T. 1. 1907-1909 -- T. 2. 1909-1914 -- T. 3. 1914-1917.

RÉSUMÉ: Les philosophes de la période moderne sont souvent présentés comme ayant commis une erreur élémentaire: celle de confondre la force propositionnelle avec le contenu propositionnel. Par l'examen de deux cas saillants, à savoir les philosophes de Port-Royal et John Locke, je montre que l'accusation n'est pas fondée, et que Locke en particulier a les ressources requises pour construire une théorie des attitudes propositionnelles.

This study is an attempt to develop an adequate theoretical model of the philosophical enterprise, to serve both as a guide for interpreting the history of philosophy and as a critical tool for evaluating the present state of and prospects for contemporary philosophical thought. Ballard proposes that philosophy be understood as man’s attempt to come to grips with the experience of crossing the boundaries that separate radically different aspects of human existence. These boundaries exist on many levels of experience; philosophy (...) is most concerned with the crossing of the internal boundaries of "archaic experience," the most fundamental and universal form of human experience. Perhaps the most fundamental boundary in archaic experience is that between inspired insight and rigorous, rational analysis. Ballard interprets the history of philosophy from the standpoint of that opposition; philosophy is man’s attempt to navigate the continual crossing from one of these modes of experience to the other. Ballard is most concerned with the tendency of most modern philosophies to stress one or the other aspect of the opposition, frequently to the point where the philosophical significance of the other side of the opposition is completely denied. Although Ballard finds the germ of the rationalistic, scientific perspective in Plato, he believes it is Descartes who molded that perspective into a powerful philosophical tradition, carried on by Hume and modern analysts. Against this tradition, which treats man as merely one more scientific object, stands the transcendental or Romantic tradition, which takes man’s subjectivity as its starting point and formative principle. In the context of this radical division of the tradition, Ballard finds the philosophy of Heidegger extremely important. It represents one of the few contemporary attempts to admit both insight and scientific reason as philosophically significant by examining both against a more fundamental ontological background, Being itself. Being is the original source of all possibilities, and its philosophical elucidation provides a context within which the conflicting aspects of archaic experience can be accommodated. Heidegger’s thought thus offers a model of philosophical reflection that avoids the reductionist extremities of the main traditions of modern thought, and it is that model Ballard believes offers the best prospects for future philosophical development.—O. T. (shrink)

The tendencies in bourgeois ideology that are intimately associated with religion constitute one of the subjects of current interest for criticism from the Marxist standpoint. The trend toward establishment of a clerical philosophy has long since been noted: its roots go back to the 19th century. But it has only been in the years between the two world wars, and during the present period that such currents as Neo-Thomism, Christian spiritualism, religious existentialism, and the like have flourished and, what is (...) particularly important, have exercised serious influence on secular intellectuals in the capitalist countries. (shrink)

Written by a prominent figure in Arab politics today and a well-known Islamic scholar, the book, after one chapter on the life of the Prophet, concentrates on an exposition of the essential message of Islam that purports to show its relevance to our contemporary world. Its pages abound in examples of religious toleration among the followers of Islam in the past to show how misled Westerners have been in depicting a religion of "righteousness" and "brotherhood" as the religion of the (...) sword.—E. O. T. (shrink)

The author tries to prove that hypnosis is a science to be used in everyday life. Hence his efforts to locate the lost body of a dead woman through hypnosis and the help of a very sensitive medium. The initial practical point of learning the whereabouts of the body gets lost however—the body is never found-in the course of his dialogues with the patient through whom he has contacted a "privileged soul" who lives close to the "Leader" in the highest (...) hierarchy of heaven. Mr. Ward attempts to provide simple answers to the great questions of life and death in an authoritative manner. Most of the book is in question and answer form with a final chapter of summary and conclusions. Altogether it is a naive exposition of a much disputed field.—E. O. T. (shrink)

A series of summary descriptions of the theories of the Pre-Socratics, Sophists, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Stoics, Epicureans, Sceptics, and Gnostics, the book suffers from controversial points made in an off-hand fashion. The two following interpretations are especially perplexing, if not erroneous: that Plato's philosophy is "materialistic in outlook" since by ideas he means "the material perfects of the material imperfects"; and that "the Atomistic philosophy is teleological" since it depicts the atoms as "intelligent agents," "striving for an ultimate purpose."—E. O. (...) T. (shrink)

Discussions of whistleblowing whether in academic literature or in more popular media have tended to very one-sided assessments of the moral worth of the act. Indeed, much of the current literature concentrates on psychological or managerial aspects of whistleblowing while taking for granted this or that moral position or eschewing any normative commitment on the question. The purpose of this article is firstly to reemphasise the importance and complexity of the normative foundations of whistleblowing acts; and secondly, through a moral (...) philosophical analysis of the component decisions that make up any act of whistleblowing, to contribute to a more balanced and less polarised treatment of the topic. It is argued that the polarisation of views on the topic is in part due to a failure to decompose the act of whistleblowing into a number of inevitable component moral decisions leading up to the act. It is furthermore argued on the basis of the analysis that it is impossible to state a priori as a matter of general principle that whistleblowing is always morally right or morally wrong . The article will close with a reflection on the degree to which the weighing up of good and bad in the act of whistleblowing differs sharply among cultures; and with a conjecture as to a possible relation to a people's history which may serve as a pointer to interesting future empirical research on the topic. (shrink)

The power of technology to transform religions, science, and political institutions has often been presented as nothing short of revolutionary. Does technology have a similarly transformative influence on societies’ morality? Scholars have not rigorously investigated the role of technology in moral revolutions, even though existing research on technomoral change suggests that this role may be considerable. In this paper, we explore what the role of technology in moral revolutions, understood as processes of radical group-level moral change, amounts to. We do (...) so by investigating four historical episodes of radical moral change in which technology plays a noteworthy role. Our case-studies illustrate the plurality of mechanisms involved in technomoral revolutions, but also suggest general patterns of technomoral change, such as technology’s capacity to stabilize and destabilize moral systems, and to make morally salient phenomena visible or invisible. We find several leads to expand and refine conceptual tools for analysing moral change, specifically by crystallizing the notions of ‘technomoral niche construction’ and ‘moral payoff mechanisms’. Coming to terms with the role of technology in radical moral change, we argue, enriches our understanding of moral revolutions, and alerts us to the depths of which technology can change our societies in wanted and unwanted ways. (shrink)

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According to familiar accounts, Rousseau held that humans are actuated by two distinct kinds of self love: amour de soi, a benign concern for one's self-preservation and well-being; and amour-propre, a malign concern to stand above other people, delighting in their despite. I argue that although amour-propre can (and often does) assume this malign form, this is not intrinsic to its character. The first and best rank among men that amour-propre directs us to claim for ourselves is that of occupying (...) 'man's estate'. This does not require, indeed it precludes, subjection of others. Amour-propre does not need suppression or circumscription if we are to live good lives; it rather requires direction to its proper end, not a delusive one. (shrink)