Global social, ecological and economic crises are contributing to the need for meaningfulness in different spheres of life, including work, as an increasing concern to employees. However, the current understanding of meaningfulness is bound by its normativity and thus does not meet the uncertainty present in today’s work. We utilize the Levinasian concept of “the Other” to provide a non-normative conceptualization of meaningfulness in the context of corporate volunteering (CV) and empirically explore work meaningfulness in CV projects in Poland and (...) Finland. We find work meaningfulness to arise from proximity to the Other and the otherness of the Other. Our study contributes to the discussion on meaningful work in the fields of business ethics and management studies through a non-normative reconceptualization of meaningfulness. (shrink)

More than a century after the publication of the two main corpora of curse tablets by Richard Wünsch and Auguste Audollent,1 defixiones are now a relatively well-established field of study. New collections, finding lists, and monographs have appeared over the last twenty-five years.2 Still, the relation to the Near Eastern sources, although noticed from the very beginning,3 has never been explored in full. Nor have there been many attempts to use the text on the tablets for investigations that go beyond (...) archaeology, epigraphy, or magic. In this note I would like to emphasise the dependence of Greek and Latin defixiones on older, oriental models, but at the same time show that the curses share some interesting features with the comparatively ‘new’ τέχνη of rhetoric, thus arguing for an interpretation of the magical incantations in the light of rhetorical theory - just as the early history of rhetoric cannot be separated completely from irrational practices and beliefs. (shrink)

γατομέοντες at Apoll. Rhod. 2,1005 does not adequately describe the mining activities of the Chalybes and is incompatible with the fact that elsewhere Apollonius only employs compounds with γειο-, γεω-, γη- and γαιη-. Moreover, the use of a Doric form lacks a convincing parallel in the “Argonautika”. Contrary to what has been claimed in the past, Apollonius does not use Doric forms to render his language more artificial, but only employs seemingly Doric forms that have a precedent in the Homeric (...) epics. In view of these semantic and morphological problems, it is well to revive O. Schneider’s conjecture λατομέοντες. (shrink)

Cet article fait le point sur la grande diversité de la manière dont la notion de populaire est perçue dans les «Cultural Studies». Grosso modo, les différences qui se manifestent tiennent d'abord au fait que les études culturelles ne constituent pas une discipline homogène: le poids des traditions nationales pèse en effet très fortement sur la manière dont le populaire est conçu et jugé en Grande-Bretagne et aux Etats-Unis . Elles sont liées ensuite au fait que le populaire en soi (...) a fait l'objet d'évaluations très contrastées au cours du développement des études culturelles, qui se sont détachées progressivement de leur défense inconditionnelle de la culture ouvrière. L'émergence du populisme et ses rapports avec le néo-libéralisme s'avèrent décisifs dans les nouvelles évolutions du populaire.This article deals with the various ways in which the concept of "popular" has been dealt with in Cultural Studies. Roughly speaking, the dramatic variety of interpretations has to do first of all with the fact that Cultural Studies is not a homogeneous discipline: national traditions, for instance, continue to play a very important role, so that British Cultural Studies does not analyze the popular the same way as American Cultural Studies . Second, the differences within the field are explained by the fact that the interpretation of the popular has shifted dramatically during the decades in which Cultural Studies developed as an autonomous disciplinary field, progressively ceasing to be the sole study of working class culture. The emergence of populism and its relationships with neo-liberalism play a decisive role in this shifting appreciation. (shrink)

Pacuvius is generally regarded as the first Roman playwright who only wrote tragedies; fragments transmitted without an indication of title or context are commonly attributed to tragedies, and ancient references to comedies are discarded as unreliable. The present paper questions this consensus. It first raises several methodological objections (section 1) and then examines two quotations preserved by Fulgentius, demonstrating that these comic fragments are unlikely to be forgeries because they comply with the rules of early Latin metre and the motivic (...) and linguistic conventions of Roman comedy (section 2). Section 3 shows that several fragments which have previously been attributed to tragedies do not fit the contexts to which they have been assigned; they have much closer parallels in New Comedy and are likely to come from comoediae palliatae. The observations in sections 1-3 corroborate each other and have three wider consequences which are discussed in section 4: first, Pacuvius was probably more faithful to his Greek models than is currently thought; secondly, the ‘specialization’ in serious drama started one generation later with Accius and Titius; thirdly, the common practice of organizing the fragments of early Roman poetry according to genre is problematic because many fragments would suit both a tragic and a comic context. (shrink)

Entre 1919 et 1923, Martin Heidegger (1927-1976) caresse le voeu de faire "exploser l'ensemble du système traditionnel des catégories". C'est avant la parution de son maître ouvrage Etre et Temps (1927), qui consacra la "question de l'être" comme fondamentale, tout en ravalant ses propres essais antérieurs au rang de simple propédeutique. En réalité, ces essais de jeunesse recèlent un projet philosophique original et ambitieux. Le jeune philosophe y soupçonne en effet toute conceptualisation de masquer le mouvement de la vie et (...) d'éteindre l'inquiétude native de la pensée qui y trouve pourtant son ancrage irréductible. Il exige donc que les questions philosophiques fondamentales soient désormais interprétées à partir de la concrétude propre de la vie. C'est ce qu'on a appelé rétrospectivement son "herméneutique de la facticité". La "vie" devient alors le leitmotiv de la pensée du jeune Heidegger, pointant vers une sphère originaire, celle de l'expérience facticielle, d'où le philosopher trouve sa provenance, dont il doit rendre compte et où il revient toujours. Ce livre retrace le développement des thèses du jeune Heidegger et en dégage l'originalité et l'intérêt philosophiques propres plutôt que de les considérer sous l'éclairage rétrospectif d'Etre et Temps. (shrink)

The dramatic characters in the tragedies of Aeschylus tend to assert that their actions are in accordance with the law and prompted by necessity. Because these statements are often given to legitimise problematic actions, this paper argues that the rhetorical devices can convey the intentions and dispositions of the tragic heroes. Therefore, the „Septem“, the „Suppliants“ and the „Oresteia“ are analysed to show how Aeschylus makes use of rhetorical devices in order to enable the recipient to reach a fuller understanding (...) of the tragic heroes and the tragedies. (shrink)

This note argues that Ps.-Lyc. 874-6 alludes to Pind. Pyth. 6.7-14 and may, in turn, be pertinent as one of the intertexts of Hor. Carm. 3.30.1-5.

This essay explores the lex Manilia de libertinorum suffragiis and patterns of tribunician legislation. The law, which was passed on 29 December 67 BC, provided for freedmen to be enrolled into their manumitter’s tribe, instead of one of the four urban tribes. Initially, the speed with which Manilius pushed through his initiative resulted in procedural errors and so led to the abrogation of law. But he was not alone in his efforts to rush a law through the People’s Assembly as (...) fast as possible. Roughly half of all rogationes in the late Republic can be dated to the beginning of a tribune’s year in office. This essay argues that the time lag between tribunes and consuls respectively taking office resulted in a power vacuum, which the tribunes of the plebs attempted to exploit. (shrink)

In his short epistle 6,15 Pliny reports on an incident which has happened during a recitation of poetry: The poet Passennus Paulus started with the words „Prisce, iubes …“; the addressee Javolenus Priscus, a renowned jurist, protested „ego vero non iubeo“. The audience laughed, but not so Pliny. He evaluates, even criticizes. Conversely, this article evaluates Pliny himself and his opinion with regard to his other epistles.

For about 200 years, the opening verses of the final scene of Plautus’s “Bacchides” have been commonly edited in such a fashion that the speaker assignations produce a contradictory and dramatically weak dialogue. By a few minor modifications, a coherent dialogue can be restored. The two Bacchis sisters are consistently characterized and their contrasting attitudes and temperaments correspond to those of the two old men, who, too, are presented as two opposites. Since the corresponding scene in Menander’s “Dis Exapaton” must (...) have been designed quite differently, the symmetrical composition is entirely Plautus’s own work and is witness to his careful composition and aesthetic judgement. (shrink)

This article deals with the notion of the godlike sage in Epicurus and with how the Epicurean assimilation to a mortal god on earth refers in thought and wording to the Euagoras of Isocrates. To provide the necessary framework for the analysis, the paper initially reviews the phenomenon of godlike Epicureans, Epicurus’ use of rhetoric and of other authors’ writings before presenting the striking parallels between texts of the founder of the Garden and Isocrates. Having established a genuine όμοίωσις θεῷ (...) in Isocrates’ thought, the paper will end with a short discussion of the relationship of the Euagoras to the famous Platonic notion and especially to the dialogue Theaetetus. (shrink)

INHALT: a. Besprechungen von J. P. Romangs Uber Willensfreiheit und Determinismus, 1835 - b. Anmerkungen zur [geplanten] 2. Auflage [des Lehrbuchs] der Religionswissenschaft - c. Materialien - d. Zur Athanasia - e. Zur Lebensbeschreibung - f. Herbarts System - g. Ein Vorschlag zur Vermeidung vieler Missverstandnisse in der Philosophie - h. Selbstanzeige der Wissenschaftslehre, 1837 - i. Skizze einer Anzeige der Logik fur die Freimuthigen Blatter - j. Uiber Hrn. Dr. und Prof. J. S. v. Drey Apologetik, 1838 - k. (...) Besprechung von J. A. Brunings Das Daseyn Gottes, 1838 - l. Einwurfe, die gegen Bolzano's Lehren bisher zum Vorschein gekommen, 1838 - m. Auseinandersetzung mit Notizen in Allgemeiner Religions- und Kirchenfreund und Kirchencorrespondent, 1839-1840 - n. Besprechung von M. Drobischs Neue Darstellung der Logik - o. Selbstanzeige von Prufung der Philosophie des seligen Georg Hermes, 1840 - p. Zur Biographie Stoppani's, 1848. (shrink)

This book is the first major account of political thought in twentieth-century Europe, both West and East, to appear since the end of the Cold War. Skillfully blending intellectual, political, and cultural history, Jan-Werner Müller elucidates the ideas that shaped the period of ideological extremes before 1945 and the liberalization of West European politics after the Second World War. He also offers vivid portraits of famous as well as unjustly forgotten political thinkers and the movements and institutions they inspired. Müller (...) pays particular attention to ideas advanced to justify fascism and how they relate to the special kind of liberal democracy that was created in postwar Western Europe. He also explains the impact of the 1960s and neoliberalism, ending with a critical assessment of today's self-consciously post-ideological age. (shrink)

Genesis: The Evolution of Biology presents a history of the past two centuries of biology, suitable for use in courses, but of interest more broadly to evolutionary biologists, geneticists, and biomedical scientists, as well as general readers interested in the history of science. The book covers the early evolutionary biologists-Lamarck, Cuvier, Darwin and Wallace through Mayr and the neodarwinian synthesis, in much the same way as other histories of evolution have done, bringing in also the social implications, the struggles with (...) our religious understanding, and the interweaving of genetics into evolutionary theory. What is novel about Sapp's account is a real integration of the cytological tradition, from Schwann, Boveri, and the other early cell biologists and embryologists, and the coverage of symbiosis, microbial evolutionary phylogenies, and the new understanding of the diversification of life coming from comparative analyses of complete microbial genomes. The book is a history of theories about evolution, genes and organisms from Lamarck and Darwin to the present day. This is the first book on the general history of evolutionary biology to include the history of research and theories about symbiosis in evolution, and first to include research on microbial evolution which were excluded from the classical neo-Darwinian synthesis. Bacterial evolution, and symbiosis in evolution are also excluded from virtually every book on the history of biology. (shrink)

This paper develops axiomatic foundations for a probabilistic-interventionist theory of causal strength. Transferring methods from Bayesian confirmation theory, I proceed in three steps: I develop a framework for defining and comparing measures of causal strength; I argue that no single measure can satisfy all natural constraints; I prove two representation theorems for popular measures of causal strength: Pearl's causal effect measure and Eells' difference measure. In other words, I demonstrate these two measures can be derived from a set of plausible (...) adequacy conditions. The paper concludes by sketching future research avenues. (shrink)

Michelle Moody-Adams suggests that “the main obstacle to moral progress in social practices is the tendency to widespread affected ignorance of what can and should already be known.” This explanation is promising, though to understand it we need to know what willful (affected, motivated, strategic) ignorance actually is. This paper presents a novel analysis of this concept, which builds upon Moody-Adams (1994) and is contrasted with a recent account by Lynch (2016).

The Direct Argument is an important argument for demonstrating that moral responsibility is incompatible with determinism because it makes no presuppositions about the nature of free will. One of the inference rules employed in the Direct Argument is rule A: If a proposition is broadly logically necessary, then it is true and no one is, nor ever has been, even partially morally responsible for the fact that the proposition is true. While inference rule A is assumed by all parties to (...) the debate, I demonstrate that the rule is invalid. (shrink)