Issues
Appearance, Reality, and Beyond
Volume 1, Issue 1 (2013)
In political and social philosophy, the philosophy of culture, and in the field of cognitive sciences—supported by the neurosciences, biology and psychology—the same metaphysical aim may today be observed, that is an aspiration to discover, still unattainable, the border between Appearance and Reality. In this context, how can we form various models of ethics, theories of laws or political systems if we are unable to give “clear and distinct” criteria of what is real, and thus what is true?
Michel Henri KowalewiczPreamble (en)
Gunter ScholtzDie Vernunft als Quelle des Scheins. Kants Vernunftkritik und ihre Folgen [Reason as the Source of Appearance. Kant's Critique of Reason and Its Consequences] (de)
Karl AchamÜber Schein und Wirklichkeit Ephemeres und Bedeutsames. Zur Aktualität alter Unterscheidungen im Lichte neuer Fragen [On the Appearance and Reality of the Ephemeral and the Significant. The Relevance of Old Differences in the Light of New Questions] (de)
Riccardo CampaIl futurismo come filosofia del divenire [Futurism as a Philosophy of Becoming] (it)
Hermann LangSchein und Realität in der Psychoanalyse [Appearance and Reality in Psychoanalysis] (de)
Paweł DybelDer Körper als Spiegel in der Philosophie der Malerei von Maurice Merleau-Ponty [The Body as a Mirror in Maurice Merleau-Ponty’s Philosophy of Painting] (de)
Eric S. NelsonGenerativities: Western Philosophy, Chinese Painting, and the Yijing (en)
Helmut PulteScience and its Demarcation in the Light of the History of Ideas. A short Outline with apparent and real Implications for ‘Appearance and Reality’ (en)
Toleration and Tolerance
Volume 2, Issue 1 (2014)
Faced with increasing social, economic, and financial tensions, the International Day for Tolerance established by the United Nations is becoming––as never before––a challenge for the entire globalised world. The challenge is more significant as further values within the culture of the Western world are also at stake. These values, which remain at odds, are put to the test in an economic and political race against other cultural models, which do not share such values and that find the very notion of tolerance alien. We are deeply convinced that it is worth critically examining the history of the ideas, words and concepts surrounding the notion of tolerance, especially in our current time of rising intolerance not only in the Middle East, but also in other parts of the globe. At the same time there remains the age-old question of the limits of tolerance, what used to be called a denial of tolerance, or briefly “intolerance”. How far we have succeeded, you can judge for yourself.
Michel Henri KowalewiczPreamble (en)
Riccardo CampaLe origini pagane dell’idea di tolleranza religiosa nella pubblicistica dell’Illuminismo [The Pagan Origins of the Idea of Religious Toleration in Enlightenment Literature] (it)
Luciano PellicaniLa guerra culturale fra Atene e Gerusalemme nella storia americana [The Cultural War between Athens and Jerusalem in American History] (it)
Konrad SzocikL’Idea della tolleranza nella dottrina della Chiesa Cattolica: un breve schizzo [The Idea of Toleration in the Doctrine of the Catholic Church: A Brief Sketch] (it)
Paweł DybelThe Faces of Tolerance and the Question of its Limits (en)
Andrzej GniazdowskiStil und sein Mensch. Der „tolerante“ Rassismus Ludwig Ferdinand Clauss’ [The Style and Its Man. Ludwig Ferdinand Clauss' "tolerant" racism] (de)
Helmut PulteTolerance in Science from a Philosophical Perspective. An Essay on its Forms and its Necessity in Modern Times (en)
The Idea of Power
Volume 3, Issue 1 (2015)
Probably the majority of our “modern” children intuitively associate the Power icon (⏻) with the possibility of either activation or deactivation of all kinds of devices: starting with the toaster or vacuum cleaner and ending with more complicated and perhaps more fascinating items, such as smart phones, tablets, computers or game consoles. From Antiquity to Modern Times, the historical dynamics of our changing understanding of the idea of power recalls a child’s discovering of the world, as both are based on new dealings and correlations.
Michel Henri KowalewiczPreamble. The Idea of Power (en)
Reason and Will. Remarks on Augustine’s Idea of Power (en)
Michel Henri KowalewiczIpsa scientia potentia est! Die Idee der universitas zwischen Vergangenheit und Zukunft [Ipsa scientia potentia est! The Idea of universitas Between Past and Future] (de)
Lucas B. MazurDefining Power in Social Psychology (en)
Salvo AndòEnvisioning Power. Alcune considerazioni sulla ricezione dell'ultimo lavoro di Eric Wolf [Envisioning Power. Some Considerations on the Reception of Eric Wolff's Latest Work] (it)
Riccardo CampaBiopolitica e Biopotere: Da Foucault all’Italian Theory e oltre [Biopolitics and Biopower: From Foucault to the Italian Theory and Beyond] (it)
The Power of Ideas
Volume 3, Issue 2 (2015)
In writing about freedom at the end of the 20th century, in his The Proper Study of Man (1998), Isaiah Berlin would refer to Heinrich Heine’s text entitled De l’Allemagne (literally “From Germany”). This book was written by Heine while he was a refugee in France. This title bears important resemblance to Madame de Staël’s book by the same title, De l’Allemagne, published in 1813. In this text, the writer philosopher Heine warns the French about the Power of Ideas (Macht der Ideen), with power (Macht) being understood also in the sense of violence (Gewalt). Heinrich Heine wrote about how, in the silence of the philosopher’s study, powerful ideas can be born; ideas that have the ability to destroy the whole of civilization. We nevertheless often forget the roots of this idea – an idea that has shaped our world to such a considerable degree. For this reason, it is to these roots that we dedicate the fourth edition of Orbis Idearum.
Michel Henri KowalewiczPreamble. The Power of Ideas (en)
Riccardo CampaUna storia di lotte o una lotta di storie? Il ruolo delle idee nella sociologia storica di Karl Marx [A "History of Struggles" or a "Struggle of Histories"? : The Role of Ideas in Karl Marx's Historical Sociology] (it)
Luciano PellicaniProduzione simbolica e potere. Gli intellettuali come classe [Symbolic Production and Power. Intellectuals as a Class] (it)
Michel Henri KowalewiczHeroes and enemies. Weltanschauung as the main determining factor in the emergence of Central and Eastern European identities after the First World War (en)
Caroline KowalewiczInventer la patrie. Le Mexique en quête d’identité [Inventing a Fatherland. Mexico in Search of Identity] (fr)
Dawid Kamil WieczorekThe Power of Ideas behind Terrorism. Contemporary Developments (en)
Paweł PrüferRecensione. Leksykon Socjologii Moralności a cura di Janusz Mariański [Review: Leksykon Socjologii Moralności edited by Janusz Mariański] (it)
Orbis Idearum
Volume 4, Issue 1 (2016)
“The show must go on.” That is what people say when an actor – however important he or she may be – leaves the stage. Similarly, the History of Ideas Research Centre and Orbis Idearum must go on. Nevertheless, we cannot hide our deep sadness at the untimely death of the founder of the Centre and its journal. Michel Henri Kowalewicz passed away on October 8th, 2016. We ask the reader to please forgive the unusually colloquial tone in which we are writing this Preamble; a style that is far from academic jargon and the cold precision which is typical of scientific publications. It seems to us that the moment calls for such a change of register. In the period between his diagnosis with cancer and his untimely death, we fortunately had many occasions to meet and talk with Michel. Despite the rapid progression of his illness, Michel remained strong to the very end. Whenever he had the strength to do so, not only did he continue his own work, but he also helped others with theirs. There was unfortunately not enough time to settle all of the questions related to the Centre and Orbis Idearum, but Michel made clear his desire that both be continued by his close collaborators and friends. In our attempt to fulfill his wish, we present you, the reader, with a new issue of Orbis Idearum – an issue that we sincerely dedicate “to the memory of Michel Henri Kowalewicz”.
Luciano PellicaniIl dramma della morte di dio. Sull’idea di sociologia di Max Weber [The Drama of the Death of God. On Max Weber's Idea of Sociology] (it)
Riccardo CampaL’idea di socialismo nella filosofia politica di George Orwell [The Idea of Socialism in George Orwell's Political Philosophy] (it)
Giovanni CaporioniJean-Jacques Rousseau alla ricerca della volontà generale (it)
Riccardo CampaPost-truth. La lezione dimenticata della sociologia della conoscenza [Post-Truth : The Forgotten Lesson of the Sociology of Knowledge] (it)
Dawid Kamil WieczorekDefining honor. A look at modern lexicographical works (en)
Jens LoenhoffIn memoriam Michel Henri Kowalewicz (1958-2016) (en)
Orbis Idearum
Volume 4, Issue 2 (2016)
“The show must go on.” That is what people say when an actor – however important he or she may be – leaves the stage. Similarly, the History of Ideas Research Centre and Orbis Idearum must go on. Nevertheless, we cannot hide our deep sadness at the untimely death of the founder of the Centre and its journal. Michel Henri Kowalewicz passed away on October 8th, 2016. We ask the reader to please forgive the unusually colloquial tone in which we are writing this Preamble; a style that is far from academic jargon and the cold precision which is typical of scientific publications. It seems to us that the moment calls for such a change of register. In the period between his diagnosis with cancer and his untimely death, we fortunately had many occasions to meet and talk with Michel. Despite the rapid progression of his illness, Michel remained strong to the very end. Whenever he had the strength to do so, not only did he continue his own work, but he also helped others with theirs. There was unfortunately not enough time to settle all of the questions related to the Centre and Orbis Idearum, but Michel made clear his desire that both be continued by his close collaborators and friends. In our attempt to fulfill his wish, we present you, the reader, with a new issue of Orbis Idearum – an issue that we sincerely dedicate “to the memory of Michel Henri Kowalewicz”.
Gregorio PiaiaRileggere Utopia. Alla ricerca della intentio auctoris (it)
Riccardo CampaLa via platonica al Dio visibile di Copernico [The Platonic Way to Nicholas Copernicus' Visible God] (it)
Riccardo CampaL’eredità di Nietzsche nella sociologia di Max Weber [The Legacy of Nietzsche in Max Weber's Sociology] (it)
Jens LoenhoffOn Concepts of the Boundary in Classical Sociology (en)
Marek DrwięgaFreiheit zwischen Geschichte und Metaphysik. Zu den Philosophischen Menschenbildern Jan Patočkas und Józef Tischners [Freedom Between History and Metaphysics. On the Philosophical Images of Man by Jan Patočka and Józef Tischner] (de)
Orbis Idearum
Volume 5, Issue 1 (2017)
Orbis Idearum, Volume 5, Issue 1 (2017) is a regular issue. As such, it has no topic, no title, no limitations to a particular theme. It is open to any contribution belonging to the history of ideas. The history of ideas is an academic specialty with its own object of study and its own methodology, and it is not to be confused with disciplines such as the history of philosophy, the history of science, the history of literature, the history of art, etc. The traditional work of the historian of ideas is the reconstruction of the path of an idea (typically, a word-and-concept), in a certain period of time, through different disciplines (philosophy, science, literature, art, etc.). That is why we often say that the history of ideas is an “inter-discipline.”
Stefan Lorenz SorgnerPhilosophische Reflexionen zu Glucks Opernreform [Philosophical Reflections on Gluck's Operatic Reform] (de)
Emanuele RaganatoI concetti di razionalità e razionalizzazione nella sociologia della musica di Max Weber [The Concepts of Rationality and Rationalization in Max Weber's Sociology of Music] (it)
Riccardo CampaL’idea di automazione nella teoria marxiana del mutamento tecnologico [The Idea of Automation in Marx's Theory of Technical Change] (it)
Orbis Idearum
Volume 5, Issue 2 (2017)
Orbis Idearum, Volume 5, Issue 2 (2017) is a regular issue. As such, it has no topic, no title, no limitations to a particular theme. It is open to any contribution belonging to the history of ideas. The history of ideas is an academic specialty with its own object of study and its own methodology, and it is not to be confused with disciplines such as the history of philosophy, the history of science, the history of literature, the history of art, etc. The traditional work of the historian of ideas is the reconstruction of the path of an idea (typically, a word-and-concept), in a certain period of time, through different disciplines (philosophy, science, literature, art, etc.). That is why we often say that the history of ideas is an “inter-discipline.”
Stefan Lorenz SorgnerReflexions concerning Ancient and Modern Philosophy of Music (en)
Roberto PauraDal principio olografico all’ipotesi della simulazione. Metamorfosi di un’idea ai confini del pensiero scientifico [From the Holographic Principle to the Simulation Argument: Metamorphosis of an Idea at the Edge of the Scientific Thought] (it)
Riccardo CampaDisoccupazione tecnologica: La lezione dimenticata di Karl Marx [Technological Unemployment: The Forgotten Lesson of Karl Marx] (it)
Riccardo CampaIl fascino inquietante dell'ultraumano. Teilhard de Chardin e la ricezione del suo pensiero nella Chiesa cattolica [The Disturbing Charm of the Ultrahuman. Teilhard de Chardin and the Reception of his Thought in the Catholic Church] (it)
Michel Henri KowalewiczSonger ou connaître l’Empire du Milieu au XVIIIe? L’image de la Chine dans la France des Lumières (fr)
Transformations of the body
Volume 6, Issue 1 (2018)
On February 13th, 2018 a conference on the theme "Transformations of the body" took place at the Department of Philosophy, Sociology, Education and Applied Psychology (FISPPA) of the University of Padua. The conference was attended by scholars from four different universities, both Italian and foreign. Given the quality of the presentations, the idea was born to publish the Conference Proceedings in the form of a special issue of Orbis Idearum. The papers that have passed the selection, based as always on the double blind peer review, are now gathered in this large volume, which bears the same title as the conference. The contributions deal with issues spread over a very broad time span, ranging from prehistory to the present day. Some authors have partially deviated from the typically interpretive descriptive approach of the history of ideas, sometimes venturing into axio-normative discussions – a "slip" perhaps unavoidable, if we consider the great social importance of the theme. Editors and reviewers have agreed jointly to allow the broadening of the discourse outside the theoretical and methodological lines of the discipline, provided that it was grafted onto a robust historical reconstruction.
Fabio GrigentiSuperpower and Imitation. Body and Machine (en)
Marcello IencaAn evolutionary argument for the Extended Mind Hypothesis (en)
Riccardo CampaLa religione dei corpi perfetti. Osservazioni sulla dimensione estetica dello zoroastrismo [The Religion of Perfect Bodies : Observations on the Aesthetic Dimension of Zoroastrianism] (it)
Federico ZilioIl cervello nel corpo–macchina. Meccanicismo e dualismo nel naturalismo contemporaneo [The Brain in the Body-as-Machine. Mechanism and Dualism in Contemporary Naturalism] (it)
Alberto GiacomelliDal culto alla cura. Il corpo in Nietzsche tra eugenetica ed etopoiesi [From Cult to Care. The body in Nietzsche between Eugenics and Construction of the Self] (it)
Lorenza Bottacin CantoniPitié pour la Viande! Culto e cura del corpo da macello (it)
Giovanni OstiIl corpo conteso. La questione di senso tra human enhancement e achievement [A Body on Demand. Between Human Enhancement and Achievement] (it)
Orbis Idearum
Volume 6, Issue 2 (2018)
Orbis Idearum, Volume 6, Issue 2 (2018) is a regular issue. As such, it has no topic, no title, no limitations to a particular theme. It is open to any contribution belonging to the history of ideas. The history of ideas is an academic specialty with its own object of study and its own methodology, and it is not to be confused with disciplines such as the history of philosophy, the history of science, the history of literature, the history of art, etc. The traditional work of the historian of ideas is the reconstruction of the path of an idea (typically, a word-and-concept), in a certain period of time, through different disciplines (philosophy, science, literature, art, etc.). That is why we often say that the history of ideas is an “inter-discipline.”
Roberto ManzoccoThe Concept of Emergence. A Brief History and a Philosophical Analysis of an Ontological Regulative Principle of Organization (en)
Mariolina GraziosiDialogue between Sociology and Philosophy. Ontological Trust, Search for Meanings, and Self-Reflection in an Era of Uncertainty (en)
Riccardo CampaTechnological Unemployment. A Brief History of An Idea (en)
Emanuele RaganatoAlle origini della sociologia della musica. Dal concetto di razionalizzazione a quello di standardizzazione [Back to the Origins of the Sociology of Music. From Rationalization to Standardization] (it)
Riccardo CampaIl culto della Singolarità. Com'è nata la religione della tecnoscienza [The Cult of Singularity: How the Religion of Technoscience Arose] (it)
Dawid Kamil WieczorekO możliwościach identyfikacji nurtów pedagogicznych w obrębie idealizmu [On the Possibilities of Identifying Educational Currents within Idealism] (pl)
Magic in the History of Ideas
Volume 7, Issue 1 (2019)
On February 14th, 2019, a conference on the theme “Magic in the History of Ideas” took place at the Department of Philosophy, Sociology, Education and Applied Psychology (FISPPA) of the University of Padua. The conference was attended by scholars from different universities, both Italian and foreign. Given the high quality of the presentations, the idea was born to publish the Conference Proceedings in the form of a special issue of Orbis Idearum. The concept of magic is most often considered a foil by scholars in the fields of philosophy and religious studies, or it is discussed as part of the investigation of “primitive” systems of belief and ritual. In this special issue, authors were invited to present Magic as a system of inquiry and explanation unto itself, connected to, but distinct from, both philosophy and religious studies. Historical analyses may help to understand systems of magic as both natural and rational outgrowths of a particular perspective on reality. The magical traditions of Paleolithic hunters and contemporary indigenous peoples, and those found within classical Greece and Rome, medieval Judaism, and the European Renaissance, can be investigated as important and more or less disciplined attempts to understand the structure of the cosmos and the place of humankind there-in. Far from representing irrational or superstitious systems of belief, key esoteric traditions have played a central role in the rise of the art in the Old Stone Age, and of philosophy and science in the ancient, and early modern periods.
Simone TurcoTheater, Democracy, and the Mysteries. Historical Perspectives on the Normalization of the Irrational (en)
Antimo CesaroIl potere magico di Federico II, Signore del mondo e degli elementi. Ideologia del sapere e ideologia del potere negli affreschi della cripta della cattedrale di Anagni [The Magical Power of Frederich II, Lord of the World and of the Elements. Ideology of Knowledge and Ideology of Power in the Frescoes in the Crypt of the Cathedral of Anagni] (it)
Fabio GrigentiMagia e tecnologia [Magic and Technology] (it)
Roberto PauraL'idea di azione a distanza tra pensiero magico-religioso e concezione scientifica del mondo [The Idea of Action at a Distance between Supernatural Thought and the Scientific View of the World] (it)
Riccardo CampaLe origini magiche della scienza. Uno sguardo alla tradizione filosofica [The Magical Origins of Science. A Look at the Philosophical Tradition] (it)
Orbis Idearum
Volume 7, Issue 2 (2019)
Orbis Idearum, Volume 7, Issue 2 (2019) is a regular issue. As such, it has no topic, no title, no limitations to a particular theme. It is open to any contribution belonging to the history of ideas. The history of ideas is an academic specialty with its own object of study and its own methodology, and it is not to be confused with disciplines such as the history of philosophy, the history of science, the history of literature, the history of art, etc. The traditional work of the historian of ideas is the reconstruction of the path of an idea (typically, a word-and-concept), in a certain period of time, through different disciplines (philosophy, science, literature, art, etc.). That is why we often say that the history of ideas is an “inter-discipline.”
Expanding the History of Ideas into Prehistory through Cognitive Archaeology (en)
Maria FlisUtopian Thinking: A Discourse on the Culture of Leszek Kołakowski and Zygmunt Bauman (en)
Monika WrzoszczykThe Idea of Judicial Review in the United States of America. The Context of Creating and Early Judgments of the Supreme Court (en)
Gianfilippo GiustozziPierre Teilhard de Chardin. Mistica cristiana e potenza creatrice della tecnica [Pierre Teilhard de Chardin. Christian Mysticism and the Creative Power of Technology] (it)
Riccardo CampaLe origini magiche della scienza. Uno sguardo alla tradizione sociologica
[The Magical Origins of Science. A Look at the Sociological Tradition] (it)
Konrad Szocik„Spinozasstreit” – Polemika Jakobiego z Lessingiem i Mendelssohnem. Starcie irracjonalnej religijności z racjonalizmem i historycznym krytycyzmem [„Spinozasstreit” – Jakobi's Polemic with Lessing and Mendelssohn. The Clash of Irrational Religiosity with Rationalism and Historical Criticism] (pl)
Marek DrwięgaL`inconscient freudien – expérience limite pour la phénoménogie. Venant de Paul Ricœur [The Freudian Unconscious - A Limit-Experience for Phenomenogy. In the Wake of Paul Ricœur] (fr)
Pandemics in the History of Ideas
Volume 8, Issue 1 (2020)
There is a general consensus that the history of ideas was not born just to satisfy the idle curiosity of researchers regarding ways of thinking and communicating in the past. The history of ideas was also born to respond to the challenges of the present and the future, to help us make use of the knowledge we have inherited - although too often forgotten - and that is preserved in paper and digital archives. The COVID-19 pandemic that is currently disrupting the lives of billions of people in all nations of Earth invites reflection on past epidemics and pandemics. How have the plagues that have periodically affected mankind been studied, understood, and combated? How have the human dramas of contagion been portrayed in medical and scientific literature, legal codes, sacred texts, political speeches, newspapers and magazines, novels and other literary works? How have such experiences influenced other aspects of our lives, and in what ways can these effects be traced over time? What are the differences and similarities between the reactions to past epidemics and the reactions we are observing today against the threat of the coronavirus? In the current issue authors propose studies and reflections on these difficult topics, and thereby illustrate how knowledge of the past is helpful not only today, but also for moving constructively into tomorrow.
Wrath, Mercy, Pestilence, and Plague. How the Wisdom of the Ancients Offers Courage in Pandemic (en)
Antonio MarturanoVirality: Notes on a Concept Crossing Disciplines (en)
Roberto PauraL'ermeneutica delle epidemie nel pensiero cristiano e l'idea del Dio punitore (it)
Riccardo CampaLa causa della peste a Firenze secondo Serafino Razzi. Note sul manoscritto “Vita e morte di Fra Girolamo Savonarola" (it)
Paweł PrüferRecenzja: L’arte di passeggiare e fare le rivoluzioni: Per una sociologia della flânerie (pl)
Orbis Idearum
Volume 8, Issue 2 (2020)
Orbis Idearum, Volume 8, Issue 2 (2020) is a regular issue. As such, it has no topic, no title, no limitations to a particular theme. It is open to any contribution belonging to the history of ideas. The history of ideas is an academic specialty with its own object of study and its own methodology, and it is not to be confused with disciplines such as the history of philosophy, the history of science, the history of literature, the history of art, etc. The traditional work of the historian of ideas is the reconstruction of the path of an idea (typically, a word-and-concept), in a certain period of time, through different disciplines (philosophy, science, literature, art, etc.). That is why we often say that the history of ideas is an “inter-discipline.”
Mario CastellanaTopological Reason in Bachelard and Surroundings: Kurt Gödel (en)
Gianfilippo GiustozziPierre Teilhard de Chardin (1949-1955). L’avvento dell’«Ultra-umano» e la transizione verso la «Nuova Antropologia» e il «Neo-cristianesimo» [Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (1949-1955). The Advent of the "Ultra-Human" and the Transition Toward the "New Anthropology" and "Neo-Christianity"] (it)
Emanuele Raganato“Diabolus in Musica”. Il simbolo del “male” nella storia della musica occidentale ["The Devil in Music". The Symbol of "Evil" in the History of Western Music] (it)
Riccardo CampaDal pragmatismo magico all’apocatastasi. Un percorso filosofico di Giovanni Papini [From Magical Pragmatism to Apocatastasis. A Philosophical Journey by Giovanni Papini] (it)
Dawid Kamil WieczorekWybrane problemy definicyjne niedostosowania społecznego: między fenomenem a terminem [Some Definitional Problems With Social Maladjustment: Between a Phenomenon and a Term] (pl)