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Dr Edward Kanterian
Senior Lecturer in Philosophy
- E.Kanterian@kent.ac.uk
- +44(0)1227 824483
Office: Cornwallis North West 164
Office hours: Thursday, 11.10-13.00pm
About
I completed my MA in Philosophy, History and Sociology at the University of Leipzig, Germany, with a thesis on Frege and Husserl on sense and meaning, before undertaking a doctorate on the semantics of descriptive singular terms at the University of Oxford, completed in 2006. After finishing my DPhil, I spent five years at Trinity College and Jesus College at Oxford as a Lecturer in Philosophy. I joined the Department of Philosophy at the University of Kent in 2011.
My current research extends from the foundations of language and logic to the nature of the world. My next book will be on Kant’s God. I have an interest in the history of liberalism and its enemies in Europe, the study of totalitarianism (Nazism and Communism), the history of mass crimes (such as the Armenian genocide, the Holocaust and the crimes of Communism) and the ethics of memory. I also have an interest in the Renaissance and the Enlightenment, and the relation between philosophy and poetry.
I am a member of the Steering Committee of the project Later German Philosophy. I am also a member of the UK Kant Society and the Aristotelian Society, and a reviewer for the AHRC, OUP, Routledge, Columbia University Press, Bloomsbury, Mind, Philosophical Quarterly, Kantian Review, Philosophical Studies, Journal for the History of Analytical Philosophy, and Theoria.
For more information, please see my personal website: kanterian.weebly.com
back to topPublications
Also view these in the Kent Academic Repository
Book
Kanterian, E. (2012). Frege: A Guide for the Perplexed. [Online]. London: Continuum. Available at: http://www.continuumbooks.com/books/detail.aspx?BookId=124066&SntUrl=148560.
Kanterian, E. (2010). Curierul de Est. Dialog cu Edward Kanterian. Iaşi (Romania): Editura Polirom.
Kanterian, E. (2007). Ludwig Wittgenstein. London: Reaktion Books Ltd.
Kanterian, E. (2004). Analytische Philosophie. Frankfurt/Main: Campus Verlag Gmbh.
Edited book
Kahane, G., Kanterian, E. and Kuusela, O. eds. (2007). Wittgenstein and his Interpreters. Essays in Memory of G. P. Baker. Oxford: Blackwell.
Kanterian, E. ed. (2005). Voller Entsetzen, aber nicht verzweifelt - Tagebücher 1935-44: [Diaries from the fascist years and the Holocaust in Romania]. Claassen, Berlin.
Reissued in paperback, with some corrections, in 2006. ISBN 978-3548606354
Article
Kanterian, E. (2015). Das namenlose Dorf. Tachles - Das jüdische Monatsmagazin [Online]:10-12. Available at: http://tachles.ch.
Kanterian, E. (2015). Satul fără nume [The village without a name]On the Armenian genocide. Observator Cultural [Online]:12-13. Available at: http://www.observatorcultural.ro/Satul-fara-nume*articleID_31766-articles_details.html.
Kanterian, E. (2014). Cazul Heidegger – o retrospectivă. Observator Cultural [Online] 719:10-11. Available at: http://www.observatorcultural.ro/Cazul-Heidegger-o-retrospectiva*articleID_30102-articles_details.html.
Kanterian, E. (2014). Der erste Völkermord im 20. Jahrhundert: Neue Forschungsliteratur über den Genozid an den Armeniern. Neue Zücher Zeitung [Online]:25-25. Available at: http://www.nzz.ch/feuilleton/buecher/der-erste-voelkermord-im-20-jahrhundert-1.18531669.
Kanterian, E. (2014). Biegen und brechen. Aufarbeitung des Kommunismus in Rumänien [On the prosecution of Communist crimes in Romania]. Neue Zücher Zeitung [Online]:51-51. Available at: http://www.nzz.ch.
Kanterian, E. (2014). Communism: The Shadows of a Utopia. Baltic Worlds [Online] VII:4-11. Available at: http://balticworlds.com/.
Kanterian, E. and Ben-Yami, H. (2014). We are witnessing a conflict between two peoples or societies on the same piece of land over which each of them thinks it has rights. Observator Cultural [Online] 733:10-11. Available at: http://www.observatorcultural.ro/We-are-witnessing-a-conflict-between-two-peoples-or-societies-on-the-same-piece-of-land-over-which-each-of-them-thinks-it-has-rights*articleID_30594-articles_details.html.
On the Gaza conflict 2014. Interview with Hanoch Ben-Yami, Professor in Philosophy at CEU, Budapest
Kanterian, E. (2013). Bodies in Prolegomena §13: Noumena or Phenomena? Hegel Bulletin [Online] 34:181-202. Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/hgl.2013.11.
This article discusses Kant's transcendental idealism in relation to his perplexing use of 'body' and related terms in Prolegomena §13. Here Kant admits the existence of bodies external to us, although unknown as what they might be in themselves. It is argued that we need to distinguish between a phenomenal and a noumenal use of 'body' to make sense of Kant's argument. The most important recent discussions of this passage, i.e., Prauss (1977), Langton (1998) and Bird (2006), are presented and shown to suffer from both systematic and exegetical shortcomings. The article is a contribution to understanding the nature of Kant's transcendental idealism, defending the view, especially against Prauss and Bird, that Kant is committed to the existence of things in themselves.
Kanterian, E. (2013). The Ideality of Space and Time: Trendelenburg versus Kant, Fischer and Bird. Kantian Review [Online] 18:263-288. Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S1369415413000022.
Trendelenburg argued that Kant's arguments in support of transcendental idealism ignored the possibility that space and time are both ideal and real. Recently, Graham Bird has claimed that Trendelenburg (unlike his contemporary Kuno Fischer) misrepresented Kant, confusing two senses of 'subjective/objective'. I defend Trendelenburg's 'neglected alternative': the ideas of space and time, as a priori and necessary, are ideal, but this does not exclude their validity in the noumenal realm. This undermines transcendental idealism. Bird's attempt to show that the Analytic considers, but rejects, the alternative fails: an epistemological reading makes Kant accept the alternative, while an ontological reading makes him incoherent. As I demonstrate, Trendelenburg acknowledged the ambiguity of 'subjective/objective', focusing on the transcendental, not the empirical sense. Unlike Fischer, Bird denies Kant's commitment to things-in-themselves in favour of a descriptivist, non-ontological reading of transcendental idealism as an inventory of 'immanent experience'. But neither Bird's descriptivism, nor Fischer's commitment to things-in-themselves, answers Trendelenburg's sceptical worry about transcendental idealism.
Kanterian, E. (2012). Philosophy as Poetry? Reflections on Wittgenstein's Style. Wittgenstein-Studien 3:95-132.
Kanterian, E. (2012). Das Gespenst des Autoritarismus. Neue Zücher Zeitung.
Piranio, C. and Kanterian, E. (2011). Memory, Justice and the Court: On the Dimensions of Memory-Justice under the Rome Statute. Cambridge Review of International Affairs [Online] 24:425-447. Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09557571.2011.616999.
This article explores the possibility of locating an 'ethics of memory' respecting commission of mass atrocities via the link between justice, truth and memory. First, it suggests a typology for memory in relation to justice in its retributive and restorative aspects. Second, it explores how so-called 'memory-justice' arises in the course of international proceedingsand particularly given its significance under the Rome Statuteby considering, critically, the international community's ability to repair or restitute injury by engaging in memory in 'the right way'. Lastly, it suggests limitations of memory-justice of which only some can be overcome. The challenges and arguments for a 'categorical imperative' for memory are left for a subsequent treatment, but arguments in law and practical ethics will be suggested in favour of properly approaching memory in pursuit of justice, with profound consequences for the nascent Court and sister tribunals, in their efforts to break the cycle of conflict in affected regions, and rid the world of the worst crimes known to humanity.
Kanterian, E. (2011). Kripke’s Metalinguistic Apparatus and the Analysis of Definite Descriptions. Philosophical Studies [Online] 156:363-387. Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11098-010-9608-y.
Kanterian, E. (2010). Frege's Definition of Number: No Ontological Agenda? Hungarian Philosophical Review 54:76-92.
Joan Weiner (2007) has argued that Frege's definitions of numbers
constitute linguistic stipulations that carry no ontological commitment: they
don't present numbers as pre-existing objects. This paper offers a critical
discussion of this view, showing that it is vitiated by serious exegetical
errors and that it saddles Frege's project with insuperable substantive
difficulties. It is first demonstrated that Weiner misrepresents the Fregean
notions of so-called Foundations-content, and of sense, reference, and truth.
The discussion then focuses on the role of definitions in Frege's work,
demonstrating that they cannot be understood as mere linguistic stipulations,
since they have an ontological aim. The paper concludes with stressing both
the epistemological and the ontological aspects of Frege's project, and their
crucial interdependence.
Kanterian, E. (2009). Puzzles about Descriptive Names. Linguistics and Philosophy [Online] 32:409-428. Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10988-010-9066-1.
Kanterian, E. (2008). On Truth in Holocaust Diaries. Sinn und Form 3:343-352.
Book section
Kanterian, E. (2013). Hegel's Tale in Romania. in: Herzog, L. ed. Hegel's Thought in Europe: Currents, Crosscurrents and Undercurrents. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Kanterian, E. (2013). Wissen, wo die Gräber liegen [Knowing where the victims of Communism are buried]. in: Kilzer, K. and Muller-Enbergs, H. eds. Geist hinter Gittern. Die rumänische Gedenkstätte Memorial Sighet. Berlin: Frank & Timme.
Kanterian, E. (2010). On the Moral Dimension of the Investigation of Totalitarianism. in: Birgit, H., Wezel, K. and Trappe, U. J. eds. Diktaturüberwindung in Europa. Heidelberg: Universitätsverlag Winter.
Review
Kanterian, E. (2014). Review of Frederick C. Beiser, 'Late German Idealism: Trendelenburg and Lotze'. Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews [Online]:1-5. Available at: https://ndpr.nd.edu/news/48754-late-german-idealism-trendelenburg-and-lotze/.
Frederick C. Beiser, Late German Idealism: Trendelenburg and Lotze, Oxford University Press, 2013, 333pp., $74.00 (hbk), ISBN 9780199682959.
Kanterian, E. (2014). Review of Pirmin Stekeler-Weithofer, 'Formen der Anschauung. Eine Philosophie der Mathematik'. Philosophical Investigations [Online] 37:91-94. Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/phin.12038.
Pirmin Stekeler-Weithofer, Formen der Anschauung. Eine Philosophie der Mathematik (Berlin/New York: Walter de Gruyter, 2008) 400, price 49.95 Euro.
Kanterian, E. (2014). Review of Alexander Baumgarten, 'Metaphysics'. Review of Metaphysics:55-56.
Kanterian, E. (2014). Review of Michael Franz, 'Tübinger Platonismus: Die gemeinsamen philosophischen Anfangsgründe von Hölderlin, Schelling und Hegel'. Hegel Bulletin [Online] 35:116-122. Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/hgl.2014.7.
Kanterian, E. (2014). Review of Peter Hacker, 'Human Nature: The Categorial Framework' and 'The Intellectual Powers: A Study of Human Nature'. Philosophical Quarterly [Online] 64:655-661. Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/pq/pqu041.
Human Nature: The Categorial Framework. By Peter M.S. Hacker. (Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, 2007. Pp. xiii + 326. Price P/b £24.99.)
The Intellectual Powers: A Study of Human Nature. By Peter M.S. Hacker. (Oxford: WileyBlackwell, 2013. Pp. xii + 475. Price P/b £19.99.)
Kanterian, E. (2014). Review of Samuel Fleischackerm 'What is Enlightenment?'. European Journal of Philosophy [Online] 22:e1-e3. Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/ejop.12102.
'What is Enlightenment?', by Samuel Fleischacker. London & New York: Routledge, 2013, 235 pp. ISBN Paperback 978-0-41549781-7
Kanterian, E. (2014). Anne Applebaums meisterhafte Studie über die Stalinisierung Osteuropas. Die Zeit:0-0.
Kanterian, E. (2013). Review of Daniel N. Robinson, 'How Is Nature Possible? Kant's Project in the First Critique'. The Review of Metaphysics 66:597-599.
Kanterian, E. (2011). Review of Wolfgang Ewen, 'Carl Stumpf und Gottlob Frege'. Philosophical Investigations [Online] 34:312-317. Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9205.2011.01448.x.
Kanterian, E. (2007). True to Life. Why Truth Matters? By Michael P. Lynch. Philosophical Investigations [Online] 30:389-393. Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9205.2007.00329_2.x.
Kanterian, E. (2005). Review of Brian McGuinness, 'Approaches to Wittgenstein: Collected Papers'. Philosophical Investigations [Online] 28:76-80. Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9205.2005.00242.x.
Teaching
Dr Kanterian teaches modules on metaphysics, on Kant, and on Schopenhauer and Nietzsche.
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