Search

This book review examines "Soleil et connaissance. Empédocle avant Platon" by Rossella Saetta Cottone, which delves into the physics of Empedocles, an ancient Greek philosopher. The book explores various topics, including cosmogony, zoology, and the connection between physics and daimonology. The review highlights the ongoing debate between the single cosmogony and two cosmogonies theories, with the latter gaining more support in recent years. It also discusses the significance of the Sun in Empedocles' philosophy and its opposition to the Sphairos. The text analyzes different fragments of Empedocles' writings and their interpretations, including the distinction between the Sun and the Sphairos and the placement of a fragment about Apollo within the Physical Poem. The author also considers the ethical implications of Empedocles' teachings and the influence of his ideas on figures such as Aristophanes, Euripides, and Agathon. The text concludes with a discussion of the interpretation of Aristophanes' speech in Plato's Symposium. [Extracted from the article]

Copyright of Soziologische Revue is the property of De Gruyter and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The book review discusses Vito Tanzi's book, which argues against the wave of free market reforms that took place in the 1970s and 1980s. Tanzi suggests that the emphasis on efficiency in the economic system has led to a lack of focus on distributional issues, resulting in increased inequality and societal divisions. However, the reviewer questions whether all negative consequences can be attributed solely to free market reforms and highlights the importance of intellectual property rights and the potential for regulatory capture. Tanzi proposes finding a balance between extreme liberalization and extreme statism, using the Scandinavian countries as an example. Overall, the review encourages proponents of free market reforms to consider Tanzi's arguments and use them to strengthen their case for liberty and prosperity. [Extracted from the article]

AbstractFor almost a century, the fate and identity of psychoanalysis have been inseparable from the theory of the Oedipus complex. However, in these two books, Jerome Wakefield persuasively demonstrates that the Oedipus complex is not a cogent scientific theory but an iatrogenic theory. The Oedipal theory is described as enforcing a new form of regulation and restraint of the affection between mother and son, consistent with the direction in which marital relations were being restructured early in the twentieth century. The author’s main thesis is that “By theoretically sexualizing attachment behavior, the Oedipal theory has the impact of creating a sense of danger in mother–child physical affection due to the fear of arousing harmful sexual desire in the child.” By restraining physical cuddling, skin contact, and bed-sharing, Freud’s doctrine about the incestuous desires of a boy for his mother served to socially reengineer marriage by inserting anxiety into the parental comforting embrace, resulting in a partial ejection of the child from the intimate orbit of the parents and its modern locus, the parental bed. The harmful aspect of the Oedipal theory consisted of ignoring the child’s feelings of distress by misrepresenting the child’s attachment needs as erotic in nature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]