Les traditions religieuses asiatiques représentent pour le christianisme des partenaires exigeants du dialogue interreligieux. L'hindouisme, et en particulier sa mystique de la non-dualité, en est un exemple frappant. L'article montre d'abord la différence qui sépare l'expérience religieuse de Jésus et la non-dualiste hindoue. Quelle valeur alors la théologie chrétienne peut-elle attribuer à la tradition religieuse et mystique de l'hindouisme ? Ensuite, l'A. montre que certains éléments des traditions religieuses peuvent constituer l'expression concrète d'une rencontre entre le Dieu de Jésus-Christ et (...) les membres de ces traditions. Enfin, il montre le caractère enrichissant de ce dialogue interreligieux. (shrink)

Inmediatamente después del Concilio Vaticano II, el Ecumenismo entre las diferentes Iglesias cristianas y Comunidades eclesiásticas ha adquirido un significado especial en el corazón mismo de los credos cristianos. Este estado de cosas se verifica también en el seno del esfuere de la Iglesia católica. En este sentido, la doctrina relativa a María, Madre de Dios, ha sido un ámbito particularmente sensible a ello. En el curso de últimos años se han constituido algunos grupos de trabajo específicos para estudiar conjuntamente (...) los aspectos que conciernen al misterio de María, tanto desde el punto de vista doctrinal como cultural y devocional. El presente trabajo se centra en dos Documentos elaborados por los citados grupos: Les Dombes, en Francia, y Seattle, en Estados Unidos. Tras una breve presentación de cada documento, se comparan para mostrar los puntos en los que coinciden y los puntos en los que no coinciden, puntos de acuerdo y desacuerdo. Exactamente el mismo método se sigue en la amplia comparación que se lleva a cabo con respecto a la doctrina católica sobre la Iglesia, a la doctrina católica sobre María. La conclusión del artículo se alcanza con la formulación de algunas preguntas sobre la forma que va a tomar el concepto de ecumenismo. (shrink)

La domanda "chi è l´uomo?" è un interrogativo esistenzialmente cruciale per ognuno di noi: non lo si può eludere. Per chi accoglie la Rivelazione cristiana la domanda si fa ancora più coinvolgente perchè la Sacra Scrittura ci insegna che l´uomo è creato a immagine e somiglianza di Dio e l´immagine perfetta di Dio è il Figlio Unigenito, Gesù Cristo. San Tommaso approfondisce queste categorie bibliche nella sua prima opera sistematica, lo "Scritto sulle Sentenze", aprendo delle prospettive quasi del tutto (...) ignorate, come la relazione tra immagine di Dio e la coscienza di sé, o la presenza dell'immagine di Dio anche nella corporeità umana. Inoltre, egli sviluppa il tema dell´assimilazione a Dio e della divinizzazione dell'uomo mediante l'immagine divina prodotta dalla grazia santificante e dalla gloria eterna. (shrink)

L'ambito del discorso. II tema deirimmortalitä deiranima e un tema antico quanto la riflessione dell'uomo ed e tema comune a dottrine filosofiche ed a fedi religiose. L'immortalita dell'anima presuppone necessariamente una dimensione metafisica della realta. II problema della soprawivenza dell'uomo depo la morte puo essere affrontato sotto diversi punti di vista. In modo teologico s. Tommaso d'Aquino risolve il problema alla luce della fede rivelata attraverso la dottrina della risurrezione dei morti, vista in rapporto alla risurrezione di Gesu Cristo. (...) In modo filosofico esso viene affrontato da s. Tommaso con gli strumenti della ragione umana. (shrink)

L’intentto di questo articolo è dimostrare che il tema della pace oggi si avvicina molto al concetto biblico di shalom, poiché tocca ogni sfera della vita dell’uomo. La pace è la lotta continua contro la disumanizzazione. Quindi, vogliamo comprendere: a) il significato della beatitudine: "Beati gli operatori di pace" nel contesto delle beatitudini ; b) la comprensione della pace nell’Antico Testamento; c) la pace di Cristo e la missione dei discepoli di Gesù. E in conclusione, argomentare che la pace, (...) da parte dei cristiani, non si riduce a encomiabili sforzi umani per cercare di seguire le direttive del Maestro, ma si configura come accoglienza operosa dell’azione di Colui che è presente nella storia come il Vivente, il Risorto, l’Iniziatore escatologico del piano di salvezza di Dio. La pace è realizzazione graduale del progetto creazionale di Dio. La pace è appello alla disponibilità del singolo affinché si lasci coinvolgere nella comunità; è costruzione di un modo di vivere sociale che garantisca stimoli di autentica umanizzazione per ognuno. The aim of this essay is to demonstrate that the theme of peace nowadays is very close to the biblical concept of shalom, once it touches every sphere of human life. Peace is the continuous struggle against inhumanization. Therefore we aim to understand: a) the meaning of happiness: "Blessed are the peacemakers" in the context of happiness ; b) the comprehension of peace in the Old Testament; c) the peace of Christ and the mission of His disciples. Finally, we intend to argue that peace for Christians is not only praiseworthy human efforts to try to follow the directives of the Master, but it’s also a laborious welcome of the action of Jesus who is present in history as he Living, the Resuscitated, the eschatological Beginner of God’s plan of salvation. Peace is a gradual realization of God’s creational project. Peace is an appeal for the availability and commitment of the individual so that he/she can get involved in the community;it’s a construction of a social way of living that ensures stimuli of genuine humanization for all. (shrink)

The aim of this article is to study parrhesia as a form of political performativity. The study of parrhesia as a speech act has been inaugurated by the researches of Lorenzini, who has proposed an in-depth analysis of the parrhesiastic speech act: we nonetheless believe that some features of parrhesiastic performativity urge us to broaden some aspects of his theory. In the first section of this article we will study the nature of parrhesiastic utterance, where Lorenzini’s theses will be discussed (...) through the use of Butler’s approach. In the second section, we will examine the characteristics of Cynic performativity through our theoretical framework, in order to give an example of its effectiveness. We will put forward, then, an overall interpretation of parrhesia, which will be redefined as a communitarian performativity and, furthermore, as an innovative model of radical democracy. (shrink)

Agamben has often made explicit references to the reflexion of Wittgenstein: it is thus surprising to note that this important influence of his philosophy has been almost completely ignored. In thi...

O objetivo de nosso artigo é desnaturalizar as construções epistemológicas e axiológicas do pensamento colonial produzido pelo ocidente, abrindo possibilidade para a construção de novas categorias de pensamento em relação ao processo de reconhecimento sobre nós mesmos e sobre os outros. Os conceitos de raça e racismo, vistos por uma perspectiva que denuncia o caráter estrutural dos dispositivos de colonialidade na construção da civilização ocidental, são historicizados por uma crítica que localiza as condições de possibilidade para o surgimento desse pensamento (...) na filosofia liberal europeia, no século XVIII. Assim, queremos produzir uma discussão acerca dos dispositivos coloniais de poder e a violência operada por eles na construção das subjetividades, propagando discursos assimilacionistas e outrificadores em relação às diferenças culturais, naturalizando e imputando, via discursos racistas, determinadas características de cunho ontológico. Com isso, visamos enunciar que é possível a elaboração de uma prática decolonial libertária, pautada na construção de categorias éticas e políticas permeadas pela luta antiracista. (shrink)

Os filósofos Giorgio Agamben e Roberto Esposito mobilizaram as suas concepções de _biopolítica_ para opinarem sobre a pandemia do vírus SARS-CoV-2. O objetivo deste artigo é fazer uma leitura foucaultiana sobre esses posicionamentos. Nossa proposta se fundamenta em três momentos: uma análise do conceito de _biopolítica _a partir dos cursos de Foucault no Collège de France; em seguida fazemos uma análise das intervenções de Agamben e de Esposito à luz de suas propostas de _biopolítica_; por fim, tais leituras serão movimentadas (...) a partir de propostas metodológicas que dão preferência à “um uso” dos textos de Foucault na perspectiva da “caixa de ferramentas” e dos “textos-bombas”, realizando uma leitura que se apoia no potencial crítico das formulações do filósofo francês. (shrink)

For four decades _Sources of Chinese Tradition_ has served to introduce Western readers to Chinese civilization as it has been seen through basic writings and historical documents of the Chinese themselves. Now in its second edition, revised and extended through Deng Xiaoping and Jiang Zemin-era China, this classic volume remains unrivaled for its wide selection of source readings on history, society, and thought in the world's largest nation. Award-winning China scholar Wm. Theodore de Bary--who edited the first edition in 1960--and (...) his coeditor Richard Lufrano have revised and updated the second volume of Sources to reflect the interactions of ideas, institutions, and historical events from the seventeenth century up to the present day. Beginning with Qing civilization and continuing to contemporary times, volume II brings together key source texts from more than three centuries of Chinese history, with opening essays by noted China authorities providing context for readers not familiar with the period in question. Here are just a few of the topics covered in this second volume of _Sources of Chinese Tradition:_ • Early Sino-Western contacts in the seventeenth century; • Four centuries of Chinese reflections on differences between Eastern and Western civilizations; • Nineteenth- and twentieth-century reform movements, with treatises on women's rights, modern science, and literary reform; • Controversies over the place of Confucianism in modern Chinese society; • The nationalist revolution--including readings from Sun Yat-sen and Chiang Kai-shek; • The communist revolution--with central writings by Mao Zedong; • Works from contemporary China--featuring political essays from Deng Xiaoping and dissidents including Wei Jingsheng. With more than two hundred selections in lucid, readable translation by today's most renowned experts on Chinese language and civilization, _Sources of Chinese Tradition_ will continue to be recognized as the standard for source readings on Chinese civilization, an indispensable learning tool for scholars and students of Asian civilizations. (shrink)

This volume constitutes the thoroughly refereed post-workshop proceedings of the 5th International Workshop on Fuzzy Logic and Applications held in Naples, Italy, in October 2003. The 40 revised full papers presented have gone through two rounds of reviewing and revision. All current issues of theoretical, experimental and applied fuzzy logic and related techniques are addressed with special attention to rough set theory, neural networks, genetic algorithms and soft computing. The papers are organized in topical section on fuzzy sets and systems, (...) fuzzy control, neuro-fuzzy systems, fuzzy decision theory and application, and soft computing in image processing. (shrink)

Like the cracking of the genetic code and the creation of the atomic bomb, the discovery of how the brain's neurons work is one of the fundamental scientific developments of the twentieth century. The discovery of neurotransmitters revolutionized the way we think about the brain and what it means to be human yet few people know how they were discovered, the scientists involved, or the fierce controversy about whether they even existed. The War of the Soups and the Sparks tells (...) the saga of the dispute between the pharmacologists, who had uncovered the first evidence that nerves communicate by releasing chemicals, and the neurophysiologists, experts on the nervous system, who dismissed the evidence and remained committed to electrical explanations. The protagonists of this story are Otto Loewi and Henry Dale, who received Nobel Prizes for their work, and Walter Cannon, who would have shared the prize with them if he had not been persuaded to adopt a controversial theory (how that happened is an important part of this history). Valenstein sets his story of scientific discovery against the backdrop of two world wars and examines the fascinating lives of several scientists whose work was affected by the social and political events of their time. He recounts such stories as Loewi's arrest by Nazi storm troopers and Dale's efforts at helping key scientists escape Germany. The War of the Soups and the Sparks reveals how science and scientists work. Valenstein describes the observations and experiments that led to the discovery of neurotransmitters and sheds light on what determines whether a novel concept will gain acceptance among the scientific community. His work also explains the immense importance of Loewi, Dale, and Cannon's achievements in our understanding of the human brain and the way mental illnesses are conceptualized and treated. (shrink)

Well known as a scholar of Asian culture, de Bary examines the concepts of self-understanding and self-cultivation in neo-Confucian thought from the 12th to the 17th centuries, in relation to the social, political, and scholarly roles of educated men in late imperial China. Rejecting the notion that.

This book bears witness to the current reawakening of interest in Reid's philosophy. It first examines Reid's negative attack on the Way of Ideas, and finds him to be a devastating critic of his predecessors.

For readers of Women in Clothes, a philosophical guide to fashion. We all get dressed. But how often do we pause to think about the place of our clothes in our world? What unconscious thoughts do we express when we dress every day? Can a philosophy of living be wrapped up in a winter coat? Can we see clothes not as objects, but as ideas? Dressed is the thinking person's book about clothes, exploring these questions by ranging freely from suits (...) to suitcases, from Marx's coat to Madame X's gown. Through literature and art, film and philosophy, philosopher Shahidha Bari unveils the surprising and subconscious ways what we wear communicates with us, about us, and for us. Dressed is about the hidden power of clothes in our culture and our daily lives, addressing the deepest questions of who we are, how we frame ourselves, and how we choose to face the world. (shrink)

A major addition to our understanding of the development of Neo-Confucianism--its complexity, diversity, richness, and depth as a major component of the moral and spiritual fiber of the peoples of East Asia.

This paper attempts to clarify the meaning of the term ‚professional’ in its current use in our daily lives, mainly by making use of Weber’s discussion of the Protestant work ethic and rationalization. Identifying professionalism primarily as a particular lifestyle, it questions whether professionalism is a virtue to be encouraged or an alienated way of life. Rather than conclusively answering this question in the affirmative or negative, it contends that professionalism is an evolving concept, and endeavors to capture and formulate (...) a favorable understanding of it which would foster less alienating and more fulfilling ways of doing business. It concludes by observing structural similarities between alternative managerial approaches and different conceptualizations of professionalism. (shrink)

Although the political and consumer consciousness has turned increasingly green, many firms continue to resist the adoption of environment-friendly technological innovations—even in the face of higher costs, negative health effects, and stricter government oversight. This article examines how business owners weigh the trade-offs associated with environment-friendly innovations by examining the role of prosocial motivation in their decision-making process. We use primary data to overcome a common restriction in studying environmental innovations—the scarcity of relevant data—to analyze how business owners’ expectations, perceptions, (...) and motivations affect innovation in organizational processes and, consequently, the level of environmental friendliness of their products or services. We found that prosocial motivation had a significant negative impact on innovation adoption and that it is expressed differently under high and low levels of customer compatibility—possibly because business owners have a larger number of competing social objectives and priorities. Our results further showed that the innovation’s ability to satisfy downstream customer demands has the greatest impact on environment-friendly innovation adoption decisions by business owners. This study enhances our understanding of how business owners make innovation decisions based on competing business, environmental and social objectives and provides a foundation for future research in this area. (shrink)

Is the Confucian tradition compatible with the Western understanding of human rights? Are there fundamental human values, regardless of cultural differences, common to all peoples of all nations? At this critical point in Communist China's history, eighteen distinguished scholars address the role of Confucianism in dealing with questions of universal human rights.

Based on lectures delivered at the Collège de France in May 1986.

This paper contributes to two debates: (i) the debate about whether or not ancient Greek has Free Indirect Discourse (FID), and (ii) the debate about how we should analyze FID semantically. We do this by showing that there is a distinction between FID and what we call Unembedded Indirect Discourse (UID). The semantic analysis that we develop for the latter shows that the two phenomena, though superficially similar, are semantically fundamentally different. We conclude that UID would have been more deserving (...) of the title ‘free indirect discourse’ than the more quotative and direct discourse-like narrative technique that is now confusingly called so. 1. (shrink)

Drawn from a series of lectures that Wm. Theodore de Bary delivered in honor of the Chinese philosopher Tang Junyi, _Confucian Tradition and Global Education_ is a unique synthesis of essay and debate concerning the future of Chinese education and the potential political uses of Confucianism in the contemporary world. Rapid modernization and the rise of English as a global language increasingly threaten East Asia's cultural diversity and long-standing Confucian traditions. De Bary argues that keeping Confucianism alive in China is (...) not only a matter of "Chinese identity," but also a critical part of achieving a multicultural global education. Scholars take different views on what is worth preserving in Confucian tradition, and whether it is possible for the classical teachings to remain relevant in today's high-tech educational environment. De Bary and his contributors assert that the Chinese classics are the key to this survival, and therefore their inclusion in a global humanities curriculum is essential. De Bary also believes in the power of the classics to humanize the modernization process and to shape a more democratic East Asia. Kwan Tze-wan discusses the difficulty of teaching the Chinese humanities in English when certain ideas and values are best expressed in a native language, and Cheung Chan Fai demonstrates how it is still possible for Confucian humanism to contribute to a modern liberal education. Timely and passionately argued, _Confucian Tradition and Global Education_ is a major work emphasizing the importance of Chinese philosophy in the post-World War II era. (shrink)

Increased and active involvement of multinational corporations in the promotion of social welfare, in developing countries in particular, through the facilitation of partnerships and cooperation with public and nonprofit sectors, challenges the existing framework of our social and political institutions, the boundaries of nation-states, the distinction between the private and public spheres of our lives, and thus our freedom. The blurring of certain distinctions, which ought to be observed between the political and the economic is most manifest in the gradual (...) saturation of the field of business ethics with rights-based arguments and analyses. In this article, I first argue against endorsing positive rights as having the same status as negative rights, and then try to demonstrate that, with the transportation of 'rights talk' into business ethics, the dangers of conflating positive and negative rights are superimposed on the dangers of conflating the private and the political. I conclude by presenting my own stance on the debate on what our basic institutionally sanctioned rights should be, and what the corresponding duties of multinational corporations really are. (shrink)

_Finding Wisdom in East Asian Classics_ is an essential, all-access guide to the core texts of East Asian civilization and culture. Essays address frequently read, foundational texts in Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese, as well as early modern fictional classics and nonfiction works of the seventeenth century. Building strong links between these writings and the critical traditions of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism, this volume shows the vital role of the classics in the shaping of Asian history and in the development (...) of the humanities at large. Wm. Theodore de Bary focuses on texts that have survived for centuries, if not millennia, through avid questioning and contestation. Recognized as perennial reflections on life and society, these works represent diverse historical periods and cultures and include the _Analects of Confucius_, _Mencius_, _Laozi_, _Xunxi_, the _Lotus Sutra_, Tang poetry, the _Pillow Book_, _The Tale of Genji_, and the writings of Chikamatsu and Kaibara Ekken. Contributors explain the core and most commonly understood aspects of these works and how they operate within their traditions. They trace their reach and reinvention throughout history and their ongoing relevance in modern life. With fresh interpretations of familiar readings, these essays inspire renewed appreciation and examination. In the case of some classics open to multiple interpretations, de Bary chooses two complementary essays from different contributors. Expanding on debates concerning the challenges of teaching classics in the twenty-first century, several pieces speak to the value of Asia in the core curriculum. Indispensable for early scholarship on Asia and the evolution of global civilization, _Finding Wisdom in East Asian Classics_ helps one master the major texts of human thought. (shrink)

For four decades _Sources of Chinese Tradition_ has served to introduce Western readers to Chinese civilization as it has been seen through basic writings and historical documents of the Chinese themselves. Now in its second edition, revised and extended through Deng Xiaoping and Jiang Zemin--era China, this classic volume remains unrivaled for its wide selection of source readings on history, society, and thought in the world's largest nation. Award-winning China scholar Wm. Theodore de Bary -- who edited the first edition (...) in 1960 -- and his coeditor Richard Lufrano have revised and updated the second volume of Sources to reflect the interactions of ideas, institutions, and historical events from the seventeenth century up to the present day. Beginning with Qing civilization and continuing to contemporary times, volume II brings together key source texts from more than three centuries of Chinese history, with opening essays by noted China authorities providing context for readers not familiar with the period in question. Here are just a few of the topics covered in this second volume of _Sources of Chinese Tradition:_ • Early Sino-Western contacts in the seventeenth century; • Four centuries of Chinese reflections on differences between Eastern and Western civilizations; • Nineteenth- and twentieth-century reform movements, with treatises on women's rights, modern science, and literary reform; • Controversies over the place of Confucianism in modern Chinese society; • The nationalist revolution -- including readings from Sun Yat-sen and Chiang Kai-shek; • The communist revolution -- with central writings by Mao Zedong; • Works from contemporary China -- featuring political essays from Deng Xiaoping and dissidents including Wei Jingsheng. With more than two hundred selections in lucid, readable translation by today's most renowned experts on Chinese language and civilization, _Sources of Chinese Tradition_ will continue to be recognized as the standard for source readings on Chinese civilization, an indispensable learning tool for scholars and students of Asian civilizations. (shrink)

Since the time of Confucius and Mencius, no other work has stood out so clearly as a major critique of Chinese dynastic institutions. In a lucid translation with a helpful introduction by de Bary, this is the most powerful affirmation of a liberal Confucian political vision in premodern times.