During the pandemic there were many ways of handling the contagious SARS-CoV-2 virus, most of them in haptic terms, or in terms of touch: masks, hand disinfection, social distancing, quarantines, (self)isolations. Touch thus became not only the privileged object of the new bio-politics, striving to preserve life at all costs, but also what was lost during the pandemic. To be sure, a loss of something we never had that even the vaccine, which promised a return to normal, but actually paved (...) the way for a “brave new post-pandemic world,” could not rehabilitate. In short, one of the elements that radically changed with and in the (post-)pandemic world is precisely the elusive object of touch, which we propose to conceptually grasp through the coinage of the concept of its “mateReal hapticity.”. (shrink)

The article deals with four forms of power grabs through the conceptual connection between touch and power, focusing on four structural breakthroughs that show the changing process that this relation underwent, from the secularisation of the sacral via profane materialism until contemporary vulgar-materialism: Christian _Noli me tangere; _monarchic _King’s Evil; _materialistic _Warenfetischismus_; and profane _Grab-’em-by-the-pussy. _.

The contribution links three unusually connected suspects in order to tackle the question of human action, which is eminently at stake not only in the realms of politics and in the field of history, but also in philosophy, and, as a peculiar link between the two, theatre, namely: Hannah Arendt, G.W.F. Hegel, and William Shakespeare. And In order to connect all three authors and their respective fields of philosophy, politics, and theatre as regards the particular issue of action, the starting (...) point will be the figure of Achilles as portrayed in Homer’s Iliad. (shrink)

Focuses on the understanding of meaning as a way of thinking in parallels.

The translation of Being and time is in different ways connected with the understanding of Heidegger’s hermeneutical destruction of the basic philosophic concepts. The translator of Being and Time is further faced with complex theoretical questions, such as the relation between Husserl’s transcendental phenomenology and Heidegger’s hermeneutical phenomenology. The article aims to recognize the importance of Husserl’s phenomenological investigations for the genesis of several central concepts in Being in Time.

It seems that, for Husserl, the fact of human freedom is more fundamental than the transcendental subjectivist constitution of the world, or in other words, this constitution has to be seen in this light and further critically elucidated on the ground of the movement of phenomenological epoch as methodical freedom. This, however, also implies a certain practical doctrine and self-trial of Europe. After all, Europe is but this freedom of individuality and responsible personality, which is the only way it can (...) come to an agreement on the interpersonal, intercultural and international level. If this proves to be the authentic meaning of Husserl's disclosure of Lebenswelt, then this immediately paves the way for the philosophical investigation of the present condition of Europe, affirming us in the sense of responsible individuality and mutual discussion. (edited). (shrink)

The translation of Being and time is in different ways connected with the understanding of Heidegger’s hermeneutical destruction of the basic philosophic concepts. The translator of Being and Time is further faced with complex theoretical questions, such as the relation between Husserl’s transcendental phenomenology and Heidegger’s hermeneutical phenomenology. The article aims to recognize the importance of Husserl’s phenomenological investigations for the genesis of several central concepts in Being in Time.

Interpretative horizons, which determine the position of a concept within a given philosophical context open up a broader issue of linguistic expression and culture. Begriffsgeschichte therefore cannot be limited to a special philosophical discipline, since its relevance comes to the front primarily on the interdisciplinary level of humanities, in general. (edited).

Plato’s definition of philosophy as a mania in the first place distances philosophy from prudence of the so called common sense and places it between the enthusiastic madness of poets and clairvoyants on the one hand, and ironic concealment on the other, which in this very madness prove to be parts of the same question: How can that which is unhidden be revealed in the hidden? Erotic enthusiasm of philosophy is a special sort of madness. It is the paradoxical closeness (...) that is rendered possible by distance. Approaching the distant is recollection. Recollection is by no means a reproduction of anything, but a thought of that which is always preconceived in previous intelligibility, so that it is always being concealed in it. Out of this, the wondering and amazement brings back the unforgettable in Plato’s philosophy, the unusual measures of poetry and of our own oblivion. (shrink)

Plato's definition of philosophy as a mania (in Phaedrus) in the first place distances philosophy from prudence of the so-called common sense and places it between the enthusiastic madness of poets and clairvoyants on the one hand, and ironic concealment on the other, which in this very madness prove to be parts of the same question: How can that which is unhidden be revealed in the hidden? Erotic enthusiasm of philosophy is a special sort of madness. It is the paradoxical (...) closeness that is rendered possible by distance. Approaching the distant is recollection. Recollection is by no means a reproduction of anything, but a (loving) thought of that which is always preconceived in previous intelligibility (disclosure of everything), so that it is always being concealed in it. (edited). (shrink)

The purpose of the article is to present the outlines of the reception and the influence of Heidegger’s philosophy on the territory of former Yugoslavia. This reception and influence were in their essence co-conditioned by specific political, social and cultural circumstances in the region, which were throughout accompanied by “the syndrome of dehumanization”. The confrontation with Heidegger’s philosophy is therefore co-defined by the profoundly experienced crisis of European humanity. During both world wars the attempt of an overcoming of this crisis (...) of humanity by the means of phenomenological and existentialist philosophy was the main focus of attention. The period after the Second World War is denoted by the linking of Marxism with Heidegger’s attempt to surpass philosophy as metaphysics through the perspective of the history of being; in this context we specifically discuss the Praxis philosophical school and the original philosophical thought of Vanja Sutlić. During the disintegration of Yugoslavia and in the period thereafter, besides the intensive appropriation of Heidegger’s thought through translations and interpretations, which also led to the thorough study of Slavic philosophical terminologies, post-Heideggerian ways of thinking came to the fore, together with the possibility for a new humanization within the wider European and global social framework. (shrink)

The philosophical translation should be considered as a special usage of language. The author reflects upon the spiritual, historical and intercultural roles of translation and its significance for the philosophical experience of Slovenian language, a very important one in the case of translating Being and Time. The problem is how to turn this hermeneutic experience into a concrete translation.

Slovenian epistemology is characterised by an idiosyncratic canon, based on three fundamental authors: Gaston Bachelard, Alexandre Koyré, and Thomas Kuhn. What binds this canon together is the attitude that the history of science should be viewed as a history of radical breaks or revolutions in scientific thought. The drawback of such an anthology of authors is not only that it is outdated, but that, from the position of this canon, it is difficult to discern the problems stemming from the approach (...) to history of science it endorses. In order to highlight the blind spots of Slovenian epistemology, I examine a different interpretative trajectory of the notion of scientific revolution in the United Kingdom and the United States. The methodological program, which focuses on revolutionary breakthroughs in scientific ideas, is thus re-evaluated by considering its strategic role in the institutionalisation of the history of science as a discipline. The event that marked the translation of French epistemology into English history of science were the lectures of the delegates from the Soviet Union at the Second International Congress of the History of Science and Technology in 1931. In post-war Anglo-American history of science, the concept of scientific revolution was adopted as a means of excluding Marxist studies of science – which had spread under the influence of the Soviet delegation – from the realm of acceptable discourse. I demonstrate how the Cold War historiography of science introduced a divide between the “internal” and “external” factors of scientific development, and their supposed synthesis in the work of Thomas Kuhn. Finally, I review the critiques that the sociology of scientific knowledge levelled at the story of the Scientific Revolution and point out the importance of these controversies for current epistemological research. (shrink)

Since the practice turn, the role technologies play in the production of scientific knowledge has become a prominent topic in science studies. Much existing scholarship, however, either limits technology to merely mechanical instrumentation or uses the term for a wide variety of items. This article argues that technologies in scientific practice can be understood as a result of past scientific knowledge becoming sedimented in materials, like model organisms, synthetic reagents or mechanical instruments, through the routine use of these materials in (...) subsequent research practice. The proposed theoretical interpretation of technology is examined through a case where a model organism—Drosophila melanogaster—acted as a technology for investigating a contested biological effect of a mechanical instrument: Hermann J. Muller’s experiments on X-ray mutagenicity in the 1920s. The article reconstructs how Muller employed two synthetic Drosophila stocks as tests for measuring X-rays’ capacity to cause genetic aberration. It argues that past scientific knowledge sedimented in the Drosophila stocks influenced Muller’s perception of X-ray-induced mutation. It further describes how Muller’s concept of X-ray mutagenicity sedimented through the adoption of X-ray machines as a ready-made resource for producing mutants by other geneticists, for instance George Beadle and Edward Tatum in their experiments on Neurospora crassa, despite ongoing disputes surrounding Muller’s conclusions. Technological sedimentation is proposed as a potential explanation why sedimentation and disputation may often coexist in the history of science. (shrink)

Bivanja -- Začrtanost -- Obznak -- Jezikovna torba -- Kritična humanost -- Integral -- Osvobojeni lik -- Seminar -- Pogovor.

The underlying premise of this essay is that the essential contribution of the hermeneutic turn in contemporary philosophy is the acknowledgment of a historical criterion of thinking, whereby the philosophical tradition is claimed by the question of its own truth. Philosophy, historically established by founding experience in truth, thus finds itself facing the open experience of truth, i.e. the truth as the coming about of the openness. Philosophical hermeneutics, as differing from hermeneutic philosophy, cannot limit itself solely to interpretative criticism. (...) Rather, it must follow the opening of truth primarily happening in transit from thinking to language. And the moment of this transit is the question of ourselves. (shrink)

Kada se raspravlja o filozofskoj hermeneutici, riječ »filozofska« nije tek običan atribut. Prije svega, ona označava zbiljsku djelatnost filozofije same, koja u sebi razotkriva hermeneutičko pitanje o mogućnosti istine. Razvoj filozofske hermeneutike u 20. st. ovisi dakle o povijesnom suočavanju filozofije s pitanjem o mogućnosti njene imanentne istine. Ova »povijesna« dimenzija nije nešto izvanjsko filozofiji, već njena unutarnja sposobnost mogućnosti samog filozofskog mišljenja koje implicira temeljnu pretpostavku filozofske hermeneutike na koju ovdje pokušavamo ukazati i razraditi. Stoga unaprijed prihvaćamo povijesni kriterij (...) filozofskog mišljenja.When discussing philosophical hermeneutics, the word »philosophical« is not just an ordinary attribute. Above all, it denotes the very activity of philosophy itself, which in itself discloses the hermeneutic question of the possibility of truth. The development of the 20th century philosophical hermeneutics thus depends on the philosophy’s historical facing the question of the possibility of its immanent truth. This »historical« dimension is not something extrinsic to philosophy, but rather an intrinsic quality of the possibility of philosophical thinking itself, which implies the basic presupposition of philosophical hermeneutics we’re here trying to indicate and develop. We therefore accept in advance the historical criterion of philosophical thinking. (shrink)

When discussing philosophical hermeneutics, the word »philosophical« is not just an ordinary attribute. Above all, it denotes the very activity of philosophy itself, which in itself discloses the hermeneutic question of the possibility of truth. The development of the 20th century philosophical hermeneutics thus depends on the philosophy’s historical facing the question of the possibility of its immanent truth. This »historical« dimension is not something extrinsic to philosophy, but rather an intrinsic quality of the possibility of philosophical thinking itself, which (...) implies the basic presupposition of philosophical hermeneutics we’re here trying to indicate and develop. We therefore accept in advance the historical criterion of philosophical thinking. (shrink)

It is assumed that social bonds in humans have consequences for virtually all aspects of behavior. Social touch-based contact, particularly hand caressing, plays an important role in social bonding. Pre-programmed neural circuits likely support actions (or predispositions to act) towards caressing contacts. We searched for pre-set motor substrates towards caressing by exposing volunteers to bonding cues and having them gently stroke a very soft cloth, a caress-like movement. The bonding cues were pictures with interacting dyads and the control pictures presented (...) non-interacting dyads. We focused on the readiness potential, an electroencephalographic marker of motor preparation that precedes movement execution. The amplitude of the readiness potential preceding the grasping of pleasant emotional-laden stimuli was previously shown to be reduced compared with neutral ones. Fingers flexor electromyography measured action output. The rationale here is that stroking the soft cloth when previously exposed to bonding cues, a compatible context, would result in smaller amplitudes of readiness potentials, as compared to the context with no such cues. Exposure to the bonding pictures increased subjective feelings of sociability and decreased feelings of isolation. Participants who more frequently engage in mutual caress/groom a “significant other” in daily life initiated the motor preparation earlier, reinforcing the caress-like nature of the task. As hypothesized, readiness potentials preceding the caressing of the soft cloth were significantly reduced under exposure to bonding as compared to control pictures. Furthermore, an increased fingers flexor electromyographic activity was identified under exposure to the former as compared to the latter pictures. The facilitatory effects are likely due to the recruitment of pre-set cortical motor repertoires related to caress-like movements, emphasizing the distinctiveness of neural signatures for caress-like movements. (shrink)

Proximity and interpersonal contact are prominent components of social connection. Giving affective touch to others is fundamental for human bonding. This brief report presents preliminary results from a pilot study. It explores if exposure to bonding scenes impacts the activity of specific muscles related to physical interaction. Fingers flexion is a very important component when performing most actions of affectionate contact. We explored the visuo-motor affective interplay by priming participants with bonding scenes and assessing the electromyographic activity of the fingers (...) flexor muscle, in the absence of any overt movements. Photographs of dyads in social interaction and of the same dyads not interacting were employed. We examined the effects upon the electromyographical activity: during the passive exposure to pictures, and during picture offset and when expecting the signal to perform a fingers flexion task. Interacting dyads compared to matched non-interacting dyads increased electromyographic activity of the fingers flexor muscle in both contexts. Specific capture of visual bonding cues at the level of visual cortex had been described in the literature. Here we showed that the neural processing of visual bonding cues reaches the fingers flexor muscle. Besides, previous visualization of bonding cues enhanced background electromyographic activity during motor preparation to perform the fingers flexion task, which might reflect a sustained leakage of central motor activity downstream leading to increase in firing of the respective motor neurons. These data suggest, at the effector level, an implicit visuo-motor connection in which social interaction cues evoke intrinsic dispositions toward affectionate social behavior. (shrink)

Background: Evidence indicates that the processing of facial stimuli may be influenced by incidental factors, and these influences are particularly powerful when facial expressions are ambiguous, such as neutral faces. However, limited research investigated whether emotional contextual information presented in a preceding and unrelated experiment could be pervasively carried over to another experiment to modulate neutral face processing.Objective: The present study aims to investigate whether an emotional text presented in a first experiment could generate negative emotion toward neutral faces in (...) a second experiment unrelated to the previous experiment.Methods: Ninety-nine students were randomly assigned to read and evaluate a negative text or a neutral text in the first experiment. In the subsequent second experiment, the participants performed the following two tasks: an attentional task in which neutral faces were presented as distractors and a task involving the emotional judgment of neutral faces.Results: The results show that compared to the neutral context, in the negative context, the participants rated more faces as negative. No significant result was found in the attentional task.Conclusion: Our study demonstrates that incidental emotional information available in a previous experiment can increase participants’ propensity to interpret neutral faces as more negative when emotional information is directly evaluated. Therefore, the present study adds important evidence to the literature suggesting that our behavior and actions are modulated by previous information in an incidental or low perceived way similar to what occurs in everyday life, thereby modulating our judgments and emotions. (shrink)

Features of threatening cues and the associated context influence the perceived imminence of threat and the defensive responses evoked. To provide additional knowledge about how the directionality of a threat (i.e. directed-towards or away from the viewer) might impact defensive responses in humans, participants were shown pictures of a man carrying a gun (threat) or nonlethal object (neutral) directed-away from or towards the participant. Cardiac and electrodermal responses were collected. Compared to neutral images, threatening images depicting a gun directed-towards the (...) participant induced sustained bradycardia and an increased electrodermal response, interpreted as immobility under attack. This defensive immobility reaction is evoked by high perceived threat and inescapable situations and indicates intense action preparation. Pictures of guns directed-away from the participant induced shorter bradycardia and no significant modulation of the electrodermal response compared to neutral pictures, which might be consistent with the perception of a less threatening situation. The results show that the directionality of threat stimuli is a key factor that prompts different patterns of defensive responses. (shrink)

Este artigo suscita uma reflexão sobre a condição que muitas mulheres negras ainda vivem na sociedade brasileira. Nesta breve análise examinamos as memórias coletivas dos grupos dominantes e dominados desde o contexto da escravidão brasileira até a sociedade atual tomando como base a teoria da memória de Maurice Halbwachs e Michael Pollak, recorremos também aos estudos de algumas feministas negras, a exemplo de Grada Kilomba, Bell Hooks, Sueli Carneiro e Chimamanda Adichie e também da feminista Heleieth Saffioti, que abordam o (...) viés da interseccionalidade e escancara as desigualdades, opressões e violências enfrentadas pelas mulheres negras. Assim, a partir de uma análise qualitativa, podemos afirmar que: i) a memória coletiva de grupos da elite branca é memória oficial e reflete o modelo de relações raciais do Brasil; ii) a memória e o esquecimento marcam a trajetória do povo negro; iii) o projeto colonial se apresenta com novas roupagens do racismo. (shrink)