Past & Present: philosophy for everyone
Edited by Stephen Law
Past & Present: philosophy for everyone Edited by Stephen Law Š 2014 Cambridge University Press Designed by Victoria Kleymenova Typeset in Minion Pro and Franklin Gothic by ..., London Printed in Falmouth, UK The Royal Institute of Philosophy 14 Gordon Square London WC1H 0AR United Kingdom T. 020 7387 4130 www.royalinstitutephilosophy.org
Past & Present: philosophy for everyone
Edited by Stephen Law
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The reasonable man adapts himself to the world: the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man. George Bernard Shaw
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Foreword The dominant view nowadays is that the philosophy of nature no longer exists. That branch of philosophy died out with the emergence of the modern empirical sciences. Its domain of inquiry was divided among the various particular sciences. Admittedly, there are still some philosophers who try to cultivate a philosophy of nature, but when one takes a closer look at their work it turns out that most of their effort is devoted to defining what exactly the philosophy of nature is supposed to study. The philosophy of nature as traditionally understood only prepared the ground for the future natural sciences and at their emergence lost its reason for being. Does that mean the elimination of philosophy from science? Not at all. In the first place, the very existence of science is a fact which requires philosophical reflection. That task was taken up by the philosophy of science. That branch of philosophy is flourishing and, just as happens with any respectable science, has many schools and specializations - from research into the kind of rationality represented by various sciences and the logic of the development of scientific theories, through analysis of the methods used by various sciences, to specialized analytic research into those aspects of scientific theories which the sciences themselves cannot handle. Does that exhaust the tasks which philosophy must fulfill in relation to science?
Introduction Stephen Law
Biographies 011
Ian James Kidd
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Christine Korsgaard
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Tyler Burge
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Thomas Nagel
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Derek Parfit
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John Searle
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Mary Warnock
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Jerry Fodor
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Ned Block
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Derek Parfit
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Bernard Williams
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J端rgen Habermas
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Anthony Kenny
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Simon Blackburn
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Noam Chomsky
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John McDowell
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T. M. Scanlon
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Morals & Intentions Christine Korsgaard
Religion & Society 000
Personhood, Animals,
Ian James Kidd
Mind & Body 000
Humility And History
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Conceiving the Impossible
And The Law
and the Mind-Body Problem Alasdair MacIntyre
Simon Blackburn
Thomas Nagel
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The Sovereignty of Reason
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Social Structures and their
Mary Warnock
threats to Moral Agency
What is Natural and
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Should We Care About It? John Searle
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Bernard Williams
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Freedom of the Will as a
Philosophy as a Humanist
Jerry Fodor
Problem in Neurobiology
Discipline
Mental Representation
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without Conceptualization Noam Chomsky
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J端rgen Habermas
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Some Thoughts on Terror,
The Pacemaker for
Ned Block
Justice and Self-defence
Cultural Rights
Attention and Mentalism
John McDowell
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Intention in Action T. M. Scanlon Reassessing Reasons
Anthony Kenny
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Derek Parfit
Is Religion Really the Root of
Is Personal Identity
all Evil?
what matters?
000
000
000 Tyler Burge Perception: Where Mind Begins
000
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Don’t bite off more than you can chew because nobody looks attractive spitting it back out... Carroll Bryant
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Introduction The dominant view nowadays is that the philosophy of nature no
then the natural sciences arose and liquidated the place of philosophy
longer exists. That branch of philosophy died out with the emergence
in science is a crude oversimplification of the historical process. The
of the modern empirical sciences. Its domain of inquiry was divided
natural sciences did not arise on the ruins of the philosophy of nature.
among the various particular sciences. Admittedly, there are still some
They existed in parallel to it, though they were not always explicitly
philosophers who try to cultivate a philosophy of nature, but when one
separated from it. It is sufficient to name the Greek sciences:
takes a closer look at their work it turns out that most of their effort is
astronomy, optics, acoustics, statics, not to mention geometry. One
devoted to defining what exactly the philosophy of nature is supposed
can only speak of a period of the domination of the philosophy of
to study. The philosophy of nature as traditionally understood only
nature over the sciences until the beginning of the modern period,
prepared the ground for the future natural sciences and at their
after which one must speak of the period of the domination of the
emergence lost its reason for being. Does that mean the elimination
sciences. The transition between those two periods was a continuous
of philosophy from science? Not at all. In the first place, the very
transition, although one rich in dramatic tensions. Notice how
existence of science is a fact which requires philosophical reflection.
many typically philosophical problems were found in the spheres of
That task was taken up by the philosophy of science. That branch of
interest of various scientific theories. The problems of time, space, and
philosophy is flourishing and, just as happens with any respectable
causality will serve as typical examples. Right down to our own day
science, has many schools and specializations - from research into the
they are thought of as “great problems of philosophy” though at the
kind of rationality represented by various sciences and the logic of the
same time all the fundamental theories of physics have much to say on
development of scientific theories, through analysis of the methods
these topics.
used by various sciences, to specialized analytic research into those
It is of course true that when some problem migrates from
aspects of scientific theories which the sciences themselves cannot
philosophy to the empirical sciences, it thereby changes its
handle.
significance. We know that context is just as important as the
Does that exhaust the tasks which philosophy must fulfill in relation
“internal” connections between concepts. What is more, the problems
to science? In answering that question, let us appeal to history. Above
and concepts transformed by the migration from philosophy to the
all, the statement that first there was the philosophy of nature and
sciences often come back for further philosophical deliberation, in that
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way thickening the connections between the two realms of knowledge.
in typescript through the kindness of Professor Ladrière, were of
The strengthening of that connection creates an interesting field of
invaluable assistance to me.
investigation. I have called it “philosophy in science,” no doubt a
The many references to Professor Ladrière’s notes in the text
summary expression and one which includes only some aspects of
of this book indicate my debt to him only partially. However, my
the phenomena which interests us here, but I hope that the entire
own series of lectures is not a copy of the lectures given in Louvain.
book will constitute a justification for it. As I have already noted, the
Professor Ladrière concentrated his attention principally on one
history of science itself bears witness to the presence in science of
problem, namely, on the relation of physics to metaphysics in the most
philosophical threads and it is for that reason that I have to write this
important systems of the philosophy of nature.
book from a philosophical point of view. That does not mean that the study of philosophy in science has
That is indeed one of the key problems, but I decided to go beyond that problem, and to undertake a more comprehensive discussion of
to limit itself to purely historical considerations; it means only that
the particular systems. As a result, the more focused formulation of
historical considerations seem to be an indispensable element of a
Professor Ladrière has, in my book, become a more general series of
strategy which would allow us to see the philosophical significance of
lectures. That has manifested itself also in the method of the lectures.
the sciences. In my opinion, a thorough knowledge of at least the most
Professor Ladrière limited himself to a discussion of the relation
important trends which have appeared in the history of philosophy
between physics and metaphysics in Aristotle, Descartes, Leibniz,
and science is a necessary condition of a responsible research program
Kant, and Whitehead. I have supplemented that account with a look
in the area of contemporary philosophico-scientific problems, and
at Plato, Newton, Popper and the so-called Romantic philosophy of
at the same time is an indispensable minimum of knowledge for the
nature. I also added a chapter on Aristotle’s treatise On the Heavens
researcher working in other areas of philosophy. I borrowed the idea
and a chapter discussing the philosophical themes in contemporary
of developing a series of lectures around the most important figures
science.
and themes from the history of place of philosophy in science from Professor Jean Ladrière, who gave such a series of lectures at the Institut Supérieur de Philosophie of the University of Louvain in 1982–1983. The unpublished notes from those lectures, made available
Introduction
Stephen Law
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Human beings are born into this little span of life of which the best thing is its friendship and intimacies, and soon their places will know them no more, and yet they leave their friendships and intimacies with no cultivation, to grow as they will by the roadside, expecting them to “keep” by force of inertia. William James
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He who thinks great thoughts, often makes great errors Martin Heidegger
Morals & Intentions
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Humility and History by Ian James Kidd
Philosophy is an ancient subject, but what is the value of an understanding of its history for its practice? What can contemporary philosophers draw from an historical understanding of their subject? I argue that amongst its many benefits, the history of philosophy is an excellent resource for the cultivation of certain intellectual virtues1, most notably gratitude, humility, and justice. Acquaintance with the history of philosophy can, therefore, be edifying, in the sense of being conducive to
to sustain vigorous, dynamic traditions. Indeed, one striking fact evidenced by history is the ubiquity2 of philosophical reflection. Across the scope of human cultures, in different times and climes, one finds sustained philosophical reflection, on topics ranging from knowledge and justice, to society and education, to reality and meaning. Although philosophy, like any subject, has its ‘boom and bust’ periods, recent scholarship indicates that even periods previously considered to be rather barren – such as the ‘Dark Ages’ of medieval Europe – were, in fact, philosophically dynamic, even if their questions and problems reflected concerns rather different from ours. The fact
the cultivation and exercise of virtues. These virtues can be cultivated in many ways, but the history of philosophy offers unique means for securing those virtues just mentioned – or so I will argue. In what follows, I hope to show that some familiar pedagogical and intellectual uses of the history of philosophy in fact reflect its edifying functions. The origins of philosophy are unclear, but certainly there were, in Greece, India, and China, vigorous philosophical traditions by the sixth to fifth centuries BCE. Indeed, it is possible that Confucius, the Buddha, Thales and the authors of the Upanisads may have been contemporaries. The last six thousand years have, of course, seen philosophy, both ‘Eastern’ and ‘Western’, go on
of the historical ubiquity of philosophy of course pleases those engaged in the ‘business’ of philosophy today. Certainly philosophers, whether professional or lay, should find a legitimate sense of pride in their participation in a venerable3 tradition of thought. This should include an appreciation of the sincere and sustained efforts, by men and women historically and culturally distant from us, to articulate ideas about their place in the ‘order of things’, which we may, today, profitably draw upon. And there isn’t, one hopes, too much vainglory4 in the optimistic sentiment5 that philosophy has been, and continues to be, an ennobling6 feature of human life. Although such sentiments have their place, the history of
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Ian James Kidd
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1. Virtue - behavior showing high moral standards. 2. Ubiquity - the state or capacity of being everywhere, especially at the same time. 3. Venerableness - Commanding respect by virtue of age, dignity, character, or position; honorableness.
philosophy surely offers us more than just a sense of pride of one’s place within a venerable tradition. Those things matter, if only to motivate, but the value of the history of philosophy should not be narrowly construed7 as a capacity to encourage young philosophers – those sitting through hard going undergraduate lectures on Kant, say – to ‘keep at it’ and work hard. A sense of ‘standing on the shoulders of giants’, to borrow Newton’s handy phrase, is useful. But so, too, is one’s knowing something about those ‘giants’ and about how, and why, they worked and wondered as they did. In the history of philosophy, these ‘giants’ would be all those earlier thinkers whose work is now part of our shared history. Some of the giants are obvious and familiar, such as Plato or the Buddha, whereas others, like Nāgārjuna or Josiah Royce, remain reliably obscure, at least within certain areas of academic philosophy. Both familiarity and obscurity can be fickle things, of course. Some philosophical giants are prominent for their notoriety, like Nietzsche, and others for their accessibility, like Russell. But what does it mean to say that these figures, and others more like them, are part of a ‘shared history’, and how and why does that history matter? The significance of the history of philosophy turns on the answer to that question. Certainly there are many reasons
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4. Vainglory - inordinate pride in oneself or one’s achievements; excessive vanity. 5. Sentiment - a view of or attitude toward a situation or event; an opinion. 6. Ennoble - to make noble. 7. Construe - to interpret (a word or action) in a particular way.
why one might not want to teach philosophy in a historical manner. One might prefer, for instance, to teach or write about philosophy in terms of ‘problems’ or discrete ‘areas’, like ‘Metaphysics’, ‘Consciousness’, or ‘Topics in Philosophy of Science’. This way of philosophising focuses on topics, issues, and themes, like the nature of time, mental causation, or scientific methodology. And that can be a valuable and effective way of ‘doing’ philosophy, especially within the context of the structure of modern universities.
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That man is wisest who, like Socrates, realizes that his wisdom is worthless Plato
Yet a focus on abstract argument divorced from concrete context does, at least sometimes, compromise one’s understanding and appreciation of the ideas and problems being discussed. One could, for instance, take a course on ‘Knowledge and Scepticism’, covering Pyrrho, Descartes, Kant and others, without ever detailing why, for each of those figures, questions about knowledge and scepticism mattered.
Ian James Kidd
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1. Inherent - existing in something as a permanent, essential, or characteristic attribute. 2. Suffice - to be enough or adequate.
4. Presocratics - a pre-Socratic philosopher. 5. Reform - make changes in (something, typically a social, political, or economic institution or practice) in order to improve it.
3. Axiom - a statement or proposition that is regarded as being established, accepted, or self-evidently true.
An appeal to the inherent1 fascination or trickiness of their questions usually suffices2, at least for those who opt to take such courses, but often those questions are presented without a clear account of why those philosophers were troubled by them. Most philosophers, at least in the past, were troubled by philosophical questions not simply out of mere curiosity, but rather because they perceived that those questions, even the most abstract ones, had implications for aspects of life which mattered to them. Such concerns are easily to neglect. A philosopher’s ‘position’ can be summarised as an argument, or a series of bullet-points on a PowerPoint slide, but this format is apt to neglect the vital concerns that animated them. For instance, it often tends to obscure the biographical and historical context of a philosopher’s life, reducing them to names and dates, of the form ‘Thomas Hobbes (1588– 1679)’.
for sure – and not solely in the life of Ludwig Wittgenstein – but the value of historical context goes further than that. Showing the wider
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social and political conditions within which philosophers worked, worried and wondered can help us to appreciate their ‘practical’ objectives.
Excellence is never an accident. It is always the result of high intention, sincere effort, and intelligent execution; it represents the wise choice of many alternatives - choice, not chance, determines your destiny. Aristotle
The Presocratics4 offer interesting arguments against traditional
Where, after all, is the contextual richness of a biography such as that
Greek religion, but they were, ultimately, intended to facilitate
which Heidegger offered for Aristotle: ‘he was born . . . he worked,
social and political reform5. Or to take a slightly later example, the
and . . . he died’. Heidegger may have been right that, for certain
Pyrrhonian6 sceptics did not engage in abstract epistemology7, asking
purposes, Aristotle’s biography is not ‘of interest’, but that fact is only
abstruse8 questions about the nature of knowledge, just because they
true at a certain level of analysis. Certainly it is not a general axiom3
were interested. Rather, it was because they perceived that a person
of philosophizing. Context is not only pedagogically or interpretively
who is to be happy must understand, first, what things are like and,
valuable. There are entertaining anecdotes in the history of philosophy,
second, how one should be disposed towards them. Put another
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6. Pyrrhonian - Pyrrhonism, or Pyrrhonian skepticism, was a school of skepticism founded by Aenesidemus in the 1st century BC and recorded by Sextus Empiricus in the late 2nd century or early 3rd
8. from opinion. Abstruse - difficult to understand; obscure. 9. Derisive - expressing contempt or ridicule, sarcasm. 10. Perennial - lasting or existing for a long or apparently infinite time;
century AD. 7. Epistemology - the investigation of what distinguishes justified belief
enduring or continually recurring.
way, they thought that knowledge of things was essential if we are
they return, each generation, often in evolving forms. Questions about
to act properly regarding them, therefore interlinking epistemology
beauty and art, justice and goodness, knowledge and certainty, and
and ethics in a way that will, one worries, remain invisible if one
the like have featured within the public and private lives of human
concentrated simply on the arguments themselves. Many derisive9
beings across all times and cultures. A historical understanding of
assessments of the value of philosophy arise because, in many
the philosophers that responded to them can help us, today, in our
cases, those critics do not see how the ‘abstract’ issues raised by the
own efforts to address them. The history of philosophy is, therefore, a
philosophically-minded bear on ‘practical’ issues. The fault may
feature of philosophising itself.
be shared, but it can, I think, be partially resolved by an historical
To ask and address philosophical questions is to enter into a
perspective upon philosophy. Once one becomes accustomed to a
longstanding tradition of inquiry. The specific content and form of
historical articulation of philosophy, the task of providing accounts of
philosophical questions changes over time, of course, in response
the ‘practical’ import of ‘abstract’ philosophising should become much
to changing social and intellectual conditions. Questions about the
easier. By being able to explain how earlier philosophers came to their
certainty of knowledge, say, were changed by the development of
ideas, or what provoked their questions, it should become easier for us
the modern sciences. But appreciating this involves an historical
to do the same for our own inquiries. And this should be understood,
sensitivity. It requires us to look not only at earlier philosophers
not as ‘accounting for ourselves’, but, rather, as explaining ourselves,
who asked similar questions, but also at the context within which
for our benefit, and for that of our critics. Certainly a knowledge and
those questions were asked. After all, it is often context which lends
appreciation of the history of philosophy can be a valuable feature of
our questions urgency, vitality, and significance. There are many
the actual practice of philosophy. An understanding of philosophy
philosophical questions and puzzles, but which ones matter to us, and
as an historical discipline shows how it is bound up with social and
why, is as much a matter of history as it is of curiosity and inquiry.
political change, religious controversy, scientific innovation, and so
The role of history in shaping our own ideas points to another role
on. Those sorts of issues are, of course, features of our world today;
for the history of philosophy. Many questions face us, but not all of
indeed, many philosophical questions are perennial in the sense that
them matter to us. Certain questions move us, either by disturbing
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1. Genealogy - a record or account of the ancestry and descent of a person, family, group, etc. 2. Salience - prominent or conspicuous.
4. Haecceity - a term from medieval scholastic philosophy, first coined by Duns Scotus, which denotes the discrete qualities, properties or characteristics of a thing which make it a particular thing.
3. Flux - a flowing or flow. * for further biography see last page of transcript
or fascinating us (or, indeed, both). Other questions are curiosities –
I think, because its questions and concerns are not usually of the sort
interesting, but deemed neither urgent nor essential. Understanding
of invite historical input. The salience2 of history depends upon the
the distribution of significance across the philosophical landscape
questions being asked and the kind of answers one is seeking. My
will, again, require a historical perspective. After all, we are ourselves
emphasis on the role of the history of philosophy is directed at those
subjects of a history. To ape Nietzsche’s* famous remark, when we
with more vital, ‘practical’ concerns. The refinement of a complex
stare into history, history also stares back into us, insofar as the
argument about logical relations might not invite historical reflection;
concerns and issues of contemporary society are products, at least in
but questions about the nature of ‘the good life’, for instance, surely are,
part, of that society’s history – that is, of our history. Such a reflexive
for the reason that it is questions of this sort that are perennial, which
historical stance is, of course, only useful beyond a certain point.
appear across different cultures and generations. And it is, I suspect,
We can get on much of the business of philosophising, debating and
such ‘big questions’ which command the interest and attention of
arguing without ever engaging in the historical project of tracing what
most of those drawn to philosophy. It is these questions, and the richer
Nietzsche called the ‘genealogy1’ of our questions and methods. But
conception of philosophy they reflect, which Kant had in mind when
that point at which history becomes essential is, I think, reached far
he wrote of the ‘cosmopolitan sense’ in philosophy, which issues in
sooner than is often imagined. Beyond a certain point, philosophical
four questions: ‘What can I know? What ought I to do? What may I
understanding must, if it is to satisfy us, become historically sensitive.
hope? What is man?’ The history of philosophy, then, is an essential
This would include an understanding of how and why those questions
feature of a certain broad conception of philosophy. It may be called
came down to us, what presuppositions must be in place to enable
cosmopolitan, after Kant, or ‘humanistic’, after Bernard Williams,
our inquiries, and of why those questions and their answers matter to
or it may be judged, following Pierre Hadot, as a series of ‘spiritual
us. A great deal of valuable philosophical work can proceed without
exercises’ manifesting in a certain ‘way of life’. Whatever its name, it
the sort of historical understanding just described. A philosopher
is a conception of philosophy focused upon questions and concerns
would be foolish to pursue a historical perspective where that would
of vital importance to thinking, reflective human beings: questions
neither aid nor complement their concerns. Analytic philosophy, for
of beauty, meaning, goodness, and the like, where these questions are
instance, is often said to be largely ‘ahistorical’, but that is most often,
understood, not as exercises in conceptual ingenuity, but as essential
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5. Mind-body dualism - In philosophy of mind, dualism is the position
8. Cartesian dualism - Descartes’ concept of dualism. 9. Presuppositions - a thing tacitly assumed beforehand at the beginning
that mental phenomena are, in some respects, non-physical, or that the mind and body are not identical.
of a line of argument or course of action.
6. Iconoclasm - the forceful opposition to the veneration of inanimate
10. (Margaret) Thatcher - UK. prime minister (1979-1990).
7. Representations, religious icons, and other symbols or monuments.
components of one’s practical activities within the world. These
commitments today’.
questions are certainly not absent from ahistorical philosophising,
Such a historical conception should also help protect philosophy
but arguably they may be better served by an historical approach.
from certain persistent and ill-informed challenges to it. Those who
Abstract reflection has a part to play in articulating and addressing
object that philosophy is ‘abstract’ and ‘detached’ often, I suspect, have
these questions, but often they cannot be fully appreciated, or
certain caricatures of contemporary academic philosophy in mind.
answered, without an historical appreciation of those earlier
Certainly successive British Governments since Thatcher9 seem to have
generations of philosophers who, troubled by similar worries, offered
shared that view, the present one included. Other philosophers have
their own responses.
also expressed worries about the deleterious impact of certain features
Sensitivity to the history of philosophy therefore offers resources for understanding that may be unavailable to those who forsake context
inquiry.
for raw argument. By neglecting the context of philosophical inquiry, one deprives many problems of their urgency and salience. Earlier philosophers, stripped of context, may seem peculiar, even perverse, for persisting in abstruse intellectual inquiries – about flux , haeccities , 3
4
mind-body dualism5, and the like. However to accuse them thus does
Every man is a creature of the age in which he lives and few are able to raise themselves above the ideas of the time
them an injustice, and indicates, at the same time, our own ignorance. Once Cynic iconoclasm6, say, or Cartesian7 dualism is located within
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of academic philosophy upon the genuine pursuit of philosophical
Voltaire
its proper intellectual and historical context, their urgency and
However, the objection that philosophy is detached is invalid
salience may be clarified and amplified. The result is, argue two recent
because it relies upon a false conception of philosophy. That image of
writers, ‘the maturing of a kind of modesty or humility’, an ‘increased
philosophy – as detached, abstract speculation, isolated from a practical
perception’ not only of the ‘presuppositions and prejudices of earlier
context – would certainly make it difficult to see what, if anything, those
eras’, but also an increased capacity, on our own part, to ‘expose similar
speculations had to do with the world. However that conception of
presuppositions and prejudices that may be shaping beliefs and
philosophy is dependent upon an ahistorical approach to the subject,
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1. Hubris - excessive pride or self-confidence.
5. Impoverished - poor, weakened.
2. Predilections - a preference or special liking for something;
a bias in favor of something. 3. Parochial - of or relating to a church parish. 4. Prefigure - to show or represent beforehand by a figure or type.
one which strips it of context and isolates it from those ‘real-world’
badly upon us, especially if, as d’Alembert reminds us, we are but a
concerns which animate it. Reaffirming the contextual and historical
‘passing generation’, our concerns being, perhaps, ‘nothing for the
nature of philosophy should also help to insure us against various vices.
next one, still less for distant posterity’. Once a historical approach to
The awareness that our problems are not new and that earlier
philosophy is in place, that impoverished5 view of philosophy – and
generations also encountered them should encourage a certain
the stereotypes it sponsors, of philosophers as intellectual narcissists
humility on our own part. Only presentist hubris could persuade us
preoccupied with their own uncertainties, say – should dissolve.
1
that our predilections – our anxieties and insights – are privileged 2
There is a place for abstract reflection, for sure, but philosophy is,
guides to the nature of reality. An appreciation of context should, one
for many, necessarily rooted in the practical concerns of human beings
hopes, indicate that our anxieties and insights arise from ideas and
who are, themselves, subjects of a history. Understanding that history
developments which are not wholly of our making. Our achievements
will not only illuminate our contemporary concerns, but, one hopes,
are, therefore, not ours alone. At the least, we owe a debt to both
also renew our appreciation of philosophy. Our participation in that
the errors and the insights of earlier generations, a debt which an
history will, at the least, enable us to do justice to those who came
understanding of the history of philosophy can help to make apparent.
before, and hopefully enable us to endow future generations, as best we
There is ignorance, injustice and also ingratitude in the attitudes of
can, with ideas which, in time, may be of use to those who follow us.
those who deride the value of philosophy whilst living within a society
At the very least, such historical philosophising brings with it a set of
so shaped by it. Voltaire urged us, when considering our history,
intellectual virtues – gratitude, humility, and justice – which lend it a
to admire those who ‘first brought us to the path of truth’ as much
moral as well as an intellectual significance.
as those ‘who afterwards conducted us through it’. To cherry-pick from the history of philosophy those figures whose views prefigure3 ours smacks of what historians of science call ‘Whig history’: a neglect of the role of critics, rival schools and the like in shaping the ideas that, from a parochial4 perspective, ‘won’ in the end. Failure to acknowledge those who brought us to our current path reflects
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Meet & Greet
*
Find out more about selected philosophers who starred in the transcript
Friedrich Nietzsche 1844-1900
Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900) was a German philosopher of the
and intoxication, the other one of order and the lending of form.
late 19th century who challenged the foundations of Christianity
These Nietzsche associated with an aesthetic disposition in which
and traditional morality. He was interested in the enhancement of
life be viewed as a work of art. He demonstrated that the Greeks had
individual and cultural health, and believed in life, creativity, power,
theorized the relation of the two principles in which art is a willed
and the realities of the world we live in, rather than those situated
illusion and is composed of both form-giving and intoxication, and
in a world beyond. Central to his philosophy is the idea of “life-
thus, art offers one a vantage point of life. Therefore, life itself becomes
affirmation,” which involves an honest questioning of all doctrines
recognizable as unknowable in terms of an ultimate truth, as proposed
that drain life’s expansive energies, however socially prevalent those
by an idealist metaphysics.
views might be. Often referred to as one of the first existentialist philosophers along with Søren Kierkegaard (1813–1855), Nietzsche’s revitalizing philosophy has inspired leading figures in all walks of
Notable work/
cultural life, including dancers, poets, novelists, painters, psychologists, philosophers, sociologists and social revolutionaries. In his first published book, Die Geburt der Tragödie aus dem Geist
The Birth of Tragedy (published in 1872) Human, All Too Human (completed in 1879)
der Musik (The Birth of Tragedy), he diagnosed that human beings
Thus Spoke Zarathustra (1885)
are subject to Dionysian instincts — unconscious desires, impulses,
Beyond Good and Evil (1886)
or overwhelmingly self-destructive tendencies. Nietzsche pointed out
The Antichrist (1888)
that the Greeks had opposed Apollonian principles of sobriety and rationale to such destructive drives. These became to major principles in his future work, the Dionysian and Apollonian, one of chaos, dream
Meet & Greet
Friedrich Nietzche
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Ian James Kidd
About Born: 02/04/1982
Papers Origin: Lousiana, U.S.
Doing Science An Injustice: Midgley on Scientism Educating for Intellectual Humility
Works in epistemology, philosophy of medicine, philosophy
Nature, Mystery, and Morality: A Daoist View
of religion, history and philosophy of science, and the
Epistemic Injustice in Healthcare: A Philosophical Analysis
philosophical traditions of Asia and Continental Europe.
Doing Away With Scientism Feyerabend on Politics, Education, and Scientific Culture
Epistemic virtues and vices (especially epistemic injustice
Phenomenology, Psychiatric Illness, and Religious Commitment
and epistemic humility); the experience and value of illness;
Feyerabend on Science and Education
the nature of a religious life; contingency and pluralism
Was Sir William Crookes Epistemically Virtuous?
in science; scientism and anti-scientism; the practice and
Reappraising Feyerabend
nature of philosophy; and the life and thought of Paul
Transformative Suffering and the Cultivation of Virtue
Feyerabend.
History and Humility Emotion, Religious Practice, and Cosmopolitan Secularism
Founded the Durham Philosophy Department’s Gender Action Group and is committed to improving the representation of women in philosophy, and is also involved with the Leeds University chapter of Minorities in Philosophy (MAP).
Biographies
Ian James Kidd
25
Talks Illness, Virtue, and Exemplarist Ethics
Religious Beauties
Location: University of Leeds
Time: 11 AM to 1 AM
Event Date: Feb 25, 2015
Location: University of Leeds
Organization: Centre for Ethics
Event Date: Nov 20, 2014 Organization: Centre for the Philosophy of Religion
Learning from the Best: Ethical Exemplarism in Confucius’ 'Analects'
Books
Location: University of Durham Event Date: Jan 21, 2015
Science and the Self: Animals, Evolution, and Ethics:
Organization: Durham University Philosophical Society
Essays in Honour of Mary Midgley
'World Philosophies' series
co-edited with Elizabeth McKinnell Publisher: London: Routledge
Epistemic Injustice and Religious Experience Location: Durham University
The Routledge Handbook to Epistemic Injustice
Event Date: 2015
co-edited with José Medina and Gaile Pohlhaus
Organization: Epistemic Injustice and the Philosophy of Religion
Publisher: London: Routledge
Experiences of Illness and Narratives of Edification
Historiography and the Philosophy of the Sciences
Location: University of Bristol
co-edited with Robin Hendry
Event Date: Jul 9, 2013
Publisher: special section of Studies in History and
Organization: Illness, Narrative, Phenomenology
Philosophy of Science
Anthropogenic Climate Change, Humility, and ‘Epistemic Activism’
Reappraising Feyerabend
Event Date: Oct 31, 2014
(co-edited with Matthew Brown, UT Dallas, in preparation as a
Organization: Philosophy and Public Policy:
special issue of Studies in History and Philosophy of Science, 2013)
Philosophical Activism III Mystery and Humility Confidence, Humility, and Philosophy
(co-edited with Guy Bennett-Hunter, Durham)
Location: EIDOS Durham University
European Journal for the Philosophy of Religion 40/3 (2012).
Event Date: Jun 17, 2014
Biographies
Ian James Kidd