RésuméLe degré de consistance d'un objet résulte de ses moyens de résister à l'assaut de l'extérieur.Il y a la consistance des ětres, la consistance des notions et la consistance des valeurs. Une notion peu consistante est celle dont le sens varie d'un discours à l'autre. Une valeur très consistante inspire une conduite indépendante des convenances particulières et favorables à l'accord des esprits.Les problèmes les plus fondamentaux sont des problèmes de hiérarchie selon la consistance et surtout des problèmes de promotion, passage (...) à un degré supérieur .Notion complémentaire: le degré de précarité.ZusammenfassungDer Grad der Konsistenz eines Gegenstandes ergibt sich aus dessen Widerstandskraft gegen äussere Einwirkungen.Es gibt die Konsistenz der Wesen, die Konsistenz der Begriffe und die Konsistenz der Werte. Ein wenig konsistenter Begriff kann je nach der Aussage, die ihn enthält, verschiedenen Sinn haben. Ein sehr konsistenter Wert begründet ein Verhalten, welches unabhängig ist von den besonderen Umständen, sogar wenn sie ungünstig sind für die Übereinstimmung der Geister.Die fundamentalsten Probleme sind diejenigen der Hierarchie bezüglich Konsistenz, und vor allem diejenigen der Beförderung, des Überganges von einer Stufe zu einer höhern .Komplementärer Begriff: Grad der Prekarität.The degree of consistence of an object results from its possibilities of resisting external attacks.There are: the consistency of beings, the consistency of notions and the consistency of values. A notion is not very consistent if its contents vary from one utterance to another. A very consistent value gives rise to behaviour independent of personal conveniency and conductive to the agreement of the minds.The most fundamental problems are those concerned with hierarchy according to consistence, and above all those concerned with promotion, the passing to a higher grade .Complementary notion: the degree of precariousness. (shrink)

Sztr la Moraie et les idLes cogfztses. A profios dztne note de M. A. Ledent.

Abordée pair le côté de la morale, on ne voit pas que la philosophie cartésienne soit ce qui a donné à la spéculation moderne son inflexion décisive. Ne renonçant sur aucun point à l’universelle autorité du Sage éclairé par la Science, l’esprit cartésien couronne l’âge classique, inauguré par la science grecque, et dont le postulat fondamental est l’unicité de la valeur. L’esprit moderne est un repli vers la pluralité des valeurs.

M. Dupréel est, avant tout, un moraliste et un sociologue, et sa théorie de la connaissance est, nettement, d'inspiration sociologique. En insérant les problèmes de la connaissance dans la trame de la vie sociale, en raisonnant sur une pensée complète, et non sur une pensée appauvrie et schématisée, M. Dupréel arrive à des conclusions qui sont souvent très proches de celles que le lecteur est habituéà lire dans Dialectica.Je fais précéder les extraits choisis d'indications bibliographiques qui concernent uniquement (...) les travaux dont ces fragments ont été tirés; il ne faudrait donc pas u voir la liste complète des œuvres de M. Dupréel. (shrink)

Upshot: In view of Kenny’s clinical insights, Hug’s notes on the intricacies of rational vs. a-rational “knowing” in the design sciences, and Chronaki & Kynigos’s notice of mathematics teachers’ meta-communication on experiences of change, this response reframes the heuristic power of bisociation and suspension of disbelief in the light of Kelly’s notion of “as-if-ism” (constructive alternativism. Doing as-if and playing what-if, I reiterate, are critical to mitigating intra-and inter-personal relations, or meta-communicating. Their epistemic status within the radical constructivist framework is (...) cast in the context of mutually enriching conversational techniques, or language-games, inspired by Maturana’s concepts of “objectivity in parenthesis” and the multiverse. (shrink)

Tutte le dottrine tradizionali, da quelle più arcaiche e "primitive" a quelle più evolute e articolate, hanno sempre affermato che l'uomo non è un essere solamente corporeo, sia pur dotato di ingegno e di intelligenza, ma è un essere dalla natura composita, formato da una parte materiale e da una o più componenti invisibili e "sottili" e che in lui risiede un principio immortale di origine divina o comunque soprannaturale. Secondo il modo di vedere tradizionale, l'uomo, per conoscere e realizzare (...) se stesso, deve pertanto prendere coscienza, in primo luogo ed essenzialmente, di questa sua natura di essere composito e immortale, e questa è una di quelle idee universali (per noi forse la più importante) che troviamo diffuse presso tutte le popolazioni del pianeta, anche se con sfumature diverse nelle varie tradizioni..."--Cover flap. (shrink)

For the first time, Walter Benjamin's critical comments on educator and philosopher Rudolf Steiner are examined in depth. In particular, Benjamin detected protofascist themes within Steiner's seemingly progressive notion of child-centered, arts-based, developmentally appropriate early childhood education. But this does not mean that Benjamin completely rejected Steiner's work as mere ideology. Instead, we can find the subtle trace of Steiner's influence in Benjamin's own reflections on childhood. Here Tyson E. Lewis calls for a dialectical approach modeled by Benjamin that allows (...) us to critically interrogate Steiner's progressive education for protofascist tendencies, while also redeeming various insights into the lives of children. This dialectical approach to understanding the complex relationship between progressive education and fascism is now more urgent than ever before. (shrink)

The Kyoto Protocol on global warming has provoked great controversy in part because it calls for heavier burdens on wealthy countries than on developing countries in the effort to control climate change. The U.S. Senate voted unanimously to oppose any agreement that does not require emissions reductions in low-income countries. The ethics of this position are examined in this paper which shows that there are good moral reasons for supporting the provisions of the Kyoto Protocol. Such a conclusion follows easily (...) from considerations of distributive justice but can also be supported by more narrowly self-interested arguments. (shrink)

As a field, ethics is driven by the desire to help guide human life and human activities. Yet, what are the standards or guideposts indicating that a given policy or practice change actually contributes meaningfully to such desires and aspirations? In other words, how do we know if we have achieved meaningful ethical outcomes and enactment processes? Unfortunately, there are many examples of ethically oriented actions that were well intentioned but carried out in a way that undermined some of the (...) values they intended on promoting or led to unexpected undesirable outcomes. In this paper, building on an account of ethics as a pragmatist pursuit of deliberative wisdom, I identify and discuss four procedural guideposts which can help evaluate if a process of inquiry is an ethical one oriented toward human flourishing. First, situational awareness and continuity designates the need to keep in sight the nature of the situation at stake to ensure that the enactment process does not derail from a cardinal human flourishing orientation. Second, a meaningful ethical enactment should distribute opportunities for participation such that it is not only one’s autonomy (e.g., the ethicist) that is developed and exercised but that positive relationships are also fostered through the growth of others. Third, enactments must strive for more than simple avoidance of encroachment of wrongs but aim for the promotion of praiseworthy practices that pursue what is envisioned as being the better and most compelling vision. Fourth, an ethics process should be conducive of personal growth and mutual learning. (shrink)

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:Reviewed by:Augustine's Intellectual Conversion: The Journey from Platonism to ChristianityTravis E. AblesBrian Dobell. Augustine's Intellectual Conversion: The Journey from Platonism to Christianity. Cambridge-New York: Cambridge University Press, 2010. Pp. xvii + 250. Cloth, $82.00.The question of Augustine's Platonism is famously vexed. Since Peter Brown, the standard reading holds that Augustine did not move beyond the Neoplatonism of his early dialogues until he studied the writings of the apostle Paul (...) in the mid-390s CE, after which his distinctive theology begins to emerge. In this book, Brian Dobell's basic claim is that, whatever the validity of the "volitional conversion" of book 8, Augustine is not truly converted to orthodox Christianity until he discards the Photinian (adoptionist) Christology he admits to in Confessions [hereafter conf.] 7.19.25, and discards the Platonic ascent as a means to contemplative union with God, both of which take place with the reading of Paul. But the book is equally motivated by a concern to defend the historicity of conf.; Dobell claims it is perfectly reliable, once we understand the latter half of book 7 not as a few months in 386, but as a compressed narrative spanning Augustine's entire development until his true conversion to Christianity around 395. [End Page 137]Dobell develops this argument by isolating Augustine's twofold way of salvation in the writings of the late 380s. First is the "way of authority," in which Augustine's putative Photinian Christology portrays Christ as a kind of "poor man's Plato, sent to provide a path to salvation for the uneducated masses" (96). The human Jesus is "assumed" by God and is as "a man of outstanding wisdom" (73) but is not the incarnate Son. Dobell analyzes the homo assumptus/susceptus language of the early writings, arguing that Augustine does not truly hold an orthodox Christology until 396, concordant with the development of his theology of operative grace. The second, much longer section of the book concerns the "way of reason," the intellectualist path of salvation expressed in Augustine's early obsession with the liberal disciplines. Dobell dissects the Platonic ascents of conf. 7, adducing verbal and conceptual parallels from texts ca. 387–390 (De immortalitate animae, De ordine, De libero arbitrio, De vera religione) showing how Augustine's métaphysique des degrés d'être, a concept Dobell borrows from Olivier Du Roy, provides both a means of articulating these ascents and an answer to the problem of evil. But by De doctrina christiana, Augustine has decisively rejected the Platonic ascent and the liberal disciplines, and it simply remains for his Christology to come in line for the "intellectual conversion" to be complete.Dobell's book is a significant addition to the current debate. His knowledge of the first decade or so of Augustine's literary output is impressive, and his familiarity with the secondary literature is considerable, though not encyclopedic—he misses the work of J. Patout Burns, which complicates the Pauline thesis through consideration of the anti-Donatist literature. Dobell offers magisterial and invaluable discussions of famously fraught topics such as Augustine's indecisiveness about the preexistence of the soul, or the volitional solution to the problem of evil. There are some problems with Dobell's argument, though. While his main thesis that conf. 7.9.13ff. is a kind of précis of almost a decade of intellectual development deserves serious consideration, and is an elegant solution to debates about the historicity of Augustine's narrative in conf., the supporting arguments Dobell employs are less persuasive. A major portion of his book revolves around the contention that Augustine's early, heretical Photinian Christology extends much longer than modern scholarship has realized, that Augustine rectifies this Christology in conjunction with a Pauline soteriology of grace, and that all of this has to happen before Augustine's conversion is complete. If we suspend the question of normativity inherent in deciding Augustine's "orthodoxy" (particularly prior to Chalcedon), Dobell still does not succeed in showing that the early "pedagogical" homo assumptus Christology is, in fact, adoptionist; indeed, his evidence is often rather weak (for a tacit admission, see 73). On the flip... (shrink)

This article engages with the discussion between Rawls and Habermas concerning the interplay of political realism and normativity to address a fundamental question in contemporary political philosophy. How realistic is a normative theory of politics that critiques or rejects many deep religious, philosophical, and metaphysical commitments? Rawls contends that political theory achieves realism and objectivity by avoiding pronouncements on metaphysical theories (non-metaphysical). In contrast, Habermas argues that realism emerges when grappling with metaphysical theories and prioritizing praxis over metaphysics (post-metaphysical). The (...) article critically examines Rawls’s objections to metaphysical content, lack of practical interest, and the instability of the foundations of Habermas’s democratic theory. By addressing these objections, it advocates for the greater political realism of the post-metaphysical normative approach. (shrink)

'Jousse - il a trouvé un filon, comme on dit', confie Bergson dans un entretien avec Lydie Adolphe. La relation que Marcel Jousse, chercheur, professeur, homme d'Église, entretient tout au long de ses quelque quarante ans d'enseignement avec le philosophe Henri Bergson est pour le moins paradoxale. Entre admiration et rejet, Jousse revendique 'sa' lecture de Bergson. Libre et inspirante, souvent critique, voire frôlant la caricature, cette lecture tonique agit en retour sur le lecteur, qu'il soit connaisseur de l'œuvre de (...) Bergson ou pas. Selon Jousse, le geste corporel-manuel, le geste global, est au cœur de la pensée du philosophe. Bergson joue sa pensée avec ses mains, avec tout son corps avant de la jeter dans ses livres. La connaissance des lois anthropologiques du Style oral formulées par Jousse permet de mieux saisir la particularité du style de Bergson, proche de celui de Péguy, et qui s'apparente au style oral des rythmo-mimeurs. Jousse, Bergson : deux noms qui ont marqué leur époque. Le lien fort qui unit les deux penseurs est au cœur de cette enquête - que l'on pourrait aussi écrire 'en quête' - à la fois philosophique et historique. Ce livre s'inscrit dans la longue liste des 'lecteurs de Bergson' qu'ils soient ou non bergsoniens."--Page 4 of cover. (shrink)

The present study investigated children's understanding that an object's history may increase its significance, an appreciation that underpins the concept of historical authenticity (i.e., the idea that an item's history determines its true identity, beyond its functional or material qualities, leading people to value real items over copies or fakes). We examined the development of historical significance through the lens of parent–child conversations, and children's performance on an authenticity assessment. The final sample was American, 79.2% monoracial White, and mid-high socio-economic (...) status (SES) and included 48 parent–child pairs: 24 with younger children (R = 3.5 to 4.5 years) and 24 with older children (R = 5.5 to 6.5 years). Parent–child pairs discussed three books we created, with three storylines: a museum (culturally authentic) storyline, a clean-up (personally authentic) storyline, and a control storyline. Across measures, conversations suggested that authenticity may begin as a “placeholder concept” that is initially rooted in a broad appreciation for the significance of old objects and only later filled in with specifics. This placeholder initially directs children's learning about authenticity by linking, in an unspecified way, the value and significance of objects to their past. For example, we found that young children appropriately appealed to history (vs. perceptual or functional features of objects) in contexts regarding authentic objects but struggled in determining which objects were more significant on the post-test assessment, suggesting that they attend to object history but are not yet sure how histories matter for making authenticity judgments. We also found some evidence that directing children's attention toward conceptual information related to object history may in turn direct them away from material or perceptual considerations, as seen in trade-offs in parents’ and children's conversations. Together, this exploratory report offers many new avenues for work on the development of authenticity concepts in childhood. (shrink)

Este artigo faz uma comparação entre a antiga noção estoica da filosofia entendida como uma “arte de viver”, retomada por autores contemporâneos como Michel Foucault e Pierre Hadot, e a atual filosofia acadêmica. O artigo sugere que essas duas formas de enxergar a filosofia não são mutuamente excludentes e que é possível adotar uma visão da filosofia como arte de viver na atualidade, embora essa visão extrapole os limites da prática acadêmica.

En la presente reflexión, se exponen algunos de los efectos jurídicos y procesales derivados de la Declaración Conjunta de Argyle por el Diálogo y la Paz entre Guyana y Venezuela (Declaración Conjunta, en adelante), publicada en San Vicente y Las Granadinas en fecha 14 de diciembre de 2023. Se analizan, de manera sucinta, las implicaciones procesales que la Declaración Conjunta, asumida como elemento material probatorio, genera a favor de la posición jurídica de Venezuela que puede promover, con base a una (...) serie de hechos nuevos de relevante valor y eficacia procesal, tanto la i) la excepción de inadmisibilidad sobrevenida de la demanda judicial que, por el territorio de la Guayana Esequiba, promueve Guyana contra Venezuela, en la Corte Internacional de Justicia (CIJ) dada la impprocedencia de la misma y ii) la excepción de incompetencia sobrevenida de la CIJ para tramitar y decidir el litigio... Los autores dejan enunciado que, conforme a los Principios Generales del Derecho Internacional, concordados al artículo 52 de la Convención de Viena sobre Derecho de los Tratados y con la Declaración Conjunta de Argyle, es jurídicamente factible que Venezuela, conforme a los Principios el procedimiento de los artículos 65 y 66 ejusdem, promueva la nulidad absoluta retroactiva del Tratado Arbitral de Washington de 1897 y, de manera consecuencial, la nulidad absoluta retroactiva, ya reconocida, del Laudo Arbitral de París de 1899 por la coacción y la agresión y la invasión territorial que sirvieron de contexto y pretexto para su aprobación por parte de Venezuela, como medio para tratar de darle aparente legalidad a la ocupación militar ilegal de nuestro territorio Esequibo por parte del Reino Unido. (shrink)

Throughout the long history of Classic Maya hieroglyphs, a logosyllabic writing system used from the late first millennium BCE through the mid-second millennium CE in southern Mesoamerica, the most commonly recorded phonetic value was the syllable u (/ʔu/). With over a dozen different u hieroglyphs, Classic Maya scribes had more options for recording /ʔu/ than any other syllable or logograph. Cognitive approaches to writing systems typically attribute graphemic variation (i.e., alternation between signs with equivalent linguistic value) to semantic differences like (...) animacy or to non-linguistic factors like identity. Distribution of Classic Maya u hieroglyphs, however, suggests that morphosyntactic context influenced which grapheme scribes wrote and when. This case suggests that scribal knowledge of Classic Maya hieroglyphs included ideas about writing's relationship to language. It also highlights the cognitive relevance of morphosyntax for a writing system's users as they differentiate among graphic signs with identical linguistic denotation. (shrink)