Authoritative Opinion Research Articles

The Ambiguities of Censorship in Post–Tridentine Italy: The Case of Physiognomy

ABSTRACT In this article I discuss the ecclesiastical censorship of physiognomy in post–Tridentine Italy. Existing studies of the criteria used by the Roman Inquisition to examine operative arts have rightly emphasized continuities with the opinions of earlier authorities, and especially those of Thomas Aquinas. Historians have, nevertheless, tended to suggest that Aquinas's ideas were transmitted to the Inquisition and Congregation of the Index virtually unchanged by texts such as Nicholas Eymerich's Directorium inquisitorum. In this paper I highlight divergences in the opinions of authorities such as Augustine, Aquinas, Eymerich, and Nicholas Peña, a sixteenth-century consultor to the Congregation of the Index and editor of Eymerich's text. I suggest that during the sixteenth century the Church's centralized organs of censorship drew on each of these approaches, but failed satisfactorily to resolve the precise status of physiognomy. In turn this created considerable ambiguities in the practice of censorship at a local level.

Socrates, Democracy, and the End of History

ABSTRACTThis article explores the importance of the Socratic turn to Hegel’s conception of reason in the Philosophy of History. In the “Introduction” to his work, Hegel initially argues that Socrates advanced beyond Anaxagoras, attempting to connect universal reason to concrete human particulars by means of his theory of ideas or forms. Socrates thus turns from the study of material nature to the rational human soul as it is drawn to the good. In addition, Socrates believed that provided one philosophized, one could grasp the ideas in any place at any time. Hegel himself, however, must advance beyond Socrates because the latter failed to understand that the universal manifested itself slowly in successive stages in the historical process, only becoming fully actualized at the end of history. Philosophy, therefore, is only possible in modernity. Moreover, universal reason takes concrete form, according to Hegel, in the modern liberal state, and an individual, having his or her end in this state, achieves her highest potential by obeying and thereby internalizing the state’s laws. For Hegel, I argue, Socratic philosophy—which questions the laws and authoritative opinions of the political community on behalf of gods or ideas that are higher or independent of it—having no grounds in liberal modernity must come to an end. Yet, when we turn to analyzing Hegel’s suggestion near the end of the “Introduction” that Socrates is a philosophic World-historical individual—a type of individual who undermines his or her society to bring forth a new order—we can see that Hegel nonetheless considers Socrates as possessing greatness. I conclude by turning to John Stuart Mill’s portrayal in On Liberty of Socratic philosophy. I argue that for Mill Socratic philosophy should not cease, as Hegel implies, but rather that it is crucial to ensure the flourishing of freedom in the modern, liberal democratic order. Mill’s conception of Socratic philosophy, I argue, is a model of the individualism and free expression that Mill advocates and that we have come to associate with liberal democratic practice today.

Продление срока срочного трудового договора: некоторые теоретические и практические вопросы

The problem of introducing changes to a fixed-term employment contract in terms of amending (extending) its term is an urgent applied problem in the work of personnel services, which often arises in the course of their practical work. Argued, based on established judicial practice, the solution to this problem will create clarity in the application of the norms of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation.
 The norms of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation do not contain a ban on the application of the provisions of art. 72 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation. However, to date there is no single, reasoned opinion on whether it is possible to change the term of a fixed-term employment contract, and if possible, under what conditions? On this issue, there are polar opinions. Both the courts and state authorities have repeatedly changed their position on this issue, right up to the diametrically opposite.
 In this paper, the author attempts to answer this question on the basis of the existing judicial practice and the courts understand the relevant provisions of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, the opinions of the federal authorities of the Russian Federation, as well as their own attempts to interpret the provisions of the law, and concludes that the term of a fixed-term labor contract in the presence of compliance with the necessary conditions dictated by the norms of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, established law enforcement practice.

High Tech Monitoring versus Privacy in the Workplace (Analysis of the Law and Case Law of the Czech Republic)

Modern technologies ask anew the old question about how employees can be checked during working hours so that legitimate interests of their employers are safeguarded. The answer cannot be solely technological, as the employees right to privacy, even in the workplace, is protected at the highest constitutional as well as international levels. Employers when defending their rights and interest are therefore far from free to use the potential of available technological devices in full and without limits. To strike the right balance between legitimate interests and fundamental rights is by no means easy, as the present text tries to demonstrate by summarizing and analyzing the existing Czech approach to the issue. On the one hand, Czech law on the protection of privacy of employees in the workplace, as well as the authorities applying it, are principally in line with generally accepted European standards. On the other hand, however, this basic consensus on values and their substantive and procedural legal safeguards does not mean that Czech law currently answers all questions and leads employers safely outside the restricted zone of prohibited ways of employee monitoring. The focus of the text is thus directed at those provisions of legal acts, decisions of the highest courts, opinions of supervisory authorities and arguments of commentators that influence the way in which the aforementioned rights and interest are balanced in the current Czech legal practice.

The Use of Geo-Questionnaire in Spatial Planning

Changes in the attitude of local authorities towards the managerial processes of local governments have opened the area for cooperation of many actors in decision making processes. Taking into account the complexity of urban planning it is necessary to search for methods facilitating the participatory planning processes. Of potential use are internet tools based on GIS, supporting the engagement of the public in the processes of management and consolidation of local inhabitants. One of such tools is the geo-questionnaire developed within the project: Geoportal supporting public participation in urban planning (GEOPLAN). The aim of the article is to present these results of six pilot studies of e-consultations performed in Poznań and Łódź agglomerations (Poland). Subsequent sections of the article present characterization of Public Participation Geographic Information System (PPGIS) tools and assessment of the possibilities of their use for spatial management on the basis of opinions of local inhabitants and local authorities. Attention is also paid to the legal and organizational challenges related to implementation of internet consultation processes in Poland. Solving these problems may lead to increased contribution of local society and greater effectiveness of decisions made in spatial management at local levels.

Inferring true voting outcomes in homophilic social networks

Consider a soccer game with spectators in a stadium acting as voters. The spectators are polled to determine whether a ball has crossed a line. Either the ball has crossed, or it has not, but the opinions of individual voters regarding the truth of the matter may differ because of their differing perspectives on the event. Voters positioned far from the event may be unable to accurately assess the outcome compared to those positioned nearby. In practice, however, voters' opinions may not be independently distributed. For example, the voters may talk among themselves before their opinions are gathered. This can distort the distribution of opinions, and introduce correlations into voter reports, preventing recovery of the true outcome. For example, if an announcer states that the ball did cross the line, then voters who did not observe this may report this authoritative opinion rather than their own.

Лингвопрагматическая организация англоязычного экологического интернет-дискурса

The presents an analysis of linguopragmatics of ecological Internet discourse based on studying the content of English websites of the most well-known international environmental organizations. The relevance of the work is due to the fact that, despite the great interest of scientists to different types and genres of ecological Internet discourse, its linguistic-pragmatic potential as a complex phenomenon has not yet received full scientific coverage. The paper shows that the investigated segment of virtual environmental communication is organized on the basis of a linguistic-pragmatic model, which includes the following components: goal, intention / communicative-pragmatic attitudes, strategies, tactics. This generalized model, revealing the intentions of an addressee, is concretized by the author for the English-language ecological Internet discourse. Particular attention is paid to the main communication strategies of the analyzed discourse, among which there are the strategies of informing, persuasion and evaluation, increasing the activity of an addressee. It is established that these strategies are implemented by information and explaining tactics, tactics of attracting attention, reasoning through an appeal to the facts, authoritative opinion, feelings of an addressee, tactics of positive self-assessment and defamation of the opponent, tactics of inducement, invitation, call, appeal, feedback from an addressee. The author characterizes lexical, lexical-grammatical and linguistic-stylistic means of verbalization of these tactics.

Interaction of arrangements of the local spatial management plan in the field of environmental protection with the investment and construction process

The local spatial management plan, adopted in Poland at the level of the municipality, is a source of universally binding law, determines the purpose of the area, the distribution of public purpose investments and defines the ways of development and the conditions for land development. The local plan is the basis for issuing the building permit decision on the areas for which its arrangements apply. It directly interferes with the rights vested in entities in real property and property rights. The provisions of the plan, as an act of universally binding law, bind everyone, including all administrative bodies and courts, as well as property owners. When adopting a local spatial management plan, the commune council should be guided by a number of values, including maintaining spatial order, architectural and landscape values, as well as environmental protection requirements. A local plan is an act of local law, therefore it must contain standards defining the specific purpose of each area covered by the regulation in an unambiguous manner, it cannot contain provisions that make land development conditional on subsequent opinions of public administration authorities or allow any entities to individually agree on deviations from the adopted plan. In practice, however, the ambiguity of provisions regarding environmental protection is noticed, in particular in the interpretation of the concept of biologically active land. The work presents how significantly this problem affects the construction investment.

High Tech Monitoring Versus Privacy in the Workplace in the Law and Case Law of the Czech Republic

Modern technologies ask anew the old question about how employees can be checked during working hours so that legitimate interests of their employers are safeguarded. The answer cannot be solely technological, as the employees right to privacy, even in the workplace, is protected at the highest constitutional as well as international levels. Employers when defending their rights and interest are therefore far from free to use the potential of available technological devices in full and without limits. To strike the right balance between legitimate interests and fundamental rights is by no means easy, as the present text tries to demonstrate by summarizing and analyzing the existing Czech approach to the issue. On the one hand, Czech law on the protection of privacy of employees in the workplace, as well as the authorities applying it, are principally in line with generally accepted European standards. On the other hand, however, this basic consensus on values and their substantive and procedural legal safeguards does not mean that Czech law currently answers all questions and leads employers safely outside the restricted zone of prohibited ways of employee monitoring. The focus of the text is thus directed at those provisions of legal acts, decisions of the highest courts, opinions of supervisory authorities and arguments of commentators that influence the way in which the aforementioned rights and interest are balanced in the current Czech legal practice.

How the new European data protection regulation affects clinical research and recommendations?

Clinical research on human subjects or their data is confronted with conflicting requirements with, on one hand, the principle of open science (transparency and data sharing), the possibilities offered by big data and the reuse of healthcare or research data, and on the other, changes to the regulatory and legislative framework, including the general data protection regulation (GDPR). A roundtable was organized in Giens, France in October 2018 to identify problem areas, the need for clarification and streamlining, and to make recommendations to promote clinical research while ensuring a high level of patient protection. After details were given about these developments, the roundtable participants were able to propose recommendations, primarily (1) to clarify: what is considered anonymized data, and what is "public interest" within the meaning of the GDPR; (2) for the French data protection authority (CNIL) to continue preparing reference methodologies to simplify the approval system; (3) to promote the secondary use of data by making it easier to inform patients and obtain broad patient consent, by specifying the circumstances under which their withdrawal and opposition rights apply, so as to limit the risk of bias; (4) to facilitate access to data warehouses by providing technological and methodological aids. The roundtable also recommends increasing discussions between authorities in Europe on research topics, encouraging French authorities to contribute to the preparation of codes of conduct and setting up a voluntary harmonization procedure to coordinate the opinions of data protection authorities, while ensuring that key documents are available in English.

DETERMINANTS OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP DEVELOPMENT IN THE OPINION OF THE AUTHORITIES OF RURAL AND SEMI-URBAN MUNICIPALITIES IN WARMIŃSKO-MAZURSKIE VOIVODESHIP

The paper presents opinions of local government authorities on determinants of local entrepreneurship development. The research conducted in 2017 in rural and urban-rural municipalities of Warmińsko-Mazurskie Voivodship (Poland) shows that among the locational conditions for entrepreneurship development the tourist attractiveness was rated as the highest. Infrastructural conditions were assessed as favourable while such features of the residents as education level, age or qualifications were satisfactory for the respondents. Protected natural areas, popular in the analysed region, were both a barrier and an opportunity for entrepreneurship development. Moreover, self-government activities were evaluated as good on the local level, and satisfactory on the regional level.

Kant's Philosophy of Communication

Kant's Philosophy of Communication

International hotel chains in Russia

PurposeThis study aims to investigate the recent changes in the strategies of international hotel chains in the Russian market, as well as their role in the sustainable development of small and medium towns as prospective local tourism destinations.Design/methodology/approachGeneral observation of the local environment, statistical analysis and a qualitative approach were used to reveal current developments in international hotel chains’ strategy in Russia, and new opportunities for a number of small towns to be embedded in the development of the Russian tourism market. The current scenarios were examined using the available secondary data, including federal statistics and relevant empirical studies, as well as case studies and personal interviews with industry experts that allowed access to respondents’ opinions and market knowledge.FindingsIn recent years, investment in the Russian regions has become more attractive for international hotel chains. Findings of the study add to the literature on emerging markets by presenting an overview of the main challenges facing international hotel chains in the Russian market and by stressing the facilitating effect of foreign hotel chains’ upon tourism infrastructure development in small and medium towns in Russian regions. The statistics presented, as well as key opinions of hoteliers and local authorities, contribute to an understanding of the strategies used by international hotel operators in emerging economies with reference to new evidence from Russia.Originality/valueThe main output of this study is that it yields a better understanding of the strategic movement of international hotel chains into the Russian regions and new opportunities to develop tourism infrastructure in small and medium cities situated in Russian regions as prospective tourism destinations.

CONCEPTUAL PROBLEMS OF DEFINITION OF ESSENCE OF CONCEPTS «EXTERNAL-INTERNAL» STATE SECURITY

The article explores the problem of establishing specific objects of crimes against the bases of national security of Ukraine in the context of the current criminal legislation and taking into account the provisions of the Law of Ukraine «On the Fundamentals of National Security of Ukraine». The role of the species object in the differentiation of such crimes is studied. Analyzed authoritative opinions of famous researchers in the division of such crimes into separate species.

Does switching to electronic cigarettes reduce the harm caused to the cardiovascular system by tobacco smoking?

The largest number of premature deaths associated with active and passive smoking are due to cardiovascular diseases. The introduction of alternative nicotine delivery devices to the consumer market over the last decade has inspired a vivid debate on the harmfulness of these products. This review compares the mechanisms of the negative influence of tobacco smoke and the aerosol generated from electronic cigarettes on the cardiovascular system. The opinions of authorities in cardiology, as well as those of prestigious organisations and institutions on the matter, are quoted in the paper. Harm reduction following the replacement of conventional cigarettes with electronic ones has been assessed. Available research shows that the main cause of the negative effects of the aerosol from electronic cigarettes to the cardiovascular system is nicotine. No combustion process in electronic cigarettes results in the lack of a vast amount of smoke compounds normally found in cigarette smoke. This results in a smaller influence of these compounds on cardiovascular system. As a consequence, substituting cigarette smoking with electronic cigarettes or other smokeless tobacco products should lead to a reduction in the risk of cardiovascular diseases, however, not to eliminating the risk.

ВОСПРИЯТИЕ ВИДИМОГО: СООТНОШЕНИЕ ОПТИЧЕСКОГО И ТАКТИЛЬНОГО В РАМКАХ ВИЗУАЛЬНЫХ ИССЛЕДОВАНИЙ

The article substantiates one of the topical problems of visual research - the problem of ratio of the visual and the tactile. For this, referring to authoritative opinions of modern scientists, the author characterizes visual culture as medial. In a communicative act (even in the visual one), a material object that is present in reality is of great importance. The tactile and the visual work together in the act of perception and are not always easily discernible. On the basis of Gumbrecht’s ideas on changing the methodology of the humanities, the paper explains the process of perception through “production of presence”, juxtaposition of the object and the perceiver.

Alcuni spunti di comparazione tra diritto italiano e diritto ebraico in tema di maternità surrogata

SOMMARIO: 1. Il divieto di maternita surrogata nell’ordinamento italiano - 2. Diritto ebraico e bioetica - 3. “Crescete e moltiplicatevi”. Il precetto divino di procreare e la maternita surrogata nel diritto ebraico - 4. Conclusioni. Some starting points for comparison between Italian law and Jewish law on surrogate motherhood ABSTRACT: Recent scientific progress in reproductive biotechnologies implies significant transformations in terms of the value and culture of the concept of maternity, which is no longer attributable to the legal definition of “mother” offered by Italian civil legislation. Assisted reproductive technologies separate the reproductive aspect and sexual union of the couple, finally leading to the metamorphosis of the relational dynamics underlying the “family identity” and the birth of new types of biolegal contracts. The study sets out to compare the approach that the Italian legal system reserves for the phenomenon of surrogacy with that which has developed at the heart of Jewish law. The interesting variety of opinions of the rabbinical authorities, which express both the Orthodox positions and the more progressive ones, show how Jewish speculation around bioethical reproductive issues has led to a respectful comparison of knowledge and judgements of the minority opinions that enter, with equal dignity, into the legal debate and are enhanced by the absence of a superior interpretation.

Brazilian Adolescents’ Just World Beliefs and Its Relationships with School Fairness, Student Conduct, and Legal Authorities

Prior research has demonstrated that adolescence is a sensitive period to develop their belief in a just world (BJW), both general and personal. Research has found significant relationships between BJW, perceptions of school fairness, student conduct, and perceptions of legal authorities. However, no research has combined these constructs in one model to get a broader picture of how adolescents construct their worldview of fairness and how this influences their compliance with authorities. This study analyzed 475 Brazilian adolescents across three schools. A partially mediated and a mediated model were tested to determine if students’ BJW relate directly or indirectly to student conduct and perceptions of legal authorities through school fairness. The partially mediated model best fit the data. Personal BJW predicted students’ perceptions of the school fairness, which predicted student conduct. General BJW and school fairness predicted adolescents’ perceptions of legal authorities. Perceptions of school fairness are influenced by Personal BJW and are predictive of students’ conduct and opinions of legal authorities. By analyzing multiple constructs simultaneously, this study provides a picture of how these overlapping conceptualizations of justice interact. Students who do not believe their school is fair are less likely to respect and abide by the rules and are more likely to also expect unfair treatment from law enforcement and judicial officials. This study points to the importance of students’ perceptions of justice at school and highlights the far-reaching implications of students who do not perceive or expect justice in their lives.

Трансформация современной образовательной среды в свете приоритетных направлений развития высшей школы

Different aspects of modern education are considered in the article. The subject of the analysis are the processes of changing the Russian higher education system associated with Russia’s accession to the Bologna Declaration, which, in particular, led to the emergence of new requirements for university teachers. Against the background of active processes of integration with foreign-language education systems, the discrepancy of many Russian teachers with the new conditions of the educational process becomes obvious: ignorance of foreign languages (English, first of all), lagging behind the informatization of education, mismatch with the principles of humanization and humanitarization of the learning process, differentiation of education. The article raises the question of the need to increase the psychological, pedagogical, computer and economic literacy of university professors. Authoritative opinions of Russian and foreign experts on the prospects of the educational sphere are given. Attention is drawn to the need to follow the best traditions of domestic education, based on the unity of education and upbringing. The article talks about the important role of studying the native language and literature both in the school and in the university course of study. The urgency of the outstripping nature of education is emphasized, which, in the opinion of the authors of the article, is an important factor in the country’s forward movement.

Challenging transnational Shiʿi authority in Baʿth Syria

From the early 1970s until 2011, the Syrian shrine town of Sayyida Zaynab flourished as a minor centre of Shiʿi learning. It predominantly served Iraqi Shiʿi refugees, but also temporary visitors from Iran and the Gulf countries. The seminaries viewed it as their responsibility to draw in transient Shiʿa and turn them into students and loyal followers of important marājiʿ al-taqlīd or Shiʿi legal scholars who mainly reside in major centres of Shiʿi learning, such as Najaf, Karbala and Qom. While the seminaries in Sayyida Zaynab aimed at strengthening institutional affiliation among lay Shiʿa, they concurrently aided the questioning of authoritative religious edicts and opinions emanating from Iranian and Iraqi centres of learning and produced local religious authorities. This article examines two spheres in which central authority was challenged in the shrine town of Sayyida Zaynab. First, it was contested in seminaries where students and teachers debated legal rulings, and second, in contested public Muharram practices such as self-flagellation processions and the showing and selling of recorded laṭmiyyāt, which are chants performed during ritual mourning gatherings.