The philosopher Jorge J. E. Gracia engages fifteen prominent scholars on race, ethnicity, nationality, and Hispanic/Latino identity in the United States. Their discussion joins two distinct traditions: the philosophy of race begun by African Americans in the nineteenth century, and the search for an understanding of identity initiated by Latin American philosophers in the sixteenth century. Participants include Linda M. Alcoff, K. Anthony Appiah, Richard J. Bernstein, Lawrence Blum, Robert Gooding-Williams, Eduardo Mendieta, and Lucius T. Outlaw Jr., and their dialogue (...) reflects the analytic, Aristotelian, Continental, literary, Marxist, and pragmatic schools of thought. These intellectuals start with the philosophy of Hispanics/Latinos in the United States and then move to the philosophy of African Americans and Anglo Americans in the United States and the philosophy of Latin Americans in Latin America. Gracia and his interlocutors debate the nature of race and ethnicity and their relation to nationality, linguistic rights, matters of identity, and Affirmative Action, binding the concepts of race and ethnicity together in ways that open new paths of inquiry. Gracia's Familial-Historical View of ethnic and Hispanic/Latino identity operates at the center of each of these discussions, providing vivid access to the philosopher's provocative arguments while adding unique depth to issues that each of us struggles to understand. (shrink)

El historiador William Hickling Prescott (Salem, 1796-Boston, 1859) publicó la famosa History of the Conquest of México en tres gruesos tomos en 1843. La obra tuvo un impacto inmediato, en parte por la reputación de Prescott como un historiador serio, y en parte por una prosa que resultaba atractiva para un público ya acostumbrado a la lectura, especialmente de novelas. Además, entre 1819, la fecha del acuerdo Adams-Onis que fijaba los límites entre Estados Unidos y México, y la guerra entre (...) ambos países en 1846-1848, surgió con fuerza el interés por los asuntos hispanoamericanos. La obra de Prescott apareció en ese contexto, y además proporcionó un modelo de estudios históricos basados en fuentes documentales. No existía un estudio equivalente en extensión y profundidad, publicado en inglés, de modo que se instaló rápidamente como una obra fundamental de historiografía, que impacta hasta el día de hoy. (shrink)

Many philosophers have been appointed to top-level political positions during Chile's modern history. What makes Chilean philosophers unique in the context of Latin America and beyond, is that they have developed a sophisticated rationale for both their participation and withdrawal from politics. All along, philosophers have grappled with fundamental problems such as the role of religion and politics in society. They have also played a fundamental role in defining the nature and aims of higher education. The philosophers' production constitutes a (...) substantial, albeit largely unknown, portion of the intellectual history of Chile and Latin America. This book describes in detail the evolution of philosophical work in Chile, and pays close attention to the relationship between philosophical activity and contemporary social and political events. Various Chilean philosophical sources are discussed for the first time in the literature on Chilean ideas. The work of such intellectuals as Andres Bello, Valentin Letelier, Enrique Molina, Jorge Millas, Juan Rivano, Juan de Dios Vial Larrain, and many others is examined in relation to the principal political and educational issues of their time. The book also develops a distinction between the two main currents of Chilean philosophy, namely, a "professionalist" current that seeks the independence of the field from social and political involvements, and a "critical" current that seeks to relate philosophical activity to national realities. (shrink)

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:Reviewed by:Hispanic Philosophy in the Age of Discovery ed. by Kevin WhiteIván JaksicKevin White, editor. Hispanic Philosophy in the Age of Discovery. Washington, DC: Catholic University of America Press, 1997. Pp. xv + 326. Cloth, $59.95.The quincentennial of what has been termed the “encounter” between Europeans and Indians in the New World in the late fifteenth century furnished the occasion for much denunciation of the evils inflicted by greedy (...) intruders on the indigenous population and their environment. Many a conference was convened to reflect on such [End Page 463] events from the perspective of what appeared to be a consensus on the ultimately negative effects of European discovery, conquest, and colonization. In this context, it is quite remarkable that a conference on Hispanic philosophy in the age of discovery should have been convened to examine the philosophical figures and treatises of the era. As it turns out, this volume represents probably one of the most enduring outcomes of the myriad activities of 1992. This is a volume that ranges widely into the philosophical world of the period, brings to light the richness and significance of philosophers and their work, and provides a coherent and consistently well-researched set of essays.The volume consists of fifteen essays divided into five parts. Part I consists of one essay by Jorge J. E. Gracia which offers a wide panorama of Hispanic philosophy from 1500 to 1650, as well as a lucid interpretation of the historical reasons why Hispanic philosophy seems to have reached a dead end in the context of modern European philosophy, and suffered the neglect of intervening centuries. Part II consists of one essay by Mauricio Beuchot on discussions concerning the conquest of Mexico; two essays by John Doyle and Marcelo Sánchez-Sorondo on the work of Francisco de Vitoria; and two essays on the celebrated dispute between Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda and Bartolomé de las Casas in 1550–51, the first by Eduardo Andújar and the second by Rafael Alvira and Alfredo Cruz. Part III includes essays by William Wallace on Domingo de Soto and Galileo’s science; Juan Antonio Widow on the economic thought of the Spanish Scholastics; Jean de Groot on the mysticism of Teresa de Avila; Yves Floucat on St. John of the Cross, and Mirko Skarica on the problem of future contingents. Part IV includes three essays by Norman Wells, Stephen Menn, and Carlos G. Noreña on the works of Francisco Suárez, probably the best-known Spanish thinker of the period. The volume closes with Part V, which has a long essay by John Deely on John Poinsot’s doctrine of signs.A volume of this scope and nature is bound to contain some overlap and repetition, as is the case with the pieces concerning the Las Casas-Sepúlveda debate. And yet these essays read well because the authors seriously undermine the conventional treatment of Sepúlveda as the hawkish defender of Indian slavery, and place him in the context of a larger Renaissance view of non-European peoples. Las Casas, in the view of the authors, had a great deal more in common with his opponent than the historiography has thus far suggested. In other sections of the volume, the variety of approaches and subjects on the part of the contributors challenges the reader to constantly shift grounds. Part III, for instance, takes us from the disquisitions on the velocity of falling bodies to the moral aspects of economic thought, and to the meaning of mystical theology. Fortunately, the competence of the researchers makes all individual pieces worthwhile even if this particular reviewer would have been somewhat more stringent with the space allotted to make a point.Contributors to this book leave no doubt as to the importance of their subjects, and yet they resist the temptation of exaggerating the extent of the influence of many of the Spanish authors on other European thinkers. Indeed, the essay by Norman Wells shows that while one must consider the linkages between Suárez and Descartes, there is [End Page 464] no reason to believe that the latter made Suárez’s position on the moderni... (shrink)

Sulla base di una straordinaria analisi dei problemi deontologici riconducibili alla crisi della professione medica, Ivan Cavicchi e un gruppo di lavoro multidisciplinare – promosso e organizzato dall’Ordine dei Medici Chirurghi e Odontoiatri della Provincia Autonoma di Trento, in collaborazione con il programma FBK per la salute della Fondazione Bruno Kessler e il gruppo di Biodiritto del l’Università di Trento – hanno rielaborato le basi concettuali della tradizionale deontologia medica per mettere in condizione gli Ordini dei Medici di riformare (...) il proprio codice deontologico. Si tratta di una vera e propria «rivoluzione» destinata a modificare nei prossimi anni la deontologia nel nostro Paese, a influenzare la redazione dei futuri codici di tutte le professioni medico-sanitarie, ma soprattutto a cambiare radicalmente i rapporti tra medici e cittadini, tra professione e società, tra medicina ed economia. Assumendo il malato come «archè», la proposta di rielaborazione cambia postulati, presupposti, linguaggi, concetti, soluzioni e obiettivi, affrontando problematiche usualmente ignorate dalla deontologia convenzionale. Lo scopo di fondo è definire una nuova figura di medico capace di recuperare il rapporto fiduciario con i malati e con la società e di farsi carico dei problemi di sostenibilità economica che ormai da anni gravano su tutti i sistemi di tutela sanitaria. (shrink)

We tend to associate Henry David Thoreau with the renunciation of material possessions, projecting onto him our fantasies of a life lived beyond the modern obsession with "things." But Thoreau's practical philosophy held a special place for tools, artworks, Native American artifacts, and a variety of natural phenomena. In Mindprints, Ivan Gaskell focuses on the material items that were important to Thoreau, using them to reveal Thoreau's unique and profound aesthetics of everyday life and the environment. "Mindprint" was Thoreau's (...) term for a material object that has captured the presence of its maker and first user. Thoreau applied the term to ancient stone artifacts and other objects in an effort to capture something of the relationship between material items and humans. For Thoreau, these relationships contribute to the creation of "worlds." By looking at Thoreau's engagement with material worlds through his writings and his practical philosophical experiment at Walden Pond--but also, importantly, via his work as a designer of improved pencils, as a house builder, as a land surveyor, and as a collector--Gaskell reveals the aesthetics at the heart of Thoreau's thinking. (shrink)

The spirit in you -- We are one -- The Druid path -- Rebirth into spirit -- Starting your journey -- Becoming a bard -- Mastering awareness -- Ritual and ceremony -- Spiritual cleansing -- Sacred creativity -- The power of manifestation -- The freedom of transformation -- Magical adventures -- The spirit of Gaia -- The four elements -- Earth -- Water -- Air -- Fire -- Spirit dancer -- The continuing life of Ivan Mcbeth.

How to Do Things with Myths: A Performative Theory of Myths and How We Got There assembles a radically updated collection of the author's oft-cited publications on myth. Together, they tell how theories of myth have changed and led to a novel "performative" theory of myth.

The "theory of mind" framework has been the fastest growing body of empirical research in contemporary psychology. It has given rise to a range of positions on what it takes to relate to others as intentional beings. This book brings together disparate strands of ToM research, lays out historical roots of the idea, and indicates better alternatives.

This book argues that Nietzsche's Thus Spoke Zarathustra employs circular and cyclical (diurnal and seasonal) symbols to communicate both the life-affirmative and the cosmological aspect of "recurrence" as a unifying idea. It shows that twelve day cycles, which run throughout the book's narrative, and the one full annual cycle, which encompasses the circular and the diurnal images in a continuous cycle of life affirmation, track Zarathustra's ever-changing identity throughout the text. In representing the eternal recurrence, the circular and the cyclical (...) symbols respectively convey the book's central message: Zarathustra comes into being in order to affirm existence as the teacher of eternal recurrence in an endlessly repeating cosmos. The study complements recent findings that Nietzsche's book is on eternal recurrence by establishing the unity among its language, structure, and fundamental conception, which solves the century-old problem of the communication or location of the doctrine within the text. The book is designed for the specialised audience of Nietzsche studies. It would also appeal to both students and professors in various disciplines across humanities and social sciences, as well as to anyone interested in understanding the basic tenets of Thus Spoke Zarathustra. (shrink)

I discuss the role of beauty in physics. Physicists are sometimes described as platonists for their conviction that the fundamental laws are elegant and aesthetic arguments represent an important epistemic tool. After a review of the ideas of Plato and some of the leading figures of modern physics, which suggest that this is indeed the case, I present a list of current aesthetic criteria. I focus on symmetry and unity and demonstrate their increasing relevance in an array of experimentally verified (...) theories. I also deal with an open issue of naturalness as the third criterion. The laws of nature appear increasingly beautiful as we uncover them, and it is important to see if the trend continues in the future. (shrink)

When we talk about creation, we use the progressive and verbs of creation as in ‘Mary is building a house’. The modal account of the progressive says that a sentence such as ‘Mary is building a house’ is true just in case Mary eventually builds a house in all worlds in which her house-building proceeds normally. Recently, the modal account has come under fire from those who claim that it over-generates modal entailments and those who think the progressive should be (...) treated as a predicate of events. By properly situating the modal account within a contemporary semantic framework for natural language modals, I argue that it gives the best semantic treatment of the progressive. (shrink)

The research deals with the issue of genre hybridization in the novel “Silence – Chronicle of a Killer” written by a contemporary Austrian writer Thomas Raab. An examination of the novel's composition and structure, as a text in motion, has been accomplished in the article. The novel “Silence” is an excellent illustration of how the genre of adventure has been adapted to include elements of science fiction. This novel is a love tale, a rural life saga, a formation narrative, and (...) a psychological thriller all in one. As a fictionalized account of the life of a serial murderer with hypersensitive hearing who became a legend for his mental torment and suffering, it serves both as a biography and a thriller. Novelist Raab uses elements from classic horror novels like Frankenstein, German romantics, in particular, G. Kleist, the tale of Casper Hauser, and detective novels like Friedrich Durrenmatt's "Promise" to tell the story of Casper Hauser's disappearance in his book. A new aesthetic experience may be formed at various degrees of identification ranging from naive perception to higher levels of literary reception. Concentration is required for poetic and philosophical substance. Michel Focalut's nomadism, marginality, and authoritarian power rhetoric have been discussed in this article. The novel's ultimate content has been disclosed as the aphesis torment, emotional sublimation, as the birth of an artwork and, at the same time, death of the author, who exposes discourses, accountable for creating texts that are allocated to him. (shrink)

La pensée heideggérienne de l'être recèle un paradoxe : elle est à la fois le lieu de découvertes prodigieuses et de l'occultation d'une partie importante de l'être de l'homme : la dimension éthique. Afin de comprendre ce phénomène, notre recherche prend pour fil conducteur la manière restrictive dont Heidegger interprète le bien de Platon, à travers tout son chemin de pensée.

La Teoria dello Scrigno offre una visione d'insieme dei meccanismi che sono alla base della comunicazione musicale e delle espressioni della cultura, attraverso uno studio sociologico, musicologico e psicologico della nostra comprensione della Musica. Conseguenze della Teoria, discussa ampiamente sotto forma di un modello organizzato, sono, da un lato, lo stimolo rivolto al Musicista verso la creazione di una musica che non si limiti a essere formalmente corretta ma che cerchi, innanzitutto, di comunicare attraverso la ricerca della genuinità; dall'altro, il (...) riposizionamento del ruolo dell'Ascoltatore come soggetto attivo nella comunicazione musicale, mediante la creazione di un giudizio critico consapevole in grado di guidarlo con lucidità nel processo di fruizione. Mediante collegamenti con l'opera di Hofstadter sulla semiotica dei messaggi, quella di Heisenberg ed Einstein nella Meccanica quantistica e classica, le riflessioni sul gioco suggerite da Huizinga, così come le ricerche sugli stadi cognitivi del bambino svolte da Vygotskij e attraverso sigolari case offerti dalla linguistica, l'autore ci accompagna con esempi concreti alla ricerca di uno stringente filo conduttore che consenta al lettore di sviluppare una rinnovata sensibilità verso le forme poliedriche che le culture possono esprimere, analizzando infine anche l'evoluzione della comunicazione musicale mediata dai social e, più in generale, imposta dai paradigmi della società dei consumi"--Back cover. (shrink)

The enigmatic thought of Charles S. Peirce (1839-1914), considered by many to be one of the great philosophers of all time, involves inquiry not only into virtually all branches and sources of modern semiotics, physics, cognitive sciences, and mathematics, but also logic, which he understood to be the only useful approach to the riddle of reality. This book represents an attempt to outline an analytical method based on Charles Peirce's least explored branch of philosophy, which is his evolutionary cosmology, and (...) his notion that the universe as made of an 'effete mind.' The chief argument conceives of human discourse as a giant metaphor in regard to outside reality. The metaphors arise in our imagination as lightning-fast schemes of acting, speaking, or thinking. To prove this, each chapter will present a well-known metaphor and explain how it is unfolded and conceptualized according to the new method for revealing meaning. This original work will interest students and scholars in many fields including semiotics, linguistics and philosophy. (shrink)