1,721,192 research outputs found
Barbari e selvaggi. Differenze e intrecci culturali tra Jean de Léry, Montaigne, Lévi-Strauss
No full textThe idea of questioning of Lévi-Strauss’assomption about the notion of interculturality is born from the pages that the author of "Tristes tropiques" dedicated to Jean de Léry and Michel de Montaigne. The latter in particular is the focal point of arguments developed in this article. It examines some passages of Léry’s "Histoire d’un voyage faict en la terre du Brésil" and Montaigne’s "Essais" wich reveal a considerable relevance for present discours about interculturality, but also some chapters of Race et histoire, "Tristes tropiques" and "Race et culture", where Lévi-Strauss’ reflection expands and goes beyond the ethnographic and ethnological discourse, assuming a philosophical dimension. In these texts Lévi-Strauss seems to give less space to invariant elements, beliefs and myths across culures, and be more interested in clarifying the links between cultures with the aim of illustrating the profound importance of the existence of a multiplicity of different cultures. In these works Lévi-Strauss seems to resume and strengthen some considerations of Michel de Montaigne
“Le moyen de passer de la foi à l’intelligence”: la condition humaine et le travail de la méditation chez Malebranche
No full textThis article deals with the question of the relationship between reason and faith in Malebranche.
In "The Search after Truth", the Oratorian suggests that there is a common basis for both domains
but, in his first work, he insists rather on the separation of reason and faith, whereas in later
texts he stresses the continuity and harmony between the two orders. In analyzing certain
passages in these works, we thematize the idea that one can pass from faith to intelligence and
we show that this effort to clarify the truths of faith reveals feelings and human states, such as
the fatigue caused by the hard work of meditation. We then examine the Malebranchian
interpretation of the mystery of the Trinity, which is enlightening in terms of understanding the
problematic situation of the postlapsarian man. We thus show how Malebranche uses an
incomprehensible mystery to progress in the knowledge of human nature. Under these
conditions, we pass from an effort to understand, through intelligence, that which we believe by
faith, to another kind of labour: that of understanding the human condition through the
mysteries of the faith which are partially illuminated by intelligence
Horkheimer and the Criticism of Culture
No full textIn this article, I examine the texts in which Horkheimer tackles the question of culture: following the historical development of Horkheimer’s thinking, I aim to ascertain the significance of the concept of culture on which the German philosopher places his emphasis, and to circumscribe the question of the criticism of culture that emerges in those same texts. I first of all consider the inaugural speech made by Horkheimer as director for the Institut für Sozialforschung in 1931. I then move on to an examination of the essay “Authority and the Family” (1936). I consider also the Dialectic of Enlightenment (1947), in which Horkheimer, together with Adorno, emphasizes the fact that culture, taken as an ensemble of cultural products, is a deciding factor in the annihilation of the individual’s autonomy and spontaneity, in the abolition of opposition between the individual and society and in its establishment as one of the protagonists of the domination. I finally stress the importance of the article entitled “Philosophie als Kulturkritik” (1958), in which Horkheimer advocates that the criticism of culture counterbalances the denunciation of culture reduced to mass production, to cultural goods, with a negation that targets precise aspects of modern-day society
L’erreur et l’étonnement chez Montaigne et Spinoza
No full textNous thématisons, en premier lieu, le problème de la connaissance dans les Essais. En deuxième lieu,
nous examinons les passages où Montaigne parle de l’erreur et de l’étonnement. Ensuite, nous analysons des textes
spinoziens sur l’erreur et l’étonnement qui donnent lieu à une comparaison entre les deux auteurs. Pour conclure, en
évoquant deux grandes doctrines sur la nature de l’erreur, nous montrons les similarités et les différences entre les
positions respectives de Montaigne et de Spinoza
Liberté, lois et pouvoir: la tension entre la morale et la politique chez Malebranche
No full textL'auteur se propose d’analyser la conception malebranchienne des lois et des structures politiques qui règlent les rapports humains dans les sociétés “historiques”. Il met tout particulièrement l'accent sur la différence qui existe entre les sociétés que les hommes forment et ont formé au fil des siècles et la société éternelle des intelligences qui sera instituée dans une dimension ultra-historique
«Commerce» et «obligation mutuelle» entre les hommes et les autres créatures chez Montaigne
No full textDans certains chapitres des Essais, tels que « De l’oisiveté » (I, viii) et « De la Physionomie » (III, xii), Montaigne balise la possibilité de régler les puissances de notre esprit sous l’éclairage de leur parenté avec les forces de la nature et de ramener l’étrangeté de nos imaginations au champ plus étendu des productions naturelles. La réflexion et le souci de soi qui jalonnent le propos et l’écriture de Montaigne s’inscrivent dans un cadre plus ample, dans une vision d’ensemble qui embrasse l’homme et la nature et qui situe les mouvements et les productions de l’esprit humain à l’intérieur du dynamisme de la nature tout entière, dans un cosmos que Montaigne comprend sous le signe du changement et de la métamorphose, auxquels tous les êtres sont assujettis. Cet article fait d'abord un court détour à travers le chapitre « Des cannibales », où le penseur bordelais semble apparemment annoncer une fracture entre homme et nature, entre civilisation et naïveté, pour aller ensuite au cœur de la question et interroger le « commerce » entre les hommes et les autres créatures
Ethics and Law in Montaigne and Bruno
No full textWhen Montaigne tackles the question of laws, he essentially throws light on their problematic nature. On the one hand, he refers to the primary laws of nature (in his “avis au lecteur” from the Essais, he evokes “la douce liberté des premieres loix de nature”) and to the possibility that there are natural laws imprinted on the human nature (Essais, II, 12); on the other hand, he claims that, in human communities, such natural laws have been lost or altered, and he stresses the multiplicity, diversity and instability of the laws (and the customs) that govern the various societies (II, 12). It is not by chance that in Chapter I, 13 of the Essais, he draws attention to the fact that every country, every town, every social group has its own particular form of correctitude (“sa civilité particulière”). We should note that, in Montaigne, the line between “loi” and “coutume” is not always clear: both are means through which human communities organize themselves and give a sense to the existence of their members, and they often hold a tyrannical and not easily contested power over the decisions and behaviour of individuals (I, 23). Bruno, however, stresses the links between laws, community life and morality: he identifies, in laws, a means through which “si ordina la pratica circa le azzione morali” (Cena de le ceneri, IV), a civilizing factor of mankind (Spaccio de la bestia trionfante). The best type of philosophy – writes Bruno in his De la causa, principio et uno – is that which aspires to the perfection of the human intellect, “più corrispondente alla verità della natura”, and which can make men the “collaborators” of nature herself: this can be done in various ways, including “ordinando leggi e riformando costumi”. Even if laws can be corrupted and thus lead to a brutalization of customs (De l’infinito, universo e mondi, I), they generally organize human communities, creating bonds and ties that civilize their members in harmony with – and not in opposition to – natural law. This is a particularly interesting aspect of Brunian thinking because it gives us a chance to compare him with Montaigne: while the latter believes that laws and customs distance man from the natural dimension so that civilization, in his eyes, means an alteration of the laws of nature, the former, while recognizing that patterns of behaviour are produced in certain contexts, which pervert natural law (Spaccio della bestia trionfante, “Epistola dedicatoria”), believes that it is through laws that men achieve perfection in a community dimension, by cooperating with nature (Spaccio, II). At the dawn of modernity, Montaigne stresses the multiplicity of laws and of customs and the obscure fundament of law (Essais, III, 13), while Bruno, unlike the philosopher from Bordeaux, draws attention to their ability to cement human communities, smoothing out rough edges and laying the foundations to develop the potential of their individual members. The question of the relationship between law, ethics and customs is answered differently by the two thinkers, albeit with the occasional concordance, and we are invited to reflect on the relationship between man and nature, and on whether laws represent a strengthening or an adulteration of nature
Considerazioni sul progetto della science de l’homme nella Recherche de la vérité di Nicolas Malebranche
No full textThe Malebranchean project on science of man intends to investigate the mind in itself, the mind-body relationship, the relationship between the mind and God. The science of man is a special knowledge which takes its place between evidence and likelihood, metaphysics and experience. The science of man needs a large knowledge and in particular it concerns the basic structure of mind and the nature of body. According to Malebranche these enquiries are good if we consider the theological and historical background of man: man is placed between the primary perfection of Adam and his own perfect condition in the celestial Jerusalem. In short, we can understand the structure of the mind and the mind-body relationship, therefore the perceptions and affections mechanism, only in light of the historical background of the degenerate state of mankind. In other words, the possibility of a science of man consists of its capacity to deal with the psychological and empirical data without clinging to them
«Il est bon de savoir quelque chose des mœurs de divers peuples...»: Customs and Reason in Montaigne and Descartes
No full textThis article contributes to uncovering the concepts of reason and custom in Montaigne and Descartes, and the common elements of their thought on this theme. They highlight a sort of practical reason which regulates communal life within various communities. Nevertheless, the area of coutume remains a complex reality: within it, one flits between reason and experience and neither can be done away with entirely in life
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