This essay examines an American 19th-century sculpture, Howard Roberts＇ Hypatia, both historically and aesthetically （see Figures 1 and 2）. Problems of interpretation are found at both levels because of limited doc...This essay examines an American 19th-century sculpture, Howard Roberts＇ Hypatia, both historically and aesthetically （see Figures 1 and 2）. Problems of interpretation are found at both levels because of limited documentation. However, a speculative analysis adapting Plotinus＇ notions on the ＂delight of the intellect＂ and of ＂seeing＂ assist in considering beauty in the carved form, even if the subject is grave. What prompted this commission and who commissioned this work are questions to be considered.展开更多
The focus of the present research is not on expected developments that are by one means or another linked to the concept of sustainability and to questions, whether current sustainability-models are fit for the future...The focus of the present research is not on expected developments that are by one means or another linked to the concept of sustainability and to questions, whether current sustainability-models are fit for the future, so that they can be employed as corrective or functional factors applicable to the planning and governance of predictable scenarios in the field of ecology, economy, and social issues. But the focus lies on questions like： How does the concept of sustainability relate to the future？ How is the future as such affected and conditioned by the concept of sustainability？ To what extent is the concept of sustainability open to the future and how can the concept of sustainability conceive of something like the future？ The aim of the paper is therefore to clarify and better understand what is at stake when we address a sustainable future, i.e. a future under the conditions of an economy, of a technology, of a science that is supposed to be sustainable. The paper is based on a distinction that has its part in the tradition of ethics with far-reaching consequences for what throughout this tradition was called into question namely： the ethos （the dimension of the human being）. It is the distinction between two aspirant principles. In terms of form, the one allows and sustains accomplishment, whereas the other doesn＇t. As for the former, the reference is mainly to classical ethical positions （on the one hand Plato and Aristotle, on the other hand Kant）. As for the latter, on which the focus of this research lies, a phenomenological analysis of the concept of sustainability might help in its comprehension as well as in the understanding of the way in which we, today, by complying with it, conceive of something like an open future.展开更多
This paper examines the expression of being from the syntactic perspective in the framework of Cassirer＇s philosophy of language in his Philosophy of Symbolic Forms. It first introduces the debate about the validity ...This paper examines the expression of being from the syntactic perspective in the framework of Cassirer＇s philosophy of language in his Philosophy of Symbolic Forms. It first introduces the debate about the validity of the question of being between the logical and ontological perspectives, represented by J. S. Mill＇s attempt to annul the question and Heidegger＇s counter argument. It then moves to the syntactic perspective by using Aquinas＇ statement that in every apprehension being should be present, and then reconsiders the function of copula in a sentence. The main part of this article follows Cassirer＇s argument by picking up the so-called ＂war of the giants＂ between the Heraclitean flux and the Parmenidean immovable being in the context of language in Plato＇s three dialogues, namely Cratylus, Theaetetus, and Sophist. It then moves on to Cassirer＇s Kantian scheme of analysis to handle the Platonic question, and argues that words and sentences are different moments of unit formation in our consciousness. It concludes with Cassirer＇s argument of the priority of sentence over words, and that the concentration merely on the copula is a limited approach to the question. The purpose of this paper is to show Cassirer＇s contribution to the problem of being by shifting the attention from semantics to the syntax and by breaking new ground from neo-Kantianism, and offers an approach to understand the role of language in our knowledge of the objective world which is neither purely nominal nor realist.展开更多
My purpose here is to offer a critical self-reflection and meditation on Deng Zhenglai＇s unexpected and tragic passing. Drawing from the classical and critical Western traditions, with intermingled references to the ...My purpose here is to offer a critical self-reflection and meditation on Deng Zhenglai＇s unexpected and tragic passing. Drawing from the classical and critical Western traditions, with intermingled references to the Heraclitus, Plato, Aristotle, Hegel, Marx, Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Freud, Benjamin, and Foucault, among others,I consider Deng＇s death as a personal death and as well as the death of everyman, while also humbling myself in consideration of his many achievements and sacrifices. The passing of a person like Deng offers a moment of sobriety and pause, when the best among us lays face up under a thin white sheet. Such people attract both supporters and critics and the only certainty between them is that death is that final, terrible cure, the one that settles all scores. Sometimes, such moments of sobriety produce their opposite, whether a modicum of panic or outright hysteria, when emotional responses overwhelm rational ones. When that happens it is helpful for the secular mind to return to philosophy, albeit like a penitent seeking both mercy and a few moments more within and without the Mystery and eternal pity.展开更多
文摘This essay examines an American 19th-century sculpture, Howard Roberts＇ Hypatia, both historically and aesthetically （see Figures 1 and 2）. Problems of interpretation are found at both levels because of limited documentation. However, a speculative analysis adapting Plotinus＇ notions on the ＂delight of the intellect＂ and of ＂seeing＂ assist in considering beauty in the carved form, even if the subject is grave. What prompted this commission and who commissioned this work are questions to be considered.
文摘The focus of the present research is not on expected developments that are by one means or another linked to the concept of sustainability and to questions, whether current sustainability-models are fit for the future, so that they can be employed as corrective or functional factors applicable to the planning and governance of predictable scenarios in the field of ecology, economy, and social issues. But the focus lies on questions like： How does the concept of sustainability relate to the future？ How is the future as such affected and conditioned by the concept of sustainability？ To what extent is the concept of sustainability open to the future and how can the concept of sustainability conceive of something like the future？ The aim of the paper is therefore to clarify and better understand what is at stake when we address a sustainable future, i.e. a future under the conditions of an economy, of a technology, of a science that is supposed to be sustainable. The paper is based on a distinction that has its part in the tradition of ethics with far-reaching consequences for what throughout this tradition was called into question namely： the ethos （the dimension of the human being）. It is the distinction between two aspirant principles. In terms of form, the one allows and sustains accomplishment, whereas the other doesn＇t. As for the former, the reference is mainly to classical ethical positions （on the one hand Plato and Aristotle, on the other hand Kant）. As for the latter, on which the focus of this research lies, a phenomenological analysis of the concept of sustainability might help in its comprehension as well as in the understanding of the way in which we, today, by complying with it, conceive of something like an open future.
文摘This paper examines the expression of being from the syntactic perspective in the framework of Cassirer＇s philosophy of language in his Philosophy of Symbolic Forms. It first introduces the debate about the validity of the question of being between the logical and ontological perspectives, represented by J. S. Mill＇s attempt to annul the question and Heidegger＇s counter argument. It then moves to the syntactic perspective by using Aquinas＇ statement that in every apprehension being should be present, and then reconsiders the function of copula in a sentence. The main part of this article follows Cassirer＇s argument by picking up the so-called ＂war of the giants＂ between the Heraclitean flux and the Parmenidean immovable being in the context of language in Plato＇s three dialogues, namely Cratylus, Theaetetus, and Sophist. It then moves on to Cassirer＇s Kantian scheme of analysis to handle the Platonic question, and argues that words and sentences are different moments of unit formation in our consciousness. It concludes with Cassirer＇s argument of the priority of sentence over words, and that the concentration merely on the copula is a limited approach to the question. The purpose of this paper is to show Cassirer＇s contribution to the problem of being by shifting the attention from semantics to the syntax and by breaking new ground from neo-Kantianism, and offers an approach to understand the role of language in our knowledge of the objective world which is neither purely nominal nor realist.
文摘My purpose here is to offer a critical self-reflection and meditation on Deng Zhenglai＇s unexpected and tragic passing. Drawing from the classical and critical Western traditions, with intermingled references to the Heraclitus, Plato, Aristotle, Hegel, Marx, Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Freud, Benjamin, and Foucault, among others,I consider Deng＇s death as a personal death and as well as the death of everyman, while also humbling myself in consideration of his many achievements and sacrifices. The passing of a person like Deng offers a moment of sobriety and pause, when the best among us lays face up under a thin white sheet. Such people attract both supporters and critics and the only certainty between them is that death is that final, terrible cure, the one that settles all scores. Sometimes, such moments of sobriety produce their opposite, whether a modicum of panic or outright hysteria, when emotional responses overwhelm rational ones. When that happens it is helpful for the secular mind to return to philosophy, albeit like a penitent seeking both mercy and a few moments more within and without the Mystery and eternal pity.
