Voltaire

https://doi.org/10.1017/S0018246X20000473

Frederick II's writings have conventionally been viewed either as political tools or as means of public self-fashioning – part of his campaign to raise the status of Prussia from middling principality to great power. This article, by contrast, argues that Frederick's works must also be taken seriously on their own terms, and interpreted against the background of Enlightenment philosophy. Frederick's notions of kingship and state service were not governed mostly by a principle of pure morality or ‘humanitarianism’, as argued influentially by Friedrich Meinecke. On the contrary, the king's views were part and parcel of an eighteenth-century vision of modern kingship in commercial society, based on the benign pursuit of self-love and luxury. A close analysis of Frederick's writings demonstrates that authorial labour was integral to his political agency, publicly placing constraints on what could be perceived as legitimate conduct, rather than mere intellectual window-dressing or an Enlightened pastime in irresolvable tension with his politics.

Esztétikai gondolkodás a felvilágosodás korában (1650-1800): Az ízlésesztétika paradigmája, Budapest: Gondolat, 2013. 210-258.

A 18. század elején történik meg az áttörés a francia kultúrában is. Ekkor lép fel néhány olyan gondolkodó, akik valóban önálló filozófiai problémaként tekintenek a szépre és a művészetekre, s akik megalkotják a szépművészetek érvényes gyűjtőkategóriáját. Ők készítik elő a terepet a francia felvilágosodás nagy alkotóinak – akik egyébként hozzájuk hasonlóan szintén érdeklődnek a szép és az ízlés kérdései iránt, de már nem pusztán elméleti problémaként, hanem alkotó művészekként, írókként, akik a gyakorlat és az elmélet szintjén egyaránt szembesülnek az esztétikai kérdésfelvetéssel.

Küresel emperyalist aktörler, oryantalistlerin yıllardır inşa ettikleri “barbar Müslüman” imgesini diri tutmaya çalışıyorlar. Böylece İslâm’ın, Müslümanların bilime, uygarlığa, ilerlemeye engel olduğu düşüncesini “barbar” imgesiyle birleştirip, İslâm coğrafyasındaki işgal ve katliâmlarını meşrulaştırmayı ve sürdürmeyi amaçlamaktalar. Kuşkusuz bunda dışarıdaki ve içerdeki oryantalist sanat ve edebiyatın büyük rolü var.
Konstantinos Kavafis’in “Barbarları Beklerken”i tam da bu korkuyu, bu vehim politikasını, bu vehmin toplumsal etkisini yansıtan ironik bir şiir.

Resumo: O que aqui se pretende é indicar a ideia geral do que se compreende por filosofia e filósofo nas Luzes francesas, a saber: nessa época, filosofia e filósofo têm a pretensão de se dar a tarefa de organizadores da vida social, de aperfeiçoamento dos costumes, como meio de atingir a porção de felicidade que cabe à humanidade. Para tal, serão analisados textos centrais acerca do tema e da época em tela: Le philosophe, atribuído a Dumarsais, os verbetes " Filósofo " e " Filosofia " de Diderot na Enciclopédia e alguns textos de Voltaire, em especial o seu Dicionário filosófico.

Chapter 6 in Voltaire's science fiction satire, Micromegas, is an illustration of the French Enlightenment's movement toward empirical scientific methods and intellectual skepticism, away from speculative metaphysics, organic systems known as the Summae, and recognition of the absolute.

A teatro per costruire la Nazione. Con questa idea di straordinaria modernità, gli intellet-tuali romeni della prima metà dell'Ottocento si sono dedicati alla traduzione di opere del teatro tragico francese e italiano con passi-one e impegno. Consci di un gap secolare tra il mondo romeno dell' epoca, ancora legato a una civiltà orientale, e l'Occidente europeo, Ion Heliade Rădulescu, Gheorghe Asachi, Constantin Aristia e Constantin Negruzzi si sono dedicati alla traduzi-oni di testi teatrali destinati alla rappresentazione. Questo "laboratorio" linguistico e letterario ha come obbiettivo principale non solo la diffu-sione di una cultura "democratica", ma anche il perfezionamento della lingua nazionale sul modello delle grandi lingue di cultura, il francese e l'italiano, permettendo di fare accedere il romeno, per la prima volta, e per sempre, nel grande "concerto" delle lingue europee.

Limba româna pe scenă. Să construiești o națiune și o limbă literară națională poftind-o la teatru. Pornind de la ideea aceasta extrem de modernă, scriitorii români din prima jumătate a secolului al XIX-lea s-au dedicat trup și suflet traducerii de tragedii franceze și italiene. Conștienți fiind de existența unei falii seculare între cultura română de atunci, puternic ancorată în civilizația orientală, și Occidentul euro-pean, Ion Heliade Rădulescu, Gheorghe Asachi, Constantin Aristia și Constantin Negruzzi și-au luat asupra lor misiunea de a traduce piese de teatru destinate punerii în scenă. Acest "laborator" lingvistic și liter-ar avea drept obiectiv principal nu doar răspândirea unei culturi de tip "democratic", ci și perfecționarea limbii naționale după modelul mari-lor limbi de cultură, franceza și italiana, înlesnindu-i astfel românei, prima dată și pentru totdeauna, integrarea în marele "concert" al lim-bilor europene.

The word enthusiasm is derived from the Greek ἐνθουσιασμός/enthousiasmos and has a meaning of being possessed by a god (ἔνθεος/entheos) referring to θειασμός/theiasmos, ‘inspiration’.  The person who is possessed by a god surpasses their normal state of being and ascends to a higher plane or ἔκστασις/ekstasis. This state of being is caused by breathing in vapours, drinking elixirs, or by frantic dancing, through which the gods enter the body. During the Homeric Age in Greece, enthousiasmos was connected to ecstatic prophecies and rituals, such as the Pythia, the Dionysian bacchanals, the dances of the Maenads. In the post-Homeric Age, Plato (ca. 427-347 BC) and Aristotle (384-322 BC) shifted the meaning of enthousiasmos towards the artistic inspiration of poets.
Even today, we use ‘enthusiasm’ to describe a special energy that can suddenly overwhelm us: an affect of rapture that radiates out towards the audience. Yet, through the ages, the concept has not always carried with it the positive connotations of the ancient Greeks. Along the way, enthusiasm and rapture became contaminated with (religious) fanaticism and even with manipulative deceit.
In his book Philosophie und Enthusiasmus, Bernd Bösel asks why we so often view enthusiasm as a suspicious affect in the modern-day intellectual context.  He thinks the reason is found in the Zweikampf between enthusiasm and melancholy on the one hand, and enthusiasm and reason on the other.  According to the author, the first conflict is situated on the vertical scheme of the mood, which holds the extremes of highs and lows, as with the pathological diagnoses of bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and even psychosis.  The second conflict polarises enthusiasm with reason, making enthusiasm an emotion that hinders rational thought.  In both positions, enthusiasm is not seen as part of a reliable epistemology. These splits gradually started to develop from the 17th century on, although enthousiasmos was revalued during the Age of Enlightenment and the Romantic Era as a positive stimulant of creativity and Ideenflucht. 
Despite a few flickers on the cultural historical time line, enthusiasm has mostly been marginalised in modern Western philosophy: as an excessive urge, or as a harmful exaggeration of emotions that leads to madness. Bösel calls for rehabilitation of enthousiasmos as a knowledge paradigm that shouldn’t be seen as the opposite of melancholy genius, nor as Besonnenheit, but as something which deserves an intrinsic place in the cultural sciences: in the Zwischenreich des Begehrens und Fühlen.
The rehabilitation of enthousiasmos as a criticised affect of the mind also interests me from an iconological standpoint. Is enthousiasmos the subject of any iconographic traditions? Is enthousiasmos an aesthetic concept within the art historical method? Can enthousiasmos be a part of a visual epistemology? I will discuss these questions in three chapters: a case on Pentecost in Christian iconography; an analysis of the Pygmalion myth within the 18th-century sparks of creative passion, and a new interpretation of Aby Warburg’s (1866-1929) Pathosformel as a variant of the entheos paradigm.
And finally: Anne-Louise Germaine Necker or Madame de Staël (1766-1817) will join us on our journey. After all, her De l’Allemagne (1810) is an unparalleled defence of how enthusiasm, wisdom, and sensibility go together.

*

“Art can speak to what falls outside theory, and it can also embody felt ideas.”

Siri Hustvedt, defending the integration of emotional patterns and affects in the art sciences in A Woman Looking at Men looking at Women.

At the tender age of five, Jeanne Antoinette Poisson was told by a fortune-teller that she would one day reign over the heart of the King. Since that moment, her entire existence became dedicated to preparing for what she considered her destiny. In this historical- fiction novel that is heavily based on historical documentation, Madame de Pompadour recounts the education and experiences of her youth that led to her relationship with Louis XV, and the social and political restrictions that she overcame both as a bourgeois in Paris and later in Versailles. Despite the intrigues and betrayals of the courtiers who despised having a commoner fulfill the of cial Court title of mistress to the King of France, her relentless love and devotion served to maintain Madame de Pompadour as the official favorite of Louis XV for twenty years, during which time she became one of the most powerful and influential political figures and patron of the arts in all of France.

This essay reappraises the origins of French Quakerism based on new archival research conducted on both sides of the Channel. It identifies 34 Quaker missionaries in 17th- and early 18C France, sheds new light on the French reception of Quakerism and suggests possible connections with non-violent, charismatic movements in Languedoc.

Ao analisarmos a obra de Voltaire percebemos emaranhadas às discussões políticas e morais várias investigações metafísicas. Tais investigações se apresentam como passos fundamentais para que a temática moral se estabeleça.
O objetivo do presente trabalho é o de analisar dois temas metafísicos frequentemente encontrados nos textos de Voltaire, sublinhando quais as conclusões que nosso autor tira deles e quais as implicações destas conclusões no âmbito moral, além do metafísico. Estes dois temas são a alma e Deus. O primeiro tema será divido em quatro questões principais. São elas: 1) A alma existe em todos os animais ou apenas no homem? 2) A alma é algo inerente à matéria? 3) Se a essência da alma for pensar, penso sempre? 4) A alma é mortal? Destas quatro questões a número 2 e a número 4 apresentarão implicações problemáticas em relação à imagem de Deus que a tradição cristã nos fornece. Portanto, após discorrermos sobre a alma, será necessário entender como Voltaire desenha a imagem de Deus e como ele soluciona os problemas envolvidos  na  questão  da  alma.

Contrairement à ce qui est traditionnellement écrit, la période de la Régence ne fut pas une période de « belle endormie » pour le château de Saint-Cloud. Les gazettes montrent en effet que les fêtes, comme au Palais-Royal à Paris, s’y succédèrent. Pour les accueillir, le Régent put profiter du château mais surtout du parc. A la fin de sa vie, il pensa même y conduire d’importants travaux. La mort du prince empêcha leur mise en œuvre, mais ils sont connus par des dessins de l’architecte Oppenord.

Micromégas est un court conte philosophique de Voltaire, paru pour la première fois en 1752 , bien que sa rédaction première remonte vraisemblablement aux années 1738-1739. – On le voit notamment aux éléments contextuels étant cités, comme par exemple l’expédition de Maupertuis au Pôle Nord de 1636 à 1637, réalisée dans le but de confirmer les théories de Newton.
Le texte brille par la satire efficace qu’il effectue et projette sur nos sociétés. Celle-ci remet tout en cause, de nos conceptions métaphysiques sur l’homme, à sa place au sein de l’univers. Car c’est bien là la question majeure à laquelle tente de répondre Voltaire. Sous-couvert d’exotisme, de voyage interplanétaire et de gigantisme, l’auteur nous confronte ainsi à la richesse potentielle d’un univers dont nous ne constituons que l’infime partie – malgré ce que pourraient rétorquer les docteurs de la Sorbonne. C’est là tout l’Esprit des Lumières : goût de la découverte, rigueur scientifique, anéantissement des préjugés, quête de la vérité.
À travers la théorie de la relativité, Voltaire nous remet donc à notre juste en place en tant qu’hommes, mais avec calme, avec courtoisie et avec humilité. L’Homme est à sa juste place, entre l’infiniment grand et l’infiniment petit, sans que cela n’ait à causer ni peur, ni angoisse existentielle, comme cela le faisait encore au siècle précédent chez Blaise Pascal.
C’est ainsi sur une note optimiste et confiante, et sous la tutelle du géant Micromégas, que le texte peut s’achever. Soulignant comme vaine la spéculation métaphysique, il n’y a qu’un livre vierge qui dicte à l’homme sa destinée, – autrement dit ce qu’il est vraiment. Loin du péché originel, ou des théories déterministes qui encore pullulent au siècle des Philosophes, Voltaire espère que l’Homme, grâce aux progrès qu’il promeut en tant que penseur, pourra enfin commencer à écrire sa propre histoire, – chose que le bon géant avait bien comprise et espérait lui-même.

In this paper we point out that certain structural-typological and thematic motific traits of the work show that Turkish Letters bears the dominant attributes of the Enlightenment Epoch. Starting from the very genre – letters, which was popular in the period of universal anti-dogmatism and relativism, when learned dialogue, conversation – both spoken and written, talk and correspondence, exchange of opinions, all the way to the thematic-motific layer that covers the most significant themes of the Epoch – philosophic and critical opinions of religion, social problems, education and upbringing in accordance with age, philosophy of history, problems of cognition, ethics, deism and rationalism. We also point out to the influence of Voltaire and Rousseau and show how and why popular oriental themes fitted into enlightenment critical discourse, supporting anti-dogmatism and relativism. Though the incoherence of the work is obvious, just as it is noticeable that the letters are not quite soundly mutually connected (neither are they connected by the reciprocity of usual correspondence), reading them carefully we notice that almost each of them establishes a dialogue of its kind dealing with general themes or ideas of enlightenment, refracting them through a critical or parodic-humorous author’s viewer.

The stereotypical image of Marcus Tullius Cicero as the best orator and the worst  poetaster in the history of literature was born as far back as in Antiquity. It swiftly spread with the development of instituted schooling and became an integral part of the portrayal of Graeco-Roman culture, passed down from generation to generation within Western civilization.  In the present paper we shall outline the characteristics of the stereotype of Cicero the Poet along with its influence on Classical Studies and humanistic culture writ large. Special focus will be put on  extracting the very roots of this stereotype. Furthermore, it will be shown that the particular case of Cicero the Poet ought to be reconsidered in the context of a wider process we have been witnessing in recent times: the disintegration of traditional  models which, paradoxically, offers many appealing  opportunities for Classical Studies to better understand the  past and to develop in new, ground-breaking directions.

Voltaire (1694-1778), Fransız Aydınlanmasının önemli temsilcilerinden reform yanlısı bir düşünürdür.  Voltaire, sistematik bir filozof değildir, o daha çok başka filozofların görüşlerini tercüme eden biriydi. Onu etkileyen düşüncelerden Newton fiziğine ve İngiliz deneyimciliğine bağlanmıştır. O, Aydınlanmacı felsefenin yeni hümanizminin temsilcisi ve sözcüsü olmakla birlikte Fransız Devrimi'nin getireceği insan haklarının savunuculuğunu yapmış ve Leibniz'in iyimserlik anlayışını alaya almıştır...

Au XVIIIe siècle, le philosophe n’est pas seulement en son cabinet ou en tribune, il est aussi sur les planches. Loué, célébré, mais aussi vilipendé ou moqué, il occupe une place prépondérante. Parmi les figures de philosophes convoquées figure celle de Socrate. Si le Socrate de Voltaire n’est pas sa meilleure tragédie, si La Mort de Socrate de Billardon de Sauvigny et Le Procès de Socrate de Collot d’Herbois ont eu un temps les honneurs de la scène, le Socrate de Linguet, La Maison de Socrate le sage de Mercier, le Socrate de Pastoret de Calian et La Mort de Socrate de Bernardin de Saint-Pierre ne seront pas joués. Retour sur une figure, son traitement et ses enjeux dans le théâtre philosophique mais aussi antiphilosophique des Lumières.

Dans cette étude, nous proposons que dans Candide, l’identité est un produit du corps, spécifiquement, du corps mutilé et torturé. Nous allons montrer que lorsque les personnages subissent la torture ou une perte corporelle, ils éprouvent également une perte de leur identité philosophique.

No  presente  trabalho  será  analisada  uma  das  principais  questões  metafísicas encontradas nas obras de Voltaire, a saber: a questão da alma, que encontramos em certos
textos literários e em tratados filosóficos do autor, como por exemplo,  Micrômegas ou Uma História Filosófica, Tratado de Metafísica e O Filósofo Ignorante. Analisando estes textos,
podemos reduzir toda a problemática em quatro questões fundamentais, a saber; 1) a alma se existe, existe apenas no homem ou em todos os animais? 2) A alma pode ser material? 3) Se a essência da alma for pensar, penso sempre? 4) A alma pode ser imort al? No entanto, nas questões 1 e 3, será de grande importância uma análise mais detida da relação entre a
argumentação  voltariana  com  certas  idéias  de  Descartes  e  Locke,  como  por  exemplo,  a identificação entre idéias e percepções feita por Locke em seu  Ensaio Sobre o entendimento Humano, e o conceito de animal máquina que Descartes nos mostra, entre outros textos, nas Meditações.  Tentaremos,  portanto,  nos  focar  mais  nestas  duas  questões,  apresentando  as idéias  de  Descarte  e  Locke  juntamente  com  a  leitura  qu e  Voltaire  fez  delas  e,
consequentemente, algumas objeções apresentadas por este último contra estas teorias.

Este artigo pretende retraçar criticamente um dos debates
filosóficos mais acirrados do século XVIII, a saber, a querela do
luxo. Consistindo em três partes principais, primeiro abordaremos o histórico da querela; num segundo movimento do texto mostraremos o posicionamento apologista, usando para tanto textos de Voltaire. Em seguida, analisaremos a crítica de Jean-Jacques Rousseau ao luxo.

Con esta investigación me propongo esclarecer la idea que Luis XIV pudo tener de fronteras naturales, y cómo logró expandir el reino francés, por lo que una parte de mi labor será incidir sobre la mentalidad del monarca, además de en su círculo y sus técnicas de expansión, pero no debemos olvidar que la parte más importante será la localización de los territorios, cuya evolución histórica deberé relatar a grandes rasgos, desde que se ponen en el punto de mira del “rey sol” hasta que este lograr convertirlos en una parte más de su reino. Es, por todo esto, indispensable el uso de mapas, que será la clave para poder seguir el hilo de este trabajo, que irá desde la caída de Luis XIII, que relataré de forma escueta, para entrar de lleno con el reinado de Luis XIV, que será el plato fuerte de mi labor.
Podemos concluir que el objetivo final que me propongo con la realización de este trabajo será lograr desenmarañar el patrimonio territorial que logró el gran Luis XIV durante su reinado, para poder entender mejor la conformación del reino de Francia, y su política de expansión.

Par le Commentaire historique sur les ouvrages de l’auteur de la Henriade, publié en 1776, deux ans avant sa mort, Voltaire répond à une demande longtemps implicite, puis devenue publique et de plus en plus pressante, de donner l’histoire de sa vie. Le Commentaire historique embrasse sa vie tout entière. Il est composé de deux volets : un discours narratif est ensuite complété d’un dossier de trente et une lettres, toutes de l’auteur, sauf deux auxquelles il répond, présentées en annexe comme des « pièces justificatives ».
Malgré la pression d’une attente favorable qui aurait pu légitimer une prise de parole à la première personne, Voltaire parle de lui-même à la troisième personne. Voltaire a écrit ce texte et s’en est en même temps absenté. Quelqu’un dit « je », qui ne représente pas Voltaire. Ce « je » n’est pas nommé, on le perçoit comme pouvant être un familier, un secrétaire peut-être, ou un proche ou un ami, quelqu’un qui l’a bien connu. Et ce quelqu’un qui dit « je » parle de M. de Voltaire en le désignant par « il », « lui », « Voltaire » Ce « je » est également celui qui dit avoir composé le recueil de lettres qui constitue la deuxième partie de l’ouvrage, légèrement plus longue que la partie narrative.

Voltaire a finement fabriqué cette « mise en scène». Passant de la scène privée à la scène publique, Voltaire a cru devoir dire « je » en position oblique, se faire parler et vivre en « il ».

Frederick II of Prussia (1712–1786), best known as Frederick the Great, was a prolific writer of philosophical discourses, poems, epics, satires, and more, while maintaining extensive correspondence with prominent intellectuals, Voltaire among them. This edition of selected writings, the first to make a wide range of Frederick’s most important ideas available to a modern English readership, moves beyond traditional attempts to see his work only in light of his political aims. In these pages, we can finally appreciate Frederick’s influential contributions to the European Enlightenment—and his unusual role as a monarch who was also a published author.

In addition to Frederick’s major opus, the Anti-Machiavel, the works presented here include essays, prefaces, reviews, and dialogues. The subjects discussed run the gamut from ethics to religion to political theory. Accompanied by critical annotations, the texts show that we can understand Frederick’s views of kingship and the state only if we engage with a broad spectrum of his thought, including his attitudes toward morality and self-love. By contextualizing his arguments and impact on Enlightenment beliefs, this volume considers how we can reconcile Frederick’s innovative public musings with his absolutist rule. Avi Lifschitz provides a robust and detailed introduction that discusses Frederick’s life and work against the backdrop of eighteenth-century history and politics.

Auswahl – vgl. die Full text-Version

Der erste Aufsatz, ,Die Neuzeit als Spiegelbild des antiken Christentums‘ setzt sich mit der Frage auseinander, ob das Christentum nicht einer zu Ende gehenden Periode der Geschichte angehört und nun, seit dem Einsetzen der Neuzeit, folgerichtig selbst im Begriff ist, zu Ende zu gehen – oder nur fortgesetzt werden kann, wenn es in einer tiefgreifenden Weise sich „umformen“ läßt, so wie auch seine Situation sich „grundstürzend“ verändert hat. Die These lautet, daß die sogenannte Neuzeit nichts anderes ist als eine Auflösung einer Einheit von Gedankenkreisen und Lebenswelten, welche das Christentum und der Phase der Alten Kirche in der Spätantike geschaffen hatte. Weil sich in der Neuzeit die Situation umgekehrt, wird hier von einem "Spiegelbild" gesprochen. Das Christentum ist hier aufgerufen, diese ursprüngliche Einheit in der Krisensituation von neuem zu erkennen und zu ergreifen. Es besteht keinerlei Zwangsläufigkeit, aufgrund derer es sich den zentrifugalen Bewegungen der Neuzeit überlassen müßte.

Der zweite Aufsatz stellt die  Eingangsfrage nochmals, nun aus dem Blickwinkel der Notwendigkeit von Toleranz: wenn das Christentum von Wesen her intolerant ist, muß es weichen, wenn Toleranz herrschen soll. Wenn es unter dieser Bedingung bleiben soll, dann muß es sich so umgestalten lassen, daß es selbst tolerant ist – oder es muß in seinem eigenen Wesen entdecken, daß es tolerant ist in einer Weise, die es unnötig macht und die es verbietet, sich einen anderen Begriff von „Toleranz“ von außen her aufdrängen zu lassen.

Der dritte Aufsatz reflektiert die Methode, die hier angewandt wird: welchen Aufschluß über das Christentum kann man überhaupt aus dem Studium seiner Geschichte gewinnen? Damit wird eine Überlegung zur Fundamentaltheologie der Kirchengeschichtsschreibung als christlicher theologischer Disziplin durchgeführt. Es wird damit aber auch nochmals eine Stellungnahme vollzogen zu der gemeinsamen Frage aller drei Aufsätze: unter welchen Bedingungen läßt sich von einer genuinen Weiterentwicklung des Christentums sprechen, unter welchen von seinem Verfall?
Unter Voraussetzung des Gedankens Luthers, der von Barth weiter ausgearbeitet wurde, wonach das Dasein der Kirche über ihr Umschlossensein in der Gesamtgeschichte hinaus von dem freien Erbarmen Gottes abhängt, läßt sich der Historismus Troeltsch‘ überwinden und von Neumanns Entwicklungsgedanken ein fruchtbarer Gebrauch machen.

Fransız İnkilabı tarihin belirli bir safhasında gelişmiş bir kavga değil, belirli süreçler içinde ilerleyen paradigmadır. Belki de Jakoben kanadın sert muhalefeti, hedefine dolayımlı olarak XIV.Louis devlet izleğini koymuştur. Bu sebeple XIV.Louis devrini açımlamak, İnkilabının mimarisini anlamayı sağlar.

This study aims to unravel the implications of Voltaire's philosophy regarding freedom of speech on the usage of social media, specifically Twitter, by people from Generation Z.
The researchers used the books entitled “The Friends of Voltaire” and “Voltaire In His Letters: Being a Selection From His Correspondence.” written by Evelyn Beatrice Hall, a known biographer of Voltaire, using descriptive analysis. Descriptive research involves the description,
recording, analysis and interpretation of the present nature, composition, or process of phenomena. The focus is on the prevailing conditions, on how a person, group, or thing behaves or functions at the time of the study (Manuel & Medel, 1976).
After conducting the study, the researchers draw the following observations: firstly, freedom of speech or expression has been part of digital technologies nowadays, and due to its involvement, it has created many challenges for us, especially in social media such as Twitter; secondly, abuse of freedom of speech is present; and lastly, the researchers conclude that this study will help people from Generation Z to be more aware of their actions and words in the field of social media such as Twitter.
This study is significant to those who search for meaning and significance of freedom of speech on the usage of social media. This research would be most important for Twitter users from Generation Z, since the said generation is active in the aforementioned social networking site. What follow is the remaining Twitter users from previous generations, especially those from the Millennial generation. This research would also be beneficial for users of other social media sites regardless of the generation they’re in. With this, future researchers might eventually be interested in further studies on appropriate exercise of freedom of speech and expression.

Proofs of God in Early Modern Europe offers a fascinating window into early modern efforts to prove God's existence. Assembled here are twenty-two key texts, many translated into English for the first time, which illustrate the variety of arguments that philosophers of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries offered for God. These selections feature traditional proofs - such as various ontological, cosmological, and design arguments - but also introduce more exotic proofs, such as the argument from eternal truths, the argument from universal aseity, and the argument ex consensu gentium. Drawn from the work of eighteen philosophers, this book includes both canonical figures (such as Descartes, Spinoza, Newton, Leibniz, Locke, and Berkeley) and noncanonical thinkers (such as Norris, Fontenelle, Voltaire, Wolff, Du Châtelet, and Maupertuis).

Lloyd Strickland provides fresh translations of all selections not originally written in English and updates the spelling and grammar of those that were. Each selection is prefaced by a lengthy headnote, giving a biographical account of its author, an analysis of the main argument(s), and important details about the historical context. Strickland's introductory essay provides further context, focusing on the various reasons that led so many thinkers of early modernity to develop proofs of God's existence.

"The notion of idolatry is a fundamental category of religious discourse. The « idolater » is the paragon of the Other in Christian perception, from Antiquity to the early modern period. Christian intellectuals have used this notion to construct otherness, be it the religions of the Ancient Mediterranean world, or the customs of the inhabitants of newly discovered ones, more than a millennium later. Already Paul uses the word for the purpose of his « us » versus « them » rhetoric, thus characterizing those who remain outside the community of Saints. Its coining derives from the peculiar appropriation of the
word eidôlon to refer to divine images in the Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures, and must thus be considered in the broader context of both Greek and Jewish discourses with respect to images.

La notion d’idolâtrie est une catégorie fondamentale du discours religieux. L’« idolâtre » figure ainsi l’Autre par excellence dans la représentation chrétienne, de l’Antiquité jusqu’à la période moderne. Cette notion participe d’un discours forgé dès les Pères de l’Église pour distinguer le christianisme des
religions environnantes, les religions de la Méditerranée antique, et pour dénigrer à ceux-ci leur qualité même de « religion ». Déjà Paul recourt au mot « idolâtres » dans sa volonté de délimiter l’identité des communautés qu’il établit. L’émergence de la notion d’idolâtrie dérive de l’appropriation originale du
mot eidôlon dans la traduction grecque de la Bible hébraïque, pour parler des images divines. Cette appropriation doit être considérée dans le contexte des discours juifs et des discours grecs relatifs à l’image."

This article examines some of the highlights, limitations, and contradictions of Rushdie's authorial personas that have been perpetuated and challenged by his critics and the mass media. I argue that Joseph Anton, published in 2012, exhibits evidence of Rushdie's attempt at authorial self-fashioning, and therefore the memoir represents an important part of his effort to shape the public narrative about him. Joseph Anton highlights Rushdie's exilic persona through direct comparisons to figures like Voltaire and Galileo, and attempts to privilege this position above his other authorial selves. This authorial self has deep roots in a narrative fashioned by Rushdie that has been abetted by some of his critics and the media since the fatwa. My essay critiques this emphasis, suggesting that Rushdie's self-fashioning is out of step with his twenty-first-century political ideals and affiliations. Ultimately, the third-person " distancing " of the memoir helps to highlight what it seeks to mitigate: a plurality of Rushdie's competing for public attention.

If humans construct and imagine their worlds, what then is the common grounding condition of that construction? Or, more prosaically, what are the dominant social imaginaries, local and global, through which we as humans live in these worlds? These questions suggest the emerging dominance of a modern constructivist orientation. Even if not under conditions of our choosing or understanding, we act in the world to make that world. The first variation of this orientation was psychoanalytic tending towards the psychosocial—from Jacques Lacan and Jean-Paul Sartre to writers as diverse as Cornelius Castoriadis and Kathleen Lennon. The second variation was constitutively social, and here the key figures are Charles Taylor and Manfred Steger. This essay lays out the case for the approach developed by Manfred Steger (2008). It suggests that his definition of the social imaginary as a patterned convocation of the social whole through which people express their social existence—for example in the figure of the globe, of the nation, or even of the abstracted order (or disorder) of our time—provides a point of departure for handing the complexities that have inevitably arisen with using a far-ranging term, especially one that carries so much baggage.

Sul finire del Settecento, un costante imbarazzo critico frena l'incontro della cultura europea con il teatro shakespiriano, percepito come un ordigno il cui potenziale esplosivo deve essere disinnescato. Solo la cultura romantica neutralizzerà queste resistenze, sostituendo i paradigmi interpretativi del gusto come una nuova estetica del genio. Questo libro esamina i caratteri delle nuove tendenze letterarie e critiche che tra Sette e Ottocento prendono forma parallelamente all'ingresso del teatro shakespiriano nella cultura europea continentale restringendo la prospettiva dell'indagine entro i confini di un genere che ha in larga misura alimentato quelle tendenze: il melodramma.