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Philosophical-political mean and range of Novus ordo naturae in the Lucrecio’s poem De rerum natura

Prof. Dr. José Ricardo PIERPAULI

Original title: Significado y alcance filosófico-político del Novus ordo naturae en el poema de Lucrecio De rerum natura

Published in Relations between History and Literature in Ancient and Medieval World

Philosophy as a Way of Life in the Platonism of Imperial Age and in Plotinus

Bernardo Lins BRANDÃO

Original title: A Filosofia Como Modo de Vida no Platonismo da Era Imperial e em Plotino

Published in Mulier aut Femina. Idealism or reality of women in the Middle Ages

Keywords: Ascension, Neoplatonism, Philosophy as a way of life, Plotinus, Therapy of passions.

Philosophy is generally understood nowadays as a discursive practice, in which philosophers elaborate doctrines and arguments. But that is not the only possible view. In some contexts of Antiquity, it was also conceived as a way of life. In this paper, I analyze how the platonism of the Imperial age, specially Plotinus, saw this philosophical life and how doctrine and argument, ascension of the soul and therapy of passions was part of it.

Phosphoethanolamine ("cancer pill") and its scientific, bioethical, legal, and political conflicts of interest

Márcia de Cássia CASSIMIRO, André Marcelo Machado SOARES, Marcelle Mourelle Perez DIÓS-BORGES, Carlos Henrique DEBENEDITO SILVA, Antonio Abílio Pereira de SANTA ROSA

Original title: Fosfoetanolamina (“pílula do câncer”) e os conflitos de interesse científicos, bioéticos, legais e políticos

Published in

Keywords: Bill of Act 13269, Cancer pill, Conflicts of interest (COIs), Phosphoethanolamine.

The debate regarding synthetic phosphoethanolamine in Brazil is not entirely scientific. In the midst of an intense academic discussion about its biochemical aspects and clinical research issues, there is another one taking place on the field of Justice about the decisions that have been made leading to its release to general public. Ideally the arguments should rely mainly on ethical criteria, necessary for a large-scale production of the results of any scientific experiment. However, this episode disclosed that this debate is not only about correct application of ethical principia regulating Brazilian scientific research, for these rules have been currently in use and yet, they were not enough to prevent fabrication and distribution of phosphoethanolamine. Government agencies should pay strong attention to this fact and become truly and responsibly committed to stimulate research on new drugs, provided that it can be carried out following applicable ethical principia. Benefits of scientific research are supposed to level not only the financial expenditures but also its social costs, required for its development. It is mandatory to fill the gap between scientific and social responsibilities.

Pilgrimage Processions, Religious Sensibilities and Piety in the City of Acre in the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem

Shlomo LOTAN

Published in

Keywords: Acre, Crusades, Hospitallers, Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem, Military Orders, Pilgrimage, Templars, Teutonic Order.

After the fall of Jerusalem in 1187, Acre became the formal capital of the Crusader Kingdom. During the 13th century, it became a pilgrimage site for many Christian pilgrims, who enriched the city with their religious ceremonies. Such as a procession called the Pardon d'Acre, which contributed greatly to our understanding of the religious places and military compounds in Frankish Acre. In this essay, I link the religious ceremonies that took place in Acre with the passages among the locations mentioned therein. All these contributed to the revival of the historical and religious space in medieval Acre.

Pletho's Nomoi - A Case of Polytheism in the Latebizantinian Era and its Reception in the Islamic World

Anna Akasoy

Original title: Ein Beitrag zum Polytheismus in spätbyzantinischer Zeit und seiner Rezeptionìn der islamischen Welt

Published in Expressing the Divine: Language, Art and Mysticism

Keywords: Byzantinian Philosophy, George Gemistos Pletho, Islam.

During his stay in Italy as a member of the Greek delegation at the Council of Union in Ferrara/Florence in 1438/9 George Gemistos Pletho criticized the intellectuals of the Latin West heavily for their overestimation of Aristotle and their disregard of Plato. Meanwhile he blamed the Arabic commentators of the Aristotelian corpus Avicenna and Averroes for this misinterpretation, Islam is used as a positive example in Plethos historical writings. On the other hand Pletho s works were received in the Islamic world as well through the Arabic translation of his Nomoi done at the court of Mehmet II. This article offers a short overview of the different aspects of the relation between Pletho and Islam and the transliteration and translation of the Arabic translation of his Compendium Zoroastreorum.

Powerful widows on Gandia’s 15th century, case studies

Marta MORANT

Original title: Viudes poderoses a la Gandia del segle XV, estudi dels casos

Published in

Keywords: 15th Century, Gandia, Power, Widows, Women’s history.

Throughout history, the figure of the widow has been perceived through a lens at some distance from reality. This has condemned them to historical passivity and has attributed to them a subordination which bears little relation to the reality of their lived experience. With the study of in a vila conducted in the Kingdom of Valencia at the end of the medieval period, and through the analysis of primary sources, the real situation in which they lived will be shown: the family and social contexts of which they formed part, and the capabilities they used to defend both themselves and their families’ property. We will thus be able to refute the claims that were socially constructed about them, and to consider them as agents of history, and not mere observers of it.