The interpretation of Hegel has been a focal point of philosophical controversy ever since the beginning of the twentieth century, both among Marxists and in the major European philosophical schools. Yet despite wide differences of emphasis most interpretations of Hegel share important similarities. They link his idea of Reason to the revolutionary and rationalist tradition which led to the French Revolution, and they interpret his dialectic as implying a latently atheist and even materialist world outlook. Lucio Colletti directly (...) challenges this picture of Hegel. He argues that Hegel was an essentially Christian philosopher, and that his dialectic was explicitly anti-materialist in both intention and effect. In contrast to earlier views, Colletti maintains that there is no contradiction between Hegel’s method and his system, once it is accepted that his thought is an exercise in Absolute Idealism stemming from a long Christian humanist tradition. He claims, on the contrary, that intellectual inconsistency is rather to be found in the works of Engels, Lenin, Lukás, Kojève and others, who have attempted to adapt Hegel to their own philosophical priorities. Colletti places his argument in the context of a broad re-examination of the whole relationship between Marxism and the Enlightenment, giving novel emphasis to the relationship between Marxism and Kant. He concludes by re-asserting the importance in Marxism of empirical science against the claim of “infinite reason,” while at the same time showing how Marx did transform key ideas in Hegelian thought to construct a consistently materialist dialectic. (shrink)

1. Sui Quaderni filosofici di Lenin.--2. Materialismo dialettico e irrazionalismo.

Marcuse's Reason and Revolution was the first Hegelian Marxist text to appear in English, the first systematic study of Hegel by a Marxist, and the first work in English to discuss the young Marx seriously. It introduced Hegelian and Marxist concepts such as alienation, subjectivity, negativity, and the Frankfurt School's critique of positivism to a wide audience in the United States. When the book first appeared, it was attacked sharply from the standpoint of empiricism and positivism by Sidney Hook, among (...) others. Since 1960, new critiques of Marcuse's book have been developed from varying perspectives, especially by the "scientific" Marxist Lucio Colletti, the critical theorist Douglas Kellner, and the Marxist humanist Raya Dunayevskaya. From the postmodernist camp, Jacques Derrida has discussed some of the same themes as did Marcuse, especially around the issues of negativity and difference. It is argued, however, that Derrida's reading of Hegel is more problematic than Marcuse's, especially with regard to the project of constructing a critical social theory. (shrink)

"Empirical Marxism" comprises a number of Marxists from the nineteenth century to the present who have tried to formulate an alternative to the orthodox materialism and determinism which would be more open to verification through empirical science. This interest connects such otherwise diverse thinkers as the empirio-critics, Eduard Bernstein, the Austro-Marxists, Galvano Della Volpe, and Lucio Colletti. In different ways, all of these attempted but failed to resolve the tension between revolutionary theory based on a priori premises and (...) empiricist methodology responsive to factual research. (shrink)

This paper aims to contribute to the present debate about business ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) that the Journal of Business Ethics is hosting. Numerous contributions argued theoretical frameworks and taxonomies of CSR practices. The authors want to ground in this knowledge and provide further evidence about how companies adopt CSR practices to address stakeholders’ claims and consolidate their trust. Evidence was provided by a longitudinal case study about an Italian food company that is one of the largest producers (...) of baby food. This company reshaped its corporate strategy along three decades through the adoption of CSR practices in order to win stakeholders’ trust about food safety and supply chain behaviour. The empirical exercise was informed by a literature review of the relevant contributions in terms of CSR business practices and levels of efforts to adopt them. In light of this review, the authors adopted for the research framework the taxonomy of business practices proposed by Spiller (2000, “Ethical Business and Investment: A Model for Business and Society”, Journal of Business Ethics 27, 149-160) and the levels of commitment towards CSR proposed by Stahl and Grigsby (1997, Strategic Management; Total Quality & Global Competition (Blackwell, Oxford)). The main findings are discussed in order to argue theoretical implications and identify further areas of research and debate. (shrink)

The paper responds to the recent calls for further evidence on corporate social responsibility (CSR) in small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs). Drawing on the extant literature, the authors identify four characteristics contended by academicians as peculiarities of SMEs’ approach to CSR: the intrinsic relationship between CSR and corporate strategy motivated by the need to continuously dialogue with stakeholders; the centrality of the entrepreneur's ethos in CSR decisions; the coexistence and the cross‐effect of economically instrumental and ethically motivated CSR policies; and (...) the finalization of CSR initiatives to specific firm growth objectives. These four peculiarities are explored in the case of an Italian medium‐sized company operating in the furniture industry. The outcomes show how the four peculiarities are salient in analyzing the CSR approach by the company and suggest areas for further research aimed at developing a thorough theory of CSR in SMEs. In particular, we deepen the analysis of the nature of the uniqueness of medium‐sized companies’ approach to CSR, providing possible interpretations of the reasons making medium‐sized companies’ approach to CSR different from both small and large companies. (shrink)

The paper responds to the recent calls for further evidence on corporate social responsibility (CSR) in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Drawing on the extant literature, the authors identify four characteristics contended by academicians as peculiarities of SMEs’ approach to CSR: the intrinsic relationship between CSR and corporate strategy motivated by the need to continuously dialogue with stakeholders; the centrality of the entrepreneur's ethos in CSR decisions; the coexistence and the cross-effect of economically instrumental and ethically motivated CSR policies; and (...) the finalization of CSR initiatives to specific firm growth objectives. These four peculiarities are explored in the case of an Italian medium-sized company operating in the furniture industry. The outcomes show how the four peculiarities are salient in analyzing the CSR approach by the company and suggest areas for further research aimed at developing a thorough theory of CSR in SMEs. In particular, we deepen the analysis of the nature of the uniqueness of medium-sized companies’ approach to CSR, providing possible interpretations of the reasons making medium-sized companies’ approach to CSR different from both small and large companies. (shrink)

The paper responds to the recent calls for further evidence on corporate social responsibility (CSR) in small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs). Drawing on the extant literature, the authors identify four characteristics contended by academicians as peculiarities of SMEs’ approach to CSR: the intrinsic relationship between CSR and corporate strategy motivated by the need to continuously dialogue with stakeholders; the centrality of the entrepreneur's ethos in CSR decisions; the coexistence and the cross‐effect of economically instrumental and ethically motivated CSR policies; and (...) the finalization of CSR initiatives to specific firm growth objectives. These four peculiarities are explored in the case of an Italian medium‐sized company operating in the furniture industry. The outcomes show how the four peculiarities are salient in analyzing the CSR approach by the company and suggest areas for further research aimed at developing a thorough theory of CSR in SMEs. In particular, we deepen the analysis of the nature of the uniqueness of medium‐sized companies’ approach to CSR, providing possible interpretations of the reasons making medium‐sized companies’ approach to CSR different from both small and large companies. (shrink)

The Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) represents a set of life-long disorders. In particular, subjects with ASD can display momentary behaviors of acute agitation and aggressiveness called crisis behaviors. These events are problematic for the subject and care providers but little is known about their occurrence, namely, possible relations among intensity, frequency, and duration. A group of ASD subjects (n=33) has been observed for 12 months reporting data on each crisis ( n = 1137 crises). Statistical analysis did not find significant (...) results, while the relation between crisis duration and frequency showed a good fit to a “power law” curve, suggesting the application of Self-Organized Criticality (SOC) model. The SOC is used to describe natural phenomena as earthquakes, bank failures of rivers, mass extinctions, and other systems where a type of “catastrophic events” is necessary to maintain a critical equilibrium. In a sense, subjects at risk of crisis behavior seem to fit the same model as seismic zones at risk of earthquakes. The employment of the same strategies, as those successfully developed for known SOC systems, could lead to important insights for ASD management. Moreover, the SOC model offers possible interpretations of crisis behavior dynamics suggesting that they are unpredictable and, in a sense, necessary. (shrink)

Le MST a connu de grands succès dans les années 1980 – 450 000 familles dans assentamentos (propriétaires) ou acampamentos (occupants) – et a servi d’exemple à de nombreuses mobilisations et occupations de terres dans le monde. Pendant l’ère Bolsonaro, le mouvement a connu diverses adaptations. Il a adopté le récit de l’entrepreneur agricole, influencé en cela par les évangélistes – de la « théologie de la libération » communautaire à la théologie individualiste de la réussite. Il a, par obligation (...) et répression, délaissé l’action d’occupation des terres pour le développement de l’agriculture biologique et la production d’aliments « sains », largement à destination des villes. Ainsi, il resserre les liens entre le rural et l’urbain et se rapproche stratégiquement du Mouvement des Sans Toit. (shrink)

By comparing developments in two southern Italian factories, this article contrasts “aggregative” and “deliberative” procedures in trade unions. In one of the plants, the preferences of some of the workers appear to have been changed by deliberation. The process of rational persuasion seems to have required, however, more than sheer circulation of information. Based on this evidence, the article argues that when a potential conflict of interests is involved, speakers need to provide evidence that they are animated by a “communicative” (...) rather than “strategic” intent. This implies validating their implicit claim to sincerity of communication. (shrink)

Este texto trata de alguns dos principais mecanismos usados por Santo Tomás de Aquino para lidar com os atributos divinos. Decorrem da multiplicidade e complexidade desses atributos uma série de problemas que, a nosso ver, são entendidos pelo Aquinate como passíveis de serem resolvidos unicamente mediante uma correta escolha do instrumento filosófico mais adequado para cada caso. Causa unívoca e causa equívoca, res significata e modus significandi , analogia, via negativa e via por eminência, similitude, axioma do nada, entre outros, (...) são apresentados numa seqüência que julgamos facilitar sua compreensão. Por fim, nosso propósito é, sobretudo, o de apresentar o leitor ao modo de proceder de Santo Tomás quando freqüenta esse tema. (shrink)

O artigo apresenta brevemente as principais teses referentes à relação mente e cérebro no contexto dos emergentismos forte e fraco. Especificam-se ainda as principais consequências da discussão de uma possível neuroteologia para a compreensão dos processos de hominização, liberdade, limites do conhecimento cerebral e conhecimento do cérebro, relação entre mente-cérebro-mundo e “necessidade” do mistério gerada pela dinâmica cerebral.

Come si può intuire dalle parole contenute nel titolo e nel sottotitolo del volume di Giovanni Durbiano, la pertinenza del lavoro con questioni di ordine filosofico è qui dichiarata. Il tema del libro muove da una ricognizione di carattere storiografico dell’architettura italiana, ma più in specifico tratta del ruolo e dello statuto sociale, politico ed epistemico che il sapere e il fare dell’architetto hanno rivestito nella storia recente. Si tratta di un lavoro che possiede un carattere qua...

A filosofia é filha do tempo e reflete a compreensão possível de deter- minado momento histórico. Embora isso pareça banal, não o é. Se a afirmação é justa, deve-se admitir que a filosofia segue o espírito do tempo (Zeitgeist ou a forma mentis) em que foi produzida. Isso torna-a mais próxima da compreensão resultante da pedagogia que a originou e da mentalidade reinante em certo tempo. Partindo da forma mentis que instituiu o ensino no Colégio Serenense no Mato Grosso e (...) na Universidade de Königsberg na Prússia, investigamos dois grupos conceituais: o primeiro, referente à filosofia, ao pensamento e à verdade, e o segundo, à lógica, às ciências e ao método. Nesse sentido, fizemos um estudo comparado entre o Cursus Philosophicus (1756), de Frei Manuel dos Anjos, e o Manual dos cursos de Lógica Geral (1799-1800), de Immanuel Kant. Nesse estudo, a questão central é entender se as similaridades e diferenças entre os escritos dos dois filósofos permitem compreendê-los como escritos verdadeira- mente filosóficos ou se o Serenense seria representante apenas de uma filosofia precária, sem densidade, rala e de segunda mão. Palavras-chave: Lógica geral. Cursus Philosophicus. Frei Manuel dos Anjos. Immanuel Kant. (shrink)

A partir de la situación crítica de la modernidad, el autor afirma que todo ser humano perspicaz y amante de la vida se pregunta con angustia por nuestro destino colectivo. Como una respuesta a esta interrogante, el presente artículo examina diversas perspectivas evolucionarias universales de amplia escala temporal, apoyándose particularmente en el enfoque de la Fe Bahá’í, desde la que presenta un análisis sobre el rol de la religión, para abordar finalmente aquellos procesos que podrían orientar a una sociedad civil (...) mundial hacia una espiritualidad encarnada en los procesos sociales, desde nuestra condición actual concebida como el momento de la gran bifurcación y de la era de las comunidades. (shrink)