Critical Edition Research Articles (Page 1)

Why C. K. Yang’s classic work Religion in Chinese Societyis considered a “biblical”-level sociological classic in the study of Chinese religion stems mainly from its three core contributions: First, a unique dynamic research perspective.Unlike previous studies that focused on historical textual criticism or philosophical speculation, C. K. Yang viewed religion as a dynamic, functional component within Chinese social life, vividly depicting the complex interactive relationships between religion and secular institutions such as the family, socio-economic groups, and state politics.Second, profound historical consciousness and methodological innovation.Yang's research is permeated with a clear historical awareness, treating tradition and modernity as interconnected wholes rather than ruptures. He creatively employed the conceptual pair of "institutional religion" and "diffused religion" to effectively explain the characteristic integration of Chinese religion into the secular social order, avoiding the barriers and misunderstandings inherent in models based on Western institutional religion.Third, academic practice that actively responds to issues of the era.Set against the historical backdrop of the “impact-response” model in Western Sinology, Yang’s research was not only a scholarly refutation of claims like Liang Qichao’s that “China has no religion”, but also embodied how that generation of intellectuals, amidst epochal changes, used academic research to explore the fundamental question of “Whither China?” It reflects a deep sense of “scholarly concern for the world”. In conclusion, Yang’s work transcends the mere study of religion; its ultimate goal is to use religion as a methodto profoundly understand Chinese society itself. This broad vision ensures the enduring relevance of his academic legacy.

The emergence of Large Language Model (LLM)-based agents marks a significant step towards more capable Artificial Intelligence. However, the effectiveness of these agents is fundamentally constrained by the static nature of their internal knowledge. Tool use has become a critical paradigm to overcome these limitations, enabling agents to interact with dynamic data, execute complex computations, and act upon the world. This paper provides a comprehensive survey of the methods, challenges, and future directions in empowering LLM-based agents with tool-use capabilities. Through a systematic literature review, we synthesized the current state of the art, charting the evolution from foundational agent architectures and core invocation mechanisms like function calling to advanced strategies such as dynamic tool retrieval and autonomous tool creation. Our analysis revealed several critical challenges that impede the deployment of robust agents, including knowledge conflicts between internal priors and external evidence, significant performance degradation in long-context scenarios, non-monotonic scaling behaviors in compound systems, and novel security vulnerabilities. By mapping the current research landscape and identifying these key obstacles, this survey proposes a research agenda to guide future efforts in building more capable, secure, and reliable AI agents.

This article offers the first critical edition of and philological commentary on a previously unpublished prefatory text (Ἕτερον προοίμιον) transmitted under the name of Theophilos Korydalleus and found in over forty-five manuscripts of his Aristotelian Logic. It examines the status, content, and manuscript transmission of this brief philosophical treatise, which has hitherto been neglected in favour of the more extensive prologue printed in the 1729 edition. Drawing on new manuscript evidence, particularly a marginal scholion by Iakovos Argeios (Add MS 7143, British Library), the study argues that the Ἕτερον προοίμιον constitutes the authentic preface by Korydalleus himself, whereas the longer prologue should be attributed to his disciple and successor Ioannes Karyophylles. This attribution, if accepted, sheds light on the process of textual interpolation and ideological appropriation within the Patriarchal Academy of Constantinople during the late seventeenth century. The study situates the controversy over the two prologues within the broader intellectual and political conflict between the Korydallean tradition, represented by Karyophylles, and the faction aligned with Alexander Mavrokordatos. By highlighting the interplay between manuscript transmission, authorship, and institutional power, the article contributes to ongoing efforts to reassess the contours of post-Byzantine philosophical education and the editorial challenges posed by early modern Greek Aristotelianism.

Contrary to a longstanding scholarly view that Rousseau’s Second Discourse , or Discourse on the Origin and the Foundations of Inequality Among Men (1755), is a merely critical text, I argue that this work provides readers with a positive model for exit from corrupt, unequal political society. In the engraved frontispiece illustration, the central figure is an indigenous Hottentot raised by Europeans. He ultimately exits from European civilized society, liberating himself and recovering equality. Yet he retains two European items, a cutlass and a necklace. In correspondence, Rousseau praised this illustration for aligning with his theoretical vision. Yet scholars haven’t fully investigated its significance. Taking into account, for the first time, an overlooked detail—the Hottentot’s so-called “necklace” is actually a constraining chain—I offer a new reading that highlights liberation from inequality. I explain the caption and historically contextualize Rousseau’s Hottentot compared to Rousseau’s European sources. The frontispiece story illustrates both the psychological basis for pernicious political inequality and civil society’s inferiority to “sauvage” life. Further, my reading exposes a novel theoretical aspect of the Discourse : Rousseau’s constructive insight on how civilized eighteenth-century readers should respond to his critique of civilization. Rejecting unequal political arrangements and “returning” to sauvage freedom is a difficult but real option that courageous individuals might freely choose and take pride in. What I call Rousseau’s emancipatory authorship engages readers’ pride or amour-propre and challenges them to seek freedom and equality, or at least gain critical awareness of the pernicious political conditions around them.

Boris Nikolaevich Tikhomirov left a significant mark in the study of textual criticism, biography, and Dostoevsky's creative work. He possessed encyclopedic knowledge, an original methodology for heuristic research, extensive editorial experience, and was dedicated to finding new sources, documents, and publishing Dostoevsky's autographs. His activities were diverse, encompassing roles as a teacher, university professor, scholar, museum worker, editor, and author of captivating books and articles. He devoted a lot of effort to publishing manuscripts, notebooks, and diaries, as well as current issues of the journal "The Unknown Dostoevsky" and volumes of the Complete Works of Dostoevsky in the author's original spelling and punctuation, as well as books published by “Vita Nova” and others. The need for a program to preserve B. N. Tikhomirov's legacy is evident. It is necessary to publish an electronic library of the scholar's works. His comments and marginalia are particularly significant. Marginalia is an original genre of research. For him, books were not only a source of knowledge but also a tool for exploration. His notes, comments, and remarks are on their pages. They are worthy of publication. Boris was ready to comment on the entire works of Dostoevsky. Several volumes remain to be completed. His comments on Dostoevsky's “Gospel” should be published as a separate edition. Boris Tikhomirov's work should be continued.

Scientific writing is a cornerstone for the dissemination and validation of knowledge, yet it often represents a challenge for researchers, particularly those in the early stages of their careers. This editorial provides a set of practical recommendations aimed at improving the quality of academic manuscripts and facilitating their path from draft to publication. First, it emphasizes the importance of clarity and precision in language, highlighting the need to avoid ambiguity, redundancy, and excessive technical jargon. Second, it outlines the relevance of adopting the IMRaD structure, which ensures logical organization of the introduction, methods, results, and discussion, thereby improving coherence and readability. The correct use of references and citation styles is also discussed, not only as a way to acknowledge previous work but also as a strategy to integrate sources meaningfully into the argumentation. Additional considerations include narrative cohesion, appropriate presentation of results, and the value of critical review, editing, and external feedback. By addressing these aspects, the editorial underscores that writing for publication goes beyond formal requirements: it involves developing the ability to communicate research effectively, responsibly, and ethically, thus contributing to the advancement of science and academic dialogue.

Gout, a disease already describedin the "Anonymus Parisinus Darembergii sive Fuchsii", one of the two surviving Greek medical manuscripts of the first century CE, is reviewed in an effort to trace the timeline of the knowledge of thedisease between the Corpus Hippocraticum and the Renaissance. The treatise exists in four manuscripts of varying lengths: two are located in Paris, one in Vienna, and one in London. The study was conducted using the 1997 Leiden critical edition by Ivan Garofalo, which unifies all four manuscripts ("Anonymi Medici. De Morbis acutis et chronicis"), and was translated into English by Brian Fuchs. The treatise consists of 51 sections (a capite ad calcem,head to heel), in which the description ofsixteen acute diseases precede that ofthirty-five chronic diseases. The chapter on diseases affecting the joints precedes the last chapter, that describes elephantiasis. The text on gout consists of 945 words covering causes (46 words), signs (138 words) and therapy. The causes of gout are attributed to bilious humors and phlegm, as described by the "Ancients". The signs include inflammation and severe pain, typically beginning in the great toe (laterknown as podagra), but can extend to affect the entire leg, hands (referred to as cheiragra), or other joints, indicating a broader condition of arthritis. Pain is more tolerable when swelling coexists. Therapy is based on immediate bloodletting, dietary restrictions, and abstention from meat, wine and venery. Gout in the "Anonymus Parisinus" allows a full understanding of gout in the centuries between the Corpus Hippocraticum and Galen.

The present research attempts to analyze the divergent themes and thought patterns in the poetry collection Lumen by Tiffany Atkinson in light of the Post-Modernist Deconstruction theory postulated by Jacques Derrida. Atkinson is a British postmodernist academic and award-winning poet. Lumen is a medical discourse with an artistic portrayal of pain, suffering, human vulnerability, the speaker’s reflections on time and memory, and his reactions to existential angst. The researchers applied the tenets of Deconstruction theory to analyze this text and its aesthetic and linguistic value. This research is qualitative and is based on textual analysis. Ultimately, the analysis showed that the utilization of diverse notions about life, language, and society led the researchers to explore the underlying structures, interpretations, and subversive elements of this poetry collection. It also highlighted that Atkinson’s poems used a lot of imagery, such as the imagery of Kali, morphine, Kolkata, and the intricate interplay of literary tropes that give multiple meanings, challenging fixed interpretations and inviting readers to question assumptions. They enhanced readers' understanding of Atkinson's artistic vision, language, identity, and societal engagement, as revealed in Lumen. The smart interplay of past and present, reality and imagery also portrays that Atkinson’s poems have fluid and multiple meanings. Atkinson's Lumen captures the complexities of human existence and the intricacies of language by using artistic innovations, fragmented and disjoint narrative, and shifting paradigms of perception and interpretation. Lumen emerges as a critical text that invites readers to delve beneath the surface of language and meaning.

The subject of this paper is Polish film criticism of documentary cinema present in the Polish trade magazines from the end of the Second World War (1945) to the digital turn (circa 2000). The starting point for undertaking this topic was two library searches at the Library of the Polish National Film Archive in Warsaw. As a result, the author compiled an atlas of critical texts on film (which were created in the indicated time period and published in the selected trade magazines), presented their genological division and pointed out the most important places of their publication. Then looking at this map, he highlighted several names of publicists, some of which caught his special attention. The final aim of this analysis involves the wish to inspire other researchers to show interest in the topic indicated above. The atlas offered in this work is intended to serve film, cultural and media scholars as an inspiration to undertake further research on documentary cinema journalism in Poland.

Abstract This article argues that Aristotle’s Protrepticus was a dialogue. The argument is based on the internal evidence of the text itself, which is compared to the remains of Aristotle’s dialogues. Such a comparison offers the strongest possible argument in favour of Protrepticus being a dialogue, given the present state of our evidence.

Roger Smalley’s Transformation was composed during a period of prolific output, intense creative development, and extensive international touring—one ending with the composer’s 1976 immigration to Australia. Transformation marks the intersection of music/technology and composition/improvisation that characterized the approach of the performance group Intermodulation (Peter Britton, Andrew Powell, Smalley, Tim Souster, Robin Thompson). Until 2016, despite the work’s significance, no further performances were given beyond those of Smalley and Souster in the early 1970s, and the work was never recorded or published. The fact of the work’s all-too-brief performance history becomes less surprising upon viewing Smalley’s original 1970 sketch, which was presumably the version used for the 1970s performances. Though the sketch is in the composer’s impeccable hand, there are notations and performance directions that, while presumably adequate as reminders, are less practical for confident interpretation by others. This paper details the process by which the authors of the present study prepared a new critical edition of Transformation from various sources: Smalley’s 1971 score, his sketches for the work, and the BBC recordings of Smalley and Souster. This led, in June 2016, to the first performance of the work since 1971. This article illustrates the significance of the work in the composer’s output, particularly its spontaneous, improvisatory approach to technology and the intersection between composition/improvisation that characterized much of Smalley’s output as a pianist-composer in the Intermodulation period.

The study of epistemically unwarranted beliefs (EUB) (i.e., paranormal, pseudoscientific and conspiracy beliefs) has become relevant due to the negative effects they have produced on people’s health, as evidenced in the covid-19 pandemic. However, there is no instrument with appropriate and updated validity evidence for its evaluation in Latin American people. Because of this, the present study aims to develop a brief scale to analyze general epistemically unwarranted beliefs that do not depend on local factors. A total of 634 adults from five Chilean cities participated in the study of whom 93.8% (n = 575) were university students. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses revealed that the final structure of the Epistemically Unwarranted Beliefs Scale (EUBS) considers 9 items with three related factors. In addition, results showed good internal consistency (CFI > .95; TLI > .95; RMSEA < .07), gender invariance, and evidence of validity based on the inverse relation with the cognitive reflection test and the relationship with sociodemographic variables (i.e., gender, political orientation, and religious orientation). Finally, implications for the theoretical construct and possible limitations of the scale are discussed.

The aim of the paper is to stimulate a broader discussion in the interested editorial circles focused primarily on practical problems related to the access to early modern historical sources. The representative coverage of material from the 16th to the 18th centuries through critical source editions encounters a huge number of extant documents, especially those of an official nature. Editors therefore often resort to a technically (and therefore time-consuming) less demanding form of processing than editing historical sources in extenso, namely the form of extracts. In this paper, the pitfalls of processing such extracts are illustrated by a thorough analysis of one particular example. Subsequently, an overview of the difficulties accompanying the publication of early modern official documents in full is formulated. The paper seeks to emphasize the thesis that although making them available in extenso can only be applied selectively, it should remain a publishing ideal pursued wherever it is both desirable and possible.

One of the most important sources of the Poděbrady era is the collection of copies of deed documents, letters and in two cases of a literary nature, for which the name Cancellaria Regis Georgii was used with the contribution of František Palacký. The presented paper focuses on the introduction of the concept of editorial access to manuscript A – the original of the so-called Cancellaria, in which Hana Pátková, Jan Mareš and Zdeněk Beran participate with me. The modern critical edition will be published in 2024 in the traditional edition series Archiv český, which began to be published in 1840 by the aforementioned František Palacký.

The article presents a critical edition of a preserved draft – that is, the handwritten notes made by Professor Stanisław Witkowski (1866–1950) while preparing his responses to a questionnaire issued by the National Culture Fund after World War II. Kept in the scholar’s family archives, the draft represents a unique type of archival material which, nearly 80 years after its creation, merits attention through publication, accompanied by a detailed scholarly commentary. Written in 1947 and previously unknown, the notes offer valuable insight into Witkowski’s academic biography – worth highlighting especially as 2025 marks the 75th anniversary of his death. At the same time, they serve as an important testimony for understanding a compelling chapter in the history of classical philology in Poland.

:<i>The Orphic Hymns: Poetry and Genre, with a Critical Text and Translation</i>

Abstract The present article focuses on two main topics. Firstly, it provides a general overview of Edward W. West’s travels in India, based on an investigation of unpublished documents preserved in London archives. It emerges that there may have been at least four such periods of residence, during which West developed his scientific interests. One of the main objectives of this investigation was to identify traces relating to the manuscripts of the Zoroastrian polemical treatise Škand Gumānīg Wizār. Secondly, it sheds light on the broader context of the first critical edition of the aforementioned treatise, co-authored by West and Dastur Hoshangji JamaspAsana, and published in 1887. The second part raises questions about the complete manuscripts of this treatise, which appear to have been lost. Particular attention is given to AK2.

ABSTRACT Adaptive behavior assessment is crucial for understanding individuals’ functional abilities. The Adaptive Behavior Assessment System-Third Edition (ABAS-3) is widely used for this purpose, but its internal structure requires validation in different cultural contexts. This study examined the internal structure validity evidence of the Brazilian Portuguese version of the ABAS-3 using item-level data. To evaluate the factor structure of the Brazilian Portuguese version of the ABAS-3 Parent Forms and determine the best-fitting model for assessing adaptive functioning. A total of 2594 children from both public and private schools in Brazil, ranging from preschoolers to school-aged individuals, were assessed through parent reports using the Brazilian Portuguese versions of Parent/Primary Caregiver Form/Ages 0–5 and Parent Form/Ages 5–21. Confirmatory factor analyses were conducted to test three models: a three-factor model, a three-factor-plus-general-factor model, and a single general factor model. Hierarchical structures were considered to determine the most appropriate factor solution. The findings supported the validity of the three-factor model (conceptual, social, and practical domains) and three-factor-plus-general-factor model. The latter provided the best fit, allowing for both domain-specific and general adaptive functioning score interpretations. This model aligns with the theoretical framework of adaptive functioning according to the three domains (conceptual, social, and practical). The Brazilian Portuguese version of the ABAS-3 Parent Forms demonstrates strong internal structure validity, supporting its use in assessing adaptive functioning in Brazilian children. The results reinforce the suitability of this instrument for clinical and research applications.

Abstract This essay consists of four main parts. The first highlights three critical texts that (in three different ways) promote the study not only of the final, completed work, but also of the creative process leading to its creation. These texts are, in chronological order: “The Philosophy of Composition” by Edgar Allan Poe (1846), “Poets at Work” by W. H. Auden, Karl Shapiro, Rudolf Arnheim, Donald A. Stauffer and, last but not least, Charles D. Abbot (1948), and “The Fluid Text” by John Bryant (2002). In part two, I develop and argue the claim that the approach inspired by the indicated critical texts is worth applying to the poetry of Czesław Miłosz. Namely, I argue that it is interesting and useful to deal with the rough drafts (working holographs) of Miłosz's poems and the trace of the creative process left in them. In the third and fourth parts, I conduct an exemplary analysis and interpretation of the creative process of two selected poems by Miłosz. These are, respectively, “Pory roku” [Seasons] and “Późna starość” [Late old age]. In the summary of my article, I try to draw editorial conclusions and imagine a new edition of Miłosz's poetry, inspired by the work of John Bryant and exposing the fluidity of the text.

The article examines the history of the manuscripts and research approaches to the unique work “Kitab al-Kand” by Abu Hafs Nasafi, which is one of the most important sources on the science of hadith in Transoxiana during the 8th–12th centuries. The study analyzes various manuscript versions, identifies major scholarly errors and recent discoveries related to the authorship, structure, and content of the treatise. Special attention is given to academic debates surrounding the manuscripts, comparisons between the Istanbul and Paris versions, and the issue of their critical edition. The author demonstrates the significance of this work for reconstructing the spiritual atmosphere of Samarkand and the broader region, as well as the role of “Kitab al-Kand” in shaping biographical tradition and the transmission of hadith. The article draws on a wide range of sources, including contemporary studies, and offers original conclusions regarding the optimal scholarly publication of the text. At the same time, the article emphasizes the need for further study of the little-known manuscript versions of Kitab al-Kand preserved in regional and international collections. The results obtained may contribute to a deeper understanding of the evolution of the hadith tradition in Transoxiana and its connections with the intellectual centers of the Islamic world. In conclusion, the importance of a comprehensive approach to studying the manuscript as a monument of Islamic culture and a source for the social, intellectual, and religious history of Central Asia is emphasized.