Altiero Spinelli (1907-1986) is worldwide renowned as the principal author (with Ernesto Rossi) of the Ventotene Manifesto (1941), whose second edition (1944), prefaced by Eugenio Colorni, is one of the founding documents of the European Union. Less known is the width and depth of Spinelli's thought, not only as a political theorist of supra-national democracy and institutional designer of a possible European Federation but also as a philosopher of civilization and history. While the sources of his federalism (...) have been largely investigated, much less have those of his more comprehensive philosophy. This paper discusses, on a philological basis, the dialogue Spinelli certainly has with some of Max Scheler's writings while going into this dialogue more in-depth, in a philosophical more than philological attitude. (shrink)

This paper aims to examine a very specific passage of Sextus Empiricus’s work: the final section of the second book of the Outlines of Pyrrhonism (=ph ii, 229–259). Here Sextus concentrates his attention on a very limited yet crucial topic, namely the question of the validity or invalidity and ‘pragmatic dissolution’ of an allegedly strong tool such as sophisms and their dialectical structure. Indeed, Pyrrhonists do not wander about aimlessly nor lack effective tools through which to dismantle the logical industry (...) of sophisms; their reference point is completely different, since they agree about some evident facts and live their life in accordance with κοινὸς βίος. (shrink)

The potential development of self-driving cars (also known as autonomous vehicles or AVs – particularly Level 5 AVs) has called the attention of different interested parties. Yet, there are still only a few relevant international regulations on them, no emergency patterns accepted by communities and Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs), and no publicly accepted solutions to some of their pending ethical problems. Thus, this paper aims to provide some possible answers to these moral and practical dilemmas. In particular, we focus on (...) what AVs should do in no-win scenarios and on who should be held responsible for these types of decisions. A naturalistic perspective on ethics informs our proposal, which, we argue, could represent a pragmatic and realistic solution to the regulation of AVs. We discuss the proposals already set out in the current literature regarding both policy-making strategies and theoretical accounts. In fact, we consider and reject descriptive approaches to the problem as well as the option of using either a strict deontological view or a solely utilitarian one to set AVs’ ethical choices. Instead, to provide concrete answers to AVs’ ethical problems, we examine three hierarchical levels of decision-making processes: country-wide regulations, OEM policies, and buyers’ moral attitudes. By appropriately distributing ethical decisions and considering their practical implications, we maintain that our proposal based on ethical naturalism recognizes the importance of all stakeholders and allows the most able of them to take actions (the OEMs and buyers) to reflect on the moral leeway and weight of their options. (shrink)

Kaum ein anderes semantisches Feld durchzieht Platons Werk von den ersten Dialogen an bis zum Spätwerk so prägend und zugleich so spannungsreich wie das der Mimesis. Von der Sprachphilosophie über die Ästhetik und Moralpsychologie bis hin zur Metaphysik, Kosmologie und Theologie: in erstaunlich vielen Themenbereichen gewinnt die Semantik der Mimesis bei Platon hohe Relevanz. Der Tagungsband „Platonic Mimesis Revisited“ bietet eine umfassende und kontextsensible Neubetrachtung der Mimesis in allen einschlägigen Dialogen. Anders als frühere monographische Behandlungen des Themas vereint er eine (...) bedeutende Auswahl wissenschaftlicher Perspektiven aus Philosophie und Philologie und gibt so einen breiten Einblick in moderne Forschungsansätze.Mit Beiträgen vonMichele Abbate, Alexandra V. Alván Leon, Laura Candiotto, Andrea Capra, Elenio Cicchini, Michael Erler, Francesco Fronterotta, José Antonio Giménez Salinas, Stephen Halliwell, Irmgard Männlein-Robert, Lidia Palumbo, Anna Pavani, Julia Pfefferkorn, Antonino Spinelli, Benedikt Strobel und Justin Vlasits. (shrink)

What is the definition of that which is named "soul"? Can we give it any other definition than "the motion able to move itself" (Laws 895e)? The essays in this volume touch upon the central theme in Plato's late dialogues of the soul as the principle of self-motion and vitality. They discuss in particular the soul's relation to the intelligible world and understanding, as well as its cosmic and socio-political dimensions.

The Mansouri-Sexl and Sjödin point of view on clock synchronization in special relativity is maintained against various criticisms, taking into account also the recent point of view of stochastic electrodynamics. Light speed invariance is also discussed in an intuitive way.

A common view is that self-identity is essential to objects if anything is. Itself a substantive metaphysical view, this is a position of some import in wider debates, particularly in connection with such problems as physicalism and personal identity. In this article I challenge the view. I distinguish between two accounts of essence, the modal and the definitional, and argue that self-identity is essential to objects on the former but not on the latter. After laying out my case, I deal (...) with a number of objections. (shrink)

Husserl’s official account of essence is modal. It is also, I submit, incompatible with the role that essence is supposed to play, especially relative to necessity, in his overall philosophy. In the Husserlian framework, essence should rather be treated as a non-modal notion. The point, while not generally acknowledged, has been made before (by Kevin Mulligan for one); yet the arguments given for it, though perhaps sound, are not Husserlian. In this paper I present a thoroughly Husserlian argument for that (...) claim, as well as a Husserlian essentialist account of necessity. I also discuss the role of grounding within the account. (shrink)

Praise for First Edition: `This book is highly recommended to a wide range of people as a clear and systematic introduction to phenomenological psychology... the book has set the stage for possible new colloquia between the phenomenological and other approaches in psychology' - Changes `As a trainee interested in matters existential, I have been put off in the past by the long-winded and confusing texts usually available in academic libraries. Thankfully, here is a text that remedies that situation... [it] provides (...) a readable and insightful account' - Clinical Psychology Forum 'Spinelli’s classic introduction to phenomenology should be essential reading on all person-centred, existential and humanistic trainings, and any other counselling or psychotherapy course which aims to help students develop an in-depth understanding of human lived-experience. This book is sure to remain a key text for many years to come' - Mick Cooper, Senior Lecturer in Counselling, University of Strathclyde 'This is by far the most monumental, erudite, comprehensive, authoritative case that Existentialism and Phenomenology (a) have a rightful place in the academy; (b) are tough-minded bodies of thought; (c) have rigorous scientific foundations; (d) bequeath a distinctive school of psychotherapy and counselling; and (e) are just as good as the more established systems of psychology' - Alvin R. Mahrer, Ph.D. University of Ottawa, Canada, Author of The Complete Guide To Experiential Psychotherapy 'This book’s rich insight into the lacunae of modern psychological thinking illustrates the contribution that existential phenomenology can make to founding a coherently mature Psychology that is both fully human(e) and responsibly ‘scientific’ in the best sense of that term' - Richard House, Ph.D., Magdalen Medical Practice, Norwich; Steiner Waldorf teacher. The Interpreted World, Second Edition, is a welcome introduction to phenomenological psychology, an area of psychology which has its roots in notoriously difficult philosophical literature. Writing in a highly accessible, jargon-free style, Ernesto Spinelli traces the philosophical origins of phenomenological theory and presents phenomenological perspectives on central topics in psychology - perception, social cognition and the self. He compares the phenomenological approach with other major contemporary psychological approaches, pointing up areas of divergence and convergence with these systems. He also examines implications of phenomenology for the precepts and process of psychotherapy. For the Second Edition, a new chapter on phenomenological research has been added in which the author focuses on the contribution of phenomenology in relation to contemporary scientific enquiry. He describes the methodology used in phenomenological research and illustrates the approach through an actual research study. The Interpreted World, Second Edition demystifies an exciting branch of psychology, making its insights available to all students of psychology, psychotherapy and counselling. (shrink)

The recognition of taboo words – i.e. socially inappropriate words – has been repeatedly associated to semantic interference phenomena, with detrimental effects on the performance in the ongoing task. In the present study, we investigated taboo interference in the context of reading aloud, a task configuration which prompts the overt violation of conventional sociolinguistic norms by requiring the explicit utterance of taboo items. We assessed whether this form of semantic interference is handled by habituative or cognitive control processes. In addition (...) to the reading aloud task, participants performed a vocal Stroop task featuring different conditions to dissociate semantic, task, and response conflict. Taboo words were read slower than non-taboo words, but this effect was subject to a quick habituation, with a decreasing interference over the course of trials, which allowed participants to selectively attend to goal-relevant information. In the Stroop task, only semantic conflict was significantly reduced by habituation. These findings suggest that semantic properties can be quickly and flexibly weighed on the basis of contextual appropriateness, thus characterising semantic processing as a flexible and goal-directed component of reading aloud. (shrink)

Some philosophers believe that entities have essences. What are we to make of the view that essences are themselves entities? E.J. Lowe has put forward an infinite regress argument against it. In this paper I challenge that argument. First, drawing on work by J.W. Wieland, I give a general condition for the obtaining of a vicious infinite regress. I then argue that in Lowe’s case the condition is not met. In making my case, I mainly (but not exclusively) consider definitionalist (...) accounts of essence. I make a re￾quirement to which definitionalists such as Lowe are committed and which, I venture, should also be palatable to non-naïve modalists. I call it the Relevance Principle. The defence trades on it, as well as on the distinction, due to K. Fine, between mediate and immediate essence. (shrink)

This paper is about a certain view of intentionality, a problem faced by the view, and two ways in which, it has been proposed, the problem might be solved. The view is that every intentional state has an intentional object. The problem is that the putative intentional objects of some intentional states do not, or even cannot, exist. The two strategies to solve the problem and secure the view are those implemented by Tim Crane in his article “Intentional Objects”. In (...) this paper I argue that both Crane’s implementations and the strategies in general are unsuccessful. By way of overview, I also discuss other ways in which the problem has been addressed. (shrink)

Husserlian Essentialism is the view, maintained byEdmundHusserl throughout his career, that necessary truths obtain because essentialist truths obtain. In this thesis I have two goals. First, to reconstruct and flesh out Husserlian Essentialism and its connections with surrounding areas of Husserl's philosophy in full detail – something which has not been done yet. Second, to assess the theoretical solidity of the view. As regards the second point, after having presented Husserlian Essentialism in the first two chapters, I raise a serious (...) problem for it in Chapter 3. In the remainder of the thesis I endeavour to solve the problem. In order to do so, I propose to amend both Husserl's theory of essence and his theory of predication. The bulk of the emendation consists in working out an account of essence and an account of predication that do not presuppose, or in any way imply, the claims that: 1) for a universal to be in the essence of an object, either the object or one of its parts must instantiate the universal; 2) for a universal to be truly predicated of an object, either the object or one of its parts must instantiate the universal. These claims, notice, apart from being what gets Husserl in trouble, are well entrenched not only in Husserl's, but in most theories of essence and predication. It is thus interesting to see what an alternative option may be – even regardless of the Husserlian setting in which I work it out. (shrink)

Buscando apresentar uma interpretação para EN I 4 1095a31-b13, este artigo defende que a digressão nela feita por Aristóteles pretende caracterizar a investigação recém iniciada como promissora, opondo-a, ainda que não explicitamente, ao modo rígido socrático-platônico de fazer Ética ou Política. Para tanto, propõe-se uma interpretação pouco usual do termo que como o princípio buscado e não como ponto de partida da investigação. Recusa-se igualmente ver na passagem mencionada uma referência ao modo ou etapas de aquisição de virtude moral ou (...) prudência, mas de um corpo preciso de conhecimento ou ciência, a Ética ou Política. (shrink)

O artigo que segue pretende abordar o potencial transformador da ética do cuidado de Carol Gilligan destacando, por um lado, seu caráter de denúncia expresso no questionamento acerca da exclusão das experiencias das mulheres na produção do conhecimento e, por outro, a sua verve de resistência manifesta no fato de que a ética do cuidado traz a produção teórica de uma mulher que trata de experiencias femininas em sociedades patriarcais. Para tanto, serão explicitados os principais pontos da ética do cuidado (...) de Gilligan assim como as reflexões por elas suscitadas em termos de críticas e reações. (shrink)

Thanks to a careful reading of a key passage in Sextus Empiricus’s Outlines of Pyrrhonism (PH II 134-170), this paper offers a sort of running commentary that makes clear some crucial aspects of the Pyrrhonian attack against any kind of subsistence or ὑπόστασις of the ἀπόδειξις. This notion (fundamental for the dogmatic approach to epistemological topics) will be examined in its main logical guidelines as well as in some of its historical declinations, especially from the point of view of ancient (...) Stoicism and its doctrine about the so-called non-demonstrable arguments. (shrink)

Este artigo se resume em seis observações acerca do conceito de aretê, que, no transcurso da cultura grega, contém não apenas um, mas vários significados. Na medida em que percorre tais significados, o artigo também se ocupa em averiguar como se deu um estreitamento na significação da aretê de um ponto de vista cívico, voltado para à qualificação do ser cidadão, e também filosófico, referido à vida moral enquanto qualificação do ser homem. Tendo, pois, em vista estes dois aspectos – (...) o ser cidadão e o ser homem – o artigo põe igualmente em destaque o teor da confabulação entre sofistas (Protágoras e Górgias) e filósofos (Sócrates e Platão) a respeito do agir mais apropriado enquanto aretê. (shrink)

Le scepticisme implique-t-il de refuser toute valeur à l’expérience? Le corpus de Sextus Empiricus permet de montrer que la notion d’expérience joue un rôle central dans la philosophie néo-pyrrhonienne. Si l’on accepte de renoncer à établir des relations causales universelles et nécessaires entre les phénomènes, le scepticisme néo-pyrrhonien trouve dans l’observation empirique un modèle alternatif d’explication de la réalité comparable à celui qui est à l’œuvre dans l’empirisme contemporain. De même, l’attention portée par Sextus Empiricus à l’observation ( têrêsis ) (...) – qui prend alors le sens d’observance – permet de comprendre en quel sens le scepticisme propose une éthique originale tout entière tournée vers le projet de l’adaptation à la vie ordinaire. (shrink)

En este artículo, procederemos a examinar el concepto de agencement en El anti-Edipo. Probamos que su uso inicial se registra, efectivamente, en el primer tomo de Capitalismo y esquizofrenia. Analizamos las nueve apariciones del concepto en dicho marco y demostramos que se halla, al menos en principio, estrechamente ligado al concepto de máquina (deseante). A la vez, sentamos la hipótesis de que este último no es sustituido por el primero (equívoco suscitado por el propio Deleuze) sino que, tras haber coexistido (...) ambos, agencement habría resultado más eficiente como pilar teórico de una teoría general de las máquinas. (shrink)

O objetivo deste artigo consiste emdetalhar como Pedro Abelardo transformou a Dialéticatanto em método de investigação, quanto emtécnica de ensino e de aprendizagem. Nesteartigo, são também examinados os seguintesconceitos: o de probabiliter e o de consensus, e o de motes(r-ferente à Ética.

O presente artigo pretende apresentar como e por que o compromisso com a objetividade é uma das características do bom aluno da Ética Nicomaqueia de Aristóteles. Buscar-se-á, com isso, oferecer uma justificativa para a exigência aristotélica de bons hábitos como condição prévia para seguir as lições éticas. Como será visto, tais hábitos são, pelo menos parcialmente, responsáveis pelo engendramento do compromisso com a objetividade. O engajamento na atividade virtuosa fornece ao aluno a experiência naquilo que é realmente bom e, assim, (...) fornece a perspectiva apropriada a partir da qual ele será capaz de julgar corretamente acerca de argumentos concernentes à boa vida para os seres humanos. (shrink)

Wie Lore Jonas in ihren einleitenden Bemerkungen zu den Erinnerungen, dem autobiographischen Zeugnis ihres Mannes, lebhaft in Erinnerung gerufen hat, »besaß [er] jene große humanistische Bildung, die seiner Generation eigen war und die jetzt allmählich verschwindet. Er konnte Homer auf Griechisch und Cicero auf Lateinisch zitieren, lernte als Oberschüler Hebräisch, und die Propheten waren ihm lieb«. Schon das legt nahe, bei der Rekonstruktion der konzeptuellen Gesamtheit von Jonas’ Werk seiner Beziehung zum klassischen Erbe einen privilegierten Ort zu reservieren. Sicherlich ist (...) es nicht einfach, diese Beziehung zur antiken Philosophie klar und knapp darzustellen. (shrink)

Este artigo se ocupa em averiguar os termos com os quais Cícero, Lucrécio e Diógenes Laércio buscaram tornar compreensível a prólêpsis de Epicuro. Cícero forneceu os termos antecipatio, praenotio e informationem; Lucrécio, notitia, exemplare et vestigia, a fim de dar voz e expor entre os latinos a doutrina do epicurismo. Diógenes Laércio indicou os termos katalêpsis, dóxa, énnoia, hypólêpsin, com os quais, segundo ele, os próprios epicuristas tentaram explicitar a prólêpsis de Epicuro. Por fim, o artigo expõe a opinião de (...) alguns comentadores contemporâneos. (shrink)

Este estudo se ocupa com algumas questões do prólogo do Parmênides, que, em geral, passam desapercebidas, mas são importantes para a compreensão da arquitetônica do diálogo. Haverá de ter, por exemplo, algum significado o fato de Platão trazer para dentro do Diálogo, Céfalo de Clazômenas, que veio para Atenas encontrar Antífon e ouvir dele um relato de Pitodoros sobre o que Parmênides e Zenão, vindos de Eleia, confabularam com Sócrates em Atenas. Clazômenas é a terra de Anaxágoras, daquele que, a (...) convite de Péricles, fundou em Atenas uma escola filosófica. Do debate que ocorreu entre Parmênides, Zenão e Sócrates, na casa de Pitodoros, foi Pitodoros, quem, por primeiro, registrou de memória; depois ele passou a Antífon, e, Antífon, passou a Céfalo, que, enfim, veio a ser, e não o irmão de Platão, o relator do Diálogo. Há, pois, um fluxo de personagens e de regiões que compõem o Diálogo. Há ainda algo inusitado: Zenão, perante Sócrates e seus companheiros, na casa de Pitodoros, fez uma leitura de seus “escritos”, dos quais, no final, Sócrates pediu a Zenão que relesse apenas “o primeiro argumento”: o do paradoxo do Um e do Múltiplo, tema sobre o qual incidiram o debate e a construção do Diálogo. Este estudo cumpre três etapas: comenta o introito, esboça a tratativa do Um e do Múltiplo e ensaia algumas possibilidades de leitura e de interpretação do Parmênides. (shrink)

This article discusses the terms in which Cicero, Lucretius and Diogenes Laertius sought to make sense of the prólêpsis of Epicurus. To give voice to and to divulge among Latin speakers the doctrine of Epicureanism, Cicero furnished the terms antecipatio, praenotio, and informationem, and Lucretius provided notitia, exemplare, and vestiga. Diogenes Laertius presented the terms katalêpsis, dóxa, énnoia, and hypólêpsin, with which, he says, the Epicureans tried to explain the prólêpsis of Epicurus. The article also discusses the views of some (...) contemporary commentators.Este artigo se ocupa em averiguar os termos com os quais Cícero, Lucrécio e Diógenes Laércio buscaram tornar compreensível a prólêpsis de Epicuro. Cícero forneceu os termos antecipatio, praenotio e informationem; Lucrécio, notitia, exemplare et vestigia, a fim de dar voz e expor entre os latinos a doutrina do epicurismo. Diógenes Laércio indicou os termos katalêpsis, dóxa, énnoia, hypólêpsin, com os quais, segundo ele, os próprios epicuristas tentaram explicitar a prólêpsis de Epicuro. Por fim, o artigo expõe a opinião de alguns comentadores contemporâneos. (shrink)

O presente texto é uma reflexão para a atuação de professores em salas de aula do ensino básico a partir de uma compreensão alargada da expressão interesse do aluno. Como docentes orientadoras do Programa Residência Pedagógica (2018-2019), pudemos observar que uma das mais frequentes preocupações dos professores e dos nossos alunos residentes ao longo da sua atuação na escola é aproximar as experiências e vivências dos alunos dos conteúdos, habilidades e competências que se pretendem ensinar. Buscaremos delimitar alguns significados e (...) pressupostos dessa preocupação, em que a noção de interesse do aluno parece ocupar um lugar proeminente. Tentaremos apresentar e defender um alargamento desta noção, incluindo nela os interesses comuns, partilhados, públicos ou publicizáveis dos alunos na medida em que são estudantes. Defenderemos que é esta noção alargada que precisa ser levada em conta pelas estratégias de aproximação entre as experiências e vivências dos alunos e os conteúdos, habilidades e competências escolares. Ater-se apenas aos interesses particulares ou mais subjetivos dos alunos é, em primeiro lugar, um procedimento inviável; em segundo lugar, significa incentivar cada vez mais os indivíduos a operarem em suas bolhas privadas, privando-os de compartilhar um espaço comum, por princípio igualitário, o que proporcionaria um processo comunitário de formação humana. (shrink)