In this tribute to Steven T. Katz on the occasion of his seventieth birthday, Michael Zank and Ingrid Anderson present sixteen original essays written by senior and junior scholars in comparative religion, philosophy of religion, modern Judaism, and theology after the Holocaust, fields of inquiry where Steven Katz made major contributions over the course of his distinguished scholarly career. The authors of this volume, specialists in Jewish history, especially the modern experience, and Jewish thought from the Bible (...) to Buber, offer theoretical and practical observations on the value of the particular. Contributions range from Tim Knepper's reevaluation of the ineffability discourse to the particulars of the Settlement Cookbook, examined by Nora Rubel as an American classic. (shrink)

This chapter contains sections titled: I The Nature of Philosophy of Education and Conceptual Analysis II Peters' Conception of Education and some of its Normative Implications III Peters' Indeterminacy of Educational Aims and the Need for Sustained Dialogue References.

This article aims to highlight why R. S. Peters' conceptual analysis of ‘education’ was such an important contribution to the normative field of philosophy of education. In the article, I do the following: 1) explicate Peters' conception of philosophy of education as a field of philosophy and explain his approach to the philosophical analysis of concepts; 2) emphasize several (normative) features of Peters' conception of education, while pointing to a couple of oversights; and 3) suggest how Peters' analysis might be (...) used to reinvigorate a conversation on one central educational aim—that of how we might educate citizens for the 21st century. (shrink)

This article aims to highlight why R. S. Peters' conceptual analysis of ‘education’ was such an important contribution to the normative field of philosophy of education. In the article, I do the following: 1) explicate Peters' conception of philosophy of education as a field of philosophy and explain his approach to the philosophical analysis of concepts; 2) emphasize several (normative) features of Peters' conception of education, while pointing to a couple of oversights; and 3) suggest how Peters' analysis might be (...) used to reinvigorate a conversation on one central educational aim—that of how we might educate citizens for the 21st century. (shrink)

The logic of inexactness, presented in this paper, is a version of the Łukasiewicz logic with predicates valued in [0, ∞). We axiomatize multi-valued models of equality and ordering in this logic guaranteeing their imbeddibility in the real line. Our axioms of equality and ordering, when interpreted as axioms of proximity and dominance, can be applied to the foundations of measurement (especially in the social sciences). In two-valued logic they provide theories of ratio scale measurement. In multivalued logic they enable (...) us to treat formally errors arising in nominal and ordinal measurements. (shrink)

Where does the particular form or configuration of a pattern come from, and how is it propagated from pattern to pattern? Templets and the Explanation of Complex Patterns provides a natural language for analysing such questions. Using it, the organisational forces that underlie the fabrication of any pattern can be divided into two classes. First, there are the 'universal laws' of pattern assembly, the configurational rules and constraints inherent within the fabric of the pattern elements themselves. Second, there are the (...) 'templets' - external, situational constraints imposed on the pattern elements. From the perspective of templeting, simple patterns can be directly contrasted with complex patterns: the former are completely determined by their universal laws, whereas the latter also require extensive templets. Natural patterns range along the entire spectrum from simple to complex, and the most complex of these include both random patterns and many biological patterns. (shrink)

Two real-valued deduction schemes are introduced, which agree on $\vdash \triangle$ but not on $\Gamma \vdash \triangle$ , where Δ and ▵ are finite sets of formulae. Using the first scheme we axiomatize real-valued equality so that it induces metrics on the domains of appropriate structures. We use the second scheme to reduce substitutivity of equals to uniform continuity, with respect to the metric equality, of interpretations of predicates in structures. This continuity extends from predicates to arbitrary formulae and the (...) appropriate models have completions resembling analytic completions of metric spaces. We provide inference rules for the two deductions and discuss definability of each of them by means of the other. (shrink)

Humanist sociologists are activists rooted in the reality of history and change and guided by a concern for the 'real life' problems of equality, peace, and social justice. They view people as active shapers of social life, capable of creating societies in which everyone's potential can unfold. Alfred McClung Lee introduces this volume with 'Sociology: Humanist and Scientific' and develops the theme that a sociology that is humanist is also scientific. The other nine selections are grouped into four parts: 'The (...) Individual and Social Life;' 'Social Institutions: Technology, Science, and Formal Organization;' 'Political Structures: Issues of Justice and Equality;' and 'Methodological Critiques and Counterproposals.'. (shrink)

The idea that approximate exactness is the most we can and should expect scientific theories to yield underlies the formation and application of the multi-valued logic of approximation discussed in this paper. In this logic, inexactness is controlled and minimized by means of uniquely designed deductions. We show how the notion of equality is handled within this logic and we apply it to certain principles and interpretations of quantum theory.

Most patterns of an organism develop reproducibly and predictably. Thus, most biological patterns are largely predetermined by the nature of the zygote and by the nature of the surrounding world. Some ontogenetic patterns can also be considered to be preformed. Eighteenth and nineteenth century definitions of 'preformation' suggested that all aspects of a precursor pattern--its elements and its configuration--are preserved during development. Today, the idea of preformed configurations has been lost. To revive this lost idea, we offer the following biologically (...) contemporary definition for preformed ontogenetic patterns: preformed patterns are those patterns with topologies that have been conserved during their ontogenies. This definition is presented in precise mathematical language, and its application is demonstrated in a system of developing, abstract patterns. (shrink)

The purpose of this paper is to examine the role that trustworthiness plays in the ability of teachers to function as moral role models. Through exploration of Muriel Spark’s novel, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, I explain some of the central features of trustworthiness as a moral virtue and suggest how these features are critical to developing moral relationships between teachers and students. I show how and why the character of Miss Jean Brodie fails to embody trustworthiness, and how (...) moral philosophy and psychological insight are bound up with teachers’ efforts to treat students well and to behave in ways that morally warrant the trust most of us typically grant them. Finally, I propose some of the important implications this analysis has for teacher education. (shrink)

Liz JacksonEducation University of Hong KongNel Noddings is known around the world for her contributions to philosophy and philosophy of education. Her work on caring and relational ethics broke ne...

The philosophy of deep ecology originated in the 1970s with the Norwegian philosopher Arne Naess and has since spread around the world. Its basic premises are a belief in the intrinsic value of nonhuman nature, a belief that ecological principles should dictate human actions and moral evaluations, an emphasis on noninterference into natural processes, and a critique of materialism and technological progress.This book approaches deep ecology as a philosophy, not as a political, social, or environmental movement. In part I, the (...) authors compare deep ecology's philosophical ideas with other positions and debates in environmental philosophy and to other schools of thought such as social ecology, ecofeminism, and moral pluralism. In part II, they investigate the connections between deep ecology and other contemporary world views, such as continental philosophy, postmodernism, and non-Western philosophical traditions. The first anthology on deep ecology that is not primarily the work of the movement's followers, Beneath the Surface offers a rigorous assessment of deep ecology's strengths and weaknesses as a philosophical position.Contributors : John Clark, Deane Curtin, Arran Gare, William Grey, Mathew Humphrey, Knut Jacobsen, Eric Katz, Andrew Light, Jonathan Maskit, Val Plumwood, David Rothenberg, Ariel Salleh, Bron Taylor, Michael Zimmerman. (shrink)

Officially inaugurated in 1925, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem was designed to serve the academic needs of the Jewish people and the Zionist enterprise in British Mandatory Palestine, as well as to help fulfill the economic and social requirements of the Middle East. It is intriguing that a university with such practical goals should have as one of its central pillars an institute for pure mathematics that purposely dismissed any of the varied fields of applied mathematics. This paper tells of (...) the preparations for the inauguration of the Hebrew University during the years 1920–1925 and analyzes the founding phase of the Einstein Institute of Mathematics that was established there during the years 1924–1928. Special emphasis is given to the first terms in which this Institute operated, starting from the winter of 1927 with the activities of the director and one of the founders, the German mathematician Edmund Landau, and onward from 1928 when his successors, particularly Adolf Abraham Halevi Fraenkel and Mihály-Michael Fekete, continued Landau's heritage of pure mathematics. The paper shows why and how the Institute succeeded in rejecting applied mathematics from its court and also explores the controversial issue of center and periphery in the development of science, a topic that is briefly analyzed in the concluding section. (shrink)

Throughout the globe, degraded ecosystems are in desperate need of restoration. Restoration is based on world‐view and the human relationship with the natural world, our place, and the landscape. The question is, can society and its institutions shift from development and use of natural resources to ecological restoration of the natural world without a change in world‐view? Some world‐views lead to more destructive human behavior than others. Following Naess's ecosophical comparison of the deep and shallow ecology movements, this essay depicts (...) the relationships between restorationist and the natural world. Contrast the anti‐restoration position of Katz/Elliot. In deep ecological restoration we can develop a realization that our community is part of the self‐producing character of all life. In deep ecological restoration, we find one important medium for the institutionalization, politicalization, and transpersonalization of a deeper understanding of what it means to be a human being with nature. (shrink)

Bringing Human Rights Education to US Classrooms presents ten research-based human rights projects powerfully implemented in a range of U.S. classrooms, from elementary school through community college and university. In these classrooms, the students--primarily young people of color who have experienced or witnessed human rights abuses such as discrimination and poverty--are exposed for the first time to thinking about their own lives and the world through an empowering human rights lens. Unique in integrating theory and classroom practice, and in addressing (...) human rights issues with special relevance for communities of color in the US, Katz and Spero provide indispensable guidance for those studying and teaching human rights. (shrink)

This book offers an interdisciplinary approach to religion and psychology, including a compelling denouement that reveals new narratives about longstanding rumours in the early history of the psychoanalytic movement. This volume demonstrates that the first generation of psychoanalysts succeeded in writing themselves into the history of religious thought and sacralizing the origins of psychoanalysis.

Yeshayahu Leibowitz (1903–1994) was an Israeli philosopher and scientist. For decades, his thinking and persona were the embodiment of a Judaism in Israel. Getting to know him is getting to know a great Israeli thinker and also invites a window into the life of Israel and its problems.

Dieses Buch untersucht die Art und Weise, wie die Musikschriftsteller Robert Schumann, E. T. A. Hoffmann und Ludwig Tieck versucht haben, den musikalischen Eindruck von Werken wie Beethovens Neunter Symphonie oder Mozarts Don Giovanni zu beschreiben. Der Autor Moritz Katz zeigt auf, wie diese Beschreibungen notwendigerweise unvollständig sind und wie die Sprache der Musik sich der Beschreibung entzieht. Dieses Buch wird Musikliebhaber und Studenten der Musik- und Literaturgeschichte ansprechen. This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, (...) and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant. (shrink)

The way Leibniz applied his philosophy to mathematics has been the subject of longstanding debates. A key piece of evidence is his letter to Masson on bodies. We offer an interpretation of this often misunderstood text, dealing with the status of infinite divisibility in nature, rather than in mathematics. In line with this distinction, we offer a reading of the fictionality of infinitesimals. The letter has been claimed to support a reading of infinitesimals according to which they are logical fictions, (...) contradictory in their definition, and thus absolutely impossible. The advocates of such a reading have lumped infinitesimals with infinite wholes, which are rejected by Leibniz as contradicting the part–whole principle. Far from supporting this reading, the letter is arguably consistent with the view that infinitesimals, as inassignable quantities, are mentis fictiones, i.e., (well-founded) fictions usable in mathematics, but possibly contrary to the Leibnizian principle of the harmony of things and not necessarily idealizing anything in rerum natura. Unlike infinite wholes, infinitesimals—as well as imaginary roots and other well-founded fictions—may involve accidental (as opposed to absolute) impossibilities, in accordance with the Leibnizian theories of knowledge and modality. (shrink)

Attempts to penetrate behind Plotinus' statements to the problem that faced his philosophy to show its function in bridging the inconsistencies that arise when existential considerations are not clearly distinguished.