For almost 700 years shoguns ruled Japan. These "gentleman warriors" developed a dedicated system of honor and strict guidlelines of behavior that Taira Shigesuke first brought together in his 16th century book—Bushido Shoshinshu. Present to a modern audience in clear, easy-to-read English, this new translation captures the majesty of the higher principles as well as the usefulness of the daily advice. From principles such as "a samurai should keep foremost in his mind the fact that he must die" to rules (...) regarding duty, personal obligation and even money management, this book sets out the guidelines that defined Japan's "way of the warrior." Honor and obligation are emphasised above all to the reader, who is taught that a samurai is expected to be indifferenet to pain, unquestioningly loyal, and an expert in his training. (shrink)

The essential role of memory in the constitution of identity is shown first . Then, the article moves on to the critical analysis of uses of memory and of its relation with written history , to introduce the issue of collective memory policies and go through modern State identity policies . In its central part the article refers to the fact that at the beginning of the 21st century we experiment that memory and forgetfulness/oblivion policies do no longer work in (...) respect of the new wounds that live memory drags forth from the 20th century, and reconciliation by means of that kind of elaborations is not possible . The serious issue of live memory is no longer bound to the historiography of the founding deeds of the state-nation in the remote past, but is bound instead to other tragic events of the recent history of the society in which we live . In postmodern societies we witness a redefinition of traditional identity policies and a formation of new post-national identities bound to the tragic memory of genocides and to the moral and political commitment of "nevermore" .En primer término se muestra fenomenológicamente el papel esencial de la memoria en la constitución de la identidad . Se avanza luego el análisis crítico de los usos de la memoria y de su relación con la historia escrita , para introducir en el tema de las políticas de la memoria colectiva , y revisar las políticas de identidad del Estado moderno . El artículo se refiere en su parte central al hecho de que en los comienzos del Siglo XXI experimentamos que las políticas de la memoria y del olvido del Siglo XIX ya no funcionan con respecto a las nuevas heridas que la memoria viva arrastra del Siglo XX, y la reconciliación mediante aquel tipo de elaboraciones no es posible . La cuestión seria de la memoria viva no está ligada ya a la historiografía de los acontecimientos fundacionales del estado nación en el pasado remoto, sino que está ligada a otros acontecimientos trágicos de la historia reciente de la sociedad en que vivimos . En las sociedades posmodernas se asiste a una redefinición de las identidades políticas tradicionales y a la formación de nuevas identidades posnacionales ligadas a la memoria trágica de los genocidios y al compromiso moral y político del "nunca más". (shrink)

The beginning of Philosophy of Right with the concept of "Right" and "morality" presents the appearance of a form of treatment typical of the methodological individualism of natural right theories. Nevertheless, Hegel makes it clear that the expository plan does not reflect the genetic, temporal or ontological structure of the issue. This article will thus try to give an answer to the question about the criteria to which this problematic structure of the work plan responds. The thesis sustained by the (...) author is that the first two parts of the work have to be read mainly as a critical-negative exposition of the current theories, and only the third part about the institutions of Sittlichkeit provides a positive exposition of Hegel's thought. The treatment of Right and morality is not merely negative either, but takes up again and at the same time conforms to Kant's and Natural Rights fundamental principles, as necessary conditions for the comprehension of the institutions of modern society and modern State.El comienzo de la Filosofía del Derecho con el concepto de "Derecho abstracto" y la "moralidad" presenta la apariencia de una forma de tratamiento típica del individualismo metodológico de las teorías jusnaturalistas. Hegel aclara sin embargo que el plan de la exposición no refleja ni el orden genético, o temporal, ni la estructura ontológica de la cosa. La pregunta que tratará de responder este artículo es, entonces, a qué criterios responde esta problemática estructura del plan de la obra. La tesis que sostiene el autor es que las dos primeras partes de la obra se tienen que leer principalmente como una exposición crítico-negativo de las teorías vigentes, y que recién la tercera parte sobre las instituciones de la eticidad expone positivamente el pensamiento de Hegel. Pero el tratamiento del derecho y la moralidad no es tampoco meramente negativo, sino que retoma y hace suyos al mismo tiempo principios fundamentales del jusnaturalismo y de Kant, como condiciones necesarias para comprensión de las instituciones de la sociedad y del Estado modernos. (shrink)

Segundo o autor do artigo, a teoria do juízo reflexivo que se encontra na primeira parte da Crítica do Juízo de Kant dedicada ao gosto estético representa uma busca do sentido do dado na experiência. Este sentido não pode ser posto, antes tem de ser descoberto, pois a experiência do belo, a criação estética da arte, não podem ser compreendidos mediante preconceitos que já possuímos. Este tipo de juízo é o que se requer também segundo Arendt diante dos acontecimentos e (...) situações sempre novas da vida política e da história. As condições da comunicabilidade universal do juízo reflexivo são os apelos ao sentido comum humano e a amplitude de pensamento necessária para assumir o ponto de vista dos outros. O artigo mostra também serem estas as condições que, segundo Arendt, se requerem para uma autêntica compreensão política. (shrink)

Internet usage data from around the globe show that adolescents are the most frequent Internet users, but mostly for leisure activities and maintaining social contacts. In the present study, we focused on Internet use for e-services, which could improve youth efficiency in the financial domain and bridge the online divide in youth. Specifically, we explored how societal constructs influence the use of the Internet for online shopping, e-banking and communication with providers of goods and services online. We used a representative (...) sample of adolescents from 10 countries of Southeast Europe where a great variability in Internet use is present, and where the use of e-services is generally lower than the EU average. This also allowed for meaningful cross-country comparisons. We tested a structural equation model of values predicting the use of the Internet through institutional trust which was grounded in social capital theory, cultural theory and Schwartz human values model. The model exhibited a good fit to the data but the strengths of regressional paths were rather modest. Looking into the cross-country stability of the model, however, revealed some notable differences: while the relationship between trust and use of the Internet for e-services was modest in some countries, the relationship was insignificant in other countries, where Internet usage is lower in general. This suggests that strategies aimed at leveraging e-services and digital technology potential in youth should also account for cultural specificities in the transitional economies and cultural settings with sub-optimal adoption of digital services. (shrink)

The thought of Pierre Klossowski, praised by Foucault, Blanchot, Deleuze, has been scarcely addressed by the philosophical community. We argue in this article that this is largely due to the frequent difficulty of understanding his work as a whole: both his artistic and literary production and his interpretations of Nietzsche or Sade form a coherent whole, whose significance has a deeply critical political scope. The notion of unproductive spending, which occupies a central place in Bataille's work, will be rearticulated in (...) Klossowski's reflections through the concepts of drive, phantasm, simulacrum, value and consumption. In The Living Currency, the political dimension of these terms appears clearly: relying on a rereading of Fourier and Sade, the author shows the extreme degree of deformation of what we assume as a reality in modern industrial society. In this sense, his thinking takes on special relevance today, as a revelation of the excess and unhingedness of a society in which production and consumption are reproduced without limit through the infinite reflections produced by the game between drives, ghosts and simulacra. (shrink)

Il saggio propone una traccia di ricerca per l’elaborazione di una teoria politica della cooperazione, ovvero per la considerazione del fenomeno cooperativo come caratterizzato da una peculiare modalità di azione collettiva, non ricompresa nella celebre distinzione hirschmaniana tra Exit, Voice e Loyalty. Chi partecipa all’impresa cooperativa non crede nelle possibilità di successo sia dell’opzione voice che di quella exit, ma pratica una forma diversa di azione che si basa sulla fiducia in se stessi e nei soci che hanno interessi comuni. (...) Questa forma di azione collettiva può essere preliminarmente definita come entry. L’entry riporta all’interno del mercato chi aveva scelto l’opzione exit, conservando al tempo stesso quella carica di contestazione delle relazioni capitalistiche tipica dell’opzione voice. L’impresa cooperativa, in virtù di questa doppia caratteristica dell’azione dei suoi soci, rappresenta quindi un’opzione, oltre che economica, anche politica. (shrink)

Personal review record, as a form of personally identifiable information, refers to the past review information of a reviewer. The disclosure of reviewers’ personal information on electronic commerce websites has been found to substantially impact consumers’ perception regarding the credibility of online reviews. However, personal review record has received little attention in prior research. The current study investigated whether the disclosure of personal review record influenced consumers’ information processing and decision making by adopting event-related potentials measures, as ERPs allow for (...) a nuanced examination of the neural mechanisms that underlie cognitive processes. At the behavioral level, we found that the purchase rate was higher and that the reaction time was shorter when the review record was disclosed, indicating that the disclosed condition was more favorable to the participants. Moreover, ERPs data showed that the disclosed condition induced an attenuated N400 component and an increased LPP component relative to the undisclosed condition, suggesting that the former condition gave rise to less cognitive and emotional conflict and to more positive evaluations. Thus, by elucidating potential cognitive and neural underpinnings, this study demonstrates the positive impact of reviewers’ disclosure of personal review record on consumers’ purchase decisions. (shrink)

[1] The rise of modern paganism.--v. 2. The science of freedom.

Twenty short incidents in young children's lives, with questions to think about, illustrate various aspects of Jewish ethics and values such as mercy, patience, charity, prayer, respect for elders, and faith.

Immerse yourself in the world of the Samurai with this classic text. Code of the Samurai is the 350-year-old summary of the rules and expectations embodied in Bushido-the ancient Japanese "Way of the Warrior." Written by Taira Shigesuke, a Samurai and prominent teacher of military techniques, it was published posthumously in 1834. This influential book was intended as a training manual for young Samurai, outlining personal and professional standards. This accessible and enjoyable translation is by Thomas Cleary, the foremost translator (...) of Asian martial classics, accompanied by the powerful line drawings of master illustrator Oscar Ratti. A new foreword by Alexander Bennett, a leading expert on Samurai history, explains the lasting importance of this classic work and its place within the canon of Japanese literature. (shrink)

[1] The rise of modern paganism.--v. 2. The science of freedom.

What's it all about? Why am I here? Is there a God? Why do bad things happen? What happens when we die? All the big questions - and some interesting answers - from Gay Byrne's popular TV show.

Este artículo propone una relectura contemporánea de los textos de La Religión dentro de los límites de la mera razón en los cuales Kant esboza la idea de una comunidad ética universal. Esta idea kantiana se puede parangonar con las ideas de otros pensadores de la ilustración, que anticiparon la emergencia de nuevos sujetos sociales cosmopolitas diferentes del sujeto político encuadrado en las estructuras formales del Estado moderno, los cuales no se plantean fines directamente políticos, pero en cuanto tienen presencia (...) en el espacio público, adquieren también una relevancia política significativa. La comunidad ética, sin la cual no podríamos ser personas morales, es para Kant algo ya existente, como comunidades informales, particulares, fragmentadas, e independientes del sistema de las instituciones jurídico-políticas. Se trata de hacer reflexivos los fines morales de estas comunidades para que puedan abrirse a la unidad de todo el género humano. La significación de esta idea kantiana se redescubre y se puede valorar más adecuadamente recién hoy, en el contexto de los debates actuales de la filosofía política, a partir del descentramiento del Estado y del retorno de la sociedad civil, o de la recuperación de su autonomía, y de las redes de integración que significan formas de globalización alternativas. (shrink)

The paper introduces Vailati’s life and works, investigating Vailati’s education, the relation to Peano and his school, and the interest for pragmatism and modernism. A detailed analysis of Vailati’s scientific and didactic activities, shows that he held, like Peano, a a strong interest for the history of science and a pluralist, anti-dogmatic and anti-foundationalist conception of definitions in mathematics, logic and philosophy of language. Vailati’s understanding of mathematical logic as a form of pragmatism is not a faithful interpretation of Peano’s (...) conception, but it is essential to understand the relations of Peano’s logic with other philosophical traditions and some epistemological aspects of Peano’s perspective, such as the search for a universal language. (shrink)

We often view emptiness as a negative condition, a symptom of depression, despair, or grief—an assessment furthered by authors like Franz Kafka or the existentialists, Jean-Paul Sartre and Albert Camus. Offering an alternative view, _A Philosophy of Emptiness_ reclaims these hollow feelings as a positive and even empowering state, an antidote to the modern obsession with substance and foundation. Digging through early and non-Western philosophy, Gay Watson uncovers a rich history of emptiness. She travels from Buddhism, Taoism, and religious mysticism (...) to the contemporary world of philosophy, science, and art practice. Though most Western philosophies are concerned with substance and foundation, she finds that the twentieth century has seen a resurgence of emptiness and offers reasons why such an apparently unappealing concept has attracted modern musicians, artists, and scientists, as well as preeminent thinkers throughout the ages. Probing the idea of how a life without foundation might be lived—and why a person might choose this path—_A Philosophy of Emptiness_ links these concepts to contemporary ideas of meditation and the mind, presenting a rich and intriguing take on the concept of emptiness and the history of thought. (shrink)

Money and support tend to flow in the direction of economics, science, and other academic departments that demonstrate measurable "progress." The humanities, on the other hand, offer more abstract and uncertain outcomes. A humanist's objects of study are more obscure in certain ways than pathogens and cells. Consequently, it seems as if the humanities never truly progress. Is this a fair assessment? By comparing objects of science, such as the brain, the galaxy, the amoeba, and the quark, with objects of (...) humanistic inquiry, such as the poem, the photograph, the belief, and the philosophical concept, Volney Gay reestablishes a fundamental distinction between science and the humanities. He frees the latter from its pursuit of material-based progress and restores its disciplines to a place of privilege and respect. Using the metaphor of magnification, Gay shows that, while we can investigate natural objects to the limits of imaging capacity, magnifying cultural objects dissolves them into noise. In other words, cultural objects can be studied only within their contexts and through the prism of metaphor and narrative. Gathering examples from literature, art, film, philosophy, religion, science, and psychoanalysis, Gay builds a new justification for the humanities. By revealing the unseen and making abstract ideas tangible, the arts create meaningful wholes, which itself is a form of progress. (shrink)

_A renowned scholar’s reflections on the romantic period, its disparate participants, and our unacknowledged debt to them_ With his usual wit and élan, esteemed historian Peter Gay enters the contentious, long-standing debates over the romantic period. Here, in this concise and inviting volume, he reformulates the definition of romanticism and provides a fresh account of the immense achievements of romantic writers and artists in all media. Gay’s scope is wide, his insights sharp. He takes on the recurring questions about how (...) to interpret romantic figures and their works. Who qualifies to be a romantic? What ties together romantic figures who practice in different countries, employ different media, even live in different centuries? How is modernism indebted to romanticism, if at all? Guiding readers through the history of the romantic movement across Britain, France, Germany, and Switzerland, Gay argues that the best way to conceptualize romanticism is to accept its complicated nature and acknowledge that there is no “single basket” to contain it. Gay conceives of romantics in “families,” whose individual members share fundamental values but retain unique qualities. He concludes by demonstrating that romanticism extends well into the twentieth century, where its deep and lasting impact may be measured in the work of writers such as T. S. Eliot and Virginia Woolf. (shrink)

Involvement is an important element of good research and a route to impact. In line with early organizational analysis, we advocate involvement with research stakeholders and investing in the necessary communication and rhetorical skills.