english articles

Merry Christmas

/ fuoritempofuoriluogo / Lascia un commento

Dear friends of philosophy,

a mistery, that is big but at the same time so simple and immediate, is shown in this day through the eyes of a little child: love.

This love is universal because it is for everyone of us it but also particular because each of us lives it and feels it in a very personal and different way from the others.

There are those who will spend this moment with the family, other ones with friends and other people alone. For someone it will be a wonderful day instead for others it will be a moment of hard confrontation with weaknesses and sadness.

This day seems particularly important to us because we would like to see all our most secret and intimate expectations and desires fulfilled in it. But it is not always so and we know it very well. So we live Christmas with our disappointments and sadness.

However, for those who believe in it, there is still a hope and it is given by the possibility that the birth, even if symbolic, of a child corresponds to our deeper rebirth.

So, Christmas is therefore a celebration of a birth but also a space for new opportunities and choices that we want to give to ourselves in the name of that love brought by that sacred child more than two thousand years ago and that we all deserve.

Merry Christmas to all

Maria Domenica Depalo

 

Have you ever visited “Central Park”?

/ fuoritempofuoriluogo / Lascia un commento

So we are here again, together, to reflect and use our mind in order to discuss friendly and freely about a new argument. Well, I think that this period of the year could give us the good inspiration for our thoughts and ideas.

Christmas is coming: next monday we will celebrate it. But what is it for everyone of us? Do we live it with the right attitude? Are we influenced by its deep and real meaning? Only you know the answers to these questions. Some of them could be positive, others no.

But let’s observe the title of this new article: “Have you ever visited Central Park?” Why have I written it? Actually, I was watching tv when my attention was captured by photos and images of this park in New York. Thousands of people everyday walk through its trees, relax or eat on the grass or simply sit on its benches.

I have never been there and, even if it could seem strange, sometimes I miss something I haven’t had the possibility to live yet: visiting New York and its people. I love travelling and visiting new places. I think it’s the right way to know and expand the mind getting a wider vision of the world. Unfortunally I haven’t done it for some time. Maybe in the future: you never know.

The end of december is the moment we make a list of what we have realized and of what we want. We observe what sorrounds us and we ask to ourselves if this corresponds to our expectations or not.

What about your wishes and expectations? In other words: dreams?

Maria Domenica Depalo

 

 

quesito numero 44

/ fuoritempofuoriluogo / 15 commenti

Per quanto cerchiamo di tenere tutto sotto controllo, il caos abita in ognuno di noi. Tutto ha infatti origine dal caos. Riusciamo quindi a cogliere la bellezza del disordine e la sua profonda logica?

We try to control everything but the chaos lives in us. Everything in us and around us derives from it. So, are we able to understand the beauty of the disorder and its deep logic?

Maria Domenica Depalo

quesito numero quarantatre

/ fuoritempofuoriluogo / 33 commenti

Anche oggi siamo ispirati da “il Dubbio” di L. De Crescenzo.

“Il saggio non ha certezze, ha solo ipotesi più o meno probabili”. Voi quali certezze avete e quali ipotesi?

Inspired again by “il Dubbio” written by L.De Crescenzo, today we speak about certainties and hypothesis.

“Who is wise has no certainties but hypothesis that could be more or less probable”. And you? What kind of certainties and hypothesis have you?

Maria Domenica Depalo

quesito numero quarantadue

/ fuoritempofuoriluogo / 27 commenti

Affidiamo il quesito odierno ad un passo tratto da “il Dubbio” di Luciano De Crescenzo:

  • Non è il Dubbio la molla di ogni curiosità? A proposito: la parola Dubbio, io la pronuncio con la D maiuscola, voi invece usate la minuscola.
  • E chi ve l’ha detto che uso la minuscola?
  • Lo capisco dal tono: voi dite “dubbio”, moscio moscio, senza nessun entusiasmo, non dite “Dubbio” così come lo dico io, forte e chiaro.

Quesito n. 42: Voi usate la maiuscola o la minuscola?

Our daily question is inspired by an interesting book written by Luciano De Crescenzo, “il Dubbio”:

  • The Doubt is the root of every kind of curiosity, isn’t it? I pronounce the word Doubt with a capital D. You instead use the small letter.
  • You are wrong. I don’t use the small letter.
  • I understand it by the tone: you pronounce “doubt” with no enthusiasm. You don’t say “Doubt” in a strong and clear way like me.

Question n. 42: Do you use the capital letter or the small one?

Maria Domenica Depalo

Quesito numero quarantuno

/ fuoritempofuoriluogo / 26 commenti

Dopo una settimana di pausa, amiche ed amici della filosofia, eccoci di nuovo con i nostri quesiti quotidiani perché – ricordiamolo –  nulla è certo e definitivo ma tutto è dubbio. Pertanto ricominciamo.

I quesiti in generale sono lo strumento ideale per compiere indagini sulla natura umana e per lottare contro la passiva accettazione di ciò che ci accade. Pronti?

Quesito n. 41: Quanto siamo dubbiosi?

Dear philosophers, after a week we’re back again in order to make our questions. Nothing is certain and definitive but everything is a doubt. It’s a good thing.

Questions are the ideal instruments we have to investigate the human nature and to fight against the passive acceptation of what happens to us. So, ready to start again?

Question n. 41: How doubtful are we?

Maria Domenica Depalo

Quesito numero quaranta

/ fuoritempofuoriluogo / 9 commenti

Concluderei questa settimana di quesiti con una domanda che potrebbe apparire banale.

Rispondete, se vi va, senza pensarci troppo e ne parleremo insieme.

La compagnia di voi stessi vi è sufficiente?

 

I would end this week of questions with another one that might seem banal.

Answer if you want and we’ll talk about it together.

Is your company enough for you?

Quesito numero trentanove

/ fuoritempofuoriluogo / 14 commenti

Se dovessi camminare in una valle oscura non temerei alcun male perché Tu sei con me. (da “Salmo di Davide)

E se questa valle oscura fosse solo il nostro Io? Saremmo in grado di attraversarla e di venire a contatto con il nostro Sé?

If I had to walk in a dark valley I would not fear any harm because You are with me. (from “David’s Psalm)
And if this dark valley was just our ego? Will we be able to cross it and come into contact with ourself?

 

 

Quesito numero trentotto

/ fuoritempofuoriluogo / 32 commenti

[…] un filosofo francese del nostro secolo, Jean – Paul Sartre, ha detto che <<siamo condannati a essere liberi>>. E per questa condanna non c’è amnistia…                                                            (da “Etica per un figlio”, di Fernando Savater, Laterza)

Ma siamo sempre liberi davvero? Cosa pensate dell’affermazione di Sartre?

[…] a French philosopher of our century, Jean-Paul Sartre, said that << we are condemned to be free >>. And because of this condemnation there is no amnesty … (from “Ethics for a Son,” by Fernando Savater, Laterza)
But are we always free? What do you think about Sartre’s sentence?