In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:Awful Patriotism: Richard Rorty and the Politics of KnowingDavid Palumbo-Liu* (bio)Richard Rorty. Achieving Our Country: Leftist Thought in Twentieth-Century America. Cambridge: Harvard UP, 1998.This essay addresses the current debates surrounding what some have labeled the Two Lefts: a “cultural left” and an activist left. 1 Debate over this “divide” has made many strange bedfellows, but perhaps none quite so unheimlich as “liberal leftist” Richard Rorty and cultural conservative (...) Harold Bloom. To be sure, Rorty has often alluded to Bloom’s work, especially Bloom’s notion of “strong poets,” but in his most recent book, Rorty has appropriated Bloom in a particularly telling manner. In 1994, Harold Bloom published his polemic The Western Canon. At once eloquent and pathetic, it pressed all the right buttons. Bloom succinctly (or shall we say, reductively?) deployed his version of the “aesthetic” against any other approach. Cultural conservatives were gratified that someone of Bloom’s stature had done them the service of voicing their interests in a highly visible and contestatory manner; more moderate sorts squirmed uncomfortably at Bloom’s unabashed elitism and the shrillness of his tone; theorists and cultural studies folks were outraged at Bloom’s absolute ignorance of their work and his resort to parody instead of anything vaguely resembling an engaged critique; and ethnic, minority, queer, and feminist critics had more than enough to be insulted by in his racist and sexist arrogance. So far out is Bloom’s jeremiad that it probably came close to realizing his worst nightmare—it may have driven students screaming into all those horrid cultural studies classes to find out what was so seductive, so powerful as to corner The Canon. So I didn’t worry too much about The Western Canon. That is, until I read Richard Rorty’s essay “The Inspirational Value of Great Works of Literature” and its companion pieces in Achieving Our Country: Leftist Thought in Twentieth-Century America. What was Rorty, a self-proclaimed leftist, doing, calling to his aid the social and cultural archconservative Harold Bloom?In the first part of my essay I ponder this strange alliance, particularly as it joins forces against ethnic studies (to be sure, its common target is more generally “theory” of any stripe or color, but I want specifically to address the issue of ethnic literary study). Rorty adapts Bloom’s School of Resentment to characterize what he calls a certain, bad “knowingness,” against which he poses “hope” and “inspiration.” I want to examine more closely the nature and content of that destructive “knowledge,” for it becomes clear that [End Page 37] this knowledge is for Rorty the recognition of Otherness as a politically (as opposed to “merely” ontologically) functional identity. This knowledge is disturbing to Rorty and deeply informs his notions of “patriotism” and Americanism. For him, such knowledge impedes the formation of a leftist politics. It is precisely the disjunction between the “knowing” discourse of the cultural left obsessed with identity politics and an activist political left (modeled after the old reformist left) that troubles Rorty.My essay will be largely devoted to showing how Rorty’s recent work develops his earlier work on “ethnocentrism” into an “Americanism” that erodes precisely the liberal foundations of that earlier work and discloses the weakness of its claims. I understand this development as compelled by a certain impatience with identity politics that is shared by a number of liberal and leftist critics of American political society, an impatience fueled perhaps not so much by a conservative threat as by a perceived threat from “within” progressive politics. Basically, I ask, how and why are knowledge and recognition of “difference” taken to immobilize progressive politics? To frame that same question in a slightly different manner—what is the presumed content of that “progressive” politics, and what assumptions do we have to make in order to arrive at that point of view?Against the rather odd Bloom/Rorty pairing, set against “knowledge,” one would naturally seek out an enemies list for possible allies. Rorty in fact begins his essay by providing us with one in the figure of Fredric Jameson, an archpractitioner of theory whose “antiromantic” skepticism Rorty finds both debilitating and... (shrink)

In this collection of essays, leading cultural theorists consider the meaning and implications of world-scale humanist scholarship by engaging with Immanuel Wallerstein’s world-systems analysis. The renowned sociologist developed his influential critical framework to explain the historical and continuing exploitation of the rest of the world by the West. World-systems analysis reflects Wallerstein’s conviction that understanding global inequality requires thinking on a global scale. Humanists have often criticized his theory as insufficiently attentive to values and objects of knowledge such as culture, (...) agency, difference, subjectivity, and the local. The editors of this collection do not deny the validity of those criticisms; instead, they offer Wallerstein’s world-systems analysis as a well-developed vision of the world scale for humanists to think with and against. Scholars of comparative literature, gender, geography, history, law, race, and sociology consider what thinking on the world scale might mean for particular disciplinary practices, knowledge formations, and objects of study. Several essays offer broader reflections on what is at stake for the study of culture in decisions to adopt or reject world-scale thinking. In a brief essay, Immanuel Wallerstein situates world-systems analysis vis-à-vis the humanities. Contributors. Gopal Balakrishnan, Tani E. Barlow, Neil Brenner, Richard E. Lee, Franco Moretti, David Palumbo-Liu, Bruce Robbins, Helen Stacy, Nirvana Tanoukhi, Immanuel Wallerstein, Kären Wigen. (shrink)

Through a mention to the Middle Platonists and a reference to a late antique text that presents a comparison between Plato and the Demiurge, I set out to show just one of those rhetorical strategies that have been used by the author Plato to give his writings the unity and consistency that make the corpus a kosmos, a living animal, like the universe. After having identified among the rhetorical strategies the one that uses examples and explained what such a strategy (...) means, I analyse the Platonic use of the example of the mirror identified with Socrates in two writings, the Apology of Socrates and the Alcibiades I. (shrink)

In questa relazione suggerisco di considerare almeno la possibilità che nel Simposio Platone ci offre non una mera spiegazione della natura dell’amore, ma una spiegazione filosofica della natura del linguaggio (sull’amore). Nel Simposio Eros è una maschera di Socrate e Socrate una maschera del linguaggio. La storia di Diotima sulla nascita di Eros, figlio di Poros e Penia conferma questo punto: il linguaggio, come l’amore, non può possedere il suo oggetto come qualcosa di presente ma solo sempre in una fragile (...) bilancia tra presenza e assenza, tra oblio e memoria, tra conoscenza e ignoranza. Il linguaggio, come l’amore, è il demone della comunicazione. In questa relazione presento qualche prova, tratta dal dialogo, atta a supportare tale interpretazione. (shrink)

El objetivo de este artículo es aplicar la fenomenología de la melancolía desarrollada por Romano Guardini a la poesía de Olga Orozco. En sus Últimos poemas la muerte se le presenta como el umbral que la conducirá al encuentro con ese Otro que la llama y hacia quien tiende su voz y su espíritu. Porque habita las fronteras de la existencia, su palabra es lugar de manifestación de lo absoluto. Ante la inexorable defi nitividad de la muerte, su poesía transformó (...) la indigencia en alabanza, convirtiendo el límite de lo último en un grito de melancólica presencia de lo divino. (shrink)

The paper discusses the identity-building power and motivational force of patriotism. The basic idea underlying the discussion is that far from being a mere irrational and destructive force, patriotism is an expression of ‘existing human social identity.’ Thus, it argues that rather than dismissing patriotism altogether as an undesirable and/or irrational phenomenon, we need to understand how to discriminate between alternative forms of patriotism while investigating what constitutional reforms might be required to support those forms of patriotic identification that are (...) morally desirable. I argue that to flourish, desirable forms of patriotism (what I call Ethical Patriotism) require a political milieu where forms of subsidiarity, functional representation and local participation combine to produce a more democratic and decentralized system of governance. Applied to a post-national polity like the EU, this conclusion invites to rethink the European constitutional project so as to make it less elitist and more open to influence and participation from below. Keywords: cosmopolitanism; communitarianism; identity; nationalism; governance; Europe (Published: 4 December 2009) Citation: Ethics & Global Politics, Vol. 2, No. 4, 2009, pp. 321–348. DOI: 10.3402/egp.v2i4.2002. (shrink)

El artículo plantea la actualidad de la via pulchritudinis en la “era postmetafísica” cuando se la comprende desde su movimiento descendente en el que la via negationis queda asumida en la via eminentiae. En efecto, si la belleza puede hoy ser considerada uno de los “caminos del ser”, ha de vérsela como puerta que le abre al hombre su secreto y que le exige una actitud receptiva de escucha y de espera no de conquista. De este modo, se produce la (...) purificación y el tránsito del esteticismo como construcción de dioses imaginarios o ídolos a la estética teofánica del vero icono del Dios que se revela en la noche. Esta gramática del misterio es la puerta que la belleza nos abre desde el ser, camino que desde la perspectiva descendente transitan de la mano la estética filosófica y la estética teológica. (shrink)

El artículo se propone describir y analizar el discurso pedagógico construido en torno a la política de formación desplegada por la Confederación de Trabajadores de la Economía Popular (CTEP). Desde nuestro abordaje conceptual, la formación política es entendida como un proceso enmarcador que mediatiza la relación del movimiento social y su contexto encuadrando la acción colectiva. Con este fin, se analizan distintos aspectos de la política de formación: (a) su génesis y objetivos; (b) el material de apoyo a la formación; (...) (c) los trayectos formativos establecidos. El supuesto que recorre este artículo plantea que las prácticas político-sindicales de la CTEP y las características de este actor poseen su correlato en el terreno de la política de formación y, en sentido inverso, la construcción de un discurso pedagógico opera en la reafirmación de las prácticas político-sindicales. Se adoptó una metodología cualitativa sustentada en la recopilación de documentos —materiales de apoyo a la formación y artículos de la página web de la CTEP— y la realización de entrevistas a dirigentxs de las distintas organizaciones integrantes de la Confederación vinculadxs a la política de formación. La relevancia de las consideraciones aquí esbozadas reside en abordar un caso de estudio aún poco indagado en general y particularmente desde la perspectiva de la construcción de su discurso pedagógico. (shrink)

In questo saggio vorrei mostrare che Platone scrisse il Sofista per tematizzare una questione cruciale, che in tale dialogo è problematizzata per la prima volta: l’essere, la realtà delle cose, non si presenta a noi direttamente e chiaramente. Per comprendere la realtà delle cose, che sembra evidente e invece è sfuggente, è necessario inseguirla come una preda che si nasconde. Se è necessario cercare l’essere per catturarlo è perché spesso quel che cogliamo non è l’essere ma l’apparire. Il cuore del (...) dialogo – la sezione sull’immagine – è la definizione dello statuto dell’apparenza. Il mio punto è che non è possibile spiegare la natura del non essere senza legare il discorso sul non essere al discorso sull’immagine. Nella sezione sull’immagine è presentata la natura contraddittoria dell’eidolon. Lo Straniero, che in questa sezione è il portavoce del sofista, gioca il ruolo dell’interrogante e conduce Teeteto ad ammettere che l’immagine non soltanto non è un ente, ma è il contrario dell’ente (Sph. 240b5-6). Quando, in Sph. 257b3-4, lo Straniero dice che “quando diciamo ‘non essere’ non diciamo qualcosa di contrario all’essere, ma soltanto di diverso da esso”, egli si riferisce – correggendolo – a ciò che il sofista ha detto nella sezione sull’immagine. Io credo che “ciò che è diverso dall’essere” sia precisamente l’apparire, il cui statuto aporetico è stato sottolineato nella sezione sull’immagine. La mia tesi è che il non essere è il phantasma, il darsi dell’essere alla percezione degli umani non direttamente, non chiaramente, non veramente, ma sotto una falsa sembianza. (shrink)

The essays collected in this volume explore the ethical issues raised by the process and substance of policy-making, and discuss whether it is reasonable to expect ethical standards in public affairs.

Il y a dans les Dialogues de Platon une idée scénique de l’âme. Le texte lui-même peut-être lu comme une représentation, comme une mise en scène de la pensée qui se déploie dans l’âme. L’âme, à son tour, contient une population psychique avec de nombreux habitants. Ces habitants de l’âme parlent entre eux, et ce sont ces discours qui font (sont) l’âme, parce que la psyche pour Platon a une nature linguistique, est un tissu de mots et d’images. Dans le (...) Philèbe l’âme est assimilée à un biblion, et les textes de Platon, tout autant que les textes du théâtre, sont des biblia. L’écriture des logoi sokratikoi a pour but la mémoire (mneme) et la conservation (sōtēría) de l’enseignement du maître pendant son absence. Cependant – comme dit le Phédre – le discours du maître doit s’écrire dans l’âme des disciples, et tous les discours – comme dit le Protagoras – se gardent uniquement dans l’âme des hommes. L’âme est un texte qui garde les discours et les images, et dans l’âme, comme sur une scène, on parle avec les autres ou avec soi même. L’idée de l’âme comme une scène est fondée aussi bien sur la définition de la pensée qui – dans le Théétète – est «une discussion que l’âme elle-même poursuit tout du long avec elle-même». (shrink)

Recensione a Maddalena Bonelli (a cura di). (2020) Filosofe Maestre Imperatrici. Per un nuovo canone della storia della filosofia antica. Roma, Edizioni di Storia e letteratura.

Plato’s dialogues can be regarded as the most important documents of the extraordinary mimetic power of visual writing, i.e., writing capable of “showing” and “drawing images” by using words only. Thanks to the great lesson of the Attic theater, Plato makes his readers see: when reading the dialogues, they see not only the characters talking but owing to the visual power of mimetic writing, they also see that which the characters are actually talking about. There are numerous rhetorical devices employed (...) by Plato the writer that make this visual rendering of philosophy possible. In this text, I would like to bring an example from the Meno that illustrates the visual power of an implicit comparison. By “implicit comparison”, I mean the special kind of comparison that is not presented explicitly and fully in the text but that the text merely evokes and that, once evoked, contributes to determining the formation of the image. (shrink)