Addiction, Sin, and the Kierkegaardian Self: On Immanent and Transcendent Goods

2021 ◽  
pp. 009164712110385
Author(s):  
Samuel Davidson
Keyword(s):  
Recent Work ◽  
Human Being ◽  
The Core ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
The Relationship

The article analyzes the relationship between sin and addiction in the recent work of Sonia Waters and Kent Dunnington, teasing out an apparently irresolvable tension rooted in their respective understandings of what fuels the addictive process. It is argued that the core divergence lies in their differing interpretations of the good sought in addiction, with Waters emphasizing the immanent good of biological and psychosocial homeostasis and Dunnington foregrounding the transcendent good of ecstatic relation with God. The essay proposes to resolve this tension by rethinking the relationship between immanent and transcendent human goods, with reference to Kierkegaard’s The Sickness Unto Death. In his definition of the human being as a synthesis, Kierkegaard helps resolve the tension between the immanent and transcendent goods sought in addiction, while his conception of sin as the refusal of selfhood allows us to sharpen our understanding of whether and how it makes sense to frame addiction as participating in sin. It is concluded that addiction may be helpfully framed as a means of avoiding the task of becoming a self, and therefore as a means of remaining in the position of sin.

Embodied Inner Human Being

2014 ◽  
Vol 21 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 20-57
Author(s):  
Annette Weissenrieder ◽  
Gregor Etzelmüller
Keyword(s):  
Deep Understanding ◽  
The Body ◽  
Human Being ◽  
Ancient Medicine ◽  
The Core ◽  
Greco Roman ◽  
Medicine And Philosophy ◽  
Philosophical Texts ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
The Relationship

In this paper we take issue with George H. van Kooten’s recent argument that Paul’s concept of inner human being has a background in ancient philosophical treatises as a metaphor of the soul. We argue that its Greco-Roman physiological meaning was decisive in its adoption by Paul and that the split between ancient medicine and philosophy was not essential in antiquity. Ancient medical-philosophical texts did not focus on the core or center of a person but rather sought a deep understanding of his or her inner aspects. These texts sought to understand how it is that we can discover bodily information about this inner person and to what degree the relationship between the inner and outer person can be interpreted. At the same time, however, we are discussing Walter Burkert’s evolutionary understanding of Pauline’s concept of the inner and outer human being. Paul’s definition of the inner human being corresponds to recent anthropological concepts of embodiment insofar as the visible outer human being has an inside which, according to Paul, is not detached from the body, but must be grasped from a physical perspective.

The Distinctive Unity of the Human Being in Aquinas

2021 ◽  
pp. 580-595
Author(s):  
Therese Scarpelli Cory
Keyword(s):  
Human Being ◽  
Human Soul ◽  
Rational Animal ◽  
The Core ◽  
Definition Of

This chapter explores the fundamental vision of the human being at the core of Aquinas’ anthropology. Aquinas has typically been construed as defending a fundamentally ‘Aristotelian’ vision of the human being. I show that this label has generated a skewed reading of Aquinas. Accordingly, this chapter does not lay claim to identify what it would take for an anthropology to be authentically ‘Thomistic’. Instead, it makes a proposal concerning what I argue is the ‘guiding vision’ of Aquinas’ anthropology: namely the ‘distinctive unity of the human’. Aquinas prioritizes this notion of distinctive unity in the different areas of his anthropology. I explore how this distinctive unity is expressed (a) in Aquinas’ account of the human soul as the ‘horizon’ of the bodily and spiritual worlds, and (b) in his definition of the human being as ‘rational animal’.

Fine-tuning the Relationship between Religion and Intellectual Humility

2018 ◽  
Vol 46 (4) ◽  
pp. 305-314 ◽  
Author(s):  
Everett L. Worthington
Keyword(s):  
Religious Belief ◽  
The Self ◽  
Content Area ◽  
Fine Tuning ◽  
Epistemic Status ◽  
Intellectual Humility ◽  
The Core ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Meaning System ◽  
The Relationship

I examine religious humility, which is one content area of intellectual humility. Intellectual humility is the subtype of humility that involves taking a humble stance in sharing ideas, especially when one is challenged or when an idea is threatening. I position religious humility within the context of general humility, spiritual humility, and relational humility, and thus arrive at several propositions. People who are intensely spiritually humble can hold dogmatic beliefs and believe themselves to be religiously humble, yet be perceived by others of different persuasions as religiously dogmatic and even arrogant. For such people to be truly religiously humble, they must feel that the religious belief is core to their meaning system. This requires discernment of which of the person’s beliefs are truly at the core. But also the religiously humble person must fulfill the definition of general humility, accurately perceiving the strengths and limitations of the self, being teachable to correct weaknesses, presenting oneself modestly, and being positively other-oriented. Humility thus involves (1) beliefs, values, and attitudes and (2) an interpersonal presentational style. Therefore, intellectually humble people must track the positive epistemic status of their beliefs and also must present with convicted civility.

scholarly journals Querying and Repairing Inconsistent Prioritized Knowledge Bases: Complexity Analysis and Links with Abstract Argumentation

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Meghyn Bienvenu ◽  
Camille Bourgaux
Keyword(s):  
Complexity Analysis ◽  
Knowledge Bases ◽  
Data Complexity ◽  
The Core ◽  
Inconsistency Handling ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Priority Relation ◽  
Inconsistent Database ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Computational Properties

In this paper, we explore the issue of inconsistency handling over prioritized knowledge bases (KBs), which consist of an ontology, a set of facts, and a priority relation between conflicting facts. In the database setting, a closely related scenario has been studied and led to the definition of three different notions of optimal repairs (global, Pareto, and completion) of a prioritized inconsistent database. After transferring the notions of globally-, Pareto- and completion-optimal repairs to our setting, we study the data complexity of the core reasoning tasks: query entailment under inconsistency-tolerant semantics based upon optimal repairs, existence of a unique optimal repair, and enumeration of all optimal repairs. Our results provide a nearly complete picture of the data complexity of these tasks for ontologies formulated in common DL-Lite dialects. The second contribution of our work is to clarify the relationship between optimal repairs and different notions of extensions for (set-based) argumentation frameworks. Among our results, we show that Pareto-optimal repairs correspond precisely to stable extensions (and often also to preferred extensions), and we propose a novel semantics for prioritized KBs which is inspired by grounded extensions and enjoys favourable computational properties. Our study also yields some results of independent interest concerning preference-based argumentation frameworks.

Correct the Extreme Properties of Mono-Attribute Dependability

2012 ◽  
Vol 241-244 ◽  
pp. 1700-1704
Author(s):  
Qing Quan Meng ◽  
Jun Ling Kan
Keyword(s):  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Discernibility Matrix ◽  
The Core ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
The Relationship

The relationship was analyzed among dependability of core attribute and other mono-attributes in terms of mono-attribute dependability and the definition of core attribute based on the method of discernibility matrix to find the core, and the correction was made that the mono-attribute for maximum dependability is not always the core attribute through theory and practice, the value of mono-attribute dependability is independent of its classification capacity on the basis of previous study on the summary of the two extreme properties of mono-attribute dependability.

1. Fundamental concepts

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin Gray ◽  
Susan Francis Gray
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Common Law ◽  
Physical Reality ◽  
England And Wales ◽  
The Core ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Property Concepts ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship

Titles in the Core Text series take the reader straight to the heart of the subject, providing focused, concise, and reliable guides for students at all levels. This chapter introduces a number of concepts that are fundamental to an understanding of the contemporary law of land in England and Wales. It discusses: definition of ‘land’ as physical reality; the notion of abstract ‘estates’ in land as the medium of ownership; the relationship between law and equity; the meaning of ‘property’ in land; the impact of human rights on property concepts; the ambivalence of common law perspectives on ‘land’; the statutory organisation of proprietary rights in land; and the underlying policy motivations that drive the contemporary law of land.

Does Academic Freedom Protect Antisemitism?

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 19-46
Author(s):  
Cary Nelson
Keyword(s):  
Social Science ◽  
Academic Freedom ◽  
American Association ◽  
Moral Legitimacy ◽  
Personnel Decisions ◽  
The Core ◽  
Working Definition ◽  
Political Views ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
The Relationship

Abstract The examples listed in the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s Working Definition of Antisemitism suggests that some political views common in humanities and social science disciplines are antisemitic. In some disciplines, these views are well estab­lished in both teaching and publication. Yet the American Association of University Pro­fessors has long used prevailing disciplinary views as a guide to which faculty statements cannot be sanctioned. What should universities do when not just individual faculty, but entire disciplines have been captured by radical antizionism, when students are taught that Israel has no moral legitimacy and must be eliminated? How should personnel decisions be affected? Should this evolving situation lead us to rethink the relationship between advo­cacy and indoctrination? Can universities keep the search for the truth at the core of their mission in the wake of disciplinary solidarity behind antisemitism?

scholarly journals PHILOSOPHY OF INTERDISCIPLINARITY

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (5) ◽  
pp. 48-52
Author(s):  
Cecilia CURIS ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Applied Sciences ◽  
Scientific Research ◽  
Interdisciplinary Approach ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Rational Approach ◽  
Human Being ◽  
Methodological Principles ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Relationship

The interdisciplinary approach in science is becoming more widespread today. It is gratifying that in the age of applied sciences, in which technology prevails, philosophy as the core of the humanities is restored to its status. Starting from the definition of philosophy that includes notions such as knowledge, values, reason, existence, mind, language, it is not surprising the attitude of modern man in relation to the rational approach of including this fundamental discipline in scientific research in any field. This reconceptualization is absolutely necessary for the progress of humanity starting from the assumption that no field of scientific research can exist without a series of methodological principles. Consequently, we can consider philosophy, the theoretical foundation of any science and more than that, a science applied, per se with resonance in everyday existence. What can be more important for the human being than explaining the meaning of life, the relationship with peers and the psychological motivation of its existence in this world? Thus, philosophy can be the promoter of the active attitude of the individual in any social field. It is important to consider the model of the individual who from a moral point of view is interested, participatory, has a purpose and correctly defines his duties towards himself and society. These coordinates define the pattern of the human being capable of participating in the progress of humanity

Nonlinearity and focalisation in Attila Janisch’s Másnap

2018 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 96-111
Author(s):  
Tamás Csönge
Keyword(s):  
Subjective Experience ◽  
Temporal Structure ◽  
Chronological Order ◽  
The Core ◽  
Fragmented Structure ◽  
Experience Of Time ◽  
Nouveau Roman ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
The Relationship

AbstractThe essay’s aim is to examine the relationship between perspective and nonlinear temporal structure in Attila Janisch’s 2004 film, Másnap, which is loosely based on Alain Robbe-Grillet’s Le Voyeur (1955). My analysis revolves around the understanding of two important narratological distinctions, that between a nonlinear presentation of events and a paradoxical plot, and that between narrative focalizalization and textual focalization. According to David Bordwell, the most widespread definition of linearity is when the successive events of A, B and C are presented in the narrative in their chronological order. Any other form of their presentation results in a nonlinear narrative. But Másnap is a special type of narrative, which highlights the limitation of such traditional dichotomies, because a consistent order of events cannot be reconstructed. Many critics tried to grasp the core of the film’s narrative by trying to put together the original timeline of events, relying on false indicators of logic and coherence, while they failed to recognize the narrative’s real rhetorical purpose in preventing a consistent and unambiguous plot to be established. The narrative’s complexity lies in the fact that both assumptions – that it depicts a subjective experience of time and a storyworld with strange temporality – are necessary to explain the film’s unusual, fragmented structure and interpret its events. I point out how the film requires us to reinterpret the meanings attached to the familiar techniques of continuity editing and how it converts the practices of the early Nouveau Roman, which marginalizes traditional plot-structures, the notion of character, and conventional descriptions of objects, to interact with a subjective vision governed by a fictional mind.

scholarly journals SARTRE’O BURTŲ LAZDELĖ. NIHILISTINĖ VAIZDUOTĖS LAISVĖ IR FENOMENOLOGIJA

Problemos ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 75 ◽  
pp. 66-72
Author(s):  
Kristupas Sabolius
Keyword(s):  
Main Idea ◽  
Human Being ◽  
Magic Wand ◽  
The World ◽  
The One ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
The Relationship

Jau Husserlio svarstymuose apie fantaziją randame punktyriškų nuorodų į svarbų jos veikimo aspektą – sąmonę, kuri, sužadinta galimybių regėjimo, atveria nederminuotų pasaulių perspektyvą. Šį klausimą praplečia ir visa jėga išplėtoja Sartre’as. Vaizduotė yra sąmonės laisvė – tai iš esmės pagrindinė veikalo „Imaginaire“ mintis. Tačiau šioje laisvėje slypi pamatinis ir neišskaidomas dvilypumas, gal net trilypumas. Kaip sako Sartre’as, „įsivaizdavimo aktas yra vienu ypu konstituojantis, izoliuojantis ir įniekinantis“. O tai reiškia, kad vaizduotiškai nihilistinė struktūra visose sąmonės fazėse identifikuojama kaip esminė žmogaus ir pasaulio santykio apibrėžtis. Pozicionuoti pasaulį kaip pasaulį ar jį „įniekinti“ (néantir) yra tas pats dalykas. Knygoje „L’être et le néant“ aprašoma sąmonė Niekį aptinka savo žvilgsnyje, kuris steigia akiračius ir apgaubia daiktus aureolėmis. Sartre’as sako: „mes matome, kaip niekis vaivorykštės spalvomis nuspalvina pasaulį, žaižaruoja ant daiktų“. Tai reiškia, kad Niekis užklumpa pasaulį kartu su šiuo matymu. Nihilistinės ligos pasirodymo metastazes, kurias priskiriame pasauliui, turime suvokti ne kaip daiktų savybes, bet vien tik kaip mūsų pačių santykį su daiktais, kaip tam tikrą intencionalumo, veikiančio pagal koordinacinę įsivaizdavimo logiką, išraišką.Pagrindiniai žodžiai: fenomenologija, vaizduotė, laisvė, nihilizmas, niekis.Sartre’s Magic Wand. Phenomenology and Nihilistic Freedom of ImaginationKristupas Sabolius SummaryIn Husserl’s writings on fantasy, one could already find references to an important aspect of its function, the one of the consciousness which, stimulated by the vision of its possibilities, opens the perspective of undetermined worlds. The latter topic is widely developed by Sartre. Imagination is the freedom of consciousness, this is the main idea of his Imaginaire. However, this freedom conceals a fundamental duplicity or even triplicity. As Sartre puts it, “the act of imagination is at the same time constituting, isolating and nihilating”. Consequently, the nihilistic and imaginary structure is identified in all the phases of consciousness as the essential definition of the relationship of human being to the world. To pose the world as the world or to nihilate (néantir) it is the same thing. In the description of L’être et le Néant, consciousness finds Nothingness in its own sight which constitutes horizons and covers things with halos. It means that Nothingness enters the world together with the sight and is supposed to be considered as an intentionality functioning according to the coordinating logics of imagination.Keywords: phenomenology, imagination, freedom, nihilism, Nothingness.

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