In this thesis I explore the place of the actualized utopian American alternative community of higher learning within a philosophy of human culture. I carry out such a study in order to articulate a unifying description of movement; to find the “target” that orients the activity of actualized utopia, as opposed to a classificatory rule to define a mechanically determined utopian-object. Although these communities have varied in practice since the first generation of them were created in the mid-nineteenth century, I argue that they have played, and continue to play, a particular role in America. They imagine what a world beyond their own could look like; and through their resistance to the perceived status quo (on which they rely for their identity), they prefigure a world that could be. Although this world never comes fully into existence, the actualization (i.e., the process of becoming a dynamic symbolic product of culture) of these communities illuminates new possibilities for human life in the larger culture. While these actualized utopian communities often live long beyond their pre-figurative years, paradoxically their practices largely stay the same. A resistance to the perceived modern culture, and a vision of a world that offers more opportunities for life and dignity, has made these communities places that cultivate persons with a sense of agency. These communities create a sense of active consciousness; they create people who believe the world is changeable. An open humanistic and personalistic theodicy is what distinguishes these schools from a cult of domination, or an organization bent on a utopia that depersonalizes and dehumanizes the opportunities of others in service of a singular vision.

This dissertation explores the problem of how knowledge is possible, given that knowledge is necessarily rooted in the reality of the knower. The Kantian critical philosophy defeats Humean skepticism by demonstrating the a priori necessity of certain categorical functions at the root of all human cognition, but ultimately results in merely shifting the problem of certainty to these same functions. Ernst Cassirer’s Philosophy of Symbolic Forms seeks to extend the critical philosophy of Kant beyond the limits of theoretical thinking, and thereby broadens the functional foundations of cognition to include all symbolic modes of thinking in a unified system of human cognition. However, this expansion of the system of knowledge only serves to further highlight the fundamental problem of how knowledge of any sort can be a “symbol” of reality, when the symbolic form that produces that symbol always involves the mediation of reality in some way. This general problem is described throughout Cassirer’s writings in terms of a dialectic of spirit (Geist) and life (Leben), which, he argues, is the fundamental dialectic to which all other oppositions in the history of metaphysics can ultimately be reduced. In the present work, the nature of this dialectic is described and tied to the general problem of knowledge within any systematic critical philosophy, as seen in Cassirer’s philosophy as well as the works of Peirce, Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, and Wittgenstein. Through this discussion, Cassirer’s own esoteric conception of a monadic metaphysics will be revealed, and the key importance of freedom as a solution to this dialectic will be drawn from his interpretation of earlier philosophers, particularly Nicolaus Cusanus. / Philosophy

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-25T19:20:58Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Ricardo Alvarenga Hirata.pdf: 784390 bytes, checksum: ba70bd1abf59aeafa4a45843a0978f27 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2005-06-10 / Pontificia Universidade de São Paulo / This dissertation has as its objective to propose a theoretical referential of the religion sciences and the analytical psychology for studying the cultural - economical development impasse in the extent of the ecological crisis in the Tietê river, in São Paulo. This crisis took on alarming proportions in the second half of the XX century, when the river pollution reached the extension ofthree hundred and fifty kilometres and the low water quality has caused contagious diseases, disabling its use even for the electric power generation. Our hypothesis is (1) that the causes of the ecological crisis in the river Tietê isn't only in the material and objective dimension, but also has to do with the estrangement of man's relationship with the symbolic and the sacred. And that, therefore, (2) the resolution ofthis crisis should aiso include human subjectivity. To verify these hypotheses, we used theoretical and historical research of the ecological crisis in the river, as well as the religious symbolism of thé river water, and the imaginary links between the citizens from São Paulo and the river along with the history ofthe city. It also raised the current strategies that have been used tomanage the crisis. The theoretical referential that permeates the dissertation is an interface of the concept of symbolism of Ernst Cassirer's, Mircea Eliade and Carl G. Jung works. We concluded that the causes of the ecological crisis in Tietê are linked with the loss of meaning of the symbolism of the water and ofthe river, and that the strategies, to work with the same should include the cultural dimension, spiritual and psychic. It should be understood that it's necessary to consider the integration between objectivity and subjectivity, also cultural and economical development, to consider the mentioned crisis, in arder to work out proposals looking to reverse-revitalize the symbol of the river and the water, putting an end to the ecological crisis in the Tietê river / A presente dissertação tem como objetivo propor um referencial teórico das ciências da religião e da psicologia analítica para o estudo do impasse cultura desenvolvimento econômico no âmbito da crise ecológica no rio Tietê, em São Paulo. A referida crise tomou proporções alarmantes na segunda metade do século XX, quando a poluição do rio atingiu trezentos e cinqüenta quilômetros de extensão e a má qualidade da água provocava doenças infecto contagiosas, impossibilitando o seu uso até mesmo para a geração de energia elétrica. Nossa hipótese é (1) que as causas da crise ecológica no rio Tietê não se encontram apenas na dimensão material, objetiva, mas também têm a ver com o distanciamento da relação do homem com o simbólico e o sagrado. E que, portanto, (2) a resolução desta crise também deve abranger a subjetividade humana. Para constatar estas hipóteses, fizemos uso de pesquisa teórica e histórica da crise ecológica no rio, bem como do simbolismo religioso da água, do rio e do imaginário paulistano ligado ao rio ao longo da história da cidade. Levantou-se também as estratégias atuais que vêm sendo usadas para lidar com a crise. O referencial teórico que permeia a dissertação é uma interface do conceito de símbolo das obras de Ernst Cassirer, Mircea Eliade e Carl G. Jung. Concluímos que as causas da crise ecológica no Tietê estão ligadas com a perda de significado do simbolismo da água e do rio, e que as estratégias para lidar com a mesma devem incluir a dimensão cultural, espiritual e psíquica. Entendemos que é necessário considerar a integração entre objetividade e subjetividade, entre desenvolvimento cultural e econômico, para se pensar a crise mencionada, a fim de elaborar propostas que busquem re-vitalizar o símbolo do rio e da água visando o fim da crise ecológica no rio

Geringfüg. überarb. Diss. Univ. Heidelberg, 2007/2008.

Romantic symbolism is a poorly understood concept. It was first formulated by the Romantics in a variety of contexts. Goethe develops his theory of the symbol most notably in his scientific works. Schelling's approach to the Romantic symbol is firmly rooted in his philosophical writings. Coleridge articulates a Romantic notion of symbolism across his extensive literary criticism. The foundational influence of these related theories of Romantic symbolism can be seen in the artistic, literary, and scientific productions of Romantic minded individuals all over Europe in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century. However, the nature and scope of the Romantic symbol as originally formulated by Goethe, Schelling, and others has been obfuscated in unfortunate ways by the contemporary theoretical assumptions and narrow interpretations of recent academic scholarship. This thesis restores the original connotation of the Romantic symbol by identifying the common way in which it is misconstrued: the ontic fallacy.

Cette étude vise à esquisser les fondements et influences philosophiques de la pensée de l’historien de l’art Aby Warburg par le biais de deux penseurs : Friedrich Nietzsche et Ernst Cassirer. La question de la mémoire offre un fil conducteur à cette investigation dans la mesure où, pour Warburg, celle-ci est véhiculée de manière insigne par et dans l’image. D’abord, il s’agira de souligner que la Renaissance italienne, point de départ de l’investigation mémorielle de ce dernier, s’est présentée avant tout en tant que question au sein de l’imagination historique allemande. C’est notamment chez l’historien de la culture Jacob Burckhardt et Nietzsche, deux maîtres à penser de Warburg, que cette période historique est thématisée pour repenser le rapport de l’individu à son passé. Ensuite, l’approche des sciences de la culture, une constellation disciplinaire duquel se revendique Warburg, nous permet de voir de quelle manière la méthode de celui-ci se distingue de l’abstraction esthétique afin de préserver le sens équivoque de la mémoire et la possibilité de faire l’expérience vivante ou posthume de l’image. Enfin, c’est par le biais du symbole, objet d’étude centrale de la philosophie de Cassirer, que Warburg en viendra à penser les polarités de l’image. Sans vouloir rabattre la pensée de Warburg sur celle d’un système, le dialogue avec Cassirer permettra de voir comment ceux-ci ont réussi leur pari de rendre compte de la pensée mythique et de ses intermédiaires avec la raison. / This study aims to outline the philosophical foundations and influences of art historian Aby Warburg's work through two thinkers: Friedrich Nietzsche and Ernst Cassirer. The question of memory offers a red thread to this investigation insofar as, for Warburg, it is conveyed in an insignificant way in and through the image. First, it will be emphasized that the Italian Renaissance, the starting point of his investigation of memory, was presented above all as a question within the German historical imagination. In particular, the cultural historian Jacob Burckhardt and Nietzsche, two of Warburg's influences, thematized this historical period in order to rethink the relationship of the individual to his past. Secondly, the approach of cultural sciences, a disciplinary constellation used by Warburg, allows us to see how his method differs from aesthetic abstraction to preserve the equivocal meaning of memory and the possibility of experience the life or the afterlife of images. Finally, it is through the symbol, the central object of study in Cassirer's philosophy, that Warburg comes to ponder the polarities of the image. Without seeking to reduce Warburg's thought to that of a system, the dialogue with Cassirer will make it possible to see how they succeeded in their wager to give an account of mythical thought and its intermediaries with reason.

Zugl.: Tübingen, Univ., Diss., 2007

This study contributes to the understanding of cultural forms, inspired by Cassirer’s notion of a general function manifesting in the many particular expressions of human culture. The special case of cybersemiotics (a newly established scientific discipline) is studied as a social system to make sense of how it operates as a viable cultural form. The study uses citation network analysis to map out the boundaries and communications of the cybersemiotic discipline, and then delves into its contents to qualitatively investigate selected parts of the network structure. A framework for studying and comparing cultural forms is developed.

Le réalisme pictural peut être conçu, par-delà la pensée ontologique dualiste, comme expérience perceptive cognitive du spectateur d’avoir l’impression de voir le « réel » dans une configuration imagée picturale. Cette impression de réel n’est pas illusoire, mais subjectivement factuelle, sans être nécessairement consciente. Elle pourrait résulter de la facilité perceptive ou de la fluidité opérationnelle du processus perceptif cognitif. Lorsque l’activité perceptive cognitive opérante dans l’expérience du réalisme pictural est régulée par la valence hédonique immanente à cette fluidité opérationnelle sous-jacente à l’impression de réel, cette expérience « subjective » peut être également « esthétique » pour cette autosuffisance fonctionnelle de la « conduite cognitive » du spectateur. Cependant, l’expérience du réalisme pictural comporte une dimension anthropo-transculutrelle, comme on peut le constater notamment dans les récits littéraires des spectateurs coréens du 18e siècle qui illustrent leurs expériences visuelles des peintures occidentales « illusionnistes » réalisées par des missionnaires jésuites à Pékin. La culture est néanmoins opérante dans l’expérience « esthétique » du réalisme pictural. Son effet est double. D’une part, la culture fonctionne comme une des variables de la fonction complexe de l’apprentissage perceptif qui pourrait modifier la dynamique du processus perceptif cognitif ainsi que l’attention perceptive visuelle. D’autre part, elle pourrait opérer un effet dans la valence hédonique globale en participant à la modélisation de l’« affect idéal » distingué de l’« affect effectif ». / The pictorial realism can be conceived, beyond ontological dualistic thought, as beholder’s perceptual cognitive experience to have the impression of seeing the “real” in a picture. This impression or feeling of real is not illusory, but subjectively factual, without being necessarily conscious. It may result from perceptual easiness or from perceptual cognitive processing fluency. When the perceptual cognitive activity working in the pictorial realism experience is regulated by hedonic valence immanent in this processing fluency that underlies the impression of real, this subjective experience can also be “aesthetic” by functional self-sufficiency of beholder’s “cognitive conduct”. However, the experience of pictorial realism contains an anthropo-transcultural dimension, as we can observe especially in the stories written by 18th century Korean beholders, which illustrate their visual experiences of the western “illusionist” paintings produced by jesuit missionary painters in Beijing. Nevertheless, the culture comes into play in the “esthetic experience” of pictorial realism. Its effect is double. On the one hand, the culture acts as one of the variables of the complexe function of perceptual learning which could make difference in the perceptual cognitive processing dynamics and in the visual or perceptual attention. On the other hand, the culture might influence the global state of hedonic valence by participating in the modeling of “ideal affect” distinguished from “actual affect”.