The treatise known as book Lambda of Aristotle’s Metaphysics has become one of the most debated issues of recent scholarship. Aristotle adresses here fundamental questions of his theory of substance, his idea of causes and principles, and his concept of motions. Furthermore, the importance of the text is due to the fact that it contains an outline of what was traditionally understood as Aristotle’s theology.

Werner Jaeger (1888–1961) was at his time the most brilliant and the most influential German classicist. His most important project was a tripartite study that he finally published under the title of Paideia. Die Formung des griechischen Menschen (1933–1947). Paideia was much more than a detailed scholarly book on pedagogy in the ancient world. It was an attempt to interpret the history of ancient thought—from Homeric epics to Attic tragedy and Platonic philosophy—as rooted in the intention to educate (or rather (...) to ‘form’) human beings. And it was the attempt to contribute to a contemporary German movement called ‘Third Humanism’. In this article, I give a critical overview of this work, its strengths and its shortcomings. (shrink)

Name der Zeitschrift: Kant-Studien Jahrgang: 107 Heft: 1 Seiten: 89-110.

This volume dispels the idea that Platonism was an otherworldly enterprise which neglected the study of the natural world. Leading scholars examine how the Platonists of late antiquity sought to understand and explain natural phenomena: their essays offer a new understanding of the metaphysics of Platonism, and its place in the history of science.

The paper first analyses the Ciceronian sources of Augustine’s idea of justice, then argues that Augustine maintains a kind of “supernatural” view of politics , which leaves no room for a normative evaluation of the socio-political sphere. The specific feature of Augustine’s political “supernaturalism”, in fact, is the idea that original sin, depriving man of divine grace, prevents the earthly world from being an improvable copy of an ideal model.

According to a wide-spread opinion, the history of moral philosophy is divided into two major parts. Whereas ancient ethics is concerned with agent-relative prudential volitions, modern ethics is based upon agent-neutral moral obligations. The article questions this opposition by indicating that the mainstream of ancient ethics should rather be characterized by its typical theory of action. This theory doesn’t rest on prudential rationality but on the idea that a rational agent has to follow a number of non-arbitrary principles which conduct (...) his or her deliberating, choosing and acting. The model in question starts with an intellectualist concept of the will , and develops an account of human flourishing which is the basis of subtle further distinctions between relevant and incidental goods. Finally, it opens the possibility to bridge the gap between the issue of human flourishing and the Kantian concept of morality. (shrink)

Bevor man sich der antiken Tierethik aus einer moralphilosophischen Perspektive zuwenden kann, sollte man sich einige allgemeine kulturhistorische Fakten vor Augen führen. Die Art und Weise, wie Tiere in der Antike im allgemeinen Bewusstsein betrachtet wurden und wie man sie faktisch im Alltag behandelt hat, divergiert ganz erheblich von unseren eigenen landläufigen Auffassungen.

Sous l'influence probable du néo-platonisme, Augustin a développé une philosophie des nombres, le nombre s'agrandissant sans fin étant même identifié à la deuxième personne de la Trinité. L'A. passe en revue plusieurs oeuvres d'Augustin et y montre l'importance de la différence entre nombre intelligible et nombre sensible dans la théorie de la connaissance, la théologie, l'éthique, la conception de la musique et de la Providence.

Neste artigo, o autor apresenta a concepção de linguagem de Santo Agostinho, sobretudo nas seguintes obras: De dialectica, De magistro e nos escritos tardios De doctrina christiana e De trinitate. É dada especial atenção à teoria agostiniana da linguagem no De magistro. PALAVRAS-CHAVE – Agostinho. Linguagem. De magistro. Sinais. ABSTRACT In this article the author presents St. Augustine’s conception of language philosophy, with special concern for the following works: De dialectica, De Magistro and the later writings De doctrina christiana and (...) De Trinitate. The enphasis of the exposition relies on St. Augustine’s philosophy of language in De magistro. KEY WORDS – Augustine. Philosophy of language. De magistro. Signs. (shrink)

Sabe-se que os autores antigos queriam saber a resposta à pergunta segundo a vida Sabe-se que os autores antigos queriam saber a resposta à pergunta segundo a vida boa. Eles queriam saber a razão/motivo de condução da vida humana para o bom resultado ou para o fracasso e, assim, conduzir a práxis individual. De outro modo, mostra-se a filosofia moral moderna que prioriza o interesse nos princípios e nos problemas de fundamentação moral, nos casos de conflitos políticos relevantes e nos (...) campos de aplicação social precários. O acento da filosofia moral antiga está centrado no agente (agentcentered), enquanto na filosofia moral moderna, no ato (act-centered). Central para os antigos era a qualidade moral da pessoa agente, central para os modernos é a pergunta acerca do valor moral das ações de acordo com sua ligação e fundamentos para isso. boa. Eles queriam saber a razão/motivo de condução da vida humana para o bom resultado ou para o fracasso e, assim, conduzir a práxis individual. De outro modo, mostra-se a filosofia moral moderna que prioriza o interesse nos princípios e nos problemas de fundamentação moral, nos casos de conflitos políticos relevantes e nos campos de aplicação social precários. O acento da filosofia moral antiga está centrado no agente (agentcentered), enquanto na filosofia moral moderna, no ato (act-centered). Central para os antigos era a qualidade moral da pessoa agente, central para os modernos é a pergunta acerca do valor moral das ações de acordo com sua ligação e fundamentos para isso. (shrink)

In the massive plot twist at the end of BioShock Infinite, the writers beautifully put forth a hypothesis that individuals might exist in more than one possible world. In philosophy, the idea that an individual can exist in more than one world is called transworld identity. An important rival to transworld identity theory is counterpart theory, the idea that individuals cannot exist in more than one possible world and are therefore “world bound.” Modal realism is the thesis according to which (...) there is an infinite number of possible worlds that really exist in the most robust sense, relative to themselves. The world of Columbia is one possible world. The world of Rapture is another possible world. Both the actualist and the possibilist agree on these claims. Most important to the themes present in BioShock, transworld individuality has profound implications for differing notions of freedom. (shrink)