Works by Samuel Lebens
( view other items matching `samuel lebens`, view all matches )
Disambiguations Disambiguations:
Samuel Lebens [13] Samuel R. Lebens [1]
Samuel Lebens
Bertrand Russell and the Nature of Propositions: A History and Defence of the Multiple Relation Theory of Judgement.Samuel Lebens - 2017 - New York: Routledge.details
Bertrand Russell and the Nature of Propositions offers the first book-length defence of the Multiple Relation Theory of Judgement (MRTJ). Although the theory was much maligned by Wittgenstein and ultimately rejected by Russell himself, Lebens shows that it provides a rich and insightful way to understand the nature of propositional content. In Part I, Lebens charts the trajectory of Russell's thought before he adopted the MRTJ. Part II reviews the historical story of the theory: What led Russell to deny the (...) existence of propositions altogether? Why did the theory keep evolving throughout its short life? What role did G. F. Stout play in the evolution of the theory? What was Wittgenstein's concern with the theory, and, if we can't know what his concern was exactly, then what are the best contending hypotheses? And why did Russell give the theory up? In Part III, Lebens makes the case that Russell's concerns with the theory weren't worth its rejection. Moreover, he argues that the MRTJ does most of what we could want from an account of propositions at little philosophical cost. This book bridges the history of early analytic philosophy with work in contemporary philosophy of language. It advances a bold reading of the theory of descriptions and offers a new understanding of the role of Stout and the representation concern in the evolution of the MRTJ. It also makes a decisive contribution to philosophy of language by demonstrating the viability of a no-proposition theory of propositions. (shrink)
Bertrand Russell in 20th Century Philosophy
Propositions, Misc in Philosophy of Language
Russellian Theories of Attitude Ascriptions in Philosophy of Language
Structured Propositions in Philosophy of Language
The Unity of the Proposition in Philosophy of Language
Nothing Else.Samuel Lebens - 2019 - European Journal for Philosophy of Religion 11 (2):91-110.details
"Jewish Nothing-elsism" is the school of thought according to which there is nothing else besides God. This school is sometimes and erroneously interpreted as pantheistic or acosmic. In this paper I argue that Jewish Nothing-elsism is better interpreted as a form of "panentheistic priority holism", and still better interpreted as a form of "idealistic priority monism". On this final interpretation, Jewish Nothing-elsism is neither pantheist, panentheist, nor acosmic. Jewish Nothing-elsism is Hassidic idealism, and nothing else. Moreover, I argue that Jewish (...) Nothing-elsism follows from some very basic assumptions common to almost every theist. All theists should be Nothing-elsers. (shrink)
Divine Contractions: Theism Gives Birth to Idealism.Tyron Goldschmidt & Samuel Lebens - forthcoming - Religious Studies.details
The first part of the paper presents three little arguments from theism to idealism. The second part employs these arguments to make sense of a puzzling doctrine of Jewish mysticism: the doctrine of divine contraction (heb. tzimtzum).
The Epistemology of Religiosity: An Orthodox Jewish Perspective.Samuel Lebens - 2013 - International Journal for Philosophy of Religion 74 (3):315-332.details
This paper focusses on the Rabbinic suggestion that the attitude of awe, rather than any particular belief, lies at the heart of religiosity. On the basis of these Rabbinic sources, and others, the paper puts forward three theses: (1) that belief is not a sufficiently absorbing epistemic attitude to bear towards the truths of religion; (2) that much of our religious knowledge isn't mediated via belief; and (3) that make-believe is sometimes more important, in the cultivation of religiosity than is (...) mere belief. (shrink)
Epistemology of Religion in Philosophy of Religion
God and His Imaginary Friends: A Hassidic Metaphysics.Samuel Lebens - 2015 - Religious Studies 51 (2):183-204.details
Why so Negative About Negative Theology? The Search for a Plantinga-Proof Apophaticism.Samuel R. Lebens - 2014 - International Journal for Philosophy of Religion 76 (3):259-275.details
In his warranted christian belief, Alvin Plantinga launches a forceful attack on apophaticism, the view that God is in some sense or other beyond description. This paper explores his attack before searching for a Plantinga-proof formulation of apophaticism.
Reformed Epistemology in Philosophy of Religion
The Promise of a New Past.Samuel Lebens & Tyron Goldschmidt - 2017 - Philosophers' Imprint 17:1-25.details
In light of Jewish tradition and the metaphysics of time, we argue that God can and will change the past. The argument makes for a new answer to the problem of evil and a new theory of atonement.
Atonement in Philosophy of Religion
Judaism in Philosophy of Religion
Temporal Ontology, Misc in Metaphysics
The Argument from Evil in Philosophy of Religion
A Substantive Non-Solution To The Problem Of Unity.Samuel Lebens - 2008 - The Baltic International Yearbook of Cognition, Logic and Communication 4:16.details
Russell is commonly accused of failing to solve Bradley's problem of unity. In this paper I argue that the problem doesn't really pose a distinctively philosophical question; that Russell's account of unity exposes the problem as unworthy of an answer. I accept that this isn't a solution, but it does constitute a substantive solution! Furthermore, some scholars have read in Russell's writings a confession of guilt to the effect that he was defeated by the problem of unity: this, I argue, (...) is a misreading of the texts in question. (shrink)
Would This Paper Exist If I Hadn'T Written It?Samuel Lebens - 2015 - Philosophical Studies 172 (11):3059-3080.details
This paper wants to know whether it would exist, or could exist, in worlds in which I didn't write it. Before we can answer this question, we first of all have to inquire as to what, exactly, this paper is. After exploring two forms of Platonism, and a theory that defines literary works in terms of events, I shall argue that the term 'this paper' is actually infected with ambiguity. Does this paper need me? It depends upon what you mean (...) by 'this paper'. I lay out the options for what you might mean, and answer the question for each of the options. (shrink)
Ontology in Metaphysics
An Advertisement of a Promise: God and the Hyper-Past.Tyron Goldschmidt & Samuel Lebens - 2017 - Journal of Analytic Theology 5 (1):629-636.details
The Life of Faith as a Work of Art: A Rabbinic Theology of Faith.Samuel Lebens - 2017 - International Journal for Philosophy of Religion 81 (1-2):61-81.details
This paper argues that God, despite his Perfection, can have faith in us. The paper includes exegesis of various Midrasihc texts, so as to understand the Rabbinic claim that God manifested faith in creating the world. After the exegesis, the paper goes on to provide philosophical motivation for thinking that the Rabbinic claim is consistent with Perfect Being Theology, and consistent with a proper analysis of the nature of faith. Finally, the paper attempts to tie the virtue that faith can (...) exhibit to the virtues associated with art, as it is understood by R. G. Collingwood. This association is particularly apt, given the Midrashic description of God as an artist. All of this is offered in response to Rabbi Moses Nachmanides who argued that Abraham's faith, in Genesis 15:6, wasn't worthy of particular praise. (shrink)
Faith in Philosophy of Religion
The Ashes of Isaac and the Nature of Jewish Philosophy.Samuel Lebens - 2017 - Journal of Analytic Theology 5 (1):500-514.details
Is There a Primordial Torah?Samuel Lebens - 2017 - International Journal for Philosophy of Religion 82 (2):219-239.details
Is Orthodox Judaism committed to the existence of a Torah that pre-existed the world? This paper argues that Orthodoxy is so committed unless it can find compelling philosophical or theological reasons to reject the possibility of such an entity, and then to re-interpret allegorically all of the texts that speak of such a Torah. Providing an ontology of primordial texts, I argue that no compelling reason can be found to deny the existence of the primordial Torah.
Jewish Philosophy in an Analytic Age.Samuel Lebens, Dani Rabinowitz & Aaron Segal (eds.) - forthcoming - Oxford University Press.details