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American citizens face an epistemic crisis that threatens their liberal-democratic political order: They lack a shared standard of truth for distinguishing facts from falsehoods. Schools have an obvious role to play in solving the problem, for teaching the truth about the world and how to find it are at the heart of their mission. Careful curriculum decision-making is needed to accomplish this aim, and my contribution to this symposium is to suggest that Durkheim and Bernstein’s sociology of education, as articulated by Young and Muller in the two keynote articles and across the past twenty-five years, takes us in a useful direction. I briefly sketch two curricula that are responsive to the crisis and will serve, in substance and method, as specimens of that direction. I then reflect on them and make a civic argument for centring disciplinary content and skills in the curriculum. Next, I join Young, Muller, and their colleagues in suggesting that a popular ‘critical’ discourse limits educators’ ability to accomplish the aim of teaching truth and truth-finding because it turns their attention away from knowledge and curriculum. I conclude with an Arendtian warning of what is at stake in this crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractIn the face of global crises – physical, economic, political, and environmental – Mahatma Gandhi’s teachings provide vital wisdom and strategies. His philosophy as in Hind Swaraj, challenges violence and exploitation, critiquing unchecked modernity, while advocating for sustainable practices aligned with human values. This article explores the relevance of Gandhi’s concept of Swaraj in addressing contemporary issues like poverty, inequality, and environmental degradation. By reviewing three key texts on Gandhian philosophy, it underscores the enduring significance of his principles of nonviolence and ethical governance, aiming to inspire societies to adopt his framework for a more just and sustainable future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ibn Rushd presents different methods of reasoning. Each method differs in terms of its construction, level of assent, and the cognitive state it ultimately produces. Despite these technical variations, notable authors suggest that they are all equally valid and sound. I analyse this claim, and argue that although demonstrative and dialectical arguments are both valid and sound, there is a theoretical discrepancy between the two. Subsequently, I explore how underscoring this issue would motivate a non-classical/many-valued logic and a plurality of truth in being able to make sense of the theoretical discrepancy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Newsworkers have utilised the game format to create innovative storytelling through newsgames, a hybrid form of journalism. Newsgames blend journalism's pursuit of truth with the fictional elements of video games, creating a tension between “fact” and “fiction”. Existing literature lacks sufficient exploration of how this tension is managed in the production and consumption of newsgames. This study addresses this gap by examining how newsgame practitioners navigate truth claims and how players engage with these claims. Through semi-structured interviews with practitioners (n = 27) and gaming sessions with players (n = 28), the study reveals that practitioners take deliberate steps to justify newsgames, while players employ various strategies to evaluate their truth claims. These findings underscore the performative dimension of truth negotiation in newsgames, positioning audiences as active participants at the heart of this process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Christian complicity in colonialism and the need for truth telling and reconciliation with Indigenous peoples have been a central focus of academic theological research shared at the Canadian Theological Society in recent years. Many Canadian churches have offered official apologies and made formal commitments to right relations with Indigenous peoples. This paper considers the experience of "people in the pews." Taking a diffuse visual art installation of white ceramic feathers as a starting point, it traces the contours of how local congregations in the Anglican Diocese of Ottawa are engaged with truth and reconciliation intellectually, emotionally, and actively. It names the need to bridge the gaps between academic theology and lived theology, and official church statements and everyday practices in congregations. It invites academic theologians to consider the questions: To whom are we listening? Who is listening to us? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This note is a critical response to Kentaro Fujimoto's new conservativeness argument about truth, which centres on the notion of finite conjunction. We argue that Fujimoto's arguments turn on a specific way of formalizing the notions of finite collection and finite conjunction in first-order logic. In particular, by instead formalizing these concepts in a natural way in set theory or in second-order logic, Fujimoto's new conservativeness argument can be resisted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reviews anthropological explorations of conspiracy theories—in dialogue with insights from other disciplines, primarily political science, philosophy, and social psychology—to frame conspiracy theories as productive social practices. While conspiracy theories are often depicted through their epistemological shortcomings and associated with social and political margins, this article traces the nascent threads across anthropological scholarship to reach an emic understanding of those narratives and their sociopolitical reverberations and proposes approaching conspiracy theories through their style, agentive implications, and political effects. Conspiratorial style, the article argues, pertains not to the content of the narrative but to its incessant seeking of covert operations beyond readily visible forms as well as a growing flexibility regarding the narrator's belief in the narrative's veracity. The agentivizing dynamic generated through conspiracism differentiates contemporary conspiracism from its predecessors and involves an empowering current. Finally, the article focuses on how contemporary conspiracism is intricately linked to political contestations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As human life progresses with the development of advanced civilisation, people's perceptions of various things tend to often change. One of them is the notion of exclusivism. Postmodernists say that truth is subjective, that is, it is based on oneself. Truth is determined by the individual, which is one's personal human right. Similarly, relativists say that truth, including Christian faith, is also relative. If it is relative, it means that the word of God is no longer the absolute truth, that Jesus is not the only Saviour because there are other ways to be saved. This thinking is contrary to the Holy Bible, which declares that God is the absolute truth. One of the negative effects of the many changes that are taking place is, for example, the attack or rejection of the truth of God's Word. Even the servants of God today are less selective in accepting changes. Based on this, the purpose of this research is to see how the perception of churches in the postmodern era is changing towards exclusivism the understanding of religious pluralism. The religious pluralism model promotes the belief that there is indeed virtue in all religions, just as all religions are good and are of relatively equal value. The research approach adopted a descriptive quantitative methodology. The scale used for measurement a Likert scale. The questionnaire was distributed through a link on google forms to communities in some areas around Jakarta, Bogor, Depok, and Tangerang. The amount of data obtained was from 187 respondents of Protestant churches comprising 51% males and 49% females. The results of the research demonstrate that the general understanding of religious pluralism in Protestant Christianity is still at a very low level. The reasons are 1) Church sermons that do not mention ideas such as pluralism, 2) The church is more focused on soul winning, 3) The church is complacent in the routine of its worship, 4) The church lacks information about religious pluralism, 5) The church lacks servants of God who are knowledgeable about emerging theology, 6) Churches are competing for the souls of other churches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Etkileşim: Academic Journal of Uskudar University Faculty of Communication is the property of Etkilesim 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 article establishes a framework for understanding human existence as a moral endeavor. However, human society has a division between truth and lies, good and evil, and justice and injustice; people are discriminated against by money, threatening the sustainable development of humanity; the question is, how can humanity develop sustainably? To clarify this purpose, the author uses qualitative methods to analyze, synthesize, compare, and contrast the moral life of species, in which human philosophy and social philosophy are used as the methodology. The results affirm the development process from survival instinct to a complex system of social values towards sustainable development through the foundation of morality. However, in modern society, morality is increasingly dominated by social products, especially goods and money, leading to a situation where morality is misunderstood and exposed, causing a part of society to be deformed. The article concludes that survival instinct is the daily basis of all life, but social factors, products, and goods strongly affect the sustainable development of humanity. While competition is driven by money, ethical considerations emphasize cooperation and dialogue in performing social roles to achieve sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examination malpractice represents a pervasive challenge that has deeply compromised the integrity of education in Africa, with a particular focus on Nigeria. This persistent issue contributes to the annual emergence of graduates at various educational levels whose certifications are mere facades, misrepresenting the actual knowledge and competencies they possess. Consequently, this leads to a workforce ill-equipped to significantly contribute to the socio-economic development of the continent. Given that truth is a central tenet in African traditional thought systems, often imbued with moral significance, the prevalence of examination malpractice, which is fundamentally rooted in falsehood, starkly contradicts the core values of honesty and truth within African societies. This paper seeks to address the following critical questions: What constitutes examination malpractice? How is truth conceptualized, particularly within the African context? In what ways does examination malpractice contravene the traditional African notion of truth? This study offers a hermeneutic exploration of examination malpractice, the concept of truth, and the traditional African ethos, with a specific emphasis on the Igbo people of Southeastern Nigeria. The findings indicate that the moral dimension inherent in the African understanding of truth renders examination malpractice a profound violation of societal values. The paper concludes by advocating for heightened awareness of the long-term consequences of examination malpractice in Africa and calls for a re-education and reorientation of the populace on the fundamental moral principles that underpin African society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Suppose I assert "Jim is rich". According to negotiated contextualism, my assertion should be understood as a proposal to adopt a standard of wealth such that Jim counts as "rich" by that standard. Furthermore, according to negotiated contextualism, this is so in virtue of the semantic properties of the word "rich". Defenders of negotiated contextualism (Khoo & Knobe in Noûs 52(1):109–143, 2016; Khoo in Philos. Phenomenol. Res. 100(1):26–53, 2020) claim that this view is uniquely well-placed to account for certain disagreement data; for example, that if your standard for the application of the word "rich" is more constraining than mine, you can sensibly assert "no, Jim is not rich" without thereby making an incompatible claim. This paper outlines a simpler explanation of the data: speakers can sensibly reject a given assertion provided that they think that the asserted sentence is false in the context which they take to be relevant to that sentence's interpretation. I argue that, combined with standard semantic tools, this explanation can account for the original data and for new empirical results. Along the way, I present new empirical data to argue against negotiated contextualism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Video diaries are an innovative tool for ethnographic research, contributing to the quality of fieldwork and ethnographic data by giving additional attention to participant voices. Grounded in two fieldwork periods in secondary and higher education, this paper illustrates three key qualities through which video diaries contributed to ethnographic research: (1) Building trusting relationships with participants, (2) providing a space for participant autonomy, and (3) being a medium of self-explication and truth-telling. In video diaries, participants exercised free speech, providing a widely unmediated, personal perspective on their professional identity, roles, and relationships. This personal perspective allowed participants to contribute to trusting on their own terms, which mitigated face-work – especially when talking about conflicts and challenges – and provided additional entry points for conversations, enabling deep dialogue and understanding. Ultimately, the use of video diaries significantly strengthened the researcher-participant relationship and enriched the ethnographic data and the quality of interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this essay, some thoughts are collected regarding the role of performance as a way of getting in touch with reality. Even as fictions, these performative actions exist in reality, and rather peculiar formats 'come into existence' for demarcating these fictions from reality: applause, whistle blows, frames... What is the role of these demarcations when thinking about the relation between fiction and reality? And what if the demarcations become part of the to-be-demarcated fictions? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What is the state of democracy today? In the Western world, people often take the meaning of this term for granted, but do they genuinely know what democracy is? In this sense, how can we define democracy in today's digitalized world? What is the relationship between democracy and information? Furthermore, do we really live in a democratic world? In Infocracy: Digitalization and the Crisis of Democracy--the 2022 translation of the original German book Infokratie. Digitalisierung und die Krise der Demokratie, published in 2021 by MSB Matthes & Seitz Berlin Verlagsgesellschaft mbH--Byung-Chul Han reflects on these and other related issues. Han's analysis of the current political, social, and technological situation indicates that a profound democratic crisis is emerging. The loss of interest in truth, the end of grand narratives, the replacement of reason with data analysis (even in philosophy), the fragmentation of the population due to digitalization, and the predominant role of information in everyday life are all symptoms of a radical transformation underway in Western society, with severe consequences for democratic stability. In these terms, Han's vision, at times excessively pessimistic, orients us on the crucial issues of our time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines Nietzsche’s theory of language, which has an essential connection with other epistemological, aesthetic, and social claims present in his work. It is argued that language is the result of perspectival and relative constructions of human beings. For this reason, one cannot speak of absolute or universally valid truths within language, but only of conventional forms and interpretations: accounts of reality, but not objective facts. It is shown that this Nietzschean claim takes important elements from the philosophy of Friedrich Lange, a famous 19th-century philosopher of science and founder of neo-Kantianism in Germany. Nietzsche takes Lange’s concepts of Organisation and Dichtung for some central developments of his own theory of language in the early stages of his thought. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Antognazza ("The Benefit to Philosophy", "The Distinction in Kind"), Dutant ("The Legend"), and I ("Knowledge Before Gettier") have argued for the historical falsity of the claim that, prior to Gettier's famous counterexamples of sixty years ago, the so-called 'traditional' conception of knowledge was the justified true belief (JTB) conception. This note addresses a related historical question that, rather surprisingly, has not yet been addressed in the philosophical literature; to wit: when did this claim first appear in this literature? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Preaching has always been a means of congregational formation, and it is most effective in this endeavor when the homiletic matches the expectations of the audience. Modernism's solo, authoritative clergy voice and postmodernism's inductive New Homiletic responded to the needs of listeners in their respective eras. This paper proposes a homiletical paradigm that responds to metamodernism—a movement emerging in the U.S. over the past 10 years—and imagines this paradigm's contribution to Christo-formation in the faith community. After the introduction, this paper traces how modernism and postmodernism affected America's homiletic and subsequent congregational formation. This is followed by a description of metamodernism, its place within postmodernity, and its effect on church members' expectations. Next, I present a shared pulpit culture, where the congregation hears a myriad of preaching voices, as a formative response to metamodern demands for more complex truths to be discerned within trusting communities. The paper ends with experiences from a faith community that practices a shared pulpit to show how the practice forms the vocational preacher, the members who preach, and the church at large. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wishing to access the referential nature of things, the later Roland Barthes turned to premodern modes of thinking that emphasise presence, exteriority, and certainty. This essay shows this turn by elaborating on the Platonic, mythical, and tragic subtexts of his Camera Lucida. The photographic pose – interpreted variously through tragic masks, sacred icons, or documentary transparency – offers a rich site to reflect on the objectivity of experience. Though its memories are subjective, photography's vivid effect shares in the universality promised by myth, which is also an imagistic mode of experience. The tension between the studium (techne/rhetoric) and the punctum (wound/experience) leads Barthes to affirm the incontrovertible reality of the latter over the artificiality of the former. Additionally, photography's temporality of the past functions as a confirmation of presence rather than absence: the no-more does not signify what is not there, but corroborates in its melancholy what once was. In short, the light of photography in Camera Lucida is not so much a technical device required by an artistic medium but the very light of truth that grounds the referentiality of existence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores Ilyenkov's conception of imagination as it is expressed in his writings on aesthetics and in his 1968 book Ob idolakh i idealakh (Of Idols and Ideals). Ilyenkov deemed imagination and creativity to be central to the character of distinctively human forms of mental activity. After examining the many different contexts in which Ilyenkov sees imagination at work—from the most basic operations of perception to the expression of artistic and scientific genius—I bring his ideas into dialogue with the account of imagination developed in Vygotsky's writings. I argue that, though there are significant differences, their respective approaches are complementary. Both see imagination not simply as a vehicle of fantasy, but as intimately involved in disclosing reality. Moreover, both thinkers are reluctant to cast imagination as a discrete mental function on a par with reason, memory, will, etc. Imagination, rather, is critical to the way in which mental functions express themselves. The paper concludes with a brief discussion of whether children can be taught to be creative and imaginative. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay argues that the interpretations we develop through the activity of reflection have a share of the truth. I argue this, first, by outlining the relationship of concepts to intuitions in Kant's theory of cognition, which presents the measure for truth in his philosophy. I turn, second, to explicate in detail the relation of the faculties in Kant's descriptions of the free play between the imagination and the understanding in judgments of taste. Here, we find that concepts relate to what appears in a partial but also multiple way, leading to a conclusion that our reflective judgments share in the truth. This is important, I note, for the need we have to inhabit a shared world where we can communicate with each other about the way that things are, even about things that are not objects of 'knowledge' proper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

According to an influential view, asserting a proposition involves undertaking some "commitment" to the truth of that proposition. But accounts of what it is for someone to be committed to the truth of a proposition are often vague or imprecise, and are rarely put to work to define assertion. This article aims to fill this gap. It offers a precise characterisation of assertoric commitment, and applies it to define assertion. On the proposed view, acquiring commitment is not sufficient for asserting: To assert, commitment must be acquired by explicitly presenting a proposition as true. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay examines Foucault's legacy in terms of its contribution to the field of somaesthetics. It demonstrates how Foucault's work on embodiment, care of the self, pleasure, sexuality, and aesthetics of existence were inspirational to the founding of somaesthetics and can serve as exemplars of somaesthetic philosophy. However, the essay also explores the ways that current somaesthetic research departs from Foucault's theories by critiquing their limitations with respect to several important issues. These issues include the varieties of pleasure, the multicultural scope and diversity of ars erotica, the range of aesthetics and art, and the demand for truth and heroism in the art of living a beautiful life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On the basis of a definition of ecology centred on Merleau-Ponty's thought, this essay examines the various phases of Foucauldian thought and their respective relationships to possible ecological outcomes: the Dionysian phase, which lasts until The Order of Things; the microphysics of power phase, in which a philosophy of the will that radically breaks with any idea of the original becomes central; and the late Foucault phase, characterised by the themes of the hermeneutics of the self, subjectivity and critique. In the latter period in particular, in which Foucault's rapprochement with Canguilhem and the idea of a living being immersed in a dialectical relationship with the environment and with others is very strong, a model is identified that is particularly amenable to interpretation in ecological terms. The essay concludes with some research hypotheses on the possible relationship between a philosophy of the will, such as that mediated by Foucault from Nietzsche and Schopenhauer, and ecology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Turkish Culture & Haci Bektas Veli Research Quarterly is the property of Turkish Cultur & Haci Bektas Veli Research Quarterly 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 Logos: A Journal, of Religion, Philosophy Comparative Cultural Studies & Art (08687692) is the property of Logos 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.)

Recent research based on samples from Western countries has shown that the framing of information influences judgments of its truth, with negative framed statements perceived as more credible than formally equivalent positive framed statements. However, these findings may not apply to all Chinese residents because of China's unique news contexts that adhere to positive reporting and a collectivist culture. Although the equivalence framing also affects people's judgment of the truth of the information in China, it differs from people in Western countries. Chinese people believe statements with positive framed statements are more credible than statements with formally equivalent negative frames. They are more likely to associate positive information with news and show no obvious reactance to the persuasive intention perceived from positive framed statements. In addition, exposure to information from non-official media is changing this particular outcome, and people with frequent access to non-official media show similar responses to those in the West along these paths. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Arts for Linguistic & Literary Studies is the property of Thamar University 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.)

Forensics, as a science and practice, is essential for solving criminal cases in compliance with the principles of criminal procedure, as well as for the correct administration of justice as a whole. As a discipline, forensic science is particularly complex, which is why it uses many methods, from the simplest ones based on human sensory organs, to the most complex ones, such as DNA analysis and modeling. At the same time, forensic examination and investigation is an important field of science for managing evidence in a criminal case and bringing criminals to justice. In the current context, in which crimes and criminal phenomena have acquired a new dimension through their internationalization and complexity, forensic examination and investigation implies the need to use advanced technologies, based on modern methods and tools, scientifically validated. Moreover, some of the methods and principles of forensics, as we will try to present them in the following lines, can also be applied in other areas of legal practice, such as the civil, administrative and contravention procedural field etc., in order to support in achieving their goal by using scientific methods and means in law enforcement and justice. As a science of law, the most important role of forensic methods is related to the adoption of legal and correct decisions, as a result of the contribution of innovative forensic thinking in the process of administration and evaluation of evidence in all judicial and extrajudicial cases under investigation. Through the prism of the forensic education strictly necessary for any jurist, through this study we aim to provide an overview of the complex system of methods of this science which, used in good faith, can certainly be in the service of truth and justice. In the first part of this article we will analyze the general methods of knowledge specific to several sciences. In the second part of the article, which will be published in the next issue of the journal, we will analyze the methods specific to the science of forensics, the methods specific to other sciences applied in forensics, the principles of forensics - criminal procedural principles, with an important role in finding the truth, concluding it with a series of conclusions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We know our own intentional actions in a distinctively first-personal way. Many accounts of knowledge of intentionally doing something, $A$ A , assume that grounds for the knowledge would have to establish or indicate that it is true that one is intentionally doing $A$ A. In this paper, I argue against this assumption, showing how it entails being in a Moore-paradoxical situation. I argue that if knowledge of intentionally doing $A$ A were such that grounds for it must be truth-indicating, then one could always wonder, when doing $A$ A , whether $A$ A is for one a goal. However, just as wondering whether $p$ p is true is incompatible with thinking that one believes $p$ p , so wondering whether $A$ A is for one a goal is incompatible with thinking that one is intentionally doing $A$ A. We must allow, then, that one's knowledge of intentionally doing $A$ A is itself a representation of $A$ A as a goal to be accomplished, apt to be grounded by reasons for doing $A$ A. I show that the first-personal character of knowledge of acting intentionally resides in its being practical rather than theoretical. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bruno Whittle (2019) has recently extended Kripke's semantical theory of truth to languages containing generalized quantifiers. There are reasons for axiomatizing semantical theories, and for regarding Halbach and Horsten's PKF as a good axiomatization of Kripke's. PKF is a theory in Partial Logic. The present paper complements Whittle's by showing how Partial Logic, and then PKF, may be extended to cover binary quantifiers meaning 'every', 'some', and 'most'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Serious actualism is the view that it is metaphysically impossible for an entity to have a property, or stand in a relation, and not exist. Fine (1985) and Pollock (1985) influentially argue that this view is false. In short, there are properties like the property of nonexistence, and it is metaphysically possible that some entity both exemplifies such a property and does not exist. I argue that such arguments are indeed successful against the standard formulation of serious actualism. However, I also argue that we should distinguish a weaker formulation of serious actualism using the actualist distinction between truth in, and truth at, a possible world. This weaker formulation is then shown to be consistent with the existence and possible exemplification of properties like the property of nonexistence. I end with a novel argument for the truth of the weaker formulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Nietzsche - Studien is the property of De Gruyter 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.)

This study loosely follows on the brilliant condensed interpretations of Jan Kořenský on the status of speech (in the sense of parole) and its assumptions (in the sense of langue) from the position of subject-object noetics. The author focuses on the question of what real language is. He is concerned with whether langue is only a social reality (exists only in social interactions) or also a cognitive reality (exists in some way in the cognition of the communicators). In his interpretation of langue, it appears as a rational language system, against which he sets a practical language system with the question of what reality these systems represent. He is reluctant to accept the view that langue is somehow present in a practical linguistic system. He takes the position that while a rational language system is only a reality constructed by the mind (a construct), a practical language system is a reality that arose from the gradual coordination of communicative activities of social subjects, which introduced flexible and stable practical rules without having to create a system in the sense of langue, functioning as a presuppositional basis of speech. He illuminates these systems from the point of view of the basic question of the theory of knowledge connected with the understanding of truth, and he points out their practical usefulness. He starts from the thesis that man is a construction-reconstruction being, and aims to support the rehabilitation of correspondence truth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 'History of Astronomy' is fundamental to understanding Smith's epistemology. The most problematic issue of this text is that Smith intended to analyse the history of astronomy according not to the principles of 'truth' that they embodied, but in terms of their logical coherence. However, he was also influenced by Newton's realism. My thesis is that Smith had no doubts that external reality exists, but believed that it is necessarily filtered by our perceptions and our scientific beliefs. Perceptions and theories do not reflect objective reality as such but reconstruct it according to the procedures and constraints that characterise them. Two generally neglected Smithian sources, Copernicus and Berkeley and 'Of the External Senses' seem to legitimize this interpretation. At first sight, Fontenelle used the same arguments of Berkeley and Smith, but the difference is that Fontenelle was convinced that astronomical science is characterised by progress toward truth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When I look back, I recognise that there has been a will other than mine that has been guiding me towards and along the path of artistic creation. As a believer, I identify this will with divine Providence, which opens the doors through which I must pass. Thus, I acknowledge in my artistic work a vocation, a call to which I must respond, and I find myself in the need to put the talents I have received at the service of this special mission. Along my journey, I have encountered various texts that have helped me understand what this vocation consists of, among them two have deeply touched me, Rodin's Artistic Testament and Saint John Paul II's Letter to Artists. Thanks to them, I have discovered that art can be a good means to understand reality and make it understood, or that it can be a suitable means to praise and give thanks to God for all the blessings He gives us. Beauty plays a leading role in all of this. Its relationship with truth particularly interests me because it serves me as a guide in my creations. As Rodin has taught me, I seek above all that my works reveal the true character that lies beneath the forms, since when we find truth, inevitably we find beauty as well. To achieve this, I use both painting and sculpture, working with very specific materials that I try to shape. Material reality makes physical what is not, art has the ability to make the invisible visible, I consider it to have an almost sacramental dimension and therefore the materials and the way of using them are of great importance. I highly value technique, which I try to master in order to express myself with true freedom. Every work of art can be an open window to transcendence, but sacred art destined for liturgy or devotion must strive to achieve this. To do this, I believe it is good to draw from the masters of the past, to maintain continuity in the use of symbolism and iconography, and I see a certain degree of figuration is necessary to make the biblical characters and scenes recognisable and thus be a catechetical vehicle. All this does not equate to imitating styles of the past since there is room for each artist to express themselves according to their own personality and for the result to be a product of their time.

There is still disagreement among researchers about the question of the intention, unity and coherence of Kant's philosophy. In view of the distance in time to Kant, this state of affairs is as surprising as it is unsatisfactory. It is therefore all the more pleasing that new movement has come into Kant research, particularly as a result of recent research work, but also through the rediscovery of older contributions, which gives hope that certain fundamental questions of Kantian philosophy can indeed be answered. This also applies to the question of the unity and structure of the three critiques to be discussed in this articles. At the centre of this is the thesis that the three critiques, taken together, answer or attempt to answer the basic concern of a comprehensive critique of pure reason, namely to establish reason as the ultimate and self-founding principle of all experience. In itself, each of the three critiques represents a necessary moment of a more comprehensive movement of justification, which the critique as a whole goes through three times. In each of these passages, it encounters aporias that can no longer be resolved from its respective standpoint, but which lead to a necessary consequential standpoint. The order of the critiques of reason follows the classical doctrine of transcendentalism. Thus, reason in the theoretical forms the principle of systematic unity, in the practical forms the principle of objective validity, i.e. of truth, and in the reflection on the universality of the one reason underlying both forms of reason, the principle of perfection. From there, the Critique of Pure Reason as a whole should return to its beginning, namely to the exposition of its presupposition. The fact that Kant himself did not complete his system should not be a cause for regret, but rather lead to philosophising with Kant rather than about him.

What is the state of democracy today? In the Western world, people often take the meaning of this term for granted, but do they genuinely know what democracy is? In this sense, how can we define democracy in today’s digitalized world? What is the relationship between democracy and information? Furthermore, do we really live in a democratic world? In Infocracy: Digitalization and the Crisis of Democracy—the 2022 translation of the original German book Infokratie. Digitalisierung und die Krise der Demokratie, published in 2021 by MSB Matthes & Seitz Berlin Verlagsgesellschaft mbH—Byung-Chul Han reflects on these and other related issues. Han’s analysis of the current political, social, and technological situation indicates that a profound democratic crisis is emerging. The loss of interest in truth, the end of grand narratives, the replacement of reason with data analysis (even in philosophy), the fragmentation of the population due to digitalization, and the predominant role of information in everyday life are all symptoms of a radical transformation underway in Western society, with severe consequences for democratic stability. In these terms, Han’s vision, at times excessively pessimistic, orients us on the crucial issues of our time.

This article investigates the notion of happiness as presented in Mawlānā jalāl al-Dīn Rūmī’s (d. 672/1273) Mathnawī-ī Ma’nawī, examining the intersection amid the scholarly discourse on the subject within the Sufi literature. Rather than a momentary sentiment, D ̲ D ̲ jalāl al-Dīn Rūmī’s identifies happiness as the state of existence once experienced in the primordial realm. Having separated from the divine presence, the condition of human beings on earth would consist of pain and unhappiness. Since the worldly material is transitory, the happiness achieved through them is likewise. The analysis initiates with an exploration of the ephemeral nature of worldly objects. Rūmī suggests that true comprehension of the world’s transient aspects lays the groundwork for spiritual elevation, emphasizing that material possessions offer limited and fleeting satisfaction, thus urging the seeker towards recognizing the impermanence of worldly gains. Advancing from the tangible to the introspective, the discussion underscores Rūmī’s emphasis on self-awareness. Through the Mathnawī’s elaborate narratives and poetic reflections, Rūmī encourages the reader to embark on a path of spiritual enlightenment. Therefore, Rumi encourages the individual to take a voluntary spiritual journey (sulūk) from the self (nafs) to the soul aiming for divine union to achieve eternal happiness. This transformative journey, guided by a spiritual master, advances the seeker through various stages of self-awareness and purification, ultimately leading to a profound realization of one’s divine essence and harmony with the divine will, which brings about a profound sense of genuine happiness. The study underscores Rūmī's pivotal role in shaping the discourse on happiness within Sufism and highlights the enduring relevance of his insights into the quest for authentic, enduring human contentment. This investigation enriches our understanding of Islamic and Sufi conceptions of happiness, positioning Rūmī's teachings as a vital link in the continuous pursuit of spiritual and existential fulfillment in contemporary times.

The concepts of truth and freedom, being important value categories for modern Russian citizens, have deep historical roots. Therefore, it is important to consider their historical content and evolution. In this regard, the purpose of the article is to reconstruct the meaning of truth and freedom as value categories. The main conclusions of the article were made during the study of the works of Russian authors of the 11-17th centuries on the basis of the search database of the National Corpus of the Russian language. As a result of the content analysis and comparative analysis, the following conclusions were drawn. Both of these concepts, having, at first glance, a large number of different meanings, are determined primarily by the Orthodox Christian content, which makes it possible to reconstruct their unified commonly used definition. The concept of freedom in the texts of the 11-17th centuries in many ways resembled its modern usage and was associated with the political independence of the state or people, however, in a fair part of the documents there was an understanding of freedom as a Christian gift, in many ways resembling the understanding of grace and salvation. The concept of freedom was filled with the Christian understanding of freedom from death, from sin and God’s wrath, thus defining the necessary practice of exercising freedom itself. The concept of truth, which in modern science is either reduced to a narrow understanding as law or justice, or breaks up into a significant number of autonomous concepts, was also determined precisely by the Christian content. Undoubtedly being an attribute of power relations, truth is deduced from the human dimension, and its bearer is not an abstract or specific prince, not a specific secular or spiritual ruler, but the Lord God. Both private life and public administration, obeying the demands of truth, lead to the establishment of Divine institutions on earth and the salvation of both an individual and an entire nation.

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Newly powerful large language models have burst onto the scene, with applications across a wide range of functions. We can now expect to encounter their outputs at rapidly increasing volumes and frequencies. Some commentators claim that large language models are bullshitting, generating convincing output without regard for the truth. If correct, that would make large language models distinctively dangerous discourse participants. Bullshitters not only undermine the norm of truthfulness (by saying false things) but the normative status of truth itself (by treating it as entirely irrelevant). So, do large language models really bullshit? I argue that they can, in the sense of issuing propositional content in response to fact-seeking prompts, without having first assessed that content for truth or falsity. However, I further argue that they need not bullshit, given appropriate guardrails. So, just as with human speakers, the propensity for a large language model to bullshit depends on its own particular make-up. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For some years now, the significance of truth for politics has been intensely debated under the buzzword "post-truth." However, this cannot hide the fact that political theory and philosophy have systematically neglected the relationship between truth and politics throughout their history. This article intends to remedy this desideratum by differentiating the various modes in which truth is referred to and invoked in the political field. To this end, the main strands of the post-truth debate are reconstructed and their shortcomings are pointed out. Second, based on a contrasting reading of Habermas and Foucault, possible starting points for systematizing the relationship between truth and politics are discussed. Third, and as a prolegomenon to such a systematization, the article proposes a cartography of political truth forms and relations along five fault lines: truth as foundation and de-foundation, truth as coercion and freedom, truth as virtue and scandal, truth as secret and transparency, and truth as knowledge and practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article explores the dialectics of freedom in the poem "Ode on a Grecian Urn" by John Keats and its connection with the concepts of truth and beauty according to interpretations by philosophers Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel and Karl Marx. It discusses Hegel's aesthetics in reading the poem as an embodiment of subjectivity and transcendence of freedom in Romantic art drawing from the Eleusinian mystery. It examines the Marxian aesthetics oriented around historicity and immanence of freedom.