Dialectical monism

Abstract: The present article tries to make a fresh analysis of Shakespeare’s touchstone Hamlet taking into consideration the term polar concept argument. Polar concept is a postmodern hermeneutical form of reading and analyzing texts which sprung from the mind of the British philosopher and critic Gilbert Ryle. Polar concept, as a reading strategy, is a kind of argument that affirms the understanding of one concept, from the mere understanding of its polar opposite. English literature is replete with write-ups that tackle readers in a dilemmatic situation, and this has always caused the dualistic concepts to come to the fore; however in a polar concept strategy understanding occurs because the existence of one concept paves the way for its contrary and consequently leads to a dialectical monism. The polar concept as a literary term has played a very crucial role in Shakespeare’s Hamlet, therefore, this study is an attempt to highlight the polarity of different concepts in this tragedy. The author believes that by drawing a paradigm of polar concepts throughout Hamlet, or any other text, readers would be able to enjoy different levels of meanings without being petered out by the dexterity of literary devices andtropes.

Abstract: portuguesCom o intuito de superar a situacao paradoxal em que se encontra, ao conceitualizar a natureza de tal modo que a sua propria presenca na natureza resulta inconcebivel, a modernidade apresenta ao menos quatro alternativas: a) defesa do dualismo (Descartes, Kant); b) apelo a um monismo da natureza (Spinoza, Hobbes); c) afirmacao de um monismo da subjetividade (Fichte); d) ou, por fim, elaboracao de um monismo dialetico (Schelling, Hegel). E bem conhecido que, destas quatro alternativas a crise de autointerpretacao da subjetividade moderna, a primeira tera a influencia mais duradoura na cena filosofica, marcando, ponto a ponto, este ultimo alento da modernidade que alguns chamam de pos-modernidade, e desembocando na presente situacao de “hipercomensurabilidade” entre subjetividade e natureza diagnosticada por Bruno Latour. A crise da subjetividade torna-se, assim, crise da filosofia, que termina refem da sindrome da casa tomada. EnglishTo overcome the paradoxical situation in which the modern subject finds itself, on conceptualizing nature in such a way that its very presence in nature becomes inconceivable, modernity has supplied at least four alternatives: a) the first is to defend dualism (Descartes, Kant); b) the second option is to support a monism of nature (Spinoza, Hobbes); c) the third alternative is to defend a monism of subjectivity (Fichte); d) the fourth and last alternative is to support a dialectical monism (Schelling, Hegel). It is well known that, of these four alternatives to the self-interpretation crisis of modern subjectivity, the first ultimately had a more lasting influence on the philosophical scene, marking, point to point, this last breath of modernity that some call post-modern, which flows into the present situation of “hyperincommensurability” between subjectivity and nature, as diagnosed by Bruno Latour. The crisis of subjectivity thus becomes a crisis of philosophy, which ends up as a hostage to the syndrome of the house taken over.

Abstract: To overcome the paradoxical situation in which the modern subject finds itself, on conceptualizing nature in such a way that its very presence in nature becomes inconceivable, modernity supplied at least four alternatives: a) the first is to defend dualism (Descartes, Kant); b) the second option is to support a monism of nature (Spinoza, Hobbes); c) the third alternative is to defend a monism of subjectivity (Fichte); d) the fourth and last alternative is to support a dialectical monism (Schelling, Hegel). It is well known that, of these four alternatives to the self-interpretation crisis of modern subjectivity, the first ultimately had a more lasting influence on the philosophical scene, marking, point to point, this last breath of modernity that some call post-modern and flowing into the present situation of “hyperincommensurability” between subjectivity and nature diagnosed by Bruno Latour. The crisis of subjectivity thus becomes a crisis of philosophy, which ends a hostage to the syndrome of the house taken.