“Imperfect Discretion”: Interventions into the History of Philosophy by Twentieth-Century French Women Philosophers

Hypatia ◽  
2000 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 160-180
Author(s):  
Penelope Deutscher
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Feminist Issue ◽  
History Of Philosophy ◽  
Philosophical Tradition ◽  
History Of ◽  
Women Philosophers

How might we locate originality as emerging from within the “discrete” work of commentary? Because many women have engaged with philosophy informs (including commentary) that preclude their work from being seen as properly “original,” this question is a feminist issue. Via the work of selected contemporary French women philosophers, the author shows how commentary can reconfigure the philosophical tradition in innovative ways, as well as in ways that change what counts as philosophical innovation.

Brentano, Franz Clemens (1838–1917)

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roderick M. Chisholm ◽  
Peter Simons
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Philosophy Of Mind ◽  
Philosophy Of Language ◽  
History Of Philosophy ◽  
Descriptive Psychology ◽  
Phenomenological Movement ◽  
Precise Statement ◽  
Philosophical Language ◽  
History Of ◽  
Sparse Ontology

Brentano was a philosopher and psychologist who taught at the Universities of Würzburg and Vienna. He made significant contributions to almost every branch of philosophy, notably psychology and philosophy of mind, ontology, ethics and the philosophy of language. He also published several books on the history of philosophy, especially Aristotle, and contended that philosophy proceeds in cycles of advance and decline. He is best known for reintroducing the scholastic concept of intentionality into philosophy and proclaiming it as the characteristic mark of the mental. His teachings, especially those on what he called descriptive psychology, influenced the phenomenological movement in the twentieth century, but because of his concern for precise statement and his sensitivity to the dangers of the undisciplined use of philosophical language, his work also bears affinities to analytic philosophy. His anti-speculative conception of philosophy as a rigorous discipline was furthered by his many brilliant students. Late in life Brentano’s philosophy radically changed: he advocated a sparse ontology of physical and mental things (reism), coupled with a linguistic fictionalism stating that all language purportedly referring to non-things can be replaced by language referring only to things.

Jan Patočka’s Philosophical Legacy

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Dodd
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Edmund Husserl ◽  
Philosophy Of History ◽  
History Of Philosophy ◽  
Philosophical Perspective ◽  
Phenomenological Philosophy ◽  
History Of

This chapter sketches the trajectory of Jan Patočka’s philosophical development against the background of the conflicts and crises that marked the history of the twentieth century, and which profoundly affected the Czech philosopher. The relevant period spans from the 1930s, when Patočka studied under Edmund Husserl in Freiburg, to the philosopher’s activities as a dissident in 1970s Czechoslovakia. Particular attention is paid to Patočka’s deep reading of the history of philosophy; the complexities of his appropriation of the phenomenological philosophies of Husserl and Heidegger; and the philosophy of history developed late in his career. The chapter ends with a consideration of Patočka’s influence on contemporary phenomenological philosophy, suggesting that his most promising contribution lies in his challenging engagement with the problem of Europe, above all his call for a post-European philosophical perspective.

Philosophy for Girls

2020 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
Political Philosophy ◽  
History Of Philosophy ◽  
Philosophical Inquiry ◽  
Women's Voices ◽  
Secondary Sources ◽  
Knowing That ◽  
History Of ◽  
Pluralistic Approach ◽  
Women Philosophers

Written by twenty expert women in philosophy and representing a diverse and pluralistic approach to philosophy as a discipline, this book engages girls and women ages sixteen to twenty-four, as well as university and high school educators and students who want a change from standard anthologies that include few or no women. The book is divided into four sections that correspond to major fields in philosophy—metaphysics, epistemology, social and political philosophy, and ethics—but the chapters within those sections provide fresh ways of understanding those fields.Every chapter begins with a lively anecdote about a girl or woman in literature, myth, history, science, or art. Chapters are dominated by women’s voices, with nearly all primary and secondary sources used coming from women in the history of philosophy and a diverse set of contemporary women philosophers. All chapters offer the authors’ distinct philosophical perspectives written in their own voices and styles, representing diverse training, backgrounds, and interests. The introduction and prologue explicitly invite the book’s readers to engage in philosophical conversation and reflection, thus setting the stage for continued contemplation and dialogue beyond the book itself. The result is a rigorous yet accessible entry point into serious philosophical contemplation designed to embolden and strengthen its readers’ own senses of philosophical inquiry and competence. The book’s readers will feel confident in knowing that expert women affirm an equitable and just intellectual landscape for all and thus have lovingly collaborated to write this book.

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