Dialogue and Universalism

My reflections focus on the ideal of science and the contemporary condition of science. I believe the distinction between the ideal of science and praxis of science is essential in inquiries into what science is today, what its position is and should be in the human world. I analyse the critical stance towards science that is so widespread in contemporary philosophy. It is demonstrated that today’s ever-widening chasm between the ideal of science (its nature, established anthropically already in ancient times) and its contemporary praxis is the main problem hampering the science of our day and a problem for the entire human world, present and future. In the paper it is proved inter alia that main philosophical arguments against science (first of all, arguments about the instrumentalisation of the reason by science and the oppressive role of science in today’s world) arouse serious doubts.

In the last decade, robustness has been extensively mentioned and discussed in biology as well as in the philosophy of the life sciences. Nevertheless, from both fields, someone has affirmed that this debate has resulted in more semantic confusion than in semantic clearness. Starting from this claim, we wish to offer a sort of prima facie map of the different usages of the term. In this manner we would intend to predispose a sort of “semantic platform” which could be exploited by those who wish to discuss or simply use it. We do this by starting from a core distinction between the robustness of representations, which is a philosophy of science issue, and the representations of robustness, which instead pertains to science. We illustrate our proposal with examples from biology, physics and mathematics.

This paper links the claims of neuroscientist Antonio Damasio to the civilization of the Ancient Greeks. Although Damasio’s book, Looking for Spinoza: Joy, Sorrow and the Feeling Brain, makes the argument for the connection between Spinoza and neuroscience, he says that he prefers Aristotle’s model of human flourishing, but he does not describe Aristotle’s model. I explain Aristotle’s model and connect neuroscience to Aristotle and to the educational system underlying Greek mythology, Hesiod, Homer, tragedy and other aspects of Greek culture, including the role of the arts, religious rituals and the institutions of Greek democracy.

The ethical constitution of the subject in Michel Foucault’s work relies on the way truth is perceived, and on the way the knowledge of truth is produced. Foucault understands subjectivity as constituted socio-historically by means of particular techniques, which he refers to as “Technologies of the Self.” The main focus of this paper is to present the way in which two different kinds of approaching the truth, the modern scientific and the ancient Greek one, develop different kinds of technologies as ways of forming the subjectivity. It is maintained that the ancient technology of the care of the self can be especially meaningful in contemporary society from an ethical and political perspectives.

The paper proposes an idea of explicating the invariant universal structure of dialogue through the mathematics of knots and braids, which is relevant, both for the development of particular models of communication and/or dialogue, and for constructing a general theory of dialogue, or the theory of utterances. The possibility of modeling dialogue with the help of the mathematics of braids and knots—categories, entities and their attributes—is shown by use of some well-known examples such as parts of the sentence in grammar. Entities and their attributes can be considered as knots, either right or false. The idea is to visualize the chains of these entities: to formalize them not to keep in mind, neither in the text, but to work with them graphically.Nodes, as final structures, and braids that generate them, allow to reveal paradigmatic anomies, conflicts, logical and ethical disagreements, etc., and vice versa: “synonimies,” mutual understanding, unanimity, in a fundamentally new format of perception and understanding of the context of genesis (braids) and results (knots) of dialogue.The visualization of verbal utterance on the basis of the knot and braid mathematics is a significant step towards formalizing the theories of dialogue, both in general theoretical and purely practical plans. The latter is analyzed by the example of the person’s inner dialogue with herself/himself in making decisions: rational and/or irrational (emotional), which allows conducting a specific work with clients of psychotherapy, coaching, management consulting, mediation, etc.

Discussions on the trustworthiness of science concern scientific objectivity. Scientific products, methods, and institutions are objective in three different senses. In each case, the notion of objectivity is applied to the outcomes of the scientific enterprise. This interpretation neglects the human side of objectivity. The trust in science is rational only when it is not grounded in an impersonal view of knowledge. Since trust is a value that connects people, society places its credence not in a system of propositions, a methodology, a tradition, or even—an institution, but rather in the living people that practice science today.

In this paper we interpret and examine critically John Locke’s ideas on cognitive (intellectual) virtues and values presented in his The Conduct of the Understanding (1697). We believe that the cognitive subject’s virtues discussed by Locke are universal. We believe that knowledge and understanding must and can be guided by the pursuit of truth. But this concerns only the motivation component of knowledge, and not its success which is ultimately determined by the epistemic environment.

While violence and conflict are the main problems that must be tackled for a peaceful world, they are caused and sustained through our own thoughts. Though external causes must not be ignored, the most fundamental problem is an epistemological one—our way of knowing and understanding the world. Since its beginning, Buddhism has deepened its analysis of the dynamics of the human mind, both as a root cause of suffering and as a source of harmony. This paper explores how Buddhism's analysis of the human mind can be applied to conflict dynamics, conflict resolution, and building a sustainable peace.

This article examines contradictions between the theory and practice of comparative philosophy in a global world. Aristotle and Plato had different approaches to these “contradictions” that show a “discrepancy” between these two classical thinkers. The topic unaddressed by Plato is taken up in the topos of Nāgārjuna, the great ancient logician of ontology in Mahāyāna Buddhist philosophy (the 3rd century AD). The “contradiction” is a principle that have/had profound influence on creative thought in East Asia. Nishida, the founder of the Kyoto School (20th century), established his philosophy through the principle of “Absolute Contradictory Self-Identity.” This principle may stimulate reflection upon our digitally connected contemporary global world, and the chaos it has to face.

Mikhail Bakhtin’s term “participative reason” (uchastnoe myshlenie) means “reason that acts”—a way of thinking in which a person participates because it is not indifferent to the fate of the Other. The article considers two main trends in the understanding of participative reason. The first is connected with the co-being of I and the Other, the second develops the idea of obligation and non-alibi in being. The article aims to show that the unity of these two interpretations could make “participative reason” a basis for a more decent human world.

The article attempts to analyze methodological ludism—an approach developed by André Droogers, a Dutch scholar studying religion. Droogers relies on Johan Huizinga’s conception claiming that culture (and, consequently, science) is of game-like nature. Game as a methodological principle has two levels: noumenal and phenomenal. The supposition is stated that at the noumenal level (the designatum level) ludism coincides with pantheism. At the phenomenal level (the signifier level) methodological ludism may be compared with its parts: methodological atheism, methodological agnosticism, and methodological theism; also, these components may be compared with one another.

The paper examines democratic concepts or elements in traditional Yoruba society and their implications for the culture of democracy in Africa and the social order at the global level. One of the major problems confronting African states is the problem of governance. Political crises have metamorphosed into problems of ethnic conflict, war, corruption, economic stagnation, social disorder and paucity of sustainable development in Africa and these crises have also resulted in global disequilibrium. This paper revisits traditional Yoruba society, with a special emphasis on the democratic elements. It adopts as its theoretical framework some aspects of the traditional Yoruba socio-ethical values to underscore the importance of democratic elements based on communal values. Such concepts as ifowosowopo (cooperation), agbajo owo (solidarity), amumora (tolerance), and ilosiwaju (progress) are examined to point up their roles in addressing the crisis of (democratic) governance. The paper establishes that the inbuilt democratic elements, based on social ethical values, helped to sustain governance in traditional Yoruba society. It is concluded that democratic elements are much more important than democracy itself.

The recent civilization transition generates socio-cultural challenges for humanitarian policy. How to learn to live in a multicultural world in the face of increasing globalization, integration and the information revolution which multiply differences? What cultural concept can be the basis for the transformation of education and humanitarian policy? The article deals with the dynamics of the comprehension of cultural strategies by applying the concepts of interculturality, multiculturality and transculturality. It is concluded that the concepts of transculturality and transversality are descriptively and normatively suitable to form a new educational policy and, in result, a global cultural citizenship.

As individuals/groups strive to achieve successful integration in the globalizing world, personal/societal values and ideals seem to be seriously destabilized, resulting in different magnitudes of conflict, the lack of cooperation, insecurity, etc. Reactions and observations uphold that successful integration, particularly in a multicultural environment, includes the identification and development of personal/societal values, ideals, and interests. Consequently, relying mainly on Emile Durkheim’s perspective on education and social integration as well as Lev Vygotsky’s social development theory, the author upholds that education is capable of identifying, selecting and developing synergy between personal and societal values and ideals for successful integration.

When African female writing commenced in 1966, it proffered a vista of female protestation of the individuality of woman. The clarion call for a revision and deconstruction of patriarchal values became sonorous and distinct in the politics of gender. Various tools have been employed in this radical political act. Iconoclasm in the bid to destroy the emblems of patriarchy has served as a rude awakening to the dire need for a drastic change of cultural values. In the same vein, utopian devices have opened up a gateway to possibilities of a better world of the evaluation of integrity, probity and development hinged on creativity. There is also a reversal of the hegemonic mode of power where the power process is revaluated and deconstructed. This paper examines the varied thoughts of African female writers and theorists who seem to be entangled in a cultural bind immanent in a measure of ambivalence. It concludes that the female perennial quest for freedom may in point of fact be only chimerical.