Questiones super I-VII libros Politicorum

This volume is the first complete critical edition of Peter of Auvergne’s Questiones super I-VII libros Politicorum. The Questiones was produced at the Faculty of Arts of Paris sometime between late 1291 and 1296 and is the earliest surviving commentary in question form on Aristotle’s Politics. As the introduction explains, the Questiones was philosophically innovative and became the most influential question-commentary on the Politics in the Middle Ages. The volume also includes a critical edition of an earlier oral report (reportatio) of Peter’s teaching on Books I-II and part of III which became the basis for those sections of the Questiones. This volume is of interest to scholars of medieval philosophy and the history of political thought and is a reference point for future research on the medieval reception of Aristotle’s Politics and medieval Aristotelian practical philosophy more broadly.

Psychophysiological Transcendentalism in Friedrich Albert Lange’s Social and Political Philosophy

In recent literature, it has been suggested that Lange’s social and political philosophy is separate from his neo-Kantian program. Prima facie, this interpretation makes sense given that Lange argues for an account of social norms that builds on Darwin and Smith rather than on Kant. Still, this paper argues that elements of psychophysiological transcendentalism can be found in Lange’s social and political philosophy. A detailed examination of the second edition of the History of Materialism, Schiller’s Poems, and the second edition of The Worker’s Question reveals that Lange sought to develop a systematic foundation of psychophysiological transcendentalism that is presupposed in his social and political philosophy. This allows for a more detailed understanding of Lange’s practical philosophy and assures him a position in the tradition of neo-Kantian socialism.

»Philosophy […] Is the Theory of Education in Its Most General Phases«

»Philosophy […] Is the Theory of Education in Its Most General Phases«. Critical Remarks On Some Relationships between Philosophy and Education Following John Dewey In contrast to the widespread view that education is a subfield and field of application of practical philosophy, John Dewey understood philosophy altogether as a general theory of education. The article reconstructs this perspective in Dewey’s main pedagogical work »Democracy and Education« as well as in his 1929 paper »The Sources of a Science of Education«. Afterwards, two other relationships between philosophy and education will be contrasted, the so-called Isms approach and the configuration in which philosophy is one of the so-called ›foundation disciplines‹ dealing with education as an applied field. In an outlook, current changes in the relationship between philosophy and education will be discussed.

The History of Philosophy and the Practical Philosophy in Martha Nussbaum’s New Book. Nussbaum, M. (2019). The Cosmopolitan Tradition: A Noble But Flawed Ideal. Cambridge, MA.: Harvard University Press.

Review of Nussbaum, M. (2019). The Cosmopolitan Tradition: A Noble But Flawed Ideal. Cambridge, MA.: Harvard University Press.

Philia: the biological foundations of Aristotle’s ethics

This article is the first one to offer an investigation, from a biological perspective, of “natural philia” or “kin-based” philia (commonly translated as “friendship”) in Aristotle’s practical philosophy. After some preliminary considerations about its place in Aristotle’s ethical treatises, the discussion focuses on Aristotle’s biology. Here we learn that natural philia, couched in terms of a biological praxis rather than a trait of character, is widespread in the animal kingdom, although in different ways and to varying degrees. To account for such differences, Aristotle establishes a Scala Philiae in two different biological texts—Historia Animalium and Generation of Animals—where natural bonds in animals are classified in view of their strength and duration. Each level of Aristotle’s Scala is examined. Finally, the argument returns to Aristotle’s ethical and political texts, drawing greater attention to the biological mechanisms that underlie natural philia in human beings. I conclude that natural philia provides one fundamental biological building-block of Aristotle’s ethics and politics.

Paul Ricœur: traços do religioso numa filosofia sem absoluto

This paper assesses the ways in which Transcendence and the question of God appear in the philosophy of Paul Ricœur. Taking stock of the debate on the theological turn of French phenomenology, the paper aims to show the unique position held by Ricœur among French phenomenology and hermeneutics, in that in spite of his Christian faith, Ricœur strove to put forward a philosophy of limits ‘without absolute’ while, at the same time, developing inquiries in phenomenology and hermeneutics of religion. The paper follows the development of Ricœur’s thought on this matter, from his early phenomenological works, through the hermeneutical turn and until the essay of fundamental anthropology of Oneself as Another, unpacking the Kantian and Hegelian influences, the approach on religion ‘within the limits of reason alone’ and also the way in which the Kantian undertones of hermeneutics as philosophy of finitude at the same time open the space to hope and imagination. Ricœur’s philosophy therefore appears as a rigorous descriptive and interpretive effort that strives not to mix the genres of discourse, while, at the same time, we can still find some ethical and supra-ethical traits in his practical philosophy that do stem from his Christian faith – but whose status is inspirational and therefore does not dent the overall theoretical framework of his philosophy of limits.

Kant on Legal Positivism and the Juridical State

In this paper I argue that Kant’s political and juridical philosophy justifies a type of normative legal positivism that implies specific notions of law and legal freedom which determine and restrict the sphere of action of judges and jurists. Finally, I defend that, according to Kant’s practical philosophy, the normative connection between justice and law is not supposed to be carried out at the juridical level, as a meta-juridical theory, but at the political one, making it a meta-political theory.