Mysticism today is not only a popular term often referred to the strange and incomprehensible phenomena, oscillating between psychology and spirituality. Mysticism is also a research problem, which has long been analyzing by the specialists from various scientific disciplines. Philosophy also has its own contribution to the study of mysticism. Moreover, one can also put forward the thesis about its special competencies for this. There is no doubt that a mystical intuition accompanies the philosophers from the very beginning, and for (...) a long time the philosophy itself has been also developing, here and there, as a mystical philosophy. Currently, the attention of philosophers dealing with mysticism is mainly focused on problems determined by the philosophy of mysticism. Here the most important discussions and disputes are taking place—especially the so-called dispute between essentialism and contextualism. The author of the article formules the thesis that moderate contextualism, as the position that opts for the existence of several irreversible types of experiences defined today as mystical, better explains the complex phenomenon of mysticism than the reductionist essentialist attitude. This does not mean, however, that it gives an exhaustive explanation. Although the dispute examined in the article does not seem to be possible to unambiguously settle, the philosophical analysis of the most important, constitutive themes allows us to better understand the nature of the main processes that shape the broadly understood mysticism. The purpose of this article is therefore to identify the way in which philosophy enters the area of mysticism, the contribution it makes to the analysis of the mystical experience, as well as several major methodological problems that it encounters. (shrink)

We study the long-standing open problem of giving$\forall {\rm{\Sigma }}_1^b$separations for fragments of bounded arithmetic in the relativized setting. Rather than considering the usual fragments defined by the amount of induction they allow, we study Jeřábek’s theories for approximate counting and their subtheories. We show that the$\forall {\rm{\Sigma }}_1^b$Herbrandized ordering principle is unprovable in a fragment of bounded arithmetic that includes the injective weak pigeonhole principle for polynomial time functions, and also in a fragment that includes the surjective weak pigeonhole (...) principle for FPNPfunctions. We further give new propositional translations, in terms of random resolution refutations, for the consequences of$T_2^1$augmented with the surjective weak pigeonhole principle for polynomial time functions. (shrink)

In this article, for the first time, the work of Professor E. K. Virsaladze in class on the "Symphonic Etudes" Op. 13 by R. Schumann was reviewed and a small performance analysis of her performance in the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory was given. The concert took place on April 16, 2010, on the 200th anniversary of the birth of R. Schumann. The author, being a student of her class and an assistant trainee, made notes of the teacher's wishes (...) in the work on the "Symphonic Etudes" by the romantic composer R. Schumann. The suggestions and recommendations expressed by E. K. Virsaladze on "Symphonic Sketches" are presented for the first time and have great practical and artistic value. The author discusses in detail the work on each etude. In his work, the professor pays attention to all means of musical expression: rhythm, strokes, dynamics… Advises a certain fingering, pedal… Such work of a teacher should undoubtedly contribute to obtaining certain performing skills from students for their further development. As an example, the article examines Virsaladze's performance of "Symphonic Etudes" in the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory in a concert dedicated to the 200th anniversary of the birth of R. Schumann. The article is recommended for students of music universities, colleges, colleges preparing for a concert performance of Schumann's works, in particular, "Symphonic Etudes" Op. 13. (shrink)

Aus dem Inhalt: Justice in General: E. Attwooll: Is the Idea of Justice Asymmetric? u C. L. Sheng: Injustice in Law Caused by Conflict between Equality and Equity u G. Barden: Approaches to Justice: The Economy and the State u C. Schmidt: The Concept of Justice in Economic Theory u M. Milde: Rawls, Pluralism and the Value of Contract Theory u J. Tasioulas: M. Walzer on Justice u L. Cedroni: An Ethological Approach to Law, Justice and the State uaR. Kevelson: (...) Justice as Artifice and Sign u A. Makolkin: Semiotics and Poeticity of Law and Justice u D. Ginev: Law and Morality from a Hermeneutic-Semiotic Perspective Rights in General: F. Viola: Personal Identity in the Human Rights Perspective u J.-R. Sieckmann: Justice and Rights u P. Comanducci: Justice and Rights u D. Wayand: Aboriginal Rights - Then and Now u M. Pavcnik: Argument der Grundrechte u D. B. Boersema: What's Wrong with Rights? u E. E. Dais: A Kantian Critique of Justice Holmes's Rights Theory Social and Environmental Rights: B. M. Baker: The Welfare State: Objectives, Subordinate Principles and Justifying Grounds u U. Penski: Zur Begruendung und Struktur sozialer Rechte u H. LaFolette: Two Forms of Paternalism u L. J. Mazor: Social Justice / Asocial Injustice u D. Wood: Constitutional Minimalism and the Discretionary Power of the Welfare State u u.a. (shrink)

Niniejszy artykuł dotyczy problemu egzystencjalnej komunikacji w sztuce i literaturze. Problemu, który został przedstawiony i zanalizowany w oparciu o klasyczne teksty S. Kierkegaarda, G.W.F. Hegla, F.W.J. Schellinga, z odniesieniem do polskich klasyków estetyki, choćby R. Ingardena, W. Tatarkiewicza czy St. Ossowskiego. W artykule nie zabrakło także stałych odniesień do takich postaci, jak Don Juan Mozarta, Faust Goethego oraz sędzia Wilhelm Kierkegaarda. Taki dobór autorów, jak i literackich postaci, pozwolił na zderzenie dwóch punktów widzenia na kwestię komunikacji – subiektywnej i obiektywnej. (...) Dzięki temu stało się możliwe udzielenie odpowiedzi na pytanie o możliwość komunikacji w chwili, gdy przedmiot komunikacji nie jest w pełni osiągalny. Odpowiedzi, którą było zrozumienie natury i funkcji, jaką ma do spełnienia sztuka i literatura. A co dało się ostatecznie streścić w formułach, iż sztuka naśladuje życie, lecz nim nie jest, a także, że przeżycie estetyczne, podobnie jak każde inne egzystencjalne przeżycie, da się jedynie w niewielkiej mierze wyrazić słowami. Prawda artysty wymyka się bowiem konceptualizmowi filozoficznemu, a możliwość egzystencjalnej komunikacji skłania go, by wyrażał siebie w obliczu najtrudniejszych pytań, jakie stawia mu los. Pytań o jego własne przeznaczenie i sens twórczości. Tak oto twórca, dla którego jego własne życie jest dziełem sztuki bądź artysta dokonujący wyboru języka znaków, zawsze wyrażają jakieś przesłanie. Zarówno to wzniosłe, jak i najbardziej prozaiczne, które karmi się zafascynowaniem powszednią egzystencją. Biorąc pod uwagę powyższy kontekst, treść artykułu sugeruje, że egzystencjalizacja poznania, która skupia uwagę na subiektywnej, podmiotowej percepcji świata, jest najwłaściwszym sposobem zbliżenia się do samego twórcy, jak i jego artystycznej aktywności. Rzecz jasna, odpowiada to długiej tradycji myślenia egzystencjalnego i możliwości wykorzystania metody egzystencjalnej komunikacji. (shrink)

The Russian intuitivist philosopher Nikolay Lossky repeatedly admitted Kant’s substantial formative influence on him as a scholar. Moreover, Lossky was a disciple of the Russian Kantian Aleksander Vvedensky, and was one of the most successful translators of the first Critique. However, his own philosophical project is rather the opposite of the critical programme. While in the framework of Lossky’s epistemology the specificities of his reading of Kant have received a fair amount of attention in Russian scholarship, in the ethical field (...) the Russian philosopher’s comments on Kant have passed largely unnoticed. My task is to reveal the link between Kant’s practical philosophy and Lossky’s ethics. A demonstration of the degree of Kant’s influence in this field will enlarge and concretise the current thinking about Lossky’s perception of Kant. We are looking at a whole range of parallels and borrowings. My comparative analysis focuses on the following aspects: 1) definition and uses of the term “categorical imperative”, 2) free will as the condition of the possibility of moral action, 3) the cause of moral evil, 4) the role of the idea of God in ethics. As a result, I reveal how Lossky used elements of Kant’s practical philosophy as conceptual, terminological and rhetorical resources in his theonomic ethics, and how the Russian philosopher interpreted them in line with his own doctrine. I argue that Lossky’s use of the Kantian moral terminology is incautious and debatable and point out several intersections of ethical argumentations in the light of its projection on radically different ontological and epistemological principles. (shrink)

In their 2008 paper, Persson and Savulescu suggest that for moral bioenhancement (MBE) to be effective at eliminating the danger of ‘ultimate harm’ the intervention would need to be compulsory. This is because those most in need of MBE would be least likely to undergo the intervention voluntarily. By drawing on concepts and theories from epidemiology, this paper will suggest that MBE may not need to be universal and compulsory to be effective at significantly improving the collective moral standing of (...) a human populace and reducing the threat of ultimate harm. It will identify similarities between the mechanisms that allow biological contagions (such as a virus) and behaviours (such as those concerned with ethical and unethical actions) to develop, spread, and be reinforced within a population. It will then go onto suggest that, just as with the epidemiological principle of herd immunity, if enough people underwent MBE to reach a minimum threshold then the incidence and spread of immoral behaviours could be significantly reduced, even in those who have not received MBE. (shrink)

Char et al. describe an interesting and useful approach in their paper, “Identifying ethical considerations for machine learning healthcare applications.” Their proposed framework, which see...

A collection of critical essays by English and American scholars, including such controversial academic political theorists as Gutmann, Barry and Nussbaum, that raises questions about the current theoretical reassessment of political liberalism.

In this article I enquire into the notion of ‘political art’, by drawing on ideas from R. G. Collingwood’s often neglected Principles of Art. I show that his characterisation of ‘expression’ reveals what I call the ‘Narrow Aretaic Structure’ (NAS), distinguishable from a ‘Wide Aretaic Structure’ (WAS). Whatever satisfies NAS satisfies WAS, but not vice-versa. Though we have reasons to call ‘art’ anything satisfying WAS, Collingwoodian ‘art proper’ must also satisfy NAS. I then suggest that the distinction between WAS and (...) NAS is more interesting than the distinction between art and non-art and even as a criterion for ‘aesthetic’ (though this is not my main issue). The main issue is articulating a view of when the ‘politicalness’ of ‘political art’ is relevant in light of its being art, or, in Collingwoodian terms, ‘expression’ (under the NAS model). Collingwood allows us to give an alternative answer to these questions; one that does not appeal to ‘messages’ in art and their hypothesised effects on the audience. In other words, an answer that avoids the consequentialist ‘template’, which is restricted to the WAS model. As case studies, I use some of Aleksander Deineka’s ‘Socialist-Realist’ mosaics, as well as other examples of political artworks, and the recording of a work song. (shrink)

The study of church growth has historically been divided into two strands of research: the Church Growth Movement and the Social Science approach. This article argues that Dunbar’s Social Brain Hypothesis represents a legitimate and fruitful third strand in the study of church growth, sharing features of both previous strands but identical with neither. We argue that five predictions derived from the Social Brain Hypothesis are accurately borne out in the empirical and practical church growth literature: that larger congregations lead (...) to lower active engagement from members; that single-leader congregations are limited to around 150 members; that congregations of 150 are further stratified into smaller functioning groups; that congregations expanding beyond 150 members undergo internal tensions and are forced to reorganise; and that congregations larger than 150 will require structural sub-divisions to retain active member involvement. While these assertions are reflected in the church growth literature and articulate the common sense assumptions of church growth experts, the Social Brain Hypothesis offers a coherent theoretical framework which unifies these observations and thereby represents a distinctive contribution to church growth studies. (shrink)

The focus of this paper is one of James Prescott Joule’s scientific contributions: the laws of heat production by electric currents in conductors. In 1841, the 22 years old Joule published a paper with the title “On the heat evolved by metallic conductors of electricity, and in the cells of a battery during electrolysis” where he presented an experimental study of that phenomenon and proposed two laws that were allegedly supported by his trials. On closer inspection, both his laboratory work (...) and his inferences can be challenged. The emphasis of this article is an attempt to understand Joule’s experimental undertaking, its highpoints and shortcomings, by a detailed analysis of this specific episode and by studying the precedents of his work and subsequent advancements. It is possible to point out several serious deficiencies of that investigation, and Joule’s contemporaries, such as Edmond Becquerel and Heinrich Lenz, did criticize some of his flaws and undertook new experiments to provide a sound basis for those laws. Besides providing a historical examination of that specific episode, this article uses this case study to tackle some features of the nature of science that may contribute to scientific education. (shrink)

Originally published 1972.This book concerns the progressive movement, its prominent thinkers and its achievements, at a period of vital change in English primary education. The role of progressive educationists, such as Lane, Neill and Montessori is considered. The author asserts that these pioneers gradually made themselves the intellectual orthodoxy in the years between the wars.

Thomas Hill Green was one of the most influential English thinkers of his time, and he made significant contributions to the development of political liberalism. Much of his career was spent at Balliol College, Oxford: having begun as a student of Jowett, he later acted effectively as his second-in-command at the college. Interested for his whole career in social questions, Green supported the temperance movement, the extension of the franchise, and the admission of women to university education. He became Whyte's (...) professor of moral philosophy at Oxford in 1878, and his lectures had a lasting influence on a generation of students. Much of Volume 1, edited by Green's pupil R. L. Nettleship and published in 1885, consists of Green's work on David Hume . In his essay, 'Introductions to Hume's Treatise of Human Nature' , Green gives a detailed critique of Hume's metaphysical thought. (shrink)

How secular is contemporary society? Are pockets of sectarianism embedded in societies of developed countries? This timely book examines the interweaving of politics and religion, and of tradition and innovation in a variety of cultural settings. Eminent scholars from four continents examine here current turmoil in religious beliefs, practices, and organization--not only in the Western world, but in South America, Africa, South Asia, New Zealand, and Japan. They scrutinize evidence of religious change, decline, and revival; investigate challenges posed by new (...) religious movements; and locate religious change and conflict in the context of broader shifts in consciousness and culture. Contributors include Richard Fenn, Phillip E. Hammond, David Martin, Philip Rieff, Roland Robertson, and Mark Schibley. With its focus on the interplay of secularization, rationalism, and sectarianism, this work offers a fitting tribute to Bryan Wilson, who has made so many contributions to the sociological understanding of these phenomena. (shrink)