Realism’s Understanding of Negative Numbers

Author(s): Petar Bojanić,Sanja Todorović / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2016

Our topic is the understanding of the nature of negative numbers – the entities to which expressions such as ‘-1’ refer. Following Frege, we view positive whole numbers as providing the answer to the question „how many?“ In this light, how are we to view negative numbers? Both positive and negative numbers can be ordered through the relation of larger or smaller. It is then true of all negative numbers that they are entities which are (somehow) smaller than zero. For many, this has been understood as an ontological paradox: how can something be „less than nothing?“ Some propose to avoid the paradox by treating negative numbers as mere façons de parler. In this paper, we propose a more realist account, taking as our starting point the thesis that there is at least one familiar type of object, the magnitude of which can be expressed with negative numbers, namely, debt. How can the sense of an expression be ontologically paradoxical, yet the expression itself still plausibly refer to a social object such as a debt? Or, put differently, how is it possible to be, at the same time, a realist in financial theory and a nominalist in mathematical theory? The paper first shows that the paradox arises when the two distinct ways in which negative numbers are connected to real objects are run together. The first of the two refers to debt only, whereas the second could refer to debt, as well as to physical objects. Finally, we claim that a debt is at once a specifically social object and part of reality as described by physics.

K Adornově konceptualizaci sociální podstaty moderny

Author(s): Martin Nový / Language(s): Czech Issue: 1/2016

This study explores the fundamental traits of Adorno’s conceptual understanding of modernity. In Czech sociology, there has not been a serious discussion of Adorno’s seminal oeuvre, this article aims to fill that gap. The aim is to reconstruct the very basis of Adorno’s sociological method: firstly, the essay turns its attention to the historically specific mode of subsumption of human action to the conceptual totality of class domination. In this process, an individual adopts a positive identity within which its suppressed, ontologically negative complement – its dynamic non-identity, persists. Secondly, the study deals with Adorno’s derivation of the concept of social essence. In this respect, he draws on Marx’s Capital, but Adorno’s critical reading introduces an important conceptual innovation: under the conditions of Keynesianism, Adorno challenges the validity of Marx’s theorization of law-like objectivity of value and replaces it with the concept of exchange as the universal model of social activity. However, the study argues that Adorno ’ s reconstruction of Marx’s critique of political economy has reified Keynesian management of the capitalist economy.

Two Concepts and One Memory. An Attempt to Reconsider Religion and Culture in the Light of Memory

Author(s): Stanisław Obirek / Language(s): English Issue: 3/2015

Already in 1964 Wilfred Cantwell Smith wrote that: “the term ‘religion’ is confusing, unnecessary, and distorting”. Since then many new definitions for ‘religion’ were elaborated. In 2012 Jared Diamond not only reminded sixteen of them, but also proposed two new definitions. The multiplicity of defini-tions for ‘culture’ is well known. In the recent anthropological reflection the basic concepts of Western civilization underwent a dramatically transfor-mations. This is true also for religion and culture and found a specific culmi-nation in the theory elaborated by Clifford Geertz, who saw religion as acul-tural system. The aim of this paper is to reconsider these two concepts in the light of the notion of memory. The contribution by Maurice Halbwachs who indicated a close link between religion and memory has to be included and also more recent analysis by Jan and Aleida Assmann, particularly their em-phasis on cultural memory.

Prikaz

Author(s): Damir Marić / Language(s): Bosnian Issue: 04/1998

Željko Škuljević, Filozofija između originalnosti i eklekticizma, Hijatus, Zenica, 1997.

Sjaj i bijeda Martina Heideggera

Author(s): Karl Jaspers / Language(s): Bosnian Issue: 03/1997

Ono između Jaspersa i Hajdegera je bilo, uprkos tome što je propalo, jedno od rijetkih zvjezdanih prijateljstava koje je poznavala filozofija našeg stoljeća. Put dvojice mislilaca se ukrstio početkom dvadesetih godina, i tokom izvjesnog perioda, činilo se, da će se iz tog susreta roditi duboki filozofski dijalog. Da se do kraja produbio, mogao je izmijeniti sudbinu njemačke filozofije devetnaestog stoljeća. Prepiska između njih dvojice, koja je u međuvremenu objavljena i koja obuhvata sto pedeset i sedam pisama pisanih između 1920. i 1963., svjedoči o intenzivnosti odnosa i predstavlja jedan od najinteresantnijih dokumenata duhovne historije našeg stoljeća.

Heideggerov trenutak odluke

Author(s): Hans Sluga / Language(s): Bosnian Issue: 01/1999

Martin Heidegger je izabran za rektora Univerziteta u Freiburgu 27. maja 1993., četiri mjeseca nakon što je Hitler došao na vlast. Historijska pozadina ovog događaja, tim povodom upriličena svečanost, te Heideggerove pomno birane riječi u njegovom obraćanju, sve to ukazuje da je riječ o onim posebnim trenucima kada se najednom pokaže da filozofija i politika nisu dvije nespojive stvari. Čini se da je u velikoj dvorani u Freiburgu sklopljen sporazum između dvije strane: Heidegger, filozof, ponudio je svoju podršku novom režimu, a režim je bio spreman da slavi ovog filozofa kao jednog od svojih.

Istina bitka i historija filozofije

Author(s): Mark B. Okrent / Language(s): Bosnian Issue: 01/1999

U recentnom članku, Richard Rorty je pokušao približiti Heideggera i Deweyja. Nalazeći značajne tačke u kojima se njih dvojica slažu i indirektno hvaleći većinu Heideggerovih djela, Rorty također navodi niz zamjerki Heideggeru. Svi problemi koje Rorty nalazi kod Heideggera mogu, mislim, biti reducirani na jednu osnovnu kritiku, koja ima dvije glavne strane. Po Rortyjevom stanovištu, Heidegger ne može stvarno diferencirati bitak i bića na način koji želi, i zato ne može dati ni jedan drugi smisao riječi "bitak" osim starog metafizičkog.

Živio spor

Author(s): Pierre Bourdieu / Language(s): Bosnian Issue: 01+02/2000

Raduje me, da danas, budući da slavi svoj 70-ti rođendan, smijem izraziti moje poštovanje i divljenje prema Jurgenu Habermasu i njegovom djelu. Historijske i kulturne razlike su nas razdvajale jednako kao i naše dvije zemlje koje kao i uvijek odlučno ustrajavaju na vlastitim tradicijama i navikama. Meni je uvijek stalo da toga da budem na visini aktualnog razvitka njemačke znanosti. Uprkos tome, ja sam Adorna i Horkheimera, Gehlena i Skelskyja, Koniga i Apela, Luhmanna i mnoge druge, upoznao samo preko njihovih knjiga - što ih je stalno ostavljalo u izvjesnoj apstraktnosti i daljini - a ne, kao Jurgena Habermasa, u ličnoj razmjeni kao učitelja ili kolegu, kao suborca ili protivnika, dakle u onoj bliskoj duhovnoj okolini, tek u kojoj intelektualne nakane mogu doista uspjeti.

In memoriam

Author(s): Mario Kopić / Language(s): Croatian Issue: 04/144/2016

In memoriam: Ivan Urbančič (Robič, 1930. – Ljubljana, 2016.)

Tragični očaj i revolt

Author(s): Raymond Williams / Language(s): Serbian Issue: 26/2016

Intelligent design: Fundamentalismus oder unbequeme herausforderung

Author(s): Berthold Wald / Language(s): German Issue: 2/2017

Order and change in nature have been for a long time understood in philosophy and theology as founded in divine reason. In the neo-Darwinist theory of evolution, their explanation is reduced to material change without reason. Molecular biologists like M. Behe and W. Demski argue that any reductionist explanation of living beings must be wrong. The evolution of irreducible complex structures is impossible on the basis of random variation and natural selection alone, and must be the result of intelligent design. The article argues that ID-theory, unlike Biblical Creationism, is a challenge for neo-Darwinism and for modern theology as well—for, unlike the Roman magisterium, many Catholic theologians try to harmonize reductive explanation with the notion of creation.

Dichtermut i Blödigkeit – dwa wiersze Friedricha Hölderlina w interpretacji Waltera Benjamina

Author(s): Beatrice Hanssen / Language(s): Polish Issue: 1/2017

Sztuka jako doświadczenie językowe w fenomenologiczno-hermeneutycznym ujęciu Maurice’a Merleau-Ponty’ego

Author(s): Iwona Lorenc / Language(s): Polish Issue: 2/2017

The purpose of the article is to extract – taking Merleau-Ponty’s idea as an example – the movement of emerging of the world (becoming of the world a phenomenon) as deeply linguistic and at the same time bound to the basis oriented structures of our existence; to show how deeply this movement of phenomenalization is connected with perceiving the world ‘as’, that is with its interpretation incorporated in our fundamental perceptive experience. Eventually – what’s most important for the aesthetic conclusion of this text – to what extent structuration of the basis oriented experience penetrates artistic articulations.

Europocentrizmo Ideologijos Virsmai Vakaruose Ir Jų Atspindžiai Dabartinėje Lietuvos Filosofijoje

Author(s): Žilvinas Vareikis / Language(s): Lithuanian Issue: 91/2017

The article analyzes the ideological transformations of Eurocentrism, philosophical methods of its validation, and some essential worldview attitudes changes abroad and in current Lithuanian philosophy. In Lithuania, Eurocentric position is represented by Arvydas Šliogeris, and Algirdas Degutis. Their opponents are comparativists and universalists Antanas Andrijauskas, Algis Uždavinys, and Audrius Beinorius. The article inquires texts of the mentioned authors and as a result presents the development as well as perspectives of these two philosophical trends in the Lithuanian academic philosophy.

ОБЗОР МЕЖДУНАРОДНОЙ КОНФЕРЕНЦИИ «ИДЕНТИФИКАЦИЯ ФИЛОСОФИИ» (17–18 АПРЕЛЯ 2014, САНКТ-ПЕТЕРБУРГ, РОССИЯ)

Author(s): Gintautas Mažeikis / Language(s): Russian Issue: 2/2014

The article is devoted to the problem of identification of philosophy, which was discussed at the international conference in Faculty of Philosophy of St. Petersburg State University. Contemporary philosophy exists along with rapid development of consumer society, new forms of communication, publicity, and interprets itself as based on cumulative historical experience and live memory connected with Perestroika, disappearance of censorship and attempts to develop a democratic society. The review emphasizes the topics devoted to the main metaphor of the conference, namely, the experience which matured in the room of kitchen–smoking-corner–public space and impliied critical response, a political, and playfulness of the philosopher.

ЭКСКУРСИЯ, ПОСВЯЩЕННАЯ ПРЕБЫВАНИЮ ЭДИТ ШТАЙН В ГЁТТИНГЕНЕ (1913–1916)

Author(s): ALEXEI KRIOUKOV / Language(s): Russian Issue: 1/2014

In this short review I share my impression from an excursion, which was held in December2013 in Göttingen, through the places where Edit Stein lived during her working periodon her PhD thesis under the supervision of Edmund Husserl. Under the guidance of MaryHeidhues, we walked through Göttingen and saw the places where Edit Stein first lived uponher arrival in the city, the evangelical church where her supervisor Adolf Reinach’s funeralwas held after his fall during the first world war, the nice old house where the Göttingenphenomenologists met with each other, the building of the university aula which was botha place for the official affairs and a disciplinary cell, and many other interesting places. Thistext is followed by the chronological biography and the autobiography of Edit Stein.

Kelios Paralelės Tarp Alphonso Lingio Ir Martino Heideggerio Filosofijų, Arba Patirties Artikuliacijos Vyksmas

Author(s): Virginijus Gustas / Language(s): Lithuanian Issue: 68/2011

The article analyzes the articulated moments of experience in two philosophers of the XX-th century, Martin Heidegger and Alphonso Lingis. It attempts to highlight the main moments of this process and the basic assumptions. Both authors are related to the phenomenological movement and its potential field of development. To validate this widely accepted proposition – considering the traditional range of problems in question in phenomenology – the thought systems of Lingis and Heidegger are analyzed on two levels: first, how they correlate with the phenomenological view, and secondly, how they fit together. This article proposes to uncover what tradition and course of philosophy could be attributed to them. It focuses upon the creative efforts of both philosophers to articulate experience. Such efforts may be named – inherited from the Greek philosophy – the basic strain of μετα and φυσις. The article directs special attention to Alphonso Lingis’s philosophy in order to view the reception of his ideas in Lithuania’s philosophical discourse.

«Воплощённая интерсубъективность : между феноменологическим и экспериментальным bсследованием» (3 — 4 июня 2013, Прага, Чешская Республика)

Author(s): DARIA KONONETC / Language(s): Russian Issue: 2/2013

The main aim of the conference was to review the perspectives of naturalizing phenomenology and toexplore the interrelation of contemporary phenomenology and experimental sciences in the sphere ofsocial cognitive skills. The development of phenomenology has brought about the expansion of phenomenologicalmethod, the renewal of the concept of subjectivity. Concepts of bodily experience, ofLifeworld and of the genesis of subject have helped to see correlations between phenomenological,psychological and psychoanalytical methods.

К 100-летию начала публикации «ЕЖЕГОДНИКА ПО ФЕНОМЕНОЛОГИИ И ФЕНОМЕНОЛОГИЧЕСКОЙ ФИЛОСОФИИ»

Author(s): The Editorial Board HORIZON / Language(s): Russian Issue: 2/2013

Ivano Illicho Idéjų Archeologija

Author(s): Almantas Samalavičius / Language(s): Lithuanian Issue: 55/2008

The intellectual map of the schools of thought and key thinkers of XXth century so far remains somewhat bleak in Lithuanian academic discourses. The penetrating, unconventional critique of Western institutions developed by Ivan Illich throughout several decades of the last century for a number of reasons has been and remains largely unknown in Lithuanian academic culture. This article is one of the first attempts to present an overview of his archaeology of ideas and trace the main shifts in his intellectual life, to analyse the sources and background of his arguments and reconsider his impact on critique of modernity’s institutions from a deep historical perspective. It is suggested that his personal biography is of key imortance in trying to understand in what contexts his ideas took form. The first part of the study is a general biocritical overview of his life, personality and most essential works, with an emphasis on the main stages of his intellectual endeavour.