Looking to understand religiosity as a social factor, contributory of constructions of meaning and omnipresent in diverse historical and cultural universes, this article focuses on the ritualistic dimension of religiosity. Adopting as a research problem the religious pilgrimages, take particular note of the shrines as symbolic markers towards the supernatural. This work has a double aim: to carry out a review and critical analysis of the religious pilgrimages and to study the specificity of the pilgrimages to the Shrine of Fatima, (...) located in Portugal. After a brief mention of the dialectic dissidence-coexistence of ancient religious practices in secularized societies, the concepts of worship, rites and sacrifices are revisited. There follows a more in-depth analysis of the theme of pilgrimages to shrines, from the concept and historical review to the particularity of pilgrimages to the Shrine of Fatima, the latter viewed as a geo-symbol of religious tourism in Portugal. The results of a survey of 784 pilgrims to the Shrine of Fátima are presented, focusing on the beliefs, experiences, perceptions, purposes and expectations regarding the pilgrimage, as well as the nature of the requests addressed to the Lady of Fatima and promises fulfilled. Throughout the article the pilgrim character is emphasized, not neglecting the analysis of the active, voluntary and sacrificial behavioral implication as legitimating the benefits already granted or to be granted. (shrink)

A linguagem é mais que a palavra escrita ou falada, é a direção do pensamento no contato com o contexto histórico-social no qual se está inserido. O discurso se apresenta enquanto mediação entre pessoas e realidades. A AD se apresenta como um constructo teórico-metodológico que possibilita averiguar construções ideológicas e efeitos de sentido do discurso em diferentes contextos, propiciando um olhar ampliado sobre a realidade. Objetiva-se inter-relacionar aspectos epistemológicos de Foucault e Heidegger, que possam servir como aportes ao método Análise (...) do Discurso, e refletir sobre uma estrutura que possa ser aplicada nas pesquisas da área de CI. Para tanto, propõe-se o uso da Revisão Sistemática da Literatura (RSL) enquanto técnica, a fim de subsidiar uma apresentação mais concreta referente a aplicação da AD no campo da CI. Metodologicamente trata-se de um estudo exploratório traçado na inter-relação entre questões da Filosofia da Linguagem e aspectos metodológicos e epistemológicos da Ciência da Informação e para tanto, buscou-se a revisão da literatura de ambos os domínios. Ainda há uma certa relutância do uso da AD na CI por sua forma mais teórica, ou seja, sem um procedimento preestabelecido, como se verifica em outros métodos, tais como a Análise do Conteúdo que possibilita a análise categorial, a análise de avaliação, a análise de enunciação, a análise proposicional, entre outras. O objetivo da AD não é estabelecer se um discurso é verdadeiro ou falso, mas sim os efeitos de sentidos e as questões subliminares. Portanto, no discurso construído com bases em preconceitos, por exemplo, serão reveladas as fragilidades inerentes àquela construção. Por outro lado, em um texto reflexivo, a tendência é que por meio da aplicação da AD, sejam reveladas toda solidez das ideias e estruturas. Assim, verifica-se a grande contribuição que AD pode aferir à CI e como Foucault e Heidegger podem ser imprescindíveis para compor o arcabouço teórico da AD, dependendo dos objetivos da pesquisa. (shrink)

The essay investigates the relationship between humanity and catastrophe in Davi Kopenawa’s shamanic cosmology, which is compared by approximation to Lucretius’ venusian cosmology and by contrast to Kant’s moral eschatology. It considers the thesis of the structural and dynamic instability of the sky and the problem of the cosmic void. So it seeks to develop the question about the origin and the end of humanity through the catastrophe, both in its ancestral, extra-human dimension, and in its connection with the current (...) socio-environmental destruction, of anthropic origin. In conclusion, it speculates about the role played by the critical thinking in the catastrophe’s eruption. (shrink)

Esse artigo parte da arte, da ficção científica e da literatura fantástica para propor uma outra cosmopolítica, divergente daquela que sustentaria, simultaneamente, realismo literário e etnocentrismo ocidental.

O ensaio investiga a diferença qualitativa do fogo a partir de suas diversas configurações histórico-físicas. Com apoio em concepções de Schrödinger, Margulis & Sagan, Asimov e Prigogine & Stengers, desenvolve-se o problema da conexão entre matéria, vida e espírito por meio da comparação entre conceitos divergentes de entropia. Conclui-se com uma especulação cosmológica a respeito da historicidade da natureza.

O ensaio desenvolve o problema cosmológico da relação entre metafísica e termodinâmica, pensamento e ambiente, espírito e calor, com foco nos conceitos filosófico- científicos de sistema (Serres, Bateson) e entropia (Prigogine & Stengers, Georgescu-Roegen), em vista da catástrofe ambiental em curso. Seu objetivo principal é fundamentar a hipótese mágico-filosófica, baseada em Ficino e Agrippa, Starhawk e Castaneda, segundo a qual uma termodinâmica noética, ou uma noética ígnea, é não só possível mas necessária para fazer sentido do Antropoceno como “Piroceno” (Pyne). (...) Por sua origem antrópica, a catástrofe planetária atesta que o pensamento é intrinsecamente ígneo. (shrink)

resumo O propósito deste artigo é o de discutir em linhas gerais a relação entre método e me t a f í s ica na filosof ia de Descartes. Pre t e ndemos fazê-lo me d ia nte a cont raposição das Meditações de filosofia primeira às Regras para a direção do espírito quanto a alguns temas em comum. Nosso objetivo principal é questio nar o papel desempenhado pela evid ê nc ia intelectual no cont exto epistemo l ó g (...) ico das Regras e no cont exto metafísico das Meditações. Retoma ndo, num prime i ro mo me nto, algumas int e r p retações sobre o assunto e discutindo, num segundo momento, a natureza da dúvida e a noção de evidênc ia nas Meditações, pro c u ramos concluir com a sugestão de que no sistema cartesia no tem lugar um conflito de ordem estrutural entre método e metafísica.palavras-chave método; metafísica; evidência; dúvida; idéia; existência. (shrink)

O ego e o outro: sobre a crítica de Husserl ao cogito cartesiano.

O ensaio trata do problema da invisibilidade da matéria e do vazio em Dererum natura Como é possível a Lucrécio sustentar, por um lado, que o ânimo ématerial e que o conhecimento é sensível, e, por outro, que os primórdios dascoisas, bem como o vazio e os simulacros dos corpos, são invisíveis e, no limite,inacessíveis aos sentidos? O problema é desenvolvido mediante um comentário aotexto de Lucrécio que retoma criticamente a interpretação de Deleuze em Lógica dosentido com foco na relação (...) entre o caráter oculto da natureza e a diferença develocidade entre, de um lado, sentidos e pe nsamento e, de outro, simulacros ecorpos. A partir disso, o ensaio tira conclusões a respeito da natureza do discurso deLucrécio sobre a natureza das coisas. (shrink)

The Code for Global Ethics: Ten Humanist Principles By Dr Rodrigue Tremblay Prometheus Books -/- The world faces a crisis of civilization, which is in reality a moral crisis. The modern moral worldview that has evolved since the 18th Century Age of Enlightenment seems to be weathering. There is a recrudescence of the old moral formulas that encourage conflicts and wars. Humanity is in need of a new moral revival, free of sectarian references, in order to pursue its long march (...) for survival in a climate of progress and liberty. -/- The Code for Global Ethics proposes an imperative and more explicitly universal code of rights and obligations for all individuals, whether they be ordinary citizens or leaders of countries, of corporations, or religious organizations. It outlines the principles of rational humanism to be applied within the global context of a shrinking and a politically and economically interdependent world. Such a universal and global code of conduct is then compared to alternative moral codes—codes usually based on sectarian religious systems—with a demonstration of why such narrow or ethnically centered moral systems have failed humanity in the past. In our view, humanism is about idealism, compassion, and mutual tolerance, in a true spirit of humanity. It is a truly universal vision of humankind. http://www.amazon.com/The-Code-Global-Ethics-Principles/dp/1616141727/ref=pd_sim_sbs_b_3 -/- . (shrink)

Jiren (畸人), literally translated as irregular (Ji) person (ren), is a critical concept in the classical Daoist text the Zhuangzi (5th–3rd century BC.).1 The concept refers to individuals with atypical body shapes. Some of them lack body parts of the standard human body, like a leg or toes. Some others have an atypical anatomy, like having a chin stuck down their navel; and some of them are, by social standards of the time, considered to be extremely ugly.1 These individuals are (...) described as incredibly virtuous. The description of Jiren individuals as virtuous does not simply aim to show there may be hidden virtues that social conventions blur. The point is not to show that we should also care for those with atypical bodies who have a hidden virtue. Rather, the point is to show that all human beings have an unconditional intrinsic value and moral worth. So, Jiren prescribes that an atypical body shape does not reflect inferiority. The variation of body anatomies should be understood as how the world is, not a value hierarchy. The concept of Jiren encourages, therefore, to consider one’s own and others’ value beyond their physical appearance. What’s more, Jiren encourages individuals to resist social pressures to fit a standard and to search inward for who they really are and accept it. This ethical groundwork set by the Jiren aims at freeing people from existing physical and mental boundaries to their well-being and helping them rethink …. (shrink)

O presente texto propõe-se a refletir, no rastro de Arendt, sobre o declínio da política na modernidade diante de sua redução à administração da vida e das necessidades vitais. Para tanto, discutiremos a “moderna alienação do mundo” fomentada pela ascensão do trabalho e da vida, e refletiremos sobre a redução da política à administração da vida diante do advento do social e da vitória do animal laborans. Pressupõe-se que, examinarmos tais categorias nos permite observar o ocaso da política na era (...) moderna e a sua transformação em biopolítica, e, ademais, como esta categoria segue na contramão da noção política da autora. Para a metodologia, realizamos uma exegese filosófica das obras referencias, especialmente a obra A Condição Humana (1958), de Hannah Arendt. (shrink)

The aim of this paper is to investigate the relationship between information and abductive reasoning in the context of problem-solving, focusing on non-human animals. Two questions guide our investigation: What is the relation between information and abductive reasoning in the context of human and non-human animals? Do non-human animals perform discovery based on inferential processes such as abductive reasoning? In order to answer these questions, we discuss the semiotic concept of information in relation to the concept of abductive reasoning and, (...) more specifically, to the notion of manipulative abduction proposed by Magnani. Finally, we investigate a case study of corvids’ intelligence, namely, their capacity of causal cognition. (shrink)

Over recent years, various semantics have been proposed for dealing with updates in the setting of logic programs. The availability of different semantics naturally raises the question of which are most adequate to model updates. A systematic approach to face this question is to identify general principles against which such semantics could be evaluated. In this paper we motivate and introduce a new such principle the refined extension principle. Such principle is complied with by the stable model semantics for (single) (...) logic programs. It turns out that none of the existing semantics for logic program updates, even though generalisations of the stable model semantics, comply with this principle. For this reason, we define a refinement of the dynamic stable model semantics for Dynamic Logic Programs that complies with the principle. (shrink)

Este ensaio tem como objetivo analisar os desafios do ensino da Psicologia da Educação na formação de professores em tempos de pós-pandemia. A nossa metodologia de pesquisa encontra-se no campo da Filosofia da Educação, no sentido de interpretar criticamente o processo formativo dos futuros professores que se encontram nos cursos de licenciaturas. Partimos do pressuposto que o deslocamento do sujeito para atuar no papel de professor se apresenta como resultado das relações que se estabelecem na transmissão do saber crítico em (...) sala de aula. Essa condição se constitui numa ressignificação da cultura escolar, no sentido de proporcionar a experiência vivida numa relação entre iguais. Podemos concluir que a Psicologia da Educação em tempos de pós-pandemia deveria assumir a tarefa de reelaborar o ensinar e aprender o outro no campo escolar como forma de construirmos processos de aprendizagem em que possamos olhar e pensar o mundo em respeito às todas as espécies de vida do nosso planeta no sentido de evitarmos a crise ecológica e suas consequências devastadoras. (shrink)

Taking into account the debate about the continuity or discontinuity in Heb 1-12 and Heb 13, with the implication of whether the hortatory material in chapter 13 is consistent with chapters 1-12 or it is a list of miscellaneous exhortations instead, this article seeks to discern connections between the concept of marriage in 13:4 with the ideas stated in 12:28–13:6. This endeavor is informed by a reading of 12:28-13:6 made in three steps. First, 12:28-29 is read as a transition for (...) the hortatory material in chapter 13. Second, 13:1-6 is traced as a conceptual structure for the understanding of marriage in 13:4. Third, the article identifies connections of the exhortation about marriage in 13:4 with ideas developed in 12:28-29 and 13:1-6. (shrink)

Brentano’s theory of Intentionality gave rise to empirical psychology, considered by the mental acts of external objects and consciousness. In this sense, the purpose of this essay is to reflect on the phenomenon of auditory hallucinations, from the perspective of Franz Brentano’s intentionality, as a representative psychic phenomenon of internal experience. Auditory hallucinations, under a phenomenological approach, are considered as an experience of the relational process of a historical person. In analogy to the theory of the intentionality of mental acts, (...) the phenomenon of listening to voices becomes an experience perceived in the internal understanding of existential meanings, which must occur through two types of acts: the personal meaning, represented; and to relate, through intentional conduct, with the experienced reality. Finally, the importance of Brentano’s studies for humanist approaches I consider inseparable from phenomenological psychopathology, and therefore, makes it possible to reflect on the field of mental health. (shrink)

The present work refers to the doctorship research that implemented the Free-Expression Painting Studio technique to assist university students who had suicidal ideations or attempts. This technique was developed in France by the psychologist Michel Ternoy, based on Minkowski’s structural-phenomenon analysis method. A group session will be presented and discussed from Michel Henry’s phenomenology of life. Psychology and phenomenology can create spaces for belonging and support, which allow the transformation of suffering from experiences in the community. The Painting Studio makes (...) it possible to experience the affection of the other as a potential of one’s own possibilities, mobilizing the affective dialectical relationship, through which one can go from unbearable suffering to original fruition. We seek to show that art can be part of the therapeutic process as an alternative to the passage to the act of suicide before it becomes unbearable. (shrink)

It is shocking to notice that universities still research few of what daily happens inside their walls. Even though knowledge amount to just a small part of the numerous things that are produced in/between academic relations, it is rare to find investigations in which academic modus operandi is the research focus. The text relies on references like Foucault, Deleuze and Guattari to investigate the subjectivities produced in Academia’s daily routines. With attention to experiences, to what many times is naturalized and (...) said only in the corridors and behind the scenes, this paper uses autoethnography as its method with the aim of analysing academic relations in the context of a Brazilian public university. The narratives constructed here are traversed by songs, lived situations, and affectations. Stories that deal with trajectories of a professor since his arrival at a new workplace. E-mails, threats, exoneration. What is considered to be normal in Academia? What still shocks and affect us? The paper draws on concepts like moral harassment and academic pimping to guide the written narratives and to deepen analyses built throughout the paper. How is it possible to de-naturalize what we daily do in universities? Without predefined or definite answers, the text questions the ways how we relate to each other in Academia and stimulates reflections on the impacts of our academic relations, not only to work itself, but also to the lives of the involved ones. (shrink)

A partir de uma explanação inicial sobre o significado e os limites da ontologia fundamental de Martin Heidegger, este ensaio procura investigar a possibilidade de uma ontologia não-antropogenética por meio do conceito problemático de extramundanidade. Essa investigação toma como fio condutor a ideia do “perspectivismo cosmológico”, elaborada por Eduardo Viveiros de Castro através de uma interpretação filosófico-antropológica do pensamento ameríndio. Lida como correlato positivo da extramundanidade, a noção perspectivística de sobrenatureza é contrastada com o conceito existencial de ser para confirmação (...) e problematização de seu caráter antropogenético. O objetivo principal do ensaio consiste em desvelar, apoiado radicalmente em outro pensamento, o sentido “cosmopolítico” do discurso sobre o ser, aqui representado pela filosofia de Heidegger. (shrink)

Normative systems have been advocated as an effective tool to regulate interaction in multi-agent systems. The use of deontic operators and the ability to represent defeasible information are known to be two fundamental ingredients to represent and reason about normative systems. In this paper, after introducing a framework that combines standard deontic logic and non-monotonic logic programming, deontic logic programs (DLP), we tackle the fundamental problem of equivalence between normative systems using a deontic extension of David Pearce’s Equilibrium Logic and (...) its monotonic basis, the logic of Here-and-There. We also show how deontic logic programs can be used to represent and reason about normative systems, and establish a strong connection with input-output logic. (shrink)

Trata-se de uma tradução do texto Künstler und Psychoanalyse de Hermann Hesse, incluso no Almanach der Psychoanalyse, que foi publicado pela Internationaler Psychoanalytischer Verlag de Wien em 1926.

Araras, 4 de abril de 2017 Querido amigo José Esteves: Você não tem idéia do quanto fiquei contente ao receber a solicitação feita por sua amiga Cecília de uma bibliografia sobre o Centro Dom Vital. Foi você quem sugeriu que ela me telefonasse e eu fiquei feliz por ser lembrada depois de tanto tempo e lembrada por um amigo que me traz tantas e tão gratas recordações. Soube por ela, pela sua amiga, que você está aposentado e que continua muito (...) ativo, trabalhando em seus múltiplos interesses c... (shrink)

Recently, there have been debates in Portugal regarding the morality of assisted death. One of the leading opponents in Portuguese society against assisted death are Catholics. They argue that the right to life implies that assisted death is immoral and provide four key arguments they believe justify their position. In this article, we reply to these four articles and show that they all fail.

Este ensaio busca analisar a representação conceitual do Exame Nacional do Ensino Médio (ENEM) para além do senso comum. Assim, o nosso objetivo geral é discutir a interface da avaliação educacional e as políticas públicas. _Para tanto, busca se _compreender os determinantes impostos na representação conceitual do Exame Nacional do Ensino Médio (ENEM) como modelo de gestão do espaço escolar. _Isso se apresenta como forma de romper com a hegemonia que se encontra presente no senso comum do ENEM apenas como (...) avaliação de ingresso no ensino superior. _A metodologia utilizada encontra-se no campo da teoria crítica, no sentido de apropriação do conceito de avaliação educacional. O estudo se justifica ao constituir aspectos interpretativos referentes aos sistemas de avaliação educacional que possam, efetivamente, direcionar para proposições de melhoria da qualidade da educação. Concluímos que se torna importante que os educadores, em sua atividade educativa, tenham a compreensão política do papel que desempenham em democratizar o acesso à cultura escolar e rejeitem a compreensão tecnicista de curso preparatório para o vestibular quando o ENEM ficar associado, exclusivamente, a um mecanismo de ingresso ao ensino superior. Isso implica compreender que a educação básica, como um todo, é um lugar de formação e o ingresso no ensino superior é decorrência desse processo formativo. _Nesse contexto, a formação profissional do sujeito, numa sociedade democrática em todas as instâncias, seria a posição do saber fazer como elemento de acesso a todos que participam e usufruem da ciência e tecnologia como instrumento do pensamento crítico e efetiva melhoria da qualidade de vida de toda a população._. (shrink)

Na Co nd i ç ã o Huma na, publ i c a do e m1958, Hannah Arendt estabeleceu umadistinção importante entre a “condiçãohumana” e a “nat ur eza humana”. Apar t i r des t e anal i s e f enomenol ógi co,Arendt tentou circunscrever os limitesda “natureza humana”, e responder aosteóricos positivistas que consideravampossível conhecer o quid da naturezabiológica humana. Para Arendt, a açãohumana, a diferença dos eventos ocorrena natureza, consiste numa característicamui t o es peci f (...) i ca a l i ber dade. Comoresultado dele; uma correta compreensãodo fenômeno da condição humana, nãopode ser esgotada por apelar só à dimensãobiológica, devido a que, a ação humananão pode ser exatamente explicada pelasforças que atuam no exterior, o analisedo naturismo é insuficiente. E não podeesgot ar o pr obl ema do f enômeno daliberdade humana.Por sua parte, porém Hans Jonas, nãodes envol veu ampl ament e es t e t ema,inclui em O Principio de Responsabilidade,nos capí t ul os ci nco e sei s, uma duracritica ao projeto marxista que apela aoconceito desenvolvido por Arendt, de homolaborens, o qual é uma das manifestaçõesda “condição humana”.In The Human Condi ti on, published in1958, Hannah Arendt makes an importantdistinction between the “human condition”and t he “human nat ure”. Out of t hi sphenomenological analysis, Arendt triedto circumscribe the limits of the “humannat ur e” and t o r es pond t o pos i t i vi s ttheoreticians who considered possible toknow the essence of the biological humannature. For Arendt, human action, unlikethe events that occur in nature, consists ofa characteristic very specific of freedom.As a result, a correct understanding ofthe phenomenon of human condi ti onis not possible through the biologicaldimension, since human action cannot beproperly explained by the forces that actin the external world. This shows that thenaturalistic analysis is insufficient andcannot deal properly with the phenomenonof human freedom.On the other hand, though Hans Jonas didnot treat completely this problem in his ThePrinciple of Responsibility, he offers a hardcriticism of the Marxist project inspiredin Arendt’s notions, targeting the notion of homo laborens,as one of the manifestations of the “humancondition”. (shrink)

O presente trabalho tem como objetivo examinar o sentido de physis na discussão educacional das obras platônicas, contrapondo-a com o conceito de paideia. Um primeiro momento nessa discussão ocorre no Protágoras, quando o sofista epônimo propõe que todos os homens, por sua própria natureza, partilham da virtude política, afirmando, porém, que essa virtude é ensinável. Essas duas propostas aparentemente conflitantes são conciliadas na República, em que Sócrates determina a physis e a paideia como duas condições para ser integrado à cidade (...) completamente justa. Palavras-chave: filosofia grega; Platão; physis; paideia. (shrink)

Hegel foi o último filósofo a expor a Filosofia enquanto Sistema. Ele é da tradição platônica onde o Absoluto se desdobra internamenteenquanto Sistema. Hegel foi o iniciador, antes mesmo de Heidegger e Gadamer, da hermenêutica. Crítico de Kant, demonstrou que a vigência de dois mundos paralelos não passa de ilusão de uma razão demasiado apegada à sacralidade da coisa em si. Hegel demonstrou, muito antes de Heidegger, que ser e tempo possuem uma imbricação ontológica, que o horizonte do Dasein está (...) no percurso mesmo para o Ser, e que este se desdobra enquanto história, e que o “caminho que sobe e o que desce” é o mesmo. Pela Fenomenologia do Espírito demonstra o que percurso da consciência que sobe em direção ao Absoluto, trilhado com seriedade, dor, paciência e o trabalho do negativo (PhG, § 9) é, simultaneamente, Ontologia e Ciência. (shrink)

Firms engage in corporate social responsibility (CSR) because they consider that some kind of competitive advantage accrues to them. We contend that resource-based perspectives (RBP) are useful to understand why firms engage in CSR activities and disclosure. From a resource-based perspective CSR is seen as providing internal or external benefits, or both. Investments in socially responsible activities may have internal benefits by helping a firm to develop new resources and capabilities which are related namely to know-how and corporate culture. In (...) effect, investing in social responsibility activities and disclosure has important consequences on the creation or depletion of fundamental intangible resources, namely those associated with employees. The external benefits of CSR are related to its effect on corporate reputation. Corporate reputation can be understood as a fundamental intangible resource which can be created or depleted as a consequence of the decisions to engage or not in social responsibility activities and disclosure. Firms with good social responsibility reputation may improve relations with external actors. They may also attract better employees or increase current employees’ motivation, morale, commitment and loyalty to the firm. This article contributes to the understanding of why CSR may be seen as having strategic value for firms and how RBP can be used in such endeavour. (shrink)

The Ways that Big History Works: Cosmos, Life, Society and our Future reflects on how Big History helps us understand the nature of our existence and consider the pathways to our future.

In this article, we will make the case for an intercultural philosophy of religion with a special focus on interculturality between Chinese and African philosophies. We will provide an overview of the kind of intercultural philosophy that has already been undertaken between the East and the South and point out that a philosophy of religion has been left out. We will then make the case for a global philosophy of religion approach and why Chinese and African philosophies of religion should (...) engage in philosophical interchanges. We will then highlight some directions for carrying out such a philosophy and explain why the problem of evil may be better addressed from an intercultural perspective. (shrink)

This letter responds to the essay “Digital Humans to Combat Loneliness and Social Isolation: Ethics Concerns and Policy Recommendation,” by Nancy S. Jecker, Robert Sparrow, Zohar Lederman, and Anita Ho, in the January‐February 2024 issue of the Hastings Center Report.

ABSTRACT In this article, I will carry out an epistemic and interpretative project, drawing out the implications of African values for the morality of war. More precisely, I wish to interpret the African value system and tease out some conclusions as to what this value system entails in terms of the following: the morality of when to enter war, how to act in war, and what to do after war. I carry out this inquiry by articulating the African value of (...) Ubuntu in light of the actions and speeches of two prominent African leaders, Nelson Mandela and Amilcar Cabral. (shrink)

Personality disorders are among the most intriguing and fascinating mental disorders. As they are characterized by pathological traits, not signs and symptoms, they are unsuitable for treatment with psychotropic drugs or other biological treatments. A psychological understanding of these disorders is possible based on cognitive or psycho-dynamic explanations but the author argues that these theoretical models miss the essential point, as they Jack a foundational ground on what is specifically human in human beings, their humanitas. Any deviation from this ground (...) might lead to the so called de-humanization of medicine or other clinical disciplines. This paper proposes an existential understanding of personality disorders grounded on the being of man. A clinical practice oriented towards the phenomenological method conceives human beings as an “opening of meaning” where the entities of the world can show themselves. The “opening” however is structured and if one revealed content (for instance a biographical event) is misunderstood as a structural component that might generate a set of interrelated pathological personality traits. A clinical case is presented to illustrate this process. (shrink)

This paper aims at clarifying the Aristotelian definition of the moral virtue given in the second book of each Ethics by using the various illustrations of this characterization found into literature. The demonstration first bears on the traditional linear plan, which is to be corrected, and goes on to the cross model, that will be refined according to the informations from the Ethics.

With the triumph of capitalism at the end of the Cold War, the 1990s witnessed the emergence of an optimistic sentiment grounded in the idea of limitless progress. However, as Fisher (2020) asserts, this sentiment was called into question by the crises of the early 21st century, giving rise to a melancholic outlook on the future. This new phase of capitalism has generated a series of existential-themed products in popular culture, albeit with a despairing tone regarding the direction of society. (...) The issue at hand aims to analyze popular culture through a Sartrean existential prism, seeking to understand how the cultural industry creates clichés inspired by historical existentialism, producing what we will refer to as “vulgar existentialism,” in contrast to Sartre’s historical existentialism. Our hypothesis unfolds in two parts: 1- Vulgar existentialism promotes a hedonistic rebellion that does not threaten the system, reducing the crisis to a “neutralized” form of conduct; 2- Such conduct is sustained by an imaginary rooted in popular culture productions that manifest melancholy and fatalism in relation to attempts at radical societal transformation. (shrink)

This paper tries to explore the phenomenon of meaning through an investigation of Jan Patočka’s asubjective phenomenology. Meaning, according to this author, is problematic: it lies neither at rest in the things themselves, nor is it merely subjective – a more or less arbitrary human imposition. Instead, meaning, like all phenomena, belongs to the “phenomenological field”, also encompassing those experiences typically called “subjective”. In this sense, meaning is relational, that is, it lies in the relation of “ having meaning for (...) a subject”. Accordingly, it is dependent on a kind “openness” to meaning. “Care of the soul”, a term patočka takes over from the Ancient Greeks, is precisely a reflexive exercise upon this openness, this attunement to, ultimately, the very problematicity of meaning. This dynamic also seems to imply that meaning could be open to, not only unveiling, but to its (co-)creation. (shrink)