According to Dem. or. 23.199, Menon of Phasalos was honoured with Athenian citizenship for rescuing Eion. If this happened in 476 BC as commonly assumed, this would have been the only case of franchise through the assembly to predate Pericles’ law of citizenship. The Eion episode should thus rather be dated to 424 BC, even though the historian Thukydides claims the merit of saving the city for himself without mentioning the Pharsalian (Thuk. IV 106.4). This silence, however, serves an apologetic (...) purpose, since Thukydides was banned from Athens soon after defending Eion (V 26.5). Menon was thus identical with the homonymous commander of Thessalian troops in 431 BC (II 22.3) and the father of the Pharsalian Thukydides attested as proxenos in Athens in 411 BC (VIII 92.8). Neither of them ever was a citizen of Athens, which is further confirmed by Dem. or. 13.23, who specifies Menon’s reward as ateleia. (shrink)

The Koran being the “Great Code” of Islamic culture and civilization, the Koranic disciplines (‘ulūm al-Qur'ān) and Koranic hermeneutics are considered in the Islamic representation among the most important fields of knowledge. We shall deal here with the spectrum of “classical” Koranic exegesis from the II./viii. to the XII./xix. century according to a chronological point of view. After an introduction on exegesis and Koranic disciplines (A), we shall examine the principal stages and elements of the Koranic exegesis from the (...) II./viii. to the beginning of the IV./x. century (B); then the question of continuity and change of this exegesis from the second half of the IV./x. to the XII./xix. century CE (C). At the end we shall deal with some peculiarities of this discipline (D). The question of the formative period per se and that of mystical exegesis have been dealt with by us more lengthy elsewhere. (shrink)

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:Republicanism, Religion, and Machiavelli’s Savonarolan MomentMarcia L. ColishMachiavelli’s readers often take at face value his claim that Christianity has weakened Italy’s civic spirit and martial valor, leaving it open to priestcraft and foreign invasion. Some scholars see this critique of Christianity as an expression of the irreligious, immoral, neopagan, or scientific Machiavelli, making it the chief index of his modernity. 1 One subset within this group treats Machiavelli’s [End (...) Page 597] anthropology as a secularized version of Augustine on original sin, absent an Eden behind it and a redemption before it. 2 Another view of Machiavelli on religion sees him as treating religion, whatever its teachings, functionally, as an instrument promoting desirable political behavior. 3 This is why they regard [End Page 598] Machiavelli as original and modern; although Maury D. Feld notes rightly that Machiavelli is here simply imitating the ancient Roman historians, who all treat religion in just this way. 4 For some proponents of the functionalist interpretation, it does not preclude Christian belief on Machiavelli’s part. For them his brief is not against Christianity itself but against clericalism, the papacy, and Christianity as it is currently interpreted. 5 Still others recognize Machiavelli’s acceptance of signs and portents, saintly behavior and miracles, and other indices of God’s existence and action in human history. They also note Machiavelli’s praise of biblical leaders seen as divinely inspired and his inclusion of them among the founders of religions and states who head his list of heroes. 6 Going farther, some scholars argue that Machiavelli was a conventional, if not an ardent or impeccable, Christian, who joined a religious confraternity before which he preached his Exhortation to Penitence, and the apparent recipient of the last rites of his church after a deathbed confession. 7 [End Page 599]Can these conflicting assessments of Machiavelli and religion be integrated? To some extent, yes. Once, that is, we consider a number of issues not always brought to bear on this question. Machiavelli recognizes that the foreigners who have overrun Italy and deprived Florence of the republic he had served are as Christian as the Italians. At home and abroad, their Christianity has not undermined their military strength or the civic virtue Machiavelli associates with republics. Within contemporary Florence there were three kinds of republicanism on offer, for those unhappy with the Medici restoration of 1512. One group sought to restore the pre-Medici governo stretto constitution dominated by the ottimati. Their opponents defended governo largo republicanism. Machiavelli advocated this type of polity, informed by his reading of ancient history and his assessment of human nature. But another, competing version of governo largo was put forth by Girolamo Savonarola during the Dominican friar’s stormy career as de facto head of the Florentine state from 1494 to 1498. Savonarola’s republican theory combined a number of ideas that Machiavelli loathed: the appeal to the Venetian Great Council as a model, the wish to purge Florence of her sins so that she could serve as the New Jerusalem in the coming apocalypse, and the notion that governo largo was a means to these religious ends, since the more broad-based the government, the more readily could it legislate and enforce moral reform. And, far from self-destructing after the friar’s ashes had been strewn on the Arno, Savonarolan republicanism continued to draw support from a diverse and substantial group of Florentines. Equally alarming, the agents [End Page 600] of this protracted Savonarolan moment seemed to have preempted Machiavelli’s own anticlerical, antipapal, antioligarchic, and antiMedicean positions, as well as a theory of governo largo. If we foreground Machiavelli’s desire to defend his own version of republicanism by undermining the Savonarolan alternative and if we recall that he treats Christianity positively in other contexts, it becomes possible to read those passages where he criticizes Christianity as practiced in Italy as texts with an antiSavonarolan subtext. Read this way, they are not incompatible with his acceptance of Christianity as true or as politically constructive elsewhere. In approaching this topic, we should also remember the longstanding associations that bound Christianity to politics and warfare.Addressing this last point... (shrink)

Alcohol use has long been assumed to alter cognition via attentional processes. To better understand the cognitive consequences of intoxication, the present study tested the effects of moderate intoxication on attentional processing using complex working memory capacity span tasks and a change blindness task. Intoxicated and sober participants were matched on baseline WMC performance, and intoxication significantly decreased performance on the complex span tasks. Surprisingly, intoxication improved performance on the change blindness task. The results are interpreted as evidence that intoxication (...) decreases attentional control, causing either a shift towards more passive processing and/or a more diffuse attentional state. This may result in decreased performance on tasks where attentional control or focus are required, but may actually facilitate performance in some contexts. (shrink)

The Netherlands is one of the few countries where euthanasia is legal under strict conditions. This study investigates whether Dutch newspaper articles use the term ‘euthanasia’ according to the legal definition and determines what arguments for and against euthanasia they contain. We did an electronic search of seven Dutch national newspapers between January 2009 and May 2010 and conducted a content analysis. Of the 284 articles containing the term ‘euthanasia’, 24% referred to practices outside the scope of the law, mostly (...) relating to the forgoing of life-prolonging treatments and assistance in suicide by others than physicians. Of the articles with euthanasia as the main topic, 36% described euthanasia in the context of a terminally ill patient, 24% for older persons, 16% for persons with dementia, and 9% for persons with a psychiatric disorder. The most frequent arguments for euthanasia included the importance of self-determination and the fact that euthanasia contributes to a good death. The most frequent arguments opposing euthanasia were that suffering should instead be alleviated by better care, that providing euthanasia can be disturbing, and that society should protect the vulnerable. Of the newspaper articles, 24% uses the term ‘euthanasia’ for practices that are outside the scope of the euthanasia law. Typically, the more unusual cases are discussed. This might lead to misunderstandings between citizens and physicians. Despite the Dutch legalisation of euthanasia, the debate about its acceptability and boundaries is ongoing and both sides of the debate are clearly represented. (shrink)

Projects to restore nature inevitably disrupt the plants and animals that inhabit the land to be restored. This essay addresses the significance of feral animals. Can feral animals remain in a restored nature? I argue that an answer depends on what we mean by nature and restoration. I present several different conceptions of nature and discuss what their differences mean for the goals of restoration. While the presence of feral animals is not compatible with the dualist conception of nature as (...) that which is untouched by humans, other conceptions are more accommodating. Restoration to a benchmark of nature prior to human impact is both practically and conceptually implausible, thus more analysis is needed of alternative conceptions and their impacts on domesticated and feral plants and animals. (shrink)

That alcohol provides a benefit to creative processes has long been assumed by popular culture, but to date has not been tested. The current experiment tested the effects of moderate alcohol intoxication on a common creative problem solving task, the Remote Associates Test . Individuals were brought to a blood alcohol content of approximately .075, and, after reaching peak intoxication, completed a battery of RAT items. Intoxicated individuals solved more RAT items, in less time, and were more likely to perceive (...) their solutions as the result of a sudden insight. Results are interpreted from an attentional control perspective. (shrink)

Even though it is often presumed that the use of technology like medication administration technology is both safer and more effective, the importance of nurses' know‐how is not to be underestimated. In this article, we accordingly try to argue that nurses' labor, including their different forms of knowledge, must play a crucial role in the development, implementation and use of medication administration technology. Using three different theoretical perspectives (‘heuristic lenses') and integrating this with our own ethnographic research, we will explore (...) how nursing practices change through the use of medication technology. Ultimately, we will argue that ignoring (institutional) complexity and the various types of important knowledge that nurses have, will seriously complicate the implementation of medication administration technology. (shrink)

The focus of this book is on the theory of infinity in Lawrence of Lindores' commentary on Aristotle's “Physics”. Written shortly before 1400, Lindores' text played an important role in disseminating the natural philosophy of John Buridan and his disciples in the 15th century. In the first part of this book, Lindores' concept of science is discussed and a detailed analysis of his treatment of infinity and related topics (continuity, the eternity of the world) is given. Subsequently an assessment of (...) his ideas from the point of view of modern mathematics is attempted and some interesting similarities between medieval theories of infinity and recent developments in mathematics are outlined. The second part contains the relevant questions from Lindores' commentary (book I, qu. 1-5, 10; book III, qu. 13-18; book VI, qu. 9-10; book VIII, qu. 3), which are presented here for the first time in a critical edition based on all seven manuscripts of the text. Die vorliegende Studie untersucht die Theorie des Unendlichen in dem kurz vor 1400 verfaßten Kommentar des Lorenz von Lindores zur „Physik" des Aristoteles, der im 15. Jh. eine wichtige Rolle spielte bei der Verbreitung der Naturphilosophie Johannes Buridans und seiner Schüler. Im ersten Teil des Buches wird die Wissenschaftstheorie Lindores' in ihren Grundzügen dargestellt, danach werden seine Ausführungen zum Unendlichen und zu damit zusammenhängenden Themen (Struktur des Kontinuums, Ewigkeit der Welt) detailliert analysiert. Abschließend wird eine Bewertung dieser Theorien aus der Sicht der modernen Mathematik versucht, wobei sich bemerkenswerte Ähnlichkeiten zwischen mittelalterlichen Theorien des Unendlichen und neueren Entwicklungen in der Mathematik zeigen. Der zweite Teil bietet erstmals eine kritische Edition aller einschlägigen Quaestionen aus Lindores' Physikkommentar (Buch I, qu. 1-5, 10; Buch III, qu. 13-18; Buch VI, qu. 9-10; Buch VIII, qu. 3) auf der Basis aller sieben Handschriften des Textes. (shrink)