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263Healing the Wound: Rossi on Kantian Critique, Community, and the Remedies to the “Dear Self”Philosophia 49 (5): 1817-1835. 2021.The main purpose of these introductory remarks is to give the reader a sense of Philip Rossi’s philosophical project and its importance. I will then advance an interpretation of what motivates Kant’s commitment to community, and, on its basis, object to Rossi’s views on radical evil –a point which affects how one should conceive the moral vocation of humanity and the role that politics and religion play within it. My reconstruction concludes with a sketch of how the five contributions to this Sy…Read more
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196This is a review of Yovel’s latest book, "Kant’s Philosophical Revolution: A Short Guide to the Critique of Pure Reason."
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37Clipping our dogmatic wings: The role of religion’s Parerga in our moral educationEducational Philosophy and Theory 51 (13): 1381-1391. 2019.In a note introduced into the second edition of Religion within the Boundaries of Mere Reason (1794), Kant assigns a systematic role to the General Remarks at the end of each Part of his book. He calls those Remarks, “as it were, parerga to religion within the boundaries of pure reason; they do not belong within it yet border on it” (RGV 6:52). As Kant sees them, the parerga are only a “secondary occupation” that consists in removing transcendent obstacles. This paper is skeptical of Kant's view…Read more
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125The Implications of Kant’s Empirical PsychologyCon-Textos Kantianos 3 316-325. 2016.This paper reflects on the exchange that took place in a session organized by the North American Kant Society at the Eastern Division Meeting of the American Philosophical Association in Washington, DC (January, 2016). The session, “New Perspectives in Kant’s Psychology,” marked a rare occurrence: the almost simultaneous publication in 2014 of two important new books on this topic, Corey Dyck’s Kant and Rational Psychology (Oxford University Press) and Patrick Frierson’s Kant’s Empirical Psychol…Read more
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34James J. DiCenso, Kant’s Religion within the Boundaries of Mere Reason: A CommentaryInternational Journal for Philosophy of Religion 73 (2): 151-155. 2013.Immanuel Kant’s Religion within the Boundaries of Mere Reason (1793) is a formidably difficult book, which since its very inception was ripe for controversy. Part of the difficulty in understanding Kant’s text is thematic: in the idea of God and the questions surrounding faith in God’s existence, all interests of reason seem to converge –metaphysics, epistemology, morality, politics, the purposiveness of nature, and the destiny of the human species all unite in Kant’s view of religion and give i…Read more
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175Laura Papish, Kant on Evil, Self-Deception, and Moral Reform Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2018 Pp. xvii + 280 ISBN 9780190692100 $85.00 (review)Kantian Review 24 (2): 316-322. 2019.Laura Papish’s new book comes in the wake of a series of studies of Kant’s conception of evil. Two features distinguish her approach: its emphasis on the connection between evil and self-deception (chapters 1–5), and its attentiveness to the role of self-cognition in moral reform (chapters 6–8). Lucidly written and conversant with recent debates in social and moral psychology, Papish’s book expands the range of topics that typically worry Kantians. Its most important contribution is perhaps to …Read more
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16Clipping our dogmatic wings: The role of religion’s Parerga in our moral educationEducational Philosophy and Theory 51 (13): 1381-1391. 2019.In a note introduced into the second edition of Religion within the Boundaries of Mere Reason (1794), Kant assigns a systematic role to the General Remarks at the end of each Part of his book. He calls those Remarks, “as it were, parerga to religion within the boundaries of pure reason; they do not belong within it yet border on it” (RGV 6:52). As Kant sees them, the parerga are only a “secondary occupation” that consists in removing transcendent obstacles. This paper is skeptical of Kant's view…Read more
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2Rethinking Kant Vol.5 (edited book)Cambridge Scholars Publishing. 2018.The series Rethinking Kant, now in its fifth volume, has become a mirror of Kantian studies in North America. It gathers papers presented at the various study groups of the North American Kant Society, along with contributions from hosts, session chairs, and keynote speakers. Because of its broad and unique composition, it offers a sample of a whole generation of Kantian thought, ranging from recent Ph.Ds, to up and coming young scholars, to some well-established and influential players in the f…Read more
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39Scott R. Stroud: Kant and the Promise of Rhetoric. University Park, PA: The Pennsylvania State University Press, 2014. x, 274 pp. ISBN: 978-0-271-06419-2 (review)Kant Studien 108 (4): 665-671. 2017.Name der Zeitschrift: Kant-Studien Jahrgang: 108 Heft: 4 Seiten: 665-671.
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334A Guide to Kant’s Treatment of GraceCon-Textos Kantianos 6 256-271. 2017.This Guide is designed to restore the theological background that informs Kant’s treatment of grace in Religion to its rightful place. This background is essential not only to understand the nature of Kant’s overall project in this book, namely, to determine the “association” or “union” between Christianity (as a historical faith) and rational religion, but also to dispel the impression of “internal contradictions” and conundrums” that contemporary interpreters associate with Kant’s treatment of…Read more
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204Scott R. Stroud: Kant and the Promise of RhetoricKant-Studien: Philosophische Zeitschrift der Kant-Gesellschaft 108 (4). 2014.Publications in the Kant-Studien have a dual focus: firstly contributions to the interpretation, history and editorial questions of Kant’s philosophy, and secondly systematic debates on transcendental philosophy. In addition, there are investigations on Kant’s precursors and on the effects of his philosophy. The journal also contains a documentation section, in which the current state of research is indicated by means of a continually updated bibliography with reviews and references.
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26Preface to Preparation for Natural Theology by Johann August EberhardIn Lawrence Pasternack & Pablo Muchnik (eds.), Preparation for Natural Theology, Bloomsbury Academic. 2016.In this paper, I develop a quasi-transcendental argument to justify Kant’s infamous claim “man is evil by nature.” The cornerstone of my reconstruction lies in drawing a systematic distinction between the seemingly identical concepts of “evil disposition” (böseGesinnung) and “propensity to evil” (Hang zumBösen). The former, I argue, Kant reserves to describe the fundamental moral outlook of a single individual; the latter, the moral orientation of the whole species. Moreover, the appellative “e…Read more
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36On the alleged Vacuity of Kant's Concept of EvilKant Studien 97 (4): 430-451. 2006.In recent years, there has been a growing interest in Kant's doctrine of radical evil, arising from as diverse quarters as philosophy, psychoanalysis and the social sciences. This interest has contributed to the revival of the notion of evil, which had been displaced from the center of philosophical discussion in the 20th century. A common trait in the recent literature is that it takes the relevance of the use of the concept of evil for granted. Yet, before understanding what Kant really means …Read more
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74Kant's Anatomy of Evil (edited book)Cambridge University Press. 2009.Kant infamously claimed that all human beings, without exception, are evil by nature. This collection of essays critically examines and elucidates what he must have meant by this indictment. It shows the role which evil plays in his overall philosophical project and analyses its relation to individual autonomy. Furthermore, it explores the relevance of Kant's views for understanding contemporary questions such as crimes against humanity and moral reconstruction. Leading scholars in the field eng…Read more
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1Kant on the Sources of EvilProceedings of the 10th International Kant Congress, Walter de Gruyter, Berlin 287-297. 2009.
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37Excerpt from the Doctrine of Reason by Georg Friedrich Meier (edited book)Bloomsbury Academic. 2016.The aim of Kant’s Sources in Translation is to retrieve the rich intellectual world that influenced Kant’s philosophical development. In its first stage, the series makes available the most important textbooks Kant used throughout his long teaching career. Many of these textbooks are in Latin or in German and remain inaccessible to Anglophone readers. Lacking this material, however, it is difficult to appreciate Kant’s originality and process of philosophical maturation, for readers are unable t…Read more
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266Kant y la antinomia de la razón "política" modernaRevista Latinoamericana de Filosofia 34 (1): 39-61. 2008.ABSTRACT: Kant and Mendelssohn published almost simultaneously influential essays on the Enlightenment. I use this historical contingency as occasion to reflect on the presuppositions and implications their views have with respect to philosophy and politics. In the first part, I compare Mendelssohn's discursive strategy with that of traditional liberalism. A contradiction emerges from this contrast, which, in the second part, I interpret in Kantian terms as an antinomy of modern political reason…Read more
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“Substance and the Emergence of the Cogito in Meditation II”Review Journal of Philosophy and Social Science. 2003.
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37Rethinking Kant (edited book)Cambridge Scholars Publishing. 2018.The series Rethinking Kant, now in its fourth volume, has become a mirror of Kantian studies in North America. It gathers papers presented at the various study groups of the North American Kant Society, along with contributions from hosts, session chairs, and keynote speakers. Because of its broad and unique composition, it offers a sample of a whole generation of Kantian thought, ranging from recent PhDs, to up and coming young scholars, to some well-established and influential players in the f…Read more
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12863An alternative proof of the universal propensity to evilIn Sharon Anderson-Gold & Pablo Muchnik (eds.), Kant's Anatomy of Evil, Cambridge University Press. 2009.In this paper, I develop a quasi-transcendental argument to justify Kant’s infamous claim “man is evil by nature.” The cornerstone of my reconstruction lies in drawing a systematic distinction between the seemingly identical concepts of “evil disposition” (böseGesinnung) and “propensity to evil” (Hang zumBösen). The former, I argue, Kant reserves to describe the fundamental moral outlook of a single individual; the latter, the moral orientation of the whole species. Moreover, the appellative “e…Read more
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242Review: Michalson (ed.), Kant’s Religious Constructivism (edited book)Cambridge University Press. 2014.This paper suggests a general interpretative strategy for reading Religion within the Boundaries of Mere Reason namely, as an attempt to find a middle ground between what Kant considers two forms of excess: the appeal to a transcendent conception of God and the denial of any claim that presupposes God’s existence. To make my case, I use the example of two contemporary thinkers (Wolterstorff and Rorty) and trace their dispute to the antinomic character of “religious reason.” Putting things this w…Read more
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33Excerpt from the Doctrine of Reason (edited book). 2016.The aim of Kant’s Sources in Translation is to retrieve the rich intellectual world that influenced Kant’s philosophical development. In its first stage, the series makes available the most important textbooks Kant used throughout his long teaching career. Many of these textbooks are in Latin or in German and remain inaccessible to Anglophone readers. Lacking this material, however, it is difficult to appreciate Kant’s originality and process of philosophical maturation, for readers are unable t…Read more
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27Lara Denis , Kant's Metaphysics Of Morals: A Critical Guide Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010 Pp. 270 Isbn 978-0-521-51393-7 , Us $89.00 (review)Kantian Review 18 (1): 143-148. 2013.Book Reviews Pablo Muchnik, Kantian Review, FirstView Article
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1Review: Sasso, The Fragmented Will – Kant on EvilReview Journal of Philosophy and Social Science (unknown). 2004.
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16Competing Enlightenment Narratives: A Case Study Of Rorty’s Anti-KantianismCambridge Scholar Publishers. 2008.This paper provides a defense of the ethical/political dimensions of Kant’s liberalism by gauging the strength of the critique of one of its most acerbic contemporary critics, Richard Rorty. Rorty’s dissatisfaction with Kant’s position can be traced back to a narrative of the coming to age of our culture, which bears surprising similarities to Kant’s account of the Enlightenment. Yet, in Rorty’s version of the story, Kant’s philosophy is mistakenly assimilated to a form of “Platonism.” This is d…Read more
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37Reflections on Robert Louden's Kant's Human Being: Essays on His Theory of Human NatureKantian Review 18 (3): 461-471. 2013.Since his pioneering Kant’s Impure Ethics (Oxford University Press, 2000), Robert Louden has helped us put a human face to the abstract a priori principles of Kant’s pure practical philosophy. Through a continuous spate of publications, some of which are gathered in his latest book Kant’s Human Being, Louden has managed to show the importance of the empirical dimension of Kantian ethics—a dimension which had been ignored or dismissed for more than two hundred years by scholars obsessed with “kee…Read more
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37An essay on the principles of Rousseau’s anthropologyPhilosophy and Social Criticism 26 (2): 51-77. 2000.Against the impression that Rousseau is an eclectic thinker, this paper is an attempt to reconstruct the systematic core of his anthropology. First, I discuss the methodological starting-point. Second, I develop the structural framework required to make the concept of nature operative as an ideal within social contexts. Finally, I interpret Rousseau's genetic account in terms of this framework. Such a procedure allows me to solve two interpretative problems, the aporia of the origin of wickednes…Read more
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255On the Possibility of the Language of ‘Radical Evil’ "Academic Forum 1. 2001.This paper analyzes the system of inferences Kant uses to determine whether an agent is evil.
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Areas of Specialization
Normative Ethics |
Social and Political Philosophy |
17th/18th Century Philosophy |
Areas of Interest
Philosophy of Religion |
19th Century Philosophy |