Proceedings of the XXIII World Congress of Philosophy

Starting from Kant’s well-known dictum which has become a topos in the professional didactic of teaching philosophy the author presents on the one hand the underlying approach to philosophy which is not limited to one particular philosophical school or to school in general, but, inspired by everyday life, focuses on the conditio humana. On the other hand, she delineates the underlying concept of teaching and learning as having dialogue character, as a process guided by reason and argument, which is related both to the topic under discussion and to the persons involved. This approach is developed in Socratic-centered professional didactics which derive their inspiration from the conversation tradition of L. Nelson and G. Heckmann. The paradigm of this form of dialogue is developed in the constitutive elements of the market place in its fourfold universality, building upon the experience of the subject, the anti-dogmatic character in content and method, the self-assurance of reason as the court of appeal and above all maieutics, which dispenses with competitive behavior in discussion and establishes a sympathetic and tolerant culture of debate; the manner of substantiation by means of the “Regressive Method of Abstraction” is in every way as specific as consensus about the truth of a sentence formulated by the group – the ideal ever to be pursued. These constitutive elements are analysed individually with a view to making use of the Socratic dialogue approach in schools, the aim being to underline the opportunities they offer young people to learn what fruitful and unambiguous philosophizing means.

This article argues that a social constructivist approach to teaching critical reasoning is reductionist because it sees knowledge construction predominantly as a rational process of critical reflection. Research in adult education and theories of learning indicates that social constructivism fails educational practices. These studies suggest that this is the result of focusing too narrowly on cognitive knowledge. However, I argue that, while the impact of socio-cultural realities and political power structures on epistemological paradigms and educational practices cannot be ignored, social constructivism falls short of taking into account embodied everyday experiences that form the vital context within which sense-making takes place. The article challenges social constructivism in maintaining that teaching and learning critical reasoning is a fully embodied process, inseparable from the experiential life-world of the learner that co-emerges with the complex structures of the environment. Following an enactivist approach, I propose a revisiting of the current social constructivist teaching paradigm so as to reconsider the question of how we learn things and to understand the process whereby meanings are created not only rationally, but also across multidimensional contexts and complex situations in which learners operate and of which they form an integral part.

The PRINCONSER (Being Conservation Principle its acronym in Spanish = Principio de Conservación del Ser) method has been developed based on the need for conservation of human beings and human society as a whole. It is a philosophical method that seeks to integrate both philosophy and science. Both philosophy and science are human knowledge. The PRINCONSER method has ontological, epistemological, axiological and philosophical anthropology foundations. Applications of this method are related to its foundations: The ontological foundation has application in philosophy. The epistemological foundation has application in science. The axiological foundation has application in education and culture of behaviour. And philosophical anthropology has application in human sciences. Today humanity follows the way of self-destruction. The first problem is the breach on the three levels of human organization: individual, society, humanity. These three levels of disintegration are a reflection of human knowledge disintegration. Therefore, to address the global problems of the twenty-first century, we need to integrate human knowledge in a philosophical system. The fundamental instrument for the integration of human knowledge is the philosophical method.

The aim of this paper is to investigate the arguments in favor of philosophical education in the dimension of the political, namely, the significance of teaching philosophy for the sake of modern liberal and democratic state. The main reference points are the ideas of Jurgen Habermas and Martha Nussbaum, as representatives of different philosophical traditions and attentive observers of modern societies, who (indirectly or directly) discussed these issues. Firstly, the concern expressed by Habermas with regard to the processes observed in western societies causing the instrumental rationality to take over the lifeworld is being presented. Secondly, more specific issue, is being discussed - an issue described in the works of Nussbaum, concerning connections between teaching curricula and requirements of citizenship. The last part of the paper presents arguments in favor of a thesis that inclusion of philosophy courses in educational programs is of fundamental significance for preserving crucial values of modern liberal democratic states.

Le professeur Kant affirme que la philosophie ne peut être apprise. Comment comprendre ce paradoxe qui sonne comme un défi à tout enseignement de la philosophie? On croit souvent y répondre au moyen de la distinction entre apprendre la philosophie et apprendre à philosopher mise en oeuvre par Kant lui-même mais doit-elle être comprise comme une opposition disjonctive? Et sur quoi au juste porte la réfutation qu’en donne Hegel? Faut-il l’entendre comme un entier refus de l’affirmation kantienne ou comme une critique de la pédagogie qui s’en réclamerait? A partir de l’examen des textes, on montrera sur quoi Kant et Hegel se distinguent et sur quoi ils s’accordent, et on cherchera à déterminer ce qu’est apprendre en éclairant le rapport qui unit le maître et l’élève dans l’acte d’enseignement.

L’intention qui anime cette recherche est de comprendre la nature et les conditions d’apparition de l’étonnement philosophique vécu par les élèves des cours de philosophie au pré-universitaire. Ce travail vise à approfondir une réflexion sur les fondements de l’enseignement de la philosophie au pré-universitaire. L’intuition accompagnant cette intention avance qu’à l’origine de l’apprentissage du philosopher se trouve l’expérience de l’étonnement.

El tema de la enseñanza y el aprendizaje de la filosofía se plantea a tenor de las siguientes preguntas: ¿es necesaria la enseñanza de la filosofía?, ¿hacen falta herramientas de análisis, crítica y reflexión para la configuración de las sociedades democráticas de hoy? Estudios actuales de la UNESCO dan una idea acerca del estado de la enseñanza de la filosofía en el mundo, al tiempo que permiten analizar las posibilidades educativas de la filosofía como instancia indispensable para la configuración de ciudadanos formados, más allá de la pura información, al servicio de la cual, hoy en día, se encuentran tecnologías como Internet; repositorio ingente de datos. Enseñar filosofía por un lado y aprender a filosofar por otro sitúan a los actores en la perspectiva de lo propiamente humano; el análisis, la crítica y la reflexión frente a las más diversas problemáticas, esto parece haber sido la filosofía en el pasado y esto mismo parece mantenerla viva en el presente en la certeza de que existirá, mientras haya necesidad de individuos que como seres humanos requieran de formación, además de la elemental y simple información.

The understanding and reflection about the theory of the Critique of the Pure Reason generated intellectual tensions in regard to the rigor and precision of the structure of the theory. The effort was in depth and of conceptual precision. The knowledge of the experience or empirical knowledge, is also called, a posteriori knowledge. This concept was deepened in the sense that the experience doesn’t originate all knowledge. The kind of knowledge that is absolutely independent of all experience is called a priori. In regard to judgments another difference was introduced: analytic and synthetic.

Практика преподавания логики позволяет выделить комплекс проблем, связанных с определением ее возможностей и границ в рамках развития науки в целом. Вопрос обоснования логики - это вопрос о природе логического. Какой наукой она является теоретической или эмпирической, имеет ли она собственный базис? Можно ли оценивать законы мышления как абсолютно объективные или необходимо включение субъекта познавательной деятельности в обоснование логических систем? Классическое понимание проблемы правильности и истинности сегодня также является недостаточным. Современная познавательная ситуация требует разработки и преподавания логики не только как теории рассуждений, а прежде всего как основы познавательных сеток, которые позволяют человеку конструировать новые теоретические модели мира. Такое понимание места и роли классической логики в системе современного знания позволяет установить связь между собственными проблемами логики и теми вопросами, которые представляют особый интерес для современной науки.

Με δεδομένη τη δύσκολη κατάσταση του μαθήματος της φιλοσοφίας στη δευτεροβάθμια εκπαίδευση, παρουσιάζεται μια πρόταση διδασκαλίας φιλοσοφικά αποδεκτή και παιδαγωγικά νόμιμη, εφόσον, αφενός, δεν προδίδει την ουσία της φιλοσοφίας ως «δημιουργικής ελευθερίας του φιλοσοφείν» και, αφετέρου, εμπνέεται από τα σύγχρονα δεδομένα της παιδαγωγικής επιστήμης. Διάλογος και πολυφωνία, στο πλαίσιο διερευνητικών και συνεργατικών διαδικασιών μάθησης, με την υιοθέτηση ενός νέου τύπου (πολυ)γραμματισμού (multiliteracy) και τη χρήση των δυνατοτήτων που παρέχει η τεχνολογία, σε συνδυασμό με την ερμηνευτική προσέγγιση φιλοσοφικών κειμένων, μπορούν να υπηρετήσουν αποτελεσματικά τους βασικούς στόχους της φιλοσοφικής στοιχείωσης (προβληματοποίηση, εννοιοποίηση, επιχειρηματολογία), ανανεώνοντας συγχρόνως το ενδιαφέρον των εκπαιδευτικών και καθιστώντας το μάθημα ελκυστικό για τους μαθητές.

Στην παρούσα ανακοίνωση θα επικεντρωθούμε στο θέμα της χρήσης ψηφιακών εργαλείων στη διδακτική πρακτική της φιλοσοφίας στη Δευτεροβάθμια Εκπαίδευση στη θεωρητική θεμελίωσή της. Η φιλοσοφία και η διδασκαλία της με τη χρήση ψηφιακών εργαλείων σε πολλές περιπτώσεις θεωρούνταν ασύμβατες. Ωστόσο, όπως συμβαίνει και σε κάθε άλλο γνωστικό αντικείμενο, η διδασκαλία της φιλοσοφίας μπορεί να συνδυαστεί με τις τεχνολογίες της πληροφορίας και της επικοινωνίας1. Άλλωστε η διδακτική προσέγγιση των μαθημάτων στη σημερινή εκπαιδευτική πραγματικότητα έχει τροποποιηθεί, ακολουθώντας τις εξελίξεις μίας εποχής αδιαμφισβήτητα τεχνολογικής.

Harmony is one of the most important philosophical categories in Chinese Taoism and the practice of Tao in the life of Lao Tzu. It emphasizes the unity of Heaven and Earth, humans, all creatures, society, physical and mental substance. By the demonstration and exposition of many Taoist scholars, Harmony has been greatly extended to the social field, and has been very useful in the development of effective programs to manage conflicts among persons, organizations and states. According to Lao Tzu, Harmony could be achieved by returning back into the power of an infant, since an infant is capable to be peaceful, harmonious, soft and natural. Thus, an infant possesses and manifests the greatest morality.

Most scholars accept the proposition that the doctrine of the “Seven Worthies of the Bamboo Grove” was inherited from Chuang-Tzu school. However, most of them believe that Hsiang-Hsiu and Kso-Hsiang’s commentary on Chuang-Tzu flourished Chuang-Tzu’s doctrine in Wei-Chin period. This paper argues that Hsi-Kang’s thought was of great significance, when we make use of “realistic sentiments” connect the thought of Hsi-Kang and Chuang-Tzu together. This paper highlights the significance of Hsi-Kang for the rise of Chuang-Tzu school in Wei-Chin period. Firstly, Hsi-Kang was concerned with individual life and longed for the freedom of the individual as a way to “transcend norms and be obedient to self-nature” in order to explore the spirit of the times. Secondly, by stating that to “transcend norms and be obedient to one’s own mind”, I thereby illuminate that Hsi-Kang appropriated Chuang-Tzu’s doctrine to include a vision of heaven and earth thinking and hoping for breaking through the plight of reality, and thus to develop an open mind. Finally, by Hsi-Kang’s reflection on the traditional functional viewpoint on music, I will explain how Hsi-Kang’s doctrine of “three voice” fable, states that “natural harmony of sound, and unrelated human feelings” can restore the free space of music and art.

According to Daoism, the Dao offers a macro-perspective of observing life, illustrates the whole life from the beginning to the end, and answers the question about the ultimate meaning of life. At the same time, it presents methods for achieving the ultimate value, the core of which is to use the living system of light and sound and, gradually, to integrate with the Dao.

The aim of my presentation is to show that the impact of knowl­edge on the present society is less than one believes. The means is the focus on a special form of knowledge-wisdom. First, I circumscribe the concept of wisdom from the standpoint of opposite as well as close notions. The fact of two levels on which the concept has been conceived is especially highlighted: that of a fragmented and separated cognisance and manners to manage one’s own existence whether this entity is an individual person or a small or large community and that of an integrated wisdom of humanity in a holistic approach. These two levels of wisdom manifest in both the (old and new) popular culture and in the history of social sciences and humanities. The second part questions the experience of life as the origin of wisdom. The point is that, on the one hand, this experience is incommunicable, and on the other hand, the human knowledge is accumulating. This problem of communication of wisdom is inquired in order to emphasise the social constraints (mainly the power relations) that enframe the manifestation of wisdom/wise life at both the individual and social level.

Since World War II social theory has generated two major critical analyses of science as a social phenomenon: that of the Frankfurt School, and of Science and Technology Studies. These academic efforts grew out of a broader movement in Western societies in the decades following the war to reach a better accommodation between science and society, motivated by deep-seated popular anxieties about the challenges posed by the advance of science and technology. In this paper, I first examine the overlooked parallels between these two academic efforts, and go on to explain why they would in the end prove fruitless, indeed somewhat self-defeating. The explanation points to the instrumentalist and constructivist conception of science shared by the two schools which would eventually play into the hands of the “entrepreneurial university” and the commodification of science.

Any human activity can be easily presented as a chain of preparing, making and implementing decisions. The importance of decision-making for social philosophy is due to their role in the life of society and the single individual. The decision is an event which is socially conditioned; it integrates knowledge, interests and the world-view of the person. In the modern world, risk is a feature of everyday life and affects everyone. The choice of a decision in the conditions of risk is usually based on a certain model of rational behavior, which highlights the question of what actions can be considered rational. The answer to this question presupposes certain philosophical and methodological foundations. Philosophy in this case performs an integrating function, combining approaches of various disciplines on the one hand, and forming a common conceptual basis on the other. The paper presents the author’s methodological position that risk is always related to the agent and decisions that he or she makes. In the conditions of risk there always is a quantitative evaluation of the decision’s consequences which is not possible in the conditions of uncertainty, and this is the key factor in distinguishing risk and uncertainty. The author provides justification for the thesis that decision-making in the conditions of risk is not an agent’s confrontation with circumstances beyond their control but a conscious and rational choice. The author also shows the importance of procedural rationality for decision preparation and making.

Since Hegel, Fichte’s theory is called subjective idealism. The theory is divided into a theoretical part and a practical part. The concept of need is very important. It functions as the bridge between the two parts of the overall theory, which literally builds on the concept. The concept of need is different from the concept of drive in Fichte. Since the drive is found in the ‘pure I’, it can’t be fulfilled. Through experience, need which derive from the drive can be satisfied. According to the moral law, the class of scholars should make men acquainted with their true needs and direct their future needs, and also function as the means for satisfying those needs. Only then can society be improved in orienting itself toward the goal of total unity.

The authors estimate up-to-date communicative situation as a crisis one and it is revealed in this article. The problem of intercourse in the sphere of total communication is dramatic. The progressing growth of the world of It happens simultaneously with reduction of I-You relations (inter-course) at the expense of it. Loneliness turns into a global problem of a modern man and raises a question how to overcome this condition practically, which are the methods to overcome it, what thing they depend on, what their in-fluence on an individual is. Deformation of the communicative world causes special method of self-organization of intercourse by this or that display of compensatory intercourse which has reciprocal value and unpredictable re-sults. Particular concern under the conditions of up-to-date communicative situation causes illusive compensatory processes in the sphere of communi-cation that provides forming social communities with negative direction and oriented at illusive self-affirmation and primitive hedonism. We believe that comprehensive understanding of compensatory intercourse allows mastering its productive forms, promoting all-round individual development, clarifies the ways of performing of transzensus from illusive forms of self-affirmation to dialogic self-affirmation, by performing the ways of “direct compensation” by the means of communication to “overcompensation”.

In this paper, I propose to undertake the following four things: first, I want briefly to point up the fractured state of western society which, according to many commentators, has permitted individualism to thrive unchecked and left collective well-being to wither. Second, I wish to rehearse the broad Aristotelian argument that human beings are essentially social animals, and that, therefore, human flourishing is best undertaken in social gatherings or communities. This, then, leads to the third, and main argument that the fashioning of a particular way of life is likely to aid human flourishing, and one of the best accounts of just such a way of life is to be found in the works of the French philosopher, Pierre Hadot. My concern is to offer a (necessarily truncated) analysis of Hadot’s overall thesis which rests on the recasting of certain ancient spiritual exercises as four ‘learnings-to’: learning to live, learning to die, learning to dialogue, and learning to read. Fourth, and last, I wish to say something about the central and iconic figure that embodies these spiritual exercises, namely, Socrates. In so doing, I hope to demonstrate that Socrates’ example of how to live a life is central to our current concerns, and that the reasons for actions in contemporary society may be derived from what I call ‘the Socratic imperative’: a transformation of the self, and a counter-cultural critique which aims at the transformation of society.