Taxes, profit and tithing
15
Aug
Whenever a crisis appears on the horizon, the
most common temptation is to overload society and the issue of taxation is on the agenda not only in Brazil, but worldwide.
For benefits to be incorporated into civil life, the state needs taxes, but they should not serve as perks of the state since it is a service provided to society, and taxes incorporated into costs and prices distort and can strangle investments, savings public and private and inhibit export.
The problems in the country are enormous, the most common is double taxation (taxes on services that are already taxed, road fees for example), but governments are insatiable, they need to feed the plentiful tables of those who sustain them in power.
Profit must be thought of as having three purposes, the maintenance of social services that also serve companies, goods and social security that serve all citizens, especially workers, and the growth of the company itself and the country in investments.
Finally, the contribution to the cultural, social and religious interests of specific groups can be seen both as a society, to which everyone freely opts, and as a compulsory one, provided that there is a prior agreement for this.
The important thing is to understand that fraternal relationships, which are spontaneous, differ from obligatory ones, which imply a type of society that, once broken, the bond is lost, and this must be the case of tithing, spontaneous donation and action “between friends”.
In the philosophical field, Paul Ricoeur wrote about these relationships between partner and neighbor (Le socius et le Prochain, 1954) and
Those who doubt that this is biblical, I recommend reading Mt 17,25 when asked if they paid the temple tax: Peter replied: “Yes, pay”. Upon entering the house, Jesus came forward and asked, “Simon, what do you think: Who do the kings of the earth collect taxes or fees from: children or strangers?” to which Peter replied of the strangers, but Jesus, in order “not to offend” ordered that the taxes be paid.
The three behaviors are not far apart: dishonest profits, high tribute, and temple taxes.
Dangers of expanding war
14
Aug
While on the front of Russia and Ukraine the danger
that the war will spread to all continents is more and more real, the coup d’état in Niger, in the sub-Saharan region that already has other conflicts and ruptures with democracy, is at the limit and the nations themselves African women threaten to intervene.
This region, where Chad, Mali and Niger are located, is one of the poorest regions in the world with high rates of infant mortality, illiteracy and low life expectancy, however the wealth of minerals attracts interest in these countries of Russia and France .
The leaders of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) have approved the military intervention in Niger, as the recently democratically elected president Mohmed Bazoum has been ousted and is under house arrest.
At the meeting, President of Côte d’Ivoire, Alassane Quattarao stated that the intention is for the military operation to begin “as soon as possible” so we will have a new war front on another continent, while the climate between South and North Korea increases tension in the east.
In Argentina and Ecuador, during the electoral period tensions increase, the Argentine surprise was the victory of the anarcho-capitalist Javier Milei of Libertad Avanza, while within the proposal Juntos por el Cambio, of Macrista tendency (ex-president Macri) Patricia Bulrrich of the Proposal Republican won Hora Rodrigues Larreta, there is still the candidate Sergio Massa, government economist, with little chance for the economic ruin of Argentina.
In Argentina, analysts estimate that the economic decline has made society bet on new proposals, with the risk that new things always carry, it is not clear what they will do, the elections will take place on October 22nd.
In Ecuador, the death by assassination of the candidate Fernando Villavicencio, of the Construye Movement, shows the action of paramilitary groups in politics, this Sunday (13) the movement announced the new candidate Christian Zurita, but tensions of political violence continue.
It is necessary to relaunch the principle of self-determination of peoples, respect for sovereignty and democracy in countries and limit military interventions and their actions in the field of politics.
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 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.
New holodomor and the war
07
Aug
While there are expectations of new 
meetings for peace with Jeddah in Saudi Arabia, the perspectives of a greater involvement of other countries in the war grow with the danger of a war on a global scale.
In the harsh period of the former Soviet Union, there had already been a conflict between the Russian Soviet Republic and the Ukrainian Soviet Republic, the holodomor in 1931-32, in which the dictator Joseph Stalin confiscated Ukrainian production, killing a large number of Ukrainians from starvation, there is a book on the subject (pdf), the ukrainians managed many years after declaring this episode of their national life as a genocide.
Russia had already undermined Ukraine’s supply sources, now it systematically bombs ports and grain storage sites and spreads mines across the borders of the conquered territory, the Ukrainian economy already in ruins, now suffers a hard blow and with that there are a threat to world grain supplies.
The internal battlefront remains tough, with small advances in the counteroffensive, but the pole is now moving towards the Black Sea, where grain export ships can be hit and already a provocation with Poland, by the Wagner group that is in Belarus .
Some discourses and narratives hide the horrors of war, death of civilians, distribution and disasters in rivers and energy sources, and violation of war treaties, with mutilation and torture of prisoners, and use of weapons of war prohibited by international agreements such as, land mines, white phosphorus bombs and cluster bombs.
An involvement of Poland and Belarus, would be the first scale of a world war, reminiscent of the invasion of Germany in 1st. of September 1939, which was the trigger for the involvement of several countries, the first to declare war were England and France.
The political and financial involvement of other countries is already practically declared, with forces alongside Ukraine and Russia, but common sense still makes some countries and more cautious diplomats think about the disaster for the economy in addition to the serious danger of using nuclear force.
The forces for peace have started a conference of senior officials from around 40 countries, including the US, China, South Africa and India and are taking part in the discussions in the coastal city of Jeddah, on the Red Sea, being European newscasters, including the German DW (Deutsch Welle), without the participation of Russia.
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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.
