This paper introduces a Special Issue of Topoi entitled "Archaeology and philosophy".

In this article I offer a defence of the use of deceptive placebos—inert treatments like sugar pills or saline injections—in clinical practice. In particular, I will defend what I call the ideal placebo case—where a doctor or nurse has good reason to believe that a deceptive placebo offers a patient’s best, or only, chance of some therapeutic benefit. Taking a Kantian approach to the question of clinical placebo use, I examine the Kantian prohibition on deception as interference with the will (...) of a rational agent, and argue that deception to promote the placebo effect can be carried out in a way that does not interfere with the patient’s will in the way prohibited by Kant. The deception involved in a placebo treatment is not carried out to interfere with or obstruct the function of the will, but merely to make possible a means to the patient’s ends that that would otherwise be unavailable. I will therefore argue that deception carried out in order to promote a therapeutic placebo effect can be done in a way that is consistent with respect for a patient’s autonomy, and may be a rare case of deception that is compatible with a Kantian ethical approach. (shrink)

Andrea Kern has criticized the view that the fallibility of judgements is due to their objectivity and has tried to show that objective knowledge is comprehensible only if its infallibility is not logically excluded. She argues that the notion of knowledge is more fundamental than that of error and that we must bring into play an epistemic capacity as a form of perfection to understand what knowledge is. In the present article, this position is charitably criticized and modified. It is (...) argued that infallible knowledge is even actual, but not fully objective. Infallibility characterises our knowledge of logical and of spatio–temporal form and our judgments of the kind "it seems to me that p". This knowledge is in neither case knowledge of particular objective facts, but in both cases knowledge of what Sebastian Rödl calls the object überhaupt. (shrink)

Thirty-eight million Polo Mints are consumed every day, apparently without a second thought. However, could this humble little minty fella actually be the gateway to true knowledge about life, the Universe and everything? We have drawn on the inspiration of Sartre, the Dalai Lama, Tao Ti Ching, Heidegger and Mahayana Buddhism to find five reasons why the Polo Mint's inner emptiness, with its sweet minty after taste, can lead to contemplations of the ultimate truth.

Explores the notion of selfhood in the wake of the post-structuralist debates.

The philosophy of cognitive paleoanthropology involves three related tasks: (1) asking what inferences might be drawn from the paleontological and archaeological records to past cognition, behavior and culture; (2) constructing synthetic accounts of the evolution of distinctive hominin capacities; (3) exploring how results from cognitive paleoanthropology might inform philosophy. We introduce some distinctive cognitive paleoanthropological inferences and discuss their epistemic standing, before considering how attention to the material records and the practice of paleoanthropology can inform and transform philosophical approaches.

These CQ Sources were compiled by Bette Anton.

These CQ Sources were compiled by Bette Anton, Edward M. Spencer, Ann E. Mills, and Carlton Hegwood Jr.

These CQ Sources were compiled by Bette Anton.

These CQ Sources were compiled by Bette Anton.

These CQ Sources were compiled by Bette Anton.

These CQ Sources were compiled by Bette Anton.

The socialist project is burdened by a history of brutal failures. The authors of the papers collected in this volume are convinced that a democratic and humane socialism is both desirable and possible. They lay out their view of different aspects of this new socialism in this book. Anatole Anton and Richard Schmitt are both the editors and contributors to this book. -/- Select chapters translated into Spanish have appeared in a volume in Barcelona, Spain.

Eighteenth-century scientist-turned-theologian Emanuel Swedenborg had a deep understanding of the nature of reality that resonates both with mystical traditions and with artists and poets. In this volume, philosopher José Antonio Antón-Pacheco explores Swedenborg's views on heaven, angels, primordial language, and the spiritual history of humanity, in the process linking Swedenborg's thought to that of Jorge Luis Borges, Soren Kirkegaard, Henry Corbin, and Ibn 'Arabi, among others.

mischer Entwicklung: da werden selbst die Grundlagen der Einzel­ wissenschaften in Frage' gestellt, und der Forscher kann nicht umhin, sich iiber die Probleme der wissenschaftlichen Erkenntnis Gedanken zu machen. Heute leben wir in einer solchen Epoche gesteigerten erkenntnistheoretischen Interesses: Mathematiker, Astronomen, Phy­ siker, Biologen und Arzte fiihlen das Bediirfnis, sich mit philo­ sophischen Problemen auseinanderzusetzen, wie sich anderseits die Fachphilosophen immer mehr in die Problematik der Einzelwissen­ schaften vertiefen, urn die Geltung ihrer Gedankenkonstruktionen an der verwickelten Wirklichkeit der Wissenschaften zu (...) erproben. Erkenntnistheoretische Darstellungen verfallen oft in den Fehler einseitiger Orientierung, indem sie entweder lediglich die psycho­ logische oder allein die logische Seite der Erkenntnistatigkeit ihren Betrachtungen zugrunde legen. Um dieser Gefahr mit allen ihren Folgen vorzubeugen, wurden vor dem eigentlichen erkenntnistheo­ retischen Abschnitt sowohl die psychologischen wie die logischen Grundlagen der wissenschaftlichen Erkenntnis in besonderen Kapiteln besprochen. Die beste Methode, einen in einschlagigen Studien haufig anzutreffenden Psychologismus zu vermeiden, ist nicht die absicht­ liche Ignorierung der psychologischen Faktoren der Erkenntnistatig­ keit, sondern die Darstellung der Denkpsychologie und die daraus sich ergebende scharfe Grenzziehung zwischen Psychologie, Logik und Erkenntniskritik. Wenn die vorliegende Darstellung der Erkenntnislehre die philosophisch interessierten Wissenschaftler zum weiteren Nachden­ ken iiber die Grundlagen ihrer Sondergebiete anregt, so hat sie ihren Zweck erfiillt. Moge sie in bescheidenem MaEe dazu beitragen, das unter dem Eindruck agnostizistischer Stromungen ins Wanken geratene Selbst­ vertrauen der Wissenschaft wiederherzustellen und der Wissen­ schaft jene Stellung in unserem Wertsystem wiederzugeben, welche ihr, als der hochsten Leistung der menschlichen Vernunft, gebiihrt. (shrink)

Includes bibliographical references and index.

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:Book Reviews How Philosophy Uses Its Past. By John Herman Randall, Jr. Foreword by Cornelius Krus~. (The Matehette Lectures, Wesleyan University, 1961; New York and London: Columbia University Press, 1963. Pp. xiv + 106. $3.50.) One could easily characterize this small volume as a minor masterpiece on a major theme. It is an admirable statement from the pen of one of America's leading thinkers in both the history of (...) philosopy and philosophy "proper." Actually the distinction between these two fields of philosophic activity becomes superfluous since Professor Randall has an elaborate theory of his own, whereby to do philosophy and do it well involves, in a serious and inescapable way, competent performance in the history of philosophy. How Philosophy UsesIts Past may have to be read, and I propose here that it should, as the general introduction to Randall's projected three volumes of his monumental The Career of Philosophy, of which only Volume One has been published. The close analyses of specific men and issues presented in the latter work can be seen as the evidence meant to corroborate the thesis asserted in How Philosophy Uses Its Past. In his own words: "It remains true that it is impossible to gain insight into the history of philosophical ideas--into the dimensions of philosophizing--without being led to formulate a philosophy of cultural change" (p. 20). Randall has made in this volume a significant contribution if only by way of focusing his powerful lens on three central issues: (1) how genuine philosophizing is still "metaphysical" thinking; (2) why it is necessary to undertake a thorough investigation of the antecedents leading up to our prevailing philosophies of experience; (3) how to understand the seemingly chaotic situation in our philosophical affairs, under the age-old distinction of the "one and many." In a critical and appreciative article on Lovejoy, Randall stated his reservations toward Lovejoy's "atomistic" conception of intellectual history and proceeded to note that the history of philosophy has a philosophic function iust as philosophy has historical dimensions such that when adequately explored can tell us much about the nature and limits of our own philosophizing.1 A permeative thesis in the volume under review is that to do "history of philosophy" is to do "philosophy." To show how and why Randall believes this to be the case, we must consider in some detail three of his main themes: the redefinition of metaphysics, the broader conception of experience, and the "one and many" aspect of contemporary philosophy. One may go so far as to say that Randall is doing philosophy just as he is formulating a theory of the philosophy, for the sake of responding philosophically to the stated problems. But to respond philosophically is something that one must learn in conjunction with the examination of the historical past of philosophy. Randall thus believes, on the evidence gathered, that philosophy has revealed itself to be "a clarification and criticism of fundamental beliefs involved in all the great enterprises of human culture, science, art, religion, the moral, social and practical activity, when some new idea or some altered experience has impinged upon them and generated intellectual tensions and maladjustments" (pp. 19; 100). This way of understanding philosophy affects his approach to every problem he mentions. Indeed, even the denial of the importance of the history of philosophy is rooted in historical processes which must be understood before the denial can be fully illumined. Without historical knowledge, he argues even our decisions will suffer (p. 14). Randall calls his approach to defining philosophical problems "operational." Accordingly, we do not know whether we have a philosophical problem until a philosophical response has occurred. Looking back from the response to what it was that philosophers responded to, we See Randall's "Arthur O. Lovejoy and the History of Ideas," Philosophy and Phenomenological Research,XXII (1963), 475-479; also book under review, p. 36. [1071 108 HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY discover that these were problems that emerged "whenever strife of ideas and experiences forced men back to the fundamental assumptions in any field" (p. 18). Briefly put, the response has always been that of analysing, clarifying, criticizing and reconstructing "fundamental assumptions." The problems vary and... (shrink)

The architectonic principle, as stated in Aristotle's Politics, is related to the arrangement of the arts, the technai, whereby it is argued that the leading art is the politike techne. Plato, in the Gorgias, has argued for an architectonic of crafts. Four technai provide the best, aei pros to beltiston therapeuousai, and they differ from the pseudo-crafts that offer pleasure while indifferent to the beltiston. The principle for arranging the architectonic is the pursuit of the best, whereby each practitioner of (...) a craft is expected to give logos concerning the "how" as well as the end of the craft. Extending the Platonic principle, Aristotle brings together under a unified theory the intelligibility of nature and human nature in line with the ends of episteme and techne, especially the politike techne. (shrink)

As the title indicates, the author does not intend to comment on the Instruction Donum Veritatis, but to bring some precision regarding the function of the theologian in the Church in the light of the document of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. The subtitle qualifies the work of the theologian as ecclesial and scientific. The theme must be situated in the context of a global vision of the Church as mystery of communion and as mission, as this (...) is presented in the Instruction. The author starts from the theologico-anthropological roots of the function of the theologian and of theology; these are intrinsically connected with God's revelation and the gift of Christian truth which constitutes their object, and with faith as the response of the entire people of God and the theologian to God's call. Faith, as personal option and as content , is the primordial element of the epistemological status of theology. Theology is critical, systematic research, faithful to the demands of divine revelation. The body of the article attempts to situate the function of theology and the theologian in the triangle constituted by the people of God, to which the gift of divine revelation is addressed, and the Magisterium and the theologians who are at the service of the community of the faithful. In this service the Magisterium and the theologians fulfil proper and complementary functions in keeping with their place in the Church. The theologians have a functio. (shrink)

Cuando se piensa en los conceptos de naturaleza y potencia en Spinoza, generalmente se tiende a dirigir la atención a la política. Pero hay una irreductible perspectiva individual. No todo es una tarea social y política. También está la dimensión personal de la felicidad, algo esencialmente ligado a la naturaleza y la potencia del hombre, como nos revela, sobre todo, la última parte de la Ética1. Entre la máxima potencia del sabio y la vida impotente del supersticioso hay dos situaciones (...) intermedias, que son capitales para el pensamiento de Spinoza. Cercana a la vida del sabio en el tercer género de conocimiento está la del que disfruta del segundo género de conocimiento, por medio del que puede llegar a la felicidad. Pero también hay un terreno que puede hacer de puente entre la religión supersticiosa y la vida del segundo género de conocimiento: es la práctica de lo que Spinoza piensa es la verdadera religión. Precisamente la principal tarea del Tratado Teológico-político es definir este tipo de vida. Empezaremos hablando de la naturaleza y la potencia de la felicidad en el segundo y tercer género de conocimiento. Seguidamente, mostraremos el agudo contraste entre la vida de esos dos géneros de conocimiento y la de quien vive en la religión supersticiosa. Finalmente veremos la naturaleza y la potencia de la salvación en la verdadera religión y cómo está cercana a la felicidad del que vive del segundo género de conocimiento. (shrink)

Comme le dit le titre, l'objet formel de l'étude est d'approfondir le thème de la réception dans l'Eglise. A cette fin, comme il s'agit d'un phénomène religieux, d'une réalité complexe et de caractère interdisciplinaire à l'intérieur de la théologie, des délimitations ultérieures s'imposent, qui se trouvent indiquées dans le sous-titre. On se propose d'approfondir les fondements théologiques de la réception dans l'Eglise et ses processus vitaux toujours actifs à différents niveaux de la communauté ecclésiale. Une fois délimité le thème, il (...) est nécessaire de partir de la notion de réception dans la sémantique ecclésiologique. Cette notion est purement descriptive. L'A. identifie toute une série de notions du phénomène de la réception et les analyse en profondeur du point de vue théologico-ecclésiologique. C'est seulement à partir d'une étude des principaux processus historiques de la réception dans l'Eglise ancienne qu'il est possible de démontrer que la notion proposée est adéquate. Les processus concrets de réception qui sont étudiés sont les suivants : 1. la formation du canon de l'Ecriture ; 2. la traditio symboli ; 3. la praxis de la communion ecclésiale ; 4. les lettres synodales ; 5. le consensus universel en questions de foi ; 6. le patrimoine liturgique ; 7. les conciles particuliers et oecuméniques. (shrink)

Comme le dit le titre, l'objet formel de l'étude est d'approfondir le thème de la réception dans l'Eglise. A cette fin, comme il s'agit d'un phénomène religieux, d'une réalité complexe et de caractère interdisciplinaire à l'intérieur de la théologie, des délimitations ultérieures s'imposent, qui se trouvent indiquées dans le sous-titre. On se propose d'approfondir les fondements théologiques de la réception dans l'Eglise et ses processus vitaux toujours actifs à différents niveaux de la communauté ecclésiale. Une fois délimité le thème, il (...) est nécessaire de partir de la notion de réception dans la sémantique ecclésiologique. Cette notion est purement descriptive. L'A. identifie toute une série de notions du phénomène de la réception et les analyse en profondeur du point de vue théologico-ecclésiologique. C'est seulement à partir d'une étude des principaux processus historiques de la réception dans l'Eglise ancienne qu'il est possible de démontrer que la notion proposée est adéquate. Les processus concrets de réception qui sont étudiés sont les suivants : 1. la formation du canon de l'Ecriture ; 2. la traditio symboli ; 3. la praxis de la communion ecclésiale ; 4. les lettres synodales ; 5. le consensus universel en questions de foi ; 6. le patrimoine liturgique ; 7. les conciles particuliers et oecuméniques. (shrink)

En ce premier article sur le fondement biblique de la tâche évangélisatrice des évêques l'A. analyse les textes bibliques mis en oeuvres par Vatican II, là où le concile, se basant sur la succession apostolique, présente les évêques comme témoins du Christ et hérauts de l'évangile. Le concile se réfère aux paroles mêmes que, selon le témoignage des quatre évangélistes, le Christ ressuscité adresse à ses disciples et/ou apôtres, leur conférant de proclamer l'évangile à toutes les nations, et jusqu'aux extrémités (...) de la terre. (shrink)

Cet article constitue la troisième partie d'un travail ecclésiologique mené par l'A. qui s'interroge sur la tâche évangélisatrice de l'évêque dans son Eglise particulière et dans la conférence épiscopale qui le concerne. Son objectif est de préciser le contenu et la méthode de cette action évangélisatrice menée par l'évêque de tout diocèse. Cette action doit d'abord être christocentrique et jaillir de l'Eglise vers toute créature. Cette action doit préciser le point de départ de sa méthodologie, tenir compte du problème de (...) l'inculturation et renouveler l'évangélisation sans rompre avec sa continuité. (shrink)

" This volume has provided the rare opportunity to present related work of several eminent scholars in different fields. Most of the essays were written to honor Professor Randall on the occasion of his 65th birthday.

L'objet de l'article est de considérer le document du magistère «Ordinatio sacerdotalis» dans le cadre de la gnoséologie théologique. Vatican II a légué, au sujet de l'objet et de l'étendue du magistère pontifical ordinaire trois critères-clé que l'ecclésiologiste doit appliquer pour l'interprétation des textes du magistère. a) La nature du document ; b) La proposition fréquente du thème en d'autres documents du magistère et sa transmission dans la tradition vivante de l'Eglise; c) Les formules employées pour déterminer le caractère de (...) l'acte magistériel et l'étendue de l'adhésion requise des destinataires. Il est de la compétence de l'ecclésiologiste, en accueillant en principe le document en la forme requise par sa présentation, d'approfondir la connexion véritable de la doctrine proposée avec le dépôt révélé et l'analogie de cette doctrine avec les autres vérités du message chrétien. Ainsi seulement pourra-t-on situer le document en raison de son contenu et de l'acte formel du magistère qui s'y exprime, dans le contexte qui lui correspond par rapport à l'entièreté du dépôt de la foi. (shrink)