When brief blank fields are placed between alternating displays of an original and a modified scene, a striking failure of perception is induced: the changes become extremely difficult to notice, even when they are large, presented repeatedly, and the observer expects them to occur (Rensink, O'Regan, & Clark, 1997). To determine the mechanisms behind this induced "change blindness", four experiments examine its dependence on initial preview and on the nature of the interruptions used. Results support the proposal that representations (...) at the early stages of visual processing are highly volatile, and that focused attention is needed to stabilize them sufficiently to support the perception of change. (shrink)

One of the most significant contemporary thinkers in continental philosophy, Jacques Derrida’s work continues to attract heated commentary among philosophers, literary critics, social and cultural theorists, architects and artists. This major new work by world renowned Derrida scholar and translator, Geoffrey Bennington, presents incisive new readings of both Derrida and interpretations of his work. Part one sets out Derrida’s work as a whole and examines its relevance to, and ‘interruption’ of, the traditional domains of ethics, politics and literature. The second (...) part of the book presents compelling insights into some important motifs in Derrida’s work, such as death, friendship, psychoanalysis, time and endings. The final section introduces trenchant appraisals of other influential accounts of Derrida’s work. This influential and original contribution to the literature on Derrida is marked by a commitment to clarity and accuracy, but also by a refusal to simplify Derrida’s often difficult thought. (shrink)

Kant, Hume, and the Interruption of Dogmatic Slumber offers an interpretation of Kant’s “confession,” in the Prolegomena, that “it was the objection of David Hume that first, many years ago, interrupted my dogmatic slumber.” It argues that Hume roused Kant not, as has often been thought, by challenging the principle “every event has a cause” that governs experience, but by attacking the principle of sufficient reason, the basis of rationalist metaphysics and of the cosmological proof of the existence of (...) God. This proposal makes it possible to reconcile Kant’s declaration about Hume with his later assertion that it was the Antinomy of pure reason that first woke him from dogmatic slumber, because the Antinomy, like Hume’s challenge, is directed against the dogmatic use of the principle of sufficient reason. The proposal put forward here also makes it possible to understand why Kant speaks of “the objection of David Hume” after mentioning Hume’s attack on metaphysics; for the “objection” that Kant has in mind, it is argued here, is a challenge to metaphysics, rather than to the foundations of empirical knowledge. (shrink)

The age of modern biomedical science has raised many difficult ethical questions. Accordingly, leaders in bioethics have articulated methods to direct the on-going discourse while providing the systems necessary for making morally efficient decisions. In this thought-provoking study, Ashley John Moyse suggests a theory of ethics that interrupts and transforms the contemporary and abstract modes of moral discourse. Moyse moves the moral discussion of bioethics beyond abstract ends, obligations, and common moral categories. At the same time, he challenges readers to (...) take seriously the concrete moral tasks of existence. Moyse engages with Karl Barth's philosophical and theological thinking in order to investigate the moral discussions surrounding biomedical ethics. The book engagingly illuminates a path toward moral discernment that recognizes the significance of human flourishing. According to Moyse, Barth's moral theology not only grounds humans as ontologically relational but also fuels responsibility to, with, and for one's neighbors. (shrink)

With the development of network technology, many online educational resource platforms have emerged, and the number of resources on these platforms is increasing dramatically. Compared with the traditional resources, the interactive educational resources have hidden interactive information and dynamic content. Only when the users perform interactive operations correctly can they acquire the knowledge conveyed by the resources, which makes it a challenge to help the users understand the general content of resources and find the resources that they are interested in. (...) Therefore, in this paper, we propose a method for generating picture previews of IERs. Firstly, we analyze the file that stores interactive resource information, obtain the interactive elements’ information, extract the dependencies, and generate an operation sequence. Secondly, we execute the operation sequence using an automated software tool to mimic the interaction process between the user and the resource and save the screenshots in the process to generate a picture preview of an IER. We apply this method to a dynamic geometry platform, NetPad, and conduct experiments. Experimental results demonstrate that the method can effectively extract interactive semantic information and simulate the interactive process, and the generated picture previews are of great help to the users to understand the content of IERs. (shrink)

Come in. Welcome. Be my guest and I will be yours. Shall we ask, in accordance with the Derridean question, "Is not hospitality an interruption of the self?" What is the relationship between the interruption and the moment one enters the host's home? Derrida calls us toward a new understanding of hospitality - as an interruption. This paper will illuminate the history of hospitality in the West as well as trace Derrida's discussions of hospitality throughout many of works. The overall (...) goal of this project is to provide readers of Derrida with a sort of reference guide for his discussions on and deconstructive approach to hospitality. (shrink)

It is widely mooted that a plausible computational cognitive model should involve both symbolic and connectionist components. However, sound principles for combining these components within a hybrid system are currently lacking; the design of such systems is oftenad hoc. In an attempt to ameliorate this we provide a framework of types of hybrid systems and constraints therein, within which to explore the issues. In particular, we suggest the use of system independent constraints, whose source lies in general considerations about cognitive (...) systems, rather than in particular technological or task-based considerations. We illustrate this through a detailed examination of an interruptibility constraint: handling interruptions is a fundamental facet of cognition in a dynamic world. Aspects of interruptions are delineated, as are their precise expression in symbolic and connectionist systems. We illustrate the interaction of the various constraints from interruptibility in the different types of hybrid systems. The picture that emerges of the relationship between the connectionist and the symbolic within a hybrid system provides for sufficient flexibility and complexity to suggest interesting general implications for cognition, thus vindicating the utility of the framework. (shrink)

Interruptions are often inevitable and occur many times in daily life (Ratwani & Trafton, 2010). Interruptions at work can disrupt progress on tasks and result in costly mistakes (Brumby, Cox, Back...

The interrupted absolute : art, religion and the "new categorical imperative" -- "The ever-broken promise of happiness" : interrupting art, or Adorno -- "Absolute insomnia" : interrupting religion, or Levinas -- "To preserve the question" : interrupting the book, or Jabès -- Conclusion : sharing the imperative.

In this article I confront Jürgen Habermas' deliberative model of democracy with Claude Lefort's analysis of democracy as a regime in which the locus of power remains an empty place. This confrontation reveals several structural similarities between the two authors and explains how the proceduralization of popular sovereignty provides a discourse-theoretical interpretation of the empty place of power. At the same time, Lefort's insistence on the open-ended nature of the democratic struggle also points towards an unresolved tension at the core (...) of Habermas' model between the cognitive nature of deliberation on the one hand and the freedom of moral and political agents on the other. A proper solution of this tension requires a full appreciation of the ineliminable gap between actual and ideal deliberation. Because actual deliberation can never result in an ideal consensus, the actual exercise of democratic power should be understood as an unavoidable interruption of deliberation. Key Words: consensus • deliberation • democracy • empty place of power • Jürgen Habermas • Claude Lefort. (shrink)

A preview of my book *Perception*. Discusses the relationship between perception and the physical world and the issue of whether reality is as it appears. Useful examples are included throughout the book to illustrate the puzzles of perception, including hallucinations, illusions, the laws of appearance, blindsight, and neuroscientific explanations of our experience of pain, smell and color. The book covers both traditional philosophical arguments and more recent empirical arguments deriving from research in psychophysics and neuroscience. The addition of chapter (...) summaries, suggestions for further reading and a glossary of terms make Perception essential reading for anyone studying the topic in detail, as well as for students of philosophy of mind, philosophy of psychology and metaphysics. (shrink)

Parafoveal preview benefit is an implicit measure of lexical activation in reading. PB has been demonstrated for orthographic and phonological but not for semantically related information in English. In contrast, semantic PB is obtained in German and Chinese. We propose that these language differences reveal differential resource demands and timing of phonological and semantic decoding in different orthographic systems.

La théologie d'un genre nouveau proposée ici est fondée sur la conviction que c'est sous les mots «étant transformé» que la réalité que nous recherchons nous devient disponible. Cette théologie envisage les personnes et le monde, étants modelés par la puissance ou la causalité divine à l'oeuvre dans l'espace et le temps, et est donc bien exprimée par le nom de «Transformation Theology». Puisque le genre de transformation dont il s'agit ici est du domaine de l'Église, il s'agit aussi d'une (...) théologie qui engage un nouveau style de relation entre l'Église et la théologie ou, pour mieux dire, une nouvelle intensité de la vocation ecclésiale du théologien. La «Transformation Theology» tente de séparer l'affirmation doctrinale de la référence à la présence du Christ et la cosmologie dans laquelle cette référence est enfermée, et de déposer le spectre entier de la culture moderne, avec ses investigations réductionnistes, aux pieds du Christ vivant. (shrink)

(1995). Theoretical issues surrounding interdisciplinary interpenetration. Social Epistemology: Vol. 9, Boundary Rhetorics and the Work of Interdisciplinarity, pp. 175-187.

PETRIVERSE. Noun.1) A world composed of rocks; e.g., a rock garden.2) Words composed of rocks; i.e., verse written in stone.The Petriverse of Pierre Jardin is a born-digital work of speculative theory that documents a decade of work on stone in a variety of media, from collecting cobble and composing displays in a contemplative rock garden, to conducting research, traveling, and photographing and writing about stones. This work has been undertaken as an apprenticeship to stone, in Deleuze's sense of apprenticeship of (...) a process in which "to learn is first of all to consider a substance…as if it emitted signs to be deciphered, interpreted. … One becomes a carpenter only by becoming sensitive to the signs of wood"... (shrink)

This article is a continuation of the challenge begun by early phenomenologists of the reductionistic scientism of Natural Science Psychology. Inspired by five distinctions of Emmanuel Levinas, it seeks to bring a deeper interruption of the seemingly unalterable force of mainstream psychology to model itself after the hard sciences. Levinas distinguishes the experience of totality from infinity, need from desire, freedom as self-initiated and self-directed from freedom as invested by and for the Other, active agency from radical passivity, and the (...) said from saying. Five commonly accepted characteristics of science, objective, empirical, causal, reducible, and value neutral, are used to compare three approaches to psychology: Natural Science, Phenomenology , and Psychology for the Other. Using the definition of science, “knowing the phenomenon as it shows itself,” this paper argue that Natural Science Psychology is the least “scientific,” Phenomenological Psychology is more scientific, and Psychology for the Other is the most “scientific” with its ethical command to allow the Other to reveal her/himself. This extravagant but compelling claim is illustrated with descriptions of research and therapy. (shrink)

In this contribution, I take Nicholas Adams’ discussion of the paradox of ethics as an occasion to further explore our present moral situation and the possibilities of ethics in it. This situation is characterised by pluralism of moral views, which gives rise to relativist and cynical reactions as well as to strong, polarising expressions. These tendencies feed a suspicion towards ethical reflection. In light of the paradox of ethics as discussed by Adams this may seem justified. I will argue, however, (...) for a more constructive role for ethics. This can be elaborated by focusing on the transcendent character of the good, which is implied in the paradox. I will explore this transcendent character by turning to a Christian perspective on morality that elaborates this transcendence in a specific constructive way. From this perspective, the experience of the loss of self-evidence around which the paradox of ethics revolves may be seen as beneficial. It opens human beings to a transcendent good to which they can entrust themselves for a renewal of life. Thus, the good can be seen as something that makes an appeal to us that can liberate to a love that transcends doing good as a human project. (shrink)

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:Reviewed by:Antigone, Interrupted by Bonnie HonigLorna HardwickBonnie Honig. Antigone, Interrupted. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2013. xviii + 321 pp. Paper, $30.95.This is an important book for three main reasons. First, it offers a substantial contribution to current debates in the arts and humanities about whether and how new constructs of “humanism” can be attuned to transhistorical and transcultural experience, replace the discredited formulations associated with Western-dominated “universalism,” (...) and maintain and justify a role for human agency. Second, it addresses this aim by analysing the text of a Greek tragedy, Sophocles’ Antigone, both as a site for grounding the concepts and theories developed by intellectual historians and philosophers in the West and then as a laboratory for testing different approaches. The book will therefore be required reading for researchers and advanced students in a range of disciplines stretching from Classics to political science, as well as for those whose primary concern is the interdisciplinary “Big Picture” of the possibilities and limitations of human action and thought. Third, because inevitably there are significant problems involved with both aspects of Honig’s project, the ways in which she addresses these and the extent to which her arguments are convincing should make her book a launch-pad for further debate.Honig’s aims in the book are multiple and ambitious. In a 2013 interview for Open Democracy, she described the intellectual influences that shaped the development of the book. These include: French theorists’ use of the conceptual apparatus of fragility, change and unpredictability; Arendt’s vision of politics as “tumultuous and inaugural—always forming and reforming communities and reestablishing the importance of public life”; and the notion developed particularly in Derrida that speech acts are ruptural and extraordinary and sometimes take place in the abyss. Brought to bear on Sophocles’ Antigone, these approaches [End Page 158] lead Honig to read the play as centered around the politicisation of mourning and burial, representing a moment of crisis not just within the play but also in the wider Athenian context as probed by Thucydides in his presentation of the Epitaphios attributed to Pericles (Thuc. 2.34–46). Classicists and ancient historians will hardly find that perspective astonishing, but it provides Honig with the basis for the extension of the argument to the larger canvas of the re-examination of humanist angst and the desire to imagine through the lens of a classical text a humanism that is neither reductive nor pessimist nor a synonym for an imposition of “universal” as its defining characteristic. Her enterprise has implications for Classics as well as for the new humanism that she constructs.1 In some respects the book represents an intellectual journey for Honig herself, in which she moves from an initial sense that “in current contexts of inegalitarian, neo-liberal capitalisation and globalization, the reinterpretation of classical texts hardly seems the most pressing task” (9) to recognition of the play’s pivotal role in the notion of agonistic humanism (196).Honig’s opening chapter sets out the models of humanism that she seeks to overturn. She starts from the supposition that humanism is once again a topic of aspiration: “not the rationalist universalist variety discredited by post-structuralism and the horrific events of the twentieth century, but a newer variant” (17). She claims that one version of “new” humanism asserts that what is common to humans is not rationality but mortality, “not the capacity to reason but vulnerability to suffering.” Furthermore, she asserts that this privileging of finitude as a defining characteristic disempowers humans and marginalises political struggle. Because Greek tragedy has been foundational to attempts to seek solace in “redemptive moments” or the “transformation of suffering and loss into a story of human endurance” (206, n. 7, quoting Euben), the task of envisioning an alternative has to be commenced on the site of the ancient texts. And since Honig perceives Antigone as the representative text of “mortalist humanists” (25), that text has to be her laboratory (Part 1 of the book sets out the shift from Oedipus to Antigone as central texts for different types of humanism).2 Once Antigone is centre-stage, the concepts and practices of lament and... (shrink)

_Review of: Anderson, Abraham, _Kant, Hume, and the Interruption of Dogmatic Slumber_, New York, Oxford University Press, 2020, 180+xxii, 978-0-19-009674-8_.

This paper asks how perception becomes racializing and seeks the means for its critical interruption. My aim is not only to understand the recalcitrant and limitative temporal structure of racializing habits of seeing, but also to uncover the possibilities within perception for a critical awareness and destabilization of this structure. Reading Henri Bergson and Maurice Merleau-Ponty in dialogue with Frantz Fanon, Iris Marion Young and race-critical feminism, I locate in hesitation the phenomenological moment where habits of seeing can be internally (...) fractured. Hesitation, I claim, makes visible the exclusionary logic of racializing and objectifying perception, countering its affective closure and opening it to critical transformation. (shrink)

As ethical agents, teachers regularly must decide whether compliance to rules and norms is in the best interest of their students. Yet, teachers in the United States are educated to be passively obedient. In this paper, I argue that part of pre-service teacher education ought to learn ways of resisting. I describe one approach to verbal resistance, what Michel Foucault calls Truth-Telling. Building on a qualitative self-study with pre-service teachers, I explain how a form of team-teaching called Interruptions can promote (...) Truth-Telling. (shrink)

Sophocles' Antigone is a touchstone in democratic, feminist and legal theory, and possibly the most commented upon play in the history of philosophy and political theory. Bonnie Honig's rereading of it therefore involves intervening in a host of literatures and unsettling many of their governing assumptions. Exploring the power of Antigone in a variety of political, cultural, and theoretical settings, Honig identifies the 'Antigone-effect' - which moves those who enlist Antigone for their politics from activism into lamentation. She argues that (...) Antigone's own lamentations can be seen not just as signs of dissidence but rather as markers of a rival world view with its own sovereignty and vitality. Honig argues that the play does not offer simply a model for resistance politics or 'equal dignity in death', but a more positive politics of counter-sovereignty and solidarity which emphasizes equality in life. (shrink)

Previous cross-cultural research has not undertaken in situ analysis of conversational style between groups in severe political conflict. The present study is a quantitative and ethnographic study of conversational interruptions in one Israeli-Palestinian `dialogue' event which took place during the Palestinian Uprising. Findings indicate that the previously documented divergent cultural styles of the two groups underwent a process of change. Specifically, the Israeli dugri interruptive style dominated interactions between Israelis and between Israelis and Palestinians. However, fewer interruptions were found in (...) the intergroup interaction. Conversely, the Palestinian musayra style of non-interruptions was more significant in the intragroup Palestinian-Palestinian interaction than in interaction with Israelis, where Palestinian interruptions dominated. The political context of events and the erosion of the musayra style are suggested as factors that explain results. Implications are discussed. (shrink)

Despite his extended readings of parts of the Antigone of Sophocles, Heidegger nowhere explicitly sets about giving us a theory of tragedy or a detailed analysis of the essence of tragedy. The following paper seeks to piece together Heidegger's understanding of tragedy and tragic experience by looking to themes in his thinking – particularly his analyses of early Greek thinking – and connecting them both to his scattered references to tragedy and actual examples from Greek tragedy. What we find is (...) that, for Heidegger, tragedy is an interruption of speculation, a refusal to philosophize, a way of showing how things are that resonates with the goal of Heidegger's own thinking. (shrink)