Idea Of Perfection Research Articles

Maimonides and Spinoza on perfection in knowing and affect

This article develops the ideas of perfection and education in Spinoza and Maimonides. Both thinkers identify human perfection with intellectual knowledge and a transformation in affect. They accordingly envision education in terms of enhancing cognition and shaping the desire to know. The first steps are a critical evaluation of imagination and the development of the mind’s rational, inferential powers. These steps stabilize and strengthen our positive affects, and they arouse a desire for what Spinoza calls the third kind of knowing and Maimonides calls intellectual apprehension. Individuals achieve this highest perfection by degrees, if at all. Spinoza argues that the more the body can undergo, the more we know, the more active and hence the more perfect we are, and the more joy, love, and satisfaction we experience. Spinoza calls the third kind of knowing both scientia intuitiva and amor dei intellectualis. Maimonides’s perfect human being experiences an intellectual apprehension of the existence of God and receives flashes of insight concerning aporetic metaphysical questions. Although Spinoza’s amor dei intellectualis transforms the knower’s way of living, it is not explicitly political. Maimonides’ model of the perfect human is Moses, whose intellectual apprehension brings about a passionate love for God and eventuates in prophecy, which Maimonides theorizes as the overflow of intellectual attainment through imagination. Moses is the most perfect prophet, the one who founds and organizes a community.

On the very idea of perfection

ABSTRACT Examining the ideal of perfection in Plato’s Forms, the Hebrew Scriptures, Anselm, Descartes, Kant’s moral philosophy, and the New Testament.

Theological Anthropology Facing Artificial Intelligence. The Investigation of an Intersection Based on Treatises

Abstract For the novelty, the research fields of Artificial Intelligence and Theological Anthropology are creatively confronted with each other, especially the emerging ideas of perfection, salvation, mind and corporeality in comparison with the verbatim meaning of theos and logos. For this purpose, both fields of research, which – historically marked – became virulent at about the same time in (ca. 1960s), are theoretically framed, systematically introduced, and classified. Afterwards, a text-critical appraisal is made based on current European institutional publications on Artificial Intelligence regarding concepts, representations and ways of speaking about the hu_man, about der mensch being beyond neuronal networks. Commonalities and challenges through the juxtaposition and found synergies are not only making a valuable contribution to subjecting concepts of hu_mankind for a sustainable relecture. Furthermore, it provides relevant insights and findings about the positioning of the new technology within (ethical) discourses about human dignity and rights, as well philosophical debates about freedom.

Perfection as a value-regulatory principle of ethics of humanism and Renaissance culture of the 14th-16th centuries

The article presents and systematizes the fundamental concepts of a philosophical approach to the human perfection in the European spiritual culture of the 14th-16th centuries, namely, in the philosophical pursuits during the period of the Italian Renaissance and the establishment of civic humanism. The research is focused on the basic trends in the inception of the idea of human perfection as well as on its characteristics. Under the analysis are the essential traits of the philosophy of man in the treatises of a number of distinguished thinkers of the period of European Renaissance of the 14th-16th centuries. The article argues that the issues of the free will, natural structure, harmony as well as individual and social dialectics are indicative of a broad spectrum of the Philosophy of Man in the spiritual culture of the 14th-16th centuries. These issues point to the emergence and moulding of a social person, a citizen and a legal entity.
 A special emphasis in the research is laid on the importance and the need to seek the standards and ideals of human life and to provide a philosophical and ethical search for the implementation of the principles of human life and the revival of the standards of human perfection in its universal ascension to the ultimate truths.
 The author offers his own assessment of the formation and development of the issues related to a perfectly wise human being. The concusions are drawn pertaining to the evolution of the philosophy of man in the spiritual culture of the 14th-16th centuries.
 The author comes to the conclusion that, in general, the divine in human nature and man in the divine continuum in all the beauty of self-expression and harmony is one of the main elements of philosophical reflections on perfection as a valuable universe of humanistic ethics. Perfection as an invariant function of a person’s self-regulation in a degree comparison received much less development next to the ethical-aesthetic and spiritual foundations of the formation, development and regeneration of the Renaissance man.
 As a spiritual-intellectual, aesthetic, psychological complex, humanism was characteristic of the worldview and worldview of certain strata of society, in which the principle of perfection was a practical-humanistic regulatory-value principle. The function of theoretical internalization of the person in the philosophy of humanism undoubtedly had a place. The problems of free will, natural organization, harmony, the dialectic of the individual and the social testify to a wide range of intra-subjective philosophical analysis in the systems of the 11th and 11th centuries, and, at the same time, philosophical and ethical searches were aimed at realizing the principles of human life, on the revival of standards of human perfection in his universal ascent to higher truths.

Murdoch's Caring Gaze and "My Octopus Teacher"

In her essay “The Idea of Perfection,” Iris Murdoch argues that sustained attention directed towards another can result in a person’s moral improvement by getting them to have a more accurate view of the other. In this essay, I argue that the award-winning film My Octopus Teacher illustrates Murdoch’s view and corrects some of its shortcomings. It illustrates Murdoch’s claim by showing how one of the filmmaker’s sustained attention directed at an octopus results not only in an alternation in the filmmaker’s view of the cephalopod but also transforms his life by making him more open to others. Because the central relationship in the film is one between a human being and a cephalopod, the film also corrects the anthropocentric bias in Murdoch’s account by showing that a human being can have a transformative relationship with a creature as alien appearing as an octopus.

Hegelian Dialectical Interpretation of Plato’s Moral Philosophy

The duality between the supersensible and the sensible world is integrated by Hegel into a broader dialectical vision of Plato's thought. Within this perspective, several themes and dilemmas arise, including the philosopher as a contemplator of perfect Ideas but also as a leader of the ideal world, the autonomy of consciousness in its evolution towards absolute knowledge, the moral progress of humanity starting from the Platonic assumption of the Divinity as Demiurge, happiness and the enigma of evil in the conceptual-ethical opening anticipating Christianity, and the risks of stagnation at the level of the utopian city. This text attempts to highlight the Hegelian dialectical approach to these proposed subjects, at the dawn of universal philosophy, by Plato's thought.

Religious progress and perfectibility in Benjamin Constant’s enlightened liberalism

ABSTRACT Benjamin Constant's On Religion was a major effort to include religion within liberal political thought, insisting on the possibility of religious progress and perfectibility. It was also a major critique of Catholicism and of clericalism in any form. And it was one of the most wide-ranging comparative studies of religion since it purported to cover all religions worldwide before Christianity. Constant worked on it for most of his adult life, more than 40 years. This article traces the rise of the language of progress and perfectibility in Constant's milieu, finding roots in Rousseau, Scottish thinkers, Germans and Swiss such as Madame de Staël, Condorcet, William Godwin, and others. He also sprinkled some of his ideas about progress and perfectibility in his wide-ranging political writings. But it was in On Religion that he went into the idea of progress and perfectibility in depth, finding both a universal human need for religion and religious progress in every religion and over time. It may be true that he underestimated the possibility of regress and failure in human development, but nevertheless this work stands as a monument to liberal confidence in a better future.

Machine-Thought and the Political Order

The most widespread statement of political philosophy is presented here in the simplified and trivialised form of “man is X; he must become Y. ” Man must do so at the same time for himself, for his own survival, but also for the good of all, of the Community, of the City: the plurality must absolutely, in any way whatsoever, give way to unity, subject to [sous peine] and under threat of chaos. The essential question found confronting political doctrines, moreover since the prominence of the idea of democracy is the following: how to bring about the existence of a united society across a heterogeneous social body? The response from philosophy articulates itself around three principle schemas: the theoretical construction of a unified community under the order of similar laws to those of nature (Platonic schema); the search for the best regime, which will have as its ultimate end the moderation and perpetual regulation of conflicts, by an optimal combination of freedom and stability (Aristotelian schema); and the theorisation of the “end of politics” by the locating of a “social wrong” inscribed in a structure doomed to collapse by the practical negation of its ideological foundations (Marxian schema and derivatives). The mode of thought which imposes itself here is decisional. Beyond the third schema which constitutes in some way a meta-political critique, and necessitates that it alone has a particular analysis, in the two preceding, man constitutes a kind of material – raw or primary, depending – that philosophy will work on, and sculpt to give it a form that harmonises fully with the Whole that it prescribes. In political philosophy, we always turn more or less around the “Let’s make man” of Hobbes, that is, around the technical transformation of a material given. Or to say it otherwise: the creation of an oeuvre from crude and imperfect elements, an oeuvre thought like a masterpiece – that is to say, one that contains within it an idea of perfection and permanence – but doomed here to serial reproduction.

Evaluation of problems and countermeasures in marketing teaching based on cloud computing data aggregation algorithm

In this study, we present a highly practical marketing course. Through learning marketing, we can cultivate students’ ability to analyze, solve and practice problems. Therefore, this paper would study the problems encountered in the marketing course through cloud computing technology and propose corresponding countermeasures, so as to better improve students’ ability to analyze and solve problems and enhance the effectiveness of the classroom. This paper also analyzed the data aggregation algorithm based on Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) algorithm. The results showed that when other conditions were the same, only 6 students approve of the traditional marketing teaching mode, accounting for 12%; there were 44 people who did not approve, accounting for 88%. This number was more than half; 49 students recognized the optimized marketing teaching mode, accounting for 98%; there was 1 person who did not approve, accounting for 2%. The proportion of people who did not approve after optimization was far less than that of the traditional model, which showed that cloud computing data aggregation algorithm could find out the problems in marketing teaching and provide correct countermeasures to solve them, so that the teaching model could be optimized. (1) The data aggregation algorithm based on cloud computing has a good optimization effect on the evaluation of marketing teaching problems and countermeasures, indicating a new direction for future research. (2) The combination of cloud computing and data aggregation algorithm is not only a novel research perspective, but also a perfect idea. (3) Marketing course is a very important course in today’s society. The study of its teaching problems and countermeasures evaluation will help students improve their learning efficiency and enhance their ability to adapt to the society.

How sound is experiences in deaf/Deaf practice? On sound emancipatory strategies

The paper aims to answer how deaf/Deaf practice inferred the sound. The author analyses the Reddit discussion on deaf experiences with sound. Using Steven Feld’s concept of acoustemology, which is one’s sonic way of knowing and being in the world, the author discusses the meaning of sound in the deaf/Deaf epistemological experience. The sound is a pharmacon. For the deaf/Deaf, the sound brings both positive and negative, expected and unexpected. Ernesto Laclau’s term of emancipation is used to explain how d/Deaf sound practices entail this ambiguity. The author describes four sound emancipatory strategies: expect unexpected, sound management, fabrication of sound, and semiosis. The deafness condition breaks down the perfect ideas of sound and silence, placing us in the sound continuum. Sound is perceivable, but the significance it brings is sometimes debatable. Sound emancipatory strategies enable d/Deaf people to tell their own story of experiencing sound, take control over the sound and show their expertise on it, free their hearing process, and break speech hegemony.

Антропологическая традиция: византийское православие и ислам

The article examines the formation of religious-anthropological traditions formed within the framework of Byzantine Christianity and medieval Arab-Muslim philosophy. The views of the Greek-Byzantine theologian and thinker Maximus the Confessor (580–662) regarding man in the Church Fathers’ theo­logical development of the main Christian dogma of the Divine Incarnation of Jesus Christ are presented. In terms of philosophical comparativism, the an­thropological concepts of St. Maximus and the most outstanding representative of Islam, the founder of the Sufi philosophical-theological system of the Middle Ages, Abu Hamid al-Ghazali (1058–1111) are compared. Both the common fea­tures of the theology and philosophy of these thinkers and the differences in their anthropological doctrines are demonstrated. One point of intersection is the philosophical idea of the perfect man, which was formed by the Greek-Byzantine Church Fathers and al-Ghazali and based on which they created a broader philosophical-theological understanding of man in his relationship to the Creator. The authors indicate how the idea of human perfection was real­ized in the relation God-man-world ontologically and epistemologically from the perspectives of Eastern Patristics and Sufism. The integrity of the spiritual-bodily man in the orthodox doctrine of Byzantine Christianity is shown. Al-Ghazali’s doctrine of man is substantiated as a conceptual comprehension of man’s place as a caliph – the deputy of God on earth – in the world’s system created by the deity.

Метафизический смысл образа стены в произведениях Ф.М. Достоевского

The article deals with the symbolic meanings that the image of the wall has in F.M. Dostoevsky’s works. It is shown that in the story “White Nights” the walls of the room of the protagonist have two opposite functions: on the one hand, they act as boundaries of the inner, subjective space of the personality in which it can freely develop spiritually, and, on the other hand, they limit freedom, do not allowing a person to master, to make the whole endless objective world his own. Particular attention is paid to the story “Notes from the Underground”, where the main character constantly refers to the image of a “stone wall” as a visual sign of the limited freedom of a person, its constraint by the laws of the external, objective world. As a result of the generalization of all the options for using the image of the wall, its deepest philosophical meaning was revealed – the designation of the inner sacred space in which a person finds his God and thereby acquires the ability to influence the outside world, regardless of its laws, i.e. overcoming all its “stone walls”. This meaning is most clearly realized in novel “The Brothers Karamazov”, where Alyosha Karamazov finds his faith in the monastery walls and then goes out into the world to change it in accordance with his idea of perfection. The authors demonstrate the possibility of comparing the three forms of relationship of Dostoevsky's heroes to the opposition of the inner and outer space of their lives, defined by the walls of the dwelling, with the three stages of personality development in the philosophy of S. Kierkegaard – aesthetic (taking all boundaries for granted), ethical (rebellion against laws and boundaries) and religious (overcoming boundaries in an act of faith).

TRANSHUMANISM, EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES AND THE SECURITY ENVIRONMENT OF THE FUTURE

Half a century ago, the idea of biological perfection of the human race through genetic manipulation or the creation of human-machine hybrids was automatically labelled as a dangerous fable, reminiscent of the Nazi ideology of Super - Man. Today, after several decades of research into transhumanism, the question is no longer ‘if' the supermen will become a reality, but 'when' and 'how' hybrid humans will look like. It is therefore only a matter of time before the supremacy of man born of the random play of genes will be overthrown by “hybrid man”, “improved man”, “superman”. A “superman” in symbiosis with artificial intelligence. What might the world look like, then? Will it still be structured according to the same criteria of power? What could be the security impact of the emergence of cyborgs capable of processing information in billionths of a second? This article aims to bring research into transhumanism and emerging technologies to the fore and to examine the potential impact of their materialization on the international security environment.

The Concept of a Noble and a Perfect Person in Religious Philosophy

The formation of a noble and perfect person is the basis of social development. The ideas of nobility and perfection have evolved historically alongside human development. In the era of modern global processes and the fall of values, the concept of a noble and perfect person in religious philosophy does not lose its relevance. This article’s goal is to make clear the significance and essential characteristics of a noble and perfect person in religious philosophy. This article is based on the findings of numerous scientists who have investigated the issues raised by these concepts. The significance of comprehending the idea of a noble and perfect person from a theoretical standpoint is discussed in the article. We shall address each of these subjects in turn. First of all, we define the characteristics of a noble person and the role of Confucianism in defining the concept. The study revealed that a noble person should be an independent, moral, and unique individual. The primary features of a perfect person are then defined. It has been established that the perfect person is exemplary and distinguishable by ideality. Comparative analysis was used to study the scientific literature and produce the results. A descriptive approach was used to emphasize content analysis as well as systemic and historical research techniques. The article’s authors got to the conclusion that there are differences between what is meant by a noble person and what is meant by a perfect person. Key words: noble person, perfect person, being, humanity, Sufism.

God as the Highest Perfection in al-Farabi’s Theology

This article discusses the idea of God as the highest perfection and the most perfect knowledge in the theological doctrine of al-Farabi. Al-Farabi considers his doctrine of the perfection of God in the famous work “On the Perfect state”. Most of this treatise is about proof of the existence and perfection of God. Al-Farabi describes the qualities of God not only directly, but also through the attributes of life, knowledge, wisdom, reality, and truth. Al-Farabi calls God the First Cause, or simply the First. The idea of ​​perfection, according to al-Farabi, is manifested not only in the laws of the universe, but also in the process of ruling the city and the state. So, if a ruler and inhabitants are guided by faith and the idea of ​​God, then their life will be reasonable since the reason and perfection of God are identical in the theology of al-Farabi. Thus, the metaphysics of al-Farabi is closely connected with the idea of ​​ perfection of Reason, which manifests itself in a detailed theologo-philosophical doctrine. Keywords: The First Being, metaphysics, theology, the idea of ​​God, perfection

Transfer of Management Authority Policy: A Difficult Path to Educational Decentralization Effectiveness (A Case Study in Pesisir Barat Regency, Lampung Province)

The success of decentralization of education as a relationship between the central and local governments, as well as between provinces and the regency/city, can be demonstrated in at least two ways: increased public participation and improved educational quality in rural areas. On a larger scale, the effectiveness of education decentralization can be measured by the attainment of national education standards. Previously, under Regional Government Law No. 32 of 2004, the authority to administer secondary education was delegated to regency/city governments. Nonetheless, secondary education affairs are now under the provincial government's authority following the passage of Law Number 23 concerning Regional Government, which replaced Law Number 32 of 2004. Does the policy on the transfer of authority for secondary education have a beneficial effect on achieving the decentralization of education goals and, in particular, on achieving the eight national education standards? The analysis in this article demonstrates that the theoretical ideals of educational decentralization policy do not always translate into effective results in Pesisir Barat Regency. The relationship between the central government and the regions, as well as the relationship between the province and the regencies/municipalities, creates a tug of war of interest in the transfer of this authority. Starting with the complexity of the problem of providing education in Pesisir Barat Regency, there are several facts that indicate that transferring the authority to manage secondary education from the district government to the Lampung Provincial Government is a policy that is optimal for resolving problems and should have a positive impact in the form of increased participation and equitable distribution of education quality in accordance with national education standards. However, research findings indicate that strategic dimensions of national educational standards are significantly impacted. They are inconsistent with the ideals underlying the decentralization of authority goal. Finally, transferring secondary education authority is not a perfect idea or policy for the Pesisir Barat Regency (as a typology of the outermost-forward-lagging region), as there are still steep roads to effectively accomplishing its goals in this area.

Enlightenment as perfection, perfection as enlightenment? Kant on thinking for oneself and perfecting oneself

Abstract Kant's views about the nature and value of enlightenment have been discussed very much since 1784, and without ever losing any of their relevance and importance. I will discuss a topic that has not been discussed quite that extensively: Kant's conception of enlightenment as it relates to the idea of perfection (Vollkommenheit) in particular. Is the project of enlightenment also a project of perfection (and vice versa), and if yes, in what sense and to what degree? My aim is twofold here: not just to present a sketch of Kant's views but also to do so in the light of contemporary, systematic questions and ideas concerning the idea of perfection.

Художественное воплощение принципов христианского религиозного учения унитариев в творчестве Элизабет Гаскелл

The paper deals with the origins and major principles of the Unitarian religion that began to spread in Great Britain in the 18th century. The author aims to reveal the impact of the ethics of this Non-conformist (Dissent) Christian religious thought on the literary works of Elizabeth Gaskell (1810–1865), whose family background was largely Unitarian. The study shows the way that ethical principles of the Unitarian doctrine influence the problem-theme facet of her novels, which is evident in the artistic interpretation of the idea of strengthening the role of women in the Victorian society, in the author’s new approach to the solution to ‘the fallen woman’ problem, based on the possibility to atone for the sin through the service to the good of people and maternal love. The article focuses on the artistic depiction of the evil nature of a lie, the ideas of pacifism, religious tolerance, social justice, and resolution of social problems on the basis of the Christian idea of mutual dependence of humans, as presented in the novels written by Gaskell. The characters of her works, being new for Victorian literature, are also developed on the moral principles of Unitarianism. They are a socially active young woman from the middle class whose efforts are aimed at the resolution of the social conflict and a church minister (a dissenter) suffering from religious or moral doubts. The latter circumstance determines the shift from the depiction of the external social conflict to the internal one, which results in the in-depth psychological insight into the character in Gaskell’s narration. Particular attention is also given to the artistic interpretation of the key Unitarian idea of moral development and perfection of humans and continuous social progress in the novels Ruth (1853), North and South (1855), Sylvia’s Lovers (1863).

Research on Countermeasures to Improve the Effect of Case Teaching in Western Economics Course

A perfect case teaching process is the premise to ensure the case effect of western economics course. At present, there are many deficiencies in the case teaching process of western economics course in China. This paper first analyzes the shortcomings in the case teaching process of western economics course, puts forward perfect ideas, and then points out how to correctly deal with the relationship between case teaching and theoretical teaching, the relationship between teachers' leadership and students' subject, the relationship between case teaching methods and students' quality.

The Cartesian evil demon and the impossibility of the monstrous lie

In this paper, I address the issue of whether the evil demon could have caused the idea of God. In order to determine the capabilities of the evil demon, I perform a thought experiment in which I reaffirm the conclusion that an imperfect being could have never caused an idea of perfection and infinitude, i.e., the idea of God. The article is divided into five sections and a conclusion. While the first section is introductory, the second looks at the problem of God and knowledge certainty. Elucidating how reality is gradual according to Descartes, in the third section I address the distinction between objective, formal and eminent reality. In turn, in the fourth section, I argue that if the objective reality of God exists, that is, an idea of perfection, the imperfect evil demon could have never caused it. The last section examines the reverse argument of the fourth section, viz, whether God could have caused the existence of evil and imperfection. Keywords: God, evil demon, imperfection.