The Ethical Value of the Inhumanity in Art A Levinasian Reading

Reality and its Shadow, a brief yet powerful essay written in 1948, is the only text where Emmanuel Levinas (1906-1995) deals solely with the ontology of art. Already in this early text, we can see how his understanding that ethics is the ground of philosophy drives his discussion. The nature of art is therefore treated in relation to what it does, ethically, to the subject, the maker, and the viewer. Art is the “inhumanity” and “inversion” of ethics. Only philosophical criticism reintegrates its “inhumanity” in the ethical relation. The strength of Levinas’s philosophy issues from a pre-cognitive commitment to the “other”, epitomised in the “face to face” relation. Any philosophy emphasising the primacy of the subject over and above the “other” crumbles under his reading. Yet this same strength implies that those domains where the “face to face” relation is obscured lead to irresponsibility. One such domain is art. In this essay I argue that by applying his mature work to the criticism he advances in Reality and its Shadow we can find ethical value in art in virtue of its “inhumanity” and “inversion”. That is, we can agree with Levinas that art leads to irresponsibility, and yet ascribe to it positive ethical value in Levinas's own terms. This can help concretise the tension between the ethical and unethical aspects of art within a Levinasian framework.

Die Raum- und Zeitlehre Alois Riehls im Kontext realistischer Interpretationen von Kants transzendentalem Idealismus

In The Philosophical Criticism, Alois Riehl developed a realistic interpretation of Kant’s transcendental idealism based on his theory of space and time. In doing so, more than 100 years ago, he formulated an interpretation of the relation between the thing in itself and appearances that is discussed in current research as the metaphysical „dual aspect“ interpretation, although it is rarely attributed to Riehl. To reconstruct Riehl’s position, the research results of comparative studies on Moritz Schlick are systematically extended and applied to the current debate on Kant’s transcendental idealism.

Jesuit Upbringing as Prevention Against Fundamentalism, Bigotry and Pharisaism

RESEARCH OBJECTIVE: The objective of the work is presenting the pseudoreligion F hypothesis created by a Czech theologian, sociologist and philosopher Tomáš Halík. The second part of the text presents the challenges of Jesuit upbringing which can be understood as a possible strategy and prevention against the pseudoreligion F. RESEARCH PROBLEM AND METHODS:Pseudoreligion F is a hypothesis through which Tomáš Halík interprets similarities among several pathological phenomena of the contemporary social culture as well as Christian religiosity. The key solution is the critical education and dialogue. It is the system of Jesuit education that can be understood as a tested preventive strategy. Critical analysis of the beginnings of Jesuit education shows that this is still a valid method of teaching and upbringing. THE PROCESS OF ARGUMENTATION:In the first part of the work, the pseudoreligion F hypothesis was presented, as well as some related theses. The objective of the first part is describing the sociological and philosophical criticism of contemporary religious pathologies. In the second part of the text, we will focus on the key tasks and challenges of Jesuit pedagogy. RESEARCH RESULTS:Contemporary religious pathologies threaten Christianity as they distort the ideals of the Gospel to achieve short-term goals. In the context of Christianity, such pathologies also include clericalism and, more broadly, pharisaism. Critical thinking about these issues encourages us to search for strategies that can help “extinguish the fire.” One of such strategies is integral humanist education which is also represented by Jesuit education. CONCLUSIONS, INNOVATIONS, RECOMMENDATIONS: Despite the ambiguity of this term, critical thinking is considered to be the key tool for preventing fanaticism, fundamentalism, extremism, etc. The research is to show that critical education mainly refers to the complexity and integral anthropological line. Education and Jesuit education has a rich tradition based on the Ignatian and Jesuit spirituality.

The Philosophy of the “Late” Era of the UkrSSR: Specificity of Criticism of Bourgeois Theories (a Case Study of the Books by Larysa Levchuk)

The article examines the specifics of philosophical criticism in the period of the “late” UkrSSR Western concepts of philosophy, psychology, and arts using Larysa Levchuk’s books “Art in the Struggle of Ideologies” and her “Psychoanalysis: From the Unconscious to ‘Fatigue of Consciousness’”. The specific involvement in the Soviet philosophical discourse of the theoretical achievements of psychoanalysis in all its forms is shown, as well as the acquaintance of the Soviet reader with the ideas of the cult artists of the West with the help of these books. Among the representatives of “neorealism”, which played a significant role in the development of art, especially in Italy and France, L. Levchuk focuses on the works of R. Guttuso, C. Levy, V. Pratolini, R. Rossellini, V. de Sica, A. Fougeron, and others.The book “Art in the Struggle of Ideologies” was published in 1985, when at the official level it was not so much about “perestroika” but “acceleration of socio-economic development”. The book is written from the standpoint of “philosophical socialistic realism”, when the presentation and conclusions are adjusted to the externally set ideological pattern, although it differs in professionalism and breadth of coverage. The author’s application of the theory of psychoanalysis in the study of the phenomena of Western art deserves special attention. The book “Psychoanalysis: From the Unconscious to ‘Fatigue of Consciousness’” was published in 1989, at the peak of perestroika. It is built on the same typological material (only with the involvement of a much wider range of ideas and sources) and testifies the author’s free possession of this material, its statement introducing the readers to the range of problems stated in the book.The conclusions indicate that the introduction of concepts of Western philosophical thought and the names of Western artists in the intellectual circulation of society of the UkrSSR expanded its worldview, creating a sense of richness and diversity of artistic and philosophical life abroad. The removal of ideological pressure in the midst of perestroika showed that some philosophers of the Soviet era were freely oriented in the global philosophical, culturological, and psychological thought.The study of the past, including the philosophy of the USSR, is a necessary condition for creating a holistic picture of that era and clarifying a number of current trends.

Fenomenologia e Educação na perspectiva de Creusa Capalbo

Fenomenologia e Educação na perspectiva de Creusa Capalbo Resumo: Creusa Capalbo fez seu doutorado em Filosofia na Universidade Católica de Louvain. Faleceu em 2017, aos 83 anos, e deixou uma obra centrada na meditação sobre Fenomenologia e Ciências Humanas. Editou um livro com esse título, cujo sexto capítulo aborda o tema Fenomenologia e Educação. Mostrando invulgar erudição e fazendo a crítica de pensadores que reduzem a educação à adequação ou à revolta contra a sociedade industrial, Creusa Capalbo entende que o papel da educação é o de propiciar a introdução de valores que assegurem a realização do bem comum. Inspira-se, para tanto, nas meditações exponenciais de Husserl, Scheler, Buber, dentre outros autores. Retomando as meditações desses pensadores, Creusa Capalbo realiza um percurso admirável, sublinhando sua fidelidade ao tema da Filosofia da Educação.Palavras-chave: Fenomenologia; Crítica filosófica; Educação; Bem-comum. Phenomenology and Education from Creusa Capalbo’s perspective Abstract: Creusa Capalbo did her PHD in Philosophy at the Catholic University of Louvain. She died in 2017, at the age of 83, and her work reflects the Phenomenology and the Human Sciences. In fact, she edited a book with that title, whose sixth chapter accounts the topics of Phenomenology and Education. Creusa Capalbo, with a lot of scholarship and criticizing the philosophers who reduce education to adequacy or to conflict against industrial society, she defends an education with values that support the realization of the common good. For this, she was inspired, among other philosophers, by Husserl’s, Scheler’s and Buber’s ideas. Resuming their thoughts, Creusa Capalbo did a great way, emphasizing her fidelity to the Philosophy of Education.Key Words: Phenomenology; Philosophical criticism; Education; Common good. Phénoménologie et Éducation dans la perspective de Creusa Capalbo Résumé: Creusa Capalbo a fait son doctorat en Philosophie dans l'Université Catholique de Louvain. Elle est décédée à 2017, avec 83 années, et elle a laissé une oeuvre axée sur la méditation au sujet de la Phénoménologie et les Sciences Humaines. Elle a publié un livre avec ce même titre, dont le 6ème chapitre étudie le sujet: Phénoménologie et Éducation. Sa remarcable érudition et sa critique des philosophes contemporains qui circonscrivent l'éducation soit à l'adéquation, soit à la révolte contre la société industrielle, l'amenèrent a affirmer que le rôle de l´éducation est celui de favoriser l'introduction dans la société des valeurs qui puissent assurér la réalisation du bien commun. Elle s'inspire, dans la proposition de cette perspective, dans les méditations de Husserl, Scheller, Buber, parmi d'autres penseurs, et elle réalise un parcours admirable, qui souligne sa fidélité au sujet de la philosophie de l'éducation.Mots clés: Phénoménologie; Critique philosophique; Éducation; Bien commun. Data de registro: 20/08/2020Data de aceite: 30/11/2020

The Paradoxes of Religious Consciousness: Leo Tolstoy in the Philosophical Criticism of Nicholai Berdyaev

The article is devoted to the analysis of N.A. Berdyaev’s perception of L.N. Tol­stoy’s work. Berdyaev’s philosophical criticism of the writer requires close at­tention and research because it allows us to formulate the most important ques­tion about philosophical vocabulary of Russian religious thinker. The essay examines not only Berdyaev’s critical interpretation of Tolstoy in its movement, but also the personal perception by the philosopher of Tolstoy as a great Russian writer. This paper explores the evolution of Berdyaev’s views on the problem of religious consciousness of Leo Tolstoy. I reveal the structural elements of Berdyaev’s personalistic metaphysics and analyze the main ideas of his eschato­logical ethics from the perspective of philosophical criticism of Tolstoy. I con­sider the modus of Berdyaev’s assessment of Tolstoy’s nihilism and discuss the ambiguity and complexity of Berdyaev’s attitude to the writer and religious thinker. This problem manifested itself, on the one hand, in Berdyaev’s identify­ing himself as a Russian thinker and a heir to the tradition of Solovyov, Dosto­evsky and Tolstoy, on the other hand, in sharp criticism of Tolstoy for his role in the crisis of Russian religious consciousness, which had irreversible conse­quences for the Russian state and society. This analysis proposes a new opinion on philosophical criticism of Berdyaev, as distinct from the traditional version, and introduces the thesaurus research strategy on Berdyaev’s religious philosophy.