Continental Philosophy Research Articles

A leitura de Hegel de Alexandre Kojève e seu duplo legado

Kojève represents a pivotal point not only for the reception of Hegel in the 20th century, but for continental philosophy as a whole. By reading Hegel unilaterally, with a magnifying glass on the logic of the lord-bondsman relationship, Kojève imploded the traditional philosophy of history and anticipated, from within Hegelianism, treatments of historical temporality that would appear in opposition to Hegel with the emergence of French structuralism. In Kojève’s reading, humanism and the strong notion of a subject who produces the world also collapse of their own weight. The author thus demonstrates how this “double unavailability”– of man and of history – that so well characterizes continental philosophy in the second half of the 20th century finds its precursor in Kojève’s seminars. (Translator’s abstract).

Qualitative Inquiry, Ontology, and the Question of Being: “We Are Not Yet Thinking”

Mainstream/conventional qualitative research is fundamentally an epistemological activity, with the result that methodological issues are largely dealt with epistemologically rather than ontologically. For continental philosophy, however, epistemology has its basis in ontology. The continental approach to ontology has its origins in Heidegger’s reopening of the question of Being in Being and Time, which is viewed as having permanently altered the epistemological program that guides modern philosophy and modern science. Heidegger asks: What is the meaning of Being? Being is what determines beings as beings, but it is not itself a being. Heidegger conceives of Being as a question but because Being is not a being, the Being-question is unanswerable and always remains open. Being cannot be an object of knowledge but, instead, is an issue for thought. Heidegger’s examination of the Being-question also has a number of important implications for mainstream qualitative inquiry.

Intercultural Philosophy: A Reconstruction and Reimagining

Eric S. Nelson is an expert on Chinese Philosophy and Continental Philosophy. In this interview, Eric S. Nelson answers questions about the meaning of philosophy, its Eurocentric interpretations and his work on both traditions. His work presents an intercultural approach to different figures and traditions of philosophy. In the interview, Nelson also explains his recent book on Daoism and Environmental Philosophy: Nourishing Life and Heidegger and Dao.

The hidden influence: exploring presence in human-synthetic interactions through ghostbots

Presence is a palpable sense of space, things and others that overlaps with matters of meaning, yet is not reducible to it: it is a dimension of things that hides in plain sight. This paper is motivated by observations that (1) presence is under-appreciated in questions of modern and nascent human-synthetic agent interaction, and (2) that presence matters because it affects and moves us. The paper’s goal is to articulate a multi-faceted understanding of presence, and why it matters, so the importance of presence may be readily understood by those who regulate media, digital and artificial intelligence (AI) industries. Novel forms of presence raise all sorts of questions of what it means to live with new forms of presences. Some of these are highly positive and others are resistant to simplistic moral diagnosis, a point explored through extended consideration of ‘thanatechnology’ and ‘ghostbots’. To clarify and foreground presence, this paper draws on continental philosophy and technologist ideas about presence to understand the significance and parameters of presence. It then puts these to work by considering a range of existing and emerging human-synthetic agent interactions, arguing that that presence is an underappreciated yet crucial factor in human-synthetic interactions, particularly involving AI and ghostbots. The paper concludes with points of focus for organisations charged with media, data protection and AI governance regarding facets of presence-based characteristics for emergent human-synthetic interaction. Foremost is consideration of open standards for a presence-based afterlife and suggestion of a temporal firewall, or a break of time before resurrection, to prevent harm to those who have recently lost someone.

The Curious Case of the Disappearance of Pyrrhonism from Continental Philosophy

Abstract In this article, evidence is briefly presented for three facts that together point to something puzzling. (1) That major continental philosophers of the nineteenth century tended to engage in some detail, as part of a broader preoccupation with ancient Greek thought, with Pyrrhonian scepticism. (2) That major continental philosophers of the twentieth century tended to engage in some depth with their nineteenth-century forebears and maintained their tendency to engage significantly with ancient Greek thought. (3) That twentieth-century continental philosophers demonstrate little to no interest in Pyrrhonian scepticism. This raises the question: why does engagement with Pyrrhonism disappear from continental philosophy? The article discusses two hypotheses that might explain this disappearance.

A Continental Philosophy of the Academic Study of Religion

A Continental Philosophy of the Academic Study of Religion

Architectures of Terror

International Relations theory, in spite of having undergone several epistemic iterations, continues to analyze urban warfare via outdated perspectives. This is exemplified in the state-centric analyses that dominate the literature on the history of Israel-Palestine. There is an overwhelming concentration on policy and belligerent behaviors and little to no consideration of anthropocentric perspectives. This results in a near-total exclusion of human suffering from discussions of the conflict and its impacts on everyday civilian life, which in turn heavily alters the socio-political foundations. The academic domains of critical theory and human geography have, however, made good progress in capturing the severity of these discourses, enabling a nuanced understanding of the manner in which conflict management takes place. This paper aims to unify these perspectives and in so doing, expand the grammar of realpolitik – identifying it as a competent domain of IR that primarily focuses on conflict and its modalities. Making use of diffractive reading and analysis, this paper showcases the impact of realpolitik from the perspective of those affected. The aim is to inject empathy into contemporary mainstream discussions that deal with complex geopolitical situations such as Israel-Palestine. To that end, post-structuralist perspectives from continental philosophy, human and critical geography and affect theory are employed. Additionally, the philosophy of realism is theorized to be the epistemic foundation of realpolitik, and is subsequently dissected. The paper concludes by arguing for interdisciplinary approaches into the existing subject matter of realpolitik, a re-evaluation of the epistemic foundations and reflections on practical novelties. Note that this paper in no way aims to suggest political solutions, legal interventions or strategic shifts, but rather interprets the methods of urban warfare used by the Israeli Defense Forces, which defies traditional operational logic.

The extimate core of understanding: absolute metaphors, psychosis and large language models

AbstractThis paper delves into the striking parallels between the linguistic patterns of Large Language Models (LLMs) and the concepts of psychosis in Lacanian psychoanalysis. Lacanian theory, with its focus on the formal and logical underpinnings of psychosis, provides a compelling lens to juxtapose human cognition and AI mechanisms. LLMs, such as GPT-4, appear to replicate the intricate metaphorical and metonymical frameworks inherent in human language. Although grounded in mathematical logic and probabilistic analysis, the outputs of LLMs echo the nuanced linguistic associations found in metaphor and metonymy, suggesting a mirroring of human linguistic structures. A pivotal point in this discourse is the exploration of “absolute metaphors”—core gaps in reasoning discernible in both AI models and human thought processes and central to the Lacanian conceptualization of psychosis. Despite the traditional divide between AI research and continental philosophy, this analysis embarks on an innovative journey, utilizing Lacanian philosophy to unravel the logic of AI, using concepts established in the continental discourse on logic, rather than the analytical tradition.

Approaches to Metaphor: Cognitive-linguistic and Philosophical Perspectives

Metaphor has been a significant topic of discussion in several academic fields besides being extensively used in daily life. This article explores the interdisciplinary study of metaphor, a complex and connotative concept that has been the primary concern across various disciplines, including linguistics, philosophy, literature, and other humanities. The article presents multiperspective theories and metaphor analysis from the said disciplines to provide a more holistic understanding of metaphor. This includes analyzing metaphors in analytic philosophy and cognitive science, primarily focusing on the conceptual metaphor theory (CMT) developed by George Lakoff and Mark Johnson, complemented by analysis of the relevance theory, the blending theory, etc. While there are criticisms of CMT, it remains an influential theory in studying metaphor. The article also discusses the relevance theory, which suggests that using metaphors in speech can help achieve optimal relevancy, and the blending theory, which proposes that metaphors involve mapping elements from one mental space onto another to create a blended mental space that combines elements of both. This paper also addresses continental philosophers' usage or account of metaphor, from Kant to Derrida, in establishing their arguments. The essay then discusses and integrates ideas in metaphor studies from the perspectives of semantics and pragmatics. Finally, the article emphasizes the importance of bridging the gap between abstract conceptualizations and concrete linguistic expressions to gain a holistic understanding of metaphor.

От поколения континентальной философии к поколению аналитической философии

The article examines the evolution of philosophical generations in the Moscow academic environment from the late 90s of the last century to the mid-10s of this century. The work notes that the concept of “philosophical generation” should be used to indicate the exclusivity of any cultural phenomenon associated with a certain period of time. As a rule, at these stages of social development, we note in all spheres of cultural life a special rise in creative activity associated with the production or development of new ideas, meanings, the emergence of new trends in the discussion of already familiar problems and phenomena, the formation of a special vision and perception of the world as a whole. It is involvement in this activity that allows for the formation of a special generational identity, which presupposes a sense of involvement in some common process. Another point of this article is that waves of creative upswing are always followed by downturns. During these periods, we cannot identify any single cultural trend that allows the formation of a designated identity. Accordingly, we cannot talk about the presence of a special generation. Based on personal experience, the author of the article notes the changes in the academic philosophical environment that occurred during the designated period. This transformation was characterized by the transition from the generation of continental philosophy of the 90s through a period of decline to the formation of a generation of analytical philosophy in the late 2000s and early 1900s of this century.

Speculative geographies: Fictions and futures

Speculative thinking has made its mark in several disciplines and literary genres, including continental philosophy, predictive analytics, and science (or speculative) fiction. What might speculation look like through a geographical lens? And how would such thinking in a distinctly geographical register build on and possibly place into a wider context work on utopias, alternative communities, game worldscapes, and speculative futures? This conversation brings together four geographers who have worked across these topics to help examine the relations between speculative geographies.

People Are Not Points in Space: Network Models of Beliefs and Discussions

ABSTRACT Metaphors of positions, spectrums, perspectives, viewpoints, and polarization reflect the same model, which treats beliefs—and the people who hold them—as points in space. This model is deeply rooted in quantitative research methods and influential traditions of Continental philosophy, and it is evident in some qualitative research. It can suggest that deliberation is difficult and rare because many people are located far apart ideologically, and their respective positions can be explained as dependent variables of factors like personality, partisanship, and demographics. An alternative model treats a given person’s beliefs as connected by reasons to form networks. People disclose the connections among their respective beliefs when they discuss issues. This model offers insights about specific cases, such as discussions conducted on two US college campuses, which are represented here as belief-networks. The model also supports a more optimistic view of the public’s capacity to deliberate.

Living in Illusion is Dangerous

Abstract The interview given by Marina F. Bykova, Professor of Philosophy at the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies at North Carolina State University (USA), and the Editor-in-Chief of the journal Studies in East European Thought. She earned her PhD and Dr. Habil in Philosophy from the Institute of Philosophy, Russian Academy of Sciences (Moscow, Russia), where she worked until relocating to the USA in 2000. Bykova specializes in the history of nineteenth century continental philosophy, with a particular focus on German idealism. She has also written extensively on Russian philosophy and intellectual tradition. She has published 11 books and over 250 scholarly articles. Her forthcoming book, Hegel’s Philosophy of Nature: A Critical Guide, is set to be released by Cambridge University Press in 2024.

McCabe and Davies on God as not being a moral agent

ABSTRACT A large part of the contemporary philosophy of religion concerns the so-called ‘problem of evil’. It is difficult to see how pain and wickedness, and all the calamities that afflict our poor world, could even happen in a world created and ruled by God as he is described in classical theism. The problem of evil would likely make the very existence of the God of theism very unlikely, if not logically and existentially absurd. There are, however, some dissenting strands in this almost complete unanimity about the enormous philosophical and religious importance of the problem of evil. It could be found in Herbert McCabe’s and Brian Davies’s works. What McCabe and Davies say is linked to their diagnosis of a certain creeping anthropomorphism in the understanding of divine action, which has particularly spread in modern and contemporary philosophy of God. It results from a certain metaphysical presupposition about God, which McCabe and Davies do not share with most analytical philosophers, whether friends or foes of Christianity; and it seems to me that one would find some close presupposition among many continental philosophers, even if it is expressed in a very different way.

The Intellectual Representative of the School of objective Criticism: Azhar Ghouri

Object oriented approach of criticism has its roots in post continental philosophies based on perdiction and vision. Azhar Ghouri has strong advocacy for universalization of values and global adaptation of critical thinking styles. He believes in sublimity of Art and architecture regardless of classic or modern as a label for critical analysis. He believes in exploration of ideas and vision with insight in any piece of literature beyond its mechanical structure. Colonialism, exploitation, industrialisation, hunger, fear, shelter, peace and justice are controversial in global village according to A. G which needed to be reflected in art and literature in modes of individual’s interest. Author of this artical has explored gross root level realities and fundamental beliefs of object oriented approach in literary works of A.G. The agitation through pen has always been an eye opener initiative to stimulate the reader same has been highlighted by the author in the artical.

An Analysis of Time and Phenomenology by Husserl and Heidegger

This paper mainly discusses some important internal connections between Heidegger’s early philosophical thoughts, especially the phenomenological theory of time and Dasein’s existentialism, and Husserl’s phenomenology of inner time consciousness, so as to provide some favorable perspectives for a clearer understanding of the overall ideological context of the two thinkers. Correcting the inconsistencies and contradictions that we have formed in our minds and resolving some of these doubts, especially through the analysis of time and phenomenology, we can more clearly understand some important clues of 20th century continental philosophy and its position on the historical stage. The key is how Heidegger successfully completed his Dasein existentialism innovation and its “hermeneutic” transformation.

Reflecting on the Distinction between Philosophical Daoism and Religious Daoism Based on the Transmission and Transformation of the Concept of “Philosophy”

The distinction between philosophical Daoism and religious Daoism is widely influential yet highly controversial. The current popular empirical methods often overlook the vicissitude of the concepts underlying the reception history of this distinction. Therefore, this article adopts the method of intellectual history, based on the transmission and transformation of the concept of philosophy, to examine the rationales of the establishment and reception of this Daoist distinction. Here, we present that, though the Confucian tradition of ranking Daoist figures provided soil for this Daoist distinction, the establishment of the dichotomy with terminological awareness should be attributed to the cooperation between Victorian Protestant intellectuals and their late Qing Confucian collaborators. The concept of philosophy that pursues eternal wisdom and truth and traces the origin of all things has played an essential role in the establishment of this distinction. The thought of Laozi and Zhuangzi was valued and preferred in mainland China because of its deemed congruence with this Western concept of philosophy, while other more religious branches of Daoism were belittled. However, the philosophies of anti-metaphysics engender a new paradigm of thinking. On the one hand, under the influence of logical positivism and its successors, natural science has become an excellent model for other studies. In light of empirical methods, the distinction between philosophical Daoism and religious Daoism becomes an erroneous and inefficient metaphysical distinction. On the other hand, inspired by continental philosophers such as Nietzsche, Heidegger, and Derrida, scholars gained a new perspective on understanding the thought of Laozi and Zhuangzi. Thus, a new consensus emerges: eternal truth based on concepts and logic distorts the real world of life. According to this, the distinction between philosophical Daoism and religious Daoism is only an imaginary and conceptual distinction, which does not apply to the understanding of living Daoism.

The spirit of social pedagogy: the alternative theory base of German child welfare

While the term ‘social work’ has established itself internationally, many countries have alternative social professions with rich histories and distinct theory bases. This article examines a German example by theoretically considering a discipline central to child welfare: social pedagogy. The frameworks of key theorists are presented, reconstructing an intellectual lineage in education discourses and Continental philosophy. The case of social pedagogy acts as a reminder of mainstream theory bases quite different to those historically seen in Anglo-Saxon social work. Positivist perspectives are absent; instead, hermeneutics and critical theory have been dominant theoretical sources. Kant’s concept of Mündigkeit (‘maturity’), that is, the ability of a person to be a self-determining subject, reveals itself as the theoretical anchor point, linking the earliest theory making with later emancipatory and lifeworld approaches. The concepts that are recurrent in discourses can be amalgamated to define the discipline, and a tentative composite German social pedagogy definition is cautiously suggested.

A Systems Theoretic View of Speculative Realism

Recent developments in Continental philosophy have included the emergence of a school of “speculative realism,” which rejects the human-centered orientation that has long dominated Continental thought. Proponents of speculative realism differ on several issues, but many agree on the need for an object-oriented ontology. Some speculative realists identify realism with materialism, while others accord equal reality to objects that are non-material, even fictional. Several thinkers retain a focus on difference, a well-established theme in Continental thought. This paper looks at speculative realism from the perspective of systems theory. Many of the tenets of speculative realism have long been features of systems metaphysics and are expressed clearly in a systems framework. However, some views of some speculative realists differ substantially from systems theoretic ideas.

ПРОСТРАНСТВЕННО-ВРЕМЕННАЯ ПРИРОДА МУЗЫКАЛЬНОГО ПОНИМАНИЯ

The nature of musical understanding is currently being intensively investigated in both analytic and continental philosophy. Many authors point out that such understanding has an important intellectual component. This article studies the question of spatial components of musical understanding. B. Wharf drew attention to the fact that we often carry out spatial objectification in the mind. A. Bergson wrote about the same. Music has a motive, musical phrases, often a melody, and all that can be represented in the form of a drawing. To understand music means to understand the logic of the unfolding of the melody, and “unfolding” is a spatial phenomenon. Husserl writes of a temporal horizon when listening to music, but the horizon is also a spatial phenomenon. Furthermore, Husserl points out that the fluid meaning of music remains “the same”, and in order to see it, one must step out of the flow of time to some fixed point. Such an exit is virtual, but possible. However, those are not ordinary spatial representations. The term “quasi-space” is used for them, reminiscent of Husserl’s double intentionality. In that quasi-space the pattern or gestalt of music is formed. At the same time, there is a certain transcendental point, a limit to which our exit from the flow of time tends.