Thaumàzein | Rivista di Filosofia

Introduzione. «Sono il Momento opportuno, signore di ogni cosa». Riflessioni introduttive su pieghe e intrecci di καιρός e apparenza

Arianna Fermani — 2022-05-23

Kairos and appearance are two rich notions, both from a linguistic and a conceptual point of view: unavoidable in philosophical reflection, they also represent fundamental crossroads of every human life, given that the “flourishing” of human life depends on grasping the opportune moment that requires to be expected but also realized.

These two notions are called upon to work as a pair, as the contributions contained in this volume show from various points of view.

Moreover, the same kairos is what stands in time, but it is also what has a spatial manifestation, and therefore “appears”, revealing itself, together, as “right time” and as “right space”, as shown by the Latin term occasio, which indicates what falls in front of us in an unexpected way and which therefore represents a visible manifestation of the kairos.

Il kairós come occasione di mettersi alla prova

Stefano Maso — 2022-05-23

Once the etymological meaning of kairos has been analyzed, it is a question of grasping its value with respect to the more general conception of time and the instant, so that we can better define the theory of acting and deciding in the Greek and Roman world. The comparison is above all with Aristotle. Then we move on to probe the relationship between kairos and kindunos: a direct connection between risk and decision-making will emerge. The case of Phaeton is analyzed, starting with Seneca's De providentia. Hence, here is the figure of the Stoic sapiens facing the moment of choosing the opportune time for death. The theme of courage and the role of phronesis are evoked, to define the way in which the responsibility of the subject comes into play in front of the kairos.

Una volta analizzato il significato etimologico di kairos, si tratta di coglierne la valenza rispetto alla concezione più generale del tempo e dell'istante, cosicché sia possibile definire meglio la teoria dell'agire e del decidere nel mondo greco e romano. Il confronto è anzitutto con Aristotele. Quindi si passa a sondare la relazione tra kairos e kindunos: si profila una connessione diretta tra rischio e volontà decisionale. È analizzato il caso di Fetonte, prendendo lo spunto dal De providentia di Seneca. Quindi, ecco la figura del sapiens stoico di fronte al momento di scegliere il momento opportuno per la morte. Sono evocati il tema del coraggio e il ruolo di phronesis, per definire il modo in cui di fronte al kairos entra in campo la responsabilità del soggetto.

"All'apparir del vero": la sfida del visibile, la cattura del bene.

Enrico Maria Ariemma — 2022-05-23

This parer aims to verify specific points of intersections and declinations of the words kairòs - occasio in the transit from the Greek world to the Latin world. Reconnaissance is performed through a sequence of poetic and philosophical texts. The analysis moves crossing practical wisdom, prudence, and ethical measure, enhancing the intersections with fundamental concepts such as phronesis or prudentia meeting among other writers such as Homer, Hesiod, Cicero, Horace, Ovid.

“All'apparir del vero”: la sfida del visibile, la cattura del bene Declinazioni filosofiche e rifrazioni concettuali

Arianna Fermani — 2022-05-23

This paper aims to cross some of the linguistic and conceptual crossroads of the rich notion of καιρός, examined in its connection with the topic of appearance. After identifying a first fundamental distinction between the “spatial dimension” and the “temporal dimension” of the καιρός, we focus on the intertwining between καιρός, speed and slowness; on the multiple connections between καιρός, good and just measure, on the responsibility of appearance and on the need to grasp the καιρός for the realization of a good and happy life.

Il manifestarsi del daimonion di socrate: kairos o tyche?

Alessandro Stavru — 2022-05-23

Socrates’ daimonion manifests itself in very peculiar ways. On the one hand, it appears as tyche, a chance over which Socrates has no control; on the other hand, it acts as kairos, i.e. the "right moment" a specific action has to be undertaken or avoided. The daimonion is capable of directing the choices and actions not only of Socrates, but also of his friends, companions and fellow citizens. This chapter shows that the daimonion appears in each and every critical moment of Socrates’ educational activity: it is thanks to its intervention that Socrates is able to perform his elenctic inquiry and thus make his interlocutors better. The appearance of the daimonion enables Socrates to carefully pick his friends and associates; it thus brings about Socratic synousia, i.e. that kind of “company” that can develop into dialogical activity.

Aisthesis come “scienza del particolare”: la sensazione nel De anima di Aristotele

Lucia Palpacelli — 2022-05-23

This paper aims to explore the theory of sensation explained by Aristotle in the second book of De anima, also studying topics related to his gnosiological foundations, as they are shown in the explanatory and ontological scheme of act and potency.

A reference methodological context sets De anima among Aristotelian physical works. It also underlines the specific value that both sensation and most of all phenomena assume in evaluating the Aristotelian physical science.

Starting from this context the analysis develops in three steps:

searching a definition of the process of “having sensation” that is explained as a potency that becomes act, but needs some terminological and conceptual clarifications about words like act, potency and undergoing;
finding role of the sensible object in the process of aisthesis;
mentioning necessity of the medium in the sensation.

Temporalità e kairòs come caratteri costitutivi della vita biologica nel pensiero di Aristotele

Giuseppe Feola — 2022-05-23

According to Aristotle, living beings are a subgenus of the macro-genus of natural beings (Phys. II 1, 192b9-10). Natural beings (he thinks) bear an essential relation to change: their nature-essence is an intrinsic principle of change (Phys. II 1). Since change and movement must necessarily occur in time (Phys. IV), the crucial connection between movement and essence(s) of natural beings implies an equally crucial connection between time and these essences. While much has been written about the relation of natural beings to time in Aristotle’s thought, relatively few attention has been paid to the way in which temporality shapes the ways of being of living beings.

I will here ask the following question: which kind of relation to time is presupposed, for living beings, by their essences?

My hypothesis is that what distinguishes the living relation to temporality from non-living one is that the living one is ruled by a form which dictates a necessary succession of phases, from birth to death. Each phase is a focal moment of the life of the living being: i.e. of the manifestation and appearance, in the concrete life, of the various temporal aspects of its essence, each in its proper moment (kairòs).

In Defense of Doxa

David Roochnik — 2022-05-23

The paper argues that in the Charmides Plato offers a philosophical defense of doxa ("opinion"). The key passage is 158e7-159a6. There Socrates says to Charmides, "If temperance (σωφροσύνη) is present in you, you will be able to form some opinion (δοξάζειν) about it. For surely it is necessary that, if it is present, it will provide you with some awareness (αἴσθησιν) on the basis of which you would have an opinion (δόξα) about what temperance is, and what sort of thing it is." To formulate a genuine opinion about what temperance, or any other virtue, is—and thus genuinely to particpate in a Socratic dialogue—one must first look within and examine one’s own internal “awareness” of it. Doing so requires courage for it exposes the interlocutor to the possibility of being refuted by Socrates. But failure to do so is even worse for it reveals a lack of “care” about onself and thereby begins a process of self-flight whose outcome, as it was for the (historical) Charmides, can be catastrophic.

Expanding the Perspectives on Affective Scaffoldings

Daniele Valentini — 2022-05-23

The debate in 4e approaches around scaffolded affectivity has yielded two models: user-resource interactions and mind-shaping. The former sees affective states as the result of the active manipulations performed by individuals on their environments. The latter examines human affectivity as shaped by the pressures exerted by socio-material contexts on individuals. Despite recognizing the interconnection between the two models in scaffolding affective experiences, the existing literature has mostly sidelined how they interrelate in online environments. In this paper, I argue that considering 1) the pace and infrastructure on which online interactions take place; and 2) the socio-material character of the devices we use to access online platforms (e.g., smartphones), affectivity, in digital environments, unfolds along a continuous alternation (and integration) of user-resource interactions and mind-shaping phases. First, I present the user-resource interactions and mind invasion models adding a recently introduced mind-shaping perspective that includes and expands the limited analytical scope of mind invasion. Second, I examine the mind-shaping influence of digital platforms on which users’ affective engagements are harnessed within a programmed sociality made of interfaces, algorithms, online groups and other users. Third, I present smartphones qua hybrid artifacts that allows users to permanently micromanage their interactions online while leaving them open to the mind-shaping effects of social media. Last, I examine Alt-Right echo chambers as digital structures in which affectivity is situated along an alternation (and integration) of user-resource interactions and mind-shaping moments.