Nietzsche and Amor Fati

This paper identifies two central paradoxes threatening the notion of amor fati [love of fate]: it requires us to love a potentially repellent object (as fate entails significant negativity for us) and this, in the knowledge that our love will not modify our fate. Thus such love may seem impossible or pointless. I analyse the distinction between two different sorts of love (eros and agape) and the type of valuation they involve (in the first case, the object is loved because we value it; in the second, we value the object because we love it). I use this as a lens to interpret Nietzsche?s cryptic pronouncements on amor fati and show that while an erotic reading is, up to a point, plausible, an agapic interpretation is preferable both for its own sake and because it allows for a resolution of the paradoxes initially identified. In doing so, I clarify the relation of amor fati to the eternal return on the one hand, and to Nietzsche?s autobiographical remarks about suffering on the other. Finally, I examine a set of objections pertaining both to the sustainability and limits of amor fati, and to its status as an ideal

Freedom and the “choice to choose oneself” in being and time

What Heidegger means by “freedom” in Being and Time is somewhat mysterious: while the notion crops up repeatedly in the book, there is no dedicated section or study, and the concept is repeatedly connected to a new and opaque idea – that of the “choice to choose oneself.” Yet the specificity of Being and Time’s approach to freedom becomes apparent when the book is compared to other texts of the same period, in particular The Metaphysical Foundations of Logic, The Fundamental Concepts of Metaphysics, The Essence of Grounds, and The Essence of Freedom. Although there are some differences, the definition of freedom that can be found there identifies it with “existence” or “transcendence,” Dasein’s ek-static opening onto the world. Thus “being in the world must also be primordially bound up with or derived from the basic feature of Dasein’s existence, freedom… Dasein’s transcendence and freedom are identical! Freedom provides itself with intrinsic possibility: a being is, as free, necessarily in itself transcending” (GA 26: 238; Heidegger’s italics). Note the apodictic modality of the claim: it is not simply the case that Dasein, as transcending, is free. Anything that has the structure of being in the world must be free: freedom is co-extensive with Dasein. Yet Dasein is often pictured in Being and Time as anything but free: it “ensnares itself” (268), is “lost” (264), “alienated” (178), and needs to be “liberated” (264, 303). Thus comparison between Being and Time and other texts on freedom yields an important paradox: although by definition it transcends toward the world, the Dasein of Division I is deprived of freedom. It must be free, and yet phenomenological analysis shows that it is not free. To understand the specific meaning of freedom in Being and Time, one has to square this circle

Les exclus du logement

Compte-rendu des exposés au Colloque du Conseil National de l'Information Statistique (CNIS) organisé les 5 et 6 novembre 1996 avec la collaboration de l'INED. Le point de départ de la réflexion démographique sur la population des sans-abri est le suivant : comprendre le nombre des sans abri, c'est comprendre comment et avec quelle fréquence on devient sans abri, comment et avec quelle fréquence on cesse d'être sans abri. Comprendre les sans-abri c'est donc comprendre le mécanisme par lequel une population perd son logement et comprendre le mécanisme par lequel elle réintègre son logement

Reflexão na abordagem psicanalítica das representações do enfermeiro sobre si e sobre a Enfermagem Reflexión de la perspectiva psicanalistica de las representaciones del enfermero sobre si y sobre la Enfermería Reflections on the psychoanalytic representations of nurses about themselves and about Nursing

Trata-se de reflexões das representações do enfermeiro sobre si e sobre enfermagem, dentro do referencial psicanalítico da constituição do sujeito no âmbito do desejo que o anima, nas instâncias do imaginário e do simbólico. A análise pautou-se pelas práticas discursivas de Spink, com a utilização de associações de idéias na tradição hermenêutica. Entrevistou-se oito enfermeiros cujas representações foram dispostas em gráficos e quadros. Da análise dos discursos emergiram significados, da esfera simbólica, de produção de sentido. Pode-se apreender que o desejo do enfermeiro se apresenta como desejo do desejo do outro, um desejo imaginário e por constituir-se. Esse objeto que se apresenta identificado ao eu pode-se apresentar idealizado, supervalorizado ou banalizado, depreciado ou punitivo. Nessa perspectiva, novos horizontes poderão se abrir no que tange à formação e à prática profissional do enfermeiro, portador de um sentido que lhes possibilitem perceberem-se como sujeitos na sua expressividade profissional.<br>Se trata de reflexiones acerca de las representaciones del enfermero sobre si y la enfermería, adentro del referencial psicanalítico de la constituición del sujeto en el ámbito del deseo que lo anima, en las instancias del imaginario y del simbólico. El análisis adoptada fue de las prácticas discursivas propuesta por Spink, com la utilización de asociaciones de ideas en la tradición hermenéutica. Fueron entrevistados ocho enfermeros cuyas representaciones han sido puestas en gráficos y cuadros. Del análisis de los discursos surgieron significados de la esfera simbólica, de producción de sentido. Se puede aprehender que el deseo del enfermero se presenta como el deseo del deseo del outro, un deseo imaginario, y, por integrarse. Eso objeto que se apresenta identificado al yo, puede presentarse idealizado, supervalorado o banalizado, rebajado o punitivo. En esa perspectiva, nuevos horizontes podrán abrirse en lo que se refiere a la formación y la práctica profesional del enfermero, portador de um sentido que le dé la posibilidad de verse como sujetos en su expresividad profesional.<br>This study describes some reflections on the representations of nurses about themselves and about nursing, in order to analyze them within a psychoanalytic framework of the constitution of the subject in the sphere of the desire which motivates them, at the levels of the imaginary and the symbolic. The analysis adopted was the discursive practices proposed by Spink, using association of ideas in the hermeneutical tradition. Considering the subject, eight nurses were interviewed whose interpretations were displayed on graphs and tables. From discourse analysis emerged meanings in the symbolic sphere and the production of meanings. It is possible to understand that the desire of the nurse shows itself as the desire of others' desire, an imaginary desire and therefore, it is imaginary and to be constituted. This object which appears identified with the self, may appear over-valued or commonplace, depreciated or punished. From this point of view, new horizons may open up in practice and professional training for nurses, which brings them together around a signifier which can give them a meaning, enabling them to see themselves as subjects in their professional expressiveness