Art and violence In 1945 Picasso recounted how a Nazi officer, spotting a reproduction of Guernica in his Paris studio, asked him, horrified, “Did you do this?” The artist replied without hesitation, “No. You did.”[1] It was the painter who had created the art; it was the Nazis who had caused the violence. At issue here is how we talk about violence, that is, about a reality that, even if we do not suffer it or cause it directly, nevertheless...
This year marks the 100th anniversary of Italo Calvino ’s birth. We take up Calvino’s well-known distinction between “defiance of the labyrinth” and “surrender to the labyrinth”[1] to explore some paths through the complex, layered and multifaceted work of the Ligurian writer. Life and education Restless, intellectually lively and multifaceted in creativity, in private life shy and a man of few words, Calvino is a unique figure in the Italian literary landscape.[2] The first important trait is his family and...
Many of the extraordinary successes of Western medicine are the result of applying to the clinical field wisdom and technology from the empirical sciences. These include diagnostic tools such as magnetic resonance imaging, based on the latest findings in elementary particle physics, as well as robots for surgery and rehabilitation, employing sophisticated artificial intelligence devices. Limit and finiteness: from overcoming to concealment Biomedicine is clearly indebted to the scientific enterprise. The continuous effort to expand the limits of knowledge and...
I first met Víctor Manuel Fernández[1] – who will be created cardinal on September 30 – in Argentina in September 2014 at the Pontifical Catholic University of Argentina, of which he was then rector. Exactly one year later he came to the offices of La Civiltà Cattolica in Rome to give a talk at an international seminar on “Reform and Reforms in the Church.”[2] He spoke on the topic “The Gospel, the Spirit and Ecclesial Reform in the Thought of...
“This is not a pipe (Ceci n’est pas une pipe).” In his famous 1929 painting depicting a pipe, Magritte inscribed these words in a simple, cursive font. The great Surrealist painter was sending the viewer a message as surprising as it is obvious: representation is not the object that represents. The same can be said of the journal you are now reading. Civiltà Cattolica is not an object, that is, it is not to be identified with its paper or...
“Observing water is an art,” says Mencius (372-289 B.C.), a student of Confucius’ grandson. He clarifies what he means as follows: “Confucius climbed the East Mountain and [the State of] Lu became small; he climbed the Taishan and the world became small. Thus, for those who have contemplated the sea, it is difficult to take notice of rivers; for those who have traveled to study under the guidance of a sage, it is difficult to take notice of discourses. Observing...
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