Authoritative Exposition Research Articles

The Prophet’s Song of Victory: Judges 5 within a Trajectory of Theological Training in the Book of Judges

Abstract Whereas interpreters agree that the book of Judges depicts an ever worsening pattern of moral degradation among the Israelite tribes—and God’s subsequent and serial punishments—few highlight that these military conflicts are pedagogical in purpose, rather than merely punitive. This article highlights how key texts in the introduction to the book of Judges (2:10, 2:22–3:4) foreground the issue of theological ignorance and Yhwh’s intention to address it. This pattern is especially clear in Judg 3–5, which culminates with the Song of Deborah and Barak. Delivered by a prophet as an authoritative exposition of the battle, the song trains the people of God to perceive him and their experiences rightly and offers them an opportunity—a test (2:22)—to respond rightly to such revelation.

A PROBLEM WITH CHRISTIAN ETHICS

Christianity's claim of privileged access to correct morality has always been a key element in its ability to attract and retain adherents. Jesus' Sermon on the Mount has been considered the most complete and authoritative exposition of Christian ethics this side of the Ten Commandments. In this article I will argue that the moral authority of Jesus and some important aspects of Christian ethics can be called into question by a number of seriously flawed moral imperatives from the Sermon on the Mount.

Argumentation in School Science: Breaking the Tradition of Authoritative Exposition Through a Pedagogy that Promotes Discussion and Reasoning

The value of argumentation in science education has become internationally recognised and has been the subject of many research studies in recent years. Successful introduction of argumentation activities in learning contexts involves extending teaching goals beyond the understanding of facts and concepts, to include an emphasis on cognitive and metacognitive processes, epistemic criteria and reasoning. The authors focus on the difficulties inherent in shifting a tradition of teaching from one dominated by authoritative exposition to one that is more dialogic, involving small-group discussion based on tasks that stimulate argumentation. The paper focuses on how argumentation activities have been designed in school science. Examples of classroom dialogue where teachers adopt the frameworks/plans are analysed to show how argumentation processes are scaffolded. The analysis shows that several layers of interpretation are needed and these layers need to be aligned for successful implementation.

On the Interpretation of the Theory of bijas in the Weishi School (Chinese Yogacara)

In this paper, I examine how the theory of bijas (“seeds”) was interpreted in the Weishi School (Chinese Yogacara) in the early Tang.The most authoritative exposition of seeds was articulated in vol. 2 of the Cheng weishi lun, translated into Chinese by Xuanzang in 659. The main point of this bija theory was to prove the existence of “uncontaminated seeds” (anasravabija). In particular, the idea of originally existing uncontaminated seeds (dharmatanasravabija) worked successfully to flesh out the theory of five different natures of religious capacity.The purpose of presenting the theory of uncontaminated seeds in the Cheng weishi lun was not only to justify the theory of five different natures, but also to rescue the theory of “seeds that take thusness as causal referent” (tathatalambanapratyayabija) that was set forth in vol. 52 of the Yuqie shidi lun (Yogacarabhumi; translated by Xuanzang in 648).This was done because the seeds that take thusness as causal referent were taken as buddha-nature (buddhadhatu) or Tathagatagarbha by the people who believed in the Mahaparinirvanasutra—which claimed that all sentient beings have the buddha-nature within themselves and that each and every one can reach Buddhahood.Faced with this crisis, the Weishi school needed a new framework for its seed theory, in order to bring added nuance to its theory of seeds that take thusness as causal referent and the theory of five natures. Thus, the uncontaminated seeds postulated in the Cheng weishi lun superceded the thusnessreferential seeds.

“Hands up Who Wants to Die?”: Primoratz on Responsibility and Civilian Immunity in Wartime

The question of the morality of war is something of an embarrassment to liberal political thinkers. A philosophical tradition which aspires to found its preferred institutions in respect for individual autonomy, contract, and voluntary association, is naturally confronted by a phenomenon that is almost exclusively explained and justified in the language of States, force and territory. But the apparent difficulties involved in providing a convincing account of nature and ethics of war in terms of relations between individuals has not prevented liberal theorists from attempting this task. This paper examines a recent attempt by Igor Primoratz to sketch out the implications of a consistent liberalism for just war doctrine and, in particular, as regards the question of who may be a legitimate target of attack in wartime. Primoratz’s paper itself is a critique of Michael Waltzer’s authoritative exposition of just war theory for failing to be sufficiently and consistently liberal. The debate between these two authors is a productive site for investigating the potential and limitations of liberal theories of just war.

What Is Conceptual Glue

Conceptual structures are commonly likened to scientific theories, yet the content and motivation of the theory analogy are rarely discussed. Gregory Murphy and Douglas Medin‘s ’’The Role of Theories in Conceptual Coherence‘‘ is a notable exception and has become an authoritative exposition of the utility of the theory analogy. For Murphy and Medin, the theory analogy solves what they call the problem of conceptual coherence or the problem of conceptual glue. I argue that they conflate a number of issues under these rubrics and that in each case either the problem to be solved isn‘t subject to a general solution or the theory analogy is of little use. The issues I consider are: (1) what makes a concept efficient, useful, and informative, (2) what makes a concept refer to what it does, (3) what makes a set of objects form a single category, and (4) what makes concepts combine in one way rather than another.

Inventions of Difference: On Jacques Derrida

Reviewed by: Inventions of Difference: On Jacques Derrida G. Douglas Atkins Rodolphe Gasché. Inventions of Difference: On Jacques Derrida. Cambridge: Harvard UP, 1994. 286 pp. $45.00 cloth, $22.95 paper. For most literary critics, I rather suspect, Rodolphe Gasché’s new book will prove daunting. Steeped in the history of philosophy and blessed with keen analytical powers on frequently dazzling display here, Gasché will prove less formidable to philosophers, who are, after all, his principal audience. He argues cogently that those of us in literature have—owing to our lack of knowledge of philosophy, the conversation it has instigated and sustained, and its multiform strategies—systematically misunderstood Derrida’s works, which (he claims) we have all too easily appropriated and co-opted. But Gasché’s interest lies less in correcting literary critics than in saving Derrida for philosophy. In the event Gasché shows that a literary scholar can do philosophical analysis and “the work of thinking,” and he shows up philosophers because too few of them have treated Derrida with the seriousness that he deserves. Gasché, in fact, opens this “companion volume” to his earlier The Tain of the Mirror, with questions concerning the issues and strategies that have perplexed and irritated philosophers and that students of literature have shown an inability, or at least impatience, to confront solidly: How does one approach works of thought whose singularity has most often provoked either a violent hostility or a mechanical imitation that obscures them from our sight? From what angle does one look at these works, so markedly different from standard modes of thinking and exposition, which not only ponder questions of difference and singularity, but put these questions into action? How does one read works that do not limit themselves to making a point, but also perform and enact it? And finally, what do these works that fail and frustrate given expectations, that meditate on the rules of breaking the rules, expect from the critic? What place do they assign their readers? For what mode of relating do they call? In calm, measured, painstaking, philosophical prose, Gasché tackles these questions and offers responsible answers. Ultimately, his is little less a performative act than Derrida’s, for he answers the philosopher’s [End Page 413] call and responds responsibly, precisely the concern of the last piece (they are all misnamed essays) gathered here, the one toward which the book seems structured to move-it’s called “On Responding Responsibly.” Along the way, Gasché carefully takes up such issues as Derrida’s relation to (the philosophical) tradition, the meaning of difference in his work, the place of reason in it, and where God may figure in it. Though I don’t accept all of Gasché’s charges leveled at literary critics, I come away convinced by much of his argument (happily, he names few names). He succeeds, surely, in establishing Derrida as serious, as worthy of the most thoughtful and scrupulous attention, as participating in the conversation that constitutes, defines, and perhaps even privileges but certainly honors philosophy. Gasché shows himself remarkably learned (though not pedantic)-as much at ease in treating Hegel, Heidegger, and Kant as in moving thoughtfully among Derrida’s texts. Gasché is a skillful deconstructor-his discussion and enactment of deconstruction in the well-known piece “Deconstruction as Criticism,” first published in 1979, may be the most authoritative exposition of the work and implications of the arche-trace yet produced. I come away from it sixteen years later with my understanding clarified and modified-and myself rebuked. I wish I had earlier been able to read it as I do now. I come away from the book as a whole feeling educated, as well as in awe. As he demolishes certain myths concerning deconstruction and establishes Derrida’s place in philosophy, Gasché helps ensure the latter’s importance, which, for various reasons and in various ways, has recently been questioned. I don’t know, though, how many of us in literature will be willing to exert the effort truly to come to terms with this book (Gasché’s point precisely regarding Derrida); and I wonder how many philosophers will even acknowledge its presence. I might have wished...

Epilepsy: Frequency, Causes and Consequences

This book has been compiled for the Epilepsy Foundation of America by Allen Hauser and his associate at the Sergievsky Center of Columbia University, New York, NY. Hauser has long been a most productive investigator and teacher in neurology and neuroepidemiology and, in particular, the epidemiology of the epilepsies. This work, then, may properly be taken as an authoritative exposition of the state of the art. <i>Epilepsy</i>consists of 10 chapters plus a rather short glossary and index. In order, they are as follows: "Incidence and Prevalence," "Risk Factors," "Genetics," "Prevention," "Pregnancy and Teratogenesis," "Prognosis," "Intellectual and Psychological Factors," "Employment," "Mortality," and "Seizures and Developmental Disabilities." Each chapter begins with a summary and ends with suggestions for future research, followed by a critically annotated and highly appropriate list of references. These last are current, with several from 1989 and more than a few "in press" or "submitted." The studies reviewed

Central Planning and the `Second Economy' in Soviet-Type Systems

Our profession has developed two polar idealisations of the economic system of socialism, in the sense of collective ownership of the 'means of production'. One is that of hierarchical planning, with information flowing up from factories and farms to a central planning agency, where it is fed into computers, processed for consistency and perhaps even optimality relative to some objective function of the policy-makers and then becomes the basis for directives that are binding on all managers and ultimately on all workers in the system. An authoritative exposition of the pure theory of this approach to socialist economies is the work of L. V. Kantorovich (I965), which can be looked upon as a 'rational' version of the 'command economy' depicted in Grossman (I963). At the other extreme is the vision of decentralised market socialism, associated with the names of Lange (I936) and Lerner (I934), in which the role of the central planning agency is merely that of a Walrasian auctioneer, guiding the economy to a Pareto-efficient equilibrium with consumer sovereignty. Sophisticated hybrids of the two polar cases, such as 'two-level planning', have been developed by Kornai (I967), Malinvaud (I967) and others. Reality in the Soviet Union and the East European satellites deviates considerably from either of these theoretical constructs. The actual operational mechanisms and outcomes of the Soviet system have been intensively studied by Western economists for the last forty years following the pioneering work of Alexander Gerschenkron and Abram Bergson. Various experiments in Yugoslavia, Hungary and Czechoslovakia have been identified with 'market socialism', though none appear ever to have approached close to the pure Lange-Lerner scheme. A phenomenon that is drawing increasing attention from scholars of Soviettype economies is what has come to be known as the 'Second Economy' or 'Parallel Market'. In the major article on the subject, Grossman (I977) defines the 'Second Economy' as all production or trade for private gain, whether legal or illegal.' He gives afascinating account of the phenomenon, with many examples from agriculture, industry, transport, construction and retail distribution, concluding that its quantitative significance for the Soviet system is large and growing. His account depicts the allocation of resources in these economies as being the outcome of an interaction between official planning and the 'invisible * This article is based upon work supported by the US National Sciences Foundation under Grant SES-8i-i6380. We gratefully acknowledge the hospitality of the Institute for International Economic Studies, Stockholm, where Findlay completed his work in this paper, and the helpful comments of two anonymous referees. 1 Both the terms 'Second Economy' and 'Parallel Market' were coined by K. S. Karol in 197I, according to Grossman. Further detailed information and commentary is contained in Katsenelinboigen

Spin-Temperature and Nuclear-Spin Relaxation in Matter

Dieter Wolf 1979 Clarendon Press: Oxford University Press xviii + 462 pp price £1.5 This book is an authoritative and clear exposition of the theory of nuclear spin relaxation. What makes it specially valuable is the fact that it encapsulates within a single, unified viewpoint the major theories associated with (i) Kubo and Tomita; (ii) Bloch, Wangsness and Redfield; (iii) Hebel and Slichter.

The Theory of the Electronic Spectra of Organic Molecules

This is a new impression of the text originally published in 1963. Since that time the extremely lucid and authoritative exposition which Prof Murrell has given of the theory of the electronic spectra of organic molecules has passed the test of excellence by having been translated into German.

The Long-Term Effects of Steroid Contraceptives

Editorial noteThe Twelfth Oliver Bird Lecture was delivered by Professor Richard Doll, Regius Professor of Medicine in the University of Oxford, at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine on 19th March 1970. This was the last lecture to be given under the auspices of the Oliver Bird Trust, an account of which starts on page 359. Professor Doll was formerly Director of the MRC Unit of Medical Statistics, in which capacity he had exceptional experience in assessing the significance of changes in the incidences of abnormal conditions. The subject of his lecture was therefore highly appropriate to his special knowledge, as well as to current controversy and to the series of Oliver Bird lectures. The Journal of Biosocial Science is glad to publish this authoritative exposition of a most important problem.

The Greek Stones Speak: The Story of Archaeology in Greek Lands

Paul MacKendrick has a thrilling tale to tell. . . . His book is for those who want an authoritative exposition of what archaeologists are accomplishing in Greek lands.--New York Times Book Review

United States China Policy

Communism has taken over much of East Asia and poses a grave military and subversive threat to the free countries of the area. United States policy is aimed at counter ing this threat by deterring military aggression through a series of security pacts and the development of indigenous Free World military strength; strengthening the economies and the internal security of the free nations; and opposing any action which would contribute to Chinese Communist power to conquer or subvert. Essential to the policy of limiting the external political effectiveness of the Peiping regime is our support of the Republic of China. United States China policy has been strongly supported by the American people, but there have been expressions of doubt as to the validity of the policy for the future. A "two-Chinas" concept has sometimes been proposed as an alternative. However, the concept is vehemently op posed by both Peiping and Taipei. Even if it were practicable, its presumed advantages are highly questionable and its adop tion by the United States would seriously injure the Free World position in East Asia. This article was written just prior to the renewal of the Chi nese Communist artillery bombardment of Quemoy on August 23 and therefore does not reflect events which have taken place since then. However, it remains an authoritative exposition of United States policy towards China.

British Chemical Nomenclature

IN this volume Dr. A. D. Mitchell, for twenty- three years assistant editor of the Journal of the Chemical society, sets out to do for British chemists what, since 1945, has been done for their American colleagues by the "Introduction"of Chemical Abstracts. Dr. Mitchell himself modestly describes his book as an attempt to expand into a monograph the lecture on "Modern Chemical Nomenclature" which Dr. Clarence Smith gave to the Chemical Society in 1936 ; but it may be doubted whether Dr. Smith could have done the task better than his colleague. Moreover, the book is no mere expansion of that lecture. Like the lecture, it deals with inorganic as well as organic nomenclature, and it derives its importance from the fact that it is an authoritative exposition of British practice. Hitherto this practice could only be ascertained laboriously and imperfectly from printed instructions to abstractors, which, until the issue by the Bureau of Chemical Abstracts in December last of its Brochure No. 4, "Principles of Abstracting", were several years out of date, and from footnotes, hidden, as Dr. Mitchell remarks, in the Journal of the Chemical Society. British Chemical Nomenclature By Dr. A. D. Mitchell. Pp. viii + 156. (London: Edward Arnold and Co., 1948.) 21s. net.

Advances in Enzymology and Related Subjects of Biochemistry

THE articles contained in “Advances in Enzymology”, like those in the “Annual Reviews of Biochemistry”, are becoming increasingly indispensable to research workers, teachers, and writers of text-books on biochemistry. Reviews of the progress made in the various branches of this rapidly expanding science have become essential toall who wish to keep abreast of the literature. The writers of these reviews have great responsibilities, for their readers look to them not only for an authoritative exposition of recent advances but also for an unbiased judgment on the new developments and for full acknowledgment of the work of all research workers who have contributed to the advances. This duty of fair presentation and appraisal is usually faithfully carried out. This seems clearly to be the case, so far as the writer is able to judge, with the articles in the volume of “Advances in Enzymology” under review. Dr. E. F. Gale writesa very useful and timely article on the subject of bacterial amino-acid decarboxylases, a subject to which he himself has made very important contributions. These enzymes are responsible for the breakdown, in bacteria, of amino-acids to amines, and Gale has shown that they are formed within bacterial cells in response to certain well-defined conditions of growth. The enzymes have been obtained and studied in cell-free condition. Dr. Gale's article describes in detail the conditions necessary for the formation of the amino-acid decarboxylases, the manner in which enzyme production is affected by the amino-acid in presence of which the bacteria are grown and the importance for the process of decarboxylation of a coenzyme, which the work of Bellamy and Gunsalus, and of Snell, has shown to be pyridoxal phosphate. Advances in Enzymology and Related Subjects of Biochemistry Edited by F. F. Nord. Vol. 6. Pp. x + 563. (New York: Interscience Publishers, Inc., 1946.) 6.50 dollars.

Autonomic Neuro-Effector Systems

SEVERAL reviews have been written recently dealing with the chemical transmission of nervous impulses. A monograph has now been published which gives, for the first time, an authoritative exposition of the views of the Harvard School. The authors have both written many papers describing investigations of the properties of adrenergic nerves. They have shown that stimulation of these nerves causes the liberation of at least two different substances. The clear presentation of the evidence for this conclusion forms the most valuable and impressive feature of the book. No one could question the experimental results, but their interpretation is still in doubt. The theory that drugs combine with a special receptive substance in the motor organ provides the only reasonable explanation of the specificity of drug action, but Cannon and Rosen-blueth's theory that this receptive substance is liberated with the drug into the blood stream seems unnecessarily complicated, and has met with opposition. Autonomic Neuro-Effector Systems By Prof. Walter B. Cannon Prof. Arturo Rosenblueth. (Experimental Biology Series.) Pp. xiv + 229. (New York: The Macmillan Co., 1937.) 17s. net.

General Cytology: a Textbook of Cellular Structure and Function for Students of Biology and Medicine

THIS volume-the largest and most comprehensive ever published on the subject of cytology will stand for many years to come as the most authoritative exposition of a branch of zoology which has grown considerably in recent years. It has been written by the foremost cytologists in the United States of America, altogether thirteen workers, eminent in their special branch, having collaborated. The task of editorship was discharged by E. V. Cowdry. General Cytology: a Textbook of Cellular Structure and Function for Students of Biology and Medicine. Robert Chambers Edwin G. Conklin Edmund V. Cowdry Merle H. Jacobs Ernest E. Just Margaret R. Lewis Warren H. Lewis Frank R. Lillie Ralph S. Lillie Clarence E. McClung Albert P. Mathews Thomas H. Morgan Edmund B. Wilson. Edmund V. Cowdry. Pp. vii + 754. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press; London: Cambridge University Press, 1924.) 7.50 dollars.

Conduction of Electricity through Gases

THIS book, the first edition of which was fully noticed in NATURE (vol. lxix., p. 74), will be welcomed by all those who are striving to keep up with the rapidly growing literature of an increasingly important subject. It was the author s researches in this field which first paved the way for the rapid extension of opr knowledge which has taken place in the last few years. Much still remains to be done before the innumerable phenomena encountered in the study of the electrical behaviour of gases can be considered fully elucidated, and to the thoughtful worker these still unoccupied regions will probably be the most attractive. While this book has been waiting notice on the reviewer s table, frequent reference has been made to it for work that has appeared since the issue of the first edition, and in no case in vain. It maintains in an enhanced degree its good qualities as a work of reference none engaged in the subject can be without, and as an authoritative exposition of a field of work the author has made his own it has its own place among a wide circle of readers.

Radio-activity

PROF. RUTHERFORD'S book has no rival as an authoritative exposition of what is known of the properties of radio-active bodies. A very large share of that knowledge is due to the author himself. His amazing activity in this field has excited universal admiration. Scarcely a month has passed for several years without some important contribution from him, or from the pupils whom he has inspired, on this branch of science; and, what is more wonderful still, there has been in all this vast mass of work scarcely a single conclusion which has since been shown to be ill-founded. The general scope of the present work has been noticed in these columns in a review of the first edition. Before passing to the discussion of special points, it is only necessary to say that the second edition fully maintains the reputation of its predecessor for completeness and suggestiveness of treatment. Radio-activity. By Prof. E. Rutherford Second edition. Pp. xiv + 580. (Cambridge: The University Press, 1905.) Price 12s. 6d. net.