In 1997, I introduced the concept and the phrase “bio art”, originally in relation to my artwork “Time Capsule”. This work approached the problem of wet interfaces and human hosting of digital memory through the implantation of a microchip. The work consisted of a microchip implant, seven sepia-toned photographs, a live television broadcast, a webcast, interactive telerobotic webscanning of the implant, a remote database intervention, and additional display elements, including an X-ray of the implant. While “bio art” is applicable to (...) a large gamut of in vivo works that employ biological media, made by myself and others, in 1998, I started to employ the more focused term “transgenic art”. Republished in Ars Electronica ‘99—Life Science, ed. Gerfried Stocker and Christine Schopf, 289–296.) to describe a new art form based on the use of genetic engineering to create unique living beings. Art that manipulates or creates life must be pursued with great care, with acknowledgment of the complex issues it raises and, above all, with a commitment to respect, nurture, and love the life created. I have been creating and exhibiting a series of transgenic artworks since 1999. I have also been creating bio art that is not transgenic. The implications of this ongoing body of work have particular esthetic and social ramifications, crossing several disciplines and providing material for further reflection and dialog. What follows is an overview of theses works, the issues they evoke, and the debates they have elicited. (shrink)

a Mathematicians, like Proust and everyone else, are at their best when writing about their first lovea (TM) a ] They are among the very best we have; and their best is very good indeed. a ] One approaches this book with high hopes. Happily, one is not disappointed. a ]In paperback it might well have become a best seller. a ]read it. From The Mathematical Intelligencer Mathematics is shaped by the consistent concerns and styles of powerful minds a three (...) of which are represented here. Kaca (TM)s work is marked by deep commitment and breadth of inquiry. Rota is the easiest of these authors to reada ]a delight: witty and urbane, with a clear and interesting agenda and an astonishing intellectual range. To read him is to be a part of a pleasant and rewarding conversation. Jacob T. Schwartz attacks problems ina ]computer science, mathematical economics, computer and instructional a ] No matter how slippery the problem, Schwartz manages to capture a substantial chunk of it in his mathematical net. a Mathematics Magazine This is a volume of essays and reviews that delightfully explore mathematics in all its moods a from the light and the witty, and humorous to serious, rational, and cerebral. Topics include: logic, combinatorics, statistics, economics, artificial intelligence, computer science, and applications of mathematics broadly. You will also find history and philosophy covered, including discussion of the work of Ulam, Kant, Heidegger among others. (shrink)

Since the 1980s poetry has effectively moved away from the printed page. From the early days of the minitel to the personal computer as a writing and reading environment, we have witnessed the development of new poetic languages. Video, holography, programming and the Web have further expanded the possibilities and the reach of this new poetry. Now, in a world of clones, chimeras, and transgenic creatures, it is time to consider new directions for poetry in vivo. Below I propose the (...) use of biotechnology and living organisms as a new realm of verbal creation. (shrink)

In the fatwas given today related to whether individual or social life, the area of jawāz either has been very wide or very narrow. Those, who feature the behavior making prohibited things lawful, have nearly defined even necessity within the pragmatism on the basis of need and they keep the area in question very wide. On the other hand, those who confine the evidence of maṣlaḥa to a methodological principle, have nearly disregarded needs in solving individual and social problems. Whereas, (...) in the fiqh, the needs have been categorized as necessary/ḍarūrī, human want/ḥājī and making beautiful/taḥsīnī, and many principles have been constructed for taking stock of them. One of the principles is the lex of “Need/al-Ḥāje, general or particular, is dealt with as to meet necessity/al-Ḍarūra.” When it is determined how this lex has come out since the first period and its conditions in the context of implementation are determined, it will be come out that necessary cannot be reduced to need. In the same way, it will be come out that the maṣlaḥa is not an evidence disconnected with life. So, in the article, we will discuss the concepts of necessary and need. Then, we will show what the conditions to be considered in implementation of this lex are, what its base is in the sharia, how it has come out since the first period, and how it has been used in actual issues of the fiqh as well as in a specific example. Thus, with this study, we purpose to contribute to the solution of the actual issues of the fiqh. -/- SUMMARY The notions of need and necessity (ḍarūra, ḥāje) which are of four notions cited in the lex were individually examined and the differences between them were explained. The notions of general or particular (umūmī, khuṣūṣī), because of their using as adjective of the notion of ḥāje, were explained in the context of it. In the literature, the conception of ḥāje was used in the meaning both for all needs containing ḍarūra and just for needs apart from ḍarūra. A similar situation applies to the conception of ḍarūra. Ḍarūra having two descriptions was used in the meaning of ḥāje at times. This closure in using has caused the idea that both concepts have the same notion. In fact, from this point of view, there are the implications about that the lex is unnecessary. In this study, it is purposed that the mentioned idea and implications are wrong. As a requirement, the differences between the mentioned concepts were also examined under a separate title. -/- As for the notions of umūmī and khuṣūṣī, the scope of umūmī and khuṣūṣī ḥāje were not transparently defined and were just explained through examples in the classical period. In the context of ḥāje, the descriptions about the scope of these notions have been done after the lex took its final shape and became popular in this shape. According to these descriptions, umūmī ḥāje is the needs regarding all community. Khuṣūṣī ḥāje is the needs regarding a certain group in the community. There are interpretations as well about that individual needs must be dealt with in the scope of khuṣūṣī ḥāje. This study has same opinion. Taking into consideration of the historical development of the lex, this situation has been more clearly understood. Taking into consideration of the historical development of the lex, it is seen that the first person to make the lex a current issue is Juweynī (d. 1085). Juweynī mentioned the lex in different shapes. These combine in the point of umūmī ḥāje: “Umūmī ḥāje is dealt with as khuṣūṣī ḍarūra.” Juweynī not mentioning the notion of khuṣūṣī ḥāje in the lex shows that there is the differentiation between umūmī and khuṣūṣī ḥāje in his mind. Juweynī has a clear attitude in umūmī ḥāje while is hesitant in khuṣūṣī ḥāje. Another point which he is clear is that the needs dealt with as ḍarūra is not pure advantage and relaxation and it must have some conditions. Likewise, Gazzalī (d. 1111) and ‘Izz b. ʿAbd al-salām (d. 1262) continued the clear attitude of him. Both asserted some conditions about ḥāje dealt with as ḍarūra. But both did not mention any notation to imply these conditions in the lex. However, Ibn al-Wakīl (d. 1317) seems to want to show all ḥāje not to be dealt with as ḍarūra by adding the notation of in some situation: “Umūmī ḥāje is dealt with as ḍarūra in some situation.” In the historical development, it is seen that the first person to mention the notion of “khuṣūṣī ḥāje” in a lex is Zarkashī (d. 1392). But he mentioned this notion in another lex not in the lex in question. It is claimed that the addition of “khuṣūṣī ḥāje” to the lex was done in time of Ibn al-Wakīl or before and Zarkashī divided the lex in two as umūmī ḥāje and khuṣūṣī ḥāje. But this study proves for the mentioned claims to be unsuitable the historical development. Because, the first person to mention the notions both of umūmī ḥāje and khuṣūṣī ḥāje in one lex is Suyūtī (d. 1505): “Ḥāje, umūmī or khuṣūsī, is dealt with as to meet ḍarūra.” The lex has been fixed and become popular as it is. After this, especially in the recent period, the clear definitions have started to be done regarding what scope the notions of umūmī and khuṣūsī ḥāje in question in the lex is and the conditions about ḥāje have been dwelled on. In this study, the conditions in question have been treated under four items. In this study, this conditions have been analyzed with regard to functionality of the lex. It has been determined that the idea claimed about that ḥāje must not oppose to a special base, in the context of the first conditions especially, will cancel the functionality of the lex. The current use of the lex, because of the study’s boundaries, has been dealt with over a specific example topic. The issue of being a resident has been preferred as an example topic. Though there is an alliance about having a residence as a need, there is a conflict about the buying a residence by bank credit. While some have not allowed this by claiming that credit is against to a special base, some have allowed it on the basis of this lex. According to the second group, when its conditions are met, the buying a residence by credit is permissible. Because, residence is among essential needs. In this study, it is stated that the preferred opinion is this. However, by taking into account the spirit of sharia it is expressed that every need for having a residence cannot be dealt with as necessity. It has been emphasized that instead of accepting everything as a need dictated especially by the consumerism that elevates human desires to an uncontrollable level, identifying a suitable need for our own values is important. This study deals with the lex of “Need, general or particular, is dealt with as to meet necessity” used in the fatwās today. The study determining the historical development and break points of the lex and the conditions argued about it examines daily use of it on the basis of a current example. So the study purposes to prove how the lex must come out in solving of the other problems. The study is of important to determine the break points of the lex in its historical development. Ḥāje must be appropriate to a base in the sharia. Ḥāje must contain a hardship over ordinary hardship. Ḥāje must not be possible to eliminate by a legitimate way. Ḥāje must be realized by conclusive evidence or near it. In this study, this conditions have been analyzed with regard to functionality of the lex. It has been determined that the idea claimed about that ḥāje must not oppose to a special base, in the context of the first conditions especially, will cancel the functionality of the lex. The current use of the lex, because of the study’s boundaries, has been dealt with over a specific example topic. The issue of being a resident has been preferred as an example topic. Though there is an alliance about having a residence as a need, there is a conflict about the buying a residence by bank credit. While some have not allowed this by claiming that credit is against to a special base, some have allowed it on the basis of this lex. According to the second group, when its conditions are met, the buying a residence by credit is permissible. Because, residence is among essential needs. In this study, it is stated that the preferred opinion is this. However, by taking into account the spirit of sharia it is expressed that every need for having a residence cannot be dealt with as necessity. It has been emphasized that instead of accepting everything as a need dictated especially by the consumerism that elevates human desires to an uncontrollable level, identifying a suitable need for our own values is important. (shrink)

(No abstract is available for this citation).

“Time Capsule” is a work-experience that lies somewhere between a local eventinstallation, a site-specific work in which the site itself is both my body and a remote database, a simulcast on TV and the Web, and interactive webscanning of my body. The live component of the piece was realised on November 11, 1997, in the context of the exhibition “Arte Suporte Computador”, at the cultural centre Casa da Rosas, in Sao Paulo, Brazil. “Time Capsule” was carried live on the evening (...) newscast of the TV station Canal 21 and on tape by two other TV stations (TV Manchete and TV Cultura). The webscast was transmitted by Casa das Rosas.The object that gives the piece its title is a microchip that contains a programmed identification number and that is integrated with a coil and a capacitor, all hermetically sealed in biocompatible glass. The temporal scale of the work is stretched between the ephemeral and the permanent; i.e., between the few minutes necessary for the completion of the basic procedure, the microchip implantation, and the permanent character of the implant. As with other underground time capsules, it is under the skin that this digital time capsule projects itself into the future. (shrink)

A free logical analysis of singular terms couched in terms of the semantic theory of Keenan and Faltz is shown to avoid problems with both Frege's and Russell's treatments. At its heart is the proposal of Keenan and Faltz to reverse the usual mode-theoretic conception of individuals and properties, taking the latter as primitive and the former as derived therefrom. A simple extension of the notion 'property' is then shown to enable a parallel treatment of definite generics.

In 1959, mathematician Mark Kac introduced a model, called the Kac ring, in order to elucidate the classical solution of Boltzmann to the problem of macroscopic irreversibility. However, the model is far from being a realistic representation of something. How can it be of any help here? In philosophy of science, it is often argued that models can provide explanations of the phenomenon they are said to approximate, in virtue of the truth they contain, and in spite of the idealisations (...) they are made of. On this view, idealisations are not supposed to contribute to any explaining, and should not affect the global representational function of the model. But the Kac ring is a toy model that is only made of idealisations, and is still used trustworthily to understand the treatment of irreversible phenomena in statistical mechanics. In the paper, my aim is to argue that each idealisation ingeniously designed by the mathematician maintains the representational function of the Kac ring with the general properties of macroscopic irreversibility under scrutiny. Such an active role of idealisations in the representing has so far been overlooked and reflects the art of modelling. (shrink)

The recent MB case involved a dispute between an infant’s parents and his medical team about the appropriateness of continued life support. The dispute reflected uncertainty about two key factors that inform medical decision making for seriously ill infants: both the amount of pain MB experiences and the extent of his cognitive capacities are uncertain. Uncertainty of this order makes decision making in accordance with the best-interests principle very problematic. This article addresses two of the problems that cases such as (...) that of MB pose for those charged with making medical decisions for infants. First, the question of the moral significance of the interest in avoiding pain is considered. It is claimed that this interest can be outweighed by higher-order interests such as those related to autonomy but that where such higher-order interests do not exist, the interest in avoiding pain should be prioritised. Second, the question of how to proceed in cases in which the level of pain or the extent of an infant’s higher-order interests cannot be decisively established is considered. It is suggested that when genuine uncertainty over the interests of an infant exists, parental views about treatment should prevail.The English family courts recently adjudicated on another case involving conflict between parents and a medical team over the provision of life-prolonging medical treatment for an infant. At the time of the ruling, MB was an 18-month-old boy with type I spinal muscular atrophy. His life expectancy was very short , he was almost completely paralysed and he required constant ventilation. MB’s parents wanted a tracheotomy to be performed to facilitate long-term ventilation and allow for some independence from the hospital ward, but the …. (shrink)

Članek se osredotoča na to, kako sta Plinij Starejši v svojem delu Hi­storia Naturalis in Nikolaj Poljski v njemu pripisanem medicinskem traktatu Experimenta predstavila in opisala načine za pripravo kač v medicinske namene. Razprava razišče povezave in stične točke med obema besediloma, predvsem v smislu njunih navodil za uporabo pripravkov iz kač ter učinkov njihove rabe na zdravje ljudi, ter obrav­nava vrsto bolezni, znanih že v antiki, ki so pestile tudi Nikolajeve sodobnike.

After World War II, quite a few mathematicians, including Mark Kac, John von Neumann, and Nobert Wiener, worked on the physical problem of phase transitions, i.e. changes in the state of matter caused by gradual changes of physical parameters such as the condensation of a gas to a liquid and the loss of magnetization of a ferromagnet above a certain temperature. The significance of these mathematicians was not so much that they brought mathematical rigor to the theoretical description of the (...) phenomena,1 but that they applied their mathematical skills and tools to solve concrete mathematical problems encountered in the microscopic modeling of phase transitions. The present paper deals... (shrink)