BERNARD MANDEVILLE’İN ARILARIN MASALI ADLI ESERİ HAKKINDA BİR İNCELEME

Author(s): Recep Batu Günör / Language(s): Turkish / Issue: 22/2016

Bernard Mandeville is a Dutch thinker, known especially for his own works on ethics and economics. His magnum opus is ‘The Fable of the Bees or Private Vices, Publick Benefits”. In this work, Mandeville argues that all people actually are selfish and this selfishness is both natural and virtuous. In accordance with Mandeville, qualities like kindness and honesty, instead of contributing the improvement of the society, it regrets the progress. Vices appeared even in the smallest part of a society, allow almost all to live in the paradise. The most obvious indicator of this is the prosperty and happiness of the societies in which all people are selfish. Because of everyone from lawyers to doctors and from barbers to clerics are thinking themselves in a selfish manner, an unbelievable prosperity is being appeared in the society. Accordingly, behaving that are benevolent to give rise to a society in which life is impossible. The most obvious reason for that is the pursuing of selfish purposes of oneself creates a sponteneous order. With this concept of spontaneous order Mandeville has influenced Adam Smith and given him a ground for his ‘homo economicus’.

Beyond a Genealogy of Human Rights

Introduction to a Discussion Forum

Author(s): Ivo Cerman / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2020

The introductory essay explains the motivation for this discussion forum. After the success of Samuel Moyn’s slim book on Utopian human rights, the American historians of human rights began to turn a blind eye to the whole period before the 1970s, including the Age of Enlightenment. The focus is now more on persons and events of the Utopian decade, and not on the history of human rights. „On the Spirit of Rights“ is a recent monograph by an influential American historian, which may help reverse the tide. There follows a brief summary of the argument of the book and an introduction to the participants in the discussion. In his discussion of enlightenment authors, Edelstein focuses on the question whether they recognized natural rights after the social contract. He calls such an approach the „preservation regime“ and identifies the physiocrats as authors of such a solution.

Blogis, Gėris Ir Laisvė Geriausiame Iš Galimų Pasaulyje

Author(s): Rūta Marija Vabalaitė / Language(s): Lithuanian / Issue: 64/2010

The article deals with problems of evil, good, necessity and freedom in the philosophy of Leibniz. It also compares Leibniz‘s thinking with that of other philosophers. My considerations are based upon Leibniz‘s “Theodicy. Essays on the Goodness of God the Freedom of Man and the origin of Evil”, “New Essays on Human Understanding” and other shorter texts of Leibniz. My article highlights the justification of metaphysical, physical and moral evil. It analyzes the differences between the absolute and the hypothetical, metaphysical and moral necessity, and the relations between determination, freedom and necessity. The free will and the principle of the best that motivates intelligent beings are analyzed. Finally, it examines the concept of good as pleasure that motivates the will. Here special attention is paid to the original concepts of semi-pleasure and semi-suffering.

Cartesian Privations: Material Causation in Pierre-Sylvain Régis’s Cartesian Account of Sin

Author(s): Joseph Anderson / Language(s): English / Issue: 2/2016

Descartes’s very brief explanations of human responsibility for sin and divine innocence of sin include references to the idea that evil is a privation rather than a real thing. It is not obvious, though, that privation fits naturally in Descartes’s reductionistic metaphysics, nor is it clear precisely what role his privation doctrine plays in his theodicy. These issues are made clear by contrasting Descartes’s use of privations with that of Suarez, particularly in light of reoccurring objections to privation theory. These objections have no weight against Suarez’s use of privations, but Descartes’s mentions of privation are so few that it is not clear how his account avoids their consequences. Descartes’s brevity seems to have motivated some of his followers to develop creative accounts of the way in which privation fits in a Cartesian system. Pierre-Sylvain Régis accomplishes this task by reintroducing material causation. Régis holds that moral evil has no efficient cause since an efficient cause can only produce something real. Because he holds that moral evil can have a material cause, he is able to affirm that the soul is morally responsible for sin. In Régis’s case, accommodating this theological issue meant reincorporating Aristotelian resources into his Cartesian system.

Cartesian Social Epistemology? Contemporary Social Epistemology and Early Modern Philosophy

Author(s): Amy M. Schmitter / Language(s): English / Issue: 2/2020

Many contemporary social epistemologists take themselves to be combatting an individualist approach to knowledge typified by Descartes. Although I agree that Descartes presents an individualist picture of scientific knowledge, he does allow some practical roles for reliance on the testimony and beliefs of others. More importantly, however, his reasons for committing to individualism raise important issues for social epistemology, particularly about how reliance on mere testimony can propagate prejudices and inhibit genuine understanding. The implications of his views are worked out more fully by some of his immediate successors; I examine how François Poulain de la Barre, and (briefly) Mary Astell analyze the social conditions for epistemic agency in a Cartesian vein.

CÂTEVA CUVINTE DESPRE IMPORTANȚA FILOSOFICĂ A PRIMULUI TRATAT DE MEDICINĂ ÎN LIMBA ROMÂNĂ

Author(s): Dragoș Popescu / Language(s): Romanian,Moldavian / Issue: 4/2019

Characteristica universalis: Лайбниц и Декарт

Author(s): Kamen Lozev / Language(s): English,Bulgarian / Issue: 1/2017

The paper discusses Leibniz’s project for a lingua universalis undertaken in his first period, 1666- 1679, when he was enthusiastic about the possibility of creating a universal language based on the “alphabet of human thought”, which he viewed as the “most important instrument for the perfection of the human mind”. The article analyzes the main issue confronted by the young Leibniz, i.e., the creation of a list of “primitive notions”, also discussed by Descartes in his letter to Mersenne from 20th November 1629. Leibniz’s response to the issues raised by Descartes is outlined together with how he resolved them by means of the theory of so-called “blind thought” (cogitatio caeca). The article concludes with a brief account of the influence these ideas in Leibniz’s work had on the 19th century pioneers of modern logic.

Christian Wolff on Common Notions and Duties of Esteem

Author(s): Andreas Blank / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2019

While contemporary accounts understand esteem and self-esteem as essentially competitive phenomena, early modern natural law theorists developed a conception of justified esteem and self-esteem based on naturally good character traits. This article explores how such a normative conception of esteem and self-esteem is developed in the work of Christian Wolff (1679–1754). Two features make Wolff’s approach distinctive: (1) He uses the analysis of common notions that are expressed in everyday language to provide a foundation for the aspects of natural law on which his conception of natural duties of esteem depends. (2) He develops a non-competitive conception of esteem and self-esteem into a cooperative conception, according to which enhancing the esteem in which others are held is seen as a tool for promoting self-perfection. Wolff’s ideas offer a solution to the well-known problems connected with competitive life-styles, and at the same time assign a central role in moral motivation to the desire of being esteemed and of having high self-esteem. Moreover, due to his emphasis on presenting a philosophical analysis based on common notions, he offers a solution that is meant to be persuasive from the perspective of everyday morality.

CIORAN ET LA PHILOSOPHIE EXISTENTIELLE DE LEON CHESTOV

Author(s): Sándor Seres / Language(s): French / Issue: Sp.Issue/2019

Cioran and the Existential Philosophy of Lev Shestov. Cioran is said to have been influenced by Pascal, Kierkegaard and Nietzsche, the author of La Chute dans le temps thus enrolling in the line of existential philosophy. Much less - or not at all - is mentioned in this context Lev Shestov, who exerted a considerable influence on the intellectual environments in France, but also in Romania, in the period immediately following the First World War. Cioran considered Shestov as one of his spiritual masters, the influence of the Russian thinker being present both in his youthful writings and in those written later in France. We will try to highlight some of Shestov’s ideas which have been creatively taken over by Cioran and that can be found constantly throughout his work.

Classical texts in the art treatises of early Modern Period

Author(s): Tomas Riklius / Language(s): English / Issue: 3/2019

This paper discusses the quotation frequency and reference strategies of Leon Battista Alberti, Federico Borromeo, and Gabriele Paleotti. These three Catholic art theoreticians of Early Modern period engaged Classical texts as the point of reference and expertly manipulated the Classical sources to provide contextual arguments in the formation of their own artistic theories. Alberti, Borromeo, and Paleotti directly alluded or referred to Pliny the Elder, Plutarch, Xenophon, Strabo, Aulus Gellius, and other Classical sources rather extensively. This can be noticed from various quotation strategies applied in Alberti, Borromeo, and Paleotti treatises and by statistical data on quotation frequency in Alberti’s De pictura, Paleotti’s Discorso intorno alle immagini sacre e profane, and Borromeo’s De pictura sacra.

Claude Gadroys and a Cartesian Astrology

Author(s): Aaron Spink / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2018

When Descartes made his scientific work public he ushered in a worldview based almost entirely on mechanical motion, which brought along a complete rejection of “occult” forces. Thus, the foundation of astrology was equally rejected by many prominent Cartesians. However, the popularity of Descartes’ system lead to its rapid adoption by many subjects, astrology included. Here, I will take a look at the curious case of Claude Gadroys, whose primary work, Discours sur les influences des astres (1671), defends a mechanical account of astrology that accords with Descartes’ principles.Gadroys’ Discours employs a sophisticated strategy to rehabilitate astrology of the 17th century against Pico della Mirandola, among other critics. Gadroys’ theory even incorporates Descartes’ discovery, contra the scholastics, that the sublunary and celestial spheres do not differ in kind. Surprisingly, Gadroys uses Descartes’ discovery to substantiate the stars influencing the Earth, whereas earlier astrologers required such a distinction. Gadroys’ adoption of Cartesian philosophy highlights two major theses. First, the advent of mechanical philosophy in no way necessitated the downfall of astrology; instead, it merely changed the direction of astrological explanation for those that followed current science. Second, it shows selective nature of Cartesian explanation and hypotheses.

Coleridgeova estetika: Umjetnost u slavu Boga

Author(s): Sanja Šoštarić / Language(s): Bosnian / Issue: 20/2003

U dvanaestom poglavlju Biographie Literarie Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772- 1834) će napisati: "Sveukupno znanje proistječe iz podudarnosti objekta i subjekta" 1 (CW 7,1:252) i time dotaći ključnu temu u svojoj teoriji, temu pomirenja suprotnosti (reconciliation of opposites), povezanu s Coleridgeovim nastojanjem da formulira jedinstvenu teoriju života i dokine teorijsku podijeljenost nauke, umjetnosti i kršćanske vjere.

Comments on John Schuster and Frédéric de Buzon concerning Physico-Mathematics and Mathesis in Descartes

Author(s): Roger Ariew / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2018

[John Schuster, Descartes-Agonistes: Physico-mathematics, Method & Corpuscular-Mechanism 1618–33, Dordrecht: Springer, 2013; Frédéric de Buzon, La Science cartésienne et son objet. Mathesis et phénomène, Paris: Honoré Champion, 2013] 1

Common Conceptions and the Metaphysics of Material Substance: Domingo de Soto, Kenelm Digby and Johannes de Rae

Author(s): Han Thomas Adriaenssen / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2019

This paper explores how, according to three early modern philosophers, philosophical theory should relate to our pre-theoretical picture of reality. Though coming from very different backgrounds, the Spanish scholastic, Domingo de Soto, and the English natural philosopher, Kenelm Digby, agreed that an ability to accommodate our pre-theoretical picture of the world and our ordinary way of speaking about reality is a virtue for a philosophical theory. Yet at the same time, they disagreed on what kind of ontology of the material world is implied by these. The Dutch Cartesian, Johannes de Raey, took a very different approach, and argued that the picture of reality we naturally develop from our early days onwards and the language associated with it have their use in domains such as law and medical practice, but are a poor guide to the ontology of the material world. Thus, if we are to arrive at a proper understanding of the nature of matter, we need to move beyond the picture of reality we naturally develop from our early days onwards in order to come to see that the nature of matter consists in bare extension.

Common Notions and Instincts as Sources of Moral Knowledge in Leibniz’s New Essays on Human Understandin

Author(s): Markku Roinila / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2019

In his defense of innateness in New Essays on Human Understanding (1704), Leibniz attributes innateness to concepts and principles which do not originate from the senses rather than to the ideas that we are born with. He argues that the innate concepts and principles can be known in two ways: through reason or natural light (necessary truths), and through instincts (other innate truths and principles). In this paper I will show how theoretical and moral reasoning differ from each other in Leibniz, and compare moral reasoning and instincts as sources of knowledge in his practical philosophy. As the practical instincts are closely related to pleasure and passions, which are by nature cognitive, my emphasis will be on the affective character of instinctive moral action and especially deliberation which leads to moral action. I will argue that inclinations arising from moral instinct, which lead us to pleasure while avoiding sorrow, can direct our moral action and sometimes anticipate reasoning when conclusions are not readily available. Acting by will, which is related to moral reasoning, and acting by instincts can lead us to the same moral knowledge independently, but they can also complement each other. To illustrate the two alternative ways to reach moral knowledge, I will discuss the case of happiness, which is the goal of all human moral action for Leibniz.

CONSTANTE ALE FILOSOFIEI MODERNE SAU FILOSOFIA MODERNĂ ÎNTRE SPIRITUL RAŢIUNII ŞI RAŢIUNEA SPIRITULUI

Author(s): Viorel Vizureanu / Language(s): Romanian,Moldavian / Issue: 5/2016

Contemporary Society in the Context of Kant’s Practical Philosophy

Author(s): Ľubomír Belás,Ľudmila Belásová / Language(s): English / Issue: 3/2017

The submitted paper offers a philosophical analysis of contemporary society based on the ideas of Immanuel Kant’s practical philosophy. Kant focused on the issue of society in terms of the a priori principles of freedom, equality, and independence and his ideas on social issues are analysed in the first part of the paper. The analysis then serves as a prerequisite for philosophical-critical assessment of contemporary society, especially in the region of Central Europe, presented by philosophers and authors of various fields of study. In the second part of the paper the authors aim to analyse basic social problems of contemporary society and its situation from the point of view of philosophical criticism and referring to the topicality of Kant’s ideas in today’s philosophical thought.

Content Analysis of the Demonstration of the Existence of God Proposed by Leibniz in 1666

Author(s): Krystyna Krauze-Błachowicz / Language(s): English / Issue: 2/2017

Leibniz’s juvenile work De arte combinatoria of 1666 included the “Proof for the Existence of God.” This proof bears a mathematical character and is constructed in line with Euclid’s pattern. I attempted to logically formalize it in 1982. In this text, on the basis of then analysis and the contents of the proof, I seek to show what concept of substance Leibniz used on behalf of the proof. Besides, Leibnizian conception of the whole and part as well as Leibniz’s definitional method have been reconstructed here.

CRITICAL HISTORY, SUBVERSION AND SELF-SUBVERSION: THE CURIOUS CASES OF JEAN MABILLON AND RICHARD SIMON (I/II)

Author(s): Veronica Lazăr / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2020

This paper compares two programmes of historical criticism at the end of the 16th Century – Jean Mabillon’s diplomatics and Richard Simon’s biblical criticism. Although they were both conceived as philological and contextual reconstruction of texts, their relation with the authority of the texts and their engagement with political and institutional stakes were strikingly different.

Data vs. Information

Author(s): Mihaela MALITA,Gheorghe STEFAN / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2018

Big Data technologies are about how to extract information from the rough data. The intermediate stage is represented by preprocessed data. But, even from preprocessed data to information the way is long and complex. First of all, we must understand what information means. There is no widely accepted definition for information. By proposing and using a working definition for the concept of information, we present the main techniques involved on the way from the rough data to the useful information. How the information is generated, extracted and how it emerges is shortly introduced. The role played by information in the knowledge process leads to the way information, as structure acting by its meaning, must reconsider the philosophical approach of existence.