If the aims of this journal are to bring to light, identify, question, and reopen philosophical places and modes, together with their singular cartography and kinesiology within the spatio-temporalities of education; the modes, the forms, the foldings, the narratives, the incorporations of Practical Philosophy; the philosophical de-reconstruction of the concept of application; the modes, the forms, the foldings, the transformations, the turns of Practical Philosophy; the philosophical understandings of concepts, appearances, movements, and the voices of praxis within forms of life, nevertheless it remains a bewildered/amechanon journal. Amechanon before what it seeks to do, before what must appear, before forms and their foldings, before the reconstructions and reversals of meaning, before the question of the practical and of application, before philosophy itself and philosophical understanding. Amechanon as ineffective, powerless, inexpugnabilis, ineluctabilis, inenarrabilis, immensus, infinitus, incredibilis; as bewildering discourse, standing in aporia before what it contains, before the vast, like the sea of Socratic aporia and its stupor, like stupor itself. An alien discourse.

[…] Ὦ Σώκρατες, ἤκουον μὲν ἔγωγε πρὶν καὶ συγγενέσθαι σοι ὅτι σὺ οὐδὲν ἄλλο ἢ αὐτός τε ἀπορεῖς καὶ τοὺς ἄλλους ποιεῖς ἀπορεῖν καὶ νῦν, ὥς γέ μοι δοκεῖς, γοητεύεις με καὶ φαρμάττεις καὶ ἀτεχνῶς κατεπᾴδεις, ὥστε μεστὸν ἀπορίας γεγονέναι. Καὶ δοκεῖς μοι παντελῶς, εἰ δεῖ τι καὶ σκῶψαι, ὁμοιότατος εἶναι τό τε εἶδος καὶ τἆλλα ταύτῃ τῇ πλατείᾳ νάρκῃ τῇ θαλαττίᾳ· καὶ γὰρ αὕτη τὸν ἀεὶ πλησιάζοντα καὶ ἁπτόμενον ναρκᾶν ποιεῖ, καὶ σὺ δοκεῖς μοι νῦν ἐμὲ τοιοῦτόν τι πεποιηκέναι, [ναρκᾶν]· ἀληθῶς γὰρ ἔγωγε καὶ τὴν ψυχὴν καὶ τὸ στόμα ναρκῶ, καὶ οὐκ ἔχω ὅτι ἀποκρίνωμαί σοι. Καίτοι μυριάκις γε περὶ ἀρετῆς παμπόλλους λόγους εἴρηκα καὶ πρὸς πολλούς, καὶ πάνυ εὖ, ὥς γε ἐμαυτῷ ἐδόκουν νῦν δὲ οὐδ’ὅτι ἐστὶν τὸ παράπαν ἔχω εἰπεῖν. Καί μοι δοκεῖς εὖ βουλεύεσθαι οὐκ ἐκπλέων ἐνθένδε οὐδ’ἀποδημῶν· εἰ γὰρ ξένος ἐν ἄλλῃ πόλει τοιαῦτα ποιοῖς, τάχ’ ἂν ὡς γόης ἀπαχθείης […] (Μένων, 80a-b)

‘‘Socrates, I used to be told, before I began to meet you, [80a] that yours was just a case of being in doubt yourself and making others doubt also: and so now I find you are merely bewitching me with your spells and incantations, which have reduced me to utter perplexity. And if I am indeed to have my jest, I consider that both in your appearance and in other respects you are extremely like the flat torpedo sea-fish; for it benumbs anyone who approaches and touches it, and something of the sort is what I find you have done to me now. For in truth [80b] I feel my soul and my tongue quite benumbed, and I am at a loss what answer to give you. And yet on countless occasions I have made abundant speeches on virtue to various people—and very good speeches they were, so I thought—but now I cannot say one word as to what it is. You are well advised, I consider, in not voyaging or taking a trip away from home; for if you went on like this as a stranger in any other city you would very likely be taken up for a wizard” [Plato, Menon, 80a-b] [W.R.M. Lamb, https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/].

And if all this can take place behind the scenes of such a journal, on its stage the discourses appear anything but bewildered, like a paradox that cannot be confronted but only brought to light as far as possible. Amechanon follows the movements of the Laboratory of Research on Practical Philosophy, seeking to bring this attitude to light as the Laboratory’s own stance. Seeking to include the gaps, the difficulties, the aporias, and the implications involved in exploring and understanding the concepts that belong to the field of Practical Philosophy, as well as in the selection, creation, and development of materials, actions, acts, and praxis associated with the development of such a field. In one sense, the journal becomes a research journal.

The fourth issue of the journal includes two of its regular sections:

The first section [Auditorium] features the thematic dossier entitled Practical Philosophy and Literature. This dossier forms part of the research orientations developed by the Laboratory of Research on Practical Philosophy and brings together a series of contributions devoted to exploring the relationship between Practical Philosophy and Literature. Bringing together researchers from different philosophical and disciplinary backgrounds, it reflects the diversity of approaches that currently shape this growing field of research.

The second section [In the Laboratory] brings together, in its first part, the Proceedings of the 4th International Online Seminar for PhD Candidates and Master’s Students – Research Themes IV (2022-2023) and in the second part, the Proceedings of the 5th International Interdisciplinary Seminar on Practical Philosophy for Phd & Master Students (blended). It presents one of the emblematic activities of the Laboratory of Research on Practical Philosophy, through which Practical Philosophy is explored from an interdisciplinary perspective on the basis of the research conducted by phd and master students. Over the years, the Seminar has fostered the emergence of an international community of early career researchers closely associated with the L.R.P.Ph. its research orientations, and its research culture. It also highlights the fruitfulness of a plural, open, and non-prescriptive exploration of Practical Philosophy, capable of generating new understandings of the field, whose echoes also extend to the project of the International Biennale of Practical Philosophy organized by the L.R.P.Ph.

Εκ τε γὰρ οὐδάμ’ έόντος ἀμήχανόν έστι γενέσθαι
Καὶ τα’ἐόν έξαπολέσθαι ἀνήνυστον καὶ ἄπυστον.
Αἰεί γὰρ τη γ’έσται, ὅπη κὲ τις αἰέν έρείδη
(Eμπεδοκλέους, Απόσπ. 12 [Αριστοτέλης] Μ.Ξ.Γ. 2, 975b1
G. S. Kirk & J. E. Raven, M. Schofield, The Presocratic Philosophers)

Prof. Elena Theodoropoulou
Director of L.R.P.Ph.

For the Editorial click here

The first section [Auditorium] features the thematic dossier entitled Practical Philosophy and Literature. This dossier forms part of the research orientations developed by the Laboratory of Research on Practical Philosophy and brings together a series of contributions devoted to exploring the relationship between Practical Philosophy and Literature. Bringing together researchers from different philosophical and disciplinary backgrounds, it reflects the diversity of approaches that currently shape this growing field of research.

The encounter between Literature and Practical Philosophy does not designate a clearly delimited field of research. While the relationship between philosophy and literature, or between philosophical and literary writing, has long been the subject of sustained philosophical reflection, the introduction of Practical Philosophy into this dialogue shifts both its emphasis and its questions, as long as it broadens the horizon of the basic question itself (i.e. how philosophy and literature relate to one another), opening it to a variety of possibilities. Literature may be approached as a site of ethical formation, as a philosophical experience, as a practice of reading or writing, as a space of interpretation, as a medium for exploring action, or as a laboratory in which philosophical questions take different forms.

In this sense, the very title of the dossier should itself be understood as experimental, and perhaps even provocative: at first sight, it may appear self-explanatory and transparent. It readily suggests either an exploration of ethical questions in literary works or the application of philosophical approaches to literary texts – yet these familiar interpretations quickly prove insufficient. Υet the apparent familiarity of the title is misleading: neither of these assumptions seems capable of accounting for what is at stake here. The difficulty lies elsewhere. It points to the need for a renewed interrogation of the very constitution of Practical Philosophy today: it is precisely this broader question that has gradually emerged through the research activities of the Laboratory of Research on Practical Philosophy and within whose horizon the present dossier has been conceived.

The contributions gathered in this dossier reflect both the richness and the complexity of this undertaking without though converging upon a common understanding of either the conjuction between literature and Practical Philosophy or of Practical Philosophy itself. Instead, they approach this relationship through different literary corpora, philosophical traditions, conceptual vocabularies, and research practices – they reveal less a consolidated field than a space of exploration, where different possibilities, tensions, and trajectories become visible. The articles may therefore be read as indicators of what Practical Philosophy struggles to become, or perhaps of what it cannot become. At times, they delineate possible orientations; at others, they expose conceptual tensions, implicit assumptions, or unresolved questions concerning this encounter. Together, they stage its difficulty, allowing different ways of imagining, articulating, and philosophically engaging it to emerge: they reveal a field in the making, whose meanings, boundaries, and modes of inquiry remain open to exploration. Thus the dossier unfolds as a progressive reconfiguration of this coming together of Literature and Practical Philosophy: beginning with literature as a constitutive philosophical resource, it moves to philosophy and literature as an interconnected field of inquiry; from translation as a philosophical practice to reading as a philosophical experience; from the ethical function of literary representation in the classical tradition to a concluding retrospective reflection on literature as a lived and continuously reinterpreted form of Practical Philosophy. This movement does not indicate successive stages: it sketches a dynamic topography in which the interplay between Literature and Practical Philosophy gradually unfolds through different perspectives.

Within this topography, the question emerges less from the individual contributions than from the curatorial gesture that brings them into relation under the title Practical Philosophy and Literature. Considered in this way, the dossier does not simply gather different studies; it stages an intersection whose philosophical implications exceed the explicit intentions of each contribution.

In Dans la théorie philosophique de Chantal Jaquet sur les transclasses, Yannis Prelorentzos examines the constitutive role that novels, autobiographical, and auto-socio-biographical narratives play within Chantal Jaquet’s philosophical theory of the transclasses. Moving beyond the traditional view of literature as a source of examples or illustrations, the article shows how literary narratives become indispensable philosophical resources for grasping singular trajectories and the dynamics of social non-reproduction. Through a close reading of Jaquet’s engagement with writers such as Stendhal, Annie Ernaux, Richard Wright, John Edgar Wideman, and others, the study reconstructs a mode of philosophical inquiry in which literature participates in the very production of concepts, making visible dimensions of lived experience that resist reduction to sociological explanation or abstract conceptual analysis. Particular attention is given to the different epistemic functions of fiction, autobiography, and auto-socio-biographical writing, revealing how each contributes differently to Jaquet’s attempt to develop a philosophy of singularity without relinquishing philosophical rigour. By foregrounding literature as a constitutive partner of philosophical thinking rather than an external object of interpretation, the article opens the way for Dimitrios Kokoris’ broader reconsideration of the relationship between philosophy and literature. 

This long and often intricate interplay is reconsidered through his Philosophy and Literature: Traces of a Complicated Relationship and Poetic Samples from the Modern Greek Literary Field (Palamas, Ritsos). Bringing together philosophical reflection, literary theory, and close reading, the article maps major forms of interaction between philosophy and literature before focusing on the distinction between their internal and external relation. Four poems by Kostis Palamas and Yannis Ritsos then serve as case studies through which different modes of philosophical thought are shown to emerge within poetic discourse. Having explored the philosophical significance of literature and the multiple forms of its dialogue with philosophy, the volume turns to the question of translation as another mode of philosophical practice. With Reflections and Multiple Mirrors: Retranslation as a Laboratory for Applied Philosophy in Literature, Polyzois Kotsanadas Dimopoulos approaches literary retranslation through the metaphor of the mirror, presenting it as a site where philosophical concepts are put into practice, tested, and reconfigured. By interpreting retranslations as ongoing reactualizations rather than secondary reproductions, the article explores translation as a laboratory for Applied Philosophy: an experimental and hermeneutic practice in which questions of plurality, hospitality, and situated meaning are brought into philosophical play. From translation as a philosophical practice, the volume moves to reading as a philosophical experience. In Reading as a Philosophical Experience: Beyond the Dichotomy Between Literature and Philosophy, Stéphanie Péraud-Puigségur questions the rigid distinction traditionally established between philosophical and literary texts by shifting attention from the nature of texts to the experience of the reader. Exploring the figure of the “philosophical reader”, she argues that both literary and philosophical texts may give rise to a genuinely philosophical experience when they engage the reader in the operations characteristic of philosophising. The question of literature as a site of philosophical experience is further developed through a return to the classical tradition. Τhrough her The Hero and Virtue: Hercules as Exemplum Virtutis in Seneca’s Hercules Oetaeus, Viviane Moraes de Caldas revisits Seneca’s tragedy to explore the ethical and pedagogical function assigned to literature within Stoic philosophy. Choosing the figure of Hercules as exemplum virtutis, the article examines how literary representation becomes a site for the exercise of Practical Philosophy, where virtue is cultivated through the daily exercise of wisdom. The dossier concludes with a retrospective reflection grounded in personal, academic, and research experience. In Literature and Practical Philosophy: A Retrospective Look at Experiences, Martine Janner-Raimondi revisits a series of personal, academic, and research experiences in order to reflect on the dialogue between literature and philosophy. Through this retrospective journey, the article explores how literary experience may itself be understood as a form of Practical Philosophy, approached through lived experience, reflective engagement, and philosophical inquiry.

Taken as a whole, these contributions reveal a broad spectrum of ways in which Literature and Practical Philosophy intersect: they do not all begin from the same understanding of Practical Philosophy, nor do they necessarily set out to address its meaning explicitly. Precisely because of this diversity, the thematic introduction that follows does not provide a key to reading the contributions: it opens a horizon within which they may be approached differently, allowing them to resonate with one another in ways that exceed the explicit intentions of each individual text. In doing so, the dossier creates a threshold through which these texts may be approached anew. The thematic introduction does not seek to subsume them under a single conceptual framework but to establish, more fundamentally, the conditions under which the encounter between Literature and Practical Philosophy may itself become philosophically thinkable.

Prof. Elena Theodoropoulou,
Director of the L.R.P.Ph.

For the Dossier’s Editorial click here

How to cite this article: Theodoropoulou, E., “Towards a practical philosophy of literature: The Living Scaffold of Thinking”, in: Theodoropoulou (dir.), Dossier: “Literature & Practical Philosophy”, Amechanon. International Journal of the “Laboratory of Research on Practical Philosophy” (L.R.P.Ph.), vol. IV, 2022-2024, Rhodes: L.R.P.Ph., 2026, pp. 23-66.

Towards a practical philosophy of literature:
The Living Scaffold of Thinking

This article reconstructs the relation between philosophy and literature by grounding it in a broader redefinition of practical philosophy itself. Rather than treating literature as an object of interpretation, it examines the conditions under which thinking arises within acts of engaging the text. A long genealogy -from analytic and continental debates to hermeneutics, phenomenology, and post-structuralism – shows that literary forms do not merely illustrate philosophical ideas but generate the very gestures through which understanding takes shape. A decisive shift emerges from the relation between two conceptions of meaning: the passage from meaning to sense. The notion of sense designates the pre-conceptual event in which world, language, and subject co-constitute one another, allowing understanding to begin to take form before it crystallizes into meaning. Building on this, the article develops a framework in which reading event becomes a site of philosophical praxis: a practice of attention, exposure, and transformation. What emerges is not a new subfield but a reconfiguration of philosophical practice itself -one that the article names a practical philosophy of literature (PPL): a posture that recognizes literature as a space where thinking is enacted, tested, and renewed.

Keywords: evental practical philosophy, practical philosophy of literature, meaning-sense, event of engaging the text, thought in practice.

Download the Thematic Introduction, click here

Pour citer cet article: Prelorentzos, Y., «Le rôle fondamental de la littérature dans la théorie philosophique de Chantal Jaquet sur les transclasses», dans: Théodoropoulou, E. (dir.), Dossier: «Littérature & Philosophie pratique», Amechanon. Revue Internationale du «Laboratoire de Recherche en Philosophie Pratique» (L.R.Ph.P.), vol. IV, 2022-2024, Rhodes: L.R.Ph.P., 2026, pp. 68-111.

Le rôle fondamental de la littérature dans la théorie philosophique
de Chantal Jaquet sur les transclasses

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How to cite this article: Kokoris, D., ‘‘Philosophy and Literature: Traces of a Complicated Relationship and Poetic Samples from the Modern Greek Literary Field (Palamas, Ritsos)’’, in: Theodoropoulou (dir.), Dossier: ‘‘Literature & Practical Philosophy’’, Amechanon. International Journal of the ‘‘Laboratory of Research on Practical Philosophy’’ (L.R.P.Ph.), vol. IV, 2022-2024, Rhodes: L.R.P.Ph., 2026, pp. 112-147.

Philosophy and Literature: Traces of a Complicated Relationship and Poetic Samples
from the Modern Greek Literary Field (Palamas, Ritsos)

The main fields of the relations between philosophy and literature are clarified, a text from the interwar period is commented on, in the context of which philosophy is perceived as “Circe”, while evidence is also provided for the relationship between literature and the ethical precepts of literary theory as a philosophical process. In addition, four modern Greek poems are approached, two by Kostis Palamas (“The Tristique” and the twelfth sonnet of the “Homelands” series) and two by Yannis Ritsos (“Sonnet” and “After Troy”), as characteristic examples of the internal and external relationship of poetry with philosophy.

Keywords: Philosophy, Literature, Internal Relationship, External Relationship, Palamas, Ritsos.

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Pour citer cet article: Kotsanadas, Dimopoulos., P., « Reflets et multiples miroirs: la retraduction comme laboratoire de la philosophie appliquée dans la littérature », dans: Théodoropoulou, E. (dir.), Dossier: « Littérature & Philosophie pratique », Amechanon. Revue Internationale du « Laboratoire de Recherche en Philosophie Pratique » (L.R.Ph.P.), vol. IV, 2022-2024, Rhodes: L.R.Ph.P., 2026, pp. 148-176.

Reflets et multiples miroirs: la retraduction comme laboratoire de la philosophie appliquée dans la littérature

Cet article examine la retraduction littéraire à travers la métaphore du miroir, en la présentant comme un laboratoire de philosophie appliquée. S’appuyant sur Les multiples miroirs de la traduction de Maria Papadima, il interprète les retraductions non comme des copies secondaires, mais comme des réactualisations continues génératrices de pluralité interprétative. Le miroir y fonctionne comme un opérateur de transformation, réfractant le sens selon des contextes historiques, linguistiques et culturels. Sous l’influence de Berman, Benjamin, Derrida et Ricoeur, l’étude envisage la traduction comme une pratique intrinsèquement expérimentale. Mobilisant des analogies optiques issues de la philosophie et des sciences physiques, elle distingue divers modèles (miroir plan, miroir convexe, eau calme, eau ondulée) afin de cartographier des approches herméneutiques différenciées. En dialogue avec Kant, Deleuze, Foucault et Gadamer, elle élabore une phénoménologie de la traduction comme manifestation partielle et située. La retraduction apparaît ainsi comme un passage ouvert entre langues et subjectivités, fondé sur une éthique de l’hospitalité et de la pluralité interprétative.

Mots-clés : traduction miroir, traduction miroir plan, traduction convexe, traduction concave, traduction prisme, traductologie, archéologie de la traduction.

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Pour citer cet article: Péraud-Puigségur, S., « La lecture comme expérience philosophique: par-delà l’opposition entre littérature et philosophie », dans: Théodoropoulou, E. (dir.), Dossier: « Littérature & Philosophie pratique », Amechanon. Revue Internationale du « Laboratoire de Recherche en Philosophie Pratique » (L.R.Ph.P.), vol. IV, 2022-2024, Rhodes: L.R.Ph.P., 2026, pp. 177-196.

La lecture comme expérience philosophique:
par-delà l’opposition entre littérature et philosophie

Cet article analyse et discute la séparation étanche parfois établie entre textes littéraires et textes philosophiques, tout en reconnaissant leurs spécificités. Il propose de décaler le regard pour se centrer plutôt sur la posture du lecteur philosophe, celui qui, grâce à sa lecture de textes philosophiques et/ou littéraires dont la forme invite à la réflexion et à la problématisation va faire une expérience philosophique originale articulant quatre opérations intellectuelles caractéristiques du philosopher. Il illustre à travers l’analyse formelle de deux textes de statuts très différents (un texte philosophique à destination d’un public adulte, un texte littéraire à destination d’un public jeune) comment la forme même du texte peut générer un questionnement et une posture philosophiques chez le lecteur en permettant de dépasser la coupure entre texte philosophique et texte littéraire et s’efforce d’en tirer de premières conséquences didactiques pour l’enseignement de la philosophie et pour la recherche sur les pratiques de lecture philosophique.

Mots-clés: Littérature, philosophie, lecteur-philosophe, écriture, pratique philosophique

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How to cite this article: Moraes de Caldas, V., ‘‘The hero and virtue: Hercules as exemplum virtutis in Seneca’s Hercules Oetaeus“, in: Theodoropoulou (dir.), Dossier: “Literature & Practical Philosophy”, Amechanon. International Journal of the “Laboratory of Research on Practical Philosophy” (L.R.P.Ph.), vol. IV, 2022-2024, Rhodes: L.R.P.Ph., 2026, pp. 197-212.

The hero and virtue: Hercules as exemplum virtutis
in Seneca’s Hercules Oetaeus

This article examines Seneca’s tragedy Hercules Oetaeus, highlighting the figure of Hercules as an exemplum virtutis within the Stoic philosophical framework. From the premise that philosophy must serve as practical guidance for life, Seneca attributes to tragedy an aesthetic, ethical, and pedagogical function, in which pain, physical and moral, plays a central role in the cultivation of wisdom. The study emphasizes the virtue of fortitudo, understood both as physical courage — embodied in the Twelve Labors — and as moral courage — displayed in the confrontation with pain and death. The analysis shows that the body’s fragility, although dramatically portrayed, is transcended through reason, firmness of spirit, and contempt for death, thereby shaping Hercules as a model of the Stoic sapiens. In this sense, the tragedy goes beyond the boundaries of myth to propose an ethical paradigm of life according to reason and nature, reaffirming that virtue is acquired through effort, discipline, and the daily practice of wisdom.

Keywords: Seneca, Stoicism, Hercules, Roman tragedy, virtue.

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Pour citer cet article: Janner-Raimondi, M., « Littérature et philosophie pratique: regard rétrospectif sur expériences », dans: Théodoropoulou, E. (dir.), Dossier: « Littérature & Philosophie pratique », Amechanon. Revue Internationale du « Laboratoire de Recherche en Philosophie Pratique » (L.R.Ph.P.), vol. IV, 2022-2024, Rhodes: L.R.Ph.P., 2026, pp. 213-233.

Littérature et philosophie pratique:
regard rétrospectif sur expériences

Penser les rapports entre littérature et philosophie en tant que chercheure en sciences de l’éducation et de la formation ancrée en philosophie pratique d’orientation phénoménologique attachée à rendre compte des expériences vécues et de leurs acquis par les personnes en situation de vulnérabilités: handicap, maladie chronique ou rare ou bien encore dans le cadre du travail invisibilisé, en tenant compte des dimensions biographiques, conduit à appréhender les moments de rencontres entre littérature et philosophie selon qu’il s’agisse de moments expérientiels dans un parcours de vie personnel, académique et de recherche. Revenir sur quelques-uns de ces moments en les faisant résonner afin de dégager quelques caractéristiques des rapports élaborés entre ces deux notions : telle est la visée de cet article.

Mots-clés : littérature, philosophie pratique, phénoménologie, recherche biographique.

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The second section [In the Laboratory] brings together, in its first part, the Proceedings of the 4th International Online Seminar for PhD Candidates and Master’s Students – Research Themes IV (2022-2023) and in the second part, the Proceedings of the 5th International Interdisciplinary Seminar on Practical Philosophy for Phd & Master Students (blended). It presents one of the emblematic activities of the Laboratory of Research on Practical Philosophy, through which Practical Philosophy is explored from an interdisciplinary perspective on the basis of the research conducted by phd and master students. Over the years, the Seminar has fostered the emergence of an international community of early career researchers closely associated with the L.R.P.Ph. its research orientations, and its research culture. It also highlights the fruitfulness of a plural, open, and non-prescriptive exploration of Practical Philosophy, capable of generating new understandings of the field, whose echoes also extend to the project of the International Biennale of Practical Philosophy organized by the L.R.P.Ph.

With this issue, the proceedings of the 4th International Interdisciplinary Seminar of Practical Philosophy for phd & master students return to Amechanon as a distinct section, following the publication of the proceedings of the 3rd Seminar within the volume of the 3rd International Biennale of Practical Philosophy. The present collection brings together the contributions presented during the 4th edition, resuming the Seminar’s editorial trajectory while reflecting the evolving philosophical questions that continue to shape its discussions.

A recurrent philosophical concern runs through these contributions. Αcross different themes and understandings of Practical Philosophy, the articles repeatedly return to situations in which action, education, inquiry, or judgment can no longer rely on already available answers. What is called into question is not only a concept or a method, but the adequacy of inherited forms of understanding themselves. A teaching, an established distinction, a research method, a belief, or even a form of knowledge proves insufficient when confronted with concrete situations that require renewed orientation. In this respect, the contributions move beyond the familiar notion of philosophy as practice. They explore the ways in which philosophical reflection emerges precisely where established conceptual or methodological frameworks begin to lose their self-evidence. Against this background, four recurrent movements gradually become visible. They do not constitute thematic sections, nor do they classify the contributions: they intersect throughout the volume, often within the same article, offering different perspectives from which the Seminar as a whole may be read.

Some contributions explore the ways in which experience, intuition, and crisis disturb established forms of understanding. Others examine the formation of the subject and of the research object through processes of inquiry, writing, and self-knowledge. A further movement revisits enduring philosophical distinctions, reconsidering the relations between theory and practice, teaching and learning, and morality and politics. Finally, several contributions turn to questions of freedom, judgment, responsibility, and education, showing how Practical Philosophy emerges wherever philosophical reflection becomes inseparable from situations that require orientation and action. Freedom no longer appears as an exclusively interior condition, but as something continually negotiated through discipline, habit, political plurality, educational responsibility, and relations with others. Practical Philosophy thus emerges under conditions of exposure to the world rather than withdrawal from it.

The first movement leads from established knowledge towards forms of experience capable of reconfiguring it. Xenophon’s Anabasis, Bergsonian intuition, and phenomenological reflections on crisis each suggest, in different ways, that experience interrupts inherited understanding and compels thought to seek new orientations. Here, experience, intuition, and crisis appear as distinct yet related modes through which philosophical reflection is displaced beyond what is already known. A second movement concerns the constitution of both the subject and the object of inquiry. Questions of self-knowledge, writing, philosophical method, and the construction of research objects reveal inquiry itself as a formative process. Questions of self-knowledge, writing, philosophical method, and the construction of research objects reveal inquiry itself as a formative process. A third movement revisits a series of philosophical distinctions that have long structured educational and ethical thought. Here, distinctions such as theory and practice, teaching and learning, or morality and politics become sites of mediation, judgment, and philosophical work instead of remaining fixed oppositions to be either reaffirmed or dissolved. Their concern is less to abolish conceptual differences than to reconsider how they operate within lived educational and political situations.

What ultimately brings these contributions together is therefore not a shared conception of Practical Philosophy, but a common willingness to reopen situations in which inherited forms of understanding are no longer sufficient. The volume presents Practical Philosophy not as a unified theoretical position but as a field of inquiry that takes shape wherever philosophical thought becomes necessary because established answers cease to orient action, research, education, or judgment.

Cogitationes

Crisis occupies a central place in Jacques Quintin’s phenomenological and ethical reflection (Philosophy and Crisis. A Phenomenological and Ethical Perspective). Rather than treating it as an exceptional situation to be overcome, the article understands crisis as a condition that interrupts established forms of understanding and compels thought to reconsider its own presuppositions. Particular attention is given to medical ethics, where situations of uncertainty call for judgment, dialogue, and responsibility beyond the application of predetermined norms. Philosophy thus emerges as a practice of orientation, capable of responding to the complexity and uncertainty of lived experience.

In Prayer of a Method in Philosophy of Education for Praxis, Pablo Flores del Rosario reflects on the relationship between philosophical inquiry, educational research, and praxis through an original meditation on method. Here, method emerges as a reflective movement, taking shape through the very questions that research generates. Writing, inquiry, and philosophical formation become inseparable processes through which both the researcher and the research object are progressively constituted, inviting a renewed understanding of philosophy of education as a living practice of thought.

Discourses

Intuition. The Bergsonian Method revisits Henri Bergson’s concept of intuition as the methodological principle that grants access to duration, movement, and the creative unfolding of life. Mariam Anna Mikou examines intuition not simply as an alternative mode of knowledge but as the condition that enables philosophy to move beyond conceptual abstractions towards a more immediate engagement with reality. The article does not oppose intuition and intellect – it shows how intuition precedes and guides conceptual thought, presenting the Bergsonian method not merely as an epistemological proposal but as a distinctive way of philosophising grounded in the experience of life itself. Xenophon’s Anabasis provides the point of departure for Antoine Bélanger’s L’Anabase de Xénophon sous l’angle de la philosophie pratique. Revisiting the expedition of the Ten Thousand, the article examines how Xenophon’s experience progressively reshapes his understanding of Socratic teaching, particularly with regard to piety, divination, and practical judgment. Εxperience is not presented as the application of previously acquired knowledge the text shows how action itself becomes the occasion through which philosophical understanding is transformed. How is self-knowledge constituted? The Problem of Self-Knowledge revisits this enduring philosophical question through a dialogue with contemporary epistemology and philosophy of mind. Fotini Kyriakou examines the conditions under which self-knowledge is constituted, focusing on propositional attitudes, first-person authority, agency, and the normative role of self-ascription. By bringing together traditional epistemological approaches and constitutive accounts of self-knowledge, the article argues that the formation of the self cannot be reduced to justified true belief alone, but involves the subject’s ongoing commitment to the constitution of one’s own mental life. Why do teachers often act differently from what curricula or pedagogical principles prescribe? This question gives rise to Primary English Teachers’ Beliefs on Authenticity and Their Manifestation in Everyday Teaching Practice. The Construction of an Object of Research, in which Bernardo Cruz Bello retraces the process through which an object of educational research gradually takes shape. Drawing on his experience as an academic advisor in English Language Teaching, he examines how teachers’ beliefs about authenticity emerge as a key dimension for understanding classroom practice. The article therefore reflects not only on teachers’ beliefs and authenticity, but also on the theoretical and methodological decisions through which a research object is progressively constructed.

Can lifelong learning be understood beyond the acquisition of professional competences? Lifelong Learning and Work, Dialogue and Praxis addresses this question by examining the relationships between work, dialogue, and praxis within the horizon of lifelong learning. Arianna Taravella argues that learning cannot be reduced to the accumulation of knowledge or skills but should be understood as a dialogical and transformative process through which individuals critically engage with themselves, others, and their professional environments. In this perspective, lifelong learning emerges as an ongoing practice of reflection and participation that reconfigures the relation between education and work. The notion of “construction” has become central to contemporary educational discourse, while often referring to significantly different conceptions of learning. What “Construction” Are We Talking About? Perspectives on the Teaching Paradigm and the Learning Paradigm examines the conceptual assumptions underlying the teaching and learning paradigms by drawing on Dewey’s notion of inquiry. Samuel Nepton argues that the apparent opposition between the two paradigms conceals different understandings of how knowledge is constructed, suggesting that inquiry provides a more comprehensive framework for rethinking their relationship within educational practice. Freedom acquires markedly different meanings in Stoic and contemporary philosophical thought. Freedom in Epictetus through Comparison with Foucault’s Theory examines this tension by bringing Epictetus’ conception of inner freedom into dialogue with Michel Foucault’s analysis of disciplinary power. Thanos Biniaris explores how these contrasting perspectives illuminate different understandings of selfhood, autonomy, and ethical formation, showing that freedom emerges not simply as an inner disposition but also in relation to practices of discipline, power, and self-transformation. Hannah Arendt’s distinction between morality and politics provides the point of departure for The Distinction between Morality and Politics in Arendt’s Thought and the Role of the Educator. Eleni Tziora and Alexandros Theodoridis examine how this distinction illuminates the educational responsibility of the educator, arguing that teaching cannot be reduced either to moral prescription or to political instrumentalisation. By exploring the intersections between judgment, plurality, and responsibility, the article reconsiders the educator’s role as one that remains fundamentally oriented towards the shared world and the conditions of its renewal.

Read together, these contributions do not produce a definition of Practical Philosophy, nor were they expected to do so. What they make possible is something different: they allow a series of philosophical situations to appear side by side, situations in which established concepts, methods, distinctions, or forms of knowledge prove insufficient for the questions at hand. It is precisely through this juxtaposition that another question gradually comes into view: not what Practical Philosophy already is, but what it may become when approached through the concrete problems, inquiries, and research practices explored in these studies.

Prof. Elena Theodoropoulou,
Director of the L.R.P.Ph.

For the Editorial click here

How to cite this article: Quintin, J., “Philosophy and crisis. A phenomenological and ethical perspective”, in: Theodoropoulou (dir.), “Proceedings of the 4th On-line Doctoral & Master Students International Seminar: Research Themes ΙV, 2022-2023”, Amechanon. International Journal of the “Laboratory of Research on Practical Philosophy” (L.R.P.Ph.), vol. IV, 2022-2024, Rhodes: L.R.P.Ph., 2026, pp. 245-252.

Philosophy and crisis.
A phenomenological and ethical perspective

Socrates took great pleasure in putting his interlocutors in crisis by demonstrating the scope of their reasoning and proposing other perspectives that leads to a crisis. In this case, we will ask if it is ethical to teach philosophy to future practitioners if we understand philosophy as a way to create crisis in the manner we understand oneself, others and the world. Hermeneutics is then about being able to move from one perspective to another without exclusion. There are therefore situations or philosophical objects that call for different readings because of different horizons. We will show how crisis becomes a blessing insofar as it allows an enrichment of our perspectives by multiplying them, even if there is contradiction. We will identify three crucial moments that structure this hermeneutic approach and the tasks of the teacher when teaching medical ethics.

Keywords: Philosophy, crisis, hermeneutics, understanding, question.

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How to cite this article: Flores del Rosario, P., “Prayer of a method in philosophy of education for praxis”, in: Theodoropoulou (dir.), “Proceedings of the 4th On-line Doctoral & Master Students International Seminar: Research Themes ΙV, 2022-2023”, Amechanon. International Journal of the “Laboratory of Research on Practical Philosophy” (L.R.P.Ph.), vol. IV, 2022-2024, Rhodes: L.R.P.Ph., 2026, pp. 253-271.

Prayer of a method in philosophy of education for praxis

Three problems call for reflection, which when articulated Will allow a possible explanation of a work in progress. Years ago i started the exploratory work in philosophy of education. Its birthplace was my own praxis as an educator. Experiences that when running on different educational levels demanded a staging of what was lived. That could only be achieved from a personal reflection. This series of reflection had as one of its genesis various academic events, in various countries, for various topics. Some touched on the relationship betwen terrorism, philosophy, education and violence, others the theme of the philosophical gesture. Another genesis arose from the effects of the neoliberal educational reform in education 2012-2018, there the issue of what i called necroeduction arises. From here a certain compensatory effect is derived, one of which i call los, in education, of education and its subjects.

Keywords: method, philosophy, education, prayer, writing.

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How to cite this article: Mikou, A., M., “Intuition. The Bergsonian Method”, in: Theodoropoulou (dir.), “Proceedings of the 4th On-line Doctoral & Master Students International Seminar: Research Themes ΙV, 2022-2023”, Amechanon. International Journal of the “Laboratory of Research on Practical Philosophy” (L.R.P.Ph.), vol. IV, 2022-2024, Rhodes: L.R.P.Ph., 2026, pp. 273-279.

Intuition. The Bergsonian Method

A fundamental concept in Bergson’s oeuvre is intuition, a cognitive function which, along with intellect (intelligence) and emotion, constitutes the human psyche. Knowledge arises from both intellect and intuition. Intuition, however, is significantly differentiated from the intellect, as it offers a knowledge of the spirit by the spirit itself. The intellect strengthens our knowledge regarding the objects of our environment but does not bring us into actual contact with life. It is limited to functional knowledge, whereas intuition aims at universal and authentic truths. Intuition transcends experience, bypasses abstract—yet always constructed—concepts, and moves to surpass whatever constrains philosophy. Intuition grasps reality and true duration (durée réelle) and, consequently, is directly related to freedom. Nevertheless, intuition functions complementarily to the intellect; while the former perceives the truth, the latter crystallizes it, endowing it with conceptual and linguistic form.

Keywords: Intuition, Method, Intelligence.

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Pour citer cet article: Bélanger, A., M., « L’Anabase de Xénophon sous l’angle de la philosophie pratique », dans: Théodoropoulou, E. (dir.), « Actes du 4ème Séminaire International des Doctorants|tes & Étudiants|tes Master en ligne: Thématiques de Recherche IV, 2022-23 », Amechanon. Revue Internationale du « Laboratoire de Recherche en Philosophie Pratique » (L.R.Ph.P.), vol. IV, 2022-2024, Rhodes: L.R.Ph.P., 2026, pp. 280-308.

L’Anabase de Xénophon
sous l’angle de la philosophie pratique

Mon article est une étude de l’Anabase, récit miliaire du philosophe Xénophon, ayant pour but d’approfondir la question de l’influence socratique sur la piété de l’auteur. Plus précisément, il sera montré qu’à travers la narration, Xénophon témoigne de son évolution philosophique en ce qui a trait à la divination. De fait, c’est à travers son expérience pratique et l’exercice de ses fonctions comme général de l’armée des Dix-mille que le philosophe a pu mieux comprendre les enseignements de son maître. En comparant et en analysant les différents moments où Xénophon consulte les dieux par des sacrifices, je montrerai comment évolue sa piété à travers son expérience militaire et comment l’expédition des Dix-mille a été l’occasion pour lui d’une prise de conscience philosophique en ce qui a trait à l’enseignement de son maître.

Mots-clés: Xénophon, Socrate, Anabase, Mémorables, divination, sacrifice, stratège.

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How to cite this article: Kyriakou, F., “The problem of self-knowledge”, in: Theodoropoulou (dir.), “Proceedings of the 4th On-line Doctoral & Master Students International Seminar: Research Themes ΙV, 2022-2023”, Amechanon. International Journal of the “Laboratory of Research on Practical Philosophy” (L.R.P.Ph.), vol. IV, 2022-2024, Rhodes: L.R.P.Ph., 2026, pp. 309-326.

The problem of self-knowledge

Self-knowledge concerns the subject’s access to one’s own mental states -sensations, perceptions, emotions, and propositional attitudes – in a privileged way, without necessarily being grounded in observation or inference. Although epistemically secure, it is not infallible. Coliva’s constitutive thesis maintains that such knowledge is authoritative and distinctive, yet it does not arise from a cognitive undertaking. Through the instillation of first-order beliefs, the subject comes to understand the world from a particular perspective, not necessarily a correct one, among other possible alternatives. In the field of education, linking this form of knowledge to non-causal criteria and acknowledging the performativity of propositional attitudes, together with embodied experience, strengthens the pluralism of perspectives and fosters the development of critical capacity in “non-isomorphic” subjects.

Keywords: self-knowledge, constitutive thesis, propositional attitudes, performativity, pluralism of perspectives.

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How to site this article: Cruz Bello, B., “Primary English Teachers’ beliefs on authenticity and their manifestation in everyday teaching practice. The construction of an object of research”, in: Theodoropoulou (dir.), “Proceedings of the 4th On-line Doctoral & Master Students International Seminar: Research Themes ΙV, 2022-2023”, Amechanon. International Journal of the “Laboratory of Research on Practical Philosophy” (L.R.P.Ph.), vol. IV, 2022-2024, Rhodes: L.R.P.Ph., 2026, pp. 327-339.

Primary English Teachers’ beliefs on authenticity and their manifestation in everyday teaching practice.
The construction of an object of research

This paper addresses the construction of an object of research in the first two semesters of a Ph D Program in Educational Science in Mexico, aimed at comprehending what primary education English teachers believe about authenticity (a term brought about by the Communicative Language Teaching approach), and their manifestation in everyday practice. It begins by describing how the topic became relevant for the researcher, to later discuss the theoretical fundamentals that allowed to set down the object of study, discussing specifically the notions of teachers beliefs, and authenticity. Finally, it elaborates on some methodological considerations of the research, and draws some conclusions regarding the construction process.

Keywords: Construction of a research object, English Language Teaching, Teachers’ beliefs, authenticity.

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How to cite this article: Taravella A., “Lifelong learning and work, dialogue and praxis” in: Theodoropoulou (dir.), “Proceedings of the 4th On-line Doctoral & Master Students International Seminar: Research Themes ΙV, 2022-2023”, Amechanon. International Journal of the “Laboratory of Research on Practical Philosophy” (L.R.P.Ph.), vol. IV, 2022-2024, Rhodes: L.R.P.Ph., 2026, pp. 340-349.

Lifelong learning and work, dialogue and praxis

In its pedagogical soul, lifelong learning could be described as a continuous becoming that accompanies the person throughout life. It respects one’s singular integrity, personal convictions and motivations, while enabling a continuous change and conversion: an upward movement (agoghein) that elevates each person to promote them in all their dimensions and wholeness. The person is in a “reflective conversation” between different contexts, people and life experiences. Among the dimensions of self-realisation, pedagogical knowledge recognises work as a fulfilling dimension: the act of work represents a fundamental moment of formation and realisation. Lifelong learning allows the work context to be a place where the person can experience himself in formation and transformation. Human’s lifelong learning through work cannot disregard the two irreducible polarities (practice and theory) that characterizes the person. These two polarities need to coexist and walk harmoniously to make possible the integral manifestation of the human creativity, freedom and intentionality (praxis) in a never ending and always perfectible pathway.

Keywords: lifelong learning, education, dialogue, reflective practioner, work, praxis.

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How to cite this article: Nepton, S., “What “construction” are we talking about? Perspectives on the teaching paradigm and the learning paradigm”, in: Theodoropoulou (dir.), “Proceedings of the 4th On-line Doctoral & Master Students International Seminar: Research Themes ΙV, 2022-2023”, Amechanon. International Journal of the “Laboratory of Research on Practical Philosophy” (L.R.P.Ph.), vol. IV, 2022-2024, Rhodes: L.R.Ph.P., 2026, pp. 350-370.

What “construction” are we talking about?
Perspectives on the teaching paradigm
and the learning paradigm

This article discusses the “ paradigm war” that has been ongoing in Quebec since the “pedagogical renewal (renouveau pédagogique)”, a curriculum reform initiated in 2000. The debate is between the learning and teaching paradigms. Both are based on the premise that “the child constructs his or her own knowledge”, but they derive contradictory pedagogical principles from this: for the former, children need to be introduced first to the complex, before moving on to the simple; for the latter, they should start with the simple, before progressing to the complex. The present contribution will show that John Dewey’s pragmatism offers two tools that could help move this debate forward: 1) the notion of meaning, to show how these positions do not mean the same thing when they assert that the individual “constructs” his or her knowledge; 2) the theory of inquiry, to reveal the complementarity of the two principles when inserted into a broader process.

Keywords: Philosophy of education, epistemology, constructivism, cognitivism, pragmatism, inquiry, knowledge, learning, teaching.

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How to cite this article: Biniaris, Th., “Freedom in Epictetus through comparison with Foucault’s theory”, in: Theodoropoulou (dir.), “Proceedings of the 4th On-line Doctoral & Master Students International Seminar: Research Themes ΙV, 2022-2023”, Amechanon. International Journal of the “Laboratory of Research on Practical Philosophy” (L.R.P.Ph.), vol. IV, 2022-2024, Rhodes: L.R.P.Ph., 2026, pp. 371-380.

Freedom in Epictetus through comparison
with Foucault’s theory

Epictetus, born in 50 AD in the Roman Empire, spent the first years of his life as a slave, a condition that appears to have deeply influenced his philosophical thought. In his work, he formulates the idea that every human being possesses an inner space of freedom upon which no external subject can exert violence. This paper examines this approach through a comparison with Michel Foucault’s theory of discipline. According to the French philosopher, institutions such as prisons, schools, and the military seek, through surveillance and discipline, to reach the soul through an analytical programme of physical training. In this way, discipline emerges as a tool of absolute imposition and coercion, since the space it appears to seek to subjugate is not the body itself, but that which moves the body, or in other words, the inner space of freedom to which Epictetus refers.

Keywords: Freedom, Discipline, Habit, Inner Space, Body, Soul.

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How to cite this article: Tziora, E., Theodoridis, A., “The distinction between morality and politics in Arendt’s thought and the role of the educator”, in: Theodoropoulou (dir.), “Proceedings of the 4th On-line Doctoral & Master Students International Seminar: Research Themes ΙV, 2022-2023”, Amechanon. International Journal of the “Laboratory of Research on Practical Philosophy” (L.R.P.Ph.), vol. IV, 2022-2024, Rhodes: L.R.Ph.P., 2026, pp. 381-409.

The distinction between morality and politics
in Arendt’s thought and the role of the educator

In Arendt’s philosophy, moral and political activities represent two distinct expressions of human relational existence. Moral activity centers around the relationship to the self as other, arising from solitary thinking, while political activity concerns itself with the world and manifests through action within human plurality. This paper aims to investigate whether these two modes of human relationality, namely the relationship with the self and the relationship with the world, are fundamentally distinct or if they intersect in Arendt’s work, particularly in the activity of judgment. Subsequently, we will explore the role of the educator within this polarity. The educator seems to embody a dual role. On the one hand, as another, they can stimulate the moral thinking of the student, while on the other hand, as a representative of the world, they impose on the relationship between self and other the world as an intermediate third element, thus making educational activity a form of pre-political concern for the world. In other words, these two forms of human relationality seem to converge in the presence of the educator, who is thus entrusted with assuming a morally and politically significant role.

Keywords: morality, politics, self, world, educator, responsibility, Hannah Arendt.

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The section In the Laboratory closes with the proceedings of the 5th International Interdisciplinary Seminar of Practical Philosophy, bringing together papers presented during the Seminar. Continuing a series that has gradually established itself as a space for dialogue among scholars working across philosophy and neighbouring disciplines, the Seminar brings established and early-career researchers into conversation around questions concerning the practical dimensions of philosophical inquiry.

While the contributions to the 4th International Interdisciplinary Seminar repeatedly returned to moments in which established concepts, methods, and forms of understanding were put into question by the demands of concrete situations, the papers collected in the present proceedings shift the emphasis towards the diverse ways in which philosophical reflection engages with contemporary configurations of experience. As the volume unfolds, the contributions gradually move across different modes of relation – the sequence of the papers gradually sketches a movement from technology, ecology, and more-than-human relations to questions of subjectivity, gender, and knowledge, before concluding with reflections on aesthetic experience and the transformation of the self. Ranging thus across technology, ecology, human-animal relations, feminist epistemology, philosophy education, theatre, and wonder, the articles do not converge around a single theme. Τhey explore different sites where philosophical inquiry accompanies processes of reconfiguration, opening new perspectives on subjectivity, knowledge, ethical relations, and collective life.

The opening contributions examine transformations in the relations through which contemporary experience is organised. Whether addressing technological imaginaries, ecological consciousness, or the ethical implications of human-animal relations, they share an interest in situations where established forms of inhabiting the world no longer appear self-evident. Technology, ecology, and ethics are approached less as autonomous domains than as fields in which new modes of coexistence, responsibility, and world-making become philosophically visible. Practical Philosophy emerges here through an attentiveness to the reconfiguration of the relations that constitute our shared world. Τhe sequence then passes through a pedagogical intervention before turning towards questions of wonder, philosophical education, gender, and subjectivity. A second movement begins with wonder as a mode of openness capable of transforming perception, thought, and action. From this reorientation of the relation between self and world, the sequence turns towards the ways in which philosophical education and knowledge are shaped by gender, social location, and relations of power. The questioning of the philosophical canon and the analysis of the gendered self both unsettle the presumed neutrality of philosophical and epistemic practices, revealing the conditions through which subjects learn, know, and are recognised as knowing subjects. The final contribution carries this inquiry into the field of theatre, where subjectivity is no longer simply reconfigured but exposed to processes of de-subjectification. The movement thus leads from the transformation of perception to the critical formation of knowledge and, finally, to the possibility of loosening established modes of self-relation.

Cogitatio

In her keynote contribution, Technique, philosophie et ville de science-fiction, Liu Wenling takes the urban transformation of Chengdu as her point of departure to examine how science fiction can operate not merely as a narrative genre but as a practical force in the reconfiguration of urban space. By analysing the interplay between technoscience, imagination, and urban planning, she explores how science fiction becomes an operative dispositif through which new forms of collective life, spatial experience, and economic development are articulated. The paper ultimately invites a philosophical reconsideration of technology as an active participant in the production of shared worlds rather than as a neutral instrument.

Discourses

In From Cultural Mediation to the Advent of an Ecological Self (De la médiation culturelle vers l’avènement d’un soi écologique), Alison Le Double reconsiders the role of cultural mediation in the context of the ecological crisis. Drawing on philosophical reflections on the living world and ecological consciousness, she argues that artistic mediation can cultivate new forms of attention, challenge inherited conceptions of autonomy, and contribute to the emergence of an ecological self. By linking aesthetic experience with ecological transition, the paper foregrounds cultural mediation as a site where philosophical reflection and practical transformation converge. Questions concerning the ethical relationship between humans and animals are approached by Gerasimos Filippas in Analyzing the Relationship between Humans and Animals in the Light of Technology and Ethics. Combining philosophical reflection with empirical research, the paper examines how ethical principles, technological developments, and legal frameworks shape contemporary understandings of animal rights.

At this point, an Intervention by Evi Mamali, Combining Experientiality with Philosophical Inquiry to Foster Children’s Caring Thinking: The Case of Theatre Pedagogy, examines the educational potential of combining experientiality with philosophical inquiry in order to foster children’s caring thinking. Bringing together Philosophy for/with Children and Theatre Pedagogy, the paper proposes a Combined Inquiry Approach, drawing on action research conducted with primary school students to discuss the educational possibilities of integrating experiential activities into philosophical dialogue.

Drawing on data collected from postgraduate students in the humanities and in science and engineering, it further explores how different educational backgrounds influence perceptions of human responsibility towards animals. Wonder lies at the centre of Nicole Matton’s Wonder: a Multi-faceted Phenomenon (L’émerveillement: un phénomène multifacette), where it is examined as a philosophical experience that reshapes the relationship between self and world. Drawing on phenomenological and philosophical perspectives, the paper explores the multiple dimensions of wonder beyond its conventional association with surprise or admiration, presenting it instead as a mode of openness capable of transforming perception, thought, and action. By emphasising its existential and educational significance, the paper invites a renewed appreciation of wonder as a practice of attentiveness and an impetus for philosophical inquiry. Revisiting the philosophical canon through the lens of gender, Gabriela Barbosa de Souto and Flávio de Carvalho, in Women Philosophers and Teaching Philosophy: Questioning Canon through Gender Issues, examine how the teaching of philosophy can move beyond Eurocentric and patriarchal traditions. Bringing Michel Foucault and Judith Butler into dialogue, they argue that incorporating women philosophers into philosophical education is not merely a matter of representation but of reconfiguring philosophical practice itself. The paper thus presents the classroom as a space where critical engagement with gender can contribute to more plural, inclusive, and epistemically just forms of philosophical education. Feminist epistemology provides the point of departure for Foteini Kyriakou’s The Gendered Self in Feminist Epistemology, which examines how knowledge is shaped by gendered experience, social location, and relations of power. Engaging with major contributions to feminist thought, the paper discusses the concepts of situated knowledge, epistemic injustice, and the gendered self, arguing that epistemic practices cannot be detached from the conditions under which subjects come to know. By highlighting the ethical and political dimensions of knowledge production, the paper advances a critical understanding of epistemology as an embodied and socially situated practice. Moving beyond the framework of postdramatic theatre, Thanasis Kritsakis, in After the Postdramatic: Theater and De-subjectification, investigates theatrical practice as a process of de-subjectification, not of representation. Drawing primarily on Michel Foucault’s later thought, the paper examines how performance can unsettle established forms of subjectivity and open spaces for critique, ethical transformation, and new modes of self-relation. Theatre thus emerges not simply as an aesthetic medium but as a philosophical practice through which different ways of inhabiting the self and engaging with the world may be explored.

The diversity of the contributions collected in these proceedings illustrates more than the breadth of contemporary philosophical interests. It points to an understanding of Practical Philosophy that is not defined by a particular object of inquiry, disciplinary territory, or methodological prescription. Instead, Practical Philosophy emerges here as a way of remaining philosophically attentive to situations in which relations, forms of knowledge, modes of experience, and configurations of collective life are undergoing transformation. From technological environments and ecological concerns to educational practices, feminist epistemology, theatrical experience, and the phenomenon of wonder, the papers demonstrate that philosophical reflection unfolds through encounters with heterogeneous fields. Their interdisciplinary character therefore does not dilute philosophical inquiry. On the contrary, it reveals how philosophy is continuously reconfigured through its engagement with problems that exceed the boundaries of any single discipline.

Across its successive editions, the International Interdisciplinary Seminar of Practical Philosophy has gradually shifted from creating a space for dialogue among emerging researchers to constituting a research environment in which Practical Philosophy is continuously tested through encounters with heterogeneous fields of inquiry. The present volume confirms this development. What these contributions make visible is not the expansion of Practical Philosophy into new thematic territories, but its capacity to sustain philosophical questioning across different forms of experience without dissolving its own philosophical specificity. The present volume confirms this development. If the contributions differ in their objects, they nevertheless suggest that Practical Philosophy acquires its coherence less through a shared thematic domain than through a common philosophical attentiveness to situations in which relations, forms of knowledge, and modes of existence are undergoing transformation. For it is in such situations that the practical dimension of philosophical inquiry becomes both necessary and philosophically productive.

Prof. Elena Theodoropoulou,
Director of the L.R.P.Ph.

For the Editorial click here

Pour citer cet article: Wenling, L., « Technique, philosophie et ville de science-fiction », dans: Théodoropoulou, E. (dir.), « Actes du 5ème Séminaire International Interdisciplinaire en Philosophie Pratique pour les Doctorants|tes & Mastérants|es », Amechanon. Revue Internationale du « Laboratoire de Recherche en Philosophie Pratique » (L.R.Ph.P.), vol. IV, 2022-2024, Rhodes: L.R.Ph.P., 2026, pp. 419-431.

Technique, philosophie et ville de science-fiction

Cet article prend pour objet d’étude le processus par lequel la ville de Chengdu entreprend une science-fictionnalisation de son espace urbain, afin d’interroger les modes selon lesquels la technique participe à la reconfiguration des formes et des significations de l’espace. Si la science-fiction relève traditionnellement d’une pratique discursive qui met en récit des possibles futurs, le projet de Chengdu se distingue en cherchant à actualiser la fiction dans le réel: la science-fiction y fonctionne comme un dispositif opératoire articulant imagination et technoscience, et servant à la fois d’outil d’aménagement spatial et de levier de développement économique. Ainsi, la construction d’espaces urbains inspirés d’univers littéraires peut être envisagée comme une fabrique de l’enchantement, où se rejouent les interactions entre utopie, technique et production du sensible.

Mots-clés: ville de science-fiction, enchantement, espace urbain, Chengdu.

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Pour citer cet article: Le Double, A., « De la médiation culturelle vers l’avènement d’un soi écologique », dans: Théodoropoulou, E. (dir.), « Actes du 5ème Séminaire International Interdisciplinaire en Philosophie Pratique pour les Doctorants|tes & Mastérants|es », Amechanon. Revue Internationale du « Laboratoire de Recherche en Philosophie Pratique » (L.R.Ph.P.), vol. IV, 2022-2024, Rhodes: L.R.Ph.P., 2026, pp. 433-450.

De la médiation culturelle
vers l’avènement d’un soi écologique

Dans un contexte d’urgence écologique, que peuvent la culture et la médiation culturelle face aux enjeux environnementaux ? Si comme l’exprime Baptiste Morizot, la crise écologique est une crise de notre sensibilité au vivant, alors la culture pourrait être un laboratoire dans lequel se forment de nouvelles sensibilités et représentations. Une médiation écologique des arts, plus précisément, viserait à réhabiliter le vivant dans notre champ d’attention et à favoriser l’émergence d’une conscience écologique. Cette prise de conscience de notre interdépendance conduit à repenser les idéaux d’autonomie hérités des Lumières et participe au développement d’un « soi écologique ».

Mots clés: Médiation, culture, vivant, émancipation.

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How to cite this article: Filippas, G., “Analyzing the relationship between humans and animals in the light of Technology and Ethics”, in: Theodoropoulou (dir.), “Proceedings of the 5th On-line Doctoral & Master Students International Seminar: Research Themes ΙV, 2022-2023”, Amechanon. International Journal of the “Laboratory of Research on Practical Philosophy” (L.R.P.Ph.), vol. IV, 2022-2024, Rhodes: L.R.P.Ph., 2026, pp. 451-468.

Analyzing the relationship between humans and animals
in the light of Technology and Ethics

Animal rights are a contentious issue that frequently causes ethical quandaries in modern society. Philosophical thought plays an important role in this topic, with numerous ideas promoting the development of moral rights in animals. These ideas are also reflected in the widespread adoption of rigorous legal structures for animal protection in the Western world. In Greece, significant progress has been made in recent years, with the establishment of a rather strong legislation for the protection of animals (particularly companion animals). In the context of my doctoral thesis and following previous research, this paper will attempt to highlight the ethical criteria that govern the human-animal connection. Specifically, the findings of an empirical study on the perceptions and familiarity of postgraduate students from the humanities and the sciences/engineering fields are presented.

Keywords: animal rights, legislation, civilization, technology, empirical research.

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How to cite this article: Mamali, E., “Combining experientiality with philosophical inquiry to foster children’s caring thinking: the case of Theatre Pedagogy”, in: Theodoropoulou (dir.), “Proceedings of the 5th On-line Doctoral & Master Students International Seminar: Research Themes ΙV, 2022-2023”, Amechanon. International Journal of the “Laboratory of Research on Practical Philosophy” (L.R.P.Ph.), vol. IV, 2022-2024, Rhodes: L.R.P.Ph., 2026, pp. 469-496.

Combining experientiality with philosophical inquiry
to foster children’s caring thinking:
the case of Theatre Pedagogy

Caring thinking has been outlined by M. Lipman and A. M. Sharp as a mental act with curatorial aspects and it is connected with concepts such as the attribution of value to otherness, the adoption of multiple perspectives when examining matters, moral imagination and intersubjective understanding. An approach for conducting sessions of philosophical inquiry in educational context is suggested, enriched with experiential inquiry. Experientiality is achieved through techniques which fall within the broader field of Theatre Pedagogy, intervening in the intermediate stage of philosophical inquiry. In the present research it is argued that inserting experiential inquiry into philosophical inquiry sessions can boost children’s caring thinking. Findings of this research show that enriching philosophical inquiry with drama-based inquiry is feasible and effective and that most, although not all, of the drama techniques implemented for experiential inquiry on the philosophical questions, reinforce the caring aspect of children’s thinking.

Keywords: Philosophy for/with children, theatre pedagogy, caring thinking, aesthetic experience.

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Pour citer cet article: Matton, N., « L’émerveillement: un phénomène multifacette », dans: Théodoropoulou, E. (dir.), «Actes du 5ème Séminaire International Interdisciplinaire en Philosophie Pratique pour les Doctorants|tes & Mastérants|es », Amechanon. Revue Internationale du « Laboratoire de Recherche en Philosophie Pratique » (L.R.Ph.P.), vol. IV, 2022-2024, Rhodes: L.R.Ph.P., 2026, pp. 497-506.

L’émerveillement: un phénomène multifacette

L’émerveillement apparaît tantôt comme un surgissement inopiné, tantôt comme une attitude délibérée pouvant être cultivée. C’est un phénomène insaisissable qui comporte de multiples facettes et dont la prise sociale est difficile. Il mobilise la réflexion de philosophes, de théologiens, de psychologues, de sociologues, de psychopédagogues, d’écrivains et d’historiens de l’art qui l’embrassent chacun selon leur perspective. Pourquoi ne pas aborder l’émerveillement comme une expérience d’éruption qui saisit la personne, la transporte et la transforme? Notre présentation se limitera à un survol du phénomène de l’émerveillement et des difficultés qui s’attachent à sa définition liée à l’étonnement. Dans le but d’explorer plus avant ce concept, une recherche de nature phénoménologique, qui n’a pas été réalisée à ce jour, est proposée. L’enjeu est de comprendre en quoi cette expérience contribue à modifier la relation au monde de l’individu.

Mots clés: Émerveillement, étonnement, éruption, sublime.

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How to cite this article: Barbosa de Souto, G., “Women philosophers and teaching philosophy: Questioning canon through gender issues”, in: Theodoropoulou (dir.), “Proceedings of the 5th On-line Doctoral & Master Students International Seminar: Research Themes ΙV, 2022-2023”, Amechanon. International Journal of the “Laboratory of Research on Practical Philosophy” (L.R.P.Ph.), vol. IV, 2022-2024, Rhodes: L.R.P.Ph., 2026, pp. 507-531.

Women philosophers and teaching philosophy:
Questioning canon through gender issues

The practice of teaching philosophy faces two forces: one that tries to preserve established knowledge; another that seeks to transform and renew it. How can we transform the scenario of teaching philosophy when faced with Eurocentric curricula that still reproduce epistemicidal mechanisms? We start with Michel Foucault to understand how control mechanisms have disciplined bodies and shaped our heteronormative and patriarchal society, reflected in the spaces of knowledge construction. In this sense, we engage with Judith Butler to understand how this regulatory culture defines gender roles based on identities, determining who can or cannot exist, who can or cannot philosophize. By bringing women philosophers into the history of philosophy, we believe it is possible not only to problematize the canon, but also to outline possibilities for transforming philosophical practice that intersects with the teaching of philosophy, promoting a more plural, critical pedagogical practice committed to gender equality.

Keywords: women philosophers, teaching philosophy, philosophical canon, Michel Foucault, Judith Butler.

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How to cite this article: Kyriakou, F., “The gendered self in feminist epistemology”, in: Theodoropoulou (dir.), “Proceedings of the 5th International Interdisciplinary Seminar on Practical Philosophy for Phd & Master Students”, Amechanon. International Journal of the “Laboratory of Research on Practical Philosophy” (L.R.P.Ph.), vol. IV, 2022-2024, Rhodes: L.R.P.Ph., 2026, pp. 532-543.

The gendered self in feminist epistemology

The problem of the gendered self within feminist epistemology marks a critical site for interrogating the conditions under which knowledge comes to be constituted. Against the analytic presupposition of a fixed, non-relational self, feminist epistemology foregrounds gender, situated knowledge, embodied experience, and epistemic friction as constitutive dimensions of knowing. By articulating feminist epistemology with hinge epistemology, this paper argues that the fundamental certainties underpinning knowledge of self and world are not essentialist givens but socially enacted and institutionally stabilised practices of meaning-making. On this view, the possibility of knowledge entails the possibility of action, understood as a resistant response to symbolic forms of exclusion. The present study seeks to reconfigure the epistemological paradigm by opening up new possibilities for integrating gendered lived experience into debates on social and epistemic justice, technoscience, and education, while further expanding philosophical inquiry through alternative modes of categorising reality.

Keywords: gendered self, situated knowledge, epistemic friction, feminist hinge epistemology.

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How to cite this article: Kritsakis, Th., ‘‘After the Postdramatic: Theater and De-subjectification”, in: Theodoropoulou (dir.), “Proceedings of the 5th On-line Doctoral & Master Students International Seminar: Research Themes ΙV, 2022- 2023”, Amechanon. International Journal of the “Laboratory of Research on Practical Philosophy” (L.R.P.Ph.), vol. IV, 2022- 2024, Rhodes: L.R.P.Ph., 2026, pp. 544-558.

After the Postdramatic: Theater and De-subjectification

Which could be the form of a contemporary theatrical genre that would contribute to increasing citizens’ freedom? What criteria would shape a theater that follows post-dramatic theater and, inspired by it, proposes new ways of audience emancipation? This article attempts to answer these questions by focusing on the concepts of de-subjectification and power. Taking into consideration the work of Michel Foucault, it seeks to create an innovative synthesis of Foucauldian philosophy with theatre writing and practice, in an effort to discover new artistic tools. The concepts of critique, parrhesia, power, de-subjectification, and genealogy, supported by Brechtian and post-dramatic practices, appear in this article as a possible set that could be the starting point for a new theatrical genre.

Keywords: Power, Critique, De-subjectification, Post-dramatic Theatre, Gestus, Alienation.

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