This article seeks to examine Rorty's contention that literary narrative, not political philosophy, is best able to address the problems of the West. It argues that although Rorty's conception of the novel as a valu able and informative medium is credible, he does not establish it as a valid alternative to political philosophy. Moreover Rorty retains the sort of reasoning that is characteristic of political philosophy, despite his assertions to the contrary.

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:Sozzini’s Ghost: Pierre Bayle and Socinian TolerationBarbara Sher TinsleyPierre Bayle’s Philosophical Commentary (1686–87), a Huguenot exile’s response to the Revocation of Nantes, established its author as a defender of free conscience for pagans, Muslims, Jews, atheists, Catholics, Protestants, Anabaptists, and Socinians. 1 The virtues of Pagans and Atheists are most fully treated in Bayle’s work on the comet. 2 In this work pagans, Catholics (whom Bayle equated with pagan (...) idolators), and atheists were compared to the advantage of the latter, a conclusion that caused widespread scandal and for which Bayle was obliged by his church to write an apology or clarification found in his Dictionary. 3 In toleration there was no juste milieu. 4 Everyone must act according to conscience no matter how errant. Bayle reiterated a position taken in his criticism of the Jesuit Louis Maimbourg’s History of Calvinism. 5 In it Bayle first enunciated the principle that he noted frightened readers and caused a scandal, namely, that error disguised as truth must be allowed all the privileges of truth, i.e., must be permitted to be believed by those convinced they had found truth. This doctrine of errant conscience was basic to Bayle’s understanding of God and man’s search for Him; and after his death it became basic to concepts of individualism, free [End Page 609] inquiry, free speech, and inalienable rights, concepts which were all made concrete during the Enlightenment. Forcing conscience was wrong. 6Bayle’s lack of partisanship in treating religious history invited criticism from Calvinists in Holland. He wrote to Mr. Pecher, a minister at Emmerick, that in his Dictionary he had avoided passionate prejudice with respect to Jesuits or to any other subject. 7 But had he also avoided an indifference to dogma? Not according to his chief critic who was his erstwhile patron turned enemy, Pierre Jurieu, Pastor of the Reformed church of Rotterdam and theologian in the Ecole Illustre. This school, founded expressly for Bayle and Jurieu by the city council of Rotterdam, 8 allowed Bayle to teach philosophy and history. Since Jurieu thought Bayle “indifferent” to dogma, he believed him to be a covert Socinian or atheist. In 1693 he managed to have Bayle dismissed from his teaching post.Indifference was a concept that started with the ancients, particularly Stoics, Skeptics, and Cynics, who regarded everything except virtue as matters of indifference, a posture with which many of Bayle’s writings, though not all, seemed to agree. In scholastic logic indifferentism meant that things were neither particular nor universal but indifferently so according to the viewpoint from which they were regarded. Jurieu made the charge of indifferentism in 1687. 9 He remarked then of Bayle’s concept of the erring conscience that it was “developed with a view to establishing tolerance and a general indifference of all sects and even of all religions.” 10 Bayle was not indifferent to doctrine. He remained loyal to the Reformed faith, defended orthodoxy, and in a letter to his cousin protested that he was ready to show that his work on comets contained nothing that was contrary to right reason, Scripture, or the Confession of faith of the Reformed Church. 11 Paul Dibon noted that Bayle was especially consistent in his concern for divine transcendance rather than indifference. 12 Henry Kamen wrote that Bayle wrote in “complete theological indifference,” 13 a statement ignoring Bayle’s disapproval of much theological heterodoxy, the orthodoxy of others. While Bayle was usually non-partisan, he was never indifferent. Kamen’s remark contrasts [End Page 610] with Theodore Rabb’s, who wrote that Jean Bodin and Bayle took their stand on “the equality of all beliefs” 14 a statement suggesting indifference, but in a positive rather than negative way.Bodin’s own religion was particularly problematic. Tolerant for his age, a whole century before Bayle, Bodin, a Carmelite friar for several years, had already repudiated forcing conscience. In his book on the state he warned that those who do so merely create more intransigence among their already alienated subjects. 15 He also insinuated that a multiplicity of religions—“all the religions of all people”—including natural religion, Jupiter’s... (shrink)

This article investigates the subject of pilgrimage and change, regarding the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela from a pilgrim's perspective. Two aspects of change are being looked at more closely: 1. The inner transformation of today's pilgrims during their pilgrimage, as well as the factors leading to their transformation, and 2. The occurance of recent structural changes of the pilgrimage and their background. These changes also reflect the tensions between pilgrimage and tourism, and the pilgrims and the politics of pilgrimage (...) respectively. (shrink)

Los conceptos de democracia y de gobierno representativo están inevitablemente conectados y vinculados entre ellos, y uno de los principios fundamentales de la democracia representativa es el principio de mayoría. Este articulo es una aproximación a la teoría de John Stuart Mill sobre el gobierno representativo en relación con el principio de mayoría y bajo su perspectiva elitista. Mill consideró el sistema representativo el modelo político más eficaz, aunque quiso subrayar los puntos críticos y los posibles desvíos negativos de la (...) democracia y, en particular, el riesgo de una dictadura de la mayoría y el contextual aislamiento político de las minorías. El filósofo inglés propuso un ideal de democracia basado sobre el mandato representativo que supone la independencia del representante si bien una independencia restringida y condicionada. Por otra parte, insistió sobre la importancia de que cada ciudadano fuese educado en la conciencia pública y se dejase influenciar por los hombres más cultos y iluminados de la comunidad. (shrink)

This article reports on a replication study of “Childless by choice? Attributions and attitudes concerning family size”, research published in Social Behavior and Personality and carried out by Valerie LaMastro in 2001. In the study presented in this paper the author examined the personality characteristics ascribed by naive perceivers to people with families of varying sizes. Students read one of twenty-four paragraphs describing a heterosexual couple who varied in the number of children they had and in male and female employment (...) status. Targets were rated on 28 personality characteristics and seven relationship quality statements concerning the level of family happiness. The results obtained indicated that a childless pair was viewed as less happy than those with children. Parents of any size family were, however, perceived similarly. (shrink)

Der Schwerpunkt der Reihe liegt auf thematisch fokussierten Auseinandersetzungen mit Nietzsches Werken, seinen Quellen und seiner Rezeption. Die gehen meist auf Veranstaltungen der Nietzsche-Forschungsstelle Freiburg sowie der Friedrich-Nietzsche-Stiftung Naumburg zurück. Die Reihe ist ideen-, kultur-, literatur- und philosophiegeschichtlich orientiert und - bei Offenheit für disziplinäre Vielfalt - dem Ideal genauer Textlektüren verpflichtet.

This article situates Edward Gresham'sAstrostereon, or A Discourse of the Falling of the Planet(1603), a little-known English astronomical treatise, in the context of the cosmo-theological debate on the reconciliation of heliocentrism with the Bible, triggered by the publication of Nicholas Copernicus'sDe revolutionibus orbium coelestiumin 1543. Covering the period from the appearance of the ‘First Account’ of Copernican views presented in Georg Joachim Rheticus'sNarratio Prima(1540) to the composition ofAstrostereonin 1603, this paper places Edward Gresham's commentary and exegesis against the background of (...) the views expressed by his countrymen and the thinkers associated with the Wittenberg University – such as Philipp Melanchthon, Caspar Peucer, and Christoph Rothmann. Comparing the ways in which they employed certain biblical passages – either in favour of or against the Earth's mobility – the paper emphasizes Gresham's ingenious reading of the Hebrew version of the problematic excerpts, and his expansion of the accommodation principle. (shrink)

In the past few years, there has been growing public awareness of the existence of slavery. This may be attributed in part to the media coverage of the civil war raging in the Sudan which, among other things, has revealed a bustling market in human trafficking. However, little or no attention has been directed to several other regions in the world, including, for example, the Arabian Gulf States, where rapid modernization tends to hide a gruesome reality of modern day slavery. (...) This paper examines three forms of slavery in the United Arab Emirates, used here as a case study—the exploitation of children as camel jockeys; the sexual enslavement of women; and the migrant workers who enslave themselves. By relating the data on present-day slavery to both the history of this ancient institution and to our current definitions of slavery, the author concludes that what is needed is a deeper awareness of the scope, nature, and forms of modern day slavery and a global effort to abolish it. (shrink)

To return to last week’s yammering, I want to say that I've been getting some interesting responses to the personal/political/feminist article, responses that are underlining for me the fact that I'm still pretty conflicted about defining feminism. A lot of you have said that feminism is a belief set like a religion, and that because of this there will naturally be a certain amount of disagreement among feminists and feminisms. I agree on the second point: debate is essential to learning, (...) to be sure. And I certainly wasn’t arguing that there should be any sort of unchanging rule-book. Quite the contrary—I believe feminists should disagree with one another, debate one another, learn from each other. (Can you say feminist praxis?) (3.5.98) 1. (shrink)

An amazing value for digital photography beginners–Digital Cameras & Photography For Dummies, a full-color book, plus a 60-minute DVD! This value-priced bundle is the perfect how-to package for novice digital photographers who want to start taking great pictures right away. It features a 256-page, full-color guide that shows how to take great photos, edit them, and show them off–including special "makeover" chapters that explain how to turn bad photos into good ones. The 60-minute DVD demonstrates how to work with light, (...) focus, and exposure to get great photos when shooting sports action, in low light, or a panorama. It also offers tutorials on editing with Photoshop Elements and sharing photos using online services. (shrink)

A ética discursiva de Jurgen Habermas ressalta o compromisso da linguagem racional em um diálogo no qual o objetivo é a busca de um consenso comum. Na atual sociedade a inteligência artificial (IA) tem ganhado cada vez mais espaço, e no contexto educacional não é diferente. Diante disso, objetiva-se então compreender como os princípios habermasianos podem conduzir a prática das IAs, de maneira que possa promover um ensino inclusivo e equitativo para os alunos com autismo em sala de aula. Trata-se (...) de pesquisa qualitativa, com levantamento bibliográfico e a proposta de criação de um aplicativo considerando a ética discursiva de acordo com Habermas. Os resultados implicam que uma IA criada com base haremmasiana ajuda a tornar a sala de aula inclusiva para os alunos com o diagnóstico do autismo. Conclui-se então que a IA pode ser um instrumento promotor da inclusão se criado com este propósito e aplicado de maneira coerente para alunos com autismo. (shrink)