Abstract: The aim of this essay is to answer the question of what philosophy has to offer for the de-traumatization of unreflected history, or the historical sediments of the undifferentiated continuum of our consciousness. Often the historical sediments of everyday anxieties and imaginings have never been subjected to proper critical reflection, and the official…
Abstract: Experiencing Russia’s aggression against Ukraine gives grounds to define culture as a particular world of collective existence; one that is under an existential threat and therefore, this full-scale aggression should be considered a war on cultural world. This allows for the interpretation of the concept of culture in terms of Heidegger’s existential ontology: as being-of-the-cultural-world. Habermas’ universalist…
Abstract: The article explores a conceptualization of Eastern Europe at the intersection of literature and philosophy, focusing on two texts: The Issa Valley (1955) by Czesław Miłosz and The Other Heading (1991) by Jacques Derrida. In this context, Eastern Europe can be understood as a historical topos situated between Russian imperial violence concerning civil liberties and Western Enlightenment rationality,…
Abstract: The paper examines Eastern Europe’s complex and often problematic identity, particularly its positioning between East and West through the philosophical, historical, cultural, and geopolitical debates and their implications of this region’s identity. The paper discusses the role of cultural synthesis in shaping national identity, specifically focusing on the work of Lithuanian…
Abstract: The essay is an introductory reflection on the process of shaping Europe, including Eastern Europe. Two sources, Athens and Jerusalem, are emphasized as an important element of the historical shaping of Europe. The author focuses on the role of the Athenian tradition in this process; and argues that at the roots of European culture…
Abstract: This article compares two different ways of construing philosophy as a way of life (PWL), examining how they influence our understanding of the philosophical tradition and of philosophy today. First, I demonstrate that scholars (including Hadot himself at many points) tend to view PWL as involving a set of philosophical “dogmas” (i.e., doctrines, arguments, or discourse) that…
Abstract: The distinction between theory and practice, as well as their specific role, function, and relevance within philosophy is at the core of most metaphilosophical discussions of philosophy as a way of life (PWL). At the same time, Hadot’s emphasis on the practical dimension of ancient philosophy and its alleged privilege of practice over theory is one…
Abstract: In my paper, I attempt to show how the Hadotian metaphilosophical perspective of philosophy as a way of life (PWL for short) implies another conception of what true, philosophical knowledge is: a conception that one should understand through Hadot’s reading of what is Sophia for ancient philosophy. To do so, I present my account of PWL according to Hadot as a way of…
Abstract: Despite his inclusion in Hadot’s foundational work on philosophy as a way of life (PWL), Aristotle tends to be sidelined in recent discussions. This is because Aristotelian contemplation is a goal in itself, not clearly associated with a project of transformation of the knower’s practical life. In this article, I use evidence from the Eudemian Ethics (EE) to re-evaluate the relationship between…
Abstract: Starting from the premise, recently shared by authors such as Jacques Derrida and Pierre Macherey (for whom a state of crisis is inherent to the university) that of the humanities constitute the specific terrain in which to propose new experiments, this article attempts to verify what is at stake in an approach to philosophy as a way of life, in the context…