The world is a comprehensive concept of the area of external experience in which all objects appear as external to our consciousness. It is also the area of becoming, transience and disappearance, resp. of birth, life and death (physiology, philosophical physics, cosmology). The being itself, on the contrary, is conceived as what is and does not become (ontology, metaphysics). Philosophy investigates what is object of our cognition, but also what should be the object of our activity (ethics, practical philosophy). Philosophy (...) can try to understand the nature of consciousness and reason from the experience of the world, or it can try to assess the truth or the appearance of the world that we experience from the assessment of our cognitive faculties (epistemology). Both approaches have been confirmed in India and West in different periods. Some examples will be considered and compared. (shrink)

Obwohl die beschleunigte Globalisierung der letzten Jahrzehnte in vielen ehemals undemokratischen Ländern im Gleichschritt mit der liberalen Demokratie vorankam, lässt sich nicht behaupten, dass die neoliberalen Globalisierungsprozesse die Entwicklung einer globalen Demokratie fördern. Im Gegenteil, die Globalisierung gefährdet die traditionelle liberale Demokratie, indem sie ein Bedürfnis nach zusätzlichen demokratischen Mechanismen aufkommen lässt. Denn die überstaatliche Demokratie regionaler und globaler Systeme sowie ihre inoffiziellen Instrumente und Akteure, wie der globale Markt, die globale Kommunikation und die globale Zivilgesellschaft, weisen viel mehr demokratische (...) Defizite als demokratische Potenziale auf. Das ernstzunehmendste Problem im Spannungsfeld zwischen Demokratie und Globalisierung liegt jedoch im Bereich der Unterschiede zwischen den globalen Kulturen und/oder Zivilisationen. (shrink)

This paper discusses the contribution of Hegel’s first biographer to the overall understanding of his work through the elaboration and analysis of theses and remarks related to the earliest roots of Hegel’s speculation in his youth, i.e. pre-Jena period and certainly the most problematic and least known phase of his philosophical worldview and written expression. The aim of this contribution is, on the one hand, to point out the inestimable importance of the content presented in this biographical overview, as well (...) as the significance of the material consulted, on which the biography is based and which has survived only in a deficiently fragmented form. On the other hand, an important part of the research presented here consists of highlighting and correct historical and critical contextualization of certain inconsistencies and interpretive shortcomings, present in this first-ever written biography of Hegel, which had a significant impact on the subsequent understanding of the origin of the system and the dialectic in Hegel’s later and more mature speculation. (shrink)

Cet article s’appuie sur la thèse de Galien formulée dans le titre de son traité Que le meilleur médecin est aussi philosophe, afin de mieux appréhender les situations de pandémies, passées et présentes. On abordera la relation entre la philosophie antique et la médecine à la lumière des propos sarcastiques et sévères de Galien à l’égard des médecins cupides et immoraux de son temps, ainsi que dans le contexte plus large des relations socio-philosophiques de la société antique et médiévale, où (...) la théorie philosophique et la médecine comme praxis appartiennent à différents domaines aristotéliciens : le loisir ( sholé ) et le travail ( asholía ). Plus largement, c’est en adoptant une approche à la fois médicale et philosophique sur les maux auxquels l’humanité est confrontée que l’on peut espérer les surmonter avec une conscience éclairée. (shrink)

The paper considers the problem of the level of freedom a scientist enjoys while conducting scientific experiments and choosing scientific theories. The paper analyses the notion of epistemic freedom that refers to the relationship between human beings and the world, and the notion will be expanded and elaborated using the hermeneutic theory. The problem recently surfaced in Anglo-Saxon philosophy, and it is still in a developing phase. In a sense given, the theory of hermeneuticists who studied the problem of interpretation (...) within science is of particular use, for the most part, because they pointed at the ontological limits of human beings. The paper aims at contributing to the theory of science by pointing at the interpretative, and thus hermeneutical nature of science in such a way that it analyses epistemic freedom via the role of scientific tradition and the use of instruments. (shrink)

Bei der Rezeption von Kunst treten vier Faktoren ins Spiel: Als Bedingungen der Wahrnehmung fungieren Wissensbestände, entsprechende Präsentationsbedingungen sowie - nicht zuletzt - das Medium des Geldes. Sie bilden ein Rahmensystem, durch das ein Werk erst in Erscheinung zu treten vermag. Einschliesslich des rezipierten Gegenstandes, der den vierten Faktor in diesem Geschehen abgibt, stehen alle Faktoren in stetiger Wechselwirkung.

The Bhagavadgītā is often considered the holiest text of Hinduism. It was commented by a legion of commentators, and a number of philologists, starting with Wilhelm von Humboldt, tried to establish the layers of its text, which shows traces of several redactions. Some scholars noticed some seams in the text correctly, and some came close to a general picture of the text history. On the other hand, many scholars were discouraged by the uncertainties in the investigation of the text history (...) and preferred to interpret the Gītā as an indivisible whole. However, between the 1970s and 2009, it was possible to come to very precise results concerning the textual layers of the Bhagavadgītā, which were internationally largely accepted since ca. 2000. These results imply that, over time, views of several philosophical systems were incorporated into the poem, as well as polemics with different doctrines. The teachings and exhortations conveyed by the poem are very synthetic and innovative because they are derived from a very complex set of premises. These results of text analyses have been, on the one hand, accepted by a number of prominent scholars worldwide, but, on the other hand, fiercely contested by some Western post-modernist scholars of religion and by some scholars of Indian origin sensibilised negatively against Western scholarship. What they lack in their reading of the Bhagavadgītā can best be made clear by means of the comparison with a visitor to an artistic monument of a religious character, which underwent centuries of modifications, like the Split cathedral. If such a visitor considered that the sanctity and artistic credibility of a monument depended on its being completely constructed at one stroke by a single architect with a single conception, he would miss the complex, sometimes even polemical, rich and impressive way in which such a monument conveys its messages. This is the fruit of the long and complex history of the Split cathedral, that was first built as the mausoleum of a Roman emperor, and later turned into the church consecrated to his victims, passing thereafter through many subsequent modifications and ‘reinterpretations’. In the history of art, such prejudices are not as common as they are in the study of sacred texts. That is why a suitable example of a monument having religious character, like the Split cathedral of the Assumption of Virgin Mary, also consecrated to Diocletian’s victims Domnius and Anastasius, can best illustrate how we should understand a literary monument of a religious and philosophical character, like the Bhagavadgītā, which underwent a comparably complex history. (shrink)

Although the accelerated globalization of recent decades has flourished in tandem with a notable growth of liberal democracy in many states where it was previously absent, it would be hard to say that the prevailed processes of neo-liberal globalization foster development of global democracy and the rule of law. On the contrary, globalization has undercut traditional liberal democracy and created the need for supplementary democratic mechanisms. In fact, neo-liberalism i.e.libertarianism, which has generally prevailed as the authoritative policy framework in contemporary (...) globalization, does not have much in common with the ideal of liberal democracy of well-ordered society. The serious problem in the relationship between democracy and globalization is, however, related to differences among the global cultures and/or civilizations. Democratic rule of law and the problem of human rights are unquestionable values of the Western civilization. Do they have the same significance in each culture/civilization, in every part of the globalized world? Democratic control of globalization can be completed only through a sort of global governance, but who can realize it in our divided world? (shrink)

Za razliku od marginalnog značenja kritike religije u hrvatskoj filozofiji prakse, Branko Bošnjak je, u prvoj, »marksističkoj« fazi svojega teorijskog djelovanja, znatan dio vlastita interesa i opusa posvetio kritici religije. Zanimljiv je njegov razvojan put: od doktrinarnog antiteista lenjinističke inspiracije do otvorenog marksista sklonog dijalogu s nasuprotnim kršćanskim stajalištem. Cjelovit i radikalan obrat u odnosu prema marksističkoj kritici religije ili, bolje kazano, prema važnosti te kritike, Bošnjak je mogao izvesti upravo zato što po svojemu habitusu i temeljnom svjetonazoru u bîti (...) i nije bio marksist. Potpuno u suprotnosti s marksovskim postulatom nadilaženja filozofije, Bošnjak je tijekom narednih decenija izradio impresivan i vrstan filozofski opus, te još za života stekao neupitan ugled izvornog mislioca, istinskog filozofa, odnosno pronositelja one nepatvorene drevne filozofske i životne mudrosti.Contrary to the marginal significance of the criticism of religion in the Croatian philosophy ofpraxis, during the first, “Marxist” phase of his theorical activities, Branko Bošnjak dedicateda substantial part of his interests and opus to the criticism of religion. His path of developmentwas interesting: from a doctrinaire antitheist of a Leninist inspiration to an open Marxist in­clined to the dialogue with the opposing Christian position.Bošnjak was able to perform an integral and radical turn regarding his relation to the Marxistcriticism of religion or, rather, regarding the importance of this criticism, precisely becauseaccording to his habitus and basic world-view he, in essence, was not a Marxist. Completelycontrary to the Marxian postulate of surpassing philosophy, over the following decades Bošnjakcreated an impressive and excellent philosophical opus, and during his lifetime he earned anunquestionable reputation of an authentic thinker, a true philosopher, i.e. a propagator of thegenuine ancient philosophical and life wisdom. (shrink)

With regards to its origin, foundation and development, bioethics is a relatively new discipline, scientific and theoretical field, where different and even contradicting definition models and methodological patterns of its formation and application meet. In some philosophical orientations, bioethics is considered to be a sub-discipline of applied ethics as a traditional philosophical discipline. Yet in biomedical and other sciences, bioethics is designated as a specialist scientific discipline, or a sort of a new medical ethics. The concept of integrative bioethics as (...) an interdisciplinary scholarly and pluriperspectivistic area goes beyond such one-sided determinations, both philosophical and scientistic, and intends to integrate the philosophical approach to bioethics with its particular scientific contents, as well as different cultural dimensions and perspectives. This concept of integrative bioethics has gradually developed at philosophical and interdisciplinary conferences and institutions on the “bioethical islands” of the Croatian Mediterranean. In this paper, the author follows the formation, development and prospects of integrative bioethics in the wider region of the Mediterranean and Southeast Europe. (shrink)

Eine von zahlreichen Definitionen bestimmt die Globalisierung als einen dynamischen Prozess, bei dem soziale Strukturen der Modernisierung wie Kapitalismus, Bürokratie, Hightech sowie die Philosophie des Rationalismus und Liberalismus die Herrschaft über die Welt übernommen haben. In diesem Sinne hat der Liberalismus als das vorgezeichnete politische Muster der zeitgenössischen Globalisierung tatsächlich die allgemeine Vorherrschaft inne. Vor dem Hintergrund der Resultate der Globalisierung propagieren die Regierungen der meisten Staaten eine neoliberale Politik, ebenso wie einflussreiche internationale und multilaterale Einrichtungen die Globalisierung regelmäßig mit (...) Liberalisierung in Verbindung bringen. Die führenden Akteure der neoliberalen Globalisierung erweisen sich auch in Handelskreisen als ausschlaggebend, zumal an den Finanzmärkten, und ihre Zahl mehrt sich unter den Managern internationaler Unternehmen. Ebenso werden Unternehmensvereinigungen und Börsenpflichtblätter zu Hochburgen des Neoliberalismus, der generell als orthodoxe Richtung der Globalisierungspolitik betrachtet wird. Mit anderen Worten, eine solchermaßen verstandene neoliberale Weltanschauung wird in letzter Zeit widerspruchslos als offenkundige Wahrheit akzeptiert, die einem der „gesunde Menschenverstand” auferlege. Im Text wird die These elaboriert, dass der Neoliberalismus – eine Art philosophischer, politischer und wirtschaftswissenschaftlicher Theorie, bekannt auch unter dem Namen Libertarismus, die sich als vorherrschender theoretischer Ansatz in der zeitgenössischen Globalisierung aufdrängt – nicht sehr viel gemein habe mit dem Ideal der liberalen Demokratie einer gut eingerichteten Gesellschaft, das aus den diametral entgegengesetzten Ideen, Aspekten und Dimensionen der liberalen Philosophie erwachse. Die soziale Philosophie des Liberalismus, die in den Schriften von Kant, Hayek, Dworkin und Rawls entwickelt wurde, reflektiert die Konzeption der modernen liberalen Demokratie, die begründet ist auf der Getzesherrschaft, dem Schutz von Menschen- und Bürgerrechten sowie auf den Ideen von Gleichheit, Gerechtigkeit und Rechtschaffenheit. In diesem Sinne sind Programme zur „positiven Diskriminierung“ sozialer Unterschichten vollkommen in Übereinstimmung mit der angeführten liberalen Philosophie, die sich für den Schutz individueller Rechte einsetzt. Die wirtschaftliche und kulturelle Globalisierung muss ausgehend von den genannten Standpunkten einer klaren konzeptuellen Analyse unterzogen werden, die der normativen Forderung nach einer globalisierten Verantwortung zum Schutz der globalen Zukunft der Menschheit Rechnung trägt. Eine Art demokratischer Kontrolle sowie Gesetzesherrschaft sind in unserer globalisierten Welt gleichermaßen notwendig. Die zentrale Aufgabe der globalen Politik – ein globales Chaos zu verhindern, das unweigerlich auf eine unkontrollierte Globalisierung folgen würde – impliziert unter anderem auch die Etablierung einer globalen Demokratie, die mit einer internationalen Rechtsordnung ausgestattet wäre. Doch hinsichtlich der Errichtung einer globalen Demokratie und Rechtsherrschaft ergibt sich die entscheidende Frage, die sich nur sehr schwer beantworten lässt: Wie soll man in unserer geteilten, globalisierten Welt eine Politik globaler Demokratie auf die Beine stellen? (shrink)

Ovaj tematski blok sadrži izbor priloga sa simpozija Suvremena hrvatska filozofija, organiziranoga prigodom obilježavanja 50. obljetnice Hrvatskog filozofskog društva. Taj povod za predstavljanje i promišljanje teme simpozija nipošto nije formalne naravi, budući da je u okrilju bogatog i raznovrsnog polustoljetnog djelovanja ove stožerne filozofske ustanove u najvećoj mjeri nastalo ono što možemo nazvati reprezentativnim sadržajem i najvišim dometima suvremenog filozofskog mišljenja u Hrvatskoj.This thematic bloc contains a selection of contributions presented at symposium ContemporaryCroatian Philosophy, organized on the occasion of the (...) 50th anniversary of the Croatian Philosophical Society. Such a reason in the background of the presented topic is by no means merely formal, due to the fact that the representative and advanced contemporary philosophical thought in Croatia has mainly developed under the auspices of the ample and diversified fiftyyear-long activity of this pivot philosophical institution. (shrink)

The paper aims to show that by abstracting from a specific mythical historical- stylistic context and “ideation” of the notion of the Proto-Slavic deities Perun and Veles, especially in Croatian tradition, symbolic archetypes and abstract notions of form and primordial matter (materia prima) can be extracted from mythical content. We refer to mythical texts and contents according to the reconstructions and materials brought by Radoslav Katičić, and comparative analysis by Mislav Ježić. We distinguish form (1) as that in which (...) identity and possibility of a thing consists, (2) as the reasonableness of judgment and the form of existence, and (3) as the specific structure of a thing, which unites its parts and aspects as a whole and constitutes its internal necessity. These formative notions are relativized and nullified in Veles’ appearances, in which the archetypal notion of primordial matter is encoded. Examples of Platō’s dialogues historically confirm certain aspects of decoding myth as constitutive of philosophy. The above approach also opens a view of the roots of Croatian philosophical thought, which in its genesis can be traced back to Proto-Slavic mythical archetypes. With the implementation of Christianity, the questions of identity, reason and the structure of the whole are raised radically and sharply, as shown by the text of Trpimir’s grant (852). (shrink)