Scholarly Arguments Research Articles

Understanding the Good: Medieval Inquisitions and Modern Religion

Abstract This essay responds to scholarly arguments that “religion” arose in the particular circumstances of the modern West, distinct chronologically and conceptually from medieval religio. It argues that in the Middle Ages, Christian persecution helped to form that very notion of religion. It does so via the register of heresy inquisitions conducted by Bishop Jacques Fournier in Pamiers (1318–1325), which contains a curious and overlooked Occitan phrase: entendensa del be (“understanding of the good”). In three provocative ways, entendensa del be helps us to reconsider the origins of “religion.” First, one possibility is that the phrase represents an organic proto-religion among the heretics known as Good Christians. A second possibility is, conversely, that scribes presented an insignificant phrase as a technical term, helping to identify the group as heretical. This would highlight coercive inquisitorial agency in reinterpreting language and behavior, anticipating early-modern and modern constructors of “religion.” Third, by its links to troubadour culture, the phrase reminds us how in Occitania, conquest and resistance intertwined with inquisition's policing of “religious” behavior in a way that resembles claims for modernity. Regardless of which possibility, and most importantly, we discover how medieval persecution helped to form modern religion.

The wheel and the first sermon: a reflection on aniconism and Amaravati sculptures in The British Museum

The British Museum possesses one of the most significant collections of sculptures from Amaravati, India, in the world. By discussing four objects in its collection, this brief essay explores the relationship between the historical Buddha (Siddhartha Gautama) and aniconic representation. It scrutinises the iconography of the Buddha’s first sermon through the emblem of the wheel (chakra, or cakra) and critically discusses the representation of the wheel in the arguments of different scholars. This study reconsiders the meaning of the wheel and the representation of the first sermon to reflect more broadly on aniconism in Buddhist art.

Years of service as a condition for pension security of military officers and persons equivalent to them

The article presents a study of the legislative and law enforcement practice of calculating years of service as a condition for pension provision for persons discharged from military service and persons equated to them. Based on the legal positions of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine, the author emphasizes that a pension for years of service is an integral part of the special professional status of persons discharged from military service and persons equated to them. The author supports the arguments of scholars about the need to preserve the institution of years of service. The author characterizes the differences in the application of the provisions of the Law of Ukraine “On Pension Provision for Persons Discharged from Military Service and Certain Other Persons” and the resolutions of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine establishing the general and preferential rules for calculating years of service. It is given the analyzed decisions of the Supreme Court on disputed issues. It is emphasized that the preferential enrollment of years of service is not an independent type of it and does not compete with its calendar calculation. The author argues that the calculation of years of service on preferential terms should be preserved with due regard for the specifics of such enrollment since it is one of the mechanisms of the state’s provision of social guarantees for persons who daily risk their lives/health and perform duties to protect the existence of the state itself. Based on the analysis of the legislative provisions, the author confirms that the years of service required for the entitlement to a pension for years of service depend on the period in which a person has discharged from military service. It is presented the arguments regarding the need to return the previous version of para. 1.3 of the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine of July 17, 1992 № 393, which fixed the conditions for the enrollment of certain periods of service to years of service on preferential terms precisely during the appointment of pensions, and not when determining their amount. The author proposes to supplement Article 12 of the Law of Ukraine “On Pension Provision for Persons Discharged from Military Service and Certain Other Persons” with a provision stating that years of service as a condition for granting a pension under this Article should be calculated on preferential terms for persons who have performed the relevant service.

The Indian Student Placement Program: An Assessment of Mormon Theology and Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Contribution to 20th Century Indigenous Child Removal Trends

This paper examines the 20th-century Indigenous child removal trends in the United States with a specific focus on Mormon involvement and influence. Due to the important role Native Americans played in Mormon prophecy, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints created programs that aimed to academically and spiritually educate Native youth. More specifically, programs such as the Indian Student Placement Program (ISPP) housed Native children with predominantly Mormon families during the school year from 1954 to 1996. However, shifts in Church leadership and attitude throughout this period strongly suggested mental and physical abuse and destruction of tribal identity. By weighing scholarly arguments and referencing the Book of Mormon, this paper will evaluate the extent to which the ISPP can be justified by theology and to what degree the LDS Church contributed to 20th-century assimilation and acculturation trends.

Standardization versus adaptation of marketing mix in international markets: A systematic literature review

This study examined standardization versus adaptation of marketing mix in international markets. It was carried out to explore the scholarly arguments for both standardization versus adaptation of marketing mix in international markets. It also explored the position of extant scholars on the choice between standardization versus adaptation of marketing mix in international markets. The study adopted systematic literature review methodology. The population of the study comprised 4,128 relevant articles obtained from five credible research databases. The article selection procedure was facilitated by a set of inclusion-exclusion criteria and the PRISMA framework. This resulted in the inclusion of 79 relevant articles published between 2017-2023 for the review. The articles were reviewed using in-depth content analysis method. The first finding of the study revealed that the major scholarly arguments for standardization can be grouped into 16 categories, including: economies of scale and cost efficiency; global brand image and recognition; among others. It was also found that the major scholarly arguments for adaptation can be grouped into 13 categories, including: cultural differences; legal and regulatory environment; among others. The last finding is that majority of extant scholars proposed a hybrid approach (glocalization), which combines elements of both standardization and adaptation to create a strategy that is globally consistent yet locally relevant. Therefore, the study advises international marketers to conduct comprehensive market research before adopting a glocalization strategy. This entails understanding local consumer behaviours, preferences, cultural nuances, and economic conditions in order to craft marketing campaigns that align with local culture, values, and traditions of the target market.

Illusory Arguments by Artificial Agents: Pernicious Legacy of the Sophists

To diagnose someone’s reasoning today as “sophistry” is to say that this reasoning is at once persuasive (at least to a significant degree) and logically invalid. We begin by explaining that, despite some recent scholarly arguments to the contrary, the understanding of ‘sophistry’ and ‘sophistic’ underlying such a lay diagnosis is in fact firmly in line with the hallmarks of reasoning proffered by the ancient sophists themselves. Next, we supply a rigorous but readable definition of what constitutes sophistic reasoning (=sophistry). We then discuss “artificial” sophistry: the articulation of sophistic reasoning facilitated by artificial intelligence (AI) and promulgated in our increasingly digital world. Next, we present, economically, a particular kind of artificial sophistry, one embodied by an artificial agent: the lying machine. Afterward, we respond to some anticipated objections. We end with a few speculative thoughts about the limits (or lack thereof) of artificial sophistry, and what may be a rather dark future.

The Ethical Embeddedness of the Economic Inequality Debate

AbstractHow do scholars formulate arguments about economic inequality? What is the role of empirical analysis? In what ways, if any, is the debate informed by ethical considerations? In this paper, we address these questions by evaluating one of the main arguments in Thomas Piketty’s 2014 book Capital in the Twenty-First Century, along with its endorsements and rebuttals. Applying Stephen Toulmin’s model of arguments to Piketty unearths a complex argument structure that must be understood for an evaluation to be possible. Of particular importance are the warrants that Piketty used to justify his conclusions from the empirical material. Our analysis revealed that the most influential rebuttals were targeted not at Piketty’s empirical inferences but the way he used these inferences to justify his claims. We also found value judgments to be an essential part of the justification process, making Piketty’s claims ultimately embedded in ethical considerations. We conclude that value judgments are intrinsic to scholarly arguments not only in economic inequality debates but also more broadly.

Pentecostalism and the (de)construction of ‘Otherness’: Experiences of black African students at a South African University

AbstractDrawing on fieldwork conducted at a South African University, this qualitative study examines the lived experiences of black foreign students studying and living in South Africa. The study sought to understand the role that Pentecostalism plays in mediating the everyday experiences of black foreign students within and beyond the university campus spaces. A total of 30 student patrons from two Pentecostal churches were purposively sampled for the study. Data were collected using qualitative methods, including in‐depth interviews, participant observation, and informal conversations. Data were recorded, transcribed, and thematically analysed. The study findings revealed that for many African foreign students in South Africa, Pentecostalism mediated their sense of being on campus and allowed them to deal with the real and perceived social disarticulation fashioned by xenophobic terrains and attendant socio‐material anxieties. I assert that Pentecostal communities helped African foreign students to embed themselves and adjust to life on campus. These communities allowed them to forge convivial relationships and mutuality with fellow students and other Church members. Building on extant scholarly arguments and debates on Pentecostalism and student mobilities, I argue that Pentecostalism play(ed) a central role in the (de)construction of a sense of ‘Otherness’ through socio‐spiritual rituals including, sermons (the word), proselytisation and other social practices, albeit with varying degrees of success. Although Pentecostal networks strongly mediated black African foreign students' everyday navigation in precarious social spaces, the anxiety and the feeling of otherness are not completely removed.

وحی اور نبوت اور مغربی مصنفین : منٹگمری واٹ اور رابرٹ سپنسر کی آراء کا تقابلی جائزہ

It is an undeniable truth that the channel through which revelation became known to humankind is prophethood. Both revelation and prophethood are thus intertwined; the explanation of one will remain wanting without reference to the other. But majority of the Orientalists have tried their best to criticize and accuse Qur’anic revelation with a lot of misconceptions and allegations concerning wahy since dawn. So, this paper tries to find out the Orientalists view and concept on wahy based on the writings of western scholars. This paper gives high focus on analyzing their concepts and views related the issue and to answer and rectify the misconceptions describing the real facts and teaching of Islam in the issue related to wahy. So, this paper will be helpful to establish fact on Qur’anic revelation to the Prophet. Like other Orientalists, William Montgomery watt and Robert Spencer have actually denied Islamic scholars views about revelation and Prophet hood in their Qur’an commentaries. In this paper, an effort has been made to examine the arguments of both western scholars and to deduce the actual position about this topic. In this research written with a descriptive, comparative and analytical approach, it is proved that according to Quran, sciences of Tafsir and Hadith literature, history and logic, the explicit concepts of both scholars about revelation of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) are baseless and have been rejected with the arguments given by the majority of the Muslim scholars and thinkers.

A Critical Analysis of the African National Congress’s Inclination to the Freedom Charter: A Review of Implementation

The Freedom Charter is supposed to be a guiding document on policy directives for the post-apartheid African National Congress (ANC) government. However, there is strong corroboration driving a lack of academic attention to this well-deserved scholarly subject. In simple terms, scholars do not pay much attention to linking the ANC to this important historical document. Against this background, we argue that the contemporary ANC is encountering several challenges with respect to the implementation of the tenets of the Freedom Charter. The adoption and utility of the “Promise Theory,” in the context of this article, is informed fundamentally by the need to theoretically frame the analysis within a relevant historical theoretical lens. This is done in order to best shape the broader analysis and scholarly arguments advanced in this article. This showcases all that has to do with the Freedom Charter and the various challenges facing the ANC in implementing the document. Methodologically, this article is informed by a complete document review and thematic content analysis.

Ibn ‘Arabī on Divine Atemporality and Temporal Presentism

Muḥyī al-Dīn ibn ‘Arabī (d. 638/1240) is arguably the most influential philosophical mystic in Islam. He is also a presentist. This paper responds to the arguments of contemporary philosophers, Norman Kretzmann, William Lane Craig, Garrett DeWeese, and Alan Padgett, who argue that divine atemporality and temporal presentism are incompatible, through the temporal ontology of Ibn ‘Arabī. Ibn ‘Arabī asserts that all entities in the universe are loci of manifestation of God’s most beautiful Names. These divine Names constitute sensible reality. The principal response of Ibn ‘Arabī to the arguments of contemporary scholars is that the divine Names as they are manifested in the cosmos cannot be conflated with the divine Names as they are in themselves, which, in turn, cannot be conflated with God in His numinous essence. This allows him to simultaneously maintain the atemporality of God and temporal presentism.

A Calf from a Tree-Trunk: From a Rustic Proverb to a Standard Scholastic Argument.

The paper deals with the expression "God is able to make a calf from a tree-trunk"-a very popular phrase in medieval treatises, especially in the context of God's omnipotence. Its attestations are thoroughly documented and considered, contexts discussed, and attributions examined. It is argued that the attribution to Anselm of Canterbury is false and late. It is claimed that the phrase goes back to a popular saying as attested by William of Conches, Peter Comestor, and ps.-Bonaventurian Ars concionandi. Thus, it is a rare example of a rustic proverb used in scholastic debates as a standard scholarly argument.

Sacred Children, Taboo Tradeoffs, and Distorted Discourses

This Article brings together three literatures—bioethics, psychological research on taboo tradeoffs, and family law—to reveal pervasive distortions in current family law scholarship and judicial reasoning. Empirical work in bioethics shows that child welfare occupies a unique moral sphere. People routinely resist making tradeoffs between spheres. Just as sacrificing adult lives for money is taboo, so too is sacrificing child welfare for adult welfare. When faced with the prospect of these tradeoffs, people engage in a predictable set of avoidance and moral mitigation strategies. Across five case studies, this Article shows how child welfare has talismanic qualities which, even in the rarified world of the legal academy, ward off any open discussion of competing interests and powerfully distort scholarly arguments. The problems are worse in the context of elected officials. No legislator can plausibly say: “Of course I’m harming these children, but look at all the offsetting benefits to adults!” Recognizing the taboo nature of trading off child welfare is critical to fully understanding recent critiques of empirics within family law and has sobering implications for the budding movement toward evidence-based policymaking.

The Re-emergence of Parang Sabil: A Foucauldian Discourse Analysis on Suicide Terrorism Phenomenon in the Philippine

Terrorists and the threat of terrorism know no pandemic, as the 2020 Jolo suicide bomber incident vividly demonstrates. One of the signs of the new age of Philippine terrorism is the emergence of suicide terrorism. However, the lack of adequate explanations for the phenomenon shows that suicide terrorism is still a poorly researched topic in Philippine terrorism studies. This paper aims to contribute to the literature by investigating the power dynamics, specifically looking at how the phenomenon is interpreted by scholars using the Foucauldian Discourse Analysis. This study presents several scholarly arguments, examines how these arguments are created, and looks into the implications of their understandings. We argue that scholars hold the power to interpret the phenomenon. Their interpretations are crucial in policymaking. The results reveal that the limited information available allowed for such a diverse range of hypotheses. Yet, despite the limitations, their initial interpretations are crucial in addressing the issue at this time. This highlights the importance of scholars in this setting. The truths revealed here may or may not have an impact on unique community conditions.

Revisiting the Date of the Acts of Peter : Engaging with Potential New Evidence from the History of Simon Cephas

Abstract: Previous scholarly consensus held that the text preserved in the Latin Actus Vercellenses was a relatively faithful translation of a second-century Greek Acts of Peter . In partial support of this date was the posited intertextual relationship with the Acts of Paul , with particular attention given to the so-called " quo vadis " scenes related in both apocryphal acts. More recent scholarship has cast doubt on this, thus removing the terminus ad quem of a late second-century date that this posited relationship provided. Taking this as his starting point, Matthew Baldwin's work constitutes a formidable challenge to previous consensus of both the date and the faithfulness of the Latin translation. He argues that the Vercelli Acts should be understood as a fourth-century product in its own right and of no value for recovering an earlier Acts of Peter . While some brief counterarguments to this have been offered, to the best of my knowledge none have yet incorporated the fourth-century Syriac History of Simon Cephas, Chief of the Apostles , which has extensive parallels with the Vercelli Acts . Doing so lends additional evidence to the priority of the Acts of Peter , as well as potentially verifies scholarly argument regarding a redactional history of the Acts of Peter in the second century. As a fourth-century composition itself that includes material reflecting this date, it is also useful in comparison with details preserved in the Vercelli Acts that scholars have suggested attest to the preservation of earlier material. Taken together, these three avenues of discussion can potentially reinstate the consensus regarding the existence of a second-century Acts of Peter that is more or less faithfully preserved in the Vercelli Acts .

Cultural Studies, Big Data, Scalability: Benjamin Versus Bourdieu

Abstract This essay argues that to be true to its name, Cultural Studies relies on a Big Data tapestry of culture against which individual events may be foregrounded. In the majority of cases, this cultural background is the implied first premise of a syllogism and the scholarly argument becomes an enthymeme. Sometimes, however, the presentation of Big Data becomes the argument in and of itself. After explaining the concept of Cultural Studies with which I am working, as well as the definition and difficulties posed by Big Data, I analyze and compare two precursor works that plainly gather and analyze Big Data to explain cultural moments: Walter Benjamin’s Passagen-Werk (Arcades Project); and Pierre Bourdieu’s La distinction (Distinction). Both works raise the question of how their examples can be scaled to the totalizing visions of culture that they seek, and the two researchers take wildly different approaches to the question of scalability that always lurks behind Big Data approaches.

Pirates and Parrots. On the Pragmatics of Reading

Abstract At times we are told that our habitual way of thinking has become obsolete given the new challenge we are facing. Some of the conceptual resources at our disposal are no longer capable of addressing the challenge at hand. Therefore, they lose their appeal and are rejected. But only in contrast to these intellectual resources does the challenge appear as a challenge. So it seems that we are confronted with a paradox: we need the intellectual resources for their uselessness. For a proper understanding of this paradox and to unravel it, I will distinguish between de dicto and de re readings of philosophical texts. This distinction is borrowed from the neo-pragmatist Robert Brandom. A de dicto reading of a text is concerned with what its author says. A de re reading of a text is concerned with what its author talks about. Unpacking this distinction allows us to evaluate the method of engaging with our stock of conceptual resources as part of scholarly argument.

Embodied empowerment: using embodiment to understand nutrition–empowerment connections

ABSTRACT Despite a rich body of empowerment literature in development studies, our understanding of how empowerment influences health outcomes such as nutrition remains limited to the pathways depicted in dominant frameworks. Given the inconsistent results of programs based on such frameworks, this paper engages with a recent scholarly argument that deeper engagement with critical nutrition concepts may help practitioners design frameworks that achieve greater and more equitable success. This article tests embodiment as a critical approach to understanding the biosocial dynamics of empowerment and nutrition in three communities of Central Nepal. We used a participatory visual method to explore food practices and health outcomes tied to experiences of low, intermediate, and high levels of empowerment. In addition to demonstrating how empowerment is truly an embodied sensation, our findings reveal that development messaging around empowerment may be contributing to local understandings that compromise positive nutrition outcomes in these communities, particularly among women.

Muzak, Lo-Fi, and Acoustic Violence

Violence, including acoustic violence, can be remarkably resistant to critique; the semiotic structures upon which scholarly arguments rely may appear, in their representationalism, to have a distancing effect from the sheer materialism of violence and pain. A tension has thus emerged in the study of acoustic violence: how does one attend to the cultural histories and aesthetics of such practices without, in such theoretical abstraction, losing sight of violence’s embodied experience and effects? This paper argues for the existence of an underacknowledged genealogy of functional music which encompasses programmed music (such as Muzak), lo-fi, and contemporary forms of acoustic violence as social technologies across historical contexts. By attending to this genealogy, it is possible to take tools of cultural critique developed for programmed music and lo-fi and turn them towards acoustic violence. Beginning by outlining the intertwined histories of acoustic violence, programmed music, and lo-fi as well as of the scholarly critique surrounding such practices, this paper then uses these histories to read a specific contemporary form of acoustic violence, the Mosquito anti-loitering device, as part of this genealogy of functional music. I demonstrate how a shared investment in interspecies relationality through vibration connects the Mosquito to programmed music and lo-fi, and in doing so offer an example of the utility of this genealogical approach in interrogating otherwise underacknowledged ideological and sociotechnological aspects of acoustic violence.

Color-blind racial ideology and beliefs about environmental inequality among local US government officials

ABSTRACT Recent scholarship argues that racial oppression by the state is central to the formation of environmental inequalities, calling into question reliance on the state to achieve environmental justice. Others argue that the state is not monolithic and is the only institution capable of wielding sufficient power to address environmental inequalities. I engage with this discussion through a survey of US local government officials (N = 691). I find that officials tend to engage in color-blind environmental racism; that is, officials tend to understand issues of environmental inequality through the lens of color-blind racial ideology. Findings support the arguments of critical environmental justice scholars who question the state’s inherent capacity to respond to issues of environmental racism. However, variance in officials’ views also suggest that the state is a site of political contestation with many officials both recognizing the reality of environmental inequality and racism and supporting government intervention to address it.