Rodrigo Benevides

This paper examines two twenty-first-century developments in the enactive approach in philosophy and the cognitive sciences. The first is the surging interest in Hans Jonas, which begins with Weber and Varela's 'Life After Kant' (2002) and continues up to the present. The second is the 'social turn' that the enactive approach has taken, especially after De Jaegher and Di Paolo's (2007) work on participatory sense-making. We look at these two developments through the lens of the problem of other minds. We argue that they are incompatible due to a residual solipsism in Jonasian phenomenology. Ultimately, this leaves enactive theory with a choice between embracing Jonas or embracing the social turn in enactive theory. We recommend replacing Jonasian influences with those from the late work of Maurice Merleau-Ponty. We argue that enactivism can evade the problem of other minds using Merleau-Ponty's discussion of 'flesh' and 'expression'.

O artigo examina a duradoura influência que Agostinho de Hipona exerceu na obra de Martin Heidegger. No volume 60 da Gesamtausgabe heideggeriana (intitulado Fenomenologia da Vida Religiosa), o filósofo alemão trata do conceito agostiniano de Curare em articulação com os fenômenos da memoria e da tentatio, presentes na obra Confissões. Para Heidegger, os escritos de Agostinho servem como material hermenêutico para demonstrar como o surgimento de uma cosmovisão cristã, fundamentada no Curare, fornece uma imagem que permitirá a Heidegger operar a formulação do ‘cuidado’ (Sorge) enquanto existencial da presença (Dasein). Portanto, o intuito do artigo é demonstrar como o conceito de Curare serve como protótipo para o que, mais tarde, Heidegger denomina de Sorge em Sein und Zeit.

In Varieties of Religious Experience: A Study in Human Nature William James examines the role of mysticism in the development of religion. James argues that the root of all religions is precisely the experience of mystical states of consciousness. As we shall see, although James himself admits that his own psychological constitution shuts him out from these experiences, the acknowledgement of practical developments of mysticism within institutionalized religions illustrates the reality of these states of consciousness, a stance supported by James’ pragmatism. Thus, the paper not only examines the nature of mysticism but presents James’ pragmatist view of religion.