• Matias
    85
    What do you think of German philosopher Markus Gabriel?
    In the last few months I have read four books by him, because he is supposedly the most important and original German philosopher of his generation.
    But my impression after reading them is rather sobering. Frankly, I think Gabriel is a highly gifted phony. He is incredibly intelligent and incredibly well-read, but in my opinion his theories have no real substance.
    Or is it just me that I can't see that substance? -
    Is there anyone here who has understood Gabriel and appreciates him?
    Has anyone understood his theory of "fields of sense" and thinks that it is a milestone of contemporary philosophy ?
  • tim wood
    8.7k
    I thought he was a species of artichoke. More seriously, having just read two hundred words or so in his preface to one of his books, as available in Amazon's "Look inside" function, I can say that he appears in that selection to make sense and be on the way to making more sense.

    But I think you won't think much of my reply. Better then for you and us if you simply present clearly and briefly at least one of his ideas that caught your eye. Perhaps like this: "That phony (M.G.) says such-and-such. What errant nonsense! What do you guys think?"

    As to his being a phony, he apparently has to and is making a living as a professional teaching philosopher. That argues at least some mastery of plumage. But when was it ever different? Artists of every kind have always been obliged to tug a forelock to their mentors and masters.
  • Outlander
    1.8k
    a highly gifted phonyMatias

    What about his assertions of what he believes as significant enough to write about that you yourself determine as "incredibly intelligent and well-read (written?)" do you deem "disingenuous"

    Has anyone understood his theory of "fields of sense" and thinks that it is a milestone of contemporary philosophy ?Matias

    Apparently so. While I haven't looked into it, here is a description of it for anyone (mostly interested readers [not OP] who are) .. interested.

    "It is still a widespread assumption that metaphysics and ontology deal with roughly the same questions. They are supposed to be concerned with the fundamental nature of reality and to give an account of the meaning of 'existence' or 'being' in line with the broadest possible metaphysical assumptions. Against this, Markus Gabriel proposes a radical form of ontological pluralism that divorces ontology from metaphysics, understood as the most fundamental theory of absolutely everything (the world). He argues that the concept of existence is incompatible with the existence of the world and therefore proposes his innovative no-world-view. In the context of recent debates surrounding new realism and speculative realism, Gabriel also develops the outlines of a realist epistemological pluralism. His idea here is that there are different forms of knowledge that correspond to the plurality of fields of sense that must be acknowledged in order to avoid the trap of metaphysics. "Apparently Someone
  • jgill
    3.6k
    He argues that the concept of existence is incompatible with the existence of the world and therefore proposes his innovative no-world-view.Apparently Someone

    MG: "I call metametaphysical nihilism the view that there is no such thing as the world such that questions regarding its ultimate nature, essence, structure, composition, categorical outlines etc. are devoid of the intended conceptual content. The idea that there is a big thing comprising absolutely everything is an illusion, albeit neither a natural one nor an inevitable feature of reason as such. Of course, there is an influential Neo-Carnapian strand in the contemporary debate which comes to similar conclusions. I agree with a lot of what is going on in this area of research and I try to combine it with the metaontological/metametaphysical tradition of Kantian and Post-Kantian philosophy." (Wiki)
  • Wayfarer
    20.8k
    looked up the page on wikipedia. Strikes me as a positivist. I noted this paragraph:

    In an April 2020 interview he called European measures against COVID 19 unjustified and a step towards cyber dictatorship, saying the use of health apps was a Chinese or North Korean strategy. He said the coronavirus crisis called into question the idea that only scientific and technical progress could lead to human and moral progress. He said there was a paradox of virocracy, to save lives one replaced democracy by virocracy.

    which I think, from the perspective of living in a country which has actually contained the virus, namely Australia, is utter nonsense, and dangerous nonsense at that.

    As for current German philosophers, into Sebastian Rodl, professor of phil. at Liepzig. His wiki page is here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sebastian_R%C3%B6dl . Very difficult to read but instinctively I am drawn to him.
  • MasonBrown
    1
    Quite good ideas can be emphasized in Markus Gabriel but beginners will not understand it
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