E' un'antologia di scritti ideati in un contesto di complessità, non solo teorica, ma anche veramente vissuta nella pratica della formazione e della ricerca, in cui i formatori, educatori, consulenti, persone d'azienda ritroveranno le loro esigenze e i loro riferimenti culturali e operativi.

V. Fabbri, Danse et philosophie. Une pensée en construction, Paris, L'Harmattan, 2007, 244 p. « La construction ne relève pas nécessairement de l'architecture : elle n'est pas architectonique mais rhapsodique, procédant par ajustement et montage de matériaux. » « En tant qu'elles construisent des formes d'expériences, les pratiques artistiques sont toutes traversées par une pratique du langage, y compris et surtout la danse. Ce qui est à construire en relation au langage lui reste au moins (...) - En librairie.

This article is intended as a contribution to the current debates about the relationship between politics and the philosophy of science in the Vienna Circle. I reconsider this issue by shifting the focus from philosophy of science as theory to philosophy of science as practice. From this perspective I take as a starting point the Vienna Circle’s scientific world-conception and emphasize its practical nature: I reinterpret its tenets as a set of recommendations that express the particular epistemological attitude in which (...) both the Vienna Circle’s (doing) philosophy of science and its political engagement were rooted. -/- Regarding politics, and referring to new primary sources, I reconstruct how the scientific world-conception placed the Vienna Circle within a neoliberal-socialist political network that pursued concrete political aims. In light of my reconstruction I shall argue that neither the Vienna Circle’s alleged ethical noncognitivism nor its alleged adhesion to the Weberian ideal of a value-free science rules out the possibility of ascribing to the Vienna Circle a politically engaged philosophy of science: the case of the Vienna Circle shows how philosophy of science, as a public activity, can itself become a form of political engagement, even without necessarily entailing a theory of objective values. (shrink)

While the emphasis on embodiment and situatedness is strong in contemporary philosophy and cognitive sciences, its implications for the practice of critical thinking are just beginning to be taken seriously. The challenge is to think with the richness and the intricacy that come along with embodiment of situated knowers and on the basis of the experiential turn. Even though the embodied and experiential dimension is operative and continuously present all the time in thought and action, it is hardly acknowledged, cared (...) for, or made transparent in academic philosophical training. In doing philosophy we are actually rather trained to detach ourselves from the experiential basis of our thinking. In this paper we claim that by doing so we cut ourselves off from important sources of what it means to think for oneself. We argue that the more embodied context one dares to include in critical thinking, the more critique becomes personally and politically transformative. This has major methodological implications: one needs to learn “reading” embodied, felt experience as carefully and closely as the texts. The methods of Embodied Critical Thinking presented here are based on the micro-phenomenological approach of Claire Petitmengin and the Thinking at the Edge method developed by Eugene Gendlin and Mary Hendricks. (shrink)

We present the theory of Dirac spinors in the formulation given by Bohm on the idea of de Broglie: the quantum relativistic matter field is equivalently re-written as a special type of classical fluid and in this formulation it is shown how a relativistic environment can host the non-local aspects of the above-mentioned hidden-variables theory. Sketches for extensions are given at last.

Schoeller untersucht die sprachliche Herausforderung, die damit einhergeht, erlebte Hintergründe und Zusammenhänge zu formulieren. Wird eine situative Komplexität zur Sprache gebracht, so klärt sich häufig erst, „um was es geht", und zwar auf eine Weise, die einen weiterdenken und -fühlen lässt. Dabei entstehen bisweilen äusserst ungewöhnliche Aussagen. Untersucht wird in dieser Studie die Präzision einer tastenden Formulierung, die eine nicht vorhersehbare Entwicklung von Bedeutung zulässt. Eine solche Bedeutung ist sprachphilosophisch kaum mit den Modellen der Repräsentation oder der Konstruktion zu erfassen, (...) auch durchbricht sie den Rahmen der Ordinary Language Philosophy. Unter Berücksichtigung der Ansätze des Embodiment entwirft Schoeller im Schnittfeld von Pragmatismus, Phänemenologie, Hermeneutik, Psychologie und Kognitionswissenschaften eine Bedeutungstheorie, in der situatives Erleben und Sprachgebrauch differenzierend und klärend interagieren. Ein gründlicheres Verstehen des Formulierungs-Prozesses kommt auch im Alltag einer nicht-reduktiven und subtilen Sprachpraxis im Umgang mit gewöhnlicher Erfahrung entgegen. (shrink)

In the realm of Philosophical Practice, there remains a lack of clarity surrounding the essential characteristics that define a practice as “philosophical”. This paper aims to establish seven minimal criteria that must be met by a philosophical consultancy in order to be considered genuinely “philosophical”. Additionally, it explores the question of how one can assess the quality of such a philosophical consultancy. I provide a (non-exhaustive) answer from an Aristotelian point of view, according to which goodness is a matter of (...) balance. In the context of philosophical consultancy, the consultant should find this balance in two respects: first, between their concern for the topic and their concern for the individual seeking counsel, and, secondly, between a hermeneutical and a critical attitude in dialogue. Finally, I present a visual representation of my findings that can serve as a tool for evaluating whether a consultancy is philosophical and whether it is balanced. __ En el ámbito de la práctica filosófica, sigue habiendo una falta de claridad en torno a las características esenciales que definen una práctica como "filosófica". Este artículo pretende establecer siete criterios mínimos que debe cumplir una consultoría filosófica para ser considerada genuinamente "filosófica". Además, explora la cuestión de cómo se puede evaluar la calidad de dicha consultoría filosófica. Aporto una respuesta (no exhaustiva) desde un punto de vista aristotélico, según el cual la bondad es una cuestión de equilibrio. En el contexto de la consultoría filosófica, el consultor debe encontrar este equilibrio en dos aspectos: en primer lugar, entre su preocupación por el tema y su preocupación por el individuo que busca consejo, y, en segundo lugar, entre una actitud hermenéutica y una actitud crítica en el diálogo. Por último, presento una representación visual de mis conclusiones que puede servir de herramienta para evaluar si una consultoría es filosófica y si está equilibrada. (shrink)

L'échec des printemps arabes et l'instauration d'un nouveau Califat de la terreur en Syrie et en Irak nous contraignent à repenser la place du religieux dans le monde contemporain. Rivés sur les questions sécuritaires, nous manquons encore néanmoins d'outils philosophiques pour comprendre la montée d'un nouveau totalitarisme millénariste et apocalyptique. Le présent ouvrage s'appuie sur les travaux d'Eric Voegelin (1901-1985), un philosophe américain d'origine allemande encore trop peu connu en France et dont toute l'oeuvre vise à mettre en lumière les (...) racines religieuses des totalitarismes qui ont ensanglanté le 20e siècle. Voegelin et l'Orient propose une relecture iconoclaste de ses écrits, souvent à rebours de la réception néoconservatrice dont ils ont fait l'objet outre-Atlantique. Renaud Fabbri nous fournit ainsi des clefs pour mieux comprendre les origines idéologiques de l'islamisme radical mais aussi du nationalisme hindou. Il montre aussi qu'une redécouverte des grandes traditions de la philosophie mystique peut nous aider à conjurer le spectre des "religions politiques" qui menacent aujourd'hui aussi bien les non-croyants que les croyants de toutes les confessions. (shrink)

This article presents a dialogue between Roland Barthes and Paolo Fabbri, which took place on 18 December 1965 in Florence, Italy. Barthes offers an engaging account of his structuralist approach to narrative, as was later published in essay form, ‘Introduction to the Structural Analysis of Narrative’, included in a special issue of Communications (Issue 8, 1966). In a cordial exchange with Fabbri, Barthes provides a more candid presentation of method than found in print, along with critical reflection of (...) the underlying importance of the structuralist approach, as perceived at the time. The interview took place as part of a small conference on narrativity. Participants included Algirdas Julien Greimas, Claude Bremond, Umberto Eco, Jules Gritti, Violette Morin, Christian Metz, and Tzvetan Todorov. Subsequently, a number of these participants contributed articles to the same issue of Communications, on the structural analysis of narrative. (shrink)

Micro-phenomenology is a successful research tool with major environmental implications. However, there is much to be gained by also approaching it as a philosophical method in its own right. As ….

The spatial-temporal association indicates that time is represented spatially along a left-to-right line. It is unclear whether the spatial-temporal association is mainly related to a perceptual or a motor component. In addition, the spatial-temporal association is not consistently found using a time reproduction task. Our rationale for this finding is that, classically, a non-lateralized button for performing the task has been used. Using two lateralized response buttons, the aim of the study was to find a spatial-temporal association in a time (...) reproduction task. To account for the perceptual component, reference and target stimuli were presented in different spaces through four experiments. In all experiments, a Spatial-Temporal Association of Response Codes (STEARC) effect was found and this effect was not modulated by the spatial position of both reference and target stimuli. The results suggested that the spatial-temporal association was mainly derived from the spatial information provided by response buttons, reflecting a motor but not visuospatial influence. (shrink)

This paper introduces the Thinking at the Edge (TAE) method, developed by Eugene Gendlin with Mary Hendricks and Kye Nelson. In the context of the international research project and training initiative Embodied Critical Thinking (ECT), TAE is understood as a political and critical practice. Our objective is to move beyond a criticism of reductionism, into a practice of thinking that can complement empirical, conceptual and logical implications with what is implied by the vibrant complexity of one’s lived experience in one’s (...) place and time. The second person helps the first to explore, elaborate and clarify very carefully felt dimensions of thinking, which hold intricate structures, contexts, perplexities and intuitions that prove relevant for one’s research. The second person also supports the first to become sensitive to the effects of the language and concepts she uses. A non-imposing, tentative use of language that touches the intricate texture of lived experience is at the core of this method, allowing to widen one’s conceptual structure. In this paper, the cluster of TAE moves are characterized with examples of accounts of TAE processes. The description of the TAE phases includes concepts of Gendlin’s embodied theory of meaning that explain the efficacy of the moves (“direct reference,” “explication,” “crossing”). (shrink)

Name der Zeitschrift: Nietzsche-Studien Jahrgang: 46 Heft: 1 Seiten: 153-166.

Name der Zeitschrift: Deutsche Zeitschrift für Philosophie Jahrgang: 66 Heft: 2 Seiten: 183-201.

Wie kann der Prozess des Denkens erfasst werden, wenn doch unsere Reflexionen bereits das Resultat dessen sind, was erfasst werden soll? Die Tatigkeit des Denkens in Worte zu fassen, scheint dazu verurteilt zu sein, hinter dem Phanomen her zu hinken, das erfasst werden sollte. Das Denken zu untersuchen, ohne seine Prozesshaftigkeit auszuklammern, kann als radikale Reflexion bezeichnet werden. Sie behauptet nicht, ihren Gegenstand als unabhangig von der Art des Herangehens "gegeben" zu beschreiben, sondern stellt sich der Denkerfahrung und auch den (...) Gefuhlsnuancen, die eine wichtige Rolle beim Denken und Artikulieren spielen. Sie manifestiert sich in originellen Ansatzen aus Philosophie, Psychotherapie, Anthropologie und Kognitionswissenschaften und bringt innovative Denkstile jenseits hergebrachter Dualismen hervor. Mit Beitragen von Vincent Colapietro, Terrence Deacon, Patrizia Giampieri-Deutsch, Eugene Gendlin, Steven Hayes, Claire Petitmengin, Vera Saller, Donata Schoeller und Susan Stuart. (shrink)

We consider quantum mechanics written in hydrodynamic formulation for the case of relativistic spinor fields to study their velocity: within such a hydrodynamic formulation it is possible to see that the velocity as is usually defined can not actually represent the tangent vector to the trajectories of particles. We propose an alternative definition for this tangent vector and hence for the trajectories of particles, which we believe to be new and the only one possible. We discuss how these results are (...) a necessary step to take in order to face further problems, like the definition of trajectories for multi-particle systems or ensembles, as they happen to be useful in many applications and interpretations of quantum mechanics. (shrink)

In this paper, I reconstruct the development and the complex character of Zilsel’s conception of scientific laws. This concept functions as a fil rouge for understanding Zilsel’s philosophy throughout different times (here, the focus is on his Viennese writings and how they pave the way to the more renown American ones) and across his many fields of work (from physics to politics). A good decade before Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle was going to mark the outbreak of indeterminism in quantum physics, Edgar (...) Zilsel started to develop a complex logical-philosophical theory in which statistical and causal laws were given an indeterministic foundation (Zilsel 1916). However, in developing his thoughts on the emergence of regularities from disorder, Zilsel arrives at a profound ambiguity with respect to the ontological or the epistemic nature of laws and order in the world: Whether this order is to be conceived of as an empirical finding or as the product of reason – this would have to remain unclear. This tension between rationalism and empiricism, as well as a tension between a realist and an anti-realist conception of lawfulness, can be identified in both Zilsel’s Viennese and American writings: a tension which touches the core of the “application problem” that would keep haunting Zilsel until his premature death. (shrink)

This paper aims at thoroughly analyzing the relation between Thucydides’s political realism and Hobbes’s one, first of all by examining the Hobbesian translation of The Peloponnesian War, then by stressing the peculiarities of the political theory of the English philosopher. Compared to Thucydides, Hobbes presents a more complex, problematic – and truly more useful to define a theory of modernity – version of political realism, which considers not only power and security, but also ideological elements in order to understand human (...) conflicts. (shrink)

Le moment le plus remarquable dans l'œuvre de Goodman, Langages de l'art, c'est sans doute sa théorie de la notation ; c'est aussi une théorie de l'œuvre, une approche critique de l'ontologie – la construction de ce que j'appellerai une ontologie du singulier. La danse joue un rôle décisif dans l'élaboration de ces deux aspects de la pensée de Goodman : « La possibilité d'une notation pour la danse a été l'une des questions initiales qui m'ont conduit à étudier les (...) systèmes notationnels. » Si cette question (...) - Danse, théâtre et spectacle vivant – GALERIE. (shrink)

L’articolo si propone di indagare le implicazioni ecologiche di due differenti tendenze sistemiche: La General Systems Theory di Ludwig von Bertalanffy, che fa da cornice alla Systems Ecology di Eugene Odum; La Second-Order Cybernetics elaborata da Heinz von Foerster, Humberto Maturana e Niklas Luhmann, che costituisce la matrice di un nuovo paradigma ecologico denominato General Ecology. Nell’articolo verranno comparate la GST e la SOC in relazione ai loro differenti modi di intendere il sistema e la sua genesi; il ruolo dell’osservatore (...) nella definizione dei confini di un sistema; e la relazione tra sistema e ambiente. Verrà mostrato come la SOC, mettendo in causa il principio del controllo gerarchico della GST, conduce alla nozione di differenze ecologiche, con la quale si indica una pluralità di diadi sistema-ambiente, problematizzando così la nozione di ambiente come riferimento fisico e oggettivo. (shrink)

Name der Zeitschrift: Semiotica Heft: Ahead of print.

The expression “ecological threat” refers to a dynamic of double intrusion: the intrusion of geological history in human history (the intrusion of Gaia) and the intrusion of human history in geological history (the Anthropocene). This double intrusion is founded on a series of major partitions (culture/nature; society/environment) that do not allow for the possibility of communication between the terms of these dichotomies unless it is in the form of reciprocal violation. In the article, the ontology of the flesh is used (...) in order to think the intrusion in a different way compared to the great partitions. Within a chiasmatic logic, the terms of each dichotomy are understood as inseparable moments of the same flesh which institutes a difference – inside/outside – through an infinite movement of folding and torsion. By thinking this common element, Merleau-Ponty’s ontology of the flesh enters in dialogue with Amerindian mythocosmologies of the “first Anthropocene.” In these mythocosmologies, a humanity-flesh – understood as a transformative, pre-individual, and metastable potential – gives birth, through differentiation, to the multiple points of view that populate the cosmos. This dialogue allows us to think about the socialization of Gaia and to trace the contours of a general ecology understood as a thought that operates between – or beyond – major partitions. (shrink)