Absolute Categories Research Articles

Gershom Scholem’s ‘laments project’ and the question of gender

This article proposes a new strategy for expanding the conversation on gender and Jewish philosophy with an emphasis on modern German-Jewish thought. The works of German-Jewish thinkers touch on a variety of issues, but almost always engage with Jewish Scriptures. The scriptural texts are abundant and include a gallery of female and male voices. The article asserts that by examining the way Scriptures are selectively interpreted and integrated into philosophical arguments, we can learn about the suppression of women’s voices, as well as concepts of gender and femininity in Jewish thought. I develop this assertion by examining Gershom Scholem’s early philosophical-theological essay ‘On Lament and Lamentation’ (1917), written as an epilogue to the book of Lamentations. Scholem’s principal claim is that laments epitomize a realm that does not represent concrete content and thus can allude to two radical categories of language: Divine revelation and absolute silence. The article argues that by emphasizing the absolute categories and neglecting the heterogenic content of laments, Scholem specifically suppresses the voices of women within the liturgical text. I illuminate Scholem’s oversight by comparatively reading his essay alongside the book of Lamentations and Midrash Lamentations Rabbah. The comparative reading demonstrates how the concepts which occupy Scholem (silence/revelation) are represented in Scriptures not only as absolute categories, but also through the bodies and voices of women.

The evolution of Haudenosaunee food guidance: Building capacity toward the sustainability of local environments in the community of Six Nations of the Grand River

The emerging literature on the Indigenous food movement identifies community involvement, family-centred food education and re-establishing a relationship with the land as essential to restoring sustainable food systems, land and water access. These processes of reclamation have similarly evolved through collaborative community processes and guiding practices described in this chapter that have taken place in the community of Six Nations of the Grand River. The evolution of social movements and relationships to reinforce patterns of support through the transference of knowledge has led to the “guidance” that continues to adjust and change. This unique form of guidance is not in the form of a westernized practice of creating formalized lists meant for general distribution with the intent of controlling food-based practices. In the community of Six Nations, guidance and practice are informed and conveyed by people and supported through established networks and relationships. This type of guidance, therefore, is living and continues to evolve. As such it is not conveyed in such a prescriptive manner using lists and absolute categories. The Haudenosaunee food guide illustrated in Figure 2 is based on collective knowledge and land-based practices that are meant to be shared, adapted and applied by all members of the community. It is therefore not a static form of guidance as the foods and their connections to land and people evolve as reciprocal relationships.

KEANEKARAGAMAN JENIS CAPUNG DI SEPANJANG SUNGAI AYUNG

This research was conducted from february to April 2020 in three different areas, including in Petang in Penikit Village, Sayan Village, Ubud, and in Padang Galak Village, Sanur using sweeping techniques. This study aims to determine the diversity of dragonflies along the Ayung river. The analyzes carried out include analyzing the Shannon-Wiener diversity index (H'), evenness index (E), dominance index (D) sympons, frequency of presence and water quality of the Ayung River. The results showed as many as 11 species of dragonflies. The most common individuals found were Orthetrum Sabina (23 individuals), while the lowest individuals were from the Libellulidae family as many as 5 individuals. Most species and individuals were found at the Sayan location with 11 species with a total of 124 individuals (H'=2.24, E=0.93, D=0.19), followed by 6 species in the Petang location with a total of 27 individuals (H' =1.60, E=0.89, D=0.30), while the lowest was the Sanur location with 4 species with a total of 15 individuals (H'=0.94, E=0.69, D=0.67 ). Diversity of dragonflies in the Ayung River is classified as moderate (H'=2.36), the evenness index of species at the Petang and Sayan locations is in the almost evenly distributed category. Petang (0.89) and Sayan (0.93), while the Sanur location was in the fairly even category (0.69). The highest frequency of presence in Orthetrum sabina species was 89% with frequent or absolute presence categories. The BOD and DO values ??in the Ayung River do not meet the requirements of water quality standards, while COD meets the requirements based on PP No. 82 of 2001.
 Keywords: Diversity, dragonflies, Ayung River.

Selective Bone Scan staging for patients with Prostate cancer: do absolute categories really make sense?

Selective Bone Scan staging for patients with Prostate cancer: do absolute categories really make sense?

The political psychology of extremism; “naturalness” of the phenomenon in the Western Balkans

In a symbolic sense, this region may be burdened with a kind of negative ontology that is very difficult to change. Extremist ideologies are, in fact, just a continuation of the war by other means. They have entered education, and beginning to metastasize and affect the entire social tissue, becoming "naturalness", supported by different mythopoetic narratives of a particular nation. In an environment where politics is extreme, many avoid concerns the very nature of extremism and the process of radicalization within the discourse of „peacetime“ extremism. Extremism stems from finding two basic human needs: the need for cognitive closure and personal significance. Subordination of the individual to the national community, i.e., the leader, is a psychological form of political behavior marked by an obsessive preoccupation with the decline of the community; sacrificing the process of compensatory, the cult of unification while abandoning democratic freedoms with redemptive violence and, regardless of moral and legal constraints, seeks to achieve ethnoreligious threatening collectivity (tribal identity). Extremism uses the properties of consciousness: ethnicity, religiousness, and thinking in absolute categories (in a destructive aspect to add naturalness to its ideas) to justify activities with a sacred or „patriotic“ will. Although the violent potential of nationalism in the Balkans should be overlooked by no means, the inflammatory rhetoric is just a method used by political elites to manipulate the public.

The Philosophical Category of the Ideal in the Models of the Future State of the Religious Extremists

The article analyzes the philosophical category of the ideal in the models of the future state structure, which are developed by the religious extremists in the context of modern social reality as the implementation of the ideal. The research is based on the activities of the Hizb ut-Tahrir al-Islami terrorist organization in Siberia. It is aimed at identifying the components of the religious extremist associations’ ideology of constructing a model of an ideal state. The socio-philosophical analysis of the ideology provisions and the hermeneutical approach to the manifestations of extremism serve the basis of the research methodology. The extremist ideas in religion are deviations from the norm and can arise in any religious tradition, thus expanding the scope of interpretations of religious law and positioning the existing situation in the religious community as untrue and distorted. The future state is represented by the extremists as an ideal social structure established on the principle of justice and in accordance with sacred precepts. The conflict of such worldview ideas as “it should be so” and “it is so” as well as the “perfectionist illusion” about an ideal society imply the possibility of creating an ideal world in modern social reality. Violence is understood as a necessary means to achieve this goal if other methods are ineffective. The authors characterize the similarities between the models of an ideal society developed by the religious extremism and the utopias in terms of content and interpretation, as well as religious extremist consciousness and utopian thinking in terms of structure and orientation. The ideologies of extremist associations embrace the understanding of the principle of justice, the idea of exclusivity, the model of the ideal, and the theological foundations of social actions. The tendency of thinking to utopian ideas, the intuitive assumption of the existence of an ideal, just society, and the conflict between “the proper” and “the existing” contribute to the spread of extremist ideas. Extremism uses the properties of consciousness: religiousness and thinking in absolute categories (in a destructive aspect in order to add naturalness to its ideas) and religious ideas (in order to justify illegal activities with a sacred will). The actions of the members of the extremist associations are given the status of free personal choice regarding the fulfillment of religious prescriptions and the divine will to create a world just society

Preventive Pharmacotherapy for Cardiovascular Disease: A Modelling Study Considering Health Gain, Costs, and Cost-Effectiveness when Stratifying by Absolute Risk

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death internationally. We aimed to model the impact of CVD preventive double therapy (a statin and anti-hypertensive) by clinician-assessed absolute risk level. An established and validated multi-state life-table model for the national New Zealand (NZ) population was adapted. The new version of the model specifically considered the 60–64-year-old male population which was stratified by risk using a published NZ-specific CVD risk equation. The intervention period of treatment was for five years, but a lifetime horizon was used for measuring benefits and costs (a five-year horizon was also implemented). We found that for this group offering double therapy was highly cost-effective in all absolute risk categories (eg, NZ$1580 per QALY gained in the >20% in 5 years risk stratum; 95%UI: Dominant to NZ$3990). Even in the lowest risk stratum (≤5% risk in 5 years), the cost per QALY was only NZ$25,500 (NZ$28,200 and US$19,100 in 2018). At an individual level, the gain for those who responded to the screening offer and commenced preventive treatment ranged from 0.6 to 4.9 months of quality-adjusted life gained (or less than a month gain with a five-year horizon). Nevertheless, at the individual level, patient considerations are critical as some people may decide that this amount of average health gain does not justify taking daily medication.

There's Nothing Natural About the State of Government Spending in Arkansas

Arkansas is one of the poorest states in the United States, but it has a relatively high level of state government spending compared to similar states. This study examines the drivers of state spending and of spending increases in Arkansas. We investigate both the largest spending categories in absolute terms and categories that have grown significantly in recent decades. We also investigate formal and informal institutional changes that affect state and local government spending. Arkansas has seen significant growth in spending in recent decades. Between 1991 and 2013, state spending has almost doubled, increasing by almost 97 percent even after adjusting for inflation and population. The growth since 1951 has been ever more dramatic, increasing ninefold in real, per capita terms. We investigate what state- and local-level changes have brought about this growth and what institutional changes may have driven the growth, and we suggest institutional reforms.

Freedom as a constitutional category

The history of mankind is a continuous struggle for the affirmation of man as an individual with an inviolable fundamental rights sphere, as opposed to the collectivity or some higher power. From the earliest days one had to ask and to win their autonomy, and they had to prove that they are beings with human dignity that deserve their physical and ethical individuality. The idea of the existence of the fundamental rights sphere is a legacy of the struggle against absolutism, and to respect the physical and mental integrity of every person and the protection of property rights. Fundamental rights in their implementation defend anyone to interfere with the protected sphere of the dignity of every human being. Their upgrade is formed by freedoms which authorize individuals to express their preferences and interests outside the existential sphere. Therefore, human rights and freedoms allow the individual not only to be a loyal citizen, but affect their environment and social organization, and thus affect the process of expanding personal freedoms. With constitutional affirmation of human rights and fundamental freedoms, a need emerged to define the content of these terms. In the literature, one can find a set of definitions that are more or less extensively trying to cover their ambiguity2. It is my opinion that in an attempt at defining the concepts of “human rights” and “fundamental freedoms” it is appropriate to start from the indications of their legal origin. The development of democratic societies to the current civilization level has enabled the codification of the fundamental rights sphere at the national and international level. The catalog of fundamental human rights and freedoms in principle is an integral part of the highest legal act of a country3, and sometimes constitutions point to the recognition of human rights and freedoms determined by international legal acts4. In attempting to define the observed concepts it seems justified to stress that fundamental human rights and freedoms belong to every individual, regardless of his personal characteristics and status and that those rights and freedoms affirm the individual as a human and social being. It is also necessary to point out that the declaration of fundamental human rights and freedoms in the highest legal acts of some social community commits the state government to refrain from interfering in the protected sphere. In conclusion, when defining the analyzed content it is necessary to note that human rights and freedoms in principle are not absolute categories. These are constitutional activities to be limited following the existence of the rights of another individual of the same content, or the rights of others, arising from the fact of living together. Following these settings the definition of content of concepts of “constitutional law” and “constitutional freedoms” would have its common and special part. Common components of those institutes are contained in the fact that this is the highest legal act of a society or by this act defined norm of international law, established inviolable autonomous sphere of each member of society, which enables them recognition as human and social beings and that they enjoy regardless of their status and other personal characteristics, protected from encroachment by any governmental body. In doing so, the concept of “constitutional rights” should be more linked to the protected goods that are immanent to a person as a human being and granted to them but by the very fact of existence. By contrast, constitutional freedoms would include a protected sphere of the individual in social contacts. Constitutional freedoms would be an institutionally protected sphere of the individual, as a result of his life in the community, which gives them a choice in social positioning and which can only be restricted by rights of another individual of the same content, or the rights of other people arising from the fact that they are living together.

From Symbol to Science

Jung had an early intuition of the relativity of space and time in the unconscious. From the viewpoint of the unconscious, they are not absolute categories. It took him years, beginning with a conversation with Einstein in 1912, extending through his relationship with Richard Wilhelm and the latter's important translation into German of the Chinese classic, the I Ching, through his extensive discussions with Wolfgang Pauli, the Nobel physicist, before he would arrive at his formulation of a theory of synchronicity. The attempt to integrate the synchronistic principle into the paradigm of science was the final stage of this Herculean effort to bring the notion of meaningful chance into the scientific worldview, based as it is so fundamentally on the dogma of causality. In this essay, I attempt to trace the evolution of Jung's thinking.

Absence of left ventricular concentric hypertrophy: a prerequisite for zero coronary calcium score

The identification and intervention of factors associated with a coronary artery calcification (CAC) score of zero, suggesting the absence of significant coronary artery disease (CAD) with high probability, would be meaningful in the clinical setting. Thus far, the relationship between CAC and left ventricular (LV) hypertrophy has not been documented. We identified factors associated with a CAC score of zero and evaluated the relationship between this score and LV concentric hypertrophy in 309 consecutive patients with suspected CAD who were clinically indicated to undergo multislice computed tomography angiography for coronary artery evaluation. The quantitative CAC score was calculated according to Agatston's method. The total coronary calcium score (TCS) was defined as the sum of the scores for each lesion. Four absolute TCS categories were considered: zero, mild (0-100), moderate (100-400), and severe (>400). LV hypertrophy was classified into concentric (LV mass index >104g/m(2) in women or >116g/m(2) in men; LV end-diastolic volume index ≤109.2mL/m(2)) and eccentric (LV end-diastolic volume index >109.2mL/m(2)) patterns. In the zero-TCS group, the frequency of LV concentric hypertrophy was extremely low (zero 6%, mild 17%, moderate 26%, severe 19%). Multivariate analysis revealed that age, hypercholesterolemia, diabetes mellitus, LV concentric hypertrophy, and LV mass index, but not hypertension, were the independent factors associated with a CAC score of zero. The present study demonstrated that the absence of LV concentric hypertrophy was a prerequisite for a CAC score of zero. That is, the presence of LV concentric hypertrophy, which indicated more severe underlying hypertension, long duration, or poor control of blood pressure, implicates the presence of CAC.

Subverting Satire: Edgar Hilsenrath's Novel Der Nazi und der Friseur and Charlie Chaplin's Film The Great Dictator

Charlie Chaplin's film The Great Dictator, a straightforward satire of Hitler and the Nazi movement, serves as a point of departure for Edgar Hilsenrath's Holocaust novel Der Nazi und der Friseur (The Nazi and the Barber). A comparison of their satiric elements and strategies demonstrates that the novel subverts the film's humanitarian appeal by ridiculing both perpetrators and victims of the Nazi atrocities. The novel's pervasive black humor undermines the satirical impulse and instead questions the validity of absolute categories in the representation of evil. For this reason, Hilsenrath's work occupies a special place within the tradition of Holocaust literature.

We May not Know Reality, but it Still Matters – A Functional Analysis of ‘Factual Elements’ in the Theatre

Postmodernism has revolutionised our concept of Knowledge, establishing it firmly as a relative concept that is created and valid only in a specific discourse. As a result of this re-examination, our notion of Reality has been changed irrevocably. Although many concepts, such as the dichotomy of fact and fiction, continue to be used in everyday life, they are now highly contentious from a theoretical point of view. Describing the relationship between theatre and the world that surrounds it (our everyday ‘reality’) becomes increasingly difficult in such a context, particularly with regard to theatrical forms that are characterized by their extensive use of material borrowed from the world outside the play. Using Gladiator Games and Vincent in Brixton as examples, this article demonstrates that neither the return to theoretically outdated concepts nor the radical relativism of postmodernism can offer satisfactory interpretations of documentary and biographical theatre. As a solution to this dilemma it suggests a functional approach that overcomes the schism between modern and postmodern concepts. Inspired by the sociology of knowledge, it acknowledges that the perception of these plays is characterized by the idea of different degrees of reality or factuality without granting these notions the status of absolute ontological categories. A discussion that focuses on the similarities between these plays and discourses outside the theatre can then provide useful insights into their reception and production. At the same time it suggests that the sense of acceptable and unacceptable uses of such material can be maintained without evoking the ideas of historical accuracy and Truth.

Sea and Ocean Basins as Frameworks of Historical Analysis

Since the mid‐nineteenth century, historians have taken national states as the principal focus of their scholarship. Since the mid‐twentieth century, they have increasingly recognized the importance of large‐scale historical processes that transcend the boundaries of national states, and they have identified large‐scale zones of interaction that help to bring these processes into clear focus. Sea and ocean basins show considerable promise as frameworks for the analysis of some historical processes. They would not serve well as the absolute or definitive categories of historical analysis because their contours and characteristics have changed dramatically over time with shifting relationships between bodies of water and masses of land. But they are especially useful for bringing focus to processes of commercial, biological, and cultural exchange, which have profoundly influenced the development of both individual societies and the world as a whole.

The perception of relative pitch in the bat M. lyra.

As opposed to humans, animals perceive pitch predominantly in terms of absolute categories. In order to establish relative pitch formation in bats, three animals were trained to discriminate falling from rising two-tone sequences in a two-alternative, forced choice behavioral test. Stimuli were six pairs of complex tones, consisting of the first three harmonics. In the first experiment, the spectra of high and low tones fell into different frequency regions (first harmonic of low tone: 9–10.4 kHz; high tone: 34–39.3 kHz). After 2 months, two animals were able to perform the task with an error rate of less than 5%. In the second experiment, 12 tone pairs with overlapping harmonics were presented. The frequency ratio between the two fundamentals of a pair was 2:3, with the fundamental of the lower tone between 13.2 and 18.1 kHz. Only one animal was able to perform this task after 2 weeks of training. Control tasks revealed that the bat utilized absolute pitch clues only to a minor extent. Nevertheless, later experiments showed that the animal was not able to transpose relative pitch categories to frequency ranges beyond the original stimuli. [Work supported by Humboldt Foundation and SFB 204 ‘‘Gehör,’’ München.]

The computation of psychological values from judgments in absolute categories.

The computation of psychological values from judgments in absolute categories.