Indian and French Philosophical Literature: In Search of Wisdom, Spirituality, and Rationalism

2016 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Philosophical Literature

The Kalam Cosmological Argument

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
William Lane Craig
Keyword(s):  
Space Time ◽  
Cosmological Argument ◽  
Philosophical Literature ◽  
The Past ◽  
Classical Space ◽  
Kalam Cosmological Argument ◽  
Kalām Cosmological Argument ◽  
The Universe

A survey of recent philosophical literature on the kalam cosmological argument reveals that arguments for the finitude of the past and, hence, the beginning of the universe remain robust. Plantinga’s brief criticisms of Kant’s argument in his First Antinomy concerning time are shown not to be problematic for the kalam argument. This chapter addresses, one by one, the two premises of the kalam, focusing on their philosophical aspects. The notion of infinity, both actual and potential, is discussed in relation to the coming into being of the universe. In addition, the scientific aspects of the two premises are also, briefly, addressed. Among these are the Borde-Guth-Vilenkin theorem, which proves that classical space-time cannot be extended to past infinity but must reach a boundary at some time in the finite past. This, among other factors, lends credence to the kalam argument’s second premise.

scholarly journals Do delusions have and give meaning?

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rosa Ritunnano ◽  
Lisa Bortolotti
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Psychology ◽  
Psychotic Symptoms ◽  
Philosophical Perspective ◽  
Philosophical Literature ◽  
Psychiatric Conditions ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Phenomenological Psychopathology

AbstractDelusions are often portrayed as paradigmatic instances of incomprehensibility and meaninglessness. Here we investigate the relationship between delusions and meaning from a philosophical perspective, integrating arguments and evidence from cognitive psychology and phenomenological psychopathology. We review some of the empirical and philosophical literature relevant to two claims about delusions and meaning: (1) delusions are meaningful, despite being described as irrational and implausible beliefs; (2) some delusions can also enhance the sense that one’s life is meaningful, supporting agency and creativity in some circumstances. Delusions are not incomprehensible representations of reality. Rather, they can help make sense of one’s unusual experiences and in some circumstances even support one’s endeavours, albeit temporarily and imperfectly. Acknowledging that delusions have meaning and can also give meaning to people’s lives has implications for our understanding of psychotic symptoms and for addressing the stigma associated with psychiatric conditions.

Hume on prophecy

2015 ◽  
Vol 52 (2) ◽  
pp. 213-221
Author(s):  
PADDY JANE MCSHANE
Keyword(s):  
Philosophical Literature

AbstractHume claims that his argument against miracles applies ‘without any variation’ to prophecies. While Hume's argument against miracles has been thoroughly examined in the philosophical literature, his claim that this argument works against prophecies has been left relatively unexplored. In this article I examine Hume's conception of ‘prophecy’ and I argue that it is flawed. I also argue, however, that Hume's argument against miracles does indeed apply to prophecies, but only if we amend Hume's conception of ‘prophecy’. I articulate and defend such an amendment.

Libertŕ e diritti tra India ed Europa. Un approccio genealogico ai valori culturali

2009 ◽  
pp. 541-563
Author(s):  
Clelia Bartoli
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Cultural Values ◽  
Cultural Relativism ◽  
Sanskrit Text ◽  
Philosophical Literature ◽  
Bhagavad Gita ◽  
Interesting Idea ◽  
Rights Discourse ◽  
Bhagavad Gītā ◽  
Human Rights Discourse

- This paper will deal with the issue of human rights and multiculturalism away from cultural relativism and universalism while taking inspiration from Nietzsche's Moral Genealogy. In particular, the concepts of karma, dharma and trivarga (an indian traditional form of particularism in the law) will be explained as they are expressed in the Bhagavad Gita, one of the most important texts of Indian philosophical literature. From this analysis it will emerge the impossibility of deducing the idea of human rights from the Sanskrit text. Not because the Bhagavad Gita adopts a communitarian conception of the self but because it entails a very complex and interesting idea of freedom which is little compatible with contemporary human rights discourse. Then, it will be quoted a criticism against the Bhagavad Gita based on the historical genealogy of cultural values, as it was formulated by B.R. Ambedkar - Chairman of the Drafting Committee of Indian Constitution. Finally, this writing will highlight some of the misunderstandings revolving around human rights and multiculturalism. This will be done while suggesting a genealogical approach where different intellectual and law traditions challenge and implement each other, rather than being locked in a sterile mutual respect.

Music, Ontology and the Need for History: A Critical Discussion

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-62
Author(s):  
Lisa Giombini
Keyword(s):  
Critical Discussion ◽  
Historical Research ◽  
Philosophical Literature ◽  
Historical Ontology ◽  
Ontological Approach ◽  
Musical Concepts ◽  
Musical Works ◽  
Historical Awareness ◽  
Musical Ontology

Abstract Although an ontological approach to musical works has dominated analytic aesthetics for almost fifty years, criticisms have recently started to spread in the philosophical literature. Contestants blame mainstream musical ontology for lacking historical awareness, questioning the cogency of metaphysical proposals that are substantially essentialist with regard to our musical concepts. My aim in this paper is to address this accusation by engaging the historicist critics in a sustained debate. I argue that even if the arguments based on history and sociology turn out to be accurate, this may not be enough of a reason to abandon the ontological project altogether. Ontology and history do not necessarily clash. Moreover, historical-sociological examinations do not fulfil our philosophical interest in music. I conclude by making a plea to “historical ontology,” a perspective that does not reject ontology but closely connects it to the dialectic between historical research and aesthetic interest.

What makes a life meaningful? Folk intuitions about the content and shape of meaningful lives.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joffrey Fuhrer ◽  
Florian Cova
Keyword(s):  
Philosophical Literature ◽  
Folk Concept ◽  
Meaningful Life ◽  
Third Person ◽  
Folk Intuitions ◽  
Susan Wolf ◽  
Meaningful Lives

It is often assumed that most people want their life to be “meaningful”. But what exactly does this mean? Though numerous researches have documented which factors lead people to experience their life as meaningful and people’s conceptions about the best ways to secure a meaningful life, investigations in people’s concept of meaningful life are scarce. In this paper, we investigate the folk concept of a meaningful life by studying people’s third-person attribution of meaningfulness. We draw on hypotheses from the philosophical literature, and notably on the work of Susan Wolf (Study 1) and Antti Kauppinen (Study 2). In Study 1, we find that individuals who are successful, competent, and engaged in valuable and important goals are considered to have more meaningful lives. In Study 2, we find that the meaningfulness of a life did not depend only on its components, but also on the order in which these elements were ordered to form a coherent whole (the “narrative shape” of this life). Additionally, our results stress the importance of morality in participants’ assessments of meaningfulness. Overall, our results highlight the fruitfulness of drawing on the philosophical literature to investigate the folk concept of meaningful life.

scholarly journals Gödelian sentences and semantic arguments

2020 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 60-77
Author(s):  
Gabriel Sandu
Keyword(s):  
Philosophical Literature

This paper contains some philosophical reflections on Gödelian (undecidable) sentences and the recognition of their truth using semantic arguments. These reflections are not new, similar matters have been extensively addressed in the philosophical literature. The matter is rather one of emphasis.

scholarly journals Techniques of Translating A Watchful Distance by Zhou Guoping in China

2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (5) ◽  
pp. 858
Author(s):  
Min Liu
Keyword(s):  
Network Theory ◽  
Actor Network Theory ◽  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
Sociocultural Perspective ◽  
Philosophical Literature ◽  
Actor Network ◽  
Cultural Elements ◽  
Foreign Countries ◽  
Contemporary Philosopher ◽  
The Relationship

Chinese philosophical literature is rarely introduced to foreign countries (Pohl, 1999, p. 303). Zhou Guoping, as a contemporary philosopher and essayist, has created essays with both depth and readability, and thus his works are deemed to be worthy of translation. This article aims to elaborate on the translator’s techniques for transferring Zhou Guoping’s famous collection of essays A Watchful Distance. Divided into four sections, this article uses actor-network theory as its theoretical framework and analyses the translator’s position in translation activities from sociocultural perspective, gives corresponding translating techniques to problems related to creativity, conventionalised expressions, utterances and Chinese cultural elements in this book, and draws a conclusion upon the relationship between cultural homogeneity and corresponding translating techniques underpinned by actor-network theory. By discussing specific translating techniques used for Zhou’s book, this article fills up the gap in the transfer techniques of A Watchful Distance to overseas cultures. However, the limitation lies in that the number of Zhou’s works studied are restricted.

scholarly journals Choice-Driven Counterfactuals

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ilaria Canavotto ◽  
Eric Pacuit
Keyword(s):  
Choice Behavior ◽  
The Other ◽  
Philosophical Literature ◽  
Stit Logic

AbstractIn this paper, we investigate the semantics and logic of choice-driven counterfactuals, that is, of counterfactuals whose evaluation relies on auxiliary premises about how agents are expected to act, i.e., about their default choice behavior. To do this, we merge one of the most prominent logics of agency in the philosophical literature, namely stit logic (Belnap et al. 2001; Horty 2001), with the well-known logic of counterfactuals due to Stalnaker (1968) and Lewis (1973). A key component of our semantics for counterfactuals is to distinguish between deviant and non-deviant actions at a moment, where an action available to an agent at a moment is deviant when its performance does not agree with the agent’s default choice behavior at that moment. After developing and axiomatizing a stit logic with action types, instants, and deviant actions, we study the philosophical implications and logical properties of two candidate semantics for choice-driven counterfactuals, one called rewind models inspired by Lewis (Nous13(4), 455–476 1979) and the other called independence models motivated by well-known counterexamples to Lewis’s proposal Slote (Philos. Rev.87(1), 3–27 1978). In the last part of the paper we consider how to evaluate choice-driven counterfactuals at moments arrived at by some agents performing a deviant action.

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