Interpreting the graph ren 仁 has been the subject of much philological and philosophical study and speculation over the centuries among scholars both Chinese and Western, perhaps more than any other single graph. One major reason for the attention paid to the term is the general agreement that Confucius gave ren—a little-known term at the time—an ethical orientation in the Analects that it did not have earlier, an understanding of which seems to be a prerequisite for understanding his entire philosophy (...) as reflected in that venerable little book. In this essay we want to suggest a reading for ren in the Analects unlike others proffered by Western translators, who, in keeping with the dominant... (shrink)

The scholia vetera on Works 734–735 are transmitted not only by the manuscript tradition of Hesiod, but also by an entry of the Etymologicum Genuinum. The latter, hitherto largely ignored, offers in several places a better text than the scholia of the Hesiod manuscripts. Particularly significant is the presence of an unpublished fragment of Zeno, who is said to have recommended not copulating while drunk. Analysis of parallels and material-historical specificities of the scholarly tradition relating to Hesiod reveals that this (...) passage should be included (at least as a dubium) among the fragments of Plutarch’s lost commentary on Hesiod’s Works and Days. Quite surprisingly, it is likely that Proclus is not involved in the transmission of this fragment at all. (shrink)

Il tema sviluppato nel presente intervento è il rapporto tra narrazione e costruzione storica. Si prenderà in esame l’accezione di narrativa correntemente utilizzata nel mondo storiografico facendola dialogare con il paradigma dei _global middle ages_, espressione coniata nel 2018 dalle storiche Catherine Holmes e Naomi Standen. Per meglio mettere in risalto tali dinamiche un caso di studio sarà offerto dalla vicenda di Federico II, con particolare enfasi alla costruzione biografica e dei miti nel rapporto con le culture altre. Il fine (...) sarà di superare le due tradizionali macro interpretazioni dell’idea di Medioevo, analizzate da Tommaso di Carpegna Falconieri e David Matthews: Medioevo arretrato regno di oscurità e Medioevo vagheggiato come luce del mattino, all’origine di molte identità politiche contemporanee – non ultima quella dell’Unione Europea. _The topic we intend to develop in this essay is the relationship between narration and historical construction. We will examine the meaning behind the current concept of narrative in historiography, with a dialectical approach towards the paradigm of _global Middle Ages_, an expression firstly used by historians Catherine Holmes and Naomi Standen in 2018. To perform an in depth analysis of the abovementioned relationship, we will use as a case study the figure of Frederick II. A significant emphasis will be put on the biographical construction and myths, especially in the relationship with other cultures. The aim of our essay is to provide a framework within it would be easier to overcome the two traditional macro interpretations of Middle Ages, studied by Tommaso di Carpegna Falconieri and David Matthews: Middle Ages as a backward reign of darkness and Middle Ages as the morning light, at the origin of many contemporary political identities – not least that of the European Union_. (shrink)

In A Philosophy of Luxury Lambert Wiesing offre una trattazione originale del concetto di lusso in una prospettiva meramente estetica. Avendo escluso ogni relazione con concetti sociali, quali prestigio, ostentazione, status, Wiesing dichiara che per lusso si deve intendere un’esperienza estetica di tipo particolare. Poiché solo l’uomo indulge nel lusso, ciò che va analizzato è la relazione che intercorre tra un soggetto e un dato oggetto, prescindendo dalle qualità estetiche proprie di quest...

L’opera più importante per la filosofia dell’azione dopo l’Etica di Aristotele: così Donald Davidson ha definito il libro di Gertrude Elizabeth Margaret Anscombe, Intention, che Elisa Grimi ci presenta oggi attraverso questa preziosa guida alla lettura, il primo testo di questo genere in lingua italiana. dalla Prefazione di Cyrille Michon. Che cosa sia un’intenzione, quale sia il ruolo che essa svolge all'interno di un’azione, se vi si possa trovare traccia della vera intenzione del soggetto guardando l’azione che compie: questi e (...) molti altri sono gli interrogativi ai quali Anscombe tenta di rispondere. Intention non è un’opera di etica o di politica ma si muove su uno sfondo etico o politico, uno sfondo da cui lo scritto trae la propria forza e il proprio spirito. L’intenzione infatti è capace di modellare l’azione e generare una storia. Come un mazzo di fiori scelto ad hoc è capace di suscitare emozioni e sentimenti e, allo stesso tempo, custodire la promessa di una storia a venire. (shrink)

The book covers scientific and philosophical topics by bringing them closer to literature. Some topics are scientific explanation, the concept of cause, rational argumentation, pseudoscience, language, ethics, philosophy of mind, posthumanism, and democracy. Summary Prefazione di Severino Saccardi. Introduzione. Capitolo 1: Le scrivanie di Eddington. 1.1. Il vecchio Qfwfq (I. Calvino. Le cosmicomiche). 1.2. L’assassino invisibile (L.F. Celine, Il dottor Semmelweis). 1.3. Gli gnommeri di Ingravallo (C.E. Gadda, Quer pasticciaccio brutto de via Merulana). 1.4. I sergenti di Napoleone (L. Tolstoj, (...) Guerra e pace). 1.5. Tex e il Coyote nero (G. Bonelli, Il Coyote nero). 1.6. “Elementare Watson!” (A.C. Doyle, Il segno dei quattro). Capitolo 2. Non saranno mai delusi. 2.1. L’albero di Natale. (V. Perrin, Cambiare l’acqua ai fiori). 2.2. Il dagherrotipo di Buendia. (G.G. Marquez, Cent’anni di solitudine). 2.3. Don Ferrante e la peste. (A. Manzoni, I promessi sposi). Capitolo 3. Capitolo puffo. 3.1. L’Accademia di Lagado. (J. Swift, I viaggi di Gulliver). 3.2. Bruto è uomo d’onore. (W. Shakespeare, Giulio Cesare). 3.3. Le oche mute. (G. Orwell, 1984). Capitolo 4. “Quarantadue!” 4.1. Lo zio N’Ba N’Ga. (I. Calvino, Le cosmicomiche). 4.2. La mosca cocchiera. (J. de La Fontaine, Favole). 4.3. Il fiore del dr. Dek. (E. Salgari, Le meraviglie del Duemila). Capitolo 5. L’ultimo uomo. 5.1. La pernice accusatrice. (Cyrano de Bergerac, Gli stati e gli imperi del Sole). 5.2. Pallino in via Mjasnickaja. (M.A. Bulgakov, Cuore di cane). Capitolo 6. Scenari perturbanti. 6.1. Dissipatio. (G. Morselli, Dissipatio H.G.). 6.2. Un mammifero meccanizzato. (S. Butler, Erewhon). 6.3. Mlle Olimpia. (E.T.A. Hoffmann, Racconti notturni). Capitolo 7. La gente perbene. 7.1. La balena bianca. (H. Melville, Moby Dick). 7.2. Betsabea Everdeene. (T. Hardy, Via dalla pazza folla). 7.3. Un’idea francese. (C. McCarthy, Cavalli selvaggi). 7.4. Le montagne del Montana. (D. Delillo, Rumore bianco). (shrink)

Dopo aver brevemente spiegato le modalità dell'insegnamento dell'Etica a Nicomaco nella Vienna del XV secolo, l'A. si sofferma ad indagare l'influsso esercitato dal commento di Buridano sulla produzione di commenti che fiorì in quel contesto. La maggior parte di tali commenti prodotti nei primi decenni del sec. XV seguivano infatti lo schema delle sue quaestiones: i commenti secundum Buridanum. Nella seconda metà del secolo furono i commenti di Corrado de Susato e le Quaestiones di Johannes Versor a rappresentare un importante (...) punto di riferimento nell'elaborazione filosofica. Si distingue poi tra i commenti più vicini al testo aristotelico e i compendi e le somme di filosofia morale: tra i primi si segnalano in particolare le Quaestiones super libros Ethicorum secundum mentem Henrici de Frimaria di Thomas Teufl ; tra i secondi si ricordano il Compendium philosophiae moralis di Heinrich Plattenberger di Norimberga e la Summa di Michael Lochmair de Haideck . Infine, una tavola riporta la datazione, la tipologia e i mss. contenenti i commenti prodotti a Vienna nel XV secolo. (shrink)

Uno dei dibattiti che hanno dominato la filosofia della mente a partire dagli anni Ottanta del secolo scorso riguarda la natura della psicologia ingenua, ossia la capacità – caratteristica degli esseri umani – di interpretare il proprio comportamento e quello altrui sulla base dell’attribuzione di stati mentali quali credenze, desideri ed emozioni. Così, io posso spiegare i fiori ricevuti dicendo che la persona che li ha mandati desiderava scusarsi con me, o posso spiegare il fatto di essere...

We analyze the axiomatic strength of the following theorem due to Rival and Sands [28] in the style of reverse mathematics. Every infinite partial order P of finite width contains an infinite chain C such that every element of P is either comparable with no element of C or with infinitely many elements of C. Our main results are the following. The Rival–Sands theorem for infinite partial orders of arbitrary finite width is equivalent to $\mathsf {I}\Sigma ^0_{2} + \mathsf {ADS}$ (...) over $\mathsf {RCA}_0$. For each fixed $k \geq 3$, the Rival–Sands theorem for infinite partial orders of width $\leq \!k$ is equivalent to $\mathsf {ADS}$ over $\mathsf {RCA}_0$. The Rival–Sands theorem for infinite partial orders that are decomposable into the union of two chains is equivalent to $\mathsf {SADS}$ over $\mathsf {RCA}_0$. Here $\mathsf {RCA}_0$ denotes the recursive comprehension axiomatic system, $\mathsf {I}\Sigma ^0_{2}$ denotes the $\Sigma ^0_2$ induction scheme, $\mathsf {ADS}$ denotes the ascending/descending sequence principle, and $\mathsf {SADS}$ denotes the stable ascending/descending sequence principle. To the best of our knowledge, these versions of the Rival–Sands theorem for partial orders are the first examples of theorems from the general mathematics literature whose strength is exactly characterized by $\mathsf {I}\Sigma ^0_{2} + \mathsf {ADS}$, by $\mathsf {ADS}$, and by $\mathsf {SADS}$. Furthermore, we give a new purely combinatorial result by extending the Rival–Sands theorem to infinite partial orders that do not have infinite antichains, and we show that this extension is equivalent to arithmetical comprehension over $\mathsf {RCA}_0$. (shrink)

Current textbooks in formal semantics are all versions of, or introductions to, the same paradigm in semantic theory: Montague Grammar. Knowledge of Meaning is based on different assumptions and a different history. It provides the only introduction to truth- theoretic semantics for natural languages, fully integrating semantic theory into the modern Chomskyan program in linguistic theory and connecting linguistic semantics to research elsewhere in cognitive psychology and philosophy. As such, it better fits into a modern graduate or undergraduate program in (...) linguistics, cognitive science, or philosophy. Furthermore, since the technical tools it employs are much simpler to teach and to master, Knowledge of Meaning can be taught by someone who is not primarily a semanticist. Linguistic semantics cannot be studied as a stand-alone subject but only as part of cognitive psychology, the authors assert. It is the study of a particular human cognitive competence governing the meanings of words and phrases. Larson and Segal argue that speakers have unconscious knowledge of the semantic rules of their language, and they present concrete, empirically motivated proposals about a formal theory of this competence based on the work of Alfred Tarski and Donald Davidson. The theory is extended to a wide range of constructions occurring in natural language, including predicates, proper nouns, pronouns and demonstratives, quantifiers, definite descriptions, anaphoric expressions, clausal complements, and adverbs. Knowledge of Meaning gives equal weight to philosophical, empirical, and formal discussions. It addresses not only the empirical issues of linguistic semantics but also its fundamental conceptual questions, including the relation of truth to meaning and the methodology of semantic theorizing. Numerous exercises are included in the book. (shrink)

This paper investigates the relationship that people with high functioning autism have with organizational temporality by considering this operationalization within the framework of humanistic management. To do so, it proposes an analysis based on seven propositions. Autism is a disorder that is still poorly understood and often linked to social depictions that are as unfounded as they are repulsive. It remains an unexplored area of study in the field of management sciences. Existing scholarship has established that people with autism have (...) great difficulty finding and retaining employment. While it is well known that they have weak social skills, their difficulties in relation to time have only been studied in medical research, even though organizational temporality substantially shapes the functioning of teams. The operationalization of autistic temporality as a particular temporality within humanistic management allows for the development of a new conceptual framework based on a consideration of neuro-atypia. This paper begins with a presentation of the theoretical background. It then develops the theoretical model. Implications, limitations and directions for further studies are discussed before concluding. (shrink)

Este estudo tem como objetivo analisar, de forma crítico-reflexiva, os processos que se mostram implicados na formação do professor, tendo em vista a materialização de práticas educativas inclusiva-anticapacitistas no contexto da EPT. Para essa finalidade, a metodologia empregada subsidiou-se em uma abordagem qualitativa; recorrendo, para tanto, a pesquisa bibliográfica, por meio de estudos e produções de autores que tratam sobre a educação especial inclusiva e a formação de professores na EPT, sempre de modo a articular a discussão destas temáticas com (...) o capacitismo. Como resultado da análise realizada, compreende-se a necessidade de instituir políticas públicas voltadas à formação docente, numa perspectiva anticapacitista na EPT, a fim de ressignificar a condição da deficiência, a partir de um enfoque despatologizante do indivíduo afetado pela lesão. (shrink)

Cette serie est destinee a regrouper des etudes thematiques faisant le point sur differents aspects de l'histoire ou de la culture syriaques, celles des communautes chretiennes dont la langue de culture est le syriaque (maronites, syriaques catholiques et orthodoxes, assyro-chaldeens, communautes du Proche-Orient et de l'Inde...). Cible de jugements malveillants pendant un siecle, la philosophie en syriaque a recemment ete l'objet d'un renouveau d'interet qui en a fait l'un des sujets les plus debattus dans les etudes syriaques. Les Syriaques ont (...) ete regardes dans le meilleur des cas comme de simples transmetteurs aux musulmans de la philosophie grecque, incapables d'une pensee philosophique originale. Si leur role crucial de vecteurs culturels n'est pas en question, ce volume se propose pourtant de montrer aussi la specificite des formes que la philosophie grecque a revetues en monde syriaque au long d'un millenaire, du iie au xiiie siecle. Des le debut, la selection des themes et textes philosophiques par les Syriaques temoigne d'une continuite avec les courants contemporains de l'Empire romain et d'une participation active aux debats qui y avaient cours. Un auteur syriaque comme Bardesane pouvait s'inserer avec originalite dans les controverses du monde imperial sur le determinisme et la providence. La traduction de textes grecs d'ethique et l'utilisation de textes de sagesse attribues aux philosophes grecs attestent un interet pour la philosophie comme " exercice spirituel ", partage par les auteurs chretiens de langue grecque et de langue syriaque, qui dans les memes annees s'interrogeaient sur la valeur de la paideia hellenique pour l'education du chretien. On pourrait donc parler pour ces premiers siecles d'une philosophie chretienne greco-syriaque. A partir du vie siecle, surtout par l'intermediaire des miaphysites, la logique aristotelicienne penetre en monde syriaque. La figure cle pour ce passage est Sergius de Res'ayna (m. 536), et encore une fois la continuite avec le monde grec marque cette entreprise : les commentaires aux uvres logiques d'Aristote ecrits par Sergius et ses successeurs, en particulier au monastere de Qennere, reprennent la structure des commentaires grecs produits a Alexandrie dans l'Antiquite tardive. Des le viiie siecle on assiste aussi au developpement de la logique parmi les elites ecclesiastiques syro-orientales. L'essor de la falsafa, la philosophie d'empreinte grecque en monde musulman, produit une rupture de cette continuite greco-syriaque. Les Syriaques, decisifs dans la transmission de la philosophie a l'Islam, ressentent de plus en plus l'influence de la falsafa. A la fin du premier millenaire, des auteurs chretiens de culture syriaque ecrivent des ouvrages philosophiques en arabe et participent a la phase formative de la falsafa ; au debut du deuxieme millenaire paraissent des ouvrages philosophiques qui, ecrits en syriaque, refletent les structures conceptuelles de la falsafa. C'est la naissance d'une philosophie syro-arabe, qui culmine dans l'uvre de Barhebraeus (xiiie siecle). Le volume s'enrichit de deux contributions bibliographiques qui fourniront au lecteur un panorama exhaustif des sources et des etudes qui ont ete consacrees a la philosophie en syriaque. (shrink)

BackgroundDefinition and concept of the ‘beginning of human life’ are weakened by co-existing contrasting hypotheses based on humanistic or religious beliefs rather than scientific foundations. This plethora of conceptually distant views have important common concerns in different fields of science and shape, in turn, several societal aspects including laws related, for instance, to inheritance eligibility or abortion, end-of-life care and euthanasia, and reproductive technology. Also, they are fundamental to evaluate opportunity for resuscitation vs. palliative care in extremely preterm infants. In (...) this article, we address one of the most common tenets in medicine: the acceptance that human life starts with first breath, even though several events are well-documented to take place before its occurrence.Main textSeveral studies show how pivotal physiological events take place before first breath. Evidence of a number of neurological events occurring before first breath opens the way to the primacy of the Central Nervous System, given its immediate extra-uterine activation at birth. This activation eventually sets specific physiological conditions that allow the complex sequence of events determining the muscle activity associated with the influx of air in the lung and the settling of a continuous and successful extra-uterine respiration. We would like to invite the scientific community to endorse a clear-cut position against the paradigm of ‘first breath’ as the beginning of life. Herein, we also assume how, a still undefined, yet possibly specific quid in the external environment triggers further physiological response in newborns. Better understanding of the critical events that occur at the beginning of human life is likely to cause great concern and expectations in scientists, researchers and physicians working in the domain of brain, and its physiology, and mental health.ConclusionsThe comparison between beliefs and evidence-based observations generates confusion, misperceptions and false expectations in society, hence, in the scientific and medical community. Different and more solid alternatives about the carachterization of the ‘beginning of human life’ are indeed available and require to be explored and defined. (shrink)

This collection of original essays on Yoga in honour of Professor Gerald James Larson provides fascinating new insights into the yoga traditions of India as a ...

Samkhya is one of the oldest, if not the oldest, system of classical Indian philosophy. This book traces its history from the third or fourth century B. C. up through the twentieth century. The Encyclopedia as a whole will present the substance of the various Indian systems of thought to philosophers unable to read the Sanskrit and having difficulty in finding their way about in the translations (where such exist). This volume includes a lengthy introduction by Gerald James Larson, (...) which discusses the history of Samkhya and its philosophical contours overall. The remainder of the book includes summaries in English of all extant Sanskrit texts of the system. Originally published in 1987. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905. (shrink)

“I often said before starting, that I had no doubt I should frequently repent of the whole undertaking.” So wrote Charles Darwin aboard The Beagle , bound for the Galapagos Islands and what would arguably become the greatest and most controversial discovery in scientific history. But the theory of evolution did not spring full-blown from the head of Darwin. Since the dawn of humanity, priests, philosophers, and scientists have debated the origin and development of life on earth, and with modern (...) science, that debate shifted into high gear. In this lively, deeply erudite work, Pulitzer Prize–winning science historian Edward J. Larson takes us on a guided tour of Darwin’s “dangerous idea,” from its theoretical antecedents in the early nineteenth century to the brilliant breakthroughs of Darwin and Wallace, to Watson and Crick’s stunning discovery of the DNA double helix, and to the triumphant neo-Darwinian synthesis and rising sociobiology today. Along the way, Larson expertly places the scientific upheaval of evolution in cultural perspective: the social and philosophical earthquake that was the French Revolution; the development, in England, of a laissez-faire capitalism in tune with a Darwinian ethos of “survival of the fittest”; the emergence of Social Darwinism and the dark science of eugenics against a backdrop of industrial revolution; the American Christian backlash against evolutionism that culminated in the famous Scopes trial; and on to today’s world, where religious fundamentalists litigate for the right to teach “creation science” alongside evolution in U.S. public schools, even as the theory itself continues to evolve in new and surprising directions. Throughout, Larson trains his spotlight on the lives and careers of the scientists, explorers, and eccentrics whose collaborations and competitions have driven the theory of evolution forward. Here are portraits of Cuvier, Lamarck, Darwin, Wallace, Haeckel, Galton, Huxley, Mendel, Morgan, Fisher, Dobzhansky, Watson and Crick, W. D. Hamilton, E. O. Wilson, and many others. Celebrated as one of mankind’s crowning scientific achievements and reviled as a threat to our deepest values, the theory of evolution has utterly transformed our view of life, religion, origins, and the theory itself, and remains controversial, especially in the United States (where 90% of adults do not subscribe to the full Darwinian vision). Replete with fresh material and new insights, Evolution will educate and inform while taking readers on a fascinating journey of discovery. (shrink)

This volume is a “state-of-the-art‘ assessment of comparative philosophy written by some of the leading practitioners of the field. While its primary focus is on gaining methodological clarity regarding the comparative enterprise of “interpreting across boundaries,‘ the book also contains new substantive essays on Indian, Chinese, Japanese, and European thought. The contributors are Roger T. Ames, William Theodore de Bary, Wing-tsit Chan, A. S. Cua, Eliot Deutsch, Charles Hartshorne, Daya Krishna, Gerald James Larson, Sengaku Mayeda, Hajime Nakamura, Raimundo Panikkar, (...) Karl H. Potter, Henry Rosemont, Jr., Ben-Ami Scharfstein, Ninian Smart, Fritz Staal, and Frederick J. Streng. Comparative or cross-cultural philosophy can be seen as a relative newcomer to the field of philosophy. It has its antecedents in the emergence of comparative studies in nineteenth-century European intellectual history, as well as in the sequence of East-West Philosophers’ Conferences at the University of Hawaii, which began in 1939. This book will prove to be of great significance in helping to define a field that is only now becoming fully self-conscious, methodologically and substantively, about its role and function in the larger enterprises of philosophy and comparative studies. (shrink)

The way language as a human faculty has evolved is a question that preoccupies researchers from a wide spread of disciplines. In this book, a team of writers has been brought together to examine the evolution of language from a variety of such standpoints, including language's genetic basis, the anthropological context of its appearance, its formal structure, its relation to systems of cognition and thought, as well as its possible evolutionary antecedents. The book includes Hauser, Chomsky, and Fitch's seminal and (...) provocative essay on the subject, 'The Faculty of Language,' and charts the progress of research in this active and highly controversial field since its publication in 2002. This timely volume will be welcomed by researchers and students in a number of disciplines, including linguistics, evolutionary biology, psychology, and cognitive science. (shrink)