Annals of the University of Bucharest. Philosophy Series
The Annals of the University of Bucharest – Philosophy Series, is a philosophical research open-access journal, published by the University of Bucharest, Faculty of Philosophy. The Annals of the University of Bucharest, Philosophy Series, is a scholarly double blind peer reviewed journal. The journal publishes articles considered of relevance for those interested in the field of philosophy and is addressed both to the Romanian and international philosophical community, with a special accent on East- and Central-European area. The Annals of the University of Bucharest, Philosophical series, is devoted to the exploration of different topics of Philosophy. Currently the journal is indexed by EBSCOhost, Philosopher’s Index with Full Text , ERIH PLUS, CEEOL, DOAJ, ESCI.
Editura Universității din București - Bucharest University Press
THE PHILOSOPHICAL EROSION OF AUTHENTIC BELIEF IN IDEOLOGICAL DICTATORSHIPS AND THE FRAGILITY OF INNER CIRCLES
This paper explores the philosophical dimensions of ideological dictatorship, focusing on the dynamics that lead to the erosion of genuine belief systems within dictatorships. Drawing on historical examples, the paper examines the process by which the dictator’s men, initially ideologically aligned individuals, are marginalized and replaced by opportunists. The subsequent weakening of the regime’s ideological foundation has far-reaching consequences, affecting the stability of the dictatorship and its post-dictatorship transition. This paper aims to provide a philosophical framework for understanding the complex relationship between genuine belief, opportunism, and their long-term implications for political regimes.
Copyright (c) 2025 Annals of the University of Bucharest. Philosophy Series
NATION, NATIONALISM AND PLURINATIONALISM IN THE PRINCE
This paper explores the concepts of nation and nationalism in Niccolò Machiavelli’s The Prince, with a particular focus on the introduction of plurinationalism. While Machiavelli’s final chapter, An exhortation to liberate Italy from the Barbarians, has traditionally been the focal point for discussions on his nationalist views, this study shifts the lens to examine how Machiavelli’s strategies for maintaining control over diverse territories reveal implicit notions of nation and nationalism. By analysing the third chapter, Concerning mixed principalities, this paper highlights Machiavelli’s understanding of the challenges posed by ruling over territories with different languages, customs and laws. The strategies of residing in newly acquired territories and establishing colonies are presented as methods for fostering loyalty and integration, thereby addressing the complexities of a plurinational principality. This study not only expands the traditional interpretations of Machiavelli’s nationalism but also emphasises the relevance of his insights in contemporary discussions on governance and statecraft in a multicultural and multiethnic context. Through this perspective, The Prince is reaffirmed as a timeless guide on the pragmatic exercise of power.
THE “THREE-SYSTEM VIEW” MODEL. A POSSIBLE SOLUTION SOURCED IN “PRE-JUDICATIVE HERMENEUTICS”
The current paper, anchored in the discussions surrounding “Linda Problem”, “model-free” and “model-based” learning strategies along with Kahneman’s “two-system view” cognitive model, and Gross’s considerations on “salience processing” and “atypical attribution of salience”, aims to present a potential solution originating in Pre-Judicative Hermeneutics: Cernica’s “three-system view” model. Both Kahneman’s and Cernica’s models embrace Herbert Simon’s paradigm of “bounded rationality” and serve to broaden its reach. While Kahneman’s “System1” and “System2” model elaborates on the “perception” – “intuition” – “reasoning” cycle, Cernica’s model, founded upon and expending the “non-judicative” – “pre-judicative” – “judicative” cycle, is intended, I suggest, to augment and advance the former, from and with a phenomenological and hermeneutical perspective. Core concepts as “pre-judicative memory”, “de-constitution” “interpretation”, “pre-judicative circularity”, “act of pre-judging”, “non-judicative experience “and “existential judgment” are central to Cernica’s innovative approach. These ideas bring the “existential subject” (“operant subject”) in focus, establishing a framework to account for how the cognitive biases could be mitigated across a wide range of domains, thus enabling the elevation of our consciousness and existence through the fundamental attributes of “reality”, “identity”, “authenticity” and “veracity” supporting them. Furthermore, as reiterated in this paper and elaborated on in a more extensive discussion in a previous work, the enhancements proposed through Cernica’s “three-system view” model may also prove instrumental in emerging areas of AI development and the pursuit of AGI. These include Reinforcement Learning (RL) strategies, AI Safety and AI Alignment research. The model offers valuable contributions to a deeper understanding of debiasing processes, the development of more robust debiasing methods, and a more nuanced understanding and alignment of “deliberative human preferences” and “human value functions” within advanced AI models.
The paper addresses the variety of human types and attitudes facing the unknown and their philosophical implications and connections with philosophy of knowledge and philosophy of conscience and consciousness. Philosophically, the human attitude in front of the unknown dwells at the boundary between the known and the unknown. This boundary could be the equivalent of the horizon of mystery in the philosophy of Lucian Blaga, a boundary that differs greatly from one human type to another. In order to more clearly differentiate the various human types, a scheme is proposed based on different attitudes related to three tendencies to know, respectively to accept reality, as it is perceived by each. The three so-called axes are: Positivism/Negativism, Curiosity/Fear, Openness/Isolation. It results in 12 types of philosophical attitudes against the unknown that are presented and analysed. This representation is interpreted in correlation to Blaga’s imaginative exercise of conceiving philosophical consciousness as a prism inscribed in a sphere representing the totality of everything (the totality of existence, the universe). Other aspects pertaining the correlations between this description of the 12 types of philosophical attitudes against the unknown and the philosophy of man in Lucian Blaga are emphasized, too.
WORLD-DEPENDABLE EXISTENCE IN MODAL MEINONGIANISM – WHY CAN HERA SLAP ZEUS AND EVERYTHING BE ALRIGHT?
In this paper, I propose an interpretation for the semantics of intentionality, that Graham Priest uses in constructing his modal meinongianism, in “Towards Non-Being”. More precisely, I will take into account only the issue of existence, as a metaphysical notion. In this regard, my claim is that the monadic predicate of existence is not capable of constructing a full-fledged metaphysical notion of existence, or, differently said, it is not well equipped to account for all the modes of being that modal meinongianism implies. In trying to support my claim, I will use a strategy of reasoning, which employs a hierarchical conceptual structure, meaning that there are some first concepts, which determine the meaning for all the others. In this case, noneism is the primary notion, which imposes how other notions, such as modality and existence, will be defined. By using this way of reasoning, I will conclude that existence can be interpretated as world-dependable, meaning that the ontological nature of a world decides the ontological nature of the objects of its domain. In the pursuit of an argument for my thesis, I will begin with a short presentation of the core ideas of modal meinongianism. Afterwards, I will clarify the specific problems I am interested in and justify their necessity for being discussed. Lastly, I will formulate my argument, show its limits, and suggest a case of further research.
Does our inability to always self–attribute epistemic courage when we manifest it (a limited kind of reflective scepticism about epistemic courage) conflict with the virtue of integrity? I articulate this problem, and argue that it can be eschewed if we construe integrity along meliorist rather than perfectionist lines.
NEW PERSPECTIVES ON COMPOSITIONALITY: KIT FINE’S SEMANTIC RELATIONIST APPROACH TO MEANING. AN EXPOSITORY ESSAY
The paper is an expository essay in which I run an assessment of compositionality from the vantage point of Kit Fine’s semantic relationist approach to meaning. This relationist view is deepening our conception about how the meanings of propositions depend not only on the semantic features and roles of each separate meaningful unit in a complex, but also on the relations that those units hold to each other. The telling feature of the formal apparatus of this Finean relationist syntax and semantics, viz. the coordination scheme, has some unexpected consequences that will emerge against the background of an analogy with the counterpart theoretic semantics for modal languages. In the evaluation of a de re modal formula at a world in a counterpart theoretic model, as opposed to the evaluation in a possible world semantic model, one may choose different possible objects as referents or semantic values of two tokens of a single type individual constant or individual variable. Likewise, in the relationist semantics for variables or individual constants (proper names), within a coordination schema one may choose different objects if the variables or the constants are not strictly coordinated. I shall leave the working out of this comparison for a future paper. The program defends ‘referentialism’ in philosophy of language; Fine holds that semantic relations that have to be added to the assigned intrinsic values in our semantic theory, especially the relation which he calls ‘coordination’, can do much of the work of (Fregean) sense. A relationist referentialism has certain important explanatory virtues which it shares with the Fregean position, but the former is better off ontologically than the latter, since it is not committed to the existence of sense.
The issue surrounding the Name Controversy on Mount Athos in early 20th century provoked a long and systematic response from Father Sergius Bulgakov in defense of the hesychastic prayer in the Name of Jesus. Two remarkable aspects of the response deserve attention. The first is the self-conscious identification of his defense with that of St Gregory Palamas’ in the 14th century, also involving the prayer life of the hesychasts and the Jesus Prayer. The essay argues for the Bulgakov’s working within the framework of Palamite doctrine, wishing to “further” it. The second has to do with this furtherance via a creative reworking modern German philosophy within the perspective of the dogma of consubstantiality in order to establish the ontological character of the Name and especially the one invoking Jesus.
LISTENING TO THE GROANING OF MOTHER EARTH. A CHALLENGE AND AN INVITATION TO MOVE BEYOND ECOLOGY, THROUGH ECOFILIA TO ECOSOPHY – THE NECESSITY FOR A RELEVANT SPIRITUALITY TODAY
All over the world there is a great concern about Global Warming, migration, wars, poverty, inhumanity, etc. In addition, there is a great concern about Mother Earth as it is being exploited for the sake of profit for a few, and denying opportunities and necessities to the vast majority. In this paper our concern is very much similar because, if we have to build up a relevant spirituality it should be in this context eco-centred which also means humanity-centred. Perhaps, the rich of the Earth have become too selfish that their humaneness seems to have disappeared, and believe only in manipulation and exploitation, and Mother Earth is the greatest victim, which in turn affects the whole humanity. Hence, as Raimon Panikkar says an Ecology which is a pure science is not enough, but we need Ecofilia (friendship with the Earth) and Ecosophy (wisdom of the Earth); we need to learn from the wisdom of Mother Earth, which is sadly lacking today. The effects of the great exploitative wonder Globalization have been disastrous, especially for the developing and underdeveloped nations, and rich countries made use of it for economic colonisation, thus bringing a big majority under thorough economic exploitation. It is here that a new counter-culture and a thoroughly radical spirituality need to evolve, and if need be on the basis of a revolution. We need prophets of such spirituality who will denounce the existing exploitative structures and announce the coming a new society established in peace, justice, and harmony – a new Heaven and a new Earth. The sad fact is that such prophets are extremely lacking being afraid of the ruling parties they do not want to risk their lives. We shall not be proclaimers of doom but prophets and proclaimers of hope that a new society can be built through our commitment to justice, equality, and liberty. Let us take up this mission.
THE SELF-AWARENESS OF “SPIRITUAL” IMAGISTIC PHILOSOPHY
Drawing on a variety of philosophers from Plato to Ricoeur, the authors suggest that philosophy based on poetry or image can be intellectually valuable in the following ways: They show how an intentional approach to imagistic, spiritual philosophy can promote consideration of beauty, engage the productive imagination, and ultimately alter one's engagement with the human predicament. This spiritual mode of philosophy does not stop in an aesthetic (the appetites) frame, but works through it productively.
THE BEAUTY – FIRST WAY OF KNOWING: SOME GENERAL OBSERVATIONS ON THE ROLE OF THE AESTHETIC IN ACCURATE COGNITION AND IN THE PRACTICE OF CHRISTIAN SPIRITUALITY
Human cognition functions best when it traces a path across the three Socratic transcendentals in the unfolding sequence of Beauty, then Goodness, then Truth. I therefore describe the ideal approach to knowledge as “Beauty-First.” By analogizing the epistemological progression underlying the classical Trivium, the Eastern Orthodox Philokalia, and the method that made science truly modern, and then noting that this structure seems to be corroborated by the neuroscience of Iain McGilchrist, we seem to confirm the hypothesis that Beauty, Goodness, and Truth must be appropriated in this sequence in a concentric unfolding of human attention.
SELF-KNOWLEDGE AS SPIRITUAL PRACTICE: ONTOLOGICAL SELF BETWEEN PLOTINUS AND GREGORY PALAMAS
In this paper, I aim to evaluate the meaning of Gregory Palamas’ ontology of the self in the context of the semantic itinerancy between Plotinus, the first one to propose the ontological dimension of the self, and the patristic horizon. I will survey the semantic re-semanticization of terms that can be found from Plotinus to the fourteenth century, the time of Gregory Palamas’ anthropological perspective. The corresponding concepts in modern languages have accumulated connotations linked to the horizon of modernity, resulting in semantic alterations or alienations. This confusing interpretative approach is linked, no less, to paradigms of modern sources, as in the case of understanding the Neoplatonic self on the scheme of Cartesian dualism.
In this essay, I shall use Hadot’s critical framework for considering the uneasy modern relationship between philosophy and the Christian spiritual tradition, rooted as it is in the ancient forms of spiritual exercise. I will begin with a brief sketch of this relationship, paying particular attention to some ways that Christian spirituality influenced philosophy in early modernity. From there, I shall turn to the work of Bernard Lonergan in order to develop a proposal for a contemporary spirituality of discernment as a philosophical practice. Lonergan, a Jesuit trained in the Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius of Loyola, built his philosophical project on the template of those exercises, inviting people to practices of self-appropriation for the purpose of exploring how discernment in a community can transform societies, reversing decline and promoting patterns of growth. Lonergan’s method, I shall argue, offers a way of coming to understand the spirituality of discernment as a form of philosophical practice that heals the problems that Hadot diagnoses in modern philosophy.
Philosophy can be understood as a spiritual practice because the purpose of philosophizing is the cultivation of the spiritual in man, of what can be subject to improvement, and change through reorientation and purification through the recurring act of intervention-cultivation. The effect of the practice of philosophy is not a mere improvement of the inner life, but a radical reorientation of the intentions under which it takes place. Philosophy, as a daily replayed act, means reworking inner paths, repetitively but not in the same way.
PRACTICAL PHILOSOPHY AND SPIRITUAL EXERCISES
The resurgence of practical philosophy can be seen as a contemporary attempt to bridge the apparent gap between philosophy and spirituality. Philosophy, in its search for wisdom, misses its primary goal since the theoretical solutions do not lead to the transformation of philosophers’ lives. This article offers a view of the resurgence of practical philosophy in the first chapter and, in the second, the connection of practical philosophy with spiritual exercises, presented in Pierre Hadot’s writing. The underlying assumption, in both practical philosophy and in Pierre Hadot’s reflection, is a desire of the philosopher to engage in something life-transforming. The authenticity of the transformation depends on one’s willingness to transcend their initial subjective position. The third chapter refers to Socrates as the eminent teacher of dialogue, presented as a spiritual and intellectual journey of transformation. Socrates’ dialogical method remains the inspiring paradigm, adopted by many scholars of philosophy and spirituality in search of wisdom, which has to be theoretical, practical, and spiritual.
Unprecedently in the entire human history, we live in a world of abundance of information, instantaneously accessible with a few clicks on our devices. What seemed to be in the past an exclusive privilege for a limited number of educated, is now taken for granted and open to everyone who has access to the Internet and programs of artificial intelligence.
Transhumanism gets an upgrade. Review of “We Have Always Been Cyborgs: Digital Data, Gene Technologies, and an Ethics of Transhumanism.” By Stefan L. Sorgner. Bristol, UK: Bristol University Press, 2021. 240 pages. ISBN: 978-1529219210
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Paladins with Muscle Cramps: Immersion, MMORPG’s and Nozick’s Experience Machine
When he first formulated the famous ‘Experience Machine’ thought experiment in 1974, Robert Nozick could only give his readers one analogy with a potential real-life ‘device’: psychoactive drugs. Now, decades later, MMORPG’s like World of Warcraft and EVE Online, with their promise of delivering immersive pleasure to their users, have been dubbed as experience machines. However, some have argued that MMORPG’s cannot be what Nozick had in mind when he developed his thought experiment for two reasons: because of the interaction between users mediated by avatars and because they lack sensory-immersion. We discuss how both arguments fail to address the necessary conditions for a truly Nozickian experience machine: (i) guaranteed immunity from any stimuli generated in the circumstances of the “real”, physical world and (ii) lack of awareness, while being plugged in an experience machine, of the actual source of an experience. Even though MMORPG’s cannot be experience machines in the sense of the original thought experiments, they might still provide an opportunity to address the original concerns that Nozick had regarding hedonism, or other, more recent (but closely related) as escapism through technology.
Twisting Transhumanism: Some Scope and Limits of Sorgner’s Philosophy
Acknowledging an ontology of permanent becoming has ethical and epistemological consequences for the presentation of a thought system. Ontological presuppositions have consequences for our understanding and our ways of inhabiting the world. These statements are particularly true when we think of transhumanism. The problem is that when these assumptions are not recognized, the proposals of transhumanism are understood as contradictory. In this sense, we analyze Stefan Lorenz Sorgner’s proposal to “twist” transhumanism in order to understand the difference between classical transhumanism and weak Nietzschean transhumanism or metahumanism. We will show that classical transhumanism, based on enlightened presuppositions, has ethical consequences that are too culturally specific to be shared beyond the global north. We will then point out how the ontology of permanent becoming, through ethical and alethic nihilism, makes it possible to distance oneself from classical transhumanism and open oneself to further dialogue. However, we will conclude by pointing out that Sorgner’s concept of negative freedom is not sufficient to sustain a democratic transhumanism beyond Europe. It will be necessary to expand on positive freedom, for the question remains: what can a cyborg, who does not have the minimum material conditions for self-enhancement, do about it?
The Borg – Glimpsing into a Nietzschean transhumanist utopia
Transhumanism is a cultural and philosophical movement that advocates for the use of technology to improve the human condition and overcome limitations as a species. The question of whether the transhumanist goal of a posthuman future is desirable remains open, as it depends on the values and goals that guide the process of technological enhancement. The essay inspects what it would mean to utilize nietzschean values and goals within the process of technological enhancement. Eventhough some consider Nietzche to be a proto-transhumanist, there is more then ample reason to believe that such an association is misguided. The argument presented here highlights why we need to avoid imbuing the goals of transhumanism with nietzschean values. To argue for the dangers inherent in nietzschean ideal the current work draws upon Losurdo and highlights the strongly Reactionary elements that can be found within Nietzsche's philosophy. Next the paper presents how by adding the Borg is a good representation of a society that has added technological enhancements upon a foundation of nietzschean ideal and encourages the abandonment of such utopian aspirations.
In this article, the transhumanist project is analyzed through the lens of one of the phenomena characterizing human existence, i.e. sex. The aim of the article is to reconstruct the ontological structure of transhumanism employing the reflection on the phenomenon of sex and, based on this reconstruction, to prepare the conceptual fundament for the most theoretically justified ethical treatment of the transhumanist project. The genealogical studies by Michel Foucault and historical-ontological research by Ian Hacking are used as the theoretical basis and methodological guideline for the analysis carried out in the article. The analysis demonstrates that due to the ontologically ‘mobile’ nature of the main object of transhumanism (the human), transhumanism itself unfolds as a project that is constantly shifting in terms of its purposes and goals. Therefore, transhumanism is a project that cannot be realized in practice in principle. The impossibility of realizing the transhumanist project, consequently provides an ethically engaged treatment thereof. The article is concluded by stating transhumanism to be a nihilistic ideology – or, paradoxically, an ideology without an ideal – which actually does not manifest as the improvement of the human, but only as their perpetual identity and anthropological remaking based on new ever emerging techno-scientific capabilities.
Cyborg networks: freedom through data with open source and implantable devices
Implantable computing technologies are the blueprint for the ongoing process of cyborgization. Already with the present devices, design decisions and computational issues blend together with a living organism, so that our health, for example, depends on well-adjusted information security, which requires constant work and decisions by many actors of different expertise. This means that implantable technologies form important sociotechnical systems. I will explore cyborg vulnerabilities found in sociotechnical systems, but take seriously the proposed development model of open-source technologies, promising existing and future cyborgs more autonomy and freedom. However, I want to take this vision further. Given the number of technologies that matter in the context of cyborgs, it becomes necessary to look at a wider application of open source, needing more experts and quicker data exchange. While offering a technological solution to make the data exchange possible, granting the users freedoms and autonomy, I also find it important to address how the debates around open source move from software to a large-scale social consideration, should the solution be implemented.
Human genome editing technologies in the center of current transhumanistic discourse on human enhancement
The article deals with certain challenges connected with the progress of human enhancement technologies, where genome editing technologies form part of them. Today, the idea of human enhancement is the subject of considerable debate among various streams of transhumanist thinkers. The author rejects pessimistic and dystopian views on human enhancement technologies that see these technologies as one of the main risks for modern civilization, and instead defends the opposite view. It is claimed that although such technologies continue to be relatively poorly defined, they do and will belong to the 'good side' of current (future) technological progress. Namely, in the context of pragmatic and moderate transhumanism, human enhancement is primarily viewed as a way of improving the quality of human and social life. The article mainly refers to human genetic enhancement, noting that the invention of CRISPR/Cas9 technology about 10 years ago paved the way for a revolution in gene research and gene therapy. Before the emergence of CRISPR/Cas9 technology, bioethical discussions had mostly concentrated on classical bioethical dilemmas (autonomy, privacy, etc.). Yet, the situation has changed radically in the last 3 years when the first practical misuses of CRISPR-Cas 9 technology (the He Jiankui affair) in germline genome editing were reported. Although the author agrees with views calling for more scientific and broader social control of germline genome editing, strong support is given for the claims made by moderate and pragmatic transhumanists that modern democratic societies must ensure that objective and unbiased assessments of the benefits/risks of all types of human enhancement technologies are retained.
Homo Kybernetes. From Onto-Genesis to the Posthuman Condition
The author deals with the consideration of what he calls the post-metaphysical complex of the technosphere, for which the ontogenetic framework of classical metaphysics from Aristotle to Hegel is no longer valid. Instead, the question of the essence of man posits his transcendence in the emergence of Homo kybernetes, with which he removes the posthuman condition. To explain how the permeation of human and non-human appears in all areas of contemporary life as a connection and relationship of information, feedback, control and communication, it seems necessary to open the issue of the cyborgization of life itself. At the same time, the analysis of transhumanism in the opinion of Stefan Lorenz Sorgner proves to be stimulating for understanding what the digital age of the technosphere presupposes, and that is the question of the possibilities of freedom beyond its metaphysical framework as it was considered in the speculative thinking by Schelling. Instead of freedom as absolute, the time has come to establish the possibility of thinking about freedom as an experiment of thought and action beyond human reduction and its associated anthropologies that have lost their credibility in an encounter with the complexity of Homo kybernetes.
Humanity is transforming from a pure biological organism to a biodigitally converged being. The transformation has been hastened by rapid increases in power and commercialization of advanced technologies such as brain-computer interfaces and artificial intelligence. All indicators point towards a trend of continual acceleration away from baseline biology as the human becomes the source of computing rather than simply a user. While mainstream transhumanists laud such development as exemplative of progress towards a grand vision of man and machine becoming one, a variety of concerns, both philosophical and technological, are readily observable. This paper focuses on one such concern associated with the intersection of brain-computer interfaces and embedded artificial intelligence on those devices. Within this intersection, the biodigital convergence of a brain-computer interface is known to produce issues related to user agency. However, what is not known is how brain-computer interfaces with embedded AI may dampen or amplify such issues and what potential technological solutions may exist to ameliorate the agency problems. Furthermore, there is a lack of an applied epistemology to guide any such understanding. To that end, this paper describes a propositional metadata schema which may serve as a brain-computer interface action labeling mechanism for the information output by the biodigital system. The theoretical and practical significance of the schema are explained and ideas for future work are provided.
This paper presents transhumanism as a post-biological philosophy that can provide a theoretical framework for scientific programmes oriented towards the search for intelligent life in the universe. The long-term thinking inherent in transhumanism synchronizes evolution and technology, heralding the genesis of post-biological entities. The first part of the paper assesses the applicability of this scheme to possible alien civilizations older than our own. The second part considers the most intriguing fictional explorations of mind uploading as a possible resolution of the Fermi's Paradox.
What Society for Our Posthuman Future? A Task for the Serious Transhumanist Thinker
What is still lacking in the expanding research field of transhumanism is a serious investigation of the social existence and its role in the shaping of the future. Taking Sorgner’s recent book, We have always been cyborgs, as a guide, the paper investigates the roots and possible reasons of the societal blindness that seems to be so prevalent in the transhumanist community. The analysis shows that the principled positions that are by and large accepted in the community, notably Sorgner’s alethic and ethical nihilism, which inform the political-philosophical liberalism of most if not all of its members are untenable without an underlying historical reasoning that sees the evolution of the societies as virtually complete. Since this historical argument is always nonfactual, it results that the question about the future society can and must be addressed if transhumanism is to keep with its philosophical programme.
THE UNCOMFORTABLE KUHN. A REVOLUTIONARY READING OF DISBELONGING: TO WHAT DOMAIN SHOULD WE LEAVE THE KUHNIAN INHERITANCE?
About Kuhn we have already read, in 60 years since the release of the Structure of Scientific Revolutions, critiques portraying him as a transgressor, a visionary, a reformist of the history and philosophy of science. But to achieve all this capital of notoriety and to raise a tradition by itself – for which many turned the partisanship for his convictions into a title of nobility, becoming “Kuhnians” – having a touch of genius is not enough: one’s education is as important as one’s innate talent. Understanding Kuhn’s Intellectual Path is not only a curiosity, but also an exotic epistemic travel to different philosophical openings of his education, which influenced – contingently or decisively – his unique theory on the change of paradigms in the history of science. K. Brad Wray offers us intriguing insights on Kuhn’s intellectual becoming in one of his recent volumes published by Cambridge University Press (2021).
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PARADIGM AND SYMBOLIC UNIVERSE: THE ENDURING SIGNIFICANCE OF THOMAS KUHN
The importance of Kuhn’s theory is examined from the perspective of its epistemological impact and contrasted with Popper’s concept of falsification; the theory of paradigm shift is analyzed as a general model of change. Its concepts are applied to Berger and Luckmann’s socially constructed reality and to the Symbolic Universe which sustains it. The theory of paradigm shift is used to analyze the process of changing the Symbolic Universe.
BEFORE STRUCTURE. THE RISE OF KUHN’S CONCEPTUAL SCHEME IN THE COPERNICAN REVOLUTION
Thomas S. Kuhn’s intellectual development could be summed up in a two-stage course, first, the transition from physics to the history of science (primarily physics) and then from the history of science to the philosophy of science, a field in which he achieved consecration with The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (SSR) published in 1962. In the 1950s, before SSR, Kuhn dealt with the history of science and, finally, developed a detailed research on the case of the Copernican Revolution, publishing a book with the same name. The Copernican Revolution. Planetary Astronomy in the Development of Western Thought (CR). My aim in this paper is to argue that in this case study Kuhn identified all those situations that he will later describe in the terms of the SSR’s vocabulary, from “paradigm” and “incommensurability”, to “normal science” and “scientific revolution.” I think that although the terminological options in CR differ, such as, for example, the use of the expression “conceptual scheme” for what will later be called “paradigm”, a simple conceptual archaeology directs us to claim that CR is the immediate predecessor of SSR.