scholarly journals Patočka’s Socrates: The Care for the Soul and Human Existence

Author(s):  
L’ubica Učník

In order to get out of present day discussions between (for example) determinism and free will, creationism and evolution, bios and zoē, human existence and biological life – those dead end binaries of our present day thinking into which we have manoeuvred ourselves – we need to revisit the Ancient discussions relating to the care of the soul and human existence. I will draw together these two themes from Jan Patočka’s writings by anchor-ing them in his account of Socrates who was the first to emphasise the idea of human re-sponsibility not only for thinking but also for human acting in the world. I will argue that the significant common feature – the care for our own being, our existence – brings Patočka’s reflections on the care for the soul and care for our human existence together. While, according to Patočka, the notion of the care for the soul was displaced from the philosophical reflection by the modern scientific venture, the idea of human existence is, although problematic from the scientific point of view, still a part of our experience.Para librarnos de discusiones contemporáneas entre (por ejemplo) determinismo y libre albedrío, creacionismo y evolución, bios y zoē, existencia humana y vida biológica, estos binomios, callejones de salida del pensamiento de hoy en los que nos hemos metido, tenemos que volver a escuchar las discusiones de la Antigüedad sobre el cuidado del alma y la existencia humana. Voy a recuperar estos dos temas de escritos de Jan Patočka, anclándolos en su interpretación de Sócrates, el primero en poner énfasis en la idea de responsabilidad humana no solo de su pensamiento sino también de su actuar en el mundo. Argumentaré que el significativo rasgo común, esto es, el cuidado por nuestro propio ser, nuestra existencia, es lo que une las reflexiones de Patočka sobre el cuidado del alma y el cuidado de la exitencia humana. Mientras que, según Patočka, la noción del cuidado del alma ha sido desplazada de la reflexión filosófica por la empresa científica moderna, la idea de la existencia humana, a pesar de lo problemático que puede resultar desde un punto de vista científi-co, todavía forma parte de nuestra experiencia.

2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-17
Author(s):  
Nina Bonderup Dohn

In this essay, I shall present key points from my dr.phil thesis (Higher Doctorate/Habilitation), Epistemological concerns – querying the learning field from a philosophical point of view (Dohn, 2017).1 The aim is to provide an overview of the thesis and to present its main argument for a form of applied philosophy where philosophy takes on the role of dialogue partner with a voice of its own. By way of illustration, I shall highlight some of the issues I have engaged with in this role as well as the answers which dialogue with other disciplines has led me to as regards these issues. First, I present the field, aim, and structure of the thesis. Second, I explicate what I mean by ‘philosophizing with’ and point out four different ways in which one can undertake this venture. Philosophy may dialogue with many disciplines in many areas; the ones I have engaged with fall within the learning field. To further the comprehensibility of my more specific concerns within this field, in the third section I articulate the philosophical outset from which I speak: With inspiration from Heidegger, Merleau-Ponty, Wittgenstein and Dreyfus, I hold a view of human existence as being-in-the-world and an approach to knowledge as fundamentally involving tacit aspects. This outset is developed throughout the thesis, in dialogue with other disciplines. In section four, I briefly present the resulting philosophical view of knowledge. In section five, I articulate more specifically a number of the issues within the learning field which have helped me develop this view. Section six conversely summarizes some key points which my philosophizing with on these issues have led me to contribute to the disciplines. I end with a few concluding remarks on concerns to engage with in continuation from the results of my thesis.


2003 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 157-166 ◽  
Author(s):  
Renaud Barbaras

AbstractHusserl is the first philosopher who has managed to account for the specificity of perception, characterized as givenness by sketches (Abschattungen); but neither Husserl nor Merleau-Ponty have given a satisfying definition of the subject of perception. This article tries to show that the subject of perception must be conceived as living being and that, therefore, the phenomenology of perception must lead to a phenomenology of life. Here, life is approached from an existential point of view, that is to say, as a specific relationship to the world. However, life cannot be characterized from human existence in a privative way, as in Heidegger's philosophy: on the contrary, human existence, and particularly perception itself, must be understood from vital existence, and accordingly, an "additive" anthropology must replace the privative zoology. The hypothesis of this article is that it is by characterizing life as desire, we are able to account for perception as givenness by sketches.


Clotho ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 59-72
Author(s):  
Marko Uršič

The Oration on the Dignity of Man makes a claim, characteristic for the Renaissance, that the dignity of man, the real “excellency of human nature,” is not present in any specific human quality or ability. Neither is it present in the role of the human soul as the “tie of the world” (copula mundi), as Marsilio Ficino has taught. Even higher than this eminent human role in the world is the freedom of man to choose his role and task himself. At the same time, Pico believes that Man was created as the image of God, in the sense that no man is determined in advance: human free will reflects God’s free will in creation. From the point of view of the mainstream modern dualism, this is a paradox, even a contradiction. This paper argues the opposite: that the human free will is even nowadays, not less than in the Renaissance period, compatible with the belief in God. However, this is only the case if God (being transcendent or immanent to the world) does not command anything, if God does not demand anything – except love. Violence and killing are eo ipso prohibited, especially in the name of faith. Therefore, freedom and faith are perfectly compatible. Even more, modern humans are fatally unfree either in the secular “radicalization” of faith or in the atheistic secularization of the world. Unfree due to their existence (Dasein), enslaved by the Angst of “mere nothing.”


Author(s):  
Nuno Pereira Castanheira ◽  

According to the United Nations, human intervention in nature set loose a series of transformations on the Earth’s ecosystems, resulting in a serious disruption of their natural balance. Some of these changes are irreversible and threaten all life on Earth, human life included. On the other hand, the world’s sociopolitical situation also seems to have reached a dead end, with millions of people living in poverty, unemployed, undernourished, and on flight from conflict. The purpose of this paper is to show how Hannah Arendt’s thought on beginnings, crisis, understanding, meaning and human existence can illuminate and inspire an attempt to retrace the origins of this “ecological” crisis, understood as the human being’s inability to be at home in the world.


Author(s):  
Peter Addai-Mensah

The concept of sin is a phenomenon that no one can gloss over. It is a reality. It permeates the whole of human existence. All the major religions in the world grapple with it as far as relationship with God is concerned. This article discusses the concept of sin. It looks at it from the point of view of Christianity. The article examines how various scholars have defined sin from their own perspectives. It looks at the types of sin, how sin originated and made its presence in the world and the consequences of sin. Finally, the article accounts for the theological implications of sin. It points out that among other things: sin destroys the relationship between God and the human person; separation from God because of sin leads to death and destruction; the concept of sin necessitated the coming of Jesus Christ to bring salvation and liberation to the world. The article does not use a case study. The author uses the literary approach and therefore uses library sources.


2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 6-24
Author(s):  
Pavel Gurevich

The article gives a detailed view of the existential psychoanalysis of Swiss philosopher and psychologist Medard Boss. Based on the fundamental ontology of M. Heidegger, M. Boss criticizes the psychodynamic theories of the human psyche and turns to the analysis of the problem of human nature. A person, from the Boss's point of view, can only be understood as a person in the world (being-in-the-world). Through human existence, being can manifest itself as such. This is the destination of man. The basic existential category of M. Boss is the concept of "openness". The openness of existence allows us to get to know other people and respond to their own call to us. Existence is characterized by the Boss as joint, complicit, endowed with "presence", which is an ensemble of possibilities. M. Boss defines human existence through the existentials of spatiality, temporality, corporeality, eventfulness in the shared world, mood, historicity, and mortality. The realization of existence, according to the Boss, is possible only in the free choice that a person is initially endowed with, but which he may lose in the process of socialization. Blocking openness and freedom leads a person to neuroticism and illness. The article also analyzes the essence of the psychotherapeutic approach of M. Boss, which is based on the desire to understand a person through "highlighting" and openness. The article shows the opposition of existential analysis of the classical psychoanalytic tradition.


1978 ◽  
Vol 17 (01) ◽  
pp. 28-35
Author(s):  
F. T. De Dombal

This paper discusses medical diagnosis from the clinicians point of view. The aim of the paper is to identify areas where computer science and information science may be of help to the practising clinician. Collection of data, analysis, and decision-making are discussed in turn. Finally, some specific recommendations are made for further joint research on the basis of experience around the world to date.


2004 ◽  
pp. 113-122
Author(s):  
L. Kabir

This article considers the basic tendencies of development of trade and economic cooperation of the two countries with accent on increasing volumes and consolidating trade and economic ties in Russian-Chinese relations. The author compares Russian and Chinese participation in the world economy and analyzes the counter trade from the point of view of basic commodity groups.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 38-43
Author(s):  
MARIETA EPREMYAN ◽  

The article examines the epistemological roots of conservative ideology, development trends and further prospects in political reform not only in modern Russia, but also in other countries. The author focuses on the “world” and Russian conservatism. In the course of the study, the author illustrates what opportunities and limitations a conservative ideology can have in political reform not only in modern Russia, but also in the world. In conclusion, it is concluded that the prospect of a conservative trend in the world is wide enough. To avoid immigration and to control the development of technology in society, it is necessary to adhere to a conservative policy. Conservatism is a consolidating ideology. It is no coincidence that the author cites as an example the understanding of conservative ideology by the French due to the fact that Russia has its own vision of the ideology of conservatism. If we say that conservatism seeks to preserve something and respects tradition, we must bear in mind that traditions in different societies, which form some kind of moral imperatives, cannot be a single phenomenon due to different historical destinies and differing religious views. Considered from the point of view of religion, Muslim and Christian conservatism will be somewhat confrontational on some issues. The purpose of the work was to consider issues related to the role, evolution and prospects of conservative ideology in the political reform of modern countries. The author focuses on Russia and France. To achieve this goal, the method of in-depth interviews with experts on how they understand conservatism was chosen. Already today, conservatism is quite diverse. It is quite possible that in the future it will transform even more and acquire new reflections.


2011 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-34 ◽  
Author(s):  
John T. Warren

Through narratives and critical interrogations of classroom interactions, I sketch an argument for a co-constitutive relationship between qualitative research and pedagogy that imagines a more reflexive and socially just world. Through story, one comes to see an interplay between one's own experiences, one's own desires and one's community — I seek to focus that potential into an embodied pedagogy that highlights power and, as a result, holds all of us accountable for our own situated-ness in systems of power in ways that grant us potential places from which to enact change. Key in this discussion is a careful analytical point of view for seeing the world and a set of practices that work to imagine new ways of talking back.


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