The development of neuropsychological assessment methods using virtual reality (VR) is a valid and promising option for the detection of cognitive impairment in the older people, focusing on activities composed of tasks of multiple demands. This study verified the association of age, schooling, and general cognitive status on the performance of neurologically healthy older adults in ECO-VR, a virtual reality task of multiple demands for neuropsychological assessment. A total of 111 older adults answered a sociodemographic questionnaire, the Mini Mental State (...) Examination, the Vocabulary subtest of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Adults (third edition), and the ECO-VR. Correlation analyses, multiple linear regression, and comparisons between groups (effects by age and schooling groups) were used to evaluate the results. The ECO-VR total score was significantly associated with age, years of education, MMSE, and Vocabulary subtest. The linear regression models identified that age was the main predictor for total score and rule breaking of ECO-VR. According to the univariate analysis, it was identified the main effect of age group and schooling group in the total ECO-VR score, but there was no interaction effect. The results are discussed in order to understand the role of sociodemographic characteristics in the performance of older adults in a virtual reality task of multiple demands. It was also verified the possibility use of virtual reality for neuropsychological assessment of older adults. (shrink)

Pack includes 2 titles from the popular Blackwell Philosophy Anthologies Series: Philosophy of Literature: Contemporary and Classic Readings - An Anthology Edited by Eileen John and Dominic McIver Lopes ISBN: 9781405112086 Essential readings in the philosophy of literature are brought together for the first time in this anthology. Contains forty-five substantial and carefully chosen essays and extracts Provides a balanced and coherent overview of developments in the field during the past thirty years, including influential work on fiction, interpretation, metaphor, (...) literary value, and the definition and ontology of literature Includes an additional historical section featuring generous selections of the writings of early pioneers such as Plato, Aristotle, Nietzsche, and Hume Serves as an ideal introduction to the philosophy of literature or the philosophy of art, as well as a handy compilation of contributions to the field by its leading figures Philosophy of Film and Motion Pictures: An Anthology Edited by Noël Carroll and Jinhee Choi ISBN: 9781405120272 Designed for classroom use, this authoritative anthology presents key selections from the best contemporary work in philosophy of film. The featured essays have been specially chosen for their clarity, philosophical depth, and consonance with the current move towards cognitive film theory Eight sections with introductions cover topics such as the nature of film, film as art, documentary cinema, narration and emotion in film, film criticism, and film's relation to knowledge and morality Issues addressed include the objectivity of documentary films, fear of movie monsters, and moral questions surrounding the viewing of pornography Replete with examples and discussion of moving pictures throughout. (shrink)

Cet article ne cherche pas tant à réhabiliter la sculpture décorative (la talha, en portugais), habituellement considérée comme un art mineur, qu’à apporter les différents témoignages de sa domination dans un lieu particulier, le Minho (le nord-ouest portugais), au moment notamment de l’adoption du rococo, domination a priori impensable dans le contexte occidental autrement qu’en termes de périphérie. Il s’agit ensuite de comprendre les nuances qu’une telle domination introduit corollairement dans les concepts artistiques (notamment dans celui de paternité) et, enfin, (...) d’examiner en quoi cette situation permet de remettre en question de l’intérieur quelques modèles théoriques passés et contemporains. (shrink)

En 1919, la même année où Jean Giraudoux fait son « Adieu à la guerre », il écrit « Les morts d’Elpénor ». En 1926, à côté de trois autres histoires, ce texte intégrera le corps d’Elpénor, déterminant l’ensemble, une collection de quatre textes écrits pendant dix-huit ans, le premier étant « Cyclope », écrit en 1908 ; le deuxième, « Sirènes », en 1912 ; le troisième en 1919 ; et le dernier en 1926, « Les nouvelles morts d’Elpénor (...) ». Quand « Cyclope » et « Sirènes » sortent respectivement chez Le Matin en 1908 et chez Paris-Journal en 1912 aucun d’entre eux ne mentionne Elpénor. Bref, c’est avec le développement des deux dernières histoires, que Elpénor, cette figure effacée chez Homère et absente dans les deux premiers textes de Giraudoux, vole la vedette. Cet article voudrait montrer comment la mise à jour du héros et de ses histoires est en dialogue avec la guerre vécue par l’auteur, pour proposer comment les vieilles histoires, lorsqu’elles sont renouvelées, participent à un processus qui leur permet d’élaborer les défis du présent, communiquant le présent, à travers un code déjà public, l’Odyssée. (shrink)

Pack includes 2 titles from the popular Blackwell Philosophy Anthologies Series: _ _ Philosophy of Literature_: Contemporary and Classic Readings_ _Edited by Eileen John and Dominic McIver Lopes ISBN: 9781405112086 _ Philosophy of Film and Motion Pictures_: An Anthology _Edited by No ë l Carroll and Jinhee Choi ISBN: 9781405120272.

Les Arts et les Images se veut une introduction aux principaux terrains d’investigation de Dominic McIver Lopes, philosophe canadien contemporain, figure incontournable de l’esthétique et de la philosophie de l’art en langue anglaise au cours des vingt dernières années. Il ouvre une réflexion sur les méthodes employées en esthétique et philosophie de l’art aujourd’hui, qu’on soit un philosophe dit « analytique » ou bien « continental », Lopes cherchant à penser le lien entre les deux traditions. -/- À (...) travers leur textes respectifs, Laure Blanc-Benon, Jacques Morizot et Frédéric Pouillaude instaurent un dialogue avec Dominic McIver Lopes, sur plusieurs de ses livres : Understanding Pictures (1996), ouvrage de référence sur la question philosophique des images et de la représentation, Beyond Art (2014), livre qui traite de la question classique au XXe siècle de la définition de l’œuvre d’art, et Four Arts of Photography (2016) dans lequel Dominic Lopes met en avant une nouvelle philosophie de la photographie. À ce dialogue s’ajoutent trois textes de Lopes inédits en français, portant sur la méthode de l’esthétique et de la philosophie de l’art et également sur la question de la beauté et de la valeur esthétique. (shrink)

Neste artigo abordamos a temática cosmológica dominante na segunda metade do século XVI. Polarizada entre duas posições antagônicas: os partidários do geocentrismo, que se apoiavam no modelo descritivo aristotélico-ptolomaico, e os copernicanos que defendiam um cosmo heliocêntrico. Para desenvolver esse debate nos apoiamos em PLATAO, 2001; ARISTÓTELES, 2002 e COPÉRNICO, 2009, BRUNO, 2012; numa leitura hermenêutica da discussão cosmológica apresentada por esses autores. Diante desses dois víeis descritivos do cosmo nos interessava investigar qual a posição adotada por Giordano Bruno diante (...) desse contexto. Bruno, nos seus textos se apresenta como um crítico contumaz do geocentrismo, relacionando diretamente tal descrição a Aristóteles, e como um defensor do heliocentrismo copernicano. O debate cosmológico bruniano é expostos em várias obras, entre elas podemos citar A ceia das Cinzas publicada em 1584 e L’immenso e gli innumerevoli de 1592. O antiaristotelismo de Bruno é bastante contundente, mas o mesmo vigor não aparece ao tratar o modelo cosmológico copernicano. Nos perguntamos, então, o que justificava a elaboração do elogio bruniano, com ressalvas, a Copérnico. Concluímos que, apesar da aproximação com o heliocentrismo copernicano, não é possível caracterizar Bruno como um copernicano. Copérnico permaneceu atrelado aos conceito de última esfera, de universo hierarquizado, por exemplo, definições que são refutadas por Bruno. O cosmo bruniano é infinito, homogêneo e povoado de inumeráveis mundos. Esses conceitos não estão presentes no cosmo heliocêntrico copernicano. (shrink)

Cuando se habla de filosofía se habla de antropología. Del mismo modo, cuando se habla de antropología también se debería de hablar de la afectividad. Sin embargo, hasta hoy, pienso que muchos filósofos han comprendido mal la afectividad en la persona humana, pues han caído en dos reduccionismos: uno considera la afectividad como un componente irracional, es el caso del dualismo; el otro la asocia a un monismo, como se puede verificar en el sentimentalismo y en el psicologismo. De igual (...) modo, aquellos que permanecen en una posición intermedia también la han comprendido mal, como se puede ver, por ejemplo, en la perspectiva aristotélico- tomista. Para estos, la afectividad es siempre pre- moral y debe ser siempre subordinada a la razón y a la voluntad. De esta forma, no han comprendido que la afectividad tiene también un ámbito espiri-tual y que, así, es ella quien muchas veces debe integrar la razón y la voluntad, a fin de garantizar la autorrea-lización de la persona humana. En este sentido, tampoco han visto que la afectividad puede ser valorada desde el punto de vista moral. Debido sobre todo a estos errores que se han cometido en el ámbito filosófico con relación a la afectividad, he visto que sería bueno repensar la noción de afectividad de la persona humana. Así, de entre todos los autores que he conocido y estudiado, he visto que la propuesta de Dietrich von Hildebrand con relación a la afectividad podría proporcionar muchas respuestas y herramientas para poder solventar estas inquietudes filosóficas y poder evitar reduccionismos, proporcionando interpretaciones más completas. El filósofo, fenomenólogo-realista, Dietrich von Hildebrand se ha distinguido en muchas áreas de la filosofía, como en la metafísica, en la gnoseología, en la ética, en la antropología, en la religión, etc.. “Casi quiero decir que el genio (artístico) de Adolf von Hildebrand ha sido heredado por su hijo (...) como un genio filo-sófico” (Husserl: H. Sepp; L. Embree, Handbook of Phenomenological Aesthetics, Springer, London, 2010, p. 145 (Traducción del autor). No obstante, sin duda alguna, la principal área, aquella en la que con mayor prominencia ha destacado, creemos que fue en el ámbito de la afectividad, aportando, así, contribuciones que hasta hoy no hubieran sido tenidas en consideración. Husserl lo comprueba. Cuando ha dirigido la tesis de doctorado de Hildebrand ha decido: “Sin embargo, su verdadera fuerza y sus significativos y originales resul-tados residen principalmente en la esfera emocional, en los análisis que llenan los capítulos 3o a 8o, de la parte II, y que sorprenden con un conocimiento íntimo sin precedentes de las múltiples formas de la conscien-cia emocional y sus correlatos representativos. Dicho esto, sólo puedo solicitar el título de opus eximium para esta importante obra” [E. Husserl, Urteil Über Hildebrands Doktorarbeit, Ed. K. Schuhmann, Aletheia, V, 1992, p. 5 (Traducción al español del autor)]. El mapa afectivo en Hildebrand es muy vasto. Por esto, he decidido presentar directamente un solo tema, o sea de que modo la afectividad se relaciona con la libertad y así, en este sentido, como ella puede ser valorada moralmente. Para atingir este objetivo, inicialmente me propongo analizar como Hildebrand entiende y concibe la afectividad en la persona humana. Posteriormente analizaré la libertad humana y su relación con la moralidad. Finalmente relacionaré los distintos tipos de libertad en la persona humana con la afectividad, demostrando así al mismo tiempo como la afectividad puede ser moralmente evaluada. (shrink)

Resumo: Tomando o pensamento lukacsiano, podemos afirmar que as distorções que se apresentam no trabalho refletem diretamente nos atos reprodutivos do homem, na sua sociabilidade. Portanto, todas as categorias da superestrutura ficam comprometidas, inclusive a educação, visto que o espelhamento da realidade estará fundamentado na exploração promovida pelo capital. Partindo dessas considerações o presente artigo objetiva mostrar como o duplo aspecto da reprodução também se reflete na educação. Para tanto tomamos o pensamento do filósofo György Lukács, a partir da sua (...) obra Ontologia do Ser Social, demonstrando ainda que essa dupla face pode ser relacionada à tematização de Saviani em relação às Teorias Não-Críticas, Teorias Crítico-Reprodutivistas e à Pedagogia Histórico-Crítica. Em nossas conclusões afirmamos que a educação no sentido omnilateral, correspondente à face positiva da reprodução, sendo uma das alternativas viáveis para a mudança do estado atual de coisas. Palavras-chave: Trabalho; Reprodução; Educação. The double aspect of reproduction and its influence on education: Taking lukacsian thought, we can say that the distortions that appear at work reflect directly on the reproductive acts of man, on his sociability. Therefore, all categories of the superstructure are compromised, including the education, since the mirroring of reality will be based on the exploration promoted by capital. From these considerations the present article aims to show how the double aspect of reproduction is also reflected in education. For this we take the thought of the philosopher György Lukács, from his work Ontology of the Social Being, further demonstrating that this double face can be related to Saviani's thematization in relation to Non-Critical Theories, Critical-Reproductive Theories and Pedagogy Historical-Criticism. In our conclusions we affirm state that education in the omnilateral sense, corresponding to the positive face of reproduction, is one of the viable alternatives for changing the current state of things. Key-words: Work; Reproduction; Education. Le double aspect de la reproduction et son influence en education Résumé: Selon la pensée lukacsienne, nous pouvons affirmer que les distorsions existantes dans le travail influent directement sur les actes de reproduction de l’homme, sur sa sociabilité. Par conséquent, toutes les catégories de la superstructure sont compromises, notamment l’éducation, puisque le reflet de la réalité sera fondé sur l’exploitation promue par le capital. A partir de ces considérations, le présent article cherche à montrer comment le double aspect de la reproduction se reflète également en éducation. Pour ce faire, nous nous référons à la pensée du philosophe György Lukács, dans son œuvre L’ontologie de l’être social, en démontrant de même que cette double face peut être mise en relation avec la conceptualisation de Saviani, à propos des Théories non critiques, des Théories reproductivistes critiques et de sa Pédagogie historique-critique. Nous affirmons, pour conclure, que l’éducation en un sens omnilatéral correspond à la face positive de la reproduction, ce qui en fait une des alternatives viables en vue du changement de l’état actuel des choses. Mots clés: Travail; Reproduction; Education. Data de registro: 07/09/2021 Data de aceite: 19/01/2022. (shrink)

Resumo:Este artigo discute a leitura que faz o estudo introdutório de Luiz Henrique Lopes dos Santos (1992) dos aforismos iniciais do Tractatus. Tal leitura vê, nesses aforismos iniciais, as consequências ontológicas de um argumento transcendental cuja premissa é a concepção de figuração desenvolvida nos aforismos subsequentes. Em contraste com essa leitura, aqui é defendido que se possa entender esses aforismos iniciais como uma investigação de toda normatividade, explicitando o vínculo entre necessidade e totalidade. Assim se aponta para uma nova (...) perspectiva de interpretação do Tractatus e de seus vínculos com a tradição crítica. Abstract:This article discusses the reading made in the introductory study by Luiz Henrique Lopes dos Santos (1992) of the initial aphorisms of the Tractatus. Such a reading holds, in these initial aphorisms, the ontological consequences of a transcendental argument whose premise is the conception of picturing developed in the subsequent aphorisms. In contrast to this reading, it is argued here that these initial aphorisms can be understood as an investigation of all normativity, making explicit the link between necessity and totality. Thus, the present paper points out to a new perspective of interpretation of the Tractatus and its links with the critical tradition. (shrink)

There is not one but many ways to picture the world--Australian "x-ray" pictures, cubish collages, Amerindian split-style figures, and pictures in two-point perspective each draw attention to different features of what they represent. Understanding Pictures argues that this diversity is the central fact with which a theory of figurative pictures must reckon. Lopes advances the theory that identifying pictures' subjects is akin to recognizing objects whose appearances have changed over time. He develops a schema for categorizing the different ways (...) pictures represent--the different kinds of meaning they have--and argues that that depiction's epistemic value lies in its representational diversity. He also offers a novel account of the phenomenology of pictorial experience, comparing pictures to visual prostheses like mirrors and binoculars. (shrink)

Empirical research on aesthetic response poses two challenges to philosophy. The more familiar challenge is that scientific explanations of aesthetic responses debunk what we take to be our reasons for those responses. One reaction to this challenge is an accommodation strategy that seeks to reconcile the scientific findings with an improved understanding of our normative reasons. This paper presents a more fundamental challenge: a well-established body of research in social psychology indicates that we routinely confabulate the reasons we give for (...) our aesthetic response. This challenges the accommodation strategy and suggests that philosophy should adopt a more radical naturalism about aesthetic response. (shrink)

In recent years, online “involuntary celibate” or “incel” communities have been linked to various deadly attacks targeting women. Why do these men react to romantic rejection with not just disappointment, but murderous rage? Feminists have claimed this is because incels desire women as objects or, alternatively, because they feel entitled to women’s attention. I argue that both of these explanatory models are insufficient. They fail to account for incels’ distinctive ambivalence toward women—for their oscillation between obsessive desire and violent hatred. (...) I propose instead that what incels want is a Beauvoirian “Other.” For Beauvoir, when men conceive of women as Others, they represent them as simultaneously human subjects and embodiments of the natural world. Women function then as sui generis entities through which men can experience themselves as praiseworthy heroes, regardless of the quality of their actions. I go on to give an illustrative analysis of Elliot Rodger’s autobiographical manifesto, “My Twisted World.” I show how this Beauvoirian model sheds light on Rodger’s racist and classist attitudes and gives us a better understanding of his ambivalence toward women. It therefore constitutes a powerful and overlooked theoretical alternative to accounts centered on objectification and entitlement. (shrink)

One of the key insights of Simone de Beauvoir’s The Second Sex is the idea that gender-based subordination is not just something done to women, but also something women do to themselves. This raises a question about ethical responsibility: if women are complicit, or actively implicated in their own oppression, are they at fault? Recent Beauvoir scholarship remains divided on this point. Here, I argue that Beauvoir did, in fact, ethically criticize many women for their complicity, as a sign of (...) what she called “bad faith”. I challenge recent accounts by Nancy Bauer and Manon Garcia, who both read Beauvoir as exonerating complicit women. According to this reading, women emerge as human “freedoms” within a social world where a “destiny” of inferiority is already prepared for them. Their self-subordination is then an inevitable product of acting in a patriarchal world. I argue, however, that this interpretation generates a crucial tension, leading Bauer and Garcia to call on women to stop being complicit, while also claiming they cannot avoid complicity. I propose instead a different interpretation, on which feminine complicity is often fueled by criticizable ethical attitudes that are far from inevitable. By revisiting Beauvoir’s notion of “bad faith”, I show that this account is compatible with recognizing the limitations imposed on women’s agency and I show that this feminist ethical criticism is itself an important part of a collective project of social transformation. (shrink)

This article considers two alternative responses to the question of the motivation behind the suspensive argumentation developed by the Pyrrhonic version of the ancient scepticism and also shows their respective difficulties: a) the therapeutic motivation, that takes the suspension of assent for the condition to reach not only a state of mental tranquillity concerning matters of opinion but also a moderate attitude towards passions; b) the epistemic motivation, which states that the suspension corresponds to the unique possibility to preserve philosophical (...) life in the absence of rational criteria to decide among competing philosophical theories. The latter kind of motivation, which consists in creating propitious conditions for the search for the truth, has nothing to do with the methodic motivation characterizing the modern reception of ancient scepticism. Although this motivation was not present in the Pyrrhonic scepticism, it could not be unknown to the academic sceptics because of their Socratic origins. (shrink)

The first part of my paper offers a brief characterization of what I call the non-hegemonic tradition of interpretation of Nietzsche's metaphilosophical program. In the second part, I suggest some small adjustments in the main argument of this tradition of interpretation. In general terms, the non-hegemonic tradition can be characterised by the claim that Nietzsche is a legitimate heir of the metaphilosophical programme first formulated by Friedrich Albert Lange in his ˜History of Materialism and Critique of its Significance for the (...) Present". None of the main interpreters of Nietzsche that I affiliate with this tradition of interpretation has formulated this claim quite explicitly, but I do not think that this characterization is inappropriate and I submit they could all accept it in the terms put forward in the present article. The main thesis states that Lange provides Nietzsche not so much with substantive theses as with the formal aspects of a philosophical programme whose content is drawn from other sources. This is the case, for example, in the attempt (in his early works) to mobilise Schopenhauer's metaphysics without committing himself to his epistemic claims. The attempt to execute this programme is surrounded by tensions that result not so much from Lange's sceptical theses as from what ultimately motivates them: the imperative of intellectual consciousness. This conflict remains unresolved as long as Nietzsche remains committed to the thesis of practical idealism according to which it is up to philosophy to satisfy certain metaphysical needs that are anthropologically unavoidable. The commitment to this anthropological thesis is what effectively places the young Nietzsche in the company of Kant, Schopenhauer and Lange. As soon as Nietzsche has abandoned this youthful commitment, he is prepared to revise his metaphilosophical convictions. (shrink)

This paper discusses two theses about Plato that Nietzsche defends in his lectures on the Athenian philosopher offered by him at the University of Basel during the 1870s. Nietzsche’s first claim concerns Plato’s philosophy: relying on Aristotle, Nietzsche holds that Plato was initially brought to a metaphysically motivated version of scepticism as a result of his affiliation to the Cratilian interpretation of Heraclitus. Although the Socratic method of defining and testing concepts as well as its metaphysical complement, the theory of (...) Forms, has allowed Plato to overcome this kind of metaphysically motivated scepticism, Nietzsche argues that such an overcoming is only provisional if one needs to accept the authenticity of Parmenides, then the arguments displayed in this later dialogue lead to a sceptical conclusion regarding the theory of Forms. The second claim advanced by Nietzsche in his lectures concerns Plato’s philosophical character, which is identified with the figures of the legislator and the political reformer. According to Nietzsche, all of Plato’s philosophical commitments must ultimately be interpreted in the light of his political project, for here there is no place for scepticism anymore. (shrink)

This chapter begins with a historical overview of aesthetics and the philosophy of art before turning to a discussion of how the philosophy of art bears upon human culture. It then considers the methods used in attacking problems in aesthetics and the philosophy of art by highlighting the distinctions between pure and applied philosophy, between internal and external perspectives on aesthetic and artistic phenomena, and between first-order and second-order methods. It also examines how aesthetics and the philosophy of art are (...) affected as the arts evolve and as empirical studies of aesthetic and artistic phenomena become well established in the social and behavioural sciences as well as the humanities. (shrink)

At the end of 2017, Kristen Roupenian’s short story, Cat Person, went viral. Published at the height of the #MeToo movement, it depicted a ‘toxic date’ and a disturbing sexual encounter between Margot, a college student, and Robert, an older man she meets at work. The story was widely viewed as a relatable denunciation of women’s powerlessness and routine victimization. In this paper, I push against this common reading. I propose an alternative feminist interpretation through the lens of Simone de (...) Beauvoir’s notion of narcissism: a form of alienation that consists in making oneself both the subject and the ultimate project of one’s life. Framing Margot as a narcissist casts her as engaging, not in subtly coerced, undesired sex, but rather in sex that is desired in a tragically alienated way. I argue that Beauvoir’s notion of narcissism is an important tool for feminists today – well beyond the interpretation of Cat Person. It presses us to see systematic subordination not just as something done to women, but also as something women do to themselves. This in turn highlights the neglected role of self-transformation as a key aspect of feminist political resistance. (shrink)

A detailed discussion of Corbanezi's book, entitled "Perspectivismo e Relativismo na Filosofia de Nietzsc he," published in 2021 by the Collection Sendas & Veredas [Ensaios] in a partnership between the Unifesp Publisher and GEN (Grup de Estudos Nietzsche). The book aims to answer a very specific question: to what extent does Nietzsche's perspectivism incur in relativism? To answer this main question, Corbanezi mobilizes some of the main concepts of Nietzsche's theoretical philosophy, competently displaying their internal articulations (world conception, will to (...) power, forces, perspective, interpretation, relation, impulses, values). In making this choice, he goes against a certain current preference for exploring more peripheral themes of the German philosopher's work. The main and extended argument of the book consists in showing, against the hegemonic reading in the secondary literature, that the question does not bear a univocal negative answer, and this means: if on the one hand, Nietzsche's perspectivism refuses and combats relativism, on the other hand, he actually admits it and even radicalizes it. How is it possible to defend such a conclusion? To some extent, we can say that Corbanezi arrives at this seemingly counterintuitive result by mobilising the resources of Nietzschean philosophy itself, that is, by perspectivising the question. The present discussion reconstructs the author's main arguments in defence of his nuanced position and assesses to what extent such arguments are convincing and supported by defensible methodological choices. (shrink)

Jewish Law as Rebellion is unconventional and controversial in its approach to the world of Jewish Law and its response to religious crises. The book delves into the contemporary application and development of halacha and pointedly protests many accepted methods and ideals, offering new solutions to existing halachic dilemmas. Rabbi Cardozo discusses hot topics such as same-sex marriage, conversion, and religion in the State of Israel and presents a critical analysis and explanation of the application of halacha.

O gás sarin no metrô de Tóquio, as 'balas perdidas' no Rio de Janeiro e os ataques terroristas às torres gêmeas em Nova York ou ao transporte coletivo em Madri e Londres revelam que nossa sociedade interdependente é muito vulnerável.

The aim of the present article is to display and debate the main interpretive and philosophical claims defended by Simon Robertson in his Nietzsche and Contemporary Ethics. Robertson presents innovative and stimulating arguments that might interest primarily readers willing to better understand the Nietzschean moral theory and researchers interested in broader issues of contemporary moral theory, particularly in the analytic tradition. The author covers the main debates in the area, taking sides in disputes going on in normative theory, metaethics, moral (...) psychology and Nietzschean studies. Robertson mobilizes a set of interpretive and (purely) philosophical arguments, which deliver to the reader a final picture of Nietzsche’s perfectionist ideal. It is a theoretically consistent ideal that can be endorsed as a relevant alternative in the contemporary landscape of ethical theories. This alternative involves a powerful critique of the normative authority of morality, a sentimentalist moral psychology, a conception of the good life that combines the goods of excellence and flourishing, a modest conception of normativity that brings together internalist and externalist elements, and, finally, an irrealist metaethics that differs both from realism (which presupposes ontologically robust normative properties)and from reformist views (such as fictionalism and non-cognitivism). The article reconstructs Robertson's main arguments in favour of this set of claims, seeking to assess (1) to what extent they are convincing, both in their philosophical and interpretive ambitions and (2) how capable his methodological choices are to address critical challenges. (shrink)

The representation of color by pictures raises worthwhile questions for philosophers and psychologists. Moreover, philosophers and psychologists interested in answering these questions will benefit by paying attention to each other's work. Failure to recognize the potential for interdisciplinary cooperation can be attributed to tacit acceptance of the resemblance theory of pictorial color. I argue that this theory is inadequate, so philosophers of art have work to do devising an alternative. At the same time, if the resemblance theory is false, then (...) color depiction has interesting implications for color science. Empirical researchers must rethink the widespread assumption that color recognition requires color constancy. I suggest that a neuropsychological account of color recognition will be instrumental to completing the philosophical task, but by the same token scientists might do well not to proceed without casting an eye to the work of philosophers of art. (shrink)