Abstract
This article examines the aural qualities of the collocation plaustra Bootes, its application in Latin poetry, and the precepts of rhetorical theory which explain its use. Plaustra Bootes, ...which occurs frequently, refers to either or both of the circumpolar constellations Ursa Major and Ursa Minor, configured as 'wagons', and to Bootes, the 'Oxman' who tends them. The case is made that the collocation is a poetic formula characterized by solemnity of diction, and that its application is limited to contexts, usually characterized by highly elaborate rhetoric, which train the attention on matters of natural science and philosophy. The rhetorical theory of the sublime provides the means to explain the pairing of diction and subject matter. It establishes a hierarchy of sublime topics which include philosophy and natural science, and it indicates the appropriate manner to express elevated thought. In this way rhetorical theory raises the question of the place of science in rhetoric and poetry. Implicit in the theory of the sublime is a system of thought in which rhetoric, poetic theory, and science are aligned with each other as representations in different domains of the same reality.
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12.
A Plurality of Values Livingston, Paisley
A Companion to Motion Pictures and Public Value,
02/2022
Book Chapter
This chapter addresses philosophical questions about the value of art, focusing especially on the nature of exclusively artistic value. It focuses on the question of the exclusively artistic value of ...art, given that broad conception. The chapter draws on Aristotelian ideas about the relations between instrumental and intrinsic (or final) values. It develops the distinction between art and fine art with reference to a C.I. Lewis‐inspired proposal regarding the nature of aesthetic value and experience. The chapter then turns to the relationship between aesthetic and fine‐artistic merit, and identifies a kind of exclusively fine‐artistic value based on the admiration of displays of skill or virtuosity. It concludes with some remarks about the topic of the relations between different kinds of value manifested by a particular work of art.
Chaos theory has captured scientific and popular attention. What began as the discovery of randomness in simple physical systems has become a widespread fascination with "chaotic" models of ...everything from business cycles to brainwaves to heart attacks. But what exactly does this explosion of new research into chaotic phenomena mean for our understanding of the world? In this timely book, Stephen Kellert takes the first sustained look at the broad intellectual and philosophical questions raised by recent advances in chaos theory—its implications for science as a source of knowledge and for the very meaning of that knowledge itself.
This article argues that the little everyday things of life often provide excellent entries into the intellectual problems of academic philosophy. This is illustrated with an analysis of four small ...stories taken from daily life in which people are in agony because they do not know what to do. It is argued that the crucial question in these stories is a philosophical question—not a closed request for empirical or formal information but an open question about how best to conceive of human experience. A discussion follows of the merits and short-comings of transcendentalism as an attempt by philosophers to make progress. It is argued that reformulating questions is what philosophers can do to contribute to people's comfort in life. This is illustrated with an argument showing that in the small stories discussed the question of what to do should be reformulated as the question of who to be.
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15.
Radical Interpretation Heal, Jane
A Companion to the Philosophy of Language,
03/2017
Book Chapter
To engage in radical interpretation is to set about investigating the meanings of utterances in some completely unknown language. It has been suggested that reflection on how such interpretation ...should proceed will throw light on the nature of meaning. This chapter concerns proposals of Donald Davidson and aims to locate his views in a broader context and to consider alternative approaches. Davidson's proposed radical interpretation starts in a place which is either not available or is not radical. The chapter discusses the location of radical interpretation within the broader field of philosophy, and identifies some of the options and their presuppositions. It outlines the ideas of Davidson, and considers their contrasts with alternative views, seeking to identify the crucial issues. The chapter argues that the questions about the nature of meaning and the possibility of radical interpretation are linked with other fundamental philosophical questions.
This chapter is concerned with the use of conceptual analysis, particularly intuitions, in solving various philosophical problems such as the concepts of knowledge, free will, moral judgment, and ...intentional action, among others. Experimentalists make use of the Survey Model in conducting their studies since survey feedbacks produce data about which philosophical perspectives can be analyzed. An alternative model is the Dialogue Model of inquiry, which has proven to be more efficient as the philosopher can directly present alternate interpretations and varying examples for the subject to choose from, yielding even more fruitful results.
This chapter reviews philosophical questions concerning freedom, purpose, design, destiny, teleology, spirituality, and even God, and addresses the model of discussion used by John Casti in his ...philosophical-scientific book Paradigms Lost. It provides the argument that evolution is unpredictable, contingent, nonrepeating, and directionless, as well as predictable, predetermined, and inevitable, and also presents the implications of the phenomenon of convergent evolution. The chapter shows that the phenomenon of convergent evolution leads to the review of Charles Darwin’s closing sentence, at least for carbon-based life.
