Papers by Sebastian Rehnman
International Philosophical Quarterly, 2022
This paper argues that we care especially about human health because of
what we are and because o... more This paper argues that we care especially about human health because of
what we are and because of how we function properly. First, an argument is made against a mechanistic and for a holistic account of human nature. Second, it is argued that humans function properly when they are disposed to deliberate and decide easily and accurately about the means of health, deem that unrestraint pleasure hinders health as well as that combated disease furthers health, and judge it right to will what health others are due.
Philosophia Christi, 2004
British Journal for the History of Philosophy, Mar 1, 2011
Jonathan Edwards Studies, 2022
Jonathan Edwards is generally acknowledged as one of the most prominent American philosophers. In... more Jonathan Edwards is generally acknowledged as one of the most prominent American philosophers. In my recent work, however, I have argued that there are strong reasons for reconsideration of Edwards' status, since his major arguments for the existence and attributes of divinity are invalid or unsound. This raises the issue of the "value" of Jonathan Edwards' thought for contemporary philosophical theology. I argue that lovers of wisdom measure their endeavor at least by three major standards or norms. They assess their pursuit in terms of history, logic and wisdom. They value, for instance, Edwards’ philosophical theology historically not only for the sake of history but for the sake of valuing it logically, and they value his philosophical theology logically not only for the sake of logic but for the sake of valuing it sapiently, namely, as tending towards wisdom. In the following sections I argue that lovers of wisdom value the pursuit historically for contextual explication of past conditions, value it logically for distinct and clear concepts in valid and sound arguments, and value it sapiently for what would account for there being something rather than nothing. This elegantly solves the puzzle by differentiating manners contemporary philosophers are valuing Jonathan Edwards’s philosophical theology.
Reflective Practice Research, 2023
Journaling for one's wellness is an ancient philosophical exercise and a contemporary psychologic... more Journaling for one's wellness is an ancient philosophical exercise and a contemporary psychological technique. Although scholarship has since the 1970s recaptured philosophy as a way of life and since the 1980s produced a psychology of therapeutic writing, the relation between the diarist's experience and the diary remains unclear. This chapter demonstrates from my own experiences of and reflections on journaling that our self-conceptions do not only describe but also define ourselves, so that we partly constitute ourselves by the conceptions in which we conceive ourselves. However, the chapter contends that we misconceive ourselves through contemporary psychological techniques of journaling. For these conceive that "outer" writing and "inner" experience are connected empirically, and that well-being is resolved pain and derived pleasure. The chapter argues instead that the connection between writing and experience is conceptual, and that well-being is leading a worthy and worthwhile life. Thus, the chapter is very important for all who seek to develop themselves through journaling not only to live a pleasant life but a happy life.
Reflective Practice Research in Higher Education Pedagogies, 2023
Confidential conversation on one's existential and ethical issues is an ancient practice of philo... more Confidential conversation on one's existential and ethical issues is an ancient practice of philosophy and a modern technique of psychology. However, studies by practitioners on their own experiences of confiding themselves in conversation are rare. In this unique study, two philosophical counsellors and professors of philosophy reflect on their experiences of seeking to deepen not only their understanding of themselves but also their understanding of understanding ourselves in confidential conversations. The chapter proceeds from their experiences of confidential conversations to reflections on those experiences and assessments of related research on confidential conversations. It shows that conversing confidentially involves a mutual mood of sharing private matters in private manners. Conversing confidentially is neither "inner" nor "outer," but behaviour expressive of being confidential. This chapter is significant not only for understanding confidential conversations and training in conversational professions but also for understanding ourselves as human beings.
The Oxford Handbook of Jonathan Edwards, 2021
Jonathan Edwards aims to account for causes by reference to the ideas of God. Every finite being ... more Jonathan Edwards aims to account for causes by reference to the ideas of God. Every finite being not only depends on but consists in God having an idea of it and God is the one immediate cause for anything that exists on each occasion. He takes this idealistic aetiology to be the true factual description of things. However, his argument about ‘the nature of things’ is (partly) definitional and existential, and so he is introducing and recommending a new use for natures being immediate productions out of nothing at each moment. This chapter argues that his inference can be validly drawn only from the ordinary use of ‘substance’ or ‘nature’ but he attempts to draw it from his novel use. His idealism and aetiology thus affirm or presuppose for their intelligibility the existence of conditions that he denies. So, Edwards’s argument for idealistic aetiology is invalid.
This paper argues that Jonathan Edwards developed idealism from the instruction he received and c... more This paper argues that Jonathan Edwards developed idealism from the instruction he received and conveyed in logic, ethics, physics and metaphysics. His view of the direct perception of mind with its ideas and the indirect perception of matter provided the basis for a dualism between mind and matter and the necessary condition of the distinction between the ideal and the material world
The Encyclopedia of Philosophy of Religion, 2021
Uploads
Papers by Sebastian Rehnman
what we are and because of how we function properly. First, an argument is made against a mechanistic and for a holistic account of human nature. Second, it is argued that humans function properly when they are disposed to deliberate and decide easily and accurately about the means of health, deem that unrestraint pleasure hinders health as well as that combated disease furthers health, and judge it right to will what health others are due.
what we are and because of how we function properly. First, an argument is made against a mechanistic and for a holistic account of human nature. Second, it is argued that humans function properly when they are disposed to deliberate and decide easily and accurately about the means of health, deem that unrestraint pleasure hinders health as well as that combated disease furthers health, and judge it right to will what health others are due.