Significance of Indeterminacy

Robert H. Scott is an Assistant Professor of Philosophy at the University of North Georgia. His research focuses on phenomenology and environmental ethics, and in his recent published work he has developed a phenomenological theory of ecological responsibility. Dr. Scott currently serves as the President of the Georgia Philosophical Society.Gregory S. Moss is currently an Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Chinese University of Hong Kong. He specializes in Post-Kantian German philosophy, and has published in a variety of philosophical journals, such as Idealistic Studies, International Philosophical Quarterly, the Journal for the British Society for Phenomenology, Journal of Speculative Philosophy, and the Northern European Journal of Philosophy (forthcoming). Before completing his PhD on Hegel’s Logic of the Concept under Richard Winfield, he was a Fulbright Fellow with Markus Gabriel at the Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn. He is author of Hegel’s Foundation Free Metaphysics: The Logic of Singularity (Routledge, 2020), Ernst Cassirer and the Autonomy of Language, and translator for Markus Gabriel’s Why the World Does Not Exist.

"This anthology is well organized and provides the reader with a grasp of the notion indeterminacy in both continental European and Asian philosophy . . . Although the theme is one previously neglected concept and the contributions are written by experts, most chapters are highly accessible and well structured . . . It brings into focus that indeterminacy has always played an important role in philosophical thinking ever since Aristotle in the West and Daoism in the East, and thereby opens up new areas for inter-disciplinary investigation in a global context. In short: it is determined to inspire in-depth philosophical reflection on an important theme." – Philosophy East & West"This topical and diverse collection of essays extends the critical and consequential problem of indeterminacy into both Continental and Comparative traditions. Creative yet rigorous, these essays enliven our sense of philosophy’s powers, defending the delicate ambiguity yet resonant force of philosophical claims as well as extending it to include traditions as varied as Buddhism and climate change policy." – Jason M. Wirth, Seattle University, USA

• Introduction: The Emerging Philosophical Recognition of the Significance of IndeterminacyGregory S. Moss and Robert H. ScottPart I: The Significance of Indeterminacy in German Idealism1. Overdeterminacy, Affirming Indeterminacy, and the Dearth of Ontological AstonishmentWilliam Desmond 2. Determinacy, Indeterminacy, and Contingency in German IdealismG. Anthony Bruno 3. Free Thinking in Schelling's Erlangen LecturesGregory S. Moss4. Indeterminacy, Modality, Dialectics: Hegel on the Possibility Not to BeNahum BrownPart II: The Significance of Indeterminacy for Phenomenology, Natural Science, and Ethics5. Determinable Indeterminacy: A Note on the Phenomenology of HorizonsSteven G. Crowell6. Climate Science, Indeterminacy, and Food Security in Sub-Saharan AfricaTrish Glazebrook and Michael Goldsby7. Genetic Phenomenology and the Indeterminacy of RacismJanet Donohoe8. Indeterminacy as Key to a Phenomenological Reinterpretation of Aristotle’s Intellectual VirtuesRobert H. Scott9. The Effability of the NormativeTodd MayPart III: The Significance of Indeterminacy for Hermeneutics and Aesthetics10. Indeterminacy, Gadamer, and JazzBruce E. Benson11. Hermeneutic Priority and Phenomenological Indeterminacy of QuestioningNathan Eric Dickman12. Against the Darkness: Beauty and Indeterminacy in John Williams’s StonerPhillip E. Mitchell13. Confidence without CertaintyJ. Aaron SimmonsPart IV: Asian Perspectives and Cosmological Concerns14. Heidegger and Dōgen on the IneffableGraham Priest and Filippo Casati15. The Nietzschean Bodhisattva--Passionately Navigating IndeterminacyGeorge Wrisley16. Body and Intimate Caring in Confucian EthicsQingjie James Wang17. Indeterminacy in Chinese Thought: Spontaneity and the DaoRobert Neville18. Cosmological QuestionsRicki Bliss and Filippo Casati