This article demonstrates a novel conceptualization of sublimity: the sublime in the pedestrian. This pedestrian mode of sublimity is exemplified by the Biblical Abraham, the central figure of... Show moreThis article demonstrates a novel conceptualization of sublimity: the sublime in the pedestrian. This pedestrian mode of sublimity is exemplified by the Biblical Abraham, the central figure of Kierkegaard’s pseudonymous Fear and Trembling. It is rooted in the analysis of one of the foundational stories of the three monotheistic religions: Abraham’s averted sacrifice of his son Isaac. The defining feature of this new, pedestrian mode of sublimity is that is remains hidden behind what I call a total incognito. It is similar to the classical ‘elevated mode of sublimity’ as developed by Burke, Kant, and Schiller insofar as it denotes two contrasting feelings at once: repulsion and attraction. It is different insofar as Kierkegaard’s pedestrian mode of sublimity remains hidden from view and can only be shown indirectly. This article expounds the new, pedestrian mode of sublimity by investigating the relation between the incognito and the sublime in Fear and Trembling. It achieves that goal by engaging three perspectives: (1) the sublime failure that comes to the fore in the incognitos of an imaginary Abraham; (2) the ‘fear without being afraid’ that is invoked by God’s incognitos; (3) the total incognito of the pedestrian which conceals Abraham’s sublimity. Show less
The dissertation focuses on the work of German philosophers Theodor W. Adorno and Max Horkheimer, founders of critical theory at the Frankfurt School. Specifically, it is a study of the “early”... Show moreThe dissertation focuses on the work of German philosophers Theodor W. Adorno and Max Horkheimer, founders of critical theory at the Frankfurt School. Specifically, it is a study of the “early” writings, dated between 1925 and 1940, to reconstruct the early stages of critical theory. The thesis argues that the critique of metaphysics is the philosophical project of critical theory. This argument is sustained by reconstructing this new materialism through the emergence of the concepts of history and society, human and nature, memory and suffering, domination and emancipation as crucial elements in the theories of both authors. This reconstruction leads to the implications of philosophical materialism into the development of the social theory and political philosophy of both authors. This perspective argues for throughout this study and defines the central themes that guided this materialism until the critical theory was postulated as an established research program. Show less
De filosofie van Emmanuel Levinas (1905-1996) wordt vaak een ‘ethiek van de ander’ genoemd, omdat Levinas stelt dat het spoor van God oplicht in het gelaat van de ander. In dit artikel probeer ik... Show moreDe filosofie van Emmanuel Levinas (1905-1996) wordt vaak een ‘ethiek van de ander’ genoemd, omdat Levinas stelt dat het spoor van God oplicht in het gelaat van de ander. In dit artikel probeer ik deze overtuiging aan te vullen door te laten zien dat het doel van Levinas voornamelijk is om het zelf àls zelf te bevestigen. Levinas noemt zijn denken daarom ook een “verdediging van de subjectiviteit”: een verdediging van een zelf dat door de oneindige verantwoordelijkheid voor de Ander van zichzelf bevrijd wordt. De relatie met de Ander geeft ons meer dan dat wij kunnen bevatten, namelijk het gewicht en de richting die wij nodig hebben om ons unieke bestaan te funderen. Show less
The relevance of intentionality to the interpretation of Aristotle was first suggested by Brentano in his Psychology from an Empirical Standpoint. Here we take our starting point from Brentano and... Show moreThe relevance of intentionality to the interpretation of Aristotle was first suggested by Brentano in his Psychology from an Empirical Standpoint. Here we take our starting point from Brentano and investigate how Brentano’s concept of intentionality is rooted in Aristotle. Most importantly, what does it mean for our understanding of Aristotle’s psychology if we approach his theory with the modern notion of intentionality in mind? Do the implications of intentionality in Aristotle reveal different aspects in Brentano’s proposal? In this dissertation, I would like to investigate the roots of intentionality in Aristotle’s psychology and make a comparison between Aristotle and Brentano on the topic of intentionality. In order to achieve this result, I will first set up a work. g definition of intentionality by tracing the development of “intention” along historical lines. Then I shall deal with Aristotle’s psychology—perception, phantasia, memory, dream, recollection, and intellect one by one, to survey whether any sign of intentionality is revealed in these psychic activities and how. Finally, I would like to make a comparison between Aristotle and Brentano on intentionality based on Brentano’s Aristotelian background and to survey the echo of Aristotle in modern philosophy of mind. Show less
Since Antiquity, “active cognition” has been a problematic notion in Aristotelian scholarship. Part of the problem is the definition of what counts as “active”. In the first part of this paper I... Show moreSince Antiquity, “active cognition” has been a problematic notion in Aristotelian scholarship. Part of the problem is the definition of what counts as “active”. In the first part of this paper I shall offer a short survey on various contenders for “active” perceptual cognition defended in recent interpretations of Aristotle, by way of introduction to the more complicated problems of “active” intellectual cognition. In the second part of the paper I will offer—in outline—my interpretation of Aristotle’s theory of intellectual cognition, which takes the most recent findings in the area of perceptual cognition as a starting point. Here I pursue the analogy that Aristotle sets up between perception and intellection throughout the De anima. In the third part of the paper I shall examine a number of influential accounts of active intellectual cognition found in the corpus of Alexander of Aphrodisias, in particular Mantissa 2–5 (also known as De intellectu). These accounts each develop the analogies offered in Aristotle’s De anima III.5 in their own way. Show less
The German hand-reader Julius Spier (1887-1942) played an important role in the life of the Dutch Jewish diarist Etty Hillesum (1914-1943). This thesis argues that instead of being a charlatan - as... Show moreThe German hand-reader Julius Spier (1887-1942) played an important role in the life of the Dutch Jewish diarist Etty Hillesum (1914-1943). This thesis argues that instead of being a charlatan - as he has become viewed through Hillesum's writings -, Spier was a talented hand-reader who 'psychologized' hand-reading. Under the influence of C.G. Jung, Spier had parted from the long tradition of hand-reading to predict people the future. Spier used the inspection of a pair of hands to advise the owner of those hands on his or her path of individuation.During the Interbellum, hand-reading was a well-known practice in Germany. There were other serious hand-readers and a range of literature was published about the study of hands.The situation in the Netherlands was quite different. The Dutch had less interest in hand-reading. They merely considered it a fortune-telling practice and a fun pastime. However, during the 1930s the notion of hand-reading altered, and was viewed more seriously. Spier played a role in this development.Several of Spier's Jewish students fled Berlin on time, and continued to practice hand-reading in their new hometowns. Through them, and the publication of Spier's manuscript, his influence reaches further than usually is anticipated. Show less
Michael Dummett and Storrs McCall have claimed that time travel scenarios in which an artist copies an artwork from a reproduction of it that has been sent from the future introduce a causal loop... Show moreMichael Dummett and Storrs McCall have claimed that time travel scenarios in which an artist copies an artwork from a reproduction of it that has been sent from the future introduce a causal loop of a new kind: one involving artistic value. They have suggested that this poses a hitherto unacknowledged challenge to time travel theories. I argue that their conclusion depends on some unstated essentialist assumptions about metaphysics of art and the status of representations. By relaxing these assumptions, I show that Dummett and McCall’s scenarios contain no causal loop involving artistic value, and thus pose no new problem for time travel theories. Show less
