The Flowers of War, based on the homonymous novel by Geling Yan, and City of Life and Death are recent Chinese films that deal with the so-called 'Nanking Massacre‘ or 'the Rape of Nanking‘. The events which inspired these stories in the context of the second Sino-Japanese War will be analysed through the study and comparison of both films, together with the reasons which led the directors to fictionalise a series of events so many years after they occurred in 1937. (...) This analysis will be carried out based on the testimonies of the foreigners who eyewitnessed the events at the time, and who left written testimony of the facts, and a comparison shall be made between the fictional and factual events. (shrink)

Virtual reality allows the user to be immersed in environments in which they can experience situations and social interactions from different perspectives by means of virtual embodiment. In the context of rehabilitation of violent behaviors, a participant could experience a virtual violent confrontation from different perspectives, including that of the victim and bystanders. This approach and other virtual scenes can be used as a useful tool for the rehabilitation of intimate partner violence perpetrators, through improvement of their empathic skills or (...) for training in non-violent responses. In this perspective, we revise and discuss the use of this tool in a prison environment for the rehabilitation of IPV perpetrators with a particular focus on practical aspects based on our experience. (shrink)

The prevailing scientific paradigm is that matter is primary and everything, including consciousness can be derived from the laws governing matter. Although the scientific explanation of consciousness on these lines has not been realized, in this view it is only a matter of time before consciousness will be explained through neurobiological activity in the brain, and nothing else. There is an alternative view that holds that it is fundamentally impossible to explain how subjectivity can arise solely out of material processes—“the (...) hard problem of consciousness”—and instead consciousness should be regarded in itself as a primary force in nature. This view attempts to derive, for example, the laws of physics from models of consciousness, instead of the other way around. While as scientists we can understand and have an intuition for the first paradigm, it is very difficult to understand what “consciousness is primary” might mean since it has no intuitive scientific grounding. Here we show that worlds experienced through virtual reality are such that consciousness is a first order phenomenon. We discuss the Interface Theory of Perception which claims that in physical reality perceptions are not veridical and that we do not see the “truth” but that perception is based on evolutionary payoffs. We show that this theory may provide an accurate description of perception and consciousness within VR, and we put forward an experimental study that could throw light on this. We conclude that VR does offer an experimental frame that provides intuition with respect to the idea that “consciousness is first” and what this might mean regarding the perceived world. However, we do not draw any conclusions about the veracity of this notion with respect to physical reality or question the emergence of consciousness from brain function. (shrink)

Clemente Romano es el hombre de la reconciliación, que busca sembrar en aquellos que lo escuchan una semilla de fraternidad. Él sabe que en el corazón del hombre anidan las malas pasiones, los sentimientos de envidia y de división pero también sabe que quien vive en el amor, quien pone su mirada en el Dios que es Amor se transforma, se convierte. El único camino es Jesucristo y por eso continuamente invita, a través de sus palabras, a fijar la mirada (...) en Él. Misericordia, humildad, sencillez, corrección fraterna, hospitalidad son palabras que a lo largo de la carta a los Corintios se entrelazan tejiendo la trama del amor al hermano y del amor a Dios. ¿Qué nos enseña esta carta escrita muchos siglos atrás y que parece tan actual? Es un desafío para el hombre peregrino de hoy que siente por un lado, la sed de espiritualidad, y por otro, el ansia del poder, del tener, del placer, a contemplar a un Dios que lo ama y a buscar sólo el bien del hermano, caminando junto a él con sencillez y humildad.Clement of Rome is the man of reconciliation, which seeks to sow those who hear a seed of fraternity. He knows the heart of man nest evil passions, feelings of envy and division but also knows that whoever lives in love, who sets her sights on the God who is Love becomes becomes. The only way is Jesus Christ and so continuously invited, through his words, to stare at him. Mercy, humility, simplicity, fraternal correction, hospitality are words along the Corinthians intertwine weaving Brother love story and love of God. What can we learn this letter written many centuries ago and it seems so today? It is a challenge for pilgrims today man who feels the one hand, the thirst for spirituality, and secondly, the lust of power, possessions, pleasure, to contemplate a God who loves him and seek only good brother walking beside him with simplicity and humility. (shrink)

Don Juan Manuel foi uma das personagens de maior relevo no século XIV em Castela, tanto pela sua obra literária quanto pela sua participação ativa ·na política da época. Era nobre, guerreiro e ao mesmo tempo tinha uma consciência clara de escritor. Preocupa-se por conciliar o que pensa e propõe, e o que vive intensamente. Detectar as linhas mestras e os conceitos presentes no pensamento do autor assim como a projeção dessas ideias na sua prática política, é o objetivo do (...) presente trabalho. (shrink)

Entre las múltiples y variadas nuevas formas de espiritualidad contemporánea podemos destacar el chamanismo, más concretamente los neochamanismos como uno de los nuevos desarrollos espirituales a partir de la recuperación de nuestra relación ancestral con la Naturaleza y que busca en los orígenes, el acceso a una religión primigenia conservada por algunos pueblos indígenas. En este artículo tratamos de reflexionar acerca de la llegada y la extensión de dicho fenómeno a España en el marco del nuevo mercado espiritual, de esa (...) constelación místico-esotérica que vive Occidente como una forma de explicación válida ante los déficits de sentido modernos y posmodernos que nos acechan y que nos hacen volver la vista atrás. De esta forma, recuperamos viejas formas de conocimiento transcendente en las filosofías y religiones antiguas que nos sirven como nuevas estrategias a través de las cuales afrontar la realidad cotidiana. (shrink)

O Índex Auctorum Damnatae Memoriae é, tal como todos os índices de livros proibidos posteriores a 1564, herdeiro do índice tridentino. O cotejo estabelecido entre os dois índices ibéricos de 1612 e 1624 e o documento apresentado reforçam a ideia de que o índice de 1624 tem sido erroneamente apelidado de jesuítico. Esta acusação, nascida da campanha pombalina contra a Companhia de Jesus, amplificada no século XIX, aceite no século XX e de que ainda se vive no século XXI, carece (...) de fundamentação objectiva. (shrink)

Este artículo intenta aproximarse a la figura femenina de Hiparquia de Maronea, identificando su lugar dentro del cinismo antiguo, movimiento filosófico contestatario de finales del siglo iv a. C. Su figura sería ejemplo de una mujer “extradoméstica”, opuesta completamente a la imagen de la mujer ateniense que permanece recluida en el interior de la casa, respetando celosamente las leyes del silencio. Al respecto, para descifrar las claves de Hiparquia, es fundamental y muy significativo considerar el “matrimonio de perros” como la (...) expresión más elevada del éros cínico. La kynogamía implica una ruptura radical con el matrimonio convencional, en cuanto institución religiosa, social y política que determina en el oîkos el lugar de las mujeres en la antigüedad, y constituye el punto culminante de la unión erótica cínica, al poner de manifiesto su “indiferencia” respecto al acto sexual. Hiparquia, comparada con Artemisa, se sitúa en los confines de lo salvaje, unida a su esposo, Crates de Tebas, vive en co-herencia según las leyes de la naturaleza. (shrink)

Religioso incluso en su ateísmo, Nietzsche no solamente da que pensar en materia de religión, sino que constituye un momento crítico en la tradición filosófica que se apodera de la cuestión. Las contribuciones a este monográfico pretenden dar una aproximación perspectivista, si no exhaustiva, de lo que la filosofía de Nietzsche debe a la religión como tal, del lugar que ocupa en su pensamiento, así como de la actualidad de estas reflexiones para el lector contemporáneo que, más que nunca, vive (...) a la sombra de Dios. (shrink)

O texto discute a reiterada e repetida demanda pela qualidade e excelência exigida pela sociedade frente à educação contemporânea. Considerando alguns aspectos da modernidade/pós-modernidade em que vivem tanto os herdeiros de Prometeu, como os de Dionísio, caracterizados pelo hedonismo, e os de Hermes, que valorizam a comunicação, a criação e a mediação, postula-se que a educação vive sua crise de finalidade, não encontrando referências ou modelos para atualizar-se. Seu impulso legitimador foi diluído quando o cânone moderno de padrões objetivos de (...) conhecimento e organização em que se baseava o mundo, foram desacreditados frente a um cenário pós-moderno. Neste contexto, são discutidas as necessidades de escolhas, de suturar os opostos, de práticas de ruptura e de alternativas existenciais para impasses contemporâneos. (shrink)

El feminismo vive una revitalización de corte político al tiempo que se ha convertido en un objeto de consumo adoptando la forma de camisetas, tazas y libros. Analizaremos cómo se divulga la teoría feminista a través de los “manuales” o “guías” para el feminismo, desarrollando tres tareas principales. En primer lugar, establecer un listado de las últimas publicaciones sobre temáticas feministas con carácter divulgativo y clasificarla según tipologías. En segundo lugar, identificar las principales temáticas de dichas publicaciones. En tercer lugar, (...) establecer algunas conclusiones sobre el carácter de estas obras, así como un intento de definición de las mismas. (shrink)

La democracia vive estremecida desde el comienzo del tercer milenio al que se asoma la humanidad. El 11 S fue el desencadenante de una tensión íntima que debilitó los fundamentos de la Modernidad política después de la proclamación a los cuatro vientos de que la historia había finalizado. La victoria occidental en la Guerra Fría que quedó plasmada con la caída del Muro berlinés se volatilizó en un puñado de años. Desde entonces las emociones se han adueñado de la convivencia (...) colectiva mientras que la racionalidad política ha ido siendo marginada y desplazada a un papel secundario, sino residual…. (shrink)

Se proponen tres ejemplos históricos para mostrar cómo la religión, en la forma del cristianismo católico, ha promovido el avance de la filosofía moral o la filosofía social. Frente a posiciones que entienden que la religión tiene como función principal la conservación del status quo de una sociedad en particular (Marx o Durkheim) estos casos notables muestran que más bien es al contrario: las motivaciones religiosas han provocado cambios en la forma de pensar que inevitablemente implican cambios en el modo (...) de vida (Weber). Elegimos tres autores ligados por la época y el espacio (Siglo de oro español) y la religión (cristianismo católico). Juan Luis Vives propuso desde la filosofía cristiana que inspira todo su trabajo una asistencia regular y organizada a los pobres, que andando el tiempo se convertiría en la asistencia social contemporánea. Francisco de Vitoria, reflexionando sobre las causas de la guerra justa, los títulos de conquista o esclavitud, sentó las bases del derecho internacional al margen de la imposición violenta. Juan de Mariana hizo una reflexión política limitando tanto el poder del emperador que incluso sugirió la posibilidad del tiranicidio en caso de necesidad. Estos tres autores nos muestran que, aunque la religión continúa jugando un papel importante en la transmisión del estado de cosas, también ejerce una influencia que permite la evolución en las costumbres y, en consecuencia, en la reflexión ética. (shrink)

Providing a novel multi-disciplinary theorization of memory politics, this insightful Handbook brings varied literatures into a focused dialogue on the ways in which the past is remembered and how these influence transnational, interstate, and global politics in the present. With case studies from Africa, East and Southeast Asia, Europe, South America, and the United States, the Handbook focuses on the political features of historical memory in international relations. Chapters examine key concepts of memory politics, including accountability, commemoration and memorialization, the (...) Europeanization of memory, and the politics of trauma and victimhood, as well as analyzing different sites of memory, from the human body and memorial sites to media, film, and television. It also answers essential questions such as who and what determines the relevance of the past in the present; how does memory become a political question; and what are the political effects and ethical implications of its mobilization? Exploring the links between the politics of memory, international ethics, law, and diplomacy, this stimulating Handbook will be essential reading for students and scholars of politics and international relations, cultural studies, history, and transitional justice. Its discussion of notable agents and practices of memory politics will also be beneficial for practitioners working in human rights, politics, and public policy. (shrink)

Mental representation has long been central to standard accounts of action and cognition generally, and in the context of sport. We argue for an enactive and embodied account that rejects the idea that representation is necessary for cognition, and posit instead that cognition arises, or is enacted, in certain types of interactions between organisms and their environment. More specifically, we argue that enactive theories explain some kinds of high-level cognition, those that underlie some of the best performances in sport and (...) similar practices (dance, martial arts), better than representational accounts. Flow and mushin (mindfully fluid awareness) are explained enactively to this end. This results in a mutually beneficial analysis where enactivism offers theoretical and practical advantages as an explanation of high performance in sports, while the latter validates enactivism. (shrink)

Dentro de las diversas visiones críticas que de la modernidad se han realizado a lo largo del siglo XX, la malagueña María Zambrano nos ofrece una reflexión original y sugerente sobre el significado y la transcendencia del descubrimiento cartesiano del existente humano como cogito. El hombre nacido de la modernidad ha experimentado una merma progresiva y honda de la amplitud de su ser persona a favor de una consideración de sujeto; con ello, también la realidad ha quedado reducida a (...) mero objeto de razón. El resultado es un hombre abismado, que vive de espaldas a la realidad, y por tanto enemistado con la verdad tal como ella se ofrece en lo real, y en consecuencia cerrado desde dentro a la transcendencia. Frente a los postulados de la modernidad, Zambrano desarrolla una razón radicalmente abierta a la vida y constituida en trascendencia. (shrink)

El objeto del presente estudio es ahondar en la concepción religiosa de David Hume y en su idea de Dios, así como profundizar en este interesante pilar de su estructura filosófico-empírica. El contexto histórico-filosófico en el cual este autor investigó sobre dicho tema, así como las diferentes visiones del mencionado objeto de estudio, serán, por tanto, tenidas en suficiente consideración.

El presente ensayo estudia la relación de los principales totalitarismos del siglo XX con el recorrido vital e intelectual de varios filósofos y escritores en distintos países y contextos. Se trata de analizar las circunstancias de esos “intelectuales” con respecto a la vinculación que mantuvieron con las doctrinas totalitarias.//The present essay studies the relation of the principal totalitarianisms of the XXth century with the vital and intellectual tour of several philosophers and writers in different countries and contexts. It is a (...) question of analyzing the circumstances of these “intellectuals” with regard to the entail that they supported with the totalitarian doctrines. (shrink)

Richard Rorty is one of the most important philosophers of our current world. His thought, inside the movement known as pragmatism, has had a great influence in the North American universities. This article treats on his principal work, Philosophy and future, in that the central concepts of the philosophy they are put in context, looking for it real utility and assuming the conflicts that they generate.

This paper examines and contrasts the Chinese notion of ‘inside-outside connectivity’ emphasized in Taijiquan studies with French philosopher Gilles Deleuze’s concept of ‘Body without Organs.’ Pursuing this dialogue while relating this to sport redresses a lack of novel thought and linkages with contemporary thought in Chinese scholarship, and most interestingly for sport, opens new lines of inquiry that help redefine our bodies as holistic sites of performance.

Testimonio que recoge algunas experiencias y reflexiones de la artista visual costarricense María Rapela en Alemania y de cómo se involucró en la gestión cultural, coordinando el Fieber Festival, una plataforma colaborativa y auto-gestionada de mujeres artistas migrantes iberoamericanas en Berlín entre el 2011 y el 2017.

Holism and the Cultivation of Excellence in Sports and Performance is a multi-methodological and cross-cultural examination of how we flourish holistically through performative endeavors, e.g., sports, martial and performing arts. Relying primarily on sport philosophy, value theory, phenomenology, philosophy of mind, pragmatism, and East Asian philosophies (Japanese and Chinese), it espouses thick holism. Concerned with an integrative bodymind gradually achieved through performance that aims at excellence, the process of self-cultivation proper of thick holism relies on an ecologically rich epistemic landscape (...) where skills are coupled to virtues in pragmatic contexts. Ultimately, this process results in admirable performances and exemplary character. Japanese do (practices of self-cultivation) are prominent modes and models of such flourishing. A holistic and radically enactive approach that advances contentless capacities in lieu of representations transparently accounts for the kind of action that characterizes such expert performances. Importantly, these performer-centered endeavors unfold within communities that foster the cultivation of our abilities as lifelong quests for human excellence. Each chapter can be read independently but still forms part of a continuous argumentative and narrative thread. This book was previously published as a special issue of Sport, Ethics and Philosophy. (shrink)

A phenomenological model is developed as an alternative to current analyses of the imagination in sport philosophy, heirs to an Enlightenment notion that conceptualizes imaginings as abstract, eidetic, and representational. EC describes how Eidetic and Corporeal Imaginings phenomenologically structure our imaginative undertakings. EIs keep the ‘ideal’ aspect, but CIs—enacted, corporeal, non-representational—are more fundamental and foundational. Sports are particularly suited to express CIs’ muscular imaginings, which result in novel performances. An enactive framework theorizes CIs as non-representational interactions.

Silence is reserved for what cannot be verbally expressed. The well-known Wittgensteinian quote summarizes an established understanding of the relationship between language and silence: because language is not enough to account for reality and thinking, it must be transcended by other means of expression, like music or silence. But what if the opposite is the case and silence is not the extension but the precondition of language, the ultimate source of meaning? This paper explores how this is the phenomenological and (...) Derridean philosophical framework of Coetzee’s novels, a literary universe created from the will to signify and build singular meanings. (shrink)

Excellent performance in sport involves specialized and refined skills within very narrow applications. Choking throws a wrench in the works of finely tuned performances. Functionally, and reduced to its simplest expression, choking is severe underperformance when engaging already mastered skills. Choking is a complex phenomenon with many intersecting facets: its dysfunctions result from the multifaceted interaction of cognitive and psychological processes, neurophysiological mechanisms, and phenomenological dynamics. This article develops a phenomenological model that, complementing empirical and theoretical research, helps understand and (...) redress choking. It aims at describing the experience of choking as experience, and to discuss strategies to palliate or prevent its onset at the pragmatic level at which athletes engage the phenomenon experientially. An overview of current empirical research and theoretical models highlights key ideas and points out contentious issues. The model describes the common structure of the choking experience. It identifies four core constitutive elements: A) disruptive proprioceptive and kinesthetic dynamics, B) a malfunctioning background or Jamesian fringe of consciousness, C) dislocated time dynamics, and D) emotional disturbances. The novelty of the remedy is that it is designed to cross disciplinary boundaries between phenomenology, historiography, and hermeneutics, and moreover connects theory to praxis as it looks at Japanese dō, practices of self-cultivation. It focuses on actual do-or-die situations, not putative ones such as important business deals or competing for a medal. To this effect, it examines medieval Japanese swordsmanship and training manuals and also engages risk sports, where death is indeed a real possibility. The manuals, which arise in the context of choke-inducing life or death duels, and risk sports, afford keen phenomenological observations and practical advice that prove invaluable for today’s sports world and beyond. (shrink)

Conceptions of evil have changed dramatically over time, and though humans continue to commit acts of cruelty against one another, today we possess a clearer, more moral way of analyzing them. In _Narrating Evil_, María Pía Lara explores what has changed in our understanding of evil, why the transformation matters, and how we can learn from this specific historical development. Drawing on Immanuel Kant's and Hannah Arendt's ideas about reflective judgment, Lara argues that narrative plays a key role in (...) helping societies acknowledge their pasts. Particular stories haunt our consciousness and lead to a kind of examination and dialogue that shape notions of morality. A powerful description of a crime can act as a filter, helping us to draw conclusions about what constitutes a moral wrong, and public debates over these narratives allow us to construct a more accurate picture of historical truth, leading to a better understanding of why such actions are possible. In building her argument, Lara considers Greek tragedies, Shakespeare's depictions of evil, Joseph Conrad's literary metaphors, and movies that portray human cruelty. Turning to such philosophers and writers as Jürgen Habermas, Walter Benjamin, Primo Levi, Giorgio Agamben, and Ariel Dorfman, Lara defines a reflexive relationship between an event, the narrative of the event, and the public reception of the narrative, and she proves that the stories of perpetrators and sufferers are always intertwined. The process of disclosure, debate, and the public fashioning of collective judgment are vital methods through which we make sense not only of new forms of cruelty but of past crimes as well. _Narrating Evil_ describes the steps of this process and why they are a crucial part of our attempt to build a different, more just world. (shrink)

Important empirically informed proposals of virtue cultivation invoke techniques of goal pursuit. This paper argues that these techniques are effective in changing behavior due to the attention narrowing they bring about, and further show that such attention narrowing can threaten the appropriate exercise of phronetic-related capacities. When these phronetic-related capacities are threatened, two derivative problems arise: (1) One can end up acting in morally inappropriate ways, and (2) Even in cases where one performs the morally appropriate action, one nonetheless can (...) fail to notice and appreciate features of moral value. In light of these concerns, such techniques of goal pursuit – at least, by themselves – serve the most good for those who are merely trying to avoid vice, rather than cultivate virtue. And so, I suggest that such accounts of virtue cultivation are incomplete. I then go on to argue that these undesirable effects of attention narrowing brought about by these goal pursuit techniques may be ameliorated by also engaging in certain indirect modifications of cognition, particularly those which broaden attention. The suggestion, then, is that attention narrowing techniques of goal pursuit, along with attention broadening modifications, might best facilitate virtue cultivation when employed together. While the particulars of how we might best go about this are currently unclear, this paper ends by looking at empirical research on Open Monitoring Meditation as providing a hopeful option that might be further investigated. (shrink)

One moon shows in every pool; in every pool, the one moon. (Zen Saying)1Thirty spokes converge on a hub/but it’s the emptiness/that makes the wheel work/pots are fashioned from clay/but it’s the ho...