Dialogue and Universalism

The author points to the spiritual relationship between certain underlying ideas in the philosophy of Gernot Böhme—especially in the areas of aesthetics and anthropology—and the typical features of Japanese culture as visible in its art, language and everyday life. For this, he turns to Böhme’s essay On the Aesthetics of the Ephemeral to show the typically ephemeral character of the Japanese painting school, he also reflects on the sophisticated aesthetics of Japanese culinary art. In Mueller’s opinion Japanese culture in many ways put some of Böhme’s philosophical postulates to practical use, notably those concerning the contemplative tendencies of individuals, the obliteration in experience of the difference between the subjective and objective (and in language between the active and passive voice), and the passive acceptance of atmospheric factors.

Following the suggestion expressed in the title of this essay, I deal with the idea which allows for considering landscape garden as a paradigmatic indicator of our relationship with nature. Focusing on the idea of landscape garden and its aesthetics I analyze two aesthetic notions: the picturesque and sublime, which are the background of the kind of experience accompanying a perception and participation of and in the landscape and environment. I analyse the kind of experience, which captures all the aspects that situate the human in the environment instead of opposing it. The analysis will be conducted within the framework of aesthetics.

The paper treats Gernot Böhme’s project of new aesthetics as a signal of the advent of postmodern cosmology with the status of a philosophical theory. The main task of this study is to use some categories of Gernot Böhme’s aesthetics in discussing the processes of aestheticization of reality not only in terms of changes that occur between the human environment in the spatial but also in temporal dimension. The starting point is the analysis of aesthetic sense experience with a cognitive character. This experience is analyzed by Böhme within three main fields of aesthetic interest: nature, design, and art. The processes of aestheticizing reality blur the boundaries between the natural and the artificial to such an extent that the essence of aesthetic cognition should be investigated by analyzing nature together with design. Böhme’s categories of philosophy of nature can be utilized creatively to analyze aesthetic experience of the past. The phenomenon of the ephemeral and the concept of atmospheres take the rhythms of nature into account but it contrasts them with the human conception of time. The postmodern attitude towards time suggests a different theoretical approach that can be treated as the expansion of Böhme’s aesthetics, which is more focused on analyzing changes in space.

The essay reconstructs the main aspects of Gernot Böhme’s philosophy of technolo-gy. In polemical reference to Max Horkheimer’s and Jürgen Habermas’ critical theory, Böhme asks about the rationality criteria of technology. He does not view his philosophy of technology as part of the philosophy of science but places it on the boundary between philosophical anthropology and social philosophy. Böhme reflects on the ethically negative, neutral and positive effects of the technification process both on the identity of contemporary humans and the changes taking place in social integration patterns. He also discusses the cultural sources of resistance to “invasive technification” not only in Western culture but also that of the Far East. The author closes his reflections with a set of questions about what he considers to be open issues in the Boehme’s philosophy of technology.

My intention in this paper is to answer two quite separate questions in a single interpretational narrative: a) about the philosophical (and often critical) content of Gernot Böhme’s expressis verbis—and, at times, “between the lines”—reference to the legacy of critical theory (especially the philosophical thought of Max Horkheimer, Theodor W. Adorno and Jürgen Habermas), and b) Böhme’s use of interesting mediatory devices to combine three different philosophical discourses: the philosophy of science, ethics and aesthetics. The three are in fact related—after all, Horkheimer ran comparisons between “traditional” and “critical” theory, Adorno is the father of the original aesthetical theory, and Habermas laid the ground for what we call “discursive ethics”—but this is a matter for separate and broader treatment. In this perforce shorter paper I will only attempt some initial reflections on the subject.

The psychological gap based on distrust and mutual ignorance between the Islamic world and the rest of the world, including Japan, has never been wider than it is today. Some might think that Islamic and other civilizations share little common ground in terms of basic values concerning humanity. Some even claim that “the clash of civilizations” is inevitable. However, it is too early to conclude that these civilizations will always be in conflict with each other. Although their theological interpretations of God and the teachings of their religions show clear contrasts, there might be some common values that they can share in social life. One of the most prestigious and well-known Islamic boarding schools or Pesantren in Indonesia, Al-Mukumin of Solo in Central Java, offers fundamentalist education. Yet, the students in this school still learn about the importance of co-existence with non-Muslims through social activities and classroom instructions. Multiculturalism and the appreciation of non-Muslims are clearly emphasised in the curriculum. Based on the field research conducted in January 2013, I will attempt to picture the state of Islamic education in Indonesia and identify some values common to Islamic and other civilizations, such as Western and Japanese.

The article considers the aesthetic meaning of Catholic and Orthodox cultural phenomena. According to the author, Catholicism is closely related to the notion of the tragic, which is manifested in the contrast between the Heavenly (spirit) and the Earthly (body). Therefore Catholicism, generating an important aesthetic notion, gave rise to Romanticism. The author regards Orthodoxy as the foundation of the Russian Symbolism (i.e. neo-Romanticism). Its essence is the proclamation of the Beauty of the man, which is revealed in the synergy of the Spiritual (i.e. heavenly) and the Earthly (i.e. bodily). In the aesthetic aspect Catholicism and Orthodoxy rather complement than oppose each other.

Oriented by the philosophical work of Kant and Heidegger, this paper reflects upon some of the ways in which philosophy can inform every day living. First briefly sketching some of the connections between philosophical practice and the cultivation of autonomy, critical rationality, personal responsibility, and attitudes conducive of peace, this paper then turns to the capacity for philosophical contemplation to enrich a life by cultivating sensitivity and attentiveness to meaning and inherent worth.

The article analyzes the historical and philosophical roots of the art of suspicion and its role in the development of modern philosophy and its method. Particular attention is paid to the issues of the comparison of philosophical suspicion and conspiracy theories as a special state of mass consciousness. The article also specifies the dependence of the art of suspicion on the sociology of knowledge and post-theoretical thinking.

The word cosmopolitanism is derived from “cosmos” (universe) and “polites” (citizen). The cosmopolite is a citizen of the world. The Stoics elaborate on the theme, using the ideas of oikeiosis and sympathy as its basis, thus drawing from their physics. Particularly, Epictetus defends cosmopolitanism on the assumption that man is akin to God, whereas Marcus Aurelius highlights the common possession of mind (νοῦς) and that man is by nature able for communal life. For the Stoics man is a social being who can be perfected only within the society of other human beings. The brotherhood of men is grounded on the indubitable axiom that the human soul is the source of the unique good, which is virtue. The distinctive parameter for creating a community is virtue, which is an objective for everyone but also an inherent and ecumenical capacity.

This article studies the unrestraint in beliefs associated with the overemphasizing of our beliefs. The author argues that the intolerance for other points of view appears (among other factors) because of a naively-objectivist understanding of philosophy, one which is based on two assumptions: first, philosophy is considered only as a theory and not an individual practice, not an experience, and second, the truth is considered as identical to a certain ideal-objective content that can be in one’s possession.There are true ideas and proper words. If we learn these ideas, we will definitely seize the truth. The author opposes this understanding the notion of philosophy which is based on the experience of the encounter and upon reflexive comprehension of this experience. It is possible to minimize unrestraint in beliefs if we assume that all the points of view including our own are considered as belonging to the incomprehensible Absolute.

Philosophy is an inquiry and way of life. Is it possible to apply this formula to aesthetics? There is no doubt that aesthetics is always an investigation, a questioning. However, is it possible to speak about aesthetics as a way of life, too? To answer this question, it is necessary to understand what happens in aesthetic theory today, or rather, what is contemporary aesthetics of today.

In my paper I will argue for the thesis that spiritual exercises are an essential part of every philosophical life. My arguments are partly historical, partly conceptual in their nature. First, I show that philosophy at each stage of its history was accompanied by spiritual exercises. Next, I provide a definition of spiritual exercises as genuinely philosophical activity. Then I show that the philosophical life cannot be complete if it does not include spiritual exercises.

This article states that the search for the meaning of life is possible only through an address to non-existence, and it is a sign of genuine human self-care. Religion and philosophy are considered as incarnation of the space of care. Philosophy here is understood in a broad sense, not as a rigorous science, but as search for wisdom. Based on the structure of self-care, given in Michel Foucault’s works, here are revealed peculiarities of the search for the meaning of life in respective fields. This also implies different lifestyles. The author believes that genuine self-care is available to everyone, in spite of the nature of modern mass culture.

The article deals with the category of sense. It examines the meaningfulness of the absurd and takes realism to be a basic strategy in comprehending being. This strategy is compared with constructivism and reflection, or correspondence (copy) theory.

The principle of unity, interrelation of being and history is viewed here as a principle of ontology, gnoseology and epistemology, as a basis of updating philosophical outlooks, especially the problem of man and his relationship to the world (world-attitude). It is shown that consciousness was been interpreted in the context of a specific type of relations of man to the world. To overcome subjectivism a deep sense of objectivity of being and its development in relation to man is restored. A three-tier definition of being is given: substantive, attributive, and properly historical. The relationship of human activity to being and its development is explicated.

In this paper, the author-developed conception of the “situationality of being,” i.e. the extension of the theory of the “philosophy of nonbeing,” is presented; the generalized definition of the notion “situation” is formulated; and the essence of the “situationality of being” is explained. The conception of the “situationality of being” makes it possible to develop the situational pattern of the world; in accordance with this conception, “the world is the situation of situations,” The world appears before us in the form of one gigantic situation due to the interaction of various situational factors of different level and different qualities, which lead in the long run to a certain situative dynamic balance (the so-called existent world).