“Exactly as you see me” (Charmides 153b8): The Function of Narration in Plato's Charmides

Plato’s Charmides is a narrated dialogue. In this paper, I will argue that the literary device of narration plays an interesting and resourceful role in advancing the philosophical aims and ideas presented in the text. In particular, it exposes the inner workings of the souls of the dialogue’s characters, thus enabling us, the readers, to judge whether the inner and outer projections of each character cohere. One of the most important definitions of sophrosune suggested in the Charmides is that moderation is self-knowledge, which is expressed in a strong correlation between what one feels and thinks and their actions. I will argue that the narration of the dialogue aids and exemplifies the philosophical lesson it teaches about sophrosune, even if the suggested definition of the virtue is formally rejected

La métamorphose de l’amour dans L’Éthique de Spinoza

Spinoza’s Ethics has a robust and underappreciated theory of love. In this paper, I show that Spinoza’s discussion of love, which stands at a crossroads between his ethics and his epistemology, details the metamorphosis of love in the philosopher’s mind – from passionate love to intellectual love of God, and from imagination or opinion to scientia intuitiva. This metamorphosis is responsible for the closely interrelated philosopher’s morality and the perfection of their understanding, which are closely linked. Reading Spinoza’s guide to ethical and philosophical progress through the prism of his theory of love holds the key to understanding some of the most perplexing issues presented in the second half of Part 5, namely, the nature of the intellectual love of God and the object of the third kind of knowledge.Spinozina Etika ima robusnu i podcijenjenu teoriju ljubavi. U ovom članku pokazujem da Spinozina rasprava o ljubavi, smještena na križištu između njegove etike i njegove epistemologije, opisuje metamorfozu ljubavi u filozofovu umu – od strastvene ljubavi do intelektualne ljubavi prema Bogu, te od imaginacije ili mnijenja do scientia intuitiva. Metamorfoza je odgovorna za međusobno usko povezanu filozofovu moralnost i usavršenje razumijevanja. Čitati Spinozine upute za etički i filozofijski napredak kroz prizmu njegove teorije o ljubavi sadrži ključ za razumijevanje nekih od najviše zbunjujućih problema predočenih u drugoj polovici Petog dijela, točnije, prirode intelektualne ljubavi za Bogom i predmeta treće vrste znanja.Spinozas Ethik hat eine robuste und unterschätzte Theorie der Liebe. In diesem Paper zeige ich, dass Spinozas Erörterung der Liebe, die am Scheideweg zwischen seiner Ethik und seiner Epistemologie steht, die Metamorphose der Liebe im Geist des Philosophen detailliert schildert – von leidenschaftlicher Liebe zu intellektueller Liebe zu Gott wie auch von Vorstellungskraft oder Meinung zur Scientia intuitiva. Diese Metamorphose ist verantwortlich für die eng zusammenhängende Moralität des Philosophen und die Vervollkommnung des Verständnisses, die eng miteinander verknüpft sind. Die Lektüre von Spinozas Leitfaden zum ethischen und philosophischen Fortschritt durch das Prisma seiner Liebestheorie enthält den Schlüssel zum Verständnis einiger der verwirrendsten Probleme, die in der zweiten Hälfte des Fünften Teils präsentiert werden, nämlich der Natur der intellektuellen Liebe zu Gott sowie des Gegenstands der dritten Gattung des Wissens.L’Éthique de Spinoza a une théorie de l’amour robuste et sous-valorisée. Dans cet article, je montre que le débat de Spinoza sur l’amour, qui se situe au croisement entre son éthique et son épistémologie, décrit la métamorphose de l’amour dans l’esprit du philosophe – de l’amour passionnel à l’amour intellectuel envers Dieu, et de l’imagination et l’opinion à la scientia intuitiva. Cette métamorphose est responsable de la moralité du philosophe intimement liée à la perfection de sa compréhension. La lecture des conseils de Spinoza, en vue d’un progrès éthique et philosophique à travers le prisme de sa théorie de l’amour, contient la clé pour comprendre certains des problèmes les plus déroutants présentés dans la deuxième moitié de la Cinquième partie, plus précisément, la nature de l’amour intellectuel de Dieu et le sujet du troisième genre de connaissance

Play and myth in plato's phaedrus

Plato’s Phaedrus is a famously intriguing dialogue. It employs a wide range of writing styles, such as myth, dialectic discussion, rehearsed and spontaneous speeches, and lines of verse. It makes a sharp transition from speech-making and storytelling, which make up the first half of the dialogue and deal with love, to dialectical discussion and an analysis of rhetoric in its second half. Socrates himself claims erotic madness is man’s greatest blessing. How seriously can we take such a strange dialogue? How serious can we be regarding its message? In this article I will suggest a playful reading of the Phaedrus. Not only does the notion of play (paidia) feature prominently in several key passages of the text, but there is also an atmosphere of playfulness throughout the drama of the dialogue, which takes place on the banks of the river Ilisus. This is a philosophical playfulness which is not divorced from childish playfulness. As we will see, the philosopher and the child have much in common, and their shared attributes figure in the Phaedrus: the child is commonly perceived to be irrational, but irrationality in this dialogue is a blessing, according to Socrates; play is childish, but philosophy, mythmaking and writing are a form of play; and children are inherently learners—which is also what the philosopher ultimately aims at. The argument presented in this paper is based on a textual analysis of the word “play” (in its various forms) in the Phaedrus. The substantial link made between play, myth and writing will be shown to have important implications on Plato’s concept of philosophy as play, as well as on his view of the philosopher as child-like.

sj-doc-1-lis-10.1177_09610006231219247 – Supplemental material for Digital literacy among junior and high school students in crisis times

Supplemental material, sj-doc-1-lis-10.1177_09610006231219247 for Digital literacy among junior and high school students in crisis times by Ayelet Ayalon and Noa Aharony in Journal of Librarianship and Information Science</p

Re-Admission of COVID-19 Patients Hospitalized with Omicron Variant&mdash;A Retrospective Cohort Study

In accordance with previous publications, re-admission rates following hospitalization of patients with COVID-19 is 10%. The aim of the current study was to describe the rates and risk factors of hospital re-admissions two months following discharge from hospitalization during the fifth wave due to the dominant Omicron variant. A retrospective cohort study was performed in Rabin Medical Center, Israel, from November 2021 to February 2022. The primary outcome was re-admissions with any diagnosis; the secondary outcome was mortality within two months of discharge. Overall, 660 patients were hospitalized with a diagnosis of COVID-19. Of the 528 patients discharged from a primary hospitalization, 150 (28%) were re-admitted. A total of 164 patients (25%) died throughout the follow-up period. A multi-variable analysis determined that elevated creatinine was associated with a higher risk of re-admissions. Rates of re-admissions after discharge during the Omicron wave were considerably higher compared to previous waves. A discharge plan for surveillance and treatment following hospitalization is of great importance in the management of pandemics