One 1120 pages volume, with 4000 entries covering - Western philosophy: authors, schools, concepts and terminology; - religions, cultural anthropology, eastern philosophies; - Psychology and psychoanalysis; - linguistics and semiotics; - sociology and political theory.

Mencius 孟子 is famous for arguing that human nature is good. In this article, I offer a reading of Mencius’ argument which can be evaluated in terms of empirical psychology. In this reading, Mencius’ argument begins with three claims: humans naturally have prosocial inclinations, prosocial inclinations can be cultivated into mature forms of virtue, and the growth of prosocial inclinations is more natural than the growth of their alternatives. I also argue that each of these claims is well supported by (...) empirical psychology. The relevant studies demonstrate, for example, that humans’ prosocial inclinations are not merely products of social conditioning or egoistic concerns; that prosocial inclinations can be cultivated by environmental factors and personal effort; that humans—even preverbal infants—have a natural inclination to prefer prosociality over its alternatives; and that growth in prosociality is positively associated with human health. Finally, I suggest we interpret Mencius’ expression “human nature is good” as a rhetorical tool to capture the totality of such empirically minded claims. (shrink)

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the limits of constitutional reform. Some constitutions, for example, the German (art. 79, sec. 3), the Italian (art. 139), the Portuguese (art. 288), the French (art. 89, sec. 5), and the Brazilian (art. 60, sec. 4), contain an “essential core” of rights, which is usually understood as being immune to change. The initial focus in the paper is on the discussion on whether and to what extent these “essential cores” are indeed immune (...) to change. A second focus is on Ross's paradox. Here I analyse and reject Ross's own solution to the paradox and I show, too, that the paradox admits no solution that does not imply a discontinuity in the legal system. (shrink)

Martin Heidegger and Immanuel Kant - two important pillars of contemporary philosophy-were proficient critics of traditional metaphysics in their time. They were known to be critical of a sort of metaphysical striving predisposed to grounding or representing an elusive concept of the universal.. Kant had earlier deconstructed a pre-eminent feature of Western metaphysics, namely, the socalled essence of thing, had it consigned to the noumenon evocative of the paradoxical nature of human knowing: it regulates the boundaries according to which any (...) notion of the infinite, the universal or the absolute can be reflexively thematized, or, thus strategically said, problematized. (shrink)

This paper presents a roadmap of Finnish companies adopting and managing corporate social responsibility (CSR). It discusses the companies' views on CSR and highlights the practices that Finnish companies have adopted or are currently adopting. It also presents a framework that outlines the CSR processes and management prospects. Results showed that Finnish companies are progressively managing CSR. This newly revived thinking about social responsibility is viewed as an issue traced back from Finland's history of industrial development. There is no general (...) definition of CSR; however, various concepts are connoted into it. Driven by several factors, CSR is developing gradually as indicated by the positive responses and initiatives of the companies. CSR management and practices towards employees, suppliers, community and customers are well defined locally based generally on established socially responsible behavior which could be articulated by laws and regulations, corporate values and business ethics. However, managing CSR with a global scope, problems such as; lack of information and structured management system, different views and interpretations, supply chain complexities, overlap with environmental issues, etc. often lead some companies to manage CSR haphazardly. Views and management of CSR are also influenced by some distinct Finnish cultural attributes. An initial conceptual framework for CSR is drawn reflecting the current practices and prospects for management strategies. Such framework can be used in organizing and streamlining CSR elements for effective management approaches and measuring of performance. It could be expected that in due time, the efforts of the companies will become more evident, organized and systematically managed. (shrink)

La hermenéutica ha sido uno de los movimientos filosóficos más importantes en los últimos años. Sin embargo, la heterogeneidad de sus seguidores torna dificultoso establecer una unidad temática en la hermenéutica contemporánea. Ricoeur fue uno de los representantes más destacados de esta línea filosófica. En este trabajo quiero mostrar el posicionamiento de Ricoeur en la hermenéutica contemporánea. Centraré mi análisis en el intento de combinar el descubrimiento de nuestra "pertenencia" con nuestra constitutiva "distanciación" de esta pertenencia. Ricoeur encuentra la relación (...) dialéctica entre "pertenencia - distanciación" en el concepto fenomenológico de Lebenswelt. El "mundo de la vida" tiene un momento ontológico y un momento epistemológico. Desde aquí, coloco la hermenéutica ricoeuriana en el corazón del debate hermenéutico contemporáneo, mostrando su originalidad. The hermeneutics has been one of the most important philosophical movements in the last years. However, the heterogeneity of his followers makes it difficult to establish a unit in the contemporary hermeneutics. Ricoeur was one of the most important representatives of this philosophical line. In this paper I want to show how Ricoeur positioned himself in the contemporany hermeneutics. I focus my analysis in his attempt to combine the discovery of our "belonging" with our constitutive "distancing" of this belonging. Ricoeur found the "dialectical" relation between belonging-distanciation in the phenomenological concept: Lebenswelt. The "world of life" has an ontological and epistemological moment. From here, I place the ricoeurian hermeneutics in the core of the contemporary debate in hermeneutics: showing his originality. (shrink)

La cuestión de la identidad personal ha sido muy discutida durante los últimos años. La atención puesta sobre este problema es una clara evidencia de la relevancia que tiene, entre otros, para el ámbito práctico en general. En este horizonte, Habermas y Tugendhat han sostenido una larga e interesante polémica sobre el concepto de identidad personal, polémica no siempre bien dimensionada. Esta querella ha servido para clarificar las diferentes variables que ingresan en esta problemática. En este trabajo analizaré críticamente cada (...) una de las posturas con la finalidad de advertir el corazón argumental, buscar elementos en común y subrayar las insalvables diferencias. (shrink)

The 'Enciclopedia Filosofica' is an encyclopaedia of philosophical topics promoted by the Centre for Philosophical Studies of Gallarate and published, in its third and last edition in 2006, by the Bompiani publishing house in Milan. The first edition of the 'Enciclopedia Filosofica' was promoted by the Centre for Philosophical Studies of Gallarate in the 1950s, seeing the light in 1957-58. A second edition, published by the Sansoni publishing house in Florence, was published in 1968-69 and reprinted in 1979. The third (...) and last edition, published by Bompiani in 2006, is intended to cover the whole of philosophical knowledge and related disciplines with over ten thousand entries edited by about a thousand academics, both Italian and non-Italian, and distributed in twelve volumes for a total of 12,496 pages. (shrink)

Del Ser a la Palabra es una recopilación de artículos que transitan unos cuarenta años de reflexión filosófica. El eje temático es la experiencia estética, su urgencia, su densidad y relevancia para la existencia. En este trabajo me arriesgo a analizar algunos de los conceptos centrales del texto. Desde luego, muchos quedarán de lado. El recorrido comienza con un sobrevuelo del concepto husserliano de Lebenswelt, y culmina con un análisis de la catarsis (su relación con la retórica y la hermenéutica). (...) En el medio me detendré, brevemente, en el aspecto de nuestra existencia que torna necesaria a la experiencia estética. En otras palabras, la experiencia estética viene a colmar una carencia estructural del hombre, por lo que conviene articular (hacer sentir) dicha carencia. Luego de una breve estadía en la idea del arte como recuperación y retorno, me vuelco a dos de las nociones sobre las que Presas insiste: la mímesis y la catarsis. De la primera destaco dos cosas: el efecto que tiene sobre la temporalidad, y la rehabilitación del poder de la aisthesis. Con respecto a la catarsis, la pongo en relación con la noción retórica del flectere y con la noción jurídica y teológica de applicatio. (shrink)

Resumen En este trabajo analizo algunos de los argumentos clásicos que la tradición retórica contrapone al discurso filosófico. Para ello, comienzo sobrevolando las características que definen al discurso filosófico de filiación platónico-cartesiana, y que son relevantes para la querella con la retórica. Luego intento elaborar un ataque en dos frentes. Por un lado, me detengo en la rehabilitación de la doxa como elemento vital del discurso práctico, en contra de la depreciación a que se ve sometida bajo el enfoque universalista (...) de la filosofía. Luego, tomando como base la noción de sentido común, analizo la idea de "auditorio", esencial para la retórica, y la consiguiente pluralidad de esferas de validez que conlleva. Dicha pluralidad horizontal contrasta con el monismo verticalista del discurso filosófico. Finalmente, en la conclusión dejo abierto uno de los problemas más urgentes de este movimiento pluralista que propone la retórica.In this paper I analyze some classical arguments used by rhetorical tradition to oppose philosophical discourse. To do this, I give a brief account of the characteristics defining the philosophical discourse of Platonic-Cartesian affiliation that are relevant for the dispute with Rhetoric. Then, on the one hand, I dwell upon the rehabilitation of doxa as a vital element of practical discourse in order to countering the downgrading of doxa by the universalistic approach of philosophy. On the other hand, based on the notion of common sense, I analyze the idea of "audience", essential for Rhetoric, as well as the resulting plurality of spheres of validity. This horizontal plurality contrasts with the vertical monism of philosophical discourse. Finally, in the conclusion I point out one of the most urgent problems of this pluralistic movement that rhetoric has proposed. (shrink)

El pensamiento filosófico ha encontrado en el problema del mal un difícil y provocativo desafío. Cuando el mal aparece, el pensamiento llega a sus límites. El siglo veinte ha sido testigo del horror. El pensamiento necesita reconciliarse con un mundo en el que el horror ha sucedido. Hannah Arendt fue una de las intelectuales más importantes que enfatizó la relación entre comprensión y reconciliación. Para ella, la consecuencia inherente de la comprensión es la reconciliación. En este trabajo analizo el alcance (...) de su argumento. Intento conectar la mirada arendtiana con otros autores que confrontan con su perspectiva. (shrink)

True to his early Schellingian roots, Slavoj Zizek, in his recent book, Pandemic! Covid-19 Shakes the World describes a virus as “a kind of zero-level life,” invoking Schelling’s Naturphilosophie. Perhaps the closest reference, though Zizek did not mention it, is his second major work on the subject, namely, First Outline of A System of the Philosophy of Nature where Schelling originally propounded the theory of nature’s ‘duplicity’. In the following discussions, we will situate Zizek’s timely intervention within the context of (...) his naturalism that politically mediates the differential flows of the present world and the subject itself, against the background of a space of difference between the two, whereby the virus acts as a kind of deferral mechanism in which something like the future is suspended, finally rendering the relation motionless. The discussions will also briefly situate Zizek’s political naturalism within contemporary political discourse involving some of his direct and indirect engagements with Agamben, Latour, Badiou, Berardi, Deleuze, and others. This critical review stakes out a view of Zizek’s recent intervention as a timely polemics, consistent with his global image as one of the most dependable public intellectuals of our troubled time. (shrink)

Dieser Band thematisiert Heideggers Verständnis der technischen Welt und deren Verhältnis zu Kunst, Politik und Sprache. Diskutiert wird dabei auch, wie Heideggers Denken der Technik von Philosophen der Gegenwart aufgegriffen und weiter entwickelt wird und wie es dabei helfen kann, Globalisierung, Digitalisierung und die Entwicklung in den Biotechnologien philosophisch zu verstehen. Im Dokumententeil wird die Urfassung von Die Zeit des Weltbildes veröffentlicht.