According to Descartes, the use of free will is a key way to avoid the errors that arise from the will's attempts to outrun the intellect. The main cause of errors is the combination of infinite will and limited intelligence in man. This combination allows a person to avoid defining the error as an accident and, at the same time, attributing to it the "evil intentions" of God. The author emphasizes that Descartes considers error not only as an epistemological phenomenon, but also as an ontological reality rooted in man. This approach leads to the recognition of error as the basis for distinguishing man as a unique existence that interacts with God and being through a specific relationship to error.
{"title":"The problem of the origin of error and its status in Descartes' Meditations on First Philosophy","authors":"Denis Prokopov","doi":"10.31649/sent12.01.023","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.31649/sent12.01.023","url":null,"abstract":"According to Descartes, the use of free will is a key way to avoid the errors that arise from the will's attempts to outrun the intellect. The main cause of errors is the combination of infinite will and limited intelligence in man. This combination allows a person to avoid defining the error as an accident and, at the same time, attributing to it the \"evil intentions\" of God. The author emphasizes that Descartes considers error not only as an epistemological phenomenon, but also as an ontological reality rooted in man. This approach leads to the recognition of error as the basis for distinguishing man as a unique existence that interacts with God and being through a specific relationship to error.","PeriodicalId":37673,"journal":{"name":"Sententiae","volume":"71 7","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-12-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139132350","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The article interprets Pascal's concept of mathematics from the treatise Of the Geometrical Spirit as a magical way of acquiring true knowledge. The author argues that the initial features that define the magical character of Pascal's mathematics are: (1) the requirement to build the language of geometry on the basis of names corresponding to persons rather than concepts corresponding to objects; (2) the requirement to use a special language for describing names, different from the traditional object language; (3) the understanding of "definition" as the application of names to things. According to the author, the perspective of a name rather than of a concept at the heart of science is explicitly magical because a name is a verbally transformed conscious form of being, embodied into something concrete and aimed at the universal unification of things. This interpretation, on the other hand, assigns to the concept the role of a tool for cognition of names. Understanding a name is a magical path of consciousness through the repeated relating of a concept to a name. Thus, any theorem of geometry will not be seen as a proof, but rather as a partial and situational description of the obviousness of the transcendent.
{"title":"The magical way of certain knowledge acquiring in Pascal's experience","authors":"Maryna Savelieva","doi":"10.31649/sent01.01.051","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.31649/sent01.01.051","url":null,"abstract":"The article interprets Pascal's concept of mathematics from the treatise Of the Geometrical Spirit as a magical way of acquiring true knowledge. The author argues that the initial features that define the magical character of Pascal's mathematics are: (1) the requirement to build the language of geometry on the basis of names corresponding to persons rather than concepts corresponding to objects; (2) the requirement to use a special language for describing names, different from the traditional object language; (3) the understanding of \"definition\" as the application of names to things. According to the author, the perspective of a name rather than of a concept at the heart of science is explicitly magical because a name is a verbally transformed conscious form of being, embodied into something concrete and aimed at the universal unification of things. This interpretation, on the other hand, assigns to the concept the role of a tool for cognition of names. Understanding a name is a magical path of consciousness through the repeated relating of a concept to a name. Thus, any theorem of geometry will not be seen as a proof, but rather as a partial and situational description of the obviousness of the transcendent.","PeriodicalId":37673,"journal":{"name":"Sententiae","volume":"32 11","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-12-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139132485","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The article reconstructs the image of man in French postmodern philosophy of the second half of the twentieth century. The formation of this image is considered in relation to Michel Foucault's concept of sciences, as well as to the concept of schizoanalysis formulated by Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari. The author emphasizes that the key features of this image of a man are: (1) objectivity (modern culture makes a man not only a subject but also an object of science; therefore, the subject is presented not as a pure cognitive instance but also as a finite man limited in each specific historical epoch to specific forms of body, needs, and language); (2) emancipation as the content of freedom (a truly free person is seen as having left the sphere of existence as a machine – a set of functions). The author also notes that in the image of man associated with French postmodern philosophy, we can see a "trace" of Pascal's ideas about the duality of man and the impossibility of reducing him to any single aspect of his nature and existence, including rational or animal ones.
{"title":"Pascal: «une trace / la trace» in the concept of man in postmodern French philosophy","authors":"Svitlana Kutsepal","doi":"10.31649/sent01.01.043","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.31649/sent01.01.043","url":null,"abstract":"The article reconstructs the image of man in French postmodern philosophy of the second half of the twentieth century. The formation of this image is considered in relation to Michel Foucault's concept of sciences, as well as to the concept of schizoanalysis formulated by Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari. The author emphasizes that the key features of this image of a man are: (1) objectivity (modern culture makes a man not only a subject but also an object of science; therefore, the subject is presented not as a pure cognitive instance but also as a finite man limited in each specific historical epoch to specific forms of body, needs, and language); (2) emancipation as the content of freedom (a truly free person is seen as having left the sphere of existence as a machine – a set of functions). The author also notes that in the image of man associated with French postmodern philosophy, we can see a \"trace\" of Pascal's ideas about the duality of man and the impossibility of reducing him to any single aspect of his nature and existence, including rational or animal ones.","PeriodicalId":37673,"journal":{"name":"Sententiae","volume":"46 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-12-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139132561","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The article examines the problem of alienation as a result of the conflict between consciousness and instincts, which includes aspects of 1) temporal conflict and 2) attempts to self-destruct the individual. Through this conflict, the imperfection of the individual makes it possible for him to develop. The authors also correlate the concepts of alienation and consciousness, which opens up space for criticism of Nietzsche's concepts of herd mentality and the possibility of human cognition of the external world.
{"title":"Mind, will to power and alienation in Nietzsche’s philosophy","authors":"Vsevolod Kuznetsov, Liubov Nerusheva","doi":"10.31649/sent06.02.003","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.31649/sent06.02.003","url":null,"abstract":"The article examines the problem of alienation as a result of the conflict between consciousness and instincts, which includes aspects of 1) temporal conflict and 2) attempts to self-destruct the individual. Through this conflict, the imperfection of the individual makes it possible for him to develop. The authors also correlate the concepts of alienation and consciousness, which opens up space for criticism of Nietzsche's concepts of herd mentality and the possibility of human cognition of the external world.","PeriodicalId":37673,"journal":{"name":"Sententiae","volume":"118 28","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-12-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139133366","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The article examines the gradual existentialization of Modern anthropological reflection. The author sees the key basis for this existentialization in the shift from an isolated study of certain clearly defined essential anthropological definitions to the consideration of their configurations. Considering the modifications of anthropologically oriented thinking by Montaigne, Pascal, Nietzsche, and Dostoevsky, the author concludes that the consistent existentialization of anthropological reflection by B. Pascal not only significantly expanded the understanding of the essential properties of man, but also immeasurably deepened them, directing anthropologists to overcome the techniques of "essential-reduction". The author argues that such an overcoming became possible, in particular, due to the constant clarification of the role of the "deviant" in maintaining the viability of the "normative".
{"title":"B. Pascal: the dilemma of the essential and the existential in anthropological reflection","authors":"Vitaliy Tabachkovskyi","doi":"10.31649/sent01.01.075","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.31649/sent01.01.075","url":null,"abstract":"The article examines the gradual existentialization of Modern anthropological reflection. The author sees the key basis for this existentialization in the shift from an isolated study of certain clearly defined essential anthropological definitions to the consideration of their configurations. Considering the modifications of anthropologically oriented thinking by Montaigne, Pascal, Nietzsche, and Dostoevsky, the author concludes that the consistent existentialization of anthropological reflection by B. Pascal not only significantly expanded the understanding of the essential properties of man, but also immeasurably deepened them, directing anthropologists to overcome the techniques of \"essential-reduction\". The author argues that such an overcoming became possible, in particular, due to the constant clarification of the role of the \"deviant\" in maintaining the viability of the \"normative\".","PeriodicalId":37673,"journal":{"name":"Sententiae","volume":"109 32","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-12-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139134415","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The article examines the ontological status of reason in Pascal's philosophy. This consideration takes place against the background of the debate on whether Pascal's philosophy belongs to either one of the modern traditions: rationalist or irrationalist. The author argues that the ontological dimension of Pascal's concept of mind is determined by: (a) the primacy of the ethical and practical context of human existence; (b) the non-exclusivity of mind as an instance of human agency; (c) the existence of man as a rational being in a non-rational universe. The author comes to the conclusion that it is impossible to unambiguously classify Pascal's philosophy as rationalist or irrationalist, since Pascal's doctrine combines features characteristic of both tendencies.
{"title":"Light in darkness (towards the ontology of mind in Pascal's philosophy)","authors":"Viktor Malakhov","doi":"10.31649/sent01.01.005","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.31649/sent01.01.005","url":null,"abstract":"The article examines the ontological status of reason in Pascal's philosophy. This consideration takes place against the background of the debate on whether Pascal's philosophy belongs to either one of the modern traditions: rationalist or irrationalist. The author argues that the ontological dimension of Pascal's concept of mind is determined by: (a) the primacy of the ethical and practical context of human existence; (b) the non-exclusivity of mind as an instance of human agency; (c) the existence of man as a rational being in a non-rational universe. The author comes to the conclusion that it is impossible to unambiguously classify Pascal's philosophy as rationalist or irrationalist, since Pascal's doctrine combines features characteristic of both tendencies.","PeriodicalId":37673,"journal":{"name":"Sententiae","volume":"111 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-12-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139134639","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The article compares the concepts of rationality created by Descartes and Pascal. The comparison is held in the light of the problem of the relationship between Modern conception of reason and the idea of rationality as a type of power. The author points out that the fundamental obviousness of ratio, first justified by Descartes and defined as the identification of the power of reason with actions that correspond to the true essence of things themselves, can be considered as the basis for this interpretation. The author reconstructs the five steps of justification leading to the formulation of Descartes' metaphysical thesis ego cogito ergo sum - the initial obviousness of reason. It is this initial obviousness that determines the dominant and determining character of reason as the foundation of man in Descartes' philosophy. The author contrasts Descartes' metaphysics of reason with Pascal's concept of rationality, which is based not on the initial but on the final obviousness of reason: the existence of principles other than it, in coordination with which the true power of reason lies. It is proved that Pascal opposes Descartes not by denying the power and significance of reason, but by reinterpreting its omnipotence. Author justifies that Pascal's concept of rationality is an example of criticism of the vision of reason as power, as well as an important resource for relevant contemporary philosophical discussions.
文章比较了笛卡尔和帕斯卡尔创立的理性概念。比较是根据现代理性概念与作为一种力量的理性观念之间的关系问题进行的。作者指出,笛卡尔首先论证了 "比值 "的基本显而易见性,并将其定义为理性力量与符合事物本身真正本质的行动相一致,这可以被视为这一解释的基础。作者重构了笛卡尔提出形而上学论题 "我思故我在"(ego cogito ergo sum)--理性最初的显而易见性--的五个论证步骤。正是这种最初的显而易见性决定了理性作为人的基础在笛卡尔哲学中的主导性和决定性。作者将笛卡尔的理性形而上学与帕斯卡尔的理性概念进行了对比,帕斯卡尔的理性概念不是建立在理性的初始显而易见性上,而是建立在理性的最终显而易见性上:理性之外的原则的存在,理性的真正力量在于与这些原则的协调。事实证明,帕斯卡尔反对笛卡尔不是否认理性的力量和意义,而是重新解释了理性的万能性。作者认为,帕斯卡尔的理性概念是批判将理性视为权力的观点的一个范例,也是当代相关哲学讨论的一个重要资源。
{"title":"Humility and power of the reason: paraphrase of Pascal","authors":"Sergii Proleiev","doi":"10.31649/sent01.01.035","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.31649/sent01.01.035","url":null,"abstract":"The article compares the concepts of rationality created by Descartes and Pascal. The comparison is held in the light of the problem of the relationship between Modern conception of reason and the idea of rationality as a type of power. The author points out that the fundamental obviousness of ratio, first justified by Descartes and defined as the identification of the power of reason with actions that correspond to the true essence of things themselves, can be considered as the basis for this interpretation. The author reconstructs the five steps of justification leading to the formulation of Descartes' metaphysical thesis ego cogito ergo sum - the initial obviousness of reason. It is this initial obviousness that determines the dominant and determining character of reason as the foundation of man in Descartes' philosophy. The author contrasts Descartes' metaphysics of reason with Pascal's concept of rationality, which is based not on the initial but on the final obviousness of reason: the existence of principles other than it, in coordination with which the true power of reason lies. It is proved that Pascal opposes Descartes not by denying the power and significance of reason, but by reinterpreting its omnipotence. Author justifies that Pascal's concept of rationality is an example of criticism of the vision of reason as power, as well as an important resource for relevant contemporary philosophical discussions.","PeriodicalId":37673,"journal":{"name":"Sententiae","volume":"114 4","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-12-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139135413","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The article considers the poetics of the common place as a postmodern principle of philosophical criticism. Traditional critics is always aimed at a "finished work", a "text", an "artefact" that has a certain meaning. In the "artefact", the researcher and critic tried to find what Heidegger defined as the truth in the work itself. Instead, postmodernism produces artefacts as such. The transition from the project of modernity to the postmodern space of artefacts follows in two ways: (1) through overcoming the growing conservatism of traditional understanding and (2) through the ideological influence of postmodernity as a cultural movement that has taken the form of contemporary symbolic expressions. According to the author, the postmodern culture of philosophizing attempts to substantiate the idea of becoming through singular experimentation in artistic and philosophical practice, i.e. through the search for an appropriate form to reflect the subject areas of becoming. In addition, the emphasis in the description of becoming is clearly shifting: from the terms of spirit to the terms of culture.
{"title":"The shift from spirit to culture: poetics of the commonplace","authors":"Iryna Holovashenko","doi":"10.31649/sent01.01.226","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.31649/sent01.01.226","url":null,"abstract":"The article considers the poetics of the common place as a postmodern principle of philosophical criticism. Traditional critics is always aimed at a \"finished work\", a \"text\", an \"artefact\" that has a certain meaning. In the \"artefact\", the researcher and critic tried to find what Heidegger defined as the truth in the work itself. Instead, postmodernism produces artefacts as such. The transition from the project of modernity to the postmodern space of artefacts follows in two ways: (1) through overcoming the growing conservatism of traditional understanding and (2) through the ideological influence of postmodernity as a cultural movement that has taken the form of contemporary symbolic expressions. According to the author, the postmodern culture of philosophizing attempts to substantiate the idea of becoming through singular experimentation in artistic and philosophical practice, i.e. through the search for an appropriate form to reflect the subject areas of becoming. In addition, the emphasis in the description of becoming is clearly shifting: from the terms of spirit to the terms of culture.","PeriodicalId":37673,"journal":{"name":"Sententiae","volume":"20 4","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-12-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139130140","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The article is devoted to the problem of the Kantian foundations of the "philosophy of dialogue" as one of the original trends in the philosophy of the twentieth century. In the author's opinion, Kant's understanding of man as a dialogical being addressed to the Other appears. The author aims at reconstructing the essential features of the "philosophy of dialogue" as a trend in non-classical philosophy, analysing two key ideas of Kant that determined the innovativeness of his philosophy, and proving the fact of continuity and substantive connection of these phenomena in the history of philosophy. Besides there is shown an essential correlation and the order of Kant’s ideas “the criticism of free mind” and “the things in person” in one sight and the key conceptions: the philosophy of the dialogue” in another one. The latter is analysed as a specific way of implementing the Kantian paradigm of rethinking the foundations of human existence and cognition.
{"title":"Kant and “the philosophy of the dialogue”: paradoxes of interrelation","authors":"Vitaliy Darenskiy","doi":"10.31649/sent13.02.081","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.31649/sent13.02.081","url":null,"abstract":"The article is devoted to the problem of the Kantian foundations of the \"philosophy of dialogue\" as one of the original trends in the philosophy of the twentieth century. In the author's opinion, Kant's understanding of man as a dialogical being addressed to the Other appears. The author aims at reconstructing the essential features of the \"philosophy of dialogue\" as a trend in non-classical philosophy, analysing two key ideas of Kant that determined the innovativeness of his philosophy, and proving the fact of continuity and substantive connection of these phenomena in the history of philosophy. Besides there is shown an essential correlation and the order of Kant’s ideas “the criticism of free mind” and “the things in person” in one sight and the key conceptions: the philosophy of the dialogue” in another one. The latter is analysed as a specific way of implementing the Kantian paradigm of rethinking the foundations of human existence and cognition.","PeriodicalId":37673,"journal":{"name":"Sententiae","volume":"80 8","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-12-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139130414","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Author claims that Western theology must turn to Pascal's religious-philosophical legacy in order to find identification normatives that can ensure the cultural-adaptive stability of Christian identity. Such an approach is justified by a number of specific features of Pascal's philosophy: (1) existential character of thought; (2) anthropological nature; (3) symbolism; (4) semiotically obvious authenticity of artefacts of religious experience. In the author's opinion, the most promising in this context would be to address (2), Pascal's symbolic metaphysics, which is determined by the predominant influence of the ethical on its ontological and epistemological aspects. However, in the author's opinion, in the polycentric and pluralistic cultural and sociogenic environment of postmodernity, the identificational adaptation of Christianity is not only a "final transition" to religious symbolism. It is also important that Christians effectively strive to preserve and constantly cultivate the ability to value-based worldview.
{"title":"The philosophy of B. Pascal and modern Christian theology. Towards an assessment of Christianity's adaptive capabilities in the postmodern socio-cultural context","authors":"Volodymyr Pronyakin","doi":"10.31649/sent01.01.178","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.31649/sent01.01.178","url":null,"abstract":"Author claims that Western theology must turn to Pascal's religious-philosophical legacy in order to find identification normatives that can ensure the cultural-adaptive stability of Christian identity. Such an approach is justified by a number of specific features of Pascal's philosophy: (1) existential character of thought; (2) anthropological nature; (3) symbolism; (4) semiotically obvious authenticity of artefacts of religious experience. In the author's opinion, the most promising in this context would be to address (2), Pascal's symbolic metaphysics, which is determined by the predominant influence of the ethical on its ontological and epistemological aspects. However, in the author's opinion, in the polycentric and pluralistic cultural and sociogenic environment of postmodernity, the identificational adaptation of Christianity is not only a \"final transition\" to religious symbolism. It is also important that Christians effectively strive to preserve and constantly cultivate the ability to value-based worldview.","PeriodicalId":37673,"journal":{"name":"Sententiae","volume":"59 7","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-12-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139130860","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}