Scan barcode
philofox's reviews
301 reviews
Kant and the Naturalistic Turn of 18th Century Philosophy by Catherine Wilson
3.5
This is a frustrating work. On the one hand, I'm actually sympathetic to what's arguably Wilson's main suspicion here, that Kant is fundamentally fighting a rearguard action to preserve Christian morality against the onslaught of an Enlightenment, scientific worldview. I've long sensed this side of Kant, and shared an almost Nietzschean suspicion of it. Furthermore, Wilson is certainly right that Kant had many abhorrent views, including about sexuality and gender (I've long been sensitive to this as a sex-positive queer man), and that these should weigh more heavily on our reception of Kant than they have in the orthodox reception.
That all being said, the fundamental problem I have with the book is it operates so heavily by suggestion and juxtaposition. We are promised a deep contextualization of Kant, but don't really get it in terms of textual detail, or really substantiating who was important for Kant. We're given an intriguing and plausible alternative viewpoint on Kant - the rearguard savior of Christian morality mentioned above - that isn't actually weighed against more traditional interpretations on various topics. My reaction tended to be "we should be attentive to this other side, this dark side of Kant whenever we read him, but that doesn't show that more conventional interpretations are more wrong than right on particular topics." I really would've liked to see more direct engagement and weighing of arguments and evidence with more traditional interpretations, even if it meant a much longer book.
That all being said, this is a fascinating and provocative alternative approach to Kant with, I think, an important core insight, and we should read Kant more suspiciously in light of it.
That all being said, the fundamental problem I have with the book is it operates so heavily by suggestion and juxtaposition. We are promised a deep contextualization of Kant, but don't really get it in terms of textual detail, or really substantiating who was important for Kant. We're given an intriguing and plausible alternative viewpoint on Kant - the rearguard savior of Christian morality mentioned above - that isn't actually weighed against more traditional interpretations on various topics. My reaction tended to be "we should be attentive to this other side, this dark side of Kant whenever we read him, but that doesn't show that more conventional interpretations are more wrong than right on particular topics." I really would've liked to see more direct engagement and weighing of arguments and evidence with more traditional interpretations, even if it meant a much longer book.
That all being said, this is a fascinating and provocative alternative approach to Kant with, I think, an important core insight, and we should read Kant more suspiciously in light of it.
Making Sense of Heidegger: A Paradigm Shift by Thomas Sheehan
4.5
Controversial, but probably the best "overall" interpretation of Heidegger we have, especially in light of two main factors:
1) The fundamental limits of the Schürmann "reading Heidegger backwards" approach (as interesting as it can be, we should read Heidegger forwards)
2) Texts published and/or uncovered (including editorial manipulations) since the 1980s
1) The fundamental limits of the Schürmann "reading Heidegger backwards" approach (as interesting as it can be, we should read Heidegger forwards)
2) Texts published and/or uncovered (including editorial manipulations) since the 1980s
The Philosophy of Rudolf Carnap, Volume 11 by Rudolf Carnap, Paul Arthur Schilpp
5.0
One of the best Schilpp volumes, and that's saying something. Rewards rereading even all these decades later.