Debate Research Articles

Rethinking education: Bildung, civil society and the search for solidarity

The focus of the paper is on the relation between education and solidarity and the possible futures that this might entail. A concern over solidarity has been a constant in different forms over the history of western education systems - these forms have encompassed a focus on socialisation and cultural reproduction, a desire to alleviate moral decay, through to a more recent sense that education should do more to tackle social division, the rise of demagoguery and post-truth agendas. A long and steady relationship has been established between solidarity and education, but it has suffered in the glare of other, possibly more pressing, imperatives such as concerns over social justice. This paper offers a ‘rethinking’ of the solidaristic nature of education and in particular the extent to which educational institutions can provide suitable grounds for ‘learning solidarity’. To expand on this topic, I draw on a number of intellectual resources, including the work of Hegel (bildung, socialised conceptions of freedom), and the 20th century debate between Richard Rorty and Nancy Fraser over the possibilities of creating and maintaining solidarity in an increasingly fragmented world. I suggest that a rethinking of educational aims along solidaristic grounds requires greater emphasis on both schools and civil society as sites of learning solidarity and a revitalised bildung. I conclude that any such project should also take into account the possible dangers of this approach, including an over-reliance on ‘statism’ as well as contributing further to processes of educationalization.

Against the Pathology Argument for Self-Acquaintance

ABSTRACT Are we acquainted with the self in experience? It may seem so. After all, we tend to be confident in our own existence. A natural explanation for this confidence is that the self somehow shows up in experience. Yet philosophers in both the Eastern and Western philosophical traditions have been sceptical of self-acquaintance. Despite centuries of debate, the matter remains controversial. But the persistence of this dispute is puzzling. Why can we not simply settle this question by introspection? Here, many philosophers hold that the self is elusive. Hence, to address this question we need to use a more indirect method. To this end, philosophers have turned to pathologies of self-awareness such as depersonalization and thought insertion to argue for self-acquaintance, a strategy I label the Pathology Argument. In this paper, I criticize the Pathology Argument on the grounds that we can better explain the symptoms of these disorders without appeal to self-acquaintance.

Revealing invisible stews: new results of organic residue analyses of Beveled Rim Bowls from the Late Chalcolithic site of Shakhi Kora, Kurdistan Region of Iraq

Beveled Rim Bowls (BRBs) are the most iconic and well-known vessel type of ancient Southwest Asia. Roughly and carelessly produced, these conical bowls are attested in their thousands at 4th millennium BCE sites from southern Iraq and the Persian Gulf to the highlands of eastern Turkey and Iran. Questions regarding their function and relationship with emergent state institutions have stood at the centre of nearly a century of debates about the nature of early Mesopotamian urbanism and the so-called Uruk Expansion. In this paper we present the results of organic residue analyses of 10 BRBs from the site of Shakhi Kora in the Sirwan/Upper Diyala River Valley in the Kurdistan Region of north-east Iraq. Our analytical results challenge traditional interpretations that see BRBs as containers of cereal-based rations and bread moulds. The presence of meat- and potentially also dairy-based foods in the Shakhi Kora vessels lends support to multi-purpose explanations and points to local processes of appropriation of vessel meaning and function.

Theorizing Political Martyrdom: Politics, Religion, Death, and Memory

ABSTRACT From its emergence in early Christianity to its invocation in twenty-first century debates, martyrdom has always highlighted the complex relationship between politics, religion, death, and memory. A specifically political notion of martyrdom beyond the world's faith traditions would facilitate the concept’s more capacious application and analysis. Political martyrdom, I argue, consists of several components: (1) a death, occurring in what we might call “unnatural” circumstances, connected in some way to an individual’s identity(ies) or political commitments; (2) consecration of that death by a community or sub-community; and (3) transmission of accounts of that death across time, through processes of commemoration. This essay illuminates the ways by which political communities enshrine certain deaths in their collective memory, where they subsequently contribute to communal solidarity, identity formation, and political mobilization. I conclude by reflecting on how political martyrdom offers new insights into the intersection of politics, religion, death, and memory.

Theater, Revision, and The Merry Wives of Windsor

Surveying several centuries of debate about the relationship of Q (1602) and F (1623) Merry Wives, Jeanne Addison Roberts concluded in 1975 that textual criticism’s “major insight” was that “F is not a revision of Q—an insight now almost completely and apparently finally accepted. The second major insight is seen in [W. W.] Greg’s enunciation of the idea that Q is a memorial reconstruction of F prepared chiefly by the Host—a view that has been developed and challenged but appears to hold its ground quite firmly.”1 What is striking about Roberts’s conclusion is how stable it has remained across the almost five decades of change in editorial theory and practice associated with the new textual criticism. As recently as 2013, Martin Wiggins could describe Q as “a memorial reconstruction probably compiled in or after 1601 by the actor who played the Host; this version has also been abridged and adapted for theatrical use.”2 Although all current editions of Merry Wives acknowledge the textual unorthodoxies of both Q and F, and agree that there has been some specific, purposeful intervention to produce the Folio’s final scene and in particular the Garter-specific speech at TLN 2315, they all more or less subscribe to Roberts’s summary.3 As we will see, the current editorial consensus is that F Merry Wives became Q by some combination of theatrical, memorial, and print depredations and sometimes via a lost intermediary or Ur-text. In a recent survey of editorial practice, Andrew Murphy notes that despite the challenges of 1980s New Textualism, it is “remarkable how much of the old edifice of the New Bibliography remains standing.”4 In this light, W. W. Greg’s foundational work on the texts of The Merry Wives of Windsor, and its editorial influence on recent editions, deserves further attention.

Are emotions necessary and sufficient for moral judgement (and what would it tell us)?

ABSTRACT The eighteenth century debate between moral rationalists and moral sentimentalists has seen a striking renaissance in the past decades, not least because of research into the nature of moral judgement conducted by empirical scientists such as social and developmental psychologists and neuroscientists. A claim that is often made in the current discussion is that the evidence made available by such empirical investigations refutes rationalist conceptions of moral judgement and vindicates the views of Hume or other moral sentimentalists. For example, Jesse Prinz and Hanno Sauer have recently argued that the available data demonstrates that emotions are both necessary and sufficient for moral judgement and that the best or the only way to make sense of these findings is to conclude that moral judgements are constituted by emotions. The aim of this paper is to thoroughly examine this argument and the underlying empirical evidence and to show that there is currently no compelling evidence for the truth of either the necessity or the sufficiency thesis and that, even if both theses were true, they would fail to provide a sound basis for a plausible sentimentalist constitution claim.

Study of curling mechanism by precision kinematic measurements of curling stone’s motion

Why do curling stones curl? That is a question physicists are often asked, yet no answer has been established. Stones rotating clockwise curl right, contrary to our naive expectations. After a century of debate between contradicting hypotheses, this paper provides a possible answer based on experimental evidence. A digital image analysis technique was used to perform precision kinematic measurements of a curling stone’s motion to identify the curling mechanism. We observed a significant left–right asymmetric friction due to velocity dependence on the friction coefficient. Combined with the discrete point-like nature of the friction between ice and stone, swinging around slow-side friction points has been concluded as the dominant origin of the curling. Many new angular momentum transfer phenomena have been found, supporting this conclusion.

Calibrating Chromatography: How Tswett Broke the Experimenters’ Regress

We propose a new account of calibration according to which calibrating a technique shows that the technique does what it is supposed to do. To motivate our account, we examine an early 20th century debate about chlorophyll chemistry and Mikhail Tswett’s use of chromatographic adsorption analysis to study it. We argue that Tswett’s experiments established that his technique was reliable in the special case of chlorophyll without relying on either a theory or a standard calibration experiment. We suggest that Tswett broke the Experimenters’ Regress by appealing to material facts in the common ground for chemists at the time.

The Second Century Debate about the Therapy of Passions – Various Christian Remedies

The disturbing power of the passions or affections, collectively known as πάθος, was the subject of a remarkable debate in Graeco-Roman philosophical schools, as well as in Philo of Alexandria and soon among various early Christian authors. This paper contributes to the recent approach to this subject but also explores new contexts. It examines cosmological (myth), anthropological (the mind – emotions relation) and theological (salvation) ways of addressing that problematic supremacy of emotions. Although it summarises earlier philosophical views, it focuses on Christian documents from the second century and their witness to that ancient debate. By comparison with the diversity of Christian views on the passions, the paper highlights the diverse ‘therapies’ proposed by Christian authors. In conclusion, it points out common motifs among Christian responses to the passions, as well as the differences in their remedies.

Kindred fatalisms: debating science, Islam, and free will in the Darwinian era

ABSTRACT An important aspect of the nineteenth century debate on the relationship between science and religion concerned the popularity of deterministic views among scientists. An integral part of Comte's positivism, the idea of immutable laws that determined natural and social phenomena became an increasingly prevalent component of scientific perspectives in the Darwinian era. Referring to this tendency as ‘scientific fatalism,’ critics likened it to Calvinist predestination, which transformed the debate into one involving polemics about different branches of Christianity as well. This paper focuses on a neglected aspect of this debate, namely, the role that references to Islam and Turks played in it. ‘Mohammedan fatalism,’ already a common theme in justifications of colonialism, promptly became a tool with which to condemn new scientific views. Comparing French, British, and American writings on the topic, the paper illustrates that while there emerged approaches that praised the fatalism of Muslims while making a case for scientific determinism, most scientists and thinkers resorted to condemning the fatalism of Muslims in order to distinguish their views from it. In this respect, the paper demonstrates how political and religious discourses played a significant part in the shaping of scientific discourse in the Victorian era.

O impeachment no Estado democrático de direito brasileiro

Diante do processo que levou ao impeachment da Presidente Dilma Rousseff em 2016, foram suscitados debates acerca da natureza do juízo realizado pelo Senado Federal brasileiro nos crimes de responsabilidade, ficando nítida a necessidade de uma delimitação teórica acerca da espécie de julgamento levado a cabo, seja ele político, jurídico ou misto. Neste trabalho, pretende-se realizar, por meio da fenomenologia hermenêutica, uma análise crítica do processo histórico pelo qual o impeachment foi incorporado no país, bem como explorar as correntes que apontam a natureza do instituto no Brasil. Finalmente, tendo em vista o contexto político-institucional específico do Brasil, o presente artigo realiza um debate teórico a respeito do impeachment para que se encontre uma solução satisfatória aos parâmetros do Estado Democrático de Direito instituído pela Constituição Federal de 1988.

The Pressure of Eurochronology and the Romanian Rural Prose

The paper looks at the Romanian relationship between modernism and rural imagination in the Romanian 20th century debates. As in other cases of semi-peripheral or emergent literatures (the general framework builds on contributions from Frederic Jameson, Pascale Casanova and Wai Chee Dimock), the hegemonical pressure of the Eurochronology has put an embargo on rural prose, excluding it from the projects of modernist literature. The study asserts that far from being a collateral symptom of modernity, rural imaginary is essential for understanding its contradictory mechanisms.

Alguns contributos das Neurociências para a Educação: Os ambientes enriquecidos aumentam a capacidade de aprendizagem do nosso cérebro?

A reflexão e a discussão sobre o papel da especificação genética e da experiência na aquisição de uma função e no desenvolvimento de um indivíduo traduz um debate fascinante e muito atual entre quem trabalha na área do desenvolvimento do comportamento. Acerca do desenvolvimento do comportamento humano e da influência da herança biológica e do meio ambiente estabeleceram-se posições desencontradas e, por vezes, exclusivistas. De um lado, os adeptos da herança genética excluem a possibilidade da influência do meio ambiente. Do outro lado, os adeptos do meio ambiente excluem a herança genética. Existe também uma posição eclética, conciliando ambos os extremos. Além disso, no âmbito das próprias tendências surgem matizes diferenciadoras. Trata-se, portanto, de um assunto bastante polémico ao qual dedicamos este trabalho numa perspetiva das Neurociências. Abordaremos a neuroplasticidade cerebral como a capacidade que o sistema nervoso possui de mudar e adaptar-se, em resposta a estímulos internos e externos, induzindo alterações estruturais e / ou funcionais, ao longo da vida. A plasticidade cerebral constitui um dos pilares dos processos de aprendizagem e de memória. Quando se aprende e se memoriza ou quando se descobre algo desconhecido, a nova experiência deixa uma marca que se traduz em alterações no cérebro. Em suma, o papel das Neurociências no domínio das Ciências da Educação vai ganhando corpo e o conceito de neuroplasticidade é uma condição sine qua non para se tentar estabelecer uma ligação entre a educação, o comportamento e o cérebro.

Debate: Angiography-derived FFR. The angiographic perspective

Debate: Angiography-derived FFR. The angiographic perspective

Debate: The 70:20:10 ‘rule’ in learning and development—The mistake of listening to sirens and how to safely navigate around them

To the Sirens first shalt thou come, who beguile all men whosoever comes to them. Whoso in ignorance draws near to them and hears the Sirens’ voice, he nevermore returns, that his wife and little c...

Tazza Farnese: Problems and Debates

In 1885 the French doctor and collector Daniel Marie Fouquet bought from the antique dealer Souliman Abd es-Samad a group of objects found in the ruins of Tell el-Moqdam (Leontopolis). This find is known as "Trouvaille des lions". Among the objects purchased by Dr. Fouquet there were four Hellenistic bronzes: a sphinx, an oinochoe, a figure of a fisherman and a statue of the god Hermes. All these bronzes were published by the French archaeologist Paul Perdrizet in his book Bronzes Grecs d'Égypte de la Collection Fouquet in 1911. The German archaeologist Hans Peter Laubscher took up the study of the statue of Hermes found in Leontopolis and interpreted it as a Ptolemaic king depicted as the god Hermes-Horus-Triptolemus. Laubscher's study was based only on photos of the statue because it had been missing since 1922, when it was auctioned as part of the Fouquet collection in Paris. The author was able to localize the statue of Hermes in the Calouste Gulbenkian Museum in Lisbon under the number 45. By locating the statue, it is possible to re-discuss it and to review the previous claims of Perdrizet and Laubscher. It is also possible to explore the entire composition for the first time since the published photos of the statue do not show its base. After an iconographical study and considering the interpretations of Perdrizet and Laubscher, the statue can certainly be interpreted as Ptolemy III Euergetes depicted as the god Hermes-Triptolemus. The statue of the Calouste Gulbenkian Museum Inv. No. 45 shows Ptolemy III as divine sower, provider and guarantor of abundance, prosperity, and peace. The function of the statue as temple statue allows a re-discussion about the archaeological context by questioning the provenance of all the objects found in 1885 in the ruins of Tell el-Moqdam (Leontopolis).

Debate on Demanding images: Democracy, mediation, and the image-event in Indonesia, by Karen Strassler, David Kloos, Nuraini Juliastuti, and Annemarie Samuels

Debate on Demanding images: Democracy, mediation, and the image-event in Indonesia, by Karen Strassler, David Kloos, Nuraini Juliastuti, and Annemarie Samuels

Revenge and catch-up travel or degrowth? Debating tourism Post COVID-19

Revenge and catch-up travel or degrowth? Debating tourism Post COVID-19

This is hate, not debate

This is hate, not debate

"Following orders" as a critique on healthcare allocation committees: An anthropological perspective on the role of public memory in bioethical legitimacy.

The public perception of decision-making procedures as fair processes is a central means for establishing their legitimacy to make difficult resource allocation decisions. According to the ethical framework of accountability for reasonableness (A4R, hereafter), which specifies conditions for fair healthcare resource allocation, disagreements about what constitutes relevant considerations are a central threat to its perceived fairness. This article considers how an ethical principle grounded in the public memory of past traumatic events may become the topic of such disagreements. I demonstrate this through an anthropological case study of a recent public de bate concerning an Israeli healthcare allocation committee (HAC, thereafter), which determines state subsidies for new medical technologies as part of Israel's public healthcare system. Drawing upon ethnographic fieldwork about the HAC, I show how the public memory of Adolf Eichmann's trial constitutes a bioethical problem for the committee's legitimacy. Based on Arendt's and Bauman's writings that Nazi bureaucrats' manner of "following orders" was an ethical transgression, some patients contended that the committee has a historical responsibility to question its strict adherence to bureaucratic procedures. Since the committee did not have a direct link to the events of the Holocaust, other considerations seemed to them more relevant. I then present an offer that can settle this disagreement and maintain the HAC's legitimacy according to A4R. I conclude by discussing the contribution of empirical data to models of bioethical legitimacy.