"What is required if men and women are to feel at home in society and are to recover their vitality? Into wrestling with that question, Simone Weil put the very substance of her mind and temperament. The apparently solid edifices of our prepossessions fall down before her onslaught like ninepins, and she is as fertile and forthright in her positive suggestions . . . she can be relied upon to toss aside the superficial and to come to grips with the (...) essential and the profound." -- Time Literary Supplement. (shrink)

Simone Weil (1909-1943) was a defining figure of the twentieth century; a philosopher, Christian, resistance fighter, anarchist, feminist, labor activist and teacher. She was described by T. S. Eliot as "a woman of genius, of a kind of genius akin to that of the saints," and by Albert Camus as "the only great spirit of our time." Originally published posthumously in two volumes, these newly reissued notebooks, are among the very few unedited personal writings of Weil's that still survive today. (...) Containing her thoughts on art, love, science, God and the meaning of life, they give context and meaning to Weil's famous works, revealing a unique philosophy in development and offering a rare private glimpse of her singular personality. (shrink)

Modern political thought arrived on the heels of two revolutionary realizations: We are not at the center of the universe (Copernicus), which was not created for us (Darwin). How might political theory respond to a third revolutionary realization, that we are not alone, that other creatures, sentient and highly intelligent, share our vast universe? We explore answers through a dialogue between two political theorists, a human and an alien. Rather than superimposing astropolitics upon anthropolitics, we use the encounter to ask (...) new questions, e.g., should PT foster bridges between humans and aliens, or harden the boundaries? Pitting Dark Forest Theory against the Campfire Theory, we outline the coming existential and existentialist turns in political theory, complementing Earth politics with exopolitics. (shrink)

Uriel Weinreich was of the innovative and creative thinkers in the field of semantics in the twentieth century. This volume contains all of Weinreich's writings on semantics, including a number of papers that were not published in his lifetime. It includes the first paper on the universals of semantic theory, an analysis of the fundamental concepts of semantics and semiotics, and a critique of lexicography.

Gravity and Grace was the first ever publication by the remarkable thinker and activist, Simone Weil. In it Gustave Thibon, the priest to whom she had entrusted her notebooks before her untimely death, compiled in one remarkable volume a compendium of her writings that have become a source of spiritual guidance and wisdom for countless individuals.

This thesis defends egalitarianism about knowledge and belief, on which neither is understood in terms of the other, from what I call the abductive argument. This argument is meant to favour views opposed to egalitarianism: doxasticism, on which knowledge is understood in terms of belief, and epistemicism, on which belief is understood in terms of knowledge. The abductive argument turns on the idea that doxasticism and epistemicism, by contrast with egalitarianism, explain certain data about knowledge and belief. I argue, however, (...) that no versions of doxasticism and epistemicism currently on offer are preferable to egalitarianism on abductive grounds. As part of my argument, I also defend the claim that knowledge, by contrast with belief, is an attitude to a fact and explore the implications of this claim for doxasticism and epistemicism. (shrink)

Einleitung: Da Costa und das Marranenproblem. Die Gründung der Sephardischen Gemeinde in Amsterdam. Die Spaltung des Bewusstseins. Das Schicksal da Costas. Da Costa und Spinoza.--Propostas contra a tradição. Thesen gegen die Tradition.--Sobre a mortalidade da alma. Über die Sterblichkeit der Seele.--Exemplar humanae vitae. Ein Beispiel menschlichen Lebens.--Regesten.--Anmerkungen.

Simone Weil is one of the most profound thinkers of the twentieth century. Her writings encompass an extraordinary breadth of subjects, including philosophy, religion, sociology, and politics. A political activist and resistance fighter, her accomplishments are even more astonishing in light of her death in 1943 at the age of thirty-four. Whilst Weil was concerned with deep philosophical questions - the nature of human thought and human faculties, the limits of language, and thought's contact with reality through mediation, science and (...) beauty - the full significance of her work has frequently been obscured by her categorization as a purely religious writer or Christian mystic. Simone Weil: Basic Writings is an expertly edited anthology of her most important writings, presenting Weil's philosophy as it relates to politics, the nature of work, human nature in its duality, necessity, beauty and goodness. D. K. Levy and Marina Barabas have translated all the extracts anew, including translations of important notes and references missing from existing English language editions of Weil's work. Following an extensive introduction by D. K. Levy which places Weil's life and thought in context, each section opens with a short introduction situating the chosen passages within Weil's oeuvre. Simone Weil: Basic Writings is an outstanding starting point for anyone seeking an introduction to Weil's philosophy, and also essential reading for students and scholars of Weil's thought in related disciplines. (shrink)

In Intimations of Christianity Among the Ancient Greeks , Simone Weil discusses precursors to Christian religious ideas which can be found in ancient Greek mythology, literature and philosophy. She looks at evidence of "Christian" feelings in Greek literature, notably in Electra, Orestes, and Antigone , and in the Iliad , going on to examine God in Plato, and divine love in creation, as seen by the ancient Greeks.

Christians and Others in the Umayyad State. Edited by Antoine Borrut and Fred M. Donner. Late Antique and Medieval Islamic Near East, vol. 1. Chicago: riental Institute, University of Chicago, 2016. Pp. ix + 213. $24.95.

自史蒂芬·霍金(Stephen Hawking) 的暢銷科普著作《時間簡史》(以下簡稱《簡史》) 在上世紀八十年代末問世以來，至今天二十一世紀，華人基督教界就他宇宙無起點的論述仍有相當之評論，但可惜對評論未有綜合分析。評論者因寫作目的，也甚少交代霍金宇宙學的來龍去脈。故本文嘗試略述霍金宇宙學的歷史 背景及發展經過，繼而舉出華人基督教界的評論，帶出其獨特性，並提出商確的地方，以反省未來可行路向。.

Este trabajo tiene como objetivo realizar una reconstrucción teórica sobre la figura de Abraham como categoría central en la constitución de la subjetividad en el pensamiento judío y mostrar cómo se convierte en referente filosófico en la obra levinasiana. Para ello, se indagan las raíces judías de Levinas y de su obra, en la que la figura de Abraham aparece como principio de subjetivación ética en el proceso de constitución del pueblo de la alianza, en contraste con la figura griega (...) de Ulises. Entre los hallazgos de este estudio se encuentra a Abraham como la presencia de un yo que se abre al llamado del Otro, no para absorberlo en su mismidad, sino para constituirse como un ser-para-el-Otro y reconocer el obligatorio cumplimiento de las responsabilidades ineludibles con su existencia. Se describe, además, la metáfora como apertura y salida de sí que lleva al ser humano más allá de sí mismo. El artículo llega a la conclusión de que el pensamiento filosófico de Levinas, centrado principalmente en la ética, ha contribuido significativamente a nuestra comprensión del ser humano como un Otro esencial en las relaciones intersubjetivas. Esta concepción encuentra su fundamento directamente en la tradición judía, en contraposición a la tradición griega que ha estado en la base de gran parte de los desarrollos de la filosofía occidental. (shrink)

_ Source: _Volume 24, Issue 2, pp 300 - 317 This article examines R. Zvi Yehudah Kook’s reading of two earlier thinkers who were influential in the formulation of his thought—the Maharal of Prague and R. Avraham Azulai. I argue that his creative and unique reading of these texts exemplifies a fascinating dialogue he held with earlier sources, which he interpreted and infused with his own theological postulates. Here I explore his theory of the unique nature of the Jewish soul, (...) in both its collective and individual manifestations. The connection between R. Zvi Yehudah’s approach to interpreting earlier Jewish theological texts and that of his father, R. Avraham Itzhak HaCohen Kook, will also be discussed. (shrink)

El presente artículo discute los conceptos de «autoconservación» y «trabajo» en Lo que aprendemos de los lirios del campo y las aves del cielo. El análisis del discurso edificante escrito por Kierkegaard en 1847 permite definir la perspectiva que el danés asume ante el proyecto filosófico de la Modernidad. A partir de una crítica a las concepciones estéticas y éticas de la vida, el autor edificante propone un modelo de existencia religiosa que combina la autoconservación y la dependencia.

El presente artículo discute la obra pseudónima de Kierkegaard “El reflejo de lo trágico antiguo en lo trágico moderno”. El joven esteta A traza una distinción entre la “culpa antigua” y la “culpa moderna”. A utiliza esta distinción para formular una potente crítica a la ética moderna. No obstante, dicha polémica contra los conceptos éticos de la Modernidad no implican un retorno a la moralidad trágica antigua.

Mientras que desde una perspectiva islámica los musulmanes debían ofrecer lealtad primordial a Dios y a Su mensaje, los lazos de parentesco podían poner en tela de juicio ese compromiso. Los ideales islámicos, articulados a través de diversos géneros literarios, reflejan esta tensión, presentando una priorización de la comunidad religiosa sobre la familia. Al mismo tiempo, sin embargo, los sentimientos de parentesco se utilizaban a menudo para inculcar ideales religiosos e identidad entre los miembros de la comunidad. La percepción islámica (...) primitiva y medieval de la autoridad materna ilustra bien este punto, ya que las madres musulmanas desempeñan un papel crucial en la formación de la identidad islámica de sus hijos. Sin embargo, en circunstancias opuestas, cuando la autoridad materna no musulmana estaba presente en entornos familiares dominados por el islam, se hacía necesaria una adaptación de las normas y reglamentos. En este ensayo, examino una serie de posturas islámicas relativas a los casos en que las madres, tanto musulmanas como no musulmanas, podían influir en las inclinaciones religiosas de sus hijos durante conflictos o diferencias interreligiosas. Estas posturas arrojan luz sobre una faceta adicional de los esfuerzos islámicos por preservar la integridad religiosa de los creyentes musulmanes, en particular de los niños musulmanes pequeños, dentro de un contexto religioso socialmente diverso. Aparecen en diversos géneros literarios con programas normativos, como el Corán, la exégesis coránica, las tradiciones proféticas, los compendios jurídicos, las biografías de los primeros musulmanes (ṣaḥāba), y literatura sobre etiqueta social (adab), que abarca desde el siglo I/VII al VII/XIII. (shrink)

Standing at the edge of life's abyss, we seek meaningful order. We commonly find this 'symbolic immortality' in religion, civilization, state and nation. What happens, however, when the nation itself appears mortal? The Mortality and Morality of Nations seeks to answer this question, theoretically and empirically. It argues that mortality makes morality, and right makes might; the nation's sense of a looming abyss informs its quest for a higher moral ground, which, if reached, can bolster its vitality. The book investigates (...) nationalism's promise of moral immortality and its limitations via three case studies: French Canadians, Israeli Jews, and Afrikaners. All three have been insecure about the validity of their identity or the viability of their polity, or both. They have sought partial redress in existential self-legitimation: by the nation, of the nation and for the nation's very existence. (shrink)

En el actual contexto en reorganización por la influencia del ciberespacio cruzado, entre otras, por las contradicciones entre control y comunicación y por el impacto de las inteligencias artificiales damos cuenta del curso dirigido por Jesús Zamora Bonilla y titulado Filosofía del Futuro y el Futuro de la Filosofía (enero de 2023). En el mismo se ha dibujado el campo de los estudios del futuro y se ha reflexionado sobre el papel que en ellos pudiera jugar la filosofía. También se (...) ha vuelto a plantear el problema de sus condiciones de supervivencia. (shrink)

The American and some other constitutions entrench property rights by requiring super majoritarian voting as a condition for amending or revoking their own provisions. Following Buchanan and Tullock [The Calculus of Consent, Logical Foundations of Constitutional Democracy (University of Michigan Press, Ann Arbor), 1962], this paper analyzes individuals' interests behind a veil of ignorance, and shows that under some standard assumptions, a (simple) majoritarian rule should be adopted. This result changes if one assumes that preferences are consistent with the behavioral (...) phenomenon known as the endowment effect. It then follows that (at least some) property rights are best defended by super majoritarian protection. The paper then shows that its theoretical results are consistent with a number of doctrines underlying American Constitutional Law. (shrink)

Die Buchreihe Konzepte der Sprach- und Literaturwissenschaft gibt Aufschluss über Prinzipien, Probleme und Verfahrensweisen philologischer Forschung im weitesten Sinne und dient einer Bestimmung des Standorts der Linguistik und Literaturwissenschaft. Die Reihe übergreift Einzelsprachen und Einzelliteraturen. Sie stellt sich in den Dienst der Reflexion und Grundlegung einer allgemeinen Sprach- und Literaturwissenschaft. Die Bände sind zum Teil informierende Einführungen, zum Teil wissenschaftliche Diskussionsbeiträge.

Is the brain really a computer? In particular, is our intelligence a computational achievement: is it because our brains are computers that we get on in the world as well as we do? In this paper I will evaluate an ambitious new argument to the contrary, developed in Landgrebe and Smith (2021a, 2022). Landgrebe and Smith begin with the fact that many dynamical systems in the world are difficult or impossible to model accurately (inter alia, because it is intractable to (...) find exact solutions to the differential equations that describe them—meaning we have to approximate—but at the same time they are such that small differences in starting conditions lead to big differences in final conditions, thwarting accurate approximation). Yet we manage to survive and thrive in a world full of such systems. Landgrebe and Smith argue from these premises that it is not because our brains are computers that we get on as well as we do: instead it is because of the various ways that we dynamically couple with such systems, these couplings themselves impossible to model well enough to emulate in silico. Landgrebe and Smith thus defend a dynamical systems model in the lineage of Gibson (1979), Van Gelder (1995), and Thompson (2007), though their focus is on decisively refuting the computationalist alternatives rather than developing the positive account. Here I will defend the claim that human intelligence is genuinely computational (and that whole brain emulation and others forms of AGI may be possible) against this argument. (shrink)

Existing indexing systems used to arrange philosophical works have been shown to misrepresent the discipline in ways that reflect and perpetuate exclusionary attitudes within it. In recent years, there has been a great deal of effort to challenge those attitudes and to revise them. But as the discipline moves toward greater equality and inclusivity, the way it has indexed its work has unfortunately not. To course correct, we identify in this article some of the specific changes that are needed within (...) current indexing systems and propose a new model that could embody them. We use the Diversity Reading List in Philosophy as a case study and PhilPapers as a basis for comparison. The model we propose not only represents the discipline in a more inclusive and fair way, but it is also efficient, easy to use or implement, and adaptable for a variety of contexts. (shrink)

Philosophe politique et intellectuel engage dans la vie des idées aux Etats-Unis comme dans le monde, Michael Walzer est l'un des penseurs de la société parmi les plus stimulants a l'époque contemporaine. Son oeuvre défriche des pistes nouvelles de réflexion dans les domaines du politique, de la justice sociale, de la morale ou de l'identité culturelle. En même temps, Walzer, dont la pensée s'est forgée lors des luttes pour l'égalité des droits civiques aux USA et contre la guerre du Vietnam (...) dans les années 1960, poursuit une activité féconde d'animation du débat public à travers sa revue Dissent. Dans cet essai, Simon Wuhl a souhaité éclairer une autre dimension de la pensée de Michael Walzer : la relation étroite avec la pensée juive, dont les potentialités d'universalisation sont une référence majeure dans la plupart de ses écrits. Qu'elle s'exprime ouvertement comme dans son article emblématique sur " Les deux universalismes ", ou en arrière-fond comme dans son livre plus théorique sur les Sphères de justice, l'empreinte du judaïsme est toujours présente dans son oeuvre pour éclairer les grandes questions de société. Faisant par ailleurs retour, dans certains de ses travaux, sur les textes de base du judaïsme, Walzer mobilise les ressources méthodologiques des sciences humaines pour les soumettre à une relecture critique. (shrink)

The Subjection of Women sollte nicht ohne Weiteres als Teil des Werks von John Stuart Mill behandelt werden. Wenn auch weniger explizit und emphatisch als Mill es etwa in der Vorbemerkung zu On Liberty festhält, bekräftigt er in seiner Autobiography den maßgeblichen Beitrag Harriet Taylor MillsTaylor, Harriet an der Entstehung von Subjection. Mill benennt Harriet zwar nicht als Mitverfasserin der Schrift, aber doch als Miturheberin der entwickelten Thesen und Argumente. Die Abhandlung, die Mill 1869 auf Anraten seiner Stieftochter Helen TaylorTaylor, (...) Helen veröffentlicht, entsteht in den Jahren 1860–1861. Mill beginnt mit der Niederschrift also zwei Jahre nach Harriets Tod. Subjection formuliert gleichwohl eine Position, die über Jahre hinweg Gegenstand ausgedehnter Diskussionen zwischen beiden ist. (shrink)

Encountering Derrida explores the points of engagement between Jacques Derrida and a host of other European thinkers, past and present, in order to counter recent claims that the era of deconstruction is finally drawing to a close. The book rereads Derrida in order to renew deconstruction's various conceptions of language, poetry, philosophy, institutions, difference and the future. This impressive collection of essays from the world's leading Derrida scholars re-evaluates Derrida's legacy and looks forward to the possible futures of deconstruction by (...) confronting various challenges to Derrida's thought. Collectively, the essays argue that Derrida must be read alongside others , an approach that produces some surprising new accounts of this challenging critical thinker. _ _. (shrink)

Innerhalb des Gesamtsystems der praktischen Philosophie John Stuart Mills erfüllt der Begriff der Lebenskunst, oder der „art of life“ und der dazugehörigen „theory of life“, eine zentrale systematische Funktion. Die Abschnitte über die Kunst oder das Handwerk des Lebens haben in der Rezeption der Mill’schen Philosophie besondere Bedeutung, weil in ihnen Ansatzpunkte zu finden sind, mit denen sich die mitunter sehr disparaten Positionen Mills innerhalb der praktischen Philosophie in ein kohärentes Gesamtsystem fassen lassen. So werden Grundunterscheidungen innerhalb dieses Theorieelements angeführt, (...) um die Spannung zwischen dem Nutzenprinzip, das die axiologische Grundlage der gesamten praktischen Philosophie Mills darstellt, mit spezifischeren Normen der Gleichheit, Gerechtigkeit und Freiheit aufzulösen. (shrink)

This study was designed to test three competing hypotheses (impaired configural processing; impaired Theory of Mind; atypical amygdala functioning) to explain the basic facial expression recognition profile of adults with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). In Experiment 1 the Ekman and Friesen (1976) series were presented upright and inverted. Individuals with ASD were significantly less accurate than controls at recognising upright facial expressions of fear, sadness and disgust and their pattern of errors suggested some configural processing difficulties. Impaired recognition of inverted (...) facial expressions suggested some additional difficulties processing the facial features. Unexpectedly, the clinical group misidentified fear as anger. In Experiment 2 feature processing of facial expressions was investigated by presenting stimuli in a piecemeal fashion, starting with either just the eyes or the mouth. Individuals with ASD were impaired at recognising fear from the eyes and disgust from the mouth; they also confused fearful eyes as being angry. The findings are discussed in terms of the three competing hypotheses tested. (shrink)

The relationship of part to whole is one of the most fundamental there is; this is the first and only full-length study of this concept. This book shows that mereology, the formal theory of part and whole, is essential to ontology. Peter Simons surveys and criticizes previous theories, especially the standard extensional view, and proposes a more adequate account which encompasses both temporal and modal considerations in detail. 'Parts could easily be the standard book on mereology for the next twenty (...) or thirty years.' Timothy Williamson, Grazer Philosophische Studien. (shrink)

Este libro de Joanne Rappaport debe entenderse como una oportunidad tanto para nuevos lectores de Orlando Fals Borda como para quien ha seguido o criticado su trabajo en las ciencias sociales. Planteado como una historia etnográfica, es una introducción a la investigación-acción participativa (IAP), así como a las herramientas metodológicas de investigación y ejercicio político del campo colombiano. Es un libro de los inicios de la Fundación del Caribe, y se establece también como una contribución al legado de Fals Borda (...) y una invitación a académicos para prestar más atención a los aportes del trabajo conjunto entre academia y campo para la investigación social. Pone una postura política en el andar de los estudios latinoamericanos y posiciona los saberes del Sur global como una herramienta propia ante la falta de incorporación de la realidad por otras investigaciones hegemónicas provenientes del Norte global. (shrink)