All arithmetical identities involving 1, addition, multiplication and exponentiation are valid in every 2-element HSI-algebra.

We prove that Wilkie's identity holds in those natural HSI-algebras where each element has finite decomposition into components.Further, we construct a bunch of HSI-algebras that satisfy all the identities of the set of positive integers ℕ. Then, based on the constructed algebras, we prove that the identities of ℕ hold in the HSI-algebra of finite posets when the value of each variable is a poset having an isolated point.

All arithmetical identities involving 1, addition, multiplication and exponentiation will be true in a 2-element model of Tarski's system if a certain sequence of natural numbers is not bounded. That sequence can be bounded only if the set of Fermat's prime numbers is finite.

All arithmetical identities involving 1, addition, multiplication and exponentiation will be true in a 2-element model of Tarski's system if a certain sequence of natural numbers is not bounded. That sequence can be bounded only if the set of Fermat's prime numbers is finite.

The defeat of the USSR and of the world system of socialism, which was of a world-wide significance, raised a key question of its underlying causes. As an answer to that question, it is shown that the defeat was by no way accidental as it was brought forth not only because of mistakes in the application of Marxism but also of significant economic and socio-political fallacies. The key is in the fallacies, which are hidden deeply inside the methodology of Marxism (...) and which therefore went unnoticed by anyone, i.e. in the violation in Marx’s Das Kapital of the requirements of a number of scientific methods that he used. Marx violated the requirements of the main method used in Das Kapital, viz. the method of ascension from the abstract to the concrete (he attributed the function of forecasting the future to that method, even though the method does not have it) as well as the methods of forecast, systems approach and hypothesis. Those methodological fallacies and distortions and their epistemological consequences provide evidence that Marxism is a result of seriously flawed beliefs and it could not avoid failure. Exposure of the above-mentioned fallacies and distortions will help broad masses of people to shed communist illusions and to avoid new social and political upheavals. (shrink)

Controversies in Formative Shi‘i Islam: The Ghulat Muslims and Their Beliefs. By Mushegh Asatryan. Shi‘i Heritage Series, vol. 4. London: I.B. Tauris, in association with the Institute of Ismaili Studies, London, 2016. Pp. xviii + 206. $48.50, £29.50.

Light upon Light: Essays in Islamic Thought and History in Honor of Gerhard Bowering brings together studies that explore the richness of Islamic intellectual life in the pre-modern period. Leading scholars around the world present nineteen studies that explore diverse areas of Islamic Studies, in honor of a renowned scholar and teacher: Professor Dr. Gerhard Bowering (Yale University). The volume includes contributions in four main areas: (1) Quran and Early Islam; (2) Sufism, Shiism, and Esotericism; (3) Philosophy; (4) Literature and (...) Culture. These areas reflect the enormous breadth of Professor Bowering's contributions to the field over a lifetime of scholarship, teaching, and mentoring. Contributors: Hussein Ali Abdulsater, Mushegh Asatryan, Shahzad Bashir, Jonathan Brockopp, Yousef Casewit, Jamal Elias, Janis Esots, Li Guo, Matthew Ingalls, Tariq Jaffer, Mareike Koertner, Joseph Lumbard, Matthew Melvin-Koushki, Mahan Mirza, Bilal Orfali, Gabriel Reynolds, Nada Saab, Amina Steinfels & Alexander Treiger. (shrink)