David Rose is Professor of Social Ethics at Newcastle University. Address: Philosophical Studies
Newcastle University
6th Floor, Herschel Bldg
Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU
United Kingdom
Hegel's work on action has for a long time required serious attention, not least due to the f... more Hegel's work on action has for a long time required serious attention, not least due to the feeling amongst Hegelians that, like the recent revival of interest in his social and political thought, the arguments offered and sketched could make a real contribution to ...
Cosmos and history: the journal of natural and social philosophy, 2007
There is at present, amongst Hegel scholars and in the interpretative discussions of Hegelrsquo;s... more There is at present, amongst Hegel scholars and in the interpretative discussions of Hegelrsquo;s social and political theories, the flavour of old-style lsquo;apologyrsquo; for his liberal credentials, as though there exists a real need to prove he holds basic liberal views palatable to the hegemonic, contemporary political worldview. Such an approach is no doubt motivated by the need to reconstruct what is left of the modern moral conscience when Hegel has finished discussing the flaws and contradictions of the Kantian model of moral judgement. The main claim made in the following pages is that the critique of lsquo;subjectiversquo; moralities is neither the sole nor even the main reason for the adoption of an immanent doctrine of ethics. This paper will look to Hegelrsquo;s mature theory of action as motivating the critique of transcendentalism rather than merely filling in the hole left when one rejects Kant and it will discuss what the consequences of this approach are for the ...
Introduction Patients who undergo prosthetic replacements and revisions benefit directly from emb... more Introduction Patients who undergo prosthetic replacements and revisions benefit directly from embodied knowledge, practice and technology which has been improved by medical research. There is an urgent need to improve joint replacement prostheses which currently stand at approximately 150,000 hip and knee joint replacements and 20-30,000 revisions annually in the UK. (Ollivere, Wimhurst, Clark, & Donell, 2012) The incidence of such continues to rise inexorably consequent upon higher functional demand and an older population and is predicted to increase by 40% (in the USA) in the next thirty years. (Birrell, Johnell, & Silman, 1999) Research on cadavers is required in both successful and failed replacements in order to improve the technology of artificial joints to achieve the non-controversial medical goals of alleviating suffering and restoring function to a patient. At present, the objects of research are mostly the failed joints which are then revised and not the successful joint...
A report produced for the Higher Education Academy Subject Centre for Philosophical and Religious Studies, originally on http://prs.heacademy.ac.uk, 2009
‘The Project’ is an innovative learning methodology which develops students’ reflective self‐awar... more ‘The Project’ is an innovative learning methodology which develops students’ reflective self‐awareness of the core, critical skills of philosophical thought. It is a personalised, object‐centered research project that beds philosophical concepts into real debates and actual objects and simultaneously demonstrates the relevance and value of philosophical thought beyond the walls of academia. The intention of the mini‐project is to research three principal questions: (1) is the Project more appropriate to the development of core critical skills than traditional programmes? (2) Are students actually aware of the benefits of personalised learning? And (3) are students aware of the value of philosophical knowledge and concepts beyond the academy?
The aim of this paper is to assert that any moral critique or political censorship of sexually vi... more The aim of this paper is to assert that any moral critique or political censorship of sexually violent imagery cannot be justified with reference to participants nor matters of taste. Rather, the present paper seeks to distinguish objectification and alienation and apply this distinction to the issue of the representation of sexual violence. Alienation is the morally problematic category because systems of domination and control determine the expressions and consumption of desires, but this means that the violence in such material may well be a red herring. Abstract: The aim of this paper is to assert that any moral critique or political censorship of sexually violent imagery cannot be justified with reference to participants nor matters of taste. Rather, the present paper seeks to distinguish objectification and alienation and apply this distinction to the issue of the representation of sexual violence. Alienation is the morally problematic category because systems of domination and control determine the expressions and consumption of desires, but this means that the violence in such material may well be a red herring.
Hegel's work on action has for a long time required serious attention, not least due to the f... more Hegel's work on action has for a long time required serious attention, not least due to the feeling amongst Hegelians that, like the recent revival of interest in his social and political thought, the arguments offered and sketched could make a real contribution to ...
Cosmos and history: the journal of natural and social philosophy, 2007
There is at present, amongst Hegel scholars and in the interpretative discussions of Hegelrsquo;s... more There is at present, amongst Hegel scholars and in the interpretative discussions of Hegelrsquo;s social and political theories, the flavour of old-style lsquo;apologyrsquo; for his liberal credentials, as though there exists a real need to prove he holds basic liberal views palatable to the hegemonic, contemporary political worldview. Such an approach is no doubt motivated by the need to reconstruct what is left of the modern moral conscience when Hegel has finished discussing the flaws and contradictions of the Kantian model of moral judgement. The main claim made in the following pages is that the critique of lsquo;subjectiversquo; moralities is neither the sole nor even the main reason for the adoption of an immanent doctrine of ethics. This paper will look to Hegelrsquo;s mature theory of action as motivating the critique of transcendentalism rather than merely filling in the hole left when one rejects Kant and it will discuss what the consequences of this approach are for the ...
Introduction Patients who undergo prosthetic replacements and revisions benefit directly from emb... more Introduction Patients who undergo prosthetic replacements and revisions benefit directly from embodied knowledge, practice and technology which has been improved by medical research. There is an urgent need to improve joint replacement prostheses which currently stand at approximately 150,000 hip and knee joint replacements and 20-30,000 revisions annually in the UK. (Ollivere, Wimhurst, Clark, & Donell, 2012) The incidence of such continues to rise inexorably consequent upon higher functional demand and an older population and is predicted to increase by 40% (in the USA) in the next thirty years. (Birrell, Johnell, & Silman, 1999) Research on cadavers is required in both successful and failed replacements in order to improve the technology of artificial joints to achieve the non-controversial medical goals of alleviating suffering and restoring function to a patient. At present, the objects of research are mostly the failed joints which are then revised and not the successful joint...
A report produced for the Higher Education Academy Subject Centre for Philosophical and Religious Studies, originally on http://prs.heacademy.ac.uk, 2009
‘The Project’ is an innovative learning methodology which develops students’ reflective self‐awar... more ‘The Project’ is an innovative learning methodology which develops students’ reflective self‐awareness of the core, critical skills of philosophical thought. It is a personalised, object‐centered research project that beds philosophical concepts into real debates and actual objects and simultaneously demonstrates the relevance and value of philosophical thought beyond the walls of academia. The intention of the mini‐project is to research three principal questions: (1) is the Project more appropriate to the development of core critical skills than traditional programmes? (2) Are students actually aware of the benefits of personalised learning? And (3) are students aware of the value of philosophical knowledge and concepts beyond the academy?
The aim of this paper is to assert that any moral critique or political censorship of sexually vi... more The aim of this paper is to assert that any moral critique or political censorship of sexually violent imagery cannot be justified with reference to participants nor matters of taste. Rather, the present paper seeks to distinguish objectification and alienation and apply this distinction to the issue of the representation of sexual violence. Alienation is the morally problematic category because systems of domination and control determine the expressions and consumption of desires, but this means that the violence in such material may well be a red herring. Abstract: The aim of this paper is to assert that any moral critique or political censorship of sexually violent imagery cannot be justified with reference to participants nor matters of taste. Rather, the present paper seeks to distinguish objectification and alienation and apply this distinction to the issue of the representation of sexual violence. Alienation is the morally problematic category because systems of domination and control determine the expressions and consumption of desires, but this means that the violence in such material may well be a red herring.
Commentators oft cite the rather grand claim that there was no concept of individual personality,... more Commentators oft cite the rather grand claim that there was no concept of individual personality, subjectivity nor personal autonomy in Ancient Greece. (Inwood, 1984; Pelczynski, 1984; Pippin, 2008: 244) It seems that the considerations concerning the possibility of tragedy and whether one understands oneself as either caught up in events beyond one’s control or in control of one’s life, albeit in a rather minimal way, is at the heart of the Hegelian understanding of modern subjectivity. Yet, Hegel’s rather odd claim is either (a) taken as orthodox and making sense in the Hegelian historical system as a whole; (b) or is flatly ignored as the worst kind of metaphysical wrangling. Neither response has ever really satisfied me. It seems to me that Socrates definitely, Antigone probably and most citizens who never featured in the pages of history had to have some sense of self, that is understood themselves as a subject. In this paper, I just want to ask what it might mean for my self-understanding to be so radically different that, as a human being, I understand myself as first and foremost (and perhaps completely) as not a subjective individual. It strikes me it is very difficult to be a self-conscious individual -- in even a minimal sense -- without some idea of being an atomic, individual unit.
In a recent monograph, I argued that the prohibition or censorship of pornography would undermine... more In a recent monograph, I argued that the prohibition or censorship of pornography would undermine the possibility of a proper and free objectification of sexual relationships. (Rose, 2014) I was always uneasy about the fact that I did not pay close enough attention to images of sexual violence which are becoming more and more prevalent and “mainstream”. (Dines, 2010) In this paper, I wish to look at two simple arguments about the presentation of sexual violence, a weak and a strong one:
Sexual violence generates feelings of uneasiness or revulsion.
Feelings of uneasiness are not pleasant.
Cultural objects are produced representing sexual violence.
Persons consume such objects and do so freely.
Therefore, these persons desire what is not pleasant.
Sexual violence is morally wrong.
Cultural objects are produced representing sexual violence.
Persons consume such objects and do so freely.
Therefore, these persons participate in morally wrongful practices.
Now these observations are merely immediate and not yet reflective, but there does seem to reside an inherent problem in the production and consumption of images of sexual violence. I shall use two examples (one from the world of graphic novels, Milo Manara, and one from a mainstream pornographic production company) to interrogate the rational structure of these observations to see whether an argument can be constructed on their bases. The con-attitudes and/or wrongness of the images may arise from harm to participants, lack of consent, harmful consequences or reproduction and reinforcement of gender inequality and oppression. I shall look at these possible explanations one by one.
The aim of the paper is to ask whether or not, given that other pornographic objects can have positive cultural value, there is any ground to identify and exclude representations of sexual violence from that set or to, more weakly, delineate the limits of acceptable and unacceptable representation.
Technological advances directly affect the human being's material existence and its self-understa... more Technological advances directly affect the human being's material existence and its self-understanding. The Enlightenment's intentional agent is, due to specific technologies, undergoing a fundamental transformation. Yet, if the ideological basis of this understanding, the justness of social luck, is not rejected, then a new understanding of the "subject" which would avoid unfreedom in the territorialization of the digital world is made impossible. This book offers a novel Hegelian reading of the posthuman discipline in order to propose a new subjectivity.
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Sexual violence generates feelings of uneasiness or revulsion.
Feelings of uneasiness are not pleasant.
Cultural objects are produced representing sexual violence.
Persons consume such objects and do so freely.
Therefore, these persons desire what is not pleasant.
Sexual violence is morally wrong.
Cultural objects are produced representing sexual violence.
Persons consume such objects and do so freely.
Therefore, these persons participate in morally wrongful practices.
Now these observations are merely immediate and not yet reflective, but there does seem to reside an inherent problem in the production and consumption of images of sexual violence. I shall use two examples (one from the world of graphic novels, Milo Manara, and one from a mainstream pornographic production company) to interrogate the rational structure of these observations to see whether an argument can be constructed on their bases. The con-attitudes and/or wrongness of the images may arise from harm to participants, lack of consent, harmful consequences or reproduction and reinforcement of gender inequality and oppression. I shall look at these possible explanations one by one.
The aim of the paper is to ask whether or not, given that other pornographic objects can have positive cultural value, there is any ground to identify and exclude representations of sexual violence from that set or to, more weakly, delineate the limits of acceptable and unacceptable representation.
Twitter feed on it https://twitter.com/philosvillan/status/1400393073134292998