Mathematical and Elemental Coordinates: The Role of Imagination

2014 ◽  
Vol 44 (2) ◽  
pp. 161-169
Author(s):  
Bernard Freydberg

Both in Force of Imagination: The Sense of the Elemental (2000) and in his very recent Logic of Imagination: The Expanse of the Elemental (2012), John Sallis enacts a reconfiguration of the relationship of geometry to elementology, which might be regarded more generally as a rethinking of the relation of mathematics to philosophy. The paper will trace this reconfiguration in two ways: (1) as it lies present but concealed in the history of philosophy, for example, in Descartes’ so-called “dualism” and in Kant’s pure productive imagination, and (2) in its present creative evolution in fractal geometry, as Sallis interprets it. Sallis draws together the mathematical affinity with a fundamental aesthetic drive, likening mathematical patterns to choreographic ones. I conclude by following this strain as it points to specific dance companies, and to my own sense of aesthetic homecoming as presented in my Imagination in Kant’s Critique of Practical Reason.

2020 ◽  
Vol 63 (4) ◽  
pp. 115-131
Author(s):  
Maria M. Kuznetsova

The article examines the philosophy of Henri Bergson and William James as independent doctrines aimed at rational comprehension of spiritual reality. The doctrines imply the paramount importance of consciousness, the need for continuous spiritual development, the expansion of experience and perception. The study highlights the fundamental role of spiritual energy for individual and universal evolution, which likens these doctrines to the ancient Eastern teaching as well as to Platonism in Western philosophy. The term “spiritual energy” is used by Bergson and James all the way through their creative career, and therefore this concept should considered in the examination of their solution to the most important philosophical and scientific issues, such as the relationship of matter and spirit, consciousness and brain, cognition, free will, etc. The “radical empiricism” of William James and the “creative evolution” of Henry Bergson should be viewed as conceptions that based on peacemaking goals, because they are aimed at reconciling faith and facts, science and religion through the organic synthesis of sensory and spiritual levels of experience. Although there is a number of modern scientific discoveries that were foreseen by philosophical ideas of Bergson and James, both philosophers advocate for the artificial limitation of the sphere of experimental methods in science. They call not to limit ourselves to the usual intellectual schemes of reality comprehension, but attempt to touch the “living” reality, which presupposes an increase in the intensity of attention and will, but finally brings us closer to freedom.


Author(s):  
Don C. Postema

Understanding the role of ethics committees in providing ethics consultations, ethics education, and ethics-related policies is the context for exploring the relationship of ethics, psychiatry, and religious and spiritual beliefs. After a brief history of biomedical ethics in the United States since the mid-20th century, this chapter presents several case studies that exemplify frequently encountered tensions in these relationships. The central contention is that respecting these beliefs is not equivalent to acquiescing to ethical claims based on them. Rigorous critical reflection and psychiatric insight, coupled with the values embedded in the social practices of healthcare, provide the grounds for evaluating the weight and bearing of religious and spiritual beliefs in ethically complex cases. This is one contribution that ethics committees can make at the intersection of psychiatry and religion.


Author(s):  
Justin E. H. Smith

This Introduction takes a broadly focused, global, and comparative view of the concept of embodiment, focusing particularly on some of the ways it has been interpreted outside of the history of European thought. It also provides a general overview of the central concerns and questions of the volume as a whole, such as: What is the historical and conceptual relationship between the idea of embodiment and the idea of subjecthood? Am I who I am principally in virtue of the fact that I have the body I have? Relatedly, what is the relationship of embodiment to being and to individuality? Is embodiment a necessary condition of being? Of being an individual? What are the theological dimensions of embodiment? To what extent has the concept of embodiment been deployed in the history of philosophy to contrast the created world with the state of existence enjoyed by God? What are the normative dimensions of theories of embodiment? To what extent is the problem of embodiment a distinctly western preoccupation?


Author(s):  
Priscila Monteiro Chaves ◽  
Gomercindo Ghiggi

Resumo: Considerando o avanço das tecnologias bem como o binômio indissociável formado por ela e pela ciência – e consequentemente atrelados à educação –, configurando práticas enraizadas culturalmente na sociedade atual, o presente artigo traz como objetivo central discutir a relação da técnica (tékhné) com a concepção de homem que se quer formar, à luz das críticas adornianas. Ponderando o imperativo de subverter a ideologia utilitarista da educação, tal reflexão se justifica pela necessidade de compreensão do papel do educador, bem como da instituição escolar, mediante tal avanço nos últimos tempos. Concluindo que esta relação não pode suceder de maneira alienada, acrítica e indiferente, pois uma educação após Auschwitz deve certamente estar receptiva à relevância essencial da tecnologia em um mundo contemporâneo. No entanto, não é o sujeito que está a serviço dela e sim a relação contrária, em que o educando possa valer-se dos recursos tecnológicos como mais uma dimensão do agir humano. Como potente braço prolongado do operari humano, pensada como acontecimento paradigmático na história do ser. Palavras-chave: Theodor Adorno; tecnologia; educação; professor. TECHNOLOGY, SCIENCE AND THE ROLE OF EDUCATION: A CRITICAL CONSIDERATION OF THEODOR W. ADORNO Abstract: Considering the advancement of technologies as well as the inseparable duo formed by her and science - and thus tied to education - setting culturally rooted practices in today's society, this paper aims at discussing the relationship of technique (tékhné) with the concept of man constructed in the light of adornian criticism. Given the imperative to subvert the utilitarian ideology of education. Such reflection is justified by the necessity of understanding the role of the educator as well as the school, by this advance in recent times. Concluding that this relationship can not succeed in an alienated, uncritical and indifferent way, since an education after Auschwitz should certainly be receptive to the special importance of technology in a contemporary world. However, it is not the subject who is in her service, but the opposite relationship, in which the student can make use of technological resources as another dimension of human action. A powerful extended arm of human operari, thought as paradigmatic event in the history of being. Keywords: Theodor Adorno; technology; education; teacher.  


2019 ◽  
pp. 85-99 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cláudia Faria ◽  
Elsa Guilherme ◽  
Joaquim Pintassilgo ◽  
Maria João Mogarro ◽  
Ana Sofia Pinho ◽  
...  

In this paper we present an evaluation of an App for mobile devices, ‘Roteiro dos Descobrimentos’, as an educational digital resource for primary school students. The study involved the participation of 131 students and eight teachers. Data were collected from participant observation, students’ questionnaires and interviews to students and teachers. According to students, they learned new things, related with the topics explored, in an easy and funny way. Students also emphasized as positive aspects the fact that they had to face different challenges and the need to mobilize their knowledge to solve them. Teachers referred that students showed great interest and enthusiasm during the activities. As main gains, teachers stressed that the application fosters the relationship of students with the city, facilitates collaboration, and promotes students’ autonomy. In resume, it seems that the playful and interactive dimension of the App promoted the development of important skills such as the ability to interact with the environment, collaborative work, autonomy, and reading and interpretation skills. As a conclusion, there is a great receptivity to integrate mobile technologies in the teaching and learning process, but the role of the teacher can’t be dismissed, as a mediator and educator.


2018 ◽  
Vol 16 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 253-312
Author(s):  
David Durand-Guédy

AbstractThis article deals with the history of Isfahan during the five centuries between the arrival of the Turks and the beginning of the Safavid period. It attempts to identify the continuities and ruptures from three different perspectives: To what extent can we speak of an urban decline? What was the relationship of the Isfahanis with the imperial rulers? How did the general context impact the makeup and the organisation of the society? It appears that Isfahan demonstrated remarkable resilience over the period, and that it is only beginning with the Timurid period that we can speak of a decline. Likewise, there is remarkable continuity in the ways in which the local elites collaborated with or resisted the imperial players. The role of the Ṣāʿid family, which held the cadial function over four centuries, is emblematic in this respect. Conversely, under special circumstances, the imperial players were able to exert great substantial influence on the local communities, and it is this political backing which explains the strengthening of the Hanafis in the sixth/twelfth century, and that of the Shiis in the following. One of the main accomplishments of this synthesis view of Isfahan history is that it assesses the effects of the Mongol domination relative to that of other periods.


2017 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 54-79 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gregory Asmolov ◽  
Polina Kolozaridi

By exploring the changes among online elites who have constructed the Internet, this article traces the unique history of the Russian Internet (RuNet). Illustrating how changes in online elites can be associated with changes in the socio-political role of the online space in general, it concludes that, although the Internet is of global nature, its space is constructed on the level of nation, culture and language. To show this, the article presents five stages in the development of RuNet, suggesting that the change in the stages is associated with the relationship of power between, first, actors (users, developers, the government, etc.) that construct Internet space and, second, alternative elites that emerge online and the traditional elites that seek to take the online space under their control by making their imaginary dominate.


Author(s):  
Petr V. Klenin

The article deals with the historical and philosophical examination of the educational concepts by Plato and Fichte. The philosophers selected for comparative studies present a view of education as an engine of political changes, that`s why the article emphasizes philosophical explication of their positions. Plato’s and Fichte’s views on the problem of education are different as they both lived in different époques, but they were times of crisis. However, their loyalty to the societal ideal, the purpose of rethinking the value of education in the state, make it possible to compare their teachings. Education in Plato’s philosophy aims to change the state fundamentally, when education in Fichte’s philosophy contributes to its transformation. The specific pedagogical procedures established by both philosophers are in focus of this article and are important for understanding the relationship of philosophy and education. Thus, Plato proposes to divide pedagogical tasks in accordance with inequality of social estates, while Fichte considers education as a national project for civil society. The relevance of this problem stems from modern appeals to reform the education system depending on political and social problems, but philosophers approach this issue from а different point of view and it is important to trace the peculiarities of this approach in light of history of Philosophy.


2020 ◽  
Vol 74 (4) ◽  
pp. 78-82
Author(s):  
S. Zhirenov ◽  
◽  
А. Smanova ◽  
Zh. Nebesaeva ◽  
◽  
...  

The article considers the coding of the system of national values in Kazakh art and their linguistic expression in the linguocultural aspect. There is a linguistic representation of the place of art in the national culture, the activity of cultural values in the worldview of the ethnos. If the indicator of the culture of an ethnos is cultural values, then the value of cultural values is determined by language. Art is an indicator of cultural and social life, endowed with the ancient cultural and spiritual value of the national existence of the ethnos. Considering that different forms of art and their compositions are marked and distinguished by language, the article analyzes in detail the question of the relationship of art to language, language to art. The existence of such categories as the history of a nation and the ethics of words, culture and art of an ethnos, aesthetic cognition and taste, folk wisdom and spiritual food is considered in the existence of a language. The role of language in expressing the essence of art is described in detail.


Cells ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (11) ◽  
pp. 202
Author(s):  
Ralph Gräf

The centrosome is not only the largest and most sophisticated protein complex within a eukaryotic cell, in the light of evolution, it is also one of its most ancient organelles. This special issue of “Cells” features representatives of three main, structurally divergent centrosome types, i.e., centriole-containing centrosomes, yeast spindle pole bodies (SPBs), and amoebozoan nucleus-associated bodies (NABs). Here, I discuss their evolution and their key-functions in microtubule organization, mitosis, and cytokinesis. Furthermore, I provide a brief history of centrosome research and highlight recently emerged topics, such as the role of centrioles in ciliogenesis, the relationship of centrosomes and centriolar satellites, the integration of centrosomal structures into the nuclear envelope and the involvement of centrosomal components in non-centrosomal microtubule organization.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document