“Anxieties about ourselves endure. If our proper study is indeed the study of humankind, then it has seemed-and still seems-to many that the study is dangerous. Perhaps we shall find out that we were not what we took ourselves to be. But if the historical development of science has indeed sometimes pricked our vanity, it has not plunged us into an abyss of immorality. Arguably, it has liberated us from misconceptions, and thereby aided us in our moral progress.” IfsStillsSometimesSeemsMoralStudyProgressDangerousDevelopmentAnxietyHistoricalEndureVanityHumankindAbyssLiberatedMisconceptionImmorality Book:Abusing Science: The Case Against Creationism Source: Abusing Science: The Case Against Creationism
“First, my frame of reference for the Britten opera shifted. I'd always thought of Britten's approach in Death in Venice as another exploration of the plight of the individual whose aspirations are at odds with those of the surrounding community: his last opera returning to the themes of Peter Grimes. As I read and listened and thought, however, Billy Budd came to seem a more appropriate foil for Death in Venice.” FirstsSeemsLastsIndividualCommunityApproachAspirationThemeAppropriateExplorationOperaPeterOddsVenicePlightFoilsFrame Of ReferenceGrimeDeath In Venice Author:Philip Kitcher
“Many of the greatest works of philosophy seem to me to be valuable not because of their arguments, but because they offer us perspectives that open up new possibilities. They show us how we might start in different places, and not buy into the assumptions tacitly made on the first pages of the philosophical works that have influenced us.” FirstsMadeDifferentPhilosophyShowsSeemsMightPossibilityPerspectiveOffersPagesArgumentPhilosophicalValuableAssumptionDifferent PlaceNew Possibilities Author:Philip Kitcher
“I'm a pluralist about perspectives on literature. There seem to me to be all sorts of illuminating ways of responding to major literary works, some of them paying considerable attention to context, others applying various theoretical ideas, yet others focusing on details of language, or linking the work to the author's life, or connecting it with other works.” WayIdeasSeemsLiteratureLanguageAttentionPerspectiveMajorsDetailsVariousConnectingTheoreticalRespondingIlluminatingLiterary Works Author:Philip Kitcher
“Look at Mann's reading habits, his explicit comments on Nietzsche, and his copy of Birth of Tragedy, and it starts to seem doubtful that this work of Nietzsche's played much role in the gestation of the novella.” LooksSeemsReadingRolesBirthHabitTragedyCopiesCommentDoubtfulExplicitReading HabitsGestation Author:Philip Kitcher
“I use biography, I use literary connections (as with Platen - this seems to me extremely helpful for appreciating the nuances of Mann's and Aschenbach's sexuality), I use philosophical sources (but not in the way many Mann critics do, where the philosophical theses and concepts seem to be counters to be pushed around rather than ideas to be probed), and I use juxtapositions with other literary works (including Mann's other fiction) and with works of music.” WayIdeasUseSeemsFictionSourceConceptsAppreciateConnectionsPhilosophicalCriticsIncludingSexualityHelpfulBiographiesNuanceThesisJuxtapositionLiterary Works Author:Philip Kitcher
“There are actually two separate issues here. The first is whether (as ancient philosophers and Nietzsche assume) only the privileged elite can live a worthwhile life. The second is whether it's possible to fulfill the roles of both serious artist and upstanding citizen. It seems to me that philosophy can dissect both questions, by delineating clearly the anatomy of the good life and the structural conditions of the roles.” FirstsTwoPhilosophySeemsArtistRolesIssuesConditionsSeriousCitizensAssumingAncientPhilosopherGood LifeWorthwhileElitesPrivilegedAnatomy Author:Philip Kitcher
“I have enormous respect for Derek Parfit, although he seems to me bound within an unfortunate philosophical tradition - rather like the extraordinarily brilliant exponents of Ptolemaic astronomy in the Middle Ages.” SeemsAgeMiddleTraditionPhilosophicalBoundsBrilliantAstronomyEnormousUnfortunateMiddle AgesExponents Author:Philip Kitcher
“I'm very suspicious of the idea of a "final theory" in natural science, and the thought of a complete system of ethical rules seems even more dubious.” IdeasSeemsNaturalTheoryFinalsEthicalSuspiciousNatural ScienceDubious Author:Philip Kitcher
