This article suggests increased attention to how medical discourses of gastrointestinal (GI) disorder and distress are fraught with social assumptions and consequences by examining nineteenth-century and contemporary medical texts focused on chronic constipation and Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS). I suggest that these medical discourses present what I call the “gastrointestinal woman,” who is characterized as having unjustified anxiety and is to blame for her condition. My approach to understanding, and ultimately revising, the representation of the gastrointestinal woman is shaped by (...) disability studies scholarship, which encourages intervention in problematic medical discourses and more active shaping of discourses of chronic pain and illness by those who have these conditions. (shrink)

Do psychological perspectives constitute the only way through which the role of musical creativity in education can be addressed, researched and theorised? This essay attempts to offer an alternative view of musical creativity as a deeply social and political form of human praxis, by proposing a perspective rooted in the thought of the political philosopher and activist Cornelius Castoriadis (1922–1997). This is done in two steps. First, an attempt is made to place the pursuit of the concept of musical creativity (...) within a larger educational and societal context of conflicting trajectories that run through (a) Modernity and (b) Education. Then, I revisit the issue of educational value of improvising and composing through creating conceptual links between the process of music-making through improvisation and composition and the project of political autonomy as conceived by Castoriadis. By foregrounding instituting imaginary over instituted imaginary, improvising and composing become active processes of positing new legitimacies, and of creating a music-making context that searches for its own foundations. It is in and through creative musical praxis that we can think about issues of hierarchies, musical values, social dimensions of different music-making processes, our relationship to past values and to historical dimensions of music. By arguing that improvisation and composition might be seen as ways of positing the issue of political autonomy in musical terms, this paper emphasises the role of improvisation and composition as a mode of potentially transformative educational practice that may foster the development of critical consciousness, linking music education to a larger project of re-discovering and at the same time re-defining democracy. (shrink)

Different why-questions emerge under different contexts and require different information in order to be addressed. Hence a relevance relation can hardly be invariant across contexts. However, what is indeed common under any possible context is that all explananda require scientific information in order to be explained. So no scientific information is in principle explanatorily irrelevant, it only becomes so under certain contexts. In view of this, scientific thought experiments can offer explanations, should we analyze their representational strategies. Their representations involve (...) empirical as well as hypothetical statements. I call this the “representational mingling” which bears scientific information that can explain events. Buchanan’s thought experiment from constitutional economics is examined to show how mingled representations explain. (shrink)

Platonism and Christian Thought in Late Antiquity examines the various ways in which Christian intellectuals engaged with Platonism both as a pagan competitor and as a source of philosophical material useful to the Christian faith. The chapters are united in their goal to explore transformations that took place in the reception and interaction process between Platonism and Christianity in this period. -/- The contributions in this volume explore the reception of Platonic material in Christian thought, showing that the transmission of (...) cultural content is always mediated, and ought to be studied as a transformative process by way of selection and interpretation. Some chapters also deal with various aspects of the wider discussion on how Platonic, and Hellenic, philosophy and early Christian thought related to each other, examining the differences and common ground between these traditions. -/- Platonism and Christian Thought in Late Antiquity offers an insightful and broad ranging study on the subject, which will be of interest to students of both philosophy and theology in the Late Antique period, as well as anyone working on the reception and history of Platonic thought, and the development of Christian thought. (shrink)

Platonism and Christian Thought in Late Antiquity examines the various ways in which Christian intellectuals engaged with Platonism both as pagan competitors and as a source of philosophical material useful to the Christian faith. The chapters are united in their goal to explore transformations that took place in the reception and interaction process between Platonism and Christianity in this period. The contributions in this volume explore the reception of Platonic material in Christian thought, showing that the transmission of cultural content (...) is always mediated, and ought to be studied as a transformative process by way of selection and interpretation. Some chapters also deal with various aspects of the wider discussion on how Platonic, and Hellenic, philosophy and early Christian thought related to each other, examining the differences and common ground between these traditions. Platonism and Christian Thought in Late Antiquity offers an insightful and broad ranging study on the subject, which will be of interest to students of both philosophy and theology in the Late Antique period, as well as anyone working on the reception and history of Platonic thought, and the development of Christian thought. uity offers an insightful and broad ranging study on the subject, which will be of interest to students of both philosophy and theology in the Late Antique period, as well as anyone working on the reception and history of Platonic thought, and the development of Christian thought. (shrink)

Εκτενής Βιβλιοκριτική της έκδοσης: Plotinus Ennead VI.4 and VI.5: On the Presence of Being, One and the Same, Everywhere as a Whole («The Enneads of Plotinus with Philosophical Commentaries»). Εισαγωγή, αγγλική μετάφραση, υπόμνημα Eyjolfur Kjalar Emilsson & Steven Keith Strange. Las Vegas/Zurich/Athens: Parmenides Publishing 2015, 305 σ., 36 €.

This article is divided into two parts: in the first we explore the academic debate conducted at an international level about insider trading (IT). In particular, we exame IT on three grounds: economic, ethical and legal. In each section we present the arguments in favour of and against IT and then we give our personal opinion. In the second part we present the situation in the Athens Stock Exchange. We examine its past record on the issue of IT and recent (...) developments, and comment on the implications for the future. (shrink)

We present various results regarding the decidability of certain sets of sentences by Simple Type Theory. First, we introduce the notion of decreasing sentence, and prove that the set of decreasing sentences is undecidable by Simple Type Theory with infinitely many zero-type elements ; a result that follows directly from the fact that every sentence is equivalent to a decreasing sentence. We then establish two different positive decidability results for a weak subtheory of math formula. Namely, the decidability of math (...) formula and math formula. Finally, we present some consequences for the set of existential-universal sentences. All the above results have direct implications for Quine's theory of “New Foundations” and its weak subtheory math formula. (shrink)

Review of Panagiotis Thanassas, Parmenides, Cosmos, and Being: A Philosophical Interpretation, Marquette University Press, Milwaukee, 2007.

Against the traditional interpretation of Doxa as intrinsically and thoroughly deceiving and untrustworthy, the present essay examines the passages which follow the self-characterization of the goddess’ speech as ‘deceitful.’ The traits of an extensive cosmogony and cosmology open up the possibility for discerning two aspects of Doxa: first a presentation of mortal erroneous opinions, but then also their correction within the framework of the ‘appropriate world-arrangement’ presented by the goddess.

In this thesis I discuss the epistemological problems Socrates' faces as he inquires in the early Platonic dialogues into the nature of virtue , the way these problems are brought to a head in the Meno, and the way in which Plato resolves them in the Phaedo. ;I argue that Socrates conducts his investigation on the assumption that a human being will be virtuous, and happy, if and only if he is successful in instilling in his soul the arrangement that (...) is objectively proper for it. To do that he must improve his epistemic standing in quite a specific way: he must come to know in a substantive and practically efficacious way what is good and bad in general. Possession of this knowledge, in addition to being what it is to instill virtue in one's soul, is also the necessary and sufficient condition for one's happiness. ;I then argue that recent claims that Socrates distinguishes between different epistemic standards and that he disavows knowledge in a strict, but not in a weaker, sense are versions of the Insincerity Thesis . The Insincerity Thesis lacks philosophical motivation, and textual support. ;In the light of this, Meno's challenge in the Meno becomes a real, not a sophistical, problem, given the Socratic connections between being virtuous, knowing what virtue is in a substantive way, and being able to give in account of what one knows. The final solution is delivered in the Phaedo: There is an ontological affinity between us qua souls and the constitutive elements of the world, the ethical world included, on the basis of which we are epistemically able to carve the world at its natural joints. (shrink)

Την Τετάρτη, 9 Σεπτέμβρη 1942, στην καρδιά της γερμανικής κατοχής, αφήνει την τελευταία του πνοή στην Αθήνα ο Ρώμος Φιλύρας, ο έλληνας «Ρεμπώ» των καταραμένων ποιητών. Νικημένος από την σύφιλη, είχε αποσυρθεί οικειοθελώς στο Δρομοκαΐτειο Νοσοκομείο το 1927, όπου και έγραψε το μεγαλύτερο τμήμα του έργου του. Ο κατά κόσμον Ιωάννης Β. Οικονομόπουλος με καταγωγή από το Κιάτο ανήκει στους σημαντικούς νεορομαντικούς ποιητές του μεσοπολέμου. Πολέμησε με τον βαθμό του υπολοχαγού στους βαλκανικούς πολέμους στη Μακεδονία και την Ήπειρο, όπου έπαθε (...) κρυοπαγήματα. Αποτάχθηκε το 1924, λόγω ανίατης αφροδίσιας πάθησης. Παρά τα σοβαρά ψυχικά προβλήματα από την εξέλιξη της νόσου, καταφέρνει μέσω των γραπτών του να μεταδώσει τα συναισθήματά του με άμεσα αντιληπτό τρόπο. Εξυμνεί την ομορφιά της φύσης και της γυναίκας και προσπάθησε να συλλάβει και να μεταδώσει μια ιδανική εικόνα τους. Ποιες ήταν άραγε οι τελευταίες του έγνοιες και παραστάσεις στο δωμάτιο του ιδρύματος; Τι στοίχειωσε τον ταραγμένο του νου και ποιες «κύκνειες» αισθήσεις ξύπνησαν στο τραγικό του τέλος; Ποιες ήταν οι αναφορές και οι πηγές του; Ένα μικρό διήγημα, ελάχιστος φόρος τιμής για τον Έλληνα ποιητή Ρεμπώ και την ταραχώδη του ζωή σε σχέση με το «μεγάλωμα» της χώρας μας μέσα από τους πολέμους που έζησε και φαντάστηκε.Na quarta-feira, 9 de setembro de 1942, no coração da ocupação alemã, Romos Filiras, o “Rimbaud” grego dos poetas amaldiçoados, dá seu último suspiro em Atenas. Derrotado pela sífilis, ele se internou voluntariamente, no Hospital Dromokaitio em 1927, onde escreveu a maior parte de seu trabalho. O mundialmente famoso Ioánnis II. Economopoulos, originalmente de Kiato, pertence ao grupo dos importantes poetas neo-românticos do período entre guerras. ELE lutou como tenente nas guerras dos Balcãs, na Macedônia, e em Épiro, onde sofreu uma hipotermia. Ele foi internado em 1924 por causa de uma doença venérea incurável. Apesar dos sérios problemas psiquiátrico no decurso da doença, ele consegue transmitir suas emoções através de seus escritos de uma maneira diretamente perceptível. Ele glorifica a beleza da natureza e da mulher, buscando capturar e transmitir uma imagem ideal delas. Quais foram suas últimas preocupações e performances nos quartos do sanatório? O que assombrava sua mente perturbada e como os “cisnes” despertavam seus sentidos para seu trágico fim? Quais foram suas referências e fontes? Uma história curta, uma pequena homenagem ao poeta Rimbaud grego e sua vida agitada em relação ao “crescimento” de nosso país através das guerras que ele viveu e imaginou. (shrink)

Civil Protection and disaster risk specific agencies legally responsible to enhance individual and community resilience, still utilize in their risk and crisis communication efforts, the “deficit model” even though its basic assumption and approach have been criticized. Recent studies indicate that information seeking behavior is not necessarily a measure of enhanced individual preparedness. A qualitative change from “blindly” following directions to practicing emergency planning and becoming your own disaster risk manager is required. For pandemics, the challenge is even more complicated (...) due to their unique characteristics. Community based exercises, a framework concept encompassing a variety of interactive activities, have recently started being utilized to develop resilience amongst citizens. Existing models of resilience can pinpoint to the required knowledge, skills and attitude. Research in the factors influencing behavioral change could offer new understanding of the interplay between cognitive and demographic drivers/factors of resilience. Such knowledge could be utilized for setting targeted objectives, developing appropriate activities and the corresponding training for the CBEx facilitators. Despite the importance of preparation, the current covid-19 crisis indicates that high levels of adaptive resilience can be displayed even in the absence of any risk communication effort beforehand by utilizing a pre-existing collective understanding of the system situation. (shrink)

The paper examines more broadly the intellectual formation, early carreer and research activity of Franz Dölger with the aim to elucidate, on the one hand, the shift that took place in Byzantine Studies in Munich during the Thirties of the previous century from a philological to a historical direction. On the other hand, the paper offers a detailed analysis of Dölger’s concept of Byzantine literature and its history, the development of this concept and its immediate impact on Byzantine Philology as (...) a separate field within Byzantine Studies. Pivotal in understanding Dölger’s concept are his connection with and use of the Nazi regime and its ideology, as well as a latent but visible antagonism to Karl Krumbacher. The paper includes an analysis of hitherto unknown publications of Dölger from the Nazi era and a number of unpublished documents pertaining to the Athos Expedition of July 1941 and its aftermath. (shrink)

In his classic essay “The phenomenological approach to psychopathology”, Karl Jaspers defended the irreducible reality of the “subjective” mental symptoms and stressed the pivotal role of empathy in their diagnostic assessment. However, Jaspers’ account of the epistemological role of empathy in psychopathological diagnosis was far from clear: whereas at several places Jaspers claimed that empathy provides a direct access to patients’ abnormal mental experiences, at other places he stressed that it did so only indirectly, through a whole battery of their (...) observable clinical indicators. The aim of this paper is to reassess Jaspers’ account of the epistemological role of empathy in psychopathological diagnosis. (shrink)

When Gadamer elaborates his conception of philosophical hermeneutics as a transcendental inquiry, he appeals to Aristotle’s practical philosophy as a “model”, which can elucidate his own conceptual...