Christopher Cordner | University of Melbourne (original) (raw)
Papers by Christopher Cordner
The idea that literature might properly be regarded as embodying moral ideas, and the related ide... more The idea that literature might properly be regarded as embodying moral ideas, and the related idea that literary criticism might properly be an evaluative, even morally evaluative, enterprise, are likely these days to be met with little more than a dismissive smile. The need even to consider ideas so worded, let alone to meet them in argument, is widely thought to have dissolved. The reasons for this shift of view — or rather, the various doctrines which constitute the changed viewpoint — have a wide currency, and I do not propose to discuss them. This does not mean that I think there is nothing to be learned from (for example) deconstruction, at least in its Derridean form. But my present focus is elsewhere. The two related ideas I referred to are, as I stated them, skeletal. In this paper I want to indicate a way of fleshing them out, thus to try to help revive ( a version of) a traditional ‘humanist’ conception of the nature and value of literature, and therefore of literary criticism.
Journal of the History of Philosophy, 2013
Philosophical Investigations, 2013
Philosophical Investigations, Sep 14, 2017
This is the author manuscript accepted for publication and has undergone full peer review but has... more This is the author manuscript accepted for publication and has undergone full peer review but has not been through the copyediting, typesetting, pagination and proofreading process, which may lead to differences between this version and the Version of Record. Please cite this article as
Nordic Wittgenstein review, Jun 27, 2016
Over several decades, Cora Diamond has articulated a distinctive way of thinking about ethics. Pr... more Over several decades, Cora Diamond has articulated a distinctive way of thinking about ethics. Prompted by a recent critique of Diamond, we elucidate some of the main themes of her work, and reveal their power to reconfigure and deepen moral philosophy. In concluding, we suggest that Diamond's moral philosophical practice can be seen as one plausible way of fleshing out what Wittgenstein might have meant by his dictum that "ethics is transcendental".
Cogent Arts & Humanities, Jul 8, 2016
Unconditional love gets mentioned quite often these days. The commonest context, and the one ofte... more Unconditional love gets mentioned quite often these days. The commonest context, and the one often thought to offer the best grip on the idea, is the love of parents for their children. But is there any such thing as unconditional love? I argue that an idea of such love can and does play the role of a kind of ideal in the light of which (some) people can undertake to "love better". But I think people have also meant, or (so to speak) have wanted to mean, something more than this in speaking of their love as unconditional. I undertake to tease out what else about love such talk may be groping towards. I suggest that this "what else" reflects something infinite or boundless in love that is only misleadingly described by talk of "unconditional" love. I draw on Hegel's "bad infinite" to help bring out the limitations of that description, and I suggest better ways of thinking about what it obscures. I also link what is misleading in the way talk of unconditional love frames an important aspect of love, to some other current thinking about love.
Quadrant, Sep 1, 1996
Review(s) of: Ethics, theory and the novel, by David Parker; Cambridge University Press, 1994.
Quadrant, Oct 1, 1988
Review(s) of: The Greatest Game, edited by Ross Fitzgerald and Ken Spillman; William Heinemann.
Theoretical Medicine and Bioethics, May 1, 2005
The essay combines a specific and a more general theme. In attacking Ôthe doctrine of the sanctit... more The essay combines a specific and a more general theme. In attacking Ôthe doctrine of the sanctity of human lifeÕ Singer takes himself thereby to be opposing the conviction that human life has special value. I argue that this conviction goes deep in our lives in many ways that do not depend on what Singer identifies as central to that ÔdoctrineÕ, and that his attack therefore misses its main target. I argue more generally that Singer's own moral philosophy affords only an impoverished and distorted sense of the value of human life and human beings. In purporting to dig below the supposedly illusion-ridden surface of our thinking about value, Singer in fact often leads us away from the robust terrain of our lived experience into rhetorical, and sometimes brutal, fantasy.
Philosophical Investigations, Oct 1, 2007
In Shame and Necessity, Bernard Williams sketches a picture of guilt as well as one of shame. Wil... more In Shame and Necessity, Bernard Williams sketches a picture of guilt as well as one of shame. Williams is concerned with the experience or emotion of guilt rather than the mere fact of being guilty. So am I. 1. The views of Williams that I explore are detailed in Shame and Necessity
Quadrant, Mar 1, 1994
Review(s) of: Agents and lives: Moral thinking in literature, by S.L. Goldberg, Cambridge Univers... more Review(s) of: Agents and lives: Moral thinking in literature, by S.L. Goldberg, Cambridge University Press, 1993.
Philosophical Investigations, Dec 27, 2014
Talbot Brewer has argued that contemporary philosophy of action and ethics are hampered by a pict... more Talbot Brewer has argued that contemporary philosophy of action and ethics are hampered by a picture of human agency as essentially consisting in bringing about states of affairs – a “production‐oriented” conception of action. From classical sources, centrally including Aristotle, Brewer retrieves a different picture – of human activity as fundamentally “dialectical”. Ritual activity, including a ritual dimension of many dialectical activities, affirms and deepens our human presence in and to the world, and to other human beings. I argue that this aspect of ritual activity cannot be adequately recognised in the terms of Brewer's dialectical account of human activity.
The Medical Journal of Australia, Mar 1, 2006
All stakeholders should contribute to enhancing Australia's guidelines for ethical research ealth... more All stakeholders should contribute to enhancing Australia's guidelines for ethical research ealth and medical research involving human participants in Australia has been subject to guidelines promulgated by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) since 1966. Currently, the key documents are the National statement on ethical conduct in research involving humans (1999) 1 and the Joint NHMRC/AVCC statement and guidelines on research practice (1997). 2 The former, better known as the "National Statement", is endorsed by a number of peak national bodies, including the Australian Research Council (ARC) and the Australian Vice Chancellors' Committee (AVCC). The "Joint Statement" is issued under the aegis of the NHMRC and the AVCC. The National Statement encompasses the ethical principles to be followed in proposing research involving humans, and advises institutions on the requirements for establishing human research ethics committees (HRECs). The Joint Statement provides guidance on good research practice, including details related to data collection, authorship and publication, supervision and mentoring and like matters, as well as providing the framework by which institutions should handle allegations of research misconduct. The system of oversight of human research based on these documents has been updated and modified from time to time and has served the nation reasonably well. However, the guidance provided in the documents has not been without its critics, and weaknesses in relation to the National Statement have been identified. These include under-resourcing of overworked HRECs, 3 deficiencies in transparency and accountability of
Philosophia, May 29, 2008
In his later writings on ethics Foucault argues that rapport à soithe relationship to oneselfis w... more In his later writings on ethics Foucault argues that rapport à soithe relationship to oneselfis what gives meaning to our commitment to 'moral behaviour'. In the absence of rapport à soi, Foucault believes, ethical adherence collapses into obedience to rules ('an authoritarian structure'). I make a case, in broadly Levinasian terms, for saying that the call of 'the other' is fundamental to ethics. This prompts the question whether rapport à soi fashions an ethical subject who is unduly self-concerned. Here we confront two apparently irreconcilable pictures of the source of moral demands. I describe one way of trying to reconcile them from a Foucaultian perspective, and I note the limitations in the attempt. I also try to clear away what I think to be a misunderstanding on Foucault's part about what is at stake in the choice between these pictures. To clarify my critique of Foucault, I also relate it to a similar recent critique of virtue ethics by Thomas Hurka.
Journal of The Philosophy of Sport, May 1, 1988
A critical discussion is presented of the relations between sport and arts. Some of the resemblan... more A critical discussion is presented of the relations between sport and arts. Some of the resemblances between the two fields of activity are set out. It is argued that sports are not arts, though what they have to offer may share a great deal with what art has to offer.
British Journal of Aesthetics, 1984
The idea that literature might properly be regarded as embodying moral ideas, and the related ide... more The idea that literature might properly be regarded as embodying moral ideas, and the related idea that literary criticism might properly be an evaluative, even morally evaluative, enterprise, are likely these days to be met with little more than a dismissive smile. The need even to consider ideas so worded, let alone to meet them in argument, is widely thought to have dissolved. The reasons for this shift of view — or rather, the various doctrines which constitute the changed viewpoint — have a wide currency, and I do not propose to discuss them. This does not mean that I think there is nothing to be learned from (for example) deconstruction, at least in its Derridean form. But my present focus is elsewhere. The two related ideas I referred to are, as I stated them, skeletal. In this paper I want to indicate a way of fleshing them out, thus to try to help revive ( a version of) a traditional ‘humanist’ conception of the nature and value of literature, and therefore of literary criticism.
Journal of the History of Philosophy, 2013
Philosophical Investigations, 2013
Philosophical Investigations, Sep 14, 2017
This is the author manuscript accepted for publication and has undergone full peer review but has... more This is the author manuscript accepted for publication and has undergone full peer review but has not been through the copyediting, typesetting, pagination and proofreading process, which may lead to differences between this version and the Version of Record. Please cite this article as
Nordic Wittgenstein review, Jun 27, 2016
Over several decades, Cora Diamond has articulated a distinctive way of thinking about ethics. Pr... more Over several decades, Cora Diamond has articulated a distinctive way of thinking about ethics. Prompted by a recent critique of Diamond, we elucidate some of the main themes of her work, and reveal their power to reconfigure and deepen moral philosophy. In concluding, we suggest that Diamond's moral philosophical practice can be seen as one plausible way of fleshing out what Wittgenstein might have meant by his dictum that "ethics is transcendental".
Cogent Arts & Humanities, Jul 8, 2016
Unconditional love gets mentioned quite often these days. The commonest context, and the one ofte... more Unconditional love gets mentioned quite often these days. The commonest context, and the one often thought to offer the best grip on the idea, is the love of parents for their children. But is there any such thing as unconditional love? I argue that an idea of such love can and does play the role of a kind of ideal in the light of which (some) people can undertake to "love better". But I think people have also meant, or (so to speak) have wanted to mean, something more than this in speaking of their love as unconditional. I undertake to tease out what else about love such talk may be groping towards. I suggest that this "what else" reflects something infinite or boundless in love that is only misleadingly described by talk of "unconditional" love. I draw on Hegel's "bad infinite" to help bring out the limitations of that description, and I suggest better ways of thinking about what it obscures. I also link what is misleading in the way talk of unconditional love frames an important aspect of love, to some other current thinking about love.
Quadrant, Sep 1, 1996
Review(s) of: Ethics, theory and the novel, by David Parker; Cambridge University Press, 1994.
Quadrant, Oct 1, 1988
Review(s) of: The Greatest Game, edited by Ross Fitzgerald and Ken Spillman; William Heinemann.
Theoretical Medicine and Bioethics, May 1, 2005
The essay combines a specific and a more general theme. In attacking Ôthe doctrine of the sanctit... more The essay combines a specific and a more general theme. In attacking Ôthe doctrine of the sanctity of human lifeÕ Singer takes himself thereby to be opposing the conviction that human life has special value. I argue that this conviction goes deep in our lives in many ways that do not depend on what Singer identifies as central to that ÔdoctrineÕ, and that his attack therefore misses its main target. I argue more generally that Singer's own moral philosophy affords only an impoverished and distorted sense of the value of human life and human beings. In purporting to dig below the supposedly illusion-ridden surface of our thinking about value, Singer in fact often leads us away from the robust terrain of our lived experience into rhetorical, and sometimes brutal, fantasy.
Philosophical Investigations, Oct 1, 2007
In Shame and Necessity, Bernard Williams sketches a picture of guilt as well as one of shame. Wil... more In Shame and Necessity, Bernard Williams sketches a picture of guilt as well as one of shame. Williams is concerned with the experience or emotion of guilt rather than the mere fact of being guilty. So am I. 1. The views of Williams that I explore are detailed in Shame and Necessity
Quadrant, Mar 1, 1994
Review(s) of: Agents and lives: Moral thinking in literature, by S.L. Goldberg, Cambridge Univers... more Review(s) of: Agents and lives: Moral thinking in literature, by S.L. Goldberg, Cambridge University Press, 1993.
Philosophical Investigations, Dec 27, 2014
Talbot Brewer has argued that contemporary philosophy of action and ethics are hampered by a pict... more Talbot Brewer has argued that contemporary philosophy of action and ethics are hampered by a picture of human agency as essentially consisting in bringing about states of affairs – a “production‐oriented” conception of action. From classical sources, centrally including Aristotle, Brewer retrieves a different picture – of human activity as fundamentally “dialectical”. Ritual activity, including a ritual dimension of many dialectical activities, affirms and deepens our human presence in and to the world, and to other human beings. I argue that this aspect of ritual activity cannot be adequately recognised in the terms of Brewer's dialectical account of human activity.
The Medical Journal of Australia, Mar 1, 2006
All stakeholders should contribute to enhancing Australia's guidelines for ethical research ealth... more All stakeholders should contribute to enhancing Australia's guidelines for ethical research ealth and medical research involving human participants in Australia has been subject to guidelines promulgated by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) since 1966. Currently, the key documents are the National statement on ethical conduct in research involving humans (1999) 1 and the Joint NHMRC/AVCC statement and guidelines on research practice (1997). 2 The former, better known as the "National Statement", is endorsed by a number of peak national bodies, including the Australian Research Council (ARC) and the Australian Vice Chancellors' Committee (AVCC). The "Joint Statement" is issued under the aegis of the NHMRC and the AVCC. The National Statement encompasses the ethical principles to be followed in proposing research involving humans, and advises institutions on the requirements for establishing human research ethics committees (HRECs). The Joint Statement provides guidance on good research practice, including details related to data collection, authorship and publication, supervision and mentoring and like matters, as well as providing the framework by which institutions should handle allegations of research misconduct. The system of oversight of human research based on these documents has been updated and modified from time to time and has served the nation reasonably well. However, the guidance provided in the documents has not been without its critics, and weaknesses in relation to the National Statement have been identified. These include under-resourcing of overworked HRECs, 3 deficiencies in transparency and accountability of
Philosophia, May 29, 2008
In his later writings on ethics Foucault argues that rapport à soithe relationship to oneselfis w... more In his later writings on ethics Foucault argues that rapport à soithe relationship to oneselfis what gives meaning to our commitment to 'moral behaviour'. In the absence of rapport à soi, Foucault believes, ethical adherence collapses into obedience to rules ('an authoritarian structure'). I make a case, in broadly Levinasian terms, for saying that the call of 'the other' is fundamental to ethics. This prompts the question whether rapport à soi fashions an ethical subject who is unduly self-concerned. Here we confront two apparently irreconcilable pictures of the source of moral demands. I describe one way of trying to reconcile them from a Foucaultian perspective, and I note the limitations in the attempt. I also try to clear away what I think to be a misunderstanding on Foucault's part about what is at stake in the choice between these pictures. To clarify my critique of Foucault, I also relate it to a similar recent critique of virtue ethics by Thomas Hurka.
Journal of The Philosophy of Sport, May 1, 1988
A critical discussion is presented of the relations between sport and arts. Some of the resemblan... more A critical discussion is presented of the relations between sport and arts. Some of the resemblances between the two fields of activity are set out. It is argued that sports are not arts, though what they have to offer may share a great deal with what art has to offer.
British Journal of Aesthetics, 1984
Reading Iris Murdoch's Metaphysics as a Guide to Morals, 2019
Iris Murdoch thinks that ‘the activity and imagery of vision is at the centre of human consciousn... more Iris Murdoch thinks that ‘the activity and imagery of vision is at the centre of human consciousness’, ever re-orienting us to ‘reflection, reverence, respect’ for reality. Murdoch believes that Buber’s emphasis on the ‘I-Thou’ relation conflicts with this morally re-orienting power of the visual. Buber thinks that his language of encounter and dialogue makes space for the moral challenge of the other, and for growth, movement, creative response in human life, in a way shouldered out by ‘visual metaphysics’. Murdoch’s privileging of ‘the visual’ is a source of her moral objections to Buber’s I-Thou God, and of her objections to his language of encounter and dialogue more generally. I mount various criticisms of Murdoch’s championing of the visual and of her broader critique of Buber.