In the opening essay of The Muses, Nancy asks what force disperses Art into a plurality of arts, and what simultaneously holds them together in the unity of Art, through this very dispersal. The idea of Art, as a plurality of irreducible singularities that nevertheless commune, developed in the essay, is a precursor to the ontology of Being Singular Plural, widely considered one of his most important works. The claim in The Muses is not only that art itself has to (...) be understood as a unity of a plurality of singularities, but that it is a privileged site for the revealing of the singular plural of being. The following essay explores Nancy’s ontology of art, which is simultaneously a way of understanding being in terms of art, by tracing it back to Merleau-Ponty. I argue that Merleau-Ponty’s understanding of the sense of being in terms of the “chiasm” (the touching-touched) in The Visible and the Invisible is a crucial source for Nancy’s pluralist ontology. The turn to Merleau-Ponty is framed as a way of emphasizing that Nancy remains committed to a philosophical or ontological idea of art (despite his own criticisms of the very idea) against those who would like to separate his pluralist idea of art from any reference to the question of the meaning of “being.” The argument is that radical pluralism requires, paradoxically, an ontology, just as the affirmation of the irreducible plurality of singular arts requires a notion of Art. Dans l’essai qui ouvre Les muses, Nancy se demande quelle force disperse l’Art dans les arts et retient simultanément leur dispersion dans l’unité de l’Art. L’idée d’Art en tant qu’une pluralité irréductible de singularités qui communient malgré ou grâce à cette pluralité, telle qu’elle est développée dans cet essai, constitue un précurseur de l’ontologie présentée dans Être singulier pluriel, un des ouvrages les plus importants de Nancy. Cet article explore l’ontologie de l’art nancéenne, qui est aussi à la fois une façon de comprendre l’être en tant qu’art, en en retraçant les racines chez Merleau-Ponty. Je soutiens que la compréhension du sens de l’être comme chiasme (touchant-touché) chez le Merleau-Ponty du Visible et l’invisible est une source décisive de l’ontologie pluraliste de Nancy. Le recours à Merleau-Ponty permet de souligner le fait que Nancy demeure attaché à une idée philosophique ou ontologique de l’art, malgré ses propres critiques de l’idée même. Cette interprétation va à l’encontre de celles qui chercheraient à détacher le concept pluraliste d’art chez Nancy de toute référence à la question du sens de l’« être ». Ma contention est que le pluralisme radical requiert, paradoxalement, une ontologie, de la même façon que l’affirmation de l’irréductible pluralité des arts singuliers requiert une notion d’Art.Nel saggio che apre Le muse, Nancy si domanda quale forza disperda l’Arte in una pluralità di arti, e cosa al contempo mantenga queste ultime legate nell’unità dell’Arte a dispetto di questa dispersione stessa. L’idea di Arte, sviluppata in questo saggio, come pluralità di singolarità irriducibili che nonostante tutto si trovano a contatto e in comunicazione, prelude all’ontologia di Essere singolare plurale, tra le opere più importanti di Nancy. Ne Le muse Nancy sostiene non soltanto che l’arte in sé debba essere concepita come l’unità di una pluralità di singolarità, ma anche che essa sia un luogo privilegiato per il rivelarsi del singolare plurale dell’essere. Questo articolo esplora l’ontologia dell’arte di Nancy, che è al contempo un modo di comprendere l’essere nei termini dell’arte, attraverso un richiamo a Merleau-Ponty. Mi propongo così di mostrare che la concezione del senso dell’essere di Merleau-Ponty nei termini del “chiasmo” (il “toccante-toccato”), espressa ne Il visibile e l’invisibile, sia una fonte cruciale per l’ontologia pluralista di Nancy. Il richiamo a Merleau-Ponty è volto a sottolineare come Nancy rimanga fedele a un’idea filosofica o ontologica di arte (nonostante le sue stesse critiche a questa idea), in opposizione a coloro che vorrebbero separare la sua idea pluralista di arte da qualunque riferimento alla questione del significato dell’“essere”. La mia tesi è che il pluralismo radicale richieda, paradossalmente, un’ontologia, esattamente come l’affermazione della pluralità irriducibile delle arti singolari richiede la nozione di Arte. (shrink)

This article argues that we can improve the way we teach early modern political philosophy if we introduce students to alternative views about the development of the state. First, it summarizes the work of contemporary philosophers and historians who are critical of the modern state. Second, it points out ways in which early social contract theorists take the state for granted. Third, it argues that alternative views about the development of the state can help students take a more critical perspective (...) on standard works of early modern political philosophy. Fourth, it argues that these alternative views will help students better understand dissenting voices in early modern political philosophy. (shrink)

Contractualism, the view that morality is to be grounded on an hypothetical agreement among rational agents, is a very plausible conception for the justification of morality under modern circumstances. No metaphysical assumptions are made, morality is supposed to be erected on undisputed, minimal foundations. However, contractualists generally underestimate or downplay the degree to which their idea allows to convert might into right. This is shown exemplarily by an examination of the conceptions of David Gauthier and Peter Stemmer. A more realistic (...) variety of contractualism would admit that, depending on contingent circumstances, idiosyncratic or massively discriminating moral principles can easily be part of the hypothetical agreements. (shrink)

Human vision raises a number of puzzles. Among them are the puzzles of visual experience: how to provide a scientific understanding of the phenomenal character of the visual experiences of the shapes, textures, colors, orientations and motion of perceived objects? How can a purely subjective visual experience be the basis of so much objective knowledge of the world? Visually guided actions raise a different puzzle: how can actions directed towards a target be so accurate in the absence of the agent’s (...) awareness of many of the target’s visual attributes? Ways of Seeing has three related goals, the first of which is to make the case for a broadly representational approach to the above set of puzzles. The second goal of WoS is to argue that the version of the ‘two-visual systems’ model of human vision best supported by the current empirical evidence has the resources to solve the puzzle of visually guided actions, which has been at the center of much recent work in the cognitive neuroscience of vision and action. The third goal of WoS is to draw attention to some of the tensions between acceptance of the two-visual systems model of human vision and some influential views about the nature and function of the content of visual experience espoused by philosophers in response to the puzzles raised by visual experience. (shrink)

Originally published in 1970. This work evaluates the appeal to the sensually given which played an important role in epistemological discussions during the early 20 th Century. While many contemporary philosophers regarded this appeal as a mistake, there were still some who defended the notion of the given and even made it the foundation of their views regarding perception. The author here points to several different views concerning the nature of the sensually given and argues that the issue between them (...) is not empirical, as is naturally suggested by what he calls ‘the Naïve View’ of the dispute, but rather metaphysical, involving different theories regarding the relationship between Thought and Reality. This leads on to a discussion of the different views presently held regarding the task of the epistemologist, and to a new suggestion with regard to the relationship between common sense and the rival ontologies suggested by scientists and philosophers. In the course of the argument a variety of different topics are discussed such as the correspondence and coherence theories of truth, the differences between scientific and philosophical theories, and the relevance of scientific treatments of the subject of perception to the treatment of this topic by philosophers. (shrink)

In 1655 La Peyrère was the first to substantially argue for and popularize polygenism—the view that God created multiple original human mating pairs in separate acts of creation with numerous created before Adam. Positing or rejecting polygenism has been central to modern theorizing about human types and origins. Prominent recent interpreters have maintained that La Peyrère’s polygenism does not imply a hierarchy of human types. This paper reconstructs La Peyrère’s account and, in opposition to the dominant view, argues that his (...) polygenism produces a human species hierarchy. The Adamite species is superior to the Pre-Adamite species in virtue of its material composition, mode of creation, and form. The upshot is that La Peyrère’s theological system posits a proto-racialist conception of human types. (shrink)

Although considerable attention has been devoted to the concepts of “visible” and “invisible” victims in general medical practice, especially in relation to resource allocation, far less consideration has been devoted to these concepts in behavioral health. Distinctive features of mental health care in the United States help explain this gap. This essay explores three specific ways in which the American mental health care system protects potentially “visible” individuals at the expense of “invisible victims” and otherwise fails to meet the needs (...) of great numbers of people with serious psychiatric conditions: prioritization of the wrong patients, incentivization of excessive caution among providers, and a narrow definition of psychiatry's purview. While each of these practices has been discussed elsewhere in the literature, they are rarely considered as part of an interrelated and systemic problem. Reconceptualizing these three issues as aspects of the larger conflict between the interests of “visible” and “invisible” victims may prove a path toward reform. (shrink)

Matteo Ricci (1552-1610) was an Italian Jesuit and one of the first Christian missionaries to China in the modern era. He was a genuine polymath—a translator, cartographer, mathematician, astronomer, and musician. Above all, Ricci was a missionary for the gospel. As we briefly examine his 1603 seminal work, The True Meaning of the Lord of Heaven, our hope is that we, as evangelical educators, will perceive some of the deeper principles necessary for our own missionary work among unreached people.

Traditionally, civil law jurisdictions in Scandinavia and the continent of Europe have not been willing to acknowledge the appropriateness of extending bankruptcy relief to consumer debtors and discharging any part of their debts. The opposition was based on the importance of upholding the sanctity of contractual obligations: pacta sunt servanda. This attitude stood in contrast to the fresh start philosophy of US bankruptcy law, which embraced a more forgiving attitude, focusing on the reintegration of the insolvent debtor into society, substantially (...) free of debt, after he has filed for bankruptcy and surrendered his non-exempt property for distribution among his creditors. The relaxation of credit controls and the rapid increase in the number of insolvent debtors in the late 1980s and early 1990s has forced many continental jurisdictions to reconsider their traditional opposition. They have since adopted debt adjustment plans providing various forms of debt relief to overcommitted debtors but only a substantial number of years after the initial proceedings. The American reaction has gone in the opposite direction. With the adoption of the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005, the United States has reversed its century old liberal fresh start tradition. The 2005 Act imposes a formidable means test as well as other preconditions to determine whether a debtor has sufficient discretionary income to pay off twenty percent of his or her unsecured debts under a Chapter 13 plan. If the answer is yes, the debtor is denied the right to file a bankruptcy petition under Chapter 7 of the Bankruptcy Code. This paper asks whether these developments on opposite sides of the Atlantic suggest that facts on the ground are more important than dogma and deeply entrenched beliefs. The author’s answer is that while there is certainly a trend towards convergence between continental European and US approaches to consumer insolvency, it is much too soon to speak of a common culture and a common approach. He notes, however, that Commonwealth jurisdictions have long adopted a means test to determine a debtor’s eligibility for discharge from debt and suggests that continental scholars would have done better to study the Commonwealth experience as embodying a suitable compromise than to flirt with the US fresh start philosophy, only to reject it as too alien to the continental moral sense. (shrink)

Dire que le discours moral de l'Eglise est mal recu est un euphemisme. Il est en verite heretique. Critique par ceux qui l'ignorent comme par ceux qui devraient le connaitre, parfois deforme et rarement defendu, il n'esquive pas le debat rationnel. Mais qui se soucie de raison tandis que partout et sans partage regne l'emotion? Peu osent s'ecarter du dogme selon lequel le l'individu ne doit avoir que deux maitres: le desir tout-puissant, createur d'un univers virtuel et ephemere, et l'hygiene, (...) ultime etalon du rapport a autrui. Peu resistent aux sirenes du relativisme ambiant, meme parmi d'eminents moralistes chretiens persuades du fait meme d'avoir eu raison trop tot dans une Eglise trop frileuse. Il se pourrait pourtant que la critique philosophique decouvre dans la reflexion morale chretienne une vraie sagesse, qui n'est pas la veuve du temps qui passe, dont l'ambition est seulement de raviver la flamme fragile de notre conscience morale. Pascal Jacob ne se limite pas pour autant a une critique d'une certaine theologie contemporaine, il expose avec pedagogie la rationalite de la pensee chretienne ainsi que les positions de l'Eglise, en particulier sur des questions controversees. L'auteur: Pascal Jacob, Agrege de philosophie, Professeur a l'IPC - Facultes libres de philosophie et de psychologie, enseigne egalement l'Ethique en licence de psychologie et en Institut de soins Infirmiers (IFSI) et la philosophie en lycee. (shrink)

In Narrative Theology and the Hermeneutical Virtues, Goodson offers a philosophical analysis of the arguments and tendencies of the narrative theologies of Hans Frei and Stanley Hauerwas. Goodson concludes that the movement of narrative theology needs the language and logic of the virtues in order for it to survive within the modern academy.

We present the first published ethnographic description of landscape burning by Hadza hunter-gatherers of northern Tanzania and identify environmental, social, and cultural influences on Hadza landscape burning, thereby broadening the ethnographic record of anthropogenic burning practices described for hunter-gatherer communities. We report interview data collected in 2022 and 2023, describing their practices and attitudes regarding the causes and consequences of burning. We provide context by comparing our observations with those recorded for hunting and gathering populations in Africa, Australia, and North (...) America. Hadza landscape burning is generally a solitary and male-dominated activity, contrary to ethnographic accounts of Indigenous landscape burning from North America and Australia. The primary goals stated by Hadza for landscape burning were improved hunting, reduced hazards from dangerous animals, and to reduce the density of livestock. Firsthand observations suggest that landscape burning has decreased over the past 20 years, and this historical trend is supported by interviews. Satellite imagery also suggests an overall decrease in burning activity in the region from 2001 to 2022. Among the Hadza, landscape burning is a culturally influenced and strongly gender-biased activity that is rapidly disappearing. Because burning can radically transform landscapes, these practices often generate or amplify conflicts of interest between groups with different land use strategies. Hadza report serious social conflict with pastoralists over landscape burning, and our study suggests this tension has constrained the practice in the past two decades. (shrink)

This collection of essays examines the wisdom of Dr. Seuss and the philosophical insights that his classic children's books hold for adults. Whether exploring morality, compassion, or conflict resolution, Dr. Seuss's works are a guide to living well, and being the best person you can be.

The series offers a publication forum for innovative works on all topics of analytic philosophy. The focus is on the disciplines of theoretical philosophy: metaphysics, ontology, epistemology, philosophy of language, logic. Furthermore, works that additionally include contributions to the history of philosophy are also welcome.

This edited volume demonstrates that a virtue-centered approach to the ethical life is a consistent feature of William James’s moral reasoning from the 1880s until his death in 1910. Little else, however, seems constant within James’s writings on moral philosophy and the ethical life, and this lack of constancy is what keeps James’s work of interest more than a century later.

Kierkegaard's relationship to the literary Socrates of antiquity, an ironic and ambiguous figure who reflects the uncertain nature of reality itself, uniquely recapitulates Plato's relationship to the historical Socrates. For Kierkegaard as for Plato, contact with Socrates results in an explosion of poetic and philosophical creativity—a demonstration of Socrates’ pedagogical potency that implicitly resolves what Plato calls the “ancient quarrel between philosophy and poetry.” This chapter reflects on that ancient quarrel and its connection with the figure of Socrates, traces the (...) birth of Kierkegaard's Socrates in his dissertation, and sketches the developing significance of Socrates in Kierkegaard's major pseudonymous writings. (shrink)

This is the first chapter of Ways of Seeing co-authored with Marc Jeannerod. We ague for a representational approach to the puzzles of both visual perception and visually-guided actions.