In dit proefschrift legt Wiersma uit hoe Plato's idee van de democratische mens nog steeds herkenbaar is als probleem voor onze eigen tijd. Hij schetst aan de hand van klassieke en christelijke... Show moreIn dit proefschrift legt Wiersma uit hoe Plato's idee van de democratische mens nog steeds herkenbaar is als probleem voor onze eigen tijd. Hij schetst aan de hand van klassieke en christelijke denkers een alternatief: de aristocratische mens. Voorts laat hij zien hoe de onderwijsfilosofie van de traditionele artes liberales een belangrijke rol kunnen spelen in de transitie van democratisch mens naar aristocratisch mens. Hierin is niet alleen het curriculum van groot belang maar vooral ook de rol van de docent. Show less
The aim of this research is the systematic analysis of the wisdom coined by Nahua people of Mexico, based on the historical sources and archaeological evidence, but also in the knowledge developed... Show moreThe aim of this research is the systematic analysis of the wisdom coined by Nahua people of Mexico, based on the historical sources and archaeological evidence, but also in the knowledge developed by contemporary indigenous communities and the contributions of indigenous scholars. The hypothesis of this research pretends to demonstrate, how the cognitive structures embedded in indigenous languages are useful in the development of an intercultural epistemology.The academic relevance of this research not only lies in the fact that address rigorous and systematically an issue –indigenous philosophies-which faces lack of acknowledgment, which is not a minor issue; but also because this effort to analyse Nahuatl philosophy is useful to provide alternatives to understand the world based on a different ontology. The development of an intercultural philosophy will be useful to face and solve some misunderstandings caused by cultural colonization. Show less
Risk prediction is one of the central goals of medicine. However, ultimate prediction-perfectly predicting whether individuals will actually get a disease-is still out of reach for virtually all... Show moreRisk prediction is one of the central goals of medicine. However, ultimate prediction-perfectly predicting whether individuals will actually get a disease-is still out of reach for virtually all conditions. One crucial assumption of ultimate personalized prediction is that individual risks in the relevant sense exist. In the present paper we argue that perfect prediction at the individual level will fail-and we will do so by providing pragmatic, epistemic, conceptual, and ontological arguments. Show less
The dissertation examines the justification and conditions of global citizenship and the relation between global citizenship education and education in general. An applicable concept of... Show moreThe dissertation examines the justification and conditions of global citizenship and the relation between global citizenship education and education in general. An applicable concept of cosmopolitanism is derived from both a historical and conceptual analysis and by means of a comparative method lessons are drawn from (the history of) Afghanistan and the detrimental effects of foreign intervention on the formation of a democratic nation-state. The case for new forms of a cosmopolitan concept of democracy is made, applicable to an interdependent and globalising world. This philosophical analysis is applied to the present-day educational systems of both the Netherlands and Afghanistan. From this a starting point for a proposal towards world citizenship education is derived. In this research the case of the human rights violation of Farkhunda is used as a benchmark for the validity of the discussed theories. Show less
‘Philosophers Beyond Borders’ covers 30 philosophers, some known and some not so known, from different parts of the world. They were chosen to show how persons from diverse cultures and different... Show more‘Philosophers Beyond Borders’ covers 30 philosophers, some known and some not so known, from different parts of the world. They were chosen to show how persons from diverse cultures and different times are driven by the same desire to question well-established truths, and to find answers to the questions humans encounter in life. Over time the questions might have changed but the answers continue to provide us with values, principles, and ideas that are a guide for living. As the world is getting smaller and smaller, we are confronted with people from different cultures, religions, and values. We need to learn to live in peace and harmony with these ‘others’. Philosophy can provide the bridge to cover the gap between different worldviews. It will show that our differences and our similarities stem from the same desire to understand our world and the place of the human within. To promote an international culture of dialogue between the different schools of philosophical thought, UNESCO introduced ‘World Philosophy Day’, in 2002, celebrated every third Thursday of November. We hope that this book will contribute to that dialogue and that we learn to realize that no ethnic group, nor gender, has a monopoly on ‘doing philosophy’. (The authors: Saskia Pfaeltzer, Maria van Enckevort) Show less
Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius (480-525 A.D.) is regarded as a great thinker of the early Middle Ages. Indeed, Boethius is a man of immense erudition and his works touch upon many philosophical... Show moreAnicius Manlius Severinus Boethius (480-525 A.D.) is regarded as a great thinker of the early Middle Ages. Indeed, Boethius is a man of immense erudition and his works touch upon many philosophical fields, including mathematics, logic and theology. In Boethius’ classification system, mathematics and theology belong to speculative philosophy, and logic is both a part of philosophy and an instrument of philosophy. However, scholars from different fields tend to focus only on the part of Boethius’ thoughts that relate to their own disciplines. The result is a lack of understanding Boethius as a whole. In my dissertation, I will reassess Boethius’ mathematics and logic, and their roles in philosophy, and on the basis of these, I will explore the connections between mathematics and logic in Boethius and their applications to theological or philosophical topics. However, I will not focus on the applications of al l his mathematical and logical knowledge but only on his basic ideas of arithmetic and music, and basic logic including knowledge of categories, theories of division and definition Show less
The dialogical paradigm provides a theory of meaning alternative to the model-theoretical and proof-theoretical ones which are more widespread. From the dialogical point of view, meaning is given... Show moreThe dialogical paradigm provides a theory of meaning alternative to the model-theoretical and proof-theoretical ones which are more widespread. From the dialogical point of view, meaning is given by use within argumentative debates which are designed as two-player games. In this work we present the fundamental notions of the paradigm through the study of various dialogical semantics. We also make some incursions in the metatheory of dialogical games, with among other things a stress on the connection between dialogues and tableaux.Three specificities of our account are: the homogeneous way to ensure finiteness of dialogues with the device of repetition ranks, an explicit formulation of game rules with emphasis on speech acts, and the significant role given to the perspective of extended forms (tree representations) in our analysis.As for results, we propose a new demonstration of soundness and completeness of the tableau method with respect to dialogical games. We also give the first analysis of the dialogical manifestation of the decidability (or not) of a logic as intimately related to the handling with repetition ranks of repetitive behaviours in games. Show less
Nieuwe ontwikkelingen in wetenschap en technologie roepen naast positieve ook negatieve reacties en twijfel op. De reacties worden geuit in debatten. Deze debatten verlopen vaak volgens hetzelfde... Show moreNieuwe ontwikkelingen in wetenschap en technologie roepen naast positieve ook negatieve reacties en twijfel op. De reacties worden geuit in debatten. Deze debatten verlopen vaak volgens hetzelfde stramien: er is een nieuwe ontwikkeling, daarover moet een standpunt worden ingenomen, dit roept vragen op, vragen die vaak gaan over wat 'natuurlijk' is, waar onze grenzen liggen, of alles mag wat kan. Over mogelijke antwoorden bestaan ernstige meningsverschillen. Het debat bloedt dood en er wordt een besluit genomen waarbij aan de (potentiële) rijkheid van de debatten wordt voorbijgegaan. Waarom verlopen debatten op deze manier? Waarom worden deelnemers en argumenten zo vaak gestereotypeerd, uitgesloten of onredelijk genoemd? Dat valt eigenlijk pas goed te begrijpen door te kijken naar wat onder de oppervlakte speelt: de manier waarop we met elkaar in gesprek gaan in publieke discussies. De kwaliteit van debatten kan worden verbeterd. Dat kan door ruimte te creëren voor morele democratisering. Dit vereist een driedubbele verbreding van publieke debatten. Een verbreding van deelnemers, van vragen en argumenten. Hiervoor is redelijkheid, inclusiviteit en moed nodig. Show less
This critical edition covers the first two parts of De secundis intentionibus by Hervaeus Natalis (14th century). The introduction provides background information about the chronological and... Show moreThis critical edition covers the first two parts of De secundis intentionibus by Hervaeus Natalis (14th century). The introduction provides background information about the chronological and philosophical context of this work. At the beginning of the 14th century, the exact meaning and use of the intentio and the species intelligibilis formed an important theme in ontology, epistemology and logic. Compared to existing theories of, for instance, Thomas Aquinas, Hervaeus offers a new approach to the subject. Show less
Bürgel, Johann-Christoph; Ruymbeke, Christine van 2011
This "Key" to the Khamsa consists of thirteen essays by eminent scholars in the field of Persian Studies, each focusing on different aspects of the Khamsa, which is a collection of five long poems... Show moreThis "Key" to the Khamsa consists of thirteen essays by eminent scholars in the field of Persian Studies, each focusing on different aspects of the Khamsa, which is a collection of five long poems written by the Persian poet Nizami of Ganja. Nizami (1141-1209) lived and worked in Ganja in present-day Azerbaijan. He is widely recognized as one of the main poets of Medieval Persia, a towering figure who produced outstanding poetry, straddling mysticism, romances and epics. He has left his mark on the whole Persian-speaking world and countless younger poets in the area stretching from the Ottoman to the Mughal worlds (present-day Turkey, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, Iran, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Pakistan, India) have found him an inspiration and have tried to emulate him. His work has influenced such other immense poets as Hafez, Rumi, and Saadi. His five masnavis (long poems) address a variety of topics and disciplines and have all enjoyed enormous fame, as the countless surviving manuscripts of his work indicate. His heroes, Khosrow and Shirin, Leili and Majnun, Iskandar count amongst the stars of the Persian literary firmament and have become household names all over the Islamic world. The essays in the present volume constitute a significant development in the field of Nizami-studies, and on a more general level, of classical Persian literature. They focus on topics such as mysticism, art history, comparative literature, science, and philosophy. they show how classical Greek knowledge mingles in a unique manner with the Persian past and the Islamic culture in Nizami's world. They reflect a high degree of engagement with the existing scholarship in the field, they revive and challenge traditional views on the poet and his work and are indispensable both for specialists in the field and for anyone interested in the movement of ideas in the Medieval world. Show less
This thesis consists of two components: first, I question and reposition the most dominant academic perspectives pertaining to the relationship between myth and philosophy; second, I analyze Plato_... Show moreThis thesis consists of two components: first, I question and reposition the most dominant academic perspectives pertaining to the relationship between myth and philosophy; second, I analyze Plato__s use of myth to demonstrate my reevaluation of the issue by formulating and testing my own interdisciplinary methodology which I term __mutual scaffolding__. I will investigate the dynamic interaction between myth and philosophy in six dialogues and argue that the interaction is based on a unity of the forms of discourse rather than division. In other words, instead of defining the communication between myth and philosophy in terms of opposition I argue that in specific cases, particularly in my selection of Platonic dialogues, the two forms of discourse participate in an interdependent unity. It is my aim to describe how the role of myth is inserted by Plato after careful selection, interpretation and modification in order to function in multiple ways. I examine how myth operates as a hypothesis in the Meno __ a text that functions as an instruction manual to guide the reader in how to do one form of philosophy correctly. The Protagoras provides us with an advanced dual between a myth/hypothesis presented by a sophist and alternative lines of argument submitted by Socrates. In the Phaedo we are shown how myth acts as a regulating code for how to follow the arguments, opposing arguments and the connections between arguments in the text. The Phaedrus introduces myth as a device which facilitates transition from one philosophical position to another. Finally, the Atlantis myth in both the Timaeus and Critias operates as a tool for Plato__s self-reflection and criticism. Show less
This book analyzes a defined corpus of philosophic texts from the Warring States period. It treats texts as objects in their own right and, in a broad sense, discusses the relationship between... Show moreThis book analyzes a defined corpus of philosophic texts from the Warring States period. It treats texts as objects in their own right and, in a broad sense, discusses the relationship between material conditions of text and manuscript culture, writing, techniques of meaning-construction, and philosophy in Warring States period (ca. 481-222). By analyzing the formal structure of the philosophic texts from the Warring States, the present study distinguishes between two ideal types of texts, which I call “argument-based texts” and “authority-based texts”. Meaning-construction in the former type of texts is based in writing; in the latter ideal type of texts, meaning-construction requires reference to (oral) commentators. Hence, whereas argument-based texts facilitate philosophy that is exempt from needs of contextualization, authority-based texts, for their part, are mere modules of larger philosophic processes that remain outside the texts themselves. Show less
This dissertation explores Aristotle__s use of teleology as a principle of explanation, especially as it is used in the natural treatises. Its main purposes are, first, to determine the function,... Show moreThis dissertation explores Aristotle__s use of teleology as a principle of explanation, especially as it is used in the natural treatises. Its main purposes are, first, to determine the function, structure, and explanatory power of teleological explanations in four of Aristotle__s natural treatises, that is, in Physica (book II), De Anima, De Partibus Animalium (including the practice in books II-IV), and De Caelo (book II). Its second purpose is to confront these findings about Aristotle__s practice in the natural treatises with the theoretical picture of the structure of teleological explanations gained from Aristotle__s theory of scientific demonstration. For this purpose a new interpretation of Analytica Posteriora II.11 is presented. This study thereby contributes to recent scholarship on the relation between Aristotle__s philosophy of science and his philosophy of nature, while at the same time adding to our knowledge of Aristotle__s notion of teleology in terms of its explanatory merits and limits. Show less
The Master Class on "Comparative Intellectual Histories of the Early Modern World" was held at the International Institute for Asian Studies in Leiden in May-June, 2006. The idea of a master class ... Show moreThe Master Class on "Comparative Intellectual Histories of the Early Modern World" was held at the International Institute for Asian Studies in Leiden in May-June, 2006. The idea of a master class - assembling a team of scholars to discuss recent advances in a field with doctoral and postdoctoral students - is the brain child of IIAS's former director, Wim Stokhof, and I express my thanks to him for his vision and energy in making this intellectual experiment possible. I say experiment because none of the participants, the instructors included, had ever engaged in this kind of comparative intellectual-historical conversation. As Michael Cook confessed, although he works with Benjamin Elman in the very same building at Princeton University, the two had never previously exchanged ideas on problems shared across their regions. It was just this sort of noncommunication - fallout from the division of the world of knowledge into studies of areas - that the class was designed in part to address. Show less
Taking its cue from poststructuralist deconstruction, this study develops a new concept of technics, technique, and technology. This new concept of technics is located at a quasi-ontological level,... Show moreTaking its cue from poststructuralist deconstruction, this study develops a new concept of technics, technique, and technology. This new concept of technics is located at a quasi-ontological level, and it thereby becomes possible to renegotiate the relation between being and technics. Technics is understood as an operative force that is inscribed with multiplicity and heterogeneity from the very outset, while at the same time defying rigid order and origin. This leads to a new conceptualization of the machine. The author distinguishes between three different machines: a literary machine, a metaphysical machine, and a political machine. These three machines constantly interrelate, but while the metaphysical machine plays a decisive role in structuring the interrelation between these three machines, the literary machine plays a decisive role in deconstructing the interrelations Show less
Pre-modern Asia's diverse intellectual traditions shared a scientific enterprise in the development of mathematical astronomy and astrology. Inspired by the prospect of foretelling the future, and... Show morePre-modern Asia's diverse intellectual traditions shared a scientific enterprise in the development of mathematical astronomy and astrology. Inspired by the prospect of foretelling the future, and by the mathematical beauty of heavenly motions, scholars in the dominant cultures of Asia and Europe constructed a remarkably complex system of calculation, observation and prediction that became the springboard for modern physical science. Show less
The Wenzi is a Chinese philosophical text that is traditionally ascribed to a disciple of Laozi, the alleged founder of Daoism. The text was read, discussed, quoted and admired by the lettered... Show moreThe Wenzi is a Chinese philosophical text that is traditionally ascribed to a disciple of Laozi, the alleged founder of Daoism. The text was read, discussed, quoted and admired by the lettered class in imperial China for centuries, until the Northern Song dynasty. From the Southern Song dynasty, however, the Wenzi was branded a forgery and consigned to near oblivion. The recent discovery of an age-old Wenzi manuscript, inked on bamboo strips, refueled interest in the text. In this combined study of the bamboo manuscript and received text, Van Els argues that the Wenzi was written in the early Former Han dynasty and thoroughly revised after the Latter Han dynasty. He also maintains that, given the drastic revision, the two Wenzi’s should be seen as distinct texts, not as different versions of one text, and he subsequently studies the date, authorship and philosophy of each Wenzi. The study is concluded with an analysis of the reception history of the revised text, with an emphasis on the dramatic change in its evaluation: from an admired authentic work to a worthless forgery. This analysis sheds light on changing views on authorship, originality, authenticity and forgery in Chinese history, both past and present. Show less
Ethnologists inevitably come to their subjects with a certain philosophical baggage which is part of their own, North Atlantic universe of cosmological and moral meaning, and influences the way... Show moreEthnologists inevitably come to their subjects with a certain philosophical baggage which is part of their own, North Atlantic universe of cosmological and moral meaning, and influences the way they gather and interpret their data. This chapter examines one particular, widespread assumption informing Maussian and structuralist theorising on gifts and reciprocity: the idea of violence as a basic tendency of human nature. While most other contributions to this volume focus on detailed archaeological and ethnographic data pertaining to conflict and violence more directly, the present one looks at historical and epistemological backgrounds of one particular, quite influential way of handling such data theoretically and conceptually. Show less
