Ethnophilosophy is so called because its focus is on the thought that underlies the life patterns and belief system of a people. It is folk philosophy insofar as it is an exposition of the philosophical thought undergirding the way of life of a people as a collectivity. African and Japanese philosophy belong to this tradition. Western philosophy, however, is based on reason and logic; in contrast with ethnophilosophy, it developed ab initio as a critique of folk thought and worldviews. Both (...) traditions are not contradictory but complementary. Each bears the marks of its peculiar culture and history. (shrink)

The study brought to the fore the issue of acute hunger and food insecurity in Philippine society during the COVID-19 pandemic. It utilised Filipino culture and the Catholic Church’s fidei depositum as a framework to unravel the forms of inter-religious dialogue in the country. The study was qualitative research that used a case study as it analysed inter-religious dialogue, particularly the dialogue of life and action among Filipinos during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic. In the Philippine context, dialogue takes the (...) form of a shared life and common action. Also, the Filipino ideal of pakikipagkapwa-tao [having positive and sincere relations with one’s brethren] promotes positive inter-religious relations and social cohesion. The author argued that although religion compelled many believers to help the needy, it is pakikipagkapwa-tao that undergirds the care and concern of many Filipinos to those who are suffering. Pakikipagkapwa-tao enabled cordial cooperation between religious institutions and individuals, which promoted the physical well-being of the poor. Contribution: This study contributed to a deeper understanding of interfaith dialogue and relations in the contemporary Philippines. (shrink)

A POLÍTICA DE COTAS NAS UNIVERSIDADES PÚBLICAS BRASILEIRAS.

Glowacki discusses how humans regularly face collective action problems that may result in either peaceful or aggressive between-group interactions. Peace and war probably coevolved in humans. Using a gene–culture evolutionary framework is a powerful way to analyse why, when, and how humans have the capacity to build and maintain long-term peaceful interactions between groups and also to wage deadly wars.

Spatial planning policies are fundamental blocks for the implementation of sustainable development goals. Still, despite the growing adoption of environmental proxies, as it is nature-based solutions, the study of their institutionalization in policy and spatial planning is in the early stages. Simultaneously, the use of discursive and interpretative methods to unfold the social structures related to environmental issues is growing, nonetheless, their application is more common to supranational narratives. This article proposes a conceptual and methodological approach to using critical discourse (...) analysis for studying the institutionalization and conceptualization of nature-related issues in policy and spatial planning at national and local levels. This is done by discussing the ontological relations between the discursive institutionalist theory and critical discourse analysis as a methodology. It contains four main stages: clarifying the analytical focus; mapping policy and planning documents; analyzing macro discourse, which includes critical textual analysis, text-type analysis, and intertextuality analysis, and, at last, the fourth phase, interpretation within the institutional context. It provides a tool for researchers less familiar with linguistics but interested in performing discourse analysis to understand the integration of environmental narratives within policy and spatial planning. (shrink)

Reflete sobre o potencial da mediação da informação como via de fortalecimento para o mundo social da vida ante ao processo colonizador do mundo dos sistemas, considerando as atuais demandas sociais em âmbito informacional. A Ciência da Informação é cada vez mais convidada a encontrar caminhos para refletir sobre seu objeto como motor do desenvolvimento cultural e fortalecimento do mundo social da vida, de maneira a reafirmar seu lugar enquanto ciência social. Desse modo, a mediação da informação, estando presente em (...) todas as ações do ciclo informacional, constitui-se base sustentadora de ações que contribuem para que a Ciência da Informação cumpra com sua missão e responsabilidade sociais ante as ambivalências da sociedade. Assim, a teoria da ação comunicativa de Jürgen Habermas pode nos proporcionar um diálogo possível com as abordagens teóricas da mediação da informação, no sentido de encontrar pontos que convergem para eixos integradores do mundo social da vida. Nesse sentido, entende-se que o trabalho com a informação demanda pesquisadores e mediadores conscientes que, no âmbito da Ciência da Informação, desenvolvam e tomem como referência estudos da mediação da informação que envolvam esferas apontadas por Habermas como espaços em estado de vulnerabilidade. (shrink)

In the face of growing skepticism and relativism, “believe in reason” is the central message in Pope John Paul II’s Fides et Ratio. Only by the two wings of reason and faith together can the human spirit soar. The current work, Ratio et Fides, is its philosophical counterpart. It is not a watered-down introduction but a “leading-into” the heart of philosophic thinking. Firmly rooted in the phenomenological description of an ordinary artifact, a mailbox, the book uses the principles involved in (...) the description to examine key figures in the history of thought. We focus on three areas: the Soul, Morality, and God. We consider seven thinkers. Plato and Aristotle, who founded the tradition, were taken up by Augustine and Aquinas in developing their theologies. Descartes launched the distinctively modern tradition, culminating in Hegel’s systematic presentation of the whole Western tradition, philosophical and religious. More recently, Heidegger approached that tradition in terms of its hidden ground in the Mystery of Being, recalling us to meditative thinking as the secular counterpart to prayer. Armed with this background, students will be able to approach with profit the Fathers of the Church and major theologians and philosophers, past and recent. (shrink)

This note is motivated by Whitehead’s researches in inclusion-based point-free geometry as exposed in An Inquiry Concerning the Principles of Natural Knowledge and in The concept of Nature. More precisely, we observe that Whitehead’s definition of point, based on the notions of abstractive class and covering, is not adequate. Indeed, if we admit such a definition it is also questionable that a point exists. On the contrary our approach, in which the diameter is a further primitive, enables us to avoid (...) such a drawback. Moreover, since such a notion enables us to define a metric in the set of points, our proposal looks to be a good starting point for a foundation of the geometry metrical in nature (as proposed, for example, by L.M. Blumenthal). (shrink)

John Henry Newman wrote the “Theses de Fide” in Rome as a seminary student in 1846/1847, and the text represents a key point in the development of his thought. Newman wrote the “Theses” in an attempt to grapple with scholastic categories on faith, a question that had occupied him in the Anglican Church for years. Although the “Theses” were not published in Newman’s life, he returned to these reflections often over the course of his Roman Catholic career. This edition and (...) partial translation of the “Theses de Fide” is to aid general readers in understanding this moment in Newman’s life, and to assist specialists in approaching the manuscript record of the “Theses” themselves. (shrink)

Du langage et de l'humanité, tels sont les concepts clés qui structurent la problématique et le contenu des textes présents dans cet ouvrage.Pour mener un raisonnement en philosophie, la structure du langage obéit à un ensemble de principes dont la mise en application rigoureuse débouche sur la validité et la pertinence de ce qui y est dit. Pour cela, quand on parle d'humain en philosophie, le discours qui véhicule ce qui se dit n'a de valeur objective qu'en fonction de la (...) méthodologie qui structure l'énonciation de son discours. Ainsi, la structuration logique du langage philosophique détermine la discipline à laquelle est astreint tout chercheur dont l'ambition est d'énoncer un discours sur le réel ou l'humain, à partir des canons d'une méthodologie qu'on pourrait également trouver en mathématique."--Page 4 of cover. (shrink)

A *very* rough draft of a paper on Anselm's "ontological argument" in which I argue that the argument in the Proslogion rests on a robust notion of having "that then which nothing greater can be thought" in one's mind.

Purpose: The study evaluates Luther’s theory of sola fide and its relevance to the doctrine of salvation in The Apostolic Church Nigeria, Southwest Zone. The doctrine of sola fide typically entails the notion that salvation is through faith only. Unfortunately, in contemporary times, the concept of salvation has suffered much misunderstanding. It has been a subject of much controversy characterised with so much variations and confusion of thoughts in its art of teaching. Materials and Methods: Employing the tool of hermeneutics (...) and critical assessment, the study comparatively examined the theo-linguistic implications of Luther’s sola fide and TACN’s doctrine of salvation. Findings: The study discovers that TACN’s doctrine of salvation shares fundamental similarities but TACN’s doctrine of salvation extends the doctrine of salvation further than Luther’s sola fide by emphasizing the possibility of a Christian losing his salvation. However, it is discovered and argued that TACN’s commitment to the doctrine of sola fide has not been balanced in practice. While the church professes that salvation is attained through faith only, her officials and members are observed to lay significant emphasis on salvation through works. Implications to Theory, Practice and Policy: This study therefore recommends that the church should be consistent in its commitment to sola fide both in doctrine and practice. This can be achieved through consistency in the art of teaching what is believed by the church. (shrink)

We have surveyed various recent European opinions on Germ-Line engineering. The majority express more or less severe reservations about any interventions on the human Germ-Line, including therapeutic ones. However, they are divided over the pragmatic, or categorical-ethical nature of the relevant arguments. This split reflects two competing views of technology. The ‘pessimistic’ one is deeply concerned by the slippery slope leading from bona fide therapeutic applications of genetic engineering to eugenic practices. It insists that, if anything can defend us against (...) these evils, it must be a set of strong, ethically-based prohibitions. The other, ‘optimist’ view is more confident in the discriminating powers of societal regulation. We argue for the latter view and suggest that the pragmatic arguments brought to this debate are less problematic than the ethical ones. (shrink)

This paper, written in honor of the “800 years from the birth of Bonaventure”, underlines the affinity of the philosophy and the theology of Bonaventure, General Ministry of the Franciscan Order, with the perspective of Dietrich von Hildebrand, father of the realist phaenomenology. It is delineated a curious correlation between the two authors that have been able to generate a real revolution of love. The epistemic structure and the ontology of Bonaventure are caracterized by a structural unity that through an (...) itinerarium lead to the visio Dei. On the other hand von Hildebrand in What is philoso­phy? construes a strong epistemology in which the “evidence” and the “experience” of external realities play a fundamental role in reaching the perfect knowledge. A return to God is encouraged by two philosophers through the search and the veri cation of the phamenological facts that constitute and characterize the human being. (shrink)

Recensione ad un volume collettaneo sulla Fides et ratio.

The now classical model for cell‐cell communication espouses that information travels between cells in the form of molecules that bind specific cell‐surface receptors and trigger signal‐transducing mechanisms that eventually lead to transcriptional modifications. Here we gather the available information suggesting that some growth factors may also act by interfering directly with gene transcription, following their internalization and nuclear translocation. Among these factors are bona fide growth factors such as Fibroblast Growth Factor‐1 and ‐2 and Schwannoma Derived Growth Factor, for which (...) internalization and nuclear translocation have been demonstrated. Conversely, we propose that some isoforms of nuclear factors of the homeoprotein family could pass from cell to cell. The implications of the model are presented in the context of the specificity of cellular interactions. (shrink)

At the turn of the seventeenth century, Bruno and Cavalieri independently developed two theories, central to which was the concept of the geometrical indivisible. The introduction of indivisibles had significant implications for geometry – especially in the case of Cavalieri, for whom indivisibles provided a forerunner of the calculus. But how did this event occur? What can we learn from the fact that two theories of indivisibles arose at about the same time? These are the questions addressed in this paper. (...) Relying on the methodology of “historical epistemology”, this paper asserts that the similarities and differences between the theories of Bruno and Cavalieri can be explained in terms of “shared knowledge”. The paper shows that the idea – on which both Bruno and Cavalieri build – that geometrical objects are generated by motion was part of the mathematical culture of the time. Tracing this idea back to its Pythagorean origins thus sheds light on the relationship between motion and continuum in mathematics. (shrink)

Number 1 of Fides et ratio contains a phrase crucial for the dialogue between science and philosophy. Its meaning is clear in the Latin, polish, English, German, French and Portuguese versions, but it loses its strength in the Italian and Spanish texts.

Pope John Paul II’s encyclical letter Fides et Ratio examines the foundations of epistemology and encourages a renewed discourse on what it actually means to know truth. The pontiff—both a philosopher and a theologian—reevaluates through the prism of man’s proper relation to truth the age-old question about the compatibility of faith and reason as means of acquiring knowledge. John Paul offers his perspective on the matter in the “Introduction” to Fides et Ratio by employing, in his native Polish, four non-exchangeable (...) epistemological terms. Due, however, to the rather imprecise translations of his work, the profundity of John Paul’s thought largely has been obscured.The author of this paper attempts to recover the pope’s particular understanding of the nature of knowledge by expounding on the epistemological paradigm and norm presented by John Paul in addition to critiquing his view that modern society’s pursuit of knowledge parallels sinking in quicksand. Uncovering these insights ultimately leads him to a fuller interpretation of what kind of “knowledge,” according to Pope John Paul II, properly reflects the totality of man’s innate personhood and therefore what ought to constitute the underpinnings of knowledge itself. (shrink)

Duns Scotus and Aquinas agree that whereas God comprehends Himself or even is his own comprehension, no creature can ever comprehend God. In the 17th century, the two Scotists Bartolomeo Mastri and Bonaventura Belluto discuss comprehension in their manual of philosophical psychology. Although they attempt to articulate a genuine Scotist doctrine on the subject, this article shows that they in fact defend a stance close to the one endorsed by contemporary scholastics outside the Scotist school. The article situates their (...) discussion within 17th-century scholasticism. The article furthermore highlights the theological motifs in Mastri and Belluto’s discussion of comprehension. Although they claim that their discussion does not transgress the limits of Aristotelian psychology, all of their arguments are theological in nature. From this I conclude that in this particular context our two Scotists clearly start out with a set of theological convictions, rather than with any particular philosophico-epistemological beliefs. (shrink)

Although Joachim of Fiore created a rather intriguing theology of history along with a primitive theory of hermeneutics, his importance for the historian of philosophy is most likely to be in his reaction to the trinitarian doctrine of Peter Lombard and in his influence on Bonaventura. Joachim invokes what he calls a spiritualis intellectus against the teaching of Peter Lombard. This spiritualis intellectus "includes both the preparation of arduous study and the experience of mystical illumination. It includes, thirdly, the (...) phase of close intellectual work which follows the illumination, in which the ‘given’ clues are used to organize the gathered material into patterns which now emerge from within". This spiritualis intellectus, obviously mystical, is quite eschatological and numerological. Two, three, five, seven and twelve figure prominently and often in Joachim’s account of the panoply of history. The specific account of Joachim’s reasons for his opposition to Peter Lombard is quite interesting and, historically, very important. In this passage Joachim is linked with the anti-dialectical tradition which, led by St. Bernard of Clervaux, [[sic]] found scholastic theology to be static, dry and alien to spiritual experience. Scholastic theologians are following nothing but the carnalis intellectus. (shrink)