Academic literature on the topic 'Biographical philoso'

It is now fifty-six years since I wrote my first piece for Recusant History, and I am happy to have survived to welcome its reincarnation. Since its foundation in 1951 as an addendum to Gillow’s Biographical Dictionary of English Catholics it has had an honourable career, getting into print a number of essential contributions to the history of Catholics in England, mainly between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries. It has been a companion to the distinguished bibliographical work of Anthony Allison, David Rogers and Tom Birrell. It was a creation of laymen, which is to say that it was an attempt to transcend the efforts of a period when this history had been largely a monopoly of the clergy, and ran the risk of degenerating into feuds between rival sections of that body. This lay input was much strengthened by the effect of the 1944 Education Act, which produced numbers of students keen to make a mark in the field. In view of their education, they did not necessarily alter the terms in which questions were put, and when the modest journal was launched a degree of hegemony in the Catholic Record Society was being exercised by the Jesuit side, which ought to have but failed to put out the letters and papers of Robert Persons. It had an invitation to wider thoughts in the philo-Jesuit lectures on the Counter-Reformation of the Cambridge academic Outram Evennett, delivered also in 1951.1 As these were not published until 1968 the invitation was muffled, but something of it was in the atmosphere.

The article dedicated to the 200th anniversary of Dmytro Vasyliovych Pospiekhov (1821–1899), a philosopher, psychologist, theologian and translator, for the first time in the scientific literature, highlights the milestones of his academic biography and more than 50 years (1845–1899) of professor’s tenure at the Department of Philosophy of Kyiv Theological Academy. Based on the analysis of a significant array of printed sources and archival documents, memories of colleagues and students of Dmytro Pospiekhov, the content and specifics of his educational, administrative, editorial and publishing, translation activities at the Academy were revealed for the first time; his important role in the training of professional philosophers, the development of philosophical education and the spread of philosophical knowledge in the East Slavic territories was proven. Paying special attention to Dmytro Pospiekhov’s methods of teaching of philosophical disciplines, the author emphasizes his lecturing methodology, innovative for the theological academies of the time, as well as the heuristic, religious, educational, and moral impact on the students. A special emphasis is placed on Dmytro Pospiekhov’s scientific and editorial activities, his biographical and bibliographic studies, his role in the preservation and studying of the heritage of prominent philosophers and theologians of Kyiv Theological Academy of the 1820s‒1840s: Archpriest Ivan Skvortsov (1795‒1863), Archimandrite Theophanes (Petro Avseniev, 1810‒1852), Sylvestr Hohotskyi (1813‒1889). Analyzing Dmytro Pospiekhov’s printed works for the first time, the author reveals the content and significance of his theological and philosophical study of the Book of Wisdom, which emphasizes the direct connection of this Judaic source to the philosophical teachings of Philo of Alexandria, Plato, and the Stoics. The author also draws attention to the significant research potential of Dmytro Pospiekhov’s manuscript heritage, linking it with the study of the prospects of determining his role in the development of psychological science in theological academies and the expansion of modern scientific ideas about the content and specifics of teaching of philosophical disciplines in Kyiv of the second half of the 19th Century.

This article discusses the similarities between the biographical presentations of Philo and Origen in Eusebius' Ecclesiastical History. The tension Eusebius feels between Philo Christianus and Philo Judaeus is certainly detectible in his presentation of the Therapeutae, a group about whom Philo reports and whom Eusebius considers the first Egyptian Christians. Eusebius recognizes that Philo is exegetically closer to Christianity, and religiously closer to Judaism. This realization creates an ambiguity in the Ecclesiastical History in which Philo is presented explicitly neither as Jew nor Christian, but can be identified as either.

La presente ricerca delinea le linee portanti della filosofia biografica proposta da Romano Màdera (Màdera & Tarca, 2003; Màdera, 2006, 2012, 2013) quale originale e coraggioso tentativo di rinnovamento della filosofia come modo di vivere (Hadot, 2001) volto alla ricerca di un senso per l'esistenza e caratterizzato dalla tensione alla conoscenza e alla saggezza, dalla trascendenza della centratura egoica e dall'aspirazione all'autorealizzazione solidale. Nel ripercorrere l'evoluzione del pensiero di un protagonista della filosofia italiana contemporanea, sottolineandone le implicazioni formative e psico-politiche, all'argomentazione teorica si intreccia la testimonianza personale del ricercatore stesso che è parte integrante di un più vasto progetto comunitario, frutto di tale pensiero. Coerentemente all'approccio oggetto di studio, capace di non dividere verità e vita, si parte da sé per trovare in sé il mondo, il proprio posto in esso e la direzione di un cammino comunque condiviso. L’opera di Màdera (1977, 1989, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2016, 2018 e cfr. supra) e la sintesi tra filosofia, psicologie del profondo, tradizioni spirituali e metodi biografici cui essa ha dato origine costituiscono la base di partenza e al tempo stesso l'oggetto privilegiato dello studio, che pertanto si presenta per buona parte come un lavoro di rilettura e commento ragionato, cui vanno ad accompagnarsi approfondimenti specifici, per quanto non esaustivi, sul rapporto tra metodo (auto)biografico e filosofia nel corso del tempo, anche considerando il panorama internazionale (Chitwood, 2004; Cowley, 2014; Davis, 1999; Earle, 1976; Jaspers, 1913, 1922; Mathien & Wright, 2006; Mish, 1950; Schuster, 2003; Wright, 2006). Inevitabili sono altresì i rimandi tanto a quegli autori che più hanno segnato l’itinerario concettuale màderiano (Hadot e Jung, in primis, ma, tra gli altri, anche Freud, Marx e Nietzsche) quanto ai lavori dei molti che, a vario titolo e trasversalmente rispetto alle canoniche ripartizioni disciplinari, lo hanno accompagnato e, in tutto o in parte, condiviso (solo per citarne alcuni: Baracchi, Demetrio, Formenti, Gamelli, Jedlowski, Tarca) contribuendo così alla progressiva definizione di un’inedita proposta formativa per gli adulti del nostro tempo all’interno di una comunità di pratiche. L’analisi dei testi e gli specifici approfondimenti tematici si inseriscono all'interno di una cornice narrativa che prevede un frequente ricorso alla prima persona secondo la tradizione già filosofica della confessione e il modello offerto dagli approcci biografici (cfr. autobiografia, autoetnografia) alla ricerca empirica di tipo qualitativo, ormai consolidati nella letteratura pedagogica (Adams, Holman Jones, Ellis, 2014; Anderson, 2006; Andrew, 2017; Denzin & Lincoln, 2000; Ellis, 2004; Chang, 2008; Holman Jones, Adams, Ellis, 2016; Merrill & West, 2009; Muncey, 2010). Una tale narrazione, unitamente agli allegati, tratteggia, almeno parzialmente, lo sfondo esperienziale connesso alle pratiche filosofiche rinnovate personalmente sperimentate dal ricercatore (cfr. Seminari Aperti di Pratiche Filosofiche di Milano-Bicocca e di Genova; Scuola in Analisi Biografica a Orientamento Filosofico).
This research outlines the main features of the Biographical Philosophy Romano Màdera propones (Màdera & Tarca, 2003; Màdera, 2006, 2012, 2013). It is an original and bold attempt to renew philosophy as a way of life (Hadot, 2001) aimed to find a meaning for our existences, to transcend our ego-centering and to move towards knowledge, wisdom and a supportive realization. By retracing the evolution of an important Italian contemporary philosopher’s thought and stressing its educational and psycho-political implications, the researcher - that is part of a community project this thought originates - intertwines theoretical argument and personal experience. Consistently with the studied approach, thus not separating truth from life, you start from your own to find in yourself the whole world, your place in it and the direction of a shared path. Màdera’s work (1977, 1989, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2016, 2018 and above) and the synthesis between philosophy, depth psychologies, spiritual traditions and biographical methods that derives from it are the starting point and at the same time the privileged object of the research. The study is partly a rereading and a comment of Màdera’s works, accompanied by specific - though not exhaustive - insights on the relationship between (auto)biographical method and philosophy over time, even considering the international scene (Chitwood, 2004; Cowley, 2014; Davis, 1999; Earle, 1976; Jaspers, 1913, 1922; Mathien & Wright, 2006; Mish, 1950; Schuster, 2003; Wright, 2006). Inevitable are also the references both to those authors who have more marked the Màderian conceptual itinerary (first of all Hadot and Jung, but - among the others - Freud, Marx and Nietzsche) and to the contributions of the many who, in various ways and transversally to the canonical disciplinary division, accompanied and shared it, completely or in part (to name but a few: Baracchi, Demetrio, Formenti, Gamelli, Jedlowski, Tarca). They contributed to the progressive definition of an unprecedented educational proposal for contemporary adult learners within a community of practice. The analysis of the texts and the specific thematic reflections fit within a narrative frame that provides for frequent recourse to the first person, yet according to the philosophical tradition of the confession and to the well-established biographical approaches (e.g.: autobiography, auto-ethnography) to qualitative inquiry in education and social sciences (Adams, Holman Jones, Ellis, 2014; Anderson, 2006; Andrew, 2017; Denzin & Lincoln, 2000; Ellis, 2004; Chang, 2008; Holman Jones, Adams, Ellis, 2016; Merrill & West, 2009; Muncey, 2010). Along with the appendixes, such a narrative sketches, at least partially, the experiential background related to the renewed philosophical practices personally experienced by the researcher (Open Seminars of Philosophical Practices in Milan-Bicocca and Genoa; Training in Philosophically Oriented Biographical Analysis).

This chapter looks at the tree extant Lives of Moses, Joseph, and Abraham, also taking into account what Philo says about the lost Lives of Isaac and Jacob. Philo's biographical interests are connected to politics. Drawn out of his scholarly lifestyle in Alexandria by the riots of 38 CE, Philo becomes actively involved in the events of his time and writes historical treatises with an emphasis on influential actors and their lives. His decision to write the Lives of the biblical forefathers belongs to the same political context. He wrote the biographies of Abraham, Joseph, and Moses during roughly the same period as the historical works, and they are characterized by a similar style of writing. At the same time, however, the Lives of the biblical forefathers extend beyond narrow political apologetics and convey a broader picture of Judaism.