Philosophica: International Journal for the History of Philosophy

This article focuses on Kant’s central belief that an individual’s humanity, her rational personhood, ought never be treated merely as a means. I focus on two paradigmatic cases of such treatment, for Kant, namely suicide and prostitution. In the case of suicide, the individual treats his own humanity merely as a means in completely eliminating it to escape from his miserable life. The case of prostitution is more complicated. It is not obvious how the prostitute’s rational personhood is compromised. An analysis of Kant’s views on prostitution and sexuality enables us to understand Kant’s concern that the prostitute is treated merely as a means. However, his more extreme position that the prostitute is reduced to the status of a thing for use is not supported by arguments. A woman’s use (or, rather, misuse) as a mere means, I explain, is insufficient to define her status as an object.

O presente trabalho se debruça sobre a noção de crítica em filosofia, tendo por base alguns dos modelos chave erigidos pela chamada “Escola de Frankfurt”, a saber, o texto fundador de Max Horkheimer, “Teoria tradicional e teoria crítica”, e uma perspectiva contemporânea de sua terceira geração, com a concepção de Axel Honneth sobre o reconhecimento hegeliano, bem como seu comentário acerca de tal tradição. Além das descrições das referidas concepções, aposta-se na ideia de crítica como uma historicidade aberta, engendrada por uma dialética entre continuidade e ruptura, cuja norma exige o exame imanente caso a caso. Para tanto, mobilizam-se os conceitos modais de Hegel – necessidade, possibilidade, efetividade – guiados pela contingência, ao lado de uma noção de determinação presente.

The second part of the 20th century has been dominated by a nominalist, anti-realistic and post-metaphysical trend, focused on the performativity of languages, texts, discourses, power structures, economic relationships, etc., and involved in any kind of sociolinguistic, hermeneutical, structural and deconstructive analysis. By contrast, the first part of the 21st century seems to emerge from the exhaustion of that nominalist paradigm, and the drive of a new realistic impulse defined by the irreducibility of the real to mere cultural discourses or power’s relationships. In this new speculative context, several materialisms and realisms spread out their strands, with the certainty of grasping the real in and by the real itself. The following lines aim at looking over the main authors and ideas of the newest philosophical stream.

It is argued that some of Beauvoir’s short, journalistic pieces shed new light on her overall philosophical positions. Special analysis is made of “Existentialism and Popular Wisdom”, with its advertence to our standard take on human affairs. Part of the argument is that Beauvoir expands on notions taken from the common culture, and that she does so in a way that sheds new light on existentialist concepts. Taking into consideration the extent of her work with Sartre, we can assume that Beauvoir is making powerful statements with her analysis. It is also important to note that this work represents a level of publication intended for the average French reader, and that much of her writing in this vein has received very little comment.