Giordano Bruno (1548-1600), who died at the stake, is one of the best-known symbols of anti-establishment thought. The theme of this volume, which is offered as a collection of essays to honor the distinguished Bruno scholar Hilary Gatti, reflects her constant concern for the principles of cultural freedom and independent thinking. Several essays deal with Bruno himself, including an analysis of the Eroici furori, a study of his reception in relation to the group known as the Novatores, and discussions of (...) several important aspects of his stay in England. The authors and texts discussed here are linked by a relentless interest in the question of authority and originality, and they range from literary figures such as Alberti (1404-72), Vasari (1511-74) and the proponents of quantitative verse in sixteenth-century England to controversial philosophers who, like Bruno, were condemned by the Church, such as Tommaso Campanella (1568-1639) and Giulio Cesare Vanini (1585-1619). Taken together, these chapters show how much that was new and revolutionary in early modern culture came from its confrontation with the past. Martin McLaughlin is Agnelli-Serena Professor of Italian at Oxford. Elisabetta Tarantino is a Teaching Fellow in the Department of Italian at the University of Warwick. (shrink)

The third volume in West's Hellenica trilogy is devoted to philosophy, and music and metre; however, it also contains essays on other literary texts and topics.

This volume presents a short survey of education at the beginning of the twentieth century.

Many years ago, when Michael was lecturing in Oxford on the Philosophy of Physics and was trying to explain the logic of Aspect's experiments in Paris, he turned to me to expound the correct doctrine of counter-factual truth. I was flummoxed. It had been much discussed in late- and postmediaeval times, especially in the Iberian peninsula, and had recently enjoyed a revival in the Eastern United States. But Middle Knowledge, as the Schoolmen called it, was beyond my comprehension, and I (...) could only exemplify once again the truism that philosophers were better at raising problems than resolving them. (shrink)

Evolution of the humane resonances between Hindu values and contemporary experiences and challenges; contributed research papers.

Une éthique de la bio-médecine s'élabore depuis plus de vingt ans dans des institutions hospitalières, professionnelles ou politiques. Elle vise à protéger les droits de la personne face aux progrès de la techno-science. Elle est pluridisciplinaire et mêle aux chercheurs des penseurs de diverses familles d'esprit. Une aide à la décision est proposée aux praticiens par plusieurs méthodes : les « conférences de consensus » entre experts, les « protocoles » de soins, les « arbres décisionnels » qui connectent toutes (...) les hypothèses possibles et leurs issues prévisibles, l'évaluation médico-économique des coûts et de l'utilité des soins. L'éthique clinique qui commence à être intégrée aux études médicales s'intéresse aux décisions prises, ou à prendre, au chevet du malade. Des méthodes d'analyse de ces cas ont été mises au point, pour tenir compte, notamment, de la situation singulière, physique, mentale, sociale du patient et des modalités de l'expression de sa volonté. Ces analyses et prospectives font appel, entre autres spécialistes, au concours d’«- éthiciens », représentants des diverses « valeurs » spirituelles reconnues dans la société, qui sont souvent interrogés sur le fondement des décisions éthiques, et c'est alors que la théologie a son mot à dire.A biomedical ethics bas been developing for over twenty years in hospitals, professional groups and political committies. It’s goal is to protect an individual’s rights in face of techno-scientific progress. It is pluri-disciplinary and mixes groups of different intellectual tendencies with those wbo do research. Help in making decisions is given to practitioners by many metbods : “consensus conferences”between experts, treatment “protoco1s”, “decision trees” that connect all possible hypotheses and their foreseeable results, medico economical evaluation of the costs and utility of the treatments. Clinical ethics, which is beginning to be integrated into medical studies, concerns decisions already made or to be made by the bedside of the patient. Analytical methods of these cases bave been perfected to take into account the patient's special physical, mental, and social conditions, as well as his metbods of expressing his will. These analyses and their trends call upon representatives of diverse spiritual “values” recognized in society, among other specialists, at the gatherings of “ethicians“ wbo are often questioned about the basis of ethical decisions. This is wben theology has something to say. (shrink)

Objective—To explore the opinions of unpaid healthy volunteers on the payment of research subjects.Design—Prospective cohort.Setting—Southern Alberta, Canada.Participants—Medically eligible persons responding to recruiting advertisements for a randomised vaccine trial were invited to take part in a study of informed consent at the point at which they formally consented or refused trial participation. Of 72 invited, 67 returned questionnaires at baseline and 54 at follow-up.Outcome measures—Proportions of persons who agreed or disagreed with three close-ended statements on the payment of research subjects; themes (...) and categories identified by content analysis of responses to an open-ended question.Results—A minority agreed with paying either patient or healthy volunteer participants. Opinions did not change over time. Participants' comments addressed: benefits and drawbacks to research participation; benefits and drawbacks to paying research participants; conditions under which payment of research subjects would be acceptable, and the nature of acceptable recognition. Acceptable conditions were to improve problematic recruitment, to reimburse costs, and to recognise participants, particularly for their time investment. Both non-monetary and monetary recognition of volunteers were thought to be appropriate.Conclusions—Most unpaid volunteers disagreed with paying research participants. The themes arising from their comments are similar to those that have been raised by ethicists and suggest that recognising the time and effort of participants should receive greater emphasis than presently occurs. (shrink)

The mobile phone has become part of our everyday lives with astonishing speed. Over four billion people now have access to mobile phones, and this number keeps increasing. Mobile media technologies shape how we communicate with each other, and relate to the world. This raises questions about their influence on identity. Medium-specific properties and user-practices challenge the idea that we understand ourselves through stories. It is proposed that the notion of play sheds new light on how technologies shape identities. The (...) mobile phone mediates identities on four play levels: we play on the mobile, with the mobile, through the mobile, and at the same time we are played by the mobile. Mobile media bring new freedom of movement. Yet at the same time they constrict us. In this dialectic we become moving circles. (shrink)

On the fundamentals of Advaita and Viśiṣṭādvaita philosophy.