Izhajajoč iz Montaignovega eseja Apologie de Raimond Sebond skuSa avtor osvetliti razliko med povezovanjem tako imenovanih razlogov za dvom, se pravi čutnih zmot, norosti in sanj pri Montaignu in v Descartesovi Prvi meditaciji. V zvezi z demonom kot razlogom oziroma sredstvom za dvom pa skuša - ob navezavi na Popkinovo tezo, da bi bilo zgodovinski vir Descarte-sovega demona mogoče iskati v znamenitem sodnem procesu zoper Urbaina Grandierja, do katerega je v začetku tridesetih let 17. stoletja prišlo v Loudunu v Franciji (...) - opozoriti na določeno ujemanje med Descartesovo lastno držo do demona v Prvi meditaciji, da bo namreč trdno odločen pazil, da mu ta varljivec ne bo mogel vsiliti kaj lažnega, in odklonilnim stališčem teologov s pariške Sorbone do pričevanja demonov na tedanjih sodnih procesih. (shrink)

Diderot?s universe is somewhat weird, often dreamlike and hallucinatory, and his ontology fluid and elusive. It comprises the existing, the non-existent and even contradictory entities, the boundaries between which cannot always be clearly delimited. This universe in which nothing is of the essence of a particular being and everything is more or less something or other, resembles the amorphous and oneiric world of Zhuangzi in which nothing is clearly defined, while essenceless things, floating in uncertainty and indeterminacy, literally blend into (...) one another. The author examines what the early Hollywood comedies of Preston Sturges and the Marx brothers can teach us about the metaphysics and the principles at work in this complex and intricate world. Didroov univerzum je unekoliko neobican, cesto nalik na san, halucinatoran, a njegova ontologija fluidna i neuhvatljiva. Ona, naime, obuhvata kako postojeca tako i nepostojeca, pa cak i protivrecna bica, izmedju kojih nije uvek moguce postaviti jasne granice. Taj univerzum, u kojem nista nema sustinu posebnog bica i svaka stvar je vise ili manje bilo koja stvar, mozda jos najvise podseca na Cuang Ceov amorfni i oniricni svet, u kojem nema nicega razgovetnog, a stvari koje bez ikakve esencije plutaju u neizvesnosti i neodredjenosti se doslovno prelivaju jedna u drugu. Autor razmatra sta nam o metafizici i principima koji vaze u tom kompleksnom i slozenom svetu mogu reci rane holivudske komedije Prestona Stardzesa i brace Marks. (shrink)

Filozofija prvega človeka pred grehom, tj. filozofija v paradižu, je bila malebranchevski okazionalizem. Če bi Adam vztrajal v okazionalistični drži, do greha ne bi prišlo. Prav padec iz okazionalizma je bil potemtakem tisti, ki je povzročil Adamov padec. Okazionalizem je bil očitno možen samo ob božji razveljavitvi določenih naravnih zakonov, z eno besedo, možen je bil samo v paradižu. A dejstvo, daje klonil celo najbolj prepričani okazionalist, Adam, in to v času, ko je - s tem, daje njemu v prid (...) delal izjemo v naravnih zakonih - njegovo okazionalistično prepričanje posredno vzdrževal sam Bog, najbrž govori o tem, da se okazionalizem, kot filozofija, ni mogel obdržati niti z božjo pomočjo. (shrink)

The article considers the eponymous character of Du Marsais's Le Philosophe and examines his moral rationalism. In the eyes of Du Marsais's sage, the ways of virtue are not necessarily as painful as they might seem to those who are willing to stick to them solely in the hope of the promised post-mortem rewards, and the ways of vice are not necessarily as pleasant as they might seem to those who avoid them primarily out of fear of the threatened post-mortem (...) punishment. The sage is not encouraged to be virtuous by the prospect of eternal pleasure, nor is he deterred from vice by the thought of eternal suffering. For him, virtuous behaviour, i.e., observing the rules of probity, is in itself a source of genuine pleasure; likewise, he finds sinful behaviour repelling in itself: since the sense of probity enters as much into the mechanical constitution of the sage as the enlightenment of the mind, any action contrary to probity is also contrary to his very nature. (shrink)

Slovenian philosopher Miran Bozovic's An Utterly Dark Spot examines the elusive status of the body in early modern European philosophy by examining its various encounters with the gaze. Its range is impressive, moving from the Greek philosophers and theorists of the body (Aristotle, Plato, Hippocratic medical writers) to early modern thinkers (Spinoza, Leibniz, Malebranche, Descartes, Bentham) to modern figures including Jon Elster, Lacan, Althusser, Alfred Hitchcock, Stephen J. Gould, and others. Bozovic provides startling glimpses into various foreign mentalities haunted by (...) problems of divinity, immortality, creation, nature, and desire, provoking insights that invert familiar assumptions about the relationship between mind and body. The perspective is Lacanian, but Bozovic explores the idiosyncrasies of his material (e.g., the bodies of the Scythians, the transvestites transformed and disguised for the gaze of God; or Adam's body, which remained unseen as long as it was the only one in existence) with an attention to detail that is exceptional among Lacanian theorists. The approach makes for engaging reading, as Bozovic stages imagined encounters between leading thinkers, allowing them to converse about subjects that each explored, but in a different time and place. While its focus is on a particular problem in the history of philosophy, An Utterly Dark Spot will appeal to those interested in cultural studies, semiotics, theology, the history of religion, and political philosophy as well. Miran Bozovic is Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of Ljubljana, Slovenia. He is the author of Der grosse Andere: Gotteskonzepte in der Philosophie der Neuzeit (Vienna: Verlag Turia & Kant, 1993) and editor of The Panopticon Writings by Jeremy Bentham (London: Verso, 1995). (shrink)

The paper considers the multiplication of speech organs in Diderot's first novel Les Bijoux indiscrets. The main plot device of the novel—the talking "jewels" or female sex organs— enables Diderot to confront two different conceptions of the soul, the spiritual and material, in one and the same body. The voice coming from the head, traditionally held to be the seat of the soul, is contradicted by a voice that comes from that part of the body which is traditionally considered as (...) to be the least submissive to the head or mind. When the body rebels against the women who believe themselves to be spiritual substances in command of the body to which they are united, it is in fact the soul which is identical with the body or with its organization that really rebels against them, and objects to the false portrayal of its seat—and function— in the body. Strictly speaking, by unmasking the testimony of the women as a lie, the jewels expose the very spiritualist position itself as a lie. The paper then argues that, unlike the spiritualism propounded by the head, the spontaneous philosophy of the "indiscreet jewels" is one of forthright materialism. (shrink)

The article examines Diderot’s view of the inconstancy of nature and its corollaries, the most obvious of which is the recognition of the impossibility of philosophy and natural history. For, if everything in nature is in a state of flux, no theory can keep up with its changes, reflect on them and capture anything more than an isolated moment. Diderot’s conception of nature has important consequences for his aesthetic theory. If the goal of the fine arts is to imitate nature, (...) and if everything in nature undergoes constant change, does it not mean that art—no less than philosophy and natural history—is also impossible? By focusing on Diderot’s novel Rameau’s Nephew, I argue that the lesson of the numerous mimes its eponymous hero performs in the novel is that the dynamics of nature can perhaps only be captured by mime rather than on canvas or in stone, both of which, as Diderot puts it, can represent only a fleeting moment. (shrink)

The paper discusses the metaphysical theory developed in the early eighteenth century in France by the so-called égoïstes, and explores some of its ramifications. In the eighteenth century French, the term égoïsme was used not only in the ethical sense, but also in the metaphysical sense, that is, to denote the extremist view that only oneself exists. The paper focuses primarily on Jean Brunet's work Projet d'une nouvelle métaphysique, published in 1703, which has since been lost, analyzing its fundamental principle (...) that the egoist's thought is the cause of the existence of all creatures, as found in a contemporary review of the book. Examining Brunet's "new metaphysics" within the framework of its own epistemology, the paper shows that the egoist philosopher himself was not trulyconvinced of the central tenet of his own metaphysical theory, that is, he did not sincerely believe that other minds were nothing other than modes of his thought or ideas that refer to nothing outside his mind, and argues that the very existence of Projet d'une nouvelle métaphysique in the form of a book in the mind of its author was contrary to the metaphysical theory expounded in it. (shrink)

Knjiga obravnava nekatera pojmovanja odnosa med telesom in filozofijo v 17. in 18. stoletju, natančneje v okazionalizmu, francoskem materializmu in britanskem utilitarizmu. Razdelek o okazionalizmu med drugim obravnava Malebranchevo pojmovanje telesa prvega človeka, ki je določalo njegova filozofska prepričanja, to pa celo do te mere, da je sprememba v njegovi fiziologiji, do katere je prišlo ob grehu, usodno zaznamovala ves nadaljnji potek zgodovine filozofije. Razdelek o materializmu poskuša rekonstruirati filozofijo, ki jo razvija sámo telo, ki je pri Diderotu dobesedno prišlo (...) do besede. Trdno prepričan, da telo ve o samem sebi več, kot ve duh o njem, Diderot razvije filozofijo materializma kot govor telesa o samem sebi. Razdelek o utilitarizmu pa med drugim obravnava Benthamovo filozofijo telesa po smrti in sámo telo, katerega posmrtna usoda je rezultat te filozofije, namreč filozofovo lastno ohranjeno telo oziroma tako imenovano avto-ikono, ki je bilo v očeh utilitarističnega modreca tisto, ki bo po smrti »njegov lastni jaz«. (shrink)