List of Articles
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Metaphysics and Philosophy
Logic, Metalogic, Metaphysics
Can logic be self-sufficient? The distinction between laws and rules, between language and metalanguage, leads from logic to metalogic and then to metaphysics, as soon as the question of the first principles of thought arises. Drawing in particular on the work of François Chenique and Jean Borella, this article shows that these principles are not merely formal conventions but belong to the very nature of intelligence and, ultimately, to its relationship with the Logos.
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Metaphysics
In Memoriam — Jean Borella (1930–2026)
With the passing of Jean Borella, we have lost more than a great philosopher. We have lost one of the few contemporary thinkers who restored metaphysics to its full legitimacy, intelligence to its contemplative vocation, and Christianity to the depth of its gnostic dimension. For me, his passing also means the loss of a friend, […]
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Metaphysics and Theology
Metaphysical Symbolism of the sexual act
What if the sexual act conveyed infinitely more than what biology, psychology, or eroticism make of it? Beyond the countless metaphors with which cultures have surrounded sexuality, the union of man and woman can be understood as a genuine symbol: that of the encounter between axis and center, action and receptivity, giving and receiving. From the universal symbolism of the cave to Creation and ultimately to the Trinitarian mystery, carnal union thus affords a glimpse of a reality that transcends it: that of Love as reciprocal gift, referring man and woman back to their transcendent model.
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Metaphysics and Philosophy
Learning to Wonder Again
Contemporary man does not lack surprises: he is constantly receiving them. But does he still know how to wonder? From Pascal and Uexküll to Plato, Aristotle, Russell, Alquié, and Borella, rediscovering wonder means recovering that moment when what seemed self-evident becomes a question—and where philosophy, if not metaphysics, begins.
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Metaphysics
Does Truth Precede Knowledge?
Is truth simply the agreement between intelligence and reality? The distinction between logical and ontological truth shows, on the contrary, that knowledge presupposes an already intelligible reality: truth does not result from knowledge; it precedes it.
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Metaphysics and Philosophy
The Cogito, or Consciousness as a Loan
Does the Cogito truly ground the subject? What if, on the contrary, it revealed that the “I” does not ground itself? From Descartes to Jean Borella, this article explores the hypothesis of a consciousness that is not possessed by the self, but received as a form of participation—perhaps as a “loan.”
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Metaphysics
From Analogy to Paradox: Toward a Metaphysics of Intelligence
Analogy is one of the great tools of metaphysics. But is it sufficient to account for the way in which intelligence accesses reality? Drawing on Plato, Aristotle, Pascal, Kant, Nicholas of Cusa, and especially Jean Borella, this article shows how the paradox, far from being a mere contradiction, can become a true metaphysical operator: it reveals the limits of reason, opens the way to aporia, then to nescience, all the way to the threshold of the superintelligible.
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Metaphysics and Science
Can Time Exist Without Change?
Can Time Pass When Absolutely No Change Occurs? This question, which lies at the heart of Sydney Shoemaker’s famous thought experiment, invites us to distinguish the measurement of time from its very nature. By revisiting this argument, Fabio R. Llorella Costa suggests that the hypothesis of “time without change” may already presuppose what it claims to prove. A clear and rigorous reflection leading from logical analysis to a genuinely ontological inquiry into the nature of becoming.
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Metaphysics and Philosophy
An Interview with Sylvie Paillat: The Metaphysics of Laughter
Why has laughter occupied such a marginal place in the history of philosophy when it may well reveal one of the deepest dimensions of human existence? In this interview, Sylvie Paillat presents the central insights of her work The Metaphysics of Laughter. She argues that laughter, far from being merely a psychological or social phenomenon, can become a privileged avenue toward the great metaphysical questions: Being, consciousness, finitude, transcendence, and the meaning of the Logos. An original reflection that invites us to rethink philosophy itself in the light of a truly “metaphysical laughter.”
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Metaphysics and Science
AI, artificial mental energy, unintelligent by nature
Machines calculate, but do they understand? Based on the fundamental distinction between reason and intelligence—a distinction overlooked by much of modern thought—this article argues that the term “artificial intelligence” is a misnomer. Current systems do not think, do not understand, and are not free; they harness a new power of computation and simulation. From Kant to Turing, from Leibniz to Jean Borella, this reflection sheds new light on the debates surrounding AI, its dangers, its promises, its energy costs, and its impact on the future of human societies.
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Metaphysics
Descartes the Metaphysician
How should Cartesian philosophy be approached? It is important to emphasize, throughout Descartes’ intellectual journey, the essential role of evidence (évidence), which must be distinguished from mere certainty. It is the indubitability of evidence that enables Descartes to discover the Cogito and to formulate the various “proofs” of God’s existence. Evidence is not a demonstrative procedure that constructs its object; rather, it is an immediate experience of thought through which the mind necessarily submits to a given intellectual content. Consequently, interpretations that reduce Descartes’ philosophy to an onto-theology or to a merely pre-critical enterprise ought to be challenged. One may thus speak of a genuine Cartesian metaphysics, a metaphysics whose inspiration can, in many respects, be traced back to Platonic thought.
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Metaphysics and Philosophy
Metaphilosophy: The Three Modes of Philosophizing
What does it mean to philosophize? To seek the truth, to contemplate it, or to formulate it? Drawing on an insight of Jean Borella, this article argues that the philosophical act comprises three inseparable dimensions: interrogation, contemplation, and formulation. Every great philosophy is shaped by the tension among these three modes, sometimes privileging one at the expense of the others. Such a perspective opens the way to a genuine metaphilosophy: no longer a particular doctrine, but a reflection on the very nature of philosophizing itself.