O presente artigo ocupa-se em refletir sobre os fundamentos da paz entre as religiões presentes no De pace fidei de Nicolau de Cusa. O artigo se divide em cinco momentos onde tentamos partir da contextualização que motivou a escrita da obra até seus desdobramentos filosóficos, políticos e culturais que ocultam/revelam o problema da relação unidade e diversidade. Palavras-chave: Paz. Fé. Ritos. Unidade. Diversidade.

In response to the fall of Constantinople in 1453, Nicholas of Cusa wrote De pace fidei defending a commitment to religious tolerance on the basis of the notion that all diverse rites are but manifestations of one true religion. Drawing on a discussion of why Nicholas of Cusa is unable to square the two objectives of arguing for pluralistic tolerance and explaining the contents of the one true faith, we outline why theological pluralism is compromised by its own (...) meta-exclusivism. (shrink)

regions of Constantinople, was inflamed with zeal for God as a result of those deeds that were reported to have been perpetrated at Constantinople most recently and most cruelly by the King of the Turks.2 Consequently, with many groanings he beseeched the Creator of all, because of His kindness, to restrain the persecution that was raging more fiercely than usual on account of the difference of rite between the [two] religions. It came to pass that after a number of days—perhaps (...) because of his prolonged, incessant meditation—a vision was shown to this same zealous man. Therefrom he educed the following: the few wise men who are rich in the experiential knowledge of all such differences as are observed throughout the world in the [different] religions can find a single, readily-available harmony ; and through this harmony there can be constituted, by a suitable and true means, perpetual peace within [the domain of ] religion. Hence, in order that this vision might one day become known to those who have a say in these especially important matters, he wrote down plainly, in what follows, as much of it as he recalled. For he had been caught up to an intellectual height where, as it. (shrink)

The article tries to reconstruct the Wirkungsgeschichte of the De pace fidei and it focuses on some fundamental moments of its fate. Nicholas of Cusa was one of the first not just to recognize other religions' value, but also to individuate a source of richness in religious pluralism. His work had fortune since the years after its draft, the 1453, known and quoted by Eimerico da Campo, Giovanni of Segovia, Juan de Torquemada and Pope Pius II. The debate, (...) alive and still open, around the possible influence of the work to Italian humanistic context is reconstructed, in particular about Pico and Ficino. Trusted traces of reception of the work can be individuated in France, in authors like Bodin and Postel. Finally the article is focused on modern fate of the work in Germany: beyond the cultural contest into reception and translation had done, the work analyze the reception by the German philosopher Lessing and on his comparison with Cusanian ideas about the vision of tolerance elaborated by the last one. (shrink)

This paper explores Nicholas of Cusa’s framing of the De pace fidei as a dialogue taking place incaelo rationis. On the one hand, this framing allows Nicholas of Cusa to argue that all religious rites presuppose the truth of a single, unified faith and so temporally manifest divine logos in a way accommodated to the historically unique conventions of different political communities. On the other hand, at the end of the De pace fidei, the interlocutors in (...) the heavenly dialogue are enjoined to return to earth and lead their countrymen in a gradual conversion to the acceptance of rites which would explicitly acknowledge the metaphysically presupposed transcendent unity of all true faiths. In light of these two aspects of the literary framing of the De pace fidei, the question that motivates this paper concerns the extent to which the understanding of history subtending Cusanus’ temporal political aims is consistent with the understanding of history grounded in his metaphysical presupposition that there is una religio in omni diversitate rituum. In addressing this question, I shall argue that the literary strategy of the De pace fidei sacrifices Nicholas of Cusa’s apologetic doctrinal aims insofar as the text creates an allegorical space in which the tension between its literal and figurative dimensions assigns to its readers the task of choosing their own orientations to the significance of history as a foundation for future action. (shrink)

The paper examines the Dialogue De pace fidei written by Nicolaus Cusanus in 1453 to settle disputes arising from events that triggered religious unrest, such as the fall of Constantinople in May 1453, the invasion and massacre of the Turks led by Sultan Mehmed II and the defeat of the Christians. Following the disintegration of medieval Christianity, Cusanus, instead of promoting a crusade, as Cardinal Bessarione did, proposed a more suitable way to make the major exponents of different (...) religions interact in a fruitful dialogue, hoping for the peace of a single universal faith. The arguments through which Cusanus claimed the concept of a concordance and pacification of the faith reveal the originality and topicality of the message communicated by the humanist, founded on the doctrine of peace in the faith, overcoming inter-confessional barriers and religious divergences.The author contrasts the divergences, massacres and wars with a doctrinal comparison among different religions through dialogue. The paper invites reflection upon the religious struggles that still spread discord in the world. (shrink)

In the midst of the De pace fidei’s imagined heavenly conference on the theme of the possibility of religious harmony, Nicholas of Cusa has Saint Peter acknowledge to the Persian interlocutor that it will be difficult to bring Jews to the acceptance of Christ’s divine nature because they refuse to accept the implicit meaning of their own history of revelation. What is peculiar about this line in the dialogue is not merely that it flies in the face of (...) what Cusanus scholars tend to regard as an ecumenical spirit in Nicholas’ call to interreligious dialogue and mutual toleration. Rather, the statement reveals a peculiar hermeneutic principle at work in Nicholas’ understanding of the tension between truth and doctrine and the way that this tension informs human practice. Accordingly, by grappling with Nicholas’ portrayal of an imagined failure of Jews to practice interpretation correctly, I hope to shed light on Nicholas’ philosophy of religion in a way that neither ignores his anti-Judaism nor reduces the significance of his views to one of its most unpleasant manifestations. (shrink)

Reading Nicolas of Cusa’s works on Islam reveals a sharp distinction between his De pace fidei with its tolerant attitude and his Cribratio Alkorani with its much less tolerant approach. Some eight years passed from the appearance of De pace fidei until the publication of Cribratio Alkorani. I argue that in the period between the appearances of these books, Cusanus changed his attitude to Islam, and the Turkish threat may have been the reason.Certain historians have pointed (...) to Desiderius Erasmus’ objection to the waging of crusades and to the term semichristiani, which Erasmus occasionally used in reference to Muslims. According to these historians, the term semichristiani echoed Cusanus’ optimistic view according to which the Turks were «half-Christian». However, I found that Cusanus never used this term in any of his writings, and that the term sits in Erasmus’ writings side by side with manifest contempt and degradation expressed toward the Turks. Thus, Erasmus’ rhetoric and hostile attitude toward the Turks and Islam was far from the moderation and toleration which Cusanus presented in his De pace fidei. In its attitude and spirit Erasmus’ De bello Turcico should be compared to Cusanus’ Cribratio Alkorani rather than to De pace fidei. (shrink)

If Unamuno had been able to choose how to be remembered, he would have wanted him to be a poet. This book wants to do justice to that happy possibility. But above all because Unamuno was a poet in the highest sense: he was while writing the same essay as a novel, or theater, letter or verse, and he was also a poet when he passionately lived all the facets of his intense existence. His intellectual work was poetic and his (...) personal relationships, as well as his political activity, also responded to that peculiar Unamunian aesthetic in which the vital horizon is inescapably confused with the tasks of thought." --Translated from back cover. (shrink)

English summary: Nicolas Cusanus' position on Islam is not easily discerned. While in De Pace Fidei he seems to present an Irenic vision of the different religions and the dialog that could be established amongst them, in the Cribratio Alkorani, according to numerous interpretations, he seems more rigid, precluding any constructive dialog between Christianity and Islam. However, as this volume shows, matters are not quite that black and white: the contributions allow us to form a better idea of (...) the coherence of Cusanus' position on dialog and the relationship between the Cribratio Alkorani and his general theological views. French description: La position de Nicolas de Cues sur l'islam n'est pas facile... cerner. Dans le De Pace Fidei, il semble presenter une vision irenique des differentes religions et du dialogue qui pourrait s'etablir entre elles et ce discours general vaut en particulier pour l'islam, tandis que dans la Cribratio Alkorani, Nicolas, aux dire de nombreux interpretes, se montrerait beaucoup plus incisif, au point que ce livre ne pourrait absolument pas constituer le fondement d'un dialogue constructif entre le christianisme et l'islam. Mais un certain nombre de travaux du present volume, montre que les choses ne sont pas si tranchees. Certes, Nicolas de Cues ignorait pas mal de choses sur l'Islam et les documents qu'il utilise l'induisent dans un certain nombre de cas en erreur. Mais, par de l... la lettre, il ressort qu'il a remarquablement compris l'esprit coranique et que ces textes meritent... cet egard plus d'attention qu'ils n'en ont generalement recue. Le present recueil permet de se faire une idee plus precise de la coherence de la position de Nicolas de Cues sur le dialogue entre christianisme et islam et des liens entre les theses de la Cribatio Alkorani et la pensee globale du grand cardinal. Le livre est issu d'un Colloque tenu sur ce theme... l'Universite de Rennes le 9 avril et rassemble des contributions de Walter Andreas Euler, Tom Kerger, Genevieve Gobillot (deux textes), Susan Gottlober, Graziella Federici Vescovini Herve Pasqua.et Jean-Michel Counet. (shrink)

Heft 1. Der Laie über die Weishelt, von E. Bohnenstädt.--Heft 2. Über den Beryll. von K. Fleischmann.--Heft 3. Drei Schriften vom verborgenen Gott. De Deo abscondito. De quaerendo Deum. De filiatione Dei. Hrsg. von E. Bohnenstaedt.--Heft. 5. Von Gottes Sehen. De visione Dei. Von E. Bohnenstaedt.--Heft 4. Der Laie über Versuche mit der Waage. Idiota de staticis experimentis. Von H. Menzel-Rogner.--Heft 6-7. Sichtung des Alkorans. Cribratio Alkoran. 1. Buch von P. Naumann. 2.-3. Buch von G. Hölscher.--Heft 8. Über den Frieden (...) im Glauben. De pace fidei. Von L. Mohler.--Heft 9. Vom Können-Sein. De possest. Vom Gipfel der Betrachtung. De apice theoriae. Von E. Bohnenstaedt.--Heft 10. Der Laie über den Geist. Idiota de mente. Von M. Honecker und H. Menzel-Rogner.--Heft 11. Die manthematischen Schriften, übers. von J. Hofmann, mit einer Einführung und Anmerkungen versehen von J.E. Hofmann.-- --Heft 13. Vom Globusspiel. De ludo globi, übers. und mit Einführung und Anmerkungen versehen, von G. von Bredow. --Heft. 15. De docta ignorantia. Die belehrte Unwissenheit. Übers. und mit Vorwort und Anmerkungen von P. Wilpert. (2 v.)--Heft. 16. Compendium. Kompendium. Übers. und mit Einleitung und Anmerkungen hrsg. von B. Decker und K. Bormann.--Heft 17. De coniecturis. Mutmassungen. Übers. und mit Einführung und Anmerkungen hrsg. von J. Koch und W. Happ.--[18] Über den Ursprung. De principio. Deutsch mit Einführung von Maria Feigl.--Heft 19. Die höchste Stufe der Betrachtung. Herausgegeben von Hans Gerhard Senger. (shrink)

De bono comuni -- De bono pacis -- Sermones de pace.

The three major thesis according to Fides et Ratio, Encyclical of Jean Paul II, are analysed in order to answers the practical materialism of post-modern criticism respect Christian religion. The paper reflect over three question and put up a conclusion. 1) The religion ist a nonsense, later the methodological crisis of present time?; 2) All religion have a sense equally edifying, as defend the discursive Ethics?; 3) The Christianity will have sense in the near millennium, or he will be ruled (...) by metaphysics nihilismus of postmodernity?; 4) Lastly, who must make out all this question: fundamental theology, philosophy of religion or critique of sense? (shrink)

On the ethics of extending human life: healthy people have a right to carry on livingHumanity has long demonstrated a paradoxical ambivalence concerning the extension of a healthy human lifespan. Modest health extension has been universally sought, whereas extreme health extension has been regarded as a snare and delusion—a dream beyond all others at first blush, but actually something we are better off without. The prevailing pace of biotechnological progress is bringing ever closer the day when humanity will be (...) able to act on the latter view by rejecting a clear and present opportunity for much longer healthy lives. Indeed, some biogerontologists contend that that day has already arrived, to the extent that our hesitation in embarking on a vigorous “war on ageing” is already delaying the point at which a cure for ageing will be developed. Here I consider whether our present caution concerning the wisdom of truly curing ageing is likely to survive the increased scrutiny that it will receive in coming years as a result of these technical advances. I conclude that it will not, because of its irreconcilability with values that are more deeply held by the large majority of humanity than any values that argue against the quest for a cure. I further conclude that all the major current reasons given for not curing ageing are mere crutches to help us cope with the immutability of ageing that we have been brought up to accept. Our failure to set aside such irrationality is already shortening potential longevity—quite probably of those already alive today—to a staggering degree. Once we realise this, our determination to consign human ageing to history will be second …. (shrink)

The subtle thought of care -- Knowledge politics -- Assembling neglected "things" -- Thinking with care -- Touching visions -- Speculative ethics in antiecological times -- Alterbiopolitics -- Soil times: the pace of ecological care.

Objetiva-se com este artigo uma breve investigação sobre a relação existente entre Fé e Razão, especificamente no que toca à compreensão do intellectus fidei e da ratio fidei enquanto desdobramento temático. De acordo com a Carta Encíclica Fides et Ratio, a Fé e a Razão se assemelham a duas asas com as quais o espírito humano se eleva à contemplação da verdade. O desejo de conhecimento da verdade e, por conseguinte, de Deus e de si próprio é apontado (...) como uma vocação divina colocada no coração do homem por Deus. Embora as questões de fé possam passar por um tratamento racional, a fé possui a sua inteligência própria, específica não se limitando a esquemas relativos à razão demonstrativa, científica ou discursiva. (shrink)

This paper begins by exploring the anti-colonial work of Tunisian scholar Albert Memmi in his classic book The Colonizer and the Colonized and determining whether the characteristics of colonization that he names can be successfully applied to the current relationship between modern humans and the “natural world”. After considering what we found to be the five key characteristics: manufacturing the colonial, alienation and unknowability, violence, psychological strategies, and language, history, and metaphor we draw clear parallels, through selected examples, to the (...) exploitative relationships enacted in many realms of the modern human/nature relationship. In so doing the paper posits that the beings that comprise the “natural world” are colonized. It then continues from that position to explore the possibility of cultivating practices of listening to the voices of these colonized others to inform anti-colonial ecopedagogy as allies. We employ the term “shut-up” as an anti-colonial gesture to remind ourselves as much as others of the importance of first listening to the colonized other before engaging in “post-colonial” theorizing about prospective relationships or liberatory solutions “for” them. Given the fast-paced and cacophonic urban life many humans increasingly inhabit, and the disciplined and reiterative practice required to learn to listen to other voices, we suggest caution and care when importing postcolonial theory into “environmental” contexts and seek to instigate further discussion as to how we might enact solidarity with other beings as anti-colonial allies in education. To this end, we conclude the paper with some educational implications based on research at a place-based school and focus on the role history, language and metaphor play in manufacturing a colonial relationship, but also provide a potential means for changing relationships with the diverse beings with whom we share the planet. (shrink)

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:BOOK REVIEWS 97 Unity and Reform: Selected Writings of Nicholas de Cusa. Edited by John P. Dolan. (Notre Dame, Indiana: University of Notre Dame Press, 1962. Pp. viii -I- 260. $6.50.) This volume was designed to serve both the cause of historical instruction and the cause of "unity and reform" as it has been stimulated by the present ecumenical movement and Council. Professor Dolan's Introduction emphasizes the practical aspects (...) of the Bishop's career, especially his efforts to combat the disintegration of the Respublica Christiana of the fifteenth century. He explains the Bishop's achievements, both ecclesiastical and philosophical, in terms of the problems of his own time. However, the reader soon discovers in the narrative of the Introduction as well as in the selections from Cusanus's works that the current revival of interest in this theologian and philosopher is due to the important bearing which he has on the Catholic efforts toward reunion and reform today. Only Book III of Learned Ignorance is included; then follow in their entirety Concerning Wisdom, The Vision of God or the Icon, Concerning Concord in Religious Belief (De Pace Fidei); and to illustrate Nicholas of Cusa's interest in mathematics and physics, the volume concludes with a dialogue on experiments in weighing. Hrne~a~T W. Sca~NEm~tt Claremont, California La cosmologie de Giordano Bruno. By Paul-Henri Michel. (Paris: Editions Hermann, 1962. Pp. 341.) Malgr~ les excellents travaux d~j~ publi~s (ceux d'Emile Namer, d'Augusto Guzzo et d'autres ~minents sp~cialistes bruniens), Giordano Bruno demeure une figure historique la lois tr~s c~l~bre et bien myst~rieuse au demeurant. L'exceUent ouvrage de Paul-Henri Michel rendra ainsi les plus grands services aux historiens de la pens~e qui se penchent avec curiosit~ sur la d~concertante p~iode de transition qui s~pare les philosophes de la Renaissance de l'av~nement en Europe d'attitudes proprement modernes devant la r~alit~ ext~rieure et l'homme. S'appuyant sans cesse sur les textes originaux de Bruno lui-mdme, pourvu d'un index complet, le bel ouvrage du Pr. Michel ne d~cevru passes lecteurs ~xudits. Comme il se dolt, rauteur commence par faire le point sur l'homme Bruno, s'attachant faire la distinction qui s'impose entre l'histoire et la l~gende--car la k~gende s'est empar ~e de ce philosophe, consid~r~ volontiers comme un athfie materialiste total ayant voulu d~truire la religion catholique, attitude louse ou vilipendfie selon clue Bruno sera vu comme un h~r~tique pervers ou, au contraire, comme un glorieux martyr de la "librepens ~" rationaliste. On appr~.iera tout sp~cialement les pages (p. 10 et suivantes) darts lesquelles M. Michel s'efforce de faire toute la lumi~re ~, propos du proc~s ecd~iastique de Giordano Bruno--sur lequel toute la lumi~re souhaitable n'avait pas encore ~t~ faite. Mais la majeure paxtie du volume est consacr~e ~ un expos~ m~thodique du syst~me du monde, telle clue l'~tude minutieuse de tousles textes accessibles permet de le structurer. En dix chapitres, l'auteur passe minutieusement--mais toujours d'une mani~re remarquablement logique et claire--les grandes articulations autour desquelles tourne toute la cosmologie brunienne: Le monde comme objet de connaissance, Cosmogonic, Ens mobile, LAme du Monde, La mati~re et l'univers infini, Le systkme solaire, Les mondes innombrables, L'univers vivant, Temps et dternit~. Le grand nombre des citations ~tendues faisant de cette belie ~tude une sorte de fort commode anthologie m~thodique de la pens~e brunienne. 98 HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY I1 est incontestable que nous autres contemporains sommes toujours endins 5. voir en Giordano Bruno un penseur franchement "moderne," et le fait est qu'il brave volontiers, prenant intrdpidement parti pour le syst~me de Copernic, la philosophie scolastique et la th~ologie scripturaire; son grandiose hymne mdtaphysique 5. l'infini de l'univers et 5. la r6partition innombrable des syst~mes plan~taires rend be1 et bien un son r~volutionnaire pour son temps. Ce n'est d'ailleurs pas pour rien que Bruno rut mis 5. l'index pour... (shrink)

This investigation draws from research on negative polarity item (NPI) illusions in order to explore a new and interesting instance of misalignment observed for grammatical sentences containing two negative markers. Previous research has shown that unlicensed NPIs can be perceived as acceptable when occurring soon after a structurally inaccessible negation (e.g. ever in *The bills that no senators voted for have ever become law). Here we examine the opposite configuration: grammatical sentences created by substituting the NPI ever with the negative (...) adverb never (e.g. The bills that no senators voted for have never become law). The processing and acceptability of these sentences was studied using three tasks: a speeded acceptability judgment (experiment 1), a self-paced reading task (experiment 2), and an offline acceptability rating (experiment 3). The results are consistent across measures in showing that the integration of the adverb never is disrupted by the linearly preceding but structurally inaccessible negative quantifier no in the relative clause. In our view, this pattern of results is in line with Parker and Phillips’ (2016) proposal that NPI illusions arise when the context containing the inaccessible negation has not been fully encoded by the time the NPI ever is encountered, making the embedded negative quantifier transparently available as a licensor. In a similar vein, the disruption effects observed for grammatical sentences containing two negative elements could arise if the negative quantifier is still being integrated when never is encountered, forcing the parser to deal with two negative elements simultaneously. This interpretation suggests that the same incomplete encodings that could be ameliorating the online perception of unlicensed NPIs could also be responsible for deteriorating the perception of the sentences under investigation here. This would represent an illusion of ungrammaticality. Furthermore, these results provide evidence against the speculation that NPI illusions are the consequence of misrepresenting ever as its near neighbor never, given that continuations with never are judged as unacceptable in spite of their grammaticality. Together, these findings inform the landscape of hypotheses on NPI illusions and offer valuable insights on the complexity of multiple negation and the relation between processing difficulty and acceptability. (shrink)

Influential work on reasoning and decision-making has popularised the idea that sound reasoning requires correction of fast, intuitive thought processes by slower and more demanding deliberation. We present seven studies that question this corrective view of human thinking. We focused on the very problem that has been widely featured as the paradigmatic illustration of the corrective view, the well-known bat-and-ball problem. A two-response paradigm in which people were required to give an initial response under time pressure and cognitive load allowed (...) us to identify the presumed intuitive response that preceded the final response given after deliberation. Across our studies, we observe that correct final responses are often non-corrective in nature. Many reasoners who manage to answer the bat-and-ball problem correctly after deliberation already solved it correctly when they reasoned under conditions that minimised deliberation in the initial response phase. This suggests that sound bat-and-ball reasoners do not necessarily need to deliberate to correct their intuitions; their intuitions are often already correct. Pace the corrective view, findings suggest that in these cases, they deliberate to verify correct intuitive insights. (shrink)

O termo informação ganhou relevância preponderante nas décadas finais do século passado, quando, a explosão informacional, potencializada pelas tecnologias emergentes, fez com que o seu tratamento ganhasse nova dimensão, devido ao seu ritmo cada vez mais crescente. A informação é um elemento fundamental das empresas que procuram a conquista da vantagem competitiva. Para utilizá-la de forma estratégica é importante saber que informações são adequadas, deixar as informações disponíveis e acessíveis, saber as informações relevantes, sua origem e a quem endereça-las e (...) que sua transmissão seja intensa atendendo aos níveis de pertinência desejados. Entretanto, sua utilização pode não receber a devida atenção o que acarretará prejuízos tanto a eficiência quanto à eficácia organizacional. Considerando a relevância da informação, os ambientes informacionais, bem como a importância dos fluxos de informação para as Organizações, sejam elas públicas ou privadas, desenvolve-se este ensaio procurando apresentar, refletir e a provocar outras considerações e estudos a respeito da relação entre o ambiente organizacional e o ambiente informacional. Apresenta, ainda, conceitos de conjugação dos ambientes organizacional e informacional, bem como a sua dinâmica nas Organizações. INFORMATION AND ORGANIZATIONAL ENVIRONMENTS: ESSAY ON THE DYNAMICS OF INFORMATIONAL ENVIRONMENTS IN ORGANIZATIONS AbstractThe term information gained major relevance in the final decades of the last century, when the information explosion, boosted by emerging technologies, made its treatment gain a new dimension, due to its ever-increasing pace. Information is a key part of companies seeking to gain competitive advantage. To use it in a strategically form is important to know what kind of information is suitable, make it available and accessible, know the most relevant information, its origin and to whom address it and its transmission should be intense in view of the desired pertinence levels. Meanwhile, its use might not receive the due attention, what will cause losses in both efficiency and organizational effectiveness. Considering the relevance of the information, the information environments, as well as the importance of information flows for organizations, whether they are public or private, this essay was developed seeking to present, reflect and promote other considerations and works regarding the relationship between the organizational and informational environments. It also presents concepts of mixed organizational and informational environments, as well as its dynamics in organizations. (shrink)

A cursory view of the history of ethical thinking shows the presence of a limited variety of 'styles of ethical reasoning', a term used in analogy of Crombie's 'styles of scientific reasoning' for systems of thought that set their own standards and techniques for providing evidence. Each style of reasoning tends to suggest a specific role for ethicists. Styles are appropriate relative to particular contexts of problems and require special institutions to flourish. Herman De Dijn's discussion in Taboes, monsters en (...) loterijen of the problems hybridsproduced in biomedicine and biotechnology pose for the symbolic order is shown to rest on two 'styles of ethical reasoning', viz, 'postulation of principles' and 'hermeneutics'. It is argued that both styles fall short, but for different reasons. 'Postulation of principles' is ill-equipped to answer problems posed by a world of change. Hermeneutics requires a pace of time and institutions not available in current society. Confronted with the problems De Dijn discusses, therefore two separate problems arise. Ethicistsnot only have to learn how to account for the hybrids that biomedicine and biotechnology produce, they also have to think about and contribute to institutional innovation. Rather than opening a space for discussing both tasks, De Dijn's styles of reasoning close off this matter. (shrink)

In his 1982 book Wittgenstein On Rules and Private Language, Saul Kripke maintains that Wittgenstein´s rule following considerations land us with a skeptical argument about meaning. This essay contains a short exposition of Kripke´s argument. In addition, I hold, both on textual grounds and by an appeal to some select secondary literature, that Wittgenstein offered no such skeptical argument in the Philosophical Investigations . Although Wittgenstein certainly repudiates a view of meaning based on temporally located mental states, it does not (...) follow that there can be no meaning-grounding facts of other sorts. Although it is true that mental states, viewed atomistically, offer no sure foundation for meaning, I argue that it need not follow, pace Kripke, that no facts about an individual´s past mental life can ever make it clear that he meant ‘plus’ rather than ‘quus’ while performing any addition. For the individual´s past mental life is indeed relevant to meaning when considered in its unfolding in time. The essay further contains explorations on the very nature of the practice of following a rule and ends with a discussion of the solitary rule follower. (shrink)

This paper deals with the relation between Nicholas of Cusa and the Dutch philosopher Heymericus de Campo. Nicholas is celebrated for his rather positive attitude towards Islam. In De pace fidei (1453) he presents the vision of una religio in rituum varietate and in his Cribratio Alkorani (1460/61) Nicholas tries to prove Christian dogmas on the basis of the Koran. This idea he had discussed with his Dutch friend several decades earlier. In his Disputatio de potestate ecclesiastica (1433/34) (...) Heymeric scrutinizes the question, whether the highest authority in the church belongs to the pope or the council, on the basis of the Koran. He presents ten arguments in favour of the council and one in favour of the pope. This shows that Nicholas developed parts of his exceptional thought in conversation with Heymeric and suggests that a closer examination of Heymeric's texts will reveal a new side of the young Cusanus. (shrink)

Studies have suggested that metaphors (Lawyers are sharks) and similes (Lawyers are like sharks) have distinct representations: metaphors engender more figurative and abstract properties, whereas similes engender more literal properties. We investigated to what extent access to such representations occurs automatically, during on-line reading. In particular, we examined whether similes convey a more literal meaning by following the metaphors and similes with explanations that expressed either a figurative (dangerous) or a literal property (fish) of the vehicle. In a self-paced reading (...) with a moving window paradigm, we presented participants with negated simile and metaphor main clauses (Lawyers are not (like) sharks) followed by explanations that also negated either a figurative (because lawyers are not dangerous) or a literal property of the vehicle (because lawyers are not fish). We found that vehicles (sharks) in metaphors were read significantly faster than those in similes. In addition, explanations negating a figurative property were read faster after metaphors, whereas explanations negating a literal property were read faster after similes. These results support the hypothesis that metaphors and similes rely on different interpretive processes, suggesting that similes access literal representations while metaphor access figurative ones in real time. (shrink)

Este artículo presenta la revisión de los antecedentes medievales sobre el diálogo entre las diferentes religiones. Esta revisión tiene lugar a la luz del De pace fidei de Nicolás de Cusa, que ha sido interpretado en la modernidad como un modelo de tolerancia religiosa. La inaccesibilidad de la verdad o deus absconditus y el factum de la diversidad, sientan las bases para la búsqueda de la unidad en la diferencia. La fundamentación filosófica de la Trinidad y la Encamación, (...) cuya aceptación es indispensable para la construcción de la paz de la fe, muestra la coherencia que Nicolás establece entre filosofia y teologia, entendidas ambas en el sentido de la docta ignorantia. (shrink)

On the celebrations of the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council and the 20th anniversary since the publication of The Catechism of the Catholic Church, Benedict XVI published a Letter entitled Porta Fidei, in which it was promulgated the Year of Faith. It began on November 11th 2012 and expired onl November 24th 2013. The year of 2012 was also when the XIII Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops about The New Evangelization for (...) the Transmission of the Christian Faith took place. On the Apostolic Letter Porta Fidei, Benedict XVI remembered that in the current days faith cannot be assumed in society and also pointed out the importance of rediscovering it, to "show the joy of meeting Christ”, welcoming the grace and the teachings of the Second Vatican Council and the contribution of the Church's Catechism to The New Evangelization for the preaching of the Christian faith. We understand that pointing out the strength and beauty of faith means to present it in a new way to man, keeping its essential integrity. Such exercise isn’t just a challenge for the Church, but also an urgent task and an important contribution to the complete formation of the human being. To say the same thing in a new way we must always come from a source which is capable of preserving and renewing our faith. The primary source of faith is the Divine Revelation and therefore this is also the source of the proclamation of the Gospel. This idea, for us, is decisive for the matter of faith and its announcement, which is found in the Dogmatic Constitution Dei Verbum on Divine Revelation. Therefore our article will develop this idea based on Dei Verbum and it intends to be a contribution to catechesis, understood as a process of initiation into the Christian life or life in faith. (shrink)