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Tag Archives: Rousseau
The Rise of the Novel
[While writing the conclusion for the Mansfield Park essay (which I am about to post) I realised that it relies on an assumption that may not be widely shared--that the rise of the realistic novel in the 18th century was a significant factor in the development of modern thought--so I will discuss it here first.]
The [...]
Posted in literary history Also tagged Defoe, Enlightenment, ethics, Ian Watt, Jane Austen, journalism, literary history, philosophy, printing, rationalism, religion, Romanticism Leave a comment
The Growth Illusion
Although I have gone to some effort to try and get folks to address the wider picture of the Levitt & Dubner attack on efforts to curb carbon emissions, I have only just received the first comment on it or any of the follow-up posts. Thanks to NelC for engaging–it is supposed to be the [...]
Posted in topical Also tagged climate change, conservatism, Enlightenment, ethics, global warming, liberalism, Marilynne Robinson, Michael Sandel, modernity, philosophy, rationalism, religion, Romanticism, Rowan Williams, secularism, virtue ethics 2 Comments
The Invention of Autonomy
In my quest to define what I mean by moral philosophy I will, again, contrast it with something that it is not: The Invention of Autonomy, J.B. Schneewind’s great historical account of modern moral philosophy culminating in the moral philosophy of Kant. I will do this by way of commenting on some key passages from [...]
Posted in 1 philosophy Also tagged Christianity, David Hume, Enlightenment, ethics, irrationalism, Jane Austen, Kant, Mansfield Park, Romanticism, sentimentalism Leave a comment
The Heart of Philosophy
The comment thread on Mark Vernon’s fourth instalment of his Plato series has taken a most interesting turn. (My earlier post True Love discussed this article, arguing that it reflects a modern propensity to take a wilfully irrational approach to love and other related concepts.)
Mark has responded to criticism in the comment thread to argue [...]
Posted in 1 philosophy, topical Also tagged David Hume, Enlightenment, ethics, irrationalism, Jane Austen, Kant, moralist, philosophy, rationalism, Romanticism Leave a comment
Why religion is valuable
In my previous post, The problem with the Enlightenment, I set out my conviction that the Enlightenment had established a false view of the self, that I labelled Romantic, and that this false view had insinuated itself into modern religion as well as its discontents. (See The romantic Austen (IV) for a taster of [...]
Posted in 1 philosophy, commentary Also tagged Christianity, David Hume, Enlightenment, ethics, Jane Austen, Kant, original sin, philosophy, Romanticism Leave a comment
Republic and the Social Contract
John Holbo has replied to my comment on his blog and my earlier post, where I expressed my admiration for his book while taking issue with the (entirely standard contemporary view) that the book is concerned with politics in the abstract, citing Robin Waterfield’s introduction to the OWC Republic.
As John says, ‘who is to say?’ [...]
Posted in 1 philosophy Also tagged David Hume, Enlightenment, ethics, Kant, philosophy, Plato, Republic, The Social Contract Leave a comment
Kant on Newton and Rousseau