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The early Baroque, characterized by the skeptical spirit of the 16th century, reaches its peak in the following century with Descartes' hyperbolic doubt. The purpose of this paper is to analyze two of Hume's works, Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion and An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding in order to place the philosopher in the tradition of Baroque thought. First of all, we will show that David Hume pushed skepticism far beyond its ancient or Cartesian limits, attacking even our way of formulating sentences, which is a subjective one, the result of some psychological factors that cannot be the basis of science. Secondly, we will demonstrate that Hume's skepticism belongs to the late Baroque and is, by its radical character, a form of metaphysical denial of any universal certainties. In conclusion, Hume's skeptical spirit, manifested in relation to the authority constructed by the post-Westphalian ideology, overcame the past, which was at the time denied, and represents, from a philosophical point of view, the origin of the revolutionary spirit of the second half of the 18th century. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we present the manner in which René Descartes discovered the principle of the autonomy of the spirit as a Mathesis Universalis, as a universal science, his perception being much different from the medieval scholastic one, where the intellect corresponded with the sensible reality. Descartes reversed this suitability, considering that the intellect should not be guided by things and build judgments according to them, but, on the contrary, things are analyzed according to the intellect's abilities to give them meanings and sense, to make them intelligible. Firstly, we will demonstrate that, for Descartes, the very existence, the reality of a thing depends on this light of the intellect that unifies all knowledge through Mathesis Universalis. For the French philosopher, order and measure, captured by Mathesis Universalis, become the qualities by which God, the only perfect Being, created the Universe that obeys a coherent mathematical model. Secondly, we will highlight the fact that the starting point of this new metaphysics could be found in Descartes's view that God cannot be considered deceptive, that the world is not the creation of an evil and cunning Genius. In conclusion, knowledge through Mathesis Universalis leads the spirit to that place where the reasons of universal peace can be founded, whose purpose is to overcome those structures of the imaginary that wing the irrational drives dressed in the clothes of war and death. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we aim to analyze the meanings of the concept of Katechon that appears in The Second Epistle to the Thessalonians, attributed to Paul the Apostle. The concept of Katechon is related to Chapter 2, v. 7, where the steps of the parousia are presented. The Apostle reminds us that the coming of the Antichrist is delayed until his time will come, and the "mystery of lawlessness" will no longer be prevent by "the one who now holds it back" (Katechon) (2 Thess 2:7, 2001c, p. 1566). Katechon represents a force that obstructs the full manifestation of Evil. The aim of our paper is to analyse an important archetype, such as that of the Self, in order to decipher, in a psychoanalytic key, the enigma of who or what the Katechon in The Second Epistle could be. Approaching a concept that has religious connotations brings us closer to the analyzes made by C.G. Jung on the concept of Self. The idea of the Antichrist reflects precisely a disruption of the archetype of the Self as a harmonious unity between consciousness and the unconscious, due to the lack of a "hinderer", of a Katechon, in the face of the illicit drive forces of the unconscious. In the absence of Katechon, consciousness puts itself at the service of the most terrifying forces of the unconscious, trying to justify violence, aberrant sexuality, vanity, immeasurable pride, or, in other words, selfishness and all the complexes that turn man into a veritable monster, bearing the face and likeness of Satan, respectively of the very darkest illicit, destructive drives, which are ruinous to any effort of human achievement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the last 20 years, computer technology has developed rapidly, and internet-based social networks (e.g. Facebook, Instagram, WeChat, or Twitter) have proliferated even faster, becoming a very important part of people's lives. But in recent years, a dependence to these sites has emerged, called by many authors social media addiction. In the present study, we aim to analyze if there really is an addiction to social media networks, what are its demographic aspects, which are the health problems that occur in these addicted people, and how to intervene therapeutically in these cases. Currently, social media addiction is not recognized as a disorder in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, but is considered more of a behavioral addiction or a subtype of Internet addiction. If we look at this matter from an anthropological and philosophical point of view, such type of addiction can originate in what is related to the specificity of man in the contemporary world. Symptoms of excessive use of SM networks may include decreased ability to concentrate and decreased academic performance, insomnia, altered selfperception, decreased self-esteem, anxiety, depressed mood, and psychoemotional lability. SM addiction prevention strategies should be implemented based on behavioral risk factors and demographic characteristics. The goal of treatment for this type of addiction, unlike other addictions, is not total abstinence, but rather controlled use of social networks, and relapse prevention should use strategies based on cognitive-behavioral therapies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we will try to identify the concrete ways in which John Locke describes the limits of toleration between different types of faith and its metaphysical foundations. From the beginning of his text A Letter Concerning Toleration, John Locke specifies that toleration is, first and foremost, a practical ideal and, secondly, a moral one. As such, toleration must be the essential feature of the true Church because in the field of religious faith any claimed superiority is in fact only the expression of the struggle for power and domination. A theoretical perspective on the idea of religious toleration is also recalled from Lockeˈs radical empiricism, which correlates man's identity with his appearance at birth, for the first time in the world, as a different form from others. Such a view is contrary to metempsychosis which could lead to innate ideas in the human soul about moral principles and especially about God, as Plato or Descartes believed. Starting from the principles of toleration, John Locke's idea was to find those elements through which a fundamental separation between the Church and the State could be achieved. But toleration ceases when the Church and the State merge discreetly until they can no longer distinguish the boundaries between them. We consider that the fundamental principle of religious toleration is based on the idea of reciprocity, i.e. tolerationto- toleration and intolerance-to-intolerance, as Locke stated. This principle is also an essential landmark for a moral law on religious toleration in the contemporary, global world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we will analyze, from philosophical, medical and bioethical points of view, the genetic ways in which the biological foundations of human behavior can be identified, as well as the technologies that can contribute to the modification of certain human behaviors, especially aggressive ones. Ideas about the inheritance of a certain behavior have been identified since Greek antiquity, but in the 20th century, along with sequencing and mapping of all genes of the members of our species, the possibility of identifying possible genes for learning and memory has emerged and therefore the ability to act on them through "behavioral genetics" could develop. In the dawn of the 21st century, researchers begin to consider that abnormal behaviors had a certain genetic mutation located on the "X" chromosome or on the "Y" chromosome and the concept of "genetics of intellectual disability" was introduced in the medical literature. After the identification of the genes or the constellation of genes that underlie the occurrence of psychiatric disorders, the researchers developed genetic engineering to be performed on certain groups of neuronal cells, but these activities lead to the question: how useful or dangerous these new genome editing technologies will be, especially in terms of conservation and perpetuation of the human species. We conclude that the chimera-type people, whose genetic structure is artificially constructed, would raise issues primarily about their identity, their integration into traditional societies, but also about the need for a new legislation. However, the future society will have, at some point, to accept the reality of genetic interventions, the purpose of which is to achieve much more radical transformations in human nature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article aims to present the philosophical perspective upon the birth of the idea of the individual and the consequences of the discovery of the self-image on the techniques of image reproduction from the Renaissance to the present day. The process of projecting the self-image into the public space acquires a special importance with the elaboration of the portrait technique in the Italian painting of the 15th century. Through Leonardo da Vinci's paintings, this technique of reproducing self-image reaches a certain perfection. Following the evolution of this kind of projections and reproductions of the self-image, it is found that there is an obvious tendency by which the individual tends to free himself from certain patterns, or rather canons, which a certain epoch imposes. This process manifested in the visual arts corresponds to a new philosophical perception of man opened by the works of Ficino and Pico della Mirandola. The assertion of a new type of dignity, correlated with the idea of the microcosm, of the Renaissance man will lead to an affirmation of his own personality and especially to an increase of the will to power reflected more and more in the works of art. With the resurgence of the Italian renaissance, artists and philosophers experienced a decline, but found a favorable space for their development at the court of Elizabeth I, Queen of England. The art of portraiture, but also the philosophy of renaissance survives and is even more flourishing at the court of this queen. But the most important moment of this renaissance is marked by Dutch art after its liberation from Spanish rule. From this moment on, the emancipation of the individual will occur on an unimaginable scale until then. Analysing the Dutch art of portraiture from the seventeenth-century, we identify the fact that painters tried to reproduce images belonging to a wide variety of people, regardless of their social status or wealth, and, as such, the self-images began to be reproduced in a democratic manner. Finally, we will investigate the philosophical aspects that occur with this increasing process of mass reproduction of self-image, especially with the advent of photography and, in particular, digital photography, but also with the possibilities of posting images through contemporary social networks like Facebook, Twitter or TikTok. We conclude that the excesses of such a reproduction of self-image lead to new social behaviors, which were defined by Ioan Petru Culianu as ”subjective power”, i.e. that form of power experienced directly by a subject. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper I will present the way in which John Locke connected the Hobbesian theory of the natural state to a vision that also takes into account Christian precepts. First of all, I will show that, for Hobbes, the story of mankind was in fact a history of submission to a terrestrial power, bearing the metaphorical name of Leviathan, a true political monster. Hobbes's conclusion was that God's intervention in history is reserved only to those actions that do not concern coercion and punishment, but only evangelization, in view of the Savior's second coming. Secondly, I will show that this sharp separation Hobbes makes between divine law, which only regards Salvation, and the natural one, which underlies the political relations between people, is a matter of which Locke, a spirit far more pious than the author of the Leviathan, cannot accept it. Locke actually looked for a way to conclude an agreement between Filmer's theory on royalty, which exaggerated the role of the divine law on politics, and the Hobbesian theory of the natural state, which is devoid of God's intervention. In conclusion, I consider that the result of Locke’s philosophical compromise will be a new type of empiricism, which we can call Christian, different from that of his predecessors, Bacon and Hobbes, which had had more an epistemological character. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this text we aim to present the way Sigmund Freud discovered the universe of the unconscious and the significance of dream interpretation. For „the Father of psychoanalysis", the unconscious is not just a depository of some mental contents that belong to a sub-conscious, but a genuine reservoir of autonomous energies that have their own determinism, different from that of conscious. The Viennese psychoanalyst is the supporter of a determinism at the unconscious level, which is revealed by the mechanisms of the dream. For Freud, dreams are the royal path through which the unconscious emerges. Only in the dream conscious can look strictly passively at the way in which unconscious contents emerge in symbolic forms through all sorts of condensations and transfers of repressed drives. In the dream, the Ego becomes free and ready for the real meeting with the Self, that only he can recognize and understand in its most intimate sense. However, dreams, though ephemeral, represent extremely effective successes for everyday psychic life. In the end, I concluded that the dream contents can be properly comprehended only by the dreamer, and the psychoanalyst can help the dreamer only to recognize these subtle understandings of his own unconscious. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]