This paper examines how radical realism, a form of ideology critique grounded in epistemic rather than moral normativity, can illuminate the relationship between ideology and political power. The paper argues that radical realism can has both an evaluative and a diagnostic function. Drawing on reliabilist epistemology, the evaluative function shows how beliefs shaped by power differentials are often epistemically unwarranted, e.g. due to the influence of motivated reasoning and the suppression of critical scrutiny. The paper clarifies those mechanisms in order (...) to address some recent critiques of radical realism. The paper then builds on those clarifications to explore the how tracing the genealogy of legitimation stories can diagnose the distribution of power in society, even if ideology does not play a direct stabilising role. This diagnostic function creates a third position in the debate on ideology between culturalists and classical Marxists, and it can help reconciling aspects of structural and relational theories of power. (shrink)

The fall of the Berlin Wall marked the end of the Cold War but also the rise of a melancholic vision of history as a series of losses. For the political left, the cause lost was communism, and this trauma determined how leftists wrote the next chapter in their political struggle and how they have thought about their past since. Throughout the twentieth century, argues Left-Wing Melancholia, from classical Marxism to psychoanalysis to the advent of critical theory, a culture of (...) defeat and its emotional overlay of melancholy have characterized the leftist understanding of the political in history and in theoretical critique. Drawing on a vast and diverse archive in theory, testimony, and image and on such thinkers as Karl Marx, Walter Benjamin, Theodor W. Adorno, and others, the intellectual historian Enzo Traverso explores the varying nature of left melancholy as it has manifested in a feeling of guilt for not sufficiently challenging authority, in a fear of surrendering in disarray and resignation, in mourning the human costs of the past, and in a sense of failure for not realizing utopian aspirations. Yet hidden within this melancholic tradition are the resources for a renewed challenge to prevailing regimes of historicity, a passion that has the power to reignite the dialectic of revolutionary thought. (shrink)

1. Il significato del Parmenide nella filosofia di Platone -- 3. Tempo e verità nella fenomenologia di Husserl -- 4. Kierkegaard e Thomas Mann -- 5. Ingens sylva.

Michel Fattal, da Sociedade Platônica Internacional, é professor na Universidade de Grenoble, França, autor de uma dezena de livros sobre o tema do logos, tanto na Filosofia grega, como na sua recepção medieval. Neste novo livro, propõe-se a refletir sobre as diferentes formas de racionalidade, entre a Antiguidade e a Idade Média, com estudos sobre Luciano de Samósata, Parmênides, Platão, Plotino e Santo Anselmo.

Husserl sempre di nuovo, di E. Paci.--La fenomenologia e il compito del pensiero contemporaneo, di A. Banfi.--Una fonte remota della teoria husserliana dell'intenzionalità, di S. Vanni-Rovighi.--La filosofia come ontologia universale e le obiezioni del relativismo scettico in Husserl, di G. D. Neri.--I paradossi dell'infinito nell'orizzonte fenomenologico, di E. Melandri.--La "filosofia come scienza rigorosa" e la critica fenomenologica del dogmatismo, di G. Semerari.--La fondazione trascendentale della logica in Husserl, di L. Lugarini.--Realtà e prassi in Husserl, di G. Pedroli.--Ego ed alter-ego nella (...) "Krisis" di Husserl, di E. Filippini.--Fenomenologia e psicologia, di R. Pucci.--Di una posizione "storicamente" positiva rispetto alla fenomenologia di Husserl, di G. Guzzoni. (shrink)

This chapter assesses John Gray’s modus vivendi-based justification for liberalism. I argue that his approach is preferable to the more orthodox deontological or teleological justificatory strategies, at least because of the way it can deal with the problem of diversity. But then I show how that is not good news for liberalism, for grounding liberal political authority in a modus vivendi undermines liberalism’s aspiration to occupy a privileged normative position vis-à-vis other kinds of regimes. So modus vivendi can save liberalism (...) from moralism, but at cost many liberals will not be prepared to pay. (shrink)

This paper provides a critical overview of the realist current in contemporary political philosophy. We define political realism on the basis of its attempt to give varying degrees of autonomy to politics as a sphere of human activity, in large part through its exploration of the sources of normativity appropriate for the political and so distinguish sharply between political realism and non-ideal theory. We then identify and discuss four key arguments advanced by political realists: from ideology, from the relationship of (...) ethics to politics, from the priority of legitimacy over justice and from the nature of political judgement. Next, we ask to what extent realism is a methodological approach as opposed to a substantive political position and so discuss the relationship between realism and a few such positions. We close by pointing out the links between contemporary realism and the realist strand that runs through much of the history of Western political thought. (shrink)

MORCILLO, MARTA GARCÍA. LAS VENTAS POR SUBASTA EN EL MUNDO ROMANO: LA ESFERA PRIVADA. Barcelona, Universidad de Barcelona, 2005, 372 pp.

O renomado poeta, escritor, teatrólogo e estudioso dos autores clássicos, Angelo Tonelli apresenta uma coletânea, no original, traduzida e comentada, dos fragmentos de Heráclito, o pensador de Éfeso (ca. 540-475 a.C.). A grande novidade da obra de Tonelli consiste na recuperação, em termos hermenêuticos, do contexto oriental do pensamento de Heráclito. Já na introdução, Tonelli retoma as dicotomias Oriente/Ocidente, mistérios órficos-dionisíacos/espírito apolíneo, contemplação/ação, para mostrar como o pensador de Éfeso procurou superar tais oposições. Começa seu estudo com as tabuinhas encontradas (...) em Ólbia, cuja datação é incerta, mas que propõe serem anteriores a Heráclito e que, portanto, sugerem uma origem nos mistérios para a sabedoria de Heráclito. (shrink)

Peut-on parler de 'critère' sceptique? En tant qu'outil de distinction et de choix, un critère, qu'il soit pratique ou épistémique, est-il compatible avec des philosophies professant un pessimisme gnoséologique prononcé, sinon radical? Faut-il considérer qu'il n'y a pas de critère sans dogmatisme, et que l'absence de critère conduit les scepticismes à l'aporie, ou peut-on identifier des 'critères' sceptiques, dont l'originalité consiste à pouvoir établir des distinctions en suspendant son assentiment? Les études réunies dans le présent volume analysent la rémanence de (...) ces questions à différents moments de l'histoire du scepticisme, et cherchent à faire entendre l'écho entre leurs approches anciennes et modernes."--Page 4 of cover. (shrink)

A large number of previous reports described an effect of the pituitary hormone prolactin (PRL) on steroid hormone production by the adrenal cortex. However, those studies remained anecdotal and were never converted into a conceptual and mechanistic framework, let alone being translated into clinical care. In the light of our recently published landmark study where we described PRL signalling as a pivotal regulator of the sexually dimorphic adrenal phenotype in mouse and of adrenal androgen production in humans, we present here (...) the overarching hypothesis that PRL signalling increases the activity of Steroidogenic Factor‐1 (SF‐1/NR5A1), a transcription factor that has an essential role in adrenal gland development and function, to regulate adrenal cortex growth and hormonal production in physiological and pathological conditions. PRL can then be considered as a bona fide adrenocorticotropic hormone synergizing with ACTH in the endocrine control of adrenal cortex function. (shrink)

Political realism is characterised by fidelity to the facts of politics and a refusal to derive political judgments from pre- political moral commitments. Even when they are not taken to make normative theorising impossible or futile, those characteristics are often thought to engender a conservative slant, or at least a tendency to prefer incremental reformism to radicalism. I resist those claims by distinguishing between three variants of realism—ordorealism, contextual realism, and radical realism—and contrasting them with both non-ideal theory and utopianism. (...) I then develop a version of radical realism as a form of debunking and vindicatory genealogy. Even though this new approach eschews both feasibility constraints (unlike non-ideal theory) and prescriptions about the ideal society (unlike utopianism), I show how it has more radical potential than morality-driven (and hence often ideological) political theory, and how it supports both open-ended, radical social critique and concrete forms of prefigurative political action. (shrink)

In many countries, prenatal testing for certain fetal abnormalities is offered via publicly funded screening programs. The concept of reproductive autonomy is regarded as providing a justificatory basis for many such programs. The purpose of this study is to re‐examine the normative basis of public prenatal screening for fetal abnormalities by changing our perspective from that of autonomy to obligation. After clarifying the understanding of autonomy adopted in the justification for public prenatal screening programs, we identify two problems concerning this (...) justification: first, the extent to which the government is obliged to meet this demand is not evident; and, second, it is not clear whether the provision of public screening is the most appropriate way to promote autonomy. Next, to tackle these problems, we focus on Onora O’Neill’s argument of rights and obligations. Drawing on this argument, we show that, in addressing the problems above, it is important to change our normative perspective from rights or autonomy to obligation. Our argument will show that since the government does not have an incontrovertibly fundamental obligation to promote autonomy, this obligation needs to be constrained in terms of compatibility with other fundamental obligations. In addition, even if a government is obliged to promote autonomy to some degree, there could be more appropriate means to achieve it than providing public prenatal screening; therefore, it is not necessary for government obligations to extend to the provision of public prenatal screening. (shrink)

This is a response to Erman and Moller's response to our reply to their 'Political Legitimacy in the Real Normative World', both also in this journal.

Prevention and control of chronic conditions are global healthcare challenges. Patient self-management has been deemed essential for treating chronic conditions and improving the quality of patient life. However, the current Japanese system for supporting patient self-management of chronic conditions has received little ethical assessment. The first aim of this article is to provide an ethical analysis of current Japanese support for self-management of chronic conditions with reference to international discussions concerning self-management, developed mainly in western societies such as Europe, the (...) United States. The second aim is to clarify the challenges faced by Japanese biomedical ethics concerning selfmanagement support by focusing on the ethical concepts of quality of life and autonomy. This article identifies the following two challenges: [1] dispelling conceptual confusion concerning basic ethical concepts such as quality of life and autonomy, and [2] exploring the conceptual relationship between these ethical concepts, as they relate to providing support for chronically ill patients. By addressing these challenges and constructing a theoretical basis for radical change in support mechanisms, bioethics in Japan could contribute to efforts to construct a comprehensive support system for patients with chronic conditions, which organize variety kinds of supports, such as medical professional supports, supports from patient’s groups, local community supports, familial supports, support in patients’ workplace, and supports for patients’ family members as well. (shrink)

Antonio González has developed a philosophical and theological approach about the notions of acts and things, specially in regard to his moral, social and political dimensions. His phenomenological philosophy is elaborated through intellectual combat with phaenomena, problems and aporias, not that much by means of interpretation of other works. Thence he extracts an idea of religion and a theology whose core is the liberation of the retribution, of the condemnation of poor and sinners, of the ecclesiastical Constantinianism, of the state (...) violence. In these pages I try to identify and even to criticize the phenomenology of the author so much respect to the acts and what in them emerge, as regarding the possibilities that it opens to the philosophical conceptualization of religions and to the political-theological character of Christianity. (shrink)

RESUMEN Algunos textos de Abelardo, Tomás de Aquino, Llull y el Cusano, no solo muestran una forma específicamente medieval de encarar la diversidad interreligiosa, sino aun algo más, a saber, que las apreciables diferencias políticas y epistémicas que separan al medioevo de la modernidad no implican que la tolerancia sea una noción propiamente moderna, ni que su versión medieval resulte ajena a cierta admisión de la libertad religiosa y de la pluralidad en la verdad. ABSTRACT The examination of texts by (...) Abelard, Thomas Aquinas, Llull, and Nicholas of Cusa shows that they do not merely reflect a specifically medieval way of addressing interreligious diversity. Rather, it shows that the significant political and epistemic differences separating the Middle Ages from Modernity do not imply that tolerance is a specifically modern concept, and that the medieval version of tolerance allows for a certain degree of religious freedom and pluralism regarding truth. RESUMO Alguns textos de Abelardo, Tomás de Aquino, Llull e Nicolau de Cusa não somente mostram uma forma especificamente medieval de encarar a diversidade inter-religiosa, mas também algo mais: as apreciáveis diferenças políticas e epistêmicas que separam a Idade Média da Modernidade não implicam que a tolerância seja uma noção propriamente moderna, nem que sua versão medieval acabe sendo alheia a certa admissão da liberdade religiosa e da pluralidade na verdade. (shrink)

This essay outlines an empirically grounded account of normative political legitimacy. The main idea is to give a normative edge to empirical measures of sociological legitimacy through a nonmoralized form of ideology critique. A power structure’s responsiveness to the values of those subjected to its authority can be measured empirically and may be explanatory or predictive insofar as it tracks belief in legitimacy, but by itself it lacks normative purchase. It merely describes a preference alignment, and so tells us nothing (...) about whether the ruled have reason to support the rulers. I argue that we can close this gap by filtering the preferences of the ruled through a form of nonmoralized epistemic ideology critique, itself grounded in an empirical account of how belief in legitimacy is formed. (shrink)