Philosophy and Literature

Friday, September 10, 2021
Professor Richmond:: I had the pleasure this weekend of reading your paper "King Lear as Tragicomedy". It is without exaggeration one of the most illuminating discussions of Lear I've seen.  I was struck by the insight that Lear's division of his kingdom is not a sign of flagging powers but rather a misguided yet carefully considered tactical move to pre-empt Goneril's unpredictable inheritance and ensureCordelia's sovereignty over the richest portion of the kingdom, and that "this reading of the opening scene restores the play to true tragic tension, with a monarch unwisely sacrificing himself to his excessive devotion to virtue, and a heroine whose excellence carries with it the penalties of intransigence" -- not to mention your observations on the play's comic elements, its echoes of Pauline wisdom, and the consolations it offers via Edgar's succession (Edgar who has always seemed to me somehow transplanted from the redemptive realms of the late romances into the chaotic world of Lear).
          I am so grateful for discovering your work and look forward to its guidance in deepening my understanding of Shakespeare. Best regards, Steve Mitchell

This essay examines Herman Melville's Benito Cereno (1855) as a profound deconstruction of paternalism, the dominant pro-slavery ideology of the antebellum era. By foregrounding the perspective of Captain Amasa Delano, whose racial assumptions blind him to the reality of a successful slave revolt aboard the San Dominick, Melville dramatizes how paternalism functions as both psychological comfort and epistemological failure. Through Delano's misinterpretations, the novella reveals how ideology requires blindness to sustain itself, while Babo's strategic performance of servitude exposes its fragility. The essay situates the text in its historical context-responding to the Amistad case, the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850, and the competing rhetorics of Stowe, Fitzhugh, and Black abolitionists-and reads it through theoretical lenses including deconstruction, psychoanalysis, and performance theory. By analyzing Delano's cognitive dissonance, Babo's revolutionary theater, Cereno's trauma, and the legal erasure of Black subjectivity, the essay argues that Benito Cereno dismantles the ideological binaries of master/servant and benevolence/violence that sustained slavery. Melville's novella not only anticipates the collapse of paternalism during the Civil War but also confronts readers with the unerasable specter of Black agency, embodied in Babo's haunting silence and unblinking gaze.

This paper explores Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis as a Lacanian allegory of desire, focusing on the themes of identity, the unattainable object of desire (objet petit a), and the necessity of exclusion within the symbolic order. By analyzing Gregor Samsa’s transformation into an insect, the study highlights how Kafka’s narrative exemplifies Lacan’s concept of the subject's fragmented identity and the inherent lack that structures human existence. Gregor’s metamorphosis symbolizes the impossibility of fulfilling desire, as his physical transformation mirrors his internal dissonance and inability to reconcile his desires with societal expectations. Furthermore, the paper examines how Gregor’s eventual death serves as a manifestation of Lacan’s theory of exclusion, where the family’s survival and the stability of the symbolic order are ensured through the expulsion of the “real” — Gregor’s monstrous form. Ultimately, The Metamorphosis reinforces Lacan’s assertion that identity is never stable and that desire remains an elusive, unfulfilled pursuit that shapes and destabilizes the human subject.

No pretendo ningun copyright" Julio Cortazar of methods of expression permits the r eorganization of language, in which the word does not loose its original meaning. The re-evaluation of methods of expression is a necessity promoted by the evolution of language (doubt) in order to create certain coherence in the communication and in the message provided. The re-organization of language is a product of an e v a 1 u at ion of the evolutionary process of language. 2 However, that re-evaluation, which begins as a dou bt3, enlarges the subject's final vocabulary, that vocabulary that hasn't begun to doubt; i.e. evolve. This means that the subject has a principal, "final", vocabulary, or sets of words to communicate a given idea. The evolution of language, and of vocabulary as well, permits the enlargement of the vocabulary by doubt. This doubt is in reference to other persons' vocabularies, texts, and methods of expression. The subject utilizes the product of the evolved vocabulary in order to create a communication between the speaker and the listener4 to whom the message is delivered. This interaction between speaker and listener is provided by the utilization of signs by the speaker (artist-writer) to seduce the spectator or listener5, 1 I'm not aspmng for any copyright. Rayuela (Hopscotch) (Catedra ed. Spain, 1994) p. 617. In this essay all methods of expression or communication are encommpassed by "Language" . e.g. Literature and Art.

El objetivo de este trabajo es esbozar una breve historia de la tradición filosófico-literaria de los ejercicios espirituales de superación del miedo y sugerir la influencia que ésta ha ejercido en el origen y evolución del género de la literatura fantástica, en general, y de la literatura fantástica de terror, en particular. En la primera parte se estudian los diversos modos de ejercitación filosófica para la superación del miedo ideados por las filosofías antiguas (epicureísmo, estoicismo, escepticismo o cinismo), modernas (humanismo, libertinismo, spinozismo) o contemporáneas (vitalismo, existencialismo, libertarismo). En la segunda parte se estudia de qué modo la literatura fantástica ha participado de dicha tradición.The objective of this work is to outline a brief history of the philosophical and literary tradition of spiritual exercises to overcome fear and to suggest the relationships that it has maintained with the origin and evolution of fantasy literature, in general, and...

This essay turns to the question of Proust’s influence on Jean-Paul Sartre’s and Simone de Beauvoir’s philosophical work. Proust seems like a natural interlocutor for Beauvoir and Sartre, who were both writers and philosophers. Beginning with their indebtedness to the phenomenological dimensions of Proust’s writing, my account then shows how, informed by their existentialist projects, Sartre and Beauvoir related differently to Proust in their philosophical writing. Sartre, viewing Proust’s turn to the richness of memory as a withdrawal from present commitments, disassociated himself from Proust. Despite crucial theoretical affinities between Sartre and Proust, Sartre stressed his own commitments to the present and future as genuinely viable horizons for action by highlighting his divergence from Proust. For Beauvoir, on the other hand, Proust stood for how writing can connect self and other and embrace the finitude of human experience. Focusing on her account of her mother’s death in A Very Easy Death, I point to affinities between Proust’s account of mourning and her own, and connect it to her acknowledgement of Proust’s contribution to her development as a thinker and a writer.

Daniel Kehlmann has written a spectacular biographical novel about Alexander von Humboldt and Carl Friedrich Gauss. In this interview, he discusses his approach to biofiction, focusing specifically on the way the biofictionalist exposes to readers the painful realities about life that they would normally not want to see.

Charles Johnson published Dreamer, a wonderful biographical novel about Martin Luther King, Jr. In this interview, Johnson and I discuss the way he fictionalizes and metaphorizes the life of King in order to expose structures and conditions that make oppression possible. He also uses the life of King to offer readers healthier and more socially just ways of thinking and being.

No  presente  artigo,  esboço  uma problematização  acerca  do  pensamento  estético  de  Schopenhauer,  particularmente  no que diz respeito à sua análise sobre a arquitetura  e  a  fruição  do  objeto  arquitetônico. Pretendo abrir duas vertentes de análise, relativas a  duas  inquietações  minhas:  primeiramente,  a  compreensão  da  arquitetura  em termos  da  submissão  a  relações  causais  e fins  utilitários,  deixando  entrever,  com  isso, certa filiação de Schopenhauer aos cânones da  arquitetura  neoclassicista.  Depois,  o  modo  mesmo  de  fruição  do  objeto  arquitetônico,  limitada  à  contemplação  visual,  tendo como  corolário  a  distinção,  a  meu  ver,  precária, entre a arquitetura e o artefato. A guisa  de  conclusão,  procuro  amalgamar  tais inquietações  levantando  a  necessidade  de uma  distinção  entre  hierarquia  e  transversalidade  no  que  tange  a  uma  compreensão da leitura estética presente no Livro III de O mundo  como  vontade  e  como  representação. https://periodicos.ufsm.br/voluntas/article/view/33793/18305

Nesta segunda edição de Nietzsche-Schopenhauer: significação
moral do mundo, v. 1: desdobramentos, organizado pelo Apoena –
Grupo de Estudos Schopenhauer-Nietzsche, mergulhamos novamente
nas profundezas do pensamento filosófico de dois gigantes
da reflexão ocidental. Este volume, agora disponível em formato
e-book, representa um passo audacioso em nossa missão de disseminar
o conhecimento e expandir as fronteiras da discussão
filosófica. Ao abandonar as limitações físicas da impressão tradicional,
buscamos um público mais vasto, o que possibilita que
as visões de Nietzsche e Schopenhauer sobre a moral, o mundo
e o sentido da existência ressoem de maneiramais ampla. Neste
mundo cada vez mais interconectado, esta edição eletrônica
se torna uma ponte para mentes ávidas, em todos os cantos do
planeta, por análises capazes de explorar, à luz dos pensamento
de Schopenhauer e Nietzsche, os desafios morais que permeiam
a condição humana. Que esta obra sirva para inspirar discussões
transformadoras, em busca de uma compreensão mais ampla e
significativa do nosso lugar moral no mundo. ISBN: 978-85-7826-962-3

To my students, past and present, whose inquisitive minds and unwavering passion for literature have fueled my own scholarly pursuits. Your insightful questions and thoughtful discussions have enriched my understanding of Shakespeare's work immeasurably, and this book stands as a testament to the power of collaborative learning and the enduring fascination with the Bard's genius. It is to you, my dear students, that I dedicate this exploration of the intricate beauty and enduring complexity of Shakespeare's first thirty sonnets. May this work serve as a springboard for your own critical investigations and inspire further engagement with the rich tapestry of meaning woven into these iconic poems. May it also serve as a reminder of the transformative power of literature and the profound impact it can have on our lives, shaping our perspectives, enriching our understanding of the human condition, and providing a space for reflection, engagement, and ultimately, a deeper connection to both ourselves and the human experience across time. This dedication is offered not simply as an acknowledgment of your influence, but as a symbol of the ongoing journey of discovery that true scholarship entails. The ongoing dialogue between teacher and student, the shared exploration of meaning, is at the very heart of this work, and this dedication aims to reflect that collaborative spirit. This book embarks on a detailed line-by-line analysis of the first thirty sonnets of William Shakespeare, a body of work that continues to captivate and challenge readers centuries after their composition. The aim is not simply to provide summaries or paraphrases, but to delve deeply into the nuances of Shakespeare's language, imagery, and structure, unveiling the profound complexities embedded within each poem. My approach draws upon a wide range of scholarly interpretations, engaging with various critical perspectives to offer a rich and multifaceted understanding of these iconic works. While striving for academic rigor and precision, I have also endeavored to make the analysis engaging and accessible to a broad audience, including undergraduate and graduate students, Shakespeare scholars, enthusiastic readers, and anyone with a deep appreciation for the power and beauty of poetry. The book incorporates extensive use of illustrative examples, meticulously analyzing specific passages and word choices to demonstrate Shakespeare's unparalleled mastery of language and his profound insights into the human condition. The comparisons and contrasts drawn between different sonnets aim to illuminate the evolution of themes and the subtle shifts in the speaker's voice and perspective. Ultimately, I hope this book will foster a deeper appreciation for the enduring legacy of Shakespeare's sonnets and encourage further exploration of their rich tapestry of meaning. This is not the final word on these remarkable poems; it is an invitation to join in the ongoing conversation surrounding their interpretation and significance, a conversation that continues to enrich our understanding of Shakespeare's genius and the enduring power of poetic language. The task of truly understanding Shakespeare's poetry is a continuous one, a journey of interpretation and renewed appreciation, and I trust this book will offer a robust and engaging starting point for that journey. will build our understanding of the intricacies and profound beauty of Shakespeare's sonnet sequence.

This essay explores the intersection of literature and philosophy, emphasizing how narratives in literature shape our understanding of human experiences. It examines the works of philosophers like Wittgenstein, Kierkegaard, and Plato, who use literary devices to explore philosophical concepts, arguing that grasping a concept requires understanding the ife context in which it exists. The investigation highlights how philosophical inquiry, as seen in these philosophers’ pedagogical narratives, serves not just to solve problems but to transform lives, drawing parallels with the role of imagination in both philosophy and literature. The essay also recounts a fictional narrative of the intellectual journey of Dr Birgitta Johanessdotter, illustrating the interplay between personal insights and academic expectations in philosophical writing. Her experiences underscore the tension between speculative thought and existential engagement, as she navigates the boundaries of traditional academic discourse. Inspired by Stanley Cavell’s notion of "scenes of instruction," the essay suggests that philosophical pedagogy can be enriched by storytelling, blurring the lines between philosophy and literature. This, at the same time, philosophical and literary approach portrays an understanding of philosophy as a transformative pedagogy of lived experience.

Using Philosophical Formalism, I am executing a close textual examination of Thomas Pynchon's "The Crying of Lot 49" as a "postmodern" novel. By looking into the implications of genre and/into the supposed self-aware critico-novelistic vision of Pynchon, I cascaded this critique as follows: Part 1: the semiotic/semiological texture of the novel; Part 2: the novel as a critical attempt to the Enlightenment-infused concepts in the contemporary time-space reality; Part 3: the novel as a psychedelic commentary on the modernist psychosis, thus a celebration and an interrogation of the legacies (?) of the intricacies or the lack thereof of the Postmodern cultural mood; for better or worse. What we can gleaned from this novel as a signifying practice of the Postmodern turn is something that is open to interpretations that I wish to consolidate and bring forth to the discourse-(con-)current to the issues that hover the Subject-elsewhere.

Khōra is one of Derrida's most important philosophical concepts. "Khōra" is a peculiar term used by Plato in Timaeus for the discussion of the cosmos' creation and origin. In the aspects of metalanguage and meta-interpretation, Derrida focuses his interpretation on topics, such as the names of khōra, khōra as a third genus, the phusis and dynamis of khōra, and mise-en-abyme, or "a story within a story" technique. Also, through a deconstructive reading of Timaeus, he explores spatial paradoxes or philosophical aporias, including anachronism, hybrid/classification, receiving/giving, the origin or beginning. Such a deconstructive reading of Timaeus and his interpretation of khōra constitute a poetic consideration on creation, generation, and origin. Evidently, Derrida's poetical interpretation of khōra is a Deconstructionist critical reflection on the nature and function of writing (text), interpretation, and narrative.

The colloquium's theme relates the concept of performance to the concept of cognition, but I will explore here the correlation between performance and ontology. The purpose of my talk is to clarify some notions that give meaning to the terms "performance" and "performative" in their philosophical uses, especially in theories of art, technology, language, and cultural modes of being. The main suggestion is to propose that the primary meaning of these expressions implies the concepts of agency and action, but also the concepts of ontological transformation and transition.

This outline of “The Evolution of Reason: Post-Kantian Transformations of Rationality” is based on the idea that there is a profound philosophical history of the idea of reason, which indicates the evolution and dynamics behind this concept. This paper aims to illuminate the transformative impact of Immanuel Kant’s critical philosophy on the post-Kantian discourse surrounding the idea of reason. By keeping this in mind, it sheds light on the Kantian conception of reason to draw the lineage between Kantian and post-Kantian thoughts regarding this idea. It is evident that after Kant, many philosophers were immensely influenced by him and shaped their standpoint on rationality (whether by reconstructing or criticising his ideas). That is why, to fulfil the purpose of this paper, I have highlighted the evolution of the concept of reason by following some prominent philosophers of the 19th to the 21st century, viz., Hegel, Foucault, and Habermas. The analysis of the idea of rationality through the lens of these aforementioned philosophers reveals that this evolution of reason marks a significant philosophical transformation, placing rationality at the core of modern thought. However, this also illuminates that the concept of reason or rationality simultaneously faces criticisms due to its destructive, dominating, and abstract nature. Hence, this paper intends to highlight the lineage, or the legacy of Kantian reason, that implies its evolutionary aspect and also continues to shape contemporary debates on rationality.

Some video games are said to be philosophical. Despite video games having received some attention in academic philosophy, that contention has not been sufficiently addressed. This paper investigates in what sense video games might be properly called "philosophical". To this end, I utilize Wittgenstein's distinction between saying and showing to get into view how some video games might be properly called philosophical. This leads to two senses of being philosophical: a conventional sense of expressing philosophy through propositions, i.e., through saying, and a sense of being genuinely philosophical by expressing philosophical thought through showing. I argue that the conventional sense is not sufficient to call video games philosophical, leaving the question whether there are video games which satisfy the conditions of being genuinely philosophical. I furthermore contend that there are at least some examples of video games which qualify as being philosophical, e.g., Papers, Please and The Stanley Parable. Keywords Video games • Computer games • Digital games • Metaphilosophy • Methodology • Game studies • Propositional contents • Philosophy of Mind • Wittgenstein

La exposición valoriza la capacidad de la poesía para suscitar el asombro filosófico, destacando que este sentimiento impulsa la reflexión profunda. Se remite al filósofo Douglas McDermid, quien sostiene que la poesía es un “movimiento de resistencia metafísica contra la banalidad” —un combate compartido con la filosofía contra lo acostumbrado. El poemario Fábulas e historias de estrategas de Renato Tinajero ejemplifica ese poder disruptivo: a través de imágenes sofisticadas y sensibles construye pequeños milagros cotidianos que reactivan la percepción filosófica del lector.

Deux romanciers récents bien différents, M. Kundera et J. M. Coetzee, donnent au contraste lenteur/vitesse une portée transformatrice. À travers une trame littéraire, ils touchent les ressorts philosophiques de la vie assumée par le monde contemporain.

Full souls are double mirrors, making still An endless vista of fair things before, Repeating things behind. -George Eliot, Middlemarch (1871-72) S hortly before she became George Eliot, Marian Evans translated Benedict de Spinoza's (1632-77) Ethics (1677), beginning in Berlin in November 1854 and finishing in England in February 1856. This was the last large project she undertook before she turned to writing fiction. Eliot's readers have traced Spinoza's influence in her views on philosophical questions about freedom and determinism, the work of imagination, and the nature of human flourishing. 1 While other nineteenth-century interpreters of Spinoza-including the German Romantics and Idealists, as well as George Henry Lewes and James Anthony Froude in England-focused on his metaphysical and theological views, Eliot was most drawn to Spinoza's ethical thought and to his account of the human condition. 2 The hours she spent

Submitted to Ian D. Dunkle for CAS PH 110 A1 Great Philosophers on Friendship and Solitude at Boston University, Spring 2019. Selected by classmates and the professor for publication in this special collection for the course archived in OpenBU.

The article opens with a recapitulation of the most important theories in the field of philosophical immunology - from the pioneers of this reflection, working at the intersection of the medical sciences and the humanities (Alfred I. Tauber) to closed system thinkers (Jean Baudrillard, Byung-Chul Han), with a particular focus on dialectical (Roberto Esposito) and diachronic (Peter Sloterdijk) approaches. This overview is followed by an analysis of the processes of immunization and communization, as well as the complications associated with the constitution of communities and individual subjects. Finally, literary strategies of immunity are the object of consideration; this is a proposal to reformulate traditional literary issues through the vocabulary of immunology.

Artykuł otwiera rekapitulacja najważniejszych teorii z obszaru immunologii filozoficznej – od pionierów tej refleksji, pracujących na styku nauk medycznych i humanistycznych (Alfred I. Tauber) po myślicieli układu zamkniętego (Jean Baudrillard, Byung-Chul Han), ze szczególnym
uwzględnieniem ujęć dialektycznych (Roberto Esposito) i diachronicznych (Peter Sloterdijk). Towarzyszy temu analiza procesów immunizacji i komunizacji oraz komplikacji związanych z konstytuowaniem się wspólnot i indywidualnych podmiotów. W punkcie dojścia przedmiotem rozważań są literackie strategie odpornościowe; to propozycja przeformułowania tradycyjnych zagadnień literaturoznawczych w słowniku immunologicznym.

This is a collection of poems that I wrote over the years. My first poem was written when I was a first-year English Department student at Damascus University. Themes range depending on which side of the bed I got off on that day. Some poems are gloomy; others are joyful. Some are about love; others about grief. Of this collection, a few are the dearest to my heart: The Promised Land, An Elegy, In Search for Light, and A Chick. Sometimes I revisit my account on www.poemhunter.com just to read them when I feel my head is overcrowded with thoughtless thoughts.

Human beings living on this planet are facing a global environmental crisis which is ravaging the ecological balance of the planet making its inhabitants undergo severe calamities. Now, environmental aspects have gained more importance in literature. Consequently, the study of literature and the study of ecology are of great significance in today's world. Eco-critical perspective thus explores and scrutinizes the hidden facts about the relationship between human beings and nature. This paper attempts to analyze Rabindranath Tagore's most celebrated poem Sonar Tori (The Golden Boat) through eco-critical lenses. The Poem can be stated as the most celebrated one among many of the works of Tagore that stands alone as a complete world in itself containing the richness of Tagore's philosophy and his poetic excellence. So, using the principles of eco-criticism, the paper interprets this particular poem with sufficient proof and arguments that nature and human beings are interdependent meaning that both of them influence each other to a great extent. Besides, it points out that Rabindranath Tagore has made a vivid prophecy in the poem about the current issues like climate change, global warming and all other behavioural changes in nature causing catastrophe which is making the scientists push their limits to put an end to wrongdoings of human beings and to pacify nature's untamable wrath bearing sufferings on mankind. Moreover, this research paper postulates from the poem that human greed should be controlled and nature must be treated as a conscious being, not as an abstract idea having zero potential to influence human life. Following a qualitative approach and using MLA 9th citation guidelines, this study extracts eco-critical essence and Tagore's philosophy from the poem and illustrates awaiting catastrophe for mankind leading to mass extinction they may encounter in the face of global ecological turbulence if their unwise actions are not put in check on time.

Abstract. The figure of Bartleby has puzzled many thinkers. Interpretations vary, but the common point in many accounts is that Bartleby is beyond any conceptualization. In this paper I will ask whether he can neverthe- less be understood in terms of the problem of authenticity. I will initially follow Lionel Trilling’s famous argument, that is, the ethical ideal of the authentic self had replaced an earlier one he called sincerity, and that Bartleby, being an authentic figure, can be treated as an illustration of this. Then, I will take the discussion further by examining Bartleby via Giorgio Agamben’s account of ethics.

O presente estudo propõe uma leitura acerca da representação da natureza e da condição humanas nas narrativas de José Saramago por meio de um viés ensaístico e que se projeta para uma perspectiva teórico-filosófica. A prosa de ficção será, neste trabalho, revisitada e examinada como um espaço textual que possibilita o desenvolvimento do gênero ensaio com base nos pressupostos de Montaigne, aproximando-se ainda de um tratado teórico e filosófico 1 com o intuito de apreender a perspectiva de humanidade representada por Saramago em suas obras. Para tanto, serão utilizadas algumas prosas de José Saramago, especificamente Manual de Pintura e Caligrafia (1977), O Conto da Ilha Desconhecida (1997) e Cadernos de Lanzarote (I-V) (1994). Pretende-se conduzir uma reflexão que buscará apurar a natureza e a condição do constructo humano na narrativa saramaguiana, ressaltando as aproximações com o pensamento filosófico de Michel de Montaigne e de Karl Marx, verificando como distintas tendências filosóficas foram, direta ou indiretamente, assimiladas na escrita de Saramago e na sua visão do que consiste o ser humano.

O presente estudo propõe uma leitura acerca da representação da natureza e da condição humanas nas narrativas de José Saramago por meio de um viés ensaístico e que se projeta para uma perspectiva teórico-filosófica. A prosa de ficção será, neste trabalho, revisitada e examinada como um espaço textual que possibilita o desenvolvimento do gênero ensaio com base nos pressupostos de Montaigne, aproximando-se ainda de um tratado teórico e filosófico 1 com o intuito de apreender a perspectiva de humanidade representada por Saramago em suas obras. Para tanto, serão utilizadas algumas prosas de José Saramago, especificamente Manual de Pintura e Caligrafia (1977), O Conto da Ilha Desconhecida (1997) e Cadernos de Lanzarote (I-V) (1994). Pretende-se conduzir uma reflexão que buscará apurar a natureza e a condição do constructo humano na narrativa saramaguiana, ressaltando as aproximações com o pensamento filosófico de Michel de Montaigne e de Karl Marx, verificando como distintas tendências filosóficas foram, direta ou indiretamente, assimiladas na escrita de Saramago e na sua visão do que consiste o ser humano.

A review essay on:

Barbara Neymeyr, Kommentar zu Nietzsches Unzeitgemässen Betrachtungen, Berlin: De Gruyter 2020.

Sebastian Kaufmann, Kommentar zu Nietzsches Die fröhliche Wissenschaft, Berlin: De  Gruyter, 2022.

Michael Ure, Nietzsche’s The Gay Science: An Introduction, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 2019.

Matthew Meyer, Nietzsche's Free Spirit Works. A dialectical reading, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 2021.

Nessa “breve” resenha, destrinchar-se-á o texto Considerações sobre os livros I e II de “O Mundo como Vontade e como Representação” da filósofa Flora Bezerra da Rocha Fragoso, partindo inicialmente da sua introdução, essa que abarca tanto as edições como também faz um recorte do O mundo como Vontade e como Representação (MVR). Conseguinte, mostrar-se-á como a autora desenvolve no capítulo I o conceito de Representação e todos os “elementos” que esse abarca, da relação sujeito e objeto, do princípio de razão suficiente, da causalidade e da questão do entendimento e da razão. Na sequência, tratar-se-á sobre o desenvolver do conceito de Vontade no Capítulo II, para depois volver ao Capítulo III, esse que é um complemento as discussões anteriores. Por fim, apresentar-se-á a conclusão da filósofa, na qual será dito que depois do diagnóstico adimplido por Schopenhauer, esse mostrará uma possível solução. Todavia, essa solução não é discutida detalhadamente na tese da autora, sendo mostrada brevemente na Introdução.

This essay deals with the theme of the "indigenous" character represented in Mexican literature and literatures in native languages. The text is divided into three sections: the first one exposes the origin of the meaning given to the concept "Indian" in European and New Spanish narrative; in the second one, it reflects on the character in Mexican literature and, finally, in the third section, it shows how the "Indian" is blurred to present the expression of himself in indigenous literature.

Este texto fue escrito para mis estudiantes de literatura en la UNAL y propone una distinción fundamental entre señalar el contenido temático de una obra y analizar los procedimientos formales que lo producen. La crítica literaria, tal como se defiende aquí, exige una escucha rigurosa de cómo el texto piensa — no solo de lo que dice.

The article discusses the mosaic of styles in Natsume Sōseki's Wagahai-wa Neko de Aru (I Am a Cat, 1905Cat, -1906)). It focuses on the meaning and connotations of the first-person pronoun in the title, analyses the characteristics of the narrator's expression and its development in the novel, and traces the elements of parody in the manner other cat characters echo human speech. It suggests that in discussing the complex linguistic structure of Sōseki's novel it may be more effective to use the concept of style and stylization rather than that of yakuwarigo.

Human life, distinct from juridical existence, existing as it does on a globe isolated in celestial space, from night to day and from one country to another-human life cannot in any way be limited to the closed systems assigned to it by reasonable conceptions. The immense travail of recklessness, discharge, and upheaval that constitutes life could be expressed by stating that life starts with the deficit of these systems; at least what it allows in the way of order and reserve has meaning only from the moment when the ordered and reserved forces liberate and lose themselves for ends that cannot be subordinated to any thing one can account for. It is only by such insubordination-even if it is impoverished-that the human race ceases to be isolated in the unconditional splendor of material things. -Georges Bataille, ''The Notion of De ´pense'' Preface xxiii

Una scienza è un sistema omogeneo di proposizioni che costituiscono il risultato di una paziente osservazione e di un'abile combinazione. Ma la filosofia, come ha detto Wittgenstein, "è non una dottrina, ma un'attività. Risultato della filosofia non sono proposizioni filosofiche, ma il chiarirsi di proposizioni" (TLP § 4.112). Di fatto, i risultati della ricerca del significato non si possono formulare per mezzo di proposizioni ordinarie, poiché se noi richiediamo la spiegazione di un significato, e si risponde con un enunciato, dovremmo chiedere ancora: "Ma qual è il significato di quest'enunciato?", e così via. Per arrivare a un qualunque senso, questa serie di domande e definizioni non può continuare in eterno e l'unico modo di porvi fine passa attraverso una prescrizione che ci dirà che cosa fare per ottenere il significato definitivo. Volete sapere che cosa significa qui questa particolare nota? Bene, suonate sul piano questo particolare tasto! E con ciò hanno fine le vostre domande 1. Ludwig Joseph Johann Wittgenstein nasce a Vienna il 26 Aprile 1889 in una «facoltosa famiglia» 2 di religione ebraica, una delle più abbienti, dell'Austria di fine Ottocento. Suo padre, Karl, «grazie a una serie di fortunati investimenti, era divenuto il più importante imprenditore dell'industria metallurgica dell'Impero austro-ungarico, organizzando il Consorzio austriaco del ferro nel 1886» 3. Karl Wittgenstein, inoltre, era anche un appassionato mecenate delle arti. Famosi i suoi finanziamenti per lo sviluppo di opere di pittura e architettura, altrettanto famose le serate che soleva organizzare insieme a sua moglie Leopoldine Kalmus, madre di Ludwig, con ospiti d'eccezione all'interno della propria residenza viennese. La casa dei Wittgenstein a Vienna era spesso frequentata da alcuni dei più importanti musicisti dell'epoca:

This paper focuses on the way in which Kant's thought influenced the writing of Jorge Luis Borges and Samuel Beckett. The former occasionally mentioned Kant, almost in bewilderment; the latter hardly ever, and yet Beckett's intense interest in Kant is demonstrable in his "Philosophy Notes" from the 1930s. In both cases, we are left with a practice of writing between infinity and finitude, where reason and everything that withdraws from our ultimate knowledge of the world co-exist.

Un animal, un perro, camina despacio hacia su muerte, en una tarde "perfecta" de setiembre. Quienes se cruzan con él en el camino no pueden menos que dejarle el paso, respetuosos de su dolor y de su figura fantasmática. Tres años después, quien relata esa visión ocurrida "en el centro de una tarde feliz, increíblemente feliz, de principios de primavera" 2 , aún recuerda la fijeza de la mirada del animal que iba a buscar un lugar donde morir. El relato es de la prosa, de los pocos textos en prosa que escribió Juan L. Ortiz. Con el título Los amiguitos. Cosas de niños, de animales y de paisajes, se han reunido algunas narraciones a las que Ortiz menciona como Niños y bestias en carta de setiembre de 1962 a Veiravé 3 , y a las que caracteriza, en la misma carta, como "totalmente extrañas". Algunos de estos relatos fueron publicados, ya sea con seudónimo (el único que utilizó el poeta: Alfredo Díaz), ya sea con su nombre, en periódicos (El Diario, Clarín, El litoral) entre 1932 y 1965, otros permanecieron en copias mecanografiadas. La mayor parte de los tex-1. Estas "Notas" forman parte de un texto más amplio sobre la presencia de Nietzsche en la obra de Juan. L. Ortiz, texto que será publicado en el próximo Dossier de Instantes y Azares.

El presente artículo explora la idea de la comunidad en Nietzsche. Esta idea no es fácilmente delimitable en su filosofía, lo que consideramos una característica buscada intencionadamente en su escritura. Lo que proponemos, por tanto, son imágenes de la comunidad a partir de Nietzsche, interpretaciones posibles de lo que la comunidad podría ser pensada desde su filosofía. Todas estas imágenes tienen características que atentan contra la concepción común de la comunidad. No se pretende en el presente artículo zanjar la cuestión sino avivar la lectura y la imaginación de los futuros intérpretes de Nietzsche. Los nombres que hemos dado a nuestras imágenes son: la comunidad landaueriana, el freak-show, la fiesta, la comunidad fracasada y la comunidad humano-animal.

Este artículo pretende ofrecer una lectura novedosa sobre la metáfora “fiesta” en Nietzsche
que tradicionalmente se ha limitado a una interpretación con una óptica antropológica. Partiendo del
tratamiento que hace Nietzsche en algunos fragmentos póstumos de los últimos años, proponemos
desligar la idea de fiesta de la idea de comunidad y plantearla más allá de la comunidad ya que
entendemos que para el pensamiento nietzscheano toda forma de comunidad es deudora del instinto
de rebaño.

O presente capítulo pretende discutir algumas questões fundamentais que relacionam a matemática com a noção de propriedade estética. Examinamos como a matemática é tradicionalmente associada a noções estéticas desde a antiguidade, como essa conexão se desenvolveu no interior da estética como uma disciplina filosófica e como considerações estéticas ainda parecem ser comuns contemporaneamente em contextos matemáticos. Em segundo lugar, tentaremos investigar se há propriedades estéticas na matemática, quais são elas e a que tipos de entidades elas se aplicam neste domínio. Analisaremos então o conceito de beleza de padrões matemáticos em artefatos e na natureza. Finalmente, tentaremos apresentar também conexões conceituais entre a literatura recente sobre propriedades estéticas na matemática e algumas discussões mais tradicionais no interior da filosofia da matemática, como o debate entre intuicionismo e classicismo e entre antirrealismo e realismo matemático.