Arendt, Hannah. Lectures on Kant’s Political Philosophy
1982, University of Chicago Press.
-
Expand entry
-
Added by: Sara PeppePublisher's Note: Hannah Arendt's last philosophical work was an intended three-part project entitled The Life of the Mind. Unfortunately, Arendt lived to complete only the first two parts, Thinking and Willing. Of the third, Judging, only the title page, with epigraphs from Cato and Goethe, was found after her death. As the titles suggest, Arendt conceived of her work as roughly parallel to the three Critiques of Immanuel Kant. In fact, while she began work on The Life of the Mind, Arendt lectured on "Kant's Political Philosophy," using the Critique of Judgment as her main text. The present volume brings Arendt's notes for these lectures together with other of her texts on the topic of judging and provides important clues to the likely direction of Arendt's thinking in this area.Comment: This book provides a good overview of Arendt's perspective on Kant's political philosophy. Previous knowledge on Kant is needed.
Arisaka, Yoko. Paradox of Dignity: Everyday Racism and the Failure of Multiculturalism
2010, Ethik und Gesellschaft 2
-
Expand entry
-
Added by: Simon Fokt, Contributed by: Yoko ArisakaAbstract: Liberal multiculturalism was introduced to support integration and anti-racism, but everyday racism continues to be a fact of life. This paper analyzes first some frameworks and problems that race and racism raise, and discusses two common liberal approaches for solving the problem of racism: the individualized conception of dignity and the social conception of multiculturalism. I argue that the ontological and epistemological assumptions involved in both of these approaches, coupled with the absence of the political-progressive notion of «race» in Germany, in fact obscure important paths against racism. Lastly I introduce a politico-existential position from Cornel West and conclude that racism should be seen as a failure of a democratic process rather than a problem of race.Comment: Offers a short review od the philosophy of race, the pitfalls of liberalism, why liberalism cannot solve racism, the situation in Germany
Arola, Adam. Native American Philosophy
2011, in The Oxford Handbook of World Philosophy, William Edelglass and Jay L. Garfield (eds.), OUP.
-
Expand entry
-
Added by: Sonja Dobroski and Quentin PharrAbstract:
This article introduces the central thinkers of contemporary American Indian philosophy by discussing concerns including the nature of experience, meaning, truth, the status of the individual and community, and finally issues concerning sovereignty. The impossibility of carving up the intellectual traditions of contemporary Native scholars in North America into neat and tidy disciplines must be kept in mind. The first hallmark of American Indian philosophy is the commitment to the belief that all things are related—and this belief is not simply an ontological claim, but rather an intellectual and ethical maxim.Comment: available in this Blueprint
Arola, Adam. Native American Philosophy
2011, in William Edelglass and Jay L. Garfield (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of World Philosophy. Oxford University Press
-
Expand entry
-
Added by: Kas BernaysAbstract:
This article introduces the central thinkers of contemporary American Indian philosophy by discussing concerns including the nature of experience, meaning, truth, the status of the individual and community, and finally issues concerning sovereignty. The impossibility of carving up the intellectual traditions of contemporary Native scholars in North America into neat and tidy disciplines must be kept in mind. The first hallmark of American Indian philosophy is the commitment to the belief that all things are related—and this belief is not simply an ontological claim, but rather an intellectual and ethical maxim.Comment (from this Blueprint): A broader introduction to Native American philosophy in general, with an emphasis on ontological interconnection as a central theme.
Arpaly, Nomy. Unprincipled Virtue: An Inquiry Into Moral Agency
2002, Oxford University Press.
-
Expand entry
-
Added by: Chris Blake-Turner, Contributed by: Nomy ArpalyPublisher's Note: Nomy Arpaly rejects the model of rationality used by most ethicists and action theorists. Both observation and psychology indicate that people act rationally without deliberation, and act irrationally with deliberation. By questioning the notion that our own minds are comprehensible to us--and therefore questioning much of the current work of action theorists and ethicists--Arpaly attempts to develop a more realistic conception of moral agency.
Ashford, Elizabeth. Utilitarianism, Integrity, and Partiality
2000, Journal of Philosophy 97(8): 421-439.
-
Expand entry
-
Added by: Simon FoktIntroduction: Bernard Williams's integrity objection against utilitarianism has made a very influential contribution to the view that utilitarianism is so demanding that it cannot be a serious option. Utilitarians, on the other hand, have generally denied that a suitably sophisticated version of utilitarianism is incompatible with agents' integrity. I argue here that, if we examine what a valuable conception of integrity consists in, we can see that it actually commits us, in the current state of the world, to extremely demanding moral obligations, on any plausible account of our moral obligations, including Williams's own. I then argue, however, that any such account of these obligations has difficulty in providing a rationale for how a fundamental conflict between them and agents' pursuit of their personal projects can be avoided. I conclude that it is, in fact, a strength of utilitarianism that it acknowledges that this conflict cannot be resolved and makes explicit the extent to which our integrity is currently compromised. I lastly argue that there is a practically realizable state of the world in which utilitarian moral obligations would not seriously conflict with agents' pursuit of their personal projects.Comment: This text offers a discussion of some of the major objections to utilitarianism. It is useful as a core reading in teaching advanced modules on moral theories, or as a further reading in a more general ethics course.
Ashley, Florence. Gatekeeping Hormone Replacement Therapy for Transgender Patients is Dehumanising
2019, The Journal of Medical Ethics. 45: 480-482.
-
Expand entry
-
Added by: Chris Blake-TurnerAbstract:
Although informed consent models for prescribing hormone replacement therapy are becoming increasingly prevalent, many physicians continue to require an assessment and referral letter from a mental health professional prior to prescription. Drawing on personal and communal experience, the author argues that assessment and referral requirements are dehumanising and unethical, foregrounding the ways in which these requirements evidence a mistrust of trans people, suppress the diversity of their experiences and sustain an unjustified double standard in contrast to other forms of clinical care. Physicians should abandon this unethical requirement in favour of an informed consent approach to transgender care.Comment (from this Blueprint): Ashley draws on their own experiences as a trans person, as well as that of the trans community more broadly, to argue against assessment and referral requirements for hormone-replacement therapy (HRT). Ashley argues instead for an informed consent model, on which providers of HRT are not gatekeepers of transness, but facilitators of thoughtful decision-making.
Asma'u, Nana. The Path of Truth
1997, in Boyd, J. and Mack B. B. (eds.), Collected Works of Nana Asma’u, Daughter of Usman Dan Fodiyo, (1793-1864). East Lansing: MSU Press
-
Expand entry
-
Added by: Björn Freter & Marc GwodogAbstract:
This manuscript is from a collection of poems written by Nana Asma'u Bint Usman 'dan Fodiyo, a nineteenth-century Muslim scholar, who lived in the region now known as northern Nigeria and was an eyewitness to battles of the largest of the West-African jihads of the era. The preparation and conduct of the jihad provide the topics for Nana Asma'u's poetry. Her work also includes treatises on history, law, mysticism, theology, and politics, and was heavily influenced by the Arabic poetic tradition. Asma'u rallied public opinion behind a movement devoted to the revival of Islam in West Africa and organized a public education system for women.Comment (from this Blueprint): The work of Nana Asma'u is an example of the contribution of women scholars to the Sufi intellectual tradition in the Sokoto Caliphate. The selected poems (1) emphasize the importance of acting rightly, and (2) offer a reflection on the relation between the moral/religious order and the political order. In the theocratic social structure she defends, she sets civil and religious responsibilities on an equal footing and insists on the duties and obligations imposed on those who govern as a guarantee of social justice.
Asma'u, Nana. Be Sure of God’s Truth
1997, in Boyd, J. and Mack B. B. (eds.), Collected Works of Nana Asma’u, Daughter of Usman Dan Fodiyo, (1793-1864). East Lansing: MSU Press
-
Expand entry
-
Added by: Björn Freter & Marc GwodogAbstract:
This manuscript is from a collection of poems written by Nana Asma'u Bint Usman 'dan Fodiyo, a nineteenth-century Muslim scholar, who lived in the region now known as northern Nigeria and was an eyewitness to battles of the largest of the West-African jihads of the era. The preparation and conduct of the jihad provide the topics for Nana Asma'u's poetry. Her work also includes treatises on history, law, mysticism, theology, and politics, and was heavily influenced by the Arabic poetic tradition. Asma'u rallied public opinion behind a movement devoted to the revival of Islam in West Africa and organized a public education system for women.Comment (from this Blueprint): The work of Nana Asma'u is an example of the contribution of women scholars to the Sufi intellectual tradition in the Sokoto Caliphate. The selected poems (1) emphasize the importance of acting rightly, and (2) offer a reflection on the relation between the moral/religious order and the political order. In the theocratic social structure she defends, she sets civil and religious responsibilities on an equal footing and insists on the duties and obligations imposed on those who govern as a guarantee of social justice.
Astell, Mary. A Serious Proposal to the Ladies: Parts I and II
2002, Broadview Press
-
Expand entry
-
Added by: Francesca BrunoPublisher's Note: Mary Astell's A Serious Proposal to the Ladies is one of the most important and neglected works advocating the establishment of women's academies. Its reception was so controversial that Astell responded with a lengthy sequel, also in this volume. The cause of great notoriety, Astell's Proposal was imitated by Defoe in his "An Academy for Women," parodied in the Tatler, satirized on the stage, plagiarized by Bishop Berkeley, and later mocked by Gilbert and Sullivan in Princess Ida.Comment: This new edition by Patricia Springborg of Mary Astell's A Serious Proposal to the Ladies: Parts I and II includes helpful introductory material and explanatory annotations to Astell's text. Springborg's introduction places Astell's work in the context of the woman question and the debate over empirical rationalism in the eighteenth-century. Astell defends women-only education, arguing against the dangers of women failing to think for themselves. This text is good to use in an early modern course. It could also be considered in a course on feminist philosophy as an example of early feminist thought (predating Mary Wollstonecraft).
Can’t find it?
Contribute the texts you think should be here and we’ll add them soon!