'What is the dialogical way to episteme?' and 'What chances has a commentary to approach correctly this question? ' constitute the author's problems in presenting and discussing the collective volume Searle on Conversation. The contributors — along with Searle and the author of this essay — are involved in a discussion about discussion, whose constitutive norms are examined. In order to reduce the 'staging' distance between the critical act and the object of criticism, some of the analyzed concepts are transformed (...) into analytical instruments. (shrink)

Without any polemic intention, our present contribution will be concerned with the idea of corporeality as an ontological index, in positive and negative perspective. In the positive perspective, corporeality represents the definitional index of the human person. More specifically, we shall approach the corporeality within the formative process of the person`s consciousness. In order to make relevant our philosophical target, the idea of corporeality will be treated within the semiotic extension of the concept of place / locus, in conformity with (...) the following three oppositions: place as a physical index vs. human symbol; place with reference to physical persona vs. spiritual persona; place in profane sense vs. sacred sense. In the negative perspective, the absence of corporeality makes relevant a new meaning of the Judaic concept hamakom: Hamakom with the sense of ‘the Omnipresent God, the Omnipresent locus’. We intend to establish two targets for our research: 1. to follow the process during which the definitional index represents a formative agent of consciousness; and 2. to establish the switching point where hamakom becomes Hamakom ‘the Omnipresent God, the Omnipresent locus’. (shrink)

Thinking of the system of rational ideas as extensions of conceiving, Kant deemed as necessary to pay his respects to Plato, the first who mapped out the philosophical career of those instruments of rational investigation. From the view of his transcendental idealism, he appreciated two elements: the utilization of ideas as a cognitive instrument distinct from senses, as well as the involvement of the human reason in their operationalization. Kant does not attach himself to the supra-individual force represented by the (...) prototypes of things, because every source of knowledge excepting human faculties is deemed as devoid of any real ground. In consequence, the human faculty of reason is the one which gave Kant the opportunity to conceive the ideas of reason as investigations through systematic reflection, but also as an opening to three philosophical disciplines, which means three life options; among them especially the last one, aiming at the express orientation of life towards the moral faith, is a character modeler. (shrink)

This contribution anchors the topic of transformative education in the discussion of human renewal. It posits that transformative education can only be perceived as an endeavour that encompasses the whole human being and the potential of humans to change and to adopt different perspectives on seeing and being in the world. The motif of the new human being (homo novus), as per the argument presented, can serve to develop a meaningful conceptual and praxis-related framework for education. Especially when considered against (...) the background of the debate on education serving the establishment of communities of belonging across cultures, in which ethics and values can be lived and probed. (shrink)

C. S. Lewis, The Abolition of Man HarperCollins Publishers, New York, 2001.

Name der Zeitschrift: Kant-Studien Jahrgang: 108 Heft: 1 Seiten: 134-145.

The value systems established by centuries have been reversed under the pressure of the political correctness. I intend to talk about a way of communicating and transmitting messages in the public space nowadays. I write about post-truth, arguing that it is a lie cosmeticized, hidden in a language that astounds and is supported by ideas that challenge not only refined intelligence, but also common sense. When I write the word truth, I do not consider the concept of truth, which philosophy (...) strives to define it, but I refer to the instrumental truth, the objective truth with which we operate daily, the truth as a benchmark of stability. And I put this truth in relation to the lie. I offer some concrete examples from the last three decades, from different environments, about events or statements that have been the subject of scandals that have started from the claim of some people to present a lie as a truth. I also refer to the fact that there is a whole Neo-Marxist literature that nullifies the natural hierarchy of things, so that objective truth loses its value, becomes irrelevant, flexible, until it is despised, because it is the instrument of „the conservative” individual, the class enemy of the progressives. (shrink)

In Saudi Arabia in 2000 the world's first human uterus transplant was attempted with some success. In 2011 the second successful human uterus transplant took place in Turkey. Doctors in the United Kingdom have recently announced that uterus transplants will be carried out in the UK if doctors can raise enough funds to complete their research. As scientists continue to make progress in this domain this is anticipated to be the next breakthrough in the arena of assisted reproductive technologies. The (...) procedure is designed to restore fertility in women unable to gestate due to an abnormal, damaged, or absent uterus. At present, the only other option for such women to achieve genetic motherhood is via surrogacy, which in Islam is widely regarded as haram or forbidden. This article examines the benefits of this technology so as to facilitate discourse between Islam and the West. It argues for Islamic scholars to consider these advances so as to ensure Muslims living as minorities in Western countries, such as the United Kingdom, are able to utilize such technology (if indeed regarded as permissible) should the government move to enact legislation to permit this procedure. (shrink)

Aristotle defined the ethical and intellectual virtues which are recognized as fundamental even today. Contemporary virtue ethics still takes into account Aristotelian virtues. The modern moral philosophers have tried to find new ethical values in a society in which religions are in decline and the old values lost their meaning. The starting point of their research has been Aristotle’s “Nicomachean Ethics” which has remained the most important work in ethics influencing the philosophical thinking until nowadays. This paper seeks to explain (...) the actual importance of the cardinal Aristotelian virtues and how they are seen today. (shrink)

Technology and society are deeply interconnected, as technology emerges from the existent cultural framework and consequently shapes society on the micro level of human interaction and the larger scale of social structure and system. This paper tackles the digital transformation present in Industry 4.0 and Society 5.0. We analyse disruptive digital technologies by focusing on the social or cultural context of their creation, their core philosophy, and the impact they seem to have or how society may be shaped by their (...) extended implementation and adoption. As technology is basically not neutral in its purpose, serving different personal and organizational interests, we use a multiple point-of-view approach to our study in order to elaborate an encompassing representation of the phenomenon. (shrink)

Philosophy & Social Criticism, Volume 48, Issue 4, Page 580-589, May 2022. Women and girls in contemporary Arab societies suffer from various and intersecting forms of discrimination that deny them their enjoyment of fundamental human rights. The right to freedom of expression is one of the essential areas that may expose this gender-based discrimination and patriarchal attitudes. In many contexts, freedom of expression has enabled women to speak out and organize in civil, political, social, economic and cultural spheres and contexts; (...) participate in their own emancipation and improve their status. Women’s exercise of freedom of expression has also provided them with new rights such as the right to vote, the right to control their own bodies, the right to join unions and the right to equality before the law and to participate in decision-making and hold governments to account. In the last decade, we have witnessed different attacks on women’s rights particularly their right to the freedom of expression, as scholars, journalists, social media users, human rights defenders, politicians and activists. The aim of this article is to explore emerging challenges and to highlight the struggle of Arab women for freedom of expression. (shrink)

Philosophy & Social Criticism, Volume 48, Issue 4, Page 580-589, May 2022. Women and girls in contemporary Arab societies suffer from various and intersecting forms of discrimination that deny them their enjoyment of fundamental human rights. The right to freedom of expression is one of the essential areas that may expose this gender-based discrimination and patriarchal attitudes. In many contexts, freedom of expression has enabled women to speak out and organize in civil, political, social, economic and cultural spheres and contexts; (...) participate in their own emancipation and improve their status. Women’s exercise of freedom of expression has also provided them with new rights such as the right to vote, the right to control their own bodies, the right to join unions and the right to equality before the law and to participate in decision-making and hold governments to account. In the last decade, we have witnessed different attacks on women’s rights particularly their right to the freedom of expression, as scholars, journalists, social media users, human rights defenders, politicians and activists. The aim of this article is to explore emerging challenges and to highlight the struggle of Arab women for freedom of expression. (shrink)

Philosophy & Social Criticism, Volume 48, Issue 4, Page 580-589, May 2022. Women and girls in contemporary Arab societies suffer from various and intersecting forms of discrimination that deny them their enjoyment of fundamental human rights. The right to freedom of expression is one of the essential areas that may expose this gender-based discrimination and patriarchal attitudes. In many contexts, freedom of expression has enabled women to speak out and organize in civil, political, social, economic and cultural spheres and contexts; (...) participate in their own emancipation and improve their status. Women’s exercise of freedom of expression has also provided them with new rights such as the right to vote, the right to control their own bodies, the right to join unions and the right to equality before the law and to participate in decision-making and hold governments to account. In the last decade, we have witnessed different attacks on women’s rights particularly their right to the freedom of expression, as scholars, journalists, social media users, human rights defenders, politicians and activists. The aim of this article is to explore emerging challenges and to highlight the struggle of Arab women for freedom of expression. (shrink)

In a society transitioning to democracy from an authoritarian regime, drafting a new constitution is an important step in the establishment of a civil and democratic state. Indeed, the demand of Tunisians to write a new constitution reflects their ambitions, aspirations and hopes; but reality shows a huge gap between the expectations of the majority of Tunisians and the result of the drafting process. The Tunisian transition is characterized by a fierce debate between the secular and the religious forces. This (...) unfolding confrontation forms the backdrop to the process of drafting a new constitution, amid anxiety surrounding the place of Islam in the new political system. However, fears of the resurrection of a new theocratic dictatorship are mitigated by a dynamic civil society in which voices that were silenced or misused by the former regime of Zine Al-Abidine Ben Ali are becoming distinctly vocal. Their action has become increasingly visible, evolving around the place of religion, law and gender in the new constitutional framework. This article focuses on the debate on religion, law and gender in post-revolution Tunisia. (shrink)

Cele două secole care au trecut de la moartea lui Immanuel Kant au creat în jurul operei sale instituţii concepute să o editeze, traducă şi interpreteze la un înalt nivel de profesionalism, care a impus anumite exigenţe de traducere şi intrpretare ce trebuie respectate spre a asigura valoarea ştiinţifică a acestei activităţi. Aşadar, în zilele noastre traducerea operei lui Kant nu se mai face după orice ediţie, ci numai după ediţia standard, a cărei paginaţie trebuie marcată în marginea exterioară a (...) paginii, spre a putea urmări conformarea sa cu originalul; aceasta este ediţia Academiei din Berlin, fostă prusacă: Kants Gesammelte Schriften, Berlin, 1902. (shrink)

To the faithful it is proper to draw the conclusion that in religion the appropriate way comes from the cultivation of virtue to the possibility of his endowment with grace; he should realize that the opposite way, from his endowment with grace with the view to make his way to virtue easier is not but an illusory way with a limited moral and religious meaning. From here follows that to God we cannot address but desires which passed the test of (...) virtue. This is the rational Kantian position on grace, with regard to the rational finite being that is man. The existence, as an exception, of the unconditional grace to some human beings thatrepresents the direct relation with the infinite being, do not entitle us to imagine that being unconditioned by the morality necessary to common beings, this kind of beings could ask for God any gift; since the grace as a divine gift becomes useless out of his relation with the divinity and his holiness, that represents for the finite being a moral model. (shrink)

Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} The study attempts to complete the conclusions of social-religious research undertaken up till now, and therefore analyzes the new religious phenomenon” ( Shin-shinshūkyō/ New New Religions ), especially the Aum Shinrikyō cult of the contemporary Japanese society, from an interdisciplinary perspective. Focusing upon the terrorist attack with sarin gas caused (...) by the Aum Shinrikyō cult, our analysis uses the method of Chinese boxes (the small box is in a bigger box which, in its turn, is placed in an even bigger box and so on), to deal with the complex issues beyond the criminal dimension. The study presents in this sense the victims’ confessions ( higaisha ) as well as the aggressors’ confessions ( kagaisha ) as published by the famous contemporary writer Haruki Murakami in the journalistic novel Underground (1997). The Aum Shinrikyō cult and the religious terrorist attack from the Tokyo subway eventually become important “ confession-evidence” in the process of knowing the Japanese spirituality and the way in which its religious feeling, permanently in search of a way of manifestation, reflects the “ normality” of a free modern society. By its aspects of antiutopian “ religious affair”, the Aum story urges mankind on an exercice of autoreflection. (shrink)

Studies of mythology and the philosophy of religions ascribe violence an important role in understanding traditional societies. Whether perceived as sacred and capable of renewing the world, or as oppressive and destructive, violence acquires a twofold valence, whose constituents are interpreted in a complementary relation of interdependence and entail a world outlook with profound implications. Retrieving this ambiguous dimension of religious violence, Kenzaburō Ōe’s novel imagines, against the historical background of post-war Japanese society, a game that enacts the eternal rivalry (...) between two brothers. Lest the history of this seemingly lost present should fall prey to political abuse, the Japanese writer proposes a return to myth, without, however, idealising it; instead, myth is revalorised and tradition is re-conceived from the vantage point of rationalism, with full and alert awareness of the dangers inherent in an ideology that is imposed by force and aggression. Kenzaburō Ōe’s novel is a lucid meditation on Japan’s modern and contemporary history. (shrink)

Far Eastern calligraphy has always been regarded by the Occident as an “esoteric” issue, laden with a peculiar “mysticism,” which presents spiritual and philosophical aspects too outlandish to truly comprehend. That is probably the reason why calligraphy was amongst the last artistic “disciplines” to gain access to the international world of the arts. This study focuses on Japanese calligraphy as a visual and verbal image, conducting a hermeneutic investigation into the nature and function of this type of image, into the (...) value and significance of this way of representing the sacred in accordance with Japanese spirituality. Undertaking an unusual exploration, this research draws together the symbolism of calligraphic art and that of Byzantine icons, looking for similarities and differences between them, seeing them as intuitive gateways to the mysteries of the universe, to revelations of an ontologically superior nature. (shrink)

With the ternary relationship of influence and cooperation between sign, object, and its interpreter in the semiotic rapport as a starting point, the present study aims to capture the “productive tension” of semiotics and communication in the Japanese advertising discourse. The advertisement, considered a semiotic system which ranks the fundamental functions of language in a particular manner, searches for new methods of communication, of message production, directing the sign towards the symbolic space of communication. In trying to measure this symbolic (...) fund of mass communication, the following text wishes to argue, from the perspective of rhetoric and cultural semiotics, that in the Japanese advertising message which is not transmitted mechanically between speaker and listener, one may recognise a model of impressiveness alongside a model of stimulation or of insertion . Also, calling on “syncretic” semiotics, this research devoted to the Japanese advertising discourse wishes to probe the way in which meaning is constructed through the act of signification resulted from the interaction of the verbal sentence with procedures and strategies that manifest themselves in several types of language, such as the visual, auditory, gestural, etc. (shrink)

This study attempts to explore the possible motivations, both obvious and problematic, behind the ritual suicide (seppuku) committed by the Japanese writer in the name of the Emperor at the Eastern Headquarters of Japan’s Self-Defense Forces in 1970. History does not seem to be a coherent or intelligible process, as man’s struggle for nourishment is most often replaced by thymos, the desire for others to recognize his value or the value system of the ideals or noble purposes he is ready (...) to sacrifice for, ignoring the basic instinct of self-conservation. Yukio Mishima was extremely pessimistic about pragmatic and materialistic contemporary Japan. History brought along increasing consumerism, thus disturbing the harmony of traditional Japanese spirituality. The technological ability to improve human existence seemed to alter inevitably the moral evolution of contemporary Japanese. Against this background of ruling “costs” and “benefits”, the Japanese writer seems to believe that it is only the thymotic man, the “man of anger”, who can fight for the recognition and salvation of the Japanese soul (yamato damashii). Believed for centuries to be the true art of dying, Yukio Mishima’s seppuku turned from a “beautiful” gesture into one of protest and accusation: the Japanese society had begun the transition from a closed society to an open one, governed by anxiety, in which individuals faced personal decisions. (shrink)

In the eighteenth-century England, the aesthetic vision of most contemporary writers of the time was closely related to the social, political and religious system of belief. Augustan writers, satirists particularly, sought to reclaim for literature the morally privileged status, they thought, it supposedly held in the context of the Latitudinarian system of thought; the very rationale behind the ethic of good nature that distinguishes major writings of the time, namely the dramatic, journalistic and fictional works of the major eighteenth century (...) novelist and satirist Henry Fielding. His major dramatic works not only display the influence of the Latitudinarian philosophy but mainly Shaftesbury’s moral theory of innate goodness, which Fielding revokes, offering then a representation of a more universal moral frame which rather reflects and criticizes the society of the author’s time. The providential pattern that Fielding creates in his plays valorizes indeed the principle of good-nature and the triumph of virtue against all apparent social evils. Most significantly, it has positioned Henry Fielding himself in a “comedic” tradition in which characters are not ultimately responsible for themselves. In the present paper, and with reference to Earl of Shaftesbury’s assumptions about the ideal good-natured man, I intend to evince that Fielding uses the value of good-nature and virtue not as pure moral abstractions, but rather as nodal points around which he organizes, and through which he presents a broad cultural and historical vision. With reference to his major regular comedies, and a through a close study of his most representative characters, I will attempt to evince that this underlying moral vision is more than an abstract rumination of the relative power of good and evil. When we view and consider such concepts as virtue, good-nature and ill-nature in the immediate contexts of his plays, we conceive a picture of a broad cultural landscape in which ethical values become nodal points of meaning, in which Fielding represents both the most basic, traditional values and the most sordid everyday events and attitudes of his society. (shrink)

Who should define what constitutes ethical and lawful medical practice? Judges? Doctors? Scientists? Or someone else entirely? This volume analyses how effectively criminal law operates as a forum for resolving ethical conflict in the delivery of health care. It addresses key questions such as: how does criminal law regulate controversial bioethical areas? What effect, positive or negative, does the use of criminal law have when regulating bioethical conflict? And can the law accommodate moral controversy? By exploring criminal law in theory (...) and in practice and examining the broad field of bioethics as opposed to the narrower terrain of medical ethics, it offers balanced arguments that will help readers form reasoned views on the ethical legitimacy of the invocation and use of criminal law to regulate medical and scientific practice and bioethical issues. (shrink)

Who should define what constitutes ethical and lawful medical practice? Judges? Doctors? Scientists? Or someone else entirely? This volume analyses how effectively criminal law operates as a forum for resolving ethical conflict in the delivery of health care. It addresses key questions such as: how does criminal law regulate controversial bioethical areas? What effect, positive or negative, does the use of criminal law have when regulating bioethical conflict? And can the law accommodate moral controversy? By exploring criminal law in theory (...) and in practice and examining the broad field of bioethics as opposed to the narrower terrain of medical ethics, it offers balanced arguments that will help readers form reasoned views on the ethical legitimacy of the invocation and use of criminal law to regulate medical and scientific practice and bioethical issues. (shrink)