To counter the tendency of making Confucianism "localized" and thereby turning Confucianism research into research of local social history, the author criticizes this tendency and thinks it is unilateral to emphasize or stress the importance of a small unit's locality, but ignore the oneness of the distribution of Confucianism and the universality of Confucian thought. The thesis emphasizes that the main schools of Confucianism in the Song and Ming Dynasties are all not local ones and cannot be reduced (...) to reflections of some local need and social structure. The author points out that we need to self-examine the following phenomena: aggrandizing the function of local social structure to culture and thought, coming down academic schools to reflections of local social benefits, opposing this kind of research to the research of thought itself, thus rejecting philosophical research and analysis of thought itself. (shrink)

Any empirical physical theory must have implications for observable events at the scale of everyday life, even though that scale plays no special role in the basic ontology of the theory itself. The fundamental physical scales are microscopic for the “local beables” of the theory and universal scale for the non-local beables. This situation creates strong demands for any precise quantum theory. This paper examines those constraints, and illustrates some ways in which they can be met.

In a famous quote reported by his biographer Marinus, Proclus says that a philosopher should be like a “priest of the whole world in common”. This essay examines what this universality of the philosopher’s religious practice entails, first with reference to Marinus’ testimony concerning Proclus’ own devotional life, and then with respect to the systematic Platonic understanding of divine ‘locality’. The result is, first, that the philosopher’s ‘universality’ is at once more humble than it sounds, and more far-reaching; and second, (...) that the meaning of locality in the Platonic metaphysics is more flexible and dynamic than we might have expected. Particular attention is given to the relations of ‘universality’ and ‘particularity’ as they exist among the Gods, and to the account in Proclus’ Timaeus commentary concerning the places sacred to the Gods as immaterial intervals (diastêmata) not identical to physical places, and the consequences of this for understanding changes in the religious life of places and in the localization of cults. (shrink)

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:The University and Democracy: A Response to “Dewey, Implementation, and Creating a Democratic Civic University”Lee A. McBride IIIira harkavy has given us much to consider. His paper, “Dewey, Implementation, and Creating a Democratic Civic University,” invites us to critically assess our democracy and the role of colleges and universities in the propagation of our democratic way of life. Harkavy suggests that universities are failing to fulfill their function, that (...) is, “to educate students to be ethical, empathetic, engaged, democratic citizens, and advance knowledge for the continuous betterment of the human condition” (50). He suggests that universities are central societal institutions in the world, and research universities are most central—“they develop new ideas and technologies, incubate businesses, serve as cultural and artistic centers, and are engines of local, national, and global economics” (50). Our universities produce our teachers and our teachers’ teachers; they shape the learning, values, and the aspirations of students (Harkavy 50). But, again, universities are not fulfilling their social function of “creating and sustaining an inclusive, just democratic society” (Harkavy 51). Harkavy boldly asserts that a revolutionary change is required in higher education if it is to fulfill its democratic function.Closed LoopI have a concern about the role of Research 1 (R1) universities in this picture. I am led to believe that R1 universities, like the University of Pennsylvania, exist in rarefied air. Penn, for example, has a ridiculous endowment—more than $20 billion. Penn apparently accepts only 9% of its applicants. The resources and demographics of R1 institutions are unlike those at state schools and small liberal arts colleges. The various canons, the faculty, and the student body at elite R1 universities have historically represented the thoughts, [End Page 76] experiences, and perplexities of well-heeled white heteronormative men. The vast majority of the faculty and students at R1 universities are predominantly of Anglo-European descent and a higher socioeconomic status. This gives me pause. If R1 universities are placed as the central engines of democratic fomenting, I worry that the faculty and students at R1 universities will direct research and social amelioration projects in particular directions and retain particular presuppositions that will buttress the continued flourishing of elite R1 universities. A closed loop. I worry that both the material and the social capital needed to (re)shape social conditions will arise only from and circulate only between those who attend elite R1 universities. I mean, Harkavy suggests that the departments, programs, and institutes at R1 universities create and sustain those knowledges and skills that produce the scholars and thoughtful people who will drive our K–12 education, who will fashion new cooperatives and entrepreneurial ventures, and who will become our community activists and political leaders. As such, the knowledge and skills to implement a more just and inclusive democracy will be disseminated from the R1 university. Harkavy also explains that it is necessary that universities strive to be democratic civic universities, sites where university folk work alongside members of the surrounding communities to address and ameliorate the problems on the ground. This “would involve significant and ongoing engagement of an institution’s comprehensive assets (academic, human, cultural, and economic) in partnership with community members to produce knowledge and educate ethical students with the ability to help create and maintain just, anti-racist, democratic societies” (Harkavy 53). The democratic civic university would then nurture a culture of democracy that exceeds mere voting practices— democracy as a way of life (Dewey 226). Prima facie, this seems like a noble goal. And yet, I still worry that those university folks who do this work will be a small representative group of people who bear particular life experiences and perhaps phenotypic markers.I would suggest that other sites outside of the R1 university (e.g., the trade union meeting, the settlement house, the church, the community garden, etc.) will need to be taken as legitimate sites of knowledge creation or legitimate sites of communication and joint activity (Collins 269). This would at least bring differing life experiences to the table; that is, it would bring differing life experiences to the fore and recognize alternative non-academic sources of insight and wisdom. These sites and alternative... (shrink)

Originally published in 1919, this book presents the content of a series of addresses delivered at the Local Lectures Summer Meeting of the University of Cambridge in 1918. The lectures deal with the concept of unity from a variety of different perspectives, in the light of the religious and moral problems thrown up by the First World War. This book will be of value to anyone with an interest in theology and philosophy.

RESUMEN Analizar el papel del centro universitario en la articulación con la universidad médica en la búsqueda de entornos saludables y su contribución al desarrollo local en el municipio Yaguajay, constituye el propósito fundamental del presente trabajo, para el que se realizó una revisión documental de numerosos documentos y entrevistas a los principales líderes y a la población. El fomento de prácticas y estilos de vida sanos, la integración y capacitación de actores sociales, el desarrollo de la ciencia, la (...) innovación tecnológica y del potencial científico productivo, junto a la sostenibilidad ambiental, fueron algunos de los resultados evidenciados. Se constató que la universidad en el territorio trabajó por incentivar una cultura saludable, por unificar esfuerzos, coordinar acciones, involucrar sectores, consolidar alianzas interinstitucionales dentro y fuera de la esfera sanitaria, con lo que se demostró la fortaleza de la promoción de salud dentro de los procesos de desarrollo local. ABSTRACT To analyze the role of the university center in the coordination with the medical university in the search of healthy environments and its contribution to the local development in the municipality Yaguajay, constitutes the fundamental intention of the present work, for which a documentary review of numerous documents was carried out and interviews to the principal leaders and the population. The promotion of practices and healthy life styles, the integration and training of social actors, the development of the science, the technological innovation and of the productive scientific potential, along with the environmental sustainability, were some of the demonstrated results. It was stated that the university at the territory was employed for encouraging a healthy culture, for unifying efforts, coordinating actions, involving sectors, consolidating inter-institutional alliances inside and out of the sanitary sphere, with what there was demonstrated the fortitude of the promotion of health inside the processes of local development. (shrink)

본질적으로 사람이 놓이는 곳, 위치하는 장소에는 반드시 재현 체계가 갖추어져 있다. 거기에는 자기 지식(Local Knowledge), 욕망 그리고 멘탈리티가 내재한다. 그로부터 사람들은 자기 나름의 방향성을 확보하며 존재한다. 이렇듯 로컬 지식이나 이성이 존재하지만 사람들은 주목하지 않는다. 그것은 으레 감성에 묻어 있으므로 그렇겠거니와, 오랜 동일성 가치의 시야에 가리기 때문일 것이다. 한편 시대적 흐름 속에 근대적 물질성 추구의 이성, 합리주의는 우리에게 단조로운 ‘길’을 가게 한다. 그런데 그 길엔 다양성의 가치나 이성에 대하여 인식할 공간이 없다. 그와 달리 자신뿐만 아니라 타자의 욕망을 억누르지 않는 공유의 (...) 이성으로, 개인이나 개체 그리고 지방의 역능이나 가능성을 살리는 ‘카오스적 일자’의 길을 갈 때, 그것들이 가진 가치이자 성질로서 로컬리티는 유기적 균형 상태로 존재할 것이다. 이 같은 의미에서 세계, 국가(행정부), 자본 등 곳곳에 놓인 중심 권력은 그 힘을 최소화하여 로컬리티 곧 자기 역동성과 자기 가치를 충분히 발휘할 수 있는 여건을 마련하게 하는 것이 바람직하다. 그때 이 세상엔 기층적 가치에 대한 포섭이나 그에 따른 충돌 없이 로컬리티 고유의 여러 가능성이 빛을 발하게 될 것이다. (shrink)

Issues of balancing data accessibility with ethical considerations and governance of a genomics research biobank, Generation Scotland, are explored within the evolving policy landscape of the past ten years. During this time data sharing and open data access have become increasingly important topics in biomedical research. Decisions around data access are influenced by local arrangements for governance and practices such as linkage to health records, and the global through policies for biobanking and the sharing of data with large-scale biomedical (...) research data resources and consortia. We use a literature review of policy relevant documents which apply to the conduct of biobanks in two areas: support for open access and the protection of data subjects and researchers managing a bioresource. We present examples of decision making within a biobank based upon observations of the Generation Scotland Access Committee. We reflect upon how the drive towards open access raises ethical dilemmas for established biorepositories containing data and samples from human subjects. Despite much discussion in science policy literature about standardisation, the contextual aspects of biobanking are often overlooked. Using our engagement with GS we demonstrate the importance of local arrangements in the creation of a responsive ethical approach to biorepository governance. We argue that governance decisions regarding access to the biobank are intertwined with considerations about maintenance and viability at the local level. We show that in addition to the focus upon ever more universal and standardised practices, the local expertise gained in the management of such repositories must be supported. A commitment to open access in genomics research has found almost universal backing in science and health policy circles, but repositories of data and samples from human subjects may have to operate under managed access, to protect privacy, align with participant consent and ensure that the resource can be managed in a sustainable way. Data access committees need to be reflexive and flexible, to cope with changing technology and opportunities and threats from the wider data sharing environment. To understand these interactions also involves nurturing what is particular about the biobank in its local context. (shrink)

In general introduction few examples of astronomical explanations of well-known and common local physical phenomena are presented. They are meant to show that it is often much easier to explain commonly experienced phenomena by investigating the behavior of something which is very far from the observer. In main chapters of the article the transparency of interstellar and intergalactic medium as well as the mystery of diffuse interstellar bands are presented. These very important fundamental problems are – for some reasons (...) – overlooked by contemporary researchers. Plausible mechanisms of sociological, psychological and methodological kinds are proposed in last chapter as a potential explanation of fading of the scientific attempts to understand the nature and to create better future for the mankind. These are ethics in science and interdisciplinary way of solving scientific problems. (shrink)

The empires of the ancient Near East and Mediterranean invented cosmopolitan politics. In the first millennia BCE and CE, a succession of territorially extensive states incorporated populations of unprecedented cultural diversity. Cosmopolitanism and Empire traces the development of cultural techniques through which empires managed difference in order to establish effective, enduring regimes of domination. It focuses on the relations of imperial elites with culturally distinct local elites, offering a comparative perspective on the varying depth and modalities of elite integration (...) in five empires of the ancient Near East and Mediterranean. If cosmopolitanism has normally been studied apart from the imperial context, the essays gathered here show that theories and practices that enabled ruling elites to transcend cultural particularities were indispensable for the establishment and maintenance of trans-regional and trans-cultural political orders. As the first cosmopolitans, imperial elites regarded ruling over culturally disparate populations as their vocation, and their capacity to establish normative frameworks across cultural boundaries played a vital role in the consolidation of their power. Together with an introductory chapter which offers a theory and history of the relationship between empire and cosmopolitanism, the volume includes case studies of Assyrian, Seleukid, Ptolemaic, Roman, and Iranian empires that analyze encounters between ruling classes and their subordinates in the domains of language and literature, religion, and the social imaginary. The contributions combine to illustrate the dilemmas of difference that imperial elites confronted as well as their strategies for resolving the cultural contradictions that their regimes precipitated. (shrink)

The business practices of multinational corporations raise many provocative moral issues and offer a touchstone for some fundamental ethical concepts. This essay identifies a wide range of problems but centers on the matter of consistency in corporate policy between foreign and domestic practices and the kind of generality of standards that is required to achieve consistency. Two considerations are singled out for illustrative discussion: wage scales and bribes. Proposals are offered for achieving consistency and generality in each case, the principle (...) of contextual generality for the first and the notion of structural universals for the second. (shrink)

The book explores two radical changes of cultural and social paradigm that determined the World after 1945 - Modernism and Postmodernism. From the cataclysmic atmosphere emerged the second wave of Modernism. In art this attitude was manifested in the form of a radical break with the aesthetic and stylistic characteristics of prior generations. In architecture the International Style was born, meanwhile similar "universality" was also a characteristic of musical serialism. From the beginning of the 1970s the wheels again began to (...) turn in the other direction. The powerful destructive will of modernism increasingly waivered, and the period after modernism - postmodernism - began. The book answers questions related to the reasons for these turnarounds, their consequences and their implications. (shrink)

Contemporary bioethical issues are inherently cross-cultural and global in their scope. This is not surprising, as bioethical matters touch everyone in one way or another. Moral quandaries in health-care, life sciences, and biotechnology do not respect natural and human boundaries, the boundaries between and within nation-states, ethnicities, cultures, communities, and social groups. In addition, the simultaneously large-scale and intimate interactions between and within different cultures and civilizations and the rapid pace at which they change are phenomena that distinguish our times (...) from previous eras. Bioethics—as a particular domain of public discourse and an academic discipline—has thus been rapidly... (shrink)

By forcing over a model of with a class-sized partial order preserving this theory we produce a model in which there is a locally defined well-order of the universe; that is, one whose restriction to all levels H is a well-order of H definable over the structure H, by a parameter-free formula. Further, this forcing construction preserves all supercompact cardinals as well as all instances of regular local supercompactness. It is also possible to define variants of this construction which, (...) in addition to forcing a locally defined well-order of the universe, preserve many of the n-huge cardinals from the ground model. (shrink)

What is a book about the ideas of a self-identified journalist, whose targeted audience was the subscribers to a local newspaper, doing in a scholarly journal of metaphysics? The answer to this question is explained in this very book, in which G. K. Chesterton, the noted novelist, essayist, controversialist, and poet, is defended as a metaphysician as well. For Paine, Chesterton should not only be properly regarded as a philosopher, after the Angelic Doctor himself, but as the philosophical doctor (...) for diseased modern man. (shrink)

Studies in several developing countries for treatmen to prevent HIV-transmission from mother to child generated considerable controversy in 1997. Critics of the studies argued that basic principles of research ethics were violated. According to the critics, researchers subjected women in developing countries to studies that would have been unethical in the United States and that the researchers were therefore engaged in unethical exploitation ofcitizens of the developing countries in which the studies were conducted.While the critics agreed that unethical exploitation had (...) occurred, they differed on the exact nature of the exploitation. Some observers condemned the researchers for employing a double standard — because the researchers were applying a standard of care that would have been unacceptable in their own country. In the view of these critics, researchers should have been comparing the experimental treatment to established therapy rather than to placebo, as would have been required in the United States or other developed countries. (shrink)

Evans & Levinson (E&L) claim Kiowa number as a prime example of the semantically unexpected, threatening both Universal Grammar and Linguistic Universals. This commentary, besides correcting factual errors, shows that the primitives required for Kiowa also explain two unrelated semantically unexpected patterns and derive two robust Linguistic Universals. Consequently, such apparent exceptionality argues strongly for Universal Grammar and against E&L.

Summary The study, carried out in a Greek provincial town, focuses on the cultural meaning of university education and of participation in the extremely competitive entrance examinations to university. In spite of graduate unemployment, in relation to the labour market a university degree is seen as giving more possibilities. Also, the transition to university and the degree that follows are rewarded by the community with prestige and status. Moreover, gaining admission is also important in itself in relation to the individual's (...) wish to achieve something with herlhis own strength. Finally, taking part in the examinations is seen as being of the utmost importance in relation to the local values. Regardless of the outcome, it allows the participants to realize a particular set of values among which the ?duty to struggle? seems to occupy, for historical reasons, a central place. (shrink)

The article er aims to achieve the role of local textiles in enhancing the home economy and achieving sustainability that can be clarified as follows: Detect the most prominent determinants of the role of local textiles in enhancing the home economy and achieving sustainability. Pinpoint the role of local textiles in enhancing the home economy and achieving sustainability in the article sample. Classify the significance of the difference in the role of local textiles in enhancing the (...) home economy and achieving sustainability according to the department variable. The article community included (200) female students from the University of Baghdad distributed among (Bio Department in the College of Science for Girls, Home Economics Department in the College of Education for Girls) tested randomly. The article er applied the scale of local textiles in enhancing the home economy and employed several statistical methods, including (discriminatory power) (for the scale paragraphs) the relationship of the paragraph score to the total score of the scale (paragraph validity) using Pearson's correlation coefficient, Cronbach's alpha coefficient. As such, the article er comes up with multiple results as follows: The role of local textiles in enhancing the home economy and achieving sustainability is high from the point of view of the article sample. There is a difference in the role of local textiles in enhancing the home economy and achieving sustainability according to the department variable and in favor of the bio department, because the calculated T-value is higher than the tabular T-value of (1.96) at the level of (0.05) and a threshold degree of (198). (shrink)

La extensión universitaria es una de las vías en las que la Universidad demuestra su carácter de centro cultural de suma importancia para el desarrollo. En el artículo se valora su importancia e impacto en la sociedad; definiciones del concepto de extensión y de los modelos que poseen en la actualidad un arraigo en la vida de las instituciones de educación superior, estos últimos responden a diversas posturas ideológicas y concepciones acerca de la relación que debe existir entre la Universidad, (...) la sociedad y los sectores involucrados. Se analizan tres conceptos directamente relacionados con la temática de manera determinante: cultura, pertinencia y desarrollo sostenible. University extension is one of the ways through which the university shows being a very important cultural center for guaranteeing the development. In the following article its relevance and impact in the society is assessed; as well as the definition of the concepts of extension and the models that nowadays are very deep-rooted in the life of the high education institutions. These models respond to the different ideological positions and conceptions related to the relationship that must exist between the university, the society, and the sectors involved. Three concepts directly related to theme of the work are analysed in a determining way: culture, pertinence, and sustainable development. (shrink)

In the Independent Campus Learning Program [Merdeka Belajar Kampus Merdeka (MBKM)], the 5-1-2 learning pattern is used in the undergraduate program. In implementing this pattern, curriculum coherence is needed between study programs and between institutions. A model for developing a curriculum based on local wisdom and multiculturalism was created to improve the micro-skills of program graduates. A model for developing a curriculum based on local wisdom and multiculturalism was created to improve the micro-skills of program graduates. A model (...) for developing a curriculum based on local wisdom and multiculturalism was created to improve the micro-skills of program graduates. In order to attain the objective, a hierarchical pattern of relationships is employed, beginning with the central construct, primary dimension, and indicator. A structural Equation Model (SEM) is used to analyse the relationship between variables, while an inductive approach is used for exploratory purposes to identify factors. In order to evaluate the dependability of the model, a study was conducted at two different universities in Indonesia: Sultan Ageng Tirtayasa University in Serang, Banten Province, and Galuh Ciamis University in West Java Province. The study involved testing the coherence of the curriculum of various programs at both universities and evaluating the micro-skills of graduates who had participated in the MBKM program. Samples from the 4 study programs implementing MBKM at the two universities were used to test curriculum coherence. Then, to determine the increase in graduates' micro-skills, a sample of 70 students was used. The results of the analysis show that curriculum development has a direct effect on improving graduates' micro-skills. In developing the curriculum, three factors strengthen micro skills improvement: development of knowledge, responsiveness to technological developments, and relevance to needs. (shrink)

A hidden-variable model for quantum–mechanical spin, as represented by the Pauli spin operators, is proposed for systems illustrating the well-known no-hidden-variables arguments by Peres (Phys Lett A 151:107–108, 1990) and Mermin (Phys Rev Lett 65:3373–3376, 1990) and by Greenberger et al. (Bell’s theorem, quantum theory, and conceptions of the universe, Kluwer, Dordrecht, 1989). Both arguments rely on an assumption of non-contextuality; the latter argument can also be phrased as a non-locality argument, using a locality assumption. The model suggested here is (...) compatible with both assumptions. This is possible because the scalar values of spin observables are replaced by vectors that are components of orientations. (shrink)

This paper focuses on two challenges that Transition Design poses for design educators: teaching appropriate skill sets and promoting professional identities. University-based degree programs in design are expected to prepare graduates for professional careers providing students with the skill sets and the habits of minds required to secure jobs in a commercial, market driven milieu. We must ask: Are these actually the skills and habits we should be teaching in order to promote Transition Design? The second challenge involves working through (...) the implications of localism. Inherent in Transition Design is the belief that it involves a type of social engagement that frames projects within the context of long-term visions tailored to specific places and experiences. In contrast, design curricula at most universities have a cosmopolitan flavor often at odds with an appreciation of local situations and values. So the question emerges: how can we educate people to recognize what it means to be local and to be stakeholders in the environmental and social well-being of a place. I argue that Transition Design will ultimately force us to examine what it means to act locally in order to contribute to the stewardship of place and community. (shrink)

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:The Universal "One"Toward a Common Conceptual Basis for Chinese and Western StudiesMing Dong GuIn the world today, rapid globalization has drastically shrunk the geographical distance between the East and the West and greatly facilitated exchanges between different cultures and traditions. In the comparative studies of Eastern and Western literatures and cultures, however, an opposite trend characterized by the anxiety of cultural relativism prevails. It has been aptly reduced (...) to this claim: "[T]he East and the West are so distinctly different that ways of thinking and expression cannot be made intelligible from one to the other, and therefore the knowledge of one must be kept apart from that of the other" [Longxi Zhang xvii]. The viability of comparative studies, as is recognized, rests on the fundamental notion that two cultural objects juxtaposed for comparison should share some common ground, or that a valid frame of reference be applicable to both of them. In the comparative studies of Chinese and Western traditions, because these traditions are recognized as founded on different and often unique ontological premises and epistemological assumptions, it is difficult to locate a common conceptual entry point for a two-way dialogue, let alone a common conceptual basis undergirded by Chinese and Western philosophical thought, to establish a viable paradigm of comparison. The current absence of such a conceptual basis in the international context of globalization, which calls for dialogues between different cultures and traditions, cannot but force us to ask: is there a Chinese philosophical concept that signifies, as another Western philosophical concept does, the ontological and epistemological conditions of human existence, one that can be used as a conceptual premise upon which to build a bridge across the divide between the Chinese and Western traditions?Undaunted by the seemingly unbridgeable gap between Chinese and Western traditions, some scholars have made valiant efforts to locate a common conceptual ground. Following the lead of Qian Zhongshu, a Chinese erudite of the twentieth century, some scholars have also noted that the Dao (Tao) in Chinese philosophical thought and Logos in Western philosophical thought are remarkably comparable [Qian 408]. The compatibility of the Dao and Logos, however, has been problematized by other scholars, who argue that the differences between the Dao and Logos are more profound than their apparent similarities. James J. Y. Liu, for example, questions the universality of logocentrism as claimed by Longxi Zhang in both the Dao and Logos: "Zhang's comparison of dao to logos fails to take into account an important difference: in the West, logos is identified with God, but Lao Zi took great pains to say that dao is not the true name of the ultimate" [Liu 25]. Moreover, while in Lao Zi's conception, the Dao is a [End Page 86] feminine concept, the Western Logos, through its emphasis on presence, is obviously masculine in nature. More significantly, the pairing of the Chinese concept of Dao with the Western concept of Logos as a conceptual common ground has a fundamentally incommensurable point: namely, while the former is predicated on a fundamentally monistic view of the universe as a spontaneously self-generating entity, the latter, like Plato's Idea, is founded on a dualistic view of the universe as constituted by one world of essence and another of appearances, created by a powerful personal god.To establish a model for cross cultural studies, it is of little value to simply juxtapose a Chinese concept and a Western concept and find their similarities. In comparative studies, we need to find a conceptual model based on the pairing of similar concepts from different traditions that may yield promises of paradigms and methodologies. For this reason, my exploration is not concerned with the question of whether it is viable to pair the Dao and Logos together. I am more concerned with another question: Is it possible to build a conceptual and methodological model based on the near commensurability between the Dao and Logos? Some scholars suggest that the striking similarity invites and encourages further exploration. But in which direction or directions should we pursue the subject further? In my view, previous scholars' preliminary explorations have been promising, but too narrowly focused on the local... (shrink)

A number of writers have suggested that laws of nature must be universal in space and time. Just what this claim amounts to is the focus of the present study. I consider and compare a number of interpretations of the requirement, with especial reference to an example by Tooley which seems paradigmatic of the antithesis of universality in space and time. I also sketch a number of other concepts of "local", "global", and "universal", each of which should (...) be kept distinct from "universality in space and time ". I leave open the issue whether or not laws must satisfy any of the requirements. (shrink)

It might be best to begin this discussion of the historian's predicament with a concrete experience. In the early summer of 1944, as the German army retreated northwards in Italy to establish a more defensible front against the advancing Allied forces along the so-called “Gothic Line” in the Appenines, its units carried out a number of massacres, usually justified as reprisals against local “bandit” (i.e., partisan) activity. Fifty years later some of these village massacres in the province of Arezzo, (...) hitherto left to the memories of the villages’ own survivors and the local historians of the Resistance, provided the occasion for an international conference on the memory of German massacres in World War II. (shrink)

The principles of relativity are assertions about the structure of physical laws, whose validity or nonvalidity can only be empirically confirmed or falsified. The weakest forms of those principles are the so-calledglobal propositions. They furnish statements as to which operations—assumed to be performed simultaneously throughout the whole universe—have no influence upon the physical events. Much stronger principles are those of alocal nature. These assert that the physical properties of a system do not change, when the relation of the system is (...) altered vis-à-vis the universe at large. On formulating these local principles, we presuppose either that it is possible to eliminate any influence of the environment or that the influence can be compensated as in the case of universal forces (e.g., gravitational) which can principally not be removed. Still weaker, however, are those formulations of the relativity principles which postulate relativity only for infinitesimally small space-time domains or regions. This distinction yields clarification of all discussions about existence and meaning of a general relativity principle. Such an analysis was already performed by Einstein and Abraham in 1912. (shrink)

Jones recognizes the existence of “primitives of conceptual structures,” out of which “local representations of kinship are constructed.” NSM semantics has identified these primitives through a cross-linguistic search for lexical universals (“NSM” stands for Natural Semantic Metalanguage and also for the corresponding linguistic theory). These empirical universals provide, I argue, a better bridge between cognitive anthropology and evolutionary psychology than the abstract constructs of OT, with dubious claim to conceptual reality.

We are experiencing a new phase of the crisis of the universality in the transmodern era. In the XXIst century there is room for the common search for the human unity starting from the acceptance of our fundamental diversity and the experiencing of an insular, local universality in the Digital Realm of the Net. There are good reasons to consider the Human Being has a ground non generic universality, inviting us to search the human integrality as a process, not (...) as a result and to accept that the digital natives are naturally adapted to the Transmodern Era. (shrink)

The idea of ‘the university’ has stood for universal themes—of knowing, of truthfulness, of learning, of human development, and of critical reason. Through its affirming and sustaining of such themes, the university came itself to stand for universality in at least two senses: the university was neither partial nor local in its significance . Now, this universalism has been shot down: on the one hand, universal themes have been impugned as passé in a postmodern age; in the (...) ‘knowledge society’, knowledge with a capital ‘K’ is giving way to multiple and even local knowledges . On the other hand, the very process of globalization has been accused of being a new process of colonization. Global universities, accordingly, may be seen as a vehicle for the imposition of Western modes of reason . Diversity is the new watchword, a term that—we may note—has come to be part of the framing of the contemporary policy agenda for higher education. Accordingly, in such a situation of multiple meanings, both within and across institutions, the university becomes an institutional means for developing the capacities—at both the personal and the societal levels—to live with ‘strangeness’: perhaps here lies a new universal for the university? But, then, if that is the case, if strangeness is the new universal for the university, some large challenges await those who would claim to lead and manage universities. (shrink)

ArgumentThis paper examines the postwar reconstruction of the Polish academic system. It analyzes a debate that took place in the newly established university in the proletarian city of Łódź. The vision of the shape of the university was a bone of contention between the professors. This resulted in two contentious models of a university: “liberal” and “socialized.” Soon, universities were transformed into crucial institutions of the emerging communist state, where national history, ideology, and the future elite were produced and shaped. (...) The social university was transformed into a socialistic university. Analysis of this process of transformation enables me to scrutinize the difficult clashes between the leftist intellectuals and the rising system of power that was not entirely hostile to them. The case of Poland also shows that sovietization did not mean solely a ruthless convergence of Central and Eastern Europe with a universal model most completely implemented in the USSR. Power hitting the ground was redeployed along various local interests, institutional conjunctures, and personal intransigencies. On a more universal level, I present this case in the context of the challenge of modernization and its many respective accommodations. (shrink)

In this paper I present a game-theoretical approach to the problem of induction. I investigate the comparative success of prediction methods by mathematical analysis and computer programming. Hume's problem lies in the fact that although the success of object-inductive prediction strategies is quite robust, they cannot be universally optimal. My proposal towards a solution of the problem of induction is meta-induction. I show that there exist meta-inductive prediction strategies whose success is universally optimal, modulo short-run losses which are upper-bounded. I (...) then turn to the implications of my approach for the evolution of cognition. In the final section I suggest a revision of the paradigm of bounded rationality by introducing the distinction between local, general and universal prediction strategies. (shrink)

Suppose G is a definably connected, definable group in an o-minimal expansion of an ordered group. We show that the o-minimal universal covering homomorphism equation image: equation image→ G is a locally definable covering homomorphism and π1 is isomorphic to the o-minimal fundamental group π of G defined using locally definable covering homomorphisms.

We argue that Paul Ricoeur’s work on narrative and alienation provides a largely untapped, though potentially fruitful way of re-thinking the question of political agency within the context of globalization. We argue that the political agency of many around the world has been placed in an exceedingly fragile position due to the rapid pace of globalization, the movement of multi-national corporations from their previous national headquarters, etc. We use Ricoeur’s work to argue that the alienation of globalization is not something (...) that can be simply overcome either in a unified world-state or a retreat to protectionist nationalism, because institutional mediation—and consequently alienation—is in some sense constitutive of all politics: the world of political representation operates by its own set of rules, which are at least partially disconnected from the represented world. Using the work of Mouffe, a radical democratic theorist, we then flesh out an ideal of agonistic citizenship (which recognizes both the need for and the inevitability of discursive struggle in politics) in a number of overlapping communities of interest, rather than tying political participation solely to the sovereign government of my state. The state will remain important, but because globalization has disenfranchised so many from their participation in “local” modes of self-governance (tied to the state in which they live), we have a responsibility to re-envision what political participation means outside the traditional context of the state. Rather than merely citizens of a particular state, we need to begin thinking of ourselves politically—and then acting—as “citizens” of Green Peace, Human Rights Watch, Doctors Without Borders, or whatever other supra-local concrete universals or communities of interest to which we belong, investing the time and energy there that we might previously have invested solely in our state’s government. (By implication, we must also ensure that these organizations work in transparent democratic ways themselves.) We believe that by re-plotting our narratives of political engagement in this way, we can positively respond to the alienation created by globalization, while avoiding both the extremes of “McWorld” (hyperglobalism) and “Jihad” (complete skepticism towards, or war against globalization) that Benjamin Barber and David Held have recently described. (shrink)

Government responses to globalisation include developing educational leaders as reformers for workforce competitiveness in the knowledge economy. Qualitative research tracked interventions involving national leadership development bodies to acculturate leaders in secondary schools and universities. Acculturating leaders as reformers was mediated through interaction with professional cultures valuing autonomy. Yet mediation supported the government's global positioning through adapting reforms and independent innovation.

The reality of globalization warrants an understanding of mission that negotiates global and local realities. This article explores the way in which the global and the local have informed Mission as Transformation, a holistic missionary movement among radical evangelicals that developed in earnest since Lausanne ’74. How have local expressions — particularly Filipino expressions — of Transformation helped to form a global understanding of Transformation? And vice versa: How does a global understanding serve local expressions? The (...) Transformational view of the global-local — or glocal — relationship as symbiotic and not antagonistic undermines both universal theologies that are imposed on all cultures and to local theologies that lack global accountability. (shrink)

On the basis of ethnographic and historical material this article makes a comparative analysis of the relationship between public events, ceremonies and academic rituals, institutional identity, and processes of transition and power at two universities, one in Mexico and the other in South Africa. The public events examined here play a major role in imagining and bringing about political shifts within universities as well as between universities and external actors. It shows how decisive local histories and constituencies are in (...) mediating and transfiguring identity projects initiated from above. (shrink)

In response to the many pressures facing public higher education, public universities are experimenting with business-oriented practices that seem likely to alter their nature and purposes. In this paper, we examine several hybrid experiments—new organizational strategies intended deliberately, sometimes explicitly, to hybridize the traditional norms and practices associated with academia and business at one emblematic public university. These cases illustrate how each hybrid experiment is a tacit response to existing norms and strategies that govern the university–business boundary, initiated as a (...) hedge against the challenging fiscal and political climate. Taken together, they do not lead to a unitary and/or linear spread of business codes and practices. Instead, what some have referred to as “business logic” appears multifaceted, having many elements that are deployed, institutionalized, and perceived differently in different contexts, even within a single university. (shrink)

The HIV/aids pandemic has brought global attention to the ethical challenges of conducting research involving socially vulnerable participants. Such challenges require not only ethical deliberation but also an empirical evidentiary basis for research ethics policies and practices. This need has been addressed through the Fordham University HIV and Drug Abuse Prevention Research Ethics Institute, a National Institute on Drug Abuse–funded program that trains and funds early career scientists in conducting research on HIV/drug abuse research ethics. This article describes the ethical (...) framework guiding Institute training and introduces readers to six empirical articles in this special issue that illuminate and help foster the responsible conduct of research. (shrink)