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6Ancient Greek philosophy I: The pre-Socratics and PlatoIn A. C. Grayling (ed.), Philosophy: a guide through the subject, Oxford University Press. pp. 336--397. 1995.An introductory text dealing with the Pre-Socratic philosophers and central aspects of Plato.
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228Nietzsche, the self, and SchopenhauerIn Keith Ansell-Pearson (ed.), Nietzsche and Modern German Thought, Routledge. 1991.Nietzsche vehemently attacks the traditional conception of the unitary self. This essay tries to show that some of the undermining of that conception had already been done in Schopenhauer’s work. We should not ignore the obvious fact that while Nietzsche is a philosopher of cultures, classes and epochs, Schopenhauer’s view of knowledge and ethics remains firmly ahistorical. 1 Nevertheless, if we first try to inhabit Schopenhauer’s point of view, we can look forward to Nietzsche and illuminate hi…Read more
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26Naturalism and genealogyIn Keith Ansell Pearson (ed.), A Companion to Nietzsche, Blackwell. pp. 337-52. 2006-01-01.This chapter contains sections titled: Methodological Naturalism Nietzsche's Antagonists in the Genealogy Rée and Selflessness Real History Rhetorical Method and the Affects Perils of Present Concepts: Causa fiendi and False Unity Conclusion.
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Willing and Nothingness: Schopenhauer as Nietzsche's EducatorTijdschrift Voor Filosofie 61 (4): 802-805. 1999.
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227Nietzsche on Free Will, Autonomy and the Sovereign IndividualAristotelian Society Supplementary Volume 80 (1): 321-357. 2006.[Ken Gemes] In some texts Nietzsche vehemently denies the possibility of free will; in others he seems to positively countenance its existence. This paper distinguishes two different notions of free will. Agency free will is intrinsically tied to the question of agency, what constitutes an action as opposed to a mere doing. Deserts free will is intrinsically tied to the question of desert, of who does and does not merit punishment and reward. It is shown that we can render Nietzsche's prima faci…Read more
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189Images of excellence: Plato's critique of the artsOxford University Press. 1995.This original new book argues for a reassessment of Plato's challenge to the arts. Plato was the first great figure in Western philosophy to assess the value of the arts; he argued in the Republic that traditionally accepted forms of poetry, drama, and music are unsound. While this view has been widely rejected, Janaway argues that Plato's hostile case is a more coherent and profound challenge to the arts than has sometimes been supposed. Denying that Plato advocates "good art" in any modern sen…Read more
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44The real essence of human beings: Schopenhauer on the unconscious willIn Angus Nicholls & Martin Liebscher (eds.), Thinking the Unconscious: Nineteenth-Century German Thought, Cambridge University Press. pp. 140-155. 2010.This paper elucidates and interrogates Schopenhauer’s notion of will and its relation to ideas about the unconscious, with the aim of addressing its significance as an exercise in philosophical psychology. Schopenhauer aims at a global metaphysics, a theory of the essence of the world as it is in itself. He calls this essence will (Wille), which, to put it briefly, he understands as a blind striving for existence, life, and reproduction. Human beings have the same essence as all other manifestat…Read more
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461Die Schönheit ist falsch, die Wahrheit hässlich: Nietzsche über die Kunst und das LebenIn Lore Hühn & Philipp Schwab (eds.), Die Philosophie des Tragischen: Schopenhauer - Schelling - Nietzsche, De Gruyter. pp. 531-552. 2011.Against the claim that Nietzsche’s early and late views on confronting the truth about human existence differ widely, this article argues that in The Birth of Tragedy tragic art is affirmative of life and not limited to beautifying illusion, while later works still contain the idea that artistic production of beauty is a falsification necessary to make existence bearable for us. Nietzsche did not start with the view that art’s value lies in sheer illusion, nor end with the view that truth should…Read more
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130Schopenhauer's PessimismRoyal Institute of Philosophy Supplement 44 47-63. 1999.This series of lectures was originally scheduled to include a talk on Schopenhauer by Patrick Gardiner. Sadly, Patrick died during the summer, and I was asked to stand in. Patrick must, I am sure, have been glad to see this series of talks on German Philosophy being put on by the Royal Institute, and he, probably more than anyone on the list, deserves to have been a part of it. Patrick Gardiner taught and wrote with unfailing integrity and quiet refinement in the Oxford of the 1950s, '60s, '70s …Read more
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15Borges and Danto: A reply to Michael WreenBritish Journal of Aesthetics 31 (4): 72-76. 1991.In response to Michael Wreen, 'Once is Not Enough?' (British Journal of Aesthetics 1990), this article argues that the short story by Jorge Luis Borges, 'Pierre Menard, Author of the Quixote' supports Arthur Danto's account of the individuation of art works, according to which two verbally identical compositions can be two distinct works. Wreen argues that the Menard story is a case of copying. But the story is one of intentional coincidence of texts, not copying. Hence Wreen lacks a convincing …Read more
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127Review: Bernard Reginster: The Affirmation of Life: Nietzsche on Overcoming Nihilism (review)Mind 118 (470): 518-522. 2009.
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Areas of Interest
Aesthetics |
Normative Ethics |
Ancient Greek and Roman Philosophy |
19th Century Philosophy |