It is my contention that we – in our time – do have an answer to the question: hidden at the very core of the web of different perspectives, lies the central insight that – in my words – death...Show moreIt is my contention that we – in our time – do have an answer to the question: hidden at the very core of the web of different perspectives, lies the central insight that – in my words – death reveals the meaning of existence. This is the thesis I will put forth over the course of this investigation, based on a discussion of three major perspectives on the relation between death and meaning. The thesis is centered around the verb revealing, interpreted in three different ways, allowing me to synthesize the different perspectives into one central claim whilst respecting their differences. The claim that death reveals the meaning of existence comes down to the attempt to think the paradox of death. As such, my main objective is to show that death must be thought in its ambiguity. Death’s ambiguity will turn out to be the common ground underlying all perspectives I will discuss; it is the space where death is revealed in its relation to the meaning of existence. As such, the claim that death reveals the meaning of existence will itself prove to be an equivocal statement.Show less
The emergence of HIV in Brazilian society challenged culturally-fundamental values, varying from institutional responses to discourses on identity politics. This paper introduces an intertextual...Show moreThe emergence of HIV in Brazilian society challenged culturally-fundamental values, varying from institutional responses to discourses on identity politics. This paper introduces an intertextual analysis of Rafael França’s enigmatic video work Prelude to an Announced Death, concluded two days prior to the artist’s own death. The artwork’s ambiguity seems to welcome potentialities of interpretations, such as that of the AIDS crisis in a 1990s Brazilian context. Considering the influence of the Catholic Church in Brazilian society, especially a Marxist strain that arose within the Church’s institution in opposition to Brazilian military dictatorship, the possibility of analysing the artwork through the lens of Catholic symbols brings attention to the practices that constituted the meaning of AIDS in 1990s Brazil. In addressing the practices that revolve around the virus, this text suggests that the (video-)text by Rafael França can be understood through a web of historical, cultural, social, amongst others, texts.Show less
Truth as correspondence to reality does not seem to play a role within Merleau-Ponty’s hermeneutical ontology. I will argue that truth however still has a place in this ontology. Through a reading...Show moreTruth as correspondence to reality does not seem to play a role within Merleau-Ponty’s hermeneutical ontology. I will argue that truth however still has a place in this ontology. Through a reading of several of Merleau-Ponty’s texts on the philosophy of expression, I will show that truth plays a vital role in expression. I will argue that within expression, truth does have a role in establishing meaning as a style, creating the depth in which meaning can appear.Show less
This paper is aimed at offering a theoretical discussion and interdisciplinary investigation into theories and concepts concerning categorization and individual and/or group differences in...Show moreThis paper is aimed at offering a theoretical discussion and interdisciplinary investigation into theories and concepts concerning categorization and individual and/or group differences in cognition. From this it is suggested that there is the possibility of miscommunication, or at least degradation of the communicative value of a message, as the result of perception and/or reception differences concerning the connotations (consisting of of all combined properties and implications) of specific lexical items between individuals and/or groups. These differences are suggested to be present both in practical instances of use as well as in people's prototypes of said terms. Based on these theoretical expectations a schematic model is created, and a possible solution in the form of intralingual intersemantic translation is suggested. The theory, model, and solution are exemplified through an investigative qualitative case study into the use of the term sustainability by several political leaders in environmental speeches.Show less
