Philosophical Point Of View Research Articles

“Yet a New Phase, Wherein the Abstract Become Concrete”. Josiah Royce’s Theory of Experience Between Philosophy and Psychology

Abstract This paper aims to focus on the concept of experience and reconstruct its evolutions within Royce’s thought. To do so, I divide this paper in three parts. I begin by analysing Royce’s concept of experience, which takes roots in his interpretation of the British empiricists, such as Locke, Berkeley and Hume, in The Spirit of Modern Philosophy (1892). In the second part I outline Royce’s theory of experience from a philosophical and psychological point of view. My claim is that, in his philosophical writings, Royce argues that cognitions are not abstract ideas but plans of actions: meanings and concepts are embodied, situated and time-oriented. I refer also to Royce’s contribution to the psychological field, with regard to embodied aspects of cognitions. According to Royce, cognitions are enriched with elements related to sensorimotor, imaginative and perceptual faculties. Action and perception are no separated aspects of cognitions, because perception implies sensorimotor dynamics. At the same time, the perception of the object is entangled with the imagination of the would be, i.e., the result of doing different actions with the object.

Philosophical Perspective of Islamic Economics: A Critical Approach to Capitalism and Materialism in the Context of Modernity

This study delves into the philosophical viewpoint of Islamic economics concerning capitalism and materialism within the context of modernity. It examines essential aspects like ownership, wealth distribution, and consumption from an Islamic economic perspective and employs a critical approach to analyze the interactions among capitalism, materialism, and modernity. The research adopts a qualitative analytical method, drawing insights from relevant literature and prior studies in the field. The collected data is scrutinized through the lens of Islamic economic principles and relevant philosophical perspectives. The results highlight how the philosophical standpoint of Islamic economics provides an alternative perspective on addressing capitalism and materialism in contemporary times. Islamic economic thought emphasizes principles of social justice, wealth redistribution, and consumption limitations as integral components. The study underscores the significance of integrating moral and ethical values into economic practices to achieve social and spiritual sustainability. By offering insights into the critique of capitalism and materialism from an Islamic economic standpoint, the research encourages further discussions on more sustainable and equitable economic alternatives.

Scratching the structure of moral agency: insights from philosophy applied to neuroscience.

This paper explores the intersection between neuroscience and philosophy, particularly in the areas of moral philosophy and philosophy of mind. While traditional philosophical questions, such as those relating to free will and moral motivation, have been subject to much debate, the rise of neuroscience has led to a reinterpretation of these questions considering empirical evidence. This has led to tensions between those who believe neuroscience can provide definitive answers to very complex philosophical questions and those who are skeptical about the scope of these studies. However, the paper argues that neuroscientists and philosophers can work together to generate major scientific and social advances. To contribute to bridge the gap, in this paper we expose the complexity of moral experience from a philosophical point of view and point to two great challenges and gaps to cover from neurosciences.

The Philosophically Revisionist Translation of Terms in Mozi Taking the Translation of “Fa” in Mozi as an Example

ABSTRACT In 2020, the English translation of Mozi by Chris Fraser, a philosopher, was published, which brought a new perspective, a philosophically revisionist one in Hansen’s words, to the English translation of Mozi. This paper takes the term “fa” as an example to reveal the uniqueness of Fraser’s translation in terminology translation and highlight the importance that translators and Sinologists have recently attached to the philosophical interest of terms in Mozi. At the same time, this paper demonstrates the discussion of the term “fa” in Chinese and Western academia and explores the path of analyzing this term from the philosophical point of view both at home and abroad. Ultimately, through the translation of “fa,” this paper analyzes the integration of philosophical research and terminological translation in Fraser’s translation, and provides a philosophical revisionist approach for the subsequent translations of the terminology in Mozi.

The Accomplishment of Individual Actions as a Duty on Moral Responsibility for the Growth of Humanism: A Comparative Study on Buddhist and Yogic Teachings

ABSTRACT Buddhist and Yogic teachings have illustrated humanistic ethical teachings related to the growth of humanism. Individual actions performed as a duty of moral responsibility is a major theme in the humanistic ethical teachings of Buddhism and Yoga. Considering this significance this study evaluates the Buddhist and Yogic concepts of moral responsibility of the individual and its utility of performing that virtue as a duty in action, and its positive impact on the growth of humanism with reference to the teachings of early Buddhism and Yoga philosophy. Buddhist teachings emphasize that every individual has free will for their moral living and the potential to avoid immoral conduct according to the teachings of the moral measurements. Moreover, Buddha highlights that individuals need to perform their moral responsibility both individually and socially. However, the Yoga philosophical viewpoint on performing moral responsibility as a duty is described in the concept of Nishkama Karma, or performing individual actions selflessly and desire less as a duty. These teachings emphasize that each tradition has highlighted the fundamental ethical teachings of other religions, but the teachings of Buddhism have directed individuals to make moral responsibility a duty with the potential of free will. In comparison to Buddhism, Yogic teachings emphasize performing moral responsibility as a duty in selfless service. Therefore, Buddhist and Yogic teachings have presented more pragmatic teachings for the growth of humanism from a moral perspective and are universally applicable.

British Travelers and British Travel Writing: An Overview to British Travelers Visiting Albania in the First Half of 19th Century

The Grand Tour played an important role in the education of the aristocratic British youth. Several requirements served for its classical qualification. The Tour lasted from some months to some years. Travelers’ individual choices, spread of diseases, priority to special places, as well as historical events shaped the travel plan. The Tour changed its classical denotation in the 19th century, reflecting a radical social transformation in the British society. The middle class would be engaged in travelling beyond the borders of the British territory. The Romantic traveler of the 19th century differers from the classic traveler of the Grand Tour, stressing heroism and bravery, avoiding scenic descriptions. These travelers resembled the explorer. A term introduced by the Romantics. The dense narrative produced in this period would permit the British public to become familiar with unalike people, experiences, and lands. There are five travellers that visited the Albanian land in the first half of 19th century, during British Romanticims. Dodwell, Hughes, Martin Leake, Urquhart and Best published works mentioning the Albania theme, people, culture, nature, geography. Dodwell’s work is significant because of classical archeology. T.S. Hughes gives information about Ali Pasha and his mystical figure. Topographical data on the Albanian population, customs, and traditions are introduced in Leake’s book. Urquhart looks at the Orient from a philosophical viewpoint. A work about hunting, natural beauty, customs, traditions is written by Best. Therefore, their books give essential information about the country in the first half of this century.

Che “effetto” fanno i colori sull’organismo?

The aim of this paper is to show the relationship between “health” and the “efficacy of colours” on human life. What is the importance of colours in our life? An interesting case, from a biological and philosophical point of view, is the neurologist and psychologist Goldstein’s investigation on colours. The first part of this article deals with his holistic theory of the human organism. The second part has to do with Goldstein and Rosenthal’s study on the effect of colours on the human organism (1930). The final part of this paper analyses the positive or negative impact of certain colours on our psycho-physical health.

Philosophy of mass culture and consumer society: worldview emphasis

The formation of new realities of mass culture and consumer society led to a number of crisis phenomena of an ontological and worldview nature. The purpose of the article is to analyze the worldview accents of modernity from the philosophical point of view of mass culture and consumer society, to outline social transformations inherent in social categories of thinking. General scientific methods of analysis of synthesis, deduction, and induction were used to write the article. The results highlighted the main characteristics of mass culture, it was established that it has a specific influence on worldview aspects. Mass production replicated mass things, chimeras of characters, values, etc., which became obsessive in society. Consumer society has turned consumption into the meaning of life. Consumption received leading roles in creating a new type of relations in society, transforming them according to its own development scheme. Consumption has become the dominant socio-cultural aspect in people's consciousness, which has pushed the economic effect into the background. This has led to the formation of a crisis of identities throughout the world, as traditional national ways of demarcation are replaced by social. The conclusions suggest turning to the ideas of the Post-Enlightenment, which contain elements of consumerism.

Диалектический взгляд на нарушенную гармонию в военных письмах немецких студентов 1914–1918 годов

In this article the collection of letters written by voluntary students during the First World War is analyzed from a philosophical point of view. The collection was assembled by Philipp Witkop during the years of the First World War and after it. The author of the article analyzes two philosophical tendencies of materialism and idealism, which appear in the letters. These two philosophical tendencies are considered as phenomena of well-ordered life in peaceful times. The main material of this research is the original text of the collection of letters, as compiled by Philipp Witkop. Then, the texts of Clausewitz, Scheler, Heidegger and Ernst Jünger were added to further enrich the scope of the study. To assess the genuinity and political meaning of the compilation of letters, the author consulted with the contemporary researchers and their results. The main method of this study is the method of reading the text, conducting conceptual analysis and then attempting to develop a philosophical scheme in order to create a senseful context of what was read. Finally, the attempt is made to reunify the contradictions which were discovered as a result of the textual analysis. This attempt of reunification of the discovered contradictions is called the dialectical synthesis. Thus, the dialectical method is one of the important methods employed during the course of this study. The phenomenon of war could be successfully defined as a phenomenon of the destruction of the harmony of usual, peaceful order of life in a state. The author comes to the conclusion that the content of the letters can be mainly divided in two subgroups. The first subgroup is the subgroup of Idealism. Roughly speaking, these are the students who are enthusiastic about the participation in the war. They have an intellectual tendency towards collectivism. The second subgroup is the subgroup of materialism. This is the subgroup of those students who do not approve of the war. The mindset of these students can be called individualistic. Finally, some letters which attempt to create a dialectical synthesis of these two tendencies could be identified. This dialectical synthesis overcomes the fear of death. But it does not abandon the value of the individual conciousness and the individual personality. The discovery of the dialectical syntheses gives the prove that there can be a more complex attitude towards the historical phenomenon of war as a destructor of well-ordered harmony. It is possible not only to be afraid of death and miss the peaceful times, but also to radically welcome the new times of war. The author highlights the complexity of the human being. But at the same time, the author offers an argument for the possibility to create a senseful philosophical scheme to make sense of the complex properties of the human experience.

Aesthetic Expressions of Caring in Nursing Among Thai Undergraduate Nursing Students

Caring is a core value of nursing and is often incorporated in nursing curricula. A qualitative research study was conducted based on Gadamer’s philosophical viewpoints to collect, analyze, and interpret aesthetic expressions of caring in nursing by Thai undergraduate students of nursing. Participants were 41 second-year baccalaureate degree nursing students from a university in Thailand. Data generated were graphic illustrations and short descriptions and narrative statements, which were analyzed and interpreted using thematic analysis. Trustworthiness was established following Lincoln and Guba’s criteria. Meanings of caring in nursing revealed five thematic categories: (a) nurturing wholeness of persons, (b) practicing aesthetic caring in nursing, (c) sharing self with honesty and trust, (d) helping persons using multiple processes, and (e) enhancing personhood. This study described caring in nursing as focused on persons, human relationships, and nursing processes of caring that enhance personhood. These findings inform professional nursing education toward a transformative caring process for students of nursing who are imbued with caring attributes.

The experience of pain and its ontological modelling from a philosophical point of view: Phenomenological description and ontological revision of theMcGill Pain Questionnaire.

The aim of the article is to identify, on the basis of the phenomenological and ontological analysis of the experience of pain and the ways in which this experience is expressed in natural language, an ontological modelling of the language of pain and, at the same time, a revision of the traditional version of the McGill questionnaire. The purpose is to provide a different characterisation and an adequate evaluation of the phenomenon of pain, and, consequently, an effective measure of the actual experience of the suffering subject.

To the ontology of war: why warfare but not peaceful negotiations

The article is aimed at a philosophical study of the foundations/causes of war. Its background is a definition of the Russian-Ukrainian full-scale warfare as an irreconcilable existential conflict of the "Russian world" between the "Russian world" and the national world of Ukraine. Methodological specific of the article is reliance on the everydayness of a boundary situation of war to define the cultural world, as well as cultural identity as concepts that get existential meaning. Philosophy potential is used to clarify the key question for today's war discourse about why the parties to the conflict are determined to take military actions, but not to resolve the conflict through peace negotiations. The answer is sought by comparing two ontologies of the world that there are in Habermas' communicative theory of action and Heidegger's fundamental ontology. Each of them provides an alternative concept of understanding and, accordingly, different foundations for its truth theory. This also provides a perspective, firstly, to distinguish two alternative positions of participants in the discourse of war – "internal" one as "being in a culture at war" and another of an "external" observer. Secondly, this distinction helps to explain why war as a conflict of cultural worlds could be considered from different philosophical points of view, namely from the position of the philosophy of communicative action, as well as in the context of existential analysis of being. Examination of the explanatory potential of both approaches is carried out on the basis of a comparison of different concepts of the world, fundamental to each of philosophers. It is done by clarifications of basics of two ontologies of understanding and, accordingly, of their theories of truth. The article indicates that the theory of truth in communicative philosophy is based on the regulative idea of the unity of the objective world. Instead, with reference to examples from Charles Taylor and Jean-Luc Nancy, the author claims that the fundamental ontology can be reinterpreted in terms of the plurality of being-in-common of people in sovereign cultural worlds. Accordingly, the interaction of representatives of different cultural identities under certain political conditions, i.e., official propaganda can turn into a radical disagreement of different existential understandings of the meaning of being, into a war of cultural worlds that cannot be overcome by just negotiations at the level of competent communication. The article ends with an open question about searching for ways to unify the mentioned ontological approaches.

The literary in Amanda Labarca: a philosophical-political project

Two literary works of the outstanding Chilean intellectual Amanda Labarca are analyzed from a philosophical and political point of view. The first work, Impressions of Youth, positions Labarca as a critical reader of Spanish-American authors and makes visible her interest in Emilia Pardo Bazán, whose feminism she adheres to. In Unveilings at Dawn, her Nietzscheanism is revealed, through which she demands a kind of resistance to the nihilism produced by war and the absolute relativity of values. Both works allow us to recognize the keys of her new philosophy in the first half of the twentieth century.

Philosophical ideas in drama on the example of women's drama

In this article, specific methodological approaches to analyzing drama from a philosophical point of view are formulated. Our research’s principal conceptual basis consists of considering the personalities of the drama characters animated in the text (and especially in the stage action) as primary attractors for readers-viewers (recipients). Drama consideration (in addition to philological, psychological, semiotic, and other aspects) is proposed as a metaphor that leads to a holistic intellectual and spiritual understanding of its social and philosophical meanings in the unity of the personal-conscious, collective unconscious, and socially determined content. In addition, a conceptual system of socio-philosophical analysis of drama as a unity of society’s real microsocial and macrosocial environments, expressed by the images of the virtual world of the dramatic work in society as a whole, is proposed and implemented. The author explains and systematizes the socio-philosophical ideas and the geo-sociocultural aspect of feminism and feminist literature (features of feminism and feminist drama in the Anglo-American reality). In addition, the author contributes to understanding an important aspect of the modern Western mentality. It is shown that women’s drama is one of the most significant genres of expression of the “philosophy of women’s lives” in the socio-cultural dimension and contains relevant social and philosophical ideas related to gender issues. The article considers the application of the modern literary approach of “feminist criticism” in combination with traditional philological and philosophical approaches, which allowed us to offer a more systematic understanding of the phenomenon of “women’s drama” and revealed the links between the ideology and practice of the feminist movement with the peculiarity of expressing the positions of specific subjects in the form of dramatic works.

Physical Education in University Access to the Ideas of Elementary Education

General education is an ancient humanistic educational thought, which has had a positive impact on ancient and modern education. In the United States, Europe, and many Asian countries, there are generally educational models under the framework of the concept of general education. From the philosophical point of view of freedom, based on free education, the thesis shows the rigidity, mechanical growth and stereotyping of school sports; guides to get rid of the influence of pragmatism and return to the positive style of sports, so that school sports can truly meet the needs of students' physical and mental development.

Reflection of Aesthetic in the Idea of Saint Aurelius Augustinus

In this study, Saint Aurelius Augustinus’ philosophical point of view and his understanding of art and his thinking are discussed. The aesthetic stance, aesthetic ideas and views in his mind were revealed. St. Augustinus, synthesizing Ancient Greece and Christianity in a Neoplatonic understanding, argues that the source of all knowledge is “God”. According to him, philosophy is an opportunity to find oneself as an activity of self-knowledge. Because, man approaches “God” and tries to discover “God’s source of knowledge with philosophy. For this reason, art is together with thought, and thoughts are together with art.In St. Augustinus’ philosophical understanding, as man imitates “God”, he acquires the knowledge of beautiful, good, pleasant, happiness, love, etc., concepts. In this context, it uses aesthetic elements to acquire spiritual satisfaction. St. Augustinus’ aim is to reach perfection based on the movement from the part to the whole in order to achieve the ideal form. In addition, according to him, if unity and integrity are provided, beauty manifests itself. Beauty is not a temporary thing. According to him, harmony, order, measure, unity, equality and integrity are the basic principles of beauty, and absolute beauty is what manifests itself in these principles.

D. H. Lawrence’s Lady Chatterley’s Lover: A Marxist Feminist Study

Lady Chatterley’s Lover narrates a story of the relationship between an upper class married woman, Constance, and a working class game keeper, Oliver Mellors . However, this paper draws on Marxist feminism that explains women’s status and oppression form the viewpoints of famous philosophers as Karl Marx and Friedrich Engles. In addition, it argues with the following questions: What are the class structures established in the text and what are the social binary oppositions between classes ? What groups control the economic means of production?

The politics of the city: Critical theory of technology and urban design(s)

This article aims at approaching urban design from a philosophical point of view, specifically through Andrew Feenberg's critical theory of technology. It attempts to present the politics of urban design, rejecting an urban-technological determinism that refers to a specific technical environment as the only one possible. If technology is an open process with social implications and consequences, the same holds for urban technologies and designs. This approach argues that contemporary cities are formed within a specific socio-technical context which is seemingly the most functional for the current social, political and economic world, but since environmental and urban crises rise, there seems to be a need for rethinking over the form of current cities. Thus, this article attempts to offer a theoretical contribution to the debate over alternative urban designs through Andrew Feenberg's insights. Drawing upon some of his most crucial notions, like the “technical code”, the “interpretative flexibility” and the “operational autonomy” and presenting their role in a philosophy of the city, I attempt to highlight that current urban forms could be replaced by other functional alternatives. The choice over one or another urban design is political hence the need for the relation between the philosophy of the city and technical politics.

Man's struggle for salvation: A programmatic interpretation of Franz Liszt's B minor Sonata

Research question: “What can be learned about the programmatic relationship between Franz Liszt’s B Minor Piano Sonata and its programs?” My research started as an investigation of the traditional programmatic relationship between Franz Liszt B minor Piano Sonata and Goethe’s Faust, but it had an unexpected outcome: Liszt B minor Sonata can be programmatically connected to multiple programs at the same time. Through the study of symbols behind themes and harmonies used by the composer, connections with other compositions, and the composer’s notes and letters, my research explains why and how the Sonata is programmatically inspired by Goethe’s Faust, Milton’s Paradise Lost and the Bible not only in its structure, but also from a philosophical and spiritual point of view. I propose to look at the Sonata in a different way, considering a more general and Christian “leading thought” which connects all its possible programs and permeates the whole work: Liszt’s Sonata tells the story of every man and his lifetime struggle against temptations and damnation to reach salvation. At the end, I give practical suggestions on the interpretation of specific passages of the Sonata based on the considered symbolic connections with its programs and composer’s notes. The chosen format of presentation is the exposition, because it gives me the possibility not only to include explanatory pictures and score excerpts, but also to use my own recordings to explain better the symbolism of themes or harmonies in certain passages and to show the practical and interpretive outcomes of my research.

Arthur E. Haas, from the Atom to the Cosmos—Struggles for a Scientific Career in the Early 20th Century

Arthur E. Haas, from the Atom to the Cosmos—Struggles for a Scientific Career in the Early 20th Century