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The People's Republic of Poland, an undemocratic state that existed from 1947 to 1989, was politically dependent on the Soviet Union. It relied on its cultural policy of heavily rationing access to products made in capitalist countries; few exceptions were made to this policy, but of them, Italian director and filmmaker Michelangelo Antonioni's filmography was one of the most important, even though not all of his films were released to the Polish public until 1989. This article focuses on the critical reception of Michelangelo Antonioni's 'tetralogy of alienation' in the People's Republic of Poland during the 1960s and 1970s. Antonioni's tetralogy comprises L'avventura (The Adventure), La notte (The Night), L'eclisse (The Eclipse) and Deserto Rosso (Red Desert). In this article, I examine how Polish critics grappled with the differences between the cinematic world depicted in these films and the realities of the 'people's democracy' in Poland. I focus on the cultural reception of these films, utilizing reviews published in film magazines, cultural magazines and the daily press from the period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study looks at environmental anxiety and hope from the perspective of existential philosophy, as two different forms of existential attunement. In the first part of the text, the current state of research in the field of environmental emotions and moods is sketched out. The concept of environmental anxiety is then briefly delineated, drawing on current taxonomies of environmental emotions as well as on philosophical definitions of anxiety promulgated by Kierkegaard, Heidegger, Tillich and contemporary existential phenomenologists. The existential relevance of environmental anxiety is subsequently defined with the help of an analysis of the experience of the loss of meaningfulness that accompanies environmental anxiety, and then also an analysis of the change in how the natural world reveals itself to the anxious individual. The second part of the study focuses on the mood of hope. The hope for a solution to the ecological crisis is often presented in both public discussion and in the professional literature in the form of new technologies, political will or Providence. This hope is made immediately available and without making any great demands on the hopeful individual. However, by means of Kierkegaard the study shows that this kind of hope is a kind of illusion that leaves a person in a state of inaction, and even becomes an obstacle to a more radical form of hope, one that is capable of inspiring the individual to act, for example, toward “an active solution to the ecological crisis.”

In the present article, we outline basic assumptions and conceptual tools for a sociology of existence. First, we address man's fundamental conditions of existence: that life's finitude and encounters with the uncertainty of existence are fundamental experiences that construct social relations. Second, we outline how existential meaning‐making and the ability to cope with the unpredictability of life are dependent on power resources, where especially the resource poor may experience 'existential nausea'. Third, we discuss how existential dilemmas may intensify under certain historical eras. Therefore, studying individuals' existential dilemmas is a tool to examine the dominant social issues at a particular time and place. Fourth, we elaborate on the importance of studying turning points during individuals' life courses, as existential meaning – or lack thereof – becomes particularly salient at these times. This includes an understanding that death and rebirth are experienced in the form of various endings and beginnings in everyday life. Fifth, and finally, we emphasize an analysis in which the direction of people's lives is conceptualized in a broad time perspective, where past, present, and future interact and influence life choices and social relations constructed during a lifetime. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Anbar University for Law & Political Sciences is the property of Republic of Iraq Ministry of Higher Education & Scientific Research (MOHESR) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of RumeliDE Journal of Language & Literature Research / RumeliDE Dil ve Edebiyat Araştırmaları Dergisi is the property of RumeliDE Uluslararasi Hakemli Dil & Edebiyat Arastirmalari Dergisi and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Journal of Language & Literature Studies is the property of Turkiye Dil ve Edebiyat Dernegi and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The purpose of the present work is to think about the meaning of anxiety from an existential-humanist perspective. Hence, we will begin with Rollo May's (1909-1994) reflection on the oversimplification executed by current psychology, as well as the techniques developed to deal with the complexity of the human experience. Thus, the work The meaning of anxiety (1950) written by the American psychologist will be crucial for thinking about anxiety in the existential-humanist clinic. In the mentioned work, May claims that anxiety is a threat to being. Anxiety being a threat to being, it can arise as a threat to some value, a threat of physical death, and psychological threat. Finally, following the author's thinking, we are able to conclude that anxiety is always present in our experiences of self-realization and creativity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Opuscula Historae Artium is the property of Masaryk University, Faculty of Arts and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Having become known as one of the most influential thinkers of the twentieth century, Lev Shestov (1866–1938) advanced his pioneering ideas in parallel to Freud's development of psychoanalysis. Originating in his earlier works, his views of philosophy as art and the corresponding idea of the possibility of a fundamental, inner and creative transformation of one's worldview found its further expression in his mature writings, in which his insight into the nature of other thinkers' creativity took on a definitively active role in his philosophy. With the focus on the notion of the transformative capability of thought in Shestov's writing and based on my archival research and translations, in this article, I explore the Kyiv-born philosopher's ideas in dialogue with Freud's psychoanalytical theory and in the context of the postmodern view of reality as a symbolical and multifaceted representation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A Danish fitness chain recently introduced a new concept called Bubbles & Squat. Here, fitness training is combined with free champagne and music. In this paper, we examine this new way of bringing parties, alcohol and physical culture together by exploring the possible meaning of it through existential philosophical analysis. We draw in particular on Nietzsche’s distinction between the Apolline and the Dionysiac, as well as his account of great health. On this basis, we analyse Bubbles & Squat as a case of Dionysiac intoxication, excess and ecstasy sneaking into contemporary Apolline fitness culture. In the last part of the paper, we raise the question if adding parties and bubbles to fitness training may, perhaps paradoxically, be healthy for the participants in an existential sense because it contributes to existential balance between the Dionysiac and the Apolline. We conclude that the philosophical framework presented in this paper can contribute to a new understanding of a general physical cultural phenomenon that the case of Bubbles & Squat represents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

"The existential" is a concept that many people use albeit associated with different meanings. In order to increase research-based insight into the meaning of "the existential," we conducted a questionnaire study in Denmark in 2018 in which we asked 1.106 Danes of various age, gender, educational and geographical background about personal associations linked to "the existential." Factor analysis of the answers resulted in three different groups of meaning: (1) essential meanings of life, (2) spirituality/religiosity and (3) existential thinking. The findings show that "the existential" serves well as an overarching construct potentially including secular, spiritual and religious meaning domains, at least within the European context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The reception of Kierkegaard's thought in twentieth century theology was extremely varied and complex. One can, however, identify in it thematic lines which originated largely due to the fact that theologians reflected not only on Kierkegaard's primary work but also on its secondary reception in their contemporaries and predecessors. The repeated emphasis on certain moments of Kierkegaard's thought led to the emergence of an intellectual continuity within the theological reception. I present four basic thematic lines in the article which run through the theological reception in different denominational and linguistic environments. The key motifs of these lines are the image of Kierkegaard as a representative of engaged Christianity, the interpretation of his thought as a corrective of the immanentization of theology, the reception of his concept of the relationship between Christianity and culture, and the discussion of his concept of the single individual. These reception lines contain both positive and negative moments, since Kierkegaard was perceived in an ambivalent way. His thought represented, however, an important source of inspiration for twentieth century theology which used it in its confrontation with the issues of its time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Any kind of preparedness and power against enemy's aggression is called defense readiness and power, which are considered as components of the power in religious and non-religious political systems, and are the basis of any progress, development and confrontation. Therefore, every (system) tries to strengthen, develop and equip their defense organization in every way, because the preservation of their existence, territorial integrity, independence and freedom is ensured in the shadow of this important matter. Also, this is a very important theme emphasized in the verses of The Holy Qur'an. Therefore, this article uses a descriptive-analytical and interpretive method to study the existential philosophy of readiness and defense power from the Quran's point of view with Allameh Tabatabai's interpretive approach.The findings of this study are as follows: Defense readiness and strength are considered as a continuous mechanism and a prerequisite for defense and jihad. And it has an effective role in creating fear in enemy. There is also a direct relationship between it and deterrence. When the level of readiness and defense power increases, the level of deterrence increases too. Also, with the increase of the levels of readiness and defense power, the armed forces and the defenders of the Islamic system's possibility of being surprised decreases. Finally, comprehensive defense readiness and power is an important factor in maintaining the religion and divine rites and guardianship of the Islamic Ummah, which in Allameh Tabatabai's view, is the most important existential philosophy and the ultimate goal of defense readiness and power.

This text concentrates on the relationship of evil and tragedy in context of the book Von der Wahrheit (1947; On the Truth) by Karl Jaspers. In its first part, the essay describes a distinct way of understanding Kant’s ethical evil. In contrast, Jaspers associates evil with untruth and sees its origin in the divergence of all ways of embracing. In the “Über das Tragische” chapter, two concepts of evil may be observed – the will to evil and the hidden evil. Individuals are responsible for both of these evils, although they are not the cause. Nevertheless, evil is not tragedy. The second part of the essay presents a closer look at an argument of Jaspers that “all that is evil is not tragic” to prove that death and suffering are an integral part of the life. Tragedy is anchored in a transcendence. A tragic hero, even at the cost of his own life, fights for the truth and embodies new ideas by his demeanour. The essay further shows Jaspers’ argument that religion is antagonistic to tragedy, because salvation, as portrayed in the religions, precludes the possibility of the tragic death, as being absolutely and radically tragic. The essay demonstrates Jaspers’ specific conceptual grasp of the tragedy as the basic reality of life, which shows the transience of human life and universal order.

Copyright of Tourism & Rural Development Studies / Turisztikai és Vidékfejlesztési Tanulmányok is the property of CampInvest Kft. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Little and colleagues' (1998) paper describing a key aspect of cancer patients' experience, that of "liminality," is remarkable for giving articulation to a very common and yet mostly overlooked aspect of patient experience. Little et. al. offered a formulation of liminality that deliberately set aside the concept's more common use in analysing social rituals, in order to grasp at the interior experience that arises when failing bodily function and awareness of mortality are forced into someone's consciousness, as occurs with a diagnosis of cancer. We set out the reasons as to why this analysis was so significant in 1998—but we also consider how the "liminality" described by Little and colleagues was (as they suggested) a feature of modernity, founded on what we term "the mirage of settlement." We argue that this mirage is impossible to sustain in 2022 amid the many forms of un-settling that have characterized late modernity, including climate change and COVID-19. We argue that many people in developed nations now experience liminality as a result of the being forced into the consciousness of living in a continued state of coloniality. We thus rejoin the social aspects of liminality to the interior, Existential form described by Little et. al. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Ukraine, as in the rest of the world, Heidegger is often called an existentialist. However, Heidegger denied his attitude to Existentialism. The reason of this confusion is, firstly, when German-language titles, such as Existenzphilosophie, existentielle Philosophie, Existentialismus, Existentialphilosophie are translated into other languages, often they are replaced each other or translated they all with just one title. Secondly, Sartre provided his own classification of existentialists, which was very popular and generally used. In Heidegger's statement "the essence of Dasein lies in its existence" Sartre saw a new atheistic explanation for human existence. Since Sartre's views were under the influence of Heidegger's ideas, he decided that their philosophies could be called as atheistic Existentialism. Sartre considered, that the main thesis of Existentialism was the assertion, that "human existence precedes its essence", and which is directly opposite to Essentialism. Nevertheless, Heidegger didn't write about "essence" in the Platonic, scholastic, or Sartre's meanings, but in the ontological-historical sense. In response to Sartre's classification, Heidegger denied his affiliation with Existentialism. He also accentuated on the fallacy of Sartre's understanding of his concept of existence (Existenz), which Heidegger defined as only human existence, in which human ask about being and is in a relationship with being. Heidegger saw his own philosophy as a fundamental ontology, the main task of which was the problem of being, but not the problem of existence. If Heidegger's philosophy should be included in the existential tradition, it should rather be called as Existential Philosophy (Existentialphilosophie) - philosophical theory of existentials (Existenzialien), but not as Existentialism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents an analytical framework for understanding and studying the value structures that govern participation in sport. We combine insights from a Norwegian Monitor survey with existential philosophical reasoning to present an empirically based value structure and discern three fundamental ways of engaging in sport: being, having and belonging. We argue that distinguishing between these modes of engagement can contribute to describing, analysing and navigating in the variety of ways that participants engage in sport. Using friluftsliv and football as illustrative cases, we analyse how these existential dimensions can be prevalent in different forms of participation. Towards the end of the article, we discuss the strengths and weaknesses of our approach, and how the existential dimensions may relate and intertwine in practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article is devoted to the biography and creativity of the Russian religious existential thinker Lev Shestov. The article reflects the main stages of the philosopher’s philosophical evolution: it analyzes the sources of his work, the circle of the closest to Shestov thinkers and philosophers, it examines the reasons of the transformations of his views that forced philosopher to overcome the ethical and take the path of philosophy of tragedy and immoralism, it traces his creative evolution from populism to Nietzscheanism and religious philosophy of the existential type. The author of the article analyzes the changes of Shestov’s ethical understanding, his vision of philosophy and the idea of humanism and his attitude to the personality and heritage of F. Nietzsche. The article discusses the basic concepts of his teaching: tragedy, the living God, faith, reason, sin, boldness, “vsemstvo”, death, speculation, etc. It traces the connection with European intellectuals and emphasizes Lev Shestov’s contribution to Western culture.

Existential anxiety is an outstanding issue both in psychology and philosophy. It implies the mental rummage following the notion of existence, inexistence and related concepts. Martin Heidegger is a philosopher incorporating the meaning of existential anxiety and time perception in a unique comprehensive view, suggesting that there is a relation between being, time and anxiety. To the best of our knowledge, no empirical study has assessed any association between time perception and existential anxiety. The current study aims at investigating the mentioned association. Eighty four students in Tabriz University of Medical Sciences voluntarily participated in this study and gave their written informed consent. Time perception was assessed by verbal and production tests. The score of existential anxiety was obtained by the Good & Good Existential Anxiety Questionnaire. Association of time perception and existential anxiety was analyzed statistically. Mean score of existential anxiety of subjects was 7.57±4.75 out of 32. Accuracy of time perception was significantly related to existential anxiety score (P = 0.034); in the manner that inaccurate time perceivers had higher existential anxiety scores. The results of this study are preliminary in line with the existential concepts presented by Heidegger; indicating that existential anxiety and time perception may have common roots. This understanding about existential anxiety suggests further explorations and deeper existential reasonings, as well as more efficient psychological and psychiatric clinical practice.

Starting with the point of freedom being one of unavoidable ideas of existential philosophy, as well as philosophy in general, we shall consider ethical and ontological aspects of contemplation of freedom in Kierkegaard’s philosophy. We deem that existential philosophy, “contemplated” in all its variations, represents the very horizon or manner of philosophical comprehension of freedom phenomena, where freedom is integrally observed, thus allowing us to talk about unique bliss of ontological and ethical dimension, both of those appearing to be equally important. Therefore, freedom dominates the Kierkegaard’s determination of individual, co-determines all its leap stages but also continually makes possible the sense of human existence.

The purpose of this study is to enquire "lived experience" and "being" from the nature of time and space. The authors argued that meaning construction needs to take terms methodologically by hermeneutic phenomenology and emotional geography. Four discussion points are showed as follows and used to articulate the utility of narrative analysis. Firstly, this study defines the enquiry itself as enquiring "being" in its subjectivity or inter-subjectivity. Through reviewing the "narrative turn" in the history of qualitative research, narrative is stated as the representation of one's self and therefore studying one's life story is to explore the meaning construction of lived experience, which is through saying and said, and has its subject from and object for. Ontologically, it is argued that meaning in narrative has its own time and space and therefore researchers need to find the route of how meaning could be developing. The second part of this study is to further debate the nature of "lived experience" and "being" as topographical and geographical. Meaning develops with its directions between self and other; therefore, a researcher's ambition to "reflect" outside world or "reflexively" clarifies inner world of oneself and decides the attitude of studying meaning construction of lived experience. This part defines and reviews the ontological concern of "being" and its relation of space and time. From current finding of emotional geography in Europe, narrative could therefore be widen its epistemological and methodological perspective for exploring "being" and "lived experience". In the third part of this study, according to our ontological arguments epistemological perspectives have been elaborated for understanding meaning construction of "being" and "lived experience". The dimensions of time and space are particularly relevant here. Through Heidegger's contribution of Dasein analysis and dwelling concepts, we defined narrative has its time linear structure in which presence is in-between the past and future, and has its space structure of being-in-a-space, from geographer Malpas's contribution. We linked Winnicott's concept of "transitional space" and discussed the "being" as the ethics between self, other, and transitional space, and further discussed the indigenous studies conducted in Taiwan about the structural concern as well as the topographical nature of perception. The final part of the arguments focuses two methodological concerns: route and structure. The former lead to the discussion of geographical approach towards qualitative data. Here the illustration of mental landscape is offered and is argued as an analytic method. Humanistic geographical approach developed in recent decades focused on reflexive description of self-other relationship and the mental/emotional landscape, so that lived experience and being could be illustrated by where and how the meaning is constructed. Therefore the route and structure of meaning construction can then be represented. The second methodological concern take narratives to the hermeneutics and phenomenology of meaning construction, in which Husserl used "epoche" as the method of temporally disregarding its causality but the "things itself". This method could help a researcher systematically investigate both temporal and topographical nature of lived experience. From Wei-Lun Lee's six-step correction from Giorgi's five steps of analysis, the way in which "being" can be opened into the description of phenomenon. Also, Lee's methodological investigation to human perception was followed for exploring the structure of lived experience itself. This study particularly focuses on the temporal structure of narratives, and taking the final methodological path through the circle of hermeneutics, which regards narrative as having its circle of interpretation as the process of meaning construction. A method named Critical Narrative Analysis (CNA) is discoursed here. Six steps of data analysis for qualitative data is introduced for concluding the concern for enquiring meaning structure within narratives, especially when data is with historical and temporal characteristics. By above arguments, the understanding of narratives according its ontology, epistemology and methodology is carefully linked with the use of narrative analysis in counseling and psychotherapeutic practice. And methodological concerns of narrative are concluded for answering how and why taking path through hermeneutic phenomenology and emotional geography is important in narrative enquiries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aphantasia is a spectrum disorder, affecting the ability of otherwise healthy individuals to form voluntary or conscious mental images, and in some cases also any form of sensory representation. Although only discovered in 2010, it is now estimated that 2–3% of the population may have aphantasia – otherwise termed, the absence of a 'mind's eye,' that aspect of conscious experience which so many people take for granted as part of their general way of experiencing the world. Aphantasia, although it does not imply the absence of all forms of imagination, such as perspective taking and narrative construction, is quite literally a disorder affecting the individual's capacity to form and work with images, and thus the absence of a certain way in which consciousness engages with the image-object, distinct both from perception and thought. This paper examines how phenomenological accounts of imagination can help us to better understand aphantasia, and also the ways in which aphantasia calls into question some aspects of an existential account of self. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Involvement in sport and exercise not only provides participants with health benefits but can be an important aspect of living a meaningful life. The COVID-19 pandemic and the temporary cessation of public life in March/April/May 2020 came with restrictions, which probably also made it difficult, if not impossible, to participate in certain types of sport or exercise. Following the philosophical position that different types of sport and exercise offer different ways of “relating to the world,” this study explored (dis)continuity in the type of sport and exercise people practiced during the pandemic-related lockdown, and possible effects on mood. Data from a survey of 601 adult exercisers, collected shortly after the COVID-19 outbreak in Finland, were analyzed. Approximately one third (35%) of the participants changed their “worldmaking” and shifted to “I–Nature”-type activities. We observed worse mood during the pandemic in those who shifted from “I–Me,” compared to those who had preferred the “I–Nature” relation already before the pandemic and thus experienced continuity. The clouded mood of those experiencing discontinuity may be the result of a temporary loss of “feeling at home” in their new exercise life-world. However, further empirical investigation must follow, because the observed effect sizes were small.

The purpose of the study is to review the philosophical foundations of the religious doctrine by Berdyaev based on a comparative analysis of the epistemological, anthropological, and ontological backgrounds for his thinking. The study combines methods and theories from various cultural, religious, and historical-philosophical approaches, which made it possible to reveal the peculiarities of Berdyaev's rethinking of traditional Christianity in the context of the crisis of Western culture. The scientific novelty proves a fundamental break in his conception with classical metaphysics as the basis of Christian orthodoxy. Human freedom, spirituality as a system-forming principle of human existence, which humanize anthropologism and de-objectification as a priori of the general system of the world-understanding, form that new type of the religiousmetaphysical basis of "modern Orthodoxy" that Berdyaev sought to establish as a new model of Christianity in the world. The conclusions emphasize that the specifics of "existential Christianity" by Berdyaev consisted in establishing a special commensurability between man and God, and in the thesis about the "eternal humanity" of God, beyond which, in his deep conviction, one can hardly understand and interpret the very possibility of Revelation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Involvement in sport and exercise not only provides participants with health benefits but can be an important aspect of living a meaningful life. The COVID-19 pandemic and the temporary cessation of public life in March/April/May 2020 came with restrictions, which probably also made it difficult, if not impossible, to participate in certain types of sport or exercise. Following the philosophical position that different types of sport and exercise offer different ways of "relating to the world," this study explored (dis)continuity in the type of sport and exercise people practiced during the pandemic-related lockdown, and possible effects on mood. Data from a survey of 601 adult exercisers, collected shortly after the COVID-19 outbreak in Finland, were analyzed. Approximately one third (35%) of the participants changed their "worldmaking" and shifted to "I–Nature"-type activities. We observed worse mood during the pandemic in those who shifted from "I–Me," compared to those who had preferred the "I–Nature" relation already before the pandemic and thus experienced continuity. The clouded mood of those experiencing discontinuity may be the result of a temporary loss of "feeling at home" in their new exercise life-world. However, further empirical investigation must follow, because the observed effect sizes were small. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Sophia, Colección de Filosofía de la Educación is the property of Universidad Politecnica Salesiana and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Translations of Kierkegaard are today a global phenomenon and the number of languages in which Kierkegaard's works are published is increasing steadily. In the paper I show how the overall tradition of these translations was shaped by different linguistic and cultural milieus nad how it developed over time. I explain the relevance of political circumstances which had a significant impact on the possibility of translating and publishing Kierkegaard. In connection with the popularity of some of Kierkegaard's texts I point out the importance of fragments that were published on the translators' initiative. A key factor in individual linguistic traditions are trendsetting translators who have created a broader spectrum of translations. Although the current global discourse on Kierkegaard is dominated by English translations, it is obvious that translations into minor languages contribute substantially to the fluency of the reception in their contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The aim of this article is to uncover the relationships between philosophy and Massively Multiplayer Online Role-playing Games (hereinafter MMORPG) and their discussion fora; i.e. the relevance of existential and analytical philosophy to the virtual world of MMORPGs. Content analysis of writings by famous philosophers was employed as a reliable method for gathering relevant data, as it was for collecting useful information from MMORPG discussion fora. The author assumes that MMORPGs originated as a responseto the super-technical and increasingly technocratic western world from which players want to escape in order to find a simpler and more challenging, yet virtual world.

The notion of existential anxiety originally came up with the philosophers of existentialism in the last century. They referred to it as the basic aspect of human existence, namely the anxiety of finiteness, isolation, and nonsense of being. They are resulting in the freedom to choose the meaning of life, the world, and oneself. Psychotherapeutic approaches that consider existential phenomenology as their philosophical basis work with this human experience, underlining its determining meaning, but despite references to it, they do not usually deal with it systematically. GT‘s founder, Fritz Perls, also approached anxiety from an existential point of view and considered it a necessary step in the search for individual meaning. The article tries to explain existential anxiety as a necessary consequence of the awareness of one‘s own existence as being in the world and at the same time looks at specific manifestations of its presence in individual experience in biological, psychological, social life, and therapeutic context. The article is based on a lecture given in Ljubljana, Slovenia, in 2013, as part of a summer psychotherapeutic training organized by the Gestalt Associates Training Institute in Los Angeles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The purpose of the study is to examine the worldviews and methodological foundations of Berdyaev's philosophy of liberty and concrete personalism in the context of his fundamental separation between existential philosophy and existentialism. The methodology of the study is to apply methods of analysis, synthesis, comparison, generalization, as well as the combination of cultural, religious and historical-philosophical approaches, which have made it possible to analyze the creative work by Berdyaev within the non-classical type of philosophizing. The scientific novelty attests to Berdyaev's worldview distance from the philosophy of classical existentialism and his affiliation with "nonacademic" thinkers. For Berdyaev, human liberty and creativity are the basis for renewing the neglected spirituality of mankind and transforming the foundations of traditional Christianity. The conclusions emphasize that the most characteristic feature of Berdyaev's philosophical and religious ontological conception was the a priori of his entire categorical system of the phenomenon of liberty and its equation with the phenomenon of God. The spirit is associated by Berdyaev not with being, but with liberty, a creative act that takes place in the depths of human existence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Digital assistants engage with us with increasingly human-like conversations, including the expression of human emotions with such utterances as "I am sorry...", "I hope you enjoy...", "I am grateful...", or "I regret that...". By 2021, digital assistants will outnumber humans. No one seems to stop to ask if creating more digital companions that appear increasingly human is really beneficial to the future of our species. In this essay, we pose the question: "How human should computer-based human-likeness appear?" We rely on the philosophy of humanness and the theory of speech acts to consider the long-term consequences of living with digital creatures that express human-like feelings. We argue that feelings are the very substance of our humanness and therefore are best reserved for human interaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the most pressing and urgent academic tasks of the day is to dismantle the persistent Eurocentrism of philosophy. In the quest to remedy the white, middle-class, heteronormative, and European biases of philosophy's initial expressions, feminist theorizing has cultivated culturally and ethnically specific forms, intersectional analyses, and global articulations. Buddhism beyond Gender and Women and Buddhist Philosophy breathe new vitality into these pursuits. Both books underscore the immense potential of the core doctrines of Buddhist philosophy, such as the nonsubstantialist view of self, the nondualistic outlook, and the ontological premise of the interdependence of all beings (pratītyasamutpāda), for overcoming Western hierarchies, reified conceptions of identity, and pernicious dichotomies. The two women represented in these books—Rita Gross herself (1943–2015) and Kim Iryŏp, a Buddhist nun (1896–1971)—ground philosophy in a narrative, existential journey and in their personal practices as Buddhists. In contrast with Gross's second-wave methodology and revisionist aims, Park's contribution to comparative feminist scholarship underscores the originality of Iryŏp's attempt to rethink Buddhist ideas in a contemporary feminist context. Particularly compelling is that Park unequivocally defends existential narrative as a genre of philosophy largely through an analysis of the Buddhist nun's love letters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper the author presents two different modes of relationship between phenomenological psychopathology and philosophy. The dominant mode conforms to the medical-psychiatric discourse which takes pathological time experiences as negative deviations from the 'normal' and 'adequate' equivalent. In this mode phenomenological description of 'disturbed' time experiences requires philosophy to provide an insight into the 'essence' of time and an essentially adequate experience of time. Only such a philosophical insight can deliver a valid reference point for investigating what is really missing in pathological time experiences. This philosophical reference point can either consist in a metaphysical-normative concept of time and time experiences (Bergson), or in a transcendental concept of how normal and abnormal time experiences are constituted in the inner consciousness of time (Husserl). There is another mode of relationship which conforms to Freud's discovery that pathological symptoms are not just negative alterations of the 'normal' but hide an own 'meaning'. The author makes the case for the use of philosophy to unveil the specific kind of meaning in pathological experiences of time. She refers to existential philosophy in this respect, and in particular to its concept of Angst as a fundamental philosophical experience. This allows for a hermeneutic approach to 'disturbed' time experiences. What looks from a pure psychiatric perspective to be a mere 'disorder' of the 'normal', becomes understandable as a specific form of 'suffering from one's own temporality'. She argues that people with disturbed time experiences are especially sensitive to anxiety-laden experiences of what it means to be temporal, whilst 'normal' people can screen them out in favor of a 'mentally undisturbed' everyday life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]