Naslov
God and the Philosopher are Gender Non-conforming: How to Subvert Dogmatic Thinking about the Philosophical Canon. With examples from Plato, Spinoza and Kant

Autori
Zovko, Marie-Elise

Vrsta, podvrsta i kategorija rada
Sažeci sa skupova, neobjavljeni rad, znanstveni

Skup
IN AND OUT – QUESTIONING THE PHILOSOPHICAL CANON, Summer School 2021, Institut za filozofiju, Zagreb

Mjesto i datum
Zagreb, Hrvatska, 28.06.2021. - 01.07.2021

Vrsta sudjelovanja
Predavanje

Vrsta recenzije
Nije recenziran

Ključne riječi
philosopher, God, wonder, questioning, knowledge, existence, freedom, morality, meaning, purpose, canon, gender, prejudice, stereotype, censorship

Sažetak
Wonder and curiosity are native to humans and many other species, the desire to know and to understand, to explore the world, ourselves, the way other animals and things, groups and individuals behave. The philosopher above all is driven by the need to understand and to explore, not only the ‘what’, but the ‘why’ of things, and beyond this the conditions of knowledge and existence, of freedom and morality, the meaning and aim of our actions and strivings, of the human condition, of life and death, coming-to-be and passing away, of history and the universe – and much more. The quest of the philosopher requires autonomy, independence of thought, freedom. But we also learn by exploring the mental universe of those who like us sought answers to these same questions before us. The search for insight in the works of the philosophers can be rich and rewarding. But if that search is subordinate to the prejudices or stereotypes of a specific school or movement, or dogged by prohibition, if the so-called canon is pre-sifted for us, the selection of works to be studied subject to preformed judgments, stereotypes, or even censorship, we are bound to miss out on the depth and richness the great philosophical minds of the past have to offer us. Feminist philosophy, gender and post-colonial studies have begun to break down barriers which subordinated philosophy to the domination of the white European male. I argue, however, that more is necessary, that this approach is not radical enough, and that any philosopher, regardless of gender or descent, needs to be understood on their own terms, requiring us to delve deeper than anthologies and histories, programs and courses of philosophy have permitted us to in the past. Those philosophers who have had the courage to question the standards and stereotypes of their age deserve to be contextualized, their radicality seen against the backdrop of the historical situation in which they lived – and the breaking down of barriers of language and custom which they themselves enacted. In my lecture, I recall some of prejudices, stereotypes, and prohibitions which determined the philosophical canon and its interpretation since the beginning of the 20th century, including those propagated by positivism, empiricism, the phenomenological school and analytic philosophy. Using examples of stereotypical judgments and preformed interpretations of Plato, Spinoza, and Kant, I highlight the undiminished relevance of the works of these philosophers today and suggest possibilities for their further exploration. I. Stereotypical judgments and dogmatic thinking about the philosophical canon in 20th century philosophy and beyond II. Plato as Bridge between the Ancients and the Moderns a. Elenhus, logos, dialectic, hypothesis –Plato’s “second-best sailing” and the birth of scientific method b. The perennial value of ideas in the debate regarding reasons and causes III. Spinoza the Iconoclast a. Pantheism, materialism, determinism, fatalism – why Spinoza doesn’t fit the mold b. ordo naturalis, ordo intellectualis, substantia infinita – Freedom, immortality and God in Spinoza IV. Kant and the Future of Metaphysics a. Epistemological readings of Kant in the 20th century b. An inverted reading of Kant - reflective judgment and hypothetical method in the third Critique

Izvorni jezik
Engleski

Znanstvena područja
Filozofija

POVEZANOST RADA