El número de libros corales de la catedral de Sevilla asciende casi a trescientos en total, correspondientes a un período de tiempo que va del siglo XV al XX. Los más antiguos, por ser más decorados e iluminados, han sido estudiados por varios especialistas, pero no ha sucedido esto con su música, a pesar de ser la verdadera razón de su existencia. En el presente artículo centramos nuestra reflexión sobre la revisión del canto llano realizada por Sebastián Vicente Villegas, a (...) petición del cabildo de Sevilla, tras la publicación del decreto de Clemente VIII y la doctrina del humanismo extendida por toda Europa después del Concilio de Trento. (shrink)

During the IAEA’s Mobile Radioisotope Exhibition (1960–1965) through the eventful roads of five Latin American countries (Mexico, Uruguay, Argentina, Brazil, and Bolivia), a variety of photographs were taken by an unknown Mexican official photographer, and by Josef Obermayer, a staff driver from Vienna. The exhibition carried not only bits of nuclear sciences and technologies, but also the political symbolism of the ‘friendly atom’ as a token of modernization. The photographs embarked on different trajectories, though all of them ended up at (...) the training and exchange official’s desk in charge of the exhibition, Argentinian physicist Arturo Cairo. The ones taken in Mexico also had a local circulation as propaganda intended to promote radioisotope applications. The two sets of images were intended to show the contrast between modernity and traditional society, but they did it from different gazes. Our paper argues that, in the case of Mexico, the photographer reinforced representations of the country which were already popularized by Hollywood for foreign and local audiences. On the other hand, the Viennese photographer’s gaze delivers an autoethnography of his dutiful journey. We also argue that Obermayer’s projection is one of what Roger Bartra has conceptualized as the ‘salvage on the mirror’. (shrink)

Public discourse on religious matters is a sensitive issue in Romania. It has raised heated debates for at least two reasons: on the one hand, the repressive policy of the Communist regime concerning religion created a strong boomerang-effect, a religious renaissance after 1989; on the other hand, there is a deep cleavage between the “two Romanias:” the urban and the rural, the modernized and the traditionalist, the liberal and the conservative. Religion still serves as a major cultural marker of national (...) identity, and the church is one of the most trusted institutions in Romania. We are exploring the hypothesis that the 2006-2007 religious icon scandal in Romania is a typical example of heated public debate in a transitional society. (shrink)

En este artículo, nos preguntamos si es pertinente un análisis del personaje de Medea de Eurípides, y más concretamente, de su filicidio, a la luz de la doctrina aristotélica de la acción. Resulta dudoso, y quizás equívoco, hablar de "responsabilidad" (en sentido aristotélico) en el caso de la heroína, ya que sus motivaciones, como las de todo héroe trágico, tienen un doble signo: enfrentado a una ἀνάγκη superior, también desea lo que está forzado a hacer. Además, Medea no es una (...) mujer común: es un personaje ontológicamente complejo que participa, más de lo que frecuentemente se ha enfatizado, del plano divino. In this article we wonder if it is pertinent to analyse the character of Euripides' Medea and, more precisely, her filicide, in the light of Aristotle's doctrine of action. With regard to the heroine, it is doubtful and perhaps confusing to talk about "responsibility" (in Aristotelian terms) because her motivations, as all tragic heroes', are two-sided: faced to a superior ἀνάγκη he wants what he is forced to do as well. In addition, Medea is not an ordinary woman: she is an ontologically complex character that has a share in the divine level, a share which is more crucial than what has usually been emphasized. (shrink)

The doctrines of the Hellenistic Schools - Epicureans, Stoics, and Sceptics - are known to have had a formative influence on later thought, but because the primary sources are lost, they have to be reconstructed from later reports. This important collection of essays by one of the foremost interpreters of Hellenistic philosophy focuses on key questions in epistemology and ethics debated by Greek and Roman philosophers of the Hellenistic period. There is currently a new awareness of the great interest and (...) influence of Hellenistic philosophy. In bringing together a major collection of scholarly and interpretative studies by a leading figure in the field, this volume is a boon to philosophers and classicists who work on the Hellenistic period, but also to students keen to enrich their understanding of the history of epistemology and ethics. (shrink)

This article demonstrates that theory-laden perception is a pure fiction of some philosophers of science and does not in fact exist. It shows by examples from L. Fleck that non-neutral or person-bound observation is an important source of scientific knowledge and suggests that we can explain those changes in scientific knowledge that are caused by divergent perceptions of different observers by means of differences in the repertoires of visual concepts of the respective observers. Visual concept is introduced by means of (...) a performance model of perception. It is contrasted with definable or language-generated concept and compared to Wittgenstein's family resemblance of concepts. (shrink)

In this paper I would like to examine a conception of happiness that seems to have become popular after the time of Plato and Aristotle: tranquillity or, as one might also say, peace of mind. This conception is interesting for two reasons: first, because it seems to come from outside the tradition that began with Plato or Socrates, second, because it is the only conception of eudaimonia in Greek ethics that identifies happiness with a state of mind and makes it (...) depend entirely on a person’s attitude or beliefs. In this way it may be closer to more recent ideas about happiness, notably those of utilitarians who treat “happiness” as a synonym of “pleasure,” than to the classical Greek conceptions of the good life. For Plato and Aristotle the happy life certainly had to be pleasant or enjoyable, but they did not think that happiness itself consisted in being pleased with one’s life. As the Stoic Seneca puts it, “it is not that virtue is chosen because it pleases, but that, if chosen, it also pleases.” I will argue that tranquillity was in fact not a serious contender for the position of ultimate good in ancient times. Greek theories of happiness from Plato to Epicurus were attempts to spell out what sort of a life one would have to lead in order to have good reasons for feeling tranquil or contented; they were not recipes for reaching a certain state of mind. Looking at the case of tranquillity will show, I think, that modern philosophers interested in questions about the good life might be well advised to follow the lead of their ancient predecessors. (shrink)

The objective of this paper is to identify, from a historical perspective, the presence of elements of the protagorean thought in the Herodotus’ Histories. I realize an analysis of the passages in which Herodotus refers to νόμος and φύσις, which constitute a conceptual antithesis within the framework of the fifth century a.C. From this analysis I will try to show that Herodotus retakes the intellectual discussions of the fifth century BC, but makes a controversial reception of these concepts highlighting the (...) climate of conflict on the level of the symbolic. (shrink)

Reseña bibliográfica de LAKS, André & MOST, Glenn W.: Early Greek Philosophy, Cambridge, Harvard University Press, 2016, 9 vols.

El Fedro de Platón se presenta como un diálogo que versa sobre retórica yerótica. No obstante, el tratamiento platónico de ambos temas deja entreverel entramado político que les da sentido. En este trabajo me ocuparéde leer la crítica platónica a la escritura en clave política, para de estamanera tratar de establecer el carácter histórico del relato platónico.Intentaré mostrar que la crítica a la escritura se enmarca dentro de unaoperación platónica por legitimar una recuperación de los privilegios deciertos sectores aristocráticos en (...) el contexto de la democracia ateniense.Este artículo partirá de la ‘différence politique’ como marco teórico, paraluego analizar la dimensión de ‘lo político’ en la presentación del relato yla articulación de los elementos del relato de Theuth y Thamus. (shrink)

El renovado interés que ha adquirido el pensamiento político desde la segunda mitad del siglo veinte ha dado lugar a nuevas perspectivas para su estudio. Sin embargo, el desarrollo teórico de las ciencias sociales no ha tenido una interacción fluida entre las disciplinas que la componen. En este trabajo argumentaré que los desarrollos metodológicos sobre la posibilidad histórica de la teoría política deberían estar interconectados con los desarrollos en el campo de la historiografía. Para sostener mi posición me propongo realizar (...) una aproximación problemática en torno a la posibilidad de construir un conocimiento histórico-científico de la teoría política, a partir de los siguientes tópicos: la temporalidad histórica; el vínculo entre temporalidad y pensamiento, y la politización del pensamiento. (shrink)

As tensões geradas pela confluência das culturas grega e semita encontram no século XIII um solo fecundo. O necessitarismo grego que faz do mundo uma emanação divina confronta com a amorosa vontade criadora do Deus semita. Essa questão é raiz fundante do pensamento e do agir modernos e tem em Raimundo Lúlio uma importante reflexão que culmina com a emergência de um ethos amoroso. Esse resgate ajuda a fundamentar o lugar do homem e sua responsabilidade na atual sociedade tecnológica.

El presente artículo se propone identificar, desde una perspectiva histórica, la recepción del pensamiento protagórico en las Historias de Heródoto. Para ello se efectuará un análisis de los pasajes en los que Heródoto remite a νόμος y φύσις, los cuales constituyen una antítesis conceptual en el marco de la sofística del siglo V a.C. A partir de este análisis se pretende mostrar que Heródoto retoma las discusiones intelectuales del siglo V a.C., pero realiza una recepción polémica de dichos conceptos poniendo (...) en evidencia el clima de conflictividad en el plano de lo simbólico. (shrink)

En el presente artículo me ocupo de la discusión acerca de cuán exigentes son nuestras obligaciones de contribuir con dinero y tiempo a las agencias humanitarias que asisten a personas en situación de pobreza extrema en el mundo. Defiendo una posición intermedia, moderada, frente a la posición extrema formulada por Peter Singer y frente a la posición según la cual nuestras obligaciones son mínimas. La objeción principal contra esas dos posiciones es que, cuando analizan la situación en que los potenciales (...) donantes se encuentran frente a las personas en situación de pobreza extrema, omiten el carácter iterativo que es propio de esa situación. La posición moderada, en cambio, tiene en cuenta ese carácter, gracias a que entiende a nuestras obligaciones hacia los pobres globales como obligaciones imperfectas. In this article I engage in the debate about the demandingness of our duties to contribute with money and time to humanitarian agencies that assist people who live in extreme poverty around the world. I defend an intermediate, moderate, view against Peter Singer's extreme view, and also against the view according to which our duties are minimal. The main objection regarding those two views is that, when they analyze the situation in which potential donors are vis-à-vis people who live in extreme poverty, they miss its distinctive iterative character. The moderate view, on the contrary, pays heed to that character, thanks to its account of our duties towards the global poor as imperfect duties. (shrink)

This article explores the rich tradition of Lutheran spirituality by examining the hymns of the seventeenth-century Lutheran hymn writer Paul Gerhardt. At times Lutheran theology is accused of emphasizing grace as pardon with little or no reflection on grace as empowerment. Paul Gerhardt is a wonderful representative of Lutheran spiritual theologians who hold the two together. In one of the darkest moments of Christian history, the Thirty Year War and its aftermath, Gerhardt was able to hunt for signs of God's (...) grace where others only saw death, darkness, and despair. His beautiful and theologically rich hymns became sacred literary spaces where pilgrim singers were able to find refuge in God and begin a journey of healing and transformation. Pastors today should once again take seriously and recover the importance of hymns and the arts more generally speaking for spiritual formation. (shrink)

This essay argues that ancient Pyrrhonists did not decide to suspend judgment, but rather claimed to have found themselves unable to arrive at any judgment. By giving up the attempt, they also claimed to have unexpectedly reached tranquility, then followed the customs of ordinary life without ever claiming to have found the truth. This anti-rational attitude is not likely to be typical of ordinary people, nor would it seem desirable to modern defenders of ordinary practices like Fogelin.

Scepticism has been one of the standard problems of epistemology in modern times. It takes various forms – the most general one being the thesis that knowledge is impossible; but equally prominent are such versions as the notorious doubt about the existence of an external world, inaugurated by Descartes'Meditations, or doubts about the existence of objective values. Philosophers who undertake to refute scepticism – still a very popular exercise – try to show that knowledge is possible after all, or to (...) prove the existence of an external world, and so on. Sceptics, generally speaking, are seen as radical doubters – philosophers who call into question assumptions that are usually taken for granted by ordinary people as well as by other philosophers. Those doubts have to be refuted by showing that they are in some way unjustified. (shrink)

The thesis provides the first systematic study of Denkungsart as a central conception of Immanuel Kant's philosophy. It argues that this notion, together with the intrinsically related terms, Gesinnung and Vernunftglaube , constitutes the connecting thread of Kant's thought, one that establishes that Kant is first and foremost a moral philosopher. On the grounds of this central problem of the Kantian corpus--the quest for a morally good Denkungsart--Kant is shown to be a moral philosopher in the Socratic sense of asserting (...) the primacy of practical wisdom and a moral philosopher who faces unflinchingly the problem of evil in its most radical sense as one finds it in the Christian tradition. ;The study provides a new perspective for reading and understanding Kant; it articulates the broader moral framework--the form and content of the morally good Denkungsart--in terms of which Kant's pure moral philosophy and what has come to be called his "virtue ethics" are connected. On the basis of this new perspective for reading Kant, the study seeks to disarm and dissolve many of the stereotypical views of Kant found in the scholarship. ;The study begins with a synoptic presentation of the eighteenth century philosophical dialogue in which the term, Denkungsart, first emerges. Defining this context provides the background for appreciating what is at stake in Kant's inquiry into a morally good Denkungsart and for understanding the formulation which Kant gives to his question. Having outlined how Kant's writings constitute a reply to his philosophical milieu, the study investigates three specific issues in his early philosophical reflections--the distinction of laws of nature and moral law, the "problem of nature," and the problem of freedom for moral good--on the basis of which the moral question of Denkungsart arises for Kant. The articulation of the conception of Denkungsart consists of three parts: the form and matter of the morally good Denkungsart and the analysis of Vernunftglaube as the consummation of the morally good Denkungsart. (shrink)

The Prior Analytics marks the beginning of formal logic, and is one of the most influential works in the history of thought. It is here that Aristotle sets out his system of syllogistic reasoning. The first book, to which this volume is devoted, offers a coherent presentation of Aristotle's logic as a general theory of deductive argument.