Cláudio Alexandre S. Carvalho | University of Coimbra (original) (raw)

Uploads

Papers by Cláudio Alexandre S. Carvalho

Addictive behaviour constitutes a serious enigma to action and moral philosophy as to theories of... more Addictive behaviour constitutes a serious enigma to action and moral philosophy as to theories of rational choice. How is it possible that someone pursues a desire that has been repeatedly experienced and reinforced as contrary to one's better judgement? According to a general view, addiction stems from the loss of self-control attributed to its increasing undermining by strong cravings. However, in both substance and behavioural addiction, one's ability to make choices is not entirely impaired. One is able to pursue some intentions, despite of the fact that addiction leads to a derailment from normal life, undermining relations and roles constitutive of identity and agency. Therefore, it seems that self-control is not completely absent but it becomes somehow " errant " , not oriented by an adequate appraisal of the future, and even maintained in order to fulfil what has become an overwhelming need. This has recently been explored as an unbalance between motivational and evaluative assessment, i.e., a particular form of weakness of will. After determining the specific kind of weakness of will associated with addiction, I will try to understand in what terms can self-control be conceived in order to produce therapeutic outcomes. The case of alcoholic dependence will serve me to illustrate the concurrent forms of self-control subscribed by both sciences and therapies of addiction.

The introduction of second-order cybernetics on therapeutic practices required a deeper acknowled... more The introduction of second-order cybernetics on therapeutic practices required a deeper acknowledgement of the role and purpose(s) of the therapists on the transitory system they create with their patients. This requirement, forced their self-reflection as both observers and agents of change or irritation of communicative and cognitive processes. Another major consequence concerned the understanding of dysfunctions, no longer conceived as " real " independently from an epistemic standpoint that begins by delineating its composing elements and relations using a particular notation. The insertion of " second-order sciences " in therapeutic models involving psychic and communicative systems lead to a more sensible attunement of recursive interventions, due to a greater attention to high-order processes of punctuation of events and learning acquisitions. Focusing on the case of family therapy, we sustain that the acknowledgement of uncertain repercussions of interventions in the equilibrium of a system (or organization) is not a sign of weakness of therapy. Supported on Luhmann's account of the family system, and stressing some of the affinities of his operative constructivism with second order cybernetics, we understand the uncertainties of therapy as 1) a consequence of the " individuation " of modern society and 2) a call for renewed and creative forms of therapeutic intervention. Through a brief presentation of Circular Questioning and of the resource to Reflecting Teams, we inspect how the therapeutic observation is dependent upon sequences of reentry that assume different levels of description. Acknowledging the consequences of modern forms of differentiation, Systemic therapy, but also forms of psychotherapy, underlined the frailties of pre-established modes of assessment and intervention. More profoundly, they denounced the insufficiency of normative models imposed to persons, " fixing " the coupling between the psychic and communicative forms. In a wide range of disorders, approaches that dispense with the 1) active enrolment of the patient in the changing process and 2) the recursive evaluation (and readjustment) of the punctuation of sequences, its self-reflection, tend to originate high order problems. This reopens the discussion of the unacknowledged assumptions of therapies within a new theoretical framework, concerning their first-order observers (both client/patient and therapist(s)), and the various levels whose distinctions guide their interaction.

Abstract: Problem XXX was object of various interpretations raised mostly by its basic presupposi... more Abstract: Problem XXX was object of various interpretations raised mostly by its basic presupposition according to which all men capable of extraordinary performances were melancholic. In the present work, we draw on the idea that such thesis, mostly unprecedented and discontinue with Aristotle’s work, provides a reading of certain principles of the therapeutic approach towards the melancholic condition. In accordance with the Aristotelian oeuvre, the trivial forms of melancholy, congenial or acquired, disturb perceptive, cognitive and moral faculties, being source of behavioural disturbances and mental suffering. Such condition, characterized by an excess of black bile is approached in a non-systematic way along the Corpus Aristotelicum, requires prophylactic measures since its lethal variants are asymptomatic and abrupt, but as a chronic condition it demands constant surveillance toward what can affect an always-threatened balance. The present article shows how such therapeutic observation of the melancholic follows the founding of a nosologic framework, alternative to the medical theories affiliated with the Corpus Hippocraticum, despite holding some generic affinities with some of its treatises, concerning ways to reset the mixture (krasis) of humours by exploring the potentialities of the organism and the qualities of the substances. Some divergences could already be found in the platonic dialogues, where the Hippocratic method of analysis of human nature is praised. Aristotle like the author of Problemata Physica present a classification of temperaments weaved through various analogies with ethics, and especially with the theme of the constitution and perfecting of character, that will remain at the edge of psychotherapy along antiquity. The idea of a constitution considered instable and associated with various illnesses as the condition to achieve geniality, departs from “ethopoietic” characteristics aligned in an exceptional physiological balance. Along with inquiry on the potentiality of substances and the problematic division between health and pathology, the theme of the observer of the physiological, emotional and moral equilibrium remains latent along Problem XXX, and appears in different Aristotle’s writings. Given the loss of a text presumably devoted to medical themes, Ἰatrika, turns Problem XXX a document essential to bridge between phusikē, concerned with theorizing of living being’s biology and iatrikē whose priority is assist and reestablish the individual through methods of intervention in bodily equilibrium.
Keywords: Medical Philosophy, Melancholy, Therapy, Eukrasia, Genius.

Resumo: O Problema XXX foi objecto de múltiplas interpretações suscitadas pelo seu pressuposto basilar segundo o qual todos homens capazes de performances excepcionais teriam em comum o facto de serem melancólicos. No artigo presente explora-se a ideia de que tal tese, em grande medida inédita e em descontinuidade com a obra de Aristóteles, dá a ler certos princípios da abordagem terapêutica da condição melancólica. De modo congruente com a obra aristotélica, a forma trivial de melancolia-congénita ou adquirida-afecta as faculdades perceptivas, cognitivas e morais, sendo origem de perturbações do comportamento e sofrimento mental. Tal condição, que remete para um excesso de bílis negra é abordada sem sistematicidade em vários pontos do Corpus Aristotelicum, requer medidas profiláticas pois suas variantes letais são assintomáticas e de manifestação súbita, mas enquanto condição crónica exige constante vigilância relativamente àquilo que poderá afectar um equilíbrio sempre sob ameaça. No presente artigo mostra-se como essa observação terapêutica do melancólico segue a fixação de um quadro nosológico alternativo ao das teorias médicas constantes do Corpus Hippocraticum, ainda que mantenha com o mesmo afinidades genéricas, nomeadamente quanto aos modos de reequilibrar a mistura (krasis) dos humores explorando as potencialidades do organismo e das substâncias. Algumas divergências podiam ser já encontradas nos diálogos platónicos onde o método hipocrático de análise da natureza humana é elogiado. Aristóteles e o autor dos Problemata Physica apresentam uma caracterologia do temperamento que se tece através de analogias várias com a ética, em especial com o tema da constituição e aperfeiçoamento do carácter, o qual permaneceu na orla da psicoterapêutica antiga. A ideia de que uma constituição instável e conotada com padecimentos vários seja a condição para atingir a genialidade, parte de características " ethopoieticas " conjugadas num excepcional equilíbrio fisiológico. A par do inquérito em torno da potencialidade das substâncias e da problemática divisão entre o são e o patológico, o tema do papel do observador do equilíbrio fisiológico, emocional e ético permanece latente ao longo do Problema XXX e surge em várias observações do próprio Aristóteles. A não sobrevivência de um texto dedicado em particular à medicina, o Ἰatrika, torna o Problema XXX num documento essencial para estabelecer as pontes necessárias entre a phusikē, atida à teorização da biologia dos seres vivos e a iatrikē cuja prioridade é o restabelecimento individual por meio de métodos de intervenção no equilíbrio do corpo.

Some of the problems faced by Cybertherapy along the last two decades are far from being restrict... more Some of the problems faced by Cybertherapy along the last two decades are far from being restricted to technical issues. They entail new challenges of medical education, mainly related with the adequate insertion of new technologies in therapeutic processes without distorting the relation between medical professionals and clients. We contend that the acknowledgment of the effects of the systemic effects of therapeutic applications of virtual reality is not fully predictable and can only be achieved attending to the way the patient enacts certain tasks oriented by goals. Enaction means the patient is placed at the centre of the treatment processes, not only as an informed agent, but also as the agent of change through practice. Focusing on the requirements of Cybertherapy applied to Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, we propose a theoretic reflection on the conditions of training and treatment in virtual settings. We underline the decisive role of Health Care professionals in applying and improving the potentialities of biometric sensors, graphic and aural engines in virtual (and hybrid) settings. This role can only be adequately understood within a framework of different levels of recursion of the therapeutic system. Two main levels are referred, the first encompassing the patients adaptation and learning to " move within " the interfaces, the second requiring a reflection on the architecture and design of the physical setting and the computerized rendering of sensory data. Further levels concern the larger framework of therapy, relating to its allocation of resources and the social ends that therapeutic technologies, particularly those concerning mental health, must accomplish.

As modern variants of melancholy, Hypochondria and Hysteria are illnesses to which Bernard Mandev... more As modern variants of melancholy, Hypochondria and Hysteria are illnesses to which Bernard Mandeville devoted the major part of his medical writings. In framing and treating mental illnesses, Mandeville is sensitive to the increasing importance of new commodities, habits and social expectations. This will lead him to read those modern variants of melancholy as a palimpsest composed of symptoms and narratives whose main origin is the praise of individual's strive for pleasure and singularity. Detached from early eighteenth century academic and advising manuals, the dialogical model will grant access to a new grammar of physiological occurrences, complaints and treatments. Such grammar not only accepts but also requires patients' enrolment and active voice. The dialogical model adopted by Mandeville will also enable a questioning of medical expertise at the same time that increasingly demands from it the relief of social anxieties. Mandeville's approach to mental illnesses is centred on digestive problems, literally but also in the figurative sense, referring to the lack of discipline and the various consequences of the difficulty in processing and assimilating large amounts of goods and information.

Abstract: In the present article we maintain that the Lettres Portugaises cannot be reduced to it... more Abstract: In the present article we maintain that the Lettres Portugaises cannot be reduced to its literary dimension and enable, by virtue of their peculiar composition, the access to themes and conflicts inherent to the transition towards modern society. Its contribution to the development of epistolary novel is frequently noted, underlining how first person narration of the experience of passion warrants an increased authenticity to the genre. Besides the question of authorship, the text exemplifies the function of the novel not as representation or mimesis of reality but as a space for creation based in the autobiographical form of narrative. In the Lettres it is through the conjugation between first and second order observations that pre-adaptive forms of passionate love are put forward. It is argued that the exceptionality of the Lettres depends on the verisimilitude of the presentation of passions motions, according to 1) the gradual imposition of a new physiological paradigm, 2) the evolution of moral Psychology along the 17th century and 3) the advancement of literary aesthetics recurring to second order observation. Part of a wider set of social mutations, the constitution of a code of intimacy depends on the valuing of subjective “innerness” and its observation of the coupling between sensitivity, emotions and sentiments (passions of the soul) and their social forms.

Keywords: love as passion, epistolary literature, semantics, sensitivity, melancholy.

Resumo: No presente artigo sustenta-se que as Lettres Portugaises não são redutíveis à sua dimensão literária e permitem, em virtude da sua peculiar composição, aceder a temas e conflitos inerentes à transição para a sociedade moderna. A sua contribuição para o desenvolvimento do romance epistolar é frequentemente notada, sublinhando-se como a narração da vivência da paixão garante um acréscimo de autenticidade desse género literário. À margem da questão autoral, o texto é exemplar da função do romance não como representação ou mimesis da realidade mas como espaço de criação assente na forma autobiográfica de narração. Nas Lettres é a partir da conjugação entre as observações em primeira e em segunda ordem que se articulam formas pré-adaptativas fornecidas pelo amor-paixão. Sustenta-se que a excepcionalidade das Lettres depende da verosimilhança da sua apresentação dos movimentos da paixão, em conformidade 1) com a imposição gradual de um novo paradigma fisiológico, 2) a evolução da Psicologia moral ao longo do século XVII e 3) com o avanço da estética literária com recurso à observação de segunda ordem. Parte de um conjunto mais vasto de mutações sociais, a constituição de um código da intimidade depende da valorização da “interioridade” subjectiva e sua observação do acoplamento entre a sensibilidade, sentimento e emoção (paixões da alma) e suas formas sociais.

Palavras-Chave: amour-passion, literatura epistolar, semântica, sensibilidade, melancolia.

This paper presents a theoretical reflection on the co-evolution of image technologies (as a tech... more This paper presents a theoretical reflection on the co-evolution of image technologies (as a technical medium) and the communicative medium " love " supporting the intimate sphere, focusing on practices of self-representation. We follow previous research on family portrait, drawing on Luhmann's system's theory and in recent empirical works that researched the importance of ICT [information and communication technologies] in the evolution of photographic infrastructure and practice. The generalization of certain practices from a historical point of view is proof of the coupling between technical and communicative media (or at least of the " evolutionary adaptation " of technology). We conclude that, although it is clear that the new practices of photography tended to privileged the empowerment of the individual, domestication of this visual medium didn't lead to anarchic use but to greater complexity and interdependency on the process of self-representation. In order to fully understand such rapid changes we propose a theoretical model of coupling between technological and communicative media. Such model can replace the diffuse conception of the transactions between the technological and the cultural and provide greater sensitivity to future tendencies concerning the development of interfaces involved in the photographic practice.

O presente ensaio insere-se num projecto mais abrangente que visa compreender como a propalada cr... more O presente ensaio insere-se num projecto mais abrangente que visa compreender como a propalada crise ou “desordem” das relações íntimas se reflecte parcialmente nas imensas representações da família nos diferentes âmbitos em que a mesma tem lugar, dos media à vida privada. Pretendo compreender o modo como a alteração do modelo de família burguesa delineado por Hegel, do qual partiu a Psicanálise, é acompanhado pela diversificação de projectos de vida íntima. Entre essas manifestações destacarei as repercussões dessa transformação ao nível das práticas de autorrepresentação, em especial por via do médium fotográfico. Além desse objectivo, lanço aqui uma hipótese de investigação teórica, relativa à coevolução do sistema da intimidade e do medium fotográfico.

We maintain that, although the greatest share of intimate partner violence has its origin in 'end... more We maintain that, although the greatest share of intimate partner violence has its origin in 'endemic' factors of intimate communication, inherent to the high investments and expectancies in which it is sustained; such violence cannot be adequately addressed and understood if severed from the socio-cultural field, where gender normativity assumes great relevance. Intimacy is characterized by a paradoxical dependency towards exterior communicative processes in which their members take part, so that, in what concerns gender, it is not just a space of reproduction of symbolic asymmetries but also a receptacle of its increasing fluidity. But if gender attributions are open to greater interactive negotiation, in intimacy there remain traditional ascriptions. Here, the romantic conception of love plays a major role, not only enhancing differentials of power and distribution of resources, but also masking practices of abuse which have their extreme (and sometimes lethal) recourse in violence.

Neste artigo defende-se que a coincidência entrevista entre Nussbaum e Bataille incide nas seguin... more Neste artigo defende-se que a coincidência entrevista entre Nussbaum e Bataille incide nas seguintes exigências contraditórias: 1) por um lado preservar um íntimo livre do olhar inspectivo e regulador do Outro, mas também a necessidade de afrontar a concretização dessa mesma barreira constitutiva do sujeito nas suas vertentes pessoal, privada e pública. Ao desdobrar as ambiguidades contidas no conceito de vergonha, desde a sua vertente comunicativa e encenável até ao seu grau constitutivo-naquilo que se apresentará como uma (h)ontologia do sujeito-, os dois autores seguem diferentes trilhos para enfrentar a degradação física e moral do humano. Nussbaum, filósofa procedendo da tradição aristotélica e utilitarista, aposta sobretudo numa reeducação das emoções por via de uma catharsis literária e artística. Já Bataille, incategorizável teórico da despesa, foca-se na posição de limiar presente nas emoções de vergonha e nojo. Em consonância com correntes fenomenológicas e psicanalíticas enraizadas na primeira metade do século XX, o conceito de soberania permite ler a passagem do virtual no actual presente em tais emoções.

In this article it is sustained that the coincidence interviewed between Nussbaum and Bataille takes place in the following contradictory demands: to preserve a intimate free from the inspective and regulative gaze of the Other by the one side, but also the (...)

Lo objeto de este trabajo es presentar la significación de la obra hegeliana en lo ... more Lo objeto de este trabajo es presentar la significación de la obra hegeliana en lo feminismo francés, entendiendo bajo esa denominación la producción teórica heredada de Beauvoir, reivindicativa de un rehabilitar de la diferencia sexual. Dada su mutua proximidad de horizonte y de accesos que proponen a la obra de Hegel, destaco dos nombres: J. Kristeva y L. Irigaray. Procuraremos entender lo modo como en las teorías de estas autoras estay patente, través de una mediación en la enseñanza de Lacan, una crítica al modo como Hegel ha pensado la familia moderna y, de acordó con los fines de la misma, las prescripciones diferenciadas de sus miembros.

The aim of this paper is to present you the way by which, in the construction of her theory of ge... more The aim of this paper is to present you the way by which, in the construction of her theory of gender and subjection, Judith Butler maintained as crucial references of " critical support " , the works of Hegel and J. Lacan and their respective placements of Sittlichkeit and symbolic. We must acknowledge first that in Butler's work the predominant effort is mainly concerned with an attempt to plea against a universal model of subjection or resistance 3 , throughout her different books she never ceases to affirm that any logic of subjection and emancipation, in order to avoid the risk of misappropriation, must be conceived as historical and culturally variable. However, I sustain that there is a certain sense in which we can talk about logic (in the singular) in Butler's work; such meaning is to be found related to the experience of melancholia. In this experience we can locate the origin of the trouble consisting loosely on the discontinuity and contingent coupling between the imaginary (in which we can circumscribe the relation of oneself with its own body) and the level of social interaction (functioning according to symbolic efficacy) which entails the inevitability of gender ascriptions.

Ao longo do seu mais recente livro Gómez-Heras, professor jubilado de Filosofia moral e política ... more Ao longo do seu mais recente livro Gómez-Heras, professor jubilado de Filosofia moral e política da Universidade de Salamanca, adentra-se nos meandros de um labirinto tecido pelas complexas relações entre o domínio da política e o da religião. Cedo nos apercebemos que este passeio não deve ser confundido com um amena promenade; no núcleo deste trabalho o autor desenvolve as teses apresentadas no artigo “Una patología de las sociedades mediterráneas: el fundamentalismo” inserido num esplêndido volume por si coordenado El Mediterráneo. Un lugar de encuentro entre culturas publicado em 2006. Motivado pela recente irrupção do terror como séria ameaça às urbes ocidentais, Gómez-Heras pretende com esta sua obra «relacionar o que entendemos por modernidade com outros dois conceitos chave da nossa cultura: política e religião» (p. 19). O hermeneuta mantém uma continuidade teórica e pontos de contacto evidentes com aquelas que até ao momento foram as outras temáticas privilegiadas no seu labor filosófico, mormente a ética ambiental e a bioética. Também aqui é sob o signo de um interpelante perigo que o autor é convocado à reflexão e vigilância críticas, partindo de uma abordagem que valoriza a Lebenswelt enquanto instância pré-categorial que serve de horizonte de encontro intersubjectivo, e apostando na teoria da acção comunicativa como praxis capaz de gerar, na senda da eficácia da liberdade kantiana, valores objectivos partilhados.

O estudo que agora se apresenta tem o propósito submeter a apreciação crítica os mais recentes de... more O estudo que agora se apresenta tem o propósito submeter a apreciação crítica os mais recentes desenvolvimentos da linha de investigação iniciada por Judith Lorber. Partindo de uma apresentação dos pontos fulcrais dos trabalhos desta socióloga, pretendo deter-me na obra da sua discípula Lisa Jean Moore, dando a ver como nesta se dá uma sequência peculiar ao seu legado, chegando-se a vencer algumas das barreiras que em certas vertentes o Construtivismo Social impôs a si mesmo. Indo ao âmago último caracterizador de macho e da fêmea, os fluidos corporais, esta autora pretende compreender o modo como os recentes avanços nas “biociências”, bem como as suas repercussões e distorções em diferentes esferas da sociedade, estiveram na origem de uma incessante alteração da ordem social de género e parentesco.

Book Reviews by Cláudio Alexandre S. Carvalho

Acabam de ser publicados dois volumes nos quais se coligem as contribuições para o congresso int... more Acabam de ser publicados dois volumes nos quais se coligem as contribuições para o congresso internacional subordinado ao tema: Antropologia Filosófica de Hegel. A organização do evento esteve a cargo do Grupo de investigação sobre o Idealismo alemão da Universidade de Málaga, e teve lugar entre os dias 21 e 24 de Setembro de 2009. Triplicemente editadas (Ignacio Falgueras, Juan A. García e Juan J. Pardial), como 15º suplemento da Contrastes, Revista Internacional de Filosofia com sede naquela universidade andaluz, estas actas agregam um extenso e heterogéneo conjunto de artigos participantes do labor de iluminar as perspectivas contemporâneas da Antropologia Filosófica a partir da obra hegeliana. O objectivo partilhado pelos diversos intervenientes é o de estender o estrito âmbito que Hegel conferira à Antropologia na Enciclopédia das Ciências Filosóficas, limitando-a ao estudo do corpo orgânico e existência natural da espécie humana. Em tal empreendimento deve tornar-se explícita a real dimensão da dívida que Max Scheller e Ernst Cassirer, na sua qualidade de mentores da Antropologia Filosófica como disciplina autónoma, contraíram relativamente a Hegel.

A expressão “inquietude do amor” foi retirada de uma obra, também ela ambiciosa: Hegel. L'inquiét... more A expressão “inquietude do amor” foi retirada de uma obra, também ela ambiciosa: Hegel. L'inquiétude du négatif (1997), da autoria Jean-Luc Nancy, onde se apresentava o trabalho do negativo subjacente ao desenvolvimento do Geist. Nancy inseria-se de forma excepcional na tradição iniciada por Derrida em Glas (1974), nesta obra articulavam-se as posições de Hegel relativamente à família, linguagem, género e morte partindo do cruzamento entre textos de juventude e documentos pessoais do filósofo. Foi a partir desta obra seminal do desconstrutivista que tiveram origem um grande número de obras de índole feminista quase sempre cingindo-se exclusivamente ao período pré-Iena. Ora o carácter deste trabalho de Werner reside precisamente no facto de nos oferecer a cobertura integral da presença do conceito de Liebe na filosofia de Hegel; os diferentes contextos em que o mesmo surge e os objectivos em que se insere, desde os primeiros escritos até às últimas aulas.

Conference Presentations by Cláudio Alexandre S. Carvalho

It is the ability to act and interact in that environment that makes VR a rich laboratory for emb... more It is the ability to act and interact in that environment that makes VR a rich laboratory for embodied (and extended) cognition for they demonstrate that, at various levels –neural, unconscious and phenomenological-, “the body plays a constituent, not a causal role in cognition”.

In Cybertherapy [CT] exclusion can be considered both as a socially constructed inaccessibility (... more In Cybertherapy [CT] exclusion can be considered both as a socially constructed inaccessibility (due to various factors: political, economic or cultural) and as an individual condition (relative to individual skills and confidence). The specificity of individual illness or trouble guides the particular treatment available and the sensory and cognitive channels of interaction and intervention. A key role is played by adaptive learning to a new technology of communication or immersion which, in some cases can be seen, right from the beginning, not simply as a perfunctory task but as a part of the of psychotherapy itself. Regarding this feature, we will try to understand if in psychotherapeutic setting the concept of presence can/must aim to " obliterate " mediation, or, conceived as deflationary, acknowledge the specificity and advantages of the medium itself (Riva 2008). Supported on an extensive review of recent literature, both empirical and theoretical, our inquiry tries to demonstrate that the particular enaction of patients/clients is the link between the efforts of design and creation of apparatus, and their uses, adaptation and control by therapists. The categories of patient's presence and enaction provide both the feedback necessary for technical improvement of tools and the adaptation of the therapeutic setup, relying on the notions of anticipatory behavior and recursive control (dynamically relating optimized and breakdown experiences). Concerning another theme debated in the present congress, we see that the evolution of the perception, use and acceptance of CT (and varieties of E-Health) among communities of practitioners (psychotherapists, psychiatrists and psychologists) has a pattern of dissemination (and resistances) with similarities with E-learning. At first, both of these ICTs were frequently perceived as fallback solutions (due to geographical or economic constraints) and only gradually-with technical development, new sociocultural demands and professional adaptation-were they recognized as having potential and valences of their own. Today, each of these domains is developing autonomous resources no longer restricted to a supplementary role and addressing specific problems and challenges putting the notion of an enacting individual, developing competences in optimized media and environments, at the center of their processes.

This communication tries to understand and frame Mandeville’s conception and treatment ... more This communication tries to understand and frame Mandeville’s conception and treatment of Hypochondria and Hysteria, modern variants of melancholy. With such intent, I’ll rely mostly on his Treatise of the Hypochondriack and Hysterick Passions, first edited in 1711, which incorporates a rich understanding of the organic, psychic and social dimension of such diseases and their treatments. In this I will try to relate some of his views to its larger project.

Encontramos na forma epistolar da segunda metade do século XVII uma forte resposta aos requisitos... more Encontramos na forma epistolar da segunda metade do século XVII uma forte resposta aos requisitos de individualização a qual é acompanhada de um aprofundamento da ideia de interioridade psíquica e a sua associação à criação de um meio íntimo. Como afirma Pabst «a leitura compenetrada das cartas permitia um esboço persistente e credível do processo de desenvolvimento das figuras, que captava também os mais ocultos motivos nas suas nuances e mutações». O presente trabalho explora o modo como na sessão analítica, os mecanismos da CT mantêm uma analogia com aqueles vínculos emocionais e comunicativos estabelecidos entre amante e amado, bem como entre o sujeito da enunciação e o leitor. Essa analogia assume pertinência na medida em que em ambos os campos -ficcional e analítico- se verifica um declive entre as exigências do amante no seu processamento emocional –que envolve uma “exploração” do inconsciente que leva a cabo em conjunto com o autor/analista- e a “eleição” de formas comunicativas capazes de lhe garantir uma fixação adequada do desejo.

Keywords: love as passion, epistolary literature, semantics, sensitivity, melancholy.

Palavras-Chave: amour-passion, literatura epistolar, semântica, sensibilidade, melancolia.

Esta comunicação tem por objectivo primeiro o explorar de forma tópica a demarcação qualitativa d... more Esta comunicação tem por objectivo primeiro o explorar de forma tópica a demarcação qualitativa da família moderna face a formações " domésticas " anteriores. Neste sentido, os termos génese e estabilização-constantes no título-antes mesmo de remeterem para um conjunto de características comunicativas normativamente asseguradas na sociedade moderna, respeitam a todo um complexo conjunto de condições que estão na origem de algo tão estranho ao mundo antigo como a ideia de intimidade. Cabe portanto saber de que modo nos é possível falar de uma diferenciação qualitativa da família moderna. É comummente aceite que esta transição se consolida a partir da segunda metade do século XVIII no Ocidente Europeu, mas tal transição começa a tomar forma muito antes da Revolução Industrial. Uma grande diversidade de sistemas e códigos interligados acompanharam esta mudança. Os mais evidentes serão desde logo o económico (com a evolução do sistema produtivo), o religioso e moralista (no seu incrementar das responsabilidades inerentes ao amor conjugal e maternal, mas também a partir do papel assistencial de diversas instituições praticando a caritas cristã), o político (que ainda que reconhecendo o primado da privacidade não deixa de intervir incrementando nesta esfera medidas de saúde pública e educação) e o Legal (onde a fonte privilegiada de direito familiar é tendencialmente o matrimónio). No entanto a incidência destes mesmos domínios na diferenciação de um espaço íntimo demarcado da moral e espaço públicos, constitui o aspecto mais amplo de uma mudança que, por um lado vinha sendo anunciada havia muito, e por outro lado está na base de uma semântica da intimidade. Esta semântica catalisa alguns dos elementos presentes nesses mesmos códigos (entre os mais notórios: os ideais de fidelidade pelos quais se regia a cavalaria medieval; a Philia e autenticidade...

The large majority of attempts to depict the complex phenomenon of castrati, both in its genesis ... more The large majority of attempts to depict the complex phenomenon of castrati, both in its genesis and quick dominion of the Opera, tend to disregard the imaginary aspects of castration. These are inherent to the double inscription of the castrato: the opulent aristocracy of renaissance city-states, mostly on the north of the italic peninsula (Florence, Mantua…), and the ambiguities of catholic discourse after the Council of Trent.
There is no doubt that much of the richness of the castrati is due to its historic singularity. We can read it based on a biopolitical framework, showing a peculiar way to explore and manipulate biological traits affecting the possibilities of artistic expression. On the other hand, the aesthetic experience of the castrati, the observation of their performance, should somehow expose the latent disarrange between the bodily constitution, sexual identity and the attributions of gender.

Era objectivo inicial desta comunicação dar a ver as diferentes formas pelas quais, ao longo do s... more Era objectivo inicial desta comunicação dar a ver as diferentes formas pelas quais, ao longo do seu ensino, Jacques Lacan bebeu em temáticas presentes na Fenomenologia do Espírito. Mas devido à enorme abrangência do tema e aos múltiplos cruzamentos a que se presta resolvi cingir a minha apresentação a um tópico que se encontra no cerne das diferentes fases da apropriação por parte de Lacan da obra hegeliana. Refiro-me à secção, tantas vezes debatida e retomada, do Senhor e do Servo [IV, A. Selbstständigkeit und Unselbstständigkeit des Selbstbewußtseins; Herrschaft und Knechtschaft], foi a partir desta que Lacan, fruto de um hegelianismo híbrido de Kojève, elaborou alguns dos elementos fulcrais do seu extenso Ensino.
De modo a conseguir um ordenamento inteligível a minha opção metodológica não será estritamente cronológica nem de “analogização” conceptual entre os dois “sistemas”. Começo por apresentar resumidamente o encadeamento que conduz à célebre secção hegeliana de modo a poder depois salientar de que modo ocorrem as ditas apropriações por parte de Lacan.

Galen has produced an unprecedented description of the structures and the physiology underlying p... more Galen has produced an unprecedented description of the structures and the physiology underlying psychic phenomena, both in terms of volume as in terms of empirical and conceptual precision. In his medical work, the cultivated physician from Pergamum tried to expose the influence that bodily constitution and its mixtures -highly dependent on the influence of “external” elements on the living organism, such as diet and climate- have on psychic activities and functions. This influence is particularly conspicuous in mental illnesses, and can disturb or impair normal activities and functions such as coordination of sensory data; memory, cognitive and social abilities, whose cause and development in the organism can be clearly diagnosed. The path of disease comes to affect the commanding part of the soul [Hegemonikon] that the physician takes as the coordinating centre of appetites, desires and thoughts.

There is, however, a complex set of dysfunctions, which aren’t necessarily pathological, that Galen appreciates outside this strict framework, inheriting and revaluating the stoic tradition which equates passions with diseases of the soul. That tradition praises the active role of the individual in his own evaluation and treatment, requiring certain attitudes and exercises outside the strict domain of medicine. Given his voluminous work devoted to the physical bases of disease, it is no surprise that Galen’s advances in this domain of practical philosophy and psychology have been considered as secondary to his own self-portrait as a physician. Furthermore, some authors considered his perspectives on practical philosophy as being excessively rooted in previous medical and philosophical doctrines and, therefore, not particularly original.

In the present book, I argue that this part of Galen’s work is not negligible nor does it simply ignore the materialist dimension presented in his medical approach to bodily conditions and diseases. In fact, the foundations of his views on the management of passions, and their role in the path towards improvement of one’s life, are first established in the strenuous critique he moves on stoic physiology of the soul in De Placitis Hippocratis et Platonis. In the nine books of that doxographic treasure, Galen convincingly proves, through both empirical description and logical reasoning, that the Hegemonikon is located in the encephalon, detailing its internal differentiation. From his exposition, it is clear that the other parts of the soul, the spirited and the appetitive -mortal parts in platonic terminology and doctrine- must be under the aegis of the leading part, responsible for the correction of recalcitrant habits and for the setting of goals. It is that part of the soul that holds together its different “modules”, the metabolic, the sensoriomotor and the cognitive.

But how can that hierarchical and normative conception, close to a philosophical anthropology widespread in the ancient world, accommodate the dynamics of human psyche? And how does it deal with the evidence that the activity of the Hegemonikon is conditioned by the bodily balances, which begin by affecting the activity of those inferior parts of the soul and, subsequently, extend to the governing part? Galen does not provide straight and definitive answers to these and other questions, but in his conception of therapy of the passions (and errors) he will propose a system of emotional management that, even not assuring full immunity to infortunes and bodily problems, grants a practical way to improve oneself. In On the Passions and Errors of the Soul, Galen reframed the classical doctrine of moderation [metriopatheia] appealing to the need of constant self-inspection, reinforced by specific training and cognitive exercises, with beneficial consequences on one’s general health. The recent discovery of a manuscript (Avoiding Distress) that Galen grouped under the category of ethical philosophy, confirms his enduring interest and consistency on both the description and management of passions. Moreover, it complements his views on affections of the soul and errors, emphasizing the role of the governing part of the soul. This indicates a further move from the previous Hippocratic works that considered psychic well-being within the strict requisites of humoral composition. This partial emancipation from a strict physicalist perspective is reflected on Galen’s particular attempt to reinforce the therapeutic bound, which is founded on a mutual process of self-inspection.

Acknowledging their unsurpassable points of contrast, I will briefly explore some affinities between Galen’s conception of rational control and modern forms of therapy and assistance, namely counselling and coaching. Even if endorsing a particular conception of the soul which lost its empirical support in the advent of modern science, and purporting the idea of an anthropological continuum, Galen proposes a dynamic view of psychophysical processes, escaping a linear perspective on the source and path of affections. The problems addressed by Galen and the corresponding therapeutic responses he conceived are products of a particular sociocultural context, but his model holds interesting cues to deal with modern forms of malaise. On the other hand, by rebelling against an instrumental view of medical and therapeutic practice he underlined the ethical problems inherent to the creation of an adequate bound with the patient. Part of his proposals are inscribed in the attempt to reinforce his medical authority and provide evidence of its philosophical support. Nonetheless, as we will see, Galen’s views have an inherent interest to various fields of philosophical inquiry.

Nesta publicação se reúnem contribuições que abarcam algumas das principais questões que a Socied... more Nesta publicação se reúnem contribuições que abarcam algumas das principais questões que a Sociedade Moderna continua a colocar ao trabalho filosófico, rejeitando respostas pré-formatadas e exigindo novos modos de observar,
reflectir e ler a realidade. É esse o desafio a que correspondem individual e colectivamente estes ensaios em torno de media, política e sentido.

In modern society family and gender maintain certain features where one can detect the extreme im... more In modern society family and gender maintain certain features where one can detect the extreme importance they assumed in societies with segmentary and stratified differentiation. Classical Philosophy elected family as a cardinal topic for the debate of political, ethic and pedagogic order, but gender apparently remained in silence. If this is a modern concept it is precisely by the way it puts into question the simplicity and fixity of individual ontogenesis faithful to the classic model of individuation. Such model was secured by a rigid configuration of kinship relations. The intimacy which distinguishes modern society is the result of deep changes in the internal differentiation of family and in the mapping of its frontier towards its environment. It is from the observation of emotional experience that contemporary society apprehends the conjugal bound grounded on free choice, in the maintenance of enduring ties which involve sharing of responsibilities and resources and in the sketching of partnership projects. Such features do not arise from an unchangeable concept of family to which its members conform, but result from the complex linkage between different normative discourses where one can observe family models and practices. A proper description of intimacy requires the analysis not only of the continuity with ancient family forms but also of the changes in the way the psychic system relates with intimate communication. The appearance of love as passion, the observation of emotional life and individuality result from a long process of description on family by the different discourses of society. In the semantics that condenses around family we find a set of communicative selections and schemes in which, despite the declining of moral surveillance upon the behaviour of its members, are inscribed the appropriate forms of emotional co-reference that characterize the intimate system. The eruption of romance as a literary form in which will be inscribed the new conditions that preside over intimate closure, the theory and practice of psychiatry and psychoanalysis and also the evolution of feminist discourse, all share as their starting point a reference to such semantics which grant priority to individual realization, addressing it also new motives and demands of sensitivity to the experience of the other members of the system. Semantic selectivity emancipates from ubiquitous moral patterns and considers the intimate answering and objectifying psychic demands in social structure. We examine the hypothesis that the departure of gender from natural or divine necessity is one of the most expressive results of the semantics of passion. The generalization of differentiated communicative media, inaccessible to the transparency of consciousness constitutes the contemporary opportunity to observe the structure and processes that characterize intimacy.