The Threshold of the Visible World advances a revolutionary new political aesthetic--Kaja Silverman explores the possibilities for looking beyond the restrictive mandates of the self, and the normative aspects of the cultural image-repertoire. She provides a detailed account of the social and psychic forces which constrain us to look and identify in normative ways, and the violence which that normativity implies. Accounting for these phenomena on both a conscious and an unconcious level, Silverman analyzes the psychic and textual conditions (...) under which our "field of vision" can be expanded. The title of this book is taken from Lacan's essay on the mirror stage. In that text, Lacan writes that "the mirror-image would seem to be the threshold of the visible world." He thereby suggests that the visible world has no existence as such until the infant subject has access to an image of self. Lacan intimates that the mirror provides the frame through which one relates to others within the domain of vision, stressing the priority of narcissism and the ego over all other libidinal transactions. The Threshold of the Visible World provides a psychic, social and political specification of Lacan's claim, and most particularly of its implications for the subject's relations to the social other. This is accomplished through examination of the ego, as well as two other categories at the center of Lacan's account of the mirror stage: ideality and identification. This book is an ethical-political project which leads to the re-elaboration of a number of crucial theoretical categories--Silverman offers an account of the bodily ego, of identification, of idealization, of the gaze, of the look, and of the "photographic." The Threshold of the Visible World leads as well to the formulation of a fresh model for conceptualizing sexual, racial and class "difference," and the terms under which it might be dismantled. This book thus seeks to apprehend the field of vision through the frame of a different kind of bodily ego, and discover the pleasures to be derived from corporeal transport. (shrink)

S5 is one of the most important modal logic with nice syntactic, semantic and algebraic properties. In spite of that, a successful (i.e. cut-free) formalization of S5 on the ground of standard sequent calculus (SC) was problematic and led to the invention of numerous nonstandard, generalized forms of SC. One of the most interesting framework which was very often used for this aim is that of hypersequent calculi (HC). The paper is a survey of HC for S5 proposed by Pottinger, (...) Avron, Restall, Poggiolesi, Lahav and Kurokawa. We are particularly interested in examining different methods which were used for proving the eliminability/admissibility of cut in these systems and present our own variant of a system which admits relatively simple proof of cut elimination. (shrink)

In Moral Case Deliberation, healthcare professionals discuss ethically difficult patient situations in their daily practice. There is a lack of knowledge regarding the content of MCD and there is a need to shed light on this ethical reflection in the midst of clinical practice. Thus, the aim of the study was to describe the content of healthcare professionals’ moral reasoning during MCD. The design was qualitative and descriptive, and data consisted of 22 audio-recorded inter-professional MCDs, analysed with content analysis. The (...) moral reasoning centred on how to strike the balance between personal convictions about what constitutes good care, and the perceived dissonant care preferences held by the patient. The healthcare professionals deliberated about good care in relation to demands considered to be unrealistic, justifications for influencing the patient, the incapacitated patient’s nebulous interests, and coping with the conflict between using coercion to achieve good while protecting human dignity. Furthermore, as a basis for the reasoning, the healthcare professionals reflected on how to establish a responsible relationship with the vulnerable person. This comprised acknowledging the patient as a susceptible human being, protecting dignity and integrity, defining their own moral responsibility, and having patience to give the patient and family time to come to terms with illness and declining health. The profound struggle to respect the patient’s autonomy in clinical practice can be understood through the concept of relational autonomy, to try to secure both patients’ influence and at the same time take responsibility for their needs as vulnerable humans. (shrink)

Through a wide-ranging discussion, that extends from Ovid and Leonardo da Vinci to Gerhard Richter, and from philosophy and literature to time-based art, Kaja ...

This book puts together the most important contemporary writings in the debate on secularism. It deals with conceptual, normative and explanatory issues in secularism and addresses urgent questions, including the relevance of secularism to non-Western societies and the question of minority rights.

I argue that generic generalizations expressed in language (i.e., “generics”) are apt for good clinical reasoning. I begin by introducing what generics are in language and describe two problems in the use and interpretation of generics: Generics can license inaccurate judgements about the frequency of events or properties within a group (i.e., a problem with the “truth-aptness” of generics) and can facilitate problematic beliefs about social kinds (e.g., prejudice or essentializing). I provide an account of clinical reasoning and describe some (...) features of what I call “good” clinical reasoning. I offer examples of generics in clinical contexts and examine how the two problems with generics (i.e., of truth-aptness and social generics) can be harmful to patients and impair clinical reasoning. However, I ultimately argue that generics are important for good clinical reasoning because they track “conspicuous” features of disease processes (e.g., severe possible outcomes). Further, I argue that prejudicial generics are often irrational to believe, and social generics that are rational to believe need not lead to problematic implicatures about social kinds and can, in principle, instead facilitate meaningfully articulating societal injustices. I then argue that statistical statements, which are tempting alternatives to generics in clinical reasoning, are no better than generics for good clinical reasoning, even with respect to the two problems identified in the use of generics. (shrink)

The scope of social policy today is extensive. With the changing global scenario, there is a rediscovery of “social” in it. Indubitably, there is a gender perspective on social policy globally. The world Economic Forum states that there are only six countries in the world (Belgium, Denmark, France, Latvia, Luxembourg and Sweden) where women have equal work rights to men. It is noted that the situation in different countries varies when it comes to the working benefits of different genders whether (...) for native or expatriate workers in those places. Though there are rooms to enjoy attractive income and favourable working conditions such as job security, generous retirement plan, and other welfare benefits, there are still various factors that might lead to gender-based differences or gender discrimination in the unique labour market context of the GCC countries. The scenario is distinct in many Scandinavian nations like Sweden. Those countries are often considered the role model for gender equal work allowances. When it comes to India there is still disparity and difference in many areas despite the social security system the country offers in its policies. This paper aims at a descriptive and qualitative study on the causes, consequences and conclusion of the gender disparity in employee allowances in these nations. The study would imply a simple random method of interrogation to examine gender differences empirically within the labour market of the mentioned nations. The economic benefits of a gender-equal nation in the framing of social policy will be emphasized and focused on. (shrink)

This paper presents a method for the study of the influence of stability of a power transformer on the power system based on the vibration principle. Traditionally, the EMD and EEMD algorithms are employed to test the box vibration signal data of the power transformer under three working conditions. The proposed method utilizes a partial EMD screening along with MPEEMD method for the online monitoring of power transformer. A complete online monitoring system is designed by using the STM32 processor and (...) LabVIEW system. The proposed system is compared with EMD and EEMD algorithms in terms of the number of IMFs obtained by decomposition, maximum correlation coefficient, and mean square error. The inherent mode correlation, when compared with the mean square error of the reconstructed signal, shows that the reconstruction error of MPEEMD algorithm is 4.762×10−15 which is better than the traditional EMD algorithm. It is observed from the results that the proposed method outperforms both EMD and EEMD algorithms. (shrink)

Background As noise brings great error in the analysis of metallographic images, an adaptive weighted mean filtering method proposed to overcome the shortcomings of the standard mean filtering method. Methods The method used to detect the pulse noise points in the image, and then the modified mean method used to filter out the detected noise points. Patents on metallographic image processing have discussed for the development of the proposed methodology. Results It is shown that filter window can be filtered in (...) comparison with the conventional 3×3, 5×5 and 7×7 filt window to reduce noise detection and reduce the complexity of the weight calculation. Conclusion It can be concluded that this method can better protect the details of the image, has better filtering effect than the standard mean filtering, and its processing speed is faster than the median filtering of the large window, which has profound significance for the edge detection and processing of the metallographic image. (shrink)

This article explores the multifaceted endeavour of enhancing soldiers' capabilities, particularly in light of emerging disruptive technologies, and underscores the imperative to assess the ethical, legal, and strategic implications thereof. Specifically, the study delves into a theoretical scenario involving the administration of a fear-reducing pill, positing its potential to substantially diminish the risk of PTSD without harmful side effects. The author examines whether fear, despite its reduction, remains an intrinsic and beneficial aspect of armed conflict and the military profession. This (...) inquiry is evaluated through considerations of resourcefulness and strategy, unit cohesion, the proportionality test within the targeting cycle, and the impact of fear on criminal deterrence effectiveness. The article contends that the elimination of fear can yield diverse outcomes, underscoring the necessity for further exploration in the realm of law and emotions. Such research is pivotal for adequately preparing for the advent of novel technologies, mitigating mental harm, and fortifying compliance with IHL and military ethics. (shrink)

Over the years, the urban heat vulnerability has evolved as a pressing global concern for researchers and policymakers alike. Numerous studies have aimed at mitigating the adverse effects of urban heat vulnerability on public health and safety. However, the critical task of selecting the most fitting indicator for urban heat islands in public spaces is not emphasized in the existing studies, considering the diverse indices available. Beyond identification, studies that delve into the prioritization of these indices and the determination of (...) optimal variables along with their respective weights are scanty. The present study attempts to address these gaps in urban heat vulnerability research through the lens of natural solutions. The study employs a fuzzy analytical hierarchy approach to ascertain the weights of selected criteria, providing a nuanced understanding of the multifaceted factors influencing their applicability. Real-time impact estimation using the fuzzy technique for order of preference by similarity to ideal solutions enhances the practicality of the findings. The results reveal a set of pivotal characteristics crucial for constructing a robust heat vulnerability index, facilitating the prioritization of selected criteria. The implementation of this hybrid methodology culminates in a streamlined, precise, and practical tool for evaluating heat vulnerability in hot urban public spaces. These findings contribute valuable insights to the academic discourse and offer a tangible resource for policymakers and practitioners. The proactive approach provides a roadmap for addressing impending challenges related to urban heat vulnerability, marking a positive step toward creating resilient and sustainable urban environments. (shrink)

Combining phenomenology and psychoanalysis in highly innovative ways, this book seeks to undo the binary opposition between appearance and Being that has been in place since Plato’s parable of the cave. It is, essentially, an essay on what could be called “world love,” the possibility and necessity for psychic survival of a profound and vital erotic investment by a human being in the cosmic surround. Here, the author takes her cue from Freud’s assertion that the “loss of reality” associated with (...) psychosis is a function of a disturbance not in the capacity to reason or perceive, but rather in the capacity for world love, the libidinal and semiotic circuity by means of which such love actualizes itself. In an implicit challenge to poststructuralist thought, the author claims that this love is always in response to a call issued by the world—that the world has, as it were, a vocation: its beauty ought to be seen. We must think of our own being-in-the world as a response to a primordial calling out to respond to this beauty. We are, the author suggests, at the very core of our being, summoned to what she terms world spectatorship. Drawing on Heidegger’s phenomenological elaboration of care as the being distinctive of human being and the primarily Lacanian conceptualization of the language of desire specific to each human subject, this metapsychology of love attempts to integrate issues in the fields of psychoanalysis, philosophy, visual culture, art history, and literary and film studies. (shrink)

This article explores the multifaceted endeavour of enhancing soldiers' capabilities, particularly in light of emerging disruptive technologies, and underscores the imperative to assess the ethical, legal, and strategic implications thereof. Specifically, the study delves into a theoretical scenario involving the administration of a fear-reducing pill, positing its potential to substantially diminish the risk of PTSD without harmful side effects. The author examines whether fear, despite its reduction, remains an intrinsic and beneficial aspect of armed conflict and the military profession. This (...) inquiry is evaluated through considerations of resourcefulness and strategy, unit cohesion, the proportionality test within the targeting cycle, and the impact of fear on criminal deterrence effectiveness. The article contends that the elimination of fear can yield diverse outcomes, underscoring the necessity for further exploration in the realm of law and emotions. Such research is pivotal for adequately preparing for the advent of novel technologies, mitigating mental harm, and fortifying compliance with IHL and military ethics. (shrink)

To study the development trend of embedded platforms in home appliances Internet of Things, an application of embedded Linux in the design of IoT gateway is designed. ARM microprocessor S3C2410, EM310 radio frequency module, and Ethernet DM9000A module are used to realize the home network information-processing platform. The platform utilizes existing network facilities, RF modules, and network interface modules to realize the interconnection of the home perception network through wireless or wired links. For experimental analysis, Ping the central server from (...) the IoT node B is set to twice: The first time ttl = 255 time = 1.9 ms, the second time: ttl = 255 time = 2.4 ms. After application verification, the system has the characteristics of low cost, small size, low power consumption, and vital ease of use. It can not only integrate the home Internet and the IoT gateway but also directly run application-layer communication protocols such as HTTP/mqtt between IoT nodes and Internet terminals. The design supports multi-hop communication and significantly increases the deployment range of IoT nodes without signal relay equipment, hence reducing the cost of IoT networking and the complexity of the network architecture. (shrink)

Whether poetry gives knowledge or not is a question that has been debated from a variety of perspectives, depending on how a society or a culture defines knowledge, and on the function it ascribes to poetry in relation to that definition. The civilizations of Asia and the Middle East have generally taken the line that poetry deals primarily with affects, emotions and feelings. The West has had a more complicated history of responses. One way of making sense of this history (...) is to map rival claims as split over the idea of scientific knowledge, where it affects notions of the poetic function. The mapping, through all its manifold branches, gives clear indications that claims to knowledge – both those made on behalf of poetry, and those denied to poetry – depend more on assumptions, predispositions and cultural conditioning than on rational argument or critical debate. The resulting variety also suggests that the cultural relativism that affects such debates is unlikely to arrive at resolutions except of the contingent kind. (shrink)

Wissenschaftliche Praxen in das Zentrum der philosophischen Reflexion zu stellen, wird mit dem Anspruch verbunden, problematische Voraussetzungen der klassischen Wissenschaftstheorie zu überwinden. Dass ein solches immanenzphilosophisches Projekt allerdings dann am eigenen Anspruch scheitert, wenn es von einem problematischen faktiven Verständnis wissenschaftlicher Praxen und epistemischer Räume ausgeht, führt Kaja Tulatz in Auseinandersetzung mit Joseph Rouse vor. Demgegenüber macht sie die Argumentationslinie von Gaston Bachelard und Louis Althusser für eine rekonstruktionstheoretische Reflexion fruchtbar und entwickelt ein aktuelleres reflexionsbegriffliches Verständnis epistemischer Räume.

The literature on methodological individualism is characterized by a widely held view that if the doctrine were stated with sufficient care it would be seen to be trivially true. Professor Bhargava questions this view. He begins by carefully disentangling the various formulations of the doctrine, identifies its most plausible version, and finally locates the principal assumption underlying it, namely that beliefs are attitudes individuated entirely in terms of what lies within the individual mind. Bhargava argues that once this individualist assumption (...) is challenged it is possible to rehabilitate a non-individualist methodology which permits a contextual study of beliefs and actions, and even a study of social context relatively independent of the beliefs and actions of individuals. (shrink)

This article examines the flaws and criticism on political secularism. It explains that secularism is a beleaguered doctrine and it is also contested in political theory. Critics of secularism claim that it is linked to a flawed modernization, has a mistaken view of rationality and its importance in human life, and fails to appreciate the importance of communities in the life of religious people. This article discusses the conceptual and normative structure of secularism and evaluates what ethical gains or losses (...) might ensue in the movement from a secular state to one that grants more importance to religion. It suggests that the Indian version of secularism is a modern alternative to its mainstream Western counterpart, one from which everyone may benefit in the future. (shrink)

Two notions of reconciliation exist. The weak or thin conception is akin to ‘resignation’. It is sought by groups that have waged war against one another but have come to the realization that neither can win. Reconciliation in this sense results from an enforced lowering of expectations. In the stronger sense, reconciliation means a virtual cancellation of enmity or estrangement via a morally grounded forgiveness, achievable only when conflicting groups acknowledge collective responsibility for past injustice, and shed their deep prejudices (...) by a profound and painful transformation in their identities. It is because this process is not possible without a somewhat brutal confrontation with oneself and a painful recognition of one’s own moral degradation that reconciliation is difficult to achieve. (shrink)

The concept of marriage has undergone a transition presently when compared with the past. Norms, customs and traditions have also changed. Attitudes, choices and preferences of individuals contribute to these changes accompanied by education and modernization. Equality of women, social changes, and liberalized economy can be a few determinants contributing to the choices and preferences, yet fertility issues remain a nagging problem after marriage. The present trend highlights late marriages, and stress at home and works front for both genders, contributing (...) to instability in marriages. These being certain issues, on one hand, increase in divorce cases, maintenance and custody of children, single parenting is another set of challenges, on the other hand. Hence, marriages are also riskier and those who embark on this journey are the successful lot. This paper primarily aims to identify the perception of youth about marriage as terminologies such as “Live in relationships”, “Friends with benefits”, etc., are in vogue. Secondly, the objective of this paper is also to study if “mid-life crisis” in both the genders accompanied by emotional, physical and psychological issues can be the causal determinants for various issues in marriage. Thirdly, the paper aims to study the causal effects between marriage issues, family laws and the country’s economy as there is a direct nexus between the three forces using appropriate research methodology tools and techniques. (shrink)

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:Diacritics 30.4 (2000) 3-13 [Access article in PDF] Benjamin's Arcades Project and the Postcolonial City Rajeev S. Patke [Tables]Walter Benjamin. The Arcades Project. Trans. Howard Eiland and Kevin McLaughlin. Cambridge, MA: Harvard UP, 1999. [AP] Post-this, post-that, post-the-other, yet in the endNot past a thing. —Seamus Heaney, "On His Work in the English Tongue" Preamble Among the several Benjamins to be conjured from The Arcades Project is the (...) one who invites a speculative discourse on the idea of the postcolonial city. We can imagine him first conceding, and then qualifying, three propositions about himself: he mitigates the force of the first—that he was Eurocentric—with the counterproposition that the cities he wrote about were formative of a discourse that can be transposed to other cities whose patterns of urban development were shaped by forces analogous to those he studied in the period of their inception. He then concedes that his work on the city remains problematic in several ways related to an uncertain temperament and method, but urges the recognition that his method came to resemble his object of study; the fortuitous correspondence reinforces the self-reflexive relation between modern cities and the discourse they generate. His third concession—that his use of Marxian ideas mixes them with elements of bourgeois thought—is marginalized by the recognition that he always took his Marx with such a difference that to confine him within such a debate would be to take him in the wrong spirit. He then proceeds to reiterate in the specific instance of the postcolonial a more familiar general claim made by many contemporary readers of the metropolitan experience, that the set of approaches he uncovered continue to remain valid wherever the project of modernity is at work. They help us address "[t]he split image of modernity, modernity's promises for social and individual emancipation, as well as modernity's failures" [Paetzold 216a]. Modern Benjamin would begin by reminding us that his "modern" and "modernity" refer primarily to the industrial transformation of society by technology, as part of the Enlightenment project of progress through the application of reason to nature and society. He would [End Page 3] qualify his sense of the project of "modernity" through the image of "[t]he world dominated by its phantasmagorias" [AP 26]. He would then shrug off the cloak of the Eurocentric by turning, for illustration, to the many Asian manifestations of the postcolonial. Here, he would make the twofold claim that the postcolonial experience brings out the disillusionment latent in the myth of progress, just as the postmodern brings out the phantasmal that is incipient in the myth of an evenly distributed access to capital and goods in the era of globalization. He would argue that the cities of contemporary Asia are the sites for a partial and uneven overlap between the postmodern and the postcolonial. This overlap, he would say, invites us to treat the idea of the city in a generic mode, without discounting the fact that the diversity separating the metropolitan centers in Asia makes little sense of an Asian city except as banal literalism. He would note that colonialism did not affect all of Asia, nor did it follow quite the same course from colony to colony, though the term retains some usefulness in accounting for the general factors that link different cities in Asia to what happened after colonialism. He would treat the postcolonial and the postmodern as three-tiered phenomena: each is a historical phase of world history, a predicament affecting collectivities, and an attitude or state of mind. The aptness of the notion of the postcolonial city, he points out, increases in direct proportion to the degree to which a city has acquired a distinctive identity through colonial administration or commerce, and decreases in direct proportion to the degree of discontinuity between the colonial and postcolonial phases of its history. He would add the corollary that any contemporary city in the developing world approximates to the postcolonial condition when its role in the network of power relations negotiates... (shrink)

The main technical errors are in the literature survey. On pages 44, 93-94, 131 and 133 I claim that Fitting's and/or Rautenberg's systems are incomplete because they omit contraction. The claim is wrong because contraction is implicit in their set notation. Their systems are complete because they allow contraction on any formula whereas the systems in this technical report explicitly build contraction into certain rules, allowing contraction only on certain types of formulae. Please accept my apologies for any confusion this (...) causes you. (shrink)

Written over the last two decades, these essays answers important questions on secularism. Some of the topics covered are the democratic vision of the new republic of India, the evolution and distinctiveness of India's linguistic federalism, India's secular constitution, the Muslim personal law, and the majority-minority syndrome.

In this article, I first problematize the concept of rationality as educational ideal through the use of feminist philosophy. I then offer an alternative concept of rationality as educational ideal based on my reading of Catherine Malabou’s work on plasticity, epigenesis, and rationality. In a last part, I explore the ontological and normative dimensions of this new concept of rationality through Maurice Merleau-Ponty’s concept of “hyper-dialectics.”.

This book demonstrates the variety of ways in which the materiality of islands is intertwined in a symbiotic relationship with the capacity of the imagination to make islands the site and embodiment of a host of recurrent human desires, anxieties, and hopes.