of logic and epistemology to deconstruct the myth of romantic love, which has always been a tool of social control and a powerful anaesthetic. * Eulalia Pérez Sedeño Professor of Science, Technology and Society, Spanish Center for Science and Research, Spain *Table of ContentsChapter 1: Basic Ideas about Love What we talk about when we talk about love Some fundamental properties of love Truth, justification, and knowledge The fallacies of love Sex, gender, and stereotypes Some final remarks Chapter 2: The Invention of Reasons Rationalization The you-you fallacy The virtue fallacy Purported sour grapes Lost love's labours Inference to the worst explanation Chapter 3: The Power of Desire over Belief The glasses of love Belief without evidence Evidence without belief Love is blind The diamond fallacy Chapter 4: Wanting it all Complex cases of cognitive mistakes The divided lover The princess The Don Juan The emotional terrorizer Chapter 5: When Love Goes Away The end of love The sunk costs fallacy The sweet lemons fallacy Inertia and uncertainty Desamor Index

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Book SynopsisMatteo Mameli is Reader in Philosophy, Department of Philosophy, King's College London, UK.Table of ContentsAcknowledgements Introduction Part I 1. Cooperation Social Beings Political Animals Superorganisms 2. Transformation Natura Pura Natura Lapsa Regnum 3. Subordination Slaves and Women Slaves and Colonies Part II 4. Essentialism Sciences and Channels Darwin’s Barnacles Ideal Types and Genealogies After Essentialism 5. Post-Essentialism Statistical Typicality Human Diversity Human Niches and Human Praxis Our Common Humanity Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisKant's Critique of Pure Reason has had, and continues to have, an enormous impact on modern philosophy. In this short, stimulating introduction, Michael Pendlebury explains Kant's major claims in the Critique, how they hang together, and how Kant supports them, clarifying the way in which his reasoning unfolds over the course of this groundbreaking work. Making Sense of Kant's Critique of Pure Reason concentrates on key parts of the Critique that are essential to a basic understanding of Kant's project and provides a sympathetic account of Kant's reasoning about perception, space, time, judgment, substance, causation, objectivity, synthetic a priori knowledge, and the illusions of transcendent metaphysics.The guiding assumptions of the book are that Kant is a humanist; that his reasoning in the Critique is driven by an interest in human knowledge and the cognitive capacities that underlie it; and that he is not a skeptic, but accepts that humanTrade ReviewI have finally found the book I need for my undergraduate classes on Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason. This clearly written, lively, engaging book explains and motivates central ideas in Kant’s famous, difficult work in a way that will be invaluable for anyone new to the Critique. * Lucy Allais, jointly appointed as Professor of Philosophy at Johns Hopkins University and the University of the Witwatersrand *A reliable and user-friendly introduction to Kant’s daunting masterpiece. Pendlebury treats the main topics of the first Critique in an order specifically chosen to aid comprehension. This book will be ideal for leisure readers and for teachers seeking a compact guide for undergraduate courses. But graduate students and seasoned scholars will also find much value in this rich and intelligent work. * Ian Proops, Professor in Early Modern Philosophy, The University of Texas at Austin, USA *This is a very impressive introduction to one of the most challenging works in the history of philosophy. Pendlebury writes fluidly and vividly, and gives the reader an opinionated view of the text that functions to reveal Kant’s insights in a clear and accessible way. Core arguments and central themes are handled with a confidence that will aid both the student approaching this text for the first time and those looking to deepen their understanding. * John Callanan, Reader in the Department of Philosophy, King's College London, UK *Table of ContentsPreface How to Use This Book Note on Citations of and Quotations from Kant’s Works 1. Background 1.1 The Basic Structure of Our World 1.2 Knowledge and Reality 1.3 The Critique of Pure Reason 2 The Preface and the Introduction: Two Types of Metaphysics 2.1 A Science of Metaphysics? (Bvii–xxxi) 2.2 A Priori Cognition (B1–10) 2.3 The Analytic/Synthetic Distinction (B10–12) 2.4 Synthetic a Priori Judgments and Knowledge (B12–24) 2.5 Transcendental Philosophy (B24–7) 3 The Transcendental Aesthetic: Sensibility, Space, and Time 3.1 Intuitions, Appearances, and the Forms of Sensibility (B33–7) 3.2 The Presentation of Space (B37–41) 3.3 The Reality of Space (B42–5) 3.4 The Presentation and Reality of Time (B46–58) 4 The Metaphysical Deduction: Judgments, Concepts, and Categories 4.1 Sensibility and Understanding (B74–6) 4.2 Concepts and Judgments (B91–4) 4.3 Forms of Judgment and Categories (B95–101 and 106–13) 4.4 Synthesis (B102–5) 5 The Analogies and the Postulates: Fundamental Principles about Substance, Causation, Community, and Modality 5.1 The System of Principles (B187–9, 193–203, and 207–8) 5.2 Experience and Objectivity (B218–24) 5.3 The First Analogy: Substance (B224–32) 5.4 The Second Analogy: Causation (B232–56) 5.5 The Third Analogy: Community (B256–62) 5.6 The Postulates: Possibility, Actuality, and Necessity (B265–74 and 279–82) 5.7 The Unity of Nature (B263–5) 6 The Transcendental Deduction: Why Intuitions Fall Under Categories 6.1 The Challenge (B116–29) 6.2 Apperception and Judgment: Why Intuitions Must Fall Under Categories (B129–43) 6.3 Interlude (B144–9 and 152–9) 6.4 Figurative Synthesis: Why Intuitions Can Fall Under Categories (B150–2 and 159–69) 6.5 Dreams, Hallucinations, and Seemings 7 The Schematism: How Intuitions Fall Under Categories (B176–87) 7.1 Transcendental Schemata as Criteria 7.2 Sensible and Empirical Schemata and the Synthesis of Imagination 7.3 Transcendental Schemata as Forms of Imaginative Synthesis 7.4 An Overview of Kant’s Account of Synthetic a Priori Knowledge 8 The Dialectic: The Limits of Speculative Reason 8.1 Ideas and Illusions (B368–75 and 390–3) 8.2 The Paralogisms: The Soul (B399–415 and 421–8) 8.3 The Antinomy: Nature (B432–48, 525–35, and 556–60) 8.4 The First Antinomy: The Limits of Nature (B454–7 and 545–51) 8.5 The Second Antinomy: The Divisibility of Substance (B462–5 and 551–5) 8.6 The Third Antinomy: Freedom and the Laws of Nature (B472–5 and 560–86) 8.7 The Fourth Antinomy: The Necessity of Nature (B480–3 and 587–95) 8.8 The Ideal: God (B595–619, 624–9, 632–4, 637–8, and 653–6) 8.9 The Regulative Function of Ideas (B670–9, 536–7, 644–8, and 708–16) 9 Taking Stock 9.1 Transcendental Idealism and Things in Themselves (B274–9 and 288–94) 9.2 Kant’s Achievement Notes Bibliography Index of Citations of Passages in the Critique of Pure Reason Index of Subjects and Names

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Book SynopsisThis is the first English translation of Herbert Witzenmann's seminal work, Strukturphänomenologie, which departs from the traditional phenomenological methods of Husserl, Sartre, and Merleau-Ponty to introduce a fresh approach to the nexus of consciousness and reality. In Structure Phenomenology, published open access, Witzenmann argues for the active mental, yet mostly pre-reflective, participation of humans in the emergence of individual consciousness of all kinds and the basic structure that determines it. While Witzenmann ascribes a derivative or memorative status to habitual states of phenomenal consciousness, even if they seem to refer to present objectivity, he proposes that the underlying formative processes be unveiled and explored through systematic first-person observation. Through his logically grounded and experience-based approach, he contends that it is not neural processes that produce consciousness, but rather one's own preconscious rootedness in realitTrade ReviewThis book is a wide-ranging analysis and synthesis of how the principles and first-person methods of structural phenomenology cast light on conceptual and non-conceptual content of experience and enable insights into the constitution of intentional content and the formation of reality. It is a highly welcome addition and foundation for the growing interest in epistemological and phenomenological issues concerning the constitution of subjectivity and the world among scientists and laymen alike. * Christian Tewes, Adjunct Professor (Privatdozent) of Philosophy, University of Jena, Germany *Table of ContentsForeword, Johannes Wagemann (Alanus University, Germany) Introduction to Structure Phenomenology, Johannes Wagemann (Alanus University, Germany) 1. Biographical Notes on Herbert Witzenmann 2. The Role of Introspection 3. Intentionality and the Basic Structure 4. The Deposited Memorative Layer 5. Reality Access and Ontological Stratification 6. Reception and Further Development of Witzenmann’s Structure Phenomenology Structure Phenomenology, Herbert Witzenmann Foreword Introduction Part 1: The Basic Structure 1.1 Mistaken Conceptions Of The Relation Between Consciousness And Object 1.2 The Basic Structure In The Light Of Rudolf Steiner’s Epistemology 1.3 Explanatory Remarks Part 2: The Crucial Difficulty. The Problem of Generation 2.1 Self-giving. Temporalization. Depresentification 2.2. A Seemingly Resultant Infinite Regress 2.3 The Problem of Continuity Part 3: The Proposed Solution 3.1 Thinking Act and Thought Content (Evidence) 3.2 Further Elucidation on this Approach to a Solution 3.3 Formation of Reality and Beings 3.4 The Sub-temporal and Super-temporal 3.5 Thinking Act and Self-consciousness (the “I”). The Concept of Observation 3.6 The Solution to the Problem of Memory 3.7 The Deposited Memorative Layer. The Concept of Objectivity. The Gaze Behind the Veil 3.8 The Concept of Presence 3.9 Structural and Functional Remembering 3.10 The Paradox of Self-giving. The Self-forgetfulness of Supposing 3.11 Results of the Structure-phenomenological Exploration of the Contents of Consciousness Part 4: The Significance Of Structure Phenomenology Advice for the Reader References

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Book SynopsisA provocative approach to the possibility of philosophical ethics, this study argues that all moral positions and theories are bound to fail. Using the dialectical tensions inherent to competing moral claims as his starting point, Michael Steinmann explains what he terms the failure of morality both in classical and contemporary positions. As moral claims lead in various ways to contradictions, the history of morality presents itself as an endless series of controversies. By using dialectical thinking, which has gone out of favour in current philosophy, Steinmann shows how we can capture the limitations of moral theories in a more holistic way. Without embracing skepticism about moral claims, a non-naturalistic and non-relativistic understanding of the good emerges as the fundamental notion of moral thought.Reframing Ethics Through Dialectics reinvigorates the classical notion of the absolute good as a fruitful conceptual structure through which to understand competing moral cTrade ReviewReframing Ethics Through Dialectics is an ambitious and challenging book that addresses themes of fundamental importance to ethics. It argues that, while we ineluctably pursue the good, we must also ineluctably fail to achieve it. * James Kirwan, Professor of Cross-Cultural Studies, Kansai University, Osaka, Japan *Michael Steinmann’s Reframing Ethics Through Dialectics represents a daring intervention in contemporary moral philosophy. Through his powerful argument that all moral theories are destined to fail because of the dialectics they inevitably fall into, Steinmann calls for a new, original approach to the practice of moral philosophy itself. * Theodore George, Professor of Philosophy and Presidential Impact Fellow, Texas A&M University, USA *In Reframing Ethics through Dialectics: A New Conception of the Moral Good, Michael Steinmann offers a novel and well-argued defense of the relevance of the absolute good to contemporary debates in ethics. Steinmann reframes a quite old conception in a novel and interesting way. The idea of the good becomes the basis, as it was for Plato and for Hegel, for resolving the fundamental tensions and seeming contradictions between alternative conceptions of morals. * Pierre Keller, Professor of Philosophy, University of California, US *Table of ContentsAcknowledgments Introduction Part I: Foundations 1. The Right Beginning 2. Morality as an Exception 3. A Different Type of Notion 4. Expressing the Good 5. The Reality of the Good Part II: Failures 6. Five Ways of Failing the Good 7. What Moral Theories Try to Achieve 8. The Dialectics of Generality 9. The Dialectics of Reason 10. The Dialectics of Inherent Goodness Part III: Foolishness 11. Moral Nonetheless Notes Bibliography Index

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