Scepticism in the Sixth Century? Damascius' Doubts and Solutions Concerning First Principles SARA RAPPE THE Doubts and Solutions Concerning First Principles, an aporetic work of the sixth century Neoplatonist Damascius, is distinguished above all by its dialectical subtlety. Although the Doubts and Solutions belongs to the commentary tradi- tion on Plato's Parmenides, its structure and method make it in many ways unique among such exegetical works. The treatise positions itself, at least in part, as a response to Proclus' metaphysical (...) system. Thus the first principles alluded to in its title refer to a metaphysical structure consisting of five central elements, the Ineffable, the One, and the Noetic Triad, which Damascius both adumbrates in opposition to Proclus' as well as subjects to his own, internal critique. In this article, I will be asking whether or not Damascius' critique of Neoplatonic metaphysics is informed or inspired by ancient Scepticism. No doubt this question catches the reader off guard: if the last exponent of an- cient Scepticism is Sextus Empiricus, how could this sixth-century Neo- platonist Scholarch, the last officially appointed Platonic Successor, revert to a tradition that seemingly disappears for well over three centuries? ~ In what ~As is well known, Damascius modifies Proclus' own exposition of the Parmenidean hypothe- ses, positing a first principle to which he gives the title ~the Ineffable." For those interested in a.. (shrink)

We appreciate Chapman and colleagues’ (2025) advocacy for revising the Common Rule to address the downstream effects of data-centric research, particularly the potential for group harms such as sti...

Items were generated to explore the factorial structure of a construct of fundamentalism worded appropriately for Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Results suggested three underlying dimensions: External versus Internal Authority, Fixed versus Malleable Religion, and Worldly Rejection versus Worldly Affirmation. The three dimensions indicate that religious fundamentalism is a personal orientation that asserts a supra-human locus of moral authority, context unbound truth, and the appreciation of the sacred over the worldly components of experience. The 15-item, 3-dimension solution was evaluated across Mexican (...) and American samples. Fit indexes point out the viability of the new inventory across these two samples henceforward referred to as the Multi-Dimensional Fundamentalism Inventory. Additional validity tests supported that the new inventory was negatively correlated with participants’ integrative complexity in a religious domain–specific way. (shrink)

Volume 25, Issue 2, February 2025, Page 87-90.

This book discusses feature films that enrich our understanding of doctor-patient dilemmas. The book comprises general clinical ethics themes and principles and is written in accessible language. Each theme is discussed and illuminated in chapters devoted to a particular film. Chapters start with a discussion of the film itself, which shares details behind the making of the film; critical reception; casting and other facts about production. The chapter situates the film in a history of medicine and medical sociology context, analyzes (...) ethical issues raised in the film from a clinical ethics lens, and explains to readers how to use each film as a teaching aid for clinical ethics. Readers will understand how each film in this collection served to bring particular clinical ethics issues to the public’s attention, or reflected medico-legal issues that were part of the public discourse. The book is a perfect instructor's guide for anyone teaching bioethics, healthcare ethics, medical sociology, medical history, healthcare systems narrative medicine, or nursing ethics. (shrink)

Argues that Socrates’s fundamental role in the dialogues is to guide us toward self-inquiry and self-knowledge. In this highly original and provocative book, Sara Ahbel-Rappe argues that the Platonic dialogues contain an esoteric Socrates who signifies a profound commitment to self-knowledge and whose appearances in the dialogues are meant to foster the practice of self-inquiry. According to Ahbel-Rappe, the elenchus, or inner examination, and the thesis that virtue is knowledge, are tools for a contemplative practice that teaches us how (...) to investigate the mind and its objects directly. In other words, the Socratic persona of the dialogues represents wisdom, which is distinct from and serves as the larger space in which Platonic knowledge—ethics, epistemology, and metaphysics—is constructed. Ahbel-Rappe offers complete readings of the Apology, Charmides, Alcibiades I, Euthyphro, Lysis, Phaedrus, Theaetetus, and Parmenides, as well as parts of the Republic. Her interpretation challenges two common approaches to the figure of Socrates: the thesis that the dialogues represent an “early” Plato who later disavows his reliance on Socratic wisdom, and the thesis that Socratic ethics can best be expressed by the construct of eudaimonism or egoism. (shrink)

In the past, Wonder Woman and Superman were depicted as good friends, but as of 2016, in New 52 Wonder Woman comic books, the Amazon princess and the man of steel are in a romantic relationship. The implication seems to be that romantically compatible people cannot be just friends. Thankfully, philosophy can help to debunk this notion and shed some light on the nature of friendship and romance as well. In consuming works of popular culture, people learn what is expected (...) of them in their interpersonal lives: cross‐gender relationships must be romantic, and friendship cannot be as important as romance. The loss of Wonder Woman and Superman as an example of a stable non‐romantic cross‐gender friendship therefore represents not just a change in the treatment of the characters, but a loss of support for the idea that such friendships are possible. (shrink)

The Cambridge Companion to Rousseau’s Social Contract richly rewards the reader even as it requires a close familiarity with the text. The volume is not a general introduction to Rousseau or an art...

The chapter explicates the central resources that classical Husserlian phenomenology and its contemporary elaborations offer for the study of psychic disorders. We shall first discuss the phenomenological principles that enable analysis of the conditions and limits of experiencing and sense-constitution. We shall then clarify the concepts that phenomenologists have developed for the discussion of the normality and abnormality of experiencing—optimality and concordance—while also paying heed to the types of phenomena that classical and contemporary phenomenologists have tackled while developing their methods. (...) In this vein, we will emphasize methodological factors that separate phenomenological studies of intentional experiencing from empirical studies of human behavior and psyche, on the one hand, and from alternative philosophical studies of the mind and consciousness, on the other hand. In sum, our chapter shows that phenomenology offers powerful tools for the systematic investigation of several different types of experiential disorders (such as depression and psychosis). (shrink)

The theories of apartness, equality, and n-stable equality are presented through contraction- and cut-free sequent calculi. By methods of proof analysis, a purely proof-theoretic characterization of the equality fragment of apartness is obtained.

Science requires postformal capabilities to compare competing explanations and conceptualize how to coordinate or integrate them. With conflicts thus reconciled, science advances. The Model of Hierarchical Complexity facilitates the coordination of current arguments about intelligence. A cross-species measurement theory of comparative cognition is proposed. It has potential to overcome the lack of a general measurement theory for the science of comparative cognition, and the lack of domain-general mechanisms for evolutionary psychologists. The hierarchical complexity of concepts and debates as well as (...) the new theory are scored, and demonstrate the postformal hierarchical complexity of the proposed theory. (shrink)

On the Viśiṣṭādvaita philosophy of Rāmānuja, 1017-1137.

Biography of Madhva, 13th cent. Hindu religious leader and founder of Mādhva sect.

Explores the nature and significance of Petrarch’s indebtedness to Dante in the Rime sparse.

Within the psy- disciplines, Foucauldian discourse analysis has shown that those who exercise power in defining psychological experiences seek to maintain existing power hierarchies through this labeling. In that way, it is a fitting method to examine how the use of specific language constructs reality for individuals and society as a whole. Currently, the use of the word "triggered" has proliferated beyond the common mental health usage to refer to posttraumatic stress disorder or a re-experiencing symptom of a trauma. In (...) this qualitative investigation, we analyze "triggered" experiences written about in participants' vignettes to explore how using the word "triggered" does something in terms of power, hierarchy, and expression of vulnerability for individuals, and how this is impacted by the way they position themselves and others in speaking about their experiences. We understand the experience of being "triggered" to be constructed differently depending on the source of the trigger. The difference is particularly salient for those who use "triggered" to refer to a microaggression as opposed to those who are referring to a sexual assault. We discuss the tension between supporting a psychiatric status quo regarding trauma and the subversion of this status quo via the expanded use of the word "triggered.". (shrink)

ABSTRACT With this article, we aim to address aspects related to the treatment of languages in the theoretical postulations of two linguists: Ferdinand de Saussure and Émile Benveniste. To do so, we examine selected works by these authors, seeking to discuss-based on evidence-the role they grant to languages in their formulations. The analyses allow us to demonstrate the protagonism of the diversity of languages as one of the points where the two linguists meet, even though there are differences in their (...) approaches. (shrink)

In 2017, British shock-artist Damien Hirst released a coffee-table book with photographs from his Venice Biennale exhibition, Treasures from the Wreck of the Unbelievable, featuring artifacts retrieved from a Roman-era shipwreck in the Indian Ocean. The following year, a “documentary” was released on Netflix featuring the backstory of the wreck's excavation, showing how all those coral-encrusted antiquities made their way from the seafloor to the art scene. At this same time and elsewhere in Britain, a practitioner of art history, art, (...) and maritime archaeology was in the process of developing the concept of “hauntography” as an object-oriented artistic method that represents (visually or otherwise) the ontological absent-presence of shipwrecks, that is, as objects that defy complete phenomenological access, while inspiring speculation into the uncanniness of being a thing of anthropogenic origin, but which persists beyond anthropos. Because both hauntography and Hirst's project make claims regarding epistemological and phenomenological limits pertaining to underwater wreckage, this article answers the question first posed by the author's students as to whether Hirst's satirical take on shipwreck archaeology ought to be considered the first hauntograph. By examining the relationships between two contemporary art projects, underwater archaeology, and object-oriented philosophies, this article considers how art objects might nudge epistemological limits without resorting to a post-truth dismissal of objective reality. (shrink)

This paper assesses the possibility of interpreting Ricœur’s notion of representation as a form of Darstellung in the Kantian sense of exhibition (presentation). The aim is to emphasize the ontological significance of representation as Darstellung, through the consideration of the paradigmatic case of historical representations. Indeed, the necessity to adequately interpret the relationship between representation and the represented becomes more compelling when dealing with the representation of history. On the one hand, history becomes objective insofar as it is depicted in (...) historical representations, but on the other, this depiction remains the presentation of an underlying reality that demands to be spoken of. The notion of Darstellung thus helps ensure the demand of historical representations to stand for past reality, without being reduced to mere copies of a supposedly pre-given original. This allows for a transition from the epistemological reflection upon historical representations to the ontological consideration of historicity as such. (shrink)

This article examines the recent introduction of forced ultrasound-beforeabortion measures in select U.S. states as an intervention of gendered biopower. These measures are drafted based on model legislation entitled the Woman’s Right to Know Act. Such legislation exploits a discourse of women’s health, but invests in fetal “life” by regulating the behavior of pregnant women so as to promote the carrying of pregnancies to term; the legislation also represents childbirth and motherhood as in the interest of women’s health. Ultimately, I (...) contend that Right to Know measures give the state permission to override the choices, rights, and interests of the population of pregnant women as a whole in an attempt to “protect” and optimize a supposedly vulnerable fetal population. (shrink)

L’article s’intéresse aux sages-femmes dans la Bosnie habsbourgeoise montrant comment ce groupe professionnel joue un rôle de médiation inédit entre l’Empire austro-hongrois et la population bosnienne. À partir des méthodes et concepts de l’anthropologie sociale, il s’agit de comprendre la configuration des relations qui s’instaurent entre administrateurs, sages-femmes et habitantes à partir de la réforme statutaire des sages-femmes en 1898. Ces relations, qui remettent en cause l’ordre social existant hérité de l’époque ottomane, constituent pour les différents acteurs historiques à la (...) fois un défi et un espace de possibilités comme le montre l'exemple parmi d’autres de la sage-femme Ivka Ratković à Bosanski Petrovac. (shrink)

In September 2018 the University of Victoria Faculty of Law on Vancouver Island, Canada welcomed its first cohort of students to its cutting edge and innovative joint degree programme in Canadian Common Law ) and Indigenous Legal Orders ). The JD/jid programme draws on the law faculty’s more than two decades of experience and research on Indigenous legal orders, and Indigenous legal education. It is the first of its kind in the world, combining intensive study of Canadian Common Law with (...) rigorous engagement with Indigenous law. The rationale behind this programme is to engage with Indigenous legal orders using the depth, rigour, and critical focus that law schools bring to the study of other legal orders. Pushing against exclusion happening in higher education throughout the Commonwealth and beyond, the JD/jid programme aims to ensure that education in Indigenous Law is no longer an education in exclusion and displacement. This short piece provides necessary background to the programme, including structure and content, and details its transsystemic pedagogical and community-based learning approaches. (shrink)

This paper presents an overview of the goals, structure, and results of an annual, week-long, summer philosophy institute for high school students. Inspired by other similar programs, the Summer Philosophy Institute of Colorado (SPI-CO) was designed for a culturally diverse group of students, aiming to expose college-track high school students to philosophy, to encourage students in lower-track classifications to pursue college, to offer advising to students on how to make college a reality, to expose both groups of students to critical (...) thinking skills, and to promote cultural diversity in philosophy as a discipline. After explaining why philosophy encourages students in education and why high school students are so well-primed to study it, the authors give a detailed overview of the structure of the institute, including schedule, lesson plan, texts and themes studied, funding, and student demography. The authors conclude by discussing an outreach program that grew out of the SPI-CO and a summary of the initial results of the program. (shrink)

In Arnauld’s view, a fruitful clarification of the nature of knowledge is possible if only one pays close attention to “ce qui se passe en nous,” in such a fashion “de n’y rien mêler dont nous ne soyons certains.” In support of his position, he cites not only Descartes’ testimony but also that of St. Augustine. Consequently, he treats—first of all—of the things that any one can know about his own soul upon consulting with himself with a little attention, and (...) by so doing Arnauld shows once again his faithfulness to the spirit of Cartesianism. Yet he does more, for he is among the first thinkers fully to appreciate the value of a truly descriptive method in philosophy. (shrink)

En este artículo, trato algunas de las problemáticas que surgen con la implantación de inteligencia artificial generativa (IAG) y, en concreto, cuando el remplazo de profesionales humanos por esta tecnología puede considerarse inadecuado. Considero que lo último será el caso cuando el trabajo de profesionales humanos se les enajena para convertirse en meros datos con los que entrenar los modelos de IAG remplazarán a esos mismos profesionales. La base de mi argumento reside no tanto en el output de este tipo (...) de modelos, sino en la relación de esos outputs tanto con los usuarios como con los profesionales humanos que hayan contribuido directa o indirectamente a la generación de los mismos. (shrink)

This paper focuses on two aspects of Maximilian Beck’s philosophical reflection: his adherence to naive (phenomenological) realism and his claim to the autonomous existence of the affective qualities of the objectual world. Therefore, my contribution will be structured as follows: after a brief overview of Beck’s defence of naive realism (§2), I will attempt to show how, in his opinion, the affective qualities characterizing the world (i.e., the places and things we encounter) are in principle independent of the perceiver, possessing (...) an objectivity of their own. It is pertinent to mention here that Beck calls these affective qualities “objective moods” (objektive Stimmungen) (§3). After that, I will try to illustrate the “externalist” aspects of Beck’s theory of the apprehension of Stimmungen, highlighting its differences from the “projective empathy” theses that were circulating at the time, particularly in the version proposed by Theodor Lipps (§4). In the final section, I will present two arguments that Beck puts forward in support of his theory of the objectivity of the Stimmungen (§5). (shrink)

In this study, we examine the narratives of Hungarian entrepreneurs with disabilities (EWD) of the post-socialist era, using microhistory. Our research question concerns how ableism appears in the lives of EWD and how the aftermath of socialism emerges in their experience of ableism. We believe that a state-socialist past influences the lives and careers of EWD in a way that is unique in entrepreneurial and disability literature. Drawing on the accounts of 29 Hungarian entrepreneurs, we identified four mechanisms that make (...) post-socialist ableism specific: invisibility; passivity and welfare dependency; the legitimacy of disability organisations; as well as the limitations of economic participation. Our research suggests that these effects, embedded in the current political, social, and economic environment, can only change slowly and over a long time. (shrink)

Generative AI has seen significant advances, particularly in text-to-image, with the potential to revolutionize industries, especially in creative fields such as art and design. This innovation is especially important in architecture, where idea visualization is critical. Text-to-image tools, a form of generative AI, enable architects and designers to visually bring their concepts to life. The study explores the impact of prompt-based AI generation on architecture, asking whether it is enhancing efficiency, creativity, and sustainability or threatening to replace architects. To address (...) concerns about the role of AI in the profession, the research examines the perceptions of architecture professionals in Egypt. The authors conducted a survey and interviews with industry experts to assess the transformative impacts of AI on architecture. The findings reveal a strong awareness of AI's potential to enhance design quality and project outcomes, although some concerns about job prospects and control over AI outputs persist. Small firms view AI as vital for optimizing operations and attracting clients. Overall, AI shows promise in conceptualization and visualization, enhancing creativity and efficiency, with architects needing to adapt to AI as a tool for innovation rather than a competitor. Finally, the study proposes a roadmap for improving the use of AI in architecture. (shrink)