Philosophical Writing

Quedan pocas horas para que Sócrates beba el veneno que lo alejará de sus compañeros y de la vida. Platón escribe un diálogo en el que describe el suceso. Por boca del personaje Fedón, narra las horas previas a la muerte de Sócrates con detalle. El personaje nos dice, misteriosamente, que Platón no estuvo allí por presunta enfermedad. Se nos cuenta una historia que entremezcla el desamparo y la esperanza, la ilusión y la filosofía, la muerte y la vida.

Sócrates parte; Platón no asistió al suceso. Afloran voces y presencias, entre las cuales el diálogo logra convocar al lector e interpelarlo. La lectura del diálogo es una invitación a colmar la vacancia que traza la ausencia. Ausencia de los filósofos, grieta textual que nos convoca a la creación, a la interpretación, a la duda, al diálogo.

Sócrates se dice un cisne que, cuando sabe que ha de morir, intensifica cada vez más su canto hasta que finalmente cesa. Su canto no es solitario: se hace eco, resuena, se expande, convoca.

Y habrá filosofía
hasta que el silencio
nos separe.

Te invito a emprender esta lectura.

Despite their differences, Ludwig Wittgenstein, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Leo Strauss share two key philosophical commitments. They recognize that philosophy cannot establish or discover a conceptual structure to which one might appeal to justify what one says. And they agree that the task of philosophical writing is to convey a way of thinking set apart from that which seeks to establish or discover conceptual structures. Yet each knows that his writing, in the absence of a universal ground of appeal, will mostly fail to convey that way of thinking, and so will be, to that extent, esoteric. What differentiates them is their rendering of philosophy's inherent esotericism. Wittgenstein's late interest in aspect-seeing and aspect-blindness grows out of his well-documented despair that his writing would fall before uncomprehending eyes. The correlation here rests on noticing, contra Stephen Mulhall, that Wittgenstein's aspect-seeing remarks are inspired by aesthetic matters, not least by the 'subjective universality' of aesthetic judgments. Indeed, Wittgenstein's appeals to grammatical criteria are rightly understood, not as appeals to rules in a game, but as cousin to the form of justification in aesthetics. But then, as in aesthetic justification, there may be no reason for a speaker's inability to convey to another the connections he or she may see. Emerson, whose approach to writing comes into view alongside parallel strategies in jazz and film, begins with the fact that he can write the way he does---relying on the transformative possibilities of words whose multiple meanings he acquired the way anyone does---and concludes that no one is precluded from finding in his writing a model for transforming thinking. Strauss begins with the fact that esoteric writing works the way it does---conveying the writer's true thoughts to some while withholding them from the majority---and concludes that such writing reveals a natural order of rank among readers. Yet nothing in the nature of writing philosophy as Strauss understands it compels one, in the end, to accept Strauss's conclusion.

RESUMO O objetivo deste trabalho é indicar como a exploração estilística de Margaret Cavendish responde às particularidades do conceito de natureza dela, por exemplo, a tese de que a natureza é uma matéria viva, infinita, mutável e heterogênea. Primeiramente, mostrarei o modo pelo qual a autora está presente em seus escritos, como ela escreve de uma perspectiva de primeira pessoa sobre sua própria experiência e de quem ela é. Resumirei brevemente sua biografia e o contexto no qual ela praticou filosofia. Dado que suas escolhas de estilo são bastante numerosas, apresentarei somente algumas poucas, entre as peculiaridades estilísticas dela. Em segundo lugar, desenvolverei uma visão geral do seu conceito de natureza, ao contrário do proposto pelas teorias mecanicistas de seu tempo. Esclarecerei que tal conceito é expresso adequadamente pela diversidade estilística à qual Cavendish se volta em suas investigações. Palavras-chave Vitalismo, filosofia mecanicista, filosofia moderna, escrita.

This text deals with what might be called the public language problem in ordinary language philosophy as seen through the prism of the work of Stanley Cavell. It explores the question of why we call a work of philosophy, "philosophy," and how and why Cavell's autobiographical writings ought to be counted as works of philosophy. It sketches out a picture of the sheer challenge of professing to speak philosophy, and offers insight, gleaned from Cavell and others, into the art of arrogating the burden of the philosophical word. It develops a pragmatic account of truth as situated within the act of philosophizing, arguing, with Cavell, Emerson and Wittgenstein, that this truth will never seem to have sufficient reason, but may (nevertheless) be felt to correlate with the sometimes agonizing effort to speak from the heart.

Nelle indagini di storia della lingua italiana del Cinquecento si osserva che lo storico processo del lento ma deciso affermarsi di un modello linguistico unitario s’intreccia con il volgarizzamento e la riscrittura della letteratura antica di ogni ramo dello scibile. Questo ‘acclimatamento’ in volgare delle materie, che vanno dalla filosofia naturale a quella morale, dalla poetica alla musica, dalla matematica alle arti meccaniche, avviene non soltanto grazie alla traduzione diretta delle opere greche e latine, ma soprattutto in virtù di un innesto del pensiero filosofico, come di quello scientifico-tecnico, nelle nuove teorie espresse nella trattatistica cinquecentesca. E se nel Duecento il volgare della prosa d’arte traeva modelli di un’elegante finitura formale e retorica dagli esempi mediolatini e classici, l'italiano della scrittura argomentativa nel secolo sedicesimo ricerca e sperimenta forme testuali e moduli linguistici che possano restituire appieno i concetti, «il vero delle cose», delle «auctoritates» in ogni disciplina, di Aristotele «in primis».
In questo intervento mi propongo di illustrare alcune delle questioni scaturite dalle ricerche dedicate alla nuova prosa e alla formazione del lessico sia scientifico (in particolare, della logica) sia tecnico (musicale, drammaturgico), così come al ruolo della cultura accademica nel volgarizzamento del sapere nel Cinquecento.

Nietzsche suggests in Thus Spoke Zarathustra that he only loves that which is written in blood. This is a statement inviting investigation of blood as an object of discussion and as a matter of style. A study of the thematic role of violence, rhetorical violence, and the violence of argumentative strategies is a therefore an appropriate response. Going back to The Birth of Tragedy, the Apolline might appear to be more peaceful than the Dionysian, but is itself Homeric, and is itself based on a struggle with the Dionysian which finds one expression in the ‘Doric state’, that is hyper militarised Sparta. Comparing The Birth of Tragedy with On the Genealogy of Morals, the Homeric nobility at least superficially gets the exemplary role in that later text, so it is the ‘Apolline' world of Achilles and the other Greek heroes, which appears to be exemplary. Nietzsche disconnects tragedy from Athenian democracy, but in his reading of tragedy is against a hierarchical orderly world with the aristocracy on top. The value of aristocratic agon is itself disturbing to an aristocratic social order when pursued with sufficient rigour. The idea of contractual justice is questioned by Nietzsche when he famously suggests that the state was created by a nomadic ‘blonde beast’ attacking sedentary people. That could be taken as celebratory of aristocratic élan, but it also undermines normal understanding of the legitimation of the state, and of what might offer legitimacy to aristocratic domination in any context. Nietzsche himself sometimes refers to the state as a parasitic entity at war with culture, which certainly puts any celebratory reading of the state as conquest passage under question. The uncertainties which arise in trying  to harmonise remarks which suggest admiration for cultural aristocracy, or Homeric heroes, or war, into a clear system of values, should lead us to be sceptical of any straight forwardly noble warrior readings. Zarathustra loves the warrior, he does not want to be the warrior. The Nietzsche virtue of writing in blood is itself the violence of the hierarchy of value, and violence on the violence  imposed by that hierarchy. The violent rhetoric with which Nietzsche sometimes apparently endorses aristocratic violence and extreme privilege is intertwined with these thematic issues, which can only be understood through a rhetorical or stylistic examination of these passages and their context, which is the examination of writing in blood. References: Birth of Tragedy (I, 4); Thus Spoke Zarathustra (I, 8), (I, 10); On the Genealogy of Morality  (II, 17).

In this article, I suggest a process for teaching writing to the students preparing for the IPO (the International Philosophy Olympiad) essay competition. My teaching process is based on Peter Elbow's theory of writing, which emphasizes that writing should contain the writer's real voice and respects both the writer and reader. Elbow's strategy is also called the binary strategy, as it focuses on the two primary skills behind all writing: creating and criticizing. These two skills work in separate ways and require different steps. I employ Elbow's writing strategy when teaching IPO essay writing. The IPO essay competition aims to develop creative and critical thinking, which also requires two types of writing: philosophical writing and second-language writing. Elbow's binary strategy, specifically his focus on the creating skill and criticizing skill, will be helpful for the aim of the IPO essay writing competition.

Mosso dall’idea di rendere volgare la scienza, Alessandro Piccolomini commentava e trasferiva nella « bella lingua italiana » i trattati antichi. Analizzando i suoi compendi, così come le parafrasi e le traduzioni, allestiti in quarant’anni di attività di studioso e divulgatore, si possono delineare le idee piccolominiane sul volgare, le quali rappresentano uno degli aspetti della cinquecentesca « questione della lingua ». Sono particolarmente accurate e significative le proposte da lui formulate nelle dedicatorie e nelle lettere "Ai lettori" sulle modalità della resa dei concetti scientifici e filosofici. E la riflessione teorica intorno alla traduzione affidata alla sua "Epistola del modo del tradurre", che introduce la versione volgare della "Poetica" del 1572, si configura come un trattato di punta all’interno del dibattito linguistico cinquecentesco. Grazie alla nascita toscana e al soggiorno padovano, studente di filosofia e accademico degli Infiammati, Alessandro Piccolomini sviluppò un’aggiornata e consapevole concezione della lingua come strumento vivo e perfettibile di conoscenza. L’universalità del sapere, quale garanzia del progresso nelle scienze, nelle arti e nelle tecniche, era per lui indissolubilmente legata alla diffusione e alla crescita di una lingua italiana comune, una lingua di cultura accessibile a tutti.*********************************************
Poussé par la volonté de rendre la science accessible, A. Piccolomini commentait et traduisait dans la «belle langue italienne» les traités de l'antiquité. Par l'analyse des résumés, des paraphrases et des traductions réalisés par l'érudit et le vulgarisateur en quarante ans d'activités, on peut définir ses conceptions, qui représentent l'un des aspects de la «question de la langue» au XVIème siècle. Dans ses dédicases et dans ses lettres «Aux lecteurs», il a formulè des propositions, particulièrement prècises et significatives, sur la façon de restituer les concepts philosophiques et scientifiques. Et sa réflexion théorique à propos de la traduction contenue dans l'«Epistola del modo del tradurre», en introduction à la version italienne de la «Poetique» de 1572, se présente comme un traité marquant au sein du débat linguistique de l'époque. Grâce à sa naissance en Toscane et à son séjour padouan, A. Piccolomini élabora une conception moderne et clairvoyante de la langue comme instrument de connaissance vivant et perfectible. L'Universalité du savoir, garantie du progrès de sciences, des arts et des tecniques, était pour lui liée de manière indissoluble à la diffusion et au développement d'une langue italienne commune, d'une langue de culture accessible à tous.

Trata-se de uma tradução de um guia sobre como escrever um artigo filosófico, publicado pela Harvard College Writing Center como parte da série Writing Center Brief Guide Series do Writing Program da Harvard University. O texto discorre sobre o que se deve fazer num artigo propriamente filosófico, apresentando critérios sobre como se deve elaborar teses e argumentos filosóficos, e as possíveis objeções contra esses.

In modern academies—and consequently in many modern societies—there is a widening chasm between the arts of literature, history, and philosophy and the sciences of literary criticism, historicism, and theoretical philosophy. Many modern critics, historians, and philosophers have welcomed the scientification of their arts and have thereby bowed to the modern pantheon of the sciences of human behavior, following a false faith in the principle that people are what they are because the forces of nature or society have made them so. This has led to a misunderstanding of the purposes of reading and writing literature, history, and philosophy. The result is a fundamental illiteracy and the loss of art. In short, the loss of culture and value.
My usual response to this danger is to defend the arts and humanities, warning against their demise, in the form of an argument. But this sort of response is usually taken to be just another piece of “theoretical philosophy.” I need a truer approach, a form of expression that is more fitting with my concerns. If I am to express my passion and concern for the proper nature and value of the arts and humanities, I ought to do so in the form of a humane art. What follows is a partial attempt to do so.

Trata-se de uma tradução de um guia sobre como escrever um artigo filosófico, publicado pela Harvard College Writing Center como parte da série Writing Center Brief Guide Series do Writing Program da Harvard University. O texto discorre sobre o que se deve fazer num artigo propriamente filosófico, apresentando critérios sobre como se deve elaborar teses e argumentos filosóficos, e as possíveis objeções contra esses.

Using the theories of educational link ("vínculo educativo") and "educational triangle" we analyze the possible paths opened by "writing" to philosophical didactics. While we show the inherent difficulties in didactics science applied to philosophy, we explain how the nexus of writing between teacher, subject of education, and philosophy leads to enriching the aforementioned link.

Es en el aula, particularmente, ante el estudio de las fuentes antiguas, donde hilvanamos una trama dialógica que se actualiza siempre según las vidas de quienes oficien allí de actores pedagógicos (Cornelli, 2010). En la línea de dicha caracterización pedagógica del diálogo platónico, en tanto se lo considera como un recurso privilegiado a utilizar en las aulas de filosofía por la dinámica que promueve el género elegido por Platón y su intencional ausencia en los escritos, en el presente trabajo desearemos preguntarnos en qué consistirá ese carácter textual que propicia el quehacer filosófico en contextos sociales como el aula, en su sentido etimológico de AULÉ, lugar de permanencia y construcción común (Castello & Mársico, 2005) .

Reflexionaremos, en principio, en torno a la posibilidad de que el aula de filosofía platónica pueda devenir en un dispositivo conjunto de entrenamiento filosófico en virtud de ciertas decisiones plasmadas en la escritura de la obra platónica como un escrito que incentiva al lector a que asuma, en su lectura, una aventura. Intentaremos, asimismo, proponer una concepción de cierta práctica de escritura de impronta platónica mediante una interpretación de alusiones a ésta que hallamos en Fedro 276d y Banquete 208a-b.

En el Discurso del método Descartes afirma que su búsqueda de “aprender a distinguir lo verdadero y lo falso” está vinculada con un interés por “ver claro en los actos y andar seguro por esta vida” [AT VI, 10]. Esto, por lo pronto, sugiere un trasfondo vital de lo que podríamos llamar un programa epistemológico.  La búsqueda de solidez no es entonces una figura exclusiva de la fundamentación del conocimiento, sino que tiene un sentido vital. La tesis que me interesa es que la escritura de las seis meditaciones cartesianas es un recurso productivo, o un mecanismo, en el cual quien filosofa atiende a sí mismo en respuesta a una inquietud que le interpela vitalmente. Lo anterior, de manera tal que quien filosofa se constituye a sí mismo en dicho proceso de escritura.

En el presente texto ofrezco algunos resultados parciales de la investigación "Arte de morir, arte de vivir: presupuestos para una filosofía como forma de vida", articulados en
dos partes. En primer lugar, una descripción de una manera de entender la filosofía como forma de vida y, en segundo lugar, la consideración específica de la escritura como un lugar de realización de dicha concepción en el caso particular de las "Meditaciones Metafísicas" de Descartes.

Entrevista realizada a Françoise Collin en la que la filósofa reflexiona sobre las diferencias entre la escritura literaria, la filosófica y la política. Collin dibuja su recorrido por las tres formas de escritura y lo relaciona con su evolución hacia el feminismo y el activismo político, con los que su obra de creación, tanto literaria como académica, está fuertemente imbricada.In this interview with Françoise Collin, the philosopher reflects on the differences between literary, philosophical and political writing. Collin traces her trajectory through the three forms of writing and ties it to her own evolution toward feminism and political activism, themes strongly entwined throughout both her literary and academic work

In this paper I seek defend the view that fictional characters are author-created abstract entities against objections offered by Stuart Brock in his paper “The Creationist Fiction: The Case against Creationism about Fictional Characters.” I argue that his objections fall far short of his goal of showing that if philosophers want to believe in fictional characters as abstract objects, they should not view them as author-created. My defense of creationism in fiction in part rests on tying the act of creating a fictional character more closely to the act of story-telling. Ultimately I aim to show that the creation of