It is shown that a Clifford algebra formalism provides a unifying description of spin-0, -1/2, and-1 fields. Since the operators and operands are both expressed in terms of the same Clifford algebra, the formalism obtains some results which are considerably different from those of the standard formalisms for these fields. In particular, the conservation laws are obtained uniquely and unambiguously from the equations of motion in this formalism and do not suffer from the ambiguities and inconsistencies of the standard methods.

A Pali Grammar. William Geiger. Translated into English by Batakrishna Ghosh, revised and edited by K. R. Norman. Pali Text Society, Oxford 1994. xxix, 220 pp. Hardback £12.95, paperback £6.75.

Dhammapada. Ed. O. von Hinüber and K.R. Norman. Pali Text Society, Oxford 1994. xv, 148 pp. £10.95.

Index to the Digha-nikaya. Compiled by M. Yamazaki, Y. Ousaka, K. R. Norman and M. Cone. Pali Text Society, Oxford 1997. vii, 357 pp. £19.75. ISBN 0 86013 355 9.

A crucial debate currently raging in the fields of cognitive and social science centers around general and specific approaches to understanding the actions of others. When we understand the actions of another person, do we do so on the basis of a general theory of psychology, or on the basis of an effort to place ourselves in the particular position of that specific person? Hans Herbert Kögler and Karsten R. Stueber's Empathy and Agency addresses this other issues vital to current (...) social science in an advanced and diverse analysis of the foundations of social-scientific methodology based on recent cognitive psychology. The book serves as both an introduction to the debate for non-academic audiences and as a catalyst for further discussion for serious theorists. Empathy and Agency provides a solid foundation of the fundamental issues in social and cognitive science, but also presents the most influential paradigms in the field at this time. (shrink)

Open peer commentary on the article “A Computational Constructivist Model as an Anticipatory Learning Mechanism for Coupled Agent–Environment Systems” by Filipo Studzinski Perotto. Upshot: Mainstream AI research largely addresses cognitive features as separate and unconnected. Instead of addressing cognitive growth in this same way – modeling it simply as one more such isolated feature and continuing to uphold a wrong-headed divide-and-conquer tradition – a constructivist approach should help unify many key phenomena such as anticipation, self-modeling, life-long learning, and recursive self-improvement. (...) Since this is likely to result in complex systems with unanticipated properties, all cognitive architecture researchers should aim to implement their ideas in full as running systems to be verified by experiment. Perotto’s paper falls short on both these points. (shrink)

Catalogue of the Hugh Nevill Collection of Sinhalese Manuscripts in the British Library. K. D. Somadasa. Pali Text Society and the British Library. Vol. 1, 1987. xi, 440 pp. £22.00. Vol. 2, 1989. vii, 316 pp. £24.95.

Journal of the Pali Text Society, Volume XXV. Ed. by O. von Hinuber & R. F. Gombrich. Oxford 1999. £17.25. ISBN 0 86013 372 9.

Journal of the Pali Text Society. Volumes XXII-XXIV. Ed. O. von Hinüber ad R. F. Gombrich. Pali Text Society, Oxford 1996, 1997, 1998. £17.25 each. ISBN 086013 333 8; 0 86013 356 7; 0 86913 364 8.

At the University of Newcastle, health law and ethics is taught and assessed in each year of the five-year curriculum. However, the critical question for assessment remains: 'Does teaching ethics have a measurable effect on the clinical activity of medical students who have had such courses?' Those responsible for teaching confront this question each year they sit down to construct their assessment tools. Should they assess what the student knows? Should they assess the student's moral reasoning, that is, what decisions (...) the student makes, and, how these decisions are justified, or should they assess what the student actually does when dealing with patients in the clinical setting, and how he or she does it? From 1982 to 1991, assessment at Newcastle was primarily aimed at determining the quality of the students' ethics knowledge base. This paper describes the strengths and limitations of a purely knowledge-based method of evaluation and why in 1992, we are now attempting to redefine and assess, what we call 'clinical ethical competence' in terms of how students actually apply this knowledge base in a controlled clinical context. (shrink)

Poems of Early Buddhist Nuns. Translations of the Therigatha by Mrs C. A. F. Rhys Davids. Pali Text Society, Oxford 1989. xvi, 233 pp. £4.95.

A History of Classical Poetry: Sanskrit - Pali - Prakrit. Siegfried Lienhard. Otto Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 1984. viii + 307 pp. DM 128.

Jinakalamali Index: an annotated index to the Thailand part of Ratanapanna's chronicle Jinakalamali. Hans Penth. Pali Text Society, Oxford, and Silkworm Books, Chiang Mai 1994. xx, 358 pp. £13.00.

Journal of the Pali Text Society. Volumes XIX-XXI, Pali Text Society, Oxford 1993, 1994, 1995. £17.25 each.

Journal of the Pali Text Society. Vols XIV-XVIII, PTS, Oxford 1990, 1990, 1992, 1992, 1993. £13.50 each.

Journal of the Pali Text Society, Volume XXVII. Edited by O. von Hinüber and R.F. Gombrich. Pali Text Society, Oxford 2002. 183 pp. £18.75. ISBN 0 86013 407 5.

A Dictionary of Pali, Part I, A-Kh. Margaret Cone. Pali Text Society, Oxford 2001. xxiv, 778 pp. £25.00. ISBN 0 86013 394 X.

A Study of the Sramanyaphala-Sutra. Graeme MacQueen.. Otto Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 1988. vii, 307 pp. DM 68.

Buddhism and its relation to other religions: Essays in honour of Dr Shozen Kumoi on his seventieth birthday. Heirakuji Shoten, Kyoto 1985. viii + 299, 431 pp. N.P.

Lokaneyyappakaranam, ed. Padmanabh S. Jaini. Pali Text Society, London 1986. xlviii + 216 pp. £12.50.

The Digha Nikaya and its Commentaries. Dhammagiri-Pali-Ganthamala, Volumes 1-11. Vipassana Research Institute, Igatpuri 1993-95.