In this issue of Kritike: An Online Journal of Philosophy

Abstract

espite the delay of this issue, we welcome the readers to a wide selection of philosophical topics that extend themselves through age and genre. This issue marks the success of KRITIKE in its second year-and, so far so good! We owe this success to our contributors and readers, and we are deeply grateful to them. The growing number of essays we are receiving is testament to the rhizomatic growth of the journal-the varieties of topics collected in this issue also speak of the continuous growth of the journal. We are happy to present fourteen philosophical pieces from different theoretical persuasions, ranging from ancient Greek philosophy, social and critical theory, philosophical anthropology, psychoanalysis, analytic philosophy, and phenomenology.We open the issue with our Featured Essay. The Editorial Board is once more thankful to Fr. Ranhilio Callangan Aquino for granting us permission to feature his essay entitled "The Dialectics of Power, Rights, and Responsibility." In this essay, Fr. Aquino discusses the importance of rights in the context of entitlement by drawing on Paul Ricouer and Jürgen Habermas. Fr. Aquino begins his discussion of rights as a form of entitlement towards a "good life," this entitlement is conditioned by the social dimension within which man is situated, man who lives in a life that is lacking by itself. It is only through others that man is able to recognize this entitlement, and with that we understand that right becomes a power that may either be beneficial or detrimental to the "good life" with Other(s). Thus, power must be delegated to someone who is solicitous and sympathetic to the needs of the Other, while at the same time be able to deal with the plurality that characterizes the differences among individuals. A just institution, then, is characterized by having this power to unite the people, despite the differences in perspectives with regard to the goal of living a good life; this is made possible through the thorough negotiations, made possible through an open flow of information and communication.The first article is written by Jeffry V. Ocay entitled "Eroticizing Marx, Revolutionizing Freud: Marcuse's Psychoanalytic Turn." Ocay offers a critical perspective on Marcuse's take on Marx's notion of capitalism. Freud points out that eros is closely related to thanatos, and in this relationship one sees that there is a need to suppress desires in order to preserve life. Ananke, or scarcity, holds the key in the suppression of these desires through sublimination. With D