Infinito y absolutización. Un análisis del sentido del querer y los ídolos de la praxis desde el método fenomenológico de Maurice Blondel

This article offers a reading of the method of immanence as outlined by Maurice Blondel in his works L'Action and Lettre sur l'apologetique, 150 years after his birth and keeping in mind the circumstances of contemporary Fundamental theology. Blondel's philosophical apologetics is briefly compared with the Neoscolastic model working at his times, and also examined in the light of the more theological perspective of today's Apologetics. A special interest is devoted to how Blondel faced with scientific context in part III of L'Action, in order to put in light the inner incompleteness of scientific empirical analysis, and the openness of scientific human activity to the problem of the ultimate meaning of the action itself. Starting from the content of the Lettre sur l'apologetique, Blondel's proposal is framed within the theological problem of the relationship between natural and supernatural.

Even in the field of comparative or cross-cultural philosophy, distinctive contributions by African philosophers are often side-lined – that is, relegated to niche publications. Why is it so hard for African philosophers to draw their Western colleagues (other than specialists in African philosophy) into a real dialogue? An attempt is made to describe the field of tension; it is shown that some of the reflexes that manifest themselves in it reveal not just the attachment to specific perspectives or frames of reference, but also implicit ideas about the nature of the “philosophical game”. On the Western side, motives constitutive of practical or traditional life are either ignored or tacitly equated with attempts to realize goals that can be best understood from a reflexive point of view. In this way, the concrete conditions of any human activity, including intellectual activity, are lost from view. This critical lesson has been spelt out by a number of philosophers (Maurice Blondel being one of them), but is seldom taken to heart. As a result, it becomes difficult to penetrate beyond conceptual differences. It will also be maintained that while many African philosophers question intellectualist attitudes, they do not always do so in a way that invites discussion on the central, or basic, issues.

Forty-seven patients with metastatic malignant melanoma were treated with two 5-day cycles of 100,000 U/kg recombinant interleukin-2 (IL-2) intravenously (IV) every 4 hours separated by 1 week. This dose and schedule of IL-2 were identical to those used in a previous combined IL-2 and lymphokine-activated killer (LAK) cell phase II clinical trial of the IL-2/LAK Working Group. Patient eligibility criteria, and clinical management guidelines were similar to those used in the previous trial. Forty-six patients were assessable for response. Objective responses were observed in 10 of 46 patients (two complete responses [CRs], eight partial responses [PRs]) or 22% with responses occurring in lung and liver as well as lymph nodes and subcutaneous sites. The median response duration was 8 months. Toxicity was significant; three patients developed myocardial infarction, and one patient died during therapy. Overall the toxicity and response rate for single-agent IL-2 are similar to that observed with IL-2 administered in combination with LAK cells in the previous trial. These results suggest that single-agent therapy with IL-2 when administered in this schedule has significant antimelanoma activity in humans, and that LAK cells generated from peripheral blood add little to the antimelanoma activity of this dose and schedule of IL-2.

Thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP) is a rare but severe disorder characterized by microangiopathic haemolytic anaemia, consumptive thrombocytopenia, neurological involvement and formation of platelet thrombi in the small vessels. The aetiopathology of TTP and the mechanism behind the beneficial effect of plasma exchange with plasma infusion have not yet been fully elucidated. We have studied the effect of plasma from four patients with TTP on human blood phagocyte activation, as measured by reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and CD11b expression. TTP plasma obtained in the acute phase of the disease induced ROS production by human monocytes and enhanced CD11b expression on neutrophils. This activation effect remained in the cryosupernatant but not in the cryoprecipitate made from TTP plasma, and disappeared when a complete response was achieved by plasma exchange. These findings suggest that activated blood phagocytes may be involved in the pathophysiology of TTP.

William James, Radical Empiricism, and the Affective Ground of Religious Life

The human histidine decarboxylase gene is regulated by gastrin through a cis-acting element known as the gastrin response element (GAS-RE) that was initially localized to a site (+2 to +24) downstream of the transcriptional start site. Electrophoretic mobility shift assays using sequentially deleted DNA probes and nuclear extracts from AGS-B gastric cancer cells showed that the GAS-RE is actually composed of two overlapping binding sites (GAS-RE1, +1 to +19; and GAS-RE2, +11 to +27) that bind distinct nuclear factors. Reporter gene assays demonstrated that each element alone could confer gastrin responsiveness, but the presence of both elements was required for complete gastrin response. Stimulation of AGS-B cells with gastrin for 10-20 min resulted in a >2-fold increase in factor binding. The binding was inhibited by pretreatment of AGS-B cells with cycloheximide and the MEK1 inhibitor PD98059, indicating a requirement for protein synthesis and also indicating that activation occurs through the MEK/mitogen-activated protein kinase pathway. UV cross-linking and Southwestern blot analysis showed that GAS-RE1 bound a 52-kDa protein, whereas GAS-RE2 bound a 35-kDa protein. Hence, activation of histidine decarboxylase gene promoter activity by gastrin is most likely mediated by two separate nuclear factors.

Celem niniejszego artykułu jest przedstawienie filozofii Anny Teresy Tymienieckiej oraz kilku podstawowych kategorii obecnych w jej systemie metafizycznym. Centralną ideą w jej dziełach jest idea onto-poiesis, oparta na tezie, że rzeczywistość rozumiana jako uniwersum wszystkich istot żywych jest jednością. Filozofia Tymienieckiej, choć otwarcie nawiązująca do tradycji fenomenologicznej, dystansuje się wobec niej, wprowadzając pojęcie aktu kreatywnego. W oparciu o to pojęcie Tymieniecka buduje swój system metafizyczny, opisując rzeczywistość jako trwającą w ciągłym konstruktywnym i uporządkowanym rozwoju. W tej rzeczywistości istotną rolę zajmuje człowiek i różne aspekty jego funkcjonowania w świecie. W niniejszym artykule zostały zaprezentowane trzy, obecne w filozofii Tymienieckiej, aspekty: kultura, moralność oraz duchowość.Artykuł został podzielony na kilka części. Pierwsza przedstawia biografię Anny Teresy Tymienieckiej oraz główne idee w jej filozofii. Druga ukazuje krytyczne poglądy polsko-amerykańskiej filozof na ejdetyczną i transcendentalną fenomenologię, oraz odróżnia kreatywny oraz konstytutywny akt świadomości. Następnie opisane zostają kategorie kultury oraz moralności. Ostatnia część prezentuje problem duchowości istoty ludzkiej oraz jej pęd ku transcendencji.System metafizyczny Anny Teresy Tymienieckiej stanowi spójny opis wielu aspektów świata i ludzkiej natury, przedstawiając tę ostatnią jako totalność duszy i ciała.

Calculated NIH Response Correlates with Changes in Patient-Reported Symptoms but Not with Quality of Life: Results From the Chronic Gvhd Consortium

Clinical Benefit of Response in Chronic Graft-versus-Host Disease

Maurice Blondel’s Action (1893) illustrates that the phenomenon of superstition inveigles its way into all forms of human activity, even intellectual pursuits like philosophy and theology, when they insulate themselves from the transcendent in human self-sufficiency. This essay explores how superstition is a constant threat for sacramental theology, manifest in particular, when the heterogeneity of human and divine agency in sacramental synergy is blurred or ignored. It argues that Blondel’s philosophical acumen permits a retrieval of vital insights of the scholastic synthesis, especially the careful distinction between divine agency ( opus operatum) and human agency ( opus operantis) in the sacramental act.

Place making is to understand the relationship between human activities. Under this recognition, the purpose of this study is to explore the research question "What are the meanings of place making in cultural urban regeneration?" In particular, we would like to explore this research question from the perspective of local cultural mediators who are community members and activists, and mediating communication between locals and cultures. This study was conducted by phenomenological method, which conducted in-depth interviews with local cultural mediators in Yaksa Myeong-dong, Chuncheon-si, Gangwon-do, and was selected for cultural urban regeneration projects by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. According to the analysis results, three categories were derived: "motivation of healthy self-interest pursuit", "meaning of place making" and "limits and directions of place making." This study identified the meaning structure of making a place for cultural urban regeneration projects and presented the role of local cultural mediators in tourism studies.

By taking nursing as a human relationships activity, in spite of its strong technical--scientific features, this article reflects on the phenomenological method as one of the ways to develop an investigation and acquire knowledge of the topic. Based on Husserl's phenomenology, which is opposed to the way of doing science based on the laws that regulate the physics and mathematics, the article introduces Merleau Ponty's existential phenomenology as the theoretical foundation for the method it proposes. My existential conceptions--people as historic beings inserted in a world over which they act but which, in its turn, determines them; the human perception as reference for our way of being in the world; the space-time structure of perception--these are the key concepts that have led to the elaboration of an approach to phenomenological research. Steps are proposed for such an approach, namely phenomenological description, reduction and analysis. These lead to the building up of ideographic and nomothetic analyses, thus unveiling and describing general truths about the phenomenon studied. Finally, the possibilities for applying the methodology to nursing research are discussed, illustrated by my research into student nurses' perspectives on working on an isolation ward.

The purpose of the article is to conceptually logicalise the procedurality of the creation act based on the analysis of M. Heidegger's work«The Origin of the Work of Art». The research methodology has primarily been based on the futurological or value-futurological method, which is the author's proposal of V. Sievers. It is only effective in the context of our research, unlike established historical, comparative, axiological, and phenomenological methods, since it is based on the idea of a coordinated approach to the perception of reality and the simultaneous movement of a person in it. Moreover, as follows from the very name, it is itself a direction and a criterion of movement in it. The scientific novelty of the study is that based on the analysis of M. Heidegger's work «The Origin of the Work of Art», the act of creation is divided into two stages: the vision of truth in the circle of «nothing» and the hypothetical phasing of acquisition based on the act of creation as a result of the status of a thing. An interpretation of one of the oldest problems in philosophy – the problem of «qualia» – is offered, and a new approach to understanding the category «existential» is also presented. Conclusions. The signs of a thing highlighted in Heidegger's text are a state of such fixation of a set of defined steps, which indicates the formation of creative conditions. In contrast to creation, the conditions of creativity should be understood and considered as the result of the gradual accumulation of groundless multiplication of creations that in the process of their interaction cause a historical movement in the sequence of two opposing components in unity: natural and social. The concept of mental serves as a boundary and a connecting link between them. In addition, existential or valuable experience is a field of reflection that forms historical forms of human mental and material activity organisation. Key words: art, creation,methodology, category «nothing», Observer, truth, entity, substance, captured action, qualia, existential.

The terms “skilled know-how,” “virtuosity,” and “expertise” all denote forms of technical mastery. Applied to medicine they refer to different aspects of medical expertise. Yet, what exactly is medical expertise? Is it a kind of cognition, or action, or a combination of both? Additionally, what aspects of clinical practice does technical expertise refer to? In this chapter technical expertise in clinical practice is analyzed in terms of three identified components: cognition, motoric action, and interpersonal relations. Furthermore, the three components of technical mastery are related to Aristotle’s concept of practical wisdom, or phronesis. In his Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle differentiated between two different forms of human action: techne and phronesis. In broad terms techne refers to an action that results in the production of external objects, while phronesis refers to an action that has its end in itself. This distinction provides the architectonic keystone of this analysis of expertise in clinical practice. This approach presents an alternative to the predominant cognitive conception H.D. Braude (*) The Mifne Center, Rosh Pinna, Israel e-mail: hillel.braude@mcgill.ca # Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2015 T. Schramme, S. Edwards (eds.), Handbook of the Philosophy of Medicine, DOI 10.1007/978-94-017-8706-2_68-1 1 of technical expertise in clinical practice. A full understanding of technical expertise, skilled know-how, and virtuosity is not possible without highlighting the important role of intentionality in action and other forms of pre-reflective knowing in clinical practice. Definition of Key Terms Action A movement of the body, resulting from specific mental preparation and aimed at some goal that the agent desires to achieve. Cognition All mental processes related to knowledge, including but not limited to memory, attention, perception, representational schemas, consciousness, and language. Doctrine of double effect Ethical principle that gives moral legitimacy to an equivocal action provided that the good and not harmful effect is intended, even though the unintended harmful effect may be foreseen. Metacognition The processes involved in thinking about and monitoring one’s own cognitive activity. Phenomenological introspection Philosophical method to become self-aware of prereflective states of consciousness. Praxis Practical activity that is intended to further human well-being or the good and is not associated with any particular end product external to the act. Poiesis Any human activity that results in a product external to the human activity itself. Phronesis The moral capability to evaluate the means and ends of a particular action. In clinical reasoning phronesis affords the means of linking and integrating different cognitive processes. Tacit Knowing Knowledge that functions at the periphery of attention and makes explicit knowledge possible. Techne An action associated with craftsmanship, resulting in the production of external objects. 2 H.D. Braude

The subject of this research is the approach of S. L. Frank towards the study of the religious-mystical experience of Christianity based on the conceptual matrix of "wise ignorance" and phenomenological method, which underlies the metaphysical system in his philosophy of religion. The authors examine in the specificity of philosophical mysticism of S. L. Frank and points of its intersection with the Christian religious-mystical experience. The unfolding of phenomenological approach to in-depth layers of the religious-mystical experience of Christianity means the functionality of philosophical reflection within the universal paradigm of Christianity, and thus, the characteristic archetype of religious-mystical experience. Special attention is given to the role of individual mystical-religious experiences of the philosopher and their rational categorization in creating his philosophical system. The main conclusions lie in theoretical provisions that Frank's philosophy of religion, outlined by him as a philosophical mystical theology, became the platform for the apophatic model of "wise ignorance", which led to theoretical reflection of the profound layers of not only mystical-philosophical, but also the religious-mystical experience of Christianity. The authors’ contribution lies in substantiation of the statement that the peculiarity of mystical-theological phenomenology of S. L. Frank is that it represents a version of contemplative mysticism and cannot be viewed as a special philosophical reflection on the diversity of Christian mysticism and the model of Christian mystical theology, which in no way detracts from the interdisciplinary nature of generalizations of the philosopher. The novelty of this article consists in explication of the philosophy of religion of S. L. Frank as a system of conceptual representations, which based on the model of apophatic "sophisticated ignorance", reflects the essential component (archetype) of the Christian religious-mystical experience underlying its diversity and divergence.