Arquivo para a ‘Information Science’ Categoria
Between testimony and forgiveness: the cure
18
Aug
Paul Ricoeur’s analysis of whether forgiveness can heal
ranges from memory to oblivion, but the author clarifies that “in the framework of the broader dialectic of the space of experience and the horizon of experience”, and recalls that Freud calls this “translaboration”, which means overcoming the belief that the past is closed and determined and the future is indeterminate and open.
Past facts are inerasable: we cannot undo what was done, nor make what happened not happen, but we must remember that the testimony of those who suffered the facts or who practiced them can and must be modified, depending on “our memories”.
It is not about forgiveness, or about building a new narrative, but Paul Ricoeur recalls Raymond Aron in his Introduction to the Philosophy of History, as what he calls the “retrospective illusion of fatality” and which he opposes to the historian’s obligation to transport himself to the moment of action and become contemporary with the authors.
The author sentences: “all memory is selective”, and reminds the author “if one could implement the oblivion of escape, the strategy of excuse, the task of bad faith, which makes passive-active oblivion a perverse undertaking”, then not just forget, but re-see.
The point in Ricoeur’s text where the testimony can be inserted is precisely this where he states, trying to combine forgiveness with work and mourning: “He marries one and the other. And, joining both, it brings what in itself is not work, but precisely a don”. Isn´t gift because in French (don, term used in the work of Marcel Mauss) or in Italian donno, whose translation is difficult but would be gratuity, I don’t like a gift because although it may have something divine, it is a detachment from the one who gives (forgiveness) the testimony.
Recalling the biblical Adamic myth, death, revenge and war seem natural, but it is the gift (don) and forgiveness that can turn civilization around and build peace and prosperity.
Ricoeur, P. (1967) Symbolism of Evil, Harper & Row Pub, New York: USA. (pdf)
Error and forgiveness
17
Aug
From a scientific point of view, finding errors in
methods and analyzes means changing the route and not the research hypothesis, if a hypothesis is not confirmed this is a result and not an error, in fact for Popper this is how science walks, but another thinker Thomas Kuhn argues that there are ruptures or new research hypotheses, quantum physics is an example of this.
Already in philosophy, most philosophers defend that forgiveness is a moral virtue, thus it expresses the human capacity to overcome resentment and revenge, and with this restore interpersonal and social relationships, but there are philosophers who see forgiveness as weakness or illusion, since it denies the seriousness of the evil and the responsibility of the offender.
The contemporary philosopher who dealt with forgiveness was Paul Ricoeur, who developed it without departing from the religious sense (mainly Christian) and sees it as a paradox, as it goes against the unforgivable, that is, that which cannot be repaired or compensated by justice.
The theme is relevant because Ricoeur recalls that the theme became relevant “particularly characteristic of the post-Cold War period, in which so many peoples were submitted to the difficult test of integration of traumatic memories” in a text published in Esprit, no 210 (1995) , pp. 77-82 and which can be found on the Internet or part of the Ricoeur book (1967).
The author places “forgiveness in the energetic action of a work that begins in the region of memory and continues in the region of oblivion” (Ricoeur, 1995), and that a phenomenon “that can be observed on the scale of common consciousness, of memory shared” and clarifies that he wants to avoid the debatable notation of “collective memory”.
Although written well before our time, as much the totalitarian question is at stake as the question of colonialism, and this means a “shared” memory that can lead to fury.
The philosopher uses the vocabulary of the German philosopher R. Roselleck, who opposes “our global historical consciousness”, which he calls the “space of experience” and, on the other hand, the “horizon of waiting”, if we look at our experience almost we can overcome hatred and resentment between peoples and cultures, so I consider it correct not to use “collective memory”.
It is necessary to overcome historical errors, misconceptions and paths already trodden, which led us to chaos.
Ricoeur, P. (1967) Symbolism of Evil, Harper & Row Pub, New York: USA. (pdf).
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.
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 moral decay of the state and trust
08
Aug
The most serious social crisis in our state
is that even being democratically elected, elected officials such as deputies, senators, mayors and the highest representatives of countries are not worthy of credulity and respect and this sometimes explodes beyond what is moral.
Trust as an epistemological concept, which can give credibility to the term, is essential if we think about social, family life or friendship circles, but there is no consensus on a reliable definition, not wanting to make a redundancy.
If we read scholars we see that they felt the need to verify the origins of the concept, in the search to better understand its use in areas of knowledge where there is an epistemological arrangement that helps this clarification.
A pioneering work on the subject was developed by David Hume, who from the historical reasons regarding the role of testimony in the justification of beliefs, which ended up being known as Testimony Epistemology.
Who imagines that this is an outdated subject and has little or nothing to say to current thought, I quote the thought of Giogio Agamben in an interview in Il Manifesto, in which he said? “Against this testimonial experience of myth stands the myth conception of modernity, which (in the form of the demythologizing and science of myth on the one hand and the search for a ‘new mythology’ on the other) is actually only the shadow produced by Enlightenment reason” (reproduced in Flanagens, on 06-14-2021), said the octogenarian Italian philosopher.
Both in oral and written culture, testimony is important, but a question arises for today: why do we trust, if not in all, at least in many testimonies?
In the history of epistemology, testimony as a source of true beliefs has been relegated to the background or disallowed in philosophical conduct, because the current tradition of epistemology is strongly individualistic.
The social aspect of knowledge acquisition, therefore, was not part of the knowledge problem. But it is not difficult to demonstrate our epistemic dependence on others for the acquisition of true beliefs.
It is not possible to restore trust without a true Testimony Epistemology.
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.
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.
Conflict rages and hope for peace
31
Jul
The combat front extends across the entire 
eastern region of Ukraine, which claims advances, while Russia is again bombing the ports of grain stocks in Ukraine, which threatens the food security of several countries.
Putin promises to deliver grain “for free” to several African countries, but South Africa warns it is not enough, and Niger has had a Russian-backed coup d’état, and President Hohamed Bazoum is jailed, while General Abdourahamane Tchiani has taken over. the country, the European EU cut all support given to the country, with France having interests in the country’s business.
The Wagner group of mercenaries from Russia operated in the region, having influenced the positions of Mali and currently influence Burkina Faso, the group is currently in Belarus and raises fears of Poland that it could cause a conflict in the region, expanding the war zone and reaching NATO’s “weak points”.
Mali and Burkina Faso are among the poorest countries in the world and dependent on foreign aid, both for food security and military, they are predominantly agricultural countries.
Hope comes from Saudi Arabia, which will host a meeting in the city of Jeddah to address the situation of the war in Ukraine, in addition to Brazil and India, which are members of the Brics, the United Kingdom, Poland and South Africa are among countries that confirmed their attendance, Egypt, Indonesia, Mexico, Chile and Zambia are among the guests, US Security Secretary Jake Sullivan is expected to attend the meeting and Putin will not attend.
The meeting is important because there were accusations to the OPEC+ group, on October 22, that oil producing countries are supporting Russia, however the bloc, along with other countries invited to the meeting, maintains a firm position of expanding peace talks.
The meeting to attempt a peace agreement in Ukraine will take place on the 6th and 7th of August, while the Brics will have a meeting on the 22nd to the 24th of August and China proposes the inclusion of Saudi Arabia and Indonesia in the group, while Brazil and India resist the idea, Putin should not participate.
Jeddah (or Giddah) (photo) is located on the edge of the Red Sea, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, has 23 sister cities, including Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, Odessa in Ukraine, Kazan and Saint Petersburg in Russia, and its main twinning (another sister city concept) is with Miami of the US.
