Attempting to provide an ontological framework for the notion of the non-personal Universe of Being proposed elsewhere, this paper – after some basic definitions – focuses on substances, one pillar of that notion. It recognizes only to individual substances a material existence, viewed as the entire complex of the properties instantiated in each of them. It then examines features of the general essence of substances. While such essence can be comprehended via abstract definitions, their individual essence cannot, I argue, because (...) it is not a concept but a reality, which I refer to as Being. This manifests powers, is inexhaustible growth and is one, although expressed differently in each individual. The possible connection of the human being with this reality is the second pillar of the notion of the non-personal Universe of Being, which I summarize and compare to other scenarios at the end. (shrink)

No programa Homo Sacer, Giorgio Agamben estabelece denso diálogo com importantes autores como Walter Benjamin, Carl Schmitt, Hannah Arendt e Michel Foucault, formulando um moderno conceito de vida nua. O problema da vida nua (homo sacer), todavia, estende-se para outros trabalhos de Agamben, como A linguagem e a morte e O tempo que resta: um comentário à carta aos romanos, nos quais se apresentam outros termos, como profanação e o tempo-que-resta. No cotejo entre essas obras, este artigo se propõe a (...) articular os conceitos de vida nua (homo sacer) e de profanação, na sua relação com o problema do tempo (o tempo-que-resta),desenvolvidos por Giorgio Agamben. Nesse sentido, aflora discussão sobre o messiânico,por nós, aqui, associado com a figura do homo sacer. (shrink)

The aim of this essay is to approach the long literary tradition of catastrophic or apocalyptic narratives in relation to natural disasters and to explore examples of ecological threats to human species in contemporary Anglophone literature. By using the concept of ecophobia – a widespread irrational fear for nature – the author analyses novels by George R. Stewart ( Storm and Earth Abides ) and by Margaret Atwood ( Oryx and Crake ). Among the shared traits of these novels, the (...) author highlights the uncertain relationship with supernatural entities or divinities, the presence of surviving characters acting like last men of a disappearing human civilization, and the role of the humanities in the survival of the human species. (shrink)

Deferred prosecution agreements (DPAs) are legal means, alternative to trial, for the resolution of criminal business cases. Although DPAs are increasingly used in the US and are spreading to other jurisdictions, the ethics of DPAs has hardly been subjected to critical scrutiny. We use a multidisciplinary approach straddling the line between philosophy and law to examine the ethics of DPAs used to resolve cases of multinational enterprises’ (MNEs) foreign corruption. Deontologically, we argue that the normativity of DPAs raises critical concerns (...) related to the notion of justice as punishment, with serious cases of international corruption resolved with minimal retribution for offending MNEs. Taking a utilitarian ethical perspective, we also evaluate the effect of DPAs on MNEs’ tendency to self-regulate or re-offend. Our conclusion, supported by critical analysis of the juridical literature and case evidence on MNEs’ recidivism, is that DPAs do not foster ethical behavior. (shrink)

Guy Debord, founder of the Situationist International and filmmaker, kept a meticulous record of his correspondence between 1951 and 1994. Published by Fayard, the fifth volume of the correspondence includes several letters signed ‘Glaucos’ (a character from the Iliad), which were sent to Afonso Monteiro, Gianfranco Sanguinetti, Eduardo Rothe, and Jaime Semprún. In those letters, Debord developed several analyses of the ‘Carnation Revolution’, arguing that ‘the Portuguese proletariat’ had gone ‘further than the May 1968 movement’. Debord initially supported a local (...) group called Conselho para o Desenvolvimento da Revolução Social, but he would later criticise it for not taking sufficient action. He also encouraged Jaime Semprún to write La Guerre Social au Portugal, a book published by Éditions Champ Libre in May 1975. This article analyses Debord’s correspondence in 1974 and 1975, offering a critical assessment of how he related to the revolutionary situation in Portugal. (shrink)

Cet article a le but de montrer comment le monde animal et le monde divin interagissent pour former un réseau d’associations partagé à l’intérieur de la culture grecque, qui sert à explorer et définir la pratique de la possession (manía). Pour ce faire, nous avons choisi de nous pencher sur les juments de Potniai, une petite ville de la Béotie, dont l’histoire est racontée par Pausanias (9, 8, 1-2) : devenues folles après avoir bu à une source d’eau aux pouvoirs (...) extraordinaires, elles s’emballent, renversent leur maître, nommé Glaucos, et le démembrent. L’analyse fine des sources littéraires montre que ces animaux sont évoqués (notamment chez Euripide) pour exprimer certaines formes d’emprise divine, notamment celles, redoutables, de Dionysos et des Érinyes. D’autres dossiers suggèrent en effet qu’il existe dans la culture grecque des affinités profondes entre cet animal et la sphère de la folie provoquée par la colère. (shrink)

U članku se analizira Petrićeva usporedba Aristotelove podjele na supralunarni i sublunarni svijet s morskim bićem koje Petrić naziva Marinus Glaucus. Tu usporedbu, s bićem koje je dijelom riba, a dijelom kamen, rabi Petrić kako bi eksplicirao neprirodnost, monstruoznost spomenute Aristotelove podjele. Postavlja se pitanje što je ili tko je Marinus Glaucus. U članku se izlaže da Petrićev Marinus Glaucus najvjerojatnije u sebi ujedinjava i svojstva grčko-rimskog morskog polubožanstva koje se zove Glauko i osobine jedne vrste otrovnih riba koje se (...) u nekim europskim jezicima zovu kamene ribe, a svojstvena im je mimikrija, prilagodba okolišu u kojem žive, kamenu.Im Aufsatz wird der Petrić´s Vergleich der Aristotelischen Aufteilung in die sublunare und supralunare Welt, mit einem Wesen, das er als Marinus Glaucus bezeichnet, analisiert. Diesen Vergleich mit dem Wesen, das er als halb Fisch, halb Stein bestimmt, unternimmt Petrić um die Widernatürlichkeit, ja Monstruosität der genannten Aristotelischen Aufteilung darzulegen. Es wird die Frage gestellt, was, oder, wer ist Marinus Glaucus. Es wird vermutet, dass Petrić’s Marinus Glaucus zwei verschiedene Beschaffenheiten in sich birgt: die einer griechisch-römischen Halbgottheit namens Glauco und die einer Art giftigen Mittelmeerfische, die in einigen europäischen Sprachen Steinfische heißen und die eine Mimikry auszeichnet, die Fähigkeit sich der Welt in der sie leben, dem steinigen Meerboden, anzugleichen. (shrink)