Cover of Cultura International Journal of Philosophy of Culture and Axiology
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1. Cultura International Journal of Philosophy of Culture and Axiology: Volume > 7 > Issue: 2
Massimo Verzella, Aldo Marroni Values of Art and Shadow of Evil
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According to the French philosopher Alain, art must regain its existence as a real and solid object to counteract deceitful imagination. In line with this view is Yves Michaud’s description of the “gaseous” state of contemporary art. Paradoxically, the wide circulation of many ‘artistic’ products, destined to be consumed and invoke emotions, does not indicate that we are in presence of an important affirmation of ethical and aesthetical values. As it were, the proliferation of aesthetic objects has destroyed the symbolic value of art. The Italian philosopher Gianni Carchia has underlined how the disappearance of the axiological dimension has led art towards imposture and under the yoke of imagination, which both assist the strategies of the demonic. At this point a question arises: is it possible to eradicate the power of the demonic and evil from our existential condition? According to Jung it’s impossible. In Castelli’s view, the union between art, evil and the demonic has characterized the artistic panorama of the sixteenth century. In the twentieth-century, we owe to Hermann Broch – who brought the raising power of kitsch under philosophical scrutiny − the idea of a complicity between degraded art and evil. Not all scholars agreed that Kitsch represented evil. Many philosophers argued that the growing popularity of Kitsch among the masses posed a problem concerning the demand for art. For this reason, philosophical speculation had better not take a Manichean attitude and reject Kitsch outright, on the contrary, Kitsch should be studied with the aim of transforming the “hunger for art”, of which it is a manifestation, into a desire for ethical and artistic values.
2. Cultura International Journal of Philosophy of Culture and Axiology: Volume > 7 > Issue: 2
Ştefan Gaie Dilemmas of Public Art (strolling around Richard Serra’s Tilted Arc)
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Public Art has represented a rising artistic genre for the last few decades. Art abandoned museums and galleries to conquer the public space, a fact which gave birth to passionate controversies that cannot be approached only in terms of paradigms of art history. Taking Richard Serra’s controversial sculpture, Tilted Arc, as an example, this article aims at tracing, by means of an interdisciplinary approach, the challenges that public art has been confronted with in the contemporary city.
3. Cultura International Journal of Philosophy of Culture and Axiology: Volume > 7 > Issue: 2
Douglas I.O. Anele Western Technical Civilization and Regional Cultures in Nigeria: the Igbo Experience
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This paper examines the impact of the introduction of Western (European) technical civilization on regional cultures in Nigeria, using Igboland in South-EasternNigeria as a test case. It begins with a discussion of some general features of Western technical civilization whose evolution has been profoundly influenced by technological advances in Europe and her cultural colonies in North America and elsewhere. Consequences of the contact between Western technical civilization and traditional Igbo culture are also examined. The paper concludes by discussing the challenging problem of Africa’s contribution to technical civilization.
4. Cultura International Journal of Philosophy of Culture and Axiology: Volume > 7 > Issue: 2
Nicolae Râmbu The Puerilism. An Axiological Approach
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Theoreticians of civilization have defined a series of anomalies of the European culture as cultural maladies. But this notion was used from author to author with very different meanings, being vaguely defined or used as a simple metaphor. In the ideological discourse of the Third Reich the references to the maladies of the European culture are frequently correlated to the references to the savior Reich. The present study suggests the concept of axiological malady in order to designate more precisely a series of unhealthy phenomenon of the European culture, for instance the puerilism.
5. Cultura International Journal of Philosophy of Culture and Axiology: Volume > 7 > Issue: 2
Ronald Olufemi Badru Reparations for Africa: Providing Metaphysical and Epistemological Grounds of Justice to the Descendants of Dehumanised Generation
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The paper adopts philosophical research methodologies of conceptual clarification, critical analysis, and extensive argumentation. It attempts to jointly employ African metaphysical and epistemological grounds to address the problem of finding appropriate justification for reparations for Africa on the issue of past slavery and slave trade. The paper states that the crux of the problem is how to formulate a coherent theoretical framework, which provides a strong connection between the direct victims of slavery and slave trade and their descendants in Africa, on the basis of which the latter could justifiably claim for restitutive justice against the wrong done to the former. Western traditional accounts usually define reparations such that the concept only intelligibly applies to moral relations among contemporaries, not between the departed and the living. This reasoning, therefore, forecloses any moral relations between the departed and the living, making it morally unjustifiable for the latter to claim for restitutive justice on behalf of the former. However, this study re-thinks the concept of reparations, using two core areas of African philosophy. African metaphysics recognizes that an experiential being is ontologically connected to the other, that is, any other experiential being and spirits, inclusive of ancestors. This relationship also invariably closes the epistemological gap between the experiential and non-experiential worlds, making them a unity within African cosmology. Situated within the present study, the foregoing shows that the living could justifiably claim for restitutive justice on behalf of the departed, the direct victims of slavery and slave trade.
6. Cultura International Journal of Philosophy of Culture and Axiology: Volume > 7 > Issue: 2
Md. Munir Hossain Talukder Self, Nature, and Cultural Values
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Ecological crisis is one of the major worries at 21st century. The ecological damages already caused are severe, and many species including human beings are facing serious challenge to survive. The cross-cultural worldviews could be a promising approach to solve this global problem. Every culture reflects some core values but we need to recognize and consider them. A comparison between cultures shed more lights since in this way we can learn and rectify our own values. The relation between self and nature is pre-historical, exists before the civilization begins. However, new knowledge and technology interrupted this relation throughout the history and as a result catastrophic events increased. This paper analyzes self-nature relation in the Western and Eastern cultural traditions. It argues that the common cultural value ‘identification’ can be demonstrated to build up a harmonious co-existence with nature.
7. Cultura International Journal of Philosophy of Culture and Axiology: Volume > 7 > Issue: 2
Marius Sidoriuc Medicine for the Maladies of the Spirit
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A madhouse can be regarded as the realm where concepts do not have a constantly changing topos. This autarchic sanctuary has no “patients” and is a true malady of the soul. An “engaged” philosophy is one which deals with the selection of concept consumption. On behalf of the healthiness of the spirit, the authorial voices have engaged themselves in a therapeutic writing. ”The world” had to be cured, the maladies of the soul were a threat everywhere. The concepts, qua therapeutic agents have taken on this role. But if the malady itself would be constitutive of the spirit, a medicina mundi through which the creation of concepts is a Genesis, a permanent naming is offered as an alternative for the “healing” of the spirit. This is the thesis through which in Six Maladies of the Contemporary Spirit, the philosopher Constantin Noica chose to portray six maladies of which the soul would be “suffering” and which make the object of this paper.
8. Cultura International Journal of Philosophy of Culture and Axiology: Volume > 7 > Issue: 2
Teodor Negru Culture and Capitalism. Genealogy of Consumer Culture
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Within the context of today’s world overwhelmed by the increasing importance of capitalism, the need to analyse the relationship between man and capital in order to better understand the transformations culture has been undergoing. This endeavour relies on the idea that many concepts and phenomena whose presence in our lives is increasingly felt, and which are defining for what we call postmodernism, have originated in the modern times. The capital is an illustrative example to this purpose: it was discovered during the modern era at the time of the emergence of the production process and underlay all transformations of later modernism. The growth of capital circulation speed has resulted in leaving aside its relationship with production and in its being re-rethought from the viewpoint of man’s desires. Thus, the transition has been made from the becoming being paradigm, theorised by the modernists, to the concept of volatile being, whose effects are being experimented in postmodernism.
9. Cultura International Journal of Philosophy of Culture and Axiology: Volume > 7 > Issue: 2
William Ferraiolo Collective Karma and “Blowback”
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In Blowback: The Costs and Consequences of American Empire, Chalmers Johnson offers a prescient analysis of the dangers presented by an unchecked U.S. military-industrial complex and the likely consequences of American interventionism abroad. Blowback’s prescience is revealed by the fact that Johnson predicted escalating terrorist attacks on the United States and its citizens prior to the tragedies of September 11, 2001. He goes on to predict the likely decline and ultimate collapse of what he describes as the “American Empire,” largely as a result of the socio-economic consequences of hyper-militarism and growing anti-American sentiment resulting, at least in part, from America’s aggressive militarism and persistent socio-economic meddling abroad. In this paper, I attempt to formulate the “consequences of American empire” as the fruit of what some Buddhists have termed “collective karma”. A proper analysis of collective karma will, I contend, illuminate the role of America’s military and economic imperialism as causal antecedents of “Blowback,” and will also help us grasp the degree to which American citizens unknowingly (or unthinkingly) support the U.S. military-industrial complex that virtually ensures resentment, hostility, and, ultimately, the collapse of the “empire” – and, with that collapse, the reaping of the bitter fruit of our collective karma.
10. Cultura International Journal of Philosophy of Culture and Axiology: Volume > 7 > Issue: 2
Thor Olav Olsen On Humanization of Life
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To go on in the business of living, man needs a basic certainty. This is what I interpret as metaphysics. A prerequisite for making metaphysics is that you have some understanding of Biography of Philosophy. On the other hand, life is not a pre-given entity; it depends on what you do out it. This is the action directed aspects of life. In short, what I am arguing for is that the human being itself is the foundation for every story we tell and re-tell about what we have done, and what we are doing in review of our plans and project for the future.
11. Cultura International Journal of Philosophy of Culture and Axiology: Volume > 7 > Issue: 2
Ayşe Sibel Türküm Stance against Violence at Schools: School Staff’s Ethical Roles in the Well-Being of Students in Turkey
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Violence, especially against children, is a very serious problem worldwide. Violence at schools is one aspect of violence against children and it occurs in the similar ways in Turkey as it does in other countries. The studies on the roles and functions of school staff reveal that there is a problem with regard to this issue in Turkey. This study aims to discuss school staff’s ethical roles in ensuring the wellbeing of students in Turkey. The current situation of violence at schools in the country is discussed in terms of the expected roles of school staff.
12. Cultura International Journal of Philosophy of Culture and Axiology: Volume > 7 > Issue: 2
Artur Lakatos War, Martyrdom and Suicide Bombers: Essay on Suicide Terrorism
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This paper deals with the subject of self-sacrifice from an interdisciplinary perspective. Using various examples from different cultures and periods of history it will present aspects of the phenomenon of violent self-sacrifice in combat or with the occasion of suicide terrorist attacks, currents and movements familiar with these techniques through history; its psychological, moral and social background and above all, their impact and perception on the suicide terrorist's own society. It also includes, from a general, theoretical point of view, a few methods and practices beneficial for fighting this phenomenon.
13. Cultura International Journal of Philosophy of Culture and Axiology: Volume > 7 > Issue: 2
Daniel Ungureanu Sayyid Qutb's Ideological Influence On Contemporary Muslim Communities Across Western Europe
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Sayyid Qutb promoted the idea of a pan-Islamic state, governed solely by the shari'a (Islamic law) as an idea whose time has come, in an era of trans-national ideologies. He argues that all contemporary societies returned to state of jahiliyya or pre-Islamic ignorance, in which authority and primacy of God have been replaced by other sources of authority, justifying this way the launch of jihad. As stated Qutb, jihad against unbelievers is wearing by sword and spear and against the hypocrites by argument and word.
14. Cultura International Journal of Philosophy of Culture and Axiology: Volume > 7 > Issue: 2
Maximiliano E. Korstanje IRONMAN: Terrorism, Security and Fear or How the Phantom of Past Works
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Centered in the analysis of discourse over films, the present work debates the general drawing of the film IRONMAN and its connection of Muslim terrorism. Ourmain thesis is that globalization plays a pervasive role since at a first glance homogenizes the domination of technology, economic linkages and rationalization while for the other side it entails a process of re-territorialization based on an elusive logic. Cynically, whether we accept that the doctrine of free-market postulates the exchange between developed and underdeveloped nations physical and symbolic barriers to migration are erected from periphery to center. The poverty and lack of perspective pave the ways for the upsurge of national movements. Even though terrorism can be part of social discontent, some other alternatives within the law are possible. This discourse that nourished the American ethnocentrism in the last years can be viewed in several movies and the industry of entertainment. Muslim Terrorist as social construal has become in a social taboo, for one hand this generates fear but at the same time attraction. In terms of Eliade, Althusser, Wolf, Ricoeur and Zizek one might surmise that ideology works as something else than a dissuasive message. Ideology, and of course IRONMAN helps viewers to resolve the contradictions between nature and culture.
15. Cultura International Journal of Philosophy of Culture and Axiology: Volume > 7 > Issue: 2
Erdoğan Kaya, Nazlı Gökçe Environmental Education Projects Conducted at Primary Schools in Turkey
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Projects conducted at primary schools are of great importance in environmental education. In this study, interviews were carried out with teachers who were theparticipants of particular environmental projects. This survey study is conducted through a descriptive research method, namely, semi-structured interviews. The data were analyzed descriptively. The study revealed that teachers felt environmental education projects made various contributions to students, schools, school staff, teachers, parents, and the school environment. However, it was discovered that teachers experienced some problems in project implementation. The solutions offered by teachers who experienced these problems were also determined.
16. Cultura International Journal of Philosophy of Culture and Axiology: Volume > 7 > Issue: 2
Omar Ibrahim Alomoush, Mohammad Abdullah Matarneh The Spread of Code-switches into Jordanian Social Settings
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The current study investigates the infiltration of code-switches into Jordanian social settings. It is also to examine Jordanians' attitudes toward the spread of code-switches in different social settings, the rationale behind the spread of code-switches, the role of media, types of code-switches and linguistic dominance. To illustrate the existence of this phenomenon, a corpus consisting of more than two hundred code-switches has been built up. Most importantly, to measure Jordanians' attitudes toward the phenomenon, more than three hundred questionnaires have been delivered in Amman city.
17. Cultura International Journal of Philosophy of Culture and Axiology: Volume > 7 > Issue: 2
Constantinos Maritsas Human Language as a Tool of Lie
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The problem of human language is studied in the context of the definition “civilization” on the basis of Darwin’s theory. The author defines civilization as “survival of the unfit”. The author supposes that language was invented by the men to describe their heroic deeds for the women in order to be selected by them for reproduction. In other words, language became a selection criterion together with beauty and presents.
18. Cultura International Journal of Philosophy of Culture and Axiology: Volume > 7 > Issue: 2
Simona Mitroiu, Carmen Rusu To Educate the Mind. Notes about Music and its Power to Remember
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The main idea of this paper is that memories are the key elements of our identity and in order to access these elements it is sometimes necessary to use different techniques. Music is one of them and the education of the mind represents a safe direction to define and our cultural identity regardless the various social pressures.
19. Cultura International Journal of Philosophy of Culture and Axiology: Volume > 7 > Issue: 2
Peter S. Borkowski Aporetics as Philosophic Culture
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This paper attempts to outline a model for introducing students to philosophical analysis based on presentations of the aporia by Nicholas Rescher. It isdeveloped from the premise that philosophy is a distinct culture of its own wherever it can be identified and that such basic exercises in critical thinking represent one of the common denominators running through all philosophical activity: namely, rational analysis of linguistic terms and logical possibilities. Dr. Rescher’s work over the years in logic is rightfully admired; however, not enough attention has been paid to the many fruitful applications his work has for pedagogical purposes in philosophy.
books reviews
20. Cultura International Journal of Philosophy of Culture and Axiology: Volume > 7 > Issue: 2
Cristobal Orrego Steven J. Jensen, Good and Evil Actions. A Journey through Saint Thomas Aquinas
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