Manuel Dr. Knoll

Turkish-German University Istanbul
  • Martha C. Nussbaum. Ein Porträt
    In Günter Gödde, Jörg Zirfas & Eike Brock (eds.), Leiden und Lebenskunst: Biographisch-philosophische Studien zu Krisen, Therapien und Wandlungen, Springer Berlin Heidelberg. pp. 395-407. 2023.
    Der vorliegende Aufsatz ist ein Porträt von Martha C. Nussbaum, das die enorme Vielfalt ihres wissenschaftlichen Werks und ihrer Veröffentlichungen als Public Intellectual beleuchtet. Nussbaums Denken, das sich auch als Reaktion auf schmerzhafte Erfahrungen und als Widerstand gegen ihre soziale und kulturelle Herkunft interpretieren lässt, kann als feministisch, moralistisch, egalitaristisch und anti-elitär charakterisiert werden. Der vorliegende Text thematisiert Nussbaums Biografie, ihren inte…Read more
  •  7
    Since the early 20th century, two new disciplines emerged in the tradition of analytic philosophy: meta-ethics and political epistemology. Nevertheless, debates on such questions go back to the ancient Greeks and, in particular, to the debates between Plato and Protagoras. This article elucidates the controversy between Plato and the influential sophist Protagoras from the perspective of contemporary meta-ethics and political epistemology. It argues that the main motivation of Plato’s philosophi…Read more
  •  1612
    Heroic Art of Living: Nietzsche’s Rank Order of the Types of Life
    In Nietzsche on the Art of Living. New Studies from the German-Speaking Nietzsche Research, Orientation Press. 2023.
    The central aim of the present investigation is to shed light on Nietzsche’s understanding of happiness and a good life, starting from Nietzsche’s appropriation of Plato’s and Aristotle’s doctrine of a hierarchy of human beings and forms of life.
  •  157
    Aristotle’s Politicsis not only famous for its theory of constitutions, but for its statements about human nature. According to the central claim of Aristotle’s political anthropology, man is by nature a political animal (phusei politikon zôon). This famous statement is presented as the conclusion of the first set of arguments that Aristotle develops in the second chapter of book I of the Politics(Pol.,I, 2, 1252a24–1253a3). Aristotle’s statement is inextricably linked with the claim…Read more
  •  6
    This article examines the development of ancient Greek theological thought from Hesiod to Aristotle. It argues against Aristotle’s and John Burnet’s accounts of the advance of early Greek philosophy. Complementing Werner Jaeger’s views, the paper claims that there is a process of rationalization within ancient Greek theology which does not progress in a linear fashion. Rationalization is defined as demystification and demythologization. The degree of ‘rationality’ of a theological view depends p…Read more
  •  182
    Teleologia Na Filosofia Prática de Aristóteles
    Journal of Teleological Science 2022 (2): 152-85. 2022.
    Este artigo contribui para o debate sobre a relação da filosofia prática e teórica de Aristóteles. Ele argumenta que sua filosofia prática depende em grande parte de sua concepção teleológica da natureza. Esta tese é dirigida principalmente contra os estudiosos que sustentam que Aristóteles não deriva de relações políticas e humanas de condições naturais ou cósmicas. O artigo defende a interpretação antropocêntrica de David Sedley da teleologia natural de Aristóteles e mostra como Aristóteles ap…Read more
  •  252
    According to the prevailing opinion, the classical formulation of the principle of the sovereignty of the people is found in Rousseau. Against that view, this article argues that Marsilius of Padua and Locke should be regarded as earlier pioneers and important forerunners of this principle. To demonstrate this thesis, the paper examines Marsilius’s conception of the “human legislator” and Locke’s ideas on legislation, representation, and on the limitation of the legislative power. Though Locke e…Read more
  •  415
    Teleology in Aristotle’s Practical Philosophy
    Aither. Journal for the Study of Greek and Latin Philosophical Traditions (10). 2022.
    This article contributes to the debate on the relation between Aristotle’s practical and theoretical philosophy. It argues that his practical philosophy depends to a considerable extent on his teleological conception of nature. This thesis is primarily directed against scholars who maintain that Aristotle does not derive political and human relations from natural or cosmic conditions. The paper defends David Sedley’s anthropocentric interpretation of Aristotle’s natural teleology and shows how A…Read more
  •  9
    This short article is a response to Douglas Cairns, Mirko Canevaro, and Kleanthis Mantzouranis, who in Polis 39 (2022) explicitly criticize both of my previous interpretations of Aristotle’s view of democratic justice and of the relation of proportional and numerical equality. Against Cairns et al., I argue that there is no tension or contradiction between Aristotle’s statements on these two kinds of equality and on democratic justice. The paper suggests a new reading of Aristotle’s texts that s…Read more
  •  11
    Michael Walzer: Sphären der Gerechtigkeit ein kooperativer Kommentar (edited book)
    with Michael Spieker
    Franz Steiner Verlag. 2014.
    Was bedeutet soziale und politische Gerechtigkeit? Wie konnen der Sozialstaat und die dazu notigen Umverteilungen von Einkommen und Vermogen gerechtfertigt werden? Uber diese Fragen wurde in den letzten Jahrzehnten ausgiebig geforscht und diskutiert. Die vielleicht bemerkenswertesten Antworten prasentierte der amerikanische Philosoph Michael Walzer in seinem 1983 erschienenen Werk Spheres of Justice. Die funfzehn Beitrage des Bandes kommentieren die verschiedenen Massstabe einer gerechten Vertei…Read more
  •  3
    Platons Nomoi: die politische Herrschaft von Vernunft und Gesetz (edited book)
    with Francisco Lisi
    Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft Mbh & Co. 2017.
    Platons Nomoi standen lange zu Unrecht im Schatten seiner Politeia. Dennoch prasentiert der umfangreiche und schwer zu interpretierende Dialog die Einsichten und Innovationen seines reifen Staatsdenkens. Sie werden in dem Band von internationalen Platon-Experten erschlossen. Zu diesen Einsichten und Innovationen zahlt der Gedanke, dass Machtmissbrauch durch politische Institutionen verhindert werden kann, und dass den Gesetzen Vorreden bzw. Praambeln vorangestellt werden sollen, die zu ihrer Bef…Read more
  •  176
    This article examines Aristotle’s theory of ‘factional conflict’ (stasis) in Book 5 of the Politics and claims that it is mainly directed against the a-historical account of constitutional change Plato develops in the Republic. Aristotle’s investigation of the causes of stasis is oriented towards the normative political goal of stabilizing political orders and preventing their ‘change’ (metabolê) into different ones. This article argues that the constitution Aristotle calls ‘polity’ (politeia) c…Read more
  •  27
    This article gives a detailed analysis of Nussbaum’s ‘capabilities approach’ and her claim that it is a genuinely Aristotelian contemporary po-litical philosophy. The paper examines how Nussbaum bases her ‘capabilities approach’ on human nature and questions her assertion that both Aristotle’s account of human nature and her own approach are not metaphysical. In order to analyze the normative dimension of Nussbaum’s ‘capabilities approach’, this article focuses on Aristotle’s doctrine of distrib…Read more
  •  12
    This article examines Aristotle’s theory of ‘factional conflict’ in Book 5 of the Politics and claims that it is mainly directed against the a-historical account of constitutional change Plato develops in the Republic. Aristotle’s investigation of the causes of stasis is oriented towards the normative political goal of stabilizing political orders and preventing their ‘change’ into different ones. This article argues that the constitution Aristotle calls ‘polity’ constitutes his solution to the …Read more
  •  578
    Sophistic Criticisms of the Rule of Law. A Comparison of Callicles and Thrasymachus
    Philosophical Journal (Filosfický Časopis) 33 (2). 2021.
    The paper discusses different interpretations of Callicles and Thrasymachus’ positions. There are good reasons for interpreting Callicles as a critic of democracy and as an aristocratic political thinker whose political views are closer to Plato’s than is usually assumed. The paper argues that Callicles defends a natural right of the best citizens to rule over the crowd. However, in contrast to Plato, for Callicles the rule of the best should not aim at the common good but at their personal adva…Read more
  •  134
    In the recent literature, it has been argued that Nietzsche’s perspectivism should not be reconstructed as an epistemological position. This article criticizes both this view and interpretations that reduce perspectivism to a theory of knowledge. It claims that “perspectivism” is also an appropriate name for Nietzsche’s meta-ethical position. The paper argues that Nietzsche should be interpreted as an anti-realist and moral skeptic. Its epistemological claim is that Nietzsche perspectivism provi…Read more
  •  625
    Scholars have long recognized the existence of myriad widespread deep disagreements on values, justice, morality, and ethics. In order to come to terms with such deep disagreements, resistant to rational solution, this article asserts the need for developing an ethics of disagreement. The reality that theoretical disagreements often turn into practical conflicts is a major justification for why such an ethics is necessary. This paper outlines an ethics of deep disagreement that is primarily conc…Read more
  •  19
    Distributive justice is one of the most discussed topics in political philosophy. Focusing on the plurality of irreconcilable conceptions of social and political justice, this book presents an array of new perspectives on the topic. Bringing together 30 original essays of well-established and young international scholars, the volume is essential reading for anyone interested in social and political justice.
  •  674
    This article starts off with a historical section showing that deep disagreements among notions of social and political justice are a characteristic feature of the history of political thought. Since no agreement or consensus on distributive justice is possible, the article argues that political philosophers should – instead of continuously proposing new normative theories of justice – focus on analyzing the reasons, significance, and consequences of such kinds of disagreements. The next two sec…Read more
  •  1494
    Max Weber on Politics, Reason, and the Clash of Values and Approaches to Ethics
    Dîvân. Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies 24 (47). 2019.
    This article investigates how Max Weber’s theory of value conflict is connected to his realist understanding of politics and how he conceives the relation of politics and ethics. This investigation also covers Weber’s views on the argumentative limits of the social sciences and ethics. The center of Weber’s philosophy of science is constituted by his methodological thoughts on “ethical neutrality” (Wertfreiheit) of the social sciences. The first thesis of this paper contends that Weber’s theory …Read more
  •  252
    This article examines Nietzsche’s understanding of happiness and a good life going back to the ancient roots of his thought. It claims that his understanding is oriented by the category of a “form of life” (bios), which is central for Plato’s and Aristotle’s thought on a good and happy life. Like Nietzsche, both ancient philosophers place a life of contemplation at the top of the hierarchy of forms of life. The article argues that Nietzsche should be interpreted as a proponent of a heroic art of…Read more
  •  11
    Michael Walzer’s Republican Theory of Distributive Justice
    Croatian Journal of Philosophy 19 (1): 81-98. 2019.
    This article presents a republican interpretation of Michael Walzer’s theory of distributive justice and of his idea of complex equality. It demonstrates that Spheres of Justice is not only a defense of pluralism and equality, but also of liberty or freedom. Like Quentin Skinner and Philip Pettit, Walzer understands liberty as non-domination. For Walzer, a just distribution of all social goods leads to a “complex egalitarian society” in which every citizen is equally free from domination and tyr…Read more
  •  246
    In Spheres of Justice, published in 1983, Michael Walzer gives his views on a negative income tax, which is a variation on and an implementation of the idea of a universal basic income. His relevant statements, which are included in the chapters “security and welfare” and “money and commodities”, are ambivalent. This paper discusses the idea of a universal basic income from the perspective of Walzer’s theory of distributive justice. This discussion presents both arguments for and against this id…Read more
  •  183
    Lyotards Diagnose der postmodernen Situation
    Concordia. Internationake Zeitschrift Für Philosophie (42). 2002.