The definition of forgiveness in a non-secular context includes God, as the ideal of goodness or as pure agape, on one side of the equation. On the other side of the equation sits the erring, sinning human being.
Forgiveness is possible in this context because it calls for and affirms the existence of a transcendent, infinite power.
This paper will argue against the possibility of defining the concept of forgiveness in the non-theological context. Continue reading
Friendship is perhaps one of the most advanced human relationships. Being something uniquely and naturally human, it is fundamental for the moral life and essential for the Christian life.
Jean-Luc Marion’s phenomenology of givenness paves the way for an interesting investigation into this most necessary of relationships. Continue reading
It would not be wrong to say that relationality has a central importance in Jean- Luc Nancy’s thinking. It can further be argued that it is the centrality of relationality that holds together, as it were, all the diverse and heterogeneous elements in Nancy’s entire oeuvre. In relation to this, two concepts come to the fore with regard to the issue of relationality, namely comparution (co-appearance) and partage (sharing).
Given this, this presentation attempts to show that comparution and partage can be understood as two distinct but intricately related components of Nancy’s central ontological concept, Continue reading
Describing the exact starting point of Hegel’s Phenomenology of Spirit is always an issue. Oftentimes people fall back on the idea that the outset of the Phenomenology is without presuppositions, a claim which I will contest.
I claim that Hegel, at the outset of the Phenomenology, presupposes certain things which are central to all ref lective thought.
These presuppositions are not mere assumptions but will rather be proven by the project of the Phenomenology itself. This is why Hegel starts the Phenomenology with knowledge (as an activity). Continue reading
This essay attempts to defend a Hegelian form of patriotism. Specifically, there seems to arise the problem that a Hegelian view of patriotism is one that is based on blind habit, a rejection of conscience, and a rejection of ‘objective’ truth in ethics in favor of mere communal consent.
First, it is argued that Hegel’s view of objective ethics and conscience is tied to his understanding of a rational state, and hence should be seen as an attempt to give associative duties a proper foundation. Continue reading
In the Philosophy of Right, Hegel presents an outline of the modern state which attempts to preserve the freedom of individuals and grant an independent and necessary existence to the state. To achieve this aim, the main problem which Hegel must overcome is how to reconcile the self-interested individual with the universal interest of the state.
He outlines three processes whereby this selfinterest is universalized: the inherent rationality of civil society, membership of a corporation, and the ‘harmonization’ of private and universal interest. Continue reading
The way in which Western societies produce and consume food now stands at the center of a massive ethical, ecological, and human health crisis.
The industrialization of agriculture in the name of economic efficiency has increased the food supply, (temporarily) defying Malthusian expectations of global mass starvation, but it has also brought with it a series of unprecedented problems. Accordingly, the philosophical literature on questions relating to the ecology of agriculture has multiplied many times over in the last twenty years. Continue reading
Ludwig Wittgenstein was an Austrian philosopher. He has taught at the University of Cambridge for many years. A lot of people often said that he was the most prominent philosopher of the 20th century in the West. If this statement has an element of exaggeration, but only because of it has ground.
Wittgenstein’s exploring were in the center of philosophical research, when the subject matter of analysis became a language. The linguistic turn is more characteristic for the philosophy of the 20th century. In the a lot of things that happened because of analytic philosophy of language, which developed by Wittgenstein. Continue reading
Georg Simmel and his Notion of Life
Author Rosanne Claes (MA)
Abstract: Mainly famous as a sociologist and known in the philosophy of culture, Georg Simmel wrote at the end of his days the book The View of Life, developing a metaphysical view on life. The most important element in his metaphysics is the notion of life as transcendence.
For Simmel life is always situated between two poles of determinacy and richness, the boundary and the boundless, the known and the unknown. Continue reading
To Scatter, to Distract, and to EntertainThis paper is a meditation on the German word zerstreuen taken from the writings of Walter Benjamin. Zerstreuen is a verb which carries a particularly interesting multiplicity of connotations including the verbs: to scatter, to distract, and to entertain. By elucidating the nuances of this word, I will attempt to give the audience a glimpse into, what may be called, Walter Benjamin‘s attitudes towards ?our coming to terms with modernity. Continue reading
