Contemporary Subject Research Articles

Uncertainty and existential thinking

ABSTRACT The main question of the study is whether our existential problems are changing historically and, if so, what is specific to our era. The paper first distinguishes three main types of existential problems (external, internal and structural), secondly presents the historical dimension of existential experiences. In the third step, it argues that not only do existential experiences change with age, but most probably the form of the subject is exposed to historical transformation. The final part of the paper analyses the uncertainty of our present existential condition from the perspective of the concept of the contemporary subject. I try to argue throughout the paper that a clearly articulated set of concepts of existential thinking can be useful for qualitative psychological research.

Spirit of the Age

This essay turns a spotlight on Elizabeth Barret Barrett's unpublished 1822-26 notebook (now in Wellesley College Library). A seldom-cited archival text, the 231-page notebook opens a window on Romantic culture and writers in the years it spans. It also illumines the intellectual and artistic formation of the gifted juvenile author who would become England’s most internationally influential woman poet by 1850 under the name of Elizabeth Barrett Browning. The notebook includes drafts of original compositions, memoranda (for example, “Stray Thoughts,” “List of Books I wish to have”), and extracts or analyses documenting EBB’s self-education through wide-ranging reading across genres, fields, and national boundaries. The largest category of entries is made up of review-like commentaries, principally on recently published books, in which EBB hones a critical voice shaped by the periodical press of the period. Writers treated range from major literary figures like Lord Byron, Letitia Landon, Madame de Staël, and Mary Shelley, to others influential or emerging at the time (e.g., Robert Southey, James Hogg, Anna Jameson, James Fenimore Cooper), to authors of memoirs, biographies, histories, and works of political philosophy. Examination of the hybrid form as well as the mixed contents of the notebook indicates that it both participates in the commonplace book tradition and reflects Romantic transformations in that tradition exemplified by Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s notebooks. In the process, EBB’s 1822-26 notebook offers a perspective on the mid-1820s very different from William Hazlitt’s in The Spirit of the Age (1824-25); it also demonstrates the budding acumen as a literary critic later expressed in her contributions to Richard Hengist Horne’s A New Spirit of the Age (1844). Notably too, the notebook underscores the cosmopolitanism and engagement with contemporary subject matter that underpins her later artistic practice, especially in her representation of “this live, throbbing” modern age in Aurora Leigh (1856).

Processing Entities: Healing Practices and Body Conceptions in the New Age Group “Spiritual Technology”

It is virtually impossible to conduct a holistic study of any religious phenomenon without considering its relationship with health, healing, and the body. In the case of New Age or self-denominated "Spiritual" groups, the role of health takes on an even more prominent role, acting as a soteriology or a cultural ideal. This paper focuses on the conceptions of the body, healing, and well-being held by members of the Serbian group "Spiritual Technology," founded by Živorad Mihajlović Slavinski in 1996, and their associated practices. Through an in-depth analysis of various texts authored by Slavinski, healing practices are considered as religious practices, divided into prevention and remediation practices, along with their subsequent stages (diagnosis, treatment, and prescription). Based on an energetic view of the body, where well-being and unwellness are concepts constantly renegotiated between healer and patient, the body is understood as composed of entities, which have been classified and divided in terms of their origin and their influences on humans. This research concludes that these ritualized practices contribute to the creation of ritual bodies as well as common narratives of corporeality, health, and even a shared worldview, serving as an interpretative framework to interact with the self and the surrounding world and, therefore, playing an important role in the formation of contemporary subjectivities.

Сorruption: contemporary subjects signs, concept

In the foreword, topicality of the problems of corruption, both in Russia and abroad, is determined for which, modern statistical data are provided. The problem of corruption aggravates nowadays for a number of reasons: ineffective activities of authorities, digitalisation and associated new types of consequences of corruption, the merging of representatives of the state apparatus with criminal structures, etc. The article notes that, despite the many scientific works devoted to corruption, we still have no concept of “corruption” proper. At the same time, many researchers note the local nature of corruption crimes. When revealing the concept of “corruption,” the authors here had applied a complex method, analysing the scientific works of representatives of various humanities, both Russian and foreign, which resulted in the identification of signs characterising corruption not only as a legal problem, but also as a general social one. The idea was expressed about the need to develop a single legal international document regulating relations to fight and prevent corruption. Based on the analysis of scientific literature, Russian legislation and judicial practice, a general social concept of corruption and its legal concept were proposed. The formulated conclusions are of theoretical significance for both criminology sections’ development and criminal law science; they are also of practical significance for improving the legal legislative concept of “corruption”.

Trend Mapping of Traditional Ceremonial Studies: Systematic Literature Review

The rising popularity of traditional rituals and ceremonies globally, including in Indonesia, has sparked interest both as heritage practices passed down through generations and as contemporary subjects of study. This article aims to provide a comprehensive overview of trends in the study of traditional ceremonies through a systematic literature review. However, the current abstract falls short of elucidating the specific criteria used to select the 200 articles. To address this, the study employed a systematic literature review approach, examining 200 scholarly articles on traditional ceremonies sourced from Google Scholar and Crossref databases spanning the years 2012 to 2022. The systematic literature review utilized the Publish or Perish application to gather metadata from Google Scholar and Crossref, with subsequent data visualization facilitated by the VOSviewer application. The outcomes of the study encompass three main findings: 1) Mapping clusters of study themes related to traditional ceremonies, 2) Identifying the network of authors whose works predominantly contribute to the field of traditional ceremonies, and 3) Uncovering gaps and novel aspects within the realm of traditional ceremony studies. While the abstract outlines these results, a more detailed elaboration is essential to enhance the overall depth and contribution of the study. Specifically, elucidating the criteria used for article selection and providing a more thorough explanation of the mapping clusters and identified gaps will significantly improve the clarity and impact of the research.

Constructing a Crisis: Mental Health, Higher Education and Policy Entrepreneurs

In 2018, the UK Conservative government issued a ‘non-negotiable’ instruction for universities to make ‘positive mental health’ a strategic priority. This was responding to growing pressure from a variety of stakeholders including mental health organisations, student groups and higher education (HE) management who claimed a worsening crisis of student mental health in the UK. We conducted a qualitative media analysis (QMA) of public discussions of student mental health as a social problem in a sample of (a) newspapers and (b) policy documents produced in the UK between 2010 and 2019 using a contextual constructionist approach and Kingdon’s policy streams framework. It identifies expansive definitions of mental illness, assumptions that precede evidence-gathering, ‘professional exes’ as policy entrepreneurs, and solutions that spread risk across institutions. We conclude by discussing the shift away from autonomous subjectivity towards more heteronomous constructions. In so doing it provides an important contribution to sociological understandings of contemporary subjectivity and social policy regarding mental health in HE.

Architectural classification of downtown riverfront buildings in Poland

Scientists from all over the world have been warning about global warming, thawing of glaciers and rising levels of ocean waters. In recent years, there have also been many floods on a large scale in Europe. Meanwhile, more and more buildings are being built on the waterfront areas. Urban development is coming closer and closer to the water, whereas the water ‘is getting closer’ to us. Many architects believe that we must prepare ourselves for the new reality, that is why the downtown riverfront architecture is gaining more and more importance. Around the world, there are a lot of plans of transforming the waterfront land development. Many architectural bureaus, such as Bjarke Ingels Group or Snohetta, create so many designs related to vast urban waterfront areas that they are beginning to specialize in this subject. Many factors contribute to the quality of good riverfront architecture. In order to notice its qualities, one should pay closer attention to the morphology of space, involving a broad analysis and classification of basic spatial forms. In the preparatory phase of the paper, the researchers came across graphic schemes, appearing in many books and publications, presenting the silhouette of the riverfront building development in cities, but only in terms of urban planning. Contemporary subject literature does not provide enough information on the classification of downtown riverfront buildings seen from an architectural angle. That is why the research problem discussed in this article is concerned with the classification and evaluation of downtown riverfront buildings. This study encompasses the classification of downtown riverfront buildings on an architectural scale – falling between urban planning and single examples of buildings usually described by means of a case-study method. The research was divided into worldwide classification and the national classification encompassing Poland. The analyses on a global scale concentrated on characteristic repeatable building bodies designed by architects all over the world. The classification of architectural objects built in Poland focused on the following aspects: location of the buildings in relation to the river, their characteristic functions or the axiom of the building solids. During the analysis of Polish riverfront buildings, the researchers noticed that many remarkable concepts are continually created, such as ‘periscopes’. These are ideas worth subjecting to further analysis in order to promote the designing of interesting buildings in the downtown riverfront areas.

Materiali per una sociologia dell’amicizia

The excessive individualisation that characterises our age deprives and deforms social relations, and gives rise to painful loneliness and other forms of malaise. The sociological study of friendship, which is unfortunately still underdeveloped, makes it possible to analyse in depth the complexity of contemporary subjectivity and the problems it faces. This essay revisits the contributions of a classical author, Georg Simmel, and two contemporary authors, Birgitta Nedelmann and Francesco Alberoni. The interweaving of their analyses, based on different methodologies, shows how friendship remains a fundamental and indispensable resource for human existence, even in so-called modernity. The analytical elements described here are intended to stimulate further studies towards a more systematic sociology of friendship.

Education and the Narrative Aspect of Temporality

Byung-Chul Han (Seoul, 1959) establishes one of the most meaningful and deep understandings of the experience of the contemporary subject. In his view, temporality has suffered a radical atomization that translates into a fragmented life experience: a collection of isolated instants devoid of a sense of duration. As a by-product of this circumstance, we see our very way of thinking and learning changing accordingly. Where we used to find knowledge, we now see information. The aim of this paper will be to explore the transformative power of education in the context of our “broken” temporality.

Language Diversity and Literature Reviews in Tourism Research

Language bias is a common yet undiscussed practice that can significantly constrain the rigor and generalization of place-based studies and literature reviews. This article discusses how research published in English compared with other languages is considered or not when conducting literature reviews. This research focuses specifically on tourism research and explores specific journal article examples in the contemporary subject area of overtourism within destination-based studies. To do this, we take a critical linguistic, postpositivist approach to three case studies drawn from the literature on the phenomenon of overtourism. The study highlights how research in languages other than English is often discounted or omitted in academic fields that are dominated by English language publications. Nevertheless, our findings strongly support the proposition that place-specific research, to be rigorous and generalizable, should be supported by research carried out in relevant languages for its location. This research provides evidence that place-based research, based on literature from multiple languages and interdisciplinarity, can be reliable, valid, and trustworthy. The study also notes the recommendations for conducting literature reviews within place-specific research and avenues for future research.

Of the virtual as a promotor of interpretations in the acting of the contemporary subject

A reflection on the concept of the virtual from a psychoanalytic perspective is elaborated, and its epistemological trajectory up to the present day is analyzed in order to identify its composition and its elements in relation to the structure of the subject, in order to locate its participation in the mechanisms of interpretation of the unconscious in psychoanalytic devices. Starting from the axiom that psychoanalysis is a praxis dedicated to acts, especially failed ones, and that the virtual, proposed as a performance without act, provides a power detached from signification, it is proposed that it finds expressions constituted either as symptoms -which are the ones of interest here, as language phenomena-, or as social representation scenarios such as "virtual reality", "virtualization phenomena", or "virtuality". The pertinence of this approach is sustained to the extent that the virtual has acquired not only a greater weight in the constitution of social relations, but its semblance is already seen as an inescapable factor to deepen the interpretation of that knowledge not known, or not wanted to know, of the subject of the unconscious.

The process of supervising teachers from the perspective of the development of scientific thinking

Professionalizing educators remains a contemporary subject, requiring constant adaptations to social changes. Supervising educators becomes essential for enhancing performance and professional development, directly influencing their scientific thinking. In the context of fostering scientific thinking in students, supervision focuses on curriculum content expressing competencies in declarative, procedural, and conditional knowledge. This process identifies strengths and weaknesses in teaching, providing constructive feedback and facilitating access to resources for improvement. Viewed as a knowledge-sharing process, supervision contributes to maintaining educational standards and fostering a culture of continuous learning. Psychologists see the supervisor's responsibility extending to the quality of services received by all involved parties. For the development of scientific thinking, supervision may involve specific strategies such as self-reflection, explicit metacognitive learning, the development of self-monitoring skills, and constructive feedback. These strategies can be tailored to the individual needs of educators, contributing to the formation of professionals with strong critical and analytical thinking skills. To develop declarative, factual, and conceptual knowledge, supervisors can use active learning techniques, research, and critical discussions. Supervising procedural knowledge involves careful observation, data analysis, and idea generation. By combining these strategies, supervising educators becomes a complex and personalized process, contributing to the formation of a professional force prepared to encourage scientific thinking in students and respond to the challenges of an ever-changing society.

An analysis of media success as capitalization of contemporary subjects

An analysis of media success as capitalization of contemporary subjects

The Impact of Functional Competencies on Human Resource Management

Competencies are a contemporary subject of interest for global organizations and have a direct relationship with human resource management. Competency in the workplace is analyzed starting with the individual, directly linked to the job, without any preconceived assumptions about the qualities required for success in the role. Human attributes that correlate with success in the workplace are then identified. The competency approach focuses on how to maximize the utilization of exceptional and creative human resources within the organization, including their selection, development, training, and evaluation.The study aimed to analyze the relationship between intrinsic attributes and human resource management, determine the impact of causal relationships on human resource management, and subsequently understand the connection between the benchmark and human resource management. The study adopted a descriptive-analytical, historical, and statistical approach.One of the study's key findings is that many institutions base their selection on surface-level knowledge and skills competencies, assuming that those hired for new positions possess the underlying motivation and qualities. The practical application of competency concepts contributes to the development of training and education plans for individuals or groups of employees based on the gap between the job-related competencies required and those addressed by the employee. The study recommended several actions, including the need to disseminate practical knowledge of competencies to enhance human resource efficiency and organizational change implementation to meet organizational needs and support employees through the change process.

Toward an ontology of the mutant in the health sciences: Re/defining the person from Cronenberg's perspective.

Traditional health sciences (including nursing) paradigms, conceptual models, and theories have relied heavily upon notions of the 'person' or 'patient' thatare deeply rooted in humanistic principles. Our intention here, as a collective academic assemblage, is to question taken-for-granted definitions and assumptions of the 'person' from a critical posthumanist perspective. To do so, the cinematic works of filmmaker David Cronenberg offer a radical perspective to revisit our understanding of the 'person' in nursing and beyond. Cronenberg's work explores bodily transformation and mutation, with the body as a fragile and malleable vessel. Cronenberg's work allows us to interrogate the body in all its complexity, contingency, and hybridity and provides avenues of rupture within current understandings of 'the person'. Reinventing the definition of what it means to be human, critical posthumanism offers opportunities to both critique humanist theories and build affirmative futurities. Also drawing on the work of Deleuze and Guattari, specifically, their concept of becoming, we propose a critical posthumanist alternative to the conceptualization of the person in the health sciences, that of the becoming-mutant, so frequently explored in Cronenberg's films. Such a conceptualization permits the inclusion of various technological interventions of the contemporary subject: The postperson. This position offers the health sciencedisciplines a radical reconceptualization of the conceptual and theoretical approaches, extending beyond those trapped within the quagmire of humanistic principles.

Philosophical dietetics and symposium literature

This article is part of the research project INICIO-2022-18. "Dietetics. Historical Phenomenology of Eating and Epistemology of Culinary Taste” funded by the Vice-Rector for Research of the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile. Dietetics is a fertile philosophical field to investigate the material conditions of the contemporary subject. It is not limited to moral philosophy or the aesthetics of taste, since most contemporary moral debates separate dietetics from the ethics of care. This consideration prevents dietetics from being conceived as a critical reflection on food as a philosophical problem. If dietetics was historically a philosophical discipline that was dedicated to theoretical reflection between ethics, aesthetics and food, contemporary practical philosophy forgot these topics as it considered them "minor" problems, problems of technical solution ---not normative---, or problems with little philosophical performance. Therefore, the rehabilitation of dietetics as a philosophical discipline is based on the assumption that the question of the correct diet and the way of life have been philosophically associated with each other.

Enhancing Post-Quantum Cryptography: Exploring Mathematical Foundations and Comparative Analysis of Different Cryptographic Algorithm

Abstract: This research paper surveys the landscape of cryptography, encompassing historical origins and modern applications. Beginning with foundational concepts, it explores encryption, decryption, ciphers, and keys, spanning symmetric and asymmetric cryptography. Historical context unfolds, tracing cryptography from ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs to Julius Caesar's cipher. The study then transitions to contemporary subjects. Elliptic Curves and Cryptography are investigated, showcasing their significance in secure communication, demonstrating ECC key exchange and AES-GCM encryption using python and Comparative analysis of ECC, RSA, and Diffie-Hellman sheds light on their performance. Zero-Knowledge Proofs are introduced as tools for privacy-preserving verification followed by an exploration of various Zero-Knowledge Proof (ZKP) protocols. By presenting practical implementation examples using Python, the paper illustrates how these proofs can be applied in real-world scenarios. Random Number Generation is examined and distinction between pseudorandom number generators (PRNGs) and cryptographically secure PRNGs (CSPRNGs) is emphasized conducting a thorough comparative analysis of PRNGs and CSPRNGs, considering factors like correlation, independence, periodicity, and entropy. Furthermore, the section evaluates the performance of different random number generation techniques. Fully Homomorphic Encryption emerges as a groundbreaking concept, discussing its mathematical properties, practical implementation, parameter selection, and optimization techniques enabling computation on encrypted data. Cryptographic Secret Sharing Schemes are explored for secure information distribution. The paper concludes by delving into the Chinese Remainder Theorem's applications within modern cryptographic protocols, particularly in RSA decryption and the integration factorization process of the RSA public key cryptosystem. It also provides a comprehensive overview of the theoretical foundations of primality testing, a pivotal aspect of the RSA algorithm. Overall, this research paper provides a comprehensive exploration of cryptography's historical context, core concepts, advanced techniques, and practical implementations, offering valuable insights into the realm of secure communication

Repression and Return of Nature in Hegel and Beyond

Taking its departure from the destruction of ethicality (Sittlichkeit), as envisioned by Hegel in the Phänomenologie des Geistes (PG §443–475), this paper constructs a concept of a contemporary subject whose self-reliant autonomy fractures in the face of the truth. This truth is revealed as an upsurge of nature, whose role and significance has been denied in favor of comfort and security of the subject. The move to yoke and subdue nature by placing science—as Bacon saw fit—in service of technology, and by placing technology in service of human comfort and safety, proved to bear fruit. However, this subjugation, and also the abuse of nature, in one and the same move, results in a subjugation and a denigration of the human self.

Students’ Perceptions of Crossword Puzzles to Enhance Learning in Social Studies 10

Extensive scholarly investigation in social studies education has led to a significant shift in the prevailing paradigm, moving away from conventional lecture-based teaching methods and towards adopting novel and student-centric instructional approaches. The utilization of crossword puzzles is a straightforward and innovative strategy for integrating active learning in the field of social studies. This subject area is an introduction for students to gain a fundamental comprehension of current circumstances, employing contemporary terminology and concepts that diverge significantly from their preexisting knowledge. This study aimed to evaluate students’ perspectives on crossword puzzles as a viable strategy for reinforcing essential concepts related to contemporary subjects. The study was carried out at Bagong Nayon II National High School. The study population comprised 60 tenth-grade students from the cohort of 2022-2023. After attending instructional lectures on the subject matter, the students were allocated 40 minutes to solve the puzzle using a freely available online puzzle generator. An eight-item survey instrument questionnaire was utilized to examine students’ perceptions of crossword puzzles. Many learners perceived using the crossword puzzles as an innovative pedagogical strategy, as indicated by most of their positive evaluations. Using crossword puzzles as an active learning strategy offers a unique, creative, and straightforward approach to enhance the retrieval and preservation of information. Consequently, the study demonstrated that appropriately using crossword puzzles increased student involvement. This instructional tool can serve as a means of formative evaluation and offers a cost-effective alternative to the constraints of didactic teaching.

Calquing within Language and Subject-Calque as Forms of Transhumanist Irresponsibility

In the proposed article I will address the issue of calquing in the Russian language from a philosophical/psychoanalytical point of view and from that of algorithmization/ cybernetization of the human culture. I will touch upon the problem of interrelationship between body and language, which underlie subjectivity and transform in space and over time. I will try to highlight structural characteristics indicative of subject’s transition to another, post-anthropological quality “by means of” calquing of one’s mother tongue. Corporate culture and the consumption of popular translated literature in a simplified language and dubbed mainstream films keep diminishing expectations from an individual in relation to his mother tongue and, hence, to one’s personality as such, while making the latter giving up on “baroque extravagances” and shifting one’s symbolic reference points from within the philology of one’s mother tongue and canonical cultural texts to a utopian “arithmetic mean” of sense-production which eliminates the idiosyncratic space of language as that which opposes translation and comprises the core of culture. On the one hand, language turns into a rudiment, a dead load, while on the other hand — into an instrument of an alienated labor of information exchange, while representing a fundamental cultural phenomenon the problematics and meaning of which I will debate here. In an attempt of exposing the symptoms of subject-calque having lost organic touch with the mother tongue and the living speech, I will turn to Jacques Lacan’s comments on the phenomenon of delusion, as well as to Boris Groys’ thoughts regarding the linguistic pathologies emerging as a result of contemporary subject’s dealing with the search engine Google.