Editorial:

In an age characterized by transgression of boundaries nowadays, where culture seems to lose its distinctive territory, and any kind of systemic compartmentalization seems to implode, humans are compelled to redefine their concept of  civilization, and rethink what today being civilized is supposed to mean. Yet , as soon as they do it they have to elaborate the indispensable fact of differences and even dichotomies - internal as well as external- such as : mind and body, individual conscience and social interests,  the one and the many, male and female, private and public, politician and poet, etc.   The emphasis on either side of the dichotomies will generate different concept and standard of  civilization. In techno-scientific culture, for instance, body or matter prevailed over mind. Hence the predominance of material culture in modern  life. The prevalent bias of male chauvinism or patriarchy in the conventional concept of civilization has resulted in the marginalization of women, hence problematic. Problems of  democracy in many countries oftentimes have a lot to do with  the difficulties in  regulating  the distinction between private conscience and public interests,  political rhetorics and artistic sensibility to capture  concrete reality. The list of examples can surely be longer. The problem, however, is that, while binary oppositions are the basic means by which to conceive  reality or to make reality intelligible, this does not necessarily mean that the abovementioned dichotomies are irreconcilable.  MELINTAS of this issue discusses the tacit layers behind, and the complexity of, the dichotomies.