In his last book René Girard depicts apocalypse as disclosure of mimetic violence that is world-ending. He claims that in times of violent pandemic we are not called to fight for this world, but follow Christ in his withdrawal from the world. However, such an assertion creates serious theoretical and practical issues for the effort to heal interhuman relations from the virus of mimetic hostility. I argue for the importance of restoring a foundational distinction between passionate love and acquisitive mimetic (...) desire from the forgotten regions of Girard’s oeuvre. With Max Scheler’s interpretation of Stendhal’s concept of l’amour passion, I explore in each thinker a fundamental insight about possibilities of transforming violent contagion through empathy and loving commitment to the world. I conclude that respective “passive” and “active” approaches to the contagion of mimetic rivalry and violence are necessary and equally valuable. (shrink)

An essential aim of this study is to present principles of the legal interpretation of the term “building structure” for the needs of the imposition of a real estate tax. The analysis of both administrative courts’ judgments and the subject literature indicates lack of consistency in the scope of this term’s meaning. In my opinion, interpretative discrepancies are caused by incorrect legal interpretation of the legal definition. It should be noticed that numerous controversies connected with the legal interpretation of the (...) term building structure are connected with considerable tax burden of this type of building objects. Taxpayers, for obvious reasons, are therefore “interested” in not finding the objects owned by them to be building structures in the meaning of the Tax Law, or possibly in finding only those objects’ specified parts to be building structures. It is easily apparent particularly in the case of objects of complex structures. On the other hand, however, for many municipalities in Poland, income from building structures’ taxation creates municipal budgets. This way the practice of applying local tax law encounters numerous disputes between taxpayers and self-government tax authorities. (shrink)

Pope John Paul II’s encyclical letter Fides et Ratio examines the foundations of epistemology and encourages a renewed discourse on what it actually means to know truth. The pontiff—both a philosopher and a theologian—reevaluates through the prism of man’s proper relation to truth the age-old question about the compatibility of faith and reason as means of acquiring knowledge. John Paul offers his perspective on the matter in the “Introduction” to Fides et Ratio by employing, in his native Polish, four non-exchangeable (...) epistemological terms. Due, however, to the rather imprecise translations of his work, the profundity of John Paul’s thought largely has been obscured.The author of this paper attempts to recover the pope’s particular understanding of the nature of knowledge by expounding on the epistemological paradigm and norm presented by John Paul in addition to critiquing his view that modern society’s pursuit of knowledge parallels sinking in quicksand. Uncovering these insights ultimately leads him to a fuller interpretation of what kind of “knowledge,” according to Pope John Paul II, properly reflects the totality of man’s innate personhood and therefore what ought to constitute the underpinnings of knowledge itself. (shrink)

The paper discusses the problem of diachronic criteria of identity for historic localities. We argue that such criteria are needed not just for the sake of ontological clarity but also are indispensable for database management and maintenance. Our survey of the current research in database management and engineering ontology literature found no satisfactory candidates thereof. Therefore we attempt to search for such criteria in the historic-geographical scholarship by exposing the ontological assumptions the researchers made there and by stating them explicitly. (...) This attempt consisted of us presenting a number of brief scenarios taken from the historical studies whereby localities are claimed to maintain their identity through certain types of change or to be destroyed due to other types of change. Generalising these cases we provide a tentative formulation of the criterion and discuss its limitations. (shrink)

From the very beginning of Christianity personal experience with the problem loans on per cent. Statements of the individual Popes and councils and synods responding to the intensifying periodically problem are attesting to it. It should be noted that the evaluations are different from each other. Currently this issue is firmly present in social life in connection with the global economic crisis. And so an attempt to determine limits of the fair loan for the per cent appears to be important.

The Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World “Gaudium et Spes” says, “for man is the source, the center, and the purpose of all economic and social life” (63). Therefore, the man’s dignity has to be considered integrally in both his spiritual and bodily constitution and emphasized alongside his value and supernatural vocation. This enables attributing a special role to his transcendence in economic life. In their own productive activity, the possession and exchange of goods, a man should (...) adhere to proper moral norms. However, what is observed is the incessant deepening of social inequalities in different parts of the earthly globe. Luxury accompanied by the wasting of goods adjoins indigence of people suffering a shortage of necessities. Thus it seems vital that economic institutions be established whose goal will be promoting good living conditions and an individual’s engagement in dignified economic activity and which will not destroy their human, moral and social dimension. (shrink)

According to the Aristotelian definition, politics is a co-formation of social life within human capacity in the conditions of freedom and equality, while under specific authority. In a more narrow sense, it is understood as the art of administration. In a broader sense, it denotes any care for public life. Every citizen, as a member of a community, takes advantage of goods it has produced. Their participation cannot resemble the situation of a person subjected to a transfusion; instead, it must (...) manifest itself in their contribution to the development of society. One of the aspects of the commitment to social life is political activity. It should not limit itself to the activity of politicians themselves, but, to a greater or lesser extent, it should engage all citizens. It is by their participation in political elections that citizens undertake an effort of shaping reality. The formation of the young generation’s attitudes is another manner in which parents and teachers manifest their care for social life. (shrink)

This article reconsiders the important work of Leroi-Gourhan through the lens of Christopher Johnson's ‘Leroi-Gourhan and the Limits of the Human’ by returning to the context of French prehistory of the 1860s that lies behind Leroi-Gourhan's discoveries and interpretations of hominid remains and artefacts in the Grotte du Renne. The Exposition universelle of 1867 and French publications of the period capture the importance of ‘préhistoire’ for Second Empire France materialized in Napoleon III's establishment at Saint-Germain-en-Laye of the first national Musée (...) des Antiquités Nationales dedicated to their collections. The archaeological discoveries, and the debates they inspired, did not escape the encyclopaedic bricolage and designs of Flaubert. With delicious clins d'oeil to the question of ‘l'homme fossile’ and ‘l'homme futur’ that he had already debated with Louis Bouilhet, this article uncovers how Flaubert's Légende de Saint Julien details the ‘limits of the human’ in Johnson's reading of Leroi-Gourhan. By returning to ‘real’ counterparts for the legendary Stag in Flaubert's tale, its contextual, allegedly fantastical, ‘préhistoires’ can better be excavated. To find the non-legendary, extreme contemporary, sources for Flaubert's disturbing text crucially informs a critique of the dehistoricization of seeing in post-war French cultural studies and sciences of the human. (shrink)

On regroupe ici trois textes de la grotte 4 publiés en 1982 par Maurice Baillet dans le tome VII des Discoveries in the Judaean Desert et qui semblent avoir été destinés à un usage liturgique. Ils s'adressent à Dieu pour l'implorer en lui rappelant sa prédilection pour Israël et en déplorant les mésaventures de celui-ci, ou ils parlent de Dieu pour le bénir ou inviter à le glorifier. Ces textes s'apparentent aux Hymnes et aux pièces lyriques dont quelques échantillons ont (...) déjà été traduits dans cette revue . This contribution includes three texts from cave 4 published in 1982 by Maurice Baillet in Discoveries in the Judean Desert, Volume 7. They seem to be intended for liturgical use and are directed to God in order to implore him by reminding him of his predilection for Israel and by deploring its misadventures, or they speak about God in order to bless or to glorify him. These texts are related to the Hymns and to the lyrical pieces of which some samples have already been translated in this journal. (shrink)

Nous vivons le temps des images, et c'est accroître ses plaisirs que de s'en donner l'intelligence. En relatant comment il a lui-même appris à ouvrir les yeux, dans les grottes ornées comme dans nos salles de musée, l'auteur, idolâtre heureux et qui ne se repent pas, entend contribuer au bon usage du "stupéfiant image". Mais l'énigme qu'il interroge tout au long de ce recueil de témoignages et de réflexions, c'est celle du temps immobile. Il est des images fixes que l'on (...) peut dater par leur style ou leur technique, mais dont nous demeurons étonnamment contemporains. Les archives visuelles des civilisations éteintes restent vivantes en sorte qu'elles auraient bien tort de se croire mortelles. Les dieux et les idées meurent, non leurs statues ni leurs figures. Et les félins de la grotte Chauvet, 35 000 ans, n'ont pas d'âge, pas plus que nos plus belles photos de stars. (shrink)

In the spring of 1956, a comprehensive inventory of the manuscripts from Qumran Cave 4 was prepared which established the manuscript assignments for each of the members of the first editorial team. The manuscripts numbered 4Q521-4Q579 were assigned to Jean Starcky. Unfortunately Père Starcky died before publishing his allotment, which included primarily parabiblical and pseudepigraphic compositions in Hebrew or Aramaic. Though quite amorphous in character, the group reflects the interest in biblical themes and liturgy characteristic of Second Temple period Judaism. (...) In this volume, Émile Puech presents a critical text edition of the Hebrew manuscripts from this corpus. His edition of the Aramaic texts is scheduled to appear as Discoveries in the Judaean Desert Volume XXXI. (shrink)

The phenomena of adaptation, observed on cave-dwelling organisms, fitting themselves to the particular conditions of the caves, must not be explained in lamarckistish sense. They are phenomena of general organical reductions. As primary inducements, they compel some species, which have been made helpless in consequence of happening reductions to retire themselves spontaneously in caves. Trogloditism is therefore no cause of the peculiar decay of notorious cave-dwellers, on the contrary, it is the last stage of incessant phenomena, induced by reductions . (...) The reductions arise independently from the cave, the cave is only a fitting place of existence, in which the decaying organisms introduced themselves afterwards.Diejenigen Erscheinungen, die in der Anpassung zu den speziellen Verhältnissen der Höhlen bei den Höhlenorganismen zu beobachten sind, sollen nicht im Sinne lamarckistischer Auffassung erklärt werden. Es sind dies allgemeine organische Reduktionserscheinungen, die als primäre Ursachen einzelne Arten veranlassen, sich mit dem Auftreten der sie hilflos machenden Reduktionserscheinungen willkürlich in die Höhlen zurückzuziehen. Der Trogloditismus ist demnach keine Ursache der speziellen Verkümmerung der allbekannten Höhlenbewohner, sondern eine Endstation der mit den Reduktionen eingeleiteten fortdauernden Erscheinungen . Die Reduktionen treten von der Höhle unabhängig auf, die Höhle stellt nur den entsprechendsten Lebensraum dar, in welchen sich diese verkümmerten Organismen nachträglich eingefügt haben. (shrink)

Découvertes en 1940, les grottes de Lascaux et leurs peintures rupestres témoignent d’une volonté d’arrachement du sujet à une condition primaire : les dessins sur les murs sont une façon d’affirmer une forme d’expression différente de celle utilisée jusqu’alors. Une certaine idée de la sensibilité des individus, ou du groupe afférant à ces peintures est mise en lumière. Les grottes de Lascaux sont une marque du temps témoignant d’une temporalité en fuite vers l’arrière : en documentariste d...

L’art pariétal du Paléolithique supérieur présente, à côté d’un extraordinaire répertoire animalier bien diversifié, un grand nombre de signes qui ne trouvent pas d’équivalents dans la perception de la réalité sensible. Tandis que les images des humains ou des créatures mi-humaines mi-animales sont très rares, ces formes aniconiques, souvent géométrisantes et aisément classifiables, sont globalement plus nombreuses que les animaux. Si saisir l’intentionnalité qui a poussé les premiers artistes à peindre sur les parois représente un défi pour nos compétences interprétatives, (...) les « signes » constituent l’aspect le plus énigmatique de ce défi. Il y a trente ans, en 1988, dans la revue Current Anthropology, a été publié un article de James D. Lewis-Williams et Thomas A. Dowson, « The Signs of All Times. Entoptic Phenomena in Upper Paleolithic Art », ouvrant une nouvelle perspective sur l’origine des signes. En appliquant le modèle neuropsychologique à l’imagerie bidimensionnelle de l’art des grottes, il est possible d’identifier à des signes à valeur universelle, selon les auteurs, les apparitions entoptiques présentes, avec leurs diverses modalités combinatoires, dans l’art rupestre de « tous les temps ». Cette interprétation de l’art des sociétés préhistoriques, qui resitue la naissance des images dans les territoires visionnaires des cultures chamaniques, a soulevé en France des perplexités et des polémiques innombrables, parfois acerbes. Il est prioritaire alors de voir si le modèle neuropsychologique est effectivement en mesure d’offrir un cadre explicatif des données archéologiques des grottes ornées et de ses « constructions symboliques », en mesure d’intégrer tous les indices disponibles dans une construction théorique cohérente. The parietal art of the Upper Paleolithic shows, alongside with an extraordinary and highly diversified animalistic repertoire, a large number of signs which cannot be found in the perception of sensible reality. While images of humans or of anthropo-zoomorphic creatures are very rare, these aniconic forms—while often geometric and appropriate for classification—are globally more copious than animals. If understanding the intentions that prompted the first artists to paint on the walls represents a challenge for our interpretative skills, then the “signs” constitute the most enigmatic aspect of this challenge. Thirty years ago, in 1988, an article written by James D. Lewis-Williams and Thomas A. Dowson, and entitled “The Signs of All Times. Entoptic Phenomena in Upper Paleolithic Art”, was published in the Current Anthropology journal. This article opened up new perspectives on the origin of signs. According to its authors, by applying the neuropsychological model to the two-dimensional imagery of cave art, it is possible to identify universal signs ascribable to the entoptic appearances that can be found—in their different combined modes—in the rock art of all times. This interpretation of the art of prehistoric societies, which has led to the emergence of images within the visionary territories of shamanic cultures, has provoked countless—and sometimes harsh—disputes in France. It has therefore become a priority to evaluate whether the neuropsychological model is actually able to provide an explanatory picture of the archaeological evidence of historiated caves and their constructions symboliques that would be capable of integrating all the clues available into a coherent theoretical structure. (shrink)

La question du sexe des résidents du site de Qumrân a longtemps été ignorée, comme s’il allait de soi qu’une telle communauté ne pouvait compter que des hommes. Longtemps aussi les spécialistes ont raisonné en utilisant uniquement les textes des manuscrits trouvés dans les grottes de la mer Morte comme si les données matérielles fournies par les fouilles du site archéologique de Qumrân ne pouvaient leur être associées. Cet article entend analyser les raisons pour lesquelles les chercheurs ont pu affirmer (...) que les femmes étaient a priori exclues de Qumran. Il entend également montrer comment les objets produits par les fouilles prouvent, au contraire, une présence de femmes sur le site. (shrink)