Short Treatise Research Articles

A Short Treatise On Sports Gambling and the Law: How America Regulates Its Most Lucrative Vice

On May 14, 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its seminal ruling in Murphy v. NCAA, which held that the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) violated the Tenth Amendment of the United States Constitution. This ruling, in conjunction with other societal changes, has opened the floodgates for states to liberalize laws on sports betting. In less than two years since the Supreme Court’s Murphy decision, nineteen U.S. states, in addition to Washington D.C., have legalized sports betting in some form. Meanwhile, eleven states have specifically legalized online sports betting. This article (or, perhaps more accurately stated, short treatise) is the first of its kind to provide a detailed analysis of how the United States regulates sports gambling in the aftermath of Murphy v. NCAA. The article examines closely the history of sports gambling, seminal legal decisions involving the sports betting industry, new state regulatory systems that have emerged since the Supreme Court’s Murphy decision, newfound legal risks for companies that operate in sports gaming markets, and important matters of public policy related to regulating America’s most lucrative vice.

«Soprascripti de le lettere missive cominciando a magiori principi spirituali e temporali». Riflessioni sul paratesto nell’epistolografia del ’400.

Despite the surge in epistolary studies in recent years, little attention has been dedicated to 15th century treatises. However, thanks to the publication of some important catalogues, i.e. Medieval and Renaissance Letter Treatises and Form Letters (Polak, 1993-2015) and the ISTC database, there is good reason to believe that this trend will soon change. As for texts written in the vernacular, the catalogues have made it possible to identify what may well be the first printed manual, the anonymous Trattato de li ditamini (ISTC it00427400), and with regard to manuscripts, the catalogues have traced one of the first ars epistolandi treatises from the Quattrocento (cod. 2333, Biblioteca Statale di Lucca) and identified a new early witness of Bartolomeo Miniatore’s well-known Formulario di epistole missive e responsive (cod. Harley 4168, British Library). Enlisting the Polak catalogue, this article examines a collection of headings written in the vernacular in and around Bologna in the last quarter of the 15th century. This type of treatise has been particularly neglected by critics, though such works can shed precious light on a key phase in the history of Renaissance epistle writing, i.e. that of the developments in the 14th and 15th century salutatio, one of the most theorised upon sections in mediaeval artes. From this short treatise (trattatello), in fact, there emerged a new form of epistle writing which differed from that traditionally used in manuals from the 13th and 14th centuries, one which in various ways resembles forms still in use today. This article offers a detailed description of the Soprascripti, providing an extensive extract in the appendix.

A Genealogy of Inelegant Art

Abstract In 1567 a short Hungarian treatise employing eight woodcuts attacked the doctrine of the Trinity, using the woodcuts to show the enormity of Trinitarian doctrine through the abuses these woodcuts ostensibly represented. But the tract was far more than the woodcuts and their descriptions, but as well contained several swipes at the character of the Trinity as a uniquely Christian doctrine. This essay gives a translation of the tract along with an introduction and commentary on its sources (historical, pictorial, and theological), and the significance of the tract in the history of Antitrinitarianism.

How to Measure a Moment: Navya-nyāya Metaphysics of <i>kṣaṇa</i>

Raghunātha, a fifteenth-century Nyāya scholar, composed a short treatise called Padārthatattvanirūpaṇa, in which he criticized the Vaiśeṣika’s category system accepted at the time and claimed the necessity of radical revisions of the system. Among a number of targets of criticism stands the reductionism of “moment” of kṣaṇa. Traditionally, Vaiśeṣika holds that people refer to a motion of a substance when they delimit time and measure moments. Raghunātha, however, does not think that a motion of a substance helps us measure moments, and postulates the existence of kṣaṇa, which is a momentary entity and irreducible to any of the known categories. In this paper, I survey the history of the controversy between reductionism and anti-reductionism of kṣaṇa in Vaiśeṣika, focusing on Vallabha, Vardhamāna, and Raghunātha, and present the close relation of Ragunātha to Vardhamāna. Based on this historical survey, I further examine the philosophical significance of postulating kṣaṇa as a new category. The most significant point may be that the metaphysical necessity for postulating kṣaṇa is derived from the Vaiśeṣika’s popular theorem of causality that the diversity of causes prohibits the uniformity of results.

Creasy Sheilagh (1923–2019)

Creasy, Sheilagh (1923–2019) was a noted homeopath, presenter of seminars and author of articles and books, for example, The Integrity of Homoeopathy (2007; this work principally concerns miasms, material being gleaned from the ‘classical’ sources. It was reviewed in Homeopathy (97:4, p. 223, 2008), An Explanatory to the Lectures of Homoeopathic Philosophy by J.T. Kent through the Understanding of Swedenborg and a short treatise, Notes on the Nosodes: Tuberculinum and Bacillinum.

Теофраст о ветре

Wind as a natural phenomenon as well as the peculiarities of specific winds, such as Boreas, Notos, Eurus, and Zephyrus and their influences on navigation, agriculture and, in general, human live are among the subjects, extensively treated by the Peripatetics. Winds are studied in Aristotle’s Meteorology (1.13, 2.4 sq.), Book 26 of the Problems, the Peripatetic On signs and On the position and Names of the Wind, in an epitome of a meteorological work, ascribed to Theophrastus (the so-called Metarsiology, preserved only in Arabic and Syriac translations) and, finally, in his short (and incomplete) treatise On Winds. The latter work is of special interest not only because it is the only Peripatetic treatise especially dedicated to winds; as such it is a valuable witness of Theophrastus’ position on the nature of this natural phenomenon, generally different from the one advanced by Aristotle. Having summarized some aspects of this rather neglected treatise, I try to correlate meteorological information and explanations offered by Theophrastus with contemporary data, especially in the context of the history of navigation.

HISTORY OF MAKTAB AL-ISLAMIYAH TAPANULI

Maktab al-Islamiyah Tapanuli is the earliest formal Islamic institution in Medan, North Sumatra. It seems that this institution has not received the attention it deserves, especially for its pioneering position. This might not be soo surprising, because, in general, Islamic education in North Sumatra has not drawn the attention of researchers as much as that of neighbouring Aceh or Minangkabau. This article is an attempt to present a primary source on the topic, i.e. a short treatise entitled History of Maktab al-Islamiyah Tapanuli. This book is an academic heritage left behind by `alim-historian of Medan, Syekh Abubakar Ya’qub (d. 1982). Here, it is posthumously published so that it can be used to enhance our understanding of the history of Islamic education in North Sumatra. Although the work itself is short but it is very important, since it contains first-hand information put together by a man who took part in the series of event he recorded. This work provides primary data and notes that should be of most importance for researchers.

Vida y obra de un médico morisco en el exilio: Muḥammad b. Aḥmad b. Abī l-‛Āṣ (ss. XVI-XVII)

Uno de los autores hispanomusulmanes que hasta la fecha no había podido ser identificado es Muḥammad b. Aḥmad b. Abī l-‛Āṣ al-Andalusī, a quien se atribuyen dos breves tratados sobre medicina. Un estudio de los manuscritos conservados de ambas obras, así como la revisión de algunas fuentes y estudios recientemente publicados, nos permiten identificar a este autor con el morisco granadino Muḥammad b. Abī l-‛Āṣī (o Muhhemed Bulhaç), médico que en la primera mitad del s. XVII abandonó la Península Ibérica para residir durante algunos años en Estambul y posteriormente en El Cairo, donde se pierde su pista en el año 1637. En el presente artículo, expondremos todos los datos biográficos disponibles de este personaje, y haremos un breve análisis de sus dos tratados.

“The Book of Formation of the World”: Sefer Yetzirah and Hilkhot Yetzirah

AbstractThe Babylonian Talmud contains a tale about the creation of an artificial calf by two sages who dealt with hilkhot yetzirah, or laws of formation (b. Sanhedrin 65b). Already in the eleventh century CE the phrase “Laws of Formation” was being used to refer to the short, enigmatic, and influential treatise Sefer Yetzirah (Book of Formation), which depicts the creation of the world by means of the twenty-two letters of the Hebrew alphabet. The connection between hilkhot yetzirah and Sefer Yetzirah is of great consequence in determining the period in which the latter was edited, as well as its reception history.

Filip Vesdin and the comparison of Sanskrit with Iranian and Germanic languages

ABSTRACT Filip Vesdin, known by his monastic name Paulinus a Sancto Bartholomaeo (1748–1806), was a Carmelite missionary stationed from 1776 to 1789 in Southwestern India. Vesdin authored an impressive opus of 32 books and smaller treatises on Brahmanic religion and customs, oriental manuscripts and antiques collections, language comparison and missionary history. This article focuses on the field of language comparison, principally on Vesdin’s book De antiquitate et affinitate linguae Zendicae, Samscrdamicae, et Germanicae dissertatio (= Dissertation on the Antiquity and the Affinity of the Zend, Sanskrit, and Germanic Languages), published in Rome in 1798. In this rather short treatise (56 pages), the most important part consists of three word-lists where a large number of words from Avestan, Sanskrit and Germanic languages are compared in order to prove that these languages are related. The paper presents Vesdin’s three word-lists together with a description and evaluation of his views on the relationships between these languages in order to highlight his significance in the history of comparative and historical linguistics. The paper also provides new insights into the relationship of De antiquitate to Vesdin’s later proto-linguistic treatise, De Latini sermonis origine (1802). Abbreviations Av.: Avestan; Guj.: Gujaratī; IIr.: Indo-Iranian; Lat.: Latin; Malab.: Malabaricum (Vesdin’s term for Malayāḷam); Malay.: Malayāḷam; MHG: Middle High Germa; NHG: New High German; NP: New Persian; OAv.: Old Avestan; OFris.: Old Frisian; OHG: Old High German; OSax.: Old Saxon; Pahl.: Pahlavi; PG: Proto Germanic; PIE: Proto Indo-European; Skt.: Sanskrit; YAv.: Young Avestan

Book Review: A Short Treatise on the Metaphysics of Tsunamis

Book Review: A Short Treatise on the Metaphysics of Tsunamis

Del árabe al hebreo. El nacimiento de la ginecología hebrea medieval y el Canon de la medicina de Ibn Sīnā

Este artículo pretende demostrar que el Zijrón ha-ḥolayim ha-hovim be-klé ha-herayón (Memoria de las enfermedades que afectan a los órganos de la reproducción) –un breve tratado anónimo dedicado a las enfermedades de los órganos genitales de hombres y mujeres, escrito en hebreo en Castilla a fines del siglo xii o principios del XIII– es un epítome de los funūn 20 y 21 del Libro III del Canon de la medicina de Ibn Sīnā, realizado directamente desde la lengua árabe varias décadas antes de su primera traducción conocida al hebreo. Para ello se ha llevado a cabo el cotejo preliminar del único manuscrito en que se conserva el tratado y varios testigos en hebreo y latín del Canon, y se ha analizado su producción en el contexto de los movimientos de traducción, apropiación y difusión de conocimiento médico de la Castilla multicultural y plurilingüe de los siglos XII al XIV. También se ha examinado el lugar que ocupa el Zijrón en el corpus hebreo dedicado al cuidado de la salud femenina, y se ha indagado sobre su difusión en el siglo XV, en el marco del nuevo interés que despertó la ginecología entre los autores y consumidores de literatura médica de la Europa bajomedieval.

Inks as Instruments of Writing

AbstractA short treatise attributed to Ibn al-Ǧazarī (born Damascus 751/1351) deals with what was considered necessary knowledge about the art and craft of penmanship. Along with linguistic and antiquarian remarks, scribal practices, and social applications of writing, an entire section is devoted to the preparation of inks. The selection of recipes includes different ink typologies and technical approaches to ink making, with a preference for metallic compounds; the manipulation of metallic substances often absorbed technological aspects of alchemical practice. This article provides an edition and a commented English translation of the section on inks in the Book on the Art of Penmanship, as preserved by its unique manuscript witness, MS Berlin Sprenger 1918. A recipe for the distillation of an artificial golden ink has been replicated in order to better understand the interaction between the text and the chemical reality behind it.

‘Anything was possible’: (In)fidelities, (dis)connections and narcissistic (self-)love in Alice Munro’s ‘The Bear Came over the Mountain’

In one of Alice Munro’s longer works of short fiction, ‘The Bear Came over the Mountain’, readers are thrust into a narrative in which the protagonist, Grant, is forced to place his ageing and forgetful wife Fiona into a residential care facility. So amnesic is Fiona that, no longer remembering she has hitherto existed happily alongside Grant, she soon forms an intimate friendship with another resident, Aubrey. But Grant is no sympathetic protagonist and Munro reveals how, over the decades, he has habitually conducted a series of secretive extramarital affairs, often with the students he teaches at the local university. Reading a range of texts making taxonomical survey of love (including Plato’s Symposium, Barthes’ A Lover’s Discourse and Comte-Sponville’s A Short Treatise on the Great Virtues), this article surmises Grant to be dangerously non-empathetic, unwittingly self-parodying and unthinkingly transgressive; within phallogocentric orders, time and again the women surrounding this husband–teacher–lecher are shown to be merely instrumental to his gratifications. When Aubrey’s wife Marian arrives on the scene, Grant falls immediately into the role of fetishizing, perplexingly ordinary-seeming predator; in his flirtations, his actions can be read as methodically self-impoverishing. Beyond a stylized performance devoid of meaningful content, this is a narcissist with nothing to declare beyond a duplicitous and blind, dizzying, self-justifying internal chaos.

Deixis in the Early Modern English Lyric: Unsettling Spatial Anchors Like “Here,” “This,” “Come.” Heather Dubrow. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2015. Pp. viii+135.

<i>Deixis in the Early Modern English Lyric: Unsettling Spatial Anchors Like “Here,” “This,” “Come.”</i> Heather Dubrow. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2015. Pp. viii+135.

Nuevas y viejas reflexiones literarias en el ‘Discurso sobre la Poesía Castellana’ (1575) de Gonzalo Argote de Molina

ABSTRACTIn 1575, Gonzalo Argote de Molina published in Seville an edition of El conde Lucanor in which he includes as a colophon an interesting reflection on contemporary Castilian poetics, entitled ‘Discurso sobre la Poesía Castellana’. This short poetic treatise acquires a certain value by virtue of its publication precisely at the stage of Spanish poetics when the clash between the new Petrarchan literary trends and the old Castilian tradition was turning in favour of the Italians. A large part of this dispute between ‘castellanizantes’ and ‘italianizantes’ materialized in the use of metrics. In this duel, Argote de Molina still opts decisively for the traditional Castilian mode, although it was already more than three decades since the publication of works by Garcilaso de la Vega or Juan Boscán, which can be seen as leading examples of the new trends. The appearance of this discourse helps us to confirm the continuing attachment in Spain to the ‘vulgar cuenta’ as opposed to the ‘Italian way’. This work tries to revise the old poetic patterns, showing few new poetic nuances.

Miłość jako centrum doktryny soteriologicznej w IV księdze "De Trinitate" Św. Augustyna

Two times, his short soteriological treatise contained in the IV book De Trinitate, precedes the Bishop of Hippo underlining the great love of God for man. Significantly God’s love is like a key that allows us to understand not only the mystery of the death of the incarnate Son of God, but also the current condition of the redeemed man. It was God’s merciful love that changed humanity from enemies into friends and made it possible to love Him. Without God’s revelation, people would never understand that their existence is constitutively incorporated into the eternal love of the Father for the Son and objectively directed at it. With true predilection, Bishop of Hippo speaks of Christ as the Mediator of life, because sin deprives man of God’s life, which was offered to him by the Father through the mediation of the Son. Hence, the Father sent his Son into the world to save people from sin and let them enjoy life again. Christ also confirmed his love for the Father and people by offering himself as satisfaction for human sins, so that no man doubted that he is loved by him.

Law Rules King and Subjects: Magna Carta vs. Bridewell’s Charter

The article analyzes the contents of the short treatise of the London Recorder William Fleetwood, dedicated to the Commission of Bridewell (hospital and prison for paupers), that according to the royal charter of Edward VI (1553) have the right to search, punish, correct and keep offenders in prison. It depicts that the treatise was a reaction to the attempts and suits to bring the powers of the Commission of Bridewell into question. Author notes that William Fleetwood believed that the Bridewell’s charter contradicts with chapter 29 of the Magna Carta of Henry III (1225), which prohibits arbitrary arrests, and the royal authority according to the Magna Carta does not have the prerogative to create commissions with such powers.

The Metaphysical, Epistemological, and Mystical Aspects of Happiness in the Treatise on Ultimate Happiness Attributed to Moses Maimonides

Abstract This article explores the metaphysical, epistemological, and mystical aspects of happiness in the Judeo-Arabic Treatise on Ultimate Happiness (Kitāb as-Saʿāda al-Ākhira), of which only two chapters have survived from what is thought to have been a more comprehensive text. Although the treatise is attributed to Moses Maimonides, the conception of happiness (saʿāda) it presents is clearly that of the Pietists (Ḥasīdīm), the Jewish-Sufi circle of thirteenth-century Egypt. The discussion of happiness in this short treatise constitutes an important chapter in the philosophical and mystical discourse about happiness in medieval Jewish-Islamic thought, especially within the Jewish-Sufi mystical stream led by Maimonides’s descendants.

La metarretórica de Aristóteles

Most studies of Aristotle’s Rhetoric center on the text itself, either dwelling entirely on the text or citing other Aristotelian works only to support a particular interpretation. However, since it is clear that most of Aristotle’s works relate to each other as part of a systematic effort to describe the universe, it seems best to look at the Rhetoric in light of his whole range of work. This essay therefore discusses his “metarhetoric”, or the whole range of knowledges necessary to be rhetorical. The essay concludes with five examples of what can be learned about the Rhetoric from even a short treatise like his On memory and Reminiscence.