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210From philosophy to criticism of myth: Cassirer’s concept of mythSynthese 179 (1): 135-152. 2011.This article discusses the question whether or not Cassirer’s philosophical critique of technological use of myth in The Myth of the State implies a revision of his earlier conception and theory of myth as provided by The Philosophy of Symbolic Forms. In the first part, Cassirer’s early theory of myth is compared with other approaches of his time. It is claimed that Cassirer’s early approach to myth has to be understood in terms of a transcendental philosophical approach. In consequence, myth is…Read more
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115Warum selber denken? Zum Problem und Begriff des epistemischen IndividualismusAnalyse & Kritik 31 (2): 243-259. 2009.Since the last two decades of the 20th century it has been widely accepted that testimony has to be acknowledged as a source of knowledge. As a side effect, any form of epistemic individualism has been discredited. The article provides some arguments against the dismissive attitude towards epistemic individualism. I distinguish between three forms of epistemic individualism, and I argue that only the most extreme form can be flatly rejected while there are good reasons for maintaining the other …Read more
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57XIII—Self-Knowledge as a Personal AchievementProceedings of the Aristotelian Society 117 (3): 253-272. 2017.
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55Finite subjects in the ethics: Spinoza on indexical knowledge, the first person and the individuality of human mindsRenz, Ursula . Finite Subjects in the Ethics: Spinoza on Indexical Knowledge, the First Person and the Individuality of Human Minds. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 2013.This chapter suggests a new interpretation of Spinoza’s concept of mind claiming that the goal of the equation of the human mind with the idea of the body is not to solve the mind-body problem, but rather to show how we can, within the framework of Spinoza’s rationalism, conceive of finite minds as irreducibly distinguishable individuals. To support this view, the chapter discusses the passage from E2p11 to E2p13 against the background of three preliminaries, i.e. the notion of a union between m…Read more
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51The definition of the human mind and the numerical difference between subjects (2p11-2p13s)In Ursula Renz, Michael Hampe & Robert Schnepf (eds.), Brill's Studies in Intellectual History, . pp. 99-118. 2011.
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44Spinoza's Ethics: a collective commentary (edited book)Brill. 2011.Till today Spinoza's "Ethics" is a standard for enlightened theoretical and practical reasoning.
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43Doxastische Selbstkontrolle und Wahrheitssensitivität: Descartes und Spinoza über die Voraussetzungen einer rationalistischen Ethik der ÜberzeugungenArchiv für Geschichte der Philosophie 96 (4): 463-488. 2014.Name der Zeitschrift: Archiv für Geschichte der Philosophie Jahrgang: 96 Heft: 4 Seiten: 463-488
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40Self‐Knowledge and Knowledge of Mankind in Hobbes' LeviathanEuropean Journal of Philosophy 26 (1): 4-29. 2018.In the introduction to the Leviathan, Hobbes famously defends the anthropological point of departure of his theory of the state by invoking the Delphic injunction ‘Know thyself!’ of which he presents a peculiar reading thereafter. In this paper, I present a reading of the anthropology of the Leviathan that takes this move seriously. In appealing to Delphic injunction, Hobbes wanted to prompt a particular way of reading his anthropology for which it is crucial that the reader relate the presented…Read more
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40Philosophie als Medicina Mentis? Zu den Voraussetzungen und Grenzen eines umstrittenen PhilosophiebegriffsDeutsche Zeitschrift für Philosophie 58 (1): 17-30. 2010.In ancient as well as in early modern theories of emotion, philosophy is often described as some kind of therapy. However, the assumption that philosophical reflection can influence our emotional life is only plausible, if the following requirements are met. First, one has to defend a realist account of self-knowledge. Second, one must allow for some kind of constructivism in regard to the description of one′s own experience. Finally, one has to maintain a strictly cognitivist conception of emot…Read more
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39Becoming aware of one’s thoughts: Kant on self-knowledge and reflective experienceIn Danièle Moyal-Sharrock, Volker Munz & Annalisa Coliva (eds.), Mind, Language and Action: Proceedings of the 36th International Wittgenstein Symposium, De Gruyter. pp. 581-600. 2015.
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39This paper takes Udo Thiel’s The Early Modern Subject: Self-Consciousness and Personal Identity from Descartes to Hume as an example of a study that aims to provide an account of a particular philosophical development, and discusses both the methodological requirements and the philosophical commitments connected with this ambition. In a first step, I distinguish between two fundamentally different ways of thinking about philosophical development, viz. externalism and internalism with regard to h…Read more
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37Von Marburg nach Pittsburgh: Philosophie als TranszendentalphilosophieDeutsche Zeitschrift für Philosophie 59 (2): 249-270. 2011.The article reconstructs some of the basic decisions underlying Hermann Cohen′s theoretical philosophy by drawing a line to some claims of Winfrid Sellars′ and to one aspect of Robert Brandom′s philosophy. The first part is concerned with a comparison of the main theses of Cohen′s book Kants Theorie der Erfahrung and Sellars′ early essay entitled Some remarks on Kant′s Theory of Experience, both authors reading the Critique of Pure Reason as the discovery of a new, holistic concept of experien…Read more
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33Der neue Spinozismus und das Verhältnis von deskriptiver und revisionärer MetaphysikDeutsche Zeitschrift für Philosophie 63 (3). 2015.Relying on the assumption that Spinoza makes a double use of the principle of sufficient reason, Michael Della Rocca has defended a reconstruction of Spinoza’s approach as a metaphysical outlook according to which all particulars vanish in the only and one divine substance. This implies nothing less than a radical attempt to suggest a new and completely revisionary form of metaphysics. After a short discussion of Strawson’s distinction between revisionary and descriptive metaphysics and an expos…Read more
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28The idea of philosophical developmentKant Studien 107 (3): 536-544. 2016.Name der Zeitschrift: Kant-Studien Jahrgang: 107 Heft: 3 Seiten: 536-544.
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26Cassirer’s enlightenment: on philosophy and the ‘Denkform’ of reasonBritish Journal for the History of Philosophy 28 (3): 636-652. 2020.This paper examines the way in which Cassirer implicitly commented on current issues in his historical studies, proposing a case study on his monograph The Philosophy of the Enlightenment, published in November 1932. It begins with a general overview of a few famous and a few neglected instances of Cassirer’s position-takings through historical studies, before discussing briefly the context in which this monograph was written and examining how the Enlightenment is presented in the monograph from…Read more
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26Zeitgemäße Unzeitgemäßheit. Hermann Cohens Philosophie heute. Gesprächsleitung: Ursula RenzDeutsche Zeitschrift für Philosophie 59 (2): 311-322. 2011.
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25Changing one's own Feelings: Spinoza and Shaftesbury on Philosophy as TherapyIn Sabrina Ebbersmeyer (ed.), Emotional Minds, De Gruyter. pp. 121. 2012.
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24The Explainability of Experience: Realism and Subjectivity in Spinoza's Theory of the Human MindOxford University Press. 2018.This book reconstructs Spinoza's theory of the human mind against the backdrop of the twofold notion that subjective experience is explainable and that its successful explanation is of ethical relevance, because it makes us wiser, freer, and happier.
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24Schwerpunkt: Hermann Cohens PhilosophieDeutsche Zeitschrift für Philosophie 59 (2): 221-226. 2011.
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23Heidegger und Bollnow: Theorie der Befindlichkeit und ihre KritikIn Ursula Renz & Hilge Landweer (eds.), Klassische Emotionstheorienclassical Emotion Theories. From Plato to Wittgenstein: Von Platon Bis Wittgenstein, Walter De Gruyter. 2008.
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23Die Entstehung von Spinozas Urteilstheorie und ihre Implikationen für seine politische PhilosophieDeutsche Zeitschrift für Philosophie 69 (4): 633-645. 2021.In this paper, we reconstruct the development of Spinoza’s theory of judgment against the backdrop of the development of his political views. In this context we also look at the difference between Descartes’ meta-act theory of judgment, which Spinoza criticises, and his own all-inclusive approach. By “meta-act theory” we understand the claim that content and judgment about the truth of the content are metaphysically really distinct mental items. By an “all-inclusive theory” we understand the cla…Read more
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22Aristoteles: Bausteine für eine Theorie der EmotionenIn Ursula Renz & Hilge Landweer (eds.), Klassische Emotionstheorienclassical Emotion Theories. From Plato to Wittgenstein: Von Platon Bis Wittgenstein, Walter De Gruyter. 2008.
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22Reason’s genuine historicity: the establishment of a history of philosophy as a philosophical sub-discipline in Marburg Neo-KantianismBritish Journal for the History of Philosophy 29 (4): 694-717. 2021.. Reason’s genuine historicity: the establishment of a history of philosophy as a philosophical sub-discipline in Marburg Neo-Kantianism. British Journal for the History of Philosophy: Vol. 29, Special Issue: Historical Thought in German Neo-Kantianism, Guest Editors: Katherina Kinzel and Lydia Patton, pp. 694-717.
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21Spinozas Erkenntnistheorie: Eine naturalisierte Epistemologie?Deutsche Zeitschrift für Philosophie 57 (3): 419-432. 2009.This article addresses the question whether or not, in his Ethics, Spinoza is committed to a naturalized epistemology. In the first step, the cognitive psychological principles involved in the concept of imagination are discussed. It is shown that Spinoza does indeed suggest a causal account for the contents of human thought, yet, in contrast to many psychologist views he does not privilege physicalist explanations, but allows for historical as well as for linguistic accounts. In the second sect…Read more