Con anterioridad a la paz de Westfalia el espacio filosófico alemán había estado dominado en gran medida por la teosofía, especialmente en el ámbito protestante y en regiones como Sajonia, Silesia y Württemberg. Con la Medicina mentis de E. W. von Tschirnhaus, noble sajón de estudios universitarios en Leiden, donde entra en contacto con Spinoza y su círculo, entramos en un nuevo mundo conceptual. Bajo la apariencia de una propuesta metodológica, de corte cartesiano, de conducir la razón al descubrimiento (...) de cuanto es posible conocer por la ‘luz natural’, Tschirnhaus propone una reforma moral del sujeto humano capaz de procurarle la perfección, la felicidad y la unión con Dios, donde la impronta de Spinoza es fuerte, aunque en ningún momento son nombrados estos dos filósofos. Tras estudiar la acusación de spinozismo por Christian Thomasius y el rechazo de la imputación por Tschirnhaus, el artículo se pronuncia sobre el sentido y función de ese rechazo. (shrink)

L'hypothèse formulée par Tschirnhaus avec la proposition d'une "medicina mentis" répond à la précise question de la notion de salut mental et de la nature pathologique de l'erreur; l'ars inveniendi résoud dans la philosophie de Tschirnhaus le problème de la sagesse par le lien veriîas - delectatio sur la même ligne spinoziènne de la correspondance entre Bien et Plaisir. On recherche ainsi la nature du lien entre Plaisir et Perfection chez Tschirnhaus et Spinoza, en dédiant un espace (...) au rôle de la propriété imaginative dans l'élaboration des lois morales, ainsi qu' à l'importance de la différence entre l'éveil et le sommeil qui mettent en question une philosophie vouée à une longue préparation à la mort pour une notion de vie liée au thème de la delectatio, de l'activité à mesure du faire politique. (shrink)

En el presente artículo se argumenta que la Medicina mentis de E. W. von Tschirnhaus participa del alejamiento respecto a la Metafísica escolástica ejemplificado tanto por la Logica vetus et nova de Johannes Clauberg de modo moderado y conciliador como por la Einleitung zur Vernunft-Lehre de Christian Thomasius con mayor radicalidad. Para ello, el artículo consta de tres partes. En la primera, se bosqueja el proceso por el que la Schulmetaphysik adquiere presencia y relevancia en las universidades germanas del (...) siglo XVII. A continuación, se analizan las mencionadas obras de Clauberg y Thomasius para descubrir en qué medida ambos pensadores dialogan críticamente con la tradición susodicha. Finalmente, se culmina el trabajo con una reflexión sobre los vínculos existentes entre la obra de Tschirnhaus y las Lógicas de Clauberg y Thomasius. (shrink)

La nota ofrece algunas precisiones sobre el Catálogo de la Biblioteca de Tschirnhaus, impreso en 1723 y publicado en un número anterior de esta revista, a partir de la comparación con el Catálogo manuscrito de la misma, levantado en 1709, pocos meses después de la muerte de Tschirnhaus. El Catálogo manuscrito tampoco registra la presencia de las _Opera_ de Spinoza. Sin embargo, la presencia en este Catálogo de una obra, también ausente del Catálogo impreso (el infamado _Homo politicus, (...) hoc est: Consiliarus novus, officiarius et aulicus, secundum hodiernam Praxin_, escrito por Philipp Andreas Oldenburger, un autor criticado por Spinoza y su círculo y sobre el cual Pieter Van Gent había escrito a Tschirnhaus remitiendo a las _Opera posthuma_ de Spinoza), permite acreditar la hipótesis más plausible de que el volumen de las _Opera _de Spinoza, así como del _Homo politicus_, desaparecieran de la biblioteca y no fueran recogidos en el Catálogo por su carácter de obras 'infames'. (shrink)

In this chapter, I consider the largely overlooked influence of E. W. von Tschirnhaus' treatise on method, the Medicina mentis, on Wolff's early philosophical project (in both its conception and execution). As I argue, part of Tschirnhaus' importance for Wolff lies in the use he makes of principles gained from experience as a foundation for the scientific enterprise in the context of his broader philosophical rationalism. I will show that this lesson from Tschirnhaus runs through Wolff's earliest (...) philosophical discussions, and indeed continues to inform his major texts in logic and mathematics just before the publication of the German Metaphysics. In the end, my discussion has the effect of revealing Tschirnhaus to be an exceptionally important influence on Wolff's development, perhaps even as important (or so I suggest) as Leibniz. (shrink)

Quem quer que de algum modo tenha se ocupado da teoria da poesia, e particularmente da tragédia, recordar-se-á de uma passagem em Aristóteles que causou muita dificuldade aos intérpretes, sem que pudessem concordar completamente sobre o seu significado. Numa caracterização mais precisa da tragédia, o grande homem parece esperar dela que, por meio da encenação de ações e acontecimentos que suscitam compaixão e medo, purifique (reinigen) o ânimo do espectador das paixões mencionadas. Acredito poder comunicar de melhor maneira meus pensamentos (...) e minha convicção sobre a passagem mencionada por meio de uma tradução dela. (shrink)

RésuméSelon Descartes, la force démonstrative d'une argumentation peut résulter ou bien de l'application des règles universelles de la logique ou bien d'une intuition particulière. Cette doctrine permet d'éviter le reproche de circularité qui est souvent fait à l'égard de certaines argumentations épistémologiques. D'autre part, elle implique le rejet de la méthode du contre‐exemple. L'acception de certaines argumentations en vertu d'une intuition particulière ne crée pas une situation définitive; elle constitue une phase dans la genèse de ce que Bernays a caractérisé (...) comme une évidence acquise.ZusammenfassungNach Descartes kann die Beweiskraft einer Argumentation entweder von der Anwendung der allgemeingültigen Regeln der Logik oder von einer besonderen Anschauung herrühren. Diese Ansicht erlaubt uns, dem Einwand der Zirkelhaftigkeit zu entgehen, welcher öfters gegen gewisse erkenntnistheoretische Argumentationen erhoben wird. Sie erfordert anderseits den Verzicht auf die Methode der Gegenbeispiele. Die Hinnahme gewisser Argumentationen auf Grund einer besonderen Anschauung schafft niemals eine bleibende Situation; sie bildet eine Phase im Zustandekommen dessen, was Bernays als eine erworbene Evidenz charakterisiert hat.According to Descartes, the demonstrative power of an argumentation may result either from the application of the universal rules of logic or from a particular intuition. This doctrine permits us to avoid the reproach of circularity which is often raised as an objection to certain argumentations in epistemology. On the other hand, it implies the rejection of the method of the counter‐example. The acceptance of certain argumentations based on a particular intuition never creates a permanent situation; it rather constitutes a stage in the genesis of what Bernays has characterized as an évidence acquise. (shrink)

As Macnamara (1978) once asked, how can we talk about what we see? We report on a study manipulating realistic dynamic scenes and sentences aiming to understand the interaction between linguistic and visual representations in real-world situations. Specifically, we monitored participants’ eye movements as they watched video clips of everyday scenes while listening to sentences describing these scenes. We manipulated two main variables. The first was the semantic class of the verb in the sentence and the second was the action/motion (...) of the agent in the unfolding event. The sentences employed two verb classes—causatives (e.g., break) and perception/psychological (e.g., notice)—which impose different constraints on the nouns that serve as their grammatical complements. The scenes depicted events in which agents either moved towards a target object (always the referent of the verb-complement noun), away from it, or remained neutral performing a given activity (such as cooking). Scenes and sentences were synchronized such that the verb onset corresponded to the first video frame of the agent motion towards or away from the object. Results show effects of agent motion but weak verb-semantic restrictions: causatives draw more attention to potential referents of their grammatical complements than perception verbs only when the agent moves towards the target object. Crucially, we found no anticipatory verb-driven eye movements toward the target object, contrary to studies using non-naturalistic and static scenes. We propose a model in which linguistic and visual computations in real-world situations occur largely independent of each other during the early moments of perceptual input, but rapidly interact at a central, conceptual system using a common, propositional code. Implications for language use in real world contexts are discussed. (shrink)

MEDIEVAL LOGICS LAMBERT MARIE DE RIJK (ed.), Die mittelalterlichen Traktate De mod0 opponendiet respondendi, Einleitung und Ausgabe der einschlagigen Texte. (Beitrage zur Geschichte der Philosophie und Theologie des Mittelalters, Neue Folge Band 17.) Miinster: Aschendorff, 1980. 379 pp. No price stated. THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY MARTA FATTORI, Lessico del Novum Organum di Francesco Bacone. Rome: Edizioni dell'Ateneo 1980. Two volumes, il + 543, 520 pp. Lire 65.000. VIVIAN SALMON, The study of language in 17th century England. (Amsterdam Studies in the Theory (...) and History of Linguistic Science, Series 111: Studies in theHistory of Linguistics, Volume 17.) Amsterdam: John Benjamins B.V., 1979.x + 218 pp. Dfl. 65. Theoria cum Praxi. Zum Verhaltnis von Theorie und Praxis im 17. und 18. Jahrhundert. (Akten des 111. Internationalen Leibnizkongress, Hannover, 12. bis 17.November 1977, Band 111: Logik, Erkenntnistheorie, Wissenschaftstheorie, Metaphysik, Theologie.) Wiesbaden: Franz Steiner Verlag, 1980. vii + 269 pp. DM 48. CLASSICAL AND NON-CLASSICAL LOGICS MICHAEL CLARK, The place of syllogistic in logical theory. Nottingham: University of Nottingham Press, 1980. ix + 151 pp. £3.00. A.F. PARKER-RHODES, The theory of indistinguishables. Dordrecht, Boston and London: D. Reidel Publishing Company, 1981. xvii + 216 pp. Dfl.90.00/$39.50. NICHOLAS RESCHER and ROBERT BRANDOM, The logic of inconsistency. Oxford:Basil Blackwell, 1980. x + 174 pp. f 11.50. MISCELLANEOUS J. ZELENY, The logic of Marx. Translated from the German by T. Carver. Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1980. xcii + 247 pp. £12.50. FELIX KAUFMANN, The infinite in mathematics. Edited by Brian McGuinness. Introduction by E. Nagel. Translation from the German by Paul Foulkes. Dordrecht: Reidel, 1978. xvii + 235 pp. Dfl 85/$39.50 (cloth); Dfl 45/$19.95 (paper). PAMELA MCCORDUCK, Machines who think. San Francisco: W.H. Freeman and Company, 1979. xiv + 275 pp. $14.95. J. MITTELSTRASS (ed.), Enzyklopadie Philosophie und Wissenschaftstheorie Bd. 1 : A-G. Mannheim, Wien, Ziirich: Bibliographisches Institut, 1980. 835 pp. DM 128. (shrink)

On 18–19 May 2018, a symposium was held in the Research Institute of Irish and Scottish Studies at the University of Aberdeen to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the death of Ronald W. Hepburn (1927–2008). The speakers at this event discussed Hepburn’s oeuvre from several perspectives. For this book, the collection of the revised versions of their talks has been supplemented by the papers of other scholars who were unable to attend the symposium itself. Thus this volume contains contributions from (...) eighteen notable scholars of different disciplines, ranging from contemporary aesthetics and art theory through to philosophical approaches to religion, education and social anthropology. It also includes a bibliography of Hepburn’s writings. The essays were first published in two special issues of the Journal of Scottish Thought, vols. 10–11 (2018–2019). -/- Ronald William Hepburn was born in Aberdeen on 16 March 1927. He went to Aberdeen Grammar School, then he graduated with an M.A. in Philosophy (1951) and obtained his doctorate from the University of Aberdeen (1955). His tutor at Aberdeen was Donald MacKinnon (1913– 1994), a Scottish philosopher and theologian, the author of A Study in Ethical Theory (1957) and The Problem of Metaphysics (1974). Hepburn taught as Lecturer at the Department of Moral Philosophy at Aberdeen (1956–60), and he was also Visiting Associate Professor of Philosophy at New York University (1959–60). He returned from the United States as Professor of Philosophy at Nottingham University. In 1964, he was appointed as a Chair in Philosophy at the University of Edinburgh and between 1965 and 1968 he was also Stanton Lecturer in the Philosophy of Religion at the University of Cambridge. From 1975 until his retirement in 1996, he held the Professorship of Moral Philosophy at Edinburgh. He died in Edinburgh on 23 December 2008. His philosophical interests ranged from theology and the philosophy of religion through moral philosophy and the philosophy of education to art theory and aesthetics. Notably, Hepburn is widely regarded as the founder of modern environmental and everyday aesthetics as a result of the influence of papers in the 1960s which pioneered a new approach to the aesthetics of the natural world. (shrink)

In this review, we describe some of the central philosophical issues facing origins-of-life research and provide a targeted history of the developments that have led to the multidisciplinary field of origins-of-life studies. We outline these issues and developments to guide researchers and students from all fields. With respect to philosophy, we provide brief summaries of debates with respect to (1) definitions (or theories) of life, what life is and how research should be conducted in the absence of an accepted theory (...) of life, (2) the distinctions between synthetic, historical, and universal projects in origins-of-life studies, issues with strategies for inferring the origins of life, such as (3) the nature of the first living entities (the “bottom up” approach) and (4) how to infer the nature of the last universal common ancestor (the “top down” approach), and (5) the status of origins of life as a science. Each of these debates influences the others. Although there are clusters of researchers that agree on some answers to these issues, each of these debates is still open. With respect to history, we outline several independent paths that have led to some of the approaches now prevalent in origins-of-life studies. These include one path from early views of life through the scientific revolutions brought about by Linnaeus (von Linn.), Wöhler, Miller, and others. In this approach, new theories, tools, and evidence guide new thoughts about the nature of life and its origin.We also describe another family of paths motivated by a” circularity” approach to life, which is guided by such thinkers as Maturana & Varela, Gánti, Rosen, and others. These views echo ideas developed by Kant and Aristotle, though they do so using modern science in ways that produce exciting avenues of investigation. By exploring the history of these ideas, we can see how many of the issues that currently interest us have been guided by the contexts in which the ideas were developed. The disciplinary backgrounds of each of these scholars has influenced the questions they sought to answer, the experiments they envisioned, and the kinds of data they collected. We conclude by encouraging scientists and scholars in the humanities and social sciences to explore ways in which they can interact to provide a deeper understanding of the conceptual assumptions, structure, and history of origins-of-life research. This may be useful to help frame future research agendas and bring awareness to the multifaceted issues facing this challenging scientific question. (shrink)