There is a hitherto not recognized possibility effectively to use computer-based scientific investigating, teaching and learning strategies and resources in history of philosophy. This is especially interesting for comparative scientific investigations in history of philosophy, for distance learning and teaching it. Effectively to apply modern computer technologies one has to have an adequate mathematical simulation of the sphere of application. Therefore the paper starts with submitting a mathematical simulation of metaphysics (in general). Then this mathematical machinery is applied to a representative concrete example, namely, to the metaphysical system of Parmenides of Elea. By means of the method submitted in this paper (and by virtue of computer) a user himself can create (construct) an adequate digital simulation of some computable aspect of any specific philosophical system. Here the digital method of investigating the history of philosophy is exemplified by applying it to the metaphysical system of Parmenides. According to the hypothesis underlying the mentioned method, metaphysics is formal axiology. Hence algebra of metaphysics is algebra of formal axiology. Therefore metaphysics of Parmenides is represented below as a system of equations of the formal-axiology algebra. This system of equations could be computer-generated and investigated by any user autonomously.

This article is concerned with the problem of how to avoid the Third Man Argument which Plato put forward in Parmenides 132a1-b2. According to Gregory Vlastos, this argument is based on two tacit assumptions: the Self-Predication and the Non-Identity Assumption. In recent years there have been a number ofinterpretations which attempted to avoid the Third Man Argument by proving that the Self-Predication Assumption is not an acceptable part of Plato’s theory. However, in this article I will show that the fallacy of the Third Man Argument does not lie in the Self-Predication Assumption, but in the Non-Identity Assumption. That is, we may avoid the Third Man Argument by proving that the Non-Identity Assumption is false. Besides, in this article I will point out that in putting forward the Third Man Argument, Plato does not really intend to raise a criticism of his own theory. Rather, his device of the Third Man Argument in Parmenides 132a1-b2 should be considered as a warning against the materialistic interpretation of the relation between Forms and particulars: if we interpret the conception of“participation” in a materialistic manner, the Theory of Forms will inevitably be caught in the Largeness Regress.

It often surprises modern readers to find the cerebral philosopher Socrates hanging out in gymnasia and wrestling schools. We tend to downplay Socrates’ association with athletes and contest as mere literary window-dressing. I would like to suggest, to the contrary, that Plato’s depiction of Socrates as an athlete goes beyond dramatic setting and linguistic metaphor. Plato actually presents Socrates as an athlete of the soul, engaged in intellectual contest, occasionally defeating his opponents, and coaching young protégées toward victory in the struggle for aretē. Socratic dialogue is itself an agōn. Sometimes it is aimed at defeating famous opponents such as Euthyphro, Euthydemus, Gorgias, or Protagoras. By refuting these challengers, Socrates elicits shame—a benevolent shame “in service of the god” that serves as a starting point to re-launch and redirect the investigation. At other times Socratic dialogue tests personal beliefs about virtue, amounting to a revelation and examination of the soul that corresponds to gymnastic nudity and competition. In every case Socratic contest aims to serve the greatest agōn: the struggle to be good. Socrates appropriates the competitive spirit (philonikia) he finds in his comrades, and he directs it beyond the relativistic goal of defeating ones opponent towards the idealistic goals of education, virtue, and wisdom. In this way he transforms philonikia into philosophia. Socrates’ approach to and engagement in agōn not only connects the worlds of philosophy and athletics, it serves as a model for how athletic agōn can be put in the service of psychic as well as physical virtue.

To understand Plato’s Republic as a whole, we must know his notion of injustice as well as that of justice, since he makes a comparison between the life of justice and the life of injustice. Prior to his detailed analyses of injustice in Books IV, VIII, and IX, Plato discusses injustice philosophically even in Book I. In this paper I deal with 351b-352b where Plato clarifies the function of injustice by appeal to the analogy between city and individual. According to Plato, injustice in the city causes hatred in each citizen, which results in the civil war and fighting among them, leading to the destruction of the city. Analogously, Plato discusses the function of injustice in the individual, showing that hatred is the most fundamental function of injustice. Plato’s analogy, though, includes two remarkablediscrepancies between city and individual. First, justice in the individual causes a conflict among beliefs and desires, which makes him incapable of doing anything, while social injustice still allows the city lacking its unity to do something. Second, hatred or hostility social injustice engender in each citizen is directed toward others, whereas injustice in the individual produces self-disgust of the whole soul, functioning as the destructive principle of the soul. This is howthis argument serves to foreshadow Plato’s analyses of injustice in the remainder of the Republic.

The unified theory of dose and effect, as indicated by the median-effect equation for single and multiple entities and for the first and higher order kinetic/dynamic, has been established by T.C. Chou and it is based on the physical/chemical principle of the massaction law (J. Theor. Biol. 59: 253-276, 1976 (質量作用中效定理) and Pharmacological Rev. 58: 621-681, 2006) (普世中效指數定理). The theory was developed by the principle of mathematical induction and deduction (數學演繹歸納法). Rearrangements of the median-effect equation lead to Michaelis-Menten, Hill, Scatchard, and Henderson-Hasselbalch equations. The “median” serves as the universal reference point and the “common link” for the relationship of all entities and is also the “harmonic mean” of kinetic dissociation constants. Over 300 mechanism-specific equations have been derived and published using the mathematical induction-deduction process. These equations can be deduced into several general equations, including the median-mediated whole/part equation, combination index theorem, isobologram equation, and polygonogram. It is proven that “dose” and “effect” are interchangeable, thus, “substance” and “function” are interchangeable, which leads to “the unity theory” (劑效、心物、知行一元論) in quantitative mathematical philosophy (數學的定量哲學) in functional context. Therefore, a general theory centered on the “median” and based on equilibrium dynamics has evolved. In other words: [「中」的宇宙觀： 以「中」爲基凖的動力學生態平衡]. Based on the median-effect equation of the mass-action law, the fundamental claim is that we can draw “a specific cure” for only two data points, if they are determined accurately. This claim has far reaching consequences since it defies the general held belief that two points can dray only a straight line. Remarkably, the unity theory (一元論) providesscientific/mathematical interpretation in equations and in graphics of Chinese ancient philosophy, including Fu-Si Ba Gua (伏羲八卦), Dao’s Harmony (和諧), the Confucian doctrine of the mean (儒家中庸之道), Chou Dun-Yi’s (周敦頤, 1017-1073) From Wu-ji to Tai-ji and Taiji Tu Sho (無極而太極及太極圖說). The moderntopological analysis for trinity yields an exact correspondence to the Ba-Gua, which was introduced over 4,000 years ago. Furthermore, the median-centered algorithm, promotes modern ecological content (生態學) in the equilibral dynamic state of harmony. It is concluded that Western science and Eastern philosophy are directly linked and complementary to each other. Since the truth in mathematical quantitative philosophy (數學的定量哲學) has no boundaries, East and West philosophies can flourish together for the common goal and ideal in science and in humanity (世界大同).

Plato’s Theaetetus sets the problem of the definition of science; moreover, what there is in question is the problem of the definition in general. Defining means measuring, referring to definite parameters what is initially indefinite. But it is not a case that the dialogue opens with the discussion about the commensurable and incommensurable numbers: the search for what is common to all sciences is the search for their common measure, for the term to which various elements are or can be commensurated. The apories Plato is showing in refuting the Protagorean thesis appear clearly as an objection against the absolute commensurability of all things: each sense is a parameter of a determinate sensible object and then results as quite incommensurable with another sense; a present sensation is incommensurable with a non present one, either past or future; all these facts question the possibility of the definition, for they reduce the knowledge, and the reality, to a set of atomic and quite unrelated elements. In the same way, the other definitions of science are rejected because of their incompleteness. But the negative conclusion of the Theaetetus regarding the definition of science must be assumed in a positive way: every operation of defining constantly presents an excess which belongs to the incommensurability and leaves every definition in a state of incompleteness. Through a comparison with the problem of the commensurable and incommensurable numbers, what is eventually shown is that the Being itself, as a mean between subject and predicate in the proposition, constitutes the diagonal element of every process of definition, irreducible to the elements that come into play. Being is, literally said, the incommensurable.

In the present research paper an attempt has been made to unravel the mysterious connection feminine life and mother Earth. The tantra pattern of “eco-feminist consciousness” is the earliest and the most archaic in the Indian tradition. It is intrinsically tied up with land related activities. Land culture, material culture and body culture are 3 important dimensions of tantric life. The tantra model of Earth-Woman identity based on the fertility motif represents a materialist and maternalist world view. Epistemologically, pre-vedic people sought the significance of knowledge, not in the realization of any illusory absolute but in the day today activities of life, like agriculture. Connected to this they had further fundamental insight that microcosm and macrocosm are identical – the truth revealed bymodern science today. Elements of tantric world view gradually found a place in Brahmanical world view. The later world view is not sympathetic to the cult of mother Goddess possibly because it leads to social supremacy of female. Tantric eco-feminism suggests a positive, radical change in our attitudes towards the feminine and nature.

This paper examines the concept of ‘areti’ as encountered in the Aristotelian ethical system in order to establish its relationship to the modern concept of virtue as well as to that of moral truth, that is, to identify its truth-value. I intend to show that the Aristotelian ‘areti’ as a developed state of character and as an advanced stage of ethical understanding entails moral truth. ‘Areti’ as a good-in-itself possesses an intrinsic value which reflects moral truth, and as a means for the accomplishment of ‘eudaimonia’ (ultimate happiness) it possesses an instrumental value. I also wish to argue that this position calls for a realist as well as an objectivist (or nonrelativist) approach in Aristotle. To that effect, I examine the elements of ‘areti’ that relate it to truth, and then I use reference to some of theAristotelian virtues, such as ‘andreia’ (courage), ‘philia’ (friendship), ‘dikaiosyne’ (justice), and ‘megalopsychia’ (magnanimity), in order to examine the way moral truth functions. This examination will also try to show that Aristotle’s aretaic approach does not suffer from the ills of virtue ethics theories.

Materialism is the oldest known philosophy. Philosophy was born as materialism and man had been essentially materialistic in character. In general, all our earliest experiences are of the material world. Philosophy means love for knowledge which is the unique characteristic of man. Man is never satisfied with mere food and shelter. Reason impels him towards a quest for knowledge. Philosophy is born at a man's attempt to have rational explanation of the universe around him and of himself as a part of the universe out of which he had originated and where he has to live, act and think. There is strong and widely prevalent notion that we Indians are basically spiritualistic in outlook and materialism belongs to western thought. This popular view Indian Philosophy perhaps originated from the false notion that "East is East and West is West"- a notion which according to Radhakrishnan, is sign of "abysonal ignorance". Man is either naturally materialists or naturally idealist the study of the history of philosophy, on the contrary, shows that materialism is the earliest philosophy. Prof. Stace rightly points out: "Materialism is ingrained in all men. We easterns and westerns, are born materialists.

“Radical understanding” – an expression recalling Quine’s “radical translation” and Davidson’s “radical interpretation” – concerns that necessary presupposition of every understanding that is shown in extreme cases of indecipherability. Such a minimum content consists in understanding an existence. Indeed, Heideggerian ontological hermeneutics has weaved together understanding and existence to the point that it is possible to establish an analogy between the existential analysis and the several grades of text decipherability: the passage from the inauthentic to the authentic existence can be read as a passage from the semantic (radical interpretation) to the syntactic (radical translation) and to the ontological level (radical understanding). The level of radical understanding is the one in which the minimal content of understanding coincides with its formal condition of possibility, in which understanding is to understand an existence.

For Aristotle and other Greek thinkers, philosophy is itself a rethinking. There are other branches of knowledge, like medicine and mathematics, that each grasp some particular subject matter. Since philosophy or, as it has come to be called, metaphysics is the highest science, its job is to grasp somehow all the other sciences and all their subjects. If the science of a subject requires a type of thinking proper to the subject, then the science of that science requires a rethinking of this and all other subjects. In this paper I explore some of Aristotle’s modes of rethinking philosophy. I am interested in the connection between rethinking philosophy and the kinds of philosophical principles that emerge from this rethinking. I argue that reflexive principles are implicit in rethinking but that theyare projected onto things for systematic reasons. Because my time is short, my discussion is limited to broad brush strokes, but there are so many textual details and so much that is contentious about them that a broad sketch may be the best way to set out my point. It is plausible to proceed this way because Aristotle’s main themes are often much clearer than the details of his discussions and my argument relies only on the broad lines of his organization.

The purpose of this study is to elucidate how the Greek concept of God influenced the formation of Platonic philosophy by examining the terms 'theios' & Theos, as used in his dialogues. In the first chapter, we have highlighted how the collective representation brought by the immediate ‘participation mystique’ with the sacred force(mana) is evolved into the notion of Daimon or Theos as a mediator which will tie the human－being with the sacred force, & how the Greek Theos evolves from the Daimon as a primitive emotional personification acting as a subject of magical rituals into the Theos as a rational personification acting as a subject of selfconsciousness & free-will of the human-being. In the second chapter, we have clarified how the polysemy of the terms: Theios & Theos allows Plato to elaborate a new concept of God & to thereby successfully transform mythological story of the world into a philosophical explanation. In the third chapter, we have brought into relief the process in which Plato has formed unconsciously the concept of Idea from the notion of Theos. In fact, it seems inevitable that the philosopher attempting to construct the system of reasonable explanation of the harmonic cosmos resorts to the property of wholeness & perfectness of Theos. The fourth chapter was concentrated to scrutinize the structure of Platonic thought which describes Demiourgos as 'l'artisan du monde' who recreates or reorganizes the world order on seeing the Idea of the Good (bonum). From our examination of the influence the Greek concept, Theos, had on Platonic Philosophy, we are able to conclude that Plato transformed the religious perfectness into the philosophical & metaphysical perfectness. As a result, this study will open the way for a new understanding of the relation between the Greek Theos, & the Ideas, Demiourgos.

Any society can have its own worthy place in the history of human civilization, if human problem in it becomes a core, a base of politics and world outlook, economy and culture, morality and science and all main goals of social practice are re-comprehended on this base. In public theory human problem has an important place. For a long time function of philosophy was in elucidation of nature and essence of a man and his attitude to the world. In theory of a man methodological problem about specific features of a man as an object and subject of cognition is starting. Peculiarity of a man as an object of cognition is in complex interweaving of various sides: biological, psychological, and social. Peculiarity of a man as a subject of cognition is expressed in regular increase of his potential intellectual resources.

Various approaches to civil society research are considered. Two key problems caused by impact of post-modernism are discussed, that are: crises of identification with the society and problems of personal identity. A particular personality crisis that is specific for contemporary Russia is noticed. The crisis is caused by the combination of two factors. They are: social abandonment, atomization and loneliness and total relativism produced by expansion of post-modernism. The second factor influences the Western citizenship as well. That’s why “re-emergence” of civil society is discussed in the Western world, though civil society institute has never died in the Western countries. Personality-oriented civil society is considered to be a prologue for re-emergence of the wholeness that seems to fall apart because of the loss of all universalistic values. The alliance between the heritage of the Russian thinker V. Rozanov and philosophical discourse by M. Foucault is tracked, the latter being a champion of personality-oriented civil society as opposed to “gregarious” politicallystructured one. Rozanov demonstrates his life to us as a process of a personality’s creative work which makes life experience a basis for the creation of universal values. Post-modernism represented by Fucault makes this experience as a basis in the process of the reflexive discourse-analysis this demonstrating his moving away from it. Both authors removed “interdict” from a number of so called "private themes" that had had ambiguous marginalized/sacral status in public discourse. The two thinkers transformed the problem of the “private discourse” into meta-language fit to conceive and describe the essence of the societal life and epoch as a whole. They drew attention to personality-oriented social communications and emergence of new types of societal communities. Both figures are ofa great importance for now-a-days discussions on civil society development in the epoch of a post-modernism. The fact that comparison of their views will contribute to better understanding of the controversies which are inherent in civil society is demonstrated.

The paper presents the main ideas of systematic research of the phenomenon of the human body as an essential characteristic of human being and the fundamental philosophical concept. It allows one to scrutinize the concept of the human body as a necessary research tool in the humanities. The human body is analyzed in the process of its conceptualization in the history of philosophy, in relation to which its logic and main phases are defined. The paradigms of the understanding of the human body are identified as resomatization strategies of contemporary thinking. It allows one to claim that evolution of philosophy is inalienable from the process of conceptualization of the phenomenon of the human body. Using an ontological grounding of the human body as a key philosophical concept ensures reconciliation of philosophical anthropology and ontology.

The article deals with the differentiation of “novation” and “innovation” notions. Some possible ways of showing the essence of novation phenomenon in philosophical anthropology are given. The definition of novation is worked out. Some reasons for the distinguishing of “novation”, “creation” and “creativity” are displayed. Novation is represented as the way of self-contradiction solution, as an answer to the emerging individual crisis. The analyzed phenomenon is also considered to be a new way of traditional cultural process realization. The ability of a personality selfactualization in modern social and cultural field is related to an individual novational fundamentals manifestation of an individual. The culture of a personality self-actualization is suggested being considered a reproduction of novation.

In rapid growth of segnicita, taking place in the modern milestone in the history of development of a society, there is a redistribution of hierarchy of arranging of cultural categories and the meaningfulness, accompanied entropy in consciousness of people and functioning of occurring new simulacres within a society. Thevery image of the world as the semantic substituent to modeled object plays a significant role in a choosing of reference points in communicative space, in particular in political culture. A human being deals with cultural signs, exchanging, absorbing, interpreting and generating them in infinitely growing quantity. Paradigmatic shift aside communicatively-significant relations specifies necessity of a reconstruction reference, that is of actually human personal sense. The person is alienated in new sign dehumanizated environments of culture. Thus, between direct participants of the communications there is a seductive opportunity to take root to socalled intermediaries. The media spaces, inspiring false valuable reference points in artificial way, play the most promoting role in it. Hence, it is necessary to reconsider in cultural-philosophical sense the existing representations in understanding of cultural grasp of the reality both by societies as a whole, and the separate nations. In the given report the new approach to the model of cultural grasp of the reality is described, viewed by the researcher as crossing ofcognitive-sign and anthropological levels.

This paper analyzes Karl Rahner’s understanding of human freedom and transcendental anthropology. Karl Rahner is one of the most famous Catholic theologian and philosopher of the twentieth century. His transcendental anthropology is a philosophical understanding of the human person grounded in the basic tenets of Christian thought. In relation to this, Rahner speaks of freedom in two ways: categorical and transcendental freedom. By transcendental freedom, Rahner speaks of freedom as an essential capacity constitutive of the human person. By categorical freedom, he refers to the human person’s ability to use the essential capacity of freedom. From this distinction, the author discusses Rahner’s controversial understanding of analogous sin. In here, the author questions the role of freedom and the reality of sin. He concludes by articulating the implications of this understanding of freedom to philosophical anthropology.

Philosophical anthropology, as Helmuth Plessner has explored it, vindicates its relative priority towards ethics, because it can set out the anthropological prerequisites for considering the moral subject as the embodied person. This claim, however, is still an open question. Walter Schulz has argued that the prevalence of science in contemporary life brings ethics to the fore and forces philosophical anthropology to an auxiliary exploration of ‘leading figures of thehuman’. Jürgen Habermas endorses Plessner’s exploration of the issue of the body, in order to oppose biotechnological naturalism. Thus, he enlarges his discourse on ethics through the ethics of the human species by defining the moral agent as the embodied person. Nevertheless, philosophical anthropology is a broader theoretical endeavour that cannot be reduced to ethics.