Martin Ovens

University of Oxford, Wolfson College, Member

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I am currently looking for additional contributions to two collections on the English philosopher and "Inkling" Owen Barfield. One is on philosophy of religion (publisher - Palgrave MacmiIllan), the other is on Barfield in contemporary contexts, with contributions from within literary theory, theology, economic thought, philosophy and other domains (publisher - Cambridge Scholars Publishing). Please contact me if you are interested in contributing to either book.

Tutor in Philosophy and Religious Studies (via OUDCE);
Visiting Scholar, Member of Wolfson College, University of Oxford, UK;
Associate Editor, Culture and Dialogue;
Associate Editor in Philosophy, Socrates;
Guest Editor, Perichoresis;
Member, international editorial committee of Comparative Philosophy;
Member, Advisory Board of Philosophical Views (e-magazine for philosophy and culture)
Member, International Research Group for Culture and Dialogue;
Member, Ancient World Research Cluster, Wolfson College, Oxford;
Member, The Comparative and Continental Philosophy Circle, USA;
Member, The Mystical Theology Network, Oxford

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Oludamini Ogunnaike

University of Virginia

Olav Eikeland

OsloMet—Oslo Metropolitan University

Daniel Abrams

Bar-Ilan University

Jeffery Long

Elizabethtown College

Luciana Gabriela Soares Santoprete

Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique / French National Centre for Scientific Research

Giuseppe Veltri

University of Hamburg

Viacheslav Kuleshov

Stockholm University

Elaine Fisher

Stanford University

kees versteegh

Radboud University Nijmegen

Muhammad U Faruque

University of Cincinnati

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Papers by Martin Ovens

The Sceptic Pilgrim: Seeking Intercultural and Interdisciplinary Patterns In the Philosophy of Creativity

Culture and Dialogue

This essay considers a potential linkage between skepsis and the engendering of creativity. It ex... more This essay considers a potential linkage between skepsis and the engendering of creativity. It explores and contests the possibility of a dialogical evolution of an intercultural scepticism, in particular a mode of skepsis conceived as a viable, productive way of life. It reflects on the conditions that encourage the development of a sceptical sensibility with reference to Sextus Empiricus, and then depicts an intercultural unfolding of the “sceptic ego” via reference to encounters with traditions such as Daoism and Romanticism. The result is a scepticism culminating in a disposition toward creativity and empathetic, interdisciplinary enquiry. Intercultural skepsis emerges as the possibility of manifesting as a “philosophy of creativity” that must demonstrate its usefulness, and justify itself, by producing concrete, communicable, worthwhile results.

Why Skeptics Paint, or Imagining “Skepoiesis ”: Un-Knowing and Re-Knowing Aesthetics Martin Ovens

Resemblance, Resonance and Reconstitution: Some Remarks on Śaṃkara and Creative Skepsis

Culture and Dialogue, 2018

This essay explores the possibility of dialogue between creative skepsis and Śaṃkara’s Advaita Ve... more This essay explores the possibility of dialogue between creative skepsis and Śaṃkara’s Advaita Vedānta based on a phenomenology of the structure and dynamics of both traditions. Externally, the essay shows how critical reflection on Śaṃkara/West comparative philosophy may culminate in standpoints of creative skepsis. Internally, the essay indicates how both traditions “resonate” as living “via negativas” that involve disciplines of enquiry within the practical context of a way of life.

Culture, Science and Dialogue

Culture and Dialogue, 2016

How do we understand the sciences and discourses about them? Aspects of philosophical dialogue ar... more How do we understand the sciences and discourses about them? Aspects of philosophical dialogue are highlighted and considered in ways that reveal distinct domains of enquiry relating to culture, science and mathematics. This analysis serves to contextualize the nature and content of the papers selected for the collection.

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Thinking Through Welsh Philosophy: A Speculative Approach

North American Journal of Welsh Studies, Nov 15, 2014

It is commonly assumed that there is no distinctive, originating tradition of "Welsh" p... more It is commonly assumed that there is no distinctive, originating tradition of "Welsh" philosophising. On this view we cannot discover an "-ism" that is undeniably Welsh, or a unique way of thinking that derives from, or has developed within, a Welsh cultural or historical context. In response to this situation, a standpoint of "creative scepticism" (or "aesthetic skepsis") is introduced and adopted, and a concept of "art as a mode of philosophising" is applied. This leads to the possibility that Welsh thinking is represented or communicated more effectively and meaningfully through diverse media and a range of aesthetic and cultural forms. At the same time, the compatibility of "aesthetic skepsis" with elements of Welsh movements and traditions is described, especially with reference to Radicalism and Dissent (both religious and political) and Romanticism. A creative correspondence or association between skepsis and Welsh cultural expression is revealed through a dynamic of empathic dialogue with Wales and Welsh culture.

"RESEMBLANCE, RESONANCE AND RECONSTITUTION: Some Remarks on Śamkara and Creative Skepsis" (ABSTRACT ONLY)

CULTURE AND DIALOGUE 6.1 , 2018

This essay explores the possibility of dialogue between creative skepsis and Śaṃkara's Advaita Ve... more This essay explores the possibility of dialogue between creative skepsis and Śaṃkara's Advaita Vedānta based on a phenomenology of the structure and dynamics of both traditions. Externally, the essay shows how critical reflection on Śaṃkara/West comparative philosophy may culminate in standpoints of creative skepsis. Internally, the essay indicates how both traditions "resonate" as living "via negativas" that involve disciplines of enquiry within the practical context of a way of life.

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Culture, Science and Dialogue: An Introduction

Culture and Dialogue Vol. 4 , no. 1, 2016

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Western Culture, Hindu Influence on

ROUTLEDGE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HINDUISM, 2008

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The Sceptic Pilgrim: Seeking Intercultural and Interdisciplinary Patterns in the Philosophy of Creativity

CULTURE AND DIALOGUE 1.1, 2011

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Why Skeptics Paint, or Imagining 'Skepoiesis': Un-knowing and Re-knowing Aesthetics

JOURNAL OF AESTHETICS AND PHENOMENOLOGY 1.1, 2014

Two distinct domains of philosophic enquiry are selected in order to disclose the core dynamics a... more Two distinct domains of philosophic enquiry are selected in order to disclose the core dynamics and concerns of a particular mode of "aesthetic skepsis" ("skepoiesis"). Aspects of philosophy of cosmology and philosophy of infinity are considered in ways that serve to discipline the diminution of "belief" (dogmatisation) and the cultivation of creativity. The journey begins with a skeptic ego that is phenomenologically "empty" but wedded to a rhetoric of "darkness and light." The result is a skepsis that needs to recapture and reconfigure aesthetics and art in order to represent and communicate itself. "Skepoiesis" is a "subtle knot": it actively manifests as a "need for art" as well as enquiries into the problematics of philosophical aesthetics from the standpoint of creative skepsis.

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Thinking Through Welsh Philosophy: A Speculative Approach

NORTH AMERICAN JOURNAL OF WELSH STUDIES, 2014

It is commonly assumed that there is no distinctive, originating tradition of "Welsh" philosophis... more It is commonly assumed that there is no distinctive, originating tradition of "Welsh" philosophising. On this view we cannot discover an "-ism" that is undeniably Welsh, or a unique way of thinking that derives from, or has developed within, a Welsh cultural or historical context. In response to this situation, a standpoint of "creative scepticism" (or "aesthetic skepsis") is introduced and adopted, and a concept of "art as a mode of philosophising" is applied. This leads to the possibility that Welsh thinking is represented or communicated more effectively and meaningfully through diverse media and a range of aesthetic and cultural forms. At the same time, the compatibility of "aesthetic skepsis" with elements of Welsh movements and traditions is described, especially with reference to Radicalism and Dissent (both religious and political) and Romanticism. A creative correspondence or association between skepsis and Welsh cultural expression is revealed through a dynamic of empathic dialogue with Walesand Welsh culture.

Download

The Sceptic Pilgrim: Seeking Intercultural and Interdisciplinary Patterns In the Philosophy of Creativity

Culture and Dialogue