Contemporary Outlook Research Articles

Classical Christian Theism and the Criterion of Particularity

AbstractThis article acknowledges the importance of doing theology proper under the guidance of special revelation and its particular conception of God and argues, against a common contemporary outlook, that the classical Christian theism of Aquinas and the Reformed tradition resonates with the criterion of particularity. To make this case, three features of classical Christian theism (the inference from creatio ex nihilo to the actuality of God, God's freedom from being in a genus and the tendency to treat the divine essence and attributes largely before the treatment of the Trinity) are examined and found to comport formally and materially with the rule of Christian particularity.

The Pseudomonas Story

The <i>Pseudomonas</i> Story

Bernard Williams on the History of Ethical Views and Practices

How should we look back on the history and the origins of our ethical outlook and our way of life? We know that in the past, strange and appalling ethical views and practices have enjoyed widespread and sincere support. Yet we do not regard our contemporary outlook – to the extent that we do, at the present, have a common outlook – as one option among many. However bemused we may feel in ethical matters, at least on some issues we claim to have reasons that are good (enough). If we do not object to the use of the predicate ‘true’ in ethics, we may say that we are confronted with the (ethical) truth of an outlook. Or, to echo a provocative expression of David Wiggins, we claim that ‘there is nothing else to think’.

Valentin Vodnik, "The First Slovenian Poet": the Politics of Interpretations

Each generation in its own way weighs up and measures the past according to contemporary outlooks in order to give shape to the future. Views of the past and of the future are constantly being modified, supplemented, and adjusted from generation to generation. It is, therefore, inevitable that leaders and prophets take on new personal characteristics and that their reputations change, falling and rising (Gspan 1958: 146). Thus, over the past two centuries, the image of Valentin Vodnik has undergone radical change in accordance with prevailing political conditions. Interpretations of Vodnik’s poetry have also varied with changing political circumstances. This is particularly true of his ode to Napoleon, which he published in his Pismenost (Literacy) of 1811. The poem “Illyria Revived” does not represent the peak of Vodnik’s poetic creativity, nor—in the assessment of Ivan Prijatelj—is it “completely original in its phraseology,” for even the syntagma of “Illyria Revived” had been used by others before him (Prijatelj 1911: 587). It did, however, receive a great response and inspired several generations, each of which read and interpreted it in its own way.

Politics and the People in Revolutionary Russia: A Provinicial History. New Studies in European History by Sarah Badcock (review)

772 SEER, 87, 4, OCTOBER 2OOg thinkers mayhavepartedcompany on thequestion ofGod,buttheproblems raisedare stillimportant. Finkel'sworkfocuseson the Soviet side of the question.His carefully researched and scholarly workexaminesthewayin whichtheyoungSoviet stateand particularly Leninidentified thosewhoseideas and influence were likely tobe a serious dangerandthewayinwhichthey weretobe neutralized. The Bolsheviks weresuspicious ofall intellectual organizations and Finkel's workis an excellentaccountof how the intelligentsia, who had hitherto seenthemselves as beingthemoralconscience ofsociety, werebrought under control and eventually replacedbythosewho couldbe reliedon to be loyal to theregime.This involved notonlyphilosophers and writers butdoctors, engineers and anyonewithprofessional loyalties. Although academicstriedto maintain theautonomy ofuniversities, theBolsheviks wereverythorough in the destruction of such structures. Ironically, perhaps,Lenin used his own experience ofexileundertsarism to exiletheseideologicalfoes.He appears tohavethought thatkilling themwouldraisetoogreata protest intheWest. Throughout, itis clearthatLenin,evenafter hisstroke, was thedriving force behindthearrest and expulsion ofleadingthinkers and activists. Finkelemphasizes thepointthatalthough NEP is frequently presented as a timeofrelative cultural freedom, mostintellectuals experienced itas a time of'increasing stateencroachment on theirscholarly, professional and artistic activities' (p.3). Duringthe economicand politicaldifficulties of the early 1920sitis interesting to see thevalueplaced on intellectual freedom. There is an ironythatMarxistsemphasizing economicprimacyrecognizedthe power of ideas and foughtstrenuously againstopposingviews. My only criticism is thatthereis no bibliography to thisbook. Since thisis a very scholarly workitisa falseeconomy on thepartofthepublisher nottoprovide thefullacademicapparatus. Bothofthesebooksilluminate an episodein Russianhistory whichwas previously littleknown.They showthatLenin'sactionswere clearlymotivatedby ideologyand givelie to theargument thathis actionswerepragmaticand in response to particular events.It is also clearhow theworldof emigration and the SovietUnion continuedto have close linksand were interested in each other'sactivities. Theseworks are ofundoubted interest to scholars oftheperiodbutalsogiverisetowiderreflection on theroleofideas and theneedforwatchfulness whenideological conformity is demanded. Christ Church Catherine Andreyev University ofOxford Badcock,Sarah.Politics andthe People inRevolutionary Russia: A Provinicial History. New Studiesin EuropeanHistory. CambridgeUniversity Press,Cambridge andNewYork,2007.xvii+ 260pp. Maps. Figures. Tables.Notes. Bibliography. Index.£55.00:$99.00. Leon Trotskii describedrevolution as ctheforcible entranceofthemasses intotherealmofrulership overtheirown destiny'. In orderto discover the reviews 773 voice of 'ordinary Joe', Sarah Badcock has undertaken some impressive research intotheKazan' and Nizhegorodregions during thecrucialmonths ofFebruary-October 1917.As an intelligent and subtlehistorian Badcockis wellaware ofthedifficulties ofthisproject.Not onlydoes she have to pay closeattention to thedifferences betweenand within theregions, she is also trying toresurrect theviewsofpeoplewholeft no written records. How does i~'t~i£* inxTfiQticrcktf* tine* pvnpri pn r pc r'T nrnmonr r^T^iorp^no lA/riP^n frii* or>nrrpc are* UHV 111 V VJUCUIV/ HIV VjJVUVl IVllWk) KJA. Ul U111U1 ¥ V/lUiiV/lig YTXAV^ alwaysat leastone stepremoved?Badcock' s answeris to 'sourcesare dominated by theurbanpoliticalelite,butb carefully, we can challengethe assumptions and miscoi inthesources, and a subtly altered picture oftherevolutioi XX U1V/ kJVV Ul WU t*.X V^ acknowledge that y evaluating them iceptionsinherent laryyearemerges' (p. 4). The dangeris thatthe added interpretation is a reflection of the historian's obsessions rather thanofan unknowable contemporary outlook. Muchofthebookisgivenovertorefuting a contemporary eliteviewofthe massesas unableto understand government policy.Ifonlythe'darkpeople' couldbe enlightened thenthere wouldbe a better resDonse totheQuestion of questions - 'how to feedRussia' - and theintegration ofthepopulation intotheelite'spreferred mode ofpoliticalactionmembership ofpolitical parties, loyalty to theruleoflaw and theprioritization ofnationalovermyopic interests. Badcocklocatesthefailure oftheProvisional Government and indeedofthe 'democratic experiment' in Russia to thegulfthatseparated ordinary folk and eliteconceptions in 1917.Average Joewas notpoliticized in thesamewayas theelites.Political parties, forexample,werenotpartofhis identity. Therewereno strong partyaffiliations in a periodofrapidpolitical flux.Ordinary Joe was concernedwithlocal conditions and especiallyhis economic plight. Thesefactors conditioned hispolitical responses andbrought himmainly intoconflict withcentral government policy. Thisis especially evident intheProvisional Government's rational attempt to introducecontrolover the distribution of grainas the economiccrisis worsened over1917.Grainsurplus areaswere,however, unwilling tocooperate withtheestablishment ofprovisions committees thatweresupposedto make censuses and toarrangeforthesale and requisition ofgrain.The committees wereat leastsetup in deficit areas,butthenborethebrunt ofpopularanger as foodshortages werenotrelieved.Badcockshowshow local villagesdrew upontraditional patterns ofprotest to organizeeffectively to resist anypolicy thatwas not to theirliking.Ultimately, 'attempts to "educate" the local population abouttheefficacy ofthegrainmonopoly failedbecausethelocal populationrefusedto make the personalsacrifices required,not because theyfailedto understand themessage'(p. 236). This drovetheProvisional Government to resortin some instancesto force,but it lackedthe armed might fora full-scale attackon everyinstance oflocalism. Badcock is veryknowledgeable about the secondaryliterature and is careful to notewhenherconclusions support thefindings ofotherresearch. This is trueof regionalstudies,wherelinksare drawnwiththe workof OrlandoFiges,MikeHickey, MarkBakerand AaronRetish,and ofcontinuitiesin formsof action,forexamplethe prominence of womenrioters in 1 917'resonates withdescriptions ofpeasantwomen'sprotest duringthelate 1920sand early1930s'(p...

Les Dynastes de Thomas Hardy : une poétique spectrale à l’œuvre contre la guerre

The aim of this paper is to examine Hardy’s poetic magnum opus, The Dynasts, as a spectro-poetics against war. The effect of the spectral representation has often been noted but we need a contemporary outlook to understand the role of « spectres ». The living-dead, the phantom, the spectre appear in Derrida’s Specters of Marx (1993) but these concepts also appear in Freud’s notion of « The Uncanny », Foucault’s categories of silence and unspeakability or Kristeva’s definition of the abject. In The Dynasts, Hardy wrote an epic of human automatism or impulsion, an account of human action in spite of human knowledge which is a most violent indictment of war showing that Hardy heralds modern pacifists like Michel Serres or René Girard.

Racial politics in post-revolutionary Cuba

This book analyzes the triumphs and failures of the Castro regime in the area of race relations. It places the Cuban revolution in a comparative and international framework and challenges arguments that the regime eliminated racial inequality or that it was profoundly racist. Through interviews, historical materials, and survey research, it provides a balanced view. The book maintains that Cuba has not been a racial democracy as some have argued. However, it also argues that Cuba has done more than any other society to eliminate racial inequality. The contemporary outlook of the book demonstrates how much of Cuban racial ideology was unchanged by the revolution. Thus, the current implementation of market reforms and in particular tourism has exacerbated racial inequalities. Finally, it holds that despite these shortcomings, the regime remains popular among blacks because they perceive their alternatives of the US and the Miami Exile community to be far worse.

Aging like fine wine: a Singapore public housing story

This paper examines the unique context of the public housing resale market in Singapore over a 29-year period (1990 to 2018). We find that, on average, there is a price premium for housing units with a longer-term lease. This premium effect is significant and nonlinear after controlling for size, floor level, macroeconomic conditions, as well as year and location fixed effects. Specifically, the town and street fixed effects address the concern that older (but established) districts are characterized by more reputable schools and infrastructure such as health care offerings and shopping malls, while developing districts have innovative facilities with a fresh contemporary outlook as that of modern satellite towns. We document a different lease premium in mature towns as compared to that of the new towns, which captures the different concerns of buyers in combination with location and other characteristics of the houses.

Mokymo diferencijavimo pagrindai

Mūsų švietimo reforma, numatydama prioritetus ir spręstinus uždavinius, reikalauja visų tipų ir lygių švietimo įstaigose įgyvendinti ugdymo diferenciacijos principą. Šis principas realizuojamas per diferencijuoto molymo sistemą. Siekiant, kad diferencijuoto mokymo sistema būtų pripažinta ir efektyvi, skatintų pedagogus mąstyti ir kūrybiškai dirbti, būtinas jos metodologinis pagrindimas. Šis pagrindimas turi remtis ne tik ugdymo istorija, bet ir išryškinti pasaulinės edukacinės, psichologinės ir filosofinės minties įtaką tiriamam didaktiniam procesui, jo teoriniams teiginiams, metodiniams pasiūlymams ir laukiamiems rezultatams. Šiuo straipsniu to ir siekiama. Aptariamos J.J. Rouseau, G.S. Hall, J. Dewey, M. Montessori ir kitų autorių pažiūros. Straipnio pabaigoje prieinama prie išvados, jog diferencijuotas mokymas susieja naujais ryšiais mokinio individualybę su mokykla. Jis turi teisę rinktis tokią. mokyklą, kuri atitiktų jo veiklos motyvaciją, jo poreikius, interesus, gyvenimo planus ir sugebėjimus.

Public Administration Education and Formal Administrative Position: Do They Make a Difference? A Note on Pope's Proposition and Miles' Law in an Intergovernmental Context

Tis education forms die common mind; Just as the twig is bent the tree's inclined (Alexander Pope, 1734). you stand depends on where you sit (Rufus Miles, 1978). Few topics promote more extensive and even endless debate than issues surrounding the impact, positive and negative, of education. Does education in general, and professional public administration education in particular, make a difference in the performance or the perspectives of its recipients? Alexander Pope's couplet stated in the epigraph casts education as having a presumed long-term influence on the mind (attitudes or perspectives) of mature persons. By way of contrast, Rufus Miles' simple assertion, first offered many years ago, concisely captures the assumed attitude alteration that is expected to accompany a shift in formal administrative position. Miles coined the phrase to describe the altered outlook of a person shifting posts from one agency (central staff unit) to another agency (line-functional department) in the national government. If Pope's proposition were restated in a form similar to Miles' Law, it might read, Where you stand depends on where/how you were seated/educated. If Miles' Law and Pope's proposition were extended to their logical and extreme conclusions, they would be incompatible. The former claims the dominant and controlling character of the current position as the variable explaining present attitudes or views. The latter offers an unspecified type of a previous mind-shaping process as the variable most pertinent in explaining contemporary outlook or inclination. There is, of course, no inherent reason to push these assertions to such extremes. Indeed, one purpose of this article is to examine the explanatory power of both these variables. For the education variable we are interested in seeing whether the attainment of a public administration degree makes some difference in an attitude variable. For the position variable we explore whether line (functional) specialists hold views that are notably different from central staff (generalist) personnel. Finally, for the dependent (attitude/perspective) variable, we create and analyze an intergovernmental attitude dimension - perceived national influence. We posit two basic hypotheses, one for education and one for formal position. (1) Administrative heads of state agencies who receive federal aid differ in the amount of perceived national influence (PNI) exercised over their staff and agency depending on whether they have or have not) obtained a college-level degree in public administration (PA). Those with a PA degree are expected to record higher levels of PNI than those without a PA degree. (2) State administrators who head agencies that are central staff, control, or coordination entities should record higher levels of PNI than administrators who head line, functional, or program delivery agencies. This hypothesized difference simply expresses the common generalist-specialist conflict that is often captured by the picket-fence metaphor popularized 25 years ago by then-governor Terry Sanford (1967). Intergovernmental Perspectives How do intergovernmental participants at each level perceive other participants' policies or outlooks? Research responding to this question is well established, for example, on the intergovernmental perceptions of city officials (Kane, 1984; Pressman, 1975; Wright, 1973), federal aid administrators (Pressman, 1975; U.S. Senate, 1965), state legislators (Thomas, 1979), state administrators (Wright, 1982), and various other actors (Weidner, 1954, 1960). We cannot provide an extensive exposition of research on intergovernmental perspectives, but mention various studies only to acknowledge the diverse but generally non-cumulative character of this research approach to federalism and intergovernmental relations. Most perception studies recognize that not all officials within the same governmental level (or unit) develop similar views when they see the positions taken by actors at a different government level. …

The STS outlook profiles of Israeli high‐school students and their teachers

The contemporary STS outlook profiles of both 11th grade students and their teachers in the existing science, non‐science and technological tracks in Israeli high schools were established in terms of three categories: views/positions (1), beliefs/attitudes (2), and literacy (3). In this ‘ex post‐facto'‐type study we have found that: (a) there are significant differences between the STS outlook profiles of the three trends in both categories (2) and (3) but not in (1); (b) there are differences between the STS outlook profiles of the students and their teachers in categories (1) and (2) but not in (3); and, (c) there are some minor differences between the STS response profiles of science and non‐science teachers (in category 2 only). These findings confirm our predictions, which were based on our previous studies. They suggest that a special effort in the ‘STS literacy’ domain should be made within both student STS teaching and teacher‐training programmes.

Nonincremental Policy Making: Notes Toward an Alternative Paradigm

Much of the literature of policy analysis and public administration is dominated by incremental and “divisible goods” paradigms. Policy is assumed to be a process of marginal and adjustive decision making in which benefits are dispensed piecemeal—proportionate to prevailing distributions of power or publicized need. This essay asserts the existence of a class of nonincremental, indivisible policy pursuits for which the analytical weaponry of political science is largely inappropriate. Such policies display a distinctive set of political and administrative characteristics. These characteristics are explained and examined in connection with manned space exploration policy. An assessment is offered of the challenges posed by nonincremental policy to contemporary outlooks in political science.