The topicality of Friedrich Nietzsche’s thought is reflected in his critique of mass culture, society and the state, and scientific methods, which later had a significant impact on modern discourse. Mass culture is the foundation of modern social reality as a force of decadence and nihilism that degrades the authentic and creates a mediocre culture. Nietzsche opposed a “culture” that implies a transcendence and sublimation of “nature” into the forms of “moral” ideals, and he called for a natural life without (...) harmful cultural influences that are an obstacle to a healthy human life. The idea of nihilism present in culture is relevant to our time because it manifests as a loss of depth or meaning in life itself, which, like nature, is chaos, without structure or empirical evidence. To understand the scientific revolution and its impressively devastating pace in the high-tech laboratories of our global research ecosystem, relevant is Nietzsche’s perspective aimed at demystifying science, especially positivism and naturalism, which seek to impose truth based on scientifically verified knowledge. Scientific interpretations and constructions are efforts to control and “humanise” nature by adapting chaos to our anthropomorphic expectations, needs, and concerns and making chaotic nature predictable. The paper shows that Nietzsche’s critique of culturalism and naturalism is based on the vision of the life of the “last man human” who rejects the culture of self-overcoming and dismantles reduces the fear of the uncertain and sudden and lives enframed in reality as presented by the scientific community. In the life of the contemporary human being, the will to live is merely maintained because he lacks the will to power. (shrink)

The article that discusses the issue of culturalism as an element of the idea of representation tries to examine a concept, which claims to represent reality through conceptualization, from scratch, or by going to the bottom in a manner of excavation. Foucault's archaeology was chosen as the most suitable method for this excavation activity. Because the archaeological method does not make a historical or meta-historical claim beyond the truth; it does not impose the necessary violence of the method on (...) its object. It grasps its object in its singularity, and most importantly, it thinks and suggests that the truth is no more than an invention. This archaeological study on the concept of culture tries to reveal the difference between the current meaning of the concept and its etymological origin and to grasp it in its singularity. In this way, the problematic relationship between the concepts that man invented and applied while engaging in understanding things that are happening around him will be revealed. Conceptualization is inherent in the idea of truth, which is based on absolutism and is no more than an invention, while ultimately subordinating the particular to the universal. While the article reveals the intolerance of the act of dichotomous thinking, which operates as a product of the effort to represent the truth, as in the nature-culture distinction, it acts according to the approach known as deconstruction in social sciences. In a representative thought, truth is what can actually be represented, presenting itself to the observer as an object of display. The fact that the understanding of truth is based on essentialist principles such as absolute, unchangeable, fixed, universal thanks to Plato makes an idealized representation inevitable. In fact, intellectual endeavors such as conceptualization, abstraction, and generalization mean the idealization of the concrete, singular, and unique by detaching it from its context. It can be said that underlying the idea of representation is the belief that the human mind can grasp the essence of things and therefore can represent them in thought, depending on the idea that truth is rational. As is, it is a thought that tries to keep realism in its hands, blesses it, and strives with all its might to declare its divine absolutism. Ultimately, while the mechanism of representation operates for the stable, it acts with the aim of establishing dominance. The distinction between the representative and the represented is ultimately the product of an anthropocentric perspective. Thanks to this distinction, it is inevitable that everything except the observer subject becomes the object of study. This point of view, believed to be one and universal, requires the fixation of the object of study. It can be said that the idea of representation, which signifies the ideal of absolute truth, underlies today's issues that are based on differences, such as language, religion, race, and gender, that have always been on the world agenda. As the products of representative thought, both binary categorization based on distinction such as nature and culture, and the concept that implies a direct relationship between thought and the outside world, realism is a state of alienation in which whatever is related to the human being ceases to belong to it and is used against it. The reification made possible by the distinction between the representative and the represented is actually nothing but alienation. It can be said that the rooted problem of the world of thought and the peoples of the world since Platonism is that reification and commodification have become so universal that they seem almost like natural, organic entities, and forms. The attempt of representative thought, which confines external reality to the conceptual world, to impose a framework on reality, breaks the connection with reality, and moreover, by being guided by concepts and abstractions, it builds iron cages around the human being. The insistence of Western thought on representation, no matter if it is true or false, no matter it is accepted or not, has led to the radical consequence of the abolition of certainty over reality. Today, the world of thought has evolved from the representation of the truth, which implies the idea that there is a necessary connection between the order of things and the order of words, to the reality of representation, where the boundary between reality and image is abolished, the reality is aestheticized and transformed into images, and society ultimately becomes cultural. With an entry into the cultural turn, everything has become cultural and conventional in the postmodern period. (shrink)

The anti-metaphysical intentions of naturalism can be respected without abandoning the project of a normative epistemology. The central assumptions of naturalism imply that (1.) the distinction between action and behaviour is spurious, and (2.) epistemology cannot continue to be a normative project. Difficulties with the second implication have been adressed by Normative Naturalism, but without violating the naturalistic consensus, it can only appreciate means-end-rationality. However, this does not suffice to justify its own implicit normative pretensions. According to our diagnosis, naturalism (...) succumbs to the lure of an absolute observer's stance and thereby neglects the need for participation in communal practice. By contrast, methodical culturalism ties down the concepts of epistemology to the success of such practice. Only from this perspective, the normative force of epistemology can be appreciated. Also, the mind-body problem loosens its hold and the distinction between action and behaviour is reestablished. In the last section, the mutual relation between philosophy andscience is reconsidered. (shrink)

In light of scientific advances such as genomics, predictive diagnostics, genetically engineered agriculture, nuclear transfer cloning, and the manipulation of stem cells, the idea that genes carry predetermined molecular programs or blueprints is pervasive. Yet new scientific discoveries—such as rna transcripts of single genes that can lead to the production of different compounds from the same pieces of dna—challenge the concept of the gene alone as the dominant factor in biological development. Increasingly aware of the tension between certain empirical results (...) and interpretations of those results based on the orthodox view of genetic determinism, a growing number of scientists urge a rethinking of what a gene is and how it works. In this collection, a group of internationally renowned scientists present some prominent alternative approaches to understanding the role of dna in the construction and function of biological organisms. Contributors discuss alternatives to the programmatic view of dna, including the developmental systems approach, methodical culturalism, the molecular process concept of the gene, the hermeneutic theory of description, and process structuralist biology. None of the approaches cast doubt on the notion that dna is tremendously important to biological life on earth; rather, contributors examine different ideas of how dna should be represented, evaluated, and explained. Just as ideas about genetic codes have reached far beyond the realm of science, the reconceptualizations of genetic theory in this volume have broad implications for ethics, philosophy, and the social sciences. Contributors. Thomas Bürglin, Brian C. Goodwin, James Griesemer, Paul Griffiths, Jesper Hoffmeyer, Evelyn Fox Keller, Gerd B. Müller, Eva M. Neumann-Held, Stuart A. Newman, Susan Oyama, Christoph Rehmann-Sutter, Sahotra Sarkar, Jackie Leach Scully, Gerry Webster, Ulrich Wolf. (shrink)

The critique of my protophysical approaches to operational foundation of geometry by Lucas Amiras (Journal for General Philosophy of Science Vol. 34 (2003)) concerns my first publication from 1976 but not the further 30 years of work. It does not offer any argument leading from the (erroneous) judgement “lacking success” to the conclusion “impossible”. And it is, in general, based on a philosophical defect: it ignores the principle of methodical order as leading for constructivist protophysics.

The paper asks about the reasons for the neglect of chemistry in modern philosophy of science and investigates in how far this science can be the object of an autonomous philosophical reflection. It is argued that from a culturalistic point of view chemistry indeed offers a field of interesting questions ranging from the reconstruction of its epistemological objects to the elucidation of the semantic functions of terms like "atom" or "molecule". It is further argued that the philosophical reflection upon chemistry (...) has important consequences for the didactic, the history and even the ethics of this science, making thus philosophy to a partner of chemistry in fulfilling its purposes in human society. (shrink)

English summary: French description: Pensees du corps: se peut-il que le corps pense, qu'il ne soit pas un simple objet de reflexion, mais un sujet de pensee a part entiere?La demarche philosophique est ici confrontee a un corpus de pratiques et d'arts gestuels japonais (danse, theatre, arts martiaux). Une serie d'experiences significatives bousculent les idees recues et poussent le penseur a un renouvellement radical de ses methodes et de ses concepts. En resulte une philosophie de terrain, incarnee et immanente, qui (...) met en lumiere la profonde rationalite du corps. Y compris dans ses deploiements qui d'ordinaire resistent a l'analyse: sensation et action.Nul besoin d'avoir recours a un relativisme culturaliste friand d'exotisme, encore moins a un quelconque irrationalisme. Les pensees du corps dessinent un espace de publicite et d'intelligibilite, une forme d'universalite que chacun peut intimement eprouver et affiner. Loin de constituer un dehors, le corps apparait comme le lieu de production d'un savoir et d'une pensee universellement partageables. (shrink)

Neste artigo encontra-se resumido e comentado o método de estudo da história das ideias desenvolvido por José Esteves Pereira. Mostra-se o diálogo que ele estabeleceu com nomes importantes da cultura portuguesa, como Silva Dias, Miranda Barbosa, Joaquim de Carvalho, e anglo-americana, resumida na leitura crítica e interpretação do livro The History of Ideas. An introduction to Method. Também se comenta o afastamento da chamada Nouvelle Histoire e a proximidade do método desenvolvido com aspectos da filosofia culturalista brasileira e da segunda (...) etapa do pensamento orteguiano sistematizado na tese da razão vital. Finalmente se considera a contribuição de Esteves Pereira nos estudos que fez da história das ideias em Portugal e no Brasil, destacando sua contribuição nos colóquios Antero de Quental e Tobias Barreto nas quase três décadas em que se estende esse trabalho. (shrink)

In the first issue of the renewed Analyic Teaching, A. T. Lardner opens a debate on how to react to postmodern and multi-culturalist positions and their critique on Philosophy for Children. Lardner concludes: This paper has not been set out to disagree with either the postmodern or multi-culturalist positions. Indeed, it accepts most of the claims made. It has attempted to show that the critique from these quarters of the work of Philosophy for Children in settings outside the USA is (...) based on a misunderstanding of what we do. It has suggested how those working in the program might answer such critiques along with suggesting caution in how we describe our goals and methods. Finally, it has suggested an uncomfortable parallel between the extreme postmodern and multi-cultualist position about eduactional work based on critical, reflective inquiry, and previous, elitist notions which the same people are sure to reject.I'd like to comment on some of Lardner's theses. (shrink)

This chapter presents some of the most important developments in contemporary constructivism and demonstrates their connections to Pragmatism. It first offers a survey of basic constructivist assumptions and different constructivist approaches, then briefly elaborates on some connections between social constructivist approaches, especially the Cologne program of interactive constructivism and John Dewey's Pragmatism. To provide a more detailed survey, it outlines some basic features and perspectives found in those versions of constructivism that are most important in current discussions. The chapter distinguishes (...) among at least five influential constructivist movements: German methodical constructivism and culturalism, social constructionism, pragmatist constructivism, situated cognitive constructivism, and interactive constructivism. Contemporary constructivist approaches waver between these poles of strength and weakness. However, discussions show that it is possible to further develop the strength of constructivist arguments if constructivism endeavors to discursively elaborate and justify its own claims to validity and truth. (shrink)

Africain d'origine, Européen d'adoption, Anton Wilhelm Amo (1703-1753) ne s'est guère préoccupé des considérations anthropologiques, ethniques et culturalistes qui ont pu marquer le XVIIIe siècle. Cet Aufklärer a au contraire souhaité assurer le perfectionnement du genre humain, grâce au développement d'une méthode du « bien philosopher » particulièrement élaborée, au point que son universalité et son intemporalité ne puissent désormais plus être négligées. Cet ouvrage se concentre sur les apports de ce philosophe oublié, dont la contemporanéité nous invite à réconcilier (...) les Hommes avec l'universel porté par les Lumières, tout en offrant à son oeuvre la possibilité de retrouver sa place dans ce mouvement. L'étude de la pensée amiste (ie animiste) constitue un moyen de saisir l'ontos de l'humanité, de construire un ethos partagé, y compris sur la question de l'établissement d'un dialogue dé-émotionnalisé, entre l'Europe et l'Afrique. (shrink)

This paper examines the well-known pragmatist claim to mediate between philosophical disputes. While recognizing the reconciliatory and harmonizing role that pragmatism plays in traditional debates between, for example, realism and antirealism, naturalism and culturalism, or science and religion, it is argued that the pragmatist also needs to acknowledge that there are situations in which no such mediation is reasonably possible, such as the conflict between racism and antiracism. The metaphilosophical question to be raised is how – in terms of (...) pragmatism itself – we are able to distinguish between these different cases and what exactly it means to apply the pragmatic method to resolving this meta-level issue. Pragmatism here emerges as a thoroughly fallible and antifoundationalist reflexive inquiry into what it means, and what it ought to mean, for us to view philosophical issues in terms of their conceivable practical consequences. The project of mediation must be subordinated to this more fundamental understanding of pragmatist methodology. (shrink)

This article aims to define natural human rights in the context of forming postmodern views on an individual today. Natural rights exist, regardless of whether they are enshrined somewhere or not: they are clear from the natural context and essence of human activity. The postmodern world is experiencing a crisis of fatigue from life, fatigue of culture, which for the global world has become a political and economic crisis of ineffectiveness of the policy of multi-culturalism and poly-culturalism and (...) the growing dangers and threats associated with it. Therefore, it is crucial to find out how natural human rights are realized in postmodern society. Importantly, the article analyzes the basic theoretical and methodical principles of creating the postmodern environment and its impact on people. It also defines the main concepts and categories of human rights in the context of evolution of postmodern society. To study the socio-cultural impact on personality development in the postmodern era, the article explores how legal culture is formed in the course of civilizational-evolutionary development of society. Research methods are as follows: analytical methods, descriptive and explanatory methods, synthesis and analysis. The obtained results prove that natural human rights manifest the evolution of cultural progress and prospects for further analysis of their socio-cultural effects on the development of postmodern society. (shrink)

In der Husserlschen Phänomenologie, gedeutet als semantisches Rekonstruktionsprogramm, erscheint die Lebenswelt als Lösung des Problems, einen nicht-zirkulären epistemischen Anfang zu finden. Die zweite, "transzendentale" Epoché führt bei Husserl jedoch zu einer Reaktivierung aller klassischen Probleme des Idealismus. Der Methodische Konstruktivismus betrachtet daher die Lebenswelt als unhintergehbaren Ausgangspunkt einer methodischen Rekonstruktion normierter Sprachen und Geltungsansprüche. Da der Konstruktivismus allerdings Rekonstruktion und Konstitution gleichsetzt, übersieht er damit eine wichtige transzendentale Analysemöglichkeit zur Sicherung von Geltung im gemeinschaftlichen Handeln. Der Aufsatz leistet eine entsprechende (...) Differenzierung und weist damit den Weg zu einer kulturalistischen Phänomenologie auf. (shrink)

Descartes' methodical doubt is being criticized by naïve realists and others who don't find doubt as a good starting point for metaphysical thought, however, the philosophical achievements of his method have been absorbed in all later philosophies. The objective of this paper is to demonstrate how an inevitable question concerning the foundation of Descartes' mathesis universalis, which led him to investigate this foundation by applying this very method in Metaphysics, has finally enabled him to discover his most important philosophical (...) principle, i.e., the necessary relation between being and reason in the identity of the "I". To demonstrate this, after summarizing the fundamental ideas of mathesis uneversalis, and showing the inner necessity of introducing the methodical doubt to fortify these ideas, the decisive role of metaphysical doubt as the third step of the methodical doubt, and malicious demon as its second phase would be highighted. It would also become clear that the metaphysical doubt has a great importance as a turning point from different aspects: as a knot that ties mathesis universalis with its underlying Metaphysics; as a bridge from within the psychological "I" to the metaphysical "I". (shrink)

The aim of the article is to develop the existing methodological approaches to assessing the military and economic capabilities of the country in conditions of war and peace. To achieve the purpose of the study, its decomposition was carried out and the following were investigated: existing approaches to assessing the military and economic potential of the country, the country's power and national power; the concept of critical load of the national economy is revealed; the generally accepted norms on financing of (...) defense needs are resulted; the experience of financing the needs of defense by the leading countries of the world - in the conditions of the Second World War is given; a methodical approach to assessing the military and economic capabilities of the country is proposed. The article proposes a methodical approach to assessing the military and economic capabilities of the country. According to the results of the research, the existing theory of military economy has been improved in the context of understanding the allowable burden on the country's economy in conditions of war and the development of methodological approaches to assessing the country's military and economic capabilities. The proposed methodological approach is the development of existing military-economic thought and capability-based military-economic planning. The proposed methodological approach allows to assess the ability of the national economy to meet military and economic needs in wartime by industry and type of military support, taking into account the critical load of the national economy, which will help simplify and improve the process of military policy decisions. The practical value of the study is that the proposed method of assessing the military and economic capabilities of the country allows to identify critical sectors of the economy, assess their ability to provide resources for military needs in wartime, based on which to form and make appropriate management decisions. The results of the study can be used in further studies of the development of military and economic potential of the country, balancing military and civilian economic needs in war, as well as military-economic planning based on capabilities. A limitation of the study is the use of publicly available sources. Future research is seen in the further development of methodological approaches to assessing and developing the military and economic potential of the country. (shrink)

Although the question of human knowing and of being occupies a primary place in the history of human thought, it remains a controversial problem in philosophy. Any meanings that a thinker may assign to the three basic philosophic issues of knowing, objectivity and reality will eventually demarcate his school of thought, and fundamentally determine of cognitional theory, epistemology and metaphysics. Bernard Lonergan stands out as an innovative thinker who has handled this contentious problem in an expressive and methodical manner. (...) His philosophy of Self-Appropriation is a philosophic program that underpins the basic issues and disciplines in a way that is significant for all human inquiries. This work explores the original meanings and interrelations of the three basic philosophic disciplines of cognitional theory, epistemology and metaphysics. After a critical analysis of how the basic issues in philosophy have been handled in the course of history, it offers what are considered as the original meanings and methodical relations of these basic disciplines and issues. Cognitional theory the methodical basics of both epistemology and metaphysics. Since the human desire to know being is the parent of all human inquires, the consideration of the human conscious subject and his cognitional subject and his cognitional operations is prior to and is the ground of the metaphysical explorations. Epistemology is the critical phase that verifies and validates cognitional theory; and methaphysics is an enter-prise that deals with the character of the real. (shrink)

Methodical doubt is usually associated with Descartes. However, it is with Francis Bacon that its function and scope are first recognized – as a preliminary stage in the attainment of knowledge, and as an epistemological tool (a rule) for achieving true knowledge. In this paper, I follow the various steps of construction and use of Baconian doubt as it appears in the first book of the New Organon. I will argue that Bacon - in distancing himself from traditional scepticism (...) – will come to conceive methodical doubt not only as a procedure for renovating knowledge, but more specifically as a prescriptive condition for identifying what 'mind' is required to pursue the aim of renovating knowledge. (shrink)

Mobile phones play an essential role in the everyday lives and social relationships of young people. They are deeply embedded in peer interactions, not only as tools but also as references of interaction. The article is based on an empirical study, which investigates how young people interpret various situations of interaction through, and related to, mobile phones. Providing a useful heuristic to reconstruct the inherent rules, claims and expectations of such situations, Goffman’s concept of the interaction order was modified in (...) regard to youth-specific and mobile media-specific dimensions with the help of a grounded theory approach. The article deals with the methodical strategies that were applied as well as respective methodological questions that arose during the research process. In order to gain insights into the participants’ episodic and semantic knowledge about mobile media related situations, group interviews/discussions, mobile phone diaries and individual interviews were conducted. Each collection strategy is discussed in respect to its preconditions and execution. Additionally, problems regarding the role of the researcher in relation to the participants will be explicated. (shrink)

In this paper Ludwig Wittgenstein is interpreted as a philosopher of language and technology. Due to current developments, a special focus is on lifeworld practice and technoscientific research. In particular, image-interpretation is used as a concrete methodical example. Whereas in most science- or technology-related Wittgenstein interpretations the focus is on the Tractatus, the Investigations or On Certainty, in this paper the primary source is his very late triune fragment Bemerkungen über die Farben. It is argued that Wittgenstein’s approach can (...) supplement Don Ihde’s concept of material hermeneutics, and that Wittgenstein’s constructivist and pragmatist claims relate to current authors in the philosophy of technology like Peter Janich, Carl Mitcham or Jürgen Mittelstraß. Ludwig Wittgenstein enables a philosophical approach of transcendental grammars, techno-linguistic forms of life and technoscientific language games. In detail, several methodological aspects regarding relations between language and technology are summarized. Here concretely repeatability and methodical actions play major roles in uncertain situations of language and technology practice. It is shown that Wittgenstein is still underestimated in the philosophy of technology—although his thoughtful conceptualizations of language, social practice and technology bear important methodical insights for current technosciences like synthetic biology, robotics and many others. (shrink)

Advertisers’ increasing use of embedded advertising formats makes it more difficult for consumers to identify persuasive intents in advertiser messages. However, only if consumers identify these intents and categorize messages as advertising, can they activate advertising-specific reception strategies which might result in lessened persuasion effects. The fact that consumers regularly miss persuasive intents in non-traditional advertising environments, we suggest in this article, carries epistemological and methodical implications. To better appreciate these implications, we argue for a more systematic adoption of (...) a constructivist approach in advertising research. Some established concepts in advertising research such as the persuasion knowledge model and advertising literacy already implicitly follow a constructivist rationale. However, to more fully exploit the potential of a constructivist approach, we review communication concepts that inform advertising research, clarify why a constructivist approach increases the explanatory power of advertising research, and discuss challenges for research designs. (shrink)

The population growth rate, which started to increase in the world at the beginning of the 20th century, continued to increase rapidly after the 1950s with the developments in the field of health and the decrease in death rates. The biological, psychological and social changes that the aging individual undergoes over time bring along various problems in old age. Both the meaning of old age and the efforts to cope with the problems encountered in old age cause religion to have (...) an important position in old age. In this study, which was designed as a compilation of qualitative research patterns, it was aimed to determine the subject trends and methodological contents of studies on religion and aging abroad in order to inspire studies on aging in our country. The data of 203 studies published in the last 10 years in the journal determined by the criterion sampling technique were obtained by document review. The data obtained were classified under various headings by bibliometric analysis and content analysis. As a result, in the analyzes conducted to determine the subject distribution of the articles published in the Journal of Religion, Spirituality and Aging in the last 10 years, it was determined that the most of the studies (12.8%) were directly on spirituality and the most cited subject was spirituality. Methodologically, 35.5% of the studies were qualitative, 23.6% were quantitative, 4% were mixed methods, and 35.5% were theoretical studies. (shrink)

Randal A. Koene, Int. J. Mach. Conscious., 06, 41 (2014). DOI: 10.1142/S179384301440006X.

The paper investigates the connection between the school architecture and didactic-methodical organization of teaching in the conditions of traditional (old) schools. School architecture was analysed regarding school premises (classrooms and equipment) and the school environment (playgrounds with special emphasis on school gardens). The traditional (old) school in Croatian conditions is situated in the period from the introduction of the state public education (General School Order 1774) to the 1930s. The research was based on the analysis of archival and published (...) materials, and field research. Field research was conducted in the school area of Velika Kopanica on two occasions, in 1980 and 2021. The descriptive and post-causal method was used in the research, and the connection between the school architecture and didactic-methodical organization of teaching was determined. School buildings (classrooms), school desks and equipment with a large number of students in the same class limited the didactic and methodological organization of teaching within traditional teaching (frontal, verbal, passive for students, asocial and repressive). At the same time, the school environment with special emphasis on school gardens opened up a number of possibilities that were characteristic of the new school movement: groups and individual activities, work of students, socialization and collaborative relationships, connecting theoretical with practical work. School gardens enable the introduction of a part of nature into classrooms, providing pupils with visual activity, systematic observation and the beginning of intellectual cognition. School architecture is in a direct connection with the didactic-methodical organization of teaching. How is it possible that in modern school architecture there are a number of forms characteristic of the traditional (old) school? (shrink)

Women who are deprived of their histories can be compared to people who have lost their memories. They are unable to build a personal identity. This analogy may be the leading paradigm for my paper, which is primarily dedicated to epistemological questions. Throughout the last 40 years, many scholars have dedicated their endeavors to conserving the writings of women philosophers. Now we have access to valuable sources that show that the history of women philosophers stretches back as far as the (...) history of philosophy itself. Using the history of women philosophers as a methodical approach to philosophy is a unique and indispensable means to widen and to change philosophical insights. Re-reading the history of philosophy and including the ideas of women philosophers, however, does not only add some more narratives but challenges the methodology of philosophy. The history of philosophy that we are traditionally educated in the western world is simply not true to the facts. Thus, I demand a rewriting of the history of philosophy that takes into account the ideas that are incorporated in the writings of women philosophers and that have been denied by the narratives and fabric of sexualized and patriarchally influenced thought. (shrink)

The paper argues against interpretations that appeal to divine justice and rationality in order to mitigate the apparent arbitrariness of Scotus's God with respect to creation.

Romanian pedagogical theory rests on the assumption that any educational content can be taught and learned faster and better by recourse to a battery of teaching methods. In the present study we question that assumption and show that the methods generally recommended have no didactic merits when it comes to teaching philosophy and the human sciences. In order to prove that we commence by rendering manifest the origins, the specificity and the presuppositions of the teaching methods described in the literature. (...) Afterwards we determine the specificity of the objects of study of philosophy and the human sciences in general. On these bases we develop a series of three arguments that show why, given the particularity of both, the recourse to methods for teaching philosophy and the human sciences is inadequate. (shrink)

It is neither historically nor essentionally correct to designate Indian traditions of metho­dical rationality (nyaya etc.) as “Indian logic”. The logic as invented by Aristotle is a complex, structural discipline with its own object and a number of rules. Nothing com­plex could have been invented twice in the history of thought in the same way. The most important differences between the Indian version of methodological rationality and West­ern logic are named and illustrated. 1. The distinction between using the mind for (...) oneself and in communication. 2. Theory and typology of rational cognitive acts (pramana). 3. The scheme of isomorphism between a set of individual acts of cognition and speech communication about them. 4. Formal accounting of the necessity and expediency of acts of cognition. 5. Lack of enthusiasm for formalisms and a reluctance to separate this sci­ence from study and standardization of good reasoning. 6. Understanding of proof not only as a specific coherence of statements, but also as a communication. 7. The absence of a (half-hidden) Western idealization that posits a single thinking substance. (shrink)

Plessner’s philosophical anthropology is presented as a non-naturalistic philosophy of nature. Such a position is attractive and indispensable, for instance, to all debates concerning personhood and human dignity. Plessner’s work rests on a conception of philosophy that distinguishes without exception the contents of possible experiences from their conditions of possibility. Thus, Plessner’s anthropology is a theory of categorial contents, but not in the aprioric sense according to which they would be assumed to be prior to all experience. Plessner avoids such (...) a misconception by structuring his philosophy in a reflexive way. Therefore his basic philosophical category or idea—eccentric positionality—doesn’t mean a property of human or any natural beings, but the categorial frame called personhood which is in use when we identify empirical properties of humans. The challenge in understanding personhood as conceptually independent of empirical properties consists in distinguishing between the contingency of personhood and arbitrariness. (shrink)

Two questions often shape our view of the world. On the one hand, we ask what there is, on the other hand, we ask what there ought to be. Empirical research and normative theory, the methodological traditions concerned with these questions, entered a difficult relationship, from at least as early as around the time of the advent of modern sciences. To this day, there remains a strong separation between the two domains, with both tending to neglect discourses and results from (...) the other. Contrary to a verdict of strict segregation between »is« and »ought«, there are, nowadays, various attempts to integrate both theoretical approaches. This calls for a newly intensified discourse on the relation between empirical research and normative theory. In this volume, scholars from different disciplines – including psychology, sociology, economics, and philosophy – discuss possible desired or undesired influences on, and limits of, the integration of these two approaches. (shrink)

L’herméneutique coranique de Fazlur Rahman (1919-1988) repose sur la recherche méthodique du sens objectif du texte. Inspiré par l’herméneutique romantique, telle qu’on peut la trouver chez E. Betti et qui nécessite pour le lecteur d’établir un lien intérieur avec l’esprit de l’auteur, Rahman considère que c’est l’intention divine qui est garante de l’objectivité du sens du Coran. L’empathie avec l’auteur est rendue possible par une conception historique de la révélation, selon laquelle la parole, qui est amenée par un Esprit intérieur (...) et immatériel, passe par le filtre de la conscience prophétique. La méthode historiciste d’interprétation de Rahman, qu’il appelle herméneutique du « double mouvement », repose sur les deux critères d’objectivité que sont le contexte historique de la révélation et la prise en compte de la totalité du livre sacré. Ainsi, l’interprète doit, dans un premier temps, aller à la période de révélation pour, à partir des circonstances particulières, comprendre les finalités objectives du texte, identifiées à l’intention divine. Puis, il doit appliquer ces principes, qui sont moraux et non juridiques, au présent en s’éloignant du sens littéral. Rahman illustre son propos en essayant de montrer que le souci de l’intention divine permet de voir que le Coran s’oppose à la polygamie et à l’esclavage, qui vont contre le principe moral d’une société juste et égalitaire. (shrink)