Thomas Hurka has argued that Nietzsche’s positive ethical views can be formulated as a version of perfectionism that posits an objective conception of the good as the maximization of power and assigns to all agents the same goal of maximizing the perfection of the best. I show that Hurka’s case for both parts of this interpretation fails on textual grounds and that the kind of theory he proposes is in conflict with Nietzsche’s general approach to morality. The alternative reading for (...) which I argue defends a form of perfectionism as the value perspective of a ‘noble type’ that may emerge in the wake of a revaluation of all values. The basis of this perfectionism is an individual’s projection of an ideal of life to which she ascribes intrinsic value and in terms of which the value of other things is assessed. Justifying this reading requires drawing a distinction between life-denying ideals – forms of the ‘ascetic ideal’ – and life-affirming ‘counterideals’. It also requires recognizing that the perfection of the noble type is expressed in an individual ideal that cannot be shared with others, as opposed to a common ideal of human perfection. (shrink)

This article features the contributions of Fichte and Schopenhauer to a philosophical account of action against the background of Kant's earlier and influential treatment of the topic. The article first presents Kant's pertinent contributions in the areas of general epistemology and metaphysics, general practical philosophy, the philosophy of law and ethic. Then the focus is on Fichte's further original work on the issue of action in those same areas. Finally, the article turns to Schopenhauer's radical revision of the Kantian and (...) Fichtean affirmative accounts of acting and willing through the correlated introduction of the irrational will, the self-negated will and ethical inaction. (shrink)

The article aim is to turn the spotline on the main thesis of refl ection of Descartes’ skepticism doctrine as well one’s argumentation estimation at the context of thinker’s creativeness. These steps will promote the overcoming of one-dimensional comprehension of his attitude on skepticism as an essential part of his doctrine. That is why it has sense to concentrate an attention on some interpretations of key motives of Cartesian anti-skeptic approach at research literature as well as defi ne the place (...) of anthropological project at these motives fi rstly. Secondly, make an accent on the key role of anthropological dimension of one’s doctrine at the context of philosophical polemics with skepticism. The analysis of interpretations of Descartes’ heritage as well as one’s original texts demonstrates the absence of adequate interpretation of one’s place at the history of skepticism. The specifi c place of Descartes’ anti-skepticism is also demonstrated. Most of researchers pay ones’ attention on the tight vision of Modern Age at the form of development of scientifi c worldview. This position does not takes into account the contemporary level of Descartes’ studies. First of all, authors make an accent on the need to overcome the fragmentary vision of thinker’s heritage. Secondly, the valuable role of anthropological dimension of Descartes’ texts is underlined. This position lets perform more authentic perception of one’s anti-skeptic approach. In the course of fi nding the roots of researched situation, the authors’ attention was consistently concentrated on the features of the contemporary interpretation of Modern Age request which is reduced to development of scientifi c worldview by the skepticism researchers. Such position marginalizes the anthropological component of one’s doctrine. (shrink)

Biological attention to evolution and animal life has primarily emphasized a filiative approach that, although important, overlooks crucial dimensions highlighted by an ecological approach to animal human societies. Increased attention to singular animals and critical scrutiny of the operating definitions of society and culture indicates that vast dimensions of this area have been overlooked and remain to be studied. It is particularly important to pursue the aspects of signification, meaning, individuation, and subjectivity. Attention to animal human societies, or to animal (...) cultures that develop in the heart of human cultures, shows that humans and animals often form extimate relations based on particular aspects of animal subjectivity. With certain species we share a dense form of intertwining built on natural, cultural, and biographical histories. Beyond that, an argument on biosemiotic grounds maintains that culture is intrinsic to the living. (shrink)

In the process of history, not only models of the world, but the very subject of philosophy, changes. Therefore, it seems to me, it is not quite right to reject the definition of culture as a personal or subjective aspect of history just because subject and object are attributes of rational knowledge. If we speak of culture as the being in which man lives, the question naturally arises as to how man can exist without being related to society and, in (...) general, what is man? The very concept of culture assumes that man is not just an individual but a person, because he possesses reflective thought. A second point: the novelty of contemporary philosophy lies in the point that, in the process of its development, philosophy began to understand-and it was precisely the contemporary period that brought it to this-that its only subject is man. This is important because such an understanding of the subject of philosophy makes it possible not to counterpose it to culture or isolate it from the latter, but to make it a guide to culture in the sense that culture itself presupposes reflective thought. Now, specifically on A. Iu. Shemanov's paper. (shrink)

Elitist readers, such as John Rawls, see Nietzsche as concerned only with the flourishing of a few great contributors to culture; egalitarian readers, such as Stanley Cavell, see Nietzschean culture as a universal affair involving every individual’s self-cultivation. This paper offers a compromise, reading Nietzsche as a ‘cultural elitist’ for whom culture demands that a few great individuals be supported in a voluntary, rather than state-mandated way. Rawls, it claims, is therefore misguided in worrying that Nietzsche’s elitism is a threat (...) to justice. The paper focuses on Nietzsche’s Schopenhauer as Educator, the key text in the elitist-egalitarian debate. (shrink)

Recent developments in Particle Physics and Cosmology lead one naturally to the existence of many universes. Although direct confi rmation of other universes is diffi cult, it is not impossible. This paper is a look at a new theory of multiple universes. The idea of t = 0, goes back long before the creation of our universe. The “Total Universe’ contains many universes like our universe. The number of universes is infi nite, so some universes are far older than our (...) universe. These ultimate areas of space were our universe started, is still creating new universes. Many big bangs have occurred in the past, and many big bangs will occur in the future. Big bangs are not something that happens just once or twice. Many diff erent universes exist; in this larger area of space we can call the ‘Total Universe’. In the ‘Total Universe’ the second law of thermodynamics is violated. The second Law of thermodynamics is a general law; it is not a universal law. The level of disorder in the ‘Total Universe’ is both increasing, and decreasing. In the ‘Total Universe’, entropy can increase, decrease, or remain constant. Individual universes are being created in the ‘Total Universe’; in these areas of the ‘Total Universe’ energy is not conserved. The ‘Total Universe’ is an energy creating machine. The conservation of energy is a general law because there are areas where external forces are being created so that the conservation of energy would not be valid. (shrink)

Consumer society has negated Freud's thesis presented in Civilization and its Discontents. The hindrance of desire affirmation is no longer the foundation of discontent. The inverse is now true. A seemingly limitless number of desires have been manufactured and administered with a solitary route to their affirmation via consumption. Because of this, consumer society's members find themselves in a lifeworld of aimless striving, dissatisfaction, disappointment and boredom. I demonstrate that the attempt to flee the sufferings of estranged labour through consumption (...) has pushed consumer society into a new web of suffering brought on by a continual development of manufactured desires, creating a minor yet perpetual pain that is best understood in the light of a sociologized and historicized Schopenhauerian philosophy. (shrink)

The author considers the meanings of the term “errant man” in the paper. The birth of man is his abandonment in being and wandering in it. It is important that wandering in being have direction, the source that drives man, forms the authenticity existence. Based on the ideas of Heidegger, the author argues that such a source for “errant man” is “Lichtung”. “Lichtung” is the light that guides man in being, which warns wandering from delusion, thereby keeps it within the (...) bounds of authenticity existence. An important place in establishing “Lichtung” is occupied by cosmological models that reveal the true place of man in the scale of the cosmos. The author considers The “Evolving Matter” theory as “Lichtung”, namely, how a particular cosmological model performs the functions of light that drives man, directs his activity and expands the boundaries of self-realization. Cosmological models integrate culture into cosmic processes; concentrate in themselves knowledge, which in Plato’s terms provide “ascent to the Divine.”. (shrink)

The author considers the meanings of the term “errant man” in the paper. The birth of man is his abandonment in being and wandering in it. It is important that wandering in being have direction, the source that drives man, forms the authenticity existence. Based on the ideas of Heidegger, the author argues that such a source for “errant man” is “Lichtung”. “Lichtung” is the light that guides man in being, which warns wandering from delusion, thereby keeps it within the (...) bounds of authenticity existence. An important place in establishing “Lichtung” is occupied by cosmological models that reveal the true place of man in the scale of the cosmos. The author considers The “Evolving Matter” theory as “Lichtung”, namely, how a particular cosmological model performs the functions of light that drives man, directs his activity and expands the boundaries of self-realization. Cosmological models integrate culture into cosmic processes; concentrate in themselves knowledge, which in Plato’s terms provide “ascent to the Divine.”. (shrink)