Simon Lumsden
Biographic Data
| ID | 3653679 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Simon Lumsden |
| GIVEN NAMES | Simon |
| FAMILY NAME | Lumsden |
| SIGNATURE | LUMSDEN S |
| AFFILIATIONS | UNSW Sydney |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-1561-7623 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 17 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 5 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 17 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2000 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 1 |
Animal Domestication, World History and Multispecies Relations
Vinciane Despret, Donna Haraway and Jocelyne Porcher challenge a common view of domestication: that it is necessarily a form of domination. Domesticated animals are not artefacts of a self-enclosed human culture but can be rich forms of ‘naturalcultural’ multi-species flourishing. Contra Despret, Haraway and Porcher, this article claims that the control and exploitation of domesticated animals that is central to the emergence and continuation of …
Practice, Ethical Life and Normative Authority
In Thinking like a Mall Steven Vogel argues that there is no authoritative nature independent of human standards to which one can appeal to correct damaging environmental practices. Human practices are the only basis for interpreting the environment and our ecologically destructive practices have made our environment into the degraded thing that it is. Revising these flawed practices requires becoming alienated from them; only then can we be resp…
Sustainable Development is a Dead-End
This paper examines the theory of sustainable development presented by Jeffrey Sachs in The Age of Sustainable Development. While Sustainable Development ostensibly seeks to harmonise the conflict between ecological sustainability and human development, the paper argues this is impossible because of the conceptual frame it employs. Rather than allowing for a re-conceptualisation of the human–nature relation, Sustainable Development is simply the …
The Problem of Nature in Hegel's Philosophy of Right
The notion of being-at-home-in-otherness is the distinctive way of thinking of freedom that Hegel develops in his social and political thought. When I am at one with myself in social and political structures (institutions, rights and the state) they are not external powers to which I am subjected but are rather constitutive of my self-relation, that is my self-conception is mediated and expanded through those objective structures. How successfull…
The role of Bildung in Hegel’s philosophy of history
The notion of Bildung comes to prominence in the second half of the eighteenth century. It was originally conceived to capture the cultural conditions by which an individual becomes a moral agent. In Hegel’s thought, it develops a much more expansive role; it is at the heart of his socio-historical project. Bildung is Hegel’s theory of culture, but for Hegel, is not just the way in which individuals are cultivated, the process by which individual…
Community in Hegel’s Social Philosophy
In the Philosophy of Right Hegel argues that modern life has produced an individualized freedom that conflicts with the communal forms of life constitutive of Greek ethical life. This individualized freedom is fundamentally unsatisfactory, but it is in modernity seemingly resolved into a more adequate form of social freedom in the family, aspects of civil society, and ultimately the state. This article examines whether Hegel’s state can function …
Ecological Crisis and the Problem of How to Inhabit a Norm
The Anthropocene is distinguished by the knowledge that collective human action is damaging the earth's biophysical systems in a manner that has serious implications for human life and nature. In a recent work, Dale Jamieson has argued that despite this knowledge moral philosophy is limited in its capacity to provide the wholesale re-orientation of human practices that are required if humanity is to respond successfully to the array of ecological…
Hegel and Pathologized Modernity, or the End of Spirit in the Anthropocene
This article has two broad concerns, both of which are pursued primarily with reference to Hegel's philosophy of history. First, it examines whether Hegel can help explain the difficulty we have in modernity in responding to climate change and ecological crisis. It argues that Hegel provides a useful analysis of this problem, since the model of self-determination that he appeals to is comprehensively embedded in embodied forms of culture. This he…
Second Nature and Historical Change in Hegel’s Philosophy of History
Hegel’s philosophy of history is fundamentally concerned with how shapes of life collapse and transition into new shapes of life. One of the distinguishing features of Hegel’s concern with how a shape of life falls apart and becomes inadequate is the role that habit plays in the transition. A shape of life is an embodied form of existence for Hegel. The animating concepts of a shape of life are affectively inscribed on subjects through complex cu…
Self-Consciousness and the Critique of the Subject
Poststructuralists hold Hegel responsible for giving rise to many of modern philosophy’s problematic concepts-the authority of reason, self-consciousness, the knowing subject. Yet, according to this book, this animosity is rooted in a fundamental misunderstanding of Hegel’s thought, and resolving this tension can not only heal the rift between poststructuralism and German idealism but also point these traditions in exciting new directions. Revisi…
Habit and the Limits of the Autonomous Subject
After briefly describing the history and significance of the nature-reason dualism for philosophy this article examines why much of the Kantian inspired examination of norms and ethics continues to appeal to this division. It is argued that much of what is claimed to be rationally legitimated norms can, at least in part, be understood as binding on actions and beliefs, not because they are rationally legitimated, but because they are habituated. …
Habit, Sittlichkeit and Second Nature
Discussions of habit in Hegel’s thought usually focus on his subjective spirit since this is where the most extended discussion of this issue takes place. This paper argues that habit is also important for understanding Hegel’s Philosophy of Right. The discussion of habit and second nature occur at a critical juncture in the text. This discussion is important for understanding his notion of ethical life and his account of freedom
Habit, Reason, and the Limits of Normativity
Habit, Reason, and the Limits of Normativity Simon Lumsden (bio) In recent years one of the views that has risen to prominence in both analytic and continental philosophy is the idea of the fundamental sociality of reason. This socialized reason is presented as both the condition for and the context in which all norms are framed. Of course not everything can be a norm in this sense; for something to count as a reason it must be able to be recogni…
The Rise of the Non-Metaphysical Hegel
There has been a resurgence of interest in Hegel's thought by Anglo-American philosophers in the last 25 years. That expansion of interest was initiated with the publication of Charles Taylor's Hegel (1975). That work stills stands as one of7 the important branches of Hegel interpretation. However the dominance of the strongly metaphysical interpretation of Hegel, which dominated the understanding of Hegel until the 1980s, and of which Taylor's w…
Dialectic and différance
This article examines Derrida's critique of Hegel. It argues that there are two key issues that Derrida misunderstands in Hegel's thought: first, Hegel's response to the concept-intuition dichotomy that plagued Kant's critical thought; second, that Hegel's notions of reason and the dialectic, when they are conceived non-metaphysically, are not tools employed to subsume differences but are, like Derrida's différance, fundamentally concerned with t…
Reason and the Restlessness of the Speculative
This paper examines Jean-Luc Nancy's interpretation of Hegel, focusing in particular on The Restlessness of the Negative. It is argued that Nancy's reading represents a significant break with other post-structuralist readings of Hegel by taking his thought to be non-metaphysical. The paper focuses in particular on the role Nancy gives to the negative in Hegel's thought. Ultimately Nancy's reading is limited as an interpretation of Hegel, since he…
Absolute Difference and Social Ontology
Absolute Difference and Social Ontology
Habit and the Limits of the Autonomous Subject
After briefly describing the history and significance of the nature-reason dualism for philosophy this article examines why much of the Kantian inspired examination of norms and ethics continues to appeal to this division. It is argued that much of what is claimed to be rationally legitimated norms can, at least in part, be understood as binding on actions and beliefs, not because they are rationally legitimated, but because they are habituated. …
The Rise of the Non-Metaphysical Hegel
There has been a resurgence of interest in Hegel's thought by Anglo-American philosophers in the last 25 years. That expansion of interest was initiated with the publication of Charles Taylor's Hegel (1975). That work stills stands as one of7 the important branches of Hegel interpretation. However the dominance of the strongly metaphysical interpretation of Hegel, which dominated the understanding of Hegel until the 1980s, and of which Taylor's w…
Dialectic and différance
This article examines Derrida's critique of Hegel. It argues that there are two key issues that Derrida misunderstands in Hegel's thought: first, Hegel's response to the concept-intuition dichotomy that plagued Kant's critical thought; second, that Hegel's notions of reason and the dialectic, when they are conceived non-metaphysically, are not tools employed to subsume differences but are, like Derrida's différance, fundamentally concerned with t…
Absolute Difference and Social Ontology
Reason and the Restlessness of the Speculative
This paper examines Jean-Luc Nancy's interpretation of Hegel, focusing in particular on The Restlessness of the Negative. It is argued that Nancy's reading represents a significant break with other post-structuralist readings of Hegel by taking his thought to be non-metaphysical. The paper focuses in particular on the role Nancy gives to the negative in Hegel's thought. Ultimately Nancy's reading is limited as an interpretation of Hegel, since he…
Dialectic and différance
This article examines Derrida's critique of Hegel. It argues that there are two key issues that Derrida misunderstands in Hegel's thought: first, Hegel's response to the concept-intuition dichotomy that plagued Kant's critical thought; second, that Hegel's notions of reason and the dialectic, when they are conceived non-metaphysically, are not tools employed to subsume differences but are, like Derrida's différance, fundamentally concerned with t…
Habit, Reason, and the Limits of Normativity
Habit, Reason, and the Limits of Normativity Simon Lumsden (bio) In recent years one of the views that has risen to prominence in both analytic and continental philosophy is the idea of the fundamental sociality of reason. This socialized reason is presented as both the condition for and the context in which all norms are framed. Of course not everything can be a norm in this sense; for something to count as a reason it must be able to be recogni…
The Rise of the Non-Metaphysical Hegel
There has been a resurgence of interest in Hegel's thought by Anglo-American philosophers in the last 25 years. That expansion of interest was initiated with the publication of Charles Taylor's Hegel (1975). That work stills stands as one of7 the important branches of Hegel interpretation. However the dominance of the strongly metaphysical interpretation of Hegel, which dominated the understanding of Hegel until the 1980s, and of which Taylor's w…
Habit, Sittlichkeit and Second Nature
Discussions of habit in Hegel’s thought usually focus on his subjective spirit since this is where the most extended discussion of this issue takes place. This paper argues that habit is also important for understanding Hegel’s Philosophy of Right. The discussion of habit and second nature occur at a critical juncture in the text. This discussion is important for understanding his notion of ethical life and his account of freedom
Habit and the Limits of the Autonomous Subject
After briefly describing the history and significance of the nature-reason dualism for philosophy this article examines why much of the Kantian inspired examination of norms and ethics continues to appeal to this division. It is argued that much of what is claimed to be rationally legitimated norms can, at least in part, be understood as binding on actions and beliefs, not because they are rationally legitimated, but because they are habituated. …
Self-Consciousness and the Critique of the Subject
Poststructuralists hold Hegel responsible for giving rise to many of modern philosophy’s problematic concepts-the authority of reason, self-consciousness, the knowing subject. Yet, according to this book, this animosity is rooted in a fundamental misunderstanding of Hegel’s thought, and resolving this tension can not only heal the rift between poststructuralism and German idealism but also point these traditions in exciting new directions. Revisi…
Second Nature and Historical Change in Hegel’s Philosophy of History
Hegel’s philosophy of history is fundamentally concerned with how shapes of life collapse and transition into new shapes of life. One of the distinguishing features of Hegel’s concern with how a shape of life falls apart and becomes inadequate is the role that habit plays in the transition. A shape of life is an embodied form of existence for Hegel. The animating concepts of a shape of life are affectively inscribed on subjects through complex cu…
Ecological Crisis and the Problem of How to Inhabit a Norm
The Anthropocene is distinguished by the knowledge that collective human action is damaging the earth's biophysical systems in a manner that has serious implications for human life and nature. In a recent work, Dale Jamieson has argued that despite this knowledge moral philosophy is limited in its capacity to provide the wholesale re-orientation of human practices that are required if humanity is to respond successfully to the array of ecological…
Hegel and Pathologized Modernity, or the End of Spirit in the Anthropocene
This article has two broad concerns, both of which are pursued primarily with reference to Hegel's philosophy of history. First, it examines whether Hegel can help explain the difficulty we have in modernity in responding to climate change and ecological crisis. It argues that Hegel provides a useful analysis of this problem, since the model of self-determination that he appeals to is comprehensively embedded in embodied forms of culture. This he…
Community in Hegel’s Social Philosophy
In the Philosophy of Right Hegel argues that modern life has produced an individualized freedom that conflicts with the communal forms of life constitutive of Greek ethical life. This individualized freedom is fundamentally unsatisfactory, but it is in modernity seemingly resolved into a more adequate form of social freedom in the family, aspects of civil society, and ultimately the state. This article examines whether Hegel’s state can function …
Sustainable Development is a Dead-End
This paper examines the theory of sustainable development presented by Jeffrey Sachs in The Age of Sustainable Development. While Sustainable Development ostensibly seeks to harmonise the conflict between ecological sustainability and human development, the paper argues this is impossible because of the conceptual frame it employs. Rather than allowing for a re-conceptualisation of the human–nature relation, Sustainable Development is simply the …
The Problem of Nature in Hegel's Philosophy of Right
The notion of being-at-home-in-otherness is the distinctive way of thinking of freedom that Hegel develops in his social and political thought. When I am at one with myself in social and political structures (institutions, rights and the state) they are not external powers to which I am subjected but are rather constitutive of my self-relation, that is my self-conception is mediated and expanded through those objective structures. How successfull…
The role of Bildung in Hegel’s philosophy of history
The notion of Bildung comes to prominence in the second half of the eighteenth century. It was originally conceived to capture the cultural conditions by which an individual becomes a moral agent. In Hegel’s thought, it develops a much more expansive role; it is at the heart of his socio-historical project. Bildung is Hegel’s theory of culture, but for Hegel, is not just the way in which individuals are cultivated, the process by which individual…
Practice, Ethical Life and Normative Authority
In Thinking like a Mall Steven Vogel argues that there is no authoritative nature independent of human standards to which one can appeal to correct damaging environmental practices. Human practices are the only basis for interpreting the environment and our ecologically destructive practices have made our environment into the degraded thing that it is. Revising these flawed practices requires becoming alienated from them; only then can we be resp…
Animal Domestication, World History and Multispecies Relations
Vinciane Despret, Donna Haraway and Jocelyne Porcher challenge a common view of domestication: that it is necessarily a form of domination. Domesticated animals are not artefacts of a self-enclosed human culture but can be rich forms of ‘naturalcultural’ multi-species flourishing. Contra Despret, Haraway and Porcher, this article claims that the control and exploitation of domesticated animals that is central to the emergence and continuation of …
Epistemology (16 works) · Philosophy (14 works) · Hegelianism (12 works) · Political science (10 works) · Critical Theory and Philosophy (9 works) · Law (9 works) · Sociology (9 works) · Philosophical Ethics and Theory (7 works) · Politics (7 works) · Philosophy (6 works)