Wittgenstein, Ordinary Language, and Poeticity

The later Wittgenstein famously holds that an understanding which tries to run up against the limits of language bumps itself and results in nothing but plain nonsense. Therefore, the task of philosophy cannot be to create an ‘ideal’ language so as to produce a ‘real’ understanding for the first time; its aim must be to remove particular misunderstandings by clarifying the use of our ordinary language. Accordingly, Wittgenstein opposes both the sublime terms of traditional philosophy and the formal frameworks of modern logics—and adheres to a pointedly casual, colloquial style in his own philosophizing. However, there seems to lurk a certain inconsistency in Wittgenstein’s ordinary language approach: his philosophical remarks frequently remain enigmatic, and many of the terms Wittgenstein coins seem to be highly technical. Thus, one might wonder whether his verdicts on the limits of language and on philosophical jargons might not be turned against his own practice. The present essay probes the extent to which the contravening tendencies in Wittgenstein’s mature philosophy might be reconciled. Section 2 sketches Wittgenstein’s general approach to philosophy and tracks the special rôle that the language of everyday life occupies therein. Section 3 reconstructs Wittgenstein’s preferred method for philosophy, which he calls perspicuous representation, and argues that this method implements an aesthetic conception of philosophy and a poetic approach to philosophical language, in which philosophical insights are not explicitly stated, but mediated through well-worded and creatively composed descriptions. Section 4 discusses how Wittgenstein’s philosophical poetics relates to artificial terminologies and grammars in philosophy and science.

Doing Queer in the Everyday of Academia: Reflections on Queering a Conference in International Law

The pioneering 1990s movement in critical theory has generated path-breaking scholarship seeking to queer law. Efforts to queer international law have produced important research uncovering the role of international law as a performative discourse and as a transnational governance framework reproducing gendered and sexual hegemonies. However, these efforts have done very little to destabilize the structures and workings of the very site where international law is theorized and taught: the university. Queering international law has mostly entailed looking at how the state, international organizations, international lawyers, scholars, and civil society produce or resist the heteronormative matrix, “that grid of cultural intelligibility through which bodies, genders, and desires are naturalized.” But what about the role of the university and its everyday routines––themselves byproducts of the aforementioned matrix––in reproducing and/or resisting (gendered) hierarchies and exclusions? We have raised this question as young scholars involved in organizing a week-long event on queer methods in international legal scholarship. The present essay is a first attempt at grappling with what the queering of an academic conference in international law meant for us, and for the university itself. It echoes a recent trend in scholarship on queer pedagogies, which, however, remain mostly silent on practices of scientific exchange. By reflecting on our efforts to queer a workshop in the field of international law, we also hope to inspire others to pursue their own queer processes of knowledge production.

On Makovi on public goods

Makovi (2019) has traveled a long distance, all the way from his 20-yard line to his opponent’s 5-yard line. But, he needs a little push to score a goal. The present essay is our attempt to provide that for him in terms of public goods, externalities, and laissez faire capitalism.

Krieg oder Frieden. Auf der Suche nach einem Tertium Datur

There is a consensus on war: violent conflicts are out. But they continue to happen. One likes to exclude violent conflicts and to avoid them. But they could happen. Avoidance of wars appears not be sufficient. International relations presuppose an international anarchy. Anarchy does not exclude wars, but reduces them to exceptions. The present essay attempts to argue in favour of a categorical exclusion of violent conflicts which easily could destroy vital conditions of human survival.

Figurações da solidão em Viver com os outros, de Isabel da Nóbrega e Os íntimos, de Inês Pedrosa / Figures of solitude in Living with others, by Isabel da Nóbrega and The Intimates, by Inês Pedrosa a

Resumo: O presente trabalho investiga os romances Viver com os outros (1964), de Isabel da Nóbrega e Os íntimos (2010), de Inês Pedrosa demonstrando como a solidão integra a figuração das personagens. Na introdução, aproxima as obras tendo em atenção a organicidade do romance português contemporâneo, conforme proposto por Miguel Real (2012), e enfatiza a presença da solidão no cotejo entre os dois livros. Após, analisa a configuração dos protagonistas Ana e Afonso com base na figuração dos sujeitos ficcionais segundo Carlos Reis (2018). Por fim, aponta a solidão como característica na composição das personagens em ambos os romances, consideradas as particularidades de cada obra e o contexto socioliterário no qual se inserem. Além disso, defere que a “solidão ontológica”, de acordo com Alexandre P. Torres (1967) é tema da literatura portuguesa que, por seu turno, se ressignifica para representar os individualismos do homem contemporâneo, conforme Benilde J. Caniato (2007). Palavras-chaves: Viver com os outros; Os íntimos; personagem; solidão; Ana; Afonso.Abstract: The present essay investigates the novels Living with Others (1964), by Isabel da Nóbrega and The Intimates (2010), by Inês Pedrosa, demonstrating how loneliness integrates the figuration of the characters. To this purpose, in the introduction, it approaches the books taking into account the organicity of the contemporary Portuguese novel, as proposed by Miguel Real (2012), and emphasizes the presence of loneliness in the comparison between the two books. Then, it analyzes the configuration of the protagonists Ana and Afonso based on the figuration of fictional subjects according to Carlos Reis (2018). Finally, it points to loneliness as a characteristic in the composition of the characters in both novels, considering the particularities of each one and the socio-literary context in which they are inserted. Furthermore, it defers that “ontological loneliness”, according to Alexandre P. Torres (1967) is a theme of Portuguese literature that, in turn, resignifies itself to represent the individualisms of contemporary man, according to Benilde J. Caniato (2007).Keywords: Living with others; The intimates; character; solitude; Ana; Afonso.

Inquiries on Cultural Markers in Translation

In descriptive translation studies, the identification of cultural markers brings with it certain theoretical and methodological difficulties: the very conceptualization of the cultural marker; its subcategories, both linguistic and extra-linguistic; the appropriate procedures to carry out its identification. The present essay seeks to map the extent of these difficulties and make a number of proposals, yet to be tested in descriptive practice.

Environmentalism and Sustainability as an Expression of Islamic Morality

The present essay relates to a line of enquiry that focuses on the Islamic contribution to the values held in common by different cultural traditions, with the aim of working towards a shared ethical conscience and peaceful coexistence in the cities of a globalised world. The essay emphasises cultural specificities, starting with the terminology currently used to describe environmentalism and sustainability. Drawing on the works of a number of contemporary Arab Muslim intellectuals, my enquiry aims to look at environmental sustainability from an Islamic perspective, and to address it as part of the ethical heritage of Islam.

The Life-Idealism of Michel Henry

The purpose of the present essay is to exposit and interpret the principal contours of the phenomenology of Christianity proposed by Michel Henry in dialog with his theological critics. Against the claims commonly made about him, Henry is not a Gnostic of any sort: neither a monist, nor a dualist, nor a pantheist, nor a denier of faith, nor a world- or creation-denier or anything of the sort. He rather proposes a form of “life-idealism” according to which (i) life is the foundation of the possibility of the world, (ii) life assumes a visible, external representation (viz., the empirical body) in its activities in the world, and (iii) the meaning of the world is that it is the arena in which life pursues the goal of its own perfection and growth. Interpreted in this light, his thought is not Gnostic.

Towards an Epistemology of Reading: Defining the Process of Reading in Modern Terms

The chaotic space caused by information explosion in present times has made the process and purpose of reading to be always questioned. Technological advancement has made reading appear as a mere mockery at the very outset. But the world still prioritizes knowledge that is acquired through observation, valuation and interpretation. At the time of Big Data, there still persists a sense of agency to define a given information as episteme. The present essay emphasizes on looking at reading as a modern phenomenon by presupposing the epistemological presence at the centre of any rational pursuit. Based on the Kantian precepts on enlightenment, the paper attempts to understand this presence of knowledge by delving into the major disciplines of modern philosophy that help in observing, valuing and interpreting the act of reading in present times. More than laying terms for defining the text within the modern space, the study essentializes reading in a virtually driven algorithmic world.

Some Thoughts About Genre in Old Javanese Literature

Robson in 1983 and 1988 in his reconsideration of the poetics of kakawin epics and Javanese philology drew readers’ attention to the importance of genre for the history of ancient Javanese literature. Aoyama in his study of the kakawin Sutasoma in 1992, making judicious use of Hans Jauss’s concept of “horizon of expectation”, offered the first systematic discussion of the genre of Old Javanese literary works. The present essay offers a commentary on the terms which mpu Monaguna and mpu Prapañca, authors of the thirteenth century epic kakawin Sumanasāntaka and the fourteenth century Deśawarṇana, themselves, employ to refer to the generic characteristics of their poems. Mpu Monaguna referred to his epic poem as a narrative work (kathā), written in a prakṛt, Old Javanese, and rendered in the poetic form of a kakawin and finally as a ritual act intended to enable the poet to achieve apotheosis with his tutelary deity and his poem to be the means of transforming the world, in particular to ensure the wellbeing of the readers, listeners, copyists and those who possessed copies of his poetic work. Mpu Prapañca described his Deśawarṇana differently. Also written in Old Javanese and in the poetic form of a kakawin—he refers to his work variously as a narrative work (kathā), a chronicle (śakakāla or śakābda), a praise poem (kastawan) and also as a ritual act designed to enable the author in an ecstatic state of rapture (alangö), and filled with the power and omniscience of his tutelary deity, to ensure the continued prosperity of the realm of Majapahit and to secure the rule of his king Rājasanagara. The essay considers each of these literary categories.