Synthèse philosophique.--Aperçus critiques sur les principaux philosophes.--Considérations sur le mysticisme.

Wat dacht Nietzsche, die niet bepaald positief stond ten opzichte van het christendom, eigenlijk over Jezus? Er wordt immers wel beweerd dat je, wat je verder ook van het christendom denkt, onmogelijk tegen Jezus kunt zijn. In zijn vroege werk noemt Nietzsche hem inderdaad 'de edelste mens'. Maar later heeft hij het over 'een grote egoïst' en in 'Der Antichrist' zegt hij zelfs dat Jezus 'een idioot' was. Wat betekent dat allemaal precies binnen het denken van een filosoof die (...) vaak niet rechtstreeks zegt wat hij eigenlijk bedoelt? Kunnen deze gedachten voor ons vandaag nog iets betekenen? Lepers heeft het volledige oeuvre van Nietzsche onderzocht op uitspraken en beschouwingen over en rond de figuur van Jezus. Dat voert hem tot genuanceerde, soms (schijnbaar?) tegenstrijdige, maar altijd uitdagende antwoorden op de vraag wie en wat Jezus in Nietzsches ogen was en wat hij vanuit dat perspectief voor ons zou kunnen zijn. (shrink)

The author argues the following hypothesis: the medical clinic is an experimental practice, in the sense given to this term by Claude Bernard, and the clinic is its specific laboratory. Its object is not the disease, but the patient. Careful examination of the clinic attests to its very close proximity to the experimental method, and the comparison also raises a number of difficulties. The main obstacle arises from the specificity of medicine, which involves treating individual human subjects whose words cannot (...) be suppressed. Its main challenge is to combine a linguistic practice with an experimental method. (shrink)

"In this groundbreaking book Jean Walton subjects psychoanalysis to a sustained and highly illuminating ethnographic critique.

Bathos - remarque -- Pt. 1. Le champ de bataille -- Pt. 2. Kant et ses juges -- Pt. 3. Traité de bathologie.

Comment Bachelard, fils d'un cordonnier, professeur de physique et chimie, a-t-il pu devenir cet humaniste aussi savant que philosophe, aussi penseur que poète? Il n'a pas emprunté les chemins balisés, ceux des élites universitaires et culturelles. Il a contrarié les pronostics et les conventions. Il s'est adjugé contre vents et marées le droit de penser par lui-même en bousculant les frontières des savoirs et de la culture et en dérangeant les us et coutumes établis. "Un ouvrage aussi lumineux que la (...) destinée et l'oeuvre de Gaston Bachelard. Au plus près de sa vie et de sa pensée". (Philippe Meirieu). (shrink)

1. De Dieu -- 2. L'être au féminin -- 3. L'alliance.

Counterfactual thought experiments in history have become increasingly popular in the last two decades, and a new and controversial branch of history has originated from their use: counterfactual history, also known as virtual history. Despite its popularity amongst the general public, most academic historians consider historical counterfactuals as having little epistemic value. This paper investigates three alleged uses of counterfactual thinking in historical explanations: the claim that counterfactual thinking gives historians useful insights; that it is a useful tool to evaluate (...) an event’s causal significance; that it shows much of history to be essentially ‘chaotic’. I argue that only convincingly justifies the use of counterfactual thought experiments in history, as it allows historians to illustrate how they perceive events’ degrees of sensitivity to changes to their causal history, being an important part of providing a causal explanation. (shrink)

_ Source: _Volume 10, Issue 3, pp 349 - 369 A theory of causation suitable for historiography must accommodate the many types of causal claims historians make. In this paper, I examine the advantages of applying D. K. Lewis’s counterfactual theory of causation to the philosophy of historiography. I contend that Lewis’s possible world semantics offers a superior framework for making sense of historical causation, and that it lays the foundation for historians to look at history as causal series of (...) events, remaining agnostic as to whether there may be historical regularities or laws. Lewis’s theory can also accommodate important notions often used by historians, such as absences as causes, historical necessity and contingency, and the role they play in the formulation of historical counterfactuals. (shrink)

Isaiah Berlin famously attacked a view he called historical inevitability. He believed that a causal view of history entails the adoption of an extreme deterministic position – a kind of determinism which would rule out the possibility of free will, turning moral responsibility a notion void of meaning. His thesis was also based on the assumption that historians are not just chroniclers of the past but need to engage in moral judgments; therefore should determinism hold true of our world, our (...) moral language – and consequently much of our historical language – would need to undergo serious revision. In this brief article we look in some detail at the arguments offered by Berlin in support of his thesis and offer criticism. (shrink)

Determinism is a doctrine or assumption best defined in the realm of the natural sciences. In this paper I explain in detail the four senses of determinism, from the most fundamental metaphysical sense, to the most complex epistemic (predictive) sense. I take as a starting point the analysis of determinism offered by Stephen Kellert. Each of these senses is then expounded and commented with a view to explore some of the implications of each of them in theoretical physics. The most (...) important of my tasks in this paper is to differentiate between the metaphysical and epistemic consequences of the deterministic assumption. My objective is to show that determinism as an ontological tenet is capable of withstanding criticism, even though predictive determinism is likely to be false. (shrink)

Des Herrn Doct. und Prof. Joachim Langens, oder, Der Theologischen Facultaet zu Halle Anmerckungen über des Herrn Hoff-Raths und Professor Christian Wolffens Metaphysicam ... nebst beygefügter Hr. Hoff-R. und Prof. Christian Wolffens gründlicher Antwort -- Herrn D. Joh. Francisci Buddei S.S. Theol. P.P.O. zu Jena Bedencken über die Wolffianische Philosophie, mit Anmerckungen erläutert von Christian Wolffen.

Este artigo investiga a “Tese” do primado do objeto na obra de Theodor W. Adorno, central ao seu materialismo não dogmático e relativamente pouco estudada. O primado do objeto será apresentado em seus elementos constitutivos, como crítica ao modo essencialmente idealista da dialética que perpassa o conjunto da obra de Adorno, em especial nos textos e discussões que precederam a publicação da Dialektik der Aufklãrung, para se explicitar no período de elaboração da Negative Dialektik. A “Tese” desenvolve momentos apresentados por (...) Lukács, Benjamin e Horkheimer, particularmente quanto ao nexo entre razão e experiência e se fundamenta especialmente no trajeto Kant – Hegel, como crítica ao idealismo, incorporando de modo estruturante as perspectivas de Marx e de Nietzsche. Ao romper a pretensa “simetria” entre sujeito e objeto, a “Tese” do primado do objeto revela como é insustentável a alegação habermasiana do Discurso filosófico da modernidade segundo a qual Adorno e Horkheimer incidiriam num ceticismo total frente à razão e à sua totalização ideológica. Ao contrário: estes autores, ao articularem de um modo original substância material histórica e argumentação teórica, contribuíram de modo fundamental para examinar o problema da reificação mediante sua relação à objetividade – como o não-idêntico – no âmbito da razão. (shrink)

This paper presents the contributions of Alcindo Flores Cabral, professor of Chemistry at the Faculdade de Agronomia Eliseu Maciel, nowadays part of the Universidade Federal de Pelotas, to chemistry teaching. It is a contribution almost unknown to the Brazilian chemical community, although recognized as valuable by several renowned chemists abroad, like W. Hückel, G. Charlot, F. Strong, E. Fessenden and others. Cabral’s innovative helical representation is presented in connection not only with contemporary representations, but also an incursion is made into (...) the first helical systems proposed, those of Hinrichs and of Baumhauer. Some comments are made not only on Cabral’s Classificação Natural dos Elementos, published in 1946, but also about other texts he wrote for an efficient chemistry teaching. (shrink)

In this article, I present and explain ten different possible meanings of a chance event – some ontological, some epistemic – and provide examples whenever possible. I describe and illustrate more carefully the view of chance (tychē) expressed by Aristotle in his Physics, a demanding and complex notion, and contrast it to the other senses examined. The etymology of chance also reveals a cross-reference between chance and indeterminism. I draw attention to the fact that most of the definitions of chance (...) on offer need not conflict with causal determinism. (shrink)

Entlang der Verschiebungen des Kollektivbegriffs seit 1989 und seiner Verwendung in den performativen Künsten – und in Gegenüberstellung zu einer eher netzwerkartig organisierten Gesellschaft der Individuen – beschreibt der Beitrag, wie durch den Fokus auf Praktiken, die nicht das abgeschlossene Werk, sondern den gemeinsamen Prozess des Voneinander-Lernens unter Einbeziehung spezifischer Publika (z.B. aktivistischer Initiativen) fokussieren, die dem Kunstbetrieb zugrunde liegenden Infrastrukturen verändert werden können. Zeit als Infrastruktur spielt dabei eine wesentliche Rolle, um die Prozesse offen zu halten und nachhaltig zu (...) gestalten. Am Beispiel der Tanzfabrik Berlin und einer selbst gesetzten Pause as Resistance nach der COVID-Pandemie fragt der Beitrag nach methodologischen Herausforderungen von Praktiken, welche die Möglichkeit einer Unterbrechung von Gewohnheiten durch den Einsatz von alternativen tools, wie z.B. Formen des Storytelling oder der Critical Fiction, mit sich bringen, indem sie andere Narrative etablieren. (shrink)

Este artigo apresenta a contribuição de Alcindo Flores Cabral (1907-1982) - professor de química da Faculdade de Agronomia Eliseu Maciel, hoje incorporada à Universidade Federal de Pelotas - ao ensino de química, uma contribuição quase desconhecida pela própria comunidade química brasileira, embora reconhecida como relevante por diversos químicos estrangeiros importantes, como W. Hückel, G. Charlot, F. Strong, E. Fessenden e outros. A inovadora representação helicoidal de Cabral é apresentada não só em conexão com representações contemporâneas, mas também inclui-se uma incursão (...) pelos primeiros sistemas helicoidais propostos, os de Hinrichs e de Baumhauer. Apresentam-se alguns comentários não somente sobre a Classificação natural dos elementos, publicada em 1946, mas também sobre outros textos escritos para tornar mais eficaz o ensino de química. (shrink)

As a philosopher of science, Pierre Duhem is most often remembered as the earliest contributor to what became known as the Duhem-Quine thesis. This thesis casts doubt on our ability to isolate and test theories, and to choose between empirically equivalent rivals. By extension, it offers important criticism of the rationality of deductivist science. In contrast with the vast literature produced during the 20th century addressing the problem of empirical underdetermination of theories, little has been said on the viability of (...) the solution Duhem himself proposed to the problem: good sense. In this paper, we offer an analysis of two varieties of underdetermination, discuss when and why they matter, and how good sense is supposed to aid theory choice. We also look at two recent reconstructions of Duhemian good sense, and argue that one is to be favoured. (shrink)

On the basis of the concepts of culture industry and semiformation, this paper presents Adorno's dialectical perspective as it uncovers the objective determinations of the social realm, following the Marxist investigation of the social objectivity of the social forms of production. In this dialectic, the universal - as social submission or reification- is immanent and objectively present, which does not occur in Habermas' intersubjective and non-dialectical construction.A partir dos conceitos de indústria cultural e semiformação, procura-se apresentar a perspectiva dialética de (...) Adorno ao decifrar as determinações objetivas do social, acompanhando o prisma marxiano de investigação da objetividade social das formas sociais da produção. Nesta dialética o universal - como sujeição social ou reificação - é imanente e presente objetivamente, o que não ocorre na construção intersubjetiva e não dialética de Habermas. (shrink)

Father Frederick Copleston is best known for his carefully crafted works History of Philosophy and Thomas Aquinas. Copleston’s most notable metaphysical thesis is his interpretation of the argument from contingency, which he sees as the superior choice for theists. He draws on Aquinas and distinguishes between causa fieri and causa esse to argue that God is a higher order cause of contingent causal series. Copleston presents God not as a temporal first cause, but an ontologically ultimate cause necessary to explain (...) a contingent universe. His contribution changed the way we read Aquinas. Copleston’s willingness to debate his thesis with different philosophical perspectives is illustrated by his acceptance to discuss God’s existence with Bertrand Russell, in 1948. This BBC radio debate epitomises the dispute between theists and atheists from the 1940s onwards. I undertake to expound and comment Copleston’s contribution to metaphysics, present relevant parts of the debate and provide criticism. (shrink)

A partir dos conceitos de indústria cultural e semiformação, procura-se apresentar a perspectiva dialética de Adorno ao decifrar as determinações objetivas do social, acompanhando o prisma marxiano de investigação da objetividade social das formas sociais da produção. Nesta dialética o universal – como sujeição social ou reificação – é imanente e presente objetivamente, o que não ocorre na construção intersubjetiva e não dialética de Habermas.

O presente trabalho examina os aspectos históricos da extração do óleo de canela-sassafrás (Ocotea pretiosa Mez), rico em safrol, no Alto e Médio Vale do Itajaí, a partir de 1940, por iniciativa de Otto Grimm, no município de Rio do Sul. Apresenta-se o tema no contexto da memória química em Santa Catarina, e discutem-se os procedimentos utilizados, e principalmente os motivos que levaram tal indústria incipiente a não se converter em uma indústria de química fina. Para tanto, são apresentados alguns (...) dados pertinentes à química do safrol, indicando que tal indústria poderia ter evoluído, bem como os aspectos econômicos e sociais que, ao lado da proibição do corte da canela-sassafrás, levaram em 1990 à extinção definitiva dessa "química fina que poderia ter sido". (shrink)

The materialist approach of One-Dimensional Man emerges in a later work in which Marcuse connects the notion of “new sensibility” to a “complex intermediary function of the intellect.” Revolutionary praxis “is not simply negation but contradiction,” and thus Marcuse’s “new idea of reason” constructs a liberating rationality upon a technological one. This is accomplished by moving from an abstract “concept” of possibility to the perception of possibility as a “social alternative.” Here I examine the “dialectical logic” of human rights, which (...) critiques an unfree world and asserts itself as a political determinant dependent on the rupturing of established power. (shrink)

Como convém a uma autêntica interdisciplinaridade, é difícil separar comcontornos nítidos os dois aspectos da relação de Goethe com a História daCiência que me propus a discutir: como a História da Ciência vê a ciênciade Goethe? Como Goethe vê a História da Ciência? O estudo dos aspectoscientíficos, filosóficos, éticos, psicológicos, históricos da obra de Goetheainda tem muito a nos oferecer. Apesar da coerência interna, que permiteque “façamos nossos lances” como um enxadrista do livre-arbítrio, talestudo nos reserva muitas reflexões e surpresas.As (...) expected for an authentic interdisciplinary view of the subject, it isdifficult to establish a rigorously outlined separation of the twofold relationbetween Goethe and the History of Science: how History of Science viewsGoethe’s science? What is Goethe’s view of the History of Science? Studyof scientific, philosophical, ethical, psychological, historical issues ofGoethe’s work still has much to offer. Although there is an internalcoherence, which allows us to make our choices like chess players, thesestudies reserve us many reflections and surprises. (shrink)

A pandemia de COVID-19 deu maior visibilidade ao trabalho de epidemiologistas, e em particular ao uso de modelos epidemiológicos. Projeções da expansão da doença, número de casos e o seu pico esperado, são amplamente divulgadas na mídia. Políticas de saúde pública, como medidas de isolamento social, são justificadas à população com base na necessidade de se ‘achatar a curva’, e evitar o colapso do sistema de saúde. Mas o público não é informado sobre os usos e limitações dos modelos. A (...) necessidade de recalibrarmos os modelos com novos dados e de revisarmos projeções também são pouco compreendidas e por vezes se tornam fonte de frustração, alimentando ceticismo para com a verdade científica. Neste artigo eu discuto brevemente de que maneira a reflexão filosófica sobre os usos dos modelos, e de suas propriedades epistêmicas – cognição, explicação e entendimento – pode mitigar esses problemas. (shrink)

Dos diferentes fatores associados a uma mudança de paradigma e, portanto, a uma revolução química, o menos discutido é o que envolve os assim chamados experimentos exemplares, mudanças radicais na metodologia de trabalho e nos procedimentos empíricos da química, mudanças e modificações estas que, no caso de uma ciência natural empírica, podem ter como consequência dados experimentais antes inacessíveis, levando, por fim, a uma nova abordagem de conceitos, hipóteses e teorias e desencadeando uma "revolução" química, um novo paradigma. Muito mais (...) do que uma revolução química, dever-se-ia optar por uma gradativa evolução química. Escolhemos três dessas situações como "exemplares": a modificação no procedimento empírico da química pneumática, com o uso da cuba pneumática contendo mercúrio; a introdução de novos métodos de extração de compostos orgânicos naturais, com a substituição do método pirogênico pelo de extração com solventes; um novo entendimento de "análise química", com a substituição da comparação de amostras tidas como autênticas pela decomposição do analito. (shrink)

The thesis of the priority of the object, essential to Adorno's non dogmatic materialism, is analyzed in its constitutive elements, as a criticism of idealism which is present mainly at the works Dialectic of enlightenment and Negative dialectic. As a criticism of idealism, particularly on the relationships between reason and experience as first developed from Kant to Hegel, the thesis is based on Lukács, Benjamin, and Horkheimer contributions and is embedded on the perspectives of Marx and Nietzsche. With its disruption (...) of symmetry between subject and object, the thesis of the priority of the object reveals the frailty of Habermas assertion, in his Philosophical discourse of modernity, of Adorno's and Horkheimer's skepticism towards reason. The present author argues that, in opposition to this claim, Adorno and Horkheimer contributed, with their new way of relating historical material and theoretical approach, to the analysis of the problem of reification in its relations to objectivity - as the non-identical - within the realm of reason, and not outside of it.Este artigo investiga a "Tese" do primado do objeto na obra de Theodor W. Adorno, central ao seu materialismo não dogmático e relativamente pouco estudada. O primado do objeto será apresentado em seus elementos constitutivos, como crítica ao modo essencialmente idealista da dialética que perpassa o conjunto da obra de Adorno, em especial nos textos e discussões que precederam a publicação da Dialektik der Aufklãrung, para se explicitar no período de elaboração da Negative Dialektik. A "Tese" desenvolve momentos apresentados por Lukács, Benjamin e Horkheimer, particularmente quanto ao nexo entre razão e experiência e se fundamenta especialmente no trajeto Kant - Hegel, como crítica ao idealismo, incorporando de modo estruturante as perspectivas de Marx e de Nietzsche. Ao romper a pretensa "simetria" entre sujeito e objeto, a "Tese" do primado do objeto revela como é insustentável a alegação habermasiana do Discurso filosófico da modernidade segundo a qual Adorno e Horkheimer incidiriam num ceticismo total frente à razão e à sua totalização ideológica. Ao contrário: estes autores, ao articularem de um modo original substância material histórica e argumentação teórica, contribuíram de modo fundamental para examinar o problema da reificação mediante sua relação à objetividade - como o não-idêntico - no âmbito da razão. (shrink)

O objetivo deste artigo consiste em examinar a obra do primeiro Habermas, anterior à virada lingüística, localizada a partir dos estudos preparatórios à Teoria da ação comunicativa. Pretende-se investigar o ensaio “Trabalho e interação”, de 1967, no qual Habermas, discutindo com Lukács, procura legitimar sua concepção de história como evolução emancipatória do homem enquanto ser genérico a partir de textos de Hegel, do período de Iena, até mesmo sugerindo uma releitura do jovem Marx.

The chemist Max von Pettenkofer studied with Justus von Liebig, and after leaving Giessen in 1844 did not immediately find an academic position. During the period 1844/1845 he wrote a cycle of 16 Chemical Sonnets, but published them only in 1886. The Sonnets have with few exceptions a historiographical character. We present a translation of the Sonette into Portuguese as well as commentaries about their content and their philosophical significance. We also comment rather briefly on Pettenkofer’s career as an empirical (...) chemist and later as a somewhat heterodox hygienist. (shrink)

The impediment of individuals affected by mental illness at risk of suicide is well justified. But the impediment to rational suicide is complicated by the conflict between defending life and defending autonomy, as illustrated by the various philosophical approaches to the ethical dimension of suicide. In this article we argue that, insofar as punctual in nature and limited in scope, paternalistic intervention of the autonomous individual is also justified. To do so, we will use the distinction between shallow and deep (...) autonomy, as well as complicating factors from recent medical literature: the question of ambivalence and the cry for help model. We will also pay special attention to the ethical implications of new strategies for risk detection that use artificial intelligence applied to social network databases like Facebook. Although preliminary evidence suggests these are effective tools, their lack of transparency, regulation and consent puts civil liberties and rights at risk. (shrink)

For Herbert Marcuse, rationality today—amidst advanced capitalism and neoliberalism—is not confronted with an external irrational universal, as it was in the earlier period of liberalism. “General ‘harmony’” is converted into a goal that pacifies because it is technically feasible. Through the critique of everyday experiences, it is possible to distinguish between how individuals immediately appear in actual society and what is essential to society and humanity—by revealing the dependency on capital as a dehumanizing factor. Dependency remains hidden in the relations (...) between universals such as “capitalist society” and technical targets in the everyday lives of individuals. Only social movements that can decipher the rule of capitalism over everyday experiences have any chance of overcoming domination. (shrink)

The objective of the article is to examine the work of the "early Habermas" prior to the linguistic turn, localized in the preparatory studies at the Theorie des kommunikativen Handels and later works. We intend to investigate the essay Arbeit und Interaktion, of 1967, in which Habermas, discussing with Lukács, aims to legitimate his conception of history as emancipatory evolution of man as generic being, from Hegel's texts in Jena's time, besides suggesting a new reading of the young Marx.O objetivo (...) deste artigo consiste em examinar a obra do primeiro Habermas, anterior à virada lingüística, localizada a partir dos estudos preparatórios à Teoria da ação comunicativa. Pretende-se investigar o ensaio "Trabalho e interação", de 1967, no qual Habermas, discutindo com Lukács, procura legitimar sua concepção de história como evolução emancipatória do homem enquanto ser genérico a partir de textos de Hegel, do período de Iena, até mesmo sugerindo uma releitura do jovem Marx. (shrink)

In this essay, we aim to provide an overview of the periodic table’s origins and history, and of the elements which conspired to make it chemistry’s most recognisable icon. We pay attention to Mendeleev’s role in the development of a system for organising the elements and chemical knowledge while facilitating the teaching of chemistry. We look at how the reception of the table in different chemical communities was dependent on the local scientific, cultural and political context, but argue that its (...) eventual universal acceptance is due to its unique ability to accommodate possessed knowledge while enabling novel predictions. Furthermore, we argue that its capacity to unify apparently disconnected phenomena under a simple framework facilitates our understanding of periodicity, making the table an icon of aesthetic value, and an object of philosophical inquiry. Finally, we briefly explore the table’s iconicity throughout its representations in pop art and science fiction. (shrink)

_The VaKE Handbook: Theory and Practice of Values and Knowledge Education_ presents a theoretical model and many examples in various fields of education and training for the realization of the principle "Values without knowledge are blind, while knowledge without values is irresponsible".

People are motivated by shared social values that, when held with moral conviction, can serve as compelling mandates capable of facilitating support for ideological violence. The current study examined this dark side of morality by identifying specific cognitive and neural mechanisms associated with beliefs about the appropriateness of sociopolitical violence, and determining the extent to which the engagement of these mechanisms was predicted by moral convictions. Participants reported their moral convictions about a variety of sociopolitical issues prior to undergoing functional (...) MRI scanning. During scanning, they were asked to evaluate the appropriateness of violent protests that were ostensibly congruent or incongruent with their views about sociopolitical issues. Complementary univariate and multivariate analytical strategies comparing neural responses to congruent and incongruent violence identified neural mechanisms implicated in processing salience and in the encoding of subjective value. As predicted, neuro-hemodynamic response was modulated parametrically by individuals’ beliefs about the appropriateness of congruent relative to incongruent sociopolitical violence in ventromedial prefrontal cortex, and by moral conviction in ventral striatum. Overall moral conviction was predicted by neural response to congruent relative to incongruent violence in amygdala. Together, these findings indicate that moral conviction about sociopolitical issues serves to increase their subjective value, overriding natural aversion to interpersonal harm. (shrink)

One of the most perceptive and ambidextrous social commentators of our day, Augustinian scholar Jean Bethke Elshtain furnishes in ever fresh ways through her writings a bridge between the ancient and the modern, between politics and ethics, between timeless moral wisdom and cultural sensitivity. To read Elshtain seriously is to take the study of culture as well as the "permanent things" seriously. But Elshtain is no mere moralist. Neither is she content solely to dwell in the domain of the (...) theoretical. For it is Elshtain the citizen - the creatively engaged and contributing citizen - whom the reader encounters on virtually every page of her writings. But reader beware: Elshtain does not shy away from controversy. At the same time, she is anything but a controversialist. In the essay that follows, several prominent themes that emerge from Elstain's writings - civic responsibility, justice, gender, and war - are considered afresh. Whether one agrees with her positions or not, one is forced to confess in the end that she cares deeply about the common good. And this alone makes her required reading for any engaged citizen of the republic. (shrink)