The interpretation of Hegel has been a focal point of philosophical controversy ever since the beginning of the twentieth century, both among Marxists and in the major European philosophical schools. Yet despite wide differences of emphasis most interpretations of Hegel share important similarities. They link his idea of Reason to the revolutionary and rationalist tradition which led to the French Revolution, and they interpret his dialectic as implying a latently atheist and even materialist world outlook. Lucio Colletti directly challenges (...) this picture of Hegel. He argues that Hegel was an essentially Christian philosopher, and that his dialectic was explicitly anti-materialist in both intention and effect. In contrast to earlier views, Colletti maintains that there is no contradiction between Hegel’s method and his system, once it is accepted that his thought is an exercise in Absolute Idealism stemming from a long Christian humanist tradition. He claims, on the contrary, that intellectual inconsistency is rather to be found in the works of Engels, Lenin, Lukás, Kojève and others, who have attempted to adapt Hegel to their own philosophical priorities. Colletti places his argument in the context of a broad re-examination of the whole relationship between Marxism and the Enlightenment, giving novel emphasis to the relationship between Marxism and Kant. He concludes by re-asserting the importance in Marxism of empirical science against the claim of “infinite reason,” while at the same time showing how Marx did transform key ideas in Hegelian thought to construct a consistently materialist dialectic. (shrink)

An educational philosophy that appeals to the immutable element in things, to their eternal properties, to the truths that hold in any age, and simply urges that empirical methods are not the only methods, really is defending a negative position.

This paper aims to contribute to the present debate about business ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) that the Journal of Business Ethics is hosting. Numerous contributions argued theoretical frameworks and taxonomies of CSR practices. The authors want to ground in this knowledge and provide further evidence about how companies adopt CSR practices to address stakeholders’ claims and consolidate their trust. Evidence was provided by a longitudinal case study about an Italian food company that is one of the largest producers (...) of baby food. This company reshaped its corporate strategy along three decades through the adoption of CSR practices in order to win stakeholders’ trust about food safety and supply chain behaviour. The empirical exercise was informed by a literature review of the relevant contributions in terms of CSR business practices and levels of efforts to adopt them. In light of this review, the authors adopted for the research framework the taxonomy of business practices proposed by Spiller (2000, “Ethical Business and Investment: A Model for Business and Society”, Journal of Business Ethics 27, 149-160) and the levels of commitment towards CSR proposed by Stahl and Grigsby (1997, Strategic Management; Total Quality & Global Competition (Blackwell, Oxford)). The main findings are discussed in order to argue theoretical implications and identify further areas of research and debate. (shrink)

Demonstrates how the ethical underpinning of Hegel’s political and social philosophy has relevance for contemporary democratic life. The legal regulations and formal rules of democracy alone are not enough to hold a society together and govern its processes. Yet the irreducible ethical pluralism that characterizes contemporary society seems to make it impossible to impose a single system of values as a source of social cohesion and identity reference. In this book, Lucio Cortella argues that Hegel’s theory of ethical life (...) can provide such a grounding and makes the case through an analysis of Hegel’s central political work, the Philosophy of Right. Although Hegel did not support democratic political ends and wrote in a historical and cultural context far removed from the current liberal-democratic scene, Cortella maintains that the Hegelian theory of ethical life, with its emphasis on securing a framework conducive to human freedom, nevertheless offers a convincing response to the problem of the ethical uprootedness of contemporary democracy. (shrink)

Based on field research at both the national and local levels, this article reconstructs the emergence of negotiated policy making in Italy in the 1990s. It argues that standard corporatist theory is totally incapable of accounting for the particular organizational mechanisms through which, at critical moments, that is, the moments in which policy change had to be introduced, consensus was mobilized among both middle-level union structures and rank-and-file workers in Italy. In fact, absent centralized organizational capacities, the Italian unions relied (...) heavily on democratic decision-making procedures. These procedures strengthened the unions' capacity to hold to their side of the bargaining in national negotiations through essentially two types of mechanisms, aggregative and deliberative. (shrink)

L’article présente une réflexion sur la question du temps dans les processus de migration et mise au travail des travailleurs et travailleuses détachés dans l’agriculture intensive. Nous proposons d’analyser le rapport entre les temporalités imposées aux détachés pour répondre aux besoins productifs et leurs conduites temporelles. Il s’agit de comprendre comment les personnes détachées vivent ces temporalités, mais aussi comment elles se les réapproprient et/ou les contournent afin de les articuler aux espaces-temps de la reproduction sociale. Notre recherche s’appuie sur (...) une enquête qualitative menée auprès des ouvriers et ouvrières mis à disposition des exploitants par des agences d’intérim espagnoles dans trois départements du sud de la France. L’analyse, structurée autour des parcours migratoires, du système du détachement et des temps sociaux, nous permet de saisir les effets des politiques migratoires sur les parcours des saisonniers dans les temps longs ; de retracer des stratégies de dépassement des temporalités imposées, qui amènent à l’installation et à l’emploi direct ; d’identifier les tentatives de « faire communauté » à travers des initiatives commerciales et récréatives collectives développées dans les temps libres. (shrink)

Se é difícil pensar em um significado para a expressão “filosofia brasileira”, pensar o que possa signficar uma “filosofia colonial brasileira” torna-se ainda mais desafiador. Para isso, necessário será justificar tanto o significado quanto o alcance da questão no período. Neste artigo o faremos em três passos: o primeiro situa a relação entre filosofia e colonialidade na constituição da América Portuguesa, considerando as escolas e o alcance do ensino na colônia, e traz um breve estado da arte da pesquisa; o (...) segundo elenca os corpora philosophica provenientes dos colégios do Maranhão, Pará, Rio de Janeiro, Minas Gerais e Mato Grosso; o terceiro caracteriza as formas dos escritos, os níveis de ensino dos colégios e professores-autores e, por fim, as principais matrizes filosóficas reconhecíveis nos escritos coloniais. Enfim, não obstante a dificuldade geral da questão, propomo-nos a afrontar diretamente a hipótese: o que significa uma filosofia colonial brasileira? (shrink)

Come si può intuire dalle parole contenute nel titolo e nel sottotitolo del volume di Giovanni Durbiano, la pertinenza del lavoro con questioni di ordine filosofico è qui dichiarata. Il tema del libro muove da una ricognizione di carattere storiografico dell’architettura italiana, ma più in specifico tratta del ruolo e dello statuto sociale, politico ed epistemico che il sapere e il fare dell’architetto hanno rivestito nella storia recente. Si tratta di un lavoro che possiede un carattere qua...

Nos Ensaios de Montaigne, encontramos um dos mais célebres textos filosóficos sobre a morte voluntária, o capítulo 3 do livro II. Muitos comentadores qualificam o posicionamento de Montaigne como sendo o mesmo de Sêneca e de alguns autores antigos, qual seja, uma defesa da moralidade do ato de se matar. Outros estudiosos detectam no ensaio uma oscilação inconclusa do autor francês sobre o tema. Procuro, em contrapartida, apresentar argumentos que evidenciam que a opinião final de Montaigne é irrestritamente contrária ao (...) suicídio. Para tanto, é feito um mapeamento das várias ocorrências do problema do suicídio no livro que vão além do citado capítulo. Além disso, é ressaltada a distinção entre as camadas de escrita do texto em suas várias edições, contrapondo as inovações de Montaigne aos modelos argumentativos de suas influências clássicas. In Montaigne's Essays, we find one of the most famous philosophical texts on voluntary death, the third chapter of Book II. Many commentators assess Montaigne's position as similar to Seneca's and to some other ancient authors', that is, a defense of the morality of killing oneself. Other scholars detect an unsolved oscillation of the French author on the subject. However, I try to present arguments showing that Montaigne's final opinion is against suicide. Therefore, it is undertaken a mapping of the multiple occurrences of the issue in the book, which go beyond the said chapter. Moreover, the distinction between the writing layers of the Essais in its various editions is stressed, putting in contrast the novelty of Montaigne's argumentative models to his classical influences. (shrink)

Após a onda de desconstrução do pensamento que marcou a última década da filosofia entre nós, talvez tenha chegado o tempo do refluxo do pensamento, a saber, o tempo de debater a existência de um cânone filosófico brasileiro, justamente quando a legitimidade da ciência e, sobretudo da filosofia, é posta em questão. O ponto pede atenção: desde o século XVI, há ensino de filosofia nestas terras, então, quais seriam as razões para afirmar ou negar a existência de uma filosofia brasileira? (...) Para responder à questão, na primeira parte deste artigo, situamos uma ideia de cânone filosófico à luz da produção acadêmica nacional; na segunda, analisamos a possibilidade de um conceito restrito e um amplo de cânone passando da literatura à filosofia; na terceira, comparamos cinco pares antitéticos de definições filosóficas de autores brasileiros e, finalmente, analisamos como a produção filosófica dentro do Sistema Nacional de Pós-Graduação (SNPG) tem viabilizado ou não o debate acerca da legitimidade da filosofia brasileira. (shrink)

A partir de la situación crítica de la modernidad, el autor afirma que todo ser humano perspicaz y amante de la vida se pregunta con angustia por nuestro destino colectivo. Como una respuesta a esta interrogante, el presente artículo examina diversas perspectivas evolucionarias universales de amplia escala temporal, apoyándose particularmente en el enfoque de la Fe Bahá’í, desde la que presenta un análisis sobre el rol de la religión, para abordar finalmente aquellos procesos que podrían orientar a una sociedad civil (...) mundial hacia una espiritualidad encarnada en los procesos sociales, desde nuestra condición actual concebida como el momento de la gran bifurcación y de la era de las comunidades. (shrink)

The essay deals with the subject of the curriculum as it was elaborated by the philosopher Jaques Maritain during the period of his stay in the United States and condensed above all in the 1943 text Education at the Crossroads. Maritain, above all a political philosopher, intends to present a line of personal and social education to the generations emerging from the Second World War. It was necessary to rethink education not only in the theoretical field but also in the (...) operational one, in particular in the main formative structure of the community: School and University. The design that comes out is very structured: aimed at proposing a new order of studies both with regard to the School and the University. (shrink)

This paper is Part II of my study entitled “Approaching the Parmenidean Sublime: A New Translation and Resequencing of the Fragments of Parmenides.” What I seek to accomplish here is to elaborate on my resequencing/translation decisions, and take up the more thorny philosophical/juridical aspects of my position previously mentioned, yet condensed, in “Notes to Translator’s Introduction,” and “Notes on the Fragments.” I believe that this continued engagement with the fragments of Parmenides makes up the “dutiful apprenticeship” intrinsically represented in the (...) poem’s teacher-student exchange, and in the request to convey the story. The request to convey the story is still alive and well in Parmenidean studies. This passing along of a teaching, its history, and its style, makes up the essence of an apprenticeship, whether artistic, philosophical, or as a social ontology. To streamline my references to the poem, I will use only my translated and resequenced fragment and line numbers found in my article, “Approaching the Parmenidean Sublime: A New Translation and Resequencing of the Fragments of Parmenides,” from Volume 23, Number 1, pages 1–18, Fall 2018, of this journal. (shrink)

In “The Aesthetic Dimension” (Eros and Civilization), Marcuse envisions an aesthetic pedagogy as a crucible of the potentialities of human existence. A review of Marcuse’s use of Schiller and Otto Rank highlights Marcuse’s middle-period reflections on aesthetics—signaling the call for an aesthetic ethos where “technique would... tend to become art, and art would tend to form reality” (An Essay on Liberation). A reexamination of various interpretations of Marcuse’s insights on aesthetic education precedes the proposal of a critical pedagogy of aesthetic (...) dimensions that would enhance “creative receptivity” and foster a “third way” in teaching Marcuse’s “The Aesthetic Dimension.”. (shrink)

This study is a three-part play of musement on a few details in the potentially infinite landscape of Umberto Eco’s turn to, relations with, and adaptations of Pragmatism. This three-part guess was product of an abandoned first guess-attempt entitled: “Who’s on First(ness)?” The present title ensued naturally, and with some laughter, in recalling and using the play on words and names made famous by Abbott and Costello. Section 1 will mention two uncles of American Pragmatism. Section 2 will engage in (...) Eco’s ista ricostruzionista (with a dash of ologo) reading of “iconismo primario” (primary iconism) that raises questions regarding his Peircean rereading and assessments. Section 3 will switch to a darker voice and touch upon a few issues in Eco’s writing (or not) on the “comic,” particularly his essays “Pirandello Ridens,” and “The Comic and the Rule.”. (shrink)

1. Sui Quaderni filosofici di Lenin.--2. Materialismo dialettico e irrazionalismo.

Our fellows furnish us the constantly needed supplement to our own fragmentary meanings. That is, they help is find out what our own true meaning is.Very little has been written on Royce’s reception and mentions of Nietzsche that engage the issues of the early dissemination of Nietzsche’s texts in the United States, Royce’s study and knowledge of the range of Nietzsche’s texts, or the mentions of Nietzsche in Royce’s texts from 1906, and up to the posthumously published article “Nietzsche”. This (...) leaves one on a jetty between purely speculative approaches to Nietzsche’s presence in the philosophical works of whoever might strike the fancy of the moment, or... (shrink)

The Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) represents a set of life-long disorders. In particular, subjects with ASD can display momentary behaviors of acute agitation and aggressiveness called crisis behaviors. These events are problematic for the subject and care providers but little is known about their occurrence, namely, possible relations among intensity, frequency, and duration. A group of ASD subjects (n=33) has been observed for 12 months reporting data on each crisis ( n = 1137 crises). Statistical analysis did not find significant (...) results, while the relation between crisis duration and frequency showed a good fit to a “power law” curve, suggesting the application of Self-Organized Criticality (SOC) model. The SOC is used to describe natural phenomena as earthquakes, bank failures of rivers, mass extinctions, and other systems where a type of “catastrophic events” is necessary to maintain a critical equilibrium. In a sense, subjects at risk of crisis behavior seem to fit the same model as seismic zones at risk of earthquakes. The employment of the same strategies, as those successfully developed for known SOC systems, could lead to important insights for ASD management. Moreover, the SOC model offers possible interpretations of crisis behavior dynamics suggesting that they are unpredictable and, in a sense, necessary. (shrink)

By comparing developments in two southern Italian factories, this article contrasts “aggregative” and “deliberative” procedures in trade unions. In one of the plants, the preferences of some of the workers appear to have been changed by deliberation. The process of rational persuasion seems to have required, however, more than sheer circulation of information. Based on this evidence, the article argues that when a potential conflict of interests is involved, speakers need to provide evidence that they are animated by a “communicative” (...) rather than “strategic” intent. This implies validating their implicit claim to sincerity of communication. (shrink)

To engage with the fragments of Parmenides requires a dutiful apprenticeship. The work of translation/resequencing are of equal weight in an interpretative commentary that carry one towards the possible world pictured by the Eleatic master. As far as the translation and resequencing, presented here in its entirety, I have held fast to Eco’s recommendation for translations, that “goodwill... prods us to negotiate the best solution for every line. Among the synonyms for "faithfulness," the word "exactitude" does not exist. Instead there (...) is loyalty, devotion, allegiance, piety.” The “Notes to Translator’s Introduction,” and more so, the “Notes to the Fragments,” are a condensed version of a few frames of references, both cultural and theoretical, that stand in, for the present, as signposts. A fuller elaboration of the resequencing decisions, and philosophical aspects of my position, will take the form of an accompanying piece, and Part II, to this article. (shrink)