The protagonists of Rachilde's novels often have unwavering will and great strength of character. However, they are not free from the desires they sometimes succumb to. The paper tackles the analysis of will, strength and desire in the novel L’Heure sexuelle (1898), in order to compare them to the theory of creative excellence presented in the novel, and to the concepts based on the philosophy of Nietzsche and Schopenhauer.
According to Gianni Vattimo, the secularization process can be seen as analogous to the “death of God” in the Western world. The “weak theology” that results from that view will be used in the article as a starting point for the study of three 19th century authors, lay and religious at the same time, Pierre Leroux, Edgar Quinet and Ernest Renan, who reflect on the meaning of religion in the modern world, as well as on its relation with the democratic State.
Akratic actions are usually defined as intentional actions which conflict with the agent’s best judgement. As both irrational and conscious, actions of that type stand in need of an explanation. In this paper I reconstruct and criticize Donald Davidson’s classical standpoint on the problem of akrasia. I show the disadvantages of Davidsonian conception of practical reasoning and I defend the conception of syllogistic reasoning. I also criticize the theory of intention as unconditional normative judgement. Against Davidson’s view, I argue for the theory of intention as an act of will (not a judgement). According to this theory of intention and practical reasoning, akratic actions should be explained as actions caused by an act of will which conflicts with the best judgement. I propose to interpret the inclination of will to conflict or to follow the best judgement by the theory of habitus.