Metaphilosophy

The Limits of Silence: Descartes, Heidegger, and Wittgenstein on Philosophy and Ordinary Language

by Narve Strand

In "Descartes and Cartesianism", Smith, N. D. & Taylor, J. (eds.) (Cambridge Scholars Press, 2005), pp. 133-59

Experimenting on Contextualism

by Nat Hansen

Co-authored with Emmanuel Chemla. Forthcoming in Mind & Language.

In this paper we refine the design of context shifting experiments, which play a central role in contextualist... more In this paper we refine the design of context shifting experiments, which play a central role in contextualist debates, and we subject a large number of scenarios involving different types of expressions of interest to contextualists, including ‘know’ and color adjectives like ‘green’, to experimental investigation. Our experiment (i) reveals an effect of changing contexts on the evaluation of uses of the sentences that we examine, thereby overturning the absence of results reported in previous experimental studies (so-called null results), (ii) uncovers evidence for a ‘truth bias’ in favor of positive over negative sentences, and (iii) reveals previously unnoticed distinctions between the strength of the contextual effects displayed by scenarios involving knowledge ascriptions and for scenarios concerning color and other miscellaneous scenarios.

Sobre los usos de situaciones imaginarias en filosofía política

by Ernesto Riffo Elgueta

Revisiting ‘complexification’, technology and urban form in Lefebvre

by Stephen Read

in press: Space and Culture

Henri Lefebvre gave suggestive hints at a theory of urban form that have inspired those involved in the design and... more Henri Lefebvre gave suggestive hints at a theory of urban form that have inspired those involved in the design and planning disciplines. His search was for an urban praxis that opened potentials for new forms of social relations and to this end he proposed a ‘metaphilosophy’ designed to engage with the open-ended material relations of cities and societies. This contradicted however his Marxist commitment to a ‘finality’ of man and society and his association of technology with alienation. We try here to rethink technology as intrinsic to human and social life: not as means to realise thought in the materialisation of spaces and societies, but as medium and source, in processes of historical realisation, of orders that comes before thought in human practice. We relate this to ‘worlds’ of practice which are the technically and historically constructed ‘metaphilosophical’ ‘totalities’ within which we are enabled and act. This pluralises and technologises ‘world’, and Lefebvre’s ‘urban form’ becomes a construction of multiple material-technological ‘worlds’, each perceived, conceived and lived as wholes. These articulate with one another and evolve historically. It is the articulations and interfaces between spaces rather than the spaces themselves which locate the places of productivity and vitality in the city. The question of an open urban shifts subtly from one of resistance to the abstract rationalities of ‘planning’ or an ‘authoritarian state’ to one of the maintenance of open relations between different spaces each with their necessary technical or abstract rationalities.

Aristotele, Metafisica - Giordano Bruno, De l'Infinito: confronto e commento.

by Stefano Ulliana

Ethicists' Courtesy at Philosophy Conferences

by Linus (Ta-Lun) Huang

Kant's Practical Metaphysics of Freedom

by Maxwell Murphey

Ethical Pragmatism

by Raff Donelson

Working draft

Beginning with a thought experiment about a mysterious Delphic oracle, I motivate, explain, and attempt to defend a... more Beginning with a thought experiment about a mysterious Delphic oracle, I motivate, explain, and attempt to defend a view I call Ethical Pragmatism. Ethical Pragmatism is the view that we can and should carry on our practice of moral deliberation without reference to moral facts, if such entities exist, or more broadly, without reference to metaethics. The defense I mount in the paper tries to show that neither prior commitments about moral motivation, nor suspicions about the tenability of fact-value distinctions, nor doubts about the viability of global pragmatism, nor worries about the ‘force’ of ethical injunctions without reference to moral facts, nor superficial similarities between Ethical Pragmatism and objectionable ethical quasi-realism constitute good reason to reject Ethical Pragmatism.

Review of 'Philosophy as Therapeia' edited by Jonardon Ganeri & Clare Carlisle

by Konrad Banicki

published in 'Philosophy in Review', 2012, 32(1).

Em cima das árvores: a filosofia e o restante da cultura

by Marcos Carvalho Lopes

Resumo
O artigo trata da relação entre a filosofia e o restante da cultura. Desenvolve uma narrativa que parte da... more Resumo
O artigo trata da relação entre a filosofia e o restante da cultura. Desenvolve uma narrativa que parte da interpretação que Rorty faz de Platão e sua reivindicação de um acesso privilegiado por parte do filósofo a uma forma de saber que descreve o realmente real (uma forma de conhecimento que se impõe verticalmente). O artigo separa as disputas entre filósofos e poetas e filósofos e sofistas, destacando o desenvolvimento da idéia de uma separação ontológica entre aparência e realidade. Como conseqüência de tal distinção, a Filosofia tentaria se afastar do diálogo e da finitude de todas as obras humanas. Por fim, defende uma evasão da Filosofia (com letra maiúscula e sabor teológico) para a filosofia (de letra minúscula e parte da cultura ordinária).
Palavras-chave: Metafilosofia; Richard Rorty; Platão; literatura; epistemologia; cultura.

Abstract
The article explores the relationship between philosophy and the rest of culture. It develops a narrative that is based on Rorty’s interpretation of Plato and his claim of philosopher’s privileged access to a form of knowledge that describes the really real one (a form of knowledge that is imposed vertically). The article distinguishes the disputes between philosophers and poets and philosophers and sophists, highlighting the development of the idea of an ontological separation between appearance and reality. As a consequence of this distinction, Philosophy would try to move away from dialogue and the finitude of all human works. Finally the paper defends an evasion of Philosophy (with a capital letter and theological flavor) to philosophy (with a lowercase letter and part of common culture).
Keywords: Metaphilosophy; Richard Rorty; Plato; literature; epistemology; culture.

Comentario: Ivan Domingues: O continente ea ilha: duas vias da filosofia contemporânea.

by Pedro Karczmarczyk

Kriterion. Revista de filosofia, UFMG, Brasil, vol 51, n° 121, Julho 2010, pp. 313-316.

Was ist Philosophieren?

by Christoph Schamberger

Der Aufsatz ist eine zum Teil gekürzte, im vierten Abschnitt stark erweitere Fassung des ersten Kapitels „Was ist Philosophie? Ein Vorschlag“ aus Jörg Hardy und Christoph Schamberger: "Logik der Philosophie", Göttingen 2012.

Anstelle einer direkten Definition des Begriffs „Philosophie“ stellt der Aufsatz die Methode des Philosophierens vor.... more Anstelle einer direkten Definition des Begriffs „Philosophie“ stellt der Aufsatz die Methode des Philosophierens vor. Der Ausgangspunkt des Philosophierens liegt in der Weltanschauung und in Intuitionen, die erstens genau zu artikulieren und zweitens zu begründen sind. Der dritte Schritt besteht darin, die Argumente anderer Philosophen zu berücksichtigen und zu kritisieren. Da es kein philosophisches Lehrbuchwissen gibt, stellt sich die metaphilosophische Frage, welchen Zweck es hat, nach der Wahrheit philosophischer Thesen zu fragen. Die Antwort: Wichtiger als die Frage nach Wahrheit ist die Frage nach Konsistenz. Aufgabe der Philosophie ist es, umfassende und zugleich widerspruchsfreie Systeme von Thesen und Argumenten zu entwickeln. Die formale Logik leistet dabei eine wichtige Hilfestellung.

Pierre Hadot (1922-2010)

by Giovanni Catapano

«Adamantius», XVII (2011), ISSN: 1126-6244, pp. 348-352

In memoriam. In memoriam.

Metafilosofia

by Giovanni Catapano

in Le parole della filosofia contemporanea, a cura di L. Floridi e G.P. Terravecchia, Roma: Carocci editore («Quality Paperbacks», 286), 2009, ISBN 978-88-430-5003-1, p. 127

Definizione del termine "metafilosofia". Definizione del termine "metafilosofia".

Filosofia, idea di

by Giovanni Catapano

in A.D. Fitzgerald (ed.), Agostino. Dizionario enciclopedico, edizione italiana a cura di L. Alici e A. Pieretti, Roma: Città Nuova, 2007, pp. 730-733

Sintesi del concetto di filosofia in Agostino di Ippona. Sintesi del concetto di filosofia in Agostino di Ippona.

The Development of Augustine’s Metaphilosophy: Col 2:8 and the “Philosophers of this World”

by Giovanni Catapano

«Augustinian Studies», XXXVIII (2007), ISSN 00945323, pp. 233-254

The paper analyzes the occurrences (a) of the word 'philosophia' in quotations of Colossians 2:8 and (b) of the... more The paper analyzes the occurrences (a) of the word 'philosophia' in quotations of Colossians 2:8 and (b) of the expression 'philosophi huius mundi' in Augustine of Hippo's writings. Augustine learned from Simplicianus in 386 to differentiate Platonism from "philosophy according to the elements of this world", which was censured by St. Paul in Colossians 2:8. Augustine went so far as to define pagan Platonists as "philosophers of this world" in the pejorative sense on the basis of another Pauline verse, I Corinthians 1:20, and he did so only after 406.

Quale scetticismo viene criticato da Agostino nel “Contra Academicos”?

by Giovanni Catapano

in Agostino e la tradizione agostiniana, a cura di C. Esposito e P. Porro, «Quaestio. Annuario di storia della metafisica», VI (2006), ISBN 978-2-503-51980-7, pp. 1-13

L'articolo prende in considerazione le critiche antiscettiche contenute nel dialogo «Contra Academicos» di Agostino di... more L'articolo prende in considerazione le critiche antiscettiche contenute nel dialogo «Contra Academicos» di Agostino di Ippona. Dopo uno stato della questione, l'articolo affronta tre interrogativi: (1) in che cosa consiste la posizione accademica, come quella di Arcesilao di Pitane e di Carneade di Cirene, che Agostino critica e che noi oggi definiamo come una forma di scetticismo? (2) Quali sono i giudizi che Agostino formula nei confronti non della posizione degli Accademici, ma degli Accademici stessi? (3) L'antiscetticismo di Agostino è una forma di dogmatismo? La conclusione generale dell'articolo è che, nel «Contra Academicos», Agostino si oppone a un tipo di scetticismo antifilosofico per difendere la possibilità stessa della ricerca filosofica.

Philosophie (idée de)

by Giovanni Catapano

in Encyclopédie Saint Augustin. La Méditerranée et l’Europe. IVe-XXIe siècle, sous la direction de A.D. Fitzgerald. Édition française sous la direction de M.-A. Vannier. Préface de S. Lancel, Paris: Les Éditions du Cerf («Dictionnaires»), 2005, ISBN 2204073393, pp. 1131-1135 (trad. di F. Nuvolone)

Résumé de la notion de philosophie dans la pensée de saint Augustin. Résumé de la notion de philosophie dans la pensée de saint Augustin.

La «philosophia» e i «philosophi» nelle «Confessioni»

by Giovanni Catapano

in Le «Confessioni» di Agostino (402-2002): bilancio e prospettive. XXXI Incontro di studiosi dell’antichità cristiana (Roma, 2-4 maggio 2002), Roma: Institutum Patristicum Augustinianum («Studia Ephemeridis Augustinianum», 85), 2003, ISBN 88-7961-008-2, pp. 89-100

Analisi delle occorrenze dei lemmi della famiglia di 'philosophia' nelle «Confessiones» di Agostino di Ippona. Analisi delle occorrenze dei lemmi della famiglia di 'philosophia' nelle «Confessiones» di Agostino di Ippona.

I «philosophi» nei primi tre libri del «De civitate Dei»

by Giovanni Catapano

in Lettura del «De civitate Dei» libri I-X. Lectio Augustini XV-XVI-XVII – Settimana Agostiniana Pavese (1999-2001), Roma: Institutum Patristicum Augustinianum («Studia Ephemeridis Augustinianum», 85), 2003, ISBN 88-7961-007-4, pp. 79-90

Analisi delle occorrenze del lemma 'philosophus' nei primi tre libri del «De civitate Dei» di Agostino di Ippona. Analisi delle occorrenze del lemma 'philosophus' nei primi tre libri del «De civitate Dei» di Agostino di Ippona.