Arquivo para a ‘Noosfera’ Categoria
Minimum ethics: when we make a mistake
16
Aug
The discourse is very common, even I sometimes say,
that the biggest mistake is not saying no, but educating means explaining the no and helping people to correct their mistakes and listen to the counter-argument.
This implies maintaining ethics, even in the face of error, when it is common to appeal and leave for error, but what does it mean to make a mistake?
Aristotle says in his “Nicomachean Ethics” that it is possible, from a moral point of view, to make mistakes in many ways, but there is only one way to get it right: “We make mistakes when we are afraid of everything and face nothing; we err when we surrender ourselves without measure to every type of pleasure; we make mistakes when we do not return what is rightfully the other’s. On the other hand, we succeed when we avoid excesses”.
Excess can even concern what we consider virtuous, which is what concerns our dispositions: study, leisure, work in short, everything that is important, but requires balance and temperance.
Habits and addictions depend on habits, and habits depend on continuous actions, but how to correct addictions and mistakes? the practice of going straight to the point can be a mistake, every mistake must be contextualized to avoid hasty and sometimes mistaken judgment
To correct is above all to give space for the error to be understood and the reprimand already requires a social action, in many cases legal, thus it requires the proven facts, witness and the correct way of correcting, the fair measure is always the one that allows the error to be corrected. adjusted.
Fraternal correction is indicated in (MT 18, 15) it says to take your brother in private, if he listens to you he will have a brother, if he does not listen to you he takes a witness if he still does not listen to you he is a public sinner.
What has changed, there is no more correction, but only punishment and it is not always right.
Limits and importance of testimony
11
Aug
The men who gave a great turning point in history
and who made a difference in their time were those whose testimony influenced and often changed the course of history, what seemed inevitable was avoided, what seemed lost was clarified.
It doesn’t mean that they didn’t think and reason, but that they witnessed and lived first.
Mahatma Gandhi unleashed civil disobedience in his country, India, to encourage the struggle for the country’s independence from England, on August 15, 1947 it was won with violence being practiced only by the British colonizers.
Everyone knows Martin Luther King’s peaceful fight, but it was the gesture of a black woman who triggered his fight, the woman named Rosa Parks, who in Alabama, in 1st. In December 1955, she refused to give up her seat on a bus to a white man, she was arrested and forced to pay a $14.00 bail.
Nelson Mandela after leaving prison, and leading the end of the racist regime of “apartheid”, in 1994 becomes the first black president of South Africa, instead of “taking revenge” on whites, he proposes a new attitude, contrary to of the dominators and recreates South Africa with racial tolerance and the presidents that followed him were all black, in a demonstration that won the fight and disarmed his persecutors.
There is talk of the miracle of the loaves, but the most important thing follows later in the biblical narrative in Matthew 14, 22-24, he had dismissed the crowd that had eaten the loaves, the disciples got into the boat and Jesus withdrew to pray alone, then went walking to the disciples over the sea.
The disciples are frightened by this image, they say “it is a ghost”, but He says: “it is I”, Peter also wants to walk on the water, Jesus calls him, but he sinks, weak in faith, the witness not only requires truth and experience, but also a belief and cannot be distant from it.
More than the miracle of bread that satisfies the body, Jesus wants the miracle of faith, which satisfies the soul.
Philosophy of testimony
10
Aug
The philosophy of testimony (also, epistemology
of testimony) considers the nature of language and the confluence of knowledge, which occurs when beliefs are imposed between speakers and hearers through testimony. Testimony constitutes words, gestures or statements that convey beliefs.
According to Nick (2023) what we know about the world: history, science, politics, each other, etc. comes from the testimony of other people, although it is indispensable for knowledge, specifying exactly how we are able to learn from a speaker’s opinion is a very difficult task, what I point out personally is our ability to open and listen (or read).
Still on the author, testimony is the basic source of justification, but can it be reduced to a combination of other epistemic sources, such as perception, memory and interference?
Another question is: can testimony generate knowledge or just transmit it?
It can be understood as only individual (in the sense that one’s testimonial justification depends entirely on factors related to oneself), or it must be seen as anti-individualistic (in the sense that one’s testimonial justification depends on one, at least in part , from factors that have to do with yourself) ?
How to understand the testimony between an expert and a new one?
Do groups witness? And if so, how can we learn from the opinion of a group?
What is the testimony itself? (since it is not to be confused with narrative, but with experience).
In his work, the author clarified that these are not the only questions, citing other authors such as M. Fricker (2007) who takes the issue of crediting testimonies that gave rise to an epistemic injustice, there are also interesting questions regarding eyewitness testimony and the law (Wells & Olson, 2003) and (Burrogghs & Tollefsen, 2016), as well as witness and affirmation (Pagin, 2007 [2016]).
There is also what he considers particularly important, which is a growing literature on moral and aesthetic testimony, and the author gives the example of the opinion of a friend who believes that eating roast beef is morally wrong because only his friend tells him so.
However, the author focuses on the issues mentioned above.
The witness must therefore be a leaven of truth and have experience in order to be credible.
Burroughs, Michael D. and Deborah Tollefsen, (2016), “Learning to Listen: Epistemic Injustice and the Child”, Episteme, 13(3): 359–377.
Fricker, Miranda, (2007), Epistemic Injustice: Power and the Ethics of Knowing, Oxford: Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198237907.001.0001
Pagin, Peter, (2007 [2016]), “Assertion”, The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Winter 2016 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (Ed.), URL = <https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2016/entries/assertion/>
Wells, Gary L. and Elizabeth A. Olson, (2003), “Eyewitness Testimony”, Annual Review of Psychology, 54: 277–295. doi:10.1146/annurev.psych.54.101601.145028
Testimonies and humanism
09
Aug
True humanism is what allows the evolution
of the civilizing process, preserving what is essential that every man has, which is his Being, this goes beyond the conditions of economic, social and political survival, he must include the Other and give this testimony.
Testimonies range from cases in which someone needs information and turns to someone or some epistemic means (organized knowledge) to new scientific reports that reveal the most intricate mysteries of life and the universe.
Epistemologists agree on the importance of testimony as a source of justification, along with perception (cognitive and beyond), memory (all means of information and dissemination) and reasoning (beyond the logical, physical and metaphysical), The divergence lies in how falsely justified testimonial beliefs can arise from justified beliefs.
This is due to the fact that not only beliefs considered in the religious aspect, but also them, but the fact that it is possible that testimonial beliefs involving perception, memory and cognition (my addition) are reliable from previously justified beliefs, this is the current called reductionist, because regardless of the testimony, it is already justified.
Anti-reductionists argue that the justification of testimonial beliefs is straightforward: we are justified in believing something simply because someone testifies to something even though there are no reasons not to do so, there are different tentative responses to this debate.
Outside of this epistemic debate, we must think that we live in a time when it is difficult to think and organize information in order to reach the testimony as a source of truth, one can defend peace even by making war, one can defend democracy by limiting the civil rights and divergent ideas, justice can be defined by changing the rules of law to give rise to injustice, one can proclaim a belief even while limiting oneself to a partial practice.
Thus, what is at stake is not the testimony of beliefs, but often their own denial, and it can be a matter not just of bad faith or ill will, but of difficulty in cognition, which is why I made this addition to perception and memory, where the problem is the source of information.
A true humanism must presuppose testimony, otherwise we do not have a reliable reference for our arguments, dialogues and overcoming disagreements.
We can only test our way of life if we live up to what we witness.
Referência:
Leonard, Nick, “Epistemological Problems of Testimony”, The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Spring 2023 Edition), Edward N. Zalta & Uri Nodelman (eds.), URL = https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2023/entries/testimony-episprob/ , 2021.
The clearing, the unveiling and Being
04
Aug
The clearing is a small space with light that
opens up in the middle of the forest, Heidegger defines it in the philosophical sense as follows: “Destiny appropriates itself as the clearing of being, which is, as clearing. It is the clearing that grants the proximity of being. In this proximity, in the clearing of making room, man lives as an ex-sistent, without him being able to experience and assume this dwelling” (Heidegger, 1979), in this sense, the being appropriates a true and eternal “dwelling”.
The clearing is then the place of unveiling the Being, in its temporality of ex-sistent it experiences, due to its finite condition, a pleasant and sensitive dwelling, almost eternal, however temporary as an entity.
So the clearing comes from the human condition, and it is not just the divine Theophany, however the biblical narrative gives the human and temporal Jesus at a specific moment on Mount Tabor, we have already posted something on the subject, but in the sense of the asceticism of the soul, here one wishes to complete it in an unveiling.
As we posted earlier, it is possible both to reveal and to unveil human beings, in the first case a temporary understanding that is revealed (clarifies, but new doubts remain) and unveiling, often partially incomprehensible to human beings due to their cognitive finitude or a mystical asceticism whose details are often difficult to communicate due to the absence of appropriate words or metaphors, like a work of art.
In the biblical narrative, it is on Mount Tabor where a theophany occurs, it was not in the baptism of Jesus nor in the miracles that it happened, when climbing the mountain Jesus takes three closer disciples: John, Peter and James and before their eyes he is transfigured and appears next to Moses and Elijah, says the narrative (Mt 17. 2-3):
“And he was transfigured before them; his face shone like the sun and his clothes became white as light. Then Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Jesus.”
The apostles feel the “clearing” and want to stay there and build three tents, then a cloud covers them, as in the tabernacle of Moses, they hear a divine locution and they prostrate their faces to the ground, Jesus calms them down and when they raise their eyes they see only Jesus and go down the mountain.
For non-believers, the biblical narrative is imaginary, but it helps to understand the unveiling.
Heideggger, Martin. (1979) “O fim da filosofia e a tarefa do pensamento”. In: Os pensadores. São Paulo: Abril Cultural, 1979, p. 79 (in portuguese).
Heidegger, M. (2003) The End of Philosophy, transl. Joan Stambaugh, 1st Edition, Univ. Chicago Press, USA.
Theophany existed, does it?
03
Aug
When we have a clarification or an insight we
can say that there is a re-velation, something new emerges, but we still don’t have a final or total idea about a given mystery.
It cannot be confused with sentimentality or even a very strong emotion, it can be revealing (in the sense of revealing again) but the consequences and the ultimate end of that emotion will depend on other new revelations, they are temporal affects and emotions.
Unveiling is something much deeper, it means taking the veil off, science itself has evolved throughout history, the so-called “structures of the scientific revolution” by physicist and philosopher of science Thomas Kuhn, in another line, Karl Popper developed the idea of method falsifiability, which is always to be aware of the limitations of scientific theories.
Unveiling means not restricting oneself to the material, empirical and quantitative aspects of reality, it aims to rationally understand the real entity as a whole from its ultimate causes, so temporal causes and affects are not at stake, that is, it is not revelation.
It is possible to unveil mysteries through scientific paths, the quantum ideas since Werner Heisenberg (The part and the whole), passing through Einstein (Theory of Relativity) and Neils Bohr who wrote about the correspondence theory (atoms and radiation): “it seems to be possible throw light on the immense difficulties, by trying to draw an analogy between the quantum theory and the ordinary theory of radiation, as closely as possible”, later the model advanced.
In the unfolding of the biblical narrative, a theophany takes place, a divine manifestation where no human explanation is reasonable and there is some “eternal” truth that confirms it.
In the biblical-historical path that we travel from the exodus, there is a passage from the Theophany (Ex 40:34-35): “Then the cloud covered the Tent of Meeting and the glory of the Lord filled the sanctuary. Moses could not enter the Tent of Meeting, because the cloud remained over it, and the glory of the Lord filled the entire sanctuary”.
This also happens today, are there manifestations and theophanies? Yes and even religious institutions doubt it, and they have nothing to do with false prophecies with vested interests.
I read a book in my youth by an Indian yogi and guru Paramahansa Yogananda, in which he described a person he met in Germany who ate only a consecrated “host” and did not look weak or sickly, also a hero of the unification of Switzerland, Nicholas de Flüe (1417-1487) lived out the end of his life like this, with the permission of his family and wife.
The Jewish photographer Judah Ruah from “Fatima Miracle”, from a traditional Jewish-Portuguese family, published a photo for the newspaper Illustracao Portugueza, on 09-29-1917 a photo of the so-called miracle of the Sun promised to the 3 shepherd children of Fatima (Portugal), which occurred on October 13, 1917, which was previously announced by them as proof that the mystical signs they received were true, almost 100,000 people went there (photo), all of whom saw the Sun dancing in the sky.
Of course, later there were several scientific explanations for the phenomenon, but it is interesting that the 3 shepherd children anticipated the exact day on which the phenomenon occurred and therefore the crowd present, in a village that is still small and far from large centers.
In the case of the Portuguese Theophany, it is important to note that it precedes the 1st. World War and asks for prayers for the future of humanity, with the danger of war could happen today too?
Bohr, Neils (1928). O Postulado Quântico e o Recente Desenvolvimento da Teoria Atômica. Trad. Osvaldo Pessoa Jr. In: Fundamentos de Física I – Simpósio David Bohm. Org. O. Pessoa Jr. São Paulo: Livraria da Física, 2000. p. 135-159 (portuguese).
Heisenberg, Werner (2008). A Parte e o Todo: Encontros e Conversas sobre Física, Filosofia, Religião e Política. 4a. reimpr. Trad. Vera Ribeiro. Rio de Janeiro: Contraponto, 2008. (portuguese), in english:
Heisenberg, Werner (1971). Physics and Beyond: Encounters and Conversations. World Perspectives vol. 42. Translated by Pomerans, Arnold J. New York: Harper & Row.
The Logic of the Biblical Narrative
02
Aug
The historical narrative almost always shows
a change in mentality and the logic of war, power and the conquest of goods and the imposition of one culture over another, the mystical narrative, most of the time, seeks to advance the mentality of the civilizing process both through action human and divine intervention.
Whenever a people promote human, material and spiritual oppression, it tends to decay and civilizing rupture, as happened with the Semitic culture, the Egyptian culture in the beginnings of human civilization.
The mystical and spiritual narrative of the peoples analyzes these cycles from another point of view, there is a divine promise not only in the divine plan, but also human, so for Abraham it was the promised land and the birth of his son, where a theophany, a divine manifestation (or apparition) and finally a covenant.
The promise to Abraham was not only the birth of his son, but after Isaac was born the theophany happens with the promise that he will inherit as many children as the stars in the sky and the alliance is fulfilled because Abraham is considered the father of faith for three great religions monotheists: Christians, Jews and Christians of today.
From Isaac are born the twelve tribes of Israel through his son Isaac, but out of envy the brothers sell Joseph to Egypt, who had gifts and in dreams the promise is revealed that he would be leader of the tribes, but out of envy the brothers sell him to the Egypt and the divine promise is fulfilled with the period of scarcity in which the brothers go to Egypt to buy food.
There is no explicit theogony due to the evil they did to Joseph, but Jacob, after dealing with the angel, obtains divine forgiveness and then the forgiveness of his brother Esau.
In the Exodus narrative we can read that Moses had pitched a tent far away (Ex. 33:7) “outside the camp, and named it the Tent of Meeting. So, everyone who wanted to consult the Lord, went out to the Tent of Meeting, which was outside the camp” and it will be after this theophany and having received the Tablets of the Law, that the “ark of the Covenant” will be constituted where the staff will be placed of Aaron, a vessel with the Manna that fed the people in the desert and the tablets of the Law.
There is always a theophany or a theogony in the narratives, as in the case of Greek philosophy, which is an anthropomorphic and diverse god, however, the theogony, due to its characteristic, is only the manifestation of human beliefs and desires.
Period of Judges or Birth of Republics
01
Aug
By biblical narrative and also by archaeological
and historical studies, the period of the end of the exodus and reunification of Israel became known as the period of the judges, however it is possible both a biblical and historical reading as the birth of a proto-republic.
In the final period of Moses, he manages to see Canaan in the distance, he sets up a tent a little away from Moses where the biblical narrative says: “Moses asked for the tent and pitched it far away, outside the camp, and named it Tent of Meeting. So everyone who wanted to inquire of the Lord went out to the Tent of Meeting, which was outside the camp,” and when Moses went there, the people followed him with their eyes.
According to authors (Horowitz, 2005) and (Everdell, 2000) the period from 1250 BC. until 1030 B.C. It was characterized by the political, religious and military leadership of a leader who, by divine instruction, unified and directed the tribes of Israel and could be considered an Israelite Confederation (the ancient tribes of Israel after the exodus and return to the region of Canaan), were a type of republic ruled by judges, after the death of Moses and the leadership of Joshua.
Moses had previously sent 12 spies to the territory of Canaan, among them Joshua and Kalebe, on the way back they established a military strategy where first the famous siege of Jericho took place and then they conquered the mountains Betel and Gibeon.
After the conquest of the territory, the period of the twelve judges begins, who will govern the people and lead them in battles for the maintenance of the territory, and will settle in a territory that goes from Mount Herman in the north to Mount Haloque and Negeb in the south.
In this period there were still several fights, some of the judges are known in the literature as the last Judges: Samson, Eli and Samuel, , however the account of Deborah as a judge of Israel is unique, considering the patriarchal society that lived (Judges 4-5) , the last judge was Samuel, the great prophet who chose, at the request of the people, the first two kings: Saul and David.
This historical period was marked by the activity of the Old Testament prophets: Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Daniel, who tried to correct the course and destiny of their people. At the end of this period in history, the rise of the Assyrian Empire is also recorded, but it will reach the limits of Israel going as far as Egypt, under the leadership of Ashurbanipal in 690 BC. to 627 BC, in 609 BC. the first deportation of the Hebrew to Babylon takes place, and in 598 B.C. young king Jehoiachin, king of Judah, voluntarily surrenders.
Horowitz, Maryanne Cline (2005). «Republic». New Dictionary of the History of Ideas. 5. Detroit: Charles Scribner’s Sons.
Everdell, William R (2000). The End of Kings. A History of Republics and Republicans (em inglês). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
The Final Semitic-Jewish Exodus and the Full Life
28
Jul
All along the way, the Semitic-Jewish
understanding is linked to the ownership of a certain land, and even the imperial struggles of our time do not reflect anything else than the attempt to colonize peoples and enslave them, that is, we have evolved in the technology used for the war, but not with the intention of perpetuating the power and acquiring goods of peoples and nations.
At the end of the Jewish-Semitic exodus, Moses sends Joshua and Caleb and 10 chosen men, one from each tribe, to spy out the land of Canaan to find out the conditions in the region, but he himself does not get there and dies beforehand.
These spies who go there find a good and beautiful land, however there were “giants” in it and the people were powerful, despite all 40 years in the desert, many Hebrews wondered if it was not better to have returned and thought that God had abandoned them .
However, the contrary report of Joshua and Caleb the land was very good and if the Lord had promised the possession of Israel he had to proceed until he took possession and despite many struggles they got there, then came the judges according to the biblical narrative, but the people asked for kings “like other peoples” and then came Saul.
Understanding this time, in addition to interpreting the inevitable influence of the Egyptians and the messianic spirit of the Hebrew people, must take into account that farmers and shepherds needed land, and even though the divine message was clear, theophanies instituted alliances and this also meant a behavior of justice and fraternity, they were still understood as being “a chosen people” this would not apply to other peoples.
Even a millennium later, as we said this period of the beginning of the Egyptian decadence is around the year 931 BC, the time that Jesus is born this needs to be corrected and the didactic difficulty of teaching the people the true teachings, and Jesus only brings a “new ” commandment (does not mean that the 10 of the covenant were wrong) “that you love one another” (John 13:24) and I want mercy and not sacrifice (Matthew 9:13).
Even so, the disciples were slow to understand, not understanding the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross, and the refusal of this sacrifice implied even greater throughout history: wars, exile, pests and famine, but the spirit of domination and colonization of peoples remains.
When explaining to his contemporaries in parables Jesus says how the divine kingdom is like someone who finds a treasure (Mt 13,46): “when he finds a pearl of great price, he goes, sells all his possessions and buys that pearl” and this should mean a greater good not only in human value, but in eternal and definitive values.
The Ipuwer hover found in Egypt at the beginning of its decadence says that the girls “stayed looking at themselves in the mirror for hours” and that the women who used to keep things in boxes “now wanted elaborate furniture” to store their things.
What are our pearls and our values that we want for a lifetime?
Way, theophany and covenant
27
Jul
The historical narrative, the one made by
official historiography, narrates journalistic facts as they happen, sees the path only as a theory and method, the divine manifestation as a historical evolution, and the alliance with God as a religious illusion.
The evolution and fall of civilization prior to Semitic, the fact is that after the son of Noah (?) Without a civilization, it emerged and evolved in the ancient Mesopotamia of the Chaldeans, from there Abram left until he arrived and had the son Isaac promised by God Isaac and with him he made an alliance, and changed his name to Abraham, because he would have as many children as the stars in the sky (Genesis 17,1-4) and in fact three major religions invoke him as “father of faith”.
In history they will be close to the great Egyptian civilization, and they will leave there at the beginning of its decadence.
Thus, this cycle will be repeated with Moses, due to famine the Hebrews migrate to Egypt in the time of the 12 tribes of Israel (Jacob, son of Isaac, who took the place of Esau, had the fight with the angel), Joseph goes to Egypt and then the Hebrews begin to live in slavery, there Moses receives a new mission to leave for Canaan, and there will also be the divine manifestation on Sinai and the new covenant (Exodus 19:11): “and to be ready for the third day , for on that day the Lord will come down before all the people on Mount Sinai.”
Thus, a new Theophany and a new alliance take place with Moses receiving the tablets of the Law, almost arriving in Canaan and seeing it from afar, Moses dies and Joshua receives the mission to lead the people to the promised land, in the ark of the alliance (illustrative photo, the ark was lost) will be placed a vessel with manna mysterious food that the people ate in the desert, Aaron’s staff and the tablet of the 10 commandments).
From that moment until the birth of Jesus, the law and the prophets are valid, for Christians the new covenant is made with the proclamation of the Gospel (the good news) and the new covenant is God in the midst of his people and his own guide.
So today the ark is no longer needed, there was already a manifestation of the prophet Jeremiah (Jeremiah 3:16) even before the birth of the Messiah.
