Secular System Research Articles

A Study of the Semiotic and Narrative Forms of Divine Influence Within Secular Legal Systems

Since the Reformation and Enlightenment, the Western world has witnessed the incremental decline of religious influence. Yet, key legal protections and duties incumbent on civilians and state actors in both avowedly secular states and ruling theocracies, predominantly Islamic, are to a lesser or greater extent determined by religious values. Although it is often claimed that the modern secular state encourages the adoption of liberal values and allows for the formulation of general law according to the free will of its people, the historical legacy of law and particularly its synthesis with the Judeo-Christian heritage is apparent. In the UK, the continuing centrality of religion in what purports to be a secular system of laws, is demonstrated by the introduction of elements of Sharia law. In an increasingly culturally-diverse society, the recognition of Islamic law may be interpreted as the tacit acknowledgement of the existing inherent faith influences which continue to inform many legal innovations, and represents an explicit attempt to rebalance the privileging of one set of precepts above another. It is suggested that religion continues to occupy a central position in lawmaking; performing a cultural, political, institutional and, importantly, symbolic role and this is evidenced for instance by the narratives which are imposed on individuals in relation to areas of topical significance such as matrimony, terminal illness, abortion, gender and sexual morality. This paper argues against those pronouncements of the retreat of religion in state affairs and, rather, reveals a set of key structural relations and signifiers which are informed by opinions redolent of, not least of all, a peculiar generic proscriptive religiosity.

"There was a ship" in Malta

Between July, 1804, and September, 1805, Coleridge shared 1802 version of Wordsworth's Peter Bell with of Malta, Sir Alexander Ball. In 21st issue of Friend (January 25, 1810), Coleridge reported that had responded with warm interest: [I]t was evident me, that it was not so much poetic merit of Composition that interested him, Truth and psychological insight with which it represented practicability of reforming most hardened minds, and various accidents which may awaken most brutalized Person a recognition of his nobler Being (F, 2: 290). I propose that he showed Sir Alexander Ball Wordsworth's Peter Bell rather than his own Ancient Mariner because Peter Bell illustrated political educational theory he shared with Ball while Ancient Mariner, especially 1802 version without glossary, illustrates no political didactic purpose. In On Constitution of Church and State (1829), Coleridge defines NATIONAL EDUCATION the nisus formativus of body politic, shaping and informing spirit, which, educing, i.e. eliciting latent man in all natives of soil, trains them up citizens of country, free subjects of realm (48). In other words, in 1829, Coleridge considered education be condition for both subject formation and nation building. main instrument was cultivated clerisy, endowed with task of inventing tradition and constructing organic narrative of nation: to preserve stores, guard treasures, of past civilisation, and thus bind present with past; perfect and add same, and thus connect present with future & St., 42.). clerisy also conducted moral education: while some remain invisible fountain heads of humanities, majority are distributed throughout country so not leave even smallest integral part or division without a resident guide, guardian or instructor (Ch & St, 42-43). In this paternalistic scheme, exemplary schoolmaster is Parson, persona exemplaris (Ch & St, 53), who, Mary Anne Perkins argues, embodies Kantian-Christian concept of Personeity (84), and therefore introduces love in workings of educative state. Parson may be a solution problems Coleridge had been tackling during his almost life-long interest in education. In Supernumerary Lecture on Education (1808), discussing education of children, he had tried find a way between disgraceful corporal punishments Joseph Lancaster recommended in his secular system and Maria Edgeworth's moralising, didactic books for children, which he found too goody. (LL 1: 106-108) What he proposed instead was teach by sympathy and love, and thereby stimulate heart love, so that all virtues rise and all vices are thrown out of their own accord (Ibid. 107). Both Church & State and lecture on education are theoretical and ideal, but Coleridge's presentation of Ball's system of discipline in Friend illustrates some aspects of his ideal of education. passage which first appeared on September 28,1809 (F 2: 99-101), later entitled The Appeal Law (F 1: 169-171), features Sir Alexander Ball, who, according Tim Fulford and Regina Hewitt, was embodiment of Coleridge's Abstract idea of a wise & good Governor (F 1: xciv). According Fulford, Ball could not have offered a solution problems of contemporary politics at home and in colonies, because his paternalism based on personal example could only be effective in a society small enough know their governor (242). Coleridge's presentation of Ball in Friend anticipates ideal educator he describes in Church and State, personally superintending his disciples. Ball's virtues as a master, a husband, and a parent are exemplary (F 1: 535), and just like later Parson, he is often addressed Father (Fulford, 240). …

Sheldon Rubenfeld (ed.), Medicine After the Holocaust: From the Master Race to the Human Genome and Beyond (New York: Palgrave MacMillan, 2010), pp. xxii + 233, £25.00, paperback, ISBN: 978-0-230-62192-3.

Sheldon Rubenfeld (ed.), Medicine After the Holocaust: From the Master Race to the Human Genome and Beyond (New York: Palgrave MacMillan, 2010), pp. xxii + 233, £25.00, paperback, ISBN: 978-0-230-62192-3. - Volume 56 Issue 1

An Equity Against the Law: Slave Rights and Creole Jurisprudence in Spanish America

There exists a long-standing historiographical mystery concerning the legal origins of the practice of Spanish American slaves suing their masters for freedom in royal courts. This essay highlights the importance of working judges' judicial philosophy in the formulation of this customary ‘right’. A close reading of two rare eighteenth-century judicial opinions from Lima, Peru, exposes the rationale of the judges, particularly the Creole judges, who admitted slave cases. High court minister Pedro José Bravo de Lagunas y Castilla considered two legal issues that made slavery distinctive in the region: the right to self-purchase and grants of conditional liberty. In a 1746 letter, the judge rendered a relatively liberal opinion on slaves' legal rights by reading Creoles' own political ‘liberty’ into freedom suits. But as Lima's slaves increasingly entered the secular court system, his judicial philosophy would contract.

Women at the Intersection of Turkish Politics, Religion, and Education: The Unexpected Path to Becoming a State- Sponsored Female Preacher

This article elucidates how increased religious educational opportunities for girls over the past few decades, sparked by Turkey’s transition from single-party rule to a multi-party political system, has fostered the development of state-sponsored female preachers (who are entrusted with giving mosque sermons and legal responsa) at the same time that contemporary Turkish politics and the vigorously contested place of Islam, Islamic education, and practicing Muslims in an assertively secular system has impinged upon and redirected their lives in surprising ways. Analyzed through the comparative lens of successive generations of female students, the continuous contestation over the appropriate place of religion – and particularly its instruction and social visibility – amid secular state apparatuses has both opened and contracted professional opportunities for Turkey’s state-sponsored female preachers.

On the stability of the secular evolution of the planar Sun–Jupiter–Saturn–Uranus system

AbstractWe investigate the long time stability of the Sun–Jupiter–Saturn–Uranus system by considering the planar, secular model. Our method may be considered as an extension of Lagrange’s theory for the secular motions. Indeed, concerning the planetary orbital revolutions, we improve the classical circular approximation by replacing it with a torus which is invariant up to order two in the masses; therefore, we investigate the stability of the elliptic equilibrium point of the secular system for small values of the eccentricities. For the initial data corresponding to a real set of astronomical observations, we find an estimated stability time of 107 years, which is not extremely smaller than the lifetime of the Solar System (∼5Gyr).

RESOLVING THE sin(I) DEGENERACY IN LOW-MASS MULTI-PLANET SYSTEMS

Long-term orbital evolution of multi-planet systems under tidal dissipation often converges to a stationary state, known as the tidal fixed point. The fixed point is characterized by a lack of oscillations in the eccentricities and apsidal alignment among the orbits. Quantitatively, the nature of the fixed point is dictated by mutual interactions among the planets as well as non-Keplerian effects. We show that if a roughly coplanar system hosts a hot, sub-Saturn mass planet, and is tidally relaxed, separation of planet-planet interactions and non-Keplerian effects in the equations of motion leads to a direct determination of the true masses of the planets. Consequently, a "snap-shot" observational determination of the orbital state resolves the sin(I) degeneracy, and opens up a direct avenue towards identification of the true lowest-mass exo-planets detected. We present an approximate, as well as a general, mathematical framework for computation of the line of sight inclination of secular systems, and apply our models illustratively to the 61 Vir system. We conclude by discussing the observability of planetary systems to which our method is applicable and we set our analysis into a broader context by presenting a current summary of the various possibilities for determining the physical properties of planets from observations of their orbital states.

On constructing the general Earth’s rotation theory

In the present paper the equations of the orbital motion of the major planets and the Moon and the equations of the three–axial rigid Earth’s rotation in Euler parameters are reduced to the secular system describing the evolution of the planetary and lunar orbits (independent of the Earth’s rotation) and the evolution of the Earth’s rotation (depending on the planetary and lunar evolution). Hence, the theory of the Earth’s rotation can be presented by means of the series in powers of the evolutionary variables with quasi-periodic coefficients with respect to the planetary–lunar mean longitudes. This form of the Earth’s rotation problem is compatible with the general planetary theory involving the separation of the short–period and long–period variables and avoiding the appearance of the non–physical secular terms.

QUANTIFYING THE CHALLENGES OF DETECTING UNSEEN PLANETARY COMPANIONS WITH TRANSIT TIMING VARIATIONS

Both ground and space-based transit observatories are poised to significantly increase the number of known transiting planets and the number of precisely measured transit times. The variation in a planet's transit times may be used to infer the presence of additional planets. Deducing the masses and orbital parameters of such planets from transit time variations (TTVs) alone is a rich and increasingly relevant dynamical problem. In this work, we evaluate the extent of the degeneracies in this process, systematically explore the dependence of TTV signals on several parameters and provide phase space plots that could aid observers in planning future observations. Our explorations are focused on a likely-to-be prevalent situation: a known transiting short-period Neptune or Jupiter-sized planet and a suspected external low-mass perturber on a nearly-coplanar orbit. Through approximately 10^7 N-body simulations, we demonstrate how TTV signal amplitudes may vary by orders of magnitude due to slight variations in any one orbital parameter (0.001 AU in semimajor axis, 0.005 in eccentricity, or a few degrees in orbital angles), and quantify the number of consecutive transit observations necessary in order to obtain a reasonable opportunity to characterize the unseen planet (approximately greater or equal to 50 observations). Planets in or near period commensurabilities of the form p:q, where p < 21 and q < 4, produce distinct TTV signatures, regardless of whether the planets are actually locked in a mean motion resonance. We distinguish these systems from the secular systems in our explorations. Additionally, we find that computing the autocorrelation function of a TTV signal can provide a useful diagnostic for identifying possible orbits for additional planets and suggest that this method could aid integration of TTV signals in future studies of particular exosystems.

The non-resonant, relativistic dynamics of circumbinary planets

We investigate the non-resonant, 3-D (spatial) model of the hierarchical system composed of point-mass stellar (or sub-stellar) binary and a low-mass companion (a circumbinary planet or a brown dwarf). We take into account the leading relativistic corrections to the Newtonian gravity. The secular model of the system relies on the expansion of the perturbing Hamiltonian in terms of the ratio of semi-major axes $\alpha$, averaged over the mean anomalies. We found that the low-mass object in a distant orbit may excite large eccentricity of the inner binary when the mutual inclination of the orbits is larger than about of 60 deg. This is related to strong instability caused by a phenomenon which acts similarly to the Lidov-Kozai resonance (LKR). The secular system may be strongly chaotic and its dynamics unpredictable over the long-term time scale. Our study shows that in the Jupiter-- or brown dwarf-- mass regime of the low-massive companion, the restricted model does not properly describe the long-term dynamics in the vicinity of the LKR. The relativistic correction is significant for the parametric structure of a few families of stationary solutions in this problem, in particular, for the direct orbits configurations (with the mutual inclination less than 90 degrees). We found that the dynamics of hierarchical systems with small $\alpha \sim 0.01$ may be qualitatively different in the realm of the Newtonian (classic) and relativistic models. This holds true even for relatively large masses of the secondaries.

Explicit expansion of the three-body disturbing function for arbitrary eccentricities and inclinations

Since the original work of Hansen and Tisserand in the XIXth century, there have been many variations in the analytical expansion of the three-body disturbing function in series of the semi-major axis ratio. With the increasing number of planetary systems of large eccentricity, these expansions are even more interesting as they allow us to obtain for the secular systems finite expressions that are valid for all eccentricities and inclinations. We revisited the derivation of the disturbing function in Legendre polynomial, with a special focus on the secular system. We provide here expressions of the disturbing function for the planar and spatial case at any order with respect to the ratio of the semi-major axes. Moreover, for orders in the ratio of semi-major axis up to ten in the planar case and five in the spatial case, we provide explicit expansions of the secular system, and simple algorithms with minimal computation to extend this to higher order, as well as the algorithms for the computation of non secular terms.

Escaping the Grip of Personal Law in Colonial India: Proving Custom, Negotiating Hindu-ness

Postcolonial perspectives on India's past have tended to focus on representations, which served the purpose of colonial domination. The view, for instance, that Indian society is fundamentally constituted by caste or religion legitimated the supposedly secular or neutral system of governance introduced by the British. Building upon Edward Said'sOrientalism(1978), scholars have suggested that some of our most widely held assumptions about Indian society were more rooted in an imperial worldview than in real social experiences of Indians. The attempt of colonial administrators to understand and govern India through the study of ancient texts formed the basis of an Indian variety of Orientalism. How colonial courts deployed this text-based knowledge in relation to the actual practices of religious “communities” is the central focus of this essay.

Clemency in Jewish Law

Is there a concept of clemency in Jewish law? In other words, is the power to grant clemency - to nullify the consequences flowing from a criminal conviction - a halakhically valid institution? Through a systematic inquiry, this paper advances a qualified yes to that question. First, this paper explores Jewish criminal law and fleshes out the three separate, though not wholly distinct, jurisdictions within it: the ordinary jurisdiction of the bet din (or religious court), the exigency jurisdiction of the bet din, and the king’s jurisdiction. The interaction among these three jurisdictions is then explored to determine whether a Jewish king may, in some circumstances, exercise the power to grant clemency.Four questions are posed (the third in two parts): (1) May the king grant clemency to a criminal convicted by a royal court? (2) May the king grant clemency to a criminal convicted by a bet din under its ordinary jurisdiction? (3) May the king grant clemency to a criminal convicted by a bet din under its exigency jurisdiction - (a) For a religious offense? (b) For an offense against society? Each of these question is carefully explored, and the answers may be summed up thus: The king may grant clemency only to a criminal convicted by a royal court. The king may never grant clemency in the face of a judgment by a bet din.A final, important insight that this paper offers is the rationale that underpins the king’s exercise of clemency in Jewish law. Modern, secular legal systems permit an executive officer to grant clemency either as an act of grace, benefiting a particular individual, or in the interest of the “public welfare.” This paper argues that the former rationale is foreign to halakhah. Because a Jewish king exists for the well-ordering of society, his exercise of clemency must be justified strictly by the public interest.

Khamiras, a natural cardiac tonic: An overview

The Unani system of Medicine (Unanipathy), which originated in Greece, is based on the principles proposed by Galen, a Greek practitioner. Since then, many Arab and Persian scholars have contributed to the system. Among them Ibn-e-Sina, an Arab philosopher and Physicist who wrote ‘Kitab-al-shifa’ are worth mentioning. This system has an extensive and inspiring record in India. It was introduced in India around the tenth century A.D with the spread of Islamic civilization. At present, Unanipathy has become an important part of the Indian system of Medicine. Unani medicines have been used since ancient times, as medicines for the treatment of various ailments. In spite of the great advances observed in modern medicine in recent decades, Unani drugs still make an important contribution to healthcare. The Unani system of medicine is matchless in treating chronic diseases like arthritis, asthma, mental, cardiac, and digestive disorders, urinary infections, and sexual diseases. The medicines administered go well with the temperament of the patient, thus speeding up the process of recovery and also reducing the risk of drug reaction. The Unani system of medicine recognizes the influence of the surroundings and ecological conditions on the state of health of human beings. The system aims at restoring the equilibrium of various elements and faculties of the human body. It has laid down six essential prerequisites for the prevention of diseases and places great emphasis, on the one hand, on the maintenance of proper ecological balance, and on the other, on keeping water, food, and air free from pollution. These essentials, known as ‘Asbab-e-Sitta Zarooriya’, are air, food, and drink, bodily movement and repose, psychic movement and repose, sleep and wakefulness, and excretion and retention. The Unani system is a secular system in temperament and is popular among the masses. In Unani medicine, although the general preference is for single drugs, compound formulations are also used in the treatment of various complex and chronic disorders. In the light of the present knowledge, this review is a small effort to discuss the efficacious nature of ‘Khamira’, a semi-solid preparation, which is traditionally used for cardiac ailments, such as, palpitations, weakness of the heart, and so on. On the basis of their constituents these are named as, Khamira Aabresham, Khamira Gaozaban, Khamira Marwareed, and so on. Khameeras are also used as general tonics for other vital organs like the liver and brain. In view of the increasing number of cardiac diseases, a thorough evaluation of this ancient work on Khamira is of special significance.

Making Law for the Spirits: Angakkuit, Revelation and Rulemaking in the Canadian Arctic

AbstractProcesses of revelation and rulemaking are examined in the context of the indigenous religion of the Inuit of arctic Canada. Instances of misfortune, conventionally understood to be the manner in which spirit intentions concerning human conduct are revealed, instigate social mechanisms through which normative rules are created and maintained. The performances of Inuit religious specialists, the Angakkuit, play a key role in this process. The Inuit case invites comparative assessments of means of rule construction and the discernment of intentions in the context of both other religious traditions and secular normative systems.

Dynamical instabilities in planetary systems

This chapter is a review of the dynamics of two-planet systems. It includes the study of averaged models of both secular and resonant planetary configurations. The introduction describes our understanding of long-term planetary behavior and stability. The next section introduces the presently known sample of 31 extra-solar systems and the classification of these systems with respect to their dynamical behavior. Their secular dynamics are described in Section 3, where we also introduce the main techniques commonly used for exploring dynamical features. We conclude this section by describing the effects of the proximity of a secular system to mean-motion resonances. Finally, phenomena related to mean-motion resonances are presented in Section 4.

Saint Augustine of Hippo, step-father of liberalism

Ostensible contradictions between Augustine's account of the two cities are resolved by his concealed claim to the privileged epistemic status of a Christian prophet. Faith and grace provide the mobility between this quasi-divine and the fallen human position. Such mobility is impossible in a pluralist and secular system of thought. This is why, having lost the creative Augustinian ambiguity, the liberal philosophy of history and norms of relationship between state and individual continue to veer between the logical end-points of anarchy and complete indifference, or utmost individualism.

Muslim Rulers, Justice and Politics In Cameroon During French Colonialism

This paper addresses the challenges faced by the Muslim Precolonial legal system during French colonialism in Cameroon. More specifically, it analyses the transformations of Muslim judicial system in a new environment characterized by the interplay between the Muslim legal system and the French colonial, secular justice system. It shows how these two justice systems were intertwined and developed into a complex and entangled judicial arena. The Muslim legal justice lost its original autonomy, became weak and the Muslim Rulers (Laamibee and Sultans) found their judicial power and position more symbolic than real. Laamibee and Sultans certainly continued to perfom some of their former judicial duties, but they became auxiliaries of the State administrative structure and were under the control of the secular political system. The space of justice changed and the actors became numerous. The system of justice experienced a new way of being. Despite this deep crisis, some Muslim Rulers developed strategies to maintain and/or increase their judicial power and influence.

Relativistic Celestial Mechanics on the verge of its 100 year anniversary

As we are now approaching 2015, both the General Relativity Theory (GRT) and the relativistic Celestial Mechanics based on it will soon arrive at their 100 year anniversaries. There is no border between Newtonian and relativistic Celestial Mechanics. The five-decade period of intensive development of Celestial Mechanics in the second half of the 20th century left many interesting techniques and problems uncompleted. This lecture reviews some problems of Newtonian and relativistic Celestial Mechanics worthy of further investigation. Concerning Newtonian mechanics, these problems include general solution of the three-body problem by means of the series of polynomials, construction of the short-term and long-term theories of motion using the fast converging elliptic function expansions, and representation of the rotation of the planets in the form compatible with the General Planetary Theory reducing the problem to the combined secular system for translatory motion and rotation. Relativistic problems considered here include the determination of the main relativistic effects in the motion of a satellite, e.g. the Moon, and in the rotation of the primary planet using the Newtonian theories of motion and rotation combined with the relativistic transformation of the reference systems, the use of the linearized weak-field GRT metric as a basis of relativistic Celestial Mechanics in the post-Newtonian approximation, and the motion of the Solar System bodies at the cosmological background in the framework of the basic cosmological models. The exposition of the chosen relativistic problems is preceded by reminding the basic features of relativistic Celestial Mechanics with discussing some present tendencies concerning the Parametrized Post-Newtonian formalism, International Astronomical Union resolutions, and standardization of the GRT routines.

Introduction: State and Society: Neither Lovers nor Haters

In both media accounts and scholarship, contemporary Turkey draws much attention as a hotbed of contestation between Islamists and secularists. Indeed, the ban of the popularly elected Islamist Welfare Party and of the headscarf in universities in 1998 reinforced an already predominant dichotomy between the repressively secular state and the Muslim actors. What deserves more attention, however, is the transformation in state-society relations since the late 1990s. From a state-society perspective, the recent secularist backlash remains understudied. Why does the secularist discontent peak at a time when Muslim actors in Turkey seem to have secularized and integrated into the secular polity and capitalist market? The answer lies in the shifting patterns of interaction between the secular state and Muslim actors. While Islamists abandoned their radical edge and integrated into the secular system and free market, the ability of the Turkish state to accommodate religion has likewise expanded. Put differently, through its nonconfrontational interactions with Islamists, the Turkish state has experimented with greater capacities for accommodating religious piety and politics. While admittedly this increased tolerance has not always been smooth or unilinear, the long-term trend has been toward “the politics of engagement”—that is, everyday negotiations and cooperation between Muslims and the secular state.