Contemporary Version Research Articles

Between cognition and discourse: Robert Spaemann’s classical aspects of philosophizing

The German philosopher Robert Spaemann proposed a complex but incomplete concept of philosophy. It has features of a classical approach, but it is difficult to define what is classical in it. Its comparison to the contemporary version of classical philosophy developed by the Lublin School of Philosophy shows that Spaemann may be considered as a representative of a classical, though not metaphysical, manner of philosophizing. Both in philosophy, systematically perceived as a type of cognition, and history, perceived as a type of discourse, classical influences can be observed in terms of the concept of philosophy, its object, purpose, and method. Despite the tension between philosophy as the cognition and philosophy as the discourse, in his concept these two aspects cannot be reduced one to another and cannot be separate from each other. The awareness that philosophy is an endless and controversial discourse on ultimate problems does not relieve philosophers from their efforts to pursue the truth about reality. And this is how Spaemann looks at his own philosophising.

Promoting Environmental Studies for Society

Etymologically environmental studies is not merely the studies of environment but also the long-lasting relationship with the human beings since long the money-making propensity among people has hit the environment hard resulting detrimental effect on it in the form of pollution, global warming, health hazards etc. The environment is not more hale and hearty condition as before. In this crucial juncture, thinkers, professionals, academicians vow to bring back the lost glory i.e. the bond between the environment and human beings. The contemporary version of environmental studies for society does not involve only as an independent existence with an idiosyncratic value but as mutual co-existence of both parties to be well-benefitted. People in connection with diverse disciplines geography, economic, architecture, politics, physical science, biological science, health science must be expert and knowledgeable with a view to raising voices against the existing law and policy to be metamorphoses in the form of mass movement in environmental issues either locally or globally. To tackle the adverse effects and to implement new policies workforce is needed from peoples of all sectors either at home or society off all teachers and students play a vital role to make people convince environment a concerns through environmental studies. Such noble deeds will inspire succeeding generations to change the environment enjoyable and worth living.

Core dimensions of food-related lifestyle: A new instrument for measuring food involvement, innovativeness and responsibility

Segmentation is crucial for targeting product development initiatives and marketing communication nationally as well as internationally. In this paper we use the Food Related Lifestyle instrument that has been applied in the food arena for many years as a ‘stepping stone’ to develop a contemporary, targeted and smaller version of the Food Related Lifestyle instrument, still following the original theoretical framework. In particular we focus on three dimensions that have proven to be of core value in segmentation: food involvement; food innovativeness; and, food responsibility. Based on data collection in six countries (DK, AU, HU, UK, USA and NZ) across two rounds from 2017 to 2019 (total N = 3396), we propose a new core instrument consisting of 15 items that have been tested for cross-cultural validity. Next, we used these three dimensions for segmentation across the six countries by applying multi-level latent class analysis. A solution leading to five different segments could be identified; the foodies, the moderates, the adventurous, the uninvolved and the conservatives. The segments were profiled by means of Schwartz’s ten value domains and measures of self-reported food-related behaviour to check for nomonological validity. We conclude that the 15 items were cross-culturally valid, could be used for segmentation across six countries, and that segment profiling by means of Schwartz values and behavioural items were in line with the theoretical background.

Introduction

Introduction David Russell, Karin Westman, and Naomi Wood In this issue of The Lion and Unicorn, we consider space, time, and place, with particular attention to the affective experiences of characters, their texts, and their readers. Derritt Mason asks us to consider “The Virtual Child, or Six Provocations on Children’s Literature and (Pre-) Digital Culture,” so we can better understand our ideological assumptions about the past, present, and future of the child, the virtual, and children’s literature in the twenty-first century. “Anxieties about children and the virtual might feel unique to the digital age,” but, as Mason explains, there is “a longer, pre-digital history of ‘the virtual child’” as “a virtual being that is, simultaneously and paradoxically, both promising and threatening,” both “virtuous” and dangerously full of “Virtù, or power, creativity.” In its genealogical approach, Mason’s purposefully “unformed, unfinished, playful provocations,” six in number, “span genre and form—fairy tales, digital apps, young adult literature, film, and poetry—to consider various iterations of the virtual child over the years, culminating in a brief examination of discourse about young activists.” Mason’s provisional conclusion: we should look to “‘the activist child’ as a noteworthy contemporary version of the virtual child.” Keeping our attention on the possibilities and limitations of the virtual, Wouter Haverals and Vanessa Joosen’s “Constructing Age in Children’s Literature: A Digital Approach to Guus Kuijer’s Oeuvre” brings together children’s literature and the computational and quantitative methodologies of Digital Humanities (DH). Their focus: “the ideological construction of age in the oeuvre of a single author,” the award-wining and popular Dutch author Guus Kuijer, who writes for both younger and older audiences. As Haverals and Joosen demonstrate, “by using word calculations and counting combinations of words” associated with the practices of macroanalysis and distant reading, it is possible “to trace implicit patterns that are impossible to perceive by the human mind, even in a corpus that is relatively small according to DH standards” and discover “trends in the [End Page v] explicit ideology in the oeuvre of a single author.” Haverals and Joosen’s essay will be of interest to those already versed in the methodologies of DH as well as readers who are just discovering their potential–and all will learn more about the representations of age and childism in contemporary works for children and adults. The relationship between child and adult also finds a place in Tison Pugh’s essay “Sobbing over Severus Snape? Sentimentalism and Emotional Ethics in J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter Novels.” Pugh reminds us that Rowling’s wide-ranging interest in genre includes the sentimental novel, best represented through the work of Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin, “a justly famous representative of the sentimental tradition” which “exemplifies such candid engagement with pressing social issues of the day.” As Pugh argues, “by deploying tropes of the sentimental novel tradition, Rowling deepens the emotional stakes of her series and asks readers to broaden their ethical investment in her characters’ journeys”: “In particular, the novels urge readers to surpass the simplistic ethical choice of good versus evil to consider the ways in which morally dubious characters, particularly Severus Snape, solicit their sympathy.” While “it is easy to begrudgingly respect Snape but difficult to weep for him,” Pugh shows how, “in Rowling’s call for readers to pity the lonely, she raises the pathos of his unrequited love to sentimental heights, thus seeking to link readers affectively to a character for whom many cannot readily express sympathy or sorrow.” In doing so, Rowling also bestows a “deeper emotional and ethical register” on her fantasy series “than genre-bound fantasy” typically provides. Laura Hakala’s “Tidying Up: Space, Place, and Abolitionism in Step by Step; or Tidy’s Way to Freedom” explores the presentation of race in children’s books of the mid-nineteenth century. Hakala examines a little-known, anonymous novel from the mid-nineteenth century—Step by Step was first published in 1862—showing how it advocates for emancipation and how its heroine serves as a role model for young readers of the time. The novel was published by a splinter group of the...

The Virtual Child, or Six Provocations on Children’s Literature and (Pre-) Digital Culture

The Virtual Child, or Six Provocations on Children’s Literature and (Pre-) Digital Culture Derritt Mason (bio) What comes to mind when you hear the word “virtual”? Today, we tend to associate it with digital technology: virtual offices, virtual worlds, virtual reality, the newly virtual dimensions of our lives in the wake of COVID-19. The term, however, has a much longer and often controversial history. Rob Shields opens his book, The Virtual, with the following illustrative example: in 1556 a Calvinist archbishop named Thomas Cranmer asserted a “doctrine of Virtualism” in regards to the Eucharist—Christ does not have a “Real Presence” in bread and wine, the Calvinists argued, but rather a virtual one (5–6). The Eucharist, in other words, is the blood and flesh of Christ in essence but not actually. This claim proved so contentious that Cranmer was executed for heresy. Now: what comes to mind when you think about children and the virtual? This combination could recall any number of contemporary debates, some of which might feel as heated as the fight over the Eucharist probably did in the sixteenth century. How much screen time should children be permitted? How and when are children vulnerable in virtual space? What can digital technology teach children, and when does it risk harming them? Are virtual worlds and spaces ruining the minds (and abilities) of future generations? These anxious questions, among many others, seemingly belong to what Samantha A. Smith and Simon A. Cole call “a new breed of techno-scientific moral panics” that concern themselves with the relationship between young people and emergent technologies (208). Anxieties about children and the virtual might feel unique to the digital age, but as this essay clarifies, a longer, pre-digital history of “the virtual child” demonstrates that the child itself has long been “virtual,” not merely—and only recently—confronted by the perils of virtual space. Such [End Page 1] a history illuminates the peculiarity of our current cultural moment, wherein worries about the digital virtual collide with the child’s enduring construction (by adults) as a virtual being that is, simultaneously and paradoxically, both promising and threatening. As I will explain, we need only reexamine the endless attempts to define the child and delineate its characteristics to see the anxious tensions aroused by the child’s ostensible virtuality. Given the etymology of “virtual,” I argue that we can characterize children’s literature as part of a broader apparatus, one that includes schooling and related sociocultural institutions, that seek influence over the child’s virtuality. Children’s literature often aims to instill virtue, or moral quality, in the child, while mapping and regulating their Virtù, or power, creativity, and possible lack of morality. The child’s virtuality has been the subject of adult concern for centuries, such that worried attempts to manage the child’s virtuality end up producing virtual spaces for this management to take place. Frequently, these virtual spaces take shape inside imperialist narratives of colonial exploitation that assign distinctly gendered tasks to its participants, grooming them for heterosexual adulthood. Such narratives survive today, yielding not only apprehensions about and hopes for the virtual child in a digital era, but also new forms of resistance to these enduring conventions. Instead of a refined and—we could say—fully-grown essay, I offer something “child-like” in the popular sense: six unformed, unfinished, playful provocations, which are occasionally unruly and requiring discipline (perhaps, even, a good spanking). These provocations span genre and form—fairy tales, digital apps, young adult literature, film, and poetry—to consider various iterations of the virtual child over the years, culminating in a brief examination of discourse about young activists; I offer “the activist child” as a noteworthy contemporary version of the virtual child. I begin, however, with a history and etymology of “virtual.” Provocation 1: Historicizing Virtù and the Virtual In The Virtual, Shields provides the dictionary definitions and etymology of his key concept: “The virtual: Anything, ‘that is so in essence or effect, although not formally or actually; admitting of being called by the name so far as the effect or result is concerned’” (OED qtd. in Shields 2). This first definition is...

The dispute over classical sociobiology

“Sociobiology: New Synthesis” is a book written by W. O. Wilson, which in l975 started the famous dispute over sociobiology. The dispute is the contemporary version of the old one about the nature of man. The issue concerns the factor, which determines the behaviours of living organisms, especially human beings. Two groups took part in that dispute. On one side, there were sociobiologists under the leadership of Wilson. On other, there were left-wing scientists and students connected with Sociobiology Study Group of Science for the People. In the first stage, the dispute was very intense and political, however, it soon became more content-related. The dispute is not over yet. Both sides agreed to a ceasefire, but they are ready to open it at any time.

ReGenesis

Abstract Inspired by the success of synthesising organic substances by Friedrich Wöhler in 1828, the vision of creating life in the laboratory synthetically has become increasingly accessible for today’s synthetic biology and synthetic genomics, respectively. The engineering of biology – a contemporary version of the liaison of technology and organic form – creates cellular machines, biobricks, biomolecular ‘borgs’, and entire synthetic genomes of artificial organisms. Besides major ethical concerns, the shift in scientific epistemology is of interest. Unlike classical analytical science, synthetic science understands by a process of generation, through which myriads of new things are created, dramatically changing the living environment.

Formas tecnológicas e formas da comunicação nos artefactos e nos media

O senso comum dá-nos motivos para acreditar que a identidade dos seres vivos naturais é diferente da identidade dos artefactos. Alegadamente, a identidade dos artefactos está dependente da forma que lhes é atribuída pelos seus criadores e não lhes vem de dentro, não é imanente. Digamos que é esta a distinção que, em geral, se presume entre “corpos vivos organizados” e “corpos artificiais organizados”. Ao presumir um ato construtivo humano, o corpo organizado artificial recebe de fora o seu princípio organizador e o que define o seu uso. As obras de arte contam-se entre estes objetos assim como os instrumentos. No século XIX, algumas descrições sobre as manufaturas tinham chegado a uma definição de máquina como um corpo organizado dotado de moção interna, colocando assim o problema do estatuto das máquinas entre os artefactos. Não se estranha que um dos problemas recorrentes nas discussões filosóficas atuais sobre a técnica e a arte seja o do estatuto da dependência mental, intencional, dos artefactos. Essas discussões demonstraram que a dependência mental não pode ser avaliada sem clarificar a comunicação. Pode assim objetar-se aos autores exclusivamente preocupados com o tema restrito da intencionalidade da dependência mental o esquecimento da orientação comunicativa da produção, manual ou industrial, e do seu destino social. Com o presente estudo pretende mostrar-se como a herança platónica da mimésis, exemplificada com as “três camas” de República X, 597 b e ss., embora supondo uma dimensão comunitária, restritiva, do fazer técnico, está presente nos pressupostos de algumas versões teóricas modernas da técnica, da produção industrial e da arte. Clarificam-se as noções do artífice como produtor para a comunidade, do artefacto e da máquina na indústria para identificar os contrastes entre formas históricas distintas de compreender o fazer técnico e as correspondentes ressonâncias semânticas e teóricas. Seguidamente, caracteriza-se o discurso da crítica cultural, representado em alguns textos de Walter Benjamin, Theodor Adorno e Herbert Marcuse, como uma orientação teórica conservadora frente à autonomia da comunicação na modernidade, à expansão da produção industrial automatizada segundo diagramas e a sua aplicação aos produtos da arte. À luz de um escrutínio dos transmorfos da arte modernista, particularmente no DADA, revela-se como a arte explorou as colisões morfológicas resultantes da combinação entre motivos orgânicos, artísticos tradicionais e industriais para pôr a comunicação no centro do fazer artístico, desafiar a intencionalidade do autor e potenciar novas situações estéticas. O alcance das atitudes reativas perante o moderno, que o descrevem como unidimensional e redutor, fica assim limitado. Indo ao encontro das várias dimensões da remarcação do mercantil e do artístico nos transmorfos da arte conceptual, conclui-se este trabalho com a tese de que a comunicação artística, como sobrecodificação de vários media, tem a faculdade de redimensionar os emissores, destinatários e mensagens, mesmo quando tem lugar em meios de difusão estandardizados ou mercantilizados.

Por una crítica ontológica de la ideología del emprendimiento

La especificidad de las formulaciones ontológicas de Lukács es afirmar que la posición teleológica es el fundamento ontológico del ser social. Si toda praxis expresa una conexión con el conocimiento y la consciencia, resulta que las respuestas prácticas son siempre mediadas por algún tipo de producción espiritual. Así, la ideología tiene un rol como parte de la previa ideación. La crítica ontológica es crítica de las estructuras sociales que generan y demandan teorías con funcio­nes prácticas para garantizar su reproducción. Para hacer la crítica ontológica del emprendimiento, presentamos una sistematización de su trayectoria histórica y conceptual. Después, criticamos las estructuras que lo generan y lo necesitan para reproducirse y ampliarse: el neoliberalismo, enten­dido como el modo contemporáneo de existencia del capitalismo. En seguida, identificamos el fundamento ontológico de la ideología del emprendimiento: el individualismo y su función en la distención de conflictos sociales latentes en una sociedad en que, aparentemente, desaparecen las relaciones entre capital y trabajo y, por lo tanto, las clases sociales. Lo específico es que el traba­jador alienado de sus circunstancias, como el real productor de valor, ahora se aliena de su propia condición de trabajador, transmutada idealmente en emprendedor.

The design argument salvaged? Assessing the contemporary argument from improbability

Some features within the physical universe appear to be so well-ordered that they have been regarded as evidence of the existence of a supernatural being who has designed them. This history of the so-called design argument is millennia-long, and various formulations of the argument have been presented. In this paper, I explore one contemporary version of the design argument proposed by the Intelligent Design movement, and analyze its advantages and disadvantages in comparison to one of the most famous classical versions of the argument.

We Need to Talk About Racism-In All of Its Forms-To Understand COVID-19 Disparities.

Purpose: Racism is an essential factor to understand racial health disparities in infection and mortality due to COVID-19 and must be thoroughly integrated into any successful public health response. But highlighting the effect of racism generally does not go far enough toward understanding racial/ethnic health disparities or advocating for change; we must interrogate the various forms of racism in the United States, including behaviors and practices that are not recognized by many as racism.Methods: In this article, we explore the prevalence and demographic distribution of various forms of racism in the United States and how these diverse racial ideologies are potentially associated with racialized responses to the COVID-19 crisis.Results: We find that among white Americans, more than a quarter express traditional racist attitudes, whereas more than half endorse more contemporary and implicit forms of racist ideology. Each of these types of racism helps us explain profound disparities related to COVID-19.Conclusions: Despite a robust literature documenting persistent patterns of racial disparities in the United States, a focus on the role that various forms of racism play in perpetuating these disparities is absent. These distinctions are essential to realizing health equity and countering disparities in COVID-19 and other health outcomes among people of color in the United States.

TEORIAS DA VERDADE COMO CORRESPONDÊNCIA

O objetivo deste artigo é discutir duas versões e alguns problemas das teorias da verdade como correspondência (CR). Pretendemos focar-nos particularmente nas versões mais contemporâneas das CRs formuladas para acomodar fatos como portadores de verdade, comumente referidas como fact-based. Dentro deste espectro, há ainda uma distinção entre CRs de dois tipos. O primeiro caracteriza a relação de correspondência pela ideia de congruência e o segundo, pela correlação. Tendo isso em mente, propomos caracterizar as especificidades de cada uma das formulações consideradas paradigmáticas na literatura secundária para cada um desses tipos, a saber, a CR de congruência de Bertrand Russell e a CR de correlação de J. L. Austin. Por último, objetivamos também discutir algumas implicações e objeções frequentemente levantadas contra as CR.

Exploiting Antenna Diversity to Enhance Hybrid Cooperative Non-Orthogonal Multiple Access

Cooperative non-orthogonal multiple access (C-NOMA) is a novel multiple access technology that is considered as a promising solution for 5G and beyond. The technique has been proposed as a combination between NOMA and cooperative communications, such as device-to-device (D2D) communications. In this letter, we will address some limitations of the state-of-the-art C-NOMA model and promote an enhancement to the contemporary version. The improvement is based on an exhaustive exploitation of the antennas mounted at the users devices. Based on this, we revisit the rate analysis and the performance optimization of C-NOMA systems. Simulation results reveal the robustness of the proposed scheme in the presence of high self-interference (SI) and insightful comparisons with other previously proposed schemes in the literature are provided.

A critical review of voluntary simplicity: Definitional inconsistencies, movement identity and direction for future research

ABSTRACT Voluntary simplicity (VS) is the contemporary version of an ancient notion where inner growth is prioritized over riches and material accumulation. The VS lifestyle is often discussed as a more sustainable lifestyle, which has been a primary factor for attracting interest from a range of research disciplines. However, definitional inconsistencies plague VS. This has resulted in incompatible research methodologies in identifying the different categories of participants that can be associated with this lifestyle. This article addresses the main definitional issues of VS and provides a set of “VS criteria” that can be useful for future empirical work and for discussing the different levels of simplicity. VS has also been criticized for lacking political teeth and the inability to influence structure change. The extent that VS can be considered a social movement is also discussed and suggestions for further research on this topic are provided.

A Freeport Comes to Luxembourg, or, Why Those Wishing to Hide Assets Purchase Fine Art

This article addresses how global art markets are becoming an outlet of choice for those wishing to hide assets. Recent efforts by the OECD and the U.S. Treasury have made it more difficult for people to avoid taxes by taking money “offshore”. These efforts, however, do not cover physical assets such as fine art. Citing data collected in Luxembourg—a jurisdiction angling to become a worldwide leader in “art finance”—I discuss the characteristics of this emerging system of opaque economic activity. The first of these is a “freeport”, a luxurious and securitized warehouse where investors can store, buy, and sell art tax free with minimal oversight. The second element points to the work of art-finance professionals, who issue loans using fine art as collateral and develop “art funds” linked to the market value of certain artworks. The final elements cover lax scrutiny by enforcement authorities as well as the secrecy techniques typically on offer in offshore centers. Combining these elements in jurisdictions such as Luxembourg can make mobile and secret the vast wealth stored in fine art. I end the article by asking whether artworks linked to freeports and opaque financial products have become the contemporary version of the numbered Swiss bank account or the suitcase full of cash.

Tocqueville i problemy z naturą demokracji

CEL NAUKOWY: Celem naukowym jest ukazanie cech specyficznych demokracji oraz ich wpływu na kondycję współczesnej jednostki i społeczeństwa z perspektywy historii idei. Na podstawie analizy tekstów Alexisa de Tocqueville’a i jego wybitnych interpretatorów, takich jak: Pierre Manent, Michael Oakeshott.
 PROBLEM I METODY BADAWCZE: Ukazanie z perspektywy historii idei istoty pojęcia demokracji zarówno w jego teoretycznym, jak i praktycznym wymiarze. Znakomita analiza demokracji poczyniona przez A. de Tocqueville’a w książce O demokracji w Ameryce od swojej premiery we Francji w latach 1835 (I tom) i 1840 (II tom) absolutnie nie straciła na znaczeniu i aktualności. Wprost przeciwnie. Ponowne odkrycie Tocqueville’a w latach pięćdziesiątych dwudziestego wieku było zasługą Raymonda Arona. Pracę nad interpretacją myśli Tocqueville’a kontynuował P. Manent – jego najwybitniejszy uczeń. Zasługi tych dwóch intelektualistów dla popularyzacji myśli A. de Tocqueville’a są bezsporne. To dzięki nim autor O demokracji w Ameryce trafił najpierw do europejskiego, później światowego obiegu intelektualnego. Zatem analiza demokracji opartych na opracowaniach Tocqueville’a i jego interpretatorów jest niezwykle użyteczna do badania kondycji współczesnej demokracji.
 PROCES WYWODU: Tekst zaczyna się od analizy rewolucyjnych przemian społeczeństw zachodnich – głównie Francji i USA – oraz wpływu na ich kondycję polityczną, społeczną i ekonomiczną. Później autor skupia się na omówieniu skutków, jakie niesie ze sobą demokratyczna transformacja. Chodzi przede wszystkim o zasadę suwerenności ludu, nową regułę legitymizacji władzy, która zastąpiła wcześniejszą zasadę suwerenności króla. Reguła ta budzi liczne kontrowersje, jest nieprecyzyjna, a współcześnie stała się pustym gestem, niewiele znaczącym rytuałem. Dalej zostaje przedstawiony swoisty paradoks demokracji, która będąc z natury zjawiskiem społecznym mającym pogłębiać więzi społeczne, prowadzi do odwrotnego skutku, ich rozluźnienia, a nawet rozpadu. Z kolei w demokracji (a właściwie jej współczesnej odmianie – demokracji liberalnej) krucha równowaga pomiędzy równością i wolnością skutkuje jej licznymi de‑ formacjami. Zatem krótka konkluzja brzmi – wolność przegrywa rywalizację z równością. Następnie autor pokazuje skutki, jakie wywołuje triumf równości. Konsekwencją tego zjawiska jest pojawienie się „człowieka masowego” z jego wszystkimi wadami. Na koniec zostaje zaprezentowane pojęcie „łagodnego despotyzmu” jako ilustracja procesu „ubezwłasnowolnienia” nowoczesnych społeczeństw i jednostek przez wszędobylskie, rozbudowane w bardzo wielu wymiarach współczesne państwo.
 WYNIKI ANALIZY NAUKOWEJ: Głównym wynikiem analizy naukowej jest ukazanie przez pryzmat dzieła A. de Tocqueville’, jak również jego współczesnych interpretatorów, wpływu rewolucji demokratycznej, która miała miejsce w ostatnich dwustu latach na jednostkę, społeczeństwo, państwo. Powyższe rozważania dotyczą funkcjonowania człowieka w obszarze polityki, ekonomii i kultury. Wniosek, jaki płynie z obserwacji zawartych w niniejszym artykule, jest pesymistyczny. Demokracja ma cały szereg wad, które przy pojawieniu się niesprzyjających okoliczności społeczno­-ekonomicznych mogą prowadzić do deformacji, a nawet rozpadu społeczeństwa.
 WNIOSKI, INNOWACJE, REKOMENDACJE: We wnioskach autor skupia się na konsekwencjach, jakie niesie ze sobą równość w demokracji. Zarówno ta, którą P. Manent określa jako „naturalną” oraz ta, którą określa, jako „wy‑ obrażoną”. W demokracji, a w demokracji liberalnej w szczególności, napięcie pomiędzy wolnością a równością prowadzi do jej rozchwiania, w ostatecznym rozrachunku do głębokiego kryzysu. W tym modelu ustrojowym – na poziomie idei, jak również praktyki politycznej – nie można tej sprzeczności ani złagodzić, ani wyeliminować. To twórcze napięcie, szczególnie przez kilka dekad po II wojnie światowej na Zachodzie przyniosło pokój, dobrobyt oraz społeczną i polityczną stabilizację. Druga dekada XXI wieku podważa ten stan rzeczy. Demokracja liberalna pod naporem negatywnych zjawisk, chociażby takich jak rozwarstwienie społeczne, ulega poważnemu kryzysowi, wskutek którego mogą wyłonić się dwa nowe modele ustrojowe: „demokracji nieliberalnej” czy też „liberalizmu niedemokratycznego”.

Republicanism as a Critical Idiom

the aim of the paper is to draw briefly the discourse-theoretical foundations to the republican political theory (section 1), with the issue of slave/slavery as a pivotal concern of social and political life (section 2), and then to chart the most interesting consequences for the contemporary versions of the theory as proposed by the key authors (closing paragraphs of section 2, and section 3). the overarching message of the paper reads that republicanism is founded on a specific view of human nature as ens loquens, or zoon logon echon, that has important implications both empirically and normatively. the third, and final, section of the paper enlists six proposals, or suggestions, to contemporary republicans for the purpose of elucidating, first, the limits of republican theory/practice, and second, its intellectual origins as well as its opposition. Sum- marily, the paper lays emphasis as well on the status of republican language as a critical idiom with its pluralist, highly contextualized, and often program- matic/engaged voices.

Psychometric Properties of the Person-Centered Version of the Alcohol and Alcohol Problems Perceptions Questionnaire (PC-AAPPQ).

Given the importance of addressing provider attitudes toward individuals with unhealthy alcohol use and the current emphasis on person-centered language to help decrease stigma and mitigate negative attitudes, the aim of this study was to evaluate the psychometric properties of a contemporary version of the Alcohol and Alcohol Problems Perception Questionnaire (AAPPQ) that uses person-centered language and addresses the spectrum of alcohol use. The authors created a person-centered version of the AAPPQ (PC-AAPPQ) and conducted a cross-sectional study of its psychometric properties in academic settings in the Northeastern United States. The PC-AAPPQ was administered to 651 nursing students. Reliability analysis of the new instrument was performed using the total sample. Only surveys with complete data (n=637) were randomly split into two datasets, one used for the exploratory factor analysis (EFA) (n=310) and the other for confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) (n=327). Compared to all the models generated from the EFA, neither the original six-factor structure nor the five-factor structure was superior to any of the other models. The results indicate that a seven-factor structure with all 30 items is the best fit for the PC-AAPPQ. The PC-AAPPQ represents a positive effort to modernize the four-decade-old AAPPQ. This 30-item instrument, which adds one additional subscale, offers a means to assess providers' attitudes using respectful wording that avoids perpetuating negative biases and reinforces efforts to affirm the worth and dignity of the population being treated.

Metamorphoses of Oedipus in Modern French Literature. From an Intellectual Drama to a Psychoanalytical Reflection on Ideal Love

Oedipus Rex, a tragedy created twenty-five centuries ago, is still a source of inspiration for many writers. However, the overall message of modern interpretations of the Oedipus myth differs considerably from the message of Sophocles’ play; these works are no longer the stories of a man punished by gods for his haughtiness (hybris). André Gide modernizes Sophocles’ tragedy, transforming it into a lesson in secular humanism. The play by Jean Cocteau focuses on the transition from ignorance to awareness. Alain Robbe-Grillet creates an anti-story about the contemporary version of Oedipus, whose lot is determined, not by gods, but by chance and unconscious desires. As for the psychoanalytical interpretation of the myth by Jacqueline Harpman, it is first of all the reflection on ideal love, fully realized in an incestuous relationship between the son and his mother.

Rabbit Hole: Photography, Magic and Reality

The Rabbit Hole projects simultaneously question the present-day reality and unveil the ways of its technological embeddedness while hinting on the possibilities of its future permutations. Are we really in contact with reality? Or are we left at the mercy of constant flickering and perpetually changing simulations, copies, and representations? Which one is the right one? But, truly, is this even the right question? The exhibition projects revolve around of the failed encounter of the reality and photography – on their descent into phantasmagorical landscapes of contemporary visibility and on the social consequences of the intoxication that this rapid descent brings. As a contemporary versions of the burnt images from the Cuna indigenous rituals they create an illusion and defend us against the “cold” petrifying, spectral order of technology – but then again – just maybe they only anesthetize us just before we crash into dystopian social reality.