Questions tagged [contemporary-philosophy]
The contemporary-philosophy tag has no usage guidance.
54
questions
34
votes
17
answers
34k
views
What are some good introductions to philosophy? [duplicate]
I've been searching the questions posed here, and don't seem to find one that gives the answers I am looking for. I've proposed to start a list on meta but no one proposed anything, so I feel I must ...
JNat♦
- 716
29
votes
5
answers
4k
views
In what way(s) does popular New Atheism fail to be philosophical?
I've seen some derision against the popular New Atheism movement, in particular against Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens, and Sam Harris (particularly interesting since he makes a big deal that ...
- 501
26
votes
3
answers
2k
views
What are the major research programmes in contemporary logic?
As an interested outsider who is prone to reading about different formulations of logic, I've become interested in better understanding the big picture of what people are trying to accomplish as they ...
- 9,930
13
votes
10
answers
5k
views
Is there any philosophical idea that radically changed the world in the twentieth century?
Is there any new, i.e., conceived in the last century, philosophical idea that radically changed the world in the twentieth century? I know it's kinda hard to come up with a precise and definitive ...
- 165
13
votes
2
answers
4k
views
How does posthumanism differ from transhumanism?
How does posthumanism differ from transhumanism?
Specifically, what are the major points of disagreement and regions of overlap between the two movements/schools of thought?
Some critics treat the ...
- 9,172
10
votes
2
answers
964
views
Are there any non-western thinkers regarded as Analytic philosophers?
European and American analytic philosophers argue that the values and aspirations of the analytic tradition, such as clarity and rigor, are meant to be universal. Some even say that analytic ...
- 101
9
votes
4
answers
2k
views
Contemporary proponents of Cartesian dualism
I have to find examples of contemporary philosophers who accept Cartesian dualism. Who would be the most important proponent? While philosophers who reject physicalism (e.g. David Chalmers, Thomas ...
- 189
8
votes
3
answers
667
views
Who are some contemporary philosophers outside of the "new atheism" authors who have responded to Plantinga's works?
I'm looking for contemporary philosophers other than those typically labeled as part of the New Atheism movement (i.e., Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett, Sam Harris, Christopher Hitchens, and Victor J. ...
- 369
8
votes
3
answers
4k
views
Which contemporary philosophers deal with the concept of honour without dismissing it out of hand?
Whenever I read about honour (the evaluation of a person's social status as judged by that individual's community), it is usually in a negative context (e.g., honour killings) or strictly comparative (...
- 614
7
votes
1
answer
3k
views
Contemporary philosophers similar to Schopenhauer
Who are the contemporary -not necessarily living- philosophers whose view of the world is similar to Schopenhauer's?
- 189
6
votes
3
answers
429
views
What are some commonly accepted theories of aesthetics?
What are the commonly accepted theories of aesthetics? Other than Kant, I haven't read much work on the topic, so I wouldn't mind hearing suggestions of contemporary works on aesthetics.
- 1,881
6
votes
2
answers
1k
views
What criticisms of Wittgenstein's philosophy of language have been offered?
In a 2003 obituary, Anna Sherrat described one of my many philosophy heroes, Donald Davidson, as “one of the greatest American philosophers.” She did an excellent job of summarizing one of the ...
- 369
5
votes
8
answers
83k
views
Who are the most influential living philosophers? [closed]
Who are the most important, widely-read or influential living philosophers still actively working and contributing to the field today? Which thinkers are recognized for doing the most interesting and ...
5
votes
5
answers
223
views
Narrative, what is it?
Most dictionaries define a narrative as telling about consecutive events. However i frequently see in philosophical works and discussions, especially postmodernist ones, the use of this word in such ...
5
votes
3
answers
464
views
Can it be shown that video games have in some way impacted philosophy or vice versa?
Video games are a quite recent invention and they became popular far after being invented, maybe by the 90s. However, I think video games somehow affected my worldview and produced some ideas. I will ...
- 2,488
5
votes
1
answer
3k
views
Ontic vs. Ontological
Are the two terms the same or not? In what sense Heidegger makes a distinction between the two?
Can someone give also simple examples of the difference?
- 191
5
votes
1
answer
520
views
Philosophical work that focuses on "pattern" and "change"?
My own specialty is A.I., but I figure this is an essentially philosophical topic. The existence of patterns and of change, or, said differently, of continuous change at multiple levels of abstraction,...
- 53
5
votes
1
answer
243
views
Is the Tractatus considered to have had any permanent influence on philosophy, given that Wittgenstein himself later repudiated it?
I was reading a text book that stated that Wittgenstein's Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus is rarely criticized in a serious way, since Wittgenstein himself rejected its ideas in his later phase, as ...
- 26.6k
4
votes
3
answers
7k
views
What is the definition of Derrida's term "dissemination"?
Derrida is hard to sum up but can someone define his notion of "dissemination" or does anyone know a good passage where he defines it? I know that Derrida writes on dissemination and has an original ...
- 391
4
votes
4
answers
864
views
Are old philosophical texts worth reading for ordinary individuals?
There is no doubt that the past philosophical texts have provided very useful ideas and have contributed significantly to society. However, because these books have been around for some time a lot of ...
- 1,288
4
votes
2
answers
175
views
Have any contemporary political philosophers argued for autocracy?
Have any contemporary political philosophers argued for autocracy? I know that very few go near fascism anymore (I read this in an encyclopaedia twenty years ago: history completely disproved it all).
...
user63148
4
votes
3
answers
942
views
What kind of math curriculum would one need to go through to understand Lacanian topology and knot theory?
All the latest psychoanalytic theory has been pursuing a highly mathematized trajectory which has left me in the dust as a philosophy/psychology student (4 years of liberal arts college with no math ...
- 391
4
votes
1
answer
180
views
Who should I read to broadly understand contemporary philosophical discourse?
I'm taking ancient philosophy at a public university. I've engaged with the Western canon from the pre-socratics through Aristotle, a number of the medievals and a smattering of modern philosophers ...
- 41
4
votes
1
answer
776
views
Has anyone discussed the relationship between Philosophy and Poetry? [closed]
The fragmentary pre-socratic record abounds in aphorisms, Nietszche wrote poetic & prophetic prose, the continental tradition is highly literary - to the point where it is incomprehensible to the ...
4
votes
2
answers
374
views
What is frequentism?
I am studying for an exam and I ran into frequentism. Honestly, I don't understand anything about that. Is frequentism related to probability only? Why are probabilities understood as frequencies? I ...
- 61
3
votes
3
answers
505
views
Fundamental Questions of Contemporary Philosophy
In John Searles 'Making the Social World" (2010), the chapter 'the purpose of this book' starts with declaring the following question as a fundamental question of contemporary philosophy:
How, if ...
- 3,047
3
votes
1
answer
369
views
What does "to naturalize reason" mean?
I am a newbie in philosophy.
I've just started reading "The philosophy book" that is a broad introduction about the main philosophers.
I found interesting the article on Richard Rorty, so I started ...
- 169
3
votes
1
answer
531
views
What are some current debates in metaphysics today?
What are some current debates in metaphysics today? I would be very interested to hear what the very most recent debates in this field focus on, what's hot, or whether some new views have emerged or a ...
- 161
3
votes
1
answer
136
views
Who is the contemporary philosopher that believes a dictatorship can be built without controlling access to information?
I apologize if this question is not in a good format for this Stack Exchange, but I am mostly looking for a name, that I wrote on a scrap of paper and lost.
I became interested in this contemporary ...
- 141
3
votes
4
answers
400
views
Why do fictional characters not exemplify properties?
I recently read about encoding and exemplifying.
From what I understand - Detective Smith (a real person) exemplifies detectiveness, but Sherlock Homes does not.
Sherlock Homes isn't real - and if,...
- 1,062
3
votes
1
answer
181
views
Is there an ethical difference between taking away and withholding?
Has anyone in contemporary ethics discussed whether or not there is a difference between (1) taking something away (e.g., stealing $100) or withholding something (e.g., refusing to pay $100 of taxes)?
- 31
2
votes
2
answers
222
views
Are there contemporary philosophers of nature that don't accept 20th century science?
Are there any 20/21th century philosophers that talk about a different approach to the study of nature other than science? Are there any that criticize science?
- 3,736
2
votes
1
answer
208
views
Are most philosophers analytic nowadays?
I know, the expression "analytic philosophy" is not something perfectly clear-cut, nor it is devoid of variations and multiplicity. The same can be said about "continental philosophy&...
- 175
2
votes
4
answers
288
views
Does a philosophy scholar in the modern world need to study ancient philosophy?
I am a philosophy enthusiast and I study philosophy on my own. I wanted to know whether a philosophy scholar in the modern world needs to study the ancient philosophical ideas, such as those by ...
- 59
2
votes
1
answer
324
views
Tautologies in religious language discussion
Influenced by Carnap and Wittgenstein, my view is that the disagreement between religious and non-religious people is mostly a semantic issue: the theistic and atheistic are referring to the same ...
- 141
2
votes
0
answers
271
views
Which philosophers have left sucessful academic careers to pursue other work?
I'm looking for (names of) philosophers who had successful careers in academia but, for whatever set of reasons, chose to leave and pursue work outside of academia, even if only temporarily.
For this ...
- 363
2
votes
0
answers
161
views
How does contemporary analytic philosophy reply to the late Wittgenstein's injunction against theory?
In the In Our Time episode on Wittgenstein philosopher Ray Monk says the following:
It's a central view of the later Wittgenstein that there can be no such thing as a philosophical theory. I think ...
- 363
2
votes
0
answers
55
views
Are there analytic philosophers of difference?
I've gathered from the IEP article on Differential Ontology that Gilles Deleuze wrote about difference in the sense that I'm interested in but not in a way that I'm interested in. I would like to see ...
user40425
2
votes
0
answers
165
views
To what extent do variations of Hume's Fork permeate modern philosophy, and specifically the analytical community?
Hume's Fork, which divides knowledge into 'relations of ideas' and 'matters of fact' has had an incredible influence on philosophy ever since its conception (though it is sometimes claimed that others ...
- 183
1
vote
2
answers
155
views
criticisms of mathematical structuralism
A popular, pretty modern trend in the philosophy of mathematics has been to treat mathematical objects as only possessing properties within the context of a mathematical structure. Does anyone know of ...
- 468
1
vote
1
answer
116
views
What is the current state of the Philosophy of Video Games?
Since there is philosophy of literature and philosophy of film I was wondering if someone could describe the current state of the philosophy of video games since there doesn't seem to be any articles ...
- 540
1
vote
0
answers
179
views
Recent developments in philosophy of history
We have all heard of Hegel's or Marx's ideas about what drives human history. Likewise, during the 19th century, other ideas on the same subject were formulated by authors such as Thomas Carlyle or ...
- 661
1
vote
0
answers
36
views
Arguments for naturalistic moral realism
In current philosophy, what are the main strands of argumentation when it comes to substantiating naturlistic moral realism?
My question may be rephrased into: How would you argue?
- 131
1
vote
0
answers
65
views
Who among 20th and 21st century Aristotelians has the most citations?
Who among 20th and 21st century Aristotelians is the most influential in terms of citations? And through what are they cited the most?
- 7,510
1
vote
0
answers
113
views
How many mirrors must a man look in before he becomes a man?
In Lacanian theory, the mirror stage first becomes effective when the infant ego is confronted with the possibility of another ego - an other - usually taken as the gaze of the mother; but this is but ...
0
votes
1
answer
189
views
What important contemporary philosophers are engaged in a critique of technology, and how?
What important contemporary philosophers are engaged in a critique of technology, and how? I'm interested in reading the best of these, and an outline would help me decide who to read.
I'm asking ...
user28660
0
votes
1
answer
141
views
Is it ethical to have a "personal philosophy"?
I'm not sure what having a "personal philosophy" means, but it seems like that's the only way non academics can relate to philosophy. I suppose it means taking some philosophical idea seriously enough ...
user28117
0
votes
1
answer
73
views
What do contemporary philosophy schools say about the Platonic theory of forms?
What do different schools of contemporary philosophy think about the Platonic Theory of forms? Is it approved by any philosophers today? What are the different thoughts towards it?
- 59
0
votes
1
answer
49
views
Russell v. Meinong
Was the crux/essence of Russell's quarrel with Meinong a matter of epistemology or ontology? As I recall, it had primarily to do with fictive objects/non-denoting expressions, and Russell's theory of ...
- 1,827
0
votes
1
answer
85
views
If Socrates time travelled to the 21st century, would he still face the same fate?
I believe that the Athenian community and authority did not appreciate his philosophy and political view.
Sometimes, I tell himself that they just didn't know his worth as he was way ahead of his time....
- 1