NotaBene

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Philosophical Anniversaries

In this issue

Journal NotaBene Issue 49 (2020) Editor: Kamen Lozev

Topic of the issue: Philosophical Anniversaries

140 YEARS SINCE THE BIRTH OF DIMITRI MICHALTCHEW (1880-1967)

NOTA BENE journal decided to celebrate the 140-th Anniversary of the birth of Dimitar Michaltchew (1880-1967), one of the most distinguished Bulgarian philosophers, by publishing George Moore’s famous review in Mind from 1911. Together with the review, translated by Prof. Nina Dimitrova, we also publish her extensive article on Michaltchev and the Bulgarian Rhemkeanism.

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85 YEARS SINCE THE BIRTH OF ASSEN IGNATOW (1935-2003). Assen Ignatow: From Structure of Historical Knowledge towards Anthropological Philosophy of History

Based on the comparative analysis between some of the main concepts and ideas of recently published Assen Ignatow’s doctoral thesis „Structure of Historical Knowledge” (1972), and his panoramic study „Anthropological Philosophy of History” (1993), the paper develops and argues the thesis regarding the continuity between these two studies/stages of the author’s work. A conclusion is argued that this early study marks the end of the “Bulgarian” period of his scientific career and work as difficult and painful, but scientifically fruitful, which has significantly contributed to the formulation of Ignatow’s creative cognitive “matrix” of ideas and notions regarding man and history.
Keywords: historical knowledge, explanation, interpretation, philosophy of history, subject of history

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280 YEARS SINCE THE PUBLICATION OF ‘A TREATISE OF HUMAN NATURE’ (1738-40) BY DAVID HUM (1711-1776)

Hume's 'A Treatise on Human Nature' is one of the greatest philosophical works, whose difficult publishing destiny is largely similar to that of Wittgenstein's 'Tractatus' and Popper's 'Open Society'. The Treatise remains underestimated not only by Hume's contemporaries but also by Hume himself. Despite undeserved rejection and oblivion for a century, the 'Treatise' eventually became the most prized book by the Scottish Enlightenment thinker, thoroughly studied today and a must-read for a number of university courses around the world. To celebrate the 280-th Anniversary of the publication of Hume’s Treatise, NOTA BENE decided to publish the Conclusion of the second book on David Hume authored by Kamen Lozev (David Hume: Philosophy of Morality and Philosophy of Politics, 2020)

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250 YEARS SINCE THE BIRTH OF GEORG WILHELM FRIEDRICH HEGEL (1770-1831) Hegel and the Summits of the Logical Science (first part)

In logic, Hegel realizes a large-scale program that aims to develop the system of pure thinking. This is a sequel and to some extent a completion of Kant’s transcendental logic, which Kant designs to embrace and fulfill the whole territory of thinking. Kant puts the concept as the essential logical form of thinking, Hegel responds to this with a logical project in which the concept is the basic working element. Hegel defines the subject matter of logic as “the system of pure thought determinations” and the development of the logical content of thinking. The thought determinations give the concepts which represent the basic types of object determining in thinking. Hegel’s logical project results in a complete system of concepts which, until Hegel, have never been developed in logic. The change also reflects on the new vision of the logical form as an “infinite form”. Hegel undertakes the transformation of the Aristotelian proposition which is criticized by him as finite and fixed and transforms it into a new logical formation with the progress of the inner determinations of the logical subject through the predications and the context.

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250 YEARS SINCE THE BIRTH OF GEORG WILHELM FRIEDRICH HEGEL (1770-1831) Hegel and the Summits of the Logical Science (second part)

In logic, Hegel realizes a large-scale program that aims to develop the system of pure thinking. This is a sequel and to some extent a completion of Kant’s transcendental logic, which Kant designs to embrace and fulfill the whole territory of thinking. Kant puts the concept as the essential logical form of thinking, Hegel responds to this with a logical project in which the concept is the basic working element. Hegel defines the subject matter of logic as “the system of pure thought determinations” and the development of the logical content of thinking. The thought determinations give the concepts which represent the basic types of object determining in thinking. Hegel’s logical project results in a complete system of concepts which, until Hegel, have never been developed in logic. The change also reflects on the new vision of the logical form as an “infinite form”. Hegel undertakes the transformation of the Aristotelian proposition which is criticized by him as finite and fixed and transforms it into a new logical formation with the progress of the inner determinations of the logical subject through the predications and the context.
Keywords: Hegel, Logic of German Idealism, Science of Logic, truth, logical content, speculative proposition.

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200 YEARS SINCE THE BIRTH OF FRIEDRICH ENGELS (1820-1895)

The name of Friedrich Engels is always associated with the name of Karl Marx, and it is usually added that Marx was the greater theorist and that their teaching was rightly called "Marxism", though it was created by them both. However, few only know that, as it is clear from the article below, Engels' long-term material support for Marx and his family made possible the publication of Marx's works and the spread of their ideas during their lifetime. NOTA BENE celebrates Engels' bicentennial with a translation of the article about him in the Encyclopedia Britannica; https://www.britannica.com/biography/Friedrich-Engels.
The article was written by Oscar Hammen, Professor Emeritus of History, University of Montana, Missoula, author of The Red '48ers: Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. The translation is done by Kamen Lozev.

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110 YEARS SINCE THE DEATH OF LEO NIKOLAYEVICH TOLSTOY (1828-1910)

NOTA BENE journal decided to mark the 110-th year since the death of the great Russian writer and thinker Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910) with the publication of his famous Response to the Synod of 1901 after his excommunication from the official Russian Orthodox Church. The translation is done by Kamen Lozev, and the original text is taken from the following source: L.N. Tolstoy. Full sobr. op., vol. 34, pp. 245-253. (Ë.Í. Òîëñòîé. Ïîëí. ñîáð. ñî÷., ò.34, ñ. 245-253) The characteristic Tolstoyan punctuation is preserved together with the way he wrote different words and concepts.

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75 YEARS SINCE THE PUBLICATION OF THE "OPEN SOCIETY AND ITS ENEMIES" AND 50 YEARS SINCE THE DEATH OF BERTRAND RUSSELL (1872-1970) Karl Popper for and against Bertrand Russell

In the spring of 2020, CIELA Publishing House delighted the readers with a beautiful and far more solid second edition of Popper's two-volume book "The Open Society and Its Enemies". This edition comes out exactly 75 years after the first appearance of the two-volume book in England. At the same time, 2020 is the year that separates us by exactly half a century from the night in which Bertrand Russell closes his eyes forever. NOTA BENE marks the two anniversaries with a translation of Ivor Grattan-Guinness's article on the relationship between Popper and Russell, published in Russell journal (Vol. 18 (1998): Issue 1: SUMMER 1998, pp. 25-42). The translation is done by Kamen Lozev. The notes underline in the article are not translated.

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50 YEARS AFTER RUDOLF CARNAP (1891-1970)

Rudolf Carnap is one of the leading and perhaps the most influential figure of the Vienna Circle and the philosophy of logical positivists. Although he is not a Jew by birth, his fate is very similar to that of Jewish scholars in Europe before and during WWII. NOTA BENE marks the 50-th year since the death of Rudolf Carnap with a translation of the article about him in Encyclopedia Britannica; https: // www.https://www.https://www.britannica.com/biography/Rudolf-Carnap).
The article was written by Brian Duignan, senior editor at the Encyclopedia Britannica; his subject areas include philosophy, law, social sciences, politics, political theory, and religion. The translation of the article is done by Kamen Lozev.

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70 YEARS AFTER GEORGE ORWELL (1903-1950)

Seventy years ago, George Orwell, one of the most famous Ånglish literary critics, essayists and writers, the creator of perhaps the most famous dystopia "1984", closed his eyes forever. NOTA BENE marks the Anniversary of Orwell's death with a new translation of his radio talk Literature and Totalitarianism, delivered three days before Nazi Germany's attack on the Soviet Union. The new translation of the talk is done by Kamen Lozev.

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Frege’s Two-sided Conception of Existence (Part One)

This paper’s departure point is Dolf Rami’s book "Existenz und Anzahl. Eine kritische Untersuchung von Freges Konzeption der Existenz" (Mentis, 2018). In his book, Rami builds upon an argument that Frege’s notion of existence is hybrid in the sense that it combines two different concepts for existence. One of these is a first-level deflationary concept. It is a concept borrowed from the universalist paradigm prior to Kant, according to which being or existence is a universal concept: one that can be truthfully predicated of anything. The other concept is a second-level substantial concept. It is explicated in the conceptualist paradigm of the Frege-Russel-Quine tradition, according to which existence should be regarded a property of a concept and predicating it equals to stating that objects (or at least an object) fall under the concept in question. This paper calls into question Rami’s argument that Frege attempts to combine these two different concepts, as well as his sub-argument that the first-level universal concept is more basic and Frege might have noticed this. As a first step, Frege’s theory of second-level concepts is introduced. Then, the two concepts that Remi distinguishes between are discussed. This completes the first part of the article. In the second part, it would be demonstrated that what Rami refers to as a first-level universal concept, Frege treats within the framework of his presupposition theory of singular terms, and also that the connection between this theory and the notion of existence as second-level concept is not the one that Remi imagines it is.
Keywords: Frege, existence, second-level concepts, singular terms

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45 YEARS AFTER HANNAH ARENDT (1906-1975) Only Good Has Depth that Can Be Radical

The article is dedicated to the 45th Anniversary of the death of the German-American political theorist and philosopher Hannah Arendt (1906-1975). After a brief biographical touch on Arendt is provided together with a discussion of the internal differences between two pairs of central notions of her work - dictatorship and totalitarianism, on the one hand, and on the other - the comparison between motivated and banal evil, the latter being the evil for which there are no human motives. Two of Hannah Arendt's most significant works, The Origins of Totalitarianism and Eichmann in Jerusalem, were used as the source of the study.
Keywords: Arendt, totalitarianism, banal evil, motivated evil,

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110 YEARS SINCE THE BIRTH OF ALFRED AYER (1910-1989)

The name of Sir Alfred Ayer is associated with the Vienna Circle and the philosophy of the logical positivists. Ayer is one of the most enthusiastic followers of this philosophy from the beginning of its development and probably contributed the most to its spread in England. NOTA BENE celebrates the 140-th Anniversary of Alfred Ayer's birth with a translation of the article about him in Encyclopedia Britannica; https://www.tttt://www.britannica.com/biography/A-J-Ayer.
The article was written by Ben Rodgers, Associate Director of the Institute for Public Policy Research, who is the author of a number of books, including A.J. Ayer: A Life. The translation of the article is done by Kamen Lozev.

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Podium

Infodemic, Fake News and Post-Truth

The text reviews some of the key definitions of the concepts ‘fake news’ and ‘post-truth’ and analyzes their relation to the Covid-19 pandemic. The focus of the study is the effects of media's negative impact on a crisis situation, the so-called infodemic. In this context, a new type of political performance is considered, which emphasizes emotional reactions (mostly negative) instead of a rational search for solutions.

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Why There is Something, and Not Nothing? (part one)

The article aims to present in an accessible, modern, and fascinating way the classical evidence for the existence of God. Before this, briefly and in a schematic way, the meaning of the essence of God is stated, or, more formally, what is meant by the term “God“. The first and main part proceeds with an exposition of the ontological proof of God given by Anselm of Canterbury in its two versions. Then Kant's critique together with Russell's analysis of modern logic are presented. In the second part the cosmological evidence of God in the form in which Thomas of Aquinas constructed it is presented together with Kant’s and Hume's position on the issue.
Keywords: God, evidence of God’ existence, Russell, Kant, Hume

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Why There is Something, and Not Nothing? (part two)

The article aims to present in an accessible, modern, and fascinating way the classical evidence for the existence of God. Before this, briefly and in a schematic way, the meaning of the essence of God is stated, or, more formally, what is meant by the term “God“. The first and main part proceeds with an exposition of the ontological proof of God given by Anselm of Canterbury in its two versions. Then Kant's critique together with Russell's analysis of modern logic are presented. In the second part the cosmological evidence of God in the form in which Thomas of Aquinas constructed it is presented together with Kant’s and Hume's position on the issue.
Keywords: God, evidence of God’ existence, Russell, Kant, Hume


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Explanation of the Conversation Implicatures with the Graded Salience Hypothesis

Grice’s theory of conversational implicature is discussed in this article with an emphasis on the transition between the literal meaning of an expression and the implicated meaning. Assuming the position expressed in the graded salience hypothesis, it is explained that in some cases the transition from what the speaker says to what he wants the listener to understand is based on the salient meaning of the used expressions. Special attention is paid to expressions that have more than one obvious meaning, in order to show that even when the context plays a role in the understanding of an expression, this meaning can still be perceived as a result of socio-linguistic conventions.

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On the Nature of Logical Constants

After the time of Russell and Wittgenstein, the question of the nature (ontological status) of logical constants is peripherally affected by many discussions within contemporary philosophy. This article would have a contribution to the extent that: (1) studies specifically devoted to the status of logical constants are practically isolated from the main debates within the analytical metaphysics or absent entirely; 2) the text would highlight the fundamental problems that Russell's philosophical logic enshrines, and which Wittgenstein does not entirely decide, especially about the form of the propositions and its subject (logical constants) from a new point of view. The goal I set is to answer the question of what are the constants from an ontological point of view? Whether the logical constants are objects of acquaintance, entities, a way of combining the components of the proposition, or can be considered only as language constructs.

Keywords: analytical philosophy, analytical metaphysics, logical constants, proposition.

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Minima moralia

Bioethics as a kind of practical ethics in relation to philosophical theory

This article aims to consider bioethics as a type of practical ethics that contains a complex and contested connection with philosophical theory. On the one hand, this is necessary because most of the thinkers in this field are philosophers who contribute through philosophical methods of research, respectively through the analysis of historical and philosophical ethical theories. On the other hand, many who work in the field of bioethics, including philosophers, are strongly skeptical of the idea that high theory (such as Kantianism and utilitarianism) should be applied or adapted directly to practical problems. The article shows that the paradigm of high theory tempts every philosopher, but from the point of view of bioethical contemporary reality, as well as from the diversity of various high philosophical theories within philosophy itself, a "nonideal" middle-level theorizing is the place philosophy should occupy in the field of bioethics and related fields. Viewed in this sense, the philosophical theory has its rightful place in bioethics, insofar no bioethics could fully exist without the presence of some kind of philosophy because the problems of bioethics are part of the problems of philosophy.
Keywords: bioethics, philosophy, high theory, ethics

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Announcement

Anthropologisation of Theology, the Role of the Senses and Love in the Philosophy of L. Feuerbach

The purpose of this text is to analyze some of the philosophical views of L. Feuerbach while examining his main theses related to the anthropologisation of God, the purpose of philosophy and the role of the senses and love in the process. In this way, the article reflects on an original historical-philosophical model of thinking, which considers man, including nature as the basis of man, in a single, universal and most comprehensive subject of philosophy. All this conceives anthropology, along with physiology, as a universal science.
Key words: Feuerbach, anthropology, philosophy of the senses

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Poiesis

VERSES FROM SOFIA FILIPOVA AND A REVIEW FROM GEORGI TSANKOV

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Ðåöåíçèè

Morality and ethics in the research fields today

Review of the monograph of Prof. Emilia Marinova "The Objective Study of Morality and Contemporary Ethics" (Faber Publishing House, 2019)

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