Abstract: This study explores the acceptances of the concept of apocatastasis in five of the most influential philosophical and religious traditions of antiquity: Pythagoreanism, Stoicism, Platonism, Gnosticism and Zoroastrianism. Apocatastasis, defined as 'restoration' or 'return to the original state', was interpreted differently in each of these systems of thought, reflecting distinct views on the nature of the cosmos, time and human destiny. In Pythagoreanism and Stoicism, apocatastasis is closely linked to cosmological cyclicity, implying the periodic renewal of the universe. Platonism emphasizes the restoration of the harmony of the soul and the cosmic order, seen as a return to the perfection of the world's ideas. In Gnosticism, apocatastasis takes on an eschatological and soteriological dimension, referring to the liberation of the soul from the material world and the return to the divine origin. Zoroastrianism offers a dualistic interpretation, where the final restoration of the world is associated with the triumph of good over evil and the restoration of cosmic order. Through a comparative analysis of these traditions, the study highlights the diversity of the meanings of apocatastasis and its relevance in understanding different visions of universal restoration and salvation.

Abstract: The current essay is meant to revisit a core theme in the philosophy of language, namely the role of the subjectivity and alterity in shaping human consciousness through language and linguistic signs, associated with the understanding of reality as inner construct in the fabric of human mind. A loose critic against some paradigms that reduce language to a means of communication, or an abstract, logical device is provided. We also briefly examine Saint Augustine's semiotic project, as it unfolds from some of his most seminal works.

Abstract: The survival of traditional religious and cultural elements, even in the most degraded forms, tells the story of their capacity to adapt to modern cultural contexts. Moreover, it unravels the ongoing quest for a sense of being in our modern world. On the one hand, the symbolic forms that populated the universe of the tradition still survive, although their form of manifestation are today hardly recognizable. This is the outcome of an enormous process of acculturation, jointly put in place by the Roman Catholic Church and the modern bureaucratic state. Breaking down both religious superstition and the opposition to political centralization managed to offer a new image of the world, that of the absolute sovereign in Heaven and on earth. The joint collapse of the religious faith and of the supreme monarch left the room for a desecrated, hostile and absurd universe, with no sense for living. That is why new tendencies gained ground especially among young Westerners. The current interest for the occult, magic, witchcraft, astrology, Zen, and other cultural fashions is a sign for their need for a new authentic sense of being.

Abstract: The metaphysical theology proposed by Paul Tillich offers the perspective of a constant connection between the human existential journey and the problem of Non-Being. Centered on the idea of Being, both metaphysics and theology seem to place the issue of Nothingness, of Emptiness, in the background. In reality, the dialectic between Being and Non-Being constitutes the central dynamic for the entire evolution of existence and, likewise, of human thought. Confrontation with Non-Being becomes one of the most important sources of reflection and fundamental ontic experiences. From Non-Being arises anxiety, manifesting in multiple forms that appear equally devastating to our consciousness. A natural question would be: how did those in the past overcome anxiety, and how can we do so today? Paul Tillich believes we are mistaken. Anxiety cannot truly be overcome; instead, it can and must be assimilated—otherwise, convulsive despair could overwhelm the consciousness.

Abstract: Human nature, human condition, human destiny are all concepts used by E. Bernea in his philosophy to configure the backbone of an anthropological concept aimed at perfecting the human being in the sense of its elevation to a superior level of wisdom and virtue. This target cannot be reached unless the creative spirit intervenes as a generative factor for human being's affective and emotional development as well as intellectual, cultural and moral/spiritual. Human spirit is however studied by another specialization – anthroposophy. Therefore the human philosophical issues approached by Ernest Berne arrange between philosophical anthropology and anthroposophy. This is how we understand why his two main posthumous works – Philosophical meditations. Notes for an outdated philosophy and Small treaty of wisdom and virtue – Ernest Bernea tackles on almost the whole of the philosophical anthropology – human nature, human condition, human origin, man himself, man for others, human relationships with nature and society, basic laws of being and human existence – in conjunction with the ideational area of anthroposophy, with the explicit aim of underlining the decisive role of the spirit in the existence and functioning of man.

Abstract: The article aims to illustrate that the boundaries between the arts are extremely subtle, and it is the imaginary that creates the closest connections between the arts. The fantastic carves out one of its meanings as the temporal segment between the acceptance of the uncanny in everyday life or, on the contrary, another meaning, in which one vehemently denies any possibility of witnessing something extraordinary, which can only be explained by logical inferences, mathematical calculations or famous chemical reactions and verified theories. 

Abstract: The poetics of the body in Bernard-Marie Koltès is a vast subject, sometimes controversial for politically (in)correct, sociocultural or racial reasons. Koltès places the body at the center of many of his texts[1] as the main theme around which other elements, secondary themes, such as death, money, time or the question of identity, gravitate. In this article, we propose to find another, new meaning for the notion of the body in Quai Ouest (1985). Critics have observed that the corpse floating in the river is not a simple (theatrical) object, but a reflection of a society adrift, encompassing and, at the same time, enclosing the actors. The theories of Georges Dumézil, Gilbert Durand, Mircea Eliade and others will facilitate our mythocritical approach to Bernard-Marie Koltès' text. We conclude with the question of identity, which becomes a constant in this play, given that the societal environment is a mixture of several immigrants, and therefore several nationalities, who have come together in the same mythical space (the hangar). [1] Le retour au désert, for example, reflects on Maame Queleu's reply about the birth of the twins: "Ils sont, ils sont... [...] Noirs, Monsieur; ils sont tout noirs, et le cheveu crépu." (Koltès 1988, 85-86).

Abstract: Through this article, we intended to bring to the attention of the public only a small, but, nevertheless, conclusive part of the contribution of the publicist Vasile Avram (1940-2002). The analysis focuses on 25 book reviews published by the journalist in Transilvania journal between the years 1977 and 1989 under the "Mișcarea literară" column. This selection gives us the possibility to focus on a certain sub-category belonging to the opinion journalism that Vasile Avram often opted for, to aesthetically guide the targeted audience. We consider these critical texts sufficient to illustrate that the journalist had the rare quality of a critic of good taste.

Abstract: In the book Maica Domnului: Taina discretei însoțiri (2022), Father Maxim Morariu emphasizes the twofold role of The Virgin Mary, as witness and as a bridge to Christ, "guided by values that determine Her unwavering fidelity and complete sacrifice" (p. 22). For this prolific writer, reading and meditation go hand in hand. This can be seen in the book Evanghelie și actualitate (2023). The 49 meditations dedicated to the Sunday Gospels together with the six occasional thoughts (do not appear) as a mere association and/or stringing together of random thoughts, but in the denouement at the end of the soul/spiritual ease of Father Maxim during the pandemic period (2020-2021). The analysis of the revealed text is accompanied by words of patristic wisdom, historical accounts and moralizing advice. Finally, with the third project, twinned with the previous one and entitled Evanghelia - editoriale în har (2023), the young author offers us a way to access the spiritual content of the Gospel or rather he urges us to feast ourselves with the eternal Word of God.