Life configurations PDF
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Life Configurations Challenges of Life Essays on philosophical and cultural anthropology Edited by Gert Melville and Carlos Ruta Volume 1 Life Configurations Edited by Gert Melville and Carlos Ruta Editorial Manager: Laura S. Carugati ISBN 978-11-033869-0 e-ISBN (PDF) 978-3-11-033873-7 e-ISBN (EPUB) 978-3-11-039570-9 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data A CIP catalog record for this book has been applied for at the Library of Congress. Bibliografische Information der Deutschen Nationalbibliothek The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie; detailed bibliographic data is available in the internet at http://dnb.dnb.de. © 2014 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston Typesetting: Dr. Rainer Ostermann, München Printing: CPI books GmbH, Leck ♾ Printed on acid-free paper Printed in Germany www.degruyter.com Gert Melville Preface to the series “Challenges of Life” For many years a tradition has developed under the aegis of Carlos Ruta whereby specialists the world over, each with different scientific horizons, have been summoned by the National University of San Martìn (Buenos Aires), to reflect upon problems and topics considered essential for a better understanding of the human being and its place in the world. In the year 2012 a new programme of symposia began in collaboration with Gert Melville of the University of Dresden (Germany). The series of symposia shall take place at regular intervals and shall seek to address the topic „Challenges of Life“ through the lens of various aspects and with systematic alignment. Thematically, the symposium series encompasses all epochs and the most important or significant civilizations across the globe as well as the different epis- temological facets such as philosophy, sociology, ethnology, historical sciences, art, literature, etc. in pursuit of answers to the question: How have different civ- ilizations throughout different epochs mastered fundamental challenges of life? The high degree of explanatory potential afforded by such answers is not limited to the realms of cultural and historical diversity of human self-reflec- tions or differing prerequisites and expectations of thought and action from a worldwide perspective. Rather, they also offer insights into those anthropological constants, which signify incessantly and everywhere the inalienable frameworks of human possibilities. Both of these dimensions comprise that which we may define as the very condition of human beings. The thematic must deal with both a historically descriptive and an analytically general consideration of the central questions of philosophical and cultural anthropology. It lies in the nature of the human being to be aware of his or her existen- tial limitations, to recognise him or herself as a deficient being. Of course, one instinctively senses that life holds many challenges. Yet, more important, one also reflectively accepts one’s life as a challenge in itself, seeking to discern the conditions and to devise the means with which to tackle it. There are numerous reasons that life presents a challenge. They concern the simple difficulty of having to plan one’s life, and the fact that the human being possess a fragile and mortal body, that the recognition that one’s intellect and thereby also the ascertainability of the world are confined, furthermore that one is reliant upon one’s fellow human beings, upon a community, and that one is dependent upon the natural environment and its resources. The instruments of coping with these challenges likewise encompass a broad spectrum, which includes the use of reason just as the transcending faith in VI Gert Melville higher, unattainable powers with which one must come to terms, the employ- ment of ideologies and religions, the creation of myths, norms, morals, and con- ventions, the utilisation of functional technology and science as well as the spell- binding and orientating interpretation of life and of the world by means of the visual arts, literature, and music. The sequence of academic meetings shall attend to these areas of inquiry, draw comparisons, and pursue answers. The series of publications, inaugurated here with the first aspect „Life configurations“, would like to present the results of these meetings and set them forth to a broader public throughout the entire world for discussion. Carlos Rafael Ruta Life Configurations Even as reflecting about life has been, among others, one of the distinctive marks of 20th century thought, its conceptual resolution always stumbles upon its own elusiveness. Despite this, the intellectual efforts made do not lack grounding in the historical experience that underlies them as their rough nutritional soil. Indeed, the totalitarian experiences, as well as the devastating consequences of an unabated capitalism, and even the capitulations or failures of modern poli- tics, while the weakening or destruction of the frames of reference that provide the security of a predetermined order consolidated, have undoubtedly been the backdrop of a reflection that has sought to clarify the symptoms of unease, of the conditions and the possibility of human life. Without a doubt, each and every life confronts its own challenge in and of itself. Living inherently implies a challenge that induces a provocation to the audacity of facing both its more genuine determinations, as well as its latent dangers or any lurking threats. If life itself is fragile throughout the entire spec- trum of its development, and if this is exacerbated in the face of the risk of a decline that hinges on alienation, implied is a demand for a reflexive work that impels it to responsibly assume its subjective or social re-appropriation. In any and all cases, human life always, in its very unfolding, articulates its power in “modes,” “forms,” and figuras that embody and support its constitution and plurality. The different historical paths and cultural consonances also determine those figuras in which life acquires a visibility shaped from within its intrinsic autopoietic character. This is where we must examine the configurations, those that life assumes through free and autonomous exercise, or even those that are imposed upon it by determinations which, though varied, are always heterono- mous in the end. Carlos Rafael Ruta As a fleeting transition, life constantly evokes the impression of its own insta- bility; however, this sensation seems to grow more acute due to external condi- tions that are somehow objective, caused by the epochal context. That is also where the need to explore and rethink the figuras that make up human life stems from — during both the processes of subjectivation as well as in forms of polit- ical or social life that mature or precipitate during diverse times. This may, in turn, contribute substantially to provoking or discovering the invention of new forms or figuras of life associated with the challenge of transitions which decid- edly affect the contemporary happening; figuras of life that face yet also resist the present in the attempt to crack open the steel safe in which politics, the social, and the modeling of biographies and subjectivities are enclosed. VIII Carlos Rafael Ruta If the questions this raises imply pondering over the multiple instances that mark the fundamental nature of the human being, it seems decisive to keep in mind the urgency with which today such questions reappear in the face of some of the phenomena that mark our time: the revolution in the biological sciences, the explosion of information technology, and the innovations in media, among others. To this end, it seems that a reflection which simultaneously appreciates the relevance the links any life configuration has with space, time, language, and the body cannot be delayed. This book seeks to learn from various disciplinary perspectives about the challenges that those life configurations which have faced the challenge of life impose on thinking. Its contributions attempt to describe and think about the conditions that allow for the possibility of life configurations as well as the his- torical and cultural figuras that have channeled it.*1 * Translated by www.Aiki-Translations.com Contents Contents Gert Melville Preface to the series “Challenges of Life” V Carlos Ruta Life Configurations VII Philosophical Foundations Carlos Rafael Ruta Contributions for considering the possibility of all life configurations 3 Karl-Siegbert Rehberg “Philosophical Anthropology” as an Interpretation of Human Life Forms 25 Edgardo Castro Life and Language 46 Historical Perspectives Gregor Vogt-Spira Carpe diem: Time and Life Configuration in the Hellenistic Roman World 57 Gert Melville Life Configurations in the Middle Ages between Divine Acting and Human Self-Determination 67 Claudio Ingerflom Foreseeing the Future Under a Communist Regime 81 Cultural Identities Gaya Charan Tripathi Explaining the Vicissitudes of Human Life: The Indian View 95 X Contents John Timothy Wixted Life Configurations: Perceived Patternings in Pre-modern China 107 Tilman Nagel The Muslim Conduct of Life: Paths of Continuity 120 Marina Vanzolini Sorcery comes from nearby Problems of the human condition according to some Amazonian indigenous peoples 130 Silvia María Hirsch Returning to the Land, Evoking the Past, and Sowing the Future Guaraní and Tapiete Indians and the Formation of New Rural Communities in Northwestern Argentina 138 Juan Obarrio Life as Quotidian Acts of Justice in Northern Mozambique 147 Politics – Economics – Ethics Sandro Chignola Configurations of (Political) Life 165 Marc Abélès The Politics of Survival 186 Marie Cuillerai What’s Alive for Economics? 195 Friedrich Wilhelm Graf Can Ethics Shape Modern Societies? 204 Art and Literature Ricardo Ibarlucía Why Do We Need Masterpieces? 213
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