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Consciousness and Subject in the Critique of Pure Reason
Petříček, Vojtěch ; Karásek, Jindřich (advisor) ; Hill, James (referee)
Consciousness, the Self and the "I" subject - central themes of transcendental idealism as proposed by Immanuel Kant In his Critique of Pure Reason. This thesis is an attempt at interpretation of the relevant passages of the Critique in order to draw implications for the matter of subjectivity. The chosen interpretation leads towards a minimalist concept of the transcendental self, which is a purely epistemic subject devoid of all empirical and psychological attributes. Consciousness, as the core of the transcendental subject, is viewed here as a non-substantial agent: an activity of being conscious rather than an originator or result of that activity.
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Wittgenstein on Ethics and Religion
Vondrášek, Viktor ; Kolman, Vojtěch (advisor) ; Hill, James (referee)
This work presents an account of Wittgenstein's conception of ethics and religion. I argue that because of the influences of the First World War, Tolstoy's Gospel in Brief and James' Varieties of Religious Experience, Wittgenstein broadened the subject of his first philosophical treatise (Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus) from logic to philosophy. In this treatise, Wittgenstein famously described the ethical and religious discourse as lacking propositions that make sense. In contrast to the Vienna Circle, that took this statement to be a 'positive' expression declaring Wittgenstein's scientific outlook on the world, I argue that Wittgenstein wanted to point out the non-theoretical character of these disciplines. He did not think that ethics and religion can be an addition to the world of scientific knowledge, because of their unscientific character. On the other hand, they can do what science cannot. They can give meaning, value to a world in which no absolute value exists. This work claims that ethics and religion, according to Wittgenstein, have a practical character. They delimit the world and help to situate the subject in it.
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Minding the Gap: Moral Disagreement and the Limits of Moral Reasoning
Weinhold, Dominik ; Jirsa, Jakub (advisor) ; Hill, James (referee)
Tato práce se zabývá tématem přetrvávajícího morálního nesouhlasu a jeho významu pro morální filosofii, zejména v souvislosti s problémy, které představuje pro morální realismus a koncept objektivních morálních pravd. Hlavním cílem je prozkoumat standardní vysvětlení příčin přetrvávajícího nesouhlasu v morálních otázkách a zvážit epistemologické potíže, jež tento jev znamená pro zastánce objektivního pojetí morální pravdy a možnosti obecně rozšířené shody v morálních názorech. Obhájci těchto pozic typicky spoléhají na logické usuzování a zdůvodňování jako prostředky k vyřešení neshod a opodstatnění morálních názorů. Nedávné empirické výzkumy v oblasti morální psychologie nicméně rozporující tradiční pojetí morálního usuzování. Ve světle těchto empirických poznatků se zaměřím na možnosti racionálního řešení morálního nesouhlasu. Na základě tohoto zkoumání budu tvrdit, že empirické omezení lidského uvažování a zdůvodňování utvářejí meze možnosti objasnění a opodstatnění morálních soudů, kteréžto maří naděje na dosažení racionálně odůvodněného poznání objektivní morální pravdy, jakož i šance na racionální vyřešení přetrvávajících morálních neshod. Abstract This thesis is concerned with persistent moral disagreement and its relevance for contemporary debates in moral philosophy, particularly with...
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John Locke and Two Legacies for Contemporary Liberalism
Jennings, Eliška ; Jirsa, Jakub (advisor) ; Hill, James (referee)
This thesis examines the political philosophy of John Locke, with his Two Treatises of Government at its forefront. It focuses primarily on the question of the law of nature, its status in Locke's political theory and in the context of the Essay Concerning Human Understanding, and explores the political content of the law of nature: the fundamental values of liberty and equality, and their implications for human societies and political governments. The final part then traces these two core liberal elements within two modern conceptions of American-type liberalism: the libertarianism of Robert Nozick, with its emphasis on liberty, and the egalitarian liberalism of John Rawls, with its emphasis on equality. The aim of this paper, then, is to present an interpretation of John Locke's political philosophy and then trace its legacies in two modern conceptions of liberalism, located on opposite sides of the political spectrum.
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The Naturalization of Consciousness and the Meaning of Subjectivity
Toráčová, Pavla ; Moural, Josef (advisor) ; Hill, James (referee) ; Marvan, Tomáš (referee)
The thesis deals with the problem of the existence of consciousness in the physical world. It denies the approach that is prevailing in the contemporary philosophy of mind that treats the phenomenal consciousness and intentionality separately. The position held in this thesis is to claim that the phenomenal character of consciousness and intentionality are inseparable and that it is impossible to understand the former without understanding the latter, and vice versa. The problem of the existence of consciousness in the physical world is viewed as the problem of the existence of (conscious) intentionality in the physical world. With the aim to achieve an analysis of intentionality that would keep its phenomenal character and the first person point of view, and, at the same time, shed light on its realization in the physical world, thoughts of Peter Strawson, G. E. M. Anscombe, Tim Crane, Colin McGinn and John Searle are discussed. The result is an outline of intentionality that allows to explain the fundamental level of intentionality as a physical process and the higher levels of intentionality as a development of the fundamental level. Two principles are crucial for this approach: the development of intentionality from the fundamental level to the higher level is comprehensible only if we keep the...
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The Evolution of the notion of a World Soul in Henry More
Joseph, Jacques ; Hladký, Vojtěch (advisor) ; Nejeschleba, Tomáš (referee) ; Hill, James (referee)
The main goal of this thesis is to describe the evolution of the concept of a world soul in the thought of Cambridge Platonist Henry More (1614-1687). However, this topic is discussed within the broader context of early modern philosophy and the birth of modern science. The philosophy of Henry More presents a very interesting confrontation between Renaissance Neo-Platonism and Cartesianism, early modern mechanicism and the newest scientific discoveries of his age, the notion of a world soul being exactly the point where all these thought currents meet. The classical conception of a platonic world soul in More's early thought later becomes the Spirit of Nature, a principle complimentary to mechanicism (and at the same time acting as its metaphysical foundation). Yet in order for the regularity of such phenomena as gravitation to be guaranteed, the Spirit of Nature has to be rid of any conscience and will of its own. However, besides this tendency to "strip" the world soul of its personal aspects, leading ultimately to the notion of a completely impersonal natural law, a deeper analysis of certain aspects of More's philosophical system shows also a determination to preserve the broader connections that tie the classical notion of a world soul to a specific world picture that does not necessarily fit...
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Personal identity and memory (Locke's theory of personal identity and its critical interpretation in analytical philosophy)
Kollmann, Jan ; Hill, James (advisor) ; Palkoska, Jan (referee)
The thesis deals with the relations between Locke's theory of personal identity, its "classical" critic, performed by Butler and Reid and its critical adoption amongst some authors of analytic philosophy (Grice, Quinton, Perry, Shoemaker). In the first part of the thesis, Locke is shown as the founder of a tradition that lays stress on the fundamental relation between the identity of persons over time and its memory or consciousness. We also distinguish the identity of person and the identity of man, this means person is understood as identical so far as its consciousness reaches, independently of the identity of material and/or immaterial substance in which the identity of man consists. Serious problems with Locke's conception, such as amnesia and paramnesia are discussed in this part too. In the second part of the thesis, classical objections against Locke's theory are analyzed - Reid's "brave officer paradox" and Butler's objection of petitio principii; Reid's and Butler's distinction between 86 the identity of persons and other things. In the third part we discuss two conceptions by contemporary authors (Grice and Quinton) who defend Locke's attitude against the classical objections and who assert, that personal identity consists in a certain sort of psychological continuity (continuity of memory or...
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The human being out of the scope of the Descartes' metaphysical project of Meditations
Hulanová, Magda ; Hill, James (advisor) ; Palkoska, Jan (referee)
Velmi stručně bychom mohli shrnout výsledek dosavadního zkoumání do jediné věty: přijmeme-li Descartovo tvrzení, že metafyzické meditace mají vybudovat základy věd(ění) poznáním prvních principů, pak lze říci, že pojednání o lidské přirozenosti ze Šesté meditace svým diskursem do metafyzického rámce Meditací nepatří, ačkoliv jen díky němu tvoří Meditace jediný a organický celek. Ve své diplomové práci jsme si vytkli za cíl otestovat tvrzení, že pojednáním o lidské přirozenosti ze Šesté meditace překračuje Descartes svůj vlastní záměr, totiž záměr vybudovat jisté a nezpochybnitelné kořeny veškerého vědění. Právě Meditace o první filosofii, jak jsme ukázali ve druhé kapitole, se měly věnovat výhradně metafyzickému zkoumání, které by vedlo k nalezení prvních příčin neboli principů poznání. Meditace měly představovat naplnění Descartova úsilí založit vědu na zcela jistých a nezpochybnitelných základech. Má-li celá fyzikální přírodověda spíše pravděpodobnostní charakter, neboli je-li pravdivá pouze natolik, nakolik umožňuje bezrozporné vysvětlení přírodních jevů, pak to má být podle Descarta metafyzika, jejíž poznatky prvních principů budou mít zcela pravdivý charakter a která bude podkladem fyziky a veškeré vědy vůbec. A opíráme-li se ve fyzice i jiných vědách především o smíšené poznatky smyslového vnímání, v...
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Consciousness and the Self: the theories of John Searle and Antonio Damasio
Šebešová, Petra ; Hill, James (advisor) ; Palkoska, Jan (referee)
The thesis deals with the relationship of consciousness and the self, as it is present in the consciousness theories of John Searle and Antonio Damasio. Consciousness is taken by both authors as an essentially subjective phenomenon and it is analyzed as such. Yet at the same time, they take it to be a natural part of the physical world. First, Searle's arguments concerning the subjective nature of consciousness and the possibilities to study it scientifically are analyzed, together with objections against Searle's view. Then Searle's account of the self is presented. The author argues that this account is not sufficient to explain subjectivity more deeply. Presentation of Damasio's theory follows as a complement to Searle 's theory. Damasio takes the sense of self to be a necessary component of consciousness that is pre-reflectively present and appears in the form of feeling. This notion of the self is supported in the thesis for it allows for better understanding of the phenomenal aspects of consciousness and also forms a basis for a possible scientific research. Damasio's biological hypotheses concerning the emergence of the subjectivity is discussed and criticised though for presupposing the subject, which is yet to be explained by the theory.
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