Budując wspólnotę: o konfucjańskiej demokracji w Chinach

Author(s): Artur Kościański / Language(s): Polish Issue: 3/2015

In this article the author points out that analyzing the role of Confucianism in Chinese society, and in particular the role of the Contemporary New Confucianism in relation to the possibility of establishin gdemocracy in the ‘Middle Kingdom’, one should adopt the perspective of the widest possibleopenness to the values practiced there today. Adaptation of democracy to the circumstances of historical, cultural and political is evident. The values existing in Chinese society – those derived from tradition, and those created in the course of changes in the last century – will hardly shape democratic values. Confucian model of democratization can vary between conservative Confucian model of parliament and extreme political liberalism where “everyone is sovereign, all aresubjects”.

Up from the Underground: Ellison on Equality

Author(s): Catherine H. Zuckert / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2010

Gry i rzeczy niepewne – komentarz do De incerti aestimatione G.W. Leibniza

Author(s): Grzegorz Słowiński / Language(s): Polish Issue: 68/2021

"De incerti aestimatione" ("On the estimation of uncertain things") by G.W. Leibniz in 1678 is an attempt to derive a general method for the problem of points, that is, the division of the stake in any round of the game. The explanatory section contains a number of definitions and ideas appearing in Leibniz's writings in earlier years. Among them is a definition of the concept of probability (probabilitas) associated at the time with the still unfinished debate over moral-theological probabilism. This association is justified in this case by the fact that in his correspondence and later writings Leibniz proposes to consider probability in a mathematical sense as opposed to the meaning used in moral theology. "De incerti aestimatione" is Leibniz's second work, in which he devotes attention to games, the issue of their justice and expected value, which he calls hope. The article discusses the legal, moral and metaphysical contexts of the concepts of probabilitas, jus (law) and ratio, as well as the limitations of the moral application of probability. Leibniz's solution to the problem of points is also presented, which, although flawed, is an independent proposal from Pascal for applying the recursive method to this problem.

Bycie sobą a bycie tym samym: między chrześcijańską nadzieją a ewolucyjnym naturalizmem

Author(s): Robert Grzywacz / Language(s): Polish Issue: 68/2021

The present study examines the dialectical relationship between the two emblematic factors of human identity distinguished by Paul Ricoeur – character and keeping one’s word. The first part of the text will articulate objections to the philosophical significance of this distinction in the order of justification, as well as suspicions about its non-philosophical genesis and, consequently, regarding its philosophicality in the order of discovery. The second part of the article presents an interpretive proposal for another justification of the dialectic under consideration – a justification inspired by the post-secular thought of Jürgen Habermas, which, moreover, grows out of a different context of discovery, as it engages in the debate on freedom from the standpoint of naturalistic determinism and evolutionary theory. It seems, therefore, that invoking the position of a prominent Frankfurter can provide an interesting counterpoint to the indicated suspicions.

Emmanuela Lévinasa figura trzeciego

Author(s): Karol Klimaszyk / Language(s): Polish Issue: 68/2021

This text aims to describe and analyse a figure of the third used by Emmanuel Lévinas in the three phases of the evolution of his concept. I interpret the term included in the title on an anthropological ground by analysing the transformations of terms: il y a and illeite, which I define as the third. On a social level, I explore the terms used by the French philosopher: troisieme homme and le tiers, defining them collectively as the third party. The basic thesis argued in the paper is the claim, absent in the Polish-language source literature, that Lévinas is most of all a philosopher of the third. I claim that the figure of the third is the starting point of the formation of subjectivity, defines the evolution of concepts and conditions metaphysics. On the socio-political level, the third defines the positive justification of society, influences the reformulation of the question of responsibility, and through this, in Otherwise than Being or Beyond Essence, makes it possible to formulate an answer to the doubts related to the unlimited responsibility for the other versus the question of violence in the context of the ethical relation. I also propose a different interpretation from the popular one of the evolution of the concept as a search for a positive justification of social relations.

Granice poznania a kształt bytu na podstawie myśli Karla Jaspersa

Author(s): Wojciech Żak / Language(s): Polish Issue: 68/2021

The article points out the elements of Karl Jaspers’ epistemological conception that cross out the possibility of a comprehensive account of being. The key issue here is the limits of cognition, which take the form of object cognition. The theme of limits points to the inadequacies of human thinking in the context of quantifiable and absolutist representations of reality. The impossibility of adequately grasping the totality of reality will be illustrated here by means of the criticism Jaspers levelled at absolutising metaphysics. In connection with the description of the structure of cognition proposed by Jaspers, the article points out the conceptual proximity of the issue of worldview and metaphysics in the light of the thought of the cited author.

Między Radio Utopią a Radiem Thanatos

Author(s): Paulina Pikiewicz / Language(s): Polish Issue: 68/2021

Kobiety w filozofii rosyjskiej w kontekście rozważań o tożsamości

Author(s): Lilianna Kiejzik / Language(s): Polish Issue: 48/2024

In the article we state that in Russia (at the time when philosophy appeared there, i.e. in fact from the 19th century, i.e. the emergence of systemic philosophy), there was a need to include women in the area of ​​the functioning of cultural and educational institutions that directly or indirectly participated in the process of the formation and development of philosophy in Russia (and also of Russian philosophy).The planes of various contexts of the emergence of women in Russian philosophy will be analyzed: the problem of higher education for women, the issue of the so-called the female question appearing in the philosophical reflection of male philosophers in Russia, involving women in the work of philosophical societies, circles, and editorials of philosophical magazines.The fate of selected women - philosophers in Russia (M. Biezobrazowa, W. Bołtina, J. Danzas, K. Miloradowicz, E. Kazanowicz) will be shown, including a special emphasis on Poland (S. Wolicka) - subjects of the Russian Tsar (19th century ) who obtained degrees in philosophy and were active in the emancipation movement fighting for women's rights.

The Aesthetic Intelligibility of Artefacts: Schelling’s Concept of Art in the System of Transcendental Idealism

Author(s): Giacomo Croci / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2024

The article reassesses Schelling’s philosophy of art in the System of Transcendental Idealism, focusing on its practical philosophy and the concept of the artefact. Often unexplored, this perspective offers a new account of Schelling’s early aesthetics, linking aesthetic experience to historical becoming. The discussion begins with an analysis of Schelling’s theory of intentional action, followed by a reconstruction of his understanding of artefact. It argues that Schelling integrates both social and material dimensions into his concept of artefacts. The paper then examines Schelling’s comparison between artefacts in general and works of art, asserting that aesthetic experience in the context of the System exemplifies ‘hermeneutic obstinacy’. This characteristic, typical of works of art, correlates with the open nature of historical reality.

On Some Pitfalls of the English Edition and Translation of Bolzano’s

Author(s): Tomáš Hlobil / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2024

This critical note examines Bernard Bolzano’s Essays on Beauty and the Arts, edited by Dominic McIver Lopes and translated by Adam Bresnahan. The book presents English translations of Bolzano’s ‘On the Concept of the Beautiful’ (1843) and ‘On the Classification of the Fine Arts’ (1849), supplemented by an extensive scholarly apparatus. This note focuses on Lopes’s interpretation of Bolzano’s aesthetic treatises, particularly addressing the insufficient historical contextualization. Additionally, some challenges and intricacies involved in translating Bolzano’s work into English are discussed.

FLAGS OF SHAME. POLITICS AND SYMBOLS IN CONTEMPORARY DEBATES

Author(s): Cătălin Avramescu / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2024

Flags have become a battlefield of choice in politics. This state of affairs is, however, a relatively recent phenomenon. A visible turning point in the process of the desacralization of the flag has been the decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in the case Texas v. Johnson (1989). The social and intellectual threads that have led us here are numerous, including the nineteenth-century debates occasioned by the Confederate flag and the controversies regarding the symbols of the revolutionary Left. Ruth Benedict’s distinction (1946) between “shame cultures” and “guild cultures” has provided a conceptual frame to advance the understanding of the meaning of highly symbolic actions to desecrate the national flag. In the twenty-first century, after imperial cultures and identities decline, shaming the flag has become part of the narrative of political polarization in many democracies worldwide.

ON THE ANDROGYNY OF THE CYBORG —AN ANTHROPOLOGICAL DIFFICULTY

Author(s): Ionel Bușe / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2024

In this essay we have highlighted some significant differences between two visions of the human being: an interand transdisciplinary visions of the integral man which consider the human as a hypercomplex being, created by a long process of self-poiesis of its natural and cultural history and another scientific utopian/dystopic vision which projects the necessity of the existence of a superintelligent artificial being in the future, the cyborg, which would replace humanity.

MAN AS A SYMBOL IN THE MEMORIES OF MIRCEA ELIADE

Author(s): Wilhelm Dancă / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2024

In this study I would like to make an exposition of religious symbolism, as it is seen by the Romanian scholar, underlining the anthropological aspects of the problem, to the extent that his autobiographical writings allow us. Hermeneutics, as the science of norms that allow us to discover and interpret the authentic meaning, and the symbol, with its double “existential and cognitive” function which is present in every area of life or thought, justifies in a certain way the Eliadian homo symbolicus. Man as a symbol is the title of a book designed by Mircea Eliade, but he never managed to write and publish it; even the book entitled Anthropocosmos, in which he wanted to present “the profound meaning and structural solidarity of all those symbols, rites, beliefs, in relation to the labyrinth, the mandala, the foundation of the city, etc.,” was not published.

IMAGINING POWER: HERMENEUTIC INSIGHTS INTO IMAGINED NATIONS AND THE LEGITIMATION OF POLITICAL AUTHORITY

Author(s): Gabriela Goudenhooft / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2024

This paper explores the relationship between imaginary constructs of nations and the legitimation of political authority through hermeneutic analysis. By examining how symbolic, mythic, and narrative elements within political discourse create and sustain the concept of the nation, the study seeks to understand their role in legitimizing power. The aim is to provide a nuanced understanding of the mechanisms through which national identity and political legitimacy are intertwined and maintained.

SEMIOTIC HERMENEUTIC OF “NEW WINE, NEW WINESKINS:” SYMBOLS, PHILOSOPHY OF DEVELOPMENT AND AFRICA

Author(s): Ikechukwu Anthony Kanu,Michael Paul Pilani / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2024

This study looks to the biblical parable in Matthew 9:17 about “new wine and new wineskins” as a symbolic lens for understanding Africa’s need to embrace progressive values and philosophies so as to break free from its developmental shackles. Employing an expository approach, the paper first analyses the meaning and symbolism of the new wine/wineskins metaphor, which warns against trying to contain new, transformative ideas within outdated, inflexible structures. It then surveys specific socio-political and economic obstacles hindering development across Africa. The paper submits that the future of Africa lies in a profound reorientation toward openness to change and a willingness to continually renew its social, political, and economic “wineskins.”

SYMBOL AND FAITH IN MIRCEA ELIADE

Author(s): Adriana Neacșu / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2024

This article analyzes Mircea Eliade’s conception of the role of the symbol in the expression of faith. It points out that Eliade considers belief a constitutive structure of the human being, and that homo religious is par excellence a homo symbolicus. Approaching the nature of the symbol as a form of autonomous knowledge, and its structure, it highlights the specificity of symbolic thinking, which generates it. Focusing on the man of archaic societies, exemplary for the religious mentality, it develops the problem of the functions of symbols within traditional communities. It shows that on the basis of archetypal symbolic images, primitive man creates symbolic complexes through which he explains the world and pursues his integration into it—presenting some of the great religious symbolisms. Finally, it highlights Eliade’s position that symbols will never disappear because they are constitutive of the human being, like religious belief, to which they are inextricably linked.

PEIRCE’S SEMIOTICS AND THE BACKGROUND OF WHITEHEAD’S SYMBOLISM

Author(s): Bogdan Rusu / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2024

The aim of this paper is to present Peirce’s semiotics as an important factor in the genesis of Alfred North Whitehead’s doctrine of symbolism. I argue that Peirce had a direct impact on Whitehead’s earliest reflections on symbolism generally and mathematical symbolism particularly. From his first encounter with Charles Sanders Peirce’s semiotic doctrine, contrasted to that of George F. Stout, Whitehead derived a general doctrine of signs which he never abandoned and which formed the basis of his mature doctrine of symbolism. While in the first years of his Harvard professorship, Whitehead suffered a second, indirect, influence from Peirce, through the American philosophers he interacted with. His mature philosophy of perception is both the development and application of the doctrine derived from Peirce and Stout thirty years before, and a reply to the realist doctrines which stressed the symbolic nature of perceptual knowledge, most importantly Santayana’s. Whitehead’s own brand of realism rests on the assumption of a pansemiotic principle, obscurely and mediately derived from Peirce.

ON THE CLARITY, AMBIGUITIES AND INTERPRETATIONS OF THE SYMBOL

Author(s): Lorena-Valeria Stuparu / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2024

The symbol refers to “substituted entities,” to something other than what is translated by the direct meaning of the expression. One principle of symbolization is that of placing ourselves in the order of recognition which opens an access path to knowledge, that of keeping us within the horizon of remembrance in order to recompose the initial truth in its fullness and communicate its strong impression. In parallel with the universe ordered, according to objective laws, a symbolic universe is developed, ordered according to its own laws (universes between the structures of which analogies are possible). Starting from these premises, in my paper I will refer in particular to the anthropological and cultural relevance of religious discourse and artistic language, to the interferences between them.

THE ROLE OF POLITICAL SYMBOLISM IN CONSTRUCTING A NATIONAL IRANIAN IDENTITY

Author(s): Bogdana Todorova / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2024

Symbolism is at the heart of the political process and any symbol can potentially become a part of the political field. Applying the “positive symbol” concept I underlines that the Iranian nation is formed through the symbolic forms of ideas and values. Two types of symbols can be identified in the formation of Iranian identity: symbolssignifiers and integrating symbols. The article pays attention to the role of symbols, the role of the so called “guardians” and the role of Corbin’s “imaginal world” in the construction of Iranian identity. The paper shows in its conclusion that the role of political symbolism in constructing a national Iranian identity is significant and acting as a “symbol-strategy,” consisting of symbolic actions.

MYTHOLOGIES OF TIMES IN THE WEST: UTOPIA, MILLENNISM AND MESSIANISM

Author(s): Jean-Jacques Wunenburger / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2024

This paper presents the result of researching the mythical conceptions of history in the West, which shed light on numerous cultural and political data that entered the sphere of the imaginary reflected in religions, utopias, and finally, in art. The study is structured in three parts, namely: the three scenarios of universal history; the significant myths of great narratives; the problems of the myth of unique time. These aspects bring into question and demonstrate the importance of the imaginary for the understanding of cosmological and anthropological time.