Lo Sguardo‘s 31th issue will be devoted to the concept of ‘habitus’, a long-standing philosopheme at the intersection of ontology, ethics, practical philosophy, epistemology, anthropology, and sociology.
The term habitus is the Latin translation, popularized by Aquinas, of the Aristotelian hexis. Though in the Aristotelian corpus this term conveys multiple meanings, hexis can be shortly defined as a stable acquired quality or disposition, which is possessed neither by nature nor contrary to nature. Furthermore, hexis does not simply coincide with ‘disposition’ (diathesis) in that the latter is momentary, while the former requires stability and durability over time. Episteme and virtues are typically defined as hexeis, durable and stable acquired dispositions respectively to demonstration and to the way the soul copes with pleasures and pains.
