scholarly journals O Desporto visto por uma Ética de Ausência para o Bem-estar: por uma nova missão

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 59-67
Author(s):  
Rui Pereira

There is an ancient view according to which the great meaning of life is to live it in Well-Being, also considered here as an educated life. The task proposed here is to contribute to clarifying the role of sport for this purpose, which is to live a good life. Fundamentally, it seeks to argue that well-being is linked to an ethics that transcends the mere discussion of good and evil and that such is the profound expression of the natural longings of the human soul that in essence is mirrored in the act of love as a disinterested giving. First, there is a parallel between art and sport as large areas of human action that can better reveal such fundamental disinterest, leading us to the friendship associated with the concept of “Fair Play”. From here follows the proposal for a definition of sport that best serves such friendship for well-being. Thus, a vision of well-being is introduced as the absence of seven forms of disorder. Then, as an example of a form of disorder that can easily arise in sport, we analyse the phenomenon of “racism”, here called phenocism after the concept of phenotype. This is carried under the light of an ethics for absence of disorder. Such analysis leads us, finally, to the trilogy freedom-equality-fraternity and there is an insistence on the urgency of sport to fulfil its mission by assuming itself as the massifier of techniques for promoting the performances of the mind, alongside those of the body, for the well-being of the individual. Thus, fulfilling the revolution of the "healthy mind in a healthy body".

Vox Patrum ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 66 ◽  
pp. 39-56
Author(s):  
Mariusz Szram

The article systematises the metaphors ascribed by Origen (185-253/254) to the well-known female characters of the Old Testament utilising the method of allegorical exegesis of the text of Scripture. Females appearing on the pages of the historical books of Bible are – according to the Alexandrian – allegories of hu­man virtues or defects. They embody the spiritual warfare between the spirit and the body, between the mind and the feelings. In the collective sense they symbo­lize the synagogue or the church chosen from the Gentiles, and in the individual sense – the human soul in its relation to God. Origen refers to the telling names of women, translating them and embedding into the spiritual context often giving the several different allegorical meanings to the same biblical person. Despite the often-quoted in his writings beliefs characteristic to the ancient world, procla­iming that the woman is a symbol of bodily feelings and the man – a symbol of the intellectual abilities, majority of allegorical interpretations relating to the Old Testament women indicates a personification of the virtues worthy of imitation. This phenomenon is conditioned with the meaning of the names of those persons and the role attributed to them by the biblical authors, but Origen’s interpretations are original and based on his own concept of spiritual life. They deny opinions of misogyny of Origen and the early Christian writers in general.


Author(s):  
Urszula Terentowicz-Fotyga

The paper examines George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four as a canonical example of the dystopian novel in an attempt to define the principal features of the dystopian chronotope. Following Mikhail Bakhtin, it treats the chronotope as the structural pivot of the narrative, which integrates and determines other aspects of the text. Dystopia, the paper argues, is a particularly appropriate genre to consider the structural role of the chronotope for two reasons. Firstly, due to utopianism’s special relation with space and secondly, due to the structural importance of world-building in the expression of dystopia’s philosophical, political and social ideas. The paper identifies the principal features of dystopian spatiality, among which crucial are the oppositions between the individual and the state, the mind and the body, the high and the low, the central and the peripheral, the past and the present, the city and the natural world, false and true signs.


2013 ◽  
Vol 19 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 83-106 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francis Martin Dodsworth

This article explores the role that ‘habit’ played in discourses on crime in the 18th century, a subject which forms an important part of the history of ‘the social’. It seeks to bridge the division between ‘liberal’ positions which see crime as a product of social circumstance, and the conservative position which stresses the role of will and individual responsibility, by drawing attention to the role habit played in uniting these conceptions in the 18th century. It argues that the Lockean idea that the mind was a tabula rasa, and that the character was thereby formed through impression and habit, was used as a device to explain the ways in which certain individuals rather than others happened to fall into a life of crime, a temptation to which all were susceptible. This allowed commentators to define individuals as responsible for their actions, while accepting the significance of environmental factors in their transgressions. Further, the notion that the character was formed through habit enabled reformers to promote the idea that crime could be combated through mechanisms of prevention and reformation, which both targeted the individual criminal and sought more generally to reduce the likelihood of crime.


2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
pp. 373-379
Author(s):  
Elka Valcheva

The report examines the central role of creativity in the future post-information society. There is a call for a pragmatic approach to the study of creativity, which as a consequence bears recognition of the dynamic nature of this phenomenon. At the heart of the proposed theoretical framework is the very definition of creativity, which is transformed from static to dynamic. Starting from the static central definition and considering the auxiliary definitions for the area of focus and purpose of creativity, creative personality, creativity of the individual, creativity of the environment, creative process, product of creative process, potential for creativity, product presentation and evaluation, the nature of creativity should be clarified. The new definitions have been shown to be fully compatible with the existing set of research in the field of creativity, as well as increase the effectiveness in proposing new approaches to research in support of the consideration of new theoretical hypotheses and developments. Creativity is considered to be a foundation that does not yet have a clear and precise definition because of its uniqueness. This complete lack of consensus on what research considers important in this area is a major problem. There is no consensus on exactly what creativity is. Without a proper definition, creativity researchers cannot do any research, first they must determine creativity itself. There is a lot of ambiguity in the definition. The definition keeps coming back to itself, which makes it pretty difficult to determine what creativity really means. Various constructs and aspects of the definition of creativity of many contemporary scholars are proposed and discussed. Clarifying the definition of creativity is important for understanding its very essence, as a complex phenomenon and a leading skill in the 21st century. The nature of creativity as a characteristic of a person to generate new ideas, alternatives, solutions and opportunities in a unique and different way is clarified. Creativity is the ability to grasp something unpredictable, original and unique. The creative idea must be expressive, exciting and imaginative. It is a mirror of how beautiful one can think in any circumstance. Creativity is not genetic, it can be developed if one continues to learn and understand things with rare and exceptional perception. It is an activity to uncover something that was previously hidden. As the word implies, creativity is about creation. It is about mastering the power of the mind to think of new ideas, product plans, thought experiments, tastes, sensations or art. Creativity can be a form of expression or a way of solving problems. Anyone can be creative in any context, not just a genius privilege.


2014 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 35-52
Author(s):  
Stephen P. Ahearne-Kroll

Abstract This study looks at the ways that the healing inscriptions at the Epidauran Asklepieion transfer the private experience of a supplicant into the public realm of the life of the sanctuary. This process imbues the individual dream with a potential for influence that can honor the god in unforeseen ways well into the future. The study then examines the role of one god, Mnēmosyne, in the afterlife of the dream in order to gain an appreciation of the overall ritual system at the Asklepieion. It will be argued that Mnēmosyne plays a key role ritually not just in preserving the memory of the dream for the individual, but also in intellectually ordering the mind for the dreamer to articulate the dream to the sanctuary officials, in enabling the construction and inscription of the account for public display, and in creating opportunities for others to honor Asklepios well into the future and well beyond Epidaurus. Mnēmosyne’s involvement at the Epidauran Asklepieion attests to a complex ritual system of human action within a perceived divine group-effort to benefit the divine and human worlds.


2021 ◽  
pp. medethics-2021-107397
Author(s):  
Alessandra Lemma ◽  
Julian Savulescu

The exponential rise in transgender self-identification invites consideration of what constitutes an ethical response to transgender individuals’ claims about how best to promote their well-being. In this paper, we argue that ‘accepting’ a claim to medical transitioning in order to promote well-being would be in the person’s best interests iff at the point of request the individual is correct in their self-diagnosis as transgender (i.e., the distress felt to reside in the body does not result from another psychological and/or societal problem) such that the medical interventions they are seeking will help them to realise their preferences. If we cannot assume this—and we suggest that we have reasonable grounds to question an unqualified acceptance in some cases—then ‘acceptance’ potentially works against best interests. We propose a distinction between ‘acceptance’ and respectful, in-depth exploration of an individual’s claims about what promotes their well-being. We discuss the ethical relevance of the unconscious mind to considerations of autonomy and consent in working with transgender individuals. An inquisitive stance, we suggest, supports autonomous choice about how to realise an embodied form that sustains well-being by allowing the individual to consider both conscious and unconscious factors shaping wishes and values, hence choices.


2020 ◽  
Vol 26 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cristian Muresanu ◽  
Siva G. Somasundaram ◽  
Sergey V. Vissarionov ◽  
Liliya V. Gavryushova ◽  
Vladimir N. Nikolenko ◽  
...  

Background: From the evidence of failed injection-based growth factor therapies, it has been proposed that a naturally triggered uninterrupted blood circulation of the growth factors would be superior. Objective: We seek to stimulate discussions and more research about the possibility of using the already available growth factors found in the prostate gland and endometrium by starting a novel educable physiology, known as biological transformations controlled by the mind. Methods: We summarized the stretch-gated ion channel mechanism of the cell membrane, and offer several practical methods that can be applied by anyone, in order to stimulate and enhance the blood circulation of the growth factors from the seminal fluid to sites throughout the body. This details the practical application of our earlier published studies about biological transformations. Results: A previously reported single-patient case study has been extended, adding more from his personal experiences continually improving this novel physiological training and extending the ideas from our earlier findings in detail. Conclusion: The biological transformation findings demonstrate the need additional research to establish the benefits of these natural therapies to repair and rejuvenate tissues affected by various chronic diseases or aging processes.


2019 ◽  
Vol 28 (04) ◽  
pp. 708-724
Author(s):  
ANDREA LAVAZZA ◽  
VITTORIO A. SIRONI

Abstract:The microbiome is proving to be increasingly important for human brain functioning. A series of recent studies have shown that the microbiome influences the central nervous system in various ways, and consequently acts on the psychological well-being of the individual by mediating, among others, the reactions of stress and anxiety. From a specifically neuroethical point of view, according to some scholars, the particular composition of the microbiome—qua microbial community—can have consequences on the traditional idea of human individuality. Another neuroethical aspect concerns the reception of this new knowledge in relation to clinical applications. In fact, attention to the balance of the microbiome—which includes eating behavior, the use of psychobiotics and, in the treatment of certain diseases, the use of fecal microbiota transplantation—may be limited or even prevented by a biased negative attitude. This attitude derives from a prejudice related to everything that has to do with the organic processing of food and, in general, with the human stomach and intestine: the latter have traditionally been regarded as low, dirty, contaminated and opposed to what belongs to the mind and the brain. This biased attitude can lead one to fail to adequately consider the new anthropological conceptions related to the microbiome, resulting in a state of health, both physical and psychological, inferior to what one might have by paying the right attention to the knowledge available today. Shifting from the ubiquitous high-low metaphor (which is synonymous with superior-inferior) to an inside-outside metaphor can thus be a neuroethical strategy to achieve a new and unbiased reception of the discoveries related to the microbiome.


Author(s):  
Jane M. Hoey

The newly developing countries desire not only political independence but also economic progress for their people—a progress which they can see, and are now aware of, in the rest of the world. The role of the developed countries is to extend aid to the needy. Moral foundations underlie the donor's contributions, but they are more than that, they are the means for acquiring support for international aid in the donor's country. The United States must assume the leader ship among' the free nations in granting aid; she must accept this role because of her economic achievements and technologi cal advantages. Donators of such aid should take cognizance of the complementary character and interrelatedness of economic and social development. For economic development, however much it is sought, is not an end in itself, rather the aim is the well-being and happiness of the individual. Such a goal neces sitates economic aid accompanied by social aid. Social welfare can also be a vehicle to achieve peace, inasmuch as people-to- people relationships generate brotherly love—the only lasting foundation for peace.—Ed.


Author(s):  
Daniela Di Santo ◽  
Calogero Lo Destro ◽  
Conrad Baldner ◽  
Alessandra Talamo ◽  
Cristina Cabras ◽  
...  

AbstractPositivity (i.e., the individual tendency to positively approach life experiences) has proven to be an effective construct applied in positive psychology. However, individuals’ self-regulation may have contrasting effects on positivity. We specifically examined whether positivity could be partially explained through two aspects of motivation concerned with self-regulation: locomotion (i.e., a motivational orientation concerned with movement) and assessment (i.e., a motivational orientation concerned with comparison and evaluation). Furthermore, based on previous literature that found a link between these aspects and narcissism, we examined whether “adaptive” and “maladaptive” dimensions of narcissism could mediate the effects of locomotion and assessment on increased or decreased positivity. Narcissism was defined by previous research as adaptive or maladaptive insofar as it leads or does not lead to increased psychological well-being. We estimated a mediation model with multiple independent variables and multiple mediators in a cross-sectional study with self-reported data from 190 university students. We found that both locomotion and assessment were associated with adaptive narcissism, which in turn was positively associated with positivity. However, assessment was also associated with maladaptive narcissism, which in turn was negatively associated with positivity. Relationships between aspects of self-regulation, narcissism, and positivity can have significant implications which will be discussed.


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