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Being, clearing and unveiling
08
Jun
Every material, human and substantial question developed in the Enlightenment humanism provoked a veiling of Being, in which the external questions are more important and thought out than the interior ones, even though from Kant to Hegel the question of the spirit has been dealt with, it has always resulted in a dualism between active life (exterior) and contemplative life (interior), the latter translated as subjectivity (which belongs to the subject) and the former as objectivity.
For Heidegger it goes further, because it touches on the deep question of truth, it is in it that Western metaphysical thought was decided and developed, for this the thinker took up the question that the Greeks called “aletheia”, commonly translated simply as truth, but the suffix a-léthea, indicates negation, thus unveiled or as Heidegger preferred to translate it: unveiled.
The veiling is linked to the “presence” [on], which is the presence and the light, synthesized in the question that drives Plato’s thought in the myth of the cave, coming to light, coming out of the cave, in times of darkness, it means finding the clearing and unveiling it.
The presence of light, summarized in the question of Eidos, which was translated in the West by the word idea, cannot forget that for the Greeks the big question is to remain in the light, or to get out of the objective/subjective dualism that is to have the light of Being, not only inwardly, but in outward acts.
When questioning the end of philosophy as a task of thought, the act of questioning while thinking becomes pure interpretation of “data”, it is no longer a question of “[on” (presence) but what is present only as a thing, which for Heidegger from phenomenology is an adjective of “light”, while thinking is an “open free”, which has nothing in common, not even from the point of view of language, he wrote in this question: “of course, in the sense of open free , has “nothing” in common, neither from a linguistic point of view, nor in terms of the thing that is expressed with the adjective “luminous”, which means clear” (HEIDEGGER, 1979, p. 79).
It’s not about abolishing tradition, it played a role in history, but unveiling it, bringing it to light.
It is, therefore, about free thinking about the world, in permanent exercise of the world view.
Heidegger, Martin. (1979) “O fim da filosofia e a tarefa do pensamento” (The End of Philosophy and the Task of Thought”. In: Os pensadores. Brazil, São Paulo: Abril Cultural, pp. 79.
Covid 19: responsibility and risks
06
Jun
It is not easy to give bad news, however when dealing with serious diseases and health problems one cannot omit or fail to provide accurate diagnoses and data on diseases and social problems.
There is a relative tolerance for the Covid 19 data, but the observation of friends and relatives around us is not difficult to notice a new increase in cases of Covid-19, the current strain, a variant of the omicron is less lethal then the number of deaths (in Brazil) remains around a hundred.
The data from this last week, which had been increasing, reveal a small drop, but it is worrying that in 8 states the data were not provided, two of them are the states of São Paulo and Bahia, according to them there were problems in the data of the Ministry of health.
The peak in these days from the 29th to the 31st, if we go back 10 days from the infection of the virus, falls precisely during the off-season Carnival, as we defend in the post, monitoring and health protocols could not let their guard down, which was said by some responsible infectologists.
The public bodies that control large agglomerations want a return to normality, of course we all want it, in times of threat of war, efforts to maintain society with a healthy economy and supply becomes imperative, but it cannot cost lives.
A bet that there will be no new lethal variants and that Covid 19 is giving in has no real data to confirm this, if you listen to serious infectologists and sanitarians, the precaution is right.
Looking at the data from our neighbors, Chile has registered a greater number of new cases in the last two months, reaching 7,550 new infections last Thursday (26/05), in Uruguay there is a 50% increase in positive diagnoses (data of Jovem Pan radio-Brazil) and the health authorities of Paraguay already admit the arrival of the fourth wave of the disease.
The fact that the variant is less lethal is comforting, but it can’t be a reason to be unconcerned.
It´s up to the health´s authorities to be responsible and indicate the risks and protocols for the current situation.
The Spirit for the Religion
03
Jun
One of the important features as a starting point in Hegelian
thought is the concept of religion, and in it the final stage of the construction of the subjective thought of idealism, which after moving from the subject to the object, creates an idea of representation in itself and for yes.
We have already said that a guiding thread is the idea of supersumption, which represents the consciousness of the movement of what opposes the object and the need for something of itself and for itself “ideal”, remembering from the previous post that the supersumption is an interaction between thesis and antithesis.
The concept of the self, which goes from the subject to the object and the self that transcends this path, does not contain the “other”, alterity, as thought in Christian ontology:
“The presence of an object is the presence of another, determined as the non-divine being, the finite world, finite consciousness. This finitude of the other is articulated in nature itself or in the spirit in itself, or in consciousness or in the spirit for an other”. (AQUINO, 1989, p.242).
Therefore, the contradiction already presents itself before the question of a divine “spirit”, Holy as Christianity presupposes, is in the consciousness of itself, and the question of the representation of the object.
The for-itself is not a beyond, but a return to the transcendent in-itself, a closure in itself, for this reason it does not contain the other, so the idea of subject is what differentiates from religion, it is the question of Being, a Being that it is Other, and not a for-itself that turns to the in-itself.
Thus, having observed this junction that refers to the presence of an object and another, both establish a relationship with consciousness, but consciousness itself is only interiority while the for-itself admits a beyond, since from the Greek this suffix means this, as parallax (beyond position), paradox (beyond opinion), etc.
In terms of representation, consciousness is in relation both to the world and to another consciousness, they still remain in the world, but a for-itself means beyond the world, beyond sensible and palpable reality, not only in the idea, but as To be.
A spirit thus thought transcends being and being-with-Other, making another-Being, which for many religions is the spiritual world, in which there is a Being par excellence.
The Christian trinitarian relationship is a for-itself-Beyond-Being, or a Being par excellence, therefore a Holy Spirit, which relates to the Being-in-the-World that is consubstantiated with the pure divine Being.
It is then beyond the supersumption, there is no thesis and antithesis, but each Being is in the Other, in the trinitarian reasoning: Jesus is consubstantiated in the Father, generated by the Holy Spirit, who is relationship with the Being.
The Christian Trinitarian relationship is perichoretic, that is, each being “interpenetrates” the other and there is communion.
Jesus reveals this perichoretic relationship to the apostles (Jn 20:21-22(: “Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I send you.” And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit”,” the divine reality in the human soul.
AQUINO, M. F. O Conceito de religião em Hegel (The concept of religion in Hegel). Brazil, Sao Paulo: Loyola, 1989.
Spirit and dualistic ontology
01
Jun
Since the thought of Permenides and Heraclitus, Western 
philosophy oscillates between Being and Becoming, without either having a clear answer to the question of the spirit, or we fall into the subjectivism of the Soul that comes from Neoplatonists like Plotinus, who said that only the Soul is One, or we fall into a modern dialectical vision: thesis, synthesis and antithesis, which is the result of Becoming.
Among the authors who tried to break with this dualism is Bergson, who introduces the question of the spirit in his thought, trying to deconstruct the ontology outlined from the 20th century. XVII attacking the old theory of knowledge, which elaborates concepts and properties sustained in the denial of time and in the concept of duration linked to Ser.
Bergson’s thought, roughly speaking, is a traditional metaphysics starting from the pre-Socratics’ options between Being and Becoming, and he chooses substantiality (permanence) and idea (fixity) as pillars of his thought, so “search for the reality of things”. over time, beyond what moves” (Bergson, 1959, p. 1259) (see the cone in picture).
It can be said that the problem in Bergson’s reflection lies in the genetic analysis of representation, and this in turn is linked to the clash of dualism itself in the philosophical tradition, especially the modern one, that is, the critique of the opposition between “realism x idealism”.
After discussing the issue of Memory and Matter, the high point of his philosophy, he falls into the trap of Western thought defining the terms of the problem in terms of “images” (for some authors it would be the middle way between the thing and its perception in the “being”), and in this way, incapable of the excesses of the “material thing”, intends to “spiritual representation”.
Thus the image is a presence in the senses allowing the naive and direct description of the experience (or perception) of matter, it can be said that the new dualism is tied to the meaning of the spiritual representation, and thus one could break with the dualism body and soul (or mind).
The question of representation permeates his thought, so spirit is just a resource for it, in his Essay this is made clear by the division of the chapters: if the first deals with the “Selection” for representation, the second and third will analyze the “recognition” while the fourth will deal with the metaphysical conception of matter, by defining it as totality and extensive continuity (reminiscent of the Cartesian res-extensive) and presents it as a solution to the problem of dualism, the “delimitation and fixation of images”.
So Kant’s transcendence between subject and object is just put another way, so the question of Spirit is just an ingenious ruse, but it doesn’t resolve idealist dualism.
BERGSON, H. (1959) Oeuvres Edition du Centenaire. Paris: PUF.
Serenity and true peace
19
May
We have already posted a history of peace: Romans Pax, peace 
of Westphalia agreement between Catholics and Lutherans on the secularity of the state and the perpetual peace of Kant, each one who thinks of structures and peace agreements that have not shown by the ineffectiveness of being able to establish peace.
We enter into ontological aspects with the question of Serenity proposed by Heidegger, which includes aspects of origin and territoriality of peoples, these are almost always the factors that are decisive for peoples to go to war, but little thought in peace agreements.
If we almost always live under some tension, it is important to understand if a peace is possible beyond human issues, which of course must be resolved, as they need men who are truly peaceful and have ontologically resolved this issue internally and help humanity in the ways that lead to lasting peace.
Heidegger’s philosophy develops how much man has advanced in reason, technique and science, but it has lost its own foundation of Being reduced to the Being (the thing without a soul), it loses its originality (differentiation from originality only because it deals more with original peoples of the Americas), he thus begins his own essence (he sees it only as subjectivity) and loses the power of re-presentation that comes from it, he loses an essence that is not secondary, but primordial.
In his conclusion to Serenity, Heidegger contrasts the immediacy and lack of meditation that we have today: “There are, therefore, two types of thinking, both in their own way, respectively, legitimate and necessary: the thinking that calculates and the reflection (of the Nachdenken) who meditates. […] a thought that meditates arises as little spontaneously as the thought that calculates. Thought that meditates sometimes requires great effort. It requires a long workout. It needs even more delicate care than any other true craft. However, like the farmer, he also has to know how to wait for the seed to emerge and mature” (HEIDEGGER, 1955, p. 13-14).
Serenity, meditation on the need for it to understand the originality of each Being, of its presence in a certain Region, requires more than a momentary exercise, it must be lasting and aim at eternity.
In the biblical reading we find the deepest lesson of Jesus to his disciples about peace (Jn 14: 27): “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you; but I do not give it as the world does. Do not let your heart be troubled or intimidated”, is a lesson also for the peaceful and for those who love peace.
HEIDEGGER, Martin. Serenity. Translation by Maria Madalena Andrade and Olga Santos. Lisbon: Instituto Piaget, original version is from 1955.
Reason, Belief and War 2
22
Apr
The relationship of science and belief in Bourdieu’s lesson: “The paradoxical
enterprise that consists in using a position of authority to speak with authority, to teach a lesson, but a lesson of freedom … would be simply inconsequential, or even self-destructive , if the very ambition to make a science of belief did not presuppose belief in science” (Bourdieu, 1994, p. 62), can be better expressed by the principle of transdisciplinarity.
Establishes the Arrábida Transdisciplinarity Charter in one of its principles: “Considering that the contemporary rupture between an increasingly cumulative knowledge and an increasingly impoverished inner being leads to the rise of a new obscurantism, whose consequences, at the individual and social level, are incalculable”. (Freitas, Morin and Barsarab, 1994)
The idea of science based on calculus (including economics) or the physics that makes it possible to advance in the mystery of the infinite universe, with wormholes, black holes and dark matter, cannot do without the mystery that is beyond what man has already conquered.
On the political side, the belief in the modern state that would replace God and could establish perpetual peace (Kant’s philosophical project) as well as science as the summit of “reason” has already shown its limits, as has the fundamentalist faith, which already was with the Pharisees in the time of life, land of Jesus, has limits of ignoring science, even wanting a science of belief, the paradox presented by Bourdieu.
Neither Kant’s perpetual peace nor advanced scientific studies made it possible to avoid war and the world is once again on the verge of a new humanitarian catastrophe, and it is also worth noting that religious fundamentalism cannot abolish it like the “Decalogue of Assisi for Peace” signed in Assisi on March 4, 2002, although they still defend it today.
The Pharisees wanted Jesus to be involved in the war against Rome, which will take place in the 70s of the Christian d.C., with the destruction of Jerusalem and its Holy Temple as predicted in the prophecies, not because Jesus wanted it, but because of the war that men wished.
After the Jewish Passover, and the Passion and Resurrection of Jesus which was our Passover, Jesus appears to the disciples and the apostle who did not believe Thomas was with them, the first greeting of Jesus is: “Peace be with you” (Mt 20, 21), breathes the Holy Spirit on them and told Thomas that he wanted material proofs of his resurrection: “Put your finger here and look at my hands. Reach out your hand and place it in my side. And do not disbelieve, but be faithful” (Mt 20,27) and happy will say those who believe without having seen.
Kant, I. (2008) Perpetual Peace: A Philosophical Project. trans. Arthur Mourao. Ed. University of Beira Interior. Portugal: Covilhã.
Freitas, L., Nicolescu, B. and Morin, E. (1994)Letter of Transdisciplinarity. Convent of Arrábida.
Covid: end of the state of emergency in Brazil
18
Apr
The state of Emergency in Public Health of National Importance
(ESPIN) in Brazil was decreed by the then Minister of Health Henrique Mandetta, in February 2020, this weekend Minister Marcelo Queiroga declared the end of the Public Emergency, ESPIN started a cycle that allowed special funds for the purchase of supplies and vaccines to combat the pandemic.
The first official case was registered on February 26, 2020, making it more than 2 years ago, from then on it was a set of uncertain steps, opening and closing of establishments, bans on public gatherings, including cultural and religious events.
There is no declaration of a pandemic, nor an express release of safety protocols, as always the criteria are vague, such as the use of masks for example, which would be recommended.
The average number of deaths in the country is now around 100, having registered a very low number at the weekend, around 30 (the bodies that publish the numbers varied), but it must be remembered that the functioning of the secretariats of health on weekends is deficient.
It is difficult to predict the future of the disease with scientific data, experts warn, in general they draw two scenarios, one more optimistic that predicts the extinction of the virus and its variants, and another that predicts living with Covid-19 for a long time, which is considered more realistic, albeit at lower levels, and only in this case could it be considered endemic.
What is expected is serious monitoring and effective control of the circulation of the virus in the country.
Being, Pain and Easter
15
Apr
This is a time that did not abolish Pain, because as we developed
in previous posts it is inherent to existence, but we condemn it to oppose it to Being and Happiness, the philosopher Byung Chul Han wrote: “Just in the palliative society hostile to pain , silent pains multiply, crammed into the margins, which persist in their absence of meaning, speech and image”. (HAN, 2021, p. 57).
Nothing is more paradoxical in post-modernity than Pain, so the Cross is imagined as a symbol of liberation and of life, one could even say: absurd, but Paul the Apostle warns: “For both Jews ask for signs, and Greeks seek wisdom; but we proclaim Christ crucified, who is a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles.” (Corinthians, 1:23).
It is in this perspective that racial violence, various forms of exploitation and what Byung Chul Han calls “self-exploitation” are explained, we no longer need others to exploit us, we do it voluntarily, incitement to a daily life with the mark of counting and not of Being.
The Pandemic could be an occasion for solidarity pain, but it was another impulse for exclusion, for isolation, for the strengthening of barriers and individual anxieties, which exploded in an anxiety crisis, in various ways of ignoring the pain of others, the point of denying it altogether.
It took a while, but in the final battle against the Pandemic we gave in to fatality, to the delirium of public parties out of time, the desire to overflow and try to ignore the pain for the ecstasy of public parties.
What appears on the horizon of this delusion are even more hellish wars, desires for domination and more power, lives are ignored with almost always absurd justifications: it was inevitable, there is no way to stop them without weapons, etc. more wars, more deaths, more suffering and market crashes.
Apparently, ignoring the divine Passion, we are making great strides towards a civilizing, humanitarian “passion” (of suffering) and a greater abyss than that which would be to live and manage the pains of a sick civilization and postmodernity with a horizon dingy.
There remains the hope of those who believe in the solidarity overcoming of a dormant humanity, of a balanced civilization center that recovers not only the process of hominization but also its solidarity with nature and the universe we live in.
This is a possible reading for the Divine Passion of the one who for love endured human pain, only a “passage” through Pain can make us understand a new possible humanity.
HAN, Byung-Chul. (2021) A sociedade paliativa: a dor hoje (The palliative society: pain today). trans. Lucas Machado. Brazil, Petrópolis: Vozes.
Pain, Being and the Other
08
Apr
Pain is essential in existence, philosopher Byung Chul Han in
the essay “The society palliates pain today” writes talking about the pandemic and the rediscovery of Being: “I feel pain, therefore I exist. We also owe the sensation of existence to pain. If it disappears entirely, substitutes are sought” (Han, Vozes, 2011, p. 65). But the pain of the Other is strange to us, writes Han: “The nakedness of the soul, the being exposed, the pain with the other, are entirely lost to us” (Han, p. 104), there is no compassion.
That’s why the cruelty of war, the totalitarian leaders who expose this kind of contempt for the Other, for their pain, in the case of the Pandemic the number of dead are so anesthetized, it doesn’t hurt us so it doesn’t exist, which is a falsification of being , for it is Being only with-the-Other.
Megalothymia, the overvaluation of oneself, or of the social group to which one belongs, is both for Chul Han and for Fukuyama (who wrote “The End of History”, poorly read and interpreted), inspired by Nietzsche that this is the “last human being”, which reveals this type of anesthesia: “a little poison now and then: it gives pleasant dreams” (Han, p. 105).
It is important to understand why we admit death, even if unfair (of the innocent and those infected by the virus) because we do not imagine it as non-life, it does not hurt us, and the pain of the other is not felt, it can even be denounced by group aspects , but not as being and as Other. But it was not Nietzsche who “killed God”, not even the divine in us, the passion of the cross is pain-with-the-Other, it makes no sense but a divine Being who gives himself up for the Other, and there he is pure Being, it is divine Being.
When judging Jesus and even finding no crime, he hands him over to crucifixion, and even condemned the divine Being who will be subjected to a cruelty of thorns, scourging and finally crucifixion, still looks at the humanity of his executioners and says: “Father, forgive -them! They don’t know what they’re doing!” (Luke 23:34).
Who killed Jesus were the power of the Roman Empire, a face of totalitarian power, and the Pharisees: bad religion and misinterpretation of what should be our re-connection (true re-ligion) to the divine. Pain is essential in existence, philosopher Byung Chul Han in the essay “The society palliates pain today” writes talking about the pandemic and the rediscovery of Being: “I feel pain, therefore I exist. We also owe the sensation of existence to pain. If it disappears entirely, substitutes are sought” (Han, Vozes, 2021, p. 65).
HAN, B.C. (2021) Sociedade Paliativa: a dor hoje. Trans. Lucas Machado. Brazil, Petropolis: Ed. Vozes.
Covid 2.0: flexibility and new care
04
Apr
Except for China, which still makes strict lock downs, even
countries that practiced confinement, such as Australia, New Zealand and South Korea, by easing protection measures, had in recent weeks a significant increase in cases by covid, even so they reopened.
I call it Covid 2.0, because Web 2.0 meant the arrival of the Web for everyone, yes most cases are few serious and there are many asymptomatic cases, but the virus circulates, and the number of deaths is around 200, which is the case from Brazil, means 1,400 per week, this is not a small amount.
In Europe, many countries, such as the United Kingdom, Denmark, France and Spain, had already relaxed public health policy measures, and there are already increases in Covid 2.0 cases there.
Worldwide, the number of cases has been falling, and the WHO itself is already waving a post-Covid scenario, what is worrying is that there is no policy for cases of outbreaks in certain regions and a clear policy of easing, and the number of cases small deaths, 1643 in the last few hours, contrasts with the number of infections: 777 thousand.
It is believed that the new variants will be less serious (China has already discovered a new variant), although not less infectious as BA.2 is already more infectious than the original Omicron, which explains the high number of infections.
It would be advisable to check and isolate regions with outbreaks and not fail to have some social protection, for example, distancing and masks, which is possible even with flexibility.
The hope that the new variants will be less aggressive and that the number will continue to fall is good, but not failing to take care is dangerous and now depends only on individual attitudes and giving support to needy regions that still have low vaccination rates.
On these days the HSE (Health Service Executive) – Irish public health service reported that the number of cases of hospitalizations for covid has grown again and is studying to apply the 4th. dose.
