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Arquivo para a ‘Linguagens’ Categoria

The ontological truth

19 Mar

There is a difference between the logic that is based on purely human reason, and the ontological one based on the reality of Being and its existence, thus it is not a final truth, but an eschatological one, that is, it has a beginning and an end where existence is explained. .

In a purely philosophical way, ontic and ontological truth always refer differently, to the being in its being and to the being of the being, and the relationship between them is called ontological difference, little explored in philosophy and embedded in any theory that deals with of Being.

The relationship of latency between being and being and between presence and being makes it evident that the foundation of ontological difference is presence, according to Heidegger (pg. 102):

Unveiling of being is, however, always true of the being of the being, whether it is actually real or not. And vice versa, in the unveiling of beings there always lies an unveiling of their being. Ontic truth and ontological truth always refer, in different ways, to the being in its being and to the being of the being. They are essentially part of each other due to their relationship with the difference between being and being (ontological difference).

It is about unveiling because to reveal is to remove a layer of the veil, but finding another that equally covers the truth, human reason and science itself goes like this, based on Karl Popper’s falsifiability principle, he claims that the fact of a That an assertion can be shown to be false is one of the principles for establishing sound science.

There is a circular relationship between ontic truth and ontological truth resulting from this circular facticity of presence [which is one of Heidegger’s translations of Dasein] and this relates to beings understanding being, and relates to being understanding beings.

“With the differentiation, which is in itself clear, between ontic and ontological – ontic truth and ontological truth, we effectively have the different elements of a difference, but not the difference itself” (pg. .412), explicitly saying the relationship of things with beings, is different from the relationship between beings among themselves, there is an ontological truth that must be revealed for the relationship.

So, how do ontological and ontic truth, as well as ontological difference, contribute to showing the relational character of the self? Conflicts and relationships involve this Being that is relational, but its understanding seen as instrumental, reified or of interest is nothing.

 

Heidegger, M. (1984) Sobre a essência do fundamento. In: Heidegger: conferências e escritos filosóficos. Transl. de Ernildo Stein. Brazil. São Paulo: Abril Cultural (collection: Os Pensadores).

 

 

Affection and empathy heal wounds

13 Mar

Alberto Manguel is an Argentine writer well known in university circles, both due to his relationship with Jorge Luis Borges, whom he met as a teenager and read books to him, as well as as the author of several anthologies and novels, including a book that I highlight as mandatory is A history of reading, in the original A History of Reading (1996).

A man of the world, in 1971 he lived in Paris and London, in 1972 he returned to Argentina but as foreign editor of the Italian publisher Franco Maria Ricci, in 1976 he moved to Tahiti, in 1982, Alberto moved to Toronto, Canada, where he lived until 2000.

He didn’t stop there, he moved to the Poitou-Charentes region, in France, where he bought and renovated a medieval monastery with his current partner Craig Stephenson, one of the renovations carried out was to accommodate his library of 40 thousand books.

In 2020 he donated the entire library to the future Center for the Study of the History of Reading (CEHL), and started living in Lisbon and is a columnist for the Canadian magazine Geist.

One of his famous phrases is “the banal belief that time heals wounds is a mistake: we get used to them, which is not the same thing”, but his phrase about reading seems to be a strong influence of Borges for whom the library was a paradise, it is about reading:

“The love of reading is something that can be learned but not taught.

In the same way that no one can force us to fall in love, no one can force us to love a book.

These are things that occur for mysterious reasons, but I am convinced that there is a book that awaits each of us.

Somewhere in the library there is a page that was written just for us.”

The phrase is also his: “Reading is always an act of power. And it is one of the reasons why the reader is feared in almost all societies”, there are others of course, but for this I invite my reader to read: “A history of reading”.

Manguel, A. (1996) History of Reading. New York : Viking.

 

Between heights and human smallness

12 Mar

Before achieving air travel, now space travel, man delighted in the heights of the mountains, the dizzying landscapes of peaks, gorges and paths in the heights that could contemplate the houses, cities and vegetation in the distance.

A text that talks about these sensations, and the beginning of Schopenhauer’s philosophy, was written by Rüdiger Safranski, author of renowned works on Heidegger and Nietzsche, who also wrote about the rebellious philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer in a work entitled: “Schopenhauer and the wildest years of philosophy” (Brazil, São Paulo: Geração Editorial, 2011).

In it the author tells of Schopenhauer’s experience at the age of 16 when he climbed Mount Pilatus (near Lucerne, Switzerland) in the company of a mountain guide, the text says: “I felt vertigo when I first saw that encompassing space that I understood what was in front of me… I realized that such a panorama, seen from the top of the mountain, was so extraordinary that it led me to expand all my previous concepts. It is so different from everything else that it becomes impossible to give a real description of its scope for those who have not had the opportunity to see it.”

The text continues: “All smaller objects simply disappear, only greatness can be understood as a whole. All things mix with each other; one no longer sees a smaller number of isolated objects, but an immense, colorful, brilliant image, on which the gaze lingers for a long time, full of pleasure”, our highlight.

Safranski’s sagacity in describing the philosopher is important to understand how he sees beauty and the world, he no longer sees “isolated objects”, but in the eyes we become only “the eyes” on an “immense, colorful and brilliant image”.

He tells of another strong experience, but this one more “human”, when on July 30, 1804, when the great journey was already approaching its end, he climbed the Scheekopp mountain (The Snow Peak), in Silesia, then German, but today in Poland. The very old photo above is from this region, in this region when climbing the mountain they had to stop for the night in a cabin on an intermediate plateau, at the foot of the highest peak of the mountain (it´s in the background).

He says about this experience “we entered a unique room full of drunken shepherds… Their animalistic heat was unbearable… it produced a burning heat”, says Safranski of the passage that “it was from here that Schopenhauer took his later metaphor of the porcupines that they pushed themselves against each other to defend themselves from the cold and fear”, Schopenhauer’s readers will understand the image that somehow permeates his speech.

There is merit in Schopenhauer for removing all idealism and romanticism from the philosophical and literary reading of his time, his vision of seeing objects “from above” made him escape from idealism, but his vision of men is pessimistic and the metaphor of hedgehogs demonstrates this.

On a frame in the hut where a book is attached to write down memories, is what was written by Schopenhauer: “Who can rise above the mountains and then remain silent?”

However, the discoveries of post-idealism, post-Enlightenment are that the Cosmos is larger and enigmatic.

 

Serenity and light

08 Mar

There is only light when there is serenity, although Heidegger’s text is not directly linked to his concept of “clearing”, it is indirectly linked, as it calls for reflection, pure thought, one that “meditates” and does not just act.

Heidegger clarifies that: “the rootedness (die Bodentändigkeit) of modern Man is threatened in his most intimate essence. Furthermore: the loss of rooting is not caused only by external circumstances and fatalities of fate, nor is it the effect of negligence and the superficial way of Men. The loss of rootedness comes from the spirit of the time in which we were all born” (p. 17), thus is the absence of this clearing.

The domination by ideal and “calculating” models leads to a greater commitment to the gears of reason, than the gears of being and human dignity, going beyond ethics which is deeply linked to the “ethos” of the way of being and the character.

This is not a pure Manichaeism, because this also led and still leads to social and political dualism, but one that excludes the other, the different and forgets their human dignity, we remember Eduardo Galeano’s speech about war and the evil it entails. closes (post).

The pure reasoning of the calculating gear leads to precise business calculations, company management and even certain educational logic, but they forget the foundations of human ethics: respect for life, sociability among everyone and care for the planet.

Evil is thus seen as the absence of light, the impossibility of a clearing that dignifies and shows the truth to men, and this is independent of any rational logic because it is in the diffuse human logic that unites the unequal and equalizes the different.

For Christians, it is fundamental to remember the principle of light that erases all darkness, like a small candle lit in the pitch black, the Christian clearing, thus moving away from error and discord (Jn 3:21): “But whoever acts according to the truth, approaches the light, so that it becomes clear that your actions are carried out in God” and there is nothing more divine than truth.

If Heidegger’s rootedness refers to his loss in the “spirit of the age”, the deeper rootedness is that which comes from human origin, be it anthropological or ontological.

 

Non-thought today

07 Mar

Heidegger’s text on Serenity, written in 1949 at a ceremony commemorating the centenary of Conradin Kreutzer’s death, in his hometown Meßkirch, which, as it was also Martin Heidegger’s hometown, was called to speak at the event, book This is part of your speech.

The text of serenity reveals how much we are induced to a calculated thought that runs from opportunity to opportunity, it is fundamental to understand that what is attributed to the digital world, was already happening long before this, and is not restricted to the digital universe: “ this thought continues to be a calculation, even if it does not operate with numbers, nor does it use a calculating machine, nor devices for large calculations” (pg. 13), even long before the digital universe, he talks about it and says that it is not the one you’re talking about.

The dynamic that many attribute to the digital universe was already very present in modern man: “thought that calculates (rechnend Denken) never stops, never comes to meditate. The thought that calculates is not a thought that meditates (ein besinnliches Denken), it is not a thought that reflects (nachdenkt), it is not the meaning that reigns in everything that exists” (idem, pg. 13), that is, of the late 1940s and before modern computers.

It is worth translating the German words: ein besinnliches Denken (a contemplative thought) and nachdenkt (to think about) and das rechnend Denken (calculative thought).

Thus, for the philosopher there are two forms of thought: that which calculates and that which meditates, and it can be thought that the second does not perceive reality, “contributes nothing to carrying out praxis” (pg. 14), can lead to pure reflection, persistent meditation being “too “high” for common understanding” (idem).

The author says that the only correct thing is that the truth of a thought that meditates appears as little spontaneously as the thought that calculates, both require efforts.

The fact that contemporary man is linked to a way of thinking is because this is the current way in which thought was elaborated and trained, linked to rational and ideal logos.

However, he considers that each person can follow the paths of reflection within their limits and in their own way: “We do not, therefore, in any way need to elevate ourselves to the “higher regions” when we reflect. We just need to linger (verweilen) close to what is close and meditate on what is closest: what concerns each one of us, here and now; here, in this piece of homeland; now, in the present universal hour” (pg. 14).

Of course, Heidegger reflected on the celebration in his hometown, but this applies to all the events we experience in our lives.

Heidegger, M. (no date) Serenidade (Serenity). Transl. de Maria Madalena Andrade e Olga Santos. Lisboa: Instituto Piaget, s/d.

 

 

 

Lonely Voices for Peace

06 Mar

The Uruguayan writer Eduardo Galeano took a stand against the war, famous for having written “The Open Veins of Latin America”, who was the author of more than 40 books, including The Book of Hugs, which has a recording that was once again published in the youtube for the impact it has.

He begins his speech by saying: “No war has the honesty to confess: I kill to steal” and then goes on to unmask the various false reasons why they try to justify their attitudes, “wars always invoke noble motives, they kill in the name of Peace, in the name of God, in the name of progress” and others, but if they can’t, the media can help, and it’s not just the new media, he said in his time about the mainstream press.

The toxic culture that someone has the solution to the world’s biggest problems, that there is some “enlightened” group, prevents openness to dialogue and finding paths to peace.

The ancient models proposed: the Pax Romana that subjects the people, the eternal peace that is the idealistic model, the peace that solves the problems of social justice, all of them invoke war in the last instance.

There was a time when it was possible for people to take to the streets and demand peace, and call out the authorities for the insanity of their provocative and war-inducing positions, even if disguised in promises of peace as Galeano said, and all of them hide theft, the greed for wealth and the mockery of the people and the poor.

Also of little value are the “elevated” spirits who make beautiful romantic and ideal phrases, which have nothing of reality or serenity, they are just conscious or unconscious alienation, they are voices that flee from the real problems that humanity faces: a civilizational crisis.

The Pope is one of these voices, there are also lone voices in the UN, small countries that despite being in spheres of influence, have the wisdom and discernment that will also suffer if the war prospers.

Eduardo Galeano draws attention in his video that the countries that make up the UN Security Council are precisely those that have the most weapons, and the arms industry is also an economic source for those who own it, but it generates wealth for isolated groups.

There is a lack of unequivocal voices for peace, voices that do not ignore the situation and real positions.

Eduardo Galeano: “Todos que fazem guerra mentem, só destroem e matam. Até quando farão guerra?” – YouTube

 

The next and the business

01 Mar

The polycrisis that involves humanity, in the words of Edgar Morin, which was also adopted (from another perspective) by Adam Tooze, professor of History at Yale University.

In the book Terra Pátria the author has already painted a picture of a reborn nationalism, it is written in the preface of the Brazilian edition written by Juremir Machado da Silva:

“Terra-Pátria, in which Anne-Brigitte Kern collaborated, is the fundamental book for examining the nationalist phenomenon today. Everything is in it: homeland, nation, universalism, identity, ecology, politics, community, etc. The mechanisms for understanding the complex contemporary social network are provided with the clarity usual in Morin’s text” (MORIN, 2003, 14).

However, history has moved in the opposite direction, unable to take a step forward, now wars, ancient utopias and fundamentalist spiritual models (not to be confused with orthodoxy because it is the true foundation of religions and cultures).

The social relationship deteriorates, the blame would be on techniques, individualism or even a wave of demonic possessions, however what happens is simply a lack of an authentic model of solidarity and here utopias and religious cultures must be analyzed.

Utopias because they retroacted models from the beginning of the 20th century, Adam Smith’s nationalism and Lenin’s Bolshevism, religious cultures because they took refuge in fundamentalism.

There is little outside of these perspectives, but they exist, there is hope where each person is treated with dignity, empathy is a model of coexistence and life as a whole treats man as a whole and it is possible to reintegrate him into standards of solidarity and respect.

The relationship with a neighbor is not a business, nor can it dissolve into a “social friendship” which is just a surface of what is truly human, the relationship with the Other.

Not a few authors wrote about this, even Jürgen Habermas addressed the topic, but it concerns the effective relationship between two people and not the generic social or cultural relationship, which generally involve interests and relationships with thought bubbles.

Christian singer Aymeê from Pará went viral when she sang the song “Evangelho dos Phariseus” which talks about child exploitation on the island of Marajó, the fires and the fact that tithe matters more than hearts in many churches that have transformed the message of love into business.

MORIN, E. E KERN, A.B. (2003) Terra-Pátria (Earth-World). Transl. Paulo Azevedo Neves da Silva. Brazil, Porto Alegre : Sulina ed.

 

 

 

The partner and the next

29 Feb

The concrete relationship of social friendship is only effective in each neighbor, the idea of ​​generalizing social attitudes can be inserted into a culture, but it will only be effective if in the relationship with each person with whom we interact it becomes effective, otherwise it is discourse and ideology.

Paul Ricoeur’s text “The partner and the neighbor”, which is part of the book “History and Truth” not only modifies the concept of historical truth but also reveals that there is only a concrete social relationship to the extent that we are part of our various social circles and to each concrete personal relationship.

Continuous selfishness, prejudice opens the soul into abysses of separation with the Other, makes it a continuum of separation, exclusion leading to disbelief in love and social solidarity.

Changing our attitude, transforming selfishness into gestures of kindness and living in each specific relationship a love that is even superhuman that gives dignity and respect to each being that passes by us, is not altruism or a way of ignoring social conflicts, it is also raising the soul to a stage of happiness with others, and spreading hope.

While the partner relationship is only of personal interest, the partner relationship goes beyond these limits and increases the level of trust, inclusion and different approach to the partner:

When discussing the difference between these relationships, he discusses charity: “Charity does not need to be where it appears; Also hidden in the humble and abstract post office is social security; it is often the hidden part of the social”, Paul Ricoeur in Le socius et le Prochain (1954), and is translated in the 1968 book History and Truth.

The text reminds us that just as institutions can only have corporate relationships, they can also have interpersonal relationships, of affection and solidarity, which make them less cold and less bureaucratic, where we see not a customer or a service more, but a close one in which you may be interested.

I t is not by chance that it is a chapter on History and Truth, because truth is only established between true friends who are close, and if they are partners it will only be to be closer, while maintaining social appearance, even with a spirit of empathy, is not yet the true human relationship if the personal one is not realized in a concrete way.

Thus, social friendship must necessarily involve true love for each person who passes by our side.

 

Ricoeur, P. : História e Verdade, trans. F. A. Ribeiro. Companhia Editora Forense: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

 

 

 

 

 

(Português) O próximo e a amizade social

28 Feb

Paul Ricoeur’s text “Le socius et le prochain” (the partner and the neighbor) has already been explored in this post, highlighting the difference between a limited temporal relationship of partner and a relationship of philia and friendship that can last a lifetime: the next.

We now want to reread the comment made by Henri Bergson on this text, in which he articulates that the “I” starts from a “we” that we construct as an “I”, but that it is not separate from this, so the question arises that “we ” it’s that?

Does it designate these other people that we encounter every day in our family and professional environments, or this diffuse presence of others, of “everyone” that, for example, we claim when we try to make someone understand?

It means that we act in a way that is compatible or incompatible with life in society: “what would happen if everyone liked you?” in fact, there are, to say the least, two very distinct relationships with others: others as structure and others as praxis.

By the first term, this basis is understood as the efficiency of laws, institutions, and even more so, the awareness we have of our incessant visibility in the eyes of society: what is done is done based on the possible existence of others, even when no one is physically “there”, by the notion of another as praxis, we must understand the actions through which someone else, however, this distinction corresponds exactly to what Paul Ricoeur wrote in his book “History and Truth”, written to differentiate between “partner and neighbor”, because not only in the business world, but also in politics and social groups, what is true can be related to some narrative of the “society” belonging to.

We can speak of the presence of the Other as a structure in the sense that the socius designates this place, this simultaneously implicit and legal consideration of an invisible, anonymous, almost abstract other, but at the same time omnipresent, a bit like conditional, who would never cease to be presente, manifest to us in the Present, to become present, but never physically (but mentally, constitutionally).

By “near”, Paul Ricoeur designates the immediate, punctual physical presence of another person I know. We have good experiences of being close in big cities, as there we experience many promiscuous situations (subway, queues, etc.), but at the same time time, this crowd with which I am forced to compose is not made up of “neighbors”, since we do not know them.

If we activate praxis with others, always passing through the “socius” structure, the relationship presupposes a margin of choice, of election, of desire for approximation or rejection, as if our gross salary and our net salary, what is taken away of our salary paid, through supervision by an administrative authority, the “organization”, the State, social security, etc.

Thus the partner is linked to a social “praxis”, while the next depends only on a choice of human relationship independent of the structural relationship to which he is subject.

Ricoeur, Paul (1968) “The socius and the neighbor”, in History and Truth (in portuguese: História e Verdade), trans. F. A. Ribeiro. Companhia Editora Forense: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

 

 

Procrastinate and do good well

27 Feb

Procrastination means postponing tasks that are normal in everyday life

Credits Harvard Business Review

and other exceptional ones that cannot be postponed, the same Society of tiredness (Byung Chul-Han wrote a book) is also the society of procrastination.

Postponing tasks is counterproductive, when you want to optimize your time and have time to rest, do leisure or meditate, you need to not procrastinate and do the necessary tasks so that there is time available to feel the Aroma of Time (another book by Byung Chul- Han).

However, we can be involved in unnecessary activities, in small and large vices, which in addition to stealing our time, also steal our time to stop, rest and Be.

It is a human problem of all times, for those who believe that this happens because of new media and cell phones, which can be addictions like others, as the ancient poet Hesiod (800 BC) wrote: “leaving your work until tomorrow and the next day” is a human problem.

Harvard researcher Caroline Webb in an article in the university magazine wrote: “this is because it is easier for our brains to process concrete things rather than abstract ones, and the immediate discomfort is very tangible compared to the unrecognizable and uncertain future benefits”, Therefore, activities that take us out of our routine and place us in a social dimension, that is, with the Other, move our brain to “uncomfortable” regions.

Believing that you have to wait until you’re in a good mood to do something is a trap that can lead to procrastination. Joseph Ferrari, a psychology professor at DePaul University in the United States, discovered that the thought “I’m not in the mood to do X task” can lead to a vicious cycle.

Perform small tasks, which professor and researcher Tim Pychyl tested and confirmed the effectiveness of: “one that students started, they evaluated the tasks as less difficult and less stressful, and even more enjoyable than they thought”, so this returns the routine.

Tasks such as making the bed, preparing breakfast, removing the dishes and washing them, and others can also bring a reward, taking away stress and restoring harmony around you.

If done to do something good, and if done well, they also bring a spiritual reward and they often feel an “inexplicable” relief that is the result of doing something well.

Reference:

Webb, Caroline. How to Beat Procrastination, Harvard Business Review, 2016, Access in: february 2024, Available in: https://hbr.org/2016/07/how-to-beat-procrastination