asks when we can justify driving our carbon contributors. In this article I want to suggest that ... more asks when we can justify driving our carbon contributors. In this article I want to suggest that much of the use we make of fossil-fuelled cars might be morally wrong, or at the very least ought to be subject to serious moral assessment. Rather than adopting just one kind of ethical framework, though, I will try to show that the non-essential driving of fossil-fuelled cars is morally questionable according to reasonable interpretations of four major contemporary approaches in moral philosophy: the doctrine of double effect, utilitarianism, contractualism, and virtue ethics. Double Effect Driving Driving a fossil-fuelled car (or even just turning on the engine) causes harms of many different kinds. It pollutes the air, exacerbating symptoms of cardiovascular diseases and releasing carcinogens; it intensifies greenhouse effects, such as climate change; it increases the risk of killing, injuring, and maiming people; it reduces the public space available for other uses; it generates noise pollution and stress; it maintains sedentary lifestyles; and so on. I take it that, all other things being equal, causing harm is morally wrong. There is no plausible ethical framework that suggests that we ought to cause harm without further justification. But causing harm can nevertheless be justified within different ethical frameworks in different ways. We will look at four ways in which the harm-caused by driving fossil-fuelled cars might be justified. Consider, for a baseline moral assessment, idling, where a car has its engine running without the car moving. It is illegal in the UK and elsewhere to idle your engine unnecessarily.
International Journal of Philosophical Studies, 2007
This paper responds to Tugendhat's well‐known and influential critique of Heidegger's c... more This paper responds to Tugendhat's well‐known and influential critique of Heidegger's concept of truth with the resources of Heidegger's texts, in particular §44 of Being and Time. To start with, Tugendhat's primary critical argument is reconstructed. It is held to consist firstly in the charge of ambiguity against Heidegger's formulations of his concept of truth and secondly in the claim that Heidegger's concept of truth is incompatible with an adequate concept of falsehood. It is shown that the supposedly ambiguous meanings are, on the one hand, in fact clearly distinguished by Heidegger and, on the other, that they merely amount to different extensions of the same meaning of truth. It is then shown how this concept of truth is indeed compatible with an adequate, albeit post‐metaphysical, concept of falsehood. Finally, the grounds of falsehood in the untruth of the existential of Verfallen are pursued and further objections are dismissed.
This article attempts to develop a sketch or working model of a semiotic theory of individuation ... more This article attempts to develop a sketch or working model of a semiotic theory of individuation from a formalization of basic teleological structures. After caveats and provisional definitions, a formal apparatus is introduced that schematizes teleological structures by way of mathematical category theory. This is then combined with a commutation test for formal systems. Once the formal construction is sufficient, the extent to which the model can account for the operation by which objects, modes, kinds, and attributes become individuated from the “pure multiplicity” of indeterminate being is analyzed. Subsequently, the model is applied to a series of well-known problems in metaphysics and ontology – persistence, change, vagueness, coincidence, mereology, and universals – in order to demonstrate its effectiveness. The metaphysical picture that results from this application is positioned between the conventional extremes of realism and anti-realism: a semiotic anti-/realism. Empiric...
The accompanying article aims to develop Eero Tarasti's inceptual theory of existential s... more The accompanying article aims to develop Eero Tarasti's inceptual theory of existential semiotics into a fully functioning if rudimentary model for semiotic analysis. It consists of the presentation, analysis, and critique of several of the essential but nebulous formulations that Tarasti offers, and the development on this basis of a tool for existential semiotic analysis: an existential version of Greimas' semiotic square. The particular concepts concerning which Tarasti is taken to task are transcendence, endo-/exo-signs, and understanding. In each case, the analysis and critique follows the same lines: revealing how Tarasti's implicit opposition to structuralism belies a fundamental misappropriation of the existential tradition and demonstrating how it is possible to develop his initial insights both into a more faithful appropriation of existentialism and into a more fundamental structuralism. On the foundation of the clarified concepts of transcendence, subjectivity, and understanding, an existential semiotic square is then developed that, while remaining rudimentary, will at least support basic existential semiotic analysis. Examples are given to demonstrate its functionality.
Heidegger’s most precise and extensive treatment of art is to be found in his 1935 essay The Orig... more Heidegger’s most precise and extensive treatment of art is to be found in his 1935 essay The Origin of the Artwork . This is, however, no work of aesthetics as traditionally conceived. The aim of this paper is to bring to light some of the fundamental differences between Heidegger’s approach to art and the traditional approach, and to do so within the context of Heidegger’s project of what he calls “overcoming metaphysics”. As Heidegger sees it, traditional aesthetics is metaphysical in essence. Therefore a part - indeed, a crucial part - of the project of overcoming metaphysics is the development of a non-metaphysical and hence non-aesthetic approach to art.
The claim that music is language may be oft repeated, but it remains wholly unenlightening unless... more The claim that music is language may be oft repeated, but it remains wholly unenlightening unless a sufficient explanation of one of these terms has already been given. My intention here is not to defend or criticise the claim that music is language, but rather to show the way in which these two characteristics first ground at least the possibility of perhaps fruitful analogy. This will amount to showing how the form of each can be understood to ground the possibility of meaning for each. This in turn is intended to illuminate a path towards understanding meaning in general.
The thesis consists of two main divisions. The first presents an original interpretation of Marti... more The thesis consists of two main divisions. The first presents an original interpretation of Martin Heidegger's philosophy. The second---premised on the first---presents a fundamental and internal critique of his philosophy. The interpretative division demonstrates the way in which the history of being is structurally grounded in the ontological conformation of Dasein. This amounts to evincing the unity of Heidegger's development of his basic philosophical project: the raising of the question of being, and requires an original account of both the philosophy of the history of being and the existential analysis of Dasein, as well as of the so-called Kehre. The critical division, which is founded upon the conclusions of the interpretative division, focuses on the structural grounding that Heidegger attempts to provide, within the existential analysis of Dasein, for his ontological demand for the overcoming of the epoch of metaphysics. This grounding is the cornerstone with which...
I attempt to provide a new answer to the enduring question of why people take the acute risks of ... more I attempt to provide a new answer to the enduring question of why people take the acute risks of climbing mountains. In so doing, I aim to explain, but not necessarily justify, participation in such endeavours. My account proceeds by analysing mountaineering adventures in terms of myth – in particular, in terms of the myth of Sisyphus and Joseph Campbell’s work on comparative mythology and psychoanalysis – and in the light of recent research in psychology on the concept of willpower. My analyses intend to establish that mountaineering is at root the attempt to affirm, validate and acquire psychological compensation for the demands of mature and responsible human agency. Finally, I consider what this account might reveal about the meaning of game-playing, sport, and human endeavour in general.
This paper responds to Tugendhat's well‐known and influential critique of Heidegger's concept of ... more This paper responds to Tugendhat's well‐known and influential critique of Heidegger's concept of truth with the resources of Heidegger's texts, in particular §44 of Being and Time. To start with, Tugendhat's primary critical argument is reconstructed. It is held to consist firstly in the charge of ambiguity against Heidegger's formulations of his concept of truth and secondly in the claim that Heidegger's concept of truth is incompatible with an adequate concept of falsehood. It is shown that the supposedly ambiguous meanings are, on the one hand, in fact clearly distinguished by Heidegger and, on the other, that they merely amount to different extensions of the same meaning of truth. It is then shown how this concept of truth is indeed compatible with an adequate, albeit post‐metaphysical, concept of falsehood. Finally, the grounds of falsehood in the untruth of the existential of Verfallen are pursued and further objections are dismissed.
The accompanying article aims to develop Eero Tarasti's inceptual theory of existential semiotics... more The accompanying article aims to develop Eero Tarasti's inceptual theory of existential semiotics into a fully functioning if rudimentary model for semiotic analysis. It consists of the presentation, analysis, and critique of several of the essential but nebulous formulations that Tarasti offers, and the development on this basis of a tool for existential semiotic analysis: an existential version of Greimas' semiotic square. The particular concepts concerning which Tarasti is taken to task are transcendence, endo-/exo-signs, and understanding. In each case, the analysis and critique follows the same lines: revealing how Tarasti's implicit opposition to structuralism belies a fundamental misappropriation of the existential tradition and demonstrating how it is possible to develop his initial insights both into a more faithful appropriation of existentialism and into a more fundamental structuralism. On the foundation of the clarified concepts of transcendence, subjectivity, and understanding, an existential semiotic square is then developed that, while remaining rudimentary, will at least support basic existential semiotic analysis. Examples are given to demonstrate its functionality.
This article attempts to develop a sketch or working model of a semiotic theory of individuation ... more This article attempts to develop a sketch or working model of a semiotic theory of individuation from a formalization of basic teleological structures. After caveats and provisional definitions, a formal apparatus is introduced that schematizes teleological structures by way of mathematical category theory. This is then combined with a commutation test for formal systems. Once the formal construction is sufficient, the extent to which the model can account for the operation by which objects, modes, kinds, and attributes become individuated from the “pure multiplicity” of indeterminate being is analyzed. Subsequently, the model is applied to a series of well-known problems in metaphysics and ontology – persistence, change, vagueness, coincidence, mereology, and universals – in order to demonstrate its effectiveness. The metaphysical picture that results from this application is positioned between the conventional extremes of realism and anti-realism: a semiotic anti-/realism. Empirical evidence is then also marshalled in support of the model by way of invocation and analysis of recent research into the development of the perceptual capacities of infants.
This chapter offers a long‐overdue semiotic analysis of the phenomenon of conscience. It is remar... more This chapter offers a long‐overdue semiotic analysis of the phenomenon of conscience. It is remarkable that such an analysis has not yet been attempted, because conscience has always been understood as something like a voice signing, and not just unimportantly, but as the voice of God. One could well have expected that an analysis of conscience would have been first on the semiotician’s tick list. Using Martin Heidegger’s phenomenological analysis of conscience as a guide, it turns out that a simple Peircean analysis in terms of representamen, object and interpretant is at least a good way of opening the phenomenon up with the semiotician’s tools. My conclusions point to the uniqueness of the sign of conscience among all signs. For it is one sign where all three moments—representamen, object and interpretant—are the very same entity. Given the existential semiotic reduction—without remainder—of the subject to a structured network of signs, one can then glimpse the extraordinary conclusion that in the phenomenon of conscience we encounter the signing of semiosis itself—the sign of signs. It is no wonder, then, that it has been understood to be the voice of God. I finish by developing the ethical ramifications of my analysis for semiotics.
RESEARCH ARTICLES
Rufus Duits, What Would a Deontic Logic of Internal Reasons Look Like?
Ioana Gr... more RESEARCH ARTICLES Rufus Duits, What Would a Deontic Logic of Internal Reasons Look Like? Ioana Grancea, Visual Modes of Ethotic Argumentation: An Exploratory Inquiry Christophe Perrin, Faire l’amour Andreea Poenaru, Echoes of the Eugenic Movement from Interwar Romania in Communist Pronatalist Practices James O. Young, The Buck Passing Theory of Art
DISCUSSION NOTES/DEBATE Terence Rajivan Edward, Does Marilyn Strathern Argue that the Concept of Nature Is a Social Construction? Rocco J. Gennaro, H.O.T. Theory, Concepts, and Synesthesia: A Reply to Adams and Shreve
asks when we can justify driving our carbon contributors. In this article I want to suggest that ... more asks when we can justify driving our carbon contributors. In this article I want to suggest that much of the use we make of fossil-fuelled cars might be morally wrong, or at the very least ought to be subject to serious moral assessment. Rather than adopting just one kind of ethical framework, though, I will try to show that the non-essential driving of fossil-fuelled cars is morally questionable according to reasonable interpretations of four major contemporary approaches in moral philosophy: the doctrine of double effect, utilitarianism, contractualism, and virtue ethics. Double Effect Driving Driving a fossil-fuelled car (or even just turning on the engine) causes harms of many different kinds. It pollutes the air, exacerbating symptoms of cardiovascular diseases and releasing carcinogens; it intensifies greenhouse effects, such as climate change; it increases the risk of killing, injuring, and maiming people; it reduces the public space available for other uses; it generates noise pollution and stress; it maintains sedentary lifestyles; and so on. I take it that, all other things being equal, causing harm is morally wrong. There is no plausible ethical framework that suggests that we ought to cause harm without further justification. But causing harm can nevertheless be justified within different ethical frameworks in different ways. We will look at four ways in which the harm-caused by driving fossil-fuelled cars might be justified. Consider, for a baseline moral assessment, idling, where a car has its engine running without the car moving. It is illegal in the UK and elsewhere to idle your engine unnecessarily.
International Journal of Philosophical Studies, 2007
This paper responds to Tugendhat's well‐known and influential critique of Heidegger's c... more This paper responds to Tugendhat's well‐known and influential critique of Heidegger's concept of truth with the resources of Heidegger's texts, in particular §44 of Being and Time. To start with, Tugendhat's primary critical argument is reconstructed. It is held to consist firstly in the charge of ambiguity against Heidegger's formulations of his concept of truth and secondly in the claim that Heidegger's concept of truth is incompatible with an adequate concept of falsehood. It is shown that the supposedly ambiguous meanings are, on the one hand, in fact clearly distinguished by Heidegger and, on the other, that they merely amount to different extensions of the same meaning of truth. It is then shown how this concept of truth is indeed compatible with an adequate, albeit post‐metaphysical, concept of falsehood. Finally, the grounds of falsehood in the untruth of the existential of Verfallen are pursued and further objections are dismissed.
This article attempts to develop a sketch or working model of a semiotic theory of individuation ... more This article attempts to develop a sketch or working model of a semiotic theory of individuation from a formalization of basic teleological structures. After caveats and provisional definitions, a formal apparatus is introduced that schematizes teleological structures by way of mathematical category theory. This is then combined with a commutation test for formal systems. Once the formal construction is sufficient, the extent to which the model can account for the operation by which objects, modes, kinds, and attributes become individuated from the “pure multiplicity” of indeterminate being is analyzed. Subsequently, the model is applied to a series of well-known problems in metaphysics and ontology – persistence, change, vagueness, coincidence, mereology, and universals – in order to demonstrate its effectiveness. The metaphysical picture that results from this application is positioned between the conventional extremes of realism and anti-realism: a semiotic anti-/realism. Empiric...
The accompanying article aims to develop Eero Tarasti's inceptual theory of existential s... more The accompanying article aims to develop Eero Tarasti's inceptual theory of existential semiotics into a fully functioning if rudimentary model for semiotic analysis. It consists of the presentation, analysis, and critique of several of the essential but nebulous formulations that Tarasti offers, and the development on this basis of a tool for existential semiotic analysis: an existential version of Greimas' semiotic square. The particular concepts concerning which Tarasti is taken to task are transcendence, endo-/exo-signs, and understanding. In each case, the analysis and critique follows the same lines: revealing how Tarasti's implicit opposition to structuralism belies a fundamental misappropriation of the existential tradition and demonstrating how it is possible to develop his initial insights both into a more faithful appropriation of existentialism and into a more fundamental structuralism. On the foundation of the clarified concepts of transcendence, subjectivity, and understanding, an existential semiotic square is then developed that, while remaining rudimentary, will at least support basic existential semiotic analysis. Examples are given to demonstrate its functionality.
Heidegger’s most precise and extensive treatment of art is to be found in his 1935 essay The Orig... more Heidegger’s most precise and extensive treatment of art is to be found in his 1935 essay The Origin of the Artwork . This is, however, no work of aesthetics as traditionally conceived. The aim of this paper is to bring to light some of the fundamental differences between Heidegger’s approach to art and the traditional approach, and to do so within the context of Heidegger’s project of what he calls “overcoming metaphysics”. As Heidegger sees it, traditional aesthetics is metaphysical in essence. Therefore a part - indeed, a crucial part - of the project of overcoming metaphysics is the development of a non-metaphysical and hence non-aesthetic approach to art.
The claim that music is language may be oft repeated, but it remains wholly unenlightening unless... more The claim that music is language may be oft repeated, but it remains wholly unenlightening unless a sufficient explanation of one of these terms has already been given. My intention here is not to defend or criticise the claim that music is language, but rather to show the way in which these two characteristics first ground at least the possibility of perhaps fruitful analogy. This will amount to showing how the form of each can be understood to ground the possibility of meaning for each. This in turn is intended to illuminate a path towards understanding meaning in general.
The thesis consists of two main divisions. The first presents an original interpretation of Marti... more The thesis consists of two main divisions. The first presents an original interpretation of Martin Heidegger's philosophy. The second---premised on the first---presents a fundamental and internal critique of his philosophy. The interpretative division demonstrates the way in which the history of being is structurally grounded in the ontological conformation of Dasein. This amounts to evincing the unity of Heidegger's development of his basic philosophical project: the raising of the question of being, and requires an original account of both the philosophy of the history of being and the existential analysis of Dasein, as well as of the so-called Kehre. The critical division, which is founded upon the conclusions of the interpretative division, focuses on the structural grounding that Heidegger attempts to provide, within the existential analysis of Dasein, for his ontological demand for the overcoming of the epoch of metaphysics. This grounding is the cornerstone with which...
I attempt to provide a new answer to the enduring question of why people take the acute risks of ... more I attempt to provide a new answer to the enduring question of why people take the acute risks of climbing mountains. In so doing, I aim to explain, but not necessarily justify, participation in such endeavours. My account proceeds by analysing mountaineering adventures in terms of myth – in particular, in terms of the myth of Sisyphus and Joseph Campbell’s work on comparative mythology and psychoanalysis – and in the light of recent research in psychology on the concept of willpower. My analyses intend to establish that mountaineering is at root the attempt to affirm, validate and acquire psychological compensation for the demands of mature and responsible human agency. Finally, I consider what this account might reveal about the meaning of game-playing, sport, and human endeavour in general.
This paper responds to Tugendhat's well‐known and influential critique of Heidegger's concept of ... more This paper responds to Tugendhat's well‐known and influential critique of Heidegger's concept of truth with the resources of Heidegger's texts, in particular §44 of Being and Time. To start with, Tugendhat's primary critical argument is reconstructed. It is held to consist firstly in the charge of ambiguity against Heidegger's formulations of his concept of truth and secondly in the claim that Heidegger's concept of truth is incompatible with an adequate concept of falsehood. It is shown that the supposedly ambiguous meanings are, on the one hand, in fact clearly distinguished by Heidegger and, on the other, that they merely amount to different extensions of the same meaning of truth. It is then shown how this concept of truth is indeed compatible with an adequate, albeit post‐metaphysical, concept of falsehood. Finally, the grounds of falsehood in the untruth of the existential of Verfallen are pursued and further objections are dismissed.
The accompanying article aims to develop Eero Tarasti's inceptual theory of existential semiotics... more The accompanying article aims to develop Eero Tarasti's inceptual theory of existential semiotics into a fully functioning if rudimentary model for semiotic analysis. It consists of the presentation, analysis, and critique of several of the essential but nebulous formulations that Tarasti offers, and the development on this basis of a tool for existential semiotic analysis: an existential version of Greimas' semiotic square. The particular concepts concerning which Tarasti is taken to task are transcendence, endo-/exo-signs, and understanding. In each case, the analysis and critique follows the same lines: revealing how Tarasti's implicit opposition to structuralism belies a fundamental misappropriation of the existential tradition and demonstrating how it is possible to develop his initial insights both into a more faithful appropriation of existentialism and into a more fundamental structuralism. On the foundation of the clarified concepts of transcendence, subjectivity, and understanding, an existential semiotic square is then developed that, while remaining rudimentary, will at least support basic existential semiotic analysis. Examples are given to demonstrate its functionality.
This article attempts to develop a sketch or working model of a semiotic theory of individuation ... more This article attempts to develop a sketch or working model of a semiotic theory of individuation from a formalization of basic teleological structures. After caveats and provisional definitions, a formal apparatus is introduced that schematizes teleological structures by way of mathematical category theory. This is then combined with a commutation test for formal systems. Once the formal construction is sufficient, the extent to which the model can account for the operation by which objects, modes, kinds, and attributes become individuated from the “pure multiplicity” of indeterminate being is analyzed. Subsequently, the model is applied to a series of well-known problems in metaphysics and ontology – persistence, change, vagueness, coincidence, mereology, and universals – in order to demonstrate its effectiveness. The metaphysical picture that results from this application is positioned between the conventional extremes of realism and anti-realism: a semiotic anti-/realism. Empirical evidence is then also marshalled in support of the model by way of invocation and analysis of recent research into the development of the perceptual capacities of infants.
This chapter offers a long‐overdue semiotic analysis of the phenomenon of conscience. It is remar... more This chapter offers a long‐overdue semiotic analysis of the phenomenon of conscience. It is remarkable that such an analysis has not yet been attempted, because conscience has always been understood as something like a voice signing, and not just unimportantly, but as the voice of God. One could well have expected that an analysis of conscience would have been first on the semiotician’s tick list. Using Martin Heidegger’s phenomenological analysis of conscience as a guide, it turns out that a simple Peircean analysis in terms of representamen, object and interpretant is at least a good way of opening the phenomenon up with the semiotician’s tools. My conclusions point to the uniqueness of the sign of conscience among all signs. For it is one sign where all three moments—representamen, object and interpretant—are the very same entity. Given the existential semiotic reduction—without remainder—of the subject to a structured network of signs, one can then glimpse the extraordinary conclusion that in the phenomenon of conscience we encounter the signing of semiosis itself—the sign of signs. It is no wonder, then, that it has been understood to be the voice of God. I finish by developing the ethical ramifications of my analysis for semiotics.
RESEARCH ARTICLES
Rufus Duits, What Would a Deontic Logic of Internal Reasons Look Like?
Ioana Gr... more RESEARCH ARTICLES Rufus Duits, What Would a Deontic Logic of Internal Reasons Look Like? Ioana Grancea, Visual Modes of Ethotic Argumentation: An Exploratory Inquiry Christophe Perrin, Faire l’amour Andreea Poenaru, Echoes of the Eugenic Movement from Interwar Romania in Communist Pronatalist Practices James O. Young, The Buck Passing Theory of Art
DISCUSSION NOTES/DEBATE Terence Rajivan Edward, Does Marilyn Strathern Argue that the Concept of Nature Is a Social Construction? Rocco J. Gennaro, H.O.T. Theory, Concepts, and Synesthesia: A Reply to Adams and Shreve
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Papers by Rufus Duits
Keywords: conscience, Heidegger, Peirce, enkratic principle, existential semiotics
Rufus Duits, What Would a Deontic Logic of Internal Reasons Look Like?
Ioana Grancea, Visual Modes of Ethotic Argumentation: An Exploratory Inquiry
Christophe Perrin, Faire l’amour
Andreea Poenaru, Echoes of the Eugenic Movement from Interwar Romania in Communist Pronatalist Practices
James O. Young, The Buck Passing Theory of Art
DISCUSSION NOTES/DEBATE
Terence Rajivan Edward, Does Marilyn Strathern Argue that the Concept of Nature Is a Social Construction?
Rocco J. Gennaro, H.O.T. Theory, Concepts, and Synesthesia: A Reply to Adams and Shreve
Keywords: conscience, Heidegger, Peirce, enkratic principle, existential semiotics
Rufus Duits, What Would a Deontic Logic of Internal Reasons Look Like?
Ioana Grancea, Visual Modes of Ethotic Argumentation: An Exploratory Inquiry
Christophe Perrin, Faire l’amour
Andreea Poenaru, Echoes of the Eugenic Movement from Interwar Romania in Communist Pronatalist Practices
James O. Young, The Buck Passing Theory of Art
DISCUSSION NOTES/DEBATE
Terence Rajivan Edward, Does Marilyn Strathern Argue that the Concept of Nature Is a Social Construction?
Rocco J. Gennaro, H.O.T. Theory, Concepts, and Synesthesia: A Reply to Adams and Shreve