Kevin R. Lewis

University of North Texas, Philosophy, Alumnus

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Although I am familiar with some of the canonical issues and figures in analytic philosophy, my true passion lies with the tradition(s) of phenomenology, hermeneutics, and narrative theory. I am especially concerned with the development of contemporary hermeneutics from Heidegger to Ricoeur as well as recent work concerning narrative identity. I am equally preoccupied with the intersection between the Western philosophical tradition and Christian theology (Paul, Luther, Kierkegaard, Bultmann et al), an object of interest resulting from my encounter with the writings of Hegel and Nietzsche.

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The Agonistics of the Self: Narrative and the Experience of Suffering

Nietzsche as Metaphysician: Heidegger and Deleuze on the Will to Power and Eternal Return

Correlationism and the Transition from Transcendental Idealism to Transcendental Realism

There has been much recent discussion concerning the so-called problem of “correlationism.” Accor... more There has been much recent discussion concerning the so-called problem of “correlationism.” According to the correlationist, thought and being are necessarily co-related. On this view being cannot be thought of without positing it in relation to some form of subjective apprehension. This presupposition on the part of various contemporary philosophies has come under a considerable amount of criticism. Two of the most prominent critics of correlationism include Quentin Meillassoux and Ray Brassier. For both, the problem of correlationism stands in the way of a proper realism which is motivated in part by the epistemic priority of the empirical sciences. Meillassoux’s critique of correlationism is a critique of the kind of transcendental philosophies represented by Kant and Husserl. This construal of correlationism leads him to reject transcendental philosophy through his notion of ancestrality. Brassier, concerned with pushing the project of the Enlightenment to its nihilistic conclusion, also seeks to circumvent correlationism. However, unlike Meillassoux he resituates the role of the transcendental through a non-correlational account of extinction rather than dispense with transcendental philosophy en masse. For Brassier, the reality of extinction necessitates the move from a transcendental idealism to a transcendental realism, a move which is reinforced through his encounter with the work of Francois Laruelle.

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Van Inwagen's Skeptical Theist and the Evidential Argument from Evil

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Carnap, Quine, and Sellars on Abstract Entities

I argue in the following paper that Wilfrid Sellars' non-relational semantics is capable of resol... more I argue in the following paper that Wilfrid Sellars' non-relational semantics is capable of resolving certain philosophical issues regarding the ontological status of abstract entities. I will be concerned with demonstrating the importance of Sellars' theory of meaning within the context of the famous Carnap-Quine debate on the subject of analyticity. As is well-known, Quine's critique of analyticity threatens to undermine Carnap's attempt to distinguish empirical from logical ways of answering internal questions. Quine's rejection of this distinction results in a form of skepticism concerning the ability to state the identity-conditions for a particular species of abstracta, namely "intensional" entities, e.g., attributes, propositions, etc. A transparent account of the identity-conditions for intensional entities requires an acceptable notion of synonymy, which the Quinean rejection of analyticity precludes. Sellars' functional conception of meaning provides such an account by reinterpreting synonymy in terms of sameness of function. For Sellars, the identity-conditions for abstract entities in general (not just intensional entities) are dependent upon the functional-linguistic roles they play within natural languages. This view of semantics enables Sellars to maintain a form of metalinguistic nominalism that is strictly deflationary.

format_quoteSellars allows discourse about abstracta using a deflationary logic, enabling the empiricist to avoid Platonistic commitments.format_quote

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Narrative and the Long Route to Ontology: A Ricoeurian Critique of David Carr

David Carr, in Time, Narrative, and History, attempts to establish that there is an internal rela... more David Carr, in Time, Narrative, and History, attempts to establish that there is an internal relationship between narrative and lived experience, which literary theorists and historians have neglected. He argues against the notion that there exists a fundamental difference between the real world on the one hand, and narrative structure on the other, with the ultimate goal of demonstrating that our relation to history is situated on a practical level that precedes the cognitive activity of historical inquiry. Along with many other theorists, he accuses Paul Ricoeur of neglecting the constitutive role of narrative with respect to everyday experience. I argue in the following paper that Ricoeur is immune from Carr's critique because of his prior conception of hermeneutics. To be more specific, the distinction Ricoeur makes between a "short route" and a "long route" regarding the attempt to "graft" hermeneutics onto phenomenology circumscribes his later account of narrative. For Ricoeur, an ontological approach to hermeneutics must take the latter route, which requires a detour by way of interpretation. In the same manner, a comprehensive account of narrative can only be approached indirectly through a philosophical analysis of both historical and fictional narrative. In addition to the notion that Ricoeur avoids Carr's critique due to his hermeneutical account of narrative, I will also argue that Carr's own conception of narrative encounters serious issues because of his implicit commitment to a particular version of the short route, which Ricoeur sees as inherently problematic.

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On De-Narrating the Manifest Image

On Gadamer and Bultmann

I wish to present a brief comparison between Hans-Georg Gadamer's philosophical hermeneutics and ... more I wish to present a brief comparison between Hans-Georg Gadamer's philosophical hermeneutics and Rudolf Bultmann's project of demythologization. My suggestion is that they are in fundamental agreement with one another with respect to hermeneutic principles. The many overlapping similarities between the two have been generally overlooked, a problem which may be attributed to the fact that Bultmann is customarily treated strictly as a theologian whose work is solely understood as a "synthesis" of the historical method of liberal theology and the dialectical theology of Karl Barth. Although it is well-known that their respective projects are derived from certain ideas developed by the early Heidegger, it is important to see how the work of both coincide in many ways despite their separate concerns.

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Kevin R. Lewis

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