Descartes uses skepticism as a method in the search for truth and afterwards he arrives at the knowledge of truth by conception cogito, which is an intuitive proposition. Comprehension of the mind itself is asserted from which ego cannot be cut from thinking, and this conception is based on the existence of God who does exist to be contained in the mind conceptually. God is stated the most perfect being which does rescue mind from doubt and show its real being (...) it. (shrink)

Ali Tekin, Varlık ve Akıl: Aristoteles ve Fârâbî’de Burhan Teorisi [Being and Intellect: Theory of Demonstration in Aristotle and al-Fārābī], 477 pp.

Averroes, considered to be the greatest Aristotelian commentator in the Middle Ages, has written three different types of commentary on almost all the works of this great philosopher: short, middle and long. These commentaries have been translated into Latin and Hebrew in the early period, and profoundly influenced both Medieval Europe and Jewish thought for centuries. The effect of Averroes in the West was to spread the whole of Europe under the name of Latin Averroism. The text what you have (...) consists of some remarks about the translation of the commentary on the ‘Book Alpha Meizon’, the second book of Averroes’ Tafsīr Mā Ba’d at-Tabī’a. (shrink)

Our study aims to deal with different and similar conditions between Ghazzali and Kant, as characters at whom can show two different thinking form and two different cultural structure in their thoughts, in the context of the same subject. The article investigates the stages of these two thinkers approaches to the topic of transcendental dialectic and tries to display that why and how two different cultural worlds incline to this subject.

Problem of the existence of God and His relation to the world and human being is seen as one of quite old and main problems of philosophy. Though the existence of God and His essence as a knowledge subject is related to a transcendent being over this universe, human being can find rules made by Him in physical world in which stands. The concept of God constitutes one of the most involved points of Descartes’ philosophy. In fact, for Descartes, who (...) built his philosophy on physical bases or mechanical world, to place God as condition to his metaphysics originates from the conception that if God does not exist a being does not. In this paper, we will try to explain the relation of God and human and the world in Descartes’ philosophy. (shrink)

Although the first thing coming to mind when called Alghazali is theologian celebrated for criticism of philosophy, we only will not mention his critical thinking. It can be thought that this famous thinker of Islamic world has purely attempted to criticism of metaphysics but in our opinion this is not exactly true. With reference to traditional commentaries on Alghazali is not quite well, we desire to try in order to show a reliable approach. In this paper we will argue whether (...) or not the coherence of some commentaries on Alghazali such as destruction philosophy, inhibition to the intellectual development, prohibition to scientific and ideational advancement and so on. (shrink)

Ele almaya çalıştığımız konunun temelinde, İslâm kültürünün düşünce yapısını şekillendiren beyânî ve burhânî epistemolojilere dayanan iki dünya görüşü bulunur. Buradaki temel noktanın beyân ile burhân arasındaki tartışmalarla ilgili olduğu görülür. Yöntem tartışmaları bir yandan dinsel bir yöntem olarak beyânın ve diğer yandan akıl ya da düşünce yöntemi olarak burhânın nasıl kullanıldığını açığa çıkarır.

Bu yazıda, en eski felsefe disiplini ve bilimlerin kraliçesi olan metafizik konusunda, onun aklın sınırları içerisinde niçin anlaşıla-maz olduğu hakkında Kant’ın çözümlemelerinin kavramsal zemini üzerinde durulacaktır. Kant’a göre, metafiziksel yargılar, kendilerini mantıksal diye ifade ederek gerçekliğin bilgisini verdikleri savını dile getirirler. Yine de bu durum, yanılsama mantığından başka bir şey değildir. Metafizikle mantık arasındaki ilişkinin gerçek değil de kavramsal yapıya sahip olması, onun bir yanılsamadan oluştuğunu ifade eder.

Our study aims to deal with different and similar conditions between Ghazali and Kant, as characters that can show two different thinking forms and two different cultural structures in their thoughts, in context of the same subject. We will deal with why and how that the approaches of both thinkers to the subject transcendental dialectic occur by passing through which stages and try to display that both cultural world incline to this subject by which aim.Çalışmamız iki ayrı düşünme biçimi ve (...) iki ayrı kültürel yapıyı düşüncelerinde gösterebilen kişilikler olarak Gazali ve Kant arasındaki benzer ve ayrık durumları aynı konu bağlamında ele almak amacındadır. Her iki düşünürün de aşkınsal diyalektik konusuna yaklaşımının hangi aşamalardan geçerek gerçekleştiğini, niçini ve nasılı ile birlikte ele alacak ve her iki kültür dünyasının hangi amaç ile bu konuya eğildiklerini göstermeye çalışacağız. (shrink)

Our study aims to deal with different and similar conditions between Ghazali and Kant, as characters that can show two different thinking forms and two different cultural structures in their thoughts, in context of the same subject. We will deal with why and how that the approaches of both thinkers to the subject transcendental dialectic occur by passing through which stages and try to display that both cultural world incline to this subject by which aim.Çalışmamız iki ayrı düşünme biçimi ve (...) iki ayrı kültürel yapıyı düşüncelerinde gösterebilen kişilikler olarak Gazali ve Kant arasındaki benzer ve ayrık durumları aynı konu bağlamında ele almak amacındadır. Her iki düşünürün de aşkınsal diyalektik konusuna yaklaşımının hangi aşamalardan geçerek gerçekleştiğini, niçini ve nasılı ile birlikte ele alacak ve her iki kültür dünyasının hangi amaç ile bu konuya eğildiklerini göstermeye çalışacağız. (shrink)

Bizim bu yazıda bahsetmeye çalıştığımız konu, daha çok metaontolojik ya da metafizik alan üzerinde yoğunlaşacaktır. Nesnelerin kendinde varlığını bilemesek bile, en azından, dile gelmeyen bir şeylerden bahsediyoruz. Öyleyse bilemediğimiz alana ait yargılarımızın, bildiğimiz olgular alanıyla ilişkisi dolayısıyla az çok yorumlanabileceğini göz ardı etmememiz gerekir. Kendinde dünyanın yani numenin anlamını somut dünya tasarımıyla elde etmeye çabalamanın boşuna olacağı kesindir. Ancak bu durum, numen dünyasının araştırılmaması ve kendinde varlık alanının ne olduğu konusunda düşünmeye son verilmesi gerektiği manasını taşımaz. Çünkü somut dünya tasarımımızda (...) sürekli değişen ve her değiştiğinde de anlamını değiştiren bir durum söz konusudur. (shrink)

Descartes, kuşkuculuğu gerçeklik arayışında bir yöntem olarak kullanır ve ardından gerçekliğin bilgisine bir sezgisel önerme olan cogito düşüncesi ile ulaşır. Zihnin kendini kavrayışı, benliğin düşünmekten kesilemeyeceğinden hareketle ileri sürülür ve bu düşünce ise zihinde kavramsal olarak içerilmiş bulunan Tanrının varlığıyla temellendirilir. Tanrı, zihni kuşkudan kurtaran ve ona gerçek varlığını gösteren en yetkin varlık olarak ifade edilir.

Bu yazıda Anaksagoras’ın Fragmanlar’ı içeriliyor. Anaksagoras, yönetici bir güç olarak nous kozmolojik nous kavramını felsefeye sokmakla meşhurdur. Anaksagoras, yaratıcı kaostan mevcut düzenlere geçiş sürecindeki ortamların açıklamasını vermeye çabalamıştır. Soğuk hava ile sıcak eter arasındaki bölümleme, birarada olmanın büyüsünü bozmuştur. Soğuğun artmasıyla birlikte, biçimlendirici suyu, yeri ve kayaları meydana getirmiştir. Havada yüzmeye devam eden yaşam tohumları yağmurlarla nakledilmişler ve bitkileri oluşturmuşlardır. İnsanda içinde olmak üzere canlılar, sıcak ve nemli topraktan ortaya çıkmışlardır. Varlıkların en saygın olanı, öyleyse nous yani zihindir.

The subject that we have tried to mention in this article mainly intensifies on the meta-ontological or metaphysical field. Although we cannot know the real existence of objects, at least, we say something that cannot be expressed. Then, we should not ignore that our judgments belonging to the unknown field can be interpreted, more or less, on account of the relation to the area of the facts we know them. It is clear that trying to get the meaning of the (...) world in itself or noumenon through the image of the concrete world is useless. Nevertheless, this condition does not mean that it should not make inquiries concerning the noumenon world and discontinue thinking about what the field of existence in itself is. Interpretations on this field of existence in itself cannot be expressed by mere knowledge of the actual area or the real notions. Because, in our image of the real world, there seems a situation that continually changes and which converts its meaning in each change. (shrink)

In the basis of the subject which we try to deal with, it stands two worldviews based on expository and demonstrative epistemologies that formalize the intellectual building of Islamic culture. It seems that the main point here is about discussions between exposition and demonstration. Methodological discussions enlighten how are used on the one hand exposition as religious method and on the other hand demonstration as rational or intellectual method. Keywords: , , , , ,.

Hiçbir bilim dalında, yazar, felsefe ve mantıkta yapabildiği kadarıyla, güvenilir araştırma sonuçlarını böylesine fütursuzca hiçe sayamaz. Bu durum için, Bay Coffey’in Mantık Bilimi gibi böyle bir kitabın yayınlanmasına borçluyuz: ve yalnızca, günümüzün pek çok mantıkçısının eserinin tipik bir örneği olarak, bu kitap saygıyı hak ediyor. Yazarın mantık anlayışı Skolastik filozoflarınki gibidir, ve onların bütün hatalarını yapıyor – elbette Aristoteles’e alışılageldik gönderilerle.. Yazar, modern matematiksel mantıkçıların büyük eserini hiç dikkate almamış – mantık konusunda bir ilerleme kaydeden eser, ancak astrolojisiz astronomi ve (...) simyasız kimya yapan bir şeyle karşılaştırılabilir. (shrink)

Although the cause of Suhrawardī’s death may have been his esoteric views, we can see that this was a political medium. Because the decision of Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn al-Ayyūbī to execute Suhrawardī was political, especially because of the Crusades moving towards al-Quds at that time, where was taken by the Crusaders. There is a definite alliance upon that Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn al-Ayyūbī ordered to kill Suhrawardī. Because the other issues Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn al-Ayyūbī was dealing with prevented him from coming to Aleppo and (...) examining this issue in detail. At the same time, Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn al-Ayyūbī could not have time to discuss whether the decision to kill Suhrawardī for political reasons was a hasty one. although the cause of Suhrawardī’s death may have been his esoteric views, we can see that this was a political medium. As a result, the decision of Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn al-Ayyūbī to execute Suhrawardī has based on political reasons. Some matters were mentioned in Suhrawardī’s death fatwā, especially his suggestion of disbelief to the people and his disorderly conduct of al-Malik al-Ẓāhir were cited as the cause of death. (shrink)

In the Islamic philosophical tradition, it seems that the image of woman has not been studied very much and the role of woman has hardly ever mentioned. First, we will briefly explain why we chose the concept of imagination. Afterward, from which sources the Islamic philosophical tradition has formed its concepts, and as a result, we would try to talk about where it established philosophy, whether it was theoretical or practical. Finally, we want to finish the subject by giving examples (...) from the fact of women in Islamic philosophical tradition. (shrink)

I will try to explain in the context of the Matrix and philosophy what the truth is and whether there is the free will or not. Everyone wants to know the truth, but no one clearly explains what it is. The matrix is the desert of the truth and human mind remains therein thirsty. Can we know that we are alive or dead, that is to say, what is the difference between reality and imagination? Never can this problem only be (...) solved by our minds? So long as we try to arrive at necessity, we absolutely remain in possibility. (shrink)

Muhammad Iqbal sees each person as the “self” with an independent identity, and God as the “Absolute Self”. The human experience of the self is a constantly changing experience. This change develops around a center and eventually forms an organic unity. The independence of the self does not mean that it is closed to other-selves. It is wrong to see the essence of the self as an unchanging substance or to conceive it as an unstable flow. According to Iqbal, the (...) real personality of man is not a "thing" but an "action", a "sum of behaviors". The human being at the highest level of self-consciousness is the only being among all creatures capable of consciously participating in the creative life of the Creator. (shrink)

When we say that we understand the language of God with the language of the universe, we mean that we can understand the language of God with the language of the universe and in other ways as well. Therefore, what we really want to say is that when we look at the event from our own point of view, that is, from our own factuality, we must necessarily understand the universe in order to understand the language of God, and for (...) us to understand it can only be possible by understanding the language of the universe. We will present this with some examples. At the same time, we will talk about some styles of understanding in the history of philosophy. Since understanding the language of God is also understanding the language of religion, we will try to briefly show how the language of God or the language of the universe is understood through the language of religion, how this is wrong in Judaism, Christianity, especially in the idea of medieval Christian priests and a number of styles of understanding in the Islamic world. (shrink)

What makes Book Lambda the most important book of Metaphysics is to mention the fundamental substance of being. Therefore, Book Lambda is a book that has been regarded as valuable and has been studied extensively. Arabic translations of this book were in high demand in the Islamic world. We have also considered Arabic metaphysical translations, especially the translation of Book Lambda. The translation you will read is a commentary of the ninth chapter of Book Lambda by Themistius. The Greek original (...) commentary of Lambda was lost, and after the Arabic translation, it was transferred to Latin and Hebrew. However, later parts of the Arabic text were also lost. In this chapter, Themistius comments on the part in which Aristotle discusses the difficulties on the nature of divine intellect and tries to prove that the object of reason, the act of thinking and the object of thinking are the same things. (shrink)

Alexander's views on universals are, it seems, quite important in the history of western philosophy. When Boethius gives in his second commentary on Porphyry's Isagoge his solution to the problem of universals as he conceived it, he claims to be adopting Alexander's approach. If true, this means that the locus classicus for all western medieval thinkers on this topic is really a rendering of Alexander's teaching. Alexander commented Aristotle’s statement in his On the Soul “The universal animal either is nothing (...) at all or is posterior if it exists”, and this commentary has been translated into Arabic several times in the classical period. In this study the anonymous Arabic translations of Alexander’s commentary has been translated into English. (shrink)

İlyas Altuner, Descartes Felsefesine Giriş [An Introduction to Descartes' Philosophy], 110 pp.

The strengths and weaknesses of federalism have been debated for centuries. But one major possible advantage of building decentralization and limited government into a constitution has been largely ignored in the debate so far: its potential for reducing the costs of widespread political ignorance. The argument of this paper is simple, but has potentially important implications: Constitutional federalism enables citizens to “vote with their feet,” and foot voters have much stronger incentives to make well-informed decisions than more conventional ballot box (...) voters. The informational advantage of foot voting over ballot box voting suggests that decentralized federalism can increase citizen welfare and democratic accountability relative to policymaking in a centralized unitary state.Ballot box voters have strong incentives to be “rationally ignorant” about the candidates and policies they vote on because the chance that any one vote will have a decisive impact on an electoral outcome is vanishingly small. For the same reason, they also have little or no incentive to make good use of the information they do possess. By contrast, “foot voters” choosing a jurisdiction in which to reside have much stronger incentives to acquire information and use it rationally; the decisions they make are individually decisive. (shrink)

Abstract If voters do not understand the programs of rival candidates or their likely consequences, they cannot rationally exercise control over government. An ignorant electorate cannot achieve true democratic control over public policy. The immense size and scope of modern government makes it virtually impossible for voters to acquire sufficient knowledge to exercise such control. The problem is exacerbated by voters? strong incentive to be ?rationally ignorant? of politics. This danger to democracy cannot readily be circumvented through ?shortcut? methods of (...) economizing on voter knowledge costs. A truly democratic government must, therefore, be strictly limited in scope. (shrink)

The paper introduces mathematical encoding for subjective experience and meaning in natural cognition. The code is based on a quantum-theoretic qubit structure supplementing classical bit with circular dimension, functioning as a process-causal template for representation of contexts relative to the basis decision. The qubit state space is demarcated in categories of emotional experience of animals and humans. Features of the resulting spherical map align with major theoreties in cognitive and emotion science, modeling of natural language, and semiotics, suggesting several generalizations (...) and improvements. The developed model bridges psychological, quantum-theoretic, and semiotic perspectives, allowing for an integrative account of subjectivity, agency, and meaning in living Nature.Graphical abstract. (shrink)

For decades, scholars have recognized that most citizens have little or no political knowledge, and that it is in fact rational for the average voter to make little or no effort to acquire political information. Rational ignorance is fully compatible with the so‐called “paradox of voting” because it will often be rational for citizens to vote, but irrational for them to become well informed. Furthermore, rational ignorance leads not only to inadequate acquisition of political information, but also to ineffective use (...) of the information that citizens do possess. The combination of these two problems has fundamental implications for a variety of issues in public policy and international affairs. (shrink)

ABSTRACT Jason Brennan’s Against Democracy makes a strong case that democratic majorities’ right to rule rests on shaky grounds so long as their ballot box decisions are heavily influenced by ignorance and bias. But his “epistocratic” alternative - empowering the better-informed segments of society - has significant flaws of its own. Ironically, the biggest shortcoming of epistocracy may be that we lack the knowledge necessary to make it work well.

ABSTRACTThe participants in this symposium raise many insightful criticisms and reservations about my book Democracy and Political Ignorance: Why Smaller Government Is Smarter. But none substantially undermine its main thesis: that rational political ignorance and rational irrationality are major problems for democracy that are best addressed by limiting and decentralizing government power. Part I of this reply addresses criticisms of my analysis of the problem of political ignorance and its causes. Part II assesses challenges to my proposed solution.

The paper describes an algorithm for semantic representation of behavioral contexts relative to a dichotomic decision alternative. The contexts are represented as quantum qubit states in two-dimensional Hilbert space visualized as points on the Bloch sphere. The azimuthal coordinate of this sphere functions as a one-dimensional semantic space in which the contexts are accommodated according to their subjective relevance to the considered uncertainty. The contexts are processed in triples defined by knowledge of a subject about a binary situational factor. The (...) obtained triads of context representations function as stable cognitive structure at the same time allowing a subject to model probabilistically-variative behavior. The developed algorithm illustrates an approach for quantitative subjectively-semantic modeling of behavior based on conceptual and mathematical apparatus of quantum theory. (shrink)

In recent decades, advances in the life sciences have created an unprecedentedly detailed picture of heredity and the formation of the phenotype where clusters of simplistic reductionist and deterministic views and interpretations have begun to lose ground to more complex and holistic notions. The developments in gene regulation and epigenetics have become a vivid emblem of the ongoing ‘softening’ of heredity. Despite this headway, the outlook and rhetoric widely popular in the twentieth century favoring the ‘gene’ in the ‘genegenetic plasticityphenotypeenvironment’ (...) tetrad have not been successfully tackled but continue to exist in parallel with a new, equally monochromatic, viewpoint championing genetic plasticity. An examination of epigenetics and its presentation in the public sphere, open to a conversation with the social disciplines and philosophy, could address this dichotomy and contribute to the discourse. This article outlines key biological aspects of epigenetics and discusses the language, presentation and wider resonance of this field of life science research. (shrink)

Advocates of ?deliberative democracy? want citizens to actively participate in serious dialogue over political issues, not merely go to the polls every few years. Unfortunately, these ideals don't take into account widespread political ignorance and irrationality. Most voters neither attain the level of knowledge needed to make deliberative democracy work, nor do they rationally evaluate the political information they do possess. The vast size and complexity of modern government make it unlikely that most citizens can ever reach the levels of (...) knowledge and rationality required by deliberative democracy, even if they were better informed than they are at present. (shrink)

ABSTRACTHélène Landemore's Democratic Reason effectively demonstrates how cognitive diversity may potentially improve the quality of democratic decisions. But in setting out the preconditions that democracy must meet in order for the many to make collectively well-informed decisions, Landemore undermines the case for voter competence more than she strengthens it. The conditions she specifies are highly unlikely to be achieved by any real-world democracy. Widespread voter ignorance and the size and complexity of modern government are severe obstacles to any effort to (...) implement Landemore's vision. Better-informed decision making is more likely to be achieved by allowing a wider range of issues to be decided by “voting with your feet” instead of at the ballot box. (shrink)

In this chapter, I argue that communication in partnering is a physical exchange of information on the basis of ethically-bound conditions. Simply put, partners can cause each other harm. Thus, the criteria of communication in partnering is always within an ethical domain, where action runs along a continuum ranging from the ethical to the unethical. To make this argument, I will first lay out the conditions to which the relevant norms of evaluation can adhere. These conditions include proximity, orientation, and (...) point(s) of contact. Rather than provide a how-to guide for communication, I will examine a critical vocabulary for practically approaching communication in partnering. Section I begins with the conditions of communication, followed by Section II which examines the norms of communicating well. (shrink)

Psychology suffers from the absence of mathematically-formalized primitives. As a result, conceptual and quantitative studies lack an ontological basis that would situate them in the company of natural sciences. The article addresses this problem by describing a minimal psychic structure, expressed in the algebra of quantum theory. The structure is demarcated into categories of emotion and color, renowned as elementary psychological phenomena. This is achieved by means of quantum-theoretic qubit state space, isomorphic to emotion and color experiences both in meaning (...) and math. In particular, colors are mapped to the qubit states through geometric affinity between the HSL-RGB color solids and the Bloch sphere, widely used in physics. The resulting correspondence aligns with the recent model of subjective experience, producing a unified spherical map of emotions and colors. This structure is identified as a semantic atom of natural thinking—a unit of affectively-colored personal meaning, involved in elementary acts of a binary decision. The model contributes to finding a unified ontology of both inert and living Nature, bridging previously disconnected fields of research. In particular, it enables theory-based coordination of emotion, decision, and cybernetic sciences, needed to achieve new levels of practical impact. (shrink)

Dance, as a mode of physical interaction, offers opportunities to care and be cared for, but this does not mean that dancers will, in fact, care. There may be no moral motivation underlying a lift, dip or intricate sequence of coordinated action. Choreographic scores may (knowingly or not) encourage merely perfunctory movements that are a poor simulacrum to care. Moreover, the caring that is expressed through dance need not transfer to other walks of life. I am not alone in knowing (...) spectacularly talented dancers whose behaviour off the dance floor is far from ethical – from the arrogant and petty to the flagrant abuse that plagues institutions of art and culture. This article considers how dance can illuminate both the acts and sentiments of care, conveying particular ethical orientations that trouble straightforward, absolute moral reasoning. The article frames an enquiry into the relation between ethics and aesthetics of care, drawn from feminist epistemologists Joan Tronto, Maurice Hamington, and Nel Noddings, as well as my own performance research on partnering. I frame a zone between technique and competence, foregrounding care in dance as both a technical and ethical issue. I will consider the necessary conditions by which dancing together can manifest care, rather than suggest blanketly that it always does or even that it should. To make this argument, I will describe and analyse Considered Care, a duet I created in the autumn of 2021 in collaboration with Boston Ballet. This performance research project provided the material from which to consider the concept of need, a condition of care in a dancing situation. I will conclude by considering the relationship between needs and trust in conceptualizing care within partnering. (shrink)

Abilitism is an approach to the metaphysics of concepts according to which each concept consists of a managing cognitive ability coordinating other abilities (cognitive and non-cognitive) and a set of subordinate abilities associated with this managing ability. As I argue here, if we accept the abilitist approach, we can efficiently solve such puzzles in the metaphysics of concepts as the partial possession problem, the concept pluralism problem, etc. However, there are some possible objections to abilitism, concerning the abilitist explanation of (...) compositional properties of concepts, knowledge-that, an extension/intension of concepts, and the idea that concepts are constituents of thought. As I demonstrate here, these objections can be answered. (shrink)

La science classique s'est trouvée associée à un désenchantement du monde. C'est la leçon que Jacques Monod entendait tirer des progrès de la biologie : "L'ancienne alliance est rompue. L'homme sait enfin qu'il est seul dans l'immensité indifférente de l'Univers d'où il a émergé par hasard." Notre science n'est plus ce savoir classique, nous pouvons déchiffrer le récit d'une "nouvelle alliance". Loin de l'exclure du monde qu'elle décrit, la science retrouve comme un problème l'appartenance de l'homme à ce monde. Les (...) théories scientifiques ne peuvent plus supposer la possibilité d'un savoir omniscient : nous lisons, jusque dans leurs principes, les traces d'une activité d'exploration au sein d'une nature en évolution. (shrink)

Abstract Richard Posner's Law, Pragmatism, and Democracy urges that political and legal decision makers should be guided by what he calls ?everyday pragmatism,? rather than by ?abstract? moral theory. He links his conception of pragmatic government to Sclmmpeter's unromantic view of democracy. Posner argues that judicial review should be based on a combination of pragmatism and adherence to this limited conception of democracy, rather than sticking closely to ?formalist? theories of adjudication, which demand strict adherence to traditional legal norms. However, (...) Posner's consequentialist pragmatism fails to provide an adequate guide to judicial decision making, because it does not give us any criterion for deciding which consequences are desirable. His Schumpeterian theory of democracy, too, is problematic because it does not sufficiently consider the shortcomings exposed in recent scholarship in political science and economics. (shrink)

Abstact. Although it is generally known that M.M. Bakhtin viewed himself as primarily a philosopher and not a philologist, the overwhelming majority of studies of his work belong to literary criticism. The purpose of this article, relying on the oral testimony of Bakhtin himself and his philosophical texts written in the Nevel-Vitebsk period, is to restore the origin of his philosophical sources and the content of his philosophical ideas of this period. The main idea is the concept of moral philosophy (...) as a philosophical system, whose main subject is participative thinking and an answerable act as an event of being. One of the most important sources of these ideas was probably the philosophy of Neo-Kantianism represented by the teachings of H. Cohen. The article provides four examples of Bakhtin's continuity in relation to the Marburg philosopher - the idea of an answerable act concerning another person as the source of a human's self-consciousness and personal integrity, the idea of a correlative relationship between a person and his neighbor as an expression of a caring participatory being, the idea of distinguishing a moral attitude from an ethical-legal one and the idea of the philosophical system, whose subject is the process of interpersonal relations. In this case, the system consists not only in the integrity of the object but also in its openness. Revealing the continuity of Bakhtin's philosophical ideas regarding Cohen leads to a better understanding of these ideas and Bakhtin's originality of their development. It is also fruitful to compare the perception of Cohen's ideas by Bakhtin and their reception by another philosopher of dialogue, F. Rosenzweig. (shrink)