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EN
Many Indian philosophers were seriously interested in some unusual experiencesand treated them as a reliable source of knowledge. Occurrence of the experienc-es was considered to be necessary and sufficient condition of liberation fromreincarnation in some streams of Indian philosophy. That seems to be the out-come of assigning the crucial religious function to meditation. Meditation wasbelieved to disclose objects existing independently of meditative activity and totransform mind in the way soteriologically desired. Few important distinctionsregarding Indian views on gnosis are discussed. Various positions regardingcontent of gnosis, verbalization of gnosis, relation between gnosis and reasoningare distinguished.
EN
This paper deals with the concept of the genesis of the modern age as introduced by Hans Blumenberg in his book The Legitimacy of the Modern Age (1966) which he elaborated on and complemented in his later writings. The paper is divided into five sections. The first very briefly presents the general features of Blumenberg’s philosophy, especially his notion of “relief from the absolute”. The second section introduces Blumenberg’s concept of gnosis and of the Christian responses to gnosis. Blumenberg was convinced that the modern times emerged as the second overcoming of gnosis which was more successful than its first overcoming by Christianity. The third section introduces Blumenberg’s idea of the recurrence of the hidden gnostic God in late medieval nominalism. The fourth section presents ways in which the modern age, according to Blumenberg, emerged as the successful overcoming of gnosis – especially with the help of the amazing development of science and technology in the early-mo­dern period. The fifth section contains some critical reservations about Blumenberg’s theory. Nevertheless it also appreciates the relevance of Blumenberg’s philosophy for today’s discussion about both the nature and the history of early modern philosophy.
CS
Článek pojednává o koncepci geneze novověku, kterou Hans Blumenberg představil ve svém díle Legitimita novověku (1966) a kterou dál rozpracovával a doplňoval v dalších dílech. Článek je rozdělen do pěti oddílů. První velice stručně představuje obecné rysy Blumenbergovy filosofie, zejména jeho pojem ulehčení od absolutna. Druhý oddíl představuje Blumenbergovo pojetí gnoze a křesťanskou reakce na gnozi. Blumenberg je totiž přesvědčen, že novověk vznikl jako druhé překonání gnoze, které bylo úspěšnější než první překonání provedené křesťanstvím. Třetí oddíl vysvětluje Blumenbergovu myšlenku návratu gnostického skrytého Boha v pozdně středověkém nominalismu. Čtvrtý oddíl ukazuje způsoby, jimiž se podle Blumenberga ustanovil novověk jako druhé a úspěšné překonání gnoze – především za pomoci masivního rozvoje vědy a techniky. Pátý oddíl obsahuje kritické výhrady vůči Blumenbergově koncepci a rovněž ocenění aktuálnosti jeho filosofie pro dnešní diskuse o povaze raně novověké filosofie.
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Individualism in Karel Vorovka’s Scepsis and Gnosis

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EN
The article traces elements of individualism in Skepsis and Gnosis, the main work of the Czech mathematician and philosopher Karel Vorovka (1879–1929). The goal is to describe the specific form in which individualism manifests itself in Vorovka’s thinking and how it differs from radical individualism, as described by Masaryk in his Humanistic Ideals. For this purpose, the article presents an analysis of two main concepts of Vorovka’s work – the concepts of conviction and gnosis. The purpose of conviction is to differentiate the philosopher from the rest of the society by creating his identity and “sealing it” in front of both himself and other people, and for this reason the author considers it an individualistic theme. Gnosis is Vorovka’s method of how one can achieve an authentic conviction, which is by committing individual acts of faith and by attempting autognosis – mystic attempts at attaining self-knowledge. In the final section, Vorovka’s individualistic position is analysed as diverging from the position of radical individualism, which Masaryk in his Humanistic Ideals practically equates with solipsism and ethical egoism.
EN
The article is devoted to the problem of time and space as the essential factors of the world model created in The Master and Margarita, the famous novel written by Mikhail Bulgakov. As many critics has already noticed, there are three basic space dimensions in the considering work of prose – Jerusalem, Moscow and the mysterious world of Woland. As the matter of fact the core problem of research concerns the latter. The world from which Woland is coming is presented as a kind of inter-world between the other two, on the one hand, and as the objective Universe embracing them, creating in this way the unity of three dimensions, on the other hand. Moreover, in this piece of work, there has been made an attempt to recode the Woland’s world by analysing the motifs of it through the symbols and themes of gnosis.
EN
William Burroughs’s works are rarely read in relation to any religious context. I would like to present a correspondence between the vision that emerges from his Nova Trilogy and some of the most popular Gnostic ideas. In the cut-up trilogy, mankind is left alone, trapped in a hostile cosmos ruled by antihuman forces. Through the manipulation of words and images, Demiurge-like agents spread their control over an illusory reality. Like Gnostics, Burroughs envisions the physical world, and also the body, as a prison to the transcendent spirit. To him, one way of escape is through cut-ups. The writer shows that by breaking away from arbitrary notions and a routine mode of thinking, one can attain gnosis — saving knowledge. Burroughs creates his own mythology which, like Gnostic teachings, promotes the ideas of self-knowledge, internal transformation and transcendence.
EN
This article is an attempt to interpret the novel Gniazdo światów (Nest of Worlds) by Marek S. Huberath. Contrary to appearances, this novel does not fit into the science fiction convention, nor does it implement dystopian schemes without reservations. Instead, the novel uses a repertoire of postmodern tricks and emphasizes the cryptotheological background. These themes can be read through the reference to transhistoric, gnostic world-feeling, and hermetic speculation. Therefore, Huberath’s novel appears as a meta-dystopia from which self-salvation can be an appropriate interpretation of the world around us.
XX
Gnostic themes appear in Miłosz’s work from early, catastrophic ‘Three winters’ (1935) to the last summa – ‘Theological Treatise’ (2002). Against this background his unfinished and deserted science-fiction novel ‘The Hills of Parnassus’, published only in 2012, seems to be worthwile. This article attempts to present that Gnosticism is the main source of dystopic creation of the novel. The Gnostic diagnosis in the unfinished novel is related to repeatedly expressed feeling of multi-dimensional alienation and loneliness of man and the pain and suffering which he feels in the alien world whose structure is embedded with evil and cruelty. On one hand the vision of ‘The Hills of Parnassus’ is a vision of an antimodernistic warning, on the other one – it is an extremely pessimistic, futuristic picture of recognition of “the rock-solid order of the world”.
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EN
New Age is a multidimensional and complex phenomenon, almost amorphous, escaping the traditional conceptual formulas. And although numerous publications and studies on New Age are still being developed, it is not easy to describe this movement. Let us, therefore, reach to the sources from which its inspirations have been drawn and through their analysis, let us try to approach the spiritual plane on which New Age views have been built. Let us look a little closer to its original matrix, namely the esoteric and theosophic traditions disseminated in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries in European intellectual circles, secret knowledge, known as gnosis, and also turn to ancient pagan beliefs and magical rituals, towards shamanism. Perhaps in their message we will succeed to understand the broadly understood New Age “spirituality”.
EN
George Crumb’s spiritual world, heterogenic in its nature, comprises elements of both confessional and archetypal beliefs magically fused in accordance with New Age worldview, modern neognosis and religious tolerance the composer learned in his childhood. What is more, it refl ects the irreversible shifts in people’s consciousness which occurred in Europe and America in the mid-20th century and gave way to spiritual revival and new, universal pursuits. For Crumb, religion functions the same as myth, which is itself a kind of pre-religion or religion in its early stage. He exploits typical Christian motifs and symbols, derives inspiration from the Hindu concept of reincarnation and evokes meditative mood characteristic of Buddhism as well as passions of the Spanish duende. His references to ritual — a vibrant source of primitive spirituality — are of utmost importance. Nevertheless, these ideas would all mean much less if not for their musical implementation, which enhances the “magical” use of formal elements, sounds moving in unifi ed space-time, a specifi c vocal idiom, ritualistic theatrical elements, as well as highlighted and structural role of silence.
EN
The "Songs of Maldoror" are one of the most mysterious romantic writings. This Lautreamont’s main work wasn’t at first accepted by critics and readers. It wasn’t until an accidental discovery made by surrealists that the most known Ducasse’s writing began to be studied. The "Songs…" were considered to be the work of a lunatic, an emanation of wild and mad imagination, and the evidence of the author’s mental illness. Recently, however, scientists who had studied this writing, noticed that earlier critical judgements were not objective. The Songs are undoubtedly the kind of writing that teases, disturbs and raises ethical and aesthetic discord. That was the author’s main goal – to create writing of which the brutality and blasphemy snatches readers away from the bourgeois indifference. The "Songs’…" universe is a grotesque portrait of tyranny and power, which converge in the falsehoods of subject and transcendence. By exposing this deception one unveils the horrific truth about reality and the society. A truth in which culture becomes the space of ceaseless oppression – the prison from which there is nowhere to hide or escape.
EN
The subject of this article is an analysis of a fairy tale Andronice by Maria Komornicka. The main axis of interpretation is determined by the opposition between widespread in the nineteenthcenturyliterature femme fatale motif and the broadly defined problem of excess (transgression). Relevant interpretive context is strongly emphasized gnostic awareness in the tale, and entanglementbetween male and female styles of writing.
PL
Przedmiotem niniejszego artykułu jest analiza baśni Andronice Marii Komornickiej. Główną oś interpretacyjną wyznacza opozycja pomiędzy rozpowszechnioną w literaturze XIX wieku kreacją femme fatale a szeroko pojętą problematyką przekroczenia (transgresji). Ważny kontekst interpretacyjny stanowi silnie zaakcentowana w utworze świadomość gnostycka oraz uwikłanie w tradycje męskiego i kobiecego pisarstwa.
12
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EN
Critique of culture is one of the biggest parts of philosophy/psychology created by Carl Gustav Jung. Jung was witness of World War I and World War II, his thought was deeply influenced by writings of F. Nietzsche, who assured us that we (modern people) are sentenced to Age of nihilism. Jung seemed to take over this belief, developing it inside his own philosophical system. In Jung’s way of thinking Age of nihilism turned into a monumental discourse about New Age, where overgrown Enlightment’ Reason must abdicate, leaving its position to The Age of new spirituality. In my paper I’m trying to present thought of The Swiss psychologist as an apocalyptical prophecy, but not only apocalyptical. My aim is to find bright beam among this very pessimistic part of his oeuvre.
PL
An analysis of the experiences, insights and proclamations by mystics and prophets from various epochs unveils the characteristics of individuals exposed to long experiences and holistic (or integral) cognition. A mystic transformation affects the mode of speaking and communicating with the world. Language with its stereotypical phrases and connotations certainly limits human cognition. However, in the process of their transpersonal experience, mystics go beyond this barrier and overcome cognitive limitations including the flaws of human language. In order to present an altogether “different” space of reality shared by mystics, and to share their proclamations and teaching with a large audience, mystics apply very specific linguistic tools like the metaphor, allegory, antithesis, paradox, analogy, symbol, quotations from the Bible, hyperbole, parallelism, chiasm and, last but not least, parable. An act of viewing the prophecy and epiphany-related language reflecting the authors’ synoptic (mystic) awareness “from the inside” makes it possible to identify archetypal criteria of the mystic experience and to establish the correct meaning of the key expressions (the sacred) and sacral acts of speech.
PL
W artykule zostały omówione trzy filmy Andrzeja Żuławskiego z lat 70. – Trzecia część nocy (1971), Diabeł (1972) i Na srebrnym globie (1976-1977/1986-1987) – w kontekście inspiracji i podobieństw z gnozą rozumianą jako nurt doświadczenia i myślenia egzystencjalnego (Hans Jonas), religijnego (Kurt Rudolph) i ideologicznego (Eric Voegelin), a także jako „mit artystyczny” (Hans Blumenberg), umożliwiający opowieść o ambiwalencji kondycji ludzkiej. Zasadniczym tematem twórczości filmowej Żuławskiego, podobnie jak wszelkiej gnozy, jest pytanie o przyczyny zła oraz problem wyobcowania człowieka oraz kwestia poznania siebie i świata. Motywy gnostyczne pojawiają się w filmach reżysera w czterech zasadniczych aspektach: jako wizja świata naznaczonego upadkiem i działaniem zła; w doświadczeniach bohaterów, zazwyczaj nadwrażliwych, przeżywających apokaliptyczne iluminacje; w doświadczeniach miłości i erotyki, będących dla bohaterów przyczyną wstrząsu poznawczego; i wreszcie jako koncepcja sztuki jako buntu.
EN
The article concerns three Polish films directed by Andrzej Żuławski in the 1970s: Trzecia część nocy (The Third Part of Night, 1971), Diabeł (The Devil, 1972) and Na srebrnym globie (On the Silver Globe, 1976-77/1986-87). It discusses them in the context of inspirations and similarities with gnosis, understood as a trend of existential (Hans Jonas), religious (Kurt Rudolph) and ideological (Eric Voegelin) experience and thinking, as well as an “artistic myth” (Hans Blumenberg), making it possible to create a tale about the ambivalences of the human condition. The principal themes of Żuławski’s film works, common to all kinds of gnosis, are the question of the causes of evil and the problem of man’s alienation, as well as the related issues of self-cognition and cognition of the world. Gnostic motifs occur in Żuławski’s films in four basic aspects: as a vision of the world marked by downfall and the workings of evil; in the lives of protagonists, who are usually hyper-sensitive people, experiencing apocalyptical illuminations; in love and eroticism, which cause a cognitive shock in the protagonists, and, finally, on a more general level, in the idea of art as rebellion.
EN
The article presents the views of Tertullian on the causes and origin of evil in the context of his polemic with heretics remaining under the influence of Gnostic thought. The analysis refers to the following treatises of Tertullian: Adversus Hermogenem, Adversus Valentinianos, Against Marcion, De anima, Apologeticum. The subject covers the following points: 1. Introduction. 2. the origin of evil. 3. Free will and choice between good and evil. 4. Responsibility for the evil that is the question of rewards and punishments.
16
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Biblioteka Betel

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EN
The essay starts with Borges and his unsurpassable account of the Library of Babel, interpreted as an ad hoc allegory of the humanistic erudition and its close affiliation with gnosis or, more precisely, its modern variety. The latter is conceived here as described by Eric Voegelin. The humanistic ideal of knowledge, in a manner of speaking, ‘immanentises the eschaton’ by the sheer fact of lending it a form, ‘visualised’ by Borges as the Library of Babel, a ‘gnostic’, inner-worldly equivalent of the Beyond. In a typically modern fashion, the Library replaces the mystics with aesthetics. The transcendental figure of Christ is reduced to an all-too-human figure of Narcissus. And yet, somehow, there is more to books than just words. By reading Ovid in the light of Plato, the essay penetrates and reflects the dual, ambivalent nature of the humanistic − or, shall we say, humane − pursuit of knowledge, gnostically ‘narcissistic’ and platonically ‘Christian’ at the same time. It is only then, at the close of the essay, that we are back with Borges: “Through this space [the Library] [...] there passes a spiral staircase which winds upward and downward into the remotest distance”. Deep within the periodically infinite Library of Babel, there lurks another one − the Library of Bethel − Jacobean, transcendental, surreal.
17
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EN
n the article, the author addresses the question of Hegel’s concept of the relationship between philosophy and religion (especially Christianity). His source is Hegel’s Lectures on the Philosophy of Religion (1827). In the first part, he sketches Hegel’s concept of this relationship based on the general principles of Hegel’s philosophy of religion. In the next part, he tries to classify the various conceptions of the relationship between philosophy and religion and asks into which of them it is possible to place Hegel’s concept. In the last part, he shows that Hegel’s concept must be considered to be a modern gnosis, i.e. a system that transforms the Christian religion into a part of a philosophical system that exists in logical contradiction with the orthodox conception of the doctrine of faith. He confirms his thesis by giving consideration to that part of Hegel’s lectures which discuss “perfect religion”, which is to say, Christianity.
CS
Autor řeší otázku Hegelova pojetí vztahu mezi filosofií a náboženstvím (především křesťanským). Pramenem jsou mu Hegelovy Přednášky o filosofii náboženství (1827). V první části načrtává Hegelovo pojetí tohoto vztahu na základě obecných principů jeho filosofie náboženství. V druhé části se pokouší podat klasifikaci různých pojetí vztahu filosofie a náboženství a klade si otázku, ke kterému z nich je možno Hegelovo pojetí zařadit. Ve třetí části ukazuje, že je Hegelovo pojetí třeba považovat za moderní gnózi, tj. za soustavu, která přeměňuje křesťanské náboženství v součást filosofické soustavy, jež je v logickém sporu s ortodoxním pojetím nauky víry. Svou tezi potvrzuje přihlédnutím k té části Hegelových přednášek, jež pojednává o „dokonalém náboženství“ čili o křesťanství.
DE
Der Autor befasst sich mit der Frage von Hegels Auffassung der Beziehung zwischen Philosophie und Religion (insbesondere der christlichen Religion). Quelle sind hier Hegels Vorlesungen über die Philosophie der Religion (1827). Im ersten Teil wird Hegels Auffassung dieser Beziehung auf Grundlage allgemeiner Prinzipien seiner Religionsphilosophie skizziert. Im zweiten Teil unternimmt der Autor den Versuch einer Klassifizierung verschiedener Auffassungen zur Beziehung von Philosophie und Religion und stellt sich die Frage, welcher Auffassung Hegel zugeordnet werden könnte. Im dritten Teil wird gezeigt, dass Hegels Auffassung als moderne Gnosis zu verstehen ist, d. h. als System, das die christliche Religion zu einem Bestandteil des philosophischen Systems macht, das sich in einem logischen Streit mit der orthodoxen Auffassung der Glaubenslehre befindet. Seine These bekräftigt der Autor mit Hinblick auf jenen Teil der Vorlesungen Hegels, der sich mit der „vollendeten Religion“ d. h. mit dem Christentum befasst.
PL
Artykuł proponuje interpretacje słabo opisanej powieści Izabeli Filipiak „Alma” (2003) w kontekście queer female gothic i dyskursu o „kobiecej potworności” zaini-cjowanego przez „Frankensteina” Mary Shelley. Autor dystansuje się wobec meta-tematycznej uwagi genologicznej Filipiak, że jej powieść reprezentuje cyberpunk, wskazuje natomiast na liczne zbieżności z książką „Skin shows” Judith Halberstam. W drugiej części artykułu analizowane są odniesienia gnostyckie powieści Filipiak, trawestującej „Hymn o perle” w feministycznym ujęciu. Osobny akapit poświęcony został teoretycznemu ustaleniu ogólnych relacji między gotycyzmem a gnozą.
EN
The article proposes an interpretations of Izabela Filipiak’s little-known novel Alma (2003) in the context of queer female gothic and the “feminine monstrosity” discourse inspired by Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein”. The author disagrees with Filipiak’s metathematic genological remark that the novel represents cyberpunk, while pointing to numerous points of convergence with the book “Skin Shows” by Judith Halberstam. The second part of the article analyses gnostic references in Filipiak’s novel, which is a feminist rewriting of “Hymn of the Pearl”. A separate paragraph is devoted to theoretical determination of the general relationship between the gothic and gnosis.
Ethics in Progress
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2019
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vol. 10
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issue 2
45-51
EN
Adam Wiśniewski-Snerg (1937-1995) was a Polish science fiction writer. In his novel Robot (1973), he made an attempt at a literary visualization of a machine acquiring human identity. In this article I would like to follow the ethical consequences of such situations in created literary worlds. It is worth remembering, however, that these artistic worlds often serve to test non-literary reality. In his novel, Wiśniewski-Snerg also dealt with the problem of human feelings (e.g. moral dilemmas) in a thinking machine, which is formed in the image and likeness of a human being. Such literary reflection is valuable, partly because it enters into an interesting dialogue with the work of Bruno Schulz (1892- 1942), one of the most important Polish writers of the 20th century. It is also one of the first attempts in Polish literature to address the issue of sentient machines, and is a kind of preview of contemporary dilemmas connected with the work on the creation of artificial intelligence. An example of such a dilemma is the issue of the sentient machine’s perception of the tasks imposed on it by the human-constructor. Perhaps it will start to experience them as a kind of unethical oppression. In Wiśniewski-Snerg’s writing this problem of is, of course, expressed in a metaphorical way.
EN
The article discusses the idea of creation coined by authors descended from the same, Austro-Hungarian cultural field, by: Bruno Schulz, Joseph Roth and Gustav Meyrink. Austro-Hungarian Monarchy created its own mithology based on nostalgia for the World, which was consigning to the dark recesses of history. The authors, conscious of inefficiency of contemporary culture, used the idea of Demiurge to show one of possible creating ideas.
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