Becoming someone is a learning process; and what we learn is the new values around which, if we succeed, our lives will come to turn. Agents transform themselves in the process of, for example, becoming parents, embarking on careers, or acquiring a passion for music or politics. How can such activity be rational, if the reason for engaging in the relevant pursuit is only available to the person one will become? How is it psychologically possible to feel the attraction of a form of concern that is not yet one's own? How can the work done to arrive at the finish line be ascribed to one who doesn't (really) know what one is doing, or why one is doing it? In Aspiration, Agnes Callard asserts that these questions belong to the theory of aspiration. Aspirants are motivated by proleptic reasons, acknowledged defective versions of the reasons they expect to eventually grasp. The psychology of such a transformation is marked by intrinsic conflict between their old point of view on value and the one they are trying to acquire. They cannot adjudicate this conflict by deliberating or choosing or deciding-rather, they resolve it by working to see the world in a new way. This work has a teleological structure: by modeling oneself on the person he or she is trying to be, the aspirant brings that person into being. Because it is open to us to engage in an activity of self-creation, we are responsible for having become the kinds of people we are.

Aspiration: The Agency of Becoming

Politics & Social Sciences

Callard, Agnes

Philosophy

Oxford University Press

Open Socrates: The Case for a Philosophical Life

Socrates has been hiding in plain sight. We call him the father of Western philosophy, but what exactly are his philosophical views? He is famous for his humility, but readers often find him arrogant and condescending. We parrot his claim that "the unexamined life is not worth living," yet take no steps to live examined ones. We know that he was tried, convicted, and executed for "corrupting the youth," but freely assign Socratic dialogues to today's youths, to introduce them to philosophy. We've lost sight of what made him so dangerous. In Open Socrates, acclaimed philosopher Agnes Callard recovers the radical move at the center of Socrates' thought, and shows why it is still the way to a good life. Callard draws our attention to Socrates' startling discovery that we don't know how to ask ourselves the most important questions--about how we should live, and how we might change. Before a person even has a chance to reflect, their bodily desires or the forces of social conformity have already answered on their behalf. To ask the most important questions, we need help. Callard argues that the true ambition of the famous "Socratic method" is to reveal what one human being can be to another. You can use another person in many ways--for survival, for pleasure, for comfort--but you are engaging them to the fullest when you call on them to help answer your questions and challenge your answers. Callard shows that Socrates' method allows us to make progress in thinking about how to manage romantic love, how to confront one's own death, and how to approach politics. In the process, she gives us nothing less than a new ethics to live by.

Biographies & Memoirs

Professionals & Academics

W.W.Norton&Company

“Although people like to talk about their travels, few of us like to listen to them. Such talk resembles academic writing and reports of dreams: forms of communication driven more by the needs of the producer than the consumer.”\nIn The Case Against Travel the philosopher Agnes Callard launches a vigorous assault on the idea that there is something transformative or ennobling about recreational travel. Going well beyond commonplace complaints about the irksomeness of tourists, Callard’s essay is a probing inquiry into what it really means to change one’s life, and into the ways in which we try to disguise the fact that life will come to an end.

The Case Against Travel (ERIS gems)

Literature & Fiction

Essays & Correspondence

Eris

Is anger eternal? Righteous? Reflections on the causes and consequences of an phenomenon critical to our intimate and public lives.
From Aristotle to Martha Nussbaum, philosophers have explored the moral status of anger. We get angry for a reason: we feel wronged. That reason can be eternal, some argue, because not even an apology or promise that it won't happen again can change the fact of the original harm. Although there are pragmatic reasons for ceasing to be angry and moving on, is eternal anger moral? Is anger righteous? In this collection, contributors consider these and other questions about the causes and consequences of anger.
Leading off the debate, philosopher Agnes Callard argues that anger is not righteous rage; it is not an effort to solve a problem. Instead, it reflects a cry for help―a recognition that something shared is broken. And only in acknowledging the value of that shared project, she argues, can we begin together to repair it. Anger, then, is a starting point. But could there ever be the end of anger? Bringing together today's leading thinkers on anger, this volume raises questions critical to our intimate and public lives.

On Anger (Boston Review / Forum)

Boston Review

Casi 2500 años después, Sócrates continúa desafiándonos a vivir con autenticidad y a formular las preguntas que más importan. La renombrada filósofa Agnes Callard nos invita a redescubrir al Sócrates rebelde y revolucionario, aquel que incomodaba al conformismo de su tiempo. Sócrates al descubierto nos muestra que no solo debemos preguntarnos cómo vivir y cambiar, sino también buscar la ayuda de otros para encarar esas preguntas y las respuestas que de ellas surjan. Callard explica cómo el famoso método socrático, lejos de ser un ejercicio intelectual o académico, es un camino hacia una vida plena, desde el amor, la política o la confrontación con la muerte. A través de estas reflexiones, Callard brinda una nueva ética para enfrentar las incertidumbres modernas. Nearly 2,500 years later, Socrates continues to challenge us to live authentically and ask the questions that matter most. Renowned philosopher Agnes Callard invites us to rediscover the rebellious and revolutionary Socrates, the one who challenged the conformism of his time. Socrates Uncovered shows us that we must not only ask ourselves how to live and change, but also seek the help of others to confront those questions and the answers that emerge from them. Callard explains how the famous Socratic method, far from being an intellectual or academic exercise, is a path to a full life, from love, politics, and the confrontation with death. Through these reflections, Callard offers a new ethic for facing modern uncertainties.&nbsp;

Sócrates al descubierto

History

Ancient Civilizations

Editorial Kairós SA

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Books by Callard, Agnes