ITA: Quello del “buon europeo” è in Nietzsche un tema significativo, che si presenta originariamente connesso alle riflessioni di Nietzsche sulla cultura europea, arricchendosi col tempo di una portata filosofica che si lega agli obiettivi del suo pensiero maturo. Scopo del presente articolo è di mostrare la genesi e l’evoluzione di tale concetto, a partire dalle sue prime occorrenze in Umano, troppo umano I fino al suo compiuto sviluppo negli scritti del 1885-87. Tale studio permetterà di evidenziare il (...) particolare valore che Nietzsche attribuisce ai “buoni europei”, in quanto promotori dello sviluppo spirituale conseguente alla compiuta liberazione della morale cristiana. ENG: The “good European” is a rich and important topic in Nietzsche. It is first related to Nietzsche’s early reflections on European culture, and during the 1880’s it gains philosophical value, being strictly connected with the purposes of Nietzsche’s mature thought. The aim of this paper is to track the genesis and development of the notion of “good European”, from Human, all too Human I to Nietzsche’s writings from the years 1885-1887. That investigation shall particularly show the meaning and value that Nietzsche attributes to the good Europeans; as for him, they are in fact the leaders of the spiritual development that follows the overcoming of Christian morality. (shrink)

The Calcolo geometrico (1888) seems to have been a turning point in the scientific career of Giuseppe Peano (1858?1932) because with this book he started publishing in logic. Looking for motivations of his early interests in the field one is naturally led to investigate the background of that book. Besides his previous work in mathematical analysis, methods and results of some Italian mathematicians and?above all?the spread of Grassmann's theories in Italy played a significant role: this point seems to have been (...) often underestimated by the historians of the subject. The connections between Calcolo geometrico and other related areas are also discussed. Peano's handwritten remarks and references taken from his own working copy of the Calcolo geometrico constitute the appendix of the paper. ?Simbolismo da alas ad mente de homo? (Peano 1913, 390). (shrink)

Come migliore introduzione ad un manuale di logica deduttiva pensato per le scienze psicologiche, crediamo sia necessario definire i seguenti termini: logica, logica deduttiva e logica come arte. Crediamo, infatti, che la chiara conoscenza di tali concetti predisponga e prepari allo studio di una materia complessa come la logica e allo studio delle relazioni, forse ancor più complesse, tra logica e psicologia. Possiamo dare della logica almeno due definizioni, una più ampia ed una più ristretta. Secondo un’accezione estesa, possiamo allora (...) definire la logica come lo studio dei processi inferenziali del ragionamento umano. La logica studia, cioè, la struttura e le funzioni della ragione nel momento in cui essa produce giudizi o argomentazioni sul mondo. Invece, secondo un’accezione ristretta del termine, possiamo definire la logica come lo studio della validità dei ragionamenti umani, così come essi sono espressi linguisticamente. La logica studia, cioè, le forme corrette della ragione distinguendole dalle forme scorrette, o fallaci. La logica, infine, deve essere distinta da tutte le scienze che, come la psicologia, possono condivide- re il medesimo oggetto di studio, il ragionamento umano. Esiste, infatti, una parte cospicua della psicologia che studia proprio il ragionamento. Mentre, però, la psicologia considera quest’ultimo nella sua complessità psichica e mentale, la logica considera, invece, solo i suoi prodotti finali e formali, senza occuparsi dei suoi contenuti. La logica deduttiva è, invece, una branca della logica focalizzata sullo studio delle inferenze certe che, a partire da premesse vere e note, conducono a conclusioni, prima ignote, che sono altrettanto vere. Il senso della deduzione è, infatti, proprio il movimento che la ragione umana svolge quando cerca conferma alle proprie conoscenze acquisite e alle proprie generalizzazioni. La deduzione procede, cioè, dal generale, espresso nelle premesse, al particolare, espresso invece nella conclusione. In senso ri- stretto, perciò, la logica deduttiva studia la validità di tali forme di ragionamento e argomentazione. Deduzione e logica deduttiva devono, infine, essere distinte da induzione e logica induttiva, da un lato, e da abduzione e logica abduttiva, d’altro lato. L’induzione, infatti, procede dal particolare al generale, in senso contrario rispetto alla deduzione, da premesse parziali e non certe a conclusioni sempre incerte ma generali. L’abduzione, invece, è una modalità di ragionamento del tutto ipotetica, lontana dalle certezze conoscitive della deduzione o dalle certezze agognate dall’induzione. Concludiamo con il concetto di logica come arte. L’arte è, qui, da intendersi come sublime saper fare e produrre, estetica che diviene pragmatica. L’arte è, però, anche uno straordinario strumento di massima espressività estetica al servizio dell’artista che ne fa uso per rappresentare il mondo, la vita e se stessi. La logica come arte è, allora, da intender- si come sublime ragionare, pensiero forte che diviene pratica. La logica come arte è, inoltre, un potente strumento di massima espressività razionale al servizio dello scienziato o dello studioso che ne fa uso per spiegare come funzionano il mondo, la vita e se stessi. In questo manuale, useremo pertanto la logica come strumento di massima espressività razionale al servizio dello psicologo, che è lo scienziato e studioso della psiche. La logica come scienza, invece, è concentrata su se stessa, sulle proprie conoscenze esclusive, tutte legate al tema della dimostrazione, e sui propri progressi, così incurante di ogni altra scienza, se non collateralmente. La logica come arte deriva dalla logica come scienza ma se ne distacca nelle finalità ultime, privilegiando e potenziando le sue qualità applicative e strumentali. (shrink)

Fin dalle sue origini l’alchimia ha dovuto confrontarsi con il problema dell’ordine. La sua eccentricità rispetto agli altri saperi medievali poneva questioni sulla sua collocazione e sulla natura dell’oggetto che cercava, la pietra filosofale. L’articolo presenta il tentativo fatto dal medico Pietro Bono da Ferrara di riordinare la materia alchemica e di incasellarla nel sistema scientifico scolastico. Nella sua opera, la _ Pretiosa Margarita Novella _, egli utilizza il sillogismo per ordinare la trattazione dell’alchimia, la _ subalternatio _ per (...) definirla come una tra le scienze naturali e collocarla all’interno del sistema dei saperi e il concetto di _ forma specifica _ per descrivere la pietra filosofale e inserirla nel processo di generazione dei metalli. In questo modo Bono concepisce l’alchimia come una scienza che risponde a due ordini, quello naturale di generazione dei metalli, nel quale opera, e quello divino, al quale deve fare appello per trovare la pietra, che sono complementari tra loro, poiché hanno la loro origine in Dio. _ Since its origins, alchemy has had to deal with the problem of order. His eccentricity compared to other medieval knowledge posed questions about his collocation and the nature of the object he was looking for, the philosopher’s stone. This article presents the attempt, made by the doctor Pietro Bono da Ferrara, to embed alchemy in the school scientific system. In his work, the Pretiosa Margarita Novella, he uses syllogism to order the treatment of alchemy, the subalternatio to place it within the system of sciences and the concept of forma specifica to describe the philosopher’s stone and insert it in metals’ generation process. In this way, Bono conceives alchemy as a science referring to two orders, the natural one of metal generation, in which it operates, and the divine one, to which he must appeal to find the philosopher’s stone, which are complementary to each other since they both have their origin in God. _. (shrink)

Nel Tesoro del Duomo di Monza si conservano tre celebri dittici eburnei relativi alla dotazione di suppellettili liturgiche di Berengario del Friuli (inizi X secolo): il dittico di Stilicone e quello del Poeta e della Musa, entrambi tardo antichi; il dittico di re Davide e san Gregorio Magno, di datazione e lettura più controverse (VI secolo ed età carolingia). Primo editore dei pezzi è Anton Francesco Gori nel secondo volume del Thesaurus veterum diptychorum consularium et ecclesiasticorum (1759), corredato di tre (...) tavole di Andrea Scacciati. Pur non avendo mai visionato i manufatti, l’erudito fiorentino dedica ad essi un’ampia disamina critica basandosi essenzialmente sugli acquerelli del pittore Girolamo Ferroni, reclutato dal marchese milanese e prezioso intermediario Alessandro Teodoro Trivulzio. Nel 1794 il padre della storiografia monzese, il canonico Anton Francesco Frisi, risolve di rieditare i dittici in apertura del terzo tomo delle sue Memorie storiche di Monza e sua corte. Consigliato da quel don Carlo Trivulzio erudito e proprietario di un ricco nucleo di avori antichi, supportato dalle modeste incisioni di Giulio Cesare Bianchi, offre una rilettura che puntualizza ed emenda in parte quanto scritto dal Gori, condita da una vena polemica contro «chi non ha esaminati personalmente i Monumenti, sui quali ragiona». Sullo sfondo del contesto culturale dell’epoca e delle personalità che vi presero parte, con l’ausilio della documentazione divisa tra la Veneranda Biblioteca Ambrosiana di Milano, l’Archivio della Fondazione Trivulzio e la Biblioteca Marucelliana di Firenze, il contributo intende proporre una ricostruzione degli avvenimenti con attenzione al rapporto tra originale (i dittici monzesi) e copia (disegni e incisioni che ne scaturirono). (shrink)

Quello che ci rende le persone che siamo è l’insieme delle nostre caratteristiche psicologiche (i ricordi, le emozioni, i desideri) o la persistenza delle nostre caratteristiche fisiche? La questione dell’identità personale è tra le più dibattute nella storia della filosofia fin dalle sue origini. Facendo uso di un copioso numero di esempi tratti dal quotidiano, questo libro conduce per mano dentro uno dei temi filosofici più sorprendenti.

Il presente numero di “Rivista di estetica” raccoglie diversi contributi che intendono riflettere oggi sui limiti e sulle possibilità di un approccio estetico-filosofico alle nuove istanze (sia tecniche che narrative) che ci giungono da questo oggetto sempre da identificare chiamato film. Come si sa, il cinema, fin dalle sue origini, ha generato un complesso insieme di discorsi intorno a sé. Il cinema è stato cioè continuamente trattato, discusso, analizzato, fatto oggetto di studio, dalla st...

In questo articolo parlo della influenza di Einstein su Wittgenstein a partire da alcuni problemi che si pongono all’olismo. L’olismo è stato spesso collegato a Wittgenstein, almeno in forma di “olismo locale”. L’olismo è però soggetto a due tipi di paradossi: il paradosso della comunicazione per l’olismo semantico e il paradosso del relativismo concettuale per l’olismo epistemologico. Dopo aver presentato brevemente i due paradossi, confronto le risposte di Davidson, in difesa dell’olismo, con quelle di Wittgenstein (o di tipo wittgensteiniano). Da (...) questo confronto nasce un problema nell’interpretazione di Wittgenstein. Infatti, dalle sue risposte ai due paradossi emerge una tensione nella sua visione dei giochi linguistici e in particolare nei suoi esperimenti mentali, che sono stati tradizionalmente interpretati in modi contrapposti. La mia proposta è che una rilettura di alcune riflessioni di Wittgenstein su Einstein e la relatività può aiutare a cogliere meglio il significato di questa tensione. (shrink)

Se l'attenzione maggiore degli studiosi si è da sempre concentrata sulle Dionisiache, non di meno negli ultimi vent'anni si assiste a un rinnovato interesse per l'altro poema esametrico attribuito a Nonno, la Parafrasi del Vangelo di Giovanni; ciò soprattutto per merito di Enrico Livrea e della sua scuola fiorentina, di cui anche l'autore di questo volume fa parte. Esso rappresenta una tappa ulteriore – dopo l'edizione del Canto I (De Stefani), del Canto II (Livrea), del Canto XVIII (Livrea) e del (...) Canto XX (Accorinti) – in quello che si annuncia come un progetto di edizione critica commentata di tutti canti del poema sacro nonniano: progetto certamente ambizioso ma indispensabile per fare luce piena su un momento fondamentale dell'epica tardoantica. Diversamente dalla poesia centonaria, Nonno, pur seguendo dappresso la Vorlage evangelica, volle fare opera in qualche misura originale e ci riuscì, pur con uno stile che non si potrebbe immaginare più contrastante rispetto alla austera sobrietà del dettato giovanneo. Il volume di Agosti, sostenuto da una ricchissima e pressocché completa bibliografia, si apre con una Introduzione assai ampia e decisamente pregevole per la capacità dimostrata dallo studioso di inquadrare il poema nonniano nell'ambito vasto dell'epica tardoantica non solo greca ma anche latina: da questo punto di vista illuminanti appaiono i raffronti con Giovenco, Aratore, Claudiano, Prudenzio, Commodiano, oltre che, naturalmente, con Gregorio Nazianzeno, Eudocia e gli Homerocentones. Convinto che il Nonno parafraste sia il medesimo autore delle Dionisiache, Agosti ritiene decisamente superata la tesi contraria, e intelligentemente si limita a rilevare la straordinaria affinità fra i due poemi non solo a livello stilistico, linguistico e metrico, ma anche – aspetto forse ancora più sorprendente – sotto il profilo concettuale: «Vi sono elementi di chiaro influsso cristiano nelle D. e d'altra parte la figura di Cristo tende ad assumere alcuni tratti bacchici nella P.» (p. 46). Una tesi, questa, che viene corroborata con numerosi raffronti puntuali nelle dense note di commento. Essendo gran parte del Canto Quinto, corrispondente al quinto capitolo del vangelo giovanneo, dedicato al miracolo del paralitico guarito nella piscina di Bethesda, viene affrontato il problema dello spazio dedicato ai miracoli di guarigione nel mondo pagano e cristiano del V secolo, in particolare nell'ambiente egizio dove Nonno visse e operò (ma molto cauto si mostra, a mio avviso saggiamente, l'Autore nei confronti di identificazioni troppo incerte, come quella che vorrebbe Nonno vescovo di Edessa). Il lettore deduce dalle sue considerazioni come nulla di sorprendente o di aberrante l'uomo tardoantico potesse scorgere nel racconto di Giovanni, che anzi non discorda da analoghe imprese attribuite ad Asclepio, il dio guaritore ϰατεξοχήν, ma anche a taumaturghi come Apollonio di Tiana: si trattava, se mai, di una sorta di concorrenza fra Cristo e i suoi omologhi e rivali pagani. Allo stesso modo, Agosti pensa che il pubblico della Parafrasi e quello delle Dionisiache fosse in sostanza il medesimo, forse con una percentuale cristiana maggiore nel primo caso e minore nel secondo. Ovviamente si rimane nel campo delle ipotesi, ma certo il sincretismo del tempo poteva forse spingersi tanto avanti da giustificare simile osmosi, anche se appare lecito dubitare che cristiani convinti giungessero a tollerare l'incredibile ampiezza del poema a gloria di Dioniso, e, viceversa, che a un pubblico pagano potesse veramente interessare il vangelo di Giovanni – di cui per altro Agosti segnala qualche risonanza in ambiente neoplatonico. Meritorie appaiono anche le osservazioni sul retroterra esegetico del poema sacro, «più vicino all'esegesi che alla parafrasi stricto sensu» (p. 111), con particolare riferimento al commento giovanneo di Cirillo d'Alessandria: una consonanza del resto già osservata da altri studiosi della Parafrasi. Nelle note l'Autore cita numerosi passi da Cirillo, non nascondendosi comunque la notevole libertà con cui Nonno – il cui intento primario non dovette certo essere teologico – se ne servì. Non meno interessanti le considerazioni su alcuni punti di contatto con la liturgia, tema di cui Agosti segnala la non secondaria importanza per una valutazione corretta e completa dell'epica cristiana. (shrink)

Raimondo Lullo (1232-1316) è una figura poliedrica, difficile da cogliere nella sua complessità. Un autore lontano nel tempo ma di sorprendente attualità, soprattutto nel suo essere "uomo del Mediterraneo" i cui orizzonti culturali spaziarono dall'una all'altra delle sue sponde e delle sue civiltà. Dopo aver riconosciuto e descritto ciò che le religioni del Libro avevano in comune e in cosa differivano, Lullo cercò di realizzare un dialogo basato non sulla loro uguaglianza, ma su una parità che deriva dalla dignità personale (...) delle parti. Sin dal 1294, egli afferma che gli "infedeli" sono uomini come noi. Con pochi mezzi a disposizione (l'eredità culturale condivisa dalle religioni monoteiste e un metodo di sua creazione, dono di Dio e del luogo in cui era vissuto), tenta di promuovere un confronto aperto e disteso con i suoi interlocutori da una posizione chiara e rispettosa della propria identità cristiana e dei valori di cui possono essere portatrici le altre fedi. L'atteggiamento di rispetto, di cortesia, di dialogo con l'"altro", che sintetizza ciò che viene oggi denominato "spirito di Assisi", può essere rinvenuto in molte delle sue opere, frutto del lavoro di un autore che, a 700 anni dalla morte, resta uno di noi nell'età che fu sua. (shrink)

The Uniform Determination of Death Act (UDDA) provides that “an individual who has sustained either (1) irreversible cessation of circulatory and respiratory functions or (2) irreversible cessation of all functions of the entire brain, including the brain stem, is dead.” We show that the UDDA contains two conflicting interpretations of the phrase “cessation of functions.” By one interpretation, what matters for the determination of death is the cessation of spontaneous functions only, regardless of their generation by artificial means. By the (...) other, what matters is the cessation of both spontaneous and artificially supported functions. Because each UDDA criterion uses a different interpretation, the law is conceptually inconsistent. A single consistent interpretation would lead to the conclusion that conscious individuals whose respiratory and circulatory functions are artificially supported are actually dead, or that individuals whose brain is entirely and irreversibly destroyed may be alive. We explore solutions to mitigate the inconsistency. (shrink)

In this paper, I attend to the ontological shift in Merleau-Ponty’s later writing and suggest that this conceptual turn opens the space for questions of the latent sense of the sensible foreclosed by dualist accounts and propositional theories of meaning. By attending to the Nature Lectures, I claim that there is a sens [meaning and orientation] of nature whose regulatory principle ought to be found in nature itself. This is to say that there is a normativity of nature that, albeit (...) not exclusive of sociocultural-linguistic norms, is irreducible to them. As I argue, this normativity is a “transspatializing and transtemporalizing”: it transverses its carnal manifestations, thereby inaugurating and becoming traceable within their materialization while remaining invisible in its excess or poietic renewing. I conclude by attending to the question of the “latent sense” of nature, suggesting that this sense is not conceptual or propositional, but intuitive as in the sense of right and left, a sense that is distributed across spatio-temporal individuals and emerges via the play of yet-to-be-determined incarnate manifestations.Dans cet article, j’aborde le tournant ontologique du dernier Merleau-Ponty et je suggère qu’il implique une interrogation sur le sens latent du sensible, exclu par les approches dualistes ainsi que par les théories propositionnelles de la signification. En analysant les cours sur la Nature, je vise à montrer qu’il y a un sens [signification et direction] de la nature, dont le principe régulateur est à chercher dans la nature elle-même. Cela revient à dire qu’il y a une normativité de la nature qui, bien qu’elle n’exclue pas les normes socio-culturelles-linguistiques, ne leur est pas pour autant réductible. Une telle normativité est « trans-spatiale et trans-temporelle » : elle traverse ses manifestations charnelles, en inaugurant ainsi et en devenant traçable dans ses matérialisations, tout en demeurant invisible dans son excès et dans son renouvellement poïétique. Je termine en abordant la question du « sens latent » de la nature, en suggérant que ce sens n’est ni conceptuel ni propositionnel, mais intuitif, tout comme l’est le sens de la droite et de la gauche, c’est-à-dire un sens qui est distribué à travers les individus spatio-temporels et qui émerge dans le jeu des manifestations incarnées encore-à-déterminer.In questo articolo intendo esaminare la svolta ontologica degli ultimi scritti di Merleau-Ponty per suggerire come questa apra ad un’interrogazione sul senso latente del sensibile, che rimane escluso dagli approcci dualistici e dalle teorie proposizionali del significato. Analizzando i corsi sulla Natura, vorrei mostrare come vi sia un senso [significato e orientamento] della natura il cui principio regolatore deve essere rintracciato nella natura stessa. Ciò significa che vi è una normatività della natura che, benché non esclusiva delle norme socioculturali-linguistiche, è irriducibile ad esse. Questa normatività è “trans-spaziale e trans-temporale”: essa attraversa le sue manifestazioni carnali, inaugurando e divenendo tracciabile nelle sue materializzazioni, pur rimanendo invisibile nella sua eccedenza o rinnovamento poietico. Concludo soffermandomi sulla questione del “senso latente” della natura, suggerendo che questo senso non è concettuale o proposizionale, ma intuitivo al modo del senso della destra e della sinistra, un senso che è distribuito attraverso gli individui spazio-temporali e che emerge nel gioco delle manifestazioni incarnate ancora-da-determinare. (shrink)

"La filosofia verso la religione", opera giudicata tra le "più notevoli espresse dalla neo-scolastica italiana, e non solo italiana" e che "concentra nelle sue poche pagine un intero trattato di filosofia; diciamo meglio: di metafisica" (Vanni Rovighi), merita di essere riproposta per più motivi. Anzitutto per l'idea di ricerca filosofica che l'anima, non altra da quella auspicata già dall'enciclica Fides et ratio (1998) come antidoto a un nichilismo pervasivo che, rinunciando al mito razionalistico, diventa ancora più insidioso per la verità (...) della fede: una filosofia che prende le mosse dalla domanda fondamentale di senso. Poi, per l'impegno a rispondere a tale domanda: generosa fiducia nelle possibilità della ragione, spirito critico e rigore argomentativo, che non sono mai alternativi alla fede, ma sempre suoi alleati. Quest'ultimo è un messaggio di cui il pensiero del credente ha oggi un estremo bisogno. La grande tradizione della filosofia cristiana di Agostino e di Tommaso, cari a Masnovo, è ripresa in questo libro e resa convincente dal serratissimo confronto con il pensiero moderno. (shrink)

The work of artist Ron Athey has long befuddled the art historical establishment and has mostly remained under the philosophical radar. In this review of Athey’s Acephalous Monster, performed on August 28, 2021, at the Roy and Edna Disney/CalArts Theater in Los Angeles, I propose a philosophical frame- work for Athey’s radical reinvention of ethical categories like agency, mutuality and communion. I describe the performance and its critical context in order to tease out the aesthetic dimension of this reinvention and (...) the subversive power of reconstituting personhood along lines of collective artistic jubilation and creative survival. (shrink)

In times of stress, trauma and crisis—whether on a personal or global scale—it can be all too easy for us to externalize a larger-than-life figure who can assuage our suffering, a Hero who comes to the fore even as we recede into the background. In taking on our collective burden, however, such an omnipotent Hero can actually undermine us, representing as it does the very same characteristics we fail to note in one another. By granting the Hero to power to (...) set things right, we seem to deny it to ourselves, leaving us temporarily lightened but ultimately helpless. In response, Sue Grand deconstructs the myth of the Heroic and argues for the "ordinary hero," a more realistic figure with the same limitations, concerns and fears as the rest of us, but who nonetheless stands up for the greater good in the face of danger, despair and villainy. From the foundation of relational psychoanalysis, Grand incorporates cultural and ethical considerations in her examination of what this ordinary hero might look like, a trip that takes us from the consulting room to right outside our front doors, from the heart of a "civilized" nation to the myriad war-torn regions dappling the globe, both past and present. Along the way we meet individuals whose encounters with adversity range from the mundane to the catastrophic, and learn how they struggle against the dubious concept of the Hero looming large in their lives. Recounting this journey in finely-tuned yet imminently accessible and enjoyable prose, Grand demonstrates that the best place to ultimately find the ordinary hero is within each other: The hero is us. (shrink)

The role of nurses in leading the design and delivery of primary health care services to address health inequities is growing in prominence, specifically in rural Australia. However, limited evidence exists to inform nurse‐led primary health care in this context. Based on a focus group with nursing executives and semi‐structured interviews with registered nurses we describe nurse experiences of leading the design of a primary health care service in rural Australia and nurse transition to and practice in this service. Nurse (...) experiences were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. The study reveals the centrality of relational integration in service design and nurse acquisition of relational practice as it relates to nurse to care recipient and nurse to nurse relationships. Tensions between primary health care nurses and their peers, and resultant de‐valuing of primary health care practice, are described. The acquisition of nurse professional agency draws attention to investments required to position nurses to lead and sustain care innovations external to hospital settings. The authors propose that relational approaches may provide nurses with the opportunity to reframe their leadership and service contributions towards community literate primary health care provision and provide a pathway to professional emancipation from constrained practice expectations. (shrink)

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:Ethics & the Environment 8.1 (2003) 93-101 [Access article in PDF] A Political LifeArendtian Aesthetics and Open Systems Sue Spaid Since the 1990s, artists have broken ground by producing works that are "open systems." That is, they are incomplete, participatory, and elastic. In this paper, I will argue that open systems exemplify Hannah Arendt's conception of vita activa, in contrast to art's traditional role as inspiring vita contemplativa. Since (...) they do not explicitly affirm or refute political policies, such works are generally not considered "political" art. However, they accommodate Arendt's notion of the political life, since they incorporate process, durability, pluralities of spectators, and unpredictability. Furthermore, because they do not resemble what ordinarily passes for art, reflective judgment is required to engage them, and to determine whether they are art.Echoing Diotima's interest in immortality, Arendt links beauty to durability. Open systems are particularly durable because we remember them as a public experiences that include participants and spectators. Such performative and pleasurable worldly actions entail aesthetic engagements that are very much in line with Arendt's description of the political life. Critical Engagement In the sphere of fabrication itself, there is only one kind of object to which the unending chain of means and ends does not apply, and this [End Page 93] is the work of art, the most useless and, at the same time, the most durable thing human hands can produce... It is the reification that occurs in writing something down, painting an image, composing a piece of music, etc. which actually makes the thought a reality; and in order to produce these thought things, which we usually call art works, the same workmanship is required that through the primordial instrument of human hands builds the other, less durable and more useful things of the human artifice. (Arendt 2000, 177-78) In a 1964 interview with Gunter Gaus, Hannah Arendt described herself as a political theorist, who though trained as a philosopher had "said good-bye to philosophy once and for all." In identifying the tension between philosophy and politics, she differentiated man as a thinking being from man as an acting being, and she identified with the latter. She found that, because philosophers cannot be neutral or objective with regards to politics, they share a certain enmity toward politics, and she sought to avoid that response. Not surprisingly, she named Kant as an exception, because he understood this enmity to lie in the nature of the subject itself. In The Critique of Judgement, experience precedes reflective judgement, thus affirming a place for each subject's particular experiences. Kant, too, was a man of action.Kant's aesthetic judgment of taste, which is a normative but non-prescriptive process, makes room for Arendt's notions of worldliness and unpredictability. Critics have decried Arendt's political theory for its anti-rationalism, political existentialism and "aestheticization of politics," yet much can be learned from her clear commitment to equality, and the way she trusted and perhaps even idealized humanity (Curtis 1999, 18). She wrote, "Only action and speech relate specifically to this fact that to live always means to live among men, among those who are my equals. Hence, when I insert myself into the world, it is a world where others are already present" (Arendt 2000, 179). Given her interest in freedom, active engagement, critical thinking, and anti-instrumentalism, it is perhaps not surprising that Arendt found inspiration in Kant's conception of aesthetic judgment as requiring only communicative sociability, the object's purposeless purposiveness, and the spectator's free play of imagination and understanding.I am interested here in Arendt's aesthetics of the political life in relation to recent art that unwittingly fosters an engaged and open conception of the political. The works in question are not necessarily conscious of their political capacity. Rather, their presence assumes that spectators are [End Page 94] equals, and facilitates an active life, what Arendt described as the vita activa, as opposed to the vita contemplativa, the contemplative life. An active life, which requires a public space, entails active... (shrink)

L’articolo si concentra su uno snodo centrale nella lunga crisi che tocca la dottrina eucaristica nel Medioevo, ovvero sulla presunta controversia tra Pascasio Radberto e Ratramno di Corbie nel IX secolo a proposito della presenza di Cristo nel sacramento, in figura oppure in verità. Partendo dalla constatazione che le visioni dei due monaci non sono contrapposte, come si è creduto a partire dal X-XI secolo, intendiamo innanzitutto mostrare che i loro sono tentativi complementari di ritradurre entro categorie chiare e univoche (...) una dottrina patristica caratterizzata dalla sua indeterminatezza. Per spiegare l’origine di questa esigenza di chiarificazione, mostreremo come il contesto corbiense sia stato permeato dall’influenza del primo rientro dell’aristotelismo (la _logica vetus_) sulla base di un più ampio programma carolingio di modernizzazione della società e di razionalizzazione della dottrina. La crisi eucaristica, di cui a Corbie si vedono le prime avvisaglie, appare quindi come una faticosa contrattazione sul significato della dottrina patristica al fine di conservare un equilibrio tra simbolismo e realismo, resasi necessaria come effetto di un cambio di paradigma logico-ontologico pur di preservare l’unità della fede e quindi della comunità cristiana. Questa crisi si chiuderà solo con la dottrina della transustanziazione, al termine di un lungo processo di razionalizzazione preso in carico da una classe di _tecnici_ della teologia. _The paper focuses on a central juncture in the long crisis that touches Eucharistic doctrine in the Middle Ages, namely the alleged dispute between Paschasius Radbertus and Ratramnus of Corbie in the ninth century regarding the presence of Christ in the sacrament: in figure or in truth? Starting from the observation that the visions of the two monks are not opposed, as was believed from the 10th-11th centuries onward, we intend first to show that theirs are complementary attempts to translate within clear and unambiguous categories the vagueness of patristic doctrine. In order to explain the origin of this need for clarification, we show how the Corbian context was permeated by the influence of the first return of Aristotelianism (the _logica vetus_) on the basis of a broader Carolingian program of modernization of society and rationalization of doctrine. The Eucharistic crisis, the first signs of which can be seen in Corbie, thus appears as a bargaining over the meaning of patristic doctrine in order to preserve a balance between symbolism and realism, made necessary as the effect of a logical-ontological paradigm shift in order to preserve the unity of the faith and thus of the Christian community. This crisis will close only with the doctrine of transubstantiation, at the end of a long process of rationalization taken over by a class of experts of theology_. (shrink)

This book walks us through the process of how artworks eventually get their meaning, showing us how curated exhibitions invite audience members to weave an exhibition's narrative threads, which gives artworks their contents and discursive sense. -/- Arguing that exhibitions avail artworks as candidates for reception, whose meaning, value, and relevance reflect audience responses, it challenges the existing view that exhibitions present “already-validated” candidates for appreciation. Instead, this book stresses the collaborative nature of curatorial practices, debunking the twin myths of (...) autonomous artists and sovereign artistic directors and treating presentation and reception as separate processes. Employing set theory to distinguish curated exhibitions from uncurated exhibitions, installation art and collections, it demonstrates how exhibitions grant spectators access to concepts that aid their capacity to grasp artifacts as artworks. -/- To inform and illuminate current debates in curatorial practice, Spaid draws on a range of case studies from Impressionism, Dada and Surrealism to more contemporary exhibitions such as Maurizio Cattelan “All” (2011) and “Damien Hirst” (2012). In articulating the process that cycles through exploration, interpretation, presentation and reception, curating bears resemblance to artistic direction more generally. (shrink)

I argued that rapid eye movement (REM) dreaming is elaborative emotional encoding for episodic memories, sharing many features with the ancient art of memory (AAOM). In this framework, during non–rapid eye movement (NREM), dream scenes enable junctions between episodic networks in the cortex and are retained by the hippocampus as indices for retrieval. The commentaries, which varied in tone from patent enthusiasm to edgy scepticism, fall into seven natural groups: debate over the contribution of the illustrative dream and disputes over (...) the nature of dreaming (discussed in sect. R1); how the framework extends to creativity, psychopathology, and sleep disturbances (sect. R2); the compatibility of the REM dream encoding function with emotional de-potentiation (sect. R3); scepticism over similarities between REM dreaming and the AAOM (sect. R4); the function of NREM dreams in the sleep cycle (sect. R5); the fit of the junction hypothesis with current knowledge of cortical networks (sect. R6); and whether the hypothesis is falsifiable (including methodological challenges and evidence against the hypothesis) (sect. R7). Although the groups in sections R1–R6 appear quite disparate, I argue they all follow from the associative nature of dreaming. (shrink)

This article offers a general definition of self-knowledge that embraces all forms and levels of self-knowledge in animals and humans. It is hypothesized that various levels of self-knowledge constitute an ordinal scale such that each species in a lineage displays the forms of self-knowledge found in related species as well as new forms it and its sister species may have evolved. Likewise, it is hypothesized that these various forms of levels of self-knowledge develop in the sequence in which they evolved. (...) Finally, a general hypothesis for the functional significance of self-knowledge is proposed along with subhypotheses regarding the adaptive significance of various levels of self-knowledge in mammals including human and nonhuman primates. The general hypothesis is that self-knowledge serves as a standard for assessing the qualities of conspecifics compared to those of the self. Such assessment is crucial to deciding among alternative reproductive and subsistence strategies. The qualities that are assessed, which vary across taxa, range from the size and strength of the self to its mathematical or musical abilities. This so-called assessment model of self-knowledge is based on evolutionary biological models for social selection and the role of assessment in animal communication. (shrink)

We contest each other's memory claims all the time. I am concerned with how the contesting of memory claims and narratives may be an integral part of many abusive situations. I use the writings of Otto Weininger and the False Memory Syndrome Foundation to explore a particular strategy of discrediting women as rememberers, making them more vulnerable to sexual harm. This strategy relies on the presentation of women as unable to maintain a stable enough sense of self or identity to (...) be trustworthy testifiers to their own harm. (shrink)

Surgical devices are often marketed before there is good evidence of their safety and effectiveness. Our paper discusses the ethical issues associated with the early marketing and use of new surgical devices from the perspectives of the six groups most concerned. Health Canada, which is responsible for licensing new surgical devices, should amend their requirements to include rigorous clinical trials that provide data on effectiveness and safety for each new product before it is marketed. Industry should comply with all Health (...) Canada requirements to obtain licenses for new products. Until Health Canada requires effectiveness and safety data, industry should cooperate with physicians in appropriate studies before releasing new products and should make balanced presentations of all the available evidence. Surgeons should, before using a new surgical device, assess the evidence on its effectiveness and safety and ensure they are properly trained and competent in using the device. Surgeons should provide their patients with an evaluation of the available evidence and inform them about possible complications and the surgeon's level of experience with the new device. Patients, who should be given an honest evaluation of the available evidence, possible complications, and the surgeon's experience, should be encouraged to evaluate the evidence and information to their own satisfaction to ensure that fully informed consent is given. Health institutions, responsible for regulating practice within their walls, should review new devices for safety, effectiveness, and economic impacts, before allowing their use. They should also limit the use of new surgical devices to surgeons trained and competent in the new technology. Professional societies should provide guidance on the early adoption of new surgical devices and technologies. We urge all those involved in the development, licensing, and use of new surgical devices to aim for higher ethical standards to protect the health and safety of patients requiring surgery. The lowest acceptable ethical standard would require device manufacturers to provide surgeons with accurate and timely information on the efficacy and safety of their products, allowing surgeons and patients to evaluate the evidence (and the significance of information not yet available) before surgery. (shrink)

RiassuntoVengono analizzati gli aspetti socio-demografici dei meccanismi messi in opera dalle popolazioni animali per regolare la propria densità numerica.Negli animali la regolazione demografica è un fenomeno legato alla strategia finalistica della Natura. D'altro canto lo scopo principale della Natura è la continuità della specie nelle migliori condizioni di vita e di congruità nell'ambiente.Il sistema migliore per esaminare come le specie animali limitino il numero dei propri individui al fine di mantenersi in equilibrio con l'ambiente è quello di studiare le (...) popolazioni delle varie specie.L'approccio ottimale per l'analisi del divenire di una popolazione si ha esaminando la sua densità, struttura, natalità, mortalità e dispersione.Inoltre la stabilità di una popolazione nel tempo è regolata da fattori densità-dipendenti. Invece i fattori non legati alla densità possono portare all'estinzione della popolazione. Fattori densità-dipendenti sono la competizione interindividuale, la capacità riproduttiva, la emigrazione, la predazione e i rapporti sociali. Tutti questi fattori mettono in essere un insieme di automatismi tipo feed-back negativi che permettono la stabilizzazione numerica temporale della popolazione.Nel tentativo di mantenersi congrue all'ambiente le popolazioni animali mettono in opera, o subiscono sotto la spinta evolutiva, altri meccanismi di autocompensazione come: manifestazioni comportamentali come territorialismo e dominanza sociale agiscono da regolatori del numero di individui nelle popolazioni animali. Infine si puntualizza il ruolo della selezione r (tasso intrinseco di accrescimento) e k (capacità biologica specifica) nella costituzione di popolazioni rispettivamente a strategia opportunistica, che conquistano nuovi habitat, o a strategia stabile, che vivono in habitat a maggiore durata. (shrink)

: Today’s debate on empathy is characterized by an interplay between neuroscience, philosophy of mind and phenomenology that has led to several distinct definitions of empathy. Much of the difficulty in defining empathy is due to the emphasis on its prosocial value, a feature that has made it a “keyword” of our time. Does the role empathy has been assigned in social interactions imply its involvement in matters of identity, similarity and affective resonance? What happens when the flow of sensations (...) and emotions between humans produces more complex interactions and gives rise to feelings of estrangement, facing the unknown, or a fear of others? We need a paradigm shift in which we consider empathy in practice, rather than theory. We need to consider how various empathies arise in different contexts and manifest in diverse ways. In this way, we can shed light on the limits and failures of mutual comprehension, and arrive at a more radical and realistic vision of the great challenge involved in relating to others. Keywords: Empathy; Phenomenological Approach; Intersubjectivity; Neuroscience; Otherness Dall’empatia alle empatie. Verso un mutamento di paradigma Riassunto: Il dibattito attuale sull’empatia è caratterizzato da uno scambio particolarmente vivo tra neuroscienze, filosofia della mente e fenomenologia. Da un esame dei numerosi contributi che hanno tentato di rispondere alla domanda “che cos’è l’empatia?” proponendo varie definizioni risulta chiaro che la difficoltà di fondo dell’intero dibattito consiste nel fare i conti con il valore prosociale dell’empatia, l’aspetto che ne ha fatto una parola chiave del nostro tempo. Per esplicare il ruolo che le viene assegnato nelle interazioni sociali l’empatia deve implicare somiglianza e corrispondenza affettiva? Che cosa accade quando il flusso di sensazioni e di emozioni tra esseri umani genera movimenti più complessi, in cui emergono l’estraneità, l’ignoto, la paura dell’altro? È necessario cambiare paradigma e considerare l’empatia non in teoria, ma in pratica. E guardare alle empatie, i cui contesti e differenti manifestazioni mettono in luce limiti e fallimenti, che forniscono una visione più radicale e realistica della grande scommessa delle relazioni con gli altri. Parole chiave: Empatia; Approccio fenomenologico; Intersoggettività; Neuroscienza; Alterità. (shrink)

The purpose of this research was to document the alleged underrepresentation of African Americans employed in U.S. nonhuman animal welfare organizations. A telephone survey of 32 animal welfare organizations yielded responses from 13 with 1,584 employees. Almost all organizations were reluctant to respond. Of the 13 organizations responding, 62% had no African American employees. African Americans made up 4% of the total number of employees with only 0.8% at the top levels . African Americans never made up more than 7% (...) of the employees in their respective organization. This paper discusses a model of, and resources for, successful diversity building in nonprofit organizations. (shrink)

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:Importance of Respect in Patient CareSue GibsonI have been a state-tested nurses aide (STNA) for 32 years. When I get up to go to work, I always start out with a positive attitude.After I clock in for my shift, I go to my assigned floor to start my day. I gather up all my paperwork that is necessary and I'm off and running.I feel the best way to make (...) a resident feel comfortable in their surroundings is to have the resident help in making as many decisions in their day as possible. Decision-making helps a resident feel at home. As an STNA, I am there to help them if a resident needs any kind of assistance during the shift that I am working. One of the first priority questions of the day concerns their meals. The resident selects the lunch and dinner choice. If a resident is not sure what they would like to choose for their meals, I help them choose from what is available to them. I write their selection down for the dietary department and I always thank the resident and smile as I leave the area. Now that they know what their choices are for the day, they have something to look forward to. [End Page 139]Another decision a resident has for the day is their choice of what they would like to wear for the day. He or she may have a favorite article of clothing they like to wear. They may like it because it may be their favorite color or something they really feel comfortable in. I again thank the resident on their decision-making and helping me make their day. I compliment the resident on how nice and neat they look.Showering is the next big thing of the day. Some residents love to get in the shower, while on the other hand, some residents hate to hear the word shower, let alone get into it. Some residents need a lot of encouragement to take a shower. I give the resident a choice as to when they would like to shower. All the residents have a regular shower day. If the resident is scheduled for a shower and would like to take the shower before going to bed, I tell the nurse and the shower is rescheduled for the afternoon shift. The decision is made by the resident and the resident is more likely to follow through with their decision.Activities are scheduled on a daily basis. When the activity is announced over our intercom system, I ask the residents if they would like to attend the activity and sometimes I take them to the floor the activity is being held on.Every Thursday there is a scheduled outing for either breakfast or lunch. It is my job on these outings to go with the activity staff and tend to the residents' needs, if necessary. We go out to a public restaurant and the resident chooses what they would like to eat. If they need help, I am there to help them. I'll ask them, "What are you hungry for?" or, "What sounds good to you?" I read the menu for them and give the residents time to choose what they would like. I have residents who need the food cut up for them because they cannot see well. I tell them where what food is on their plate. I sit by the resident who may need assistance or help in eating and drinking. I feel this outing is important to every resident who goes. Whether it is going out to eat, on a ride, or even to the doctor, they need to feel they have the freedom to choose to do this.It is not unusual to be physically or verbally abused by a resident on a daily basis. A resident might be angry over some little thing and the STNAs are the people they take their anger out on. I take into consideration that the residents are here for a reason, so I never take their words or actions as a personal attack on me.Staying in bed an entire shift... (shrink)

Practical Ethics in Architecture and Interior Design Practice presents the basics of design practice through ethical scenarios, ushering design students into real-world experiential learning. Each chapter begins with a detailed story involving a complicated set of practical and ethical dilemmas, exemplifying those encountered each day in the world of professional practice. Practice-based topics such as contracts and project delivery methods, marketing design services, cross-cultural collaboration, virtual connectivity, social justice and sustainable design, soft skills, and other related professional practice themes are (...) anchored in realistic scenarios. While all the stories are fictional, in writing them the authors drew from over 75 combined years of professional experience in architecture and interior design, as well as many years of academic experience in teaching professional practice and ethics to architecture and interior design students. Each story is followed by discussion questions and suggested additional resources. This book provides a unique integrated perspective into the allied fields of architecture and interior design with topics relevant to both fields as well as specific to each profession. It prepares students of both disciplines for the broad issues of professional practice and encourages them to become ethical practitioners ready to contribute effectively to design teams and to ask the right questions. (shrink)

Riassunto: Le “distorsioni” temporali paiono riguardare l’agentività umana in tutte le proprie manifestazioni. Da una prospettiva strutturale, l’azione si manifesta come un intreccio di processi che fondamentalmente comprende la formulazione di un’intenzione, l’esecuzione di un movimento e infine il processamento di un feedback che include gli effetti dell’azione. Lo studio dell’agentività umana ha incontrato molti ostacoli dovuti principalmente alla complessità dei processi mentali che accompagnano azioni specifiche. E tuttavia studi recenti hanno gettato luce sui processi mentali sottostanti l’azione. In (...) questo articolo intendo sostenere che, lungi dall’essere “distorsioni” temporali, le discrepanze tra tempo soggettivo e tempo oggettivo mostrano più profonde modalità soggettive inconsce di costituzione del tempo, che aggirano l’indagine scientifica e puntano direttamente alla costituzione fenomenologica di una rappresentazione del mondo coerente e dotata di significato, che non può essere ulteriormente ridotta mediante il riferimento al tempo oggettivo. Parole chiave: Soggettività; Tempo; Agentività; Distorsioni temporali; Esperienza Temporal Distorsions and Consciousness of Intentional Action: Temporal “distortions” seem to affect human agency in all its manifestations. From a structural point of view, action manifests itself as a plot of processes that essentially include the formulation of an intention, the execution of a motion, and, finally, processing feedback including the effects of the action. The study of human agency has encountered several obstacles which are mainly due to the complexity of mental processes that accompany specific actions. Yet recent studies have shed light on the mental processes underlying action. In my paper I argue that, far from being temporal “distortions”, mismatches between subjective time and objective time indicate deeper unconscious subjective modes of in-forming time, which bypass scientific exploration and point directly to the phenomenological constitution of a consistent and meaningful representation of the world, which cannot be further reduced by referring to clock time. Keywords: Subjectivity; Time; Agency; Temporal Distorsions; Experience. (shrink)

This book cuts new ground in bringing together traditional Christian theological perspectives on truth and reality with a contemporary philosophical view of the place of language in both divine and wordly reality. Patterson seeks to reconcile the requirements that Christian theology should both take account of postmodern insights concerning the inextricability of language and world as well as taking God's truth to be absolute for all reality. Yet it is not simply about theological language and truth as such. Instead Patterson (...) asks: where does language fit in divine and human reality? Patterson's discussion straddles realist, liberal-revisionist and postliberal theological schools, and critiques their various positions before going on to utilise selectively their insights to develop and apply a theological model of 'language-ridden' reality. This model affirms that worldly reality has a radical dependence on God. Finally, the book explores the theological and ethical implications of the model it proposes. (shrink)

How Journalists Engage: A theory of trustbuilding, identity, and care explores the ways journalists of different identities enact trusting relationships with their audiences according to divergent sets of principles. Drawing from case studies, community work, surveys, interviews and focus groups, this book documents the now-established "built environment" powered with engagement journalism that represents the first major paradigm shift of the press' core values in more than a century. A proliferation of media-trust programs, grants, foundations, companies, collaborations, networks, and money demands (...) that journalists take on four new roles-Relationship Builder, Content Collaborator, Community Conversation Facilitator, and Professional Network Builder-and be fluent in eight skillsets: radical transparency, power dynamic accounting, mediation, reciprocity, media literacies, community offline work, needs/assets/solution analyses, and collaborative production. These are in addition to the normative skills related to being a watchdog and storyteller. The author posits that this trust-building theory manifesting demands journalism be enacted with an "identity-aware care" through "listening and learning." This identity-aware ethic of care-a theory that comes from developmental psychology and nurtured in gender and women's studies-prioritizes communities over the propping up of problematic institutions that news media have traditionally protected in the name of objectivity. Instead, this theory asks journalists to acknowledge and incorporate their own identities-especially the privileges, biases, and marginalization attached to them-and those of their communities, resulting in a more intentional moral voice focused on justice and equity so that all news participants can feel cared for within information-exchange about public affairs. (shrink)

Since modern medicine is based substantially in clinical medical research, the flaws and ethical problems that arise in this research as it is conceived and practiced in the United States are likely to be reflected to some extent in current medicine and its practice. This paper explores some of the ways in which clinical research has suffered from an androcentric focus in its choice and definition of problems studied, approaches and methods used in design and interpretation of experiments, and theories (...) and conclusions drawn from the research. Some examples of re-visioned research hint at solutions to the ethical dilemmas created by this biased focus; an increased number of feminists involved in clinical research may provide avenues for additional changes that would lead to improved health care for all. (shrink)

A matter of significance for the history of philosophy is the question of what are the issues that underlie Leibniz's response to Locke's Essay Concerning Human Understanding, in his own New Essays on Human Understanding. Exploration of that question can contribute to interpretations of both Locke and Leibniz. Equally important, it can provide insight into problems of philosophy that have their genesis in the seventeenth century. ;The dissertation uses the Essay and the New Essays to explore what it regards as (...) the central conflict between Locke and Leibniz: the conflict about the primacy of metaphysics. It takes for its focus their differing positions on atomism, contrasting the particle theory of matter that it finds central to the Essay with Leibniz's metaphysical unit, the monad. It develops the implications of those differing positions for an idea of nature specifically--nature here conceived as the arena in which science and metaphysics meet. ;The thesis of the dissertation is that the positions of Locke and Leibniz on atomism express opposing responses of philosophy to science; and, further, that this opposition had profound significance for the subsequent direction of philosophy. The first element in the thesis is the specific concern of the dissertation. Its second element, which suggests an approach to the history of philosophy since the seventeenth century, is an issue for further exploration. ;Locke's Essay is shown as a deliberate construction of an epistemology grounded in the new science, combining that purpose with an explicit rejection of the value of metaphysical speculation as the basis for knowledge. Locke's scientific background and orientation determine his analysis of ideas, of the powers and qualities of matter, and of real essences of material substances. ;In contrast, the New Essays is seen as asserting the primacy of metaphysics for the solution of epistemological and scientific questions. Leibniz's arguments against atomism are examined, to show why the basic reason for his rejection of all particle theories of matter is their violation of specific metaphysical principles. His positive position is presented in a discussion of the monad, emphasizing its characteristics in the realm of nature. (shrink)

: Fodor argues that perceptual representations are a subset of iconic representations, which are distinguished from symbolic/discursive representations. Iconic representations are nonconceptual and they do not support the abilities afforded by concepts. Iconic representations, for example, cannot support object individuation. If someone thinks that perception or some of its parts has imagistic NCC, they face the following dilemma. Either they will have to accept that this NCC does not allow for object individuation, but it represents instead conglomerations of properties and (...) at some stage of visual processing it must interface with cognition and its conceptual capacities for the visual objects to be individuated. Or, they will have to hold that the imagistic, NCC of perception, allows for object individuation. I opt for the second thesis because I think there is strong empirical evidence that objects are individuated during early vision. I also think that early vision individuates objects by means of, what I had previously called nonconceptual perceptual demonstrative reference. I argue, first, why Fodor’s view that iconic NCC does not enable object individuation is false. I also argue, contra Fodor, that early vision allows the perception of the cardinality of sets of objects. Keywords : Early Vision; Analog Representations; Object Individuation; Arithmetic Cognition; Cardinality of Sets L'individuazione di oggetti mediante il contenuto iconico: come è rappresentata la numerosità nella rappresentazione iconica? Riassunto: Per Fodor le rappresentazioni percettive sono un sottoinsieme delle rappresentazioni iconiche, distinte dalle rappresentazioni simbolico/discorsive. Le rappresentazioni iconiche sono nonconcettuali e non supportano le abilità richieste dai concetti. Le rappresentazioni iconiche, per esempio, non supportano l'individuazione di oggetti. Se si pensa che la percezione o qualche sua parte abbia un contenuto nonconcettuale come immagine, si ci si imbatte nel seguente dilemma. O si accetta che il NCC non permetta di individuare oggetti, ma che rappresenti conglomerati di proprietà e che si interfacci con la cognizione e le sue capacità concettuali, per individuare gli oggetti visivi. O si dice che l'immagine, il NCC, della percezione consenta di individuare oggetti. Propendo per la seconda tesi, poiché penso che ci sia solida evidenza empirica per cui gli oggetti vengono individuati durante le prime fasi della visione, in cui l’individuazione avviene mediante quanto definito come riferimento dimostrativo del contenuto nonconcettuale percettivo. Chiarirò le ragioni per cui la concezione di Fodor, per cui il contenuto nonconcettuale iconico non supporta l’individuazione di oggetti, è falsa. Inoltre, contra Fodor, sosterrò che le prime fasi della visione permettono la percezione della cardinalità di insiemi di oggetti. Parole chiave: Prime fasi della visione; Rappresentazioni analogiche; Individuazione di oggetti; Cognizione aritmetica; Cardinalità degli insiemi. (shrink)

While animal rights have been a central topic within moral philosophy since the 1970s, it has remained virtually invisible within political philosophy. This article explores two key reasons for the difficulties in locating animals within political philosophy. First, even if animals are seen as having intrinsic moral status, they are often seen as ultimately distant others or strangers, beyond the bounds of human society. Insofar as political philosophy focuses on the governing of a shared social life, animals are seen as (...) falling outside its remit. Second, even if animals are recognized as members of society, they are seen as lacking the capacities or competences said to be essential for politics, and for membership in the demos. We challenge both assumptions. Many animals live and work alongside us, within an interspecies society, and all members of society should have the right to shape decisions about how that society is governed. An interspecies society requires interspecies politics. (shrink)

This article challenges a prominent claim in moral philosophy: that autonomy is a personal ideal, according to which individuals are authors of their own lives. This claim is philosophically dubious and ethically pernicious, having excluded women from positions of rational authority. A reading of Ibsen's A Doll's House illustrates how this conception of the ideal of autonomy misrepresents the reality of individuals' lived experiences and imposes a gendered identity which subordinates women to a masculine narcissism. In Ibsen's play the woman, (...) as a doll confined to home, remains dependent on an autonomous man. It would seem that men in modern philosophy could see only their own image as rational agents reflected in their ethics; but, in fact, this position is self-defeating. The recognition of our contingencies and so, vulnerability, motivated Kant himself to try to make the moral realm secure with something necessarily common to all human beings: our capacity to reason. The unwitting upshot of Kant's ethics has been the restriction of reason to a purely formal function; but this autonomy of reason undermines itself in being unable to guide the writing of the rational agent's own life. I propose instead to preserve the capacities of moral rationality, while urging the incorporation of ethical practices previously devalued by their association with vulnerability, such as attention, affection and relationality. My philosophical challenge is, first, to develop an internal critique of ethics which exposes its authoritative imposition of a gender identity and, next, to propose a revised conception of autonomy, namely, not just writing our own story, but reading the stories in which we find ourselves. (shrink)

Pamela Sue Anderson urges feminist philosophers to embrace Michèle Le Doeuff’s revaluation of women in philosophy through according “fair value” to intuition as an intellectual faculty, a view of intuition articulated by Henri Bergson. She asks whether women who follow Bergson could be given fair value along with intuition. She turns from Le Doeuff’s writings on intuition to writings by Bergson and by Beauvoir, but periodically returns to Le Doeuff herself. In the end, a picture of freedom, friendship and feminism (...) emerges from readings of all three. This is a portrait of confident and capable interactions in creativity and dynamic projects, which transform our becoming within life, on the assumption that the love of friendship is between like-minded, embodied and interrelated selves. She explores whether we transform our lives in freedom and in love between friends. Although attracted to the human – and humane – solidarity in freedom of “great souls,” as in Beauvoir’s women of action, she instead aligns herself with Le Doeuff’s critical caution against naturalizing a timelessly abstract female soul for contemporary feminist philosophers. She concludes her proposed orientation with a Le Doeuffian feminist image of living life freely for and with friends. (shrink)

: Frege’s remarks about the first-person pronoun in Der Gedanke have elicited numerous commentaries, but his insight has not been fully appreciated or developed. Commentators have overlooked Frege’s reasons for claiming that there are two distinct first-person senses, and failed to realize that his remarks easily generalize to all indexicals. I present a perspectival theory of indexicals inspired by Frege’s claim that all indexical types have a dual meaning which, in turn, leads to a duality of senses expressed by indexical (...) tokens. Keywords : Indexicals; First Person; Perspective; Senses La doppia natura degli indessicali: una posizione fregeana Riassunto : Le osservazioni di Frege sul pronome di prima persona contenute in Der Gedanke hanno sollevato numerosi commenti, ma le sue intuizioni non sono state pienamente comprese o sviluppate. I commentatori di Frege hanno trascurato le ragioni per le quali egli sosteneva che ci sono due distinti sensi della prima persona e non hanno colto come queste sue osservazioni possono essere facilmente estese a tutti gli indessicali. Intendo presentare qui una posizione prospettivista sugli indessicali, ispirata dall’affermazione di Frege per cui tutti i tipi di indessicali hanno un doppio significato che, a sua volta, porta a una doppia natura dei sensi espressi dalle occorrenze indessicali. Parole chiave : Indessicali; Prima persona; Prospettiva; Sensi. (shrink)