Geometries of Light and Shadows, from Piero della Francesca to James Turrell

This chapter addresses the problem of representing light and shadow in the artistic culture, from its uncertain beginnings, related to the studies on conical linear perspective in the Fifteenth Century, to the applications of light projection in the installations of contemporary art. Here are examined in particular two works by two artists, representing two different conceptual approaches to the perception and symbolism of light and shadow. The first is the so-called Brera Madonna by Piero della Francesca, where the image projected from a luminous radiation is employed with a narrative purpose, supporting the apparently hidden script of the painting and according to the artist\u2019s own speculations about perspective as a means to clarify the phenomenal world. The second is one of James Turrell\u2019s Dark Spaces installations, where quantum electrodynamics interpretation of light is taken into account: for Turrell, light is physical and thus can shape spaces where the visitors, or viewers, can \u201csee themselves seeing.\u201d In his body of work, perceptual deceptions are carefullyproduced by the interaction of the senses with his phenomenal staging of light and darkness, but a strong symbolic component is always present, often related to his own speculative interests. In both cases, light and shadow, through their geometries, emphasize both phenomenal and spiritual contents of the work of art, intended as a device to expand the perception and the knowledge of the viewer

Pascal e o amor-próprio

Uma abordagem lexográfica do amor próprio nos escritos de Pascal: carta (1651) sobre a morte de seu pai, frag. La 978 e nove ocorrências nos Pensamentos. A partir dos diferentes "amores-próprios" enumerados pela tradição, o amor-próprio natural de Adão, anterior à Queda, que para Tomás de Aquino é indiferente, é identificado por Jansenius como pervertido em concupiscência. Em sua Apologia, Pascal segue a linha jansenista de um modo tão radical que os teólogos de Port-Royal julgaram preciso mitigar seus sentimentos a ponto de contradizê-lo, como fez Nicole, que descreveu o amor-próprio como um substituto hipocrítico do comportamento virtuoso.<br>A lexicological approach of self-love in Pascal’s writings: letter (1651) about his father’s death, frag. La 978 and nine occurrences in the Pensées. From the different "self-loves" enumerated by the tradition, Adam’s natural self-love, before the Fall, which is indifferent for Thomas Aquinas, is identified by Jansenius as perverted into concupiscentia. In his Apology, Pascal follows the Jansenist line, in such a radical way that the Port-Royal theologians found necessary to mitigate his feelings, up to contradict him, like Nicole did, who described self-love as a hypocritical substitute to virtuous behaviour

Montaigne and Descartes’ practical understanding of wisdom: A new ground for ethics and anthropology

Since the 1970s and 1980s, Business Ethics has been studied and taught. This Ethics is usually “pragmatist” or “deontological,” but it can also be “realistic.” Ethics is part of Philosophy, which was classically called “love of wisdom,” but that definition and ethics itself changed since Early Modernity. Realistic Business Ethics – inspired by Aristotle and St. Thomas – has a metaphysical ground that highly differs from the modern metaphysical one. Associated with the “science of man” and the truth conceived as “something useful,” this metaphysics is conceived as pragmatist. Anthropology and economics – considered as social sciences – were born with Modernity and Enlightenment, respectively, in a context of changing philosophical paradigms but have gained prominence since the nineteenth century. Our aim is to briefly explain who are the authors and the key points that made this change possible. This illustrates the new way of understanding the man and his action from a moral and social perspective. With Montaigne and Descartes the science of truth is left behind as the science of man gains more attention. This implies that contemplation is substituted by a technical action of one self who knows itself as a free and individualist actor (subject) with own interests and passions. In Descartes we find the traits of the new wise man, what is his method, and how metaphysics, anthropology, and ethics are now articulated, that is, how and why this change from a contemplative wisdom to a pragmatic one occurred