Rigidity does interesting philosophical work, with important consequences felt throughout metaphysics, epistemology, philosophy of mind, and so on. The authors’ aim in this article is to show that rigidity has yet another role to play, with surprising consequences for the problem of free will and determinism, for the phenomenon of rigidity has the upshot that some metaphysically necessary truths are up to us. The significance of this claim is shown in the context of influential arguments against free will. The authors (...) show that some virtually indisputable inference rules employed in formulations of the Consequence Argument, as well as in fatalistic arguments, fail with a variety of counter-examples. Along the way, the authors compare the present arguments to other, similar arguments made in recent years. (shrink)

El cambio climático es uno de los mayores desafíos a los que nos enfrentamos en el siglo XXI. Los niños, niñas y adolescentes son especialmente vulnerables a sus efectos y han levantado su voz exigiendo justicia climática y un mayor reconocimiento en esta lucha ante la falta de atención de los estados. Aunque se han mejorado sus derechos para participar en la toma de decisiones, todavía no se han visto acciones concretas, especialmente en el sur global. En este artículo se (...) propone el concepto de «reconocimiento recíproco de capacidades» como una manera de empoderar a los niños, niñas y adolescentes. Se concluye que es fundamental abordar este reconocimiento a nivel micropolítico. (shrink)

We usually don’t acknowledge social mediation when speaking about subjective experiences in day-to-day life, which relies instead on a unitary and essentialist notion of identity. I initially explore this statement by examining how Kant changes his view on singular-universal relation from the first to the third Critique. A closer look at the reflexive judgment and how it states singularity as a non-conceptualised event follows from that. I then argue in favour of an affinity between an aesthetic notion of singularity, such (...) as found in the third Critique, and the political mobilisation of subjective experiences. (shrink)

The purpose of this essay is to provide a diffractive reading of the concept of ressentiment through decolonial theory. I would like to see what sort of light this sheds on the psychological undercurrents that impose barriers on colonial and decolonial thought, as well as on the conceptual dynamism of ressentiment. This essay is split into two different experiments in thought. The first will be to diffract ressentiment through the works of Gloria Anzaldúa, Édouard Glissant, and Gilles Deleuze. To this (...) end, I will begin by providing an analysis of ressentiment as developed by Nietzsche in On the Genealogy of Morals and then supplement this with Deleuze’s analysis of ressentiment in Nietzsche & Philosophy. I will create a bridge with decolonial thought by interpreting Anzaldúa’s concept of the nopal de castilla and mestiza consciousness through the interpretive lens of ressentiment to show the affinity that exists between the work of Anzaldúa and Nietzsche. I will finish the first experiment by looking at ressentiment through some of the concepts Glissant offers us in the Poetics of Relation. In particular, I will argue that ressentiment resists the creolization of identity and culture, and that Glissant’s demand for the right to opacity for all is the sign of a thinking that has overcome ressentiment. The second experiment is to diffract ressentiment through Eduardo Viveiros de Castro’s Cannibal Metaphysics, beginning with an analysis of the most relevant points of that text for our discussion then putting our diffracted version of ressentiment in conversation with Amerindian perspectivism. However, this does not mean that I am aiming at a synthesis of ressentiment with Amerindian perspectivism. Rather, in the spirit of the Brazilian author’s post-structural anthropology, this essay sees only a disjunctive synthesis of the two: a ressentiment becoming-Amerindian perspectivism and an Amerindian perspectivism-becoming-ressentiment (we will focus on developing the former). I hope that, by the end of this experiment, we may have a richer conceptual understanding of ressentiment by offering this concept an image of itself that only our decolonial thinkers and an Amerindian perspective can offer. (shrink)

Defensores do princípio da precaução propõem com frequência mudanças nas práticas científicas, para que elas facilitem o mesmo objetivo do princípio: evitar ameaças incertas ao ambiente ou à saúde humana. A ciência deveria ser uma ciência precautória. Apesar da importância prática da ciência precautória e da sua proximidade com os debates sobre ciência e valores, ela ainda não foi sistematicamente examinada. Neste artigo, pretende-se contribuir para a literatura sobre a ciência precautória de dois modos: sistematizando sua literatura prévia e propondo (...) uma definição de um de seus elementos principais, a precaução epistêmica, como uma orientação específica para a gestão de riscos indutivos. Conclui-se com algumas objeções que tal definição levanta, bem como caminhos de pesquisas futuras para abordá-las. (shrink)

La discusión sobre las consecuencias políticas del pensamiento de L. Wittgenstein ha girado sobre la posibilidad de construir miradas críticas sobre lo social, su legitimidad, amplitud, fuerza, etc. Sin embargo, aproximar a Wittgenstein a una posición materialista, como la entendía L. Althusser, conduce a una comprensión diferente de la crítica, vinculada a la tarea de deconstruir el discurso filosófico que intenta unificar y organizar jerárquicamente las evidencias (certezas) constitutivas de los diferentes juegos de lenguaje en los que se despliega lo (...) social. Se intenta extraer de esta aproximación una distinción entre la filosofía como práctica teórica ideológica y como práctica teórica crítica. The discussion regarding the political consequences of Wittgenstein's thought has focused on the possibility of building critical approaches to the legitimacy, amplitude, strength, etc. of the social sphere. However, bringing Wittgenstein close to a materialist position as understood by L. Althusser leads to a different understanding of critique, linked to the deconstruction of the philosophical discourse that attempts to unify and hierarchically organize the certainties that are constitutive of the different language games in which the social is deployed. On the basis of this approach, the article attempts to draw a distinction between philosophy as ideological theoretical practice and as critical theoretical practice. (shrink)

Markus Gabriel’s pluralism and Graham Priest’s monism can be considered new forms of skepticism in contemporary philosophy. Gabriel considers ‘emptiness’ and Priest ‘nothingness’ as safe havens for logic and philosophy. In the same way, traditional skeptics also considered nothing secure. Furthermore, we observe in this book that whilst both Priest and Gabriel present rather eloquent theories, they nevertheless lack more substantial proofs, much like many important theories in philosophy, such as Leibniz’s monadology.

The formation of the moral point of view in Bernard Williams’ work might be understood as taking place between two central concepts: the individual and the community. It is through the tension between these two poles that some form of knowledge is acquired. In Williams’ work, the individual virtue takes the name of authenticity, and the communitarian knowledge is, importantly, ethical confidence. A philosophical peer of Williams, Alasdair MacIntyre, has dealt with the same question, although in very different ways. They (...) are usually taken to be philosophical rivals in many respects, especially regarding their political views, their views on religion and their thoughts on Aristotle. But if we look deeper into their claims, we should discover that not only do they have similar ethical concerns, as their responses to those concerns are not, in essence, as different as they seem. My purpose with this paper, however, is not to deny the important differences between the two philosophers, but rather to make conspicuous Williams’ demanding ideas on the formation of the moral point of view by (1) connecting significant portions of his work and (2) contrasting his ideas with that of a philosophical “rival,” namely by interpreting MacIntyre’s own declarations on Williams’ work. It will stand out that both philosophers’ motivation to do ethics is to grant an equilibrium between the individual conscience and the moral knowledge that is acquired within a community. (shrink)

What effect has finding the Archimedean point in ourselves had on how we look at ethics? The modern era of philosophy began with Descartes finding within himself an unshakable point from which to pursue knowledge of the world and himself. This intellectual alienation from the world into the universal mathematical structures of the human mind has led to a reversal where, henceforth, production, rather than contemplation, of knowledge became epistemologically superior. Guided by Hannah Arendt’s discussion of the Archimedean point and (...) Earth alienation in the Human Condition, I will argue that this scientific form of thinking made its way into ethical investigation in the age of modern philosophy. Furthermore, I will provide an analysis of Kant’s categorical imperative and John Stuart Mill’s utilitarianism to show that despite modern science’s success in elucidating universal laws of nature, a scientific approach to ethics has not universalized our judgments of good and evil. (shrink)

Todo ejercicio legítimo del poder político debe su propia existencia a la Iglesia. A su vez, todo el poder que hay en la Iglesia radica o se contiene en el poder papal. Por ello, el poder del sumo Pontífice, incluso en materia temporal, es un poder pleno, absoluto, sine pondere, numero et mensura, como señala Egidio. Dos poderes, dos espadas, una sola autoridad: la del Papa.

How does economics understand the human being? In this article, I present the current dominant conception of the human being in neoclassical theory, which is usually labelled as 'homo oeconomicus' (economic man). I describe the traits of this anthropology, and present the historical context in which it emerged. Then I make its critical evaluation. This is followed by a discussion of two recent alternative conceptions of the human being, which try to go beyond the individualist 'homo economicus' paradigm. I highlight (...) the recent contributions of John B. Davis and Luigino Bruni. Finally I reflect on some elements of Christian anthropology which can contribute to enrich the conception of the person in economics. (shrink)

In this paper, I challenge the widespread view that Measurement Independence adequately represents the requirement that EPR experimenters have free will. Measurement Independence is most commonly taken as a necessary condition for free will. A number of implicit assumptions can be identified in this regard, all of which can be challenged on their own grounds. As a result, I conclude that Measurement Independence-type conditions are not to be justified by appealing to the preservation of the EPR experimenters’ free will.

En el doble tono del pensamiento de Aranguren -el del filósofo moral y el de moralista- es el segundo el que lleva el cantus firmus y constituye el estilo del pensador. En este sentido, la obra de J.L. Aranguren continúa creadoramente la gran tradición moralista del pensamiento hispánico. Remedando la expresión orteguiana, podría definirse como «experimentos morales de nueva España», poniéndola en forma moral. A la vez, pervive en ella el aliento unamuniano de una profunda reforma del ethos del catolicismo (...) español. Pero J.L. Aranguren ha realizado su vocación de reformador moral en un ejercicio de transmutación íntima, de autodesprendimiento irónico y transcendimiento utópico del propio si mismo. En otros términos: ha llevado a cabo su tarea de reformador en la tensión entre el desbloqueo crítico de la experiencia moral y su apertura hacia un nuevo horizonte. En un primer momento, el ámbito de experimentación estuvo demarcado por el «buen talante» católico y una metafísica intelectualista zubiriana, que fraguaron en una ética normativa, abierta a las diferentes esferas de la cultura y de profunda inspiración religiosa. Posteriormente, la exploración de la crisis nihilista de Occidente produjo una profunda inflexión en su planteamiento. La crisis determinó un «repliegue ético» decisivo, es decir, una mayor vecindad al planteamiento kantiano, poniendo ahora el acento en la actitud o existencia ética en sí misma, por encima de los contenidos. En sustitución del estilo fundamentalista de la metafísica, el factum moral y el mundo de la vida son ahora los dos focos de constitución de la experiencia moral. Paralelamente, la tarea del reformador moral se centra en el sondeo de la desmoralización utópica de la existencia. La crítica se ejerce fragmentariamente, a piezas sueltas, en torno a los problemas más acuciantes de la experiencia moral: violencia, consumismo, marginación social, tecnificación burocrática de la moral, establecimiento democrático, etc. Acorde con este reforzamiento de la actitud ética se agudiza la tensión entre ética y política hasta límites trágicos, a la par que se replantea sobre nuevas bases la relación entre una moral utópica, de tensión y aspiración, y una religión abierta. (shrink)

ABSTRACT In this text, we build dialogues between Mikhail Bakhtin’s moral philosophy and Hans Kelsen’s legal theory, analyzing the notions of ought to be, science, and being. The goals are to shed light on Bakhtin’s (1999) legal foundation, from the perspective of moral philosophy as philosophia prima, which encompasses the philosophy of religion and the philosophy of law (Bakhtin, 1999; Simões, 2024); and to point out ethical considerations for the sciences, particularly for Law and Linguistics. The research is bibliographical, and (...) the corpus consists, centrally, of the works Toward a Philosophy of the Act (Bakhtin, 1993) and General Theory of Law and State (Kelsen, 1949). Our conclusions point to Bakhtin’s (1999) contributions, which appear to be authoritative for a perspective on the ought to be in the world of life; and for the debate on ethics in the sciences (Kelsen, 1949; Rajagopalan, 2011), particularly around the scientist’s relationship with the ought to be (Bakhtin, 1999). (shrink)

A discussão sobre representação é transversal ao estudo teórico da política. Aquilo que nos propomos neste ensaio é levar a cabo uma análise da concepção de representação política presente na filosofia de Eric Weil. Para tal, tomaremos em consideração as categorias enunciadas por Hanna Fenichel Pitkin, em relação às quais colocaremos em confronto o pensamento político weiliano respeitante à representação. Desta confrontação emergirá uma concepção da representação política enquanto domínio de passividade e uma concepção do governo enquanto domínio de acção. (...) Como consequência deste entendimento, a cidadania aparecerá como massa despolitizada e sujeita à acção educativa do governo. (shrink)

Resumo: Este artigo aborda a relevância da ocupação de si no processo de formação ética do sujeito e discute as possibilidades de seu uso para a educação. Recobra-se, para tanto, a genealogia da história da noção de cuidado, da parresia e da ética da amizade, retratadas no curso Hermenêutica do Sujeito ministrado por Michel Foucault. Objetiva-se problematizar, com isso, os aspectos moralizantes da pedagogia moderna e evidenciar uma dimensão ética da amizade e estética da existência, as quais foram abandonadas na (...) educação escolar. Buscam-se pensar em que medida essa dimensão pode ser recuperada como uma espécie de esquiva à racionalidade econômica e ao empreendimento de si, presentes nas práticas escolares contemporâneas, indicando algumas pistas sobre as questões éticas e políticas que incidem sobre as referidas práticas, no presente. Esse movimento possibilitará sinalizar para uma face psicagógica esboçada na antiguidade greco-romana, mas que fora abandonada em seu desenvolvimento moderno. Ao se enfatizar essa dimensão psicagógica e o papel que o outro ocupa, nessa relação, destaca-se a necessidade de certa ociosidade (Skholé) e encontro afetivo (Philia) do discípulo com o mestre, indagando-se sobre as adversidades tanto daquela vacância quanto dessa erótica, para se pensar nos desafios atuais da educação escolar. Palavras-chave: cuidado de si; formação ética do sujeito; educação escolar; Foucault. On the Foucauldian ethics of care, the subject and education: interpretive drifts 40 years after Hermeneutics of the Subject Abstract: This article analyzes the relevance of self-care in the subject's ethical formation process and discusses the possibilities of its use for education. For this purpose, we recover the genealogy of the history of the notion of care, parrhesia and the ethics of friendship, portrayed in the Hermeneutics of the Subject course taught by Michel Foucault. We aim to problematize with this the moralizing aspects of modern pedagogy and to highlight an ethical dimension of friendship and aesthetics of existence that were abandoned in school education. We seek to think to what extent this dimension can be recovered as a kind of evasion of economic rationality and the self-enterprise in contemporary school practices, indicating some clues about the ethical and political issues that affect these practices in the present. This movement will allow us to point to a psychogogical face outlined in Greco-Roman Antiquity, but which had been abandoned in its modern development. By emphasizing this psycagogical dimension and the role that the other occupies in this relationship, we highlight the need for a certain idleness (Skholé) and an affective encounter (Philia) of the disciple with the master, asking us about the adversities of both that vacancy and this erotic to think in the current challenges of school education. Keywords: self of care; ethical formation of the subject; schooling; Foucault. Sobre la ética foucauldiana del cuidado, el sujeto y la educación: derivas interpretativas 40 años después de la Hermenéutica del Sujeto Resumen: Este artículo analiza la relevancia de la ocupación de sí mismo en el proceso de formación ética del sujeto y discute las posibilidades de su uso para la educación. Para ello, recuperamos la genealogía de la historia de la noción de cuidado, la parresía y la ética de la amistad, retratada en el curso de Hermenéutica del Sujeto impartido por Michel Foucault. Pretendemos con eso problematizar los aspectos moralizantes de la pedagogía moderna y resaltar una dimensión ética de la amistad y estética de la existencia que fueron abandonadas en la educación escolar. Buscamos pensar en qué medida esta dimensión puede ser recuperada como una vía de escape a la racionalidad económica y el emprendimiento del yo en las prácticas escolares contemporáneas, indicando algunas pistas sobre las cuestiones éticas y políticas que afectan a estas prácticas en el presente. Este movimiento nos permitirá señalar un rostro psicagógico esbozado en la antigüedad grecorromana, pero que había sido abandonado en su desarrollo moderno. Al enfatizar esta dimensión psicogógica y el papel que el otro ocupa en esta relación, destacamos la necesidad de una cierta ociosidad (Skholé) y un encuentro afectivo (Philia) del discípulo con el maestro, preguntándonos por las adversidades de ambos esa vacancia y esta erótica para pensar en los desafíos actuales de la educación escolar. Palabras-clave: cuidado de sí; formación ética del sujeto; enseñanza; Foucault. Data de registro: 10/07/2022 Data de aceite: 13/12/2022. (shrink)

El largometraje La llorona (Jayro Bustamante, 2019) persigue contribuir a la restitución de una deuda histórica con el pueblo indígena guatemalteco; una deuda no satisfecha plenamente con los acuerdos de paz de 1996. El pasado espectral viene encarnado en Alma, la sirvienta maya kaqchikel que entra a trabajar en la casa del general Monteverde, responsable del genocidio de las comunidades indígenas cuando era presidente del país centroamericano. Al invertir la idea del haunting, o tormento, son el torturador y su familia (...) lxs que se ven acosados por sus acciones pasadas, que hasta ahora habían quedado impunes, no solo a nivel jurídico, sino también a nivel moral. La figura metafórica de “La Llorona”, que llora desconsolada más allá de la muerte porque sus hijos han sido asesinados frente a ella, desencadena el terror que vivirá la familia protagonista, obligada a enfrentarse al pasado en el contexto del juicio popular contra Monteverde. La lujosa mansión del expresidente, una casa tomada, rodeada de manifestantes clamando por sus desaparecidxs, se volverá un espacio asfixiante capaz de atentar contra sus habitantes como respuesta a las demandas de justicia. Este artículo se interroga sobre tres aspectos fundamentales de la película. En primer lugar, cómo se elabora audiovisualmente el contra-archivo del juicio de Ríos Montt en 2013, de quien Monteverde es trasunto en la ficción. En segundo lugar, de qué manera se movilizan las politics of haunting negociando un discurso que transciende el género de terror y entronca con el de denuncia social. Y finalmente, cuáles son los procedimientos que utiliza el filme para presentar la resistencia indígena y la decolonialidad como opciones para construir el presente democrático en Guatemala. (shrink)

La tesis de la privacidad linguitica nace con el gesto fundador de la filosofía moderna que apoya toda legitimidad en la subjetividad y la conciencia. Ello da origen a dos problemas filos�ficos fundamentales, concernientes al mundo y al solipsismo. El siglo XX creyó encontrar en el lenguaje una salida a estos problemas. Wittgenstein es allí una pieza clave. Sin embargo las interpretaciones más influyentes de Wittgenstein enfocaron la crítica del lenguaje privado de tal modo que la salida debía permanecer en (...) el terreno epistemológico de las garantías o criterio de corrección (Malcolm, Fogelin, Kenny, Canfield, Tugendhat). Sostenemos que la interpretación propuesta por Kripke se apoya un un agudo diagnóstico de la fuente de estas dificultades, dándose cuenta que la refutación del lenguaje privado requería abandonar toda una concepción, la del realismo, que afectaban por igual al lenguaje privado y al público. Su argumentación, centrada en la semántica, irradia consecuencias más allá de la misma. Su "solución escéptica" al establecer que los juicios de corrección, entendidos como básicos y primitivos, sólo poseen sentido en el marco de una comunidad uniforme en sus juicios, coloca al discurso filosófico en un nuevo terreno. (shrink)

In this paper, I argue that the transcendental idealism of Husserl’s phenomenology is compatible with a metaphysical realism. I not only develop an argument regarding the consistency between both philosophical stances, but I argue that this was Husserl’s own thesis. As a consequence, I support my interpretation on a hermeneutic of some of the most important texts by Husserl himself, where he deals directly with the issue.

Near the end of 2015, Luis Fariñas del Cerro officially retired as directeur de recherche in the Centre National de Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) and became an Emeritus researcher of the CNRS. The present special issue is a Festschrift in his honour to celebrate Luis’s achievements in science, both as an outstanding scholar as well as a remarkable and highly successful organiser, administrator and leader in science and technology policy and management, in particular as the founder of the Journal of Applied (...) Non-Classical Logics. The issue contains 13 scientific contributions by 32 authors, among them Luis’s colleagues, former students and friends. Preceding versions of these papers were presented at the international workshop ‘Logical Reasoning and Computation’ that was held at IRITInstitut de Recherche en Informatique de Toulouse, Université Paul Sabatier, Toulouse, on 3–4 March 2016. The present introduction contains a short scientific biography describing the many different areas of logic and computation where Luis contributed significant advances. (shrink)

Este artigo discute como os conceitos de mediação e representação se articulam na reflexão de Carl Schmitt em alguns de seus primeiros escritos e preparam o terreno para a formulação da ideia de representação política em um de seus trabalhos mais conhecidos: Teoria da Constituição. O procedimento mediante o qual se traduz uma realidade amorfa ou um coletivo em forma de representação política se atém à noção de presentificar algo ausente ou tornar visível algo invisível. Toda ideia entra no mundo (...) empírico como hóspede forasteiro e para ganhar existência ou visibilidade necessita de uma decisão soberana pela sua representação. A finalidade deste estudo é explicar o modo pelo qual ocorre este procedimento. (shrink)

CONVOCAÇÃO DE ELEIÇÕES GERAIS E O DECORO DEMOCRÁTICO: ANÁLISE DA PROPOSTA DE EMENDA À CONSTITUIÇÃO N˚ 20/2016.

El _corpus_ epistolar de Focio, patriarca de Constantinopla en dos ocasiones (858-867 y 877-886), representa un documento significativo para la historia literaria no solo por su cantidad sino también por sus destinatarios y remitentes, que incluyen personajes importantes de su momento, así como amigos y familiares. A su vez, los contenidos son variados pues oscilan entre temas de corte personal, político, teológico y religioso. Entre las cartas se encuentra la 152, dirigida a su hermano Tarasio, en la que desarrolla la (...) cuestión del sentido que diversos Padres de la Iglesia dieron a la frase “ἐφ᾽ ᾧ” en Romanos 5:12, tanto aquellos que considera incompletos (pues sobreentienden “Adán” o “muerte”), como el más idóneo (“porque”). Sin embargo, debido a que Focio no especifica abiertamente ninguna de sus fuentes, desde la publicación de esta carta (1651) se han hecho intentos por ubicarlas y comentarlas. El objetivo de este trabajo consiste en analizar bajo una nueva perspectiva aquellas que han sido ubicadas, así como presentar otra que no ha sido considerada hasta ahora. (shrink)

Los logros socioeconómicos alcanzados por Chile en estas últimas décadas, han tenido su correlato en mejoras importantes con relación al desarrollo humano de su población. Sin embargo, surgen dudas respecto de la capacidad de los chilenos, y en general de los países latinoamericanos, para adaptarse a un contexto de sociedad de mercado, donde el Estado ha ido perdiendo su centralidad como eje de la integración social. En este ensayo, el autor nos invita a superar este diagnóstico potenciando la democracia y (...) las posibilidades de ejercer una real ciudadanía participativa, fundada ya no en el verticalismo estatal, sino que en las diversas y variadas formas de la sociedad civil. La propuesta apunta, en definitiva, a rescatar el espacio público más allá del discurso economicista que apunta únicamente a la mantención de un orden social autorregulado. (shrink)

This paper aims to clarify and defend the distinction by Isaiah Berlin between “negative liberty” on the one hand, and “positive” and “communal liberty” on the other. This distinction has been attacked by those who believe it breaks the necessary harmony with equality or fraternity, virtues that many progressive authors place on the same plane as freedom. Instead of speaking of “negative liberty,” as proposed by Berlin, we propose to call it “classical” or “formal” liberty. In turn, rather than speaking (...) of “positive” liberty, we propose to say “possessive liberty” and “communal liberty.” Thus, Isaiah Berlin should have spoken of three concepts of liberty and have stressed that the latter two may be destructive of the first. Possessive and communal liberty can be significant aspects of a society, but should not be confused with personal liberty. The promotion of possessive and comunal liberty is often accompanied by invasions of formal liberty. (shrink)

A partir de dos hechos: las reiteradas referencias a la doctrina de los sentidos espirituales en los teólogos monásticos medievales y el olvido de la misma por parte de los autores posteriores, nos aproximamos a este "conocimiento experimental", desde la filosofía y la teología, partiendo de algunos testimonios de los siglos XI al XIII, especialmente los referidos a la lectio divina y al opus Dei, implorando también con ellos "Accende lumen sensíbus".

My dissertation is a critical study of Jose Ortega Y Gasset's attempt to reconcile his notion of lived-experience , which is fundamentally immediate experience, with his idea of life as vital-reason. But life as vital reason is, itself, best understood as consisting of life as a rational-existential project. This, in effect is Ortega's manner of fusing idealism and realism. The result of this mediation is to be interpreted as the self-with-things or what amounts to: I-in-the-world. Man is never what he (...) is in his immediacy and therefore he must create his essence through a self-conscious existential project. Thus, Ortega's notion of life as radical reality is the culmination of an underlying dialectic that is present throughout his work. That is, man's self-awareness of his life as a pre-reflective extranatural phenomenon vis-a-vis the material world can only be understood through reflection and therefore never in its immediacy. Therefore I conclude that for Ortega the synthesis of these apparently antithetical notions culminates in a form of subjective idealism given that primacy is necessarily attributed to the self over the external world. Even though I accept the fundamental tenets of his argument concerning the synthesis of Realism and Idealism and Rationalism and Vitalism, I have focused upon the inherent tension that exists in any such reflective endeavor. I believe that due to Ortega's emphasis that all reflection must originate and therefore concern itself with life as phenomenon, his philosophy necessarily gives primacy to the self over the material world . In arguing "Yo Soy Yo Y Mis Circumstancias" Ortega stresses the character of the Rational Vitalism that results from my self-awareness of my life as a problem for reflection that is forged through my necessary dealings with the world. The result of this self-knowledge is the foundation of a metaphysics of life that is best understood as man as radical reality. (shrink)