Abstract of Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio state University, 1925. / Autobiography. Autographed from type-written copy.

Abstract of Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio state University, 1925. / Autobiography. Autographed from type-written copy.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1967. / eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references.

Kant’s theory of productive imagination falls at the center of the critical project. This is evident in the 1781 Critique of Pure Reason, where Kant claims that the productive imagination is a “fundamental faculty of the human soul” and indispensable for the construction of experience. And yet, in the second edition of 1787 Kant seemingly demotes this imagination as a mere “effect of the understanding on sensibility” and all but withdraws its place from the Transcendental Deduction. In his 1929 Kant and the Problem of Metaphysics, Martin Heidegger provided an explanation for the revisions between 1781 and 1787. Heidegger suggested that the Critique was supposed to be a foundation for Kant’s metaphysics of morals, which holds that practical reason is freely bound by a categorical imperative. Yet after 1781 Kant recognized that the Critique implicates the productive imagination as the “unknown root” of the faculties of understanding and sensibility. If the 1781 Critique reveals this imagination to be the source of theoretical rules and practical imperatives, then, according to Heidegger, Kant could not but “shrink back” from this shocking discovery. A faculty so intimately tied to sensibility, and hence contingency and particularity, is a poor progenitor of freedom and universal rules. I think there is some truth to Heidegger’s explanation. But I also think there is something more important to draw from the revisions between 1781 and 1787. In this dissertation, I assume that something about the productive imagination did frighten Kant. But, pace Heidegger, I do not think that Kant shrank back from his initial position. Rather, I argue that the revisions clarify a theory that was implicit in 1781 but made explicit by 1787. If the imagination is a power for representation, which is at times a dream and at times a veridical experience, then the difference lies in the rule according to which the construction of the representation is bound. Furthermore, I argue that Kant’s revisions reveal a duty to bind the reproductive imagination according to a common concept, what Kant sometimes refers to as common sense. This is what I call the theoretical imperative.

In my first chapter, I will discuss the mark of Cain at greater length and introduce the idea of daemon. In the second chapter, I will discuss how it functions as part of Nietzschean active nihilism. Finally, in the third chapter, I will explore the problem of somberness and the problem of fanaticism, and see how Hesse tries to resolve these two problems.

Thesis (B.A.)--Haverford College, Dept. of English, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references.

A partir de la mi-XVIe siècle et pendant près de cent ans, les lettres et témoignages offerts à l’attention des lecteurs européens contribuent à créer un « Japon textuel » où viennent s’entrelacer deux histoires : d’une part, celle d’un pays féodal et instable mais accueillant aux influences extérieures ; d’autre part, celle d’âpres rivalités européennes à la fois religieuses et économiques. Mais à partir de 1639, date de la fermeture du Japon aux pays occidentaux, et plus encore au XVIIIe siècle, cet entrelacs prend, par la force des choses, une autre forme, purement intertextuelle cette fois. Objet de la thèse, cette présence du Japon dans les écrits de langue française au XVIIIe siècle témoigne de l’élaboration progressive d’une topique qui tient lieu de connaissance en même temps que de support à un imaginaire « japonisant ». C’est également sur fond de cette méconnaissance que sont parfois développés les thèmes chers à la réflexion philosophique des Lumières - la tolérance, la liberté religieuse, la justice, l’obscurantisme et le despotisme -. Révélateurs du fossé sans cesse grandissant qui se creuse entre la réalité historique japonaise et la représentation qui en est faite par les lettrés français, les documents pris en considération se révèlent également riches en enseignements sur les pratiques d’écriture - et en l’occurrence de réécriture - des auteurs français, sur leur volonté de raisonner à l’échelle du monde mais aussi sur la résistance que la pensée des Lumières opposait aux autres formes de pensée. / With an interest in the origins of various representations of Japan during the Enlightenment, we have studied three centuries of Japanese history as they relate to the West. Even though in the eighteenth century China was of primary interest, some French authors refer to the Land of the Rising Sun in their texts. This was true even though there was no contact between Japan and the West at that time. Therefore, in order to write about Japan, they had to rely on older texts to obtain information. Because of the particular history of Japan, whose highlights we present, the first reports written by Europeans emanated from the pens of authors from different worlds. First of all Jesuits from Iberian countries (1549-1620) who were mainly concerned with evangelical activities in Japan, wrote about these activities and the difficulties of carrying out their mission. Then, once these missionaries were expelled from the country, Dutch Reformed Church traders, the only ones to live in Japan, offered information on the country. The various paraphrased texts of these authors, copied by the authors of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, religious and laity, were used to draw an imaginary Land of the Rising Sun according to the latter group's personal and religious opinions. Japan notably appears in the Encyclopedia of Diderot, and we also noticed that the French writers of the Enlightenment who speak of Japan offer a vision consistent with their way of thinking and their philosophy. They use some subjects about Japan to illustrate a particular theme related to their own philosophical interest.Somehow, whenever they expound on Japan, in the end they are expounding equally on France. Indeed, the issues they raise have a direct relationship with questions such as justice, tolerance, religious freedom, etc.

Il s'agit d'une étude transhistorique des phénomènes de fanatisme selon une perspective psychanalytique. A partir de l'étude d'un corpus littéraire, politique, artistique, cinématographique et de faits historiques ou d'actualité, nous montrons comment le fanatisme s'articule à la manière dont le dispositif symbolique et culturel d'une société contrôle l'évacuation de l'abject sous la forme de l'obscène, dont la pornographie est l'avatar moderne. En dernière instance, cette thèse jette une lumière nouvelle sur l'islamisme radical contemporain. / This research addresses the issue of fanaticism throughout history, from a psychoanalytic standpoint which analyses various speech data: litterature, politics, arts, cinema, historical facts and news items. We intend to demonstrate that fanaticism is linked to the containment of obscenity and abjectness by the symbolic and cultural strutures of society, and that pornography reveals the modern crisis of the abjection containment process. Ultimately, the thesis sheds a new light on contemporary radical jihadism.

Au cours du dix-huitième siècle, la question de la tolérance religieuse est posée avec force par de nombreux hommes de lettres, notamment, à la suite des écrits philosophiques de Spinoza, de Bayle et de Locke. Voltaire, Montesquieu, Rousseau et Diderot, à partir de problématiques qui étaient propres à chacun d’entre eux, ont développé leur réflexion sur une notion qui est à l’origine du principe de la liberté de conscience. Les fictions, notamment romanesques ont permis à ces auteurs, d’amplifier la diffusion de la notion de tolérance. Même si l’anti-fanatisme a été l’objet d’un consensus entre les écrivains philosophes des Lumières, il faut admettre que leur conception de la tolérance impliquait bien des divergences. Dans son "Dictionnaire philosophique", Voltaire apparaît comme le champion le plus intrépide ; mais qu’en est-il vraiment dans le "Traité sur la tolérance" ? L’indifférence de Diderot à toute religion était-elle favorable à la proclamation de la tolérance ? Dans leurs confrontations avec leurs adversaires, surtout avec Voltaire et Rousseau, les écrivains philosophes des Lumières n’ont pas toujours fait preuve de la même exigence. Il importe de préciser, à partir des textes, ces prises de positions.Toutefois il ne faut pas projeter sur les périodes antérieures des idéaux actuels. Il y a là un risque d’anachronisme. Les hommes de lettres des Lumières étaient en effet confrontés à des situations historiques, à des contextes culturels et idéologiques très différents des nôtres. / During the 18th Century, following Spinoza, Bayle and Locke’s writing, the question of a religious tolerance is in the centre of the debates. Voltaire, Montesquieu, Rousseau and Diderot, according to their visions of the problem, developed a theory around a notion which would give birth later to the freedom of conscience principle. Fictions, and especially the novels, allowed these authors to increase the spreading of a tolerance notion. Even if anti-Fanaticism has been an object of consensus between enlightenment Philosophers, it is necessary to admit that their conception of tolerance implied many differences of opinion. In his "Dictionnaire Philosophique", Voltaire appeared as the most dauntless champion; but what about the "Traité sur la tolerance"? Was Diderot’s indifference to all religion favorable to the proclamation of a tolerance? In their confrontations, especially against Voltaire and Rousseau, Enlightenment writers did not all the time observe the same demand. It is important to define, according to our corpus, these takings of position.Nevertheless, it should not be appropriate to cast on pervious periods modern ideals. This would lead to the danger of anachronism. Enlightenment writer were indeed, confronted to historical situations as well as cultural and ideological backgrounds completely different from ours.

Submitted by Marilene Donadel (marilene.donadel@unioeste.br) on 2017-11-06T17:03:02Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Giovani_Zimmermann_Junior_2017.pdf: 496903 bytes, checksum: eb8f0083fafa9a7be8e8bbbf5550f1a3 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-11-06T17:03:02Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Giovani_Zimmermann_Junior_2017.pdf: 496903 bytes, checksum: eb8f0083fafa9a7be8e8bbbf5550f1a3 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-04-27 / Rousseau in his book The Social Contract idealizes political principles that guarantee individuals a state where people are free to live without dependence or tyranny on the part of others. Religion has an important role to play in this ideal because it produces "feelings of sociability," as well as helpi77ng to make people aware of the law. For a long time religion exercised influence and power in the politics of nations, it became fundamental to societies that possessed a species of "public spirit," which would facilitate social bonding. It aims at overcoming the constant clash between the powers: secular and religious, he reflected and instituted something "essential" that improves human relations, that maintains peace among citizens. Jean-Jacques does not aim at renouncing the principle of the secular state and freedom of conscience, but he has not yet freed himself from the idea usual in his day, there can only be morality among citizens with the indispensable existence of religion. Civil religion is not like the others of its time, because it has no temples, nor structure of power, it is "purely civil." They are simple, objective dogmas, which aim to foster the virtues of good citizenship, the realization of freedom and equality, based on the general will, as well as total dedication to the country, already consolidated through the social pact. / Rousseau em sua obra O Contrato Social idealiza princípios políticos que garantam aos indivíduos um Estado onde as pessoas tenham liberdade para viver, sem dependência nem tirania por parte de outros. A religião tem um importante papel nesse ideal, pois ela produz “sentimentos de sociabilidade”, além de ajudar a conscientizar o povo no respeito às leis. A religião por muito tempo exerceu influência e poder na política das nações, ela tornou-se fundamental junto às sociedades que possuíam uma espécies de “espírito público”, que facilitaria o liame social. Ele visa com ela superar o constante embate entre os poderes: secular e religioso, ele refletiu e instituiu algo “essencial” que melhore as relações humanas, que mantenha a paz entre os cidadãos. Jean-Jacques não tem como objetivo renunciar ao princípio do Estado laico e da liberdade de consciência, porém, ainda não se liberta da ideia usual em sua época, só pode haver moralidade entre os cidadãos com a existência imprescindível da religião. A religião civil não é como as outras de sua época, pois a mesma não possui templos, nem estrutura de poder, ela é “puramente civil”. São dogmas simples, objetivos que visam fomentar as virtudes da boa cidadania, a concretização da liberdade e igualdade, fundamentada na vontade geral, além da dedicação total à pátria, já consolidada através do pacto social.