Robert Miner
Biographic Data
| ID | 4247409 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Robert Miner |
| GIVEN NAMES | Robert |
| FAMILY NAME | Miner |
| SIGNATURE | MINER R |
| AFFILIATIONS | Baylor University |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-5321-1993 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 16 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 1 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 16 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1998 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 1 |
Nietzschean Saintliness
Of the many things Nietzsche subjects to unyielding critique, none would seem a clearer target than the ideal signified by “the saint.” Despite passages from early works that praise the saint, it seems that high regard for the saint is among the skins that Nietzsche sheds when he breaks with Schopenhauer and Wagner and comes into his own. However, this article argues that Nietzsche does not simply leave the saint behind. The term signifies a type…
Anti-System in the Philosophical Practice of Francis Bacon
In this paper, I ask whether Francis Bacon constitutes a revealing exception to the modern predilection for ‘system.’ First, I consider evidence for reading Bacon as a philosopher strongly attracted toward the ideal of system. Second, I show how reflecting on Bacon’s philosophical practice can motivate an ‘anti-system‘ reading of his texts. In considering the small number of works in which Bacon explicitly discusses ‘system’ under that name (in p…
Nietzsche's Gay Science
Nietzsche and Friendship
This book proposes a novel interpretation of Nietzsche's thinking about friendship, a topic that remains understudied. Verkerk's project takes its point of departure from questions about the nature of friendship and its relation to other themes in Nietzsche. Primary among these are the intellectual conscience, the ubiquity of the agon, the project of “becoming who you are,” the relation (and distinction) between ego and self, the free spirit, the…
Nietzsche as Critic and Proponent of Socialism
Against the impression that what he says about socialism is either indiscriminately hostile or somewhat superficial, I show Nietzsche to be a subtle and nuanced judge of socialism in his first three “middle period” works—Human, All Too Human, Assorted Opinions and Maxims, and The Wanderer and His Shadow. First, I argue that the critique of socialism contained within the two volumes of HH cuts deeper than generic dismissals of socialism found in l…
Human Joy and the Subversion of Work/Play Distinctions
For those intrigued by the notion of “joy” and its place within a human life, Theodor Adorno is unlikely to be the first thinker that comes to mind. For many, he will not come to mind at all. This is unfortunate because Adorno was keenly sensitive to the importance of joy and its dialectical relation to both suffering and joylessness. Like any brilliant aphorism, Minima Moralia 2.84 demands that its reader explicate what it contains in highly com…
Nietzsche and Montaigne
Thomas Aquinas’s Hopeful Transformation of Peter Lombard’s Four Fears
The Difficulties of Mercy
In the Questions on charity in the ST (2a2ae, qq. 23-46), Aquinas considers at length the vices opposed to charity, omitting altogether any Question on a vice opposed to mercy. What does the omission reveal about mercy and its difficulties? First, I reject ready-to-hand explanations of the omission. Second, I consider the relation between mercy and compassion, showing that for Thomas the primary impediments to compassion are less vices than psych…
Nietzsche, Schmitt, and Heidegger in the Anti-Liberalism of Leo Strauss
After emigrating to the United States, Leo Strauss taught political philosophy for thirty years, first at the New School for Social Research in New York and then at the University of Chicago, before retiring at St. John's College. Richard Wolin observes that he “seems to have deeply mistrusted day-to-day politics—a very strange stance, to be sure, for someone who made his living teaching political philosophy.”1 But is it really so strange? What i…
Nietzsche on Friendship
In this analysis of his thought on friendship, I begin first by arguing that for Nietzsche friendship is undesirableor impossible with or between four human types. Insight on this point is valuable, because it provides clear vision of what friendship is not. Second, I will argue that Nietzsche takes superior friendship to be possible but rare, since itrequires its participants to balance three pairs of opposing qualities that are difficult to kee…
Thomas Aquinas on the Passions
The Summa Theologiae is Thomas Aquinas' undisputed masterwork, and it includes his thoughts on the elemental forces in human life. Feelings such as love, hatred, pleasure, pain, hope and despair were described by Aquinas as 'passions', representing the different ways in which happiness could be affected. But what causes the passions? What impact do they have on the person who suffers them? Can they be shaped and reshaped in order to better promot…
Thomas Aquinas on the passions
Vico and Moral Perception
Verum-factum and Practical Wisdom in the Early Writings of Giambattista Vico
Verum-factum and Practical Wisdom in the Early Writings of Giambattista Vico Robert C. Miner As several contemporary writers have noted, Giambattista Vico defends the idea of practical knowledge, a type of knowledge that cannot be fully expressed by propositions and defies reductions to method. 1 The defense of practical knowledge, against Descartes and the rise of objectifying science, is most clearly articulated in a group of Vico’s early writi…
"Verum-factum" and Practical Wisdom in the Early Writings of Giambattista Vico
Nietzsche on Friendship
In this analysis of his thought on friendship, I begin first by arguing that for Nietzsche friendship is undesirableor impossible with or between four human types. Insight on this point is valuable, because it provides clear vision of what friendship is not. Second, I will argue that Nietzsche takes superior friendship to be possible but rare, since itrequires its participants to balance three pairs of opposing qualities that are difficult to kee…
Vico and Moral Perception
Verum-factum and Practical Wisdom in the Early Writings of Giambattista Vico
Verum-factum and Practical Wisdom in the Early Writings of Giambattista Vico Robert C. Miner As several contemporary writers have noted, Giambattista Vico defends the idea of practical knowledge, a type of knowledge that cannot be fully expressed by propositions and defies reductions to method. 1 The defense of practical knowledge, against Descartes and the rise of objectifying science, is most clearly articulated in a group of Vico’s early writi…
"Verum-factum" and Practical Wisdom in the Early Writings of Giambattista Vico
Thomas Aquinas on the Passions
The Summa Theologiae is Thomas Aquinas' undisputed masterwork, and it includes his thoughts on the elemental forces in human life. Feelings such as love, hatred, pleasure, pain, hope and despair were described by Aquinas as 'passions', representing the different ways in which happiness could be affected. But what causes the passions? What impact do they have on the person who suffers them? Can they be shaped and reshaped in order to better promot…
Thomas Aquinas on the passions
Nietzsche on Friendship
In this analysis of his thought on friendship, I begin first by arguing that for Nietzsche friendship is undesirableor impossible with or between four human types. Insight on this point is valuable, because it provides clear vision of what friendship is not. Second, I will argue that Nietzsche takes superior friendship to be possible but rare, since itrequires its participants to balance three pairs of opposing qualities that are difficult to kee…
Nietzsche, Schmitt, and Heidegger in the Anti-Liberalism of Leo Strauss
After emigrating to the United States, Leo Strauss taught political philosophy for thirty years, first at the New School for Social Research in New York and then at the University of Chicago, before retiring at St. John's College. Richard Wolin observes that he “seems to have deeply mistrusted day-to-day politics—a very strange stance, to be sure, for someone who made his living teaching political philosophy.”1 But is it really so strange? What i…
The Difficulties of Mercy
In the Questions on charity in the ST (2a2ae, qq. 23-46), Aquinas considers at length the vices opposed to charity, omitting altogether any Question on a vice opposed to mercy. What does the omission reveal about mercy and its difficulties? First, I reject ready-to-hand explanations of the omission. Second, I consider the relation between mercy and compassion, showing that for Thomas the primary impediments to compassion are less vices than psych…
Nietzsche and Montaigne
Thomas Aquinas’s Hopeful Transformation of Peter Lombard’s Four Fears
Nietzsche as Critic and Proponent of Socialism
Against the impression that what he says about socialism is either indiscriminately hostile or somewhat superficial, I show Nietzsche to be a subtle and nuanced judge of socialism in his first three “middle period” works—Human, All Too Human, Assorted Opinions and Maxims, and The Wanderer and His Shadow. First, I argue that the critique of socialism contained within the two volumes of HH cuts deeper than generic dismissals of socialism found in l…
Human Joy and the Subversion of Work/Play Distinctions
For those intrigued by the notion of “joy” and its place within a human life, Theodor Adorno is unlikely to be the first thinker that comes to mind. For many, he will not come to mind at all. This is unfortunate because Adorno was keenly sensitive to the importance of joy and its dialectical relation to both suffering and joylessness. Like any brilliant aphorism, Minima Moralia 2.84 demands that its reader explicate what it contains in highly com…
Nietzsche's Gay Science
Nietzsche and Friendship
This book proposes a novel interpretation of Nietzsche's thinking about friendship, a topic that remains understudied. Verkerk's project takes its point of departure from questions about the nature of friendship and its relation to other themes in Nietzsche. Primary among these are the intellectual conscience, the ubiquity of the agon, the project of “becoming who you are,” the relation (and distinction) between ego and self, the free spirit, the…
Anti-System in the Philosophical Practice of Francis Bacon
In this paper, I ask whether Francis Bacon constitutes a revealing exception to the modern predilection for ‘system.’ First, I consider evidence for reading Bacon as a philosopher strongly attracted toward the ideal of system. Second, I show how reflecting on Bacon’s philosophical practice can motivate an ‘anti-system‘ reading of his texts. In considering the small number of works in which Bacon explicitly discusses ‘system’ under that name (in p…
Nietzschean Saintliness
Of the many things Nietzsche subjects to unyielding critique, none would seem a clearer target than the ideal signified by “the saint.” Despite passages from early works that praise the saint, it seems that high regard for the saint is among the skins that Nietzsche sheds when he breaks with Schopenhauer and Wagner and comes into his own. However, this article argues that Nietzsche does not simply leave the saint behind. The term signifies a type…
Philosophy (13 works) · Epistemology (11 works) · Psychology (8 works) · Psychoanalysis (7 works) · Law (6 works) · Philosophy (6 works) · Art (5 works) · Literature (5 works) · Nietzsche, Schopenhauer, and Hegel (5 works) · Computer Science (4 works)