A COMMENTARY UPON GADAMER’S INTERPRETATION OF HEGEL

Author(s): Anton Crisan / Language(s): English / Issue: Sp.Iss./2015

A Commentary upon Gadamer’s Interpretation of Hegel. In light of a renewed scholarly undertaking of the Hegel‒Gadamer connection, the purpose of the present paper is to carry further this much needed re-approach of the issue by stressing yet another one of its aspects. I am referring to the scholarly insights that Gadamer himself provides us with in his interpretation of Hegel. Since many of Gadamer’s essays on Hegel are actually studies originally meant as contributions to major journals dealing with Hegel’s work, my claim is that we can retrieve from them answers to many ongoing debates in the Hegel scholarship. I will insist on only one of these issues, namely Gadamer’s account of Hegel’s relation to metaphysics.

Agon-kompleks

Author(s): Luka Perušic / Language(s): Croatian / Issue: 03/139/2015

Considering the three orders in the cosmic assembly (macrocosm, microcosm and mesocosm), using an integrative analysis of cosmological understandings of variously-oriented metaphysicists and scientists, I firstly reach to a conclusion on entanglement of two developed cosmic principles that define the relational totality of objects and meanings. The first I term gathering- one-allness, which I describe with arhe-complex. The second I term itself-against-striving, which I describe with eris-complex. On the basis of a shift from enclosed systems (non-living being) to open systems (living being), I elaborate how arhe- and eris-complex create logoscomplex and agon-complex and in what way this new entanglement passes through corporeality (microcosm) to society (mesocosm), in the broadest sense appearing as a strife between realpolitics and utopian striving. In further development, I suggest an articulation of the current world state with the term biopolitical agon in which the power flows through infosphere relays. It is based on dismembering the living into convertible information that contains power in the ability to regulate and be regulated, i.e. the ability of the biopolitical to subdue logos with agon through logos itself, which I attempt to explain by matching this issue with previously mentioned phenomena. With corporeality as an instrument of transformative bitisation, I further discuss societal leaning towards cancelling the original purpose of logos-complex and depowering it regarding the control of bodily articulation of its own purpose-defining. This I shortly outline and then route back to the research’s starting point.

AN EXISTENTIAL ERRAND: SCHOLARSHIP, AUTHORSHIP AND THE CRISIS OF REPRESENTATION

Author(s): Thomas Basbøl / Language(s): English / Issue: 6/2015

Since 1968, at least, academia has been subject to the “crisis of representation.” This essay explores the consequences of the “postmodern condition” for the identity formation of academics. It is informed by Foucault’s and Deleuze’s understanding of the pivotal intellectual developments in the late 20th century, which are taken to challenge Wittgenstein’s presumption that language is essentially about the assertion of facts. Instead of abandoning representation, however, it proposes to meet this challenge squarely, proposing a disciplined engagement with its particular difficulty. Facts are deployed in academic writing, it argues, through the act of scholarship. The ability to represent a fact is at the core of the knowledge that is implicit in the self-formation of the scholar.

Arhaična politika anarhično mišljenje

Author(s): Alen Tafra / Language(s): Croatian / Issue: 01/2003

The starting point of this essay is a Reiner Schürmann's book on Heidegger's philosophy, which at the same time attempts to establish the genealogy of the epochal principles. According to Schürmann, in the place of the former metaphysicopolitical structure princeps-principium, an-archic and a-teleocratic epochal constellation of postmodernity ushers a new anarchy principle. It is in these rare times of interregnum when the question of the difference between what is present and its presencing ultimately arises, indicating that the origin is different from arche and princeps-principium, and that it founds nothing. The fact that the given situation has been made transparent in the most instructive manner by Heidegger himself, contributes even more to the confusion about his earlier endeavor to bring the renewal of the authentic historical Dasein. In the wake of some recent works, this essay aims to prove the decisive influence of cultural and historical Zeitgeist on the Heidegger's archaic politics. This effect uncovers itself more directly in the case of intertextual exchange with companion thinkers of conseiVative revolution, as well as in some vague archetypal analogies with his contemporaries - teachers of Tradition (Guenon, Evola). On the other hand, Heidegger's personal experience and typical motives from his occasional dealing with the political (Antigona, Holderlin), point at another controversy arising at the moment of decline of tradition and birth of philosophy: Straussian conflict between philosophy and city, individual and society. Both perspectives- archaic one of comparative mythology, as well as one of anarchic thinking - reveal hypocrisy and illusion of an intellectual or philosophical politics. In this light, the Heidegger case dissolves in the unsuccessful venture to quench the postmodern revolt against the modern world on the well of occulted beginning, while paradoxical nexus of metaphysics and politics, anarchy and principles of archaic societies, remains unsolvable.

ARISTOTELIO KOMENTARAI: DE INTERPRETATIONE 9

Author(s): Anicius Manlius Severinus Boëthius / Language(s): Lithuanian / Issue: 90/2016

Tai, kas bus paminėta šiame skyriuje, lyg ir priklauso samprotavimui, platesniam nei tas, kuriuo pridera užsiimti logikos moksle. Bet kadangi, kaip dažnai sakyta, kalba atskleidžiami pojūčiai, o jais, akivaizdu, suvokiame dalykų padėtį, tai nėra abejonės, kad tai, kas yra dalykų padėtyje, dažnai yra perkeliama į žodžius. Todėl teisingai nusprendžiau sudėtingiausias Aristotelio pažiūras atskleisti aptardamas jas du kartus: tai, kas yra pirmajame leidime, tarsi paruo- šia tam tikrą lengvesnį kelią besileidžiantiems į šias gilesnes ir painesnes problemas, o kadangi antrajame leidime gilinamasi į sudėtingas pažiūras, reikalingas paaiškinimo, jis skiriamas skaityti ir nagrinėti pažengusiems šiame tyrime bei moksle.

AUTENTIČNO TUMAČENJE KUR’ANA PODSTIČE NA ČINJENJE DOBRA, NA ČISTE RUKE I ČIST OBRAZ...

Author(s): Enes Karic,Senada Tahirovic / Language(s): Bosnian / Issue: 65/2016

In this interview academic Enes Karić, full-time professor at the Faculty of Islamic Studies, relates about contemporary interpretation and hermeneutics of the Qur’an; ‘legitimising evil with the Holy scriptures’; Muslim refugees and inter- Muslim conflicts; intellectual tradition of interpreting Islam in B&H; Islamic Community and other issues underlining the significance for developing peace projects, righteousness and devoted endeavour. He especially stresses the need for affirmation of traditional faith and knowledge.

Autonomija? Autonomija! Estetska iskustva danas

Author(s): Juliane Rebentisch / Language(s): Croatian / Issue: 07-09/2015

Polazište mojih promišljanja je dijagnostička teza da tendencije ukidanja granica u umjetnosti tijekom posljednjih četrdeset do pedeset godina suprotno često iznošenim pretpostavkama ne napadaju ideju estetske autonomije kao takve, nego samo njezin objektivistički nesporazum, kakav se između ostaloga očituje u ideji promatračke nezavisnosti umjetnosti. To i način na koji je umjetnost tijekom posljednjih dekada bila usmjerena na promatrača ne proizlazi iz nekog umjetnosti stranog zanimanja za promatrača, nego iz činjenice da umjetnost uzima ozbiljno vlastitu estetičnost, a to znači: svoj zahtjev za estetskom autonomijom.

Beleška o hermeneutici

Author(s): Milorad Belancic / Language(s): Serbian / Issue: 297-298/1983

Hermeneutika, bez sumnje, nije nikakva gotova, dovršena filozofska teorija, niti u »bitnim« crtama precizirana i zaokrugljena metafizička intuicija ... Reč je pre o značajnoj teorijskom mogućnosti koja pokazuje da filozofija još ni izdaleka nije iscrpljena i dovedena do svog kraja. Svrha ove beleške nije u tome da se ta mogućnost prebrzo definiše, sistematizuje i iscrpi, već pre u tome da se ona bitno problematizuje, tj. osvetli kao složeni, dinamični filozofski problem. Pri tom bi valjalo imati na umu da ne postoji samo jedno veliko, sveobuhvatno, potpuno homogeno. Pitanje hermeneutike, koje bi moglo da se odmah izloži, da bi kasnije sledile različite etape njegovog rešavanja

Between emotion, imagination and cognition: Play as a hybrid neuro-evolutionary concept in bridging Saussure, Hegel and Alexander von Humboldt

Author(s): Jui-Pi Chien / Language(s): English / Issue: 2-3/2015

This study seeks to discover hidden links between Saussure’s Third Course of Lectures on General Linguistics, Hegel’s Introductory Lectures on Aesthetics / Philosophy of Mind and Alexander von Humboldt’s Cosmos. To begin with, the notion of play is employed to examine the interplay between our emotion, imagination and cognition, and to examine how such a composite of faculties serves to unify conceptualizations of communicationmodelling systems, philosophical hermeneutics and moral psychology in our times. At discovering a certain future-oriented and symbiotic scheme of time implied in these theories, the inquiry moves on to engage with certain perspectives on the evolution of our verbal and nonverbal capacities.

Bolest u procjepu biologije i kulture

Postmoderno shvaćanje bolesti kao biokulturne pojave

Author(s): Darija Rupcic / Language(s): Croatian / Issue: 03/143/2016

The intention of this paper is to highlight and reflect on the development of a tradition that considers the importance of cultural influences on health and illness. Delicate balance between illness and culture is what constitutes the elusive truth of illness and post-modern understanding of the illness as biocultural phenomenon in biocultural model. Using authors such as Michel Foucault, Hans-Georg Gadamer, Ivan Illich, David B. Morris and others helps to bring out the intricate, complex and subtle link between illness and culture. Scientifically based biomedical model, outdated in its Cartesian-mehanicistic conceptual scheme but growing in popularity at enormous speed, considers illness as an object and body as a mechanical machine. Although it did bring prosperity and eradicated many diseases, it offers us an alternative path to a new and still uncertain understanding of illness as transformable process, resulting as the intertwining of culture and biology. By putting an emphasis on this narrative, we will critically overview the existing dominant biomedical model of illness and we will consider the possibility of introducing a new biocultural model of illness expanding the existing biomedical model. The expected contribution of this work will go towards the possibilities of theoretical and practical foundation and a search for the possibility of the different pluriperspective and multidimensional approach to illness and health.

Critical theory and its controversies

Author(s): Algis Mickunas / Language(s): English / Issue: 02/2015

The essay explicates the debates within the Critical School, including the major controversy between Habermas and Gadamer. While the debates are within the “inner circle” of this school, external questions enter concerning the status of sciences, technology, life world, values, language and the possibility of reflective emancipation. Thus, the question of scientific “neutrality” becomes relevant with respect to objective rationality, resulting in a debate whether reason is in a position to justify itself without becoming circular. The critical part of the essay consists of the demonstration that reflective reason offers another level of discursive practice, capable of adjudicating the issues in terms of primacy of experience – in a broadest sense of the term.

Czy można pogodzić dekonstrukcję z hermeneutyką?

Dialog Derridy z Gadamerem

Author(s): Patryk Szaj / Language(s): Polish / Issue: 05/2014

The article attempts to reinterpret the ties between Jacques Derrida’s deconstruction and the hermeneutic philosophy of Hans-Georg Gadamer. Although research has traditionally emphasized the antagonisms between these two thinkers, a comparative reading of their philosophical dialogue reveals that hermeneutics and deconstruction have a common source and aims: This is their anti-metaphysical attitude, openness to otherness, praise of democracy, and desire for social justice. From this perspective, deconstruction is seen not as an anti-hermeneutics, but as hermeneutics taken to its extremes, exploiting the emancipatory and political potential of their postulates for sympathetically listening to that which is Other, and the continuous reordering of existence.

Dobro małżonków. Identyfikacja elementu ad validitatem w orzecznictwie Roty Rzymskiej

Author(s): Andrzej Pastwa / Language(s): Polish / Publication Year: 2016

“The clarification of […] the bonum coniugum exclusion hypotheses must be carefully studied by the jurisprudence of the Roman Rota” said Benedict XVI in 2011, referring indirectly to the diagnosis of the dean of the Roman Rota, Mario Francesco Pompedda, who stated in 1998 that the legal content of the clause of “the good of the spouses” constitutes one of the most crucial hermeneutic issues, which calls for more in-depth research. Now more than ever, the Pope’s memento appears akin to a compass designed to guide the service of the Apostolic Tribunal, one which makes it possible to determine clear judicial standards in the identification of the said element ad validitatem. Service, it is worth to add, which requires integrity and professionalism since, when it comes to the fundamental issues included in the sphere designated by the 2013 Rota allocution “Marriage and the relationship between faith and the natural order” (which, predictably, is where Benedict XVI situates the issue of “clarifying the essential element of bonum coniugum”), the words of John Paul II, who said that “legal hermeneutics requires […] a vision which encompasses the whole body of the Church’s teachings,” appear to become even more significant. In such an obvious way John Paul II and Benedict XVI — titans of spirit and intellect, caryphaeuses of humanism, measured with a simultaneous engagement in fides et ratio—refer to the potential of science. It is, thus, difficult to ignore the invitation expressed in those words—which also highlights the role of the creators of the Rota jurisprudence, “the exemplary juridical wisdom”—for the canon law experts searching for the truth de matrimonio in theoretical research. Indeed, the papal thought—bolstered by the severity of the problem, i.e. the risk of proliferation of erroneous interpretations of ordinato ad bonum coniugum (“the danger that threatens the correct application of the norms on incapacity [and exclusions], […] and to transform the simple shortcomings of the spouses in their conjugal existence into impediment”), particularly in the lower tribunals—calls for serious consideration. This, in turn, constitutes an important challenge for the scholars, as well as the judges of the Roman Rota, to transform (in the spirit of paradigmatic harmonization vetera et nova) personalistic ideas, grounded in tradition and conciliar magisterium, into legal praxis. Therefore, the following attempt of a scholarly approach to the title identification of the ad validitatem element in the Roman Rota jurisprudence is predominantly inscribed into the doctrinal and judicial context delineated above. The methodical ordering of the variety of judicial stances, valorizing the bonum coniugum formula, has been facilitated by the process of distinguishing, within the broad research area, particular premises: genetic and historical as well as epistemological and methodological, which resulted in the formulation of research hypotheses, formulated in the conclusions of the first part of the monograph and then verified (it could be said: successfully) in the following parts. Regarding the hypotheses, it should be noted that there exists a documented fact (included in hypothesis II-2), which proves that a special Papal magisterium, included in his speeches addressed to the Roman Rota, authorizes an optimal methodology of the judicial approach towards essentialia in matrimonio, which consists in leading the discourse along the axis: anthropological realism—judicial realism. Search query of all published (as well as unpublished) sentences pronounced by the Rota, which highlight the bonum coniugum formula to a greater or lesser extent, consciously directed toward the analysis of the two aforementioned surfaces: anthropological and stricte legal, confirmed the validity of that perspective. Thus, it demonstrated that a sine qua non condition for an appropriate selection (according to hypothesis II-3) of consistent jurisprudence with regard to bonum coniugum—both in “non-autonomous” as well as “autonomous” configurations—is the affirmation of the paradigm of the “realism” of the new matrimonial doctrine. Indeed, even though the reliability of the research in the sphere of ius matrimoniale can be encapsulated in the rule which states that “in hermeneutics of the law it is confirmed that the authentic horizon is that of the juridical truth to love, to seek out and to serve” (Benedict XVI), further interpretations of that rule should be, nonetheless, considered in the light of the epistemological postulate of approaching the particular objective issues (in this case: the issue of bonum coniugum) from the perspective of a comprehensive approach to the substantial description of institutum matrimonii in code legislation. It should be also added that the idea of matrimony encapsulated in the phrase toitus vitae consortium (and its subject-oriented explication: “[…] desiring the good of the other, in terms of a true and indissoluble consortium vitae.” [Benedict XVI]) (re)integrates the totality of essential matrimonial interpersonal relations (see: hypothesis I-1). The faithfulness to the “realism” of the renewed matrimonial doctrine, characterized (if one were to disregard the particular meritum of the famous allocutions of the Rota dating 1987, 1988, 1997 and 2001) by the attachment to the objective criteria of the natural character of the marriage, as well as the rule of the comprehensive approach—which, it should be emphasized, constitutes a characteristic feature of all (!) authors of the “exemplary” sentences—guaranteed, in turn, the consistency of the judicial stances analyzed in this monograph. On the one hand, it allowed the auditors of the Roman Rota, who situate “the good of the spouses” either in the sphere of bonum fidei (Raffaello Funghini) or that of tria bona matrimonii (Cormac Burke), to either temporarily (in the first case) or permanently (in the second case) cement the status quo in the “sphere” of substantia matrimonii; moreover, the process included a significant revision in the form of subject-oriented reinterpretation of St. Augustine’s goods. On the other hand, the fact that the other faction—which attributes systemic autonomy to the element of bonum coniugum (within the sphere of hypotheses described in canons 1095 no. 2 and 3 and 1101 § 2 of the Code of Canon Law)—favors the approach of building a “bridge” between matrimonial love (understood as the structural rule of legal relations in the marriage) and the “subjective aim of matrimony” (hypothesis I-2) heavily informed the contemporary—decisive and most probably irreversible—practice of transcending the rigid rules of the tria bona Augustini scheme in procedural designation of iura et officia essentialia. Further research fully corroborated the theories of a highly-regarded Italian scholar of Canon Law, Ombretta Fumagalli Carulli, who postulated that the essence of the new element of ad validitatem (bonum coniugum) should be perceived within the boundaries of three immanent and complementary aspects: (1) the dignity of the person, (2) the value of communion and communication, (3) the ethical imperative of benevolence. It is suffice to say that such a “definition” of the essence of marriage constitutes an excellent framework for both the precursors as well as the current and future proponents of clearly defined jurisprudence (see: hypothesis II-3), especially considering the situation in which—according to the circumstances of the particular cases—uniform treatment of the significance of ius-obligatio ad communionem amoris coniugalis in the context of the gift of marriage would/will dictate the preferential treatment of either the essential aspect of “mutual help” in the biblical sense (Antoni Stankiewicz) or the “dignity” aspect bonum coniugum, clearly connected with the rule of equality “in all that which pertains to the communion of the marital life” (Renzo Civili). The authorial jurisprudence of a highly-regarded auditor José María Serrano Ruiz brings significant contributions to the attempts of solving the issue mentioned in the title (see: hypothesis I-4). However, it should remain an open question whether the ironclad logic of his argumentation will find its future followers: he argues that the true consensus personalis—the expression of personal engagement (accompanied by the integral quantifier: totalitas)—can therefore actualize the necessary matrimonial disposition of the newlyweds (animus) when this constitutive act of covenant of love can be characterized in concreto by such values as truthfulness, responsibility, and openness to communication. All in all, the essence of this process lies in the requirement of true devotion and acceptance between the spouses, i.e. acceptance of the matrimonial goods humano modo. The conclusions, presented as a summarizing comparison between the paradigmatic depictions of bonum coniugum: (I) depictions which appear to have been an instrument of the past (the good of the spouses understood exclusively in nonautonomous configurations); (II) depictions which are open to further developments (the good of the spouses understood in autonomous configurations)—must remain open to discussion, for a lack of a better option. This particular scholarly approach: that of a constant search for the “signs of times,” is grounded in the teachings of Benedict XVI (see: hypothesis II-1) when he says, “Cases in which there is failure to recognize the other as spouse or in which the essential ordering of the community of conjugal life to the good of the other is excluded are [today – A.P.] quite exceptional. The clarification of these hypotheses of exclusion of the bonum coniugum must be attentively assessed by the jurisprudence of the Roman Rota.”

Doświadczenie estetyczne w świecie późnej nowoczesności. W horyzoncie hermeneutyki Gianniego Vattimo

Author(s): Anna Ziólkowska-Jus / Language(s): Polish / Issue: 2/2017

The article contains an analysis of the concept of aesthetic experience of Gianni Vattimo in the horizon of his hermeneutics. It refers to the views of Friedrich Nietzsche, Martin Heidegger and Walter Benjamin, from which Vattimo drew his inspirations. These considerations focus on the thesis that the aesthetic experience of contemporary art, which causes confusion and alienation, “weakens” the metaphysical way of thinking and also “reality” and human identity which are based on it. However, the impact of contemporary art seems to be positive because it gives an opportunity to develop a new kind of vulnerability that is associated with openness to all that is various, different, variables, fragile, incomplete and transient. Aesthetic experience is considered in relation to the trends that are characteristic for late modernity. In the article there is also analyzed the problem of the ambivalence of technology and the mass media in the process of “weakening” the fictional reality.

Dwa oblicza emancypacji podmiotu

Author(s): Piotr Augustyniak / Language(s): Polish / Issue: 04/2016

The article discusses the duality of the phenomenon of emancipation of the human subject; this duality is one of the dimensions of the contingency of man. By duality I understand two discrepant and contradictory modes of being, which the emancipation of the subject can evoke. The first mode is being that consists in rising above the self through creativity, while the second is solidifying oneself, which lacks a creative element. The starting point for this analysis is a review of two approaches to this duality: 1) the dissonance between the romantic idea of authenticity and the contemporary self-actualisation, outlined by Taylor; and 2) the difference between the superman and the last man in Nietzsche’s thought. The second part of the article presents the reasons for this duality from an existential and ontological perspective (Heidegger) and from a psychoanalytical perspective (Freud). Both the drive-based structure and the existential-ontological structure of the human subject determine the not fully predictable (i.e. contingent) direction of self-development, which – regardless of the subject’s will – can take two fundamentally different routes.

E. Jünger i M. Heidegger o bitnosti modeme tehnike - Razgraničenje dvaju mislilaca

Author(s): Branka Brujic / Language(s): Croatian / Issue: 01/2003

Die eingehende Beschäftigung E. Jüngers mit der modernen Technik ist in seinem 1932 erschienenen Buch Der Arbeiter belegt. In seiner Schilderung der »Mobilisierungder Welt durch die Gestalt des Arbeiters« hebt die Autorin folgende Bestimmungen hervor: den Anstieg der Leistungskurve im technischen Vorgang und das damit verbundene Veralten der technischen Mittel wie auch die ständige Weckung neuer Bedürfnisse im Konsumverhalten der Menschen; femer den intemationalen Charakter der Technik und ihre dem Menschen übergeordnete Macht. Von Jüngers »Arbeiter« dürfte Heidegger betrachtliche Anregungen bekommen haben, und zwar hinsichtlich seines Einblicks in die gegenwärtige Wirklichkeit (Wechselwirkung des technischen Fortschritts und des massenhaften Verbrauchs, die sichere Stellung des technischen Fortschritts dank der Berechnung als des Grundsatzes menschlichen Verhaltens, das Gestell als das Versammelnde des Stellens). Dem Ansatz nach unterscheidet sich das Denken Heideggers aber wesentlich von dem Jüngers. Wahrend Heideggers Erorterung der modernen Technik darauf hinauslauft, in ihr die eigentümliche Entborgenheit des Seins aufzuzeigen, ist nach Meinung Jüngers die moderne Technik eine Art Wille zur Macht. Während die Bestimmung der Technik bei Heidegger in Zusammenhang steht mit der Grundfrage seines Denkens - der Frage nach der Wahrheit des Seins, befindet sich Jünger zufolge ein jeglicher Wille zur Macht im Grunde jeder Lebenseinheit überhaupt.

FAMILY RESEMBLANCES BETWEEN CONTEMPORARY POST-SUBJECTIVIST PHILOSOPHY AND ANIMISTIC RELIGIONS

Author(s): Argo Moor,Leo Luks / Language(s): English / Issue: 89/2016

Criticism of the Cartesian subject and attempts at establishing a post-subjectivist philosophy are prevalent in contemporary continental philosophy. People living in modern Western cultures are frequently characterized as residing in a permanent state of identity crisis. The question “who comes after the subject?” is topical both in philosophy and in the daily life of Western people. In this interdisciplinary study, we argue that that there are considerable family resemblances between the aims of post-subjectivist philosophy and animistic religions. We will first provide the requisite background for understanding the animistic treatment of subjectivity by describing three principles: the Principle of Unity, the Principle of Balance, and Complementary Polar Thinking. These principles further develop our treatment of the concept of network thinking, as outlined in our previous joint paper, “Networks and Hierarchies: Two Ways of Thinking”. We will then compare the animistic treatment of subjectivity with current critiques of the subject. Although we will not express a normative request for the resurrection of animism, we nonetheless cannot exclude the possibility that the study of animistic principles may provide local solutions to the postmodern crisis of the subject.

Filozofija i tehnika

Author(s): Heda Festini / Language(s): Croatian / Issue: 02/2003

From the beginnings of philosophy, the problem of a method has a double meaning/level- it was every sort of research, and, at the same time, special research. In philosophy, second meaning was prevalent - every research was a proposition for a method, but in science such a method could be, at the same, a new theory. Consequently, the method is a general instruction for some technique. Techne, ars, technology ... are the principles of using the knowledge, i.e. general instructions for directing human activities, and could be divided on rational and magic, i.e. religious technique, the former more distinctively into symbolic, technique of behaviour and technology of production (Abbagnano). The solutions for the critique of science as a stetement of anti-technology are offered as follows: l) the call for a renewal of spiritual life and retum to precedent stages of development; 2) Husserl's call for intelligent behaviour; 3) Heidegger's quietistic reconcilation and waiting for something; 4) Abbagnano's searching for new corrective techniques. The author is pleading for the last solution, by intensifying it with a help of aporetic question: atomic bomb in World War II - yes or no? The answer is included in a fact that scientific research should not, and could not be stopped by any kind of principles. Bioethics too, could function as a corrective technique (Čatić), but it, as well as philosophy, should be directed towards politics and management, and not against science and technology.

FINDING BIGGER IN SOMETHING BIGGER

Author(s): Janine Jones / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2015

In this paper, I examine the (socio)ontological epistemological setup that enabled Richard Wright, through Native Son, to reveal truths about race as a lived, social phenomenon in our world. Relying upon Wright’s own description of how he conceived Bigger Thomas (given in “How Bigger Was Born”), I argue that the fictional character, Bigger Thomas, is a character imagined subsequent to and made possible by Wright’s conceptualization of the concept BIGGER THOMAS via the discovery of instantiations of this concept in the lived world. Using fictional Bigger’s relation to real-world structures, I show how fictional Bigger enables us to gain true, reliable beliefs that some possible Bigger exists and lives in our world, now, as well as gain true, reliable beliefs about such a Bigger.

Gadamerova hermeneutika kao praktička filozofija

Author(s): Duška Dobrosavljev / Language(s): Croatian / Issue: 01/2003

The article shows the net of the most relevant nations of philosophical hermeneutics and presents their inner substantial interconnectedness with Aristotle's concept of practical philosophy. The starting point used to approach philosophical hermeneutics is Husserl's concept of Lebenswelt, his analysis of the crisis of European sciences, and the traditional explanation of several nations of practical philosophy, which altogether enables one to introduce some important Gadamer's concepts, such as prejudice and hermeneutical circle. The elaboration of other fundamental nations of tradition, situation, effective-historical consciousness, fusion of horizons, application and experience is the next step of the following Gadamer's thought. The explanation of the mentioned nations intends to legitimize Gadamer's central thesis that our understanding is never mere subjective oriented behaviour. On the contrary, it is always historically limited. In this context, the notion of prejudice loses its negative connotation and represents not only the link with our tradition, but also the original source of all our judgements. Taking into consideration this notion as highly relevant, Gadamer intends to explain the process of understanding. He tends to show that we can never fully escape from all of our prejudices, although it does not mean that we cannot encounter them critically. Within our very historical being and union with our tradition, is the ground for their understanding. We cannot erase our own horizon when approaching someone else, rather we should find a common ground with them. Therefore, the process of understanding has always a dialogical character, and it is never a mere subjective act. Gadamer's profound critique of aestethic and historical consciousness, which both tried to make a break with tradition, serves to further development of his thesis. Gadamer's determination of process of our understanding as historical is opposed to the universal pretension of the method of natural sciences. Experiences of art, philosophy and social sciences (die Geisteswissenschaften) counterstroke it. One cannot recognize the sense of social sciences once they are excluded from the horizon of pra:xis. Moreover, social sciences are moral sciences and the notion of progress, usual in terminology of natural sciences, cannot be applied to them. Their very purpose is human self-understanding. Final part of the article deals with some possible consequences, resulting from the standpoint of philosophical hermeneutics, and several objections directed at this position. Namely, the question of possibility of rehabilitation of the practical phenomenon, as opposed to the methodological truth of natural sciences, is being problematised. Furthermore, there is an outline of some other crucial problems given, such as revival of self-understanding of social sciences, universal competence of scientific experts and domain and objectives of contemporary education. Concerning the critics, the article considers objections for relativism, traditionalism and utopism.