The author makes an attempt to show why (1) Darwin’s teaching in The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection and The Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex cannot be “scientific” in a modern, classical, or any, sense and that, consequently, in them, (2) Darwin did not scientifically prove the reality of evolution of species. He claims that, while the question of the origin of genera and species is principally and primarily a metaphysical problem, Darwin’s ignorance of the nature of philosophy and metaphysics and the complexity of the problem of the nature of genera and species caused him mistakenly to frame this metaphysical problem as one of physics, more precisely as one of biology, which Darwin reduced to a natural history of living, physical beings.
Retomando uma leitura política e social da Carta a d’Alembert proposta por Bento Prado Jr. e Luiz Roberto Salinas Fortes, este artigo busca estender e desdobrar algumas importantes implicações desta tradição de leitura: investigar uma reflexão econômica e os desenvolvimentos de uma economia política associada aos espetáculos, conforme apresentada na Carta. Afinal, contestando uma específica concepção de espetáculo defendida pelos enciclopedistas, Rousseau, sublinhando o caráter político presente nos debates sobre a atividade teatral, incessantemente se atenta para o contexto social e econômico no qual uma peça se insere. Neste contexto, considerando-se ainda a oposição que a Carta apresenta contra etnocentrismo dos philosophes, pretendemos analisar como então é desenvolvida uma crítica à ociosidade – ou uma apologia ao trabalho – que tem em vista fortalecer os argumentos dirigidos contra o teatro parisiense. Exploraremos, portanto, os aspectos de economia política que compõem a argumentação de Rousseau ao longo do texto.
[Resuming a political and social reading on the Letter to d’Alembert proposed by Bento Prado Jr. and Luiz Roberto Salinas Fortes, this paper aims to further important consequences carried out by this tradition: to analyze an economic reflection and the developments of political economy thoughts associated with the theatre, as presented in Rousseau’s Letter to d’Alembert. Challenging a specific conception of spectacles advocated by the encyclopedists, Rousseau, highlighting the political character present in the discussions on the theatrical activity, draws attention to the social context in which a play takes place. In this context, and considering the opposition that the Letter presents against the philosophes’ ethnocentrism, we aim to analyze how a critique of idleness – or a praise of labor – is developed, with a view to strengthen the arguments pointed against the Parisian theatre. Most of all, we will seek to highlight the political and economic aspects that make up Rousseau’s arguments.]
Schalk Hendrik Gerber, Willem Lodewikus van der Merwe
The debate on the possibility of re-thinking transcendence at the so-called end or closure of the metaphysical tradition and its relation to the political is situated at the heart of contemporary continental philosophy of religion. This article engages the debate by reviewing what is to be thought or anticipated at the closure. Firstly, the problem of engaging with transcendence at the closure of metaphysics is outlined as a discussion on what is possibly meant by the end of transcendence and onto-theology. Subsequently, the question concerning the political and its inseparable relation to transcendence is sketched and denoted by the phrase “the political/transcendence”. Secondly, Levinas’ and Nancy’s respective attempts at addressing the problem are explored in the form of a debate, with the outcome suggesting a possible gesture towards Nancy’s reconception of transcendence as transimmanence, found in his notion of “the promise of love”, on “how” to anticipate rather than “what” to anticipate in these end times.
Este artigo traz traços de uma importante discussão dentro do contexto da filosofia de Nicolau de Cusa, a saber, a discussão sobre o conceito de transsumptio e o uso de enigmas como uma saída para um discurso acerca do princípio primeiro, isto é, Deus. O objetivo é mostrar como esta perspectiva enigmática ou simbólica aparece na filosofia cusana, especialmente nas três obras que se propõe a discutir este trabalho: De docta ignorantia (1440), De visione dei (1453) e De non aliud (1462).
[This article brings out traces of an important discussion in the context of the philosophy of Nicholas of Cusa, i.e. the discussion about the concept of transsumptio and the use of puzzles as a way out for a discourse on the first principle, that is, God. The objective is to show how this enigmatic or symbolic perspective appears in the Cusan philosophy especially in the three works that this work proposes to discuss: De docta ignorantia (1440), De visione dei (1453) and De non aliud (1462).]
Ted Sider argues that nihilism about objects is incompatible with the metaphysical possibility of gunk and takes this point to show that nihilism is flawed. I shall describe one kind of nihilism able to answer this objection. I believe that most of the things we usually encounter do not exist. That is, I take talk of macroscopic objects and macroscopic properties to refer to sets of fundamental properties, which are invoked as a matter of linguistic convention. This view is a kind of nihilism: it rules out the existence of objects; that is, from an ontological point of view, there are no objects. But unlike the moderate nihilism of Mark Heller, Peter van Inwagen and Trenton Merricks that claims that most objects do not exist, I endorse a radical nihilism according to which there are no objects in the world, but only properties instantiated in spacetime. As I will show, radical nihilism is perfectly compatible with the metaphysical possibility of gunk. It is also compatible with the epistemic possibility that we actually live in a gunk world. The objection raised by Ted Sider only applies to moderate nihilism that admits some objects in its ontology.
In this paper we defend the thesis that the notion of life, in Foucault’s work, is not only the historical correlate of power and knowledge practices. Foucault argues a Vitalist ontological position, however intermittent and not at all explicit. The source of this philosophical choice in Foucault is not Nietzsche or Deleuze, but it coincides in many respects with the non-essentialist Vitalism of Georges Canguilhem. First, we compare Canguilhem and Foucault’s relation to the Kantian tradition, in its critical and transcendental aspects. Secondly, we confront the notion of life on the philosophical proposals of Canguilhem and Foucault. Finally we analyze the canguilhemian origin of the normalization foucauldian concept. This affiliation also regards the concept of biopolitics, referred to a power that acts on life, imitating its operation. This rooting of the thought of Foucault in the Vitalism of his master resolves two internal tensions in the path of the first: the justification of movements of revolt and self-formative character of subjectivity.
This article tries to highlight the explicit political aim and the importance for our present of the thought of the «late» Michel Foucault. Through the analysis of the role that truth plays in the pagan and Christian techniques of the self, it opposes a truth that we have to discover in ourselves in order to refuse it (Christianity) or to adhere to it (ethics of authenticity) to a truth conceived as a force of transformation of logos into ethos, of the discourse into a way of life.
Joachim Horn, Ragnhild Beate Gunderson, Anders Wensaas
et al.
Abstract Purpose We modified the method for tibial epiphysiodesis by solely using a lateral approach to the physis. From this small-incision approach, the lateral as well as the medial part of the tibial physis were ablated. The aim of our study was to see if this operative technique might be as effective as a bilateral approach, and reduce the operation time and usage time of the image intensifier. The epiphysiodeses were monitored by radiostereometric analysis (RSA), which is a well-established method for the analysis of micro movements and has been used to monitor percutaneous epiphysiodesis with the bilateral approach. There are no reports in the literature comparing single- with double-portal approaches for percutaneous epiphysiodesis evaluated by RSA. Methods Twenty children were treated by percutaneous epiphysiodesis for leg length discrepancies ranging from 15 to 70 mm, comprising 14 boys and 6 girls with a mean age of 13 (11–15) years. The timing of epiphysiodesis was determined by using Moseley's straight-line graph and Paley's multiplier method. For the tibial epiphysiodesis, ten patients were operated with a single surgical approach from the lateral side (Group I) and ten patients were operated with a surgical approach from both the medial and the lateral sides (Group II). The percutaneous epiphysiodesis was monitored by RSA, a method which allows analysis of the three-dimensional dynamics of the epiphysis relative to the metaphysics. RSA examinations were performed postoperatively and after 6 weeks, 12 weeks, and 6 months. Results From 0 to 6 weeks after epiphysiodesis, the mean longitudinal growth across the operated physis in the tibia in Group I was 0.26 (0.01–0.6) mm. In Group II, the mean growth for the first 6 weeks after surgery was 0.17 (0.01–0.5) mm. During the time period from 6 weeks to 12 weeks after surgery, there was a mean growth of 0.06 (0.00–0.18) mm in Group I and 0.03 (0.00–0.2) mm in Group II. The mean growth from 0 to 6 weeks after epiphysiodesis for all patients was 0.22 mm, which corresponds to 30 % of the normal growth rate. From 6 to 12 weeks, the mean growth for all patients was 0.046 mm, i.e., 6 % of the normal growth rate. From 12 weeks to 24 weeks, no significant growth across the operated physis was observed in neither Group I nor Group II. The mean surgical time was 26 (21–30) min in Group I and 43 (35–48) min in Group II. This difference was statistically significant ( p = 0.006). The mean time for use of the image intensifier during surgery was 202 (191–236) s in Group I and 229 (185–289) s in Group II ( p = 0.013). Conclusions In our study, a single-portal technique from the lateral side for percutaneous epiphysiodesis of the proximal tibia was as effective as the double-portal technique. Actual growth arrest appeared within 12 weeks after surgery. A single-portal technique for epiphysiodesis of the tibia is a safe technique, with less surgical time and less time for image intensification compared to the double-portal technique.
A recent theory of metaphysical indeterminacy says that metaphysical indeterminacy is multiple actuality: there is metaphysical indeterminacy when there are many ‘complete precisifications of reality’. But it is possible for there to be metaphysical indeterminacy even when it is impossible to precisify reality completely. The orthodox interpretation of quantum mechanics illustrates this possibility. So this theory of metaphysical indeterminacy is not adequate.
El artículo quiere examinar la cuestión de si hay incompatibilidad entre el universalismo moral de la Ilustración y el multiculturalismo de las sociedades del siglo XXI. Para ello analiza en qué consistió el universalismo moral de la Ilustración. De la mano de Habermas utiliza una distinción entre el proyecto procedimental-formal de la Ilustración y sus contenidos concretos, para señalar que lo importante era lo primero y que en el corazón de este proyecto ilustrado estaba la libertad de ser diferente, que era uno de los valores más importantes que la Ilustración quería extender, de manera que el universalismo moral no sólo no es incompatible con la diversidad cultural, sino que sería su condición de posibilidad. Seguidamente, el artículo analiza dos de las principales maneras de entender el multiculturalismo, las de Habermas y Appiah. El artículo acaba mostrando que incluso algunos de los más fervientes defensores del multiculturalismo, como Appiah o Parekh, admiten que para un mundo multicultural es esencial la existencia de algunos valores morales universales.