Thomas Hobbes in Leviathan presented a paradigm of the social contract that has proven foundational in Western political thought. A proper understanding of the philosopher’s thought is thus of paramount importance. I argue that today’s case for a religiously tolerant Hobbes has missed an important part of the historical record. I first consider an obscure but important document, the second edition of the Humble Proposals. It demonstrates that leading members of a seventeenth century Christian denomination, the Independents, considered a state-enforced (...) confession of faith. Independents are generally seen as tolerant, and one of the arguments for Hobbesian toleration is that Hobbes endorsed them. But the second edition of the Humble Proposals aligns with the possibility in Hobbes that the civil sovereign will impose part III of Leviathan on the Universities and treat its contents as a legally required confession of faith – one that may be necessary for security, and the avoidance of civil war. Hobbes’s endorsement of Independency alone cannot be used to argue that his work leads to religious toleration. The evidence I present reinforces an earlier assessment and alongside other evidence points to the return of the intolerant Hobbes. (shrink)

Most comparisons of Thomas Hobbes and Baruch Spinoza focus on the difference in understanding of natural right. We argue that Hobbes also places more weight on a rudimentary and exclusive education of the public by the state. We show that the difference is related to deeper disagreements over the prospect of Enlightenment. Hobbes is more sanguine than Spinoza about using the state to make people rational. Spinoza considers misguided an overemphasis on publicly educating everyone out of superstition—public education is important, (...) but modes of superstition may remain and must be offset by institutions and a civil religion. The differences are confirmed by Spinoza’s interest in the philosopher who stands apart and whose flourishing may be protected, but not simply brought about, by rudimentary public education. Spinoza’s openness to a wisdom-loving elite in a democracy also sets up an interesting parallel with Thomas Jefferson’s own commitment to the natural aristocracy needed to sustain republicanism. In demonstrating the 17th century philosopher’s skepticism toward using the state exclusively to promote rationality, even as he recognizes the importance of a sovereign pedagogical role and the protection of philosophy, we move to suggest that Spinoza is relevant to contemporary debates about public education and may reinvigorate moral and political discourse in a liberal democracy. (shrink)

El universo que conocemos es un producto de la mente humana. En la experiencia fenomenológica primordial, que el hombre tiene de si mismo, se imponen dos hechos fenomenológicos: la experiencia de un mundo estable de objetos y la experiencia de un mundo de campos de realidad. El ejercicio de la razón, que le viene dada al hombre evolutivamente, lleva a preguntar cuáles son las causas reales que producen esos dos mundos. Igualmente, cuál es la verdad última del universo. La ciencia (...) moderna produce un conocimiento racional (científico) que ofrece la base para responder esas preguntas. La mecánica clásica explica qué es y cómo se produce un mundo macroscópico de objetos estables. La mecánica cuántica qué son y cómo se producen los campos de realidad, a los que accede el hombre desde su psique humana. Todo ello nos lleva a entender que el universo tiene una ontología (un modo de ser real) holístico. El hombre, ya por su auto-experiencia primordial, pero también por los resultados de la ciencia, queda abierto al conocimiento del holismo cósmico. La naturaleza holística del universo es la clave para abordar las preguntas en torno a su verdad última. El holismo sigue haciendo posible la hipótesis atea de un universo sin Dios. Pero también es verdad que, más allá del reduccionismo decimonónico, el holismo hace hoy mucho más verosímil la hipótesis de la existencia de Dios. A modo de sugerencia, el artículo concluye con una referencia a la imagen de Dios, y de la creación del universo en Dios, según el discurso alegórico de la kabala judía. (shrink)

Birçok dini gelenekte mevcut olan mistisizm, Yahudilikte de ‘Kabala’ adı altında öne çıkan bir olgudur. Yahudi geleneğinde tam olarak ne zaman ve nerede ortaya çıktığı hakkında kesin söylemlerde bulunamadığımız bu düşünce sistemi, çeşitli sabitelere sahip olmakla beraber tarihsel süreçte konjonktüre bağlı olarak değişiklik göstermiş dinamik bir yapıyı ifade etmektedir. Bu akımın Yahudilikteki gelişim süreci mercek altına alındığında Orta Çağ, diğer pek çok dini gelenekte olduğu gibi, Yahudi mistisizmi açısından da temayüz eden bir dönem olarak karşımıza çıkmaktadır. Bu hususta araştırmanın (...) da inceleme konusunu teşkil eden Orta Çağ İspanya’sının Yahudi teologlarından Bahya ibn Pakuda’nın (ö. 1120?) önemli mistiklerden biri olduğu görülmektedir. O, mistisizme ilişkin düşüncelerini el-Hidâye ilâ Ferâizi’l-Kulûb eserinde ele almaktadır. Bahsi geçen eserde bedenî ibadet ve eylemlerin yanı sıra kalpteki niyetin de bağlayıcılığını ortaya koyan teolog, ahlak temelli bir din anlayışı formüle etmektedir. Bu minvalde Bahya; kalbin de uyması gereken çeşitli vecibelerin olduğunu; bu vecibeler içerisinde on tanesinin temel kaideleri ifade ettiğini salık vermektedir. Buradan hareketle ibn Pakuda’nın mistik görüşlerinin Tanrı’nın birliği, tefekkür, Tanrı’ya itaat, tevekkül, ihlas, alçakgönüllülük, tövbe, nefis muhasebesi, riyazet ve Tanrı sevgisi prensipleri üzerine inşa edildiği görülmektedir. Bu araştırmada bahsi geçen bu prensipler doğrultusunda Bahya ibn Pakuda’nın mistik teolojisine dair bütüncül bir perspektif sunulması hedeflenmektedir. (shrink)

Geçmişten günümüze Yahudi mistisizmi, Sabetay Sevi ve Sabetaycılık ile ilgili birçok eser yazılmıştır. Bu eserler arasında en fazla dikkat çeken, Kabala’yı akademik alanda çalışılan ve bilimsel metotlarla incelenen bir konu haline getiren Gershom Scholem’in çalışmasıdır. Goldish ise Sabetay Sevi ile ilgili geleneksel bakış açısına karşı tarihi perspektiften yaklaşmaktadır.

The authors review the profound and diverse ways in which mysticism is embedded in and influences belief, lifestyle, identity and politics in Jewish life in Israel and North America. They outline some existential and cultural dimensions of the conditions in which this phenomena flourish, specifically relating to the condition of post-modernity. The seeming dominance of mysticism over more rational forms of religious belief and behavior is explored. The opposite ideational and historic trends within Jewish mysticism as they relate to national (...) lifestyle, being alternatively closed and parochial or open and universal are reviewed. The authors suggest that, in light of the current situation within and outside of the Jewish people, the latter approach needs to be strengthened. (shrink)

Z recenzji prof. Barbary Stawickiej-Pireckiej: Układ artykułów, przebieg granic tematycznych, zasięg problemowy proponowanych tekstów składają się na logiczną, ciekawą i różnorodną mapę tez i koncepcji, stanowiących niejako osnowę wiążącą Stary Kontynent z Nowym Światem, myśl głównych przedstawicieli filozofii hiszpańskiej – Unamuna i Ortegi y Gasseta – z „wędrującą”, wielokulturową świadomością bytu Marii Zambrano, złożone konteksty problematyki socjologicznej Peru w świetle nowelistyki Alfreda Bryce`a Echeniquego z polityczną utopią wybitnego meksykańskiego poety i eseisty – Octavio Paza. Filozoficzny wymiar dzieła literackiego w poszukiwaniu (...) nowych dróg dla słowa (Cervantes, Machado, Goytisolo, Cortázar) spotyka się w przedstawionym tomie z próbą odnalezienia nowych dróg dla koncepcji jednostki i społeczeństwa (teologia wyzwolenia, twórczość Santayany, koncepcje Manuela Castellsa i Nicolasa Gomeza Dávili). [...] -/- Wszyscy autorzy tekstów, piszący zarówno po polsku jak i po hiszpańsku, mają wypracowany własny, indywidualny sposób wypowiedzi, obrazowania, argumentacji. Czytelnik tomu obcuje zatem z dojrzałymi formami nie tylko opisu zjawisk i problemów, lecz także z ich wnikliwą i ciekawą interpretacją. (shrink)