There is a very interesting phenomenon which takes place in philosophy. Theories which appeared ten or fifteen years ago in the literature of, say, the philosophy of language or the philosophy of mind, often make a reappearance in current discussions of problems in the philosophy of religion. As Yogi Berra once remarked, ‘It's déjà vu all over again’. However, there is always a possibility that the transition from the earlier context to the later one will be less than smooth. For (...) sometimes the theory reappears in a slightly distorted form, and, as a result, its bearing on the current discussion is somewhat misconceived. In this paper, an example of this phenomenon, and its potential problems, will be considered. Our purpose is not, of course, to discourage such intra-disciplinary dialogue in philosophy of religion, but rather to recommend that it be undertaken with a considerable measure of care. (shrink)

Jacques Derrida's extensive early writings devoted considerable attention to "being as presence," the reality underlying the history of metaphysics. In Derrida on Being as Presence: Questions and Quests, David A. White develops the intricate conceptual structure of this notion by close exegetical readings drawn from these writings. White discusses cardinal concepts in Derrida's revamping of theoretical considerations pertaining to language--signification, context, negation, iterability--as these considerations depend on the structure of being as presence and also as they ground (...) "deconstructive" reading. White's appraisal raises questions invoking a range of problems. He deploys these questions in conjunction with thematically related quests that arise given Derrida's conviction that the history of metaphysics, as variations on being as presence, has concealed and skewed vital elements of reality. White inflects this critical apparatus concerning being as presence with texts drawn from that history--e.g., by Plato, Aristotle, Bacon, Hume, Kant, Whitehead. The essay concludes with a speculative ensemble of provisional categories, or zones of specificity. Implementing these categories will ground the possibility that philosophy in general and metaphysics in particular can be pursued in ways which acknowledge the relevance of Derrida's thought when integrated with the philosophical enterprise as traditionally understood. (shrink)

This book shows how the details of the myth and the accounts of interaction between lovers are based on a carefully articulated metaphysical structure.

This study intends principally to isolate and describe the function of myth in the Phaedo in order to show its effect on the complex metaphysics developed throughout the dialogue. It further illustrates how these metaphysical concepts structure the dialogue's concluding eschatological myth.

Teachers White and Thompson allowed students to explore the primary-source readings from several philosophers in a 5th grade course called Apogee. The essay is written with a focus on Patience and other virtues.

Teachers White and Thompson allowed students to explore the primary-source readings from several philosophers in a 5th grade course called Apogee. The essay is written with a focus on Patience and other virtues.

Teachers White and Thompson allowed students to explore the primary-source readings from several philosophers in a 5th grade course called Apogee. The essay is written with a focus on Patience and other virtues.

Derrida on Formal Logic: An Interpretive Essay develops the dominant themes in Jacques Derrida's texts on the principles of formal logic, especially identity and contradiction, as these themes emerged from Derrida's discussion of Joyce's Ulysses. For students of Derrida and his place as a critic of western metaphysics, the work provides a clear account and critical evaluation of implications drawn from Derrida's conclusions concerning the strength of formal logic.

Plato's dialogue "The Statesman" has often been found structurally puzzling because of its apparent diffuseness and disjointed transitions. This book interprets the dialogue in ways which account for this problematic structure, and which also connect the primary themes of the dialogue with two subsequent dialogues "The Philebus" and "The Laws.".

Heidegger’s thought, particularly in the middle and late periods, is often characterized—and criticized—as historicist. The strands of reflection constituting Heidegger’s historicism lead to the core of his most profound contributions to fundamental questions concerning the structure of Being. We should expect therefore that understanding this historicism will be as complicated as it is important, and that suitable criticism of his position should be attempted only when this understanding has been approximated, if not achieved.

(1992). On the Limits of Classical Reason: Derrida and Aristotle. Journal of the British Society for Phenomenology: Vol. 23, Sartre, Derrida and Law, pp. 120-126.

This book is intended as a contribution to the philosophy of history. The scope of this contribution--uncovering the awareness of the historical past as a part of human experience--is laid out in an extensive introduction drawing upon both contemporary analytic and phenomenological thought. In chapter 1, Carr presents an account of the temporal structure of experience based primarily on Husserl and, relevant themes in analytic philosophy. Chapter 2 describes the concept of narration and relates this concept to the account of (...) experience and action offered in chapter 1. In chapter 3, Carr draws upon Dilthey and the early Heidegger's use of Dilthey to develop the restricted descriptions of the first chapter into an account of the self as a unity. (shrink)

This work is a translation of volume 54 of the Heidegger Gesamtausgabe. The original German volume is the text of a lecture course given from 1942 to 1943 at Freiburg and amended by Heidegger before its publication in 1982. The translators provide a brief Foreword with background and examples illustrating their principles of translation. The translation itself is well done, accurate, and clear.

Delimitations is divided into fifteen sections arranged under four headings. Part 1, "Closure of Metaphysics," characterizes Sallis's interpretation of the end of metaphysics. Part 2, "Openings--To the Things Themselves," contains discussions of texts drawn from Hegel, Husserl, and Heidegger. These discussions open ways toward a post-metaphysical thinking which will reveal "the things themselves." Part 3, "Clearing," is comprised of analyses of Heidegger which "displace" the dominance of such metaphysical notions as "meaning" and "end." Part 4, "Archaic Closure," concludes the work (...) with reflections on the Allegory of the Cave and a Heraclitus fragment. (shrink)

The assumptions that literary criticism and philosophy are closely linked—and that both disciplines can learn much from each other—lead David White to examine key passages in James Joyce’s novels both as a philosopher and as literary critic. In so doing, he develops a thesis that Joyce’s attempt to capture the mysterious process whereby perception and consciousness are translated into language entails a fundamental challenge to everyday notions of reality. Joyce’s stylistic brilliance and virtuosity, his destruction of normal syntax (...) and meaning, “shock one into a new reality.” In the book’s final section, White examines the subtle relation between literary language and human consciousness and traces parallels between Joyce’s stylistic experimentation and Wittgenstein’s and Husserl’s ideas about language. (shrink)