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In this paper, the author gives a detailed critical discussion of the conditions of possibility of the politics &/or ethics of enjoyment such as that conceived by Sade. She begins by discussing the hypothesis advanced by a set of eminent interpretations of Sade's work according to which there is an irreducible antagonism between disruptive passions & social bonds. The central theme of this essay -- that society is rooted in the imperative of enjoyment -- is elaborated on. As a consequence of this discussion, the author turns to the question of the evil inherent to enjoyment. She concludes that the entire project of the politics & ethics of enjoyment is centered on the deculpabilization of passions & enjoyment since, in Sade, the evilness of enjoyment is imputed to Nature. It could thus be said, argues the author, that Nature is Sade's "symptom," denouncing in this way that Sade, the theorist of enjoyment, is unable &/or unwilling to assume the evilness of enjoyment. Adapted from the source document.

The author starts with the relationship between Badiou's otherwise severe critique of democracy & Lefort's theory of democracy. Though accused of not being democratic, Badiou's theory in a certain sense presupposes democracy & even deepens it, yet not the democracy of today, the democracy of consensus, but a democracy that is not based on exclusion. Through the comparison of Badious's & Deleuze's critiques of representation, the author shows some consequences of Badiou's starting-point that "people think" for the conceptualization of the community, equality, & universality. Adapted from the source document.

The author poses the question of whether it is possible to say, contrary to common agreement, that Hegel's political thought contains the elements of liberal political thought. She shows, through examination of The Elements of the Philosophy of Right, that Hegel's definition of an individual as a being of reason & as a free being at the same time points in the direction of liberalism & its preoccupation with the freedom & autonomy of the individual. Hegel's key emphasis, however, is that freedom of free choice already presupposes a choice already made, a forced choice of the frame of the free choice itself, which an individual has to take upon himself/herself. Adapted from the source document.

Standing on the threshold of the third millennium, it seems clear that the buzzword "globalization" can describe the direction of studies in several different fields, including aesthetics. As several forces -- technological, economic, & political -- continue to intertwine people, as never before, the need for research that is global in range becomes an absolute necessity. Globalization does not concern just economy & politics; especially important is the role of culture in this process, as well as the possibility that we can give some philosophical determination of globalization. Adapted from the source document.

The great restructuring of power in the Christian West at the beginning of the second millennium did not change the meaning of the notion of Europe as inherited from the previous two centuries. Rather, it brought forth new concepts to describe the unity of Western Christians, thus marginalizing "Europe" as a potential bearer of collective identity. Foremost among those new unitary concepts was Christendom -- a concept closely linked with the rise of the papal monarchy & the launching of the First Crusade as the pope's own war. By analyzing 11th-century sources & literature connected with the First Crusade, the author shows that the term Europe -- used merely in its geographical sense or in connection with the ancient myth of Europa & the legend of Japheth -- had little relevance for the practical & spiritual concerns of that age. Adapted from the source document.

The "integration of Europe" is, among other things, a huge ideological undertaking. Part of that undertaking entails the appropriation of history for the political project of building a "European Union." One aspect of that appropriation of history is the rooting of Europe as a political community in historical times & places where Europe as such did not exist. Popular among such ideological constructs is presentation of the Carolingian Empire as the predecessor of contemporary, united Europe. By analyzing early medieval usages of the word Europe, the author argues that it is unwarranted to speak of any clear "idea of Europe," in the Carolingian period or, in turn, to portray the Carolingian Empire as the "first Europe" & a potential model for today's "integration of Europe.". Adapted from the source document.

A review of Thomas S. Kuhn's arguments against the unification of the philosophy & history of science focuses on his definition & defense of the interdisciplinary dialogue between the two sciences. While they can explain a given problem for their particular points of view, their perspectives cannot be synthesized. Kuhn's work on the scientific revolutions gives rise to a new science of the development of sciences that could unify the historical analysis of scientific development with the rational reconstruction of scientific developments. 7 References. Adapted from the source document.

Presents a wide range of emerging models of historical interpretations of culture, including the "open house" concept of cultural history, which defines culture as high art, literature, & music -- & the "cultural encounter" model. Drawing on the centrality of Peter Burke's (1991) demand for a broad understanding of culture, some important contributions to the new cultural history are discussed. It is argued that the state, social groups, gender, & society itself are culturally constructed. 8 References. Adapted from the source document.

The alleged domination of the visual in contemporary culture -- initially theorized by French thinkers such as Jacques Derrida, Georges Bataille, & Michel Foucault, & artists such as Marcel Duchamp -- has influenced the self-evaluation of recent US art. The repudiation of the high modernist evaluation of the "pure optical" introduced by Clement Greenberg & Michael Frid is explained in terms of the post-WWII relocation of the center of modernist art from Paris (France) to New York City; Rosalind Krauss & Norman Bryson observe the conspicuous lack of interest in the later "revenge" of French art theorists. Their influence has helped undermine the achievements of abstract expressionism while promoting neo-Dadaism, conceptual art, & minimalism, & has diminished the primacy of the visual. Adapted from the source document.

(Originally published in History and Theory, 1987, 26, 1-29.) It is postulated that, despite the best efforts of professional historians, there is no way of inventing a direct assessment of historical events. In fact, the professional standards of historians' honesty & professionalism are measured against the very conventions that include or exclude certain aspects of historical events. Even the thickest synchronic or quantified description must be understood by its readers as an excerpt from an explicit or implicit narrative. The desire for a source of an unprocessed story is a futile, frustrating effort, since all historical texts or materials are part of a society's cultural system. Adapted from the source document.

Karl Popper's distinction between science & metaphysics (pseudoscience) is analyzed, arguing that the principle of demarcation (falsification) cannot support Popper's thesis. Although falsification can be useful for distinguishing between empirical & nonempirical sciences, it also leads to clustering logic & mathematics, theory of induction, metaphysical theories, & philosophy in general. It is argued that Popper misinterprets A. Tarski's (1949) notion of the pursuit of truth in science & assumes that it can meet some objective criteria. One of the major problems of Popper's view of science in his theory of verisimilitude, allegedly capable of solving the problems of correspondence & objectivity. Instead, a blend of Popper's & Feyerabend's positions on scientific progress is suggested. 17 References. Adapted from the source document.