Toward Nonbinary Theories of Practice in Teacher Education Research

This essay argues that contemporary debates about the role of practice in teacher education run the risk of reproducing mind/body, thought/action dualisms. Absent these binaries, practice is understood as always theoretical, principled, and contextualized and knowledge and identity are understood as always embodied and enacted. The author discusses nonbinary theories of practice and their application in teacher education scholarship within both historical and political contexts. The essay argues that the practice turn in teacher education might be leveraged to enhance the field’s intersectional imagination and to eschew the polarities and linearities the field has inherited from Western enlightenment philosophy.

Shamelessness and New Sincerity: Dostoevsky, David Foster Wallace, and Trump’s America

The ascendency of Donald Trump to President of the United States was marked by the concretisation of the “post-truth” era, an era in which brazen falsehoods not only withstood counterclaims to veracity but seemed to derive their legitimacy from their opposition to readily accepted truths. Epitomised by Kellyanne Conway’s infamous promulgation of “alternative facts,” the defining characteristic of post-truth politics seemed to be that the content of an utterance mattered less than the shamelessness with which it was uttered. It evidenced a divorce between traditional concepts of sincerity and the truth on which such sincerity was traditionally premised, allowing for the post-truth manipulation of shamelessness to make the most forceful claim over the sincere. This trend, I will argue in this essay, has its roots in the abundance of cynicism that beset American postmodernism, which along with post-truth shamelessness also gave rise to the cultural need for a new understanding of sincerity. I intend to trace how Fyodor Dostoevsky’s work influenced one of the foremost proponents of such new sincerity, the novelist David Foster Wallace. Giving particular focus to Dostoevsky’s emphasis on shame in his post-Siberian works, especially in the portrayal of Fyodor Karamazov, I will argue that such emphasis has its correspondence in Emmanuel Levinas’s theorisation of the ethical. I will conclude by suggesting that Levinasian ethics, which represent a departure from the totalising tendency of Enlightenment philosophy, might thereby serve as the basis for a new type of sincerity, one that maintains a sense of the ethical in the face of post-truth shamelessness.

EU Tourism Contributing to Peace and Unity?

This chapter analyses the EU tourism policy regarding tourism sensitive to peace. It relies on the medieval, modern, and contemporary enlightenment philosophy of building a lasting peace in Europe, which were foundational ideas of European integration and keep being a reflex in its current values. Although the EU has been witnessing the longest period of this territory with peace, it is not taken for granted, and Euroscepticism and nationalism have been growing in Europe. The chapter assesses the conception of tourism as an intervening policy for the EU to contain nationalism, intolerance, and state conflict in Europe, using the theoretical framework of tourism sensitive to peace. It is concluded that Europe lacks an immaterial vision for tourism, as it is confined to the market functionality.

Mickiewiczowska hermeneutyka "tego, co religijne". Próba lektury postsekularnej

Adam Mickiewicz’s Hermeneutics of “the Religious”: An Attempt at a Postsecular ReadingThis article synthetically presents the hermeneutic attitude revealed in Mickiewicz’s work (poetry as well as lectures and journalism). It is analyzed from a post-secular perspective. The poet opposes the reductive secularism of the Enlightenment and its secular humanism. He also encourages preserving “the religious” and reviving religious concepts. However, this should not be a simple return to the past (conservatism), but rather a rethinking of religion with consideration to the new, secular conditions. Mickiewicz follows the scattered interpretations of the traces of transcendence or sacrum in various traditions and different ways of thinking: from mythology, pagan practices and folk piety to sophisticated mysticism and complicated theosophy. This Romantic thinker appears as a dialogue mediator between various religious languages, as well as between opposite beliefs and discourses (the ritualized religiosity of the official Church, rationalist Enlightenment philosophy, simple and sensual folk religiosity). The aim is to renew the broken relationship (‘union’) that connects man to God and creation, and to rebuild the community. In “the religious” he tries to find the common basis or extract the universal truths. In his opinion, Christianity is what connects and summarizes all religious traditions. According to this poet-politician, the revival of the religioncentered spirit is associated with the freedom revolution (the abolition of slavery, equality of women, emancipation of nations). He believes that the transcendent perspective of human history is the main guarantee of social change and true community. In a broader context, the hermeneutic strategy of this Polish Romantic can be interpreted as a post-secular stance,mas it urges us to rethink and internalize all levels of religion, which should be continuously and constantly updated in one’s life. Mickiewiczowska hermeneutyka „tego, co religijne”. Próba lektury postsekularnejArtykuł w syntetyczny sposób prezentuje ujawniającą się w twórczości Mickiewicza (zarówno poetyckiej, jak i wykładowej czy publicystycznej) postawę hermeneutyczną, która analizowana jest w horyzoncie myśli postsekularnej. Poeta dyskutuje z redukcyjnymi przejawami oświeceniowego sekularyzmu i jego świeckim humanizmem. Zachęca do zachowania „tego, co religijne” oraz do odnowienia religijnych pojęć. Nie chodzi jednak o prosty powrót do tego, co było (konserwatyzm), lecz o przemyślenie religii na nowo – w zmienionych warunkach po sekularyzacji. Mickiewicz śledzi rozproszone interpretacje śladów transcendencji czy tropów sacrum w rozmaitych tradycjach i sposobach mówienia o tym: od mitologii, folkloru, praktyk pogańskich, pobożności ludowej, po wyrafinowaną mistykę czy skomplikowaną teozofię. Romantyczny myśliciel jawi się jako dialogujący mediator między różnymi religijnymi językami, a także zderzającymi się przekonaniami i dyskursami (religijność zrytualizowana Kościoła urzędowego, racjonalistyczna filozofia oświeceniowa, sensualna w swej prostocie religijność ludowa). Celem tych działań jest odnowa zerwanej więzi („spójni”) łączącej człowieka z Bogiem i stworzeniem oraz odbudowa wspólnoty. W „tym, co religijne” szuka tego, co wspólne, wyłuskuje prawdy uniwersalne. Tym, co łączy i podsumowuje wszystkie okołoreligijne tradycje jest, jego zdaniem, chrześcijaństwo. Odrodzenie ducha religijnego poeta-polityk wiąże z rewolucją wolnościową (zniesienie niewolnictwa, równouprawnienie kobiet, emancypacja ludów). Wierzy, że transcendentna perspektywa dziejów ludzkości jest gwarantem zmian społecznych oraz źródłem prawdziwej wspólnoty. W szerokim kontekście strategię hermeneutyczną polskiego romantyka można odczytywać jako gest postsekularny, gdyż namawia do przemyślenia i uwewnętrznienia wszystkich poziomów religii, by poprowadzić ją dalej, nieustannie uaktualniając w swojej biografii.

Standup Comedy as Humorous Detachment: Enlightenment Roots from Diderot and Sade

This comparative and multidisciplinary article reveals an original perspective on Standup Comedy, proposing the Enlightenment philosophy as a possible roots for Standup Comedy. Subsequently, the Standup Comedian is presented as the most Rational and Detached type of actor. The comparative approach uses writings coming from the Enlightenment, from two very different, but equally iconic philosophers: Diderot, whose discourse focuses on acting (The Actor’s Paradox) and Sade, whose text is directed at gender issues from what we call today a very “politically incorrect” angle (the novel Justine). My theoretical attempt is multidisciplinary, being situated at the intersection between performance studies, literary studies and rhetoric.

PHILOSOPHY AND POLITICAL AGENCY IN THE WRITINGS OF FREDERICK II OF PRUSSIA

Frederick II's writings have conventionally been viewed either as political tools or as means of public self-fashioning – part of his campaign to raise the status of Prussia from middling principality to great power. This article, by contrast, argues that Frederick's works must also be taken seriously on their own terms, and interpreted against the background of Enlightenment philosophy. Frederick's notions of kingship and state service were not governed mostly by a principle of pure morality or ‘humanitarianism’, as argued influentially by Friedrich Meinecke. On the contrary, the king's views were part and parcel of an eighteenth-century vision of modern kingship in commercial society, based on the benign pursuit of self-love and luxury. A close analysis of Frederick's writings demonstrates that authorial labour was integral to his political agency, publicly placing constraints on what could be perceived as legitimate conduct, rather than mere intellectual window-dressing or an Enlightened pastime in irresolvable tension with his politics.

The Enlightenment Philosophy Impact on the Musical Culture of Russia in the 18th–19th Centuries

this article discusses the key ideas of the philosophy of the Enlightenment (applying democratic attitudes, referring to real-life problems and issues, promoting humaneness and humanism) that have influenced the Russian musical culture. A connection is traced between the worldview of the West-European philosophers of the Enlightenment and the works of European composers and musicians that influenced the Russian musical culture in the 18th and 19th centuries. The article highlights how the philosophy of the Enlightenment affected the development of the operatic and singing art in Russia and how it in many ways dictated subsequent trends in the Russian music.

The Philosophy of the Enlightenment as a Paradigm of Transhumanism

In the works devoted to the phenomenon of transhumanism, it is widely recognized that philosophy of the Enlightenment had a great intellectual influence on the formation of transhumanism. Yet, this article states that the ideas of Enlightenment philosophy can be reasonably treated as not only consisting the conceptual transhumanism core but also as being a source of its internal contradictions. The paper defends the position that transhumanism in general is an intrinsically controversial project and introduces the premises for this contradiction – the basic anthropological views inherited from philosophy of the Enlightenment. Finally, the article questions the status of transhumanism as a techno-scientific program and states it to be an ideologically engaged project in anthropological engineering, which, in its turn, is devoid of any clear theoretical and practical outline.