The current and the next issues of “Spazio Filosofico”, both devoted to Festival (Festival I and II respectively), are dedicated to Ugo Perone on the occasion of his 70th birthday. Perone’s friends and colleagues have chosen to celebrate his birthday in a philosophical way, namely, with a reflection on the concept of festival/holiday [festa] and its meaning for us today. Thrifty spirits might object that a journal issue is like a gift – one is enough. Are these not times of (...) economic crisis? There is no real festival, however, without a Zugabe: without an addition, an encore, or a supplement. Hence, two issues, both devoted to a single concept. The choice of the theme has not been accidental – the concept of “festival/holiday” plays in fact an important role in Perone’s thought. In an essay that is often quoted in various contributions to the two issues, Perone understands the pair of concepts “ultimate/penultimate,” which has been discussed by Dietrich Bonhoeffer, in terms of “holidays/everydayness.” For Bonhoeffer, God is present not where human abilities fail but rather “at the center of the village.” Likewise, for Perone, the square, which is the “symbol for the holiday time,” is the center of town. It is even, “at the same time, the center of town and its interruption.” . (shrink)

… eschatology. Imagine: it’s a sunny morning of January 20, 1961 in Washington D. C. JFK is delivering his presidential inaugural speech. He has just taken his oath of office. All of people is listening to him with attention and admiration (somebody perhaps with envy and hate). It’s his complete gesture (henceforth CG), the CG both of a man and of a nation. Recognition of identity through change [A=B] takes place, from the very beginning of the presidential address, as recognition (...) of the iden... (shrink)

The “activities” of a subject, like – for Barack Obama – being the 44th President of the United States or being married to Michelle and being the father of Malia and Sasha, seem to be definable ontologically as indispensable dispensabilities. It cannot be denied that Obama would be who he is even if he had done another job or had met another woman, yet there are reasons of the heart that make this result difficult to accept. Considering the theory of (...) relationships of Duns Scotus, the author proposes a double device of inscription/ascription, such as at least to cast doubt on the two following affirmations: T1 It is the same thing to be Barack Obama and to be the son of his parents, born in Honolulu in August 1961 T2 It is not the same thing to be Barack Obama and to be married to Michelle. (shrink)