Einstein’s razor, a corollary of Ockham’s razor, is often paraphrased as follows: make everything as simple as possible, but not simpler. This rule of thumb describes the challenge that designers of a legal system face—to craft simple laws that produce desired ends, but not to pursue simplicity so far as to undermine those ends. Complexity, simplicity’s inverse, taxes cognition and increases the likelihood of suboptimal decisions. In addition, unnecessary legal complexity can drive a misallocation of human capital toward comprehending and (...) complying with legal rules and away from other productive ends. While many scholars have offered descriptive accounts or theoretical models of legal complexity, most empirical research to date has been limited to simple measures of size, such as the number of pages in a bill. No extant research rigorously applies a meaningful model to real data. As a consequence, we have no reliable means to determine whether a new bill, regulation, order, or precedent substantially effects legal complexity. In this paper, we begin to address this need by developing a proposed empirical framework for measuring relative legal complexity. This framework is based on “knowledge acquisition”, an approach at the intersection of psychology and computer science, which can take into account the structure, language, and interdependence of law. We then demonstrate the descriptive value of this framework by applying it to the U.S. Code’s Titles, scoring and ranking them by their relative complexity. We measure various features of a title including its structural size, the net flow of its intra-title citations and its linguistic entropy. Our framework is flexible, intuitive, and transparent, and we offer this approach as a first step in developing a practical methodology for assessing legal complexity. (shrink)

Building on the computer science concept of _code smells_, we initiate the study of _law smells_, i.e., patterns in legal texts that pose threats to the comprehensibility and maintainability of the law. With five intuitive law smells as running examples—namely, duplicated phrase, long element, large reference tree, ambiguous syntax, and natural language obsession—, we develop a comprehensive law smell taxonomy. This taxonomy classifies law smells by when they can be detected, which aspects of law they relate to, and how they (...) can be discovered. We introduce text-based and graph-based methods to identify instances of law smells, confirming their utility in practice using the United States Code as a test case. Our work demonstrates how ideas from software engineering can be leveraged to assess and improve the quality of _legal_ code, thus drawing attention to an understudied area in the intersection of law and computer science and highlighting the potential of computational legal drafting. (shrink)

L’Arabie marchande: État et commerce sous les sultans rasūlides du Yémen. By Éric Vallet. Bibliothèque historique des pays d’Islam, vol. 1. Paris: Publications de la Sorbonne, 2010. Pp. 872. €90.

Hinsichtlich der Frage, ob es Musik gibt, lässt sich im Geiste von Beiträgen aus dem Umfeld postkolonialer Diskussionen darauf verwiesen, dass der Begriff die Gefahr einer eurozentrischen Verengung aufweise. Der entscheidende Schachzug liegt dabei.

No século XXI, a produção e o consumo de informação acompanharam o ritmo da globalização e hoje, sem muito esforço, podemos saber do que aconteceu a poucos minutos em qualquer parte do planeta. Percebemos, no entanto, que a produção dessa informação, bem como sua circulação, não acontece de forma livre e democrática. Há várias forças em jogo que fazem da comunicação uma ferramenta de manipulação social.

While there is a tradition of Islamic world maps and geographic depictions of direction to the Kaʿba in Mecca, relatively few detailed maps of individual Islamic realms have been studied. In an early 14th-century tax ledger compiled for the Rasūlid sultan al-Malik al-Muʾayyad Dāwūd (d. 721/1321), there is a map of the fortresses (ḥuṣūn), major towns, and ports of the areas controlled and taxed, as well as individual maps of Aden, Taʿizz, al-Janad, Dhamār, al-Shiḥr, and several wadis. Given the context (...) of the text, Irtifāʿ al-dawla al-Muʾayyadiyya, as a tax register, some of the maps probably serve a functional purpose. But how should such maps be read against the lists of important locations in other Rasūlid sources and earlier compilations, such as Yāqūt’s Muʿjam al-buldān compiled a century earlier or al-Hamdānī’s 10th-century Ṣifat jazīrat al-ʿArab? In this article I analyze the range of locations, how they are iconically represented, the accuracy of their relative locations, and their links to other Rasūlid lists. In what ways do these maps better illustrate how the Rasūlids viewed their own realm, which in the early 14th century was a rival of the Egyptian Mamluks and a major player in the Red Sea/indian Ocean trade network? Finally, how does this unique set of maps fit other Islamic maps in the tradition that stems back several centuries before? (shrink)

Towards a Cultural History of the Mamluk Era. Edited by Mahmoud Haddad, Arnim Heinemann, John L. Meloy, and Souad Slim. Beiruter Texte und Studien, vol. 118. Beirut: Orient-Institut, 2010. [Distributed by Ergon Verlag Würzburg.] Pp. xii + 164 + 152, illus. €68.

Wathāʾiq madīnat al-Qaṣr bi-l-wāḥāt al-Dakhla: Maṣdarān li-taʾrīkh Miṣr fī l-ʿaṣr al-ʿuthmānī. Silsilat Dirāsāt Wathāʾiqiyya. By Rudolph Peters. Cairo: Maṭbaʿat al-ʿĀmma li-Dār al-Kutub wa-l-Wathāʾiq al-Qawmiyya, 2011. Pp. 610.

This anthology gathers the most philosophically interesting contemporary writing on core issues about the self, identity, and the nature of mind.

The aim of the paper is an analysis of the specific quality of jazz as a kind of artistic music. Three dimensions are brought forward as central for jazz music: improvisation, interaction and intensity. Even though these dimensions are not understood in terms of a definition – as solely necessary and jointly sufficient conditions –, they are meant to be central qualities in our appreciation of jazz music. The logics of improvisation are explored in contrast to the practice of performing (...) a composed work in the European tradition of art music. Despite this difference the thought is articulated that the performance of a composed work is in some way governed by a similar logic. Interaction is specified in terms of jazz being fundamentally a kind of dialogical practice in the medium of music. Intensity finally is spelled out as a certain focus of jazz music toward every single moment of its performance that is mainly but not solely due to its specific rhythmic dimension. Jazz music proves to be a kind of artistic music that renders aspects of artistic practice in general explicit. (shrink)

Der Beitrag widmet sich der Frage historischer Folgeverhältnisse in der Kunst. Gegenüber dem Gedanken, dass es ein ursprüngliches Werk in der Reihe von Werken gibt, das späteren Werken seinen Sinn gibt, schlägt der Text vor, das Verhältnis umgekehrt zu denken: Im Lichte späterer Werke wird der Sinn früherer Werke neu ausgehandelt. Dazu geht der Text in drei Schritten vor. Im ersten Teil formuliert er unter der Überschrift ›Form‹ in kritischer Abgrenzung zu Danto und Eco mit Adorno den Gedanken, dass Kunstwerke (...) eigensinnig konstituierte Gegenstände sind. Die im Gedanken der Neuverhandlung früherer Werke im Lichte späterer Werke vorausgesetzte Unbestimmtheit des Sinns von Kunstwerken wird im zweiten Teil unter dem Schlagwort ›Zeitlichkeit‹ anhand des Paradigmas der Improvisation erörtert. Der dritte und letzte Teil wendet diese improvisatorische Logik unter dem Label ›Neuaushandlung‹ dann dezidiert auf das Verhältnis von Vorbild und Nachbild an. The article proposes a new understanding of historical succession in the realm of art. In contrast to the idea that there is an original work in the series of works that gives meaning to the works that come later, the text proposes to think it exactly the other way round: in the light of later works, the meanings of earlier works are renegotiated. The text proceeds in three steps to develop this idea. Under the heading ›Form‹ it develops in the first part a critical reading of Danto’s and Eco’s notion of the constitution of the artworks and argues with Adorno that each powerful work develops its own language. In the second part, the vagueness of the meaning of works of art presupposed in the idea of renegotiating earlier works in the light of later works is discussed under the term ›Temporality‹ in terms of the logic of improvisation. The third and final part uses this improvisational logic under the label ›Renegotiation‹ to understand the relationship between model and afterimage in the realm of art. (shrink)

Name der Zeitschrift: Deutsche Zeitschrift für Philosophie Jahrgang: 62 Heft: 2 Seiten: 349-364.

Name der Zeitschrift: Deutsche Zeitschrift für Philosophie Jahrgang: 65 Heft: 1 Seiten: 174-182.

Name der Zeitschrift: Deutsche Zeitschrift für Philosophie Jahrgang: 67 Heft: 2 Seiten: 159-173.

Mamluk Cairo, a Crossroads for Embassies: Studies on Diplomacy and Diplomatics. Edited by Frédéric Bauden and Malika Dekkiche. Islamic History and Civilization, vol. 161. Leiden: Brill, 2019. Pp. xxvii + 881. $179, €149 ; $162, €135.

By speaking directly to the students in a personal tone, this text invites students to get excited about philosophy and to explore how philosophy affects them. Fourteen lively chapters take students deep into the world of philosophical thinking and challenge them to ponder life's big questions.

Computerspiele sind längst nicht mehr nur eine potentiell problematische Freizeitbeschäftigung von Jugendlichen, sondern längst in der interdisziplinären Forschung angekommen. Eine systematische philosophische Beschäftigung mit dem Thema steht noch aus. Das Buch zeigt, wie die Philosophie zur theoretischen Klärung von Sachverhalten rund um das Computerspiel fruchtbar gemacht werden kann. Begriffe wie ‚Medium‘. ‚Spiel‘, ‚Narrativität‘ und ‚Ontologie‘ werden grundsätzlich reflektiert, Ästhetik, Räumlichkeit und Bildlichkeit werden unter die Lupe genommen sowie Auswirkungen auf Ethik, Arbeit, die Politik und unser Handeln beleuchtet. Außerdem macht das (...) Buch deutlich, was für ein reichhaltiges Forschungsfeld das Computerspiel für die Philosophie selbst ist, das der ästhetischen, ontologischen und ethischen Aneignung harrt. (shrink)

Name der Zeitschrift: Deutsche Zeitschrift für Philosophie Jahrgang: 64 Heft: 5 Seiten: 699-719.

In this article I try to understand the importance of the theatrum mundi metaphor for the configuration of the Modern Age. After a brief introduction on the idea of Modern Age, I study the distinction between ancient and modern from the perspective of the discovery of America, arguing that the idea of globe, embodied in cartography, determined the metaphor of the world as theater, affecting a wide range of disciplines, from astronomy to theology. Next, I show the geopolitical component of (...) the metaphor, linked to the idea of global empire, modern states and big cities. I dedicate a special section to show several melodramatic examples, mainly operatic, where the theatrum mundi metaphor reached a culminating point, linked to the European cities and their place in the world. Finally, I analyze the implications this metaphor had on the constitution of the philosophy of history, a discipline essentially linked to the Modern Age. (shrink)

In german aesthetics, aethetic experience is the most prominent concept to emphasize sensual properties of objects and events. Thus, artistic objects can be understood as a special case of aesthetic experience. In this paper I argue that a theory of art should be separated from a general theory of aesthetics. In a first part, referring to Arthur C. Danto’s arguments, I claim that there are many artworks for which sensual properties are not constitutive. In a second step, I try to (...) show that even sensual artworks cannot be understood sufficiently with regard to the concept of aesthetic experience. They have a specific structure that seperates them categorically from mere aesthetic objects and events. (shrink)

Bedouin Ethnobotany: Plant Concepts and Uses in a Desert Pastoral World. By James P. Mandaville. Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 2011. Pp. xv + 397. $55.

Ist Kunst eine Form des Handelns? Und wenn ja, in welchem Sinne? Handlungen werden häufig als praktische Verkörperung von Intentionen aufgefasst. Die Beiträge des Bandes zeigen: Von der kunstphilosophischen Tradition her lässt sich die Frage nach Kunst und Handlung sowohl mit Blick auf die Hervorbringung von Kunst als auch mit Blick auf ihre Erfahrung stellen. Kunst im Rahmen einer Poetik aufzufassen bedeutet allerdings, sie als eine Handlung zu bestimmen, der bestimmte Ziele zu eigen sind.

This volume explores the connections between John McDowell's philosophy and the hermeneutic tradition. The contributions not only explore the hermeneutical aspects of McDowell's thought, but also asks how this reading of McDowell can inform the hermeneutical tradition itself. John McDowell has made important contributions to debates in epistemology, metaethics and philosophy of language, and his readings of Aristotle, Kant, Hegel, and Wittgenstein have proved widely influential. While there are instances in which McDowell draws upon the work of hermeneutic thinkers, the (...) hermeneutic strand of McDowell's philosophy has not yet been systematically explored in-depth. The chapters in this volume open up a space in which to read McDowell himself as a hermeneutic thinker. They address several research questions including: How can McDowell's recourse to the hermeneutical tradition be understood in detail? Besides Gadamer, does McDowell's work implicitly convey and advance motives from other seminal figures of this tradition, such as Heidegger and Dilthey? Are there aspects of McDowell's position that can be enhanced through a juxtaposition with central hermeneutic concepts like World, Tradition and Understanding? Are there further, perhaps yet unexplored aspects of McDowell's influences that ought to be interpreted as expressing hermeneutic ideas? McDowell and the Hermeneutic Tradition will appeal to researchers and advanced students working in American philosophy, Continental philosophy, hermeneutics, history of philosophy, philosophy of language, and epistemology. (shrink)

The paper offers a reconstruction of the logics of jazz improvisation that is drawing on Žižek’s Work on Hegel. A basic concept of Žižek’s reading of Hegel consists in the concept of Retroactivity as the temporality that is characteristic of what Hegel understands as the development of history. The logic of retroactivity cannot be understood in terms of a classical teleological account but rather draws upon the idea of incommensurable events: Each historical situation is presupposing its own preconditions in a (...) way that the contingent is transformed into necessity. The paper discusses the structure of the temporality of jazz in such a way that it can be informed by Žižek’s thoughts on the temporal logic of history. (shrink)

Pragmatism can be understood as a position that conceives of epistemic and moral claims in the terms of a realization within the framework of our collective forms of activity. In this respect, it on the one hand proves to be compatible with current discussions in anthropology, which take Aristotle and German Idealism as their starting point. At the same time however, the two seem to be in tension with regard to the concept of form presupposed in the neo-Aristotelian debates which (...) seems to block a practice-theoretical reading. This article argues for a reconciliation of the two concepts: The human form of life is realized in collective practices that further define the concept of this form of life. For such a reconcilement, both pragmatist as well as neo-Aristotelian accounts however must partially be re-engineered. (shrink)