The Science, Politics, and Ontology of Life-Philosophy

by Campbell, Scott M.; Bruno, Paul W.

• ISBN13: 9781441123534
• ISBN10: 1441123539
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2013-07-04
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic

Summary

Lebensphilosophie, central to nineteenth-century philosophical thought, is concerned with the meaning, value and purpose of life. In this much-needed study, historical lebensphilosophieis returned to the core of philosophical investigations and revealed in the contemporary ascendency of 'life' in philosophical thinking. Scholars from aesthetics, bioethics and ontology examine how the notion of life has made its way into contemporary philosophical discussions. They identify three main themes: the shift toward biological and technological views of life, altering Dilthey and Nietzsche's emphasis on historical life over biological life; the relationship between biopolitics and political liberalism and the re-emergence of the idea of life - so important for the traditional life-philosophers -in recent discussions about care of the self, existential gratitude skepticism and the emotions. Anticipating new directions of philosophical thinking, this study restores a vital school of thought to crucial discussions about the dangers of contemporary politics and the threat of new technologies.

Author Biography

Scott M. Campbell is Associate Professor of Philosophy at Nazareth College, USA.Paul Bruno is Associate Professor of Philosophy at Framingham State College, Massachusetts, USA.

Table of Contents

Introduction Scott M. Campbell and Paul Bruno \ Part I: Life-Contexts in Dilthey, Nietzsche, and Bergson 1. Dilthey and the Contextual Givenness of Life Rudolf A. Makkreel \ 2.Biological and Historical Life in Dilthey and Heidegger Eric Nelson \ 3.Your Money or Your Life Ronnie Hawkins
\ 4.History in the Service of Life: Nietzsche's Genealogy Allison Merrick \ 5.Bergson tbc Part II: Converging Technologies \ 6. A Quantum Magical Realism Writ Small: Astrobiology, Philosophy, and the Origin of Life H. Peter Steeves \ 7. The Artificialization of Life Jean-Pierre Dupuy \ 8. Philosophical Anthropology 2.0 Jos de Mul \ 9. Life in the Age of Information Charles Bonner
Part III: Life, Power, Politics \ 10. "Without Inside or Outside": Nietzsche, Pluralism, and the Problem of the Unity of Experience Michael J. O'Neill \ 11.Anachronism, and Powerlessness: An Essay on Postmodernism Leonard Lawlor \ 12. Liberal Eugenics, Autonomy, and Biopolitics Serena Parekh Part IV: Philosophies of Life \ 13. Thanks for Nothing: On Existential Gratitude Anne O'Byrne \ 14. The Gift of Death and the Care of the Self: Derrida and Foucault on Learning How to Live Edward McGushin \ 15. Dilthey, Destruction, and the Early Heidegger's Philosophy of Life Scott M. Campbell \ 16. Skepticism as a Way of Life Stephen Clark \ 17.From 'World' to 'Life': Wittgensteinian Vitalism and the Therapeutic Significance of Philosophy Neil Turnbull \ 18.Life, Desire, and the Reality of the Object Paul Bruno \ 19.The Wisdom of Emotions Jason Howard Index