Wittgenstein procura mostrar que a teoria dos tipos de Russell está condenada auma autodissolução. Ela só pode ser exposta na medida em que a exposição incorre emviolações sistemáticas das regras que a teoria tenta impor a toda a linguagem. Por outrolado, se for encarada enquanto mero sistema de regras para o uso de sinais, ela se tornacompletamente arbitrária. A teoria dos tipos apresenta na forma de uma invenção aquiloque, do ponto de vista do Tractatus, só poderia ser o resultado de (...) uma descoberta: a estruturaessencial da realidade que a linguagem deve decalcar. É daí que surge, no Tractatus, asolução intermediária de uma "essência inefável". O problema se complica quando o Tractatusse revela uma alternativa inviável, e a idéia de uma estrutura essencial da realidade ficacomprometida. Tento fazer, no final do artigo, uma reflexão de tipo wittgensteiniano natentativa de determinar o que resta da noção de necessidade quando abandonamos a idéiade que a realidade possua uma estrutura essencial que a linguagem limita-se a decalcar. (shrink)

O nome, no Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus, é sempre uma função proposicional. Wittgenstein modifica radicalmente a oposição fregiana entre entidades saturadas e insaturadas. Toda parte sentencial que não seja ela própria uma sentença é insaturada. A proposição é, portanto, uma síntese de funções proposicionais. O nome é o caso-limite de função proposicional. Como qualquer função proposicional, ele pode perfeitamente ser negado.

Wittgenstein objective is to show that Russell’s Theory of Types is condemned to self dissolution. It can only be presented through statements which violate the very rules the theory intends to impinge on the whole of language. On the other hand, if one takes it to be merely a system of rules regarding the usage of signs, it becomes completely arbitrary. The theory of Types presents as an invention something which, from the Tractatus’ point of view, could only be a (...) discovery: the essential structure of reality which is supposed to be presented by language. And then we arrive in the Tractatus at the intermediary solution of an “ineffable essence”. The problem gets even more tangled when the Tractatus comes out unworkable and the idea of reality’s essential structure is jeopardized. Towards the end of the paper I try to offer a Wittgenstein type of inquiry on what is left of the concept of necessity once we abandon the idea that reality is endowed with an essential structure which is supposed to be presented by language. (shrink)

A negação, no Tractatus, não pode ser tratada como um conceito, tal como acontecia em Frege e em Russell. Se isto acontecesse, p e ~~p deveriam ter sentidos composicionalmente diferentes. A negação não pode se resumir a uma relação lógica entre dois enunciados, pois ~p deve ser construída a partir de p, e não o contrário. A negação é algo que devemos fazer para obter uma proposição a partir de outra (5.23). Ela é produto de uma ação, mas esta ação (...) não pode ser natural (ou meramente humana). Ela deve ser atemporal.AbstractNegation, in the Tractatus, cannot be treated as a concept, as in Frege and Russell. If this were to happen, p and ~~p should have compositionally different meanings. Negation cannot be taken as a logical relationship between two propositions, since ~p must be constructed from p, not the other way round. Negation is something we must do to get one proposition from another (5.23). It is the product of anaction, but this action cannot be natural (or merely human). It must be atemporal. (shrink)

Der gegenseitige Ausschluß der Farben ist nicht das Problem, worin die Aufgabe des logischen Atomismus Wittgensteins Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus wurzelt. Die im Tractatus durchgeführte Analyse der Arithmetik, führte zur Unanwendbarkeit der Zahlen auf die Messungszusammenhänge. Diese Analyse basierte auf einer Lösung, die in den Grundlagen der Arithmetik von Frege abgelehnt worden war. In seinem „Vortrag über die logische Form" zeigt Wittgenstein,daß die Zahlen nicht im Sinne der wiederholten Quantifizierungen definiert werden können. Die bereits in der Grundlage der Sprache eingeführten Zahlen zwingen (...) zur Aufgabe der logischen Unabhängigkeit der Elementarsätze. (shrink)

A relação nome–objeto, no Tractatus, exige a atuação de uma vontade. Um sujeito deve “escolher” qual objeto associar a um nome dado. Essa escolha não pode ser descrita – não pode ser um fato no interior do mundo. Do mesmo modo, o sujeito não pode ser um objeto, nem um estado de coisas. Ele deve permanecer fora do mundo, em seus limites lógicos. Ele está conectado ao “quê”, mas não ao “como” – aos objetos, e não aos fatos. É por (...) isso que o sujeito lógico é o portador do ”elemento ético”, e contempla o mundo sub specie aeterni. (shrink)

Formal series are associated with ascriptions of numbers. They are ordered by formal operations that, unlike negation and disjunction, are not truth-operations. In spite of this, they are required to build propositions involving generic reference to numbers, and are essential to the Tractarian version of the logicist project.

O objetivo desta publicação é incentivar a produção filosófica de excelência por parte de pesquisadores notadamente influenciados pela filosofia de Wittgenstein e cujos temas possam suscitar um debate aprofundado. Além de desafiar o empreendimento filosófico contemporâneo, os temas aqui apresentados abordam questões que muitas vezes estão além daquelas consideradas por Wittgenstein em seu tempo. O leitor encontrará neste volume questões relacionadas ao ceticismo semântico e epistêmico, ao relativismo ético, às leituras literárias de Wittgenstein, ao problema das outras mentes e percepção (...) de aspectos, a intersubjetividade e o caráter contrassensual do Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus, e, também, relacionadas ao Paradoxo de Moore. (shrink)

No quiero dar la impresión de que intentaré una aproximación entre el primero y el segundo Wittgenstein que borre diferencias tan fundamentales cuanto esa. Sin embargo, debo luego aclarar que sí será mi intención hablar de la existencia de "límites" del lenguaje en un sentido que sea asimilable por quien acepta las líneas básicas de argumentación de las Investigaciones Filosóficas. Más exactamente, trataré de redefinir esos límites en términos que sean completamente compatibles con la filosofía madura de Wittgenstein. Asociada a (...) esta nueva definición de la noción de límite, creo que emergirá una nueva concepción de lo Místico, y una suerte muy particular de "teología negativa", que trataré de definir con más exactitud en la parte final mi ponencia. [Fragmento]. (shrink)

This book symposium comprises a précis of Nuno Venturinha’s Description of Situations: An Essay in Contextualist Epistemology together with four critical commentaries on different aspects of the book by Marcelo Carvalho, João Vergílio Gallerani Cuter, Marcos Silva and Darlei Dall’Agnol, and the author’s replies.

Les Remarques philosophiques sont la première tentative de mettre en oeuvre le programme qui découle de l’échec du projet du Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus. Le noyau de ce programme est donné par l’abandon de l’analyse des nombres avancée dans le Tractatus. Wittgenstein se rend compte que les nombres doivent se trouver à la base même du langage, dans la structure des propositions élémentaires. En même temps, il se rend compte qu’il est impossible de fournir la logique sousjacente au langage avant d’avoir procédé (...) à l’analyse. Le projet d’une investigation logique des phénomènes s’imposait, donc, même après l’abandon de l’idée d’un langage phénoménologique. The Philosophical Remarks is a first attempt at pursuing the philosophical agenda determined by the failure of the Tractarian project. The central point of this agenda is the abandonment of the analysis of number that had been given in the Tractatus. Wittgenstein realizes that numbers should be brought back to the basis of language, as part of the structure of the elementary propositions themselves. At the same time, he realizes that it is impossible to give the logic underlying our language before the process of logical analysis is carried out. He undertakes the project of a logical investigation of phenomena even after giving up the idea of a phenomenological language. (shrink)

After the works of Jaako Hintikka, David Stern and, more recently, Denis Perrin, the idea that there is a wittgensteinian reflection upon the time and that it is at the origin of the abandonment of the project of a phenomenological language is nothing surprising, but we cannot consider it established yet. It seems to me that an important element in this debate is in chapter VII of the Philosophical Remarks : indeed, we find there the very first sustained discussion on (...) the possibility of a phenomenological language —a discussion obviously centred on the question of time. Without aiming to propose an “alternative” reading of Wittgenstein’ reflections on time and the phenomenological language, I would like to bring to light the importance of this chapter for this problem and also try to show that the interpretation key must be looked for in a reductio ad absurdum whose base is the impossibility to measure time. (shrink)

Les Remarques philosophiques sont la première tentative de mettre en oeuvre le programme qui découle de l’échec du projet du Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus. Le noyau de ce programme est donné par l’abandon de l’analyse des nombres avancée dans le Tractatus. Wittgenstein se rend compte que les nombres doivent se trouver à la base même du langage, dans la structure des propositions élémentaires. En même temps, il se rend compte qu’il est impossible de fournir la logique sousjacente au langage avant d’avoir procédé (...) à l’analyse. Le projet d’une investigation logique des phénomènes s’imposait, donc, même après l’abandon de l’idée d’un langage phénoménologique. The Philosophical Remarks is a first attempt at pursuing the philosophical agenda determined by the failure of the Tractarian project. The central point of this agenda is the abandonment of the analysis of number that had been given in the Tractatus. Wittgenstein realizes that numbers should be brought back to the basis of language, as part of the structure of the elementary propositions themselves. At the same time, he realizes that it is impossible to give the logic underlying our language before the process of logical analysis is carried out. He undertakes the project of a logical investigation of phenomena even after giving up the idea of a phenomenological language. (shrink)

Tenta-se especificar uma noção de “limite da linguagem” compatível com a filosofia madura de Wittgenstein. Essa noção é relacionada ao caráter necessariamente público dos critérios. Várias questões são feitas, então, quanto à possível existência de um objeto ou fato cuja identificação dependesse essencialmente de critérios privados. Essas questões revelam-se patentes contrassensos, e esse resultado mostra-se ontologicamente neutro. Assim, as questões filosóficas desaparecem, ao passo que o horizonte místico se mantém.

resumo Há razões de ordem estritamente lógica para que Wittgenstein tenha postulado no Tractatus a existência de um sujeito transcendental. Sem esse sujeito, o Tractatus não teria como lidar com a constituição do sentido proposicional. É ele o responsável pela associação entre nomes e objetos e pela efetuação de operações lógicas como a negação, a quantificação e a atribuição numérica. palavras-chave Wittgenstein – lógica – sujeito transcendental – linguagem – sentido – proposição.

Há pelo menos três concepções diferentes de verdade no Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus. A primeira delas é dada pela tautologia, essa proposição única que pode ser diferentemente obtida aplicando-se operações de verdade às proposições elementares de tal modo que todas as possibilidades de desacordo com a realidade sejam finalmente canceladas. A segunda é dada pelas propriedades internas que podem ser previstas antes que a análise efetiva de nossa linguagem esteja completamente feita. A terceira é dada pelas propriedades internas que apenas a análise (...) lógica pode revelar. Se aceitarmos a interpretação do ?sujeito metafísico? que o autor vem propondo numa série de artigos, então, poderíamos admitir um quarto tipo de necessidade, que tem surpreendentes pontos de contacto com o que poderíamos chamar de ?verdade por convenção? (shrink)

Inhaltsverzeichnis/Table of Contents:IntroductionAntónio ZILHÃO: Folk-Psychology, Rationality and Human ActionJoão BRANQUINHO: The Problem of Cognitive DynamicsJ.P. MONTEIRO: Hume, Induction and Single ExperimentsMarco RUFFINO: The Primacy of Concepts and the Priority of Judgments in Frege's LogicJoão Vergílio Gallerani CUTER: Die unanwendbare Arithmetik des TractatusSílvio PINTO: Wittgenstein's Anti-PlatonismFernando FERREIRA: A Substitutional Framework for Arithmetical ValidityJ.R. CROCA & R.N. MOREIRA: Indeterminism Versus CausalismLuíz MONIZ PEREIRA: The Logical Impingement of Artifical Intelligence.

Parece haver quase um consenso, entre os comentadores, em torno da tese segundo a qual o “primeiro Wittgenstein” nada veria de problemático na ideia de um infinito atual, ao contrário do que claramente ocorre com o “segundo Wittgenstein”. O que eu gostaria de fazer aqui não é tentar reverter esse veredicto, mas sugerir que o exame das provas que o sustentam merece ser refeito. Para tanto, começarei por tentar mostrar como a letra dos aforismos 5.526 e 5.5262 parece levantar uma (...) dificuldade para a tese consensual. Em seguida, procurarei encontrar, sob a letra, o espírito dessa dificuldade, isto é, buscarei nos princípios mais básicos do Tractatus as razões que subjazem às afirmações desses aforismos. Para finalizar, após fazer um balanço desse exame no que diz respeito à tese consensual, procurarei mostrar como ele aponta para a relevância da notação para o infinito, que João Vergílio Cuter prescreve para o Tractatus. (shrink)

Resenha do livro de: P. M. S. Hacker, Wittgenstein: Sobre a Natureza Humana. Traducao de Joao Virgilio Gallenari Cuter. Sao Paulo: Editora de UNESP, 2000. 64 paginas.

This article presents some results of a research on computational strategies for the visualization of sign classification structures and sign processes. The focus of this research is the various classifications of signs described by Peirce. Two models are presented. One of them concerns specifically the 10-fold classification as described in the 1903 Syllabus (MS 540, EP 2: 289–299), while the other deals with the deep structure of Peirce’s various trichotomic classifications. The first is 10cubes, an interactive 3-D model of Peirce’s (...) 10-fold classification, as described in the Syllabus. The second is 3N3, a computer program that builds equivalent diagrams for any n-trichotomic classification of signs. We are specially interested in how a graphic design methodology, associated with computer graphic resources and techniques, can contribute to the construction of interactive models that serve as tools for the investigation of C. S. Peirce’s theory of signs. (shrink)

The COVID-19 outbreak has ravaged all societal domains, including education. Home confinement, school closures, and distance learning impacted students, teachers, and parents’ lives worldwide. In this study, we aimed to examine the impact of COVID-19-related restrictions on Italian and Portuguese students’ academic motivation as well as investigate the possible buffering role of extracurricular activities. Following a retrospective pretest–posttest design, 567 parents reported on their children’s academic motivation and participation in extracurricular activities. We used a multi-group latent change score model to (...) compare Italian and Portuguese students’: pre-COVID mean motivation scores; rate of change in motivation; individual variation in the rate of change in motivation; and dependence of the rate of change on initial motivation scores. Estimates of latent change score models showed a decrease in students’ motivation both in Italy and in Portugal, although more pronounced in Italian students. Results also indicated that the decrease in students’ participation in extracurricular activities was associated with changes in academic motivation. Furthermore, students’ age was significantly associated with changes in motivation. No significant associations were found for students’ gender nor for parents’ education. This study provides an important contribution to the study of students’ academic motivation during home confinement, school closures, and distance learning as restrictive measures adopted to contain a worldwide health emergency. We contend that teachers need to adopt motivation-enhancing practices as means to prevent the decline in academic motivation during exceptional situations. (shrink)

Gómez de Lisboa fue uno de los más importantes representantes del escotismo del renacimiento italiano. En su Scriptum super Questiones Metaphisice Antonii Andree, a veces está en desacuerdo con las soluciones de Antoni Andreu y con sus interpretaciones de Escoto. Con este artículo, trato de presentar esos puntos de desacuerdo. Al hacerlo, espero contribuir a la comprensión del escotismo del renacimiento y proporcionar un buen ejemplo de la duradera influencia de Antoni Andreu.

The contribution of Jesuits to the different fields of knowledge, including philosophy, is historically well known. In fact, since the foundation of the Society of Jesus, in the 16th century, Jesuits from different generations and cultures have taken part in the philosophical debates of their time and their different contexts. Since the foundation of the Society of Jesus, in 1540, the Jesuits, individually and as a body, have engaged in a fruitful dialogue between the Christian tradition and different dimensions of (...) human culture. During almost five centuries, numerous Jesuits taught philosophy in academic institutions all over the world. Some of them have their names recorded in the history of philosophy. Of course, the majority of them is not anymore remembered, despite their valuable contribution to the development of the Jesuit intellectual tradition up to our times. In fact, as an heir of the Roman College, the first academic institution founded by the Society of Jesus, in 1551, the Pontifical Gregorian University, in Rome, is a witness to this tradition, which has been kept alive thanks to the discrete work of both Jesuits and lay intellectuals. Known as the University of the Nations, this institution corroborates not only the capacity of the Jesuit tradition to put faith in dialogue with reason, but also the option to take the concrete reality of each human culture and its historical context as its point of departure. The Jesuits’ willingness to engage in dialogue with different intellectual perspectives is underpinned by one of the most defining traits of the Jesuit charism, namely, the conviction that God can be found and served in all things. Accordingly, Jesuits have adopted, from the beginning, an amenable stance towards the world with its different cultures and intellectual trends. As such, Jesuits have, since the beginning, inhabited the frontiers of human thought. According to the contemporary philosopher Paul Gilbert, SJ, within the institutions under the leadership of the Society of Jesus, it was always possible to maintain an equilibrium between two principles: “intellectual unity” and “openness to the world.” Without detriment to the Jesuit identity, the companions of Ignatius have been willing to dwell in the various dimensions of human reality, in their multiplicity and plurality. Either in the renewal of Aristotle’s and Aquinas’ metaphysics, or in the dialogue with modern philosophers such as Descartes, Kant, or Hegel, and even in the inculturation in non-European contexts, the Jesuits have been able to preserve the Christian tradition through an original development of human culture in all its richness and diversity. With respect to the last century, it has to be acknowledged that a significant number of Jesuits made significant contributions, with recognized competence, to philosophy. Certainly, the 20th century was particularly complex in many respects. It would be enough to recall that this period, which brought with it unprecedented social, scientific, and technological developments, was also the stage for the two World Wars. With the emergence or consolidation of philosophical currents such as Marxism, Phenomenology, Existentialism, Structuralism, and Post-Modernism, the past century was, without any doubt, fascinating from the intellectual point of view. Jesuits such as Karl Rahner, Frederick Copleston, Bernard Lonergan, William Norris Clarke, John F. Kavanaugh, Teilhard de Chardin, Gaston Fessard, Jean Daniélou, Henri de Lubac, Michel de Certeau, Xavier Tilliette, Paul Valadier, Paweł Siwek, Ignacio Ellacuría, Francisco Taborda, Henrique de Lima Vaz and, in the Portuguese context, Diamantino Martins or Júlio Fragata, among many others, were able to engage different philosophical currents, problems and controversies of their times. Faithful to their long tradition of being present in the frontiers of thought, those Jesuits have engaged in a fruitful dialogue with these intellectual trends, offering relevant contributions to different ongoing debates. Within this context, the present volume recalls and discusses the philosophical contribution of some of the most prominent Jesuit protagonists of the intellectual interchange that took place in the 20th century. This volume also intends to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Revista Portuguesa de Filosofia, which happens just before the inauguration of the Ignatian Year. Decreed by Father Arturo Sosa, the Superior General of the Society of Jesus, this celebratory Year will start on May 20, 2021, precisely 500 years after Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Jesuit Order, was wounded at the battle of Pamplona. We are happy that this volume could bring together outstanding specialists in the thought of some of the most prominent Jesuits philosophers of the last century, namely Paul Valadier, Paul Gilbert, Józef Bremer, Jacek Poznański, Alexander Maar, Patrick H. Byrne, M. Ross Romero, Carlos Alvarez, Hélio Pereira Lima, José Gama, Domingos Terra, Gabriel Flynn, Marie-Gabrielle Lemaire, José Sols Lucia, Lorena Zuchel Lovera, Pedro Pablo Achondo Moya, Enzo Solari, Massimo Borghesi, Mendo Castro Henriques, João Barbosa, and Dominique Lambert. In addition, in the celebration of the 100th anniversary of Júlio Fragata’s birth, Maria Teresa Fragata presents a memory of his life and thought. We hope that this volume may be useful to all those interested in the Jesuit philosophical tradition. Hopefully, it will stimulate scholars to pursue a fruitful and creative dialogue with contemporary philosophy, in the footsteps of the Jesuit philosophers featured here. We would like to thank all the authors and all those who, in different ways, made this volume possible. (shrink)

Introduction Due to the constant scientific and technological development, health professionals are regularly confronted with situations in which there are always therapeutic options, regardless of the severity of the patient’s condition. However, regarding these therapeutic options as feasible in all situations can be harmful, since it is universally accepted that, despite all advances in health, there are inevitable limits and the promotion of some interventions may be useless or futile. Objective To characterize the use of the concept of futility in (...) the health literature. Method Review of the literature following the Scoping Review protocol of the Joanna Briggs Institute. The research was performed in CINAHL, Cochrane, Pubmed, Scopus e Web of Science to identify studies published prior to 2020. Nineteen studies were selected. Results There is no universally accepted definition for the concept of futility. In the literature there are different conceptions for the concept of futility that point to qualitative and quantitative roots and that are associated with ethical dilemmas that make it difficult to conceptualize this concept and make it operational in clinical practice. Conclusion The central elements of the concept of futility include: the diagnosis of futility is closely related to clinical judgment; futility has both quantitative and qualitative roots; futility is always appreciated posteriori; futility is related to the lack of benefit. It is essential to promote a discussion that enables the definition of the concept and that makes it possible to promote ethical principles in care, especially when the inevitable limits of treatments are reached. (shrink)

Neste artigo, tensiono a construção da África com base na própria construção do “outro” enquanto um desafio para as ciências sociais e humanas. A partir de uma reflexão sobre o próprio processo de formação da África, muitos termos e nacionalismos foram utilizados para a chegada a um denominador comum acerca daquilo que define o continente africano, bem como também daquilo que se esvai em diferenças de perspectiva, de regiões e de buscas por esta identidade. Assim, escolho como exemplo meu estudo (...) sobre a obra A Geração da Utopia enquanto um processo a partir do qual a dificuldade para a chegada a um entendimento sobre identidade pode revelar um desafio maior: entender como múltiplas identidades foram sendo construídas, em parte como herança de uma visão nacionalista sobre identidade, e de que maneira os escritores africanos, à sua maneira, representam-na dentro de contextos específicos. Palavras-chave: identidade; Angola; Pepetela; mestiçagem; nacionalismo; história. (shrink)

Ortega y Gasset enriqueceu os seus estudos na Alemanha entre 1905 e 1908, nas cidades de Leipzig, Berlim e Marburgo, tendo sido aqui discípulo do neokantiano HermannCohen. Tomando essa circunstância como ponto de partida, propõe-se, neste artigo,levar a cabo uma indagação sobre as ideias estéticas de Ortega, contrastando com os fundamentos das fontes kantianas ou neokantianas da sua formação universitária alemã,traçar uma linha que permita demarcar claramente até onde Ortega segue Kant e onde,pelo contrário, o filósofo espanhol trilha o seu (...) solitário e original caminho. Tomam-se como baluartes desta análise os quatro momentos do juízo de gosto inerentes à terceira crítica kantiana e a questão da genialidade. (shrink)

O artigo aborda a problemática que envolve a terceira seção da obra Fundamentação da Metafísica dos Costumes, mais precisamente a questão referente à validade sintética a priori do imperativo categórico na determinação da vontade humana. Muito embora a lei moral seja universalmente reconhecida por todos os seres racionais, Kant precisa demonstrar a sua efetividade no que diz respeito à vontade humana, a qual é empiricamente afetada. Deste modo, a estratégia argumentativa kantiana gira em torno de uma tentativa de deduzir a (...) autonomia moral da noção transcendental de liberdade, o que se mostra impossível, pois, nesse contexto, ainda não há como comprovar a validade objetiva de tal conceito. Apesar do esforço empreendido por Kant, todos os argumentos aqui erigidos esbarram na impossibilidade de se conhecer o âmbito inteligível, de modo que tal questão só vai ser levada a cabo na Crítica da Razão Prática. (shrink)

Zones of social abandonment are emerging everywhere in Brazil’s big cities—places like Vita, where the unwanted, the mentally ill, the sick, and the homeless are left to die. This haunting, unforgettable story centers on a young woman named Catarina, increasingly paralyzed and said to be mad, living out her time at Vita. Anthropologist João Biehl leads a detective-like journey to know Catarina; to unravel the cryptic, poetic words that are part of the “dictionary” she is compiling; and to trace (...) the complex network of family, medicine, state, and economy in which her abandonment and pathology took form. An instant classic, _Vita_ has been widely acclaimed for its bold fieldwork, theoretical innovation, and literary force. Reflecting on how Catarina’s life story continues, this updated edition offers the reader a powerful new afterword and gripping new photographs following Biehl and Eskerod’s return to Vita. Anthropology at its finest, _Vita_ is essential reading for anyone who is grappling with how to understand the conditions of life, thought, and ethics in the contemporary world. (shrink)

The Second Vatican Council was built within a solidly constituted tradition in the Catholic Church. All councils were held within the traditional and legal parameters of the Church. The question about the condition of possibility of a renewal Council under this tradition shows relevant. The Vatican II is the result of a negotiation between renewal and preservation. Pope John XXIII personally coordinated the construction of the legitimacy of the new event, following steps which may be rescued during the preparatory stages (...) of the great assembly. The reading of this process from sociological parameters may elucidate its plausibility within the tradition and the Church's bureaucratic organization. Pope John started ably a church renewal process, opening a new phase in the long Catholic tradition. Under his Pope condition, he knew how to seed the idea of a revamping event in the name of a divine inspiration and with the set of bishops’ participation of the Church. (shrink)

: In this paper, we intend to discuss if and in what sense semiosis (meaning process, cf. C. S. Peirce) can be regarded as an "emergent" process in semiotic systems. It is not our problem here to answer when or how semiosis emerged in nature. As a prerequisite for the very formulation of these problems, we are rather interested in discussing the conditions which should be fulfilled for semiosis to be characterized as an emergent process. The first step in this (...) work is to summarize a systematic analysis of the variety of emergence theories and concepts, elaborated by Achim Stephan. Along the summary of this analysis, we pose fundamental questions that have to be answered in order to ascribe a precise meaning to the term "emergence" in the context of an understanding of semiosis. After discussing a model for explaining emergence based on Salthe's hierarchical structuralism, which considers three levels at a time in a semiotic system, we present some tentative answers to those questions. (shrink)

Zones of social abandonment are emerging everywhere in Brazil’s big cities—places like Vita, where the unwanted, the mentally ill, the sick, and the homeless are left to die. This haunting, unforgettable story centers on a young woman named Catarina, increasingly paralyzed and said to be mad, living out her time at Vita. Anthropologist João Biehl leads a detective-like journey to know Catarina; to unravel the cryptic, poetic words that are part of the “dictionary” she is compiling; and to trace (...) the complex network of family, medicine, state, and economy in which her abandonment and pathology took form. As Biehl painstakingly relates Catarina’s words to a vanished world and elucidates her condition, we learn of subjectivities unmade and remade under economic pressures, pharmaceuticals as moral technologies, a public common sense that lets the unsound and unproductive die, and anthropology’s unique power to work through these juxtaposed fields. _Vita’s_ methodological innovations, bold fieldwork, and rigorous social theory make it an essential reading for anyone who is grappling with how to understand the conditions of life, thought and ethics in the contemporary world. (shrink)

Ao longo da história, a relação entre a filosofia e a política tem-se revelado espinhosa, denunciando a dificuldade em se conceptualizar sobre o que é por natureza antagónico à cristalização, porque particular e pluralista. Na esfera da opinião, o filósofo deve restringir-se a analisar, criticar, rever e aperfeiçoar os valores políticos coevos, a explicar aos seus conterrâneos o universo de acepções sociais partilhadas, consciente de que a sua concepção fundamenta uma via entre as muitas poss...