Traditionally, Hume's account of memory is considered an individualist-atomic representational theory. However, textual evidence suggests that Hume's account is better seen as a first attempt to create a social theory of memory that considers social context, custom and habits, language, and logical structures as constitutive elements of memory.

Siyaves Azeri (2020) quite well shows that arithmetical thinking emerges on the basis of specific social practices and material engagement (clay tokens for economic exchange practices beget number concepts, e.g.). But his discussion here is relegated mostly to Neolithic and Bronze Age practices. While surely such practices produced revolutions in the cognitive abilities of many humans, much of the cognitive architecture that allows normative conceptual thought was already in place long before this time. This response, then, is an attempt (...) to sketch the deep prehistory of human cognition in order to show the inter-social bases of normative thought in general. To do this, I will look first to the work of Vygotsky and Leontiev, two often neglected psychologists whose combined efforts culminate in a developmental account of human cognitive origins. Then, I will review some key insights from the contemporary comparative psychologist Michael Tomasello—whose project is admittedly a Vygotskian one—in order to further shed light on the social-practical basis of abstract thought, of which mathematical cognition is surely a part. (shrink)

L.S. Vygotsky’s “regulative” account of the development of human thinking hinges on the centralization of “directive” speech acts (commands or imperatives). With directives, one directs the activity of another, and in turn begins to “self-direct” (or self-regulate). It’s my claim that Vygotsky’s reliance on directives de facto keeps his account stuck at Tomasello's level of individual intentionality. Directive speech acts feature prominently in Tomasello’s developmental story as well. But Tomasello has the benefit of accounting for a functional differentiation in directive (...) communication—i.e., in collaborative activity, the command gives way to both the request and informational assertion. Lacking such differentiation, Vygotsky’s account runs the risk of playing to a rather strident conception of the socius, one more Machiavellian than Marxist. (shrink)

The Republic of Azerbaijan has undergone major social, political, and economic transition since declaring independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. In this article, the author examines how this transition and the Nagorno-Karabakh War with Armenia have affected women’s caregiving roles and how women’s advocacy associations have emerged and function both as caregivers to Azeri women and as a mechanism for assisting Azeri women to be more effective caregivers to their own families and communities.

The main goal of this article is to examine the link between the idea of language, being and nothingness by comparing 16th century Turkish-Azeri poet Fuzûlî’s poetry and 20th century German philosopher Martin Heidegger’s philosophy departing from the latter’s thinking of being. There are similarities between Heidegger and Fuzûlî’s respective thoughts concerning the role of the human being’s relation to finitude which grounds the relationship between being and nothingness. The article consists of three sections. The first section makes sense (...) of Heidegger’s early and late thought in terms of its ontological unity, explaining the ways in which being and nothingness topologically co-determine one another in poetic language. The second section focuses on clarifying the sources that nourish Fuzûlî’s poetry, such as Sufism and the literary style of “Rind” as observed in classical Ottoman poetry, elucidating how these influences underpin the philosophical foundations of Fuzûlî’s poetry. The third section offers a philosophical interpretation of Fuzûlî’s lyric poems by illustrating how and why being and nothingness are not to be thought as mere opposites, pointing out their ontological belonging together. In the concluding section, it is argued that a poetic mode of existence necessitates an authentic experience of human finitude both for Heidegger and Fuzûlî. Although Fuzûlî’s poetry involves onto-theological influences from Sufism, Fuzûli manages to form an original idea of poetic existence, emphasizing that the poetic agent needs to take a step back from the mundane world of multitudes in order to unify with Being itself. As for Heidegger, it is doubtful whether there is such a mystical idea of being. Nonetheless, for both figures the more originary experience of finite human existence lies in the poetic interplay between being and nothingness. The poetic meaning of being comes to manifest itself in the process of one’s existential annihilation, which takes place in the movement of being-towards-death. Accordingly, exploring how the meaning of being requires the poetic experience of nothingness and how such an experience appears through language in Fuzûlî’s lyric poems provides a more comprehensive account of his thinking. (shrink)

XIX. Yüzyılın sonları ve XX. yüzyılın başlarında Azerbaycan'da entelijansiya arasında milli bilinç ortaya çıkmış olsa da Sovyet dönemiyle birlikte bu süreç kesintiye uğramış ve toplumsal tabana yayılamamıştır. Sonuç olarak, var olan “Müslüman Kimliği”, Azeri toplumu için temel bir kimlik bağı olarak varlığını sürdürmeye devam etmiştir. Entelijansiyanın tasfiyesi ile birlikte, kullandıkları sloganlar ve milliyetçi semboller de ortadan kalkmış, Türk milliyetçiliği Azerbaycan'da bir ideoloji olarak varlığını koruyamamıştır. Sonuç itibariyle, politik-ideolojik milliyetçilik ve onun sloganları, milli bilinci canlı tutma imkanından yoksun bırakılmıştır. Bu (...) makalede, Sovyet Azerbaycan'ında milli bilinci besleyen temel faktörün İslâm ve Müslüman kimliği olduğu savunulmaktadır. Komünist rejim İslam’ın entelektüel ve ideolojik boyutlarını en aza indirmeyi başarmasına rağmen, kültürel norm ve yaşam tarzı haline gelen unsurlarını aşındırma konusunda başarısız kalmaktaydı. Sovyet Azerbacan’ında Müslüman olmak Azeri toplumunun bir üyesi olmak ve söz konusu toplumun yaşam tarzına bağlılık olarak algılanmaktaydı. Nitekim, Azerbaycan'da “Müslüman” tanımının göndermede bulunduğu yaşam tarzı Azeri toplumunu çevredeki -Ruslar, Ermeniler ve Gürcüler- toplumlardan ayıran temel faktör olmuştur. Bu anlamda, ortak yaşam tarzına ve kültürel normlara atıfta bulunan İslam, Sovyet döneminde Azeri toplumunun özdeşlik duygusunu pekiştirerek milli bilinci canlı tutmuştur.ÖzetBu çalışma Sovyet döneminde Azerbaycan’da İslam kimliğinin ve İslamî yaşam tarzının milli bilincin sürüdürülmesindeki rolü üzerine yoğunlaşmaktadır. Çalışmanın temel iddiası milli bilincin varlığını sürdürmesinde Müslüman kimliğinin ve İslami yaşam tarzının etkili olduğudur. Bu iddianın doğruluğunun kanıtlanması için belli tarihsel dönemde gerçekleşen, siyasi, toplumsal, demografik ve kültürel konularla ilgili analizler yapılmaktadır. Bu bağlamda XIX. yüzyılın ikinci çeyreğinden itibaren Rusya’nın işgali, milletleşme süreci ve arkasından yaşanan sovyetleştirme süreci Müslüman kimliği ve İslamî yaşam tarzi bağlamında ele alınmaktadır. Söz konusu dönem istatistiki kaynaklar, istihbarat raporları, propaganda kitapları, ve dönem üzerine yapılan akademik araştırmalar ışığında ele alınmış ve üzerine yorumlar yapılmıştır. XIX. Yüzyıla kadar siyasi ve kültürel açıdan İran’ın etkisi altında bulunan şimdiki Azerbaycan bölgesi Rusya İmparatorluğu tarafından işgal edilince bölge halkı ilk kez Hıristiyan yöneticilerin yönetimi altına girmiş oldu. Bölgedeki dayanaklarını güçlendirmek için Çar yönetiminin bölgeye yoğun bir şekilde Ermeni ve Rus nüfusu göç ettirmesi sonrasında ise Azerbaycan’daki Müslüman halk kendini ilk kez Hıristiyan topluluklarla çevrelenmiş olarak buldu. Hep kendisi gibi Müslüman olan toplumun bir parçası olan Azerbaycan toplumu Ruslardan, Ermenilerden ve Gürcülerden oluşan Hıristiyan toplulukların ortasında kendi kimliğini yeniden tanımlamak durumunda kaldı. Çar yönetiminin Azerbaycan’a göç ettirilen Ermeni ve Ruslar’a hem yasal olarak hem de uygulamalarda bir dizi ayrıcalıklar tanıması Azerbaycan Türklerinin kendilerini toplumsal, kültürel, ekonomik ve siyasi açıdan Hıristiyan baskısı altında hiss etmelerine neden olmuştur. Söz konusu baskı ve kayırmanın 1905 ve 1918 yıllarında Azerbaycan Türkleri ile Ermeniler arasında patlak veren çatışmalarda daha yoğun bir şekilde hiss edildiği görülmektedir. Yaşadığı tecrübeler Azerbaycan Türklerini dışlanma nedeni olan kimliklerini, yani Müslüman kimliğini, çevresinde bulunan gayri-muslim topluluklara karşı sahiplenmelerini sağlamıştır. XX. Yüzyılın başında toplumsal gelişimi sağlamak üzere halkın milli bilincini geliştirmeye yönelik faaliyetlerde bulunan, aynı zamanda Müslüman kimliğini de sahiplenen entelejensiya ve burjuvazi kesimi oluşmuştu. Bu süreç 1918 senesinde Azerbaycan’da, türkleşmeyi, çağdaşlaşmayı ve İslamlaşmayı simgeleyen mavi, kırmızı ve yeşil renkleri biraraya getiren bayrağı bulunan Cumhuriyetin kurulması ile sonuçlandı. Fakat cumhuriyet varlığını sadece 23 ay sürdürebildi ve 1920 yılında gerçekleşen sovyet işgali ile birlikte Azerbaycan’da milliyetçi ideoloji, onun idelogları ve sembolleri tamamen tasfiye edilerek yoğun bir şekilde sovyetleştirme politikaları uygulanmaya başladı. Sovyet döneminde milliyetçilik ideolojik düzlemde ortadan kalkmış olsa bile, halkın homojenleşmesini sağlayan, ulus devlete mahsus bir dizi donanımlar sağlandı. Sovyet versiyonunda olsa bile, milli bir devlet aygıtı, milli sınırlar, milli tarih, milli eğitim sistemi oluşturuldu. Neticede aynı dili, aynı tarih bilincini, aynı sınırları paylaşan fakat milli bir ideolojiden yoksun olan bir millet meydana geldi. İdeolojik milliyetçiliğin tehlikeli bir girişim (perilous venture) olduğu Sovyet Azerbaycanı’nda kültüre ve yaşam tarzına dayanan kültürel bir milliyetçilik gelişti. Kültürel milliyetçilik halkın dilini, tarihini ama özellikle de yaşam tarzını savunan bir tutum olarak Sovyet Azerbaycan’ında gelişme gösterdi. Bütün bunlar, yani kültürel özellikler ve yaşam tarzı Azerbaycan toplumunu kendini çevre toplumlarından –Ruslardan, Ermenilerden ve Gürcülerden– ayırdığı başlıca niteliklerdi. Bu bağlamda Sovyet Azerbaycan’ında milliyetçi ve vatansever olmak Azerbaycan toplumunun kültürüne ve yaşam tarzına sahip çıkmak anlamına gelmekteydi. Dolayısıyla kültürel milliyetçilik çevredeki halklarla etnik sınırları sürdürme ve milli bilinci canlı tutma açısından önemli bir role sahipti. Burada araştırma konumuz açısından üzerinde durulması gereken nokta Azerbaycan toplumunda yaşam tarzının ve kültürün önemli bir kısmının İslam ve İslamî gelenek görenekle yakından ilişkili olduğudur. Sovyetleştirme politikaları İslam’ın entelektüel ve ideolojik boyutunu ortadan kaldırma konusunda büyük ölçüde başarılı olduysa da İslam’ın kültürel normları ve yaşam tarzı haline gelen öğeleri kendi varlığını güçlü bir şekilde sürdürmekteydi. Sovyet rejiminin başarısız olduğu nokta, yönettikleri Müslüman toplumlara alternatif bir kültür ve yaşam tarsi sunamamaları idi. Sovyet döneminde İslam’ın cami, başörtüsü vb. somut sembolleri yok edilse de kişiler arası ilişkilerde, sosyal yapıda ve aile ilişkilerinde tezahür eden öğeleri varlığını sürdürmeye devam etmekteydi. Bütün bunlar Azerbaycan toplumunun kendini çevresindeki etnik kimliklerden Ruslardan, Ermenilerden ve Gürcülerden ayırt ettiği, dolayısıyla da milli kimliğinin sınırlarını muhafaza ettiği önemli kültür öğeleri idi. Kebinolarak bilinen dinî nikah, sünnet, cenaze ve yas merasimleri gibi yaşam döngüsü ritüelleri Azeri olmanın çok önemli göstergeleri olarak algılanmıştır. Sovyet ateist ideologlarının yaptıkları birçok araştırmalarda ve istihbarat raporlarında komunist partisi yöneticileri de dahıl olmak üzere halkın söz konusu yaşam döngüsü ritüellerini milli gelenek görenek olduğu gerekçesiyle sürdürdükleri belirtilmekteydi. Ateistler bile, bahsedilen yaşam döngüsü ritüellerine uymadıkları taktirde milli geleneklere karşı gelmekle suçlanacakları ve toplumdan dışlanacakları endişesiyle ritüelleri yerine getirmekteydiler. Kebinsadece Müslüman çiftler arasında kıyıldığından ve dini nikahsız yapılan evlilikler toplumda hoş karşılanmadığından Ruslar, Ermeniler ve Gürcülerle evlilik yapma oranları oldukça düşük kalmaktaydı. Erkek çocuğa sünnet yaptırmak o çocuğu Azeri toplumunun bir üyesi yapmak olarak algılandığından çocuğa sünnet yaptırmak onu diğer toplumların üyelerinden ayıran bir özelliğe kavuşturmak anlamına gelmekteydi. Ölen bir kişinin İslamî üsullere göre gömülmesi o cenazenin bir Rusa, Ermeniye veya Gürcüye değil, bir Azeriye ait olduğunun göstergesi olmaktaydı. Dolayısıyla İslamî kültürden kaynaklanan yaşam döngüsü ritüelleri aynı zamanda çevredeki etnik gruplarla sınırları belirlemekte, dolayısıyla milli ve etnik bilinci canlı tutmaktaydı. Böylece İslamî kültür ve yaşam tarzi Sovyet rejiminin milli ve etnik kimliklerin ötesinde yeni bir insan ve toplum tipi oluşturmayı amaçlayan Homo Sovieticus projesinin de en önemli panzehirlerinden biri olmuştur. (shrink)

The demise of the two federal communist states, the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia, was the major cause of the appearance of a new kind of state entity, unheard of since the end of feudalism in Europe. While the 15 Union Republics of the Soviet Union became independent from the old center (Moscow) as well as detached from each other, some ethnically different or mixed parts of the newly independent republics, deprived of federal protection, felt uncomfortable within the new framework and (...) emerged as separate or detached entities. It should be remembered that this separatist movement predates the disintegration of the Soviet Union and is parallel to Gorbachev's ‘perestroika’. In the Trans-Caucasus, the separatist forces within the republics began to act as soon as Moscow loosened its grip and the national republics began to assert themselves. The half-hearted and limited use of force by Moscow in order to prevent the disintegration of the Soviet Empire (in Baku, Tbilisi, Vilnius) succeeded no better than attempts by individual republics to stop separatism within their own borders. Georgia and Azerbaijan were most affected, with several ‘quasi-states’ appearing within their borders: Nagorno-Karabagh in Azerbaijan, Abkhazia and Ossetia in Georgia. With the direct support of the Armenian republic and covert Russian assistance, the Armenian majority in the former Nagorno-Karabagh Autonomous Region split from Azerbaijan, expelled the Azeri minority, occupied a substantial chunk of Azeri territory, and created a ‘state’ of its own. The Abkhazian minority (less than one-fifth of the total population), with Russian assistance, split Abkhazia from Georgia, expelled the Georgian majority, and established its own ‘state’. South Ossetia declared itself a ‘sovereign republic’, while Adjaria and parts of Georgia proper became practically independent from Tbilisi. Political mistakes and chauvinist acts on the part of the Azeri and Georgian Popular Front governments that initially came to power contributed to local separatism. (shrink)

In the past few years, the growing presence of veiled women in Azerbaijan, particularly in the capital city, Baku, has been striking. This article traces the background to Islamism in Azerbaijan under the state dogma of atheism, and the post-Soviet changes that have facilitated a resurgence of religion in the country. It examines the motivations and the generational divide among women who have recently adopted veiling. Notions of `traditional' and `modern' are questioned here, pointing out the impact of identity politics (...) and foreign Islamic forces on Azerbaijani society in today's increasingly globalized world. Furthermore, the article reveals the tensions and insecurities in the independent era that have reinforced the rise of Islamic ideology in the country and the contradictions involved in new veiling for Azeri women. (shrink)

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:Reviewed by:Memory in Augustine’s Theological Anthropology by Paige E. HochschildJoseph T. Lienhard, S.J.Memory in Augustine’s Theological Anthropology. By Paige E. Hochschild. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012. Pp. 251. $125.00 (cloth). ISBN 978-0-19-964302-8.When students of St. Augustine consider his teaching on memory, they turn instinctively to the Confessions, book 10, and to On the Trinity, books 11 and 12. The lyrical passage in the Confessions is easy to teach and (...) intriguing in its contents. Paige Hochschild paints a much larger picture, drawing on far more sources. She also sees memory as a central category in Augustine’s thought. In the opening paragraph of the introduction, she describes memory (for Augustine) as the way the mind meets the world, as the way things external to the body are apprehended, as the way intelligible objects are known, and as what it means to be constituted in the image of God. This is a big order. And “order,” in Augustine’s sense, is key: the mind, as memory, brings order to the natural world, but also brings to light a providential order that is implicit in the sensible.The book is divided into three parts: (1) the philosophical tradition (Plato, Aristotle, and Plotinus), (2) Augustine’s earlier writings (from the Cassiciacum dialogues up to De magistro and De musica), and (3) the Confessions and De trinitate. The conclusion of this complex study is that memory is salvific: it accounts for the soul’s progress by the dialectical play of the knowledge and love of what is possessed, yet not possessed. The lifelong process of healing in which memory functions is fulfilled in contemplation.Two characteristics of Hochschild’s book can be mentioned at the outset. First, she studies each author diachronically, measuring progress and growth in the author’s thought, and particularly in his understanding of memory. Second, she readily invokes a wide range of categories to explain and illuminate her main topic. The book is anything but an extended encyclopedia article on “memoria in Augustine.” The two principal terms in the title, “memory” and “theological anthropology,” are richly developed and elaborated.Chapter 1 begins with a short note on Augustine’s knowledge of Plato. It is generally admitted that Augustine read some of the dialogues of Plato in translation: the Timaeus, the Republic (albeit only parts of it), the Phaedo, and the Phaedrus. Some of these works, at least, may have come down to him through doxographers. But Plato’s influence on Augustine remains shadowy. It is “Platonism,” and particularly Plotinus, that influences him so clearly, a point made memorably in Confessions 7.9.13-15, and its intriguing reference to the libri Platonicorum. Before all else, Platonism delivers Augustine from the bondage of materialism.Hochschild treats Plato’s doctrine of memory under four headings: sense perception, knowledge as recollection, divisions in the ways of knowing, and the practice of dialectic. In regard to sense perception, the sharp distinction (found in the Republic) between opinion (doxa) and knowledge (epistêmê) [End Page 144] needs to be refined, Hochschild avers. At least in some later works, the sensible is an image of the intelligible, and hence some sense perception can be infallible. On the next topic, Plato invokes recollection to explain direct apprehension of the forms, but recollection does not recall what was perceived in the past but is a restoration of a clear, logical relationship. The Republic introduces a new element, “the illuminative power of the Good” (21). The final section of chapter 1 treats dialectic, concluding that “knowledge is fulfilled in virtue, and the art of dialectic is not merely an exercise in definition, but a hexis, and a way of living” (27).Chapter 2, on Aristotle, begins with the observation that, if Plato’s influence on Augustine was indirect, Aristotle’s was even more indirect, reaching Augustine through Plotinus. Most familiar, of course, are Augustine’s account of reading Aristotle’s Categories during his days at Carthage (Confessions 4.16.28-31) and his later use of the categories of substance and relation in his understanding of the Trinity, creating the category of “substantial relation,” which would... (shrink)

Charlene Haddock Seigfried argues that William James’s philosophy significantly influenced the shaping of pragmatist feminism and feminist pragmatism. Interpreting his works, she recognized the potential of his ideas for feminist reconstruction and their alignment with feminist goals. However, Seigfried also criticizes James for what she perceives as pervasive sexism in his writings. In this paper, I will defend James from the accusations made by Seigfried and demonstrate that he did not hold such a hostile attitude towards women as she suggests.

In this short, dense essay, Jean Cavaillès evaluates philosophical efforts to determine the origin - logical or ontological - of scientific thought, arguing that, rather than seeking to found science in original intentional acts, a priori meanings, or foundational logical relations, any adequate theory must involve a history of the concept. Cavaillès insists on a historical epistemology that is conceptual rather than phenomenological, and a logic that is dialectical rather than transcendental. His famous call (cited by Foucault) to abandon "a (...) philosophy of consciousness" for "a philosophy of the concept" was crucial in displacing the focus of philosophical enquiry from aprioristic foundations toward structural historical shifts in the conceptual fabric. This new translation of Cavaillès's final work, written in 1942 during his imprisonment for Resistance activities, presents an opportunity to reencounter an original and lucid thinker. Cavaillès's subtle adjudication between positivistic claims that science has no need of philosophy, and philosophers' obstinate disregard for actual scientific events, speaks to a dilemma that remains pertinent for us today. His affirmation of the authority of scientific thinking combined with his commitment to conceptual creation yields a radical defense of the freedom of thought and the possibility of the new. (shrink)

This article critically analyzes Rawls’s attitude toward envy. In A Theory of Justice, Rawls is predominantly concerned with the threat that class envy poses to political stability. Yet he also briefly discusses the kind of envy that individuals experience toward their social peers, which he calls particular envy, and which I refer to as peer envy. He quickly concludes, however, that particular envy would not present a serious risk to the stability of his just society. In this article, I contest (...) this claim by arguing that the principles that structure Rawls’s ideal society are likely to exacerbate particular envy to a politically risky extent. Section 1 reconstructs his account of envy, giving special attention to his belief that competition kindles envy between peers. Section 2 then examines the way in which Rawls often endorses rivalry within the body politic. I argue that the society governed by justice as fairness is, on account of this rivalry, likely to generate a politically problematic degree of particular envy. In Section 3, I invoke ancient Greece as an example of a society that was, as a result of its intense competitiveness, often imperiled by dangerously elevated levels of peer envy. I then survey the key institutional mechanisms by which the ancient Greeks sought to manage this hazardous emotion. It turns out, however, that most of these mechanisms would be unavailable to Rawls insofar as they starkly contravene his principles of justice. I conclude that if Rawlsians wish to establish a society that fosters rivalry, they would do well to reflect on the means by which peer envy can be effectively harnessed. (shrink)

Ṣadr, Muḥammad Bāqir; Islamic philosophy; 20th century.

Dewey's voluminous writings, spanning decades and reflecting the contrasting national moods of different historical periods, abound with tensions, not to say contradictions. In highlighting and working with a conflict within Dewey's commitments, then, I do not mean to be catching him out or correcting a mistake. The tension on which I focus is one with which he struggled for most of his philosophical career and one that he never satisfactorily resolved, yet it is also one that goes to the heart (...) of what it is to be a pragmatist. It involves the role of final ends in a philosophy that places practical reasoning at the heart of all knowledge. I will argue that while Dewey had powerful philosophical prejudices that prevented him from adequately dealing with this problem himself, a solution is nonetheless forthcoming that maintains, and perhaps even deepens, the main themes of his pragmatism. Setting out this solution will lead me, in the end, to a novel formulation of the pragmatist theory of truth. (shrink)

Classical Sanskrit commentary on Brahmasūtra; includes original Sanskrit text with English translation.

[1] The early years, 1878-1923 -- [2] The middle years, 1923-1945 -- [3] The later years, 1945-1965.

Ptolemy reports three dated lunar eclipses observed by Hipparchus, and also refers to two more, without identifying them, which Hipparchus compared with two earlier counterparts (apparently, observed in Mesopotamia) to assess the validity of the Babylonian period relations of the lunar motion. Also, in Pliny the Elder’s Historia naturalis, we are told that a horizontal lunar eclipse (selenelion) at sunrise and moonset was reported (observed?) by Hipparchus. Reviewing a paper by G.J. Toomer in 1980, it is shown that the pairs (...) of the eclipses were, almost certainly, the ones occurring on “31 January 486 b.c. and 27 January 141 b.c.” and “19 November 502 b.c. and 14 November 157 b.c.”; and if Hipparchus observed from St. Stephen’s Hill in Rhodes, the most probable candidate for the selenelion at moonset was the lunar eclipse of 7 February 142 b.c., although he also had the chance to observe any of the four others, occurring on 3 July 150 b.c., 10 April 145 b.c., 26 November 139 b.c., and 15 November 138 b.c., on a sufficiently elevated mountain on the island. (shrink)

_This paper discusses the concept of compassion fatigue in light of the importance that political decisions, especially the application of the concept of public spirit, have had on care and nursing in a Danish hospital context during the COVID-19 pandemic. The paper is based on recent research literature in the field as well as the author’s own participatory observation study. The paper suggests that nurses already show a sense of public spirit due to their authorization and professional ethics, but at (...) the same time they must balance the ambiguity of nursing care. A linguistic-philosophical study of public spirit shows that the concept can have a discursive, double-binding and interpellative effect on nurses, who may therefore have an experience of inadequacy and compassion fatigue. In this context, compassion fatigue must be understood as the fact that nurses cannot provide the care they want or that is expected of them. Public spirit can be said to have had a renaissance and linguistic and moral supremacy during the COVID-19 pandemic. The paper views the concept of __waywardness 1 as a possible response for how to prevent or completely avoid compassion fatigue, so that nurses instead have an experience of compassion / self-compassion. This could in the end be important for encouraging more nursing students and nurses who have the desire and opportunity to stay in the profession._ _Keywords_: Nursing care, compassion fatigue, public spirit, compassion, COVID-19 pandemic. (shrink)

The practical goal of preventing premature death seems uncontroversial. But the term ‘premature death’ is vague with several, sometimes conflicting definitions. This ambiguity results in several conceptions with which not all will agree. Moreover, the normative rationale behind the goal of preventing premature deaths is masked by the operational definition of existing measures. In this article, we argue that ‘premature death’ should be recognized as a normative concept. We propose that normative theories should be used to justify measures of premature (...) death to provide them with normative validity and public legitimacy. (shrink)

In the ground-breaking 2018 judgment of Navtej Singh Johar v. Union of India, the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India ushered in a new era by decriminalizing homosexuality, marking a pivotal moment in the country's legal history. However, this progressive stride was accompanied by persistent questions concerning homosexual rights that remained unexplored within both cultural and legal frameworks. Despite the legal acknowledgment, members of the homosexual community are often professed merely as 'individuals' and not fully integrated into mainstream society. This perception (...) is aggravated by the absence of a societal 'stamp of marriage,' reinforcing their marginalization. In the realm of Hindu law, the sanctity of marriage is deeply rooted in the scriptures, which explicitly define it as the union of 'two souls.' Remarkably, these very scriptures also assert that a soul is inherently without gender, elucidating that gender is a characteristic exclusive to the human body. It is crucial to recognize that Hindu law, including the relevant Acts, draws extensively from these scriptures, making them a fundamental source of legal principles. The legislation, such as the Hindu Marriage Act, essentially serves to codify and organize the pre-existing Hindu law without seeking to undermine the intrinsic values enshrined within the Holy Scriptures. This article aims to delve into the unaddressed aspects of homosexual rights within the contemporary legal framework, shedding light on the denied rights that persist. While global attitudes are progressing towards recognizing and safeguarding homosexual rights, the Indian government and cultural factors appear hesitant to renounce orthodox and conservative stances. This article seeks to analyse and critique these aspects, exploring the challenges hindering the full acceptance and integration of homosexual individuals into the broader societal fabric despite the transformative legal landscape initiated by the Navtej Singh Johar case. (shrink)

In this paper we seek to clarify the question of what exactly is meant by an “autonomous” decision or act by focusing on the most fundamental personal condition for deciding or acting autonomously. This basic personal requirement has often been overlooked in recent debates; where it has been seen, it is characterized in ways that are too demanding. What is meant here is an individual form of self-relation that seems to be constitutive for leading a life as a human and (...) is likely to be acquired very early in life. This significant personal self-relation has three essential aspects: a primal sense of “self-confidence”, a basic form of “self-assertiveness”, and a fundamental form of “self-esteem”. We will call this the “triple S condition” for autonomy. Our main thesis is that any decision or action which is not based on this triple S condition cannot be called “autonomous”. (shrink)

This article explores the contributions of nineteenth-century philosophers of habit to understanding the rigidity of desire. Focusing on the work of Félix Ravaisson, I argue that Of Habit (1838) makes sense of something that much queer theory fails to address in its investment in the subversion of identity: the tendency of desire to return to known objects and follow well-worn paths, a tendency that does not always result in the affirmation of norms or the consolidation of power. Of Habit offers (...) a new set of terms—crystallization, patterning, and necessity, among others—for comprehending the limits of desire’s flexibility without naturalizing gender or sexuality as permanently fixed or inherent. In so doing, it offers an alternative to queer theories that, indebted to Judith Butler’s performativity thesis, attribute the rigidities of sexual life entirely to the productive power of cultural prohibitions and discursively constructed norms. (shrink)

It is generally accepted that we need more research into concussions and other injuries with potential long-term effects in sport because such research underpins effective, evidence-based prevention, management, support, and treatment. This paper provides an analysis of the obligations of sports federations to support and facilitate such research, as well as an analysis of the role active participants in the sport should have in the research process. The paper focuses on concussion and concussion research, though very similar arguments apply to (...) other common sports injuries with potential long-term effects. The paper argues that sports federations have a moral obligation and a prudential interest in initiating, facilitating, and funding concussion research. This follows from their duty of care towards active participants and from considerations of reciprocity. The ability to discharge these research obligations depends on the resources available to a particular federation, but those who can discharge them should do so. The paper further argues that athletes and other active participants in sport should be involved in all aspects of the concussion research process from conception to design, i.e. that Active Participant Involvement and Engagement (APIE) should be a non-negotiable element of concussion research projects. This is supported by instrumental reasons, but also by philosophical argument based on standpoint epistemology and on ethical arguments related to the interests of active participants. Standpoint epistemology is the epistemological position that the knowledge a person has and can have depends on that person’s standpoint in the world. Keywords: Concussion, funding, participant involvement, sport, sport association, sport federation. (shrink)

A new class of program-oriented logical formalisms is investigated – renominative logics with extended renominations, equality predicates, and predicate complement composition. Composition algebras and languages of such logics are described; their semantic properties are investigated. For these logics, a number of logical consequence relations are proposed and investigated, in particular, the logical consequence relations with undefinedness conditions. Properties of these relations form the semantic basis for further construction of sequent-type calculi for the proposed logics.

Classical work, with Hindi and Sanskrit commentaries, on non-dualistic (Advaita) Vedanta philosophy.

Vysokoškolská učebnice člení látku do tří oddílů (K obecným otázkám umění a literatury; Poetika; Geneze literárního díla a literární proces), v nichž se pokouší vyložit teorii literatury z jednotného hlediska a podat klíč kteoretickému objasnění všech literárních děl a řad.

t. 1. Apo ton prōto skeptomeno anthrōpo mechri ton 6. aiōna M.Ch. -- t. 2. Apo ton 7. aiōna M.Ch. mechri to sēmera.

Resumen:La obra capital de Phillip Mainländer se compone de seis capítulos (Analítica de la facultad cognoscitiva, Física, Estética, Ética, Política, Metafísica) y un Anexo (Crítica de las doctrinas de Kant y Schopenhauer). Seis capítulos y un anexo que hacen gala de la intempestividad de su autor. De esa cualidad presente en pocos pensadores y que condiciona la valoración de su obra al paso del tiempo. De esa cualidad que permite pensar más allá de los límites que impone la época. Curiosamente (...) un pensador del siglo XIX ilumina los tiempos que corren. Unos tiempos signados por prácticas ecocidas y sus derivaciones ecosuicidas (Baquedano: 37-38), y cuyas primeras manifestaciones físicas sobre la naturaleza comenzaron, llamativamente, en dicho momento, a saber, en 1784 cuando James Watt patentó su máquina de vapor. (shrink)