Academic literature on the topic 'Constantine the Philosopher'

The fifth-century Christian writer Sozomen of Constantinople preserves a story told by certain pagans about the philosopher Sopater of Apamea, whom the emperor Constantine put to death in a.d. 333 on the advice of the Christian Flavius Ablabius, then Praetorian Prefect of the East. Constantine had consulted the philosopher — so the story goes — in an attempt to redress his guilt at having ordered the murder of some of his nearest relations, among them his son Crispus. But Sopater replied that such moral defilement could admit of no purification. Afterwards, on meeting some Christian bishops, Constantine was delighted to learn that the sins of those who truly repented could be washed away in Christian baptism. It was this that led him to adopt the faith, and to encourage his subjects to do the same.

Abstract The two extant works of Constantine the Philosopher of Nicaea reveal a late twelfth century thinker of the Neoplatonic sensibility typically seen only in those who reached the pinnacle of Byzantine literacy during this period. We argue that he is of particular interest because he coined two philosophical terms that, while mirroring controversial Neoplatonic concepts, better accommodate their Orthodox acceptance.We offer here some background on the author, a short discussion of the philosophical content of these works, and for the first time an English translation of both texts.

Abstract This paper focuses on the philosophical-ethical foundations of Constantine’s definition of philosophy, as well as its anthropological and axiological aspects. The focus is placed on the relationship between definitions of philosophy postulated by Constantine the Philosopher and John of Damascus, the latter of which traces the six classical definitions systematized by Platonic commentators. Byzantine thinkers proposed a method of unifying both the theoretical and practical aspects of ancient philosophy with a Christian way of life by interpreting the classical definitions of philosophy and dividing it into theoretical and practical parts, the latter including ethics. Constantine understood philosophy in the sense of the second (knowledge of things Divine and human) and the fourth (becoming like God) meanings of earlier definitions, with the addition of the Christian sense of acting in accordance with the image of God. In addition to these gnosiological and anthropological aspects, the paper also observes the axiological aspect of Constantine’s definition of philosophy, which appears to be a foundation for exploring human behaviour as in compliance with Christian laws encouraging changes in ethical principles so as to follow a new code of ethics, through which new values were presented to the Slavs.

The article calls attention to a neglected source for the over-all “look and feel” of the Glagolitic alphabet as it was first created by Constantine the Philosopher circa 863 ad. This source is the variant forms of the Greek and other alphabets (including Hebrew and Arabic) that consist of so-called Brillenbuchstabe (otherwise charactères à lunettes or ring-letters). These variant alphabets were employed chiefly for esoteric purposes, including astrological and magical ones. Because of their limited use, they have largely been overlooked in standard handbooks of Greek and Oriental paleography. An interest in such subjects as astrology and magic comports poorly with routine assumptions about the inner lives of Medieval Saints such as Constantine. Relying on the extant primary sources for Constantine’s life, however, the article shows that his education, interests and mystical inclinations make a familiarity with some of these esoteric alphabets virtually certain. Thus it is historically plausible that such alphabets were among the inspirations for the general style, that is, the “look and feel”, of the letters of Constantine’s original glagolitic alphabet. (This article supplements the author’s earlier study from 2014, “A New Reconstruction of the Original Glagolitic Alphabet”.)

The reception of the classical book heritage in the Biography of Despot Stefan Lazarevic of Constantine the Philosopher (of Kostenec) is noticed through the conspicuous reminiscences on classical antiquity, but it is also manifested through the use of artistic procedures of classical literature and the author?s high estimate of the accomplishment of pre-Christian Greek thought. In the first two types of classicism Constantine surpasses other medieval Serbian writers, while in the third he is unique among them, so his relying on classical tradition in this work is the result both of literary conventions caused by the choice of the genre of secular biography and of his belonging to the most liberal section of medieval Christian intellectuals.

The subject of the study is the “legendary style” of one of the most iconic hagiographic text of the IX century “The Comprehensive Life of Constantine (Cyril) the Philosopher”. This Pannonian legend belongs to the texts of Cyril-Methodius cycle and has the description of the re-finding and transportation Saint Clement’s relics by Constantine the Philosopher from Korsun (Chersonesus) to Rome. This episode is an important part of the process of legalizing the translation of the Divine Books to the so-called Church-Slavonic language. The phrase “legendary style” was borrowed from I. Franko’s work “Saint Clement in Korsun” (Lviv, 1902–1905) and has not been explained as a term yet. The purpose and the novelty of our research is to find out how “legendary style” was formed, which techniques were needed to create this concept. The relevance of this study is due to the analyzing sources for the legend as a genre (it was formed on the base of the hagiographical texts such as Jacobus da Varagine’s "The Golden Legend", XIII century). Ideological description of historical events ("tendentious historicity"), disclosure of holiness and using the category of the miraculous were clarified as the technique of “legendary style”, using the cultural-historical method, elements of comparative, structural and phenomenological analysis. Holiness, called by J. Le Goff “the most important value of Christian society”, is a predetermined aspect in “The Comprehensive Life of Constantine (Cyril) the Philosopher” and it connected the saint’s life with the events of the New Testament. The category of the miraculous is considered from the point of mythological view: miracles regulated the universe, restored harmony and established true rules and laws. According to A. Losev, the true Christian miracle occurred when the real person dialectically synthesized with his/her inner ideal at a certain moment. “Tendentious historicity” is observed in the episode about saint relics of Pope Clement I. There are variations in the very process of re-finding the holy remains: locations, heroes and time in some stories are not the same in different texts from the so-called Cyril-Methodius cycle. It gives reasons to consider these texts ideologically involved. It is advisable to include other hagiographic texts to confirm or refute, expand or narrow the “legendary style” as a term in further research.

At the cusp of the ‘eighties and ’nineties, theatre in what was soon to become the Slovak Republic had to come to terms not only with the disintegration of the communist system, but with the break-up of the former Czechoslovakia into its constituent nations. During the previous decade, the theatre had in many ways helped to undermine the decaying authoritarian regime, but now many of its practitioners found themselves disaffected by the disappointment of early ideals, and their livelihoods threatened by the loss of state funding, which had at least acknowledged the importance of theatre to the nation's cultural prestige. In this article, the authors trace the distinguishing strands of the work of major directors and writers of both the older and the younger generations, and attempt to define the changing role of theatre – not forgetting the influence of the puppet theatre tradition – as the Slovak nation seeks a renewed vitality through reclaiming its cultural past while re-defining its present. Daniela Bacova teaches English literature and drama at the Department of English and American Studies in the University of Constantine the Philosopher, Nitra, Slovakia, and is one of the editors of the journal Dedicated Space. Dagmar Institorisová works in the Institute of Literary Communication in the University of Constantine the Philosopher, and has just published her doctoral thesis on Variety of Expression in a Theatrical Work.

The opening chapters of Eusebius'sDe vita Constantinicontain several comparisons of Constantine with great figures from the past. The first two, Cyrus and Alexander (Vit. Const. 1.7-8), are predictable names in a work that bears many features of conventional royal panegyric. But Eusebius's choice of Moses for a third comparison (Vit. Const. 1.12) departs from conventional norms and shows that the subject of hisbiosis not going to be measured simply by traditional imperial standards. The following analysis ofVit. Const. 1.12 begins with a consideration of Eusebius's choice of subjects to compare with Constantine. We will see that the literary construction of the comparison with Moses derives from biblical typology as much as it does from a typical classicalsynkrisis. Embedded in the typological construction is an allusion by Eusebius to a widespread opinion that the story of the Exodus was a myth. This aspect of the comparison has not received the attention which it deserves. I will argue that the mythic reference works against the rhetoric of the comparison as a whole. Its anomalous presence requires an explanation. This paper identifies various sources of the mythic charge, and defends the hypothesis that the critic foremost in Eusebius's mind was the pagan philosopher Porphyry. It ends with the conclusion that the triumph of Constantine was a valuable antidote to the critique of Exodus as myth.

The paper outlines the adverse consequences and challenges induced by COVID-19 pandemic for the whole world and for universities in particular. The example of Constantine the Philosopher University in Nitra illustrates the difficulties and challenges caused by the pandemic in relation to the two main activities arising from the university mission-teaching and research. It presents some particular aspects of the university activities adversely affected by COVID-19 and shares the measures to minimize the resulted damages. Furthermore, it demonstrates that, despite complications induced by COVID-19, teaching, research, and international cooperation have been successfully continued.

Thesis (D.M.A.)--Boston University
Demetrios Constantine Dounis was a concert violinist, mandolinist, conductor, and medical doctor. Above all, he was a teacher who developed some of the most innovative methods for violin playing of the 20th century. Dounis carefully observed the technique of the great masters of the violin, both privately and in concert, including Jascha Heifetz, Fritz Kreisler, and Eugene Ysaye. His keen sense of observation played an important role in the development of his methods. Dounis's background in medicine helped to form the anatomical and physiological basis for his technical principles. Although it is often assumed that Dounis's teaching was exclusively technical, he referred to his technique as "Expressive Technique", signifying that a violinist without technical limitations is a violinist with inexhaustible expressive potential. An explanation of these principles are presented in this dissertation, according to Dounis's published works on technique, as well as the author's acquired understanding of the technique through the tutelage of former Dounis student, George Neikrug. This dissertation also explores Dounis's unique approach to teaching, his philosophy on practicing, as well as his methods of facilitating technical change for his students. The final chapter is an exploration into the cognitive aspects of achieving physical habit change in violin technique. The struggle to change the technical habits of violin playing is both physical and mental on many levels, and this difficulty is the main reason as to why Dounis's unique methods have often been met with resistance.

La question de la caractérisation des constantes logiques est un des problèmes fondamentaux de la philosophie de la logique. De cette caractérisation dépend en particulier la définition de la notion de conséquence logique, qui permet d'évaluer la validité de nos inférences. Selon une des approches classiques de cette question, les constantes logiques ont ceci de spécial qu'elles dénotent des opérations qui sont invariantes par permutation des objets du domaine de discours. Le but de ce travail est d'évaluer les fondements conceptuels de cette proposition et les problèmes qu'elle pose. Nous défendons, à la lumière d'une révision des justifications de la thèse traditionnelle, une nouvelle caractérisation des constantes logiques en termes d'invariance par isomorphisme potentiel, qui permet de rendre compte à la fois de la généralité de la logique et de son absence de contenu empirique et, en un sens qui sera précisé, mathématique

La thèse porte sur la philosophie de Constantin Noïca, penseur heideggérien, considéré comme l'un des plus importants philosophes roumains du XXème, encore peu connu en France. La thèse tente de démontrer que la démarche strictement philosophique de Noïca, mais aussi les dérives politiques successives du philosophe, qui l'amèneront à échouer dans la proximité du fascisme dans les années 30, du national communisme ensuite, se révèlent "idéal-typiquement" révélatrices de l'extrême complexité et ambivalence des rapports que de nombreux penseurs du national, issus des pays de la "périphérie" est-européenne, n'ont cessé d'entretenir en ce siècle avec l'héritage intellectuel de la modernité, mais aussi avec son double, le problème de l'identité. La thèse développe une approche globale de l'œuvre et de l'engagement politique du philosophe, et tente d'interroger, à travers son itinéraire, les ressorts plus généraux qui tendent à obérer l'articulation, en Europe de l'est, d'une réflexion critique sur la modernité capable de maintenir avec les lumière l'idéal d'une vie pour la liberté, dans le risque démocratiquement assumé d'une perpétuelle mise en question du sens donné et de sauvegarder contre le modernisme l'égard dû aux héritages culturels (le maintien d'une part d'"indisponible", non susceptible d'être transformée en fonds idéologiques au service de l'unité étatico-nationale)
This doctorate is an analysis of Constantin Noïca's philosophy. Noïca is a neo-heideggerian orientated philosopher, considered as one of the most important figure of Romanian philosophy in the twentieth century. The object is to show that the philosophical thought of philosopher Noïca, but also his political accountancies with in the thirteenth, and later with the national-communist doctrine, after Second World War, can be taken as "ideal typically" relevant for the complexity of the relationship to modernity most of eastern European elites. The question this doctorate tries to answer to, from Noïca's case study, is: why most of critical thought about modernity, in Eastern Europe althrought our century, so often turn to radical anti-democratic nationalism

Dans quelle mesure la poesie peut avoir une pretention referentielle,c'est-a-dire une pretention a porter sur quelque chose d'extra-linguistique? quelle est la place du "reel" dans la structure narrative de la parole poetique eu egard a la tendance inherente a cette derniere a trenscender la "realite" du monde? comment peuton dire que la poesie a acces au monde et au "reel" malgre son deport fictionnel, et par la meme une reference qui permette au discours poetique d'operer une configuration langagiere de l'experience temporelle de l'homme? la reconnaissance de la fonction "referentielle" de la poesie, ainsi que le montre c. Cavafy, doit etre inseparable de celle de son apport createur. C'est par la creation de son mythos que la poesie, mettant initialement la realite a distance, engendre une histoire qui se veut une representation imitee et surelevee de la vie humaine. La mimesis, a l'exemple de la tragedie, enseigne a voir la vie humaine comme ce que le mythos exhibe; la mimesis constitue la dimension "denotative" du mythos; elle tient ensemble la priximite a la realite humaine et la distance fictionnelle. Grace a cette distance la mimesis, purifiant le reel de son accidentalite, est restitution de l'humain non seulement selon l'essentiel mais en plus grand et en plus noble. D'ou la difference entre poesie et historiographie: si la premiere depeint le reel selon son essentialite, la seconde, ainsi que le souligne aristote, reste dans le contingent et l'accidentel. Seule une humeur mythisee peut ouvrir et decouvrir le monde parce que c'est une humeur qui a atteint la sagesse profonde de l'humanite. Sagesse qui,dans le cas de la tragedie,est acquise par une plongee simulee du mythos dans la legende. Cavafy,quant a lui,simulant une plongee de son mythos dans l'histoire de la grece, elargit le champ temporel de son experience personnelle et entre dans le champ inter-subjectif de l'experience humaine
To what extent can poetry claim tobe referential,thatis,claim to something beyond language?how important is "reality"in the narrative structure of poetic discourse considering its inherent tendency to trenscend the "reality" of the world?how can one state thate poetry has an access to the world and to "reality"in spite of its fictional drift and,thus,a reference through which poetic discourse might,by the means of words, account for man's temporal experience? acknowledging the "referential" function of poetry-as shown by c. Cavafis-should only be seen in relation to its creative contribution. In creating its mythos,poetry,initially setting reality at a distance, engenders a history which is meant both to imitate and uplift human life. Mimesis,as tragedy,teaches one how to look upon human life as what mythos stages in tobe:mimesis is the "denotative" dimension of mythos;it comprehends closeness to human reality and fictional distance. Thanks to the batter,mimesis,which purifies reality by removing fortuitus elements,still gives an image of man in his essence dut a greater and nobler one. Hence the difference between poetry and historiography:whereas the former depicts reality in terms of its essentiality,the latter,as aristotle insists,remains within the contingent and the accidental. Only mythicized mood can uncooer and doscover the world because this mood has reached the deeper wisdom of mankind whicls wisdom,in tragedy, is abtained by mreans of simulated descent of mythos into legend. Likewise, cavafis,simulating a descent of his mythos into the history of greece,widens the temporal field of his personal experience and enters the inter-subjective field of human experience

This dissertation is a study of the political, moral and religious philosophy of a French writer, Constantin François Volney (1757-1820), and the reception of his texts in France and Britain from the 1790s until 1848. More broadly, it examines the development and articulation of an under-studied species of republican discourse in revolutionary France, and traces its fate in changing political and social circumstances. The study has several goals. It offers an analysis of both the internal logic and the contemporary politics of Volney’s philosophical writings that revises conventions of previous historiography. Most modern commentary has sought to position Volney’s thought as either a variant of utilitarian liberalism or as a precursor of Comtean positivism. This analysis suggests both characterisations risk distorting features of the author’s work. It aims to illuminate Volney’s thought by situating it more precisely within a series of eighteenth-century debates about human nature, human history and the arts of government. The body of the dissertation consists of seven chapters. Chapter One analyses Volney’s first major publication, La Voyage en Syrie et en Egypte (1787). It treats it as a work of social philosophy and as oblique commentary on contemporary Europe. Chapter Two examines his political pamphlets, speeches and activities during the early phases of the French Revolution from 1788 to 1791, when the author was actively involved in reform campaigns in Brittany and as a member of the Constituent Assembly. Chapter Three analyses Volney’s most historically influential work, Les Ruines, ou Méditation sur les revolutions des empires (1791). Chapter Four studies La loi naturelle, ou Catéchisme du citoyen français (1793), a short moral treatise that was later appended to Les Ruines. Together these works were the primary conduit through which Volney’s thought influenced a mass public. Chapter Five follows Volney through various phases of his later life, studying the evolution of his views in his late works and analysing a series of significant textual changes to Les Ruines dating from 1799 and 1817. Chapter Six and Seven trace that reception in France and Britain.

Cette thèse a pour objet l'étude du système d'analyse musicale élaboré par Constantin Bugeanu (1916-1998), chef d'orchestre et pédagogue roumain. Ce système d'analyse est basé sur une réflexion analytique formelle gestaltiste de Bugeanu, condensée sous forme de tableaux synoptiques facilement appréhendables. Il a pour vocation de servir de passerelle entre la pratique dite " abstraite " d'analyse musicale et l'acte " concret " d'exécution musicale " Cette recherche, visant à présenter et transmettre la pensée de Bugeanu, s'articule autour de deux buts précis : (a) replacer cette pensée dans son contexte ; (b) rendre cette présentation utile aux chefs d'orchestre en leur rendant la méthode accessible. Cette thèse s'intéresse à la perception globale et unitaire de la forme organique de l'œuvre musicale dans sa dimension cinétique, ainsi qu'aux possibilités et modalités applicables à sa révélation dans le déroulement de l'acte musical recréateur. Cette optique est ciblée exclusivement sur l'évidence présente dans l'œuvre en elle-même, dans sa structure technique : l'exécutant vise une perception constante de l'unité de l'œuvre par la reconstitution d'une hypothèse de scénario formel rendue possible grâce aux tableaux synoptiques résultant de l'analyse bugéanienne. Pour appréhender la forme globale d'une œuvre, l'analyse bugéanienne se réfère aux formes archétypes, essentiellement tripartites, dont la forme Bar, qui se trouvent à tous les niveaux hiérarchiques formels, des contours les plus larges jusqu'aux plus petites ramifications. Le répertoire en question – qui s'étend, grosso modo, de Bach à Lutoslawsky – est essentiellement tonal ou à orientation tonale
This dissertation's purpose is to study the music analysis system designed by Constantin Bugeanu (1916-1998), a renowned conductor and pedagogue from Rumania. This analytical system is based on Bugeanu's Gestalt-like formal analysis which is presented with easily understandable synoptic graphs. This system is intended serve as a bridge between the “abstract” practice of music analysis and the “concrete” act of music performance. This study, aimed at presenting and transmitting Bugeanu's thought rotates around two precise goals: (a) to understand the system's theoretical aspects, including its background and genesis, (b) to make this presentation useful to conductors by making the system readily graspable. This investigation deals with the global and unitary perception of the musical work's organic form within its kinetic dimension, as well as the possibilities and modalities applicable towards its revelation through the unfolding of the “recreative” musical act. This vision is exclusively concerned with the evidence present within the work itself, within its technical structure: the performer strives for a constant perception of the work's unity through the reconstitution of a certain hypothesis of the formal scenario;s this perception is made possible by the synoptic tables resulting from bugeanian analysis. In order to grasp a work's global form, bugeanian analysis refers purposely to basic archetypal forms, basically three-part forms, including Barform, which are found at all formal hierarchical levels, from the largest contours to the smallest ramifications. The repertoire concerned – which spreads basically from Bach to Lutoslawsky – is essential tonal or tonal oriented

Os Infortúnios trágicos da constante Florinda, de Gaspar Pires de Rebelo, foram publicados em 1625. Devido ao sucesso alcançado pelo texto, veio a público, em 1633, uma continuação intitulada Segunda parte da Constante Florinda, em que se trata dos infortúnios que teve Arnaldo buscando-a pelo mundo. A Constante Florinda (esse é o título pelo qual as duas partes da obra, em conjunto, ficaram conhecidas), muito lida nos séculos XVII e XVIII, foi praticamente esquecida nos séculos seguintes. Este nosso trabalho tem como objetivo analisar a referida obra, evidenciando os procedimentos retóricos e poéticos e os ensinamentos estóico-cristãos que constituem a narração e a doutrina da Constante Florinda. Tendo em vista tal propósito, o estudo, num primeiro momento, volta-se para os preceitos retóricos e poéticos que permitem pensar-se numa ars narrandi, ou seja, uma técnica de narrar que o narrador, como persona gnara, conhece e sabe empregar ao relatar os infortúnios trágicos de Florinda e Arnaldo. Se um dos ofícios dessa narração é ensinar algo para os leitores, já que estes devem ser movidos não apenas pelo deleite, mas também pelo proveito, nosso trabalho, num segundo momento, discute as lições das histórias narradas. Assim, o que buscamos demonstrar é que o proveito da narração dos infortúnios de Florinda e Arnaldo ecoa os ensinamentos da doutrina estóico-cristã dos séculos XVI e XVII, difundida por autores como Justo Lípsio e Francisco de Quevedo. Ressalta-se neste trabalho, por fim, o seu próprio artifício. Apenas no nosso estudo narração e doutrina podem ser separadas, pois no texto da Constante Florinda tudo se dá simultaneamente: a narração já é doutrina, e mostra aos leitores, com exempla estóicos, os caminhos (trágicos) do viver cristão.
Gaspar Pires de Rebelos Infortúnios trágicos da constante Florinda was published in 1625. Given its conspicuous success, a sequel, Segunda parte da Constante Florinda, em que se trata dos infortúnios que teve Arnaldo buscando-a pelo mundo, came out in 1633. Constante Florinda (this is the title both parts became known as), largely disseminated in the 17th and 18th centuries, was nonetheless virtually forgotten in the subsequent centuries. This dissertation intends to analyze the aforementioned work, so as to highlight not only rhetorical and poetic procedures, but also stoic-christian lessons which lie beneath both the narrative and the doctrine of Constante Florinda. Bearing this goal in mind, this study will first focus on rhetorical and poetic precepts which render it possible to think about the ars narrandi, that is to say, a narrative technique that the narrator (as persona gnara) deeply understands, thus being able to employ it when reporting the tragic misfortunes of Florinda and Arnaldo. If one of the purposes of this narration is to teach something to its readers, since the latter must be moved not only by delight, but also by profit, we also intend to adduce the lessons of the stories the narrator tells. Therefore, we mean to demonstrate that the profit from the narration of Florindas and Arnaldos misfortunes reflects 16th and 17th-century stoic-christian doctrine, profoundly advertised by authors such as Justus Lipsius and Francisco de Quevedo. Last but not least, our dissertation has it as an inherent intention to stress its artifice. Only in our study can narration and doctrine be set apart, since in Constante Florinda they emerge simultaneously: narration is also doctrine, and conveys the (tragic) paths, with stoic exempla, of christian life.

Title: The Origins of Education in Great Moravia and its Subsequent Manifestations Author: Mgr. Radovan Vlha Department: Czech Language Department Supervisor: prof. PhDr. Radoslava Kvapilová Brabcová, CSc. Abstract The thesis focuses on the origins and manifestations of the education on the territory of Great Moravia. The main research method is the analysis of historical source texts, archaeological artefacts and analogical comparison with the situation in 9th century Europe. The growth of education in Great Moravia commenced with the arrival of Constantine and Methodius mission, which proceed from the Byzantine conception of education. The mission picked up the threads of Bavarian missionaries' work, which is proved by the widely professed Christianity prior to the year 863. Initially, the education centres of western missionaries were used with new premises being built later; Sady near Uherske Hradiste being considered the most important. Scholars with aristocratic backgrounds were educated in these centres. The curriculum consisted predominantly from Old Church Slavonic, prayers, theology and music, sometimes accompanied with Latin. The development of the craft industry requisite for the building of churches, decorating jewellery with Christian motives and production of books was directly connected to...

En Occident au XIIIe siècle, pour répondre au nouvel afflux de connaissances issues des traductions gréco-latines et arabo-latines du siècle précédent, s'organisent des milieux d'enseignement et de diffusion, sinon de vulgarisation de la philosophie et de la science. Les universités naissent alors, mais les collèges d'ordres religieux surtout s'établissent en relais du savoir ; parmi eux, les ordres mendiants prennent une part essentielle. En parallèle se met en place un outillage mental et intellectuel capable d'assimiler et de manier ces nouveaux contenus qui ouvrent peu à peu à une autre conception du monde : on découvre les œuvres sur la nature d'Aristote après avoir usé longuement de sa seule logique. On comprend mieux Platon à la lumière des écrits arabes. On décrit les astres, les animaux, les plantes, les maladies, grâce à des critères qui mêlent à la fois une typologie neuve influencée par Aristote et des héritages de l'Antiquité tardive. Dans ce processus dynamique, Arnold de Saxe est un des premiers à satisfaire une telle demande intellectuelle en offrant une compilation-florilège de philosophie naturelle et morale intitulée "De floribus rerum naturalium" ; celle-ci compte quatre livres de véritables "fleurs de la nature" et un cinquième consacré à la morale où s'organisent des citations puisées dans la littérature latine disponible. Ce travail de doctorat s'intéresse à Arnold de Saxe à travers une étude complète de l'ensemble de sa production, qui permet de déterminer quels furent son milieu d'activité et son époque, la France et l'Allemagne des deuxième et troisième quarts du XIIIe siècle. Avant cette étude, Arnoldus Saxo, Arnoldus Luca ou Arnoldus de Saxonia n'était connu qu'à travers le "De floribus" (erronément appelé "De finibus" par V. Rose), qu'on situait entre 1220 et 1230. L'étude met au jour huit nouveaux manuscrits de l'ouvrage encyclopédique qui s'ajoutent aux quatre déjà connus [depuis la thèse déposée en nov. 2000, j'ai découvert deux autres manuscrits partiels du De floribus rerum naturalium]. En outre, la thèse a permis la découverte et l'étude de trois autres ouvrages du même auteur : un traité de médecine "a capite ad calcem" qui intègre les progrès récents de la science médicale ; un dialogue en forme de disputatio en quatre parties sur les vertus et des vices ("De iudiciis virtutum et viciorum"), et une brève " consolation " imitée de celle attribuée à Sénèque. La thèse, centrée sur l'histoire des textes et l'assimilation du savoir, caractérise les sources d'information philosophiques et scientifiques d'Arnold de Saxe. Chacune des œuvres dont l'auteur a fait des extraits est identifiée précisément, l'origine possible de l'information est caractérisée, et l'utilisation qu'en fait Arnold de Saxe est comparée à celle des philosophes contemporains. L'analyse est articulée sur les matières présentes dans la production de l'auteur : physique du ciel et de la terre ; animaux, plantes et médecine ; minéralogie ; morale. Dans ces différents domaines, la documentation est composée d'un tiers de traités sous le nom d'Aristote, dont les petites œuvres authentiques sur la nature et quelques textes importants comme les Météorologiques, ou le De animalibus, et l'Ethique, mais aussi de nombreux pseudépigraphes, comme le "De causis" néoplatonicien ou un De speculis (Catroptique d'Euclide). S'ajoutent au corpus aristotélicien des textes issus de la tradition médicale et hermétique arabe, dont certains sont peu répandus mais se couvrent de noms connus comme Pythagore, Esculape ou Hermès. Les versions de tous ces textes sont des traductions gréco-latines de Jacques de Venise et Burgundio de Pise, et arabo-latines de Dominicus Gundissalvi, Johannes Hispanus, Jean de Séville et de Limia, Gérard de Crémone et Michel Scot ; toutes ces traductions sont antérieures à celles de Robert Grosseteste et de Guillaume de Moerbeke. Les joyaux de l'Antiquité, sertis dans la monture du christianisme mais souvent transformés et légués par les Arabes, devaient une certaine lumière à la tradition hermétique. La troisième part du corpus documentaire d'Arnold de Saxe est constituée d'œuvres latines anciennes, dans le domaine de la cosmologie et de la morale : Macrobe et Martianus Capella y côtoient Sénèque et Cicéron. Le tout forme un ensemble qui hésite entre néo-platonisme et aristotélisme de la pensée, entre tradition et nouveauté de la documentation. Arnold de Saxe a collecté cette documentation au début de son activité, dans une sorte de compendium qui ne semble pas avoir survécu. L'auteur fait mention de cette première étape de son travail sous l'intitulé vague de "Sermo de libris philosophorum", dont les sources du "De floribus rerum naturalium" sont manifestement en grande partie issues. Arnold de Saxe leur sera fidèle par volonté et dépendant par nécessité : il s'applique à respecter la lettre, tout en abrégeant de manière sévère, et il utilise la documentation disponible, quelle que soit sa qualité. Le "De uirtutibus lapidum" (Livre des pierres) est la part scientifique la plus originale de l'encyclopédie naturelle "De floribus", dont elle constitue un traité particulier plusieurs fois remanié ; elle est aussi celle qui aura un succès immédiat considérable via la reprise intégrale de son contenu chez Albert le Grand, (De mineralibus, tr. 2 et 3), et Vincent de Beauvais (Speculum naturale, livre VIII). Au "De floribus rerum naturalium" en quatre livres sera ajouté un cinquième, "De moralibus", qui a également circulé comme œuvre indépendante. Le traité de médecine (Practica medicine) qui a suivi ces premiers travaux assimile les apports de l'école de Salerne et fait preuve d'une connaissance de l'évolution médicale contemporaine. En effet, Avicenne y tient une place importante en rival de Constantin l'Africain et un chapitre particulier est consacré à la maladie d'amour (De amore hereos). Le traité éthique des vertus et des vices, rédigé en fin de parcours sous la forme d'un dialogue scolastique aux accents d'humanisme chrétien, s'inspire surtout des auteurs antiques, déjà cités dans le "De moralibus", la cinquième partie du De floribus. L'homme et le démon s'y affrontent verbalement l'homme et le démon sous l'œil du juge suprême qu'est Dieu. Paradoxalement pour un tel sujet, on n'y trouve ni sentences bibliques ou patristiques, ni préceptes religieux issus de textes médiévaux, car Sénèque y domine sur l'Ethique d'Aristote. Le penchant stoïcien se confirme dans la courte "consolation". En plus de ces œuvres, il est possible qu'Arnold de Saxe soit l'auteur d'une introduction à l'astronomie/astrologie, trouvée dans un manuscrit copié à Bâle au début du XVe siècle. A partir du contenu de ses œuvres, destinées surtout à répondre à l'"utilitas" d'une communauté qu'il est difficile de caractériser, on ne peut faire d'Arnold de Saxe un penseur ; mais il s'agit d'un "philosophe" au sens médiéval du terme, dans la mesure où il produit une œuvre de compilation multiple et originale à partir de la seule littérature profane et est rompu aux techniques intellectuelles de son temps. Naturaliste, féru de médecine, c'était aussi un enseignant amoureux de la morale classique. Sa diffusion, relativement limitée, fut surtout germanique (manuscrits d'origine allemande et du tiers nord de la France). En revanche, sa réception, pour l'étude des pierres et la description du monde animal, fut immédiate dans la littérature didactique, chez le franciscain Barthélemy l'Anglais et chez les dominicains Vincent de Beauvais et Albert le Grand. Arnold a alimenté, dans le De mineralibus d'Albert le Grand, la conception hermétique de la "vertu universelle" et de la vertu spécifique qu'on trouve chez Avicenne pour expliquer l'action thérapeutique de certaines substances et voir dans tout élément naturel un principe actif ; il a aussi fourni à Albert toutes les citations d'Evax et Aaron et la plupart des extraits du lapidaire d'Aristote. Arnold de Saxe a par ailleurs été le relais de savoirs qui se seraient sans lui perdus, comme la biologie des plantes et des animaux de Iorach (qu'il faut identifier avec Iuba, roi de Mauritanie, qui écrivit en grec au Ier siècle) et le traité des pierres attribué à Aristote dont il retient entre autres les notions de pôle et d'aimant. Arnold de Saxe conserve des extraits de la minéralogie d'Aristote en deux versions distinctes, secundum Dioscoridem et secundum Gerardi, ce qui met sur la piste d'une traduction de Gérard de Crémone qui n'avait pas été mise au jour jusqu'ici. L'analyse de sa documentation et des influences qu'il subit ou qu'il propage montrent que les foyers de l'activité d'Arnold ont dû être Magdeburg, où il connut sans doute le franciscain Barthélemy l'Anglais qui s'y trouvait dès 1231 (le manuscrit d'Heidelberg attribue le traité des pierres à Arnoldus Saxo Magdeburgensis); Cologne, où il rencontra peut-être le dominicain Albert le Grand qui y fut lecteur, comme l'induisent les citations réciproques (Albert est cité dans le traité de médecine) ; Paris, où il croisa sans doute les médecins du temps et fit connaître son encyclopédie ; Erfurt peut-être, où ses œuvres sont conservées mieux qu'ailleurs. Faut-il voir dans Arnold de Saxe, appelé "Arnoldus Luca Magdeburgensis" dans le manuscrit d'Heidelberg, le maître de l'école cathédrale de Magdeburg, qui disparaît des documents diplomatiques vers 1243 ? Arnoldus Luca n'est-il pas aussi l'"Arnoldus Luscus" dominicain expérimenté en astronomie que cite avec admiration Berthold von Moosburg, un disciple de l'albertinisme à Cologne au XIVe siècle ? En dehors de l'histoire des textes, des documents qui l'attesteraient restent encore à découvrir. Comme les autres encyclopédistes de son époque, le Saxon a privilégié une information tirée d'auteurs qui nourrissaient déjà une volonté de synthèse totale, c'est-à-dire - pour ce qui le concerne - Aristote, Avicenne, Constantin l'Africain. Mais il a évité pour sa part les textes rabattus de Pline et d'Isidore de Séville pour se tourner vers ce qu'il appelle des "philosophes modernes", à savoir les médecins et naturalistes arabes, Aristote, mais aussi Sénèque, Boèce et Martianus Capella. Ensemble, ces "auctoritates" donnent au "De floribus rerum naturalium" l'allure néoplatonisante d'une synthèse naturaliste faite de métaphysique, de physique et d'éléments hermétiques qui accompagnèrent le célébrissime Aristote à travers les étapes de sa transmission grecque, syriaque, arabe et latine.

In the work the chosen as­pect of sociological empirical research, carried out among the students of the Constantine the Philosopher University in Nitra and among students of the University of Silesia in Katowice, con­cerned their opinion on family life in the contemporary world and their preferred model of life and plans concerning mar­riage in the future

chapter 1 offers a framework for understanding the rest of the book. The emperor Julian’s imperial hellenizing program is explained as his attempt to right the cosmic order overturned by Constantine and his son, Constantius II, in order to save the Roman oikoumenē. As a philosopher partially trained in theurgic Neoplatonism, Julian applies these teachings to his imperial program in an attempt to define the correct hierarchy of ethnic gods who ensured the health and success of the Roman oikoumenē and to articulate the correct worship that would gain their beneficence. Ethnographic thinking is introduced as an important element in Julian’s program, and he applies it to the Hellenes, an “imagined community” defined by the emperor; to Jews, who are portrayed as the Judean ethnos, with theurgic ancestral laws that can be mined to develop and sometimes authorize or model Hellenic orthopraxy; and to Christians, as Galileans, a people without any ethnic legitimacy.

Among the Romanian forerunners of cybernetics (i.e., Daniel Danielopolu, Paul Postelnicu), Stefan Odobleja is, undoubtedly, the most important. European recognition of his contribution to the foundations of cybernetics took place twenty years ago when his paper, "Diversity and Unit in Cybernetics" (presented at the Fourth Congress of Cybernetics and Systems in Amsterdam, August, 1978), was received with great acclaim. His work has been used by other Romanian scientists and philosophers like Constantin Noica, Mihai Draganescu, Alexandru Surdu, Georghe M. Stefan, Constantin Balaceanu, Mihai Golu, Pantelimon Golu,Victor Sahleanu, etc. Meanwhile, another scientist-philosopher, Norbert Wiener, reached conclusions similar to Odobleja's. It is interesting to note that two individuals who worked in and came from such diverse backgrounds and media, reached such similar conclusions within the interval of a decade.

Critical thinking currently represents the necessary ability of an individual to orient himself in a world full of information, it allows him to search for his own identity, to form his own opinions, attitudes. Critical thinking is an individual intellectual process in which the thinker improves and cultivates the quality of his thinking, activating himself in the assessment of actions, various situations. The paper will present current theoretical approaches to understanding critical thinking and its position, we will also introduce critical thinking as one of the necessary human competencies acquired in the educational process. The paper will present the results of research by a team of experts at Constantine the Philosopher University Nitra, focused on the development of critical thinking in the educational process, which is part of the undergraduate training of future teachers and its subsequent implementation in educational practice.