The paper analyses Ukraine’s geopolitical position and argues that Ukraine is slowly gravitating towards West. The paper gives a small hint of approximation process of Ukraine within EU and NATO, and argues how this approximation process is opposed by Russia, who wants Ukraine back to its influence. Occupation off Crimea by Russia violated international order, opening way to unstructured international ties out traditional UN bodies. The Ukraine’s destiny is unclear, Dnieper River may divide country in two, and the West faces (...) biggest security and political threat after WWII. (shrink)

ʻInyene Orah ḥayim : ʻavodat H., tefilah, berakhot, Shabat, Rosh ha-shanah, Yom ha-kipurim, ḳiyum mitsṿot, teshuvah, ḥinukh -- ʻInyene Yoreh deʻah : Torah, tsedaḳah, ʻinyanim shonim, midot, biṭaḥon, yom huledet -- Heʻarot ʻal Talmud Yerushalmi -- Hosafot le-Sefer Derekh ʻavodato, Shaʻar ha-biṭaḥon -- Ḳunṭres Tsidḳat Ḥanah : ḥidushim ṿe-liḳuṭim ʻal hilkhot ḥag he-Pesaḥ ṿe-Hagadah shel Pesaḥ (Mahadurah 3) -- Ḳunṭres Tsemaḥ Yiśraʼel : ʻal ʻinyene minhagim (Mahadurah 2) -- Ḳunt̥res Ḥesed ṿe-emunah : heʻarot ṿe-ḥidushim ʻal Sefer ḥasidim (Mahadurah 2) -- (...) Ḳunṭres Mile di-hespeda : ʻal zeḳeni ha-r. he-ḥ. Rabi Shelomoh Ḥayim Haizler zatsal. (shrink)

This chapter aims to lay out a map of the diverse epistemological perspectives within the Islamic theological tradition, in the conceptual framework of contemporary analytic philosophy of religion. In order achieve that goal, it aims to consider epistemological views in light of their historic context, while at the same time seeking to “translate” those broadly medieval perspectives into contemporary philosophical language. In doing so, the chapter offers a succinct overview of the main epistemic trends within the Islamic theological tradition concerning (...) religious epistemology. The chapter is divided into two main sections designated for discussions of differing accounts found in distinct trends of the tradition, namely the Rationalist and Traditionalist trends. The discussion concerning the Rationalist trend focuses on the philosophical-theologians of the dominant Mu’tazilite, Ash’arite, and Maturidite schools. The section on Islamic Traditionalism focuses on the Atharite scripturalism of Ibn Qudāma, and in particular the thought of Ibn Taymiyya. In order to map out these historic positions in light of contemporary religious epistemology, reference is made to a threefold typology of current views in the literature: (1) theistic evidentialism, (2) reformed epistemology, and (3) fideism. As such, the remainder of the chapter will attempt to outline the different approaches toward religious epistemology in the Islamic theological tradition with this threefold typology in mind. (shrink)

This paper reflects on the continued potency of veillance theories to traverse beyond the taxonomies of surveillance inside liberal democracies. It provides a commentary on the ability of sousveillance to destabilise and disrupt suer/violence by shifting its focus from the centre to the periphery, where Big Data surveillance is tantamount to sur/violence. In these peripheral political spaces, surveillance is not framed by concerns over privacy, democracy and civil society; rather, it is a matter of life and death, a technique of (...) both biopolitical and thanatopolitical power. I argue that the universalist, and universalizing, debates over surveillance cannot be mapped through the anxieties of privileged middle classes as they would neither transcend nor make possible alternative ways of tackling the intersection of surveillance and violence so long as they are couched in the liberal concerns for democracy. I call this phenomenon “liberal luxury,” whereby debates over surveillance have over-emphasised liberal proclivities at the expense of disengaging those peripheral populations most severely affected by sur/violence. (shrink)

In many countries, including patients are legally entitled to request copies of their clinical notes. However, this process remains time-consuming and burdensome, and it remains unclear how much of the medical record must be made available. Online access to notes offers a way to overcome these challenges and in around 10 countries worldwide, via secure web-based portals, many patients are now able to read at least some of the narrative reports written by clinicians. However, even in countries that have implemented (...) the practice many clinicians have resisted the idea remaining doubtful of the value of opening notes, and anticipating patients will be confused or anxious by what they read. Against this scepticism, a growing body of qualitative and quantitative research reveals that patients derive multiple benefits from reading their notes. We address the contrasting perceptions of this practice innovation, and claim that the divergent views of patients and clinicians can be explained as a case of epistemic injustice. Using a range of evidence, we argue that patients are vulnerable to epistemic injustice. Nonetheless, we conclude that the marginalisation of patients’ access to their health information exemplifies a form of epistemic exclusion, one with practical and ethical consequences including for patient safety. (shrink)

In many countries, including patients are legally entitled to request copies of their clinical notes. However, this process remains time-consuming and burdensome, and it remains unclear how much of the medical record must be made available. Online access to notes offers a way to overcome these challenges and in around 10 countries worldwide, via secure web-based portals, many patients are now able to read at least some of the narrative reports written by clinicians (‘open notes’). However, even in countries that (...) have implemented the practice many clinicians have resisted the idea remaining doubtful of the value of opening notes, and anticipating patients will be confused or anxious by what they read. Against this scepticism, a growing body of qualitative and quantitative research reveals that patients derive multiple benefits from reading their notes. We address the contrasting perceptions of this practice innovation, and claim that the divergent views of patients and clinicians can be explained as a case of epistemic injustice. Using a range of evidence, we argue that patients are vulnerable to (oftentimes, non-intentional) epistemic injustice. Nonetheless, we conclude that the marginalisation of patients’ access to their health information exemplifies a form of epistemic exclusion, one with practical and ethical consequences including for patient safety. (shrink)

Çağdaş fizik evrenimizin yaşam için hassas ayarlı olduğunu göstermiştir. Evrenin yaşam için hassas ayarlı olması demek fizik yasaları, başlangıç koşulları ve temel fizik sabitlerinin alabileceği muhtemel değerlerden çok azı yaşama izin vermesi demektir. Bazı teist düşünürler hassas ayarın Tanrı’nın varlığı lehinde geliştirilebilecek Tasarım kanıtlarında öncül görevi görebileceğini iddia etmişlerdir. Diğer taraftan bazı felsefeci ve bilim insanları hassas ayar gözlemenin birden fazla evrenin var olduğunu savunan çok evrenler hipotezini desteklediğini iddia etmişlerdir. Bu iki yaklaşım da hassas ayarın bir açıklamaya muhtaç olduğunu (...) varsayımını yapar. İlk bakışta bu varsayım makul gözükse de bazı felsefeci ve bilim insanları hassas ayarın bir açıklamaya muhtaç olduğu iddiasını reddetmişlerdir. Bu yaklaşımı savunanlar ya evrenin yaşam için hassas ayarlı olmadığını ya da evrenin hassas ayarlı olmasına şaşırmamamız gerektiğini, dolayısı ile hassas ayarın bir açıklamaya ihtiyaç duymadığını iddia etmişlerdir. Bu makalemizde bu iddialarının bir kısmını ele alarak değerlendirecek ve hassas ayarın açıklamaya muhtaç olmadığını temellendirmede başarısız olduklarını göstermeye çalışacağız. (shrink)

The objective of the paper is to create a concept of what securing the claim is, based on the positive legislation of Kosovo’s law, comparing its regulation with laws of somewhat similar legislations of neighbouring regions, understanding its implementation in practice, to achieve conclusions and remarks based on law, facts, practice, and the comparative aspect. The Civil Procedure Law in the Republic of Kosovo is regulated with contested, non-contested or enforcement procedure. Securing the claim is an institute expressively regulated by (...) the “Law on Contested Procedure of the Republic of Kosovo” on its XXI Chapter that defines its means and types. Considering securing the claim measures are present in civil law to prevent any possible threat of protected rights until the final verdict is given, this paper tends to achieve a realization of how these measures practically succeed in actual cases, if they meet the criteria set in the law, or if securing the claim proposal is approved by the court, if they unintentionally restrain the respondent from using their rights. Moving forward, how one distinguishes claim security and interim measures from one-another although they describe the main concept, is strictly reviewed under this article, to finally achieve conclusions and remarks based on questions raised as above. (shrink)

This book focuses on the impacts of global and transnational trends in higher education policy in Albania and provides a window into the variable interplay of local and global forces in an under-studied Balkan nation.

The use of student evaluations of teaching (SET) has become a widespread practice in higher education despite inconclusive evidence reported in the literature around its validity. Not surprisingly, the question of the validity of SET continues to be a current debate in higher education, pointing to the need for more research in this area. This paper is a part of a larger scale study, which aims to contribute to broadening the knowledge and understanding of SET validity by analysing the process (...) within the South East European University (SEEU) in North Macedonia in order to determine whether student evaluations are objective and critical. A likert scale questionnaire, containing 9 questions, was designed for the purpose of the analysis. The questionnaire was sent to all students from the five (5) Faculties: Business and Economics, Law, Contemporary Sciences and Technologies, Contemporary Social Sciences and Faculty of Languages, Cultures and Communications, in both campuses, Tetovo and Skopje. Three hundred and thirty three (333) students participated in the survey. Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) was used for analysing the results. Findings revealed that the information students received about the reputation, experience and qualifications of the professors had the highest influence on their perceptions, which in turn influenced the evaluations. As an addition, the present paper also compares two methods on a data set of actual SET. For illustrative purposes, only data from one faculty have been analysed. It is shown that the traditional method of considering the average values can misrepresent a teacher’s performance as it can be highly sensitive to any extreme grades, being either very positive or very negative. (shrink)

Müslüman bağlamında bilim-din etkileşiminde muhtemelen en can alıcı konu, İslam ve Neo-Darwinci evrim teorisi arasındaki ilişkidir. Müslüman alimler iki ana kampa ayrılır. Bir yandan, daha geleneksel eğilimlere sahip Müslüman düşünürler, İslam'ın evrimle çeliştiğini düşünüyorlar. Diğer tarafta, evrim teorisinin İslam'la tamamen uyumlu olduğunu düşünen daha bilimsel yönelimli Müslüman düşünürlerimiz var. Başta bilim insanları olmak üzere bu düşünürler, genellikle Kuran ayetlerinin bazılarının mecazi bir okumasını sunarlar ya da onları yeniden yorumlarlar. Bu makalede, ben orta yolcu bir yaklaşım tercih edecek ve mecazi okumaya (...) ya da yeniden yorumlamaya başvurmadan, geleneksel Kuran okumasının Neo-Darwinci evrim teorisi ile uyumluluğunu göstermeye çalışacağım. Standart bilimsel anlatıyı da herhangi bir çarpıtmaya maruz bırakmadan kabul edeceğim. İlk olarak, kutsal kitaptaki yaratılış anlatısının evrim teorisiyle bağdaşmadığı iddiasının kötülük sorununa, yani kötülüğün klasik Teizm'in Tanrısı ile bağdaşmadığı iddiasına, benzediğini savunacağım. Bu analojiyi kullanarak hem Kuran anlatısının hem de evrim teorisinin nasıl doğru olabileceğine dair eksiksiz ve makul bir açıklama bulmaya çalışmak yerine, sadece bu iki açıklamanın birbiri ile çelişmediğini göstermeyi amaçlayan daha mütevazı yaklaşımlar aramamız gerektiğini iddia edeceğim—yani kötülük sorunu bağlamındaki savunmalara benzer bir yaklaşım geliştirmeye çalışacağım. Hem bilimsel yaratılış anlatısı hem de Kuran’daki yaratılış anlatısı özetledikten sonra ve olası tek çelişkinin ortak ata tezinde olduğunu savunduktan sonra, Kuran anlatımının evrim teorisiyle uyumluluğunu göstermeyi amaçlayan bu tür iki savunma sunacağım. Birinci savunma, "çifte yaratılış savunması", Adem'in, kutsal kitapların tarif ettiği Cennet'te ve evrim biliminin tarif ettiği Dünya'da olmak üzere iki kez yaratıldığı senaryoları içerir. Bu nedenle, her iki yaratılış anlatısı da aynı anda doğru olabilir ve bu nedenle ikisi bir biri ile tutarlıdır. İkincisi, "çoklu ata savunması", Tanrı'nın Adem'i doğrudan topraktan yaratmış olabileceğini ve onun soyundan gelenlerin evrimleşmiş homo sapiens ile ürediğini öne sürer. Bu nedenle, her iki yaratılış anlatıları da tutarsızlık olmadan bir arada kabul edilebilir. (shrink)

Petro Marko (1913-1991) was an Albanian journalist, writer and communist activist, who volunteered in the International Brigades during the Spanish Civil War. Afterwards, he was imprisoned in the island of Ustica by the Italian occupiers of Albania during the Second World War and was briefly imprisoned by the communist regime of Albania in the late 1940s. Afterwards he worked as a journalist and a writer, being closely surveyed by the communist regime. The Spanish experience was the most important formative period (...) throughout Marko’s stormy life, through which he was able to stay faithful to his communist and internationalist beliefs in the face of fascism and one of the most totalitarian and isolationist regimes in Europe. Marko wrote about the International Brigades in his most prominent novel, Hasta la Vista, and in his posthumously published autobiography. This paper will investigate these works by putting them in the historical context of the events themselves and of the time of the writing process. The aim is to look into how internationalism moulded his own identity, but also how this ideal was presented publicly under a communist regime that was becoming more and more isolated and xenophobic. (shrink)

Following the rift with China, Albania found itself on a lonely road towards pretending to protect the purity of the Marxism-Leninism in Europe. Although diplomatic relations with the West were restricted only to trade, the Albanian Communist leader, Enver Hoxha, was interested in recent developments inside Western Communist parties. Through Eurocommunist theorizations, the parties in Italy, France and Spain abandoned revolutionary aims, incorporated democracy in their ideology and tried to build electoral coalitions with socialist parties and other left-wing forces. By (...) contrast, the Albanian Enver Hoxha considered that Communist revolution was still possible in the world, and the Communist parties still acted as Leninist revolutionary vanguards. From this perspective, he denounced Eurocommunism as a continuation of “revisionism”. This paper will present the attitude of the Party of Labour of Albania about Western Communism by placing it in its historical context and framing it in light of broader debates inside the European Communist movement. (shrink)

Huduth argument (in contemporary Western philosophy known as Kalam Cosmological argument) is an argument for the existence of God which rests on the idea that the universe has a beginning in time. Some theists have claimed that modern science, particularly modern cosmology and second law of thermodynamics supports the key premise of the argument which argues that universe began to exist. On the other hand, some atheists have claimed that Quantum Mechanics have demonstrated that particles can be created without cause (...) falsifying the causal principle of the Kalam cosmological argument which states that everything that begins to exist has a cause. In this article we will evaluate these claims and try to determine what modern science has to say about this argument developed by medieval Muslim theologians. (shrink)

Cet article aborde l’écriture à partir de la configuration actuelle de l’espace urbain, avec ses ensembles résidentiels sécurisés qui redistribuent et donnent sens à l’espace des villes, en provoquant une raréfaction des pratiques de sociabilité. Partant du principe qu’il est impossible de penser le fonctionnement du langage en le séparant de ses conditions matérielles et de la conjoncture dans laquelle celles-ci surgissent, il analyse le lien entre l’écriture urbaine et la façon dont cet espace de signification s’organise matériellement. L’analyse se (...) fonde sur la pratique des tags à Campinas, au Brésil. L’article aborde également le rapport de la population à l’école en tant que lieu d’institutionnalisation de l’écriture. (shrink)

Parmi les nombreuses réflexions consacrées à l’espace de la ville et à sa condition contemporaine, certaines considèrent que les relations à l’intérieur des villes sont décisives pour penser aujourd’hui le fonctionnement social. Ces relations, en tant que productrices de signification, sont l’objet des sciences du langage, en particulier lorsque celles-ci estiment que le sens se constitue socialement et historiquement. Les cinq textes réunis ici se rattachent au thème de recherche Savoir urba..

Data on advance directives in Brazil are lacking. This study aims to assess the understanding of oncologists regarding advance directives and the frequency with which they discuss advance directives and advance care planning with their patients in Brazil. This is an observational, descriptive and cross-sectional study, conducted with cclinical oncologists associated with the Brazilian Society of Clinical Oncology. Participants were invited to answer a questionnaire prepared by the authors. In total, 72 physicians answered the questionnaire, of which 73% were under (...) 45 years old and 56% worked in oncology for less than 10 years. Regarding the limits of intervention and end-of-life care during treatment, 54.2% of respondents reported not discussing it. Although 67% of oncologists know the term advance directives, they do not develop them with their patients and 57.2% do not perform advance care planning. Most oncologists in this study do not set advance care planning and advance directives for most patients. (shrink)

This article aims to read feminist new materialisms (Barad), together with ‘postulated’ linguistic or cultural primacy of Queer Theory (Butler), to show how both are engaged in similar critical-ethical endeavours. The central argument is that the criticism of Barad and new materialisms misses Butler’s materialistic insights due to a narrow interpretation of Butler's alleged social-constructivist position. There is, therefore, a specific focus on where they both make similar ethical appeals. Moreover, the article relies on Adorno's negative dialectic to highlight an (...) interpretation of Barad and Butler as being part of the same dialectical movement, in which materialism and idealism fluctuate in their mutual criticisms, thus continuing the procession towards 'new knowledge' and emancipation, or freedom, through their motions back and forth. (shrink)

Students’ protests in 1968. were a traumatic topic for the entire later period of Yugoslav socialism. Firstly, because somebody for the first time en masse challenged exclusive monopoly of the Communist Party by using Marxist phraseology. Secondly, because protesters openly spoke, concerning serious and painful structural problems. Thirdly, because authorities euthanized students’ movement with repression and demagogy. Fourthly, because the issues students spoke of were not solved until the collapse of Yugoslav socialism, and to the extent, they contributed to that (...) collapse. The phenomenon of 1968 is part of the certain unclean conscience of the Yugoslav Communist nomenclature, and in this context, we need to understand direct and soft repression over the participants and sympathizers of 1968, including the “case” of the dissolution of the editorial board of the Zagreb Studentski list in 1978. (shrink)

This is the first complete, one-volume English translation of the ancient Chinese text Xunzi, one of the most extensive, sophisticated, and elegant works in the tradition of Confucian thought. Through essays, poetry, dialogues, and anecdotes, the Xunzi articulates a Confucian perspective on ethics, politics, warfare, language, psychology, human nature, ritual, and music, among other topics. Aimed at general readers and students of Chinese thought, Eric Hutton’s translation makes the full text of this important work more accessible in English than ever (...) before. Named for its purported author, the Xunzi has long been neglected compared to works such as the Analects of Confucius and the Mencius. Yet interest in the Xunzi has grown in recent decades, and the text presents a much more systematic vision of the Confucian ideal than the fragmented sayings of Confucius and Mencius. In one famous, explicit contrast to them, the Xunzi argues that human nature is bad. However, it also allows that people can become good through rituals and institutions established by earlier sages. Indeed, the main purpose of the Xunzi is to urge people to become as good as possible, both for their own sakes and for the sake of peace and order in the world. In this edition, key terms are consistently translated to aid understanding and line numbers are provided for easy reference. Other features include a concise introduction, a timeline of early Chinese history, a list of important names and terms, cross-references, brief explanatory notes, a bibliography, and an index. (shrink)

This chapter aims to draw on the critical threads of those vibrant theological conversations within the formative years of Islamic thought in considering the different theological models of the Divine within the broader Islamic tradition under the purview of classical theism as it is understood today in the contemporary philosophy of religion. In doing so, it makes reference to the major strands within the theological (‘ilm al- kalām & atharī scripturalism) and philosophical (falsafa) schools of the Islamic tradition. It aims (...) to consider how these different trends, schools, and thinkers construct a model of God in light of the classical and neo-classical theistic model of God. (shrink)

Using a nationwide survey of randomly selected manufacturing firms in representative Chinese cities, we examine how firms’ compliance with social insurance policies is shaped by their historical imprinting, by their founding ownership structures, as well as by massive institutional changes. Our empirical results suggest that firms founded in the state socialist era and firms founded as Chinese state-owned enterprises (SOEs) were infused with socialist institutional logics of labor relations, and they tended to comply with social insurance policies even in the (...) present market socialist era. Chinese SOEs restructured into private and joint-ventured firms attenuated the lingering effect of organizational imprinting and provide social insurances for fewer workers. This research is among the first to probe the historical influence on labor protection in contemporary society. Through studying the stability and changes of socialist institutional logic of labor relations, our research leads to a better understanding of the situation of labor relations in contemporary China. (shrink)

The development of transplantation technology increasingly places before society a multitude of diverse, complex ethical and legal problems. The subject is the more complex because of the various divergent interests involved. There are the interests of the donor of organs, who has a right to protection of his legal position, and those of the patient in need of an often lifesaving organ. There are also the interests of the donor’s relatives, after his death, and those of the transplantation surgeons. The (...) international dimension of transplantation technology makes the picture even more complicated. Though this article is devoted to the European situation, the problems are similar all over the world. (shrink)

The development of transplantation technology increasingly places before society a multitude of diverse, complex ethical and legal problems. The subject is the more complex because of the various divergent interests involved. There are the interests of the donor of organs, who has a right to protection of his legal position, and those of the patient in need of an often lifesaving organ. There are also the interests of the donor’s relatives, after his death, and those of the transplantation surgeons. The (...) international dimension of transplantation technology makes the picture even more complicated. Though this article is devoted to the European situation, the problems are similar all over the world. (shrink)