Combining Philosophers

All the ideas for Homer, Jens Zimmermann and Johann Herbart

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12 ideas

2. Reason / A. Nature of Reason / 5. Objectivity
We take part in objective truth, rather than observe it from a distance [Zimmermann,J]
     Full Idea: Hermeneutic thinkers insist that we need to redefine objective truth as something we take part in rather than something we merely observe from a distance.
     From: Jens Zimmermann (Hermeneutics: a very short introduction [2015], 1 'Truth')
     A reaction: Don't get it. If I objectively judge that there are some cows in a field, I judge that they will probably still be there if I turn away and forget them, so any passionate involvement I have with cows is irrelevant to the objective facts. Am I wrong?
Hermeneutic knowledge is not objective, but embraces interpretations [Zimmermann,J]
     Full Idea: In the hermeneutic ideal of knowledge, not distance but involvement, not impersonal observation but personal interaction, not thinking against prejudice or tradition but accessing knowledge through them, characterizes our perception of the world.
     From: Jens Zimmermann (Hermeneutics: a very short introduction [2015], 3 'Beyond')
     A reaction: To make this stick it will have to challenge scientific knowledge which results from mathematical summaries of measurements done by instruments. Is a stop watch an interpretation?
12. Knowledge Sources / B. Perception / 1. Perception
In phenomenology, all perception is 'seeing as' [Zimmermann,J]
     Full Idea: That human perception is always a 'seeing as' was the cardinal insight of what Husserl called 'phenomenology'.
     From: Jens Zimmermann (Hermeneutics: a very short introduction [2015], 2 'Husserl's')
     A reaction: I presume that 'cardinal insight' means there is no possibility of Husserl being wrong about this. What's happening before you figure out what it is you are looking at?
17. Mind and Body / A. Mind-Body Dualism / 8. Dualism of Mind Critique
Homer does not distinguish between soul and body [Homer, by Williams,B]
     Full Idea: Homer's descriptions of people did without a dualistic distinction between soul and body.
     From: report of Homer (The Iliad [c.850 BCE]) by Bernard Williams - Shame and Necessity II - p.23
20. Action / B. Preliminaries of Action / 2. Willed Action / a. Will to Act
The 'will' doesn't exist; there is just conclusion, then action [Homer, by Williams,B]
     Full Idea: Homer left out another mental action lying between coming to a conclusion and acting on it; and he did well, since there is no such action, and the idea is the invention of bad philosophy.
     From: report of Homer (The Iliad [c.850 BCE]) by Bernard Williams - Shame and Necessity II - p.37
     A reaction: This is a characteristically empiricist view, which is found in Hobbes. The 'will' seems to have a useful role in folk psychology. We can at least say that coming to a conclusion that I should act, and then actually acting, are not the same thing.
21. Aesthetics / B. Nature of Art / 4. Art as Expression
Objects can be beautiful which express nothing at all, such as the rainbow [Herbart, by Tolstoy]
     Full Idea: Objects are often beautiful which express nothing at all, as, for instance, the rainbow, which is beautiful for its lines and colours and not for its mythological connexion with Iris, or Noah's rainbow.
     From: report of Johann Herbart (works [1830]) by Leo Tolstoy - What is Art? Ch.3
     A reaction: A nice counterexample to Tolstoy's own theory. The example is one of a natural beauty, but it would be harder to find examples in human art. How much the artist may feel, though, has little to do with the success of a work of art.
21. Aesthetics / B. Nature of Art / 8. The Arts / b. Literature
The hermeneutic circle is between the reader's self-understanding, and the world of the text [Zimmermann,J]
     Full Idea: The 'hermeneutic circle' of understanding is not between the author and the reader, but between my understanding myself in my own world, and the world projected by the text, with its possibilities for life.
     From: Jens Zimmermann (Hermeneutics: a very short introduction [2015], 4 'How texts')
     A reaction: I'm not much of a fan of hermeneutics, but this idea seems quite important. Readings of Dickens in1860, 1930 and 2020 are very different events. For example, which parts catch the reader's interest, or jar with their sensibilities?
22. Metaethics / C. The Good / 1. Goodness / a. Form of the Good
Plato says the Good produces the Intellectual-Principle, which in turn produces the Soul [Homer, by Plotinus]
     Full Idea: In Plato the order of generation is from the Good, the Intellectual-Principle; from the Intellectual-Principle, the Soul.
     From: report of Homer (The Iliad [c.850 BCE], 509b) by Plotinus - The Enneads 5.1.08
     A reaction: The doctrine of Plotinus merely echoes Plato, in that case, except that the One replaces the Form of the Good. Does this mean that what is first in Plotinus is less morally significant, and more concerned with reason and being?
24. Political Theory / C. Ruling a State / 2. Leaders / a. Autocracy
Let there be one ruler [Homer]
     Full Idea: The rule of many is not good; let there be one ruler.
     From: Homer (The Iliad [c.850 BCE], 2.204), quoted by Vassilis Politis - Aristotle and the Metaphysics 8.9
     A reaction: [Quoted by Aristotle at Metaphysics 1076a04]
25. Social Practice / D. Justice / 2. The Law / c. Natural law
Natural law theorists fear that without morality, law could be based on efficiency [Zimmermann,J]
     Full Idea: Natural law theorists fear that by denying the intrinsic connection between law and morality, positivists could encourage the validation of law based on efficiency alone.
     From: Jens Zimmermann (Hermeneutics: a very short introduction [2015], 6 'Natural')
     A reaction: The law's the law. The issue can only be whether one can ever be justified in breaking a law, and that isn't a legal question. I am sympathetic to the positiviists.
28. God / C. Attitudes to God / 5. Atheism
Homer so enjoys the company of the gods that he must have been deeply irreligious [Homer, by Nietzsche]
     Full Idea: Homer is so at home among his gods, and takes such delight in them as a poet, that he surely must have been deeply irreligious.
     From: report of Homer (The Iliad [c.850 BCE]) by Friedrich Nietzsche - Human, All Too Human 125
     A reaction: Blake made a similar remark about where the true allegiance of Milton lay in 'Paradise Lost'.
29. Religion / B. Monotheistic Religion / 2. Judaism
Traditionally, God dictated the Torah to Moses, unlike the later biblical writings [Zimmermann,J]
     Full Idea: Jewish traditionalists hold that the first five books of the Hebrew Bible (the 'Torah') were dictated word for word by God to Moses, while the remaining sacred writings were more generally inspired.
     From: Jens Zimmermann (Hermeneutics: a very short introduction [2015], 5 'Inspiration')
     A reaction: This gives the Torah a similar status to the Quran, and presumably also to the actual words which are ascribed to Jesus in the four gospels.