Ingenium. Revista Electrónica de Pensamiento Moderno y Metodología de las Ideas

Muhlmann, Géraldine, L’imposture du théologico-politique, Paris: Les Belles Lettres, 2022. 447 páginas.

2024-01-22T11:04:08+00:00

Time and progress: Conceptual History and Cartesian modernity

2024-07-02T12:06:22+00:00

This paper attempts to evaluate the relevance of the work of René Descartes (1596-1650) in the genesis and unfolding of Modernity from the theoretical framework provided by the Conceptual History (Begriffsgeschichte) developed by Reinhart Koselleck. In particular, special attention is paid to the temporal dimension contained in Koselleck's Conceptual History and the role played by Descartes in the constitution of the modern concept of progress, which, according to Koselleck, summarises the experience of a new epoch in one word. The aim is to shed new light on a commonplace in the history of philosophy: the attribution of the paternity of the modern epoch to Descartes.

The Aristotelian framework of the new Machiavellian ethics

2024-07-02T12:06:33+00:00

A careful analysis of the Machiavellian treaty Il Principe shows the employment of two very distinct logical methodologies: 1. Set grouping, which leads to Boole’s algebra and is typical of chapters I-XIV and XX-XXVI (with the exclusion of the central part). 2. The logic of approximate reasoning reserved to chapters XV, XIX, where in an order still reasonably “bourgeois” the most revolutionary dynamics are included. These principles, both of Aristotelian origin but belonging to different parts of his work, will have an enormous impact both on the characterization of the Machiavellian political science (which now emerges in a completely different light), as well as in the most emblematic features of Machiavelli’s writing, such as the famous dilemmatic choice.

The Cartesian test of modern love: imagination, free will and passions

2024-07-02T12:06:36+00:00

This article tackles the role of emotions in convincing on the dualism advanced by Descartes, closely following the constitution of love at the edge of modus cognoscendi and modus volendi. The following two questions inspire the reflection on love as a spiritual exercise and a constitutive emotion for (self)knowledge: Does love represent a core-emotion for Descartes that regains his Christian thinking at the edge of his metaphysical and epistemological project, apparently excused of any religious implications? What is Descartes’s account of love and how does it (emotionally) change the sense and reception of passions? The Christian implications of love and devotion to God provide access to a so-called implicit political project engaged by Descartes’s work, grounded on the loyalty and adoration of a sovereign anointed in the name of faith.

Hobbes on person represetnativa and person representata

2024-07-02T12:06:29+00:00

The objective of the following article is to make a comparison between the definitions of person in Hobbes's Leviathan in the English edition of 1651 and the Latin edition of 1668. To do this, we will take into account the possible changes that may have occurred in the definition of person with the publication of De Homine in 1658, showing the importance of constant references to theater in this process. Finally, we will try to suggest the hypothesis that the natural person in Hobbes is always an artificial construction.