RESUMO: Procuraremos analisar, neste artigo, o duplo movimento do pensamento rousseauniano, que, se, por um lado, se apresenta acentuadamente sensualista, principalmente nos primeiros livros do Emílio, por outro lado, encontra o limite desse sensualismo nas consequências extremas do materialismo de Diderot e Helvétius. Apontaremos aqui a proximidade de Rousseau com o pensamento que deriva da estátua hipotética de Condillac, mas que rejeita completamente a afirmação de que "julgar é sentir", proclamada por Helvétius. Para o autor da Profissão de fé do (...) Vigário saboiano, o julgamento não pode ser reduzido à passividade das sensações, mas é resultado da intervenção ativa do eu, uma vontade livre e inteligente. ABSTRACT: This article analyzes the double movement of Rousseau's thought, which if on one side is sharply sensualist, especially in the first books of Emile, on the other hand finds the limit of that sensualism in the extreme consequences of the materialistic thought of Diderot and Helvetius. We point out the proximity of Rousseau with the thought that comes from the hypothetical statute of Condillac, but at the same time Rousseau's complete rejection of the assertion that "to judge is to feel", proclaimed by Helvetius. To the author of the Profession of Faith of the Savoyard Vicar, judgment cannot be reduced to passivity of sensation, it is the result of active intervention of the I, a free and intelligent will that cannot be confused with the sensations. (shrink)

In this article, we discuss the question about how the practices of deceiving become a matter of discussion on moral philosophy and how they could be thought beyond the sieve of this conviction. As we intend to defend, an answer to this question should refer to the Greek thought, particularly, the Platonic thought in dialogues: Hippias minor and The republic, taking as horizon the problem of the disambiguation of Alêtheia, and the exclusion, by philosophical thought, of the forms of clever (...) and astute intelligence that the Greeks named in honor to the goddess Mêntis. On the other hand, should also imply a distinction of perspectives inherent to what we call by deceiving, which put on opposite sides of the deceiver and the deceived, according to the acknowledgement, or not, of the deceiving. Under this bias, we argue that, for the Greeks, the problem wouldn't be mainly the mistake itself – although platonic thought points that – but being deceived, and mainly, self-deceived. (shrink)

Throughout the history of Christian spirituality, it has been held that it is impossible to adequately name God. The Neoplatonic readings of Plato's Parmenides, particularly by Plotinus and Proclus, decisively influenced the course of Western philosophy and theology. From a comparison of the notion of God in Dionysius the Pseudo-Areopagite, Epistle III, and in Martin Heidegger's text "Der letzte Gott," I show that there is a common thread, based in the Pauline idea of kenösis.

Resenha do livro de: CORBIN, H. La paradoja del monoteismo. Trad. Maria Tabuyo y Agustin Lopez. Madrid: Losada, 2003.289 paginas.

Throughout the history of Christian spirituality, it has been held that it is impossible to adequately name God. The Neoplatonic readings of Plato's Parmenides, particularly by Plotinus and Proclus, decisively influenced the course of Western philosophy and theology. From a comparison of the notion of God in Dionysius the Pseudo-Areopagite, Epistle III, and in Martin Heidegger's text "Der letzte Gott," I show that there is a common thread, based in the Pauline idea of kenösis.

Resenha do livro de: VATTIMO, G. Dopo la cristianita: per un cristanesimo non religioso. Milano: Garzanti, 2002.

A presença dos acontecimentos enquanto fenômeno, e seu contraponto, o hábito, ecoam numa inter-relação contínua ao longo de todo o enredo do romance A Peste de Albert Camus. O presente artigo consiste na investigação do conceito de acontecimento e suas relações com a noção mediadora de linguagem - do mesmo modo que a ideia de resistência - à luz de uma leitura das reflexões de Gilles Deleuze, Slavoj Zizek e John Caputo acerca desse tema. Para tanto, estarão expostas correlações possíveis (...) entre construção ficcional e filosofia na análise desta obra que é considerada uma das mais simbólicas do século XX. (shrink)

Seguindo uma célebre afirmação heideggeriana, poderíamos dizer que a história da filosofia ocidental se constitui como uma onto-teo-logia. Essa assertiva, que em seu contexto crítico possui um sentido teórico-metodológico delimitado para os que buscam compreender a questão norteadora da filosofia grega e, posteriormente cristã, ou seja, a do fundamento do real ou do ser, não se sustenta quando aplicada à tradição apofática dionisiana. Marcado pelo diálogo com o neoplatonismo, o Corpus areopagyticum, por sua radical característica apofática, não somente coloca em (...) suspensão uma certa linearidade histórico-filosófica herdeira do pensamento de Platão, mas instaura um modo de tratamento da linguagem humana para com o divino que permanece em vigor até os dias atuais. Esse artigo tem como finalidade pensar, à luz do diálogo com o pensamento neoplatônico, a noção de Deus como “nada de tudo o que é” e suas consequências para a teologia negativa dionisiana. (shrink)

If we would have to differentiate Proclean thought in relation to Plotinian thought, perhaps the shortest way would be to understand the hyerarchic structure used by them to define the procession and the conversion from the One to the multiple. Although the ground for both thinkers is Plato’s philosophy, the concern to sistematize in an “organic” way all the levels of participation in the divine hennads leads Proclus to postulate a refined vertical system in which every reality is thought as (...) a monad and, as such, one different from the others. The aim of this work consists in understanding the Proclean structure and its relation with thought, understood as a transfiguration in which reality, more than a manifestation of unity, is an expression of the continuous play between the One and the multiple. (shrink)

Since a reading of young Nietzsche’s criticism of the desire of knowledge that guides modernity – particularly regarding to the distinctions he operated between: a) two postures facing reality: the theoretical optimism and the tragic pessimism ; and b) two types of man: the theoretical and the artist ones; and c) two kinds of philosophy and philosophers: the one of the desperate knowledge and the other, of the tragic knowledge – we aim to defend, as an access-key to nietzschean’s thought (...) from the period of The Birth of Tragedy , the presence of a larger, gnosiological distinction between two forms of access to real: via knowledge [ Erkenntni ? ] and via understanding [ Verständnis ] – ???????? [ epistéme ] and ?????? [ gnôsis ] –, leading respectively to the targets of science and wisdom. (shrink)

This article deals with Nietzsche’s ethical problem of the constitution of an exceptional character, under two fronts: first, under a negative bias, as opposed to the morality of the herd. Later, on its constructive or affirmative time, properly as creation of self . The leitmotif of this double presentation is the defense of aspects from what we associate with the concept of hypocrisy as a key to an interpretation of that constitution. First, as an art of dissimulation, in the form (...) of an individual's refuge amidst the morality of the herd. Later, as the actor's art, in the practices which Nietzsche associates to the self-constitution. (shrink)

O manuscrito original é de língua grega e sua tradução para o português é realizada por Ivo Storniolo e Euclides M. Balancin, sendo publicada pela editora Paulus numa coleção chamada Patrística, em referência aos textos produzidos no período inicial da Filosofia Cristã, escritos pelos chamados “padres da Igreja”, que prepararam a Filosofia Medieval. Apesar da inserção na coleção de textos da editora, a Carta a Diogneto não é claramente um texto produzido por um dos tais padres patrísticos, todavia, levando em (...) consideração o caráter instrutivo e apologético da carta, o conteúdo demonstra certas aproximações. O autor da carta é incerto, mas estima-se que sejam verdadeiramente alguns sábios dos primeiros séculos do cristianismo. Apesar da antiguidade, a carta só veio a ser encontrada em 1436 por Tomás de Arezzo, em Constantinopla. (shrink)

RESUMO Esboça-se neste artigo uma possível via de interpretação ao problema ético-estético, ou ainda ético-poiêtico da criação de si, a partir de uma reavaliação da noção de hipocrisia, enquanto arte do engano e arte do ator, reaproximando-a da hypókrisis [ὑπόκρισις] grega. Para tanto, procura-se estabelecer um diálogo, ou mesmo um contraponto, com aqueles pensadores que, nas preleções de Foucault, conformaram na antiguidade clássica e helenística os elementos para se pensar, por meio do discurso parrêsiástico e da prática da áskêsis, a (...) criação de si enquanto estética da existência. O lastro para essa compreensão vem de uma reavaliação das formas de inteligência estocástica e astuciosa que comandam a lida com a inconstância, a multiplicidade e os acasos - formas às quais os gregos atribuíram o nome da deusa Mêtis [Μήτις]. Mais afeitas a estas inconstâncias, práticas tais como: a simulação, a dissimulação e a ênfase - próprias da arte do engano - ganham sob essa ótica uma feição de virtuosidade que o pensamento filosófico hegemônico, afeito à retidão e ao enfrentamento heroico diante do real, dificilmente se disporia a reconhecer. ABSTRACT This paper outlines a possible way of interpreting the ethical-aesthetic or ethical-poiêthical problem of the creation of self, from a re-evaluation of the concept of hypocrisy, while art of deception and the art of the actor, reconnecting it with the greek hypókrisis [ὑπόκρισις]. For it aims to establish a dialogue, or even a counterpoint, with those thinkers who, in Foucault's lectures, conformed in classical and Hellenistic antiquity elements to think, through the parhêsiástic discourse and the practice of áskêsis, the creation of self while an aesthetics of existence. The ballast for this understanding comes from a re-evaluation of forms of stochastic and astute intelligence who command the dealings with the fickleness, the multiplicity and the accidents - which forms the Greeks attributed the name of the goddess Mêtis [Μήτις]. More related to these uncertainties, practices such as: the simulation, dissimulation and the emphasis - related to some art of deception - win under this optics a feature of virtuosity that the hegemonic philosophical thought, wont to the righteousness and the heroic confrontation facing the real, would hardly accept. (shrink)

This article aims to investigate the assumptions that lead to a conviction by moral philosophy of the various practices of deceit commonly involved under the name of hypocrisy. The argument is developed around three questions: first, on the assumptions under which the various practices and strategies of deceit – such as: simulation, dissimulation and irony – become a problem to moral philosophy. Secondly, in order to understand how the hypocrisy, originally assigned to the art of the actor, comes to be (...) part of the moral sphere designating, as art of deception, the set of those morally reprehensible strategies. Finally, how could be set a way opposed to this conviction. As I argue, that would happen with a double presumption: a distinction of perspectives between deceiving and being deceived– with their respective modes of evaluation – and through a re-evaluation of thought forms linked to astute intelligence that the Greeks called metis. Under these assumptions, hypocrisy could be linked to the ethical-poietical agenda of the creation of self. (shrink)

In Brazilian schools, many teachers do not organize their teaching and students’ tasks and actions in a way that facilitates theoretical thinking based on the abstraction and generalization of the work content. Because many students struggle to accomplish the tasks and actions themselves, teachers guide them. Over time, the students begin to have more autonomy in executing the proposed activities, as they completed mental operations while learning. This article aims to investigate how young people’s and adults’ awareness of the countryside (...) is formed based on visual elements and writing, facilitating an understanding of their reality. A didactic–formative experiment was performed based on the cultural–historical theory. The comic books produced by the participants allowed them to develop their overall thinking, moving from the abstract to the concrete. They also formed an awareness of reality, which allowed them to have greater autonomy in the production of these stories as a means of representation and transformation of reality. (shrink)

The paper deals with a possible tension within Axel Honneth’s theory of justice as presented in his Freedom’s Right. It takes as its point of departure Georg Lohmann’s objection that Honneth loses sight of the critical potential associated with positive right and tries to discuss it critically both exposing Lohmann’s and Honneth’s position. From the complex of problems identified thereby, the paper moves to a discussion of Émile Durkheim’s theory of State, with which it helps to provide a possible contribution (...) to the discussion between positive, individual rights and the normative framework of social freedom. (shrink)

This article discusses Axel Honneth’s recent theory of recognition, as exposed in his book Freedom’s Right. The argument defended here is that Honneth’s approach does not apprehend the normative implications of political conflicts, for it relies on what some critics have called normative history. Against that approach, this paper defends a model of social theory that is not committed to normative presuppositions of analysis. Rather, it seeks to understand how political struggles strive for normative authority. As an illustration of forms (...) of recognition that are alternative to the ones Honneth calls normative, the paper builds on an example from Brazilian society. (shrink)

ABSTRACT The presence of truth and honesty is a permanent demand, and becomes vital the more committed and intimate a relationship is. Medical practice is relevant to this discussion when one questions whether or not a physician should always tell their patient the truth in the face of a progressive or potentially fatal disease, regarding the diagnosis, outcome, therapy and evolution of the specific disease. From this discussion we aim, with the present report, to look at the truth applicable to (...) the patient‐physician relationship, and its ethical and moral implications; and also to look at where the Brazilian Code of Medical Ethics (BCME) and the medical literature stand regarding this issue. One concludes that there are only two moments not to tell a patient the truth: when the patient does not want to be informed, and when the truth could be iatrogenic. The question now is, when would the truth be iatrogenic? Physicians, in our opinion, would not be able to judge solitarily when the truth might be deleterious to their patient. Alternatively, we propose the appointment of a multidisciplinary commission to help the doctor with such a decision. (shrink)

Esta proposta de comunicação visa apresentar brevemente as relações institucionais entre as comunidades indígenas que ocupam o território nacional e as figuras jurídicas que historicamente lhes foram aplicadas pelos poderes atribuídos ao Direito Positivo, vigente em cada um dos momentos mais relevantes dessa história. Faremos essa genealogia da figura do índio no ordenamento jurídico nacional tendocomo base, sobretudo, os trabalhos de Manuela Carneiro da Cunha (1987, 1992, 2012) Perrone-Moisés (1992), José Afonso da Silva (2016) e Carlos Marés (2010). No (...) entanto, pretendemos centrar nossa análise no contexto contemporâneo. (shrink)

Atas do III Colóquio Internacional de Metafísica. [ISBN 978-85-7273-730-2]. Sumário: 1. Prazer, desejo e amor-paixão no texto de Lucrécio, por Antonio Júlio Garcia Freire; 2. Anaximandro: física, metafísica e direito, por Celso Martins Azar Filho; 3. Carta a Guimarães Rosa, por Cícero Cunha Bezerra; 4. Ante ens, non ens: La primacía de La negación em El neoplatonismo medievel, por Claudia D’Amico; 5. Metafísica e neoplatonismo, por David G. Santos; 6. Movimento e tempo no pensamento de Epicuro, por Everton (...) da Silva Rocha; 7. Críticas e elogios de Nietzche a Sócrates, por Fernanda Bulhões; 8. Sobre a Metafísica ou a respeito do jejum, por Gilvan Fogel; 9. A origem estética da ontologia hermenêutica de Luigi Pareyson, por Íris Fátima da Silva; 10. A Natureza da filosofia de Hume, por Jaimir Conte; 11. Logique ET métaphysique, por Jean-Baptiste Jainet; 12. Blaise Pascal: da recusa da metafísica da raison à metafísica do « estudo do homem », por João Emiliano Fotaleza de Aquino; 13. O niilismo no prólogo de Assim Falou Zaratustra. Por José Elielton de Sousa; 14. Presencia;Ausência: de Plotino a Procolo, por José Maria Zamora; 15. A natureza do Eros platônico, por Jovelina Maria Ramos de Souza; 16. Breve comentário acerca da origem da Gelassenheit de Heidegger a partir da mística de mestre Eckkart, por Luiz Fernando Fontes-Teixeira; 17. Humanismo e domesticação em Regras para o parque humano, por Luiz Roberto Alves dos Santos; 18. Contra a teoria de dois mundos na filosofia de Platão (República V 476e-478e), por Marcelo Pimenta Marques; 19. Sensações, impressões, projeções: as afecções do pensamento, por Markus Figueira da Silva; 20. Contribuições à história de uma metáfora: Heidegger e Nicolau de Cusa, por Oscar Federico Bauchwitz; 21. Uma impossibilidade ontológica em Schopenhauer, por Paulo César Oliveira Vasconcelos; 22. Ser e fenômeno: a Fenomenologia como teoria estética da ciência, por Pedro Paulo Coroa; 23. Para que serve a Metafísica de Aristóteles? O exemplo do movimento animal, por Pierre-marie Morel; 24. Contribuições para uma ontologia digital, por Rafael Capurro; 25. O que é o fim da metafísica, por Rodrigo Ribeiro Alves Neto; 26. A Physis na conformação do logos: linguagem e pensamento no corpus epicúreo, por Rodrigo Vidal do Nascimento; 27. O acontecimento de mundo na era da informação, por Soraya Guimarães da Silva; 28. Apofaticismo e abstração em Mark Rothko, por Vanessa Alves de Lacerda Santos. -/- . (shrink)

Traditionally, in Spain bullfighting represents an ancient and well-respected tradition and a combined brand of sport, art and national identity. However, bullfighting has received considerable criticism from various segments of society, with the concomitant rise of the animal rights movement. The paper reports a survey of the Spanish citizens using a face-to-face survey during January 2016 with a total sample of 2522 citizens. The survey asked about degree of liking and approving; culture, art and national identity; socio-economic aspects; emotional perception (...) and animal welfare. The hypothesis proposed that the perception of bullfights may be affected by gender, age, occupation, origin and nationality of the persons surveyed. The hypothesis was confirmed. The majority of citizens surveyed do not like bullfights and great majorities do not attend or watch such events. Two extreme clusters were described: one representing favorable attitude towards bullfighting and other against bullfighting. The proportion of indifferent persons was important. Women and young people showed a more favorable attitude towards animal welfare issues associated with these events. Rural people were more accepting bullfights than urban people. Students were more anti-bullfight than those in other occupations. Additionally, technical economic factors made people favor more bullfights. The growth of claim against bullfights establishes an element of a far more multifaceted phenomenon that animal cruelty per se and support of a new paradigm called social change in countries as Spain. (shrink)

In the present paper, i propose, first, to present some aspects of what we may call a type of "phenomenology" of the image contained in the Berlin lectures on transcendental logic – notably, in the second of these courses in Berlin. Second, i would like to return to the problem of the relationship between logic and philosophy, starting from these indications with regard to the "image", and, if possible, outline some parallel with certain theses on the same subject from the (...) Jena years. Finally, in what i consider a novelty concerning these lessons, i would like to conclude my exposition by raising the question of the foundational character of Fichte’s project. (shrink)

El presente artículo tiene por intención principal dilucidar las distinciones y relaciones conceptuales que existen entre labor, trabajo y ocio, en el pensamiento de Hannah Arendt y Walter Benjamin, a modo de esclarecer cómo los posicionamientos de ambos autores contribuyen a la crítica de la concepción del trabajo moderno. Para ello, será necesario exponer los matices conceptuales de la obra de Arendt, a saber, la distinción entre trabajo y labor, con el fin de trazar las diferencias y puntos de encuentro (...) con las reflexiones de Benjamin en torno a los cambios traídos como consecuencia del auge del capitalismo industrial y en la experiencia del ocio. Entre estos matices, esclarecimientos y contrastes, es preciso no solo destacar la importancia de la relación e influencia de ambos autores, sino su vigencia en las problemáticas sociales contemporáneas al respecto. (shrink)

This paper focuses on elements that are involved in a specific type of judgment, namely, those involving facts that, in virtue of contingent reasons, are out of our epistemic reach. Its goal is to propose a philosophical explanation about why we, in informal contexts, take some facts as contingently unknowable. In order to accomplish that goal, we develop a theory that defines contingently unknowable facts in a very specific way. We establish three clauses that are jointly necessary and sufficient — (...) so we argue — for taking an arbitrary fact as contingently unknowable. In a variety of contexts, this strategy has the potential of reducing efforts in an epistemological analysis of this particular type of unknowability. (shrink)

According to Glaucus of Rhegium Democritus was “a disciple of a Pythagorean” (dk 68 A1, 38). The tetralogical catalog of his works prepared by Thrasylus begins its section on ethics with the three following works: Pythagoras; On the Disposition of the Wise Man; On the Things in Hades (dk 68 B0a–c). The very order of the first three ethical works of Democritus could point to some sort of dependence on Pythagoreanism. This was suggested earlier by Frank (1923: 67), who believes (...) that this is due to the fact that Democritus saw Pythagoras as basically the founder of an ethic-religious sect. Without being forced to agree with Frank, it is undeniable that there are many similarities between Pythagorean and Democritean ethics. The Democritean sentences that speak about the sense of shame before oneself as a way of preventing evil deeds (dk 68 B84, 244, and 264) recalls the practice of anamnesis, the examination of conscience in the Pythagorean tradition. Even more important are the parallel uses of measure as a basis for ethical reasoning. This paper aims to review this connection between Pythagorean traditions and Democritus, examining what emerges as the most probable core issue to determine how close this relation between atomists and Pythagoreans could have been: the Aristotelian testimony (de An. 1.2 404a16-20 [dk 58 B40]) on the material conception of the Pythagorean soul. In fact, a corpuscular conception of the soul (“dust in the air”), foreshadowing the psychology of Democritus, is attributed to the Pythagoreans. Is the argument of de An. 1.2 404a16-20 a misunderstanding by Aristotle? Or does this testimony represent an actual dialogue that Pythagoreans were having with atomists in the fifth century bce? (shrink)

En la Teoría de la Selección Natural, el concepto de función biológica debe suponerse para delimitar el concepto de aptitud; y éste debe suponerse para delimitar el concepto de adaptación y también para explicar el fenómeno al que este último alude. Esos tres conceptos, por otra parte, son especificaciones de tres conceptos de aplicación más universal. El concepto de función biológica es un caso particular del concepto general de función; y el concepto de aptitud especifica el concepto de eficiencia. El (...) concepto de adaptación, mientras tanto, es una especificación del concepto de diseño. La visualización de esas articulaciones conceptuales permite entender la legitimidad de la naturalización de la teleología operada por el darwinismo.In Natural Selection Theory, the concept of biological function must be supposed to elucidate the concept of fitness; and this one must be supposed to elucidate the concept of adaptation and also to explain the phenomenon to which the last one alludes. These three concepts, on the other hand, are specificationsof three concepts of more universal application. The concept of biological function is a particular case of the general concept of function; and the concept of fitness is a specification of the concept of efficiency. The concept of adaptation, meanwhile, specifies the concept of design. The visualization of these conceptualjoints allows to understanding the legitimacy of the naturalization of the teleology produced by the Darwinism. (shrink)

Para favorecer la interacción disciplinar y recuperar la dimensión práctica del conocimiento matemático en la escuela secundaria, Yves Chevallard plantea la necesidad de introducir en los programas de estudio la matemática mixta. La matemática mixta, cuyo apogeo tuvo lugar en Europa entre los siglos XVI y XVIII, se propone el abordaje de problemas surgidos por fuera de la propia matemática valiéndose de nociones mecánicas -como la de centro de gravedad y fuerza centrífuga- y del empleo de variados instrumentos para realizar (...) las construcciones requeridas. En este trabajo consideramos a la matemática mixta en la cultura matemática de la segunda mitad del siglo XVII y, en dicho contexto, presentamos dos casos de la práctica matemática de G. W. Leibniz en los que la investigación matemática involucra el diseño de máquinas. La consideración de tales casos permite situar a la matemática mixta, siguiendo la terminología de Ian Hacking, en un terreno medio entre representar e intervenir. El terreno medio entre representar e intervenir es un valle fértil donde la matemática aporta a, y se nutre de, una multiplicidad de otros dominios. También es una vía de acceso para historizar el conocimiento matemático, destacando las condiciones materiales para su desarrollo y el importante rol de los problemas. Palabras clave: Práctica matemática, Resolución de problemas, Siglo XVII, Máquinas, Cultura material. (shrink)

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:The Journal of Aesthetic Education 40.4 (2006) 65-76 MuseSearchJournalsThis JournalContents[Access article in PDF]Identity, Aesthetics, ObjectsGustavo GuerraIn September 1990 UCLA's Wright Art Gallery opened an exhibition entitled Chicano Art: Resistance and Affirmation 1965-1985 (now usually referred to as CARA). While CARA was one of several national events displaying nonmainstream art, it was also distinctive in its politics of self-representation. The artists participating in CARA insisted that they be described as (...) members of a Chicano art movement. With the term Chicano they hoped to step beyond labels preferred by the dominant culture—labels such as Mexican American, Latino, or Hispanic. For these artists, the word Chicano was appealing because it represented a complexity of meanings that they understood as being integral to both their identity and to the art they produced. The word Chicano, as Alicia Gaspar de Alba discusses in Chicano Art Inside/Outside the Master's House,1 embraces multiple meanings and axes of cultural identity; it derives from the Nahuatl pronunciation of Mexicano, often referring to a person of Aztec descent but including, as well, Native American heritage, Mexican roots, and Catholic faith. The CARA artists also embraced the label's association with a politics of liberation, popular protest, and working-class creativity. From the outset, then, the CARA exhibition was more than an art exhibition.By some lights, however, CARA was too much more than an art exhibition. When the organizers realized they needed funds, they applied for a National Endowment of the Humanities (NEH) grant and were initially turned down. While an NEH rejection might mean a number of things, the language of the rejection reports in this case narrows the possibilities down [End Page 65] to an issue that I mean to consider in this article. One rejection report states thatThe panelists understood that Chicano art arose from a variety of political movements and social causes, and therefore the political aspect of this proposal is appropriate to the subject matter.... Even so, the panelists worried that the project makes a political statement, that it is politics masquerading as culture, and that the proposal contains jargon and rhetoric and reads like a manifesto. 2Other reviewers objected to the general language of the report along similar lines. While Chicano artists made a point of representing themselves in complex, multidimensional terms, the NEH found such complexity and multidimensionality perplexing and thus their art not worthy of funding. One referee, for instance, claimed that the terminology used in the proposal was too narrow; he complained that defining Chicano in terms of struggle was too restrictive and excluded other Chicano artists for whom struggle was not a major concern. But later the same reporter objected that some of the concepts in the proposal were not inclusive enough, as they failed to include issues and topics that are central to the Chicano community. Thus the complexity and cluttered characterization that the artists felt was central to their sense of identity was dismissed as either too excessive or as too restrictive. According to the NEH, Chicano artists failed not because of their art (which the referees did describe as "visually compelling") but because of the way in which they chose to identify themselves—because, in other words, of their "rhetoric and jargon." Whatever it was that the NEH found compelling in the Chicano art they found uncompelling in the description of the Chicano artists' lives.After the organizers revised their proposal and reapplied for the grant, they were once again turned down. This second rejection highlights even more clearly the nature of the problem. This second report argues that "[T]here is a disjunction between the organizers' intentions and the exhibition. The proposal does not differentiate clearly between Chicano art and Hispanic art and, in its dependence on self-referential analysis rather than a comparative perspective, the exhibition does not place art in the bigger picture." 3I would like to consider what is at issue when descriptions of identity are said not to work, or when descriptions of art are likewise accused of failure and... (shrink)