This paper explores how Patricia Churchland’s insights on methodological naturalism might underwrite a deeper understanding of the role of touch in aesthetic experience. Although aesthetics has privileged sight and hearing by relying on philosophical assumptions, we argue that recent research in neuroscience provides evidence of multimodal ingredients in meaningful encounters with art, including aesthetic tactual features. This calls for a substantial reassessment of aesthetic theory informed by contemporary neuroscientific insights. To support our claim, we provide a critical historical overview of the aesthetic tradition that systematically excluded the sense of touch. We present empirical evidence from several neuroscientific studies, where aesthetic experience is portrayed as fundamentally multimodal, especially involving touch. We then apply Churchland’s insights on methodological naturalism to aesthetic theory, arguing for her integrative, empirically informed approach in aesthetics. We conclude by exploring some philosophical, artistic, and institutional implications of recognizing touch as an integral dimension of aesthetic experience.
Paola Chiarello, Giuseppe Seminara, Sabrina Bossio
et al.
Gynecomastia in adolescence is a benign condition that mostly disappears spontaneously within approximately two years from onset. When it is associated with hypogonadism, it may suggest a disorder of sexual differentiation. We report the case of a young man (18 years old) with gynecomastia associated with azoospermia, small testes, hyperestrogenism and hypergonadotropic hypogonadism. A karyotype 46,XX was found, and searching for SRY (sex-determining region Y) by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) highlighted the presence of the gene on the terminal region of the short arm, with breakpoints likely in Xp22.3 and Yp11.3. Implications of testosterone replacement therapy with respect to sex differentiation disorder and to physical performance are discussed.
Hélio Rebello Cardoso Jr, María Inés Mudrovcic, Achim Landwehr
Abstract This article proposes a four-layered diagram that displays as an overview of the current field of historical time studies according to the following branches of investigation: 1) the metaphysics of natural time, 2) the metaphysics of historical time, 3) the regimes of historicity, and 4) historiographical regimes. By defining these fields and their connections, identifying essential concepts, revealing the questions they address, and sketching tendencies that have emerged since the 2000s, this article tackles historical temporality as a theoretical and historiographical subject. This framework, which portrays the state of the art in temporal studies, allows for the presentation and classification of the variety of contributions gathered in this special edition.
Avicenna is a political philosopher with a coherent intellectual system. Utilizing this intellectual framework, he analyzed the issues prevalent in his society and subsequently prescribed an ideal order. The key question is: what type of state does his philosophical system deem efficient, and what mechanisms does he advocate for it? It is asserted that, in Avicenna's political philosophy, the state thrives on the governance of the just and prophetic leadership. On one hand, measures grounded in Sharia laws and civic participation are instituted to prevent societal members from the perils of deviation, oppression, and injustice, serving as a deterrent. On the other hand, moderation and equilibrium in society are established through the application of justice. This article employs a philosophical method, both probative and argumentative, to demonstrate Avicenna's intellectual prowess concerning the efficacy of government based on the tenets of his political philosophy. The research findings highlight that the efficiency of the state hinges on preventing corruption in society, the state, and the political system. Moreover, state effectiveness results from the implementation of strategic policies fostering justice and balance, along with the enforcement of laws that contribute to prosperity in both the present world and the hereafter. Lastly, the efficiency of the state is contingent upon contemporary management practices rooted in experiences, expert opinions, and current requirements.
Daniel Eduardo Paz Pérez, Marcelo Rodríguez-Alberto
The choice of a professional career is a transcen-dental decision; however, success in college de-pends on factors such as previous education, the chosen career, family, socioeconomic context, as well as skills, interests and aptitudes. In a cross-sectional and descriptive work, we sought to find the relationship between interest and aptitude shown by new university entrance students -by means of a self-applied vocational test-and their academic performance and educational achieve-ment, in a study exclusively for the Business Mana-gement Engineering career. An ω (omega) profile was proposed to explain performance, related to results of the CHASIDE test (based on Holland's SDS) for accounting and administrative sciences and an alternate ωα profile for engineering scien-ces; the results validate the ω profile, weakly ap-preciating interest and ability with performance (r=.260, sig=0.045) but not with academic achieve-ment; the alternate ωα profile did not show any association with the variables studied. It is propo-sed to continue its application and study with other technological careers.
In Nepal’s public discourse, Christianity is often described as a divisive force, perhaps a plot by foreign powers to undermine the cohesion of Nepali society. In this article, I present ethnographic material from Bhaktapur suggesting that, at least with respect to family life, the social effects of conversion may often differ from this stereotypical picture. In Bhaktapur, I argue, conversion is more frequently a consequence of pre-existing conflicts within families than a source of new ones. Furthermore, in some contexts, the social, ethical, and ritual practices of Bhaktapurian churches can bring reconciliation to troubled families. In other contexts, conversion can heighten intrafamilial tensions, in particular through the commitment it brings to exclusivist theology. I explore how converts negotiate the conversion process and the tensions that precipitate and result from it, describing how familial power dynamics influence such negotiations. To give the reader a fleshed-out sense of the lived experience of Christian and part-Christian families in Bhaktapur, I give thick descriptions of the conversions of one church minister and his family, and of a church house fellowship in which post-conversion family tensions are discussed. Connecting this ethnography with wider research on Bhaktapurian Christianity, I delineate the competing forces at work in converts’ family lives. In light of the rapid growth of Christianity in Nepal, and the heated and sometimes violent nature of political responses to this, ethnographic research is urgently needed to examine not just the causes but also the longterm effects of Christian conversion; this will help to clarify whether patterns found in Bhaktapur are replicated elsewhere in the country.
<p>The education system in Israel is a centralized system including both Jews and Arabs. Therefore, these schools are controlled both administratively (including funding) and curricular by the government. From the data obtained in the field, there is an unbalanced comparison between Jewish and non-Jewish educational systems (including Arabic) in Israel. This shows the lack of resource justice, budgetary discrimination, and less developed learning and development programs, especially seen in the Arabic education system. The main purpose of education in Israel is to help the Jewish majority group and intend to maintain Jewish domination. Arabic education applied in Israel has been the subject of Muslim and Arab intellectual criticism. Their rejection is mainly related to the inequality, discrimination and marginalization facing Arab education. With this perspective, the Islamic movement has spurred Islamic educational institutions to uphold and maintain the religious identity and national identity of Muslim minority members in Israel. The article describes the education system in Israel including the religious education system as well as the education system for minorities in Israel.</p>
Despite the physicalistic approach to the mind in the present century, the existence of the mental states different from body states has caused various scales to be put forth regarding mental issues, the most important of which are awareness, being first person, and intentionality.
Awareness possesses an extensive domain incorporating senses, perceptions, recalling, visual representation, tendencies, imagination, beliefs, and thoughts. Being a first person means immediate reception such as all the intuitive perceptions deployed as opposed to acquisitive ones. In fact, it can be stated that the indicators mean presence by one’s own self. The intentionality means reference to a thing or being about a thing. In a mental issue, a man gains a certain experience, such as hope or doubt, in regard of a certain issue in the external world. Such mental affairs as doubt, hope, belief, and so forth are issues that have an attachment to a thing in the world outside and make reference thereto; doubt in…, hope in…, and belief in… are all characteristics of this intentionality. This is the common attribute of all voluntary actions and sensory perceptions as well. Intentionality is indeed a personal representation of the external world. Each of these indicators has difficulties in representation of mental issues. As opined by some, awareness is so diverse that it has to be separately defined for each of its type. For example, qualitative awareness cannot be grouped in a class with phenomenal awareness. In some others’ opinions, awareness is a process, not a phenomenon. It also exists in animals because of the similarity of their cerebral structure to human beings, even though it is more advanced in the latter.
Another case of breach in introducing the indicator as an index of mental issue should be sought in human being’s unconscious states.
The existing shortfall in regard of being first person is that there are many non-intermediated and immediate affairs that are not mental. Can pain be truly considered mental as ruled based on this indicator while it can be imagined by all the creatures? Meanwhile, the intentionality is a less flawed indicator. Investigations on the Transcendent Philosophy (Ḥikmat-i Mutaʿālīa;) are well reflective of the importance of ego attention or notice. Mulla Sadra made use of intention or attention of ego (soul) in his works about God, human beings and other creatures such as animals, plants and inanimate ones. It means that the concept was applied in Mulla Sadra’s works for three types of existents, namely necessary being, speaker (thinker) existent, and all other non-speaker existents. The use cases of ego attention and intention will be examined regarding the human actions in the Transcendent Philosophy so as to conclude that how and under what conditions the ego (soul) intention can be introduced as a criterion for distinguishing non-bodily from bodily affairs?
Perception: Sadr al-Mutiʾallihīn knows perception nothing more than ego (soul, nafs) attention.
Acquisition of Sciences: In some expressions, Mulla Sadra states that all the perceptions related to the human mind in a rank by rank manner in sum, and realizes them all as the result of ego’s attention to intellect and the heart of the truths.
Creativity: A type of extrinsic ego attention is intended in the Transcendent Philosophy in which intention is directed from a superior being, the Righteous One, to the inferior being, the creatures. The attention, by itself, causes the inscription of the truths in the ego and generates creativities as well.
Liberty (Ikhtīyār) and Intentionality: In the Transcendent Philosophy, the type of human deeds and behaviors or human liberty is a function of non-essential ego attention to the two general extreme ends. Actions are purposive as long as they are functions of this attention or intention.
Judgment: Judging the right or wrong is nothing more than paying attention to the connection of a sentence’s components.
Worships and Prayers: Mulla Sadra constantly speaks of an inherent intention inside all the creatures in their doing of their deeds, and this makes the nature of things move in a certain direction. But, as for the human beings, consideration of attention or not disregarding the attention is unique and specific.
Guess, Thought: intellectual issues are obtained by a middle term. It means that there is a need for a middle term in order to be able to figure out knowns from unknowns, thereby, to arrive at intelligibles.
Pleasures and Pains: Joy is the perception of consistency and compliance of an issue with the human nature.
Love and Zeal: An intentionality of ego is named zeal and love. In a sort of classification, Mulla Sadra divides attention and intention into two sets, namely innate (inherent) and unnatural (extrinsic). In another general categorization, he divides the intention into intention to superior things and intention to inferior things. In this way, although attention or intention of a thing is shared by human beings and other creatures, its application is vividly divided into two parts, called “essential attention” and “non-essential attention”, and he excludes various kinds of attention in animals. Amongst the human actions as well, such indicators as “nonphysical” or “ego-oriented” are “ego’s non-essential attentions” based on the Transcendent Philosophy. The “essential ego attention” is the necessary and enough condition in distinguishing the ego-oriented affairs. The indicator “essential intention” is succinctly characterized by awareness because not all sorts of insights are required for a mental issue. This latter indicator encompasses all the other distinctions as well, is conclusive and exclusive of all the mental issues, and is in perfect coordination with the other basics of ego study by Mulla Sadra.
In an important new book on shared agency, Michael Bratman develops an account of the normative demand for the coordination of intentions amongst participants in shared agency. Bratman seeks to understand this form of normative guidance in terms of that associated with individual planning intentions. I give reasons to resist his form of reductionism. In addition, I note how Bratman’s discussion raises the interesting issue of the function or purpose of shared intention and of shared agency more generally. According to Bratman, the function of shared intention is to promote interpersonal coordination of intention and action. I suggest that power sharing amongst participants must also be included as a function of shared intention.
The paper addresses the law-making experiments, which were conducted with the reform of local government in the late 1990s – early 2000s. The author explores the process of their implementation, as well as the impact of legislative experiments on the current state of some municipalities.
History of Russia. Soviet Union. Former Soviet Republics, Psychology
Purpose. To understand the dynamics of aesthetic conception as representative of the main directions of philosophical anthropology, identifying their contribution to the development of aesthetics and expand its research field. The condition of the study of the problem is the evolutionary process of adequateness, authenticity and alternativeness in determination of both the phenomenon of "aesthetic" and its role in philosophical and anthropological convention. Methodology. Both the measurements of aesthetic as a unique, peculiar, specific and aesthetic dimensions of philosophical anthropology /systems of philisophy/ have in sight the necessity to solve the same problem - the identification of new methodological basis. Theoretical results. The experience of theoretical researches of contemporary domestic and foreign philosophical and aesthetic schools іs generalized. The content of phenomenological and existential breakthrough in modern age of aesthetics іs revealed. The essence of "anthropological turn" in European philosophy of 20th century as philosophical paradigm of the modern age and its impact on development of aesthetic theories of post-classical period was investigated. Conclusion. Philosophical and anthropological studies have amounted the "methodological synthesis" that appeared as the theoretical principles of the understanding of aesthetics due to its polystylistics.
The purpose of this paper is to argue for the following theses. First, the theories of justice of Habermas and Rawls should be seen as two versions of kantian constructivism, understood as a metaethical approach that attempts to combine anti-realism and strong cognitivism. Second, the contrast with Habermas' "reconstructivist constructivism" helps to explain in which way Rawls' theory satisfies the claim to universal validity peculiar to strong cognitivism. In illuminating the fact that Rawls' constructivism is based on the reflective work of the individual consciousness, the contrast with Habermas enables to understand in which sense the concepts of reflective equilibrium and overlapping consensus indicate an ideal that claims universal validity, thereby denying the particularism involved in the coherentist and relativist interpretations of these concepts.
Cet article élabore une nouvelle structure pour permettre d’étudier les jeux (games) comme des lieux de rationalisation sociale, en appliquant la théorie critique de la technologie de Feenberg. Nous commencerons en argumentant que si les jeux (games) sont des systèmes de rationalité sociale, ils doivent être considérés comme étant apparentés à d’autres systèmes modernes, comme les marchés capitalistes et les organisations bureaucratiques. Nous présenterons ensuite une conceptualisation du jeu (play) comme un processus par lequel l’attention du joueur est détournée de l’action indifférenciée de la vie quotidienne vers une sphère différenciée d’activités ludiques. Cette approche révèlera combien l’expérience du jeu (play) change lorsqu’elle est rationalisée par la médiation technologique, et comment une normalisation généralisée se produit quand les jeux (games) deviennent des pratiques sociales à grande échelle. Nous proposerons donc une théorie de la rationalisation du jeu (ludification) décrivant les composants clés des jeux socialement rationalisés ; une théorie que nous appliquerons alors à l’exemple spécifique des jeux en ligne massivement multijoueurs (MMOG, pour Massively Multiplayer Online Games).
This article analyses the general economy of Georges Bataille (1897–1962) in relation to political economy. In the first section I present a critical perspective on economy that is necessary in order to appreciate Bataille’s conception of general economy, which is presented in the second section. The general economy is first considered in a macro-perspective, which comprises the whole of the universe, second in a micro-perspective, where the subjective aspect of economy is maintained as non-objectified desire and inner experience. In the third section I turn to the general economy as it was explicitly intended, namely as a political economy. First I argue that the suggestions that Bataille himself presents are apolitical in an ordinary sense of politics, and that this can be shown to be due to some conceptual slides between nature and society and between history and ontology. I then sketch some postmodern attempts to legitimize respectively capitalism and communism, which refer to the general economy, but argue finally that Bataille can escape both, since he maintains the important distinction between need and desire. Although Bataille’s conception of economy thus reminds us of aspects often overlooked by economy in an ordinary sense, it also contains some serious aporias, which means that it cannot constitute the theoretical basis of a new general political economy, as Bataille had hoped.
El pensamiento sobre la sociedad civil siempre ha estado caracterizado por una doble referencia hacia las relaciones sociales existentes y hacia los ideales sociales. La principal hipótesis de numerosas investigaciones sobre la sociedad civil es que una floreciente esfera que lleva este nombre es el portador del ideal de una sociedad más civilizada. Este artículo empieza con una pequeña discusión sobre el trasfondo histórico y los debates públicos en torno a la sociedad civil, y continúa con un planteamiento más analítico del concepto como designación de un orden social asociacional y una esfera de la sociedad dominada por las asociaciones voluntarias. Más adelante nos centramos en esta esfera describiendo sus caracteres nacionales en Europa y analizando las reivindicaciones de sus beneficios civilizadores: la formación de capital social y de discurso público. Encontramos muy pocas evidencias para tales reivindicaciones y por ello profundizamos en el desarrollo de la sociedad moderna occidental, una sociedad en la que las asociaciones voluntarias se han convertido en menos relevantes, mientras que otras esferas de la sociedad, en particular los ensanchados márgenes de la sociedad civil, son más importantes para el desarrollo de una sociedad más civilizada.
The thinking about civil society has always been characterized by the double reference to existing social relations and to societal ideals. The basic hypothesis of much civil society research is that a flourishing sphere with this name is the carrier of the ideal of more civilized society. This article starts with a brief discussion of the historical background and public debates about civil society, and continues with a more analytic approach of the concept as designation of an associational social order and a sphere of society dominated by voluntary associations. We further focus on this sphere, describe its national patterns in Europe and analyze claims of its civilizing benefits: the formation of social capital and public discourse. We find very limited evidence for the claims and look deeper into developments of modern western society, which have made voluntary associations less important and other spheres of society, in particular the broader margins of civil society, more important for the development of a more civilized society.
such a philosophy of life that we shall live long, happy, prosperous lives, ready to attack willingly the problems of the day and not to shirk our many responsibilities. It may suggest that each of us has a mission, no matter how great or small, and that there is a certain responsibility for our individual life which is loaned to us at birth, taken away at death, and for which we should feel somewhat accountable during our existence." It is unfortunate that the general biological literature, ostensibly at the college level, should be cluttered with a range of misinformation which this poorly written book contains. J. s. NICHOLAS.