Philosophical Concepts Research Articles

Archimedes, Leverage, and Modern Healthcare

Healthcare faces simultaneous declining reimbursements and rising overhead costs. As a result, physicians’ incomes are losing ground. The challenge becomes figuring out how to be both more efficient and smarter at achieving productivity goals. Multiple ways are available to add leverage in your practice to improve the throughput of providing care to our patients. This article discusses the philosophical and financial concept of leverage and recommends eight examples of how small actions can lead to profound improvements in your practice.

The Library as a rhizomorphic paradoxical labyrinth (based on the works of J.L. Borges and U. Eco)

The article is devoted to the identification of the genesis, typology and characterization of the philosophical concept of chaos, discreteness, paradoxicity and rhizomorphism of being and their reflection in philosophy and postmodern fiction based on the works of J.L. Borges and U. Eco is about libraries embodied by foreign authors as rhizomorphic paradoxical labyrinths. The concept of rhizome is considered in the context of temporal chaos. In accordance with the basic principles of historical science, the issues of rhizomorphism of the labyrinth library in the context of time are revealed. The research methodology includes general scientific and special comparative methods. The comparative historical and descriptive approaches of the above sources are used. Examples of works by J.L. Borges and U. Eco in the concept of their description of the library as a rhizomorphic paradoxical labyrinth. The relevance of the article lies in the appeal to the analysis of the image of the library as a concept that initially symbolizes the storage of books, knowledge, embodying stability, logical orderliness, consistency. In the culture and art of postmodernism, this symbolism has been radically transformed, which is convincingly proved by the analysis of texts by J.L. Borges and U. Eco.

악기를 활용한 유아음악활동에 관한 탐구

The purpose of this study is to examine the musical experience of young children from the perspective of Deleuze's philosophy and to understand the events and meanings generated from the encounters between young children and musical instruments. To this end, 10 children aged 3-5 in a mixed class of a daycare center were observed participating in special music activities for about 4 months, and as a kind of post-qualitative research method, Deleuze's philosophical concepts were used for analyzing the data generated. As a result of the study, young children created new meanings through various sensory encounters in music activities using musical instruments, and invented their own musical styles through creative experiments and expressions. In addition, the children's musical instrument activities were interpreted as the meaning of new creation through agential practices of musical ‘becoming.’ Based on these results, it was suggested that looking at young children's musical activities with an open eye by focusing on their encounters with materials and relationships, and moving from the standardized teaching approaches to new meanings created by musical instruments through philosophical thinking.

Primitivism in Early 20th Century French Music: Darius Milhaud’s La creation du monde

The first decades of the 20th century, particularly the post-war era, brought about numerous philosophical and cultural changes. Exoticism and orientalism were concepts that still governed arts and music, however the philosophical concepts that lay beyond the use of exotic or oriental themes was gradually altered. Exoticism represented more than the possibility for artists to create an idealized elsewhere, inspired by the contact with foreign cultures and their artistic products. It also offered artists the opportunity to express the complex meaning of various symbols associated with exoticism. In this context, Western society gradually turned toward a new aesthetic that could provide artists with an apparent connection to the roots of mankind. Primitivism, associated with folk art and mythology, represented a utopic state, prior to civilization or colonialism, but at the same time, it offered the possibility to explore certain archetypal symbols and express their possible meaning through art. Art nègre, represented by African and African American art and music, was most often associated with this aesthetic of primitivism, and influenced the works of Western artists. French composer Darius Milhaud returns to the theme of origins and creation in the work La création du monde, which combines elements associated with the concept of primitivism, with jazz music and Western compositional techniques.

The origins of sedimentation in Husserl's phenomenology

AbstractHusserl is the philosopher who transformed the geological metaphor of sedimentation into a philosophical concept. While tracing the development of Husserl's reflections on sedimentation, I argue that the distinctive feature of Husserl's approach lies in his preoccupation with the question concerning the origins of sedimentations. The paper demonstrates that in different frameworks of analysis, Husserl understood these origins in significantly different ways. In the works concerned with the phenomenology of time consciousness, Husserl searched for the origins of sedimentation in the field of subjective experience, and more precisely, in impressional consciousness. By contrast, in the later works concerned with history, he maintained that the origins of sedimentations lie in the field of historical past that stretches beyond the reach of individual experience. Building on the basis of these resources, I argue that the Husserlian concept of sedimentation has three distinct components of senses: static, genetic, and generative. In the static sense, sedimentations are modifications of retentions and necessary conditions of recollection. In the genetic sense, sedimentations are necessary for the formation of types, habits and moods, and as such, they shape present experiences. In the generative sense, sedimentations refer to what consciousness inherits from the historical tradition.

Собствеността и остатъкът: между приобщаващо докосване и завладяващото хващане

This article explores the question of the boundaries of property rights and their significance for the concept of waste. The philosophical concepts of John Locke, Thorstein Veblen, and Jean Baudrillard are employed to reveal the possible extent of ownership as a human claim. The connections between touching, possession, and dispossession are examined, and various possible approaches to the philosophical and legal interpretation of residue are sought.

От концепта «тянься» до «тяньсяизма» и теории о «системе Тянься»: представление об идеальном мире в политфилософских трактатах китайских мыслителей

The article discusses various conceptual concerns in understanding the concept of “Tianxia” in the context of China’s development both in its history and modernity. As examples, it analyzes the teachings of the most fa-mous representatives of “Tianxiaism” of the new period that began after the Opium War and lasted until the Xinhai Revolution, among them Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao. The study also highlights the “Tianxia system” theory put out by Zhao Tingyang. Conclusion dwells upon the fact that Chinese thinkers attempted to reflect on the construction of an ideal world through the historical and philosophical concept of “great unity”, and the theo-ries they developed were themselves responses and answers to the unprecedented crises faced by China in different periods of its history. It is emphasized that their teachings contained utopian views based on the tradi-tional Confucian social order, political institution and ideology rather than applicable practice-oriented recom-mendations.

Global world change: a philosophical area

The article analyzes the global changes that occurred in the second half of the 20th century, which led to the need to anticipate changes in the world through the prism of posing problems and putting forward certain priority philosophical categories, based on the property of philosophy to be the quintessence of the thought of the era. At a time when the concept of unshakable truth has given way to relative truths as ways of varying in the context of ongoing events, the importance and necessity of higher truth as an unattainable illusion has been lost. In accordance with this, the primacy of the cultural-historical context brought to the fore the concept of a multitude of truths. With the transition to postmodernism, the previously stable philosophical concepts that defined being and man as the subject of this being have undergone significant changes. Accordingly, the renewal of philosophical interpretations of the justification of the world and of man himself directly affects on the specifics of the development and functioning of all areas of human activity, including moral and legal norms, art and culture, science and technology. The most important context for the development of mankind was the disintegration of the ontological unity of the world, which once served as the unshakable foundation of existence. Another equally significant change seems to be a shift in emphasis from reason as such to the coexistence of political minds. This intensifies the phenomenon of alienation. The implosion of consciousness, which J. Baudrillard spoke about, led to the fact that human consciousness became torn, as a result of which fragmentation became the norm for perceiving the world and reproducing it in value orientations. The author believes that the first quarter of the 21st century reveals the essence of the reformatting of all existing lines of life connection – the relationship of man and nature, man and society, man and man, which is necessarily reflected in the interpretation of philosophical categories.

Dyskurs strukturalnej konieczności jako czynnik totalitaryzacji polityki i prawa. Efekt cieplarniany i pandemia COVID-19 jako polityczne „hybrydy”

This article discusses the contemporary discourse of justifying the abandonment of the protection of rights by a higher necessity, which is presented as resulting both from the indications of science and from the structural features of modern society. Such ideas are proclaimed, among others, on the occasion of the phenomena referred to as the COVID-19 pandemic and the greenhouse effect and climate crisis, and are in turn addressed by institutional and political actions. The aim of the article is to analyze this discourse and its effects on the way of understanding politics and law, and in particular the totalitarian tendencies it generates. The author adopts a hermeneutical perspective as a methodological starting point and refers to a certain understanding of politics and law as based on practical reason, which is established in the Western philosophical tradition. This then serves to outline an ideal type of discourse of structural necessity as a rejection of this type of rationality. In doing so, the author refers to the interpretation of commonly known ideological tendencies and institutional facts. The presentation of the less obvious feature of this discourse, i.e. the identification of natural and political necessity, is supported by the author with references to contemporary philosophical and political concepts dealing with the relationship between the social and natural spheres. The conclusion is that this discourse eliminates the idea of the subject, politics understood as the sphere of manifestation of subjectivity, law as an art based on practical rationality, and finally the separation of science and power.

Development of spiritual values of teachers of preschool institutions upon the professional training

Relevance. The relevance of the research is the need to create conditions for the spiritual and moral education of the younger generation as one of the priorities of the development of modern society in Kazakhstan. In the new conditions, the problem of the formation of the spiritual and moral culture of future teachers of preschool institutions becomes particularly relevant, the effective solution of which is associated with the transformation of the educational process of the university, the most dynamically influencing factor on the personality of the future teacher, which establishes a link between the moral knowledge received from the student, and also includes a figurative view of the personality as the highest value.Purpose. The purpose of the study was to determine the content and technological support of the process of forming the spiritual and moral culture of the future teacher and the formation of requirements for how to organize the search for specific conditions within the university for their training.Methodology. The research is based on culturological, spiritual, philosophical concepts, as well as general theoretical methods of scientific cognition.Results. The conducted research made it possible to determine the role and importance of spiritual culture in the professional activity of a teacher. It was determined that the formation of spiritual values in a child is one of the most important missions of preschool teachers, because the concepts laid down in childhood form the foundations of moral foundations for life. The development of personal spiritual values of a teacher is one of the priority tasks that must be carried out throughout their career, because the improvement of the moral qualities is a continuous process.Conclusions. The practical significance of the research is that this research contributes to the development of the problems of spiritual and value culture of teachers.

Foregrounding African Ontology/Epistemology: A Reading of Deuteronomy 23:3 and Ruth 4:18–22 Considering the Nature of God

Deuteronomy 23:3, says: “No … Moabite may enter the assembly of the Lord”. This verse is motivated by a discriminatory tendency embedded in the ontology of the Deuteronomist. Interestingly, Deuteronomy 23:3 was used by Ezra-Nehemiah to discriminate against the “Moabites” during the Second Temple. Such ontology is countered by the author of Ruth in the narrative of Ruth during the Second Temple. This demonstrates an ontological “war” within the Bible itself. The primary contestation lies in whether God is exclusive or inclusive. This development necessitates a hermeneutics of suspicion. In the course of history, the “theology” of Deuteronomy has been used to grossly violate the human dignity of many God-fearing African people and many other people of the South for colonial purposes. To exacerbate the situation, there were persistent attempts from some quarters to universalise such a discriminatory biblical perspective. This would feed into the centre–periphery arrangement, with the centre feeding the periphery with such hermeneutics. For this reason, African scholars are implored to be very vigilant against ardent pressures put on the biblical texts by ontological, epistemological, and contextual biases of interpretations. Accordingly, Andrew Mbuvi identifies African Biblical Hermeneutics perfectly when he says it seeks to undo “the very construct of the ‘centre-periphery’ binary by allowing the possibility of multiple centres”). Kenneth Ngwa, thus, rightly asserts that African Biblical Hermeneutics considers African epistemologies and conditions “to be invaluable and legitimate contexts and resources in biblical interpretation”), drinking from our own wells). In consequence, this paper intends to set a dialogue between Deuteronomy 23:3 and Ruth 4:18–22. This paper aims to examine the understanding of God behind these verses. This paper will then compare the two theologies with the African philosophical concept of God. Harnessing the African concept of Ubuntu, this paper will de-ideologise the two texts and thus will provide a recommendation concerning the two texts.

Gene drives, mosquitoes, and ecosystems: an interdisciplinary approach to emerging ethical concerns

Gene drives are genetic elements that in sexually reproducing organisms spread faster than those transmitted through a Mendelian fashion. Since gene drives can be engineered to modify different aspects of physiology and reproduction, they have been proposed as a new and revolutionary tool to control vector-borne diseases, particularly those transmitted by the genera Anopheles and Aedes (Culicidae), such as malaria, Dengue and Zika virus. This approach may impact on human health by lowering the transmission of such devastating diseases. However, the release of genetically modified mosquitos (or other species) into the environment raises a series of questions related to the still incipient technology and our present understanding of the complex structure and dynamics of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Moreover, there are ethical concerns about human interventions in natural ecosystems that may eventually impact our way of living or the ecosystems themselves. This work is an interdisciplinary approach that analyzes from a biological, philosophical, and theological perspective the potential ecological impacts on natural environments of the release of genetically modified species, focusing on gene drive-modified mosquitos. It includes theological approach from a Catholic point of view (although it could be easily shared by other Christians) because we hold that world religions give valuable insights even though not everyone may share their groundings. We conclude that the focal problem is the relationship between humans and nature, and the release of genetically modified species may change this relationship unpredictably. However, given the complex interactions in ecosystems, new approaches such as Earth Stewardship principles could provide new and more widely accepted answers involving biological, philosophical, and theological concepts that will help engaging all relevant actors to make a better world.

The Question of Beauty and the Aesthetic Value of the Image of the Mother of God in Pastoral Care and Catechesis

Ancient philosophers attached great importance to the ideals of unity, truth, goodness, and beauty as the path to the greatest good. Beauty expressed through works of art can open the eyes of the mind and heart and direct the human spirit to transcendence. The beauty of art awakens inner emotionality, evokes elation in silence, and leads to “coming out of oneself”. The concept of beauty is inextricably linked to Catholic theology and preaching. Beautiful sacred images were a source of theological messages, intercession, and entry into the transcendental world. Medieval Gothic cathedrals had images on the walls as a basic tool of catechesis. Even in today’s teaching of young people, images play a crucial role. The world of symbols enables Christians to connect everyday life experiences with theological messages. The image of the Virgin Mary is the best example of recognizing personal life situations, with the story of a mother who loved her child, accepted the suffering and death of her own son, and together with St. Joseph formed a holy family, which is the image of an imperfect family in which each person recognizes himself. All these aspects of the life of the Virgin Mary could form the basic concepts of the Christian understanding of beauty. In modern thought, the concept of beauty is understood quite narrowly (we are talking about narrowing the meaning of the concept of beauty). In the first part of this paper, we focus on the philosophical concept of beauty with a brief historical overview, then we point out the difference between transcendental beauty and aesthetic beauty. Beauty appeals to the human being and opens the heart to the transcendent, to God, who is the source and fullness of beauty, beauty itself. The originality of the article is in its presentation of the understanding of the Christian concept of beauty through the figure and image of Mary, the Mother of God. The experience of the beauty of Mary and Mary’s life story enables the believer to have a different perspective on the perception of his own life and thereby opens him to the transcendent, to a personal relationship with God, who is eternal Beauty.

Real sparks of artificial intelligence and the importance of inner interpretability

ABSTRACT The present paper looks at one of the most thorough articles on the intelligence of GPT, research conducted by engineers at Microsoft. Although there is a great deal of value in their work, I will argue that, for familiar philosophical reasons, their methodology, ‘Black-box Interpretability’, is wrongheaded. But there is a better way. There is an exciting and emerging discipline of ‘Inner Interpretability’ (and specifically Mechanistic Interpretability) that aims to uncover the internal activations and weights of models in order to understand what they represent and the algorithms they implement. Black-box Interpretability fails to appreciate that how processes are carried out matters when it comes to intelligence and understanding. I can’t pretend to have a full story that provides both necessary and sufficient conditions for being intelligent, but I do think that Inner Interpretability dovetails nicely with plausible philosophical views of what intelligence requires. So the conclusion is modest, but the important point in my view is seeing how to get the research on the right track. Towards the end of the paper, I will show how some of the philosophical concepts can be used to further refine how Inner Interpretability is approached.

Philosophical conceptions and theoretical foundations of historical anthropology as a modern philosophy of history forming

The article analyzes the impact of methodological approaches of philosophical thought on the formation of historical anthropology as a modern philosophy of history. The methodology of this work is based on the principles of complementarity, structure, and dialogue. In the study of labor problems, methods were involved: philosophical hermeneutics, systemic- structural, interdisciplinary. Historical anthropology as a version of the philosophy of history, which explores the mental- cultural plane of causes, the essence of historical processes and their possible projection into the future, has a significant potential for understanding the global social- cultural dynamics in past eras through philosophical- historical concepts. An important condition for the implementation of this scientific task is the analysis of the formation of the theoretical foundations of historical- anthropological dimensions of philosophical- historical thought. The study of the specified problem field is based on the study of the philosophical theories of R. G. Collingwood, K. Lévi- Strauss, and M. Foucault. The main ideas of R. G. Collingwood, which are important for the formation of the concepts of historical anthropology as a modern philosophy of history, include the understanding of the philosophical potential of historical thought; the need to combine philosophical concepts and historical methodologies; the importance of understanding the mental and cultural horizon of the past through the philosophy of history. Among the factors influencing the structuralist concepts of K. Lévi- Strauss on the formation of the theoretical foundations of historical anthropology as a modern philosophy of history, it is possible to single out the analysis of mythological elements of perception of the world by proto- societies; identification and studies of unconscious components of psychology and culture of societies of the specified type, implementation of scientific interactions of historical knowledge and ethnology. Important concepts of M. Foucault, which influenced the formation of theoretical approaches of historical anthropology as a modern philosophy of history, includes the analysis of unconscious elements of the psyche of societies in different eras of the past; understanding the phenomenon of «otherness» in history; study of mental representations in European society about mental illnesses; research on the understanding of the phenomenon of madness in Western European art; studies of the mentality of doctors in the Early Modern Time. The theoretical foundations of historical anthropology as a modern philosophy of history, which were formed under the influence of philosophical concepts, include the ontological, epistemological and axiological planes. The ontological plane is manifested in the formation of the problem field of historical- anthropological studies, the mental- cultural horizon of the past. Its composition includes: analysis of the subconscious foundations of psychology and mythological systems of proto- societies and early- historian societies; understanding the communities’ perception of the specified types of various socio- cultural phenomena, in particular diseases and means of treatment; the attitude of societies to certain social groups, in particular to doctors; analysis of the perception of political power and the mechanisms of formation of its social- psychological foundations. The epistemological plane is revealed in the formation of historical- anthropological concepts of methods of analysis of deep, unconscious aspects of the psychological and cultural dimension of past eras; effective application of an interdisciplinary approach in the analysis of mental phenomena and social behavior; realization of cognitive interaction of methodological approaches of ethnology and historical anthropology. The axiological plane consists in stimulating the spread in the understanding of the mental- cultural horizon of historical processes of the values of humanism, pluralism and the equality of cultures and civilizations of the past and the present; dialogue of various cultures, worldview systems and intellectual traditions.

A Thousand Concepts and the Participating Body: Concept Play Workshops at Kunsthall 3,14

Participation has become the keyword in museum and gallery education during the past decades. However, the focus on participation might contain neoliberalist tendencies, creating more entertainment and consumerism than art. In this study based on practice-based research, I explore a gallery educational method to mediate contemporary art to primary and high school students inspired by Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari’s process philosophy and new materialist theory–practice. What kind of roles can the method of Concept Play Workshop create for the participating body and how can it challenge neoliberal tendencies in museum and gallery education? In the workshops, children and young people create philosophical concepts with contemporary art, dialogue-based practices and artistic experiments in the exhibition space of Kunsthall 3,14 in Bergen, Norway. I argue that the method can create philosophizing, critical, uncomfortable, resting, dictatorial and protesting bodies. Representational logic becomes challenged, and discomfort and resistance become educational potential. The method creates multiple and overlapping roles for the participating body, shifting the focus towards multiplicities instead of the passive/active binary. Humans are not the only participating bodies, but attention is given to agential matter, contesting human-centeredness. The study is a contribution to the field of post-approaches in gallery and museum education.

Educated folk intuitions about free will and determinism: a case study in experimental public philosophy

ABSTRACT Experimental philosophers have been investigating folk intuitions about free will and moral responsibility, wondering whether our intuitive understanding of free will and moral responsibility make them compatible or incompatible with determinism. However, methodological worries have been raised concerning such studies: some have claimed that participants in such studies are simply unable to understand the materials they are presented with. To bypass such methodological worries, we investigated “educated” folk intuitions, that is: intuitions of people who are not philosophers but have enough personal interest in philosophy to have a good grasp of philosophical concepts, and to which the vignettes and their context have been explained before they answer. To this end, we took the opportunity of a video and online survey (N = 4385) released by a popular French philosophy youtuber. The results suggest that, even in this context, the results of previous surveys replicate, suggesting that participants’ inclination toward compatibilism is not the mere product of a comprehension error.

Joan Miró’s La masia (1921–1922) As the Great Work

Magical thinking was one of the guiding principles in Joan Miró’s aesthetic and philosophical conception. The elements depicted in La masia can be interpreted through an alchemical lens, with their meanings aligning closely with the imagery and concepts found in alchemical engravings. Many of the figures depicted coincide with alchemical iconography and symbols, including the farmhouse, the philosophical tree, the baptismal font and various animals such as the ass and the cock. Thus, the hermeneutic analysis performed here on La masia explores these parallels and enquires into the meaning of the painting on the basis of the alchemical lexicon.

Hindu Religious and Philosophical Concept in Context of Globalization and Multiculturalism: “Jivatman”

In the 20th and 21st centuries, active interactions have occurred between representatives of various cultures and traditions. This influences religious and philosophical concepts, including those in India. Modern people wish to learn more about ancient Hindu concepts and values. The concept of the soul plays an important role in the formation of personal and cultural identity. In this article, we focus on the term “jivatman.” Within the framework of Indian culture and philosophy, concepts such as “Atman,” “Paramatman,” “jiva,” and later “jivatman” are integral to the traditional heritage that is preserved and passed down through generations. In the context of philosophical knowledge, it is important to distinguish concepts such as Atman and soul, since they have different meanings in the religious and philosophical traditions of India. Atman is the inner Higher Self, while the soul (jiva) is the bearer of life and is subject to the laws of karma. Some philosophers and researchers identify “jivatman” as a synonym for “jiva,” meaning the soul, while others equate it with the concept “Atman.” Cultural memory plays a key role in preserving this heritage, and the various interpretations of the term “jivatman” can be attributed to the processes of globalization and the politics of multiculturalism. We examined the interpretation of the term “jivatman” in dictionaries, analyzed its use in ancient texts, and considered the opinions of philosophers, neo-Hindu religious leaders, and researchers, including Mircea Eliade, Sri Aurobindo, Srila Prabhupada, and others. The emergence of representatives of the “new Indian mythmaking,” such as Devdutt Pattanaik, also influenced modern Hindu religious and philosophical thought. Analyzing his works, we observe a tendency to conflate the two terms (Atman and jiva) leading to their identification as a single concept. Our research indicates that Devdutt Pattanaik’s analysis often lacks depth and fails to delve into the fundamental essence of Indian philosophy. This tendency towards simplification can lead to a superficial comprehension of the foundational principles and ideas that form the basis of Indian spiritual traditions.

Od slike do misli preko geometrije i stripa - ikonička sredstva u nastavi filozofije - teorijski okvir, mogućnosti primene, primeri

How to bring abstract philosophical concepts and their relations in proximity with everyday, concrete pupils' experience and spontaneous concepts? What factors can effectively and meaningfully mediate between usual perception and experience and abstract philosophical concepts, especially in the initial stages of teaching and learning, when pupils are introduced to philosophical problems? In accordance with these questions, the paper examines the meaning and possibilities of applying iconic tools or visual and graphic representations in the teaching of philosophy as intermediate elements that can connect complex, abstract philosophical concepts and theories with everyday experience and with the domain of phenomena and objects given in the immediate perception. First, the general theoretical foundations are explored, then possible directions of application, then a characteristic and valuable example already designed and adopted in teaching practice, and finally concluding considerations and proposals are made. The paper focuses on two specific groups of iconic tools: geometric (and geometrized) visuals and graphics and comics as a visual-graphic representation: we explore the foundations of their value in teaching and learning. Our conclusion is that iconic tools in teaching philosophy, if they are applied in a pedagogically and psychologically justified manner, if meaningful, relevant and aligned with the objectives of philosophy teaching and curriculum, have a great potential as an important intermediate factor for the gradual movement towards higher levels of abstraction, while preserving the transfer between philosophy and other subjects, as well as between philosophy and pupils' life experiences. In addition, their application can deepen crosscurricular connections, as well as a more intensive integration of teaching philosophy with key competencies and cross-curricular competencies.