The Philosopher as Witness

The Philosopher as Witness
Author: Michael L. Morgan
Publisher: State University of New York Press
Total Pages: 252
Release: 2009-01-01
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 0791478297

Emil Fackenheim (1916–2003), one of the most important Jewish philosophers of the twentieth century, called on the world at large not only to bear witness to the Holocaust as an unprecedented assault on Judaism and on humanity, but also to recognize that the question of what it means to philosophize—indeed, what it means to be human—must be raised anew in its wake. The Philosopher as Witness begins with two recent essays written by Fackenheim himself and includes responses to the questions that Fackenheim posed to philosophy, Judaism, and humanity after the Holocaust. The contributors to this book dare to extend that questioning through a critical examination of Fackenheim's own thought and through an exploration of some of the ramifications of his work for fields of study and realms of religious life that transcend his own.

The Disinterested Witness

The Disinterested Witness
Author: Bina Gupta
Publisher: Northwestern University Press
Total Pages: 262
Release: 1998
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 9780810115651

The Disinterested Witness is a detailed, contextual, and interpretive study of the concept of saksin (or that which directly or immediately perceives) in Advaita Vedanta, and a fascinating and significant comparison of the philosophies of the East and West. Addressing a wide range of epistemological dilemmas, as well as perceived commonalities and differences between Eastern and Western philosophy, it is a major contribution to comparative philosophy and forms a vantage point for cross-cultural comparison.

Suffering Witness

Suffering Witness
Author: James Hatley
Publisher: SUNY Press
Total Pages: 286
Release: 2000-10-19
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 9780791447055

Conceptualizes the question of witness and responsibility, following the Holocaust, using continental philosophy, theology, and literary theory.

Hip-Hop as Philosophical Text and Testimony

Hip-Hop as Philosophical Text and Testimony
Author: Lissa Skitolsky
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 205
Release: 2020-12-16
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 1498566715

Hip-hop as survivor testimony? Rhymes as critical text? Drawing on her own experiences as a lifelong hip-hop head and philosophy professor, Lissa Skitolsky reveals the existential power of hip-hop to affect our sensibility and understanding of race and anti-black racism. Hip-Hop as Philosophical Text and Testimony: Can I Get a Witness? examines how the exclusion of hip-hop from academic discourse around knowledge, racism, white supremacy, genocide, white nationalism, and trauma reflects the very neoliberal sensibility that hip-hop exposes and opposes. At this critical moment in history, in the midst of a long overdue global reckoning with systemic anti-black racism, Skitolsky shows how it is more important than ever for white people to realize that our failure to see this system—and take hip-hop seriously—has been essential to its reproduction. In this book, she illustrates the unique power of underground hip-hop to interrupt our neoliberal and post-racial sensibility of current events.

The Philosophy of Agamben

The Philosophy of Agamben
Author: Catherine Mills
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 166
Release: 2014-12-05
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 1317492803

Giorgio Agamben has gained widespread popularity in recent years for his rethinking of radical politics and his approach to metaphysics and language. However, the extraordinary breadth of historical, legal and philosophical sources which contribute to the complexity and depth of Agamben's thinking can also make his work intimidating. Covering the full range of Agamben's work, this critical introduction outlines Agamben's key concerns: metaphysics, language and potentiality, aesthetics and poetics, sovereignty, law and biopolitics, ethics and testimony, and his powerful vision of post-historical humanity. Highlighting the novelty of Agamben's approach while also situating it in relation to the work of other continental thinkers, "The Philosophy of Agamben" presents a clear and engaging introduction to the work of this original and influential thinker.

Learning from Words

Learning from Words
Author: Jennifer Lackey
Publisher: OUP Oxford
Total Pages: 308
Release: 2010-03-18
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 0191614564

Testimony is an invaluable source of knowledge. We rely on the reports of those around us for everything from the ingredients in our food and medicine to the identity of our family members. Recent years have seen an explosion of interest in the epistemology of testimony. Despite the multitude of views offered, a single thesis is nearly universally accepted: testimonial knowledge is acquired through the process of transmission from speaker to hearer. In this book, Jennifer Lackey shows that this thesis is false and, hence, that the literature on testimony has been shaped at its core by a view that is fundamentally misguided. She then defends a detailed alternative to this conception of testimony: whereas the views currently dominant focus on the epistemic status of what speakers believe, Lackey advances a theory that instead centers on what speakers say. The upshot is that, strictly speaking, we do not learn from one another's beliefs - we learn from one another's words. Once this shift in focus is in place, Lackey goes on to argue that, though positive reasons are necessary for testimonial knowledge, testimony itself is an irreducible epistemic source. This leads to the development of a theory that gives proper credence to testimony's epistemologically dual nature: both the speaker and the hearer must make a positive epistemic contribution to testimonial knowledge. The resulting view not only reveals that testimony has the capacity to generate knowledge, but it also gives appropriate weight to our nature as both socially indebted and individually rational creatures. The approach found in this book will, then, represent a radical departure from the views currently dominating the epistemology of testimony, and thus is intended to reshape our understanding of the deep and ubiquitous reliance we have on the testimony of those around us.

Bearing Witness to Epiphany

Bearing Witness to Epiphany
Author: John Russon
Publisher: State University of New York Press
Total Pages: 169
Release: 2014-02-07
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 1438425171

Makes the novel argument that erotic life is the real sphere of human freedom.

Jesus the Great Philosopher

Jesus the Great Philosopher
Author: Jonathan T. Pennington
Publisher: Baker Books
Total Pages: 240
Release: 2020-10-20
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 149342758X

Many of us tend to live as though Jesus represents the "spiritual part" of our lives. We don't clearly see how he relates to the rest of our experiences, desires, and habits. How can Jesus, the Bible, and Christianity become more than a compartmentalized part of our lives? Highly regarded New Testament scholar and popular teacher Jonathan Pennington argues that we need to recover the lost biblical image of Jesus as the one true philosopher who teaches us how to experience the fullness of our humanity in the kingdom of God. Jesus teaches us what is good, right, and beautiful and offers answers to life's big questions: what it means to be human, how to be happy, how to order our emotions, and how we should conduct our relationships. This book brings Jesus and Christianity into dialogue with the ancient philosophers who asked the same big questions about finding meaningful happiness. It helps us rediscover biblical Christianity as a whole-life philosophy, one that addresses our greatest human questions and helps us live meaningful and flourishing lives.

An Introduction to Modern Jewish Philosophy

An Introduction to Modern Jewish Philosophy
Author: Norbert M. Samuelson
Publisher: State University of New York Press
Total Pages: 333
Release: 2012-02-01
Genre: History
ISBN: 1438418574

The book is divided into three sections. The first provides a general historical overview for the Jewish thought that follows. The second summarizes the variety of basic kinds of popular, positive Jewish commitment in the twentieth century. The third and major section summarizes the basic thought of those modern Jewish philosophers whose thought is technically the best and/or the most influential in Jewish intellectual circles. The Jewish philosophers covered include Spinoza, Mendelssohn, Hermann Cohen, Martin Buber, Franz Rosenzweig, Mordecai Kaplan, and Emil Fackenheim. The text includes summaries and a selected bibliography of primary and secondary sources.

Witness to My Life

Witness to My Life
Author: Jean-Paul Sartre
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 472
Release: 1992
Genre: Authors, French
ISBN: 0743244052