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1. The Review of Metaphysics: Volume > 62 > Issue: 4
Terry F. Godlove, Jr. Poincaré, Kant, and the Scope of Mathematical Intuition
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Today it is no news to point out that Kant’s doctrine of space as a form of intuition is motivated by epistemological considerations independent of his commitment to Euclidean geometry.  These considerations surface—apparently without his own recognition—in Poincaré’s, Science and Hypothesis, the very work that helped turn analytically-minded philosophers away from the Critique.  I argue that we should view Poincaré as refining Kant’s doctrine of space as the form of intuition, even as we see both views as arbitrarily limited—in Kant’s case, to Euclidean transformations, and, in Poincaré's, to geometries of constant curvature.  Both run together the question whether space is an a priori form of intuition with the question whether there are a priori constraints on its applied geometry.  At his best, Kant sees—what Poincaré does not—that they are connected by a form of cognition consisting in the intuition of homogeneous pluralities, of totalities apprehended as unities.
2. The Review of Metaphysics: Volume > 62 > Issue: 4
Dietmar Von der Pfordten Absolute Identity/Unity
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This paper considers various senses of the notion of identity and describes the strongest sense of the term—what it labels “absolute identity.”  Absolute identity combines monistic identity of all in all as one substance with the absence of internal differentiation.  The paper explores the possibility of absolute identity along three lines—linguistic, mental, and ontological.  It determines that though there are serious difficulties, linguistic and mental, involved with positing absolute identity  the possibility of its coming to be real cannot be ruled out.  Finally, on grounds of its lack of coherence-functionality absolute identity is rejected as an adequate conception of the world.  The paper closes with a discussion of the ramifications of the denial of absolute identity.
3. The Review of Metaphysics: Volume > 62 > Issue: 4
Michael J. Sweeney Aquinas on Limits to Political Responsibility for Virtue: A Comparison to Al-Farabi
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Al-Farabi saw himself as inheriting from Aristotle the problem of limits to political responsibility for virtue.  If the state possesses the authority to habituate citizens to virtue, what are the limits to that responsibility?  Aristotle establishes two main limits: the family and the size of the state.  Al-Farabi rejects both.  Thomas Aquinas’s view of marriage as a sacrament, on the other hand, reinforces the Aristotelian position that the family is the most basic limit to public responsibility for virtue.  In fact, Aquinas expands the notion of subsidiarity beyond the family.  Moreover, Aquinas and Aristotle agree that political life is not only limited from “below” by the family but also from “above.” Thus, in spite of Aquinas’ views on punishing heretics and apostates, it is not the case, as Leo Strauss’ claims, that Aquinas’ Christian faith led him to increase and exaggerate political responsibility for virtue.
4. The Review of Metaphysics: Volume > 62 > Issue: 4
Eric Goodfield The Sovereignty of the Metaphysical in Hegel’s Philosophy of Right
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This article explores the relationship between metaphysical problems and political theorizing in G.W.F. Hegel’s thought.  It argues that his Logic responded to the philosophical problem of the universal in ways which came to deeply influence his thinking about an ideal equilibrium between state and citizen in the Philosophy of Right and elaborate on how it acts as a conceptual touchstone for the legitimacy of rule in his vision of political life.  This approach seeks to overcome a trend in Hegel studies that has often denied or neglected the deep connection between his respective philosophical and political contributions.
5. The Review of Metaphysics: Volume > 62 > Issue: 4
Douglas J. Den Uyl, Douglas B. Rasmussen Liberalism in Retreat
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This essay presents a brief summary of the Sen/Nussbaum conception of liberalism, offers some main points of criticism, and contrasts their conception of human flourishing and politics with an alternative one.  The ultimate aim will be to show that they do not advance the cause of liberalism properly understood but actually retreat from it.  The “human capabilities argument,” “public reasoning,” “internalist essentialism,” and other key concepts are discussed.  The paper concludes that Sen and Nussbaum fail to adequately defend the premises of the human capabilities argument and that their argument invites a retreat from liberalism.  Moreover, on their theory individuals have no basis upon which to erect borders for their resources or themselves and to say to any and all that some areas are off limits no matter who may benefit.  Rather, there is only the relentless and enforced pursuit of capabilities.
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6. The Review of Metaphysics: Volume > 62 > Issue: 4
Brandon Zimmerman, Staff Summaries and Comments
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7. The Review of Metaphysics: Volume > 62 > Issue: 4
Reviewer Index
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8. The Review of Metaphysics: Volume > 62 > Issue: 4
Brandon Zimmerman, Staff Recent Titles In Philosophy
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9. The Review of Metaphysics: Volume > 62 > Issue: 4
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10. The Review of Metaphysics: Volume > 62 > Issue: 4
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11. The Review of Metaphysics: Volume > 62 > Issue: 4
Yearly Index
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