Practical reasoning as an important form of argumentation in politics has received limited research attention in critical discourse studies despite the proposal of an analytical model. Focusing on argument development surrounding events related to the extradition bill crisis of Hong Kong, this paper analyzes 48 editorials published in the South China Morning Post during the crisis period adopting Fairclough’s model. A number of recurrent themes have been identified in the corpus in association with the four argument components within the model (...) – Claims, Goals, Values and Circumstances – which may increase understanding of the social contexts of the extradition bill crisis. It is further argued that, although Fairclough’s model may not capture the arguments in individual editorials comprehensively, the model can be usefully applied to analyze a collection of interrelated editorials to reveal more insights about an ongoing political crisis. (shrink)

La thèse de l'article est que Constantin aurait invité les évêques à Nicée pour fêter son jubilé. L'arianisme ne pouvait en être la raison, car à la fin de 324 l'empereur le considérait une chose de peu d'importance, même si scandaleuse. En tant que Pontifex Maximus, il était aussi responsable pour établir le calendrier des fêtes de la nouvelle religion et était tenu de conserver les formules sacrées. Les chrétiens n'avaient pas réussi jusqu'alors à se mettre d'accord sur la date (...) de la Pâque; Constantin voulait donc la faire établir. Il semble en fait que lui seul désirait un symbole de foi signé par tous; jusqu'alors chaque église locale avait le sien propre. Pour établir la date de la Pâque, garantir la paix dans l'Eglise et produire un credo, Constantin envoya son conseiller ecclésiastique, Ossio di Cordova, en mission en Orient. Celui-ci échoua et le credo formulé à Antioche était si radicalement anti-arien qu'il devait paraître assez monarchien, vu qu'à Nicée il n'en fut pas question. A Nicée, donc, les évêques, avant de célébrer le jubilé, durent solutionner toutes ces questions. Le credo établi s'y est présenté comme un compromis assez artificiel entre les tendances antiochiennes et alexandrines. Comme tel malgré la signature de l'empereur, il ne fut accepté par aucune eglise locale. Celles-çi continuèrent pendant des décennies à formuler de nouveaux symboles, jusqu'à ce que Athanase d'Alexandrie commenca à oeuvrer po. (shrink)

This is a position article summarizing our approach to the philosophy of space and spatial representation. Our concern is mostly methodological: above all, we argue that a number of philosophical puzzles that arise in this field—puzzles concerning the nature of spatial entities, their material and mereological constitution, their relationship with the space that they occupy—stem from a confusion between semantic issues and true metaphysical concerns.

Dans cet article nous étudions le Trattato della sfera de Galilée, écrit avant 1600. C’est un traité d’astronomie géocentrique qui suit la structure du Tractatus de sphæra de Johannes de Sacrobosco. Nous analysons quelques particularités du traité, en le comparant à d’autres travaux astronomiques du xvie siècle, et nous discutons ses sources probables. Nous soutenons que l’influence du commentaire de Christoph Clavius sur la Sphæra de Sacrobosco ne peut pas être considérée comme son influence unique ou principale. Le traité (...) de Galilée était probablement inspiré par la Sfera del mondo de Piccolomini, un travail qui anticipait plusieurs particularités du Trattato della sfera. Cette influence est établie par de nombreuses annotations de Galilée trouvées dans un exemplaire du livre de Piccolomini. (shrink)

In this article, I seek to account for the importance of a principle which governs a significant part of Patocˇka’s philosophy of history. For Patocˇka, history is characterised by an alternation of rises and falls; this is determined, on the one hand, by the attempt of the existence to rise above the simple imperatives of biological life; and, on the other, by the ever-present risk of falling back into what Patocˇka calls the project of “bare life,” bound to itself. I (...) analyse the presence of these claims in Patocˇka’s work at three levels: first, the role of the dynamic of life within the dynamic of existence, and in particular within the practice of work; second, the transition from prehistory to historical existence proper; and finally, the description of two striking phenomena of modern life, namely the domination of technology and war. I conclude by raising some critical questions, concerning in particular the ambiguity of the notion of life and the ethical perspectives that Patocˇka outlines as a way out. In my analysis I try to show that Patocˇka’s position is constructed in a dialogue with Arendt and Heidegger and implies in some respects an anticipation of the problems of biopolitics. (shrink)

Osservazioni sulle fonti luterane della controversia De notitia Dei naturali insita in infantibusStarting from a passage of Adam Steuart’s refutation of Descartes’ Notae in programma quoddam, this essay reconstructs the debate on the innate idea of God in infants that took place in Lutheran-oriented philosophy and theology between the end of the 16th and the middle of the 18th century. It is shown that one of the most common questions in modern philosophy is closely connected with theological thinking - (...) in this case Lutheran - from the formulation of the dogmatic systems up until their criticism by the Enlightenment. Also explained is the way in which the reception of Cartesianism was singularly influenced by the various backgrounds and the different and continuously changing polemical goals that inspired each author. In fact, Descartes was even accused of being a Lutheran. (shrink)

In recent times, there has been a debate about the Schmitt’s notion of political theology, by which the notions of messianism and katéchon have been rediscovered. Both the questions are connected with the one of apocalypse and apocalypse nowadays is linked to the western perception of the crisis of capitalism. Thus a question is: how does this complex of conceptions relate with Far-East Culture? Is that apocalyptic imagination valid also for these countries or do they have a different conception that (...) involves also a different way of perceiving political power and capitalism? In order to answer this question we have investigated the origins of apocalyptic thought, found by us in ancient Iranian tradition. Thus we have considered an alternative myth for Asian cultures: the one of phoenix and its related context of the fire-bird. We examined its relationships with political power and recently with free market ideology. So the final question is: is it not possible that the symbol of phoenix can be the Oriental alternative to the Western apocalyptic destinal imagination? (shrink)

L'articolo affronta il rapporto tra Henry Miller e Il tramonto dell'Occidente di OSwald Spengler, oggetto di una lettura approfondita e appassionata. Temi centrali sono quelli della decadenza della civiltà e delle vie d'uscita in chiave vitalistica e letteraria, da questo declino.