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Deep Ethical Pluralism in Late FoucaultMinerva--An Internet Journal of Philosophy 12 (1): 102-118. 2008.In the essay “What is Enlightenment?” , Foucault espouses a novel and emancipatory“philosophical ethos” which challenges individuals to undertake an ongoing, aesthetic project oftotal self-transformation . By advocating a view of the self---and moreaccurately the relationship one has to oneself --as a free creation on the part of thesubject, Foucault seems to be espousing a pluralistic ethical position. However, I argue that whilethis interpretation is not entirely false, it is not altogether ac…Read more
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1Self-Transformation and FoucaultIn Brian Lightbody & Rohit Dalvi (eds.), Studies in the Philosophy of Michel Foucault: A French Alternative to Anglo-Americanism, Edwin Mellen Press. 2010.
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186Nietzsche, Perspectivism, Anti-realism: An Inconsistent TriadThe European Legacy 15 (4): 425-438. 2010.“Philosophical perspectivism” is surely one of Nietzsche's most important insights regarding the limits of human knowledge. However, the perspectivist thesis combined with a minimal realist metaphysical position produces what Brian Leiter calls the 'Received View': an epistemologically incoherent misinterpretation of Nietzsche which pervades the secondary literature. In order to salvage the thesis of perspectivism, Leiter argues that we must commit Nietzsche to an anti-realist metaphysical posit…Read more
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Charting the Future Course for a Truly Humanistic Science: Husserl, the Epoche, and the Life-WorldEssays in the Philosophy of Humanism (A Journal of the American Humanist Association) 17 (1): 61-71. 2009.
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14Can We Truly Love That Which is Fleeting? The Problem of Time in Marcuse's Eros and CivilizationFlorida Philosophical Review (1): 25-42. 2010.In Eros and Civilization, Marcuse claims that the two fundamental drives of civilization, namely, Eros and Thanatos, may eventually be reconciled. Such reconciliation, Marcuse contends, could potentially lead to new, utopian possibilities for humankind. However, Marcuse’s argument is deeply flawed: he equates time with death and therefore only defeats a straw man. Thus, it may be argued that Marcuse’s entire project in Eros and Civilization not only remains incomplete, but indeed fails. In the f…Read more
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23Responding to the call: Philosophy as human wondermentEssays in the Philosophy of Humanism 16 (1): 39-50. 2013.An essay exploring the question of 'why study philosophy'?
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Deep Ethical Pluralism In Late FoucaultMinerva - An Internet Journal of Philosophy 12 102-118. 2008.In the essay “What is Enlightenment?”, Foucault espouses a novel and emancipatory“philosophical ethos” which challenges individuals to undertake an ongoing, aesthetic project oftotal self-transformation. By advocating a view of the self---and moreaccurately the relationship one has to oneself --as a free creation on the part of thesubject, Foucault seems to be espousing a pluralistic ethical position. However, I argue that whilethis interpretation is not entirely false, it is not altogether accu…Read more
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14Studies in the Philosophy of Michel Foucault: A French Alternative to Anglo-Americanism (edited book)Edwin Mellen Press. 2010.Studies in the Philosophy of Michel Foucault : A French Alternative to Anglo-Americanism
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5This book explains and defends a naturalized reading of Nietzsche’s doctrine of will to power. By providing a new interpretation of the term, Brian Lightbody argues that other aspects of Nietzsche’s philosophy, such as his ontology, epistemology and ethics become clearer and more coherent.
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2Death and Liberation: A Critical Investigation of Death in Sartre's Being and NothingnessMinerva--An Internet Journal of Philosophy 13 (1): 85-98. 2009.In Being and Nothingness, Jean-Paul Sartre boldly asserts that: “To be dead is to be a prey for theliving.”1 In the following paper, I argue that Sartre’s rather pessimistic understanding of death isunwarranted. In fact, Herbert Marcuse forcefully suggests that Sartre is one of the “betrayers of Utopia”because Sartre’s notion of death stifles efforts towards true liberation. By returning to Eros andCivilization, I explain and further substantiate Marcuse’s critique of Sartrean freedom as origina…Read more
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10In Romans 7:14-25, Paul declares, "For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want, is what I do" (KJV). St. Paul's statement is a universal truth for all human beings; humans--whether Christians, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, or atheists--are prone to committing free actions that are not "good." Furthermore, and irrespective of how we might construe the notion of "good" (whether as acting in accordance with some religious or spiritual precept or simply doing what is in one's bes…Read more
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Theseus vs. the Minotaur: Finding the Common Thread in the Chomsky-Foucault DebateStudies in Social and Political Thought 1 (8): 67-83. 2003.
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