•  53
    Fichte's striving subject
    Inquiry: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Philosophy 47 (2). 2004.
    In this paper I argue that Fichte's attempt to reconcile the dualism of concept and intuition requires the overcoming of any idea of a thing-in-itself. At the same time he preserves the idea of an external constraint on the I's self-positing. This central role for the realist constraint of the check conflicts with recent interpretations of Fichte that see his project as advocating the exclusivity of the space of reasons. The striving subject confronts and unifies the opposition between the reali…Read more
  •  15
    A Subject for Hegel’s Logic
    International Philosophical Quarterly 40 (1): 85-99. 2000.
  • Robert Stern's Hegel and the Phenomenology of Spirit (review)
    Bulletin of the Hegel Society of Great Britain 47 101-105. 2003.
  •  107
    Dialectic and différance: The place of singularity in Hegel and Derrida
    Philosophy and Social Criticism 33 (6): 667-690. 2007.
    This article examines Derrida's critique of Hegel. It argues that there are two key issues that Derrida misunderstands in Hegel's thought: first, Hegel's response to the concept-intuition dichotomy that plagued Kant's critical thought; second, that Hegel's notions of reason and the dialectic, when they are conceived non-metaphysically, are not tools employed to subsume differences but are, like Derrida's différance , fundamentally concerned with thought's instability. The article shows the way i…Read more
  •  83
    In Totality and Infinity Levinas presents the 'face to face' as an account of intersubjectivity, but one which maintains the absolute difference of the Other. This essay explores the genesis of the 'face to face' through a discussion of Levinas in relation to Buber. It is argued that Levinas' account of subjectivity shares much in common with Fichte's theory of subjectivity. It is further argued that while the 'face to face' clarifies and opposes traditional problems in social ontology, the 'fac…Read more
  •  24
    Tragedy and Understanding in Hegel's Dialectic
    Idealistic Studies 31 (2-3): 125-134. 2001.
    At every point of transition in Hegel's Phenomenology of Spirit each shape of consciousness becomes a seemingly irreconcilable contradiction. It is just at these points, however, that the shape of consciousness in question shows itself as a 'higher' or more adequate shape of consciousness that is able to suspend or move beyond [aufheben] these seemingly irreconcilable differences. The transitions in Hegel's systematic works are complicated and often bewildering. One element is constant in all of…Read more
  •  14
    Realism and Idealism in Fichte's theory of Subjectivity
    The Proceedings of the Twenty-First World Congress of Philosophy 10 189-196. 2007.
    Kant's account of subjectivity is ambiguous: there is an implicit critique of Descartes in Kaaat, but this is in conflict with more Cartesian aspects of his approach to subjectivity. Fichte develops the critical elements of Kant and turns them against Kant's residual Cartesianism. Fichte, in the various versions of the Wissenschaftslehre, is the first to be aware of the limitations of the reflective model of consciousness. In those texts he presents his alternative model for subjectivity by tryi…Read more
  •  20
    Hegel, Derrida and the subject
    Cosmos and History 3 (2-3): 32-50. 2007.
    There is a simple story to be told about Derridarsquo;s relation to Hegel. He develops his core concepts such as diffeacute;rance and trace through an essentially negative relation to the central notions of the idealist tradition. Derrida has been particularly concerned to undermine what he takes to be the heart of the idealist projectmdash;the self-present subject. This paper examines the influence of Heidegger on the deconstructive critique of idealist subjectivity and presents Derridarsquo;s …Read more
  •  6
    A Subject for Hegel’s Logic
    International Philosophical Quarterly 40 (1): 85-99. 2000.
  •  11
    Poststructuralists hold Hegel responsible for giving rise to many of modern philosophy's problematic concepts--the authority of reason, self-consciousness, the knowing subject. Yet, according to Simon Lumsden, this animosity is rooted in a fundamental misunderstanding of Hegel's thought, and resolving this tension can not only heal the rift between poststructuralism and German idealism but also point these traditions in exciting new directions. Revisiting the philosopher's key texts, Lumsden cal…Read more
  •  47
    Habit, Sittlichkeit and Second Nature
    Critical Horizons 13 (2). 2012.
    Discussions of habit in Hegel’s thought usually focus on his subjective spirit since this is where the most extended discussion of this issue takes place. This paper argues that habit is also important for understanding Hegel’s Philosophy of Right. The discussion of habit and second nature occur at a critical juncture in the text. This discussion is important for understanding his notion of ethical life and his account of freedom.
  •  2
    Deleuze and Hegel on the limits of self-determined subjectivity
    In Karen Houle, Jim Vernon & Jean-Clet Martin (eds.), Hegel and Deleuze: Together Again for the First Time, Northwestern University Press. 2013.
  •  52
    At Home with Hegel and Heidegger
    Philosophy Today 59 (1): 7-21. 2015.
    The image of home has a central place in the thought of both Heidegger and Hegel. In Hegel, being at home is central to Hegel’s reformulation of Kantian freedom. The notion of home and dwelling is also a central notion in Heidegger’s thought, especially his later thought. This paper examines their respective uses of the term and argues that the different ways they conceive the problem of home or dwelling reveals their different conceptions of modernity.
  •  53
    The Problem of Beginning Hegel’s Phenomenology and Seience of Logic
    International Studies in Philosophy 35 (4): 83-103. 2003.