Revista de Filosofía de la Universidad de Costa Rica

The way of sensation: Notes on the aesthetics of painting in Merleau-Ponty

2024-07-12T16:21:12-06:00

In this writing, we delve into some of Merleau-Ponty’s considerations regarding painting. The exploration will be guided by the notion of sensation, a concept that the philosopher adopts from the French painter Paul Cézanne. The aim is to elucidate how the author finds, in Cézanne and in modernist painting in general, a pathway to construct a new conception of sensory experience. This conception will be central to the philosopher’s later reflections, particularly those in which the ontological aspect of his philosophy is emphasized, mainly developed in The Visible and the Invisible.

The machine is an allagmatic being

2024-07-12T16:51:36-06:00

This era is characterized by a great epistemic mutation that emerges from a redefinition of the link between the human, the technical and the living. These mutations allowed the emergence of new discursive formations organized from an infocommunicative background. Within this new order of knowledge, the notion of machine emerges as an epistemic figure with great heuristic potential. Our work is aimed at specifying the scope of this figure as a paradigm of intelligibility based on the contributions of Gilbert Simondon. To achieve this purpose, we will describe the individuation process from a Simondonian perspective to present an epistemological technology aimed at the formation of new paradigms. We consider that proposing the machine as an allagmatic being offers us a reflective technology that can contribute significantly to the epistemic conformation of the posthuman sciences.

Abstrac Labor, Mediation and Historical Knowledge

2024-07-12T16:01:16-06:00

The nature of abstract labor in Marx's work has been widely discussed since the publication of Volume I of Capital. Its centrality in explaining value and the exploitation of wage labor establishes it not only as a central dimension of capitalism but also as a dimension with significant potential for interpreting social relations in other modes of production. In this regard, this paper aims to discuss, from some current theoretical contributions, the potential of abstract labor as an articulating category—among other possible and coexisting ones—of historiographical knowledge. To this end, after an introduction that presents the foundations of the problem, we will conduct a brief historical review of the forms that labor took in precapitalist social formations to compare them with capitalist forms. Finally, we will propose some theoretical consequences of this review, namely, that abstract labor constitutes an interpretative pathway for the change and transformation of social relations of production in different social formations.

Gradual and categorical separation in the Phaedo

2024-08-24T12:58:56-06:00

One of the problems for Plato's theory of Ideas is “separation.” And that this has a unique meaning. I propose that Plato saw “separation” non-univocally, believing that it occurs in two important ways. One that I will call “gradual” and another stronger that I will call “categorical”, and that the Phaedo shows these two different types of separation when talking about the soul. This leaves the door open to a moral interpretation of separation and contributes to diluting the mind-body problem. Also, it could support a non-univocal interpretation of the separation of the Forms.

Between Order and Justice: Goethe's Stance on Violence

2024-10-08T09:29:16-06:00

The present article discusses Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s (1749-1832) stance on violence, primarily based on his experience during the Siege of Mainz, through the notions of order and justice presented in some passages of his work.

The Platonizing allegorization

2025-01-14T10:43:20-06:00

This study investigates Christian (Valentinian) gnosis through Platonizing allegorization. This category serv:s as a key to Gnostic metaphysics (Judeo-Christian content), both for interpreting the Gnostic fragment of Oxyrhynchus no. 1081 and for examining Valentinian gnosis, the largest Gnostic corpus that has survived. To achieve this, the study provides the background, translation, and exegesis of the fragment. It is then interpreted and ultimately situated within the broader context of Valentinian gnosis, revealing this path as a particular alternative stemming from Plato's philosophy.

Ignacio Quirós Salgado. No Title

2025-01-14T11:11:35-06:00

Perspectivas de la imaginación. Las sociedades gaseosa. María Noel Lapoujade. México: UNAM, 2022. 223 pp.

2025-01-11T14:40:23-06:00