Virtuous Life Research Articles

The Crisis of Modern Virtues and the Possible Ways to Rebuild the Virtues

In spite of the fact that we have made much progress in the economic development and the accumulation of the material wealth, the morality on the whole is on the decline and the modern people are faced with the serious crisis of virtues, among which the soulless excellence brought about by the emptiness of moral education is one of the most serious ones. The virtues can and should still be taught in schools, but by the more effective methods that can be accepted by the modern students. To prevent the young people from consciously escaping from pursuing the virtuous life and overcome the paradox of the moral education, we need to take the emotional dimension of virtue education into account. Virtues are supposed to be deeply rooted into the real life and the virtue education can not be isolated from the reality life.

Ricardo F. Crespo's Philosophy of the economy: an Aristotelian approach, Springer, 2013, 154 pp.; and of A reassessment of Aristotle's economic thought, Routledge, 2014, 145 pp.

Review of Ricardo F. Crespo's Philosophy of the economy: an Aristotelian approach, Springer, 2013, 154 pp.; and of A re-assessment of Aristotle's economic thought, Routledge, 2014, 145 pp.Ricardo Crespo's two short books are welcomed contributions to the small but growing literature on the relationship between Aristotle's work and contemporary economic theory and society. There is considerable overlap between the two books, both having basically the same goal: to demonstrate Aristotle's contribution to present day (2014, 6). Despite having been published earlier in 2013, Crespo's Philosophy of the economy seems to have been written after A re-assessment of Aristotle's economic thought. It is also a smoother read, and contains some provocative material in the later chapters not found in the other book, especially what he considers to be Aristotelian approaches to economic model building, business, and human labor. Hence, since the two books are such close substitutes, I recommend Philosophy of the economy: an Aristotelian approach as the better and more important book.Crespo has a PhD in both philosophy and economics, so he is a well-trained and sure guide to the subject. His main contribution-found in both books-is his articulation of what he thinks a properly constructed science of should be, based upon Aristotelian lines. By Crespo's interpretation of Aristotle, the term economics may denote an action, a capacity, a habit, as well as scientific knowledge associated with the use of the material things required to live a good life. Economics is a practical science, which should explicitly consider various values; hence it is also an essentially moral or evaluative science. Ideally, people ought to only acquire the goods needed to live a virtuous life for human fulfillment. Humans are also by nature political animals, so to live virtuously, people need to live in a polis. Hence, virtues are always developed and consolidated within a community. A polis is an association of families with the common goal of living the good life. Therefore, as a practical science should be subordinated to politics. Moreover, market exchange is natural, but, Crespo argues, the market itself should also be subordinated to the ends of both individuals and the polis. Hence, from an Aristotelian perspective, the proper education and development of economists should have a very broad curriculum, including instruction in political science, ethics, other branches of philosophy, cultural anthropology, history, economic history, and the history of economic thought. Crespo also argues for methodological pluralism in the study and practice of economics, including for example, various case studies which aim to develop the necessary practical wisdom and interdisciplinary abilities needed for skilled economists.Crespo claims that deals with general facts, which occur most times in the same way. Although he emphasizes that explanation (as opposed to prediction) is the main aim of and other sciences, he also insists that values must be placed on the table (2014, 123). Since is based upon generalizations which occur most of the time in the same way, its explanations and predictions will necessarily be inexact. So, to summarize, for Crespo, should be explicitly normative, concerned with the promotion of personal virtues, and taught as part of a virtue-based education, embedded in ethics and politics. It will help people deliberate with reason, to make good, proper choices to satisfy human needs and to live the good life. Along the way, Crespo-as to be expected-criticizes twentieth century mainstream from an Aristotelian perspective. These criticisms include, among other things, being too narrowly focused, overly concerned with mere technique, imperialistic forays into other social sciences with its instrumental maximizing rationality (epitomized by the research program of the late Gary Becker which is denigrated as being in an improper sense), its putative dichotomy between facts and values, and its claims to value neutrality. …

The Changing Nature of Nature: Environmental Politics in the Anthropocene

Environmentalists engage many causes. They work on behalf human rights, poverty alleviation, and democracy as well as endangered species, a stable climate, and clean air, water, and soil. Amidst these diverse efforts, environmentalists maintain a fundamental commitment to nature. They see their job, to one degree or another, as standing up for the conservation, preservation, and sustainability of the nonhuman world. This dimension of environmentalism finds its roots in the West, especially Britain and the United States, 1 but has since become part of almost every social expression of environmental concern. Today, even the most human-centered environmental organizations—those focused on, for example, environmental justice, sustainable development, and industrial ecology— concentrate on nature insofar as they see a healthy natural world as a prerequisite for human well-being or a medium through which injustices are perpetrated. Indeed, since environmentalism’s beginnings in the nineteenth century, when people began worrying about industrialization despoiling rural and wild landscapes, to contemporary efforts to address climate change, freshwater scarcity, and loss of biological diversity, a central strand of environmentalism has prized the natural world and worked to protect it. The point of departure for this article is that the assumption behind the movement’s defense of nature is no longer valid and that continuing to subscribe to it compromises the promise of global environmentalism. The effort to defend or otherwise protect nature from humans assumes a distinction between the two. It supposes a domain that is essentially “human” and another that is fundamentally “nature.” Over the past few decades, ecological events and human understandings have proven this supposition erroneous. Today, humans draw so many resources from deep within and across the earth, and emit such incalculable amounts of waste into the air, water, and soil that, as McKibben famously

ΜΕΤΡΟΝ, ΜΕΤΡΙΟΝ, ΜΕΤΡΙΟΤΗΣ. Early Greek Concepts of Measure

Submitted article presents a variety of the concept of measure in the early Greek investigations of nature, development of ethical and political structures, fundamental norms of the arts and crafts, and conclusively, searches for understanding of the ἄνθρωπος μέτρον challenge. Among the crucial notions of the early Greek investigations, measure was one of the most receptive: from speculative inquiries to ethical considerations, from theoretical constructions to methodological directives, from normative arrangements to technical solutions. The thinkers and sages introduced the concept of measure into the normative reflection of the ethics and politics, enclosing the most essential and fundamental prescriptions for noble, virtuous and favourable life. Furthermore, the concepts of measure combined the cosmological order with the mathematical proportion, logical principles of recognition with the methodological arrangements for the truth approximation.

Le service féodal des vertus dans une “Voye de paradis” inédite (ms. Bruxelles, KBR - Bibl. royale de Belgique IV 823)

The text takes the form of an edifying sermon in octosyllabic couplets (ca. 1260), an exhortation to lead a virtuous life to reach heaven. Composed probably just before the copy (1475), it shows a certain culture and an austere religiosity, similar to the Devotio moderna. The article gives a brief analysis of the text and provides a transcription of the first part (vv. 1-294), consisting of the prologue (where Lancelot, Yvain and Heracles the emperor are mentioned) and a development, in the tradition of Prudentius’s Psychomachia, of the battle of the virtues who defend the fortress-home of the soul.

Well-doing: Personal projects and the quality of lives

‘What are you doing?’ and ‘How is it going?’ are foundational questions we can ask of agents. They elicit answers that illuminate aspects of well-doing, or felicitous action, by directing attention to an agent’s personal projects. Personal projects are constitutive elements of daily existence and are consequential for a happy and virtuous life. They have been studied within philosophy, especially in critiques of consequentialist theory. They have been studied by personality psychologists with a methodology, Personal Projects Analysis that measures the content, appraisal, dynamics, and impact of the projects being pursued by individuals. In contrast with more traditional ways of measuring personality, Personal Projects Analysis provides ‘thick’ descriptions of how happiness and virtue are embodied in daily action and embedded in social, physical, temporal, and value contexts. The methodology is designed to facilitate interdisciplinary collaboration in contributing to the explanation and the enhancement of well-doing and the quality of lives.

Contentment (Qana'ah) and its Role in Curbing Social and Environmental Problems

Contentment is an important dimension of virtuous human character (akhlaq) in the context of our attitude towards material provision and worldly sustenance, and our attitude towards sharing our sustenance with others. We first explore the position which the discipline of cultivating human character holds in Islam. It discloses the direct relationship of human character with our society and the environment. These relations are the foundation on which the treatment of contentment (qana’ah) is based. After defining the term qana’ah, we discuss the “good wholesome life (hayatan tayyibah)” mentioned in the Qur’an (al-Nahl 16:97) which denotes ‘self-contentment’. The term provides the premise that a virtuous and pure life in this world is based on human self-control towards his means of provision, his society, and the environment. With a disciplined human attitude towards material means, material abundance or scarcity of worldly things will not disrupt one’s conviction and self-sufficiency. We then discuss the by-products of non-contentment and greed such as wasting of food and other natural resources. This leads us to the topic of self-discipline in terms of dealing with the material world and our fellows. Finally we discuss the importance of self-discipline through frugal- moderation for individual and civilisational renewal.

Contentment ( Qanācah ) and Its Role in Curbing Social and Environmental Problems

Contentment is an important dimension of virtuous human character (akhlaq) in the context of our attitude towards material provision and worldly sustenance, and our attitude towards sharing our sustenance with others. We first explore the position which the discipline of cultivating human character holds in Islam. It discloses the direct relationship of human character with our society and the environment. These relations are the foundation on which the treatment of contentment (qana'ah) is based. After defining the term qana'ah, we discuss the “good wholesome life (hayatan tayyibah)” mentioned in the Qur’an (al-Nahl 16:97) which denotes ‘self-contentment’. The term provides the premise that a virtuous and pure life in this world is based on human selfcontrol towards his means of provision, his society, and the environment. With a disciplined human attitude towards material means, material abundance or scarcity of worldly things will not disrupt one’s conviction and self-sufficiency. We then discuss the by-products of non-contentment and greed such as wasting of food and other natural resources. This leads us to the topic of self-discipline in terms of dealing with the material world and our fellows. Finally we discuss the importance of self-discipline through frugal- moderation for individual and civilisational renewal.

St. Vincent of Lérins and the Development of Christian Doctrine

The term of doctrine inevitably calls to mind the classic work of Blessed John Henry Newman that has exercised so much influence on Christian thought over the past century and a half. (1) But the eminent nineteenth-century historian was not the inventor of this idea. As Newman himself freely acknowledged, the notion of development has its roots deep in the theological work of St. Vincent of Lerins, a fifth-century resident of a monastery on the Mediterranean coast of Gaul. (2) In our own day, the island of Lerins (now called Saint-Honorat after the first abbot in 410) still boasts the presence of a monastery. But, in its earliest years, Lerins was a citadel of profound theological reflection, giving rise to numerous monk-theologians, among whom was the insightful Vincent. (3) It is my contention that St. Vincent, with his vigorous endorsement of authentic doctrinal development, is an author worthy of retrieval by the contemporary Church. His work can still aid theological and ecumenical advances, even while it shows that the very notion of development is neither a modern idea nor a defensive reaction to the corrosive acids of historical scholarship. On the contrary, the notion of faithful development lies deep within the Church's genetic code. We know little of St. Vincent outside of the fact that he was a monk of Lerins and was, as Gennadius tells us around a.d. 490, learned in Holy Scripture and in church doctrine. His magnum opus, the Commonitorium or Reminder, remains an important monument to his theological acumen despite its unusual career. Although written in 434 (for Vincent tells us he is writing three years after the council of Ephesus, convoked in 431), for a full millennium the great book was enveloped by silence, so that from the sixth to the fifteenth century we do not hear a single word about it. The most likely explanation for this neglect is that the manuscript was buried in archives inaccessible to later thinkers. When the volume was finally rediscovered in the sixteenth century, Vincent's book was hailed by both Catholic and Protestant theologians as a contribution of singular importance. The seventeenth-century Catholic theologian St. Robert Bellarmine described it as a golden book, libellus plane aureus, an evaluation confirmed by the fact that over twenty editions of the Commonitorium appeared in the sixteenth century and another thirteen (along with twenty-one translations from the Latin) in the nineteenth. (4) In recent decades, however, Vincent's reputation has fallen from its prior lofty position, and once again theologians have fallen silent about his work. This neglect has occurred for two principal reasons. First, the monk of Lerins has come to be perceived as a determined opponent of St. Augustine, particularly of the latter's accent on the sovereign priority of grace. Vincent, it is claimed, is a staunch defender of semipelagianism, the idea that man's own disciplined efforts (rather than divine grace) constitute the beginning of salvation. While one needs God's grace to live a virtuous life, a person's first turn to God--the initium fidei--comes about through one's own agency. Even if this allegation is true (and a host of studies debate the issue), the charge does not substantively touch the Commonitorium's orthodoxy, since the precise relationship between grace and free will was a contentious topic in the early Church and received no authoritative clarification until the second council of Orange in 529, long after St. Vincent's death. Further, the grace-free will issue is tangential to Vincent's volume, which is centrally concerned with questions relating to the Incarnation and the Holy Trinity. A second and more substantive reason for Vincent's current eclipse is the alleged unwieldiness of his famous canon or rule, the bright line that the monk of Lerins offers for separating salutary orthodoxy from noxious heresy. Vincent asks: How do Christians who are constantly beset with errors and heresies (and Vincent lists a full roster of them) know the truth? …

The Cambridge companion to Aristotle's Politics

One of the most influential works in the history of political theory, Aristotle's 'Politics' is a treatise in practical philosophy, intended to inform legislators and to create the conditions for virtuous and self-sufficient lives for the citizens of a state. In this 'Companion', distinguished scholars offer new perspectives on the work and its themes. After an opening exploration of the relation between Aristotle's ethics and his politics, the central chapters follow the sequence of the eight books of the 'Politics', taking up questions such as the role of reason in legitimizing rule, the common good, justice, slavery, private property, citizenship, democracy and deliberation, unity, conflict, law and authority, and education. The closing chapters discuss the interaction between Aristotle's political thought and contemporary democratic theory. The volume will provide a valuable resource for those studying ancient philosophy, classics, and the history of political thought.

Human Rights as Social Construction by Benjamin Gregg (review)

Reviewed by: Human Rights as Social Construction by Benjamin Gregg René Wolfsteller (bio) Benjamin Gregg, Human Rights as Social Construction (Cambridge University Press, 2013), ISBN 9781-1076-1294-5, 272 pages. The evolution of the political theory of human rights for the past twenty years is perhaps best described—by altering a phrase of Charles Taylor1—as a “metaphysical limbo” of legitimation. In the course of this “limbo” scholars from various disciplines have been engaging in a competition to provide a better, more persuasive foundation for the universal legitimacy of human rights, but simultaneously with allegedly less demanding [End Page 492] assumptions. Yet, rather than revealing a universal basis of legitimacy to make human rights more accessible and attractive, many scholarly suggestions have contributed to the construction of new boundaries. Those boundaries have typically been the result of a dubious recycling of rational inequality, whereby some people are considered capable of making use of their reason in a superior way to others,2 and hence are able to lead morally virtuous lives according to human rights norms. For example, such boundaries and limitations of equality were fuelled by arguments that human rights require a theological fundament, like the belief in God and human sacredness.3 In a more interventionist sense, the liberal philosopher John Rawls argued that societies abiding human rights as “part of a reasonable law of peoples” have the duty to subject so-called “outlaw regimes” to the rule of “reasonable and just law” in order to overcome the state of nature.4 In his contribution to the debate, the postmodernist Jean-François Lyotard insisted on the fact that the “right to speak” as “the most fundamental human right” has to be merited by undergoing a certain process of “civilization” to free oneself from “his animal nature.”5 However, the nadir of this competition has been the claim of the communitarian Amitai Etzioni, whereby people “under the influence of … alcohol, drugs, or merely a high dose of mass culture, or those who are mentally handicapped, are blind to even the most shining normative light,” and thus, are the main obstacle to the realization of human rights within liberal democratic societies.6 With his study Human Rights as Social Construction, the political theorist Benjamin Gregg intercedes in the dispute with a conception of human rights that tries to tear down those boundaries, to make human rights more accessible, and to mediate between the numerous diverging approaches in the field. Gregg’s aim is to ground the normative debate over human rights in a “realistic” and “pragmatic” way, and he does so mainly by drawing on sociological and anthropological insights. In fact, his book can be considered the first analysis within the field of political theory of human rights that pays attention to sociological as well as anthropological explanations to such a serious extent. Backed up by this trans-disciplinary lens, Gregg puts a persistent emphasis on the fact that particular local communities of people always socially construct moral norms. Sociologists may find this assertion to be a rather mundane insight. Within normative political philosophy, however, it allows Gregg to emphasize the “political” nature of human rights as a contingent “this-worldly” idea which is up for negotiation, but not necessarily ineffective or dispensable. Once we have come to accept the fact that human beings are the sole authors of social norms on earth, it follows that it is both possible and necessary to create effective behavioral norms for themselves. From that assumption Gregg deduces that [End Page 493] human rights are valid only if people consciously and self-reflexively come to hold human rights norms on an individual level. Moreover, if these norms become entrenched in the social institutions of a community, such as the legal order and public education, they will in turn reinforce the development of individual “human rights personalities.”7 Therefore, he argues that people have to be socialized into a solidarity based on the mutual expectation of granting each other these locally defined human rights. And yet, it would not require a collective identity or the idea of a human nature to bring about a shared human rights consciousness, because in a highly...

Aristotle’s Two Cities: Reducing Diversity to Homogeneity

Abstract It has often been argued, in scholarly debate, that Aristotle’s denial of citizenship to the working population of his ideal city in Book VII of the Politics constitutes a fundamental injustice. According to this view, although it is true that their way of life prevents them from living a morally virtuous life, it does not follow that the working people are naturally devoid of the human qualities required for such a life. So, rather than finding a just way to distribute citizenship among the diversity a city’s population would naturally exhibit (as he does, to a certain extent, in Book III), Aristotle would commit himself to oligarchic measures in Book VII. In this article, it is argued that the main concern of Book VII is less with a just determination of the extent of citizenship (unlike Book III) than with conceiving the most efficient way for a city to be happy: this consists in establishing a community composed of individuals who lay claim to happiness in the same way and to the same degree. In other words, it consists in reducing the diversity of Book III to a certain kind of homogeneity.

The implications of Methylphenidate use by healthy medical students and doctors in South Africa

BackgroundThe use of medical stimulants to sustain attention, augment memory and enhance intellectual capacity is increasing in society. The use of Methylphenidate for cognitive enhancement is a subject that has received much attention in the literature and academic circles in recent times globally. Medical doctors and medical students appear to be equally involved in the off-label use of Methylphenidate. This presents a potential harm to society and the individual as the long-term side effect profile of this medication is unknown.DiscussionThe implication of the use of Methylphenidate by medical students and doctors has not been fully explored. This article considers the impact of this use on the traditional role of medicine, society, the patient and suggests a way forward. We discuss the salient philosophy surrounding the use of cognitive enhancement. We query whether there are cognitive benefits to the use of Methylphenidate in healthy students and doctors and whether these benefits would outweigh the risks in taking the medication. Could these benefits lead to tangible outcomes for society and could the off label-use of Methylphenidate potentially undermine the medical profession and the treatment of patients? If cognitive benefits are proven then doctors may be coerced explicitly or implicitly to use the drug which may undermine their autonomy. The increased appeal of cognitive enhancement challenges the traditional role of medicine in society, and calls into question the role of a virtuous life as a contributing factor for achievement. In countries with vast economic disparity such as South Africa an enhancement of personal utility that can be bought may lead to greater inequities.SummaryUnder the status quo the distribution of methylphenidate is unjust. Regulatory governmental policy must seek to remedy this while minimising the potential for competitive advantage for the enhanced. Public debate on the use of cognitive enhancement is long overdue and must be stimulated. The use of Methylphenidate for cognitive enhancement is philosophically defendable if long-term research can prove that the risks are negligible and the outcomes tangible.

PREVENTION AND MANAGEMENT OF OBESITY

Living in the t wenty first century has its advantages but along with fast lifestyle comes disadvantages. One disadvantage is having faulty lifestyle and unhealthy diet. Around the world diabetes, obesity and cardiovascular diseases are affecting the health and well being of millions of people due to faulty lifestyle . Among these Obesity is the world's oldest metabolic disorder. The WHO now considers obesity to be a Global epidemic and a public health problem. Sedentary habits with little exercise are the main reason b ehind increased incidence of Obesity. Obesity can lead to heart problems, diabetes and other serious health problems, which can cost millions to treat, and which can reduce life expectancy. Modern drugs for the treatment of obesity include appetite suppressants and lipase inhibitor which has its own side effects. Ayurveda advocates healthy life st yle through ahar, vihar, aushadh and different kinds of karmas to prevent all kind of diseases. By following virtuous life style a s described in Ayurveda one can prevent himself from obesity and reduce its risks to develop various killer ailments which wil l be discuss in full paper.

Purgatory and Piety in Brittany 1480–1720 by Elizabeth C. Tingle (review)

Reviewed by: Purgatory and Piety in Brittany 1480–1720 by Elizabeth C. Tingle Joseph Bergin Purgatory and Piety in Brittany 1480–1720. By Elizabeth C. Tingle. [Catholic Christendom, 1300–1700.] (Burlington, VT: Ashgate Publishing. 2012. Pp. xvi, 308. $134.95. ISBN 978-1-4094-3823-6.) Nowadays it is hard to remember the excitement provoked in their time by the pioneering researches of French historians like Philippe Ariès, Michel Vovelle, François Lebrun, and Pierre Chaunu on attitudes—and the practices to which they [End Page 342] gave rise—toward death and the afterlife during the 1960s and 1970s. Their methods and vocabulary have given way to different questions and approaches, but as so often, such historiographical turns leave many loose ends when the newest fashion takes over. Elizabeth C. Tingle’s new book on purgatory and piety in early-modern Brittany reconsiders those early works with fairness and economy, and incorporates their findings within the framework of a study that is much more wide-ranging and interesting than its title alone would suggest. Her book focuses on three dioceses (Nantes, Vannes, and Saint-Pol-de-Léon) in western Brittany, rather than on the eastern or central parts of the province, which Bruno Restif studied a few years ago. A key point here is the reputation of west Brittany in particular as a haven for highly distinctive and barely Christianized Celtic customs concerning death and the dead, complete with their accompanying rituals and—lurking in the background—the strange skeletal figure of Ankou. Such an obsession with the dead as a threatening presence among the living helped to produce distinctive images in churches and burial practices. Tingle sets out to question such accepted views by a systematic study of the place of purgatory within the religious culture—as well as the wider social and ecclesiastical structure—of Breton society through the upheavals of the Reformation and Catholic Reformation. Her book is based primarily on the printed and especially archival materials that were often destroyed over the centuries and survive only in uneven quantities. The subject of the place of purgatory in late-medieval and early-modern Christianity is itself a problematic one, given its outright rejection by Protestantism and its qualified defense by Catholicism, as needing to be defined and regulated. Tingle provides a succinct analysis of how the doctrine and its practical implications were reworked over the centuries and, above all, how new spiritualities arose that emphasized living a good, virtuous life rather than relying on a good death and/or the accumulated treasure of “merit” of the Church to attain salvation. Understanding of purgatory and its function had direct consequences for the behavior of “ordinary” Christians when settling their accounts with God, as is so evident in the postmortem Masses and other provisions commonly found in their wills and other key documents. For the great majority, perpetual foundations were too expensive, but they could fall back on confraternities and indulgences. But attitudes gradually shifted, and by the eighteenth century the mostly town-based élites were less likely to rely on or found intercessory Masses for themselves or for the departed as they had in the past, whereas rural parishes moved more slowly. Along the way, the role of purgatory in the economy of salvation produced a veritable superstructure, with its own financial base, within Catholicism. Entire categories of lesser secular clergy made a living from saying Masses and attending funerals; they founded endowments for Masses themselves, which sustained the next generation of clergy. But this superstructure was hard hit by King Louis XIV’s taxes and virtually ruined by the crash of John Law’s financial policies in 1720. It is also to Tingle’s credit that she makes a systematic effort to examine Breton religious history and its supposed peculiarities in the context of the wider [End Page 343] French and European patterns of the period she studies. This is not merely historiographical road-mapping, but is a key thread in this book—namely, that even west Brittany was far more receptive to outside influences than usually imagined. It was not a remote island, and over the two centuries or so considered here its saints...

John Courtney Murray, Religious Liberty, and Modernity: Part I: Inalienable Natural Rights

I Religious toleration, or separation of church and state, appears to many to be a characteristically modern achievement, one that we owe to modern rationalist philosophers. But many Catholic intellectuals have a different understanding of its provenance. They follow thought of John Courtney Murray, American Jesuit theologian who, as a peritus at Second Vatican Council, had a large hand in writing Declaration on Religious Liberty (hereafter DRL). (2) And according to Murray, religious liberty, freedom of conscience, and separation of church and state are all doctrines that are fundamentally Christian in origin. With this claim Murray and his students attempt to reconcile Catholic thought with liberal democracy. That such an attempt can be successful is doubtful. But sorting out just why this is so can provide us with a better grasp of inherent aims of liberal democracy as a form of modern rationalism, and so with a better grasp both of what can reasonably be expected of it and of how one might reasonably expect to improve it. More than this, it can allow us to begin to see abiding value of classical rationalism over and against modern rationalism. While Murray's influence has waxed and waned over past fifty years, it has been waxing of late with attempt to combat what his followers see as a version of relativism in American courts. They cite opinion of majority in Planned Parenthood v. Casey: heart of liberty is right to define one's own concept of existence, of meaning, universe, and of mystery of human life. Belief about these matters could not define attributes of personhood were they formed under compulsion of State. (3) Those who disagree, and who make an attempt to guide public life according to standards of justice that transcend autonomous self, are in court's view necessarily guilty of irrational animosity toward those who refuse to recognize such standards. (4) Students of Murray have therefore been attempting to provide what they believe to be a more sound, more coherent understanding of our polity. (5) Noting that Murray recognized as early as 1953 growing loss or denial of transcendent in American life, and in particular Murray's attention to what he called moral confusion ... suspended over a spiritual vacuum, (6) they hope to restore an understanding of those truths that, according to Murray, we must hold if our civic life is to be healthy and morally sound. They do so, moreover, with confident understanding, inspired by Murray, that best understanding of constitutional democracy is to be found in Thomistic tradition of Catholic Church. At heart of their understanding of Thomism is Murray's twofold claim that, first, political and social life has a natural purpose, namely, to ordain what common good, exigencies of a humanly virtuous life in common demand; and second, that the human person is free in society when all his inalienable rights are juridically guaranteed immunity from inhibition and provided with due conditions of their exercise. (7) Murray, a champion of religious liberty and rights of individual, was also a champion of natural law and obligations it imposes upon human beings in light of common good. Hence his thought is, as his growing number of admirers believe, able to guide us out of present crisis in American public life. They regard Murray's thought as liberal but teleological. There is much to admire in both Murray's thought and work of those who have begun elaborating upon that thought in face of our present difficulties. Nonetheless, there are practical and theoretical difficulties that attend that endeavor, not least of which is his attempted synthesis of natural law and inalienable natural rights, a synthesis that threatens to lead to a serious confusion on part of Catholics and non-Catholics alike. …

For mothers and sisters: care of the reproductive female body in the medico-ritual world of early and medieval Japan.

While married female members of the Japanese aristocracy followed the ideal of bearing children, female Buddhist novices and ordained women, often belonging to the aristocracy themselves, had to abstain from sexual activity and reproduction in accordance with the ordination rules. Infertility was considered with disdain by the first group, whereas not bearing children was the utmost expression of leading a virtuous life for the second group. However, both groups were concerned with keeping their physical bodies healthy: some to become mothers, the others to live as nuns or religious sisters. Focusing on the early medieval period, this paper examines various sources to illuminate the ways in which women were cared for and the kind of views and ideas that informed this care. Instead of looking at the ancient methods of treatment through a modern "scientific" lens and sorting them into "proto-scientific" and "superstitious" categories, medico-ritual and religious views on the female body are explored as facets of the worldview prevalent in the period under consideration. Special attention is paid to relevant chapters of the first medical work produced in Japan, the Ishinpō, compiled by a court physician, Tanba no Yasuyori, in the late 10th century CE. The investigation of other sources, such as Buddhist legends and doctrinal texts, suggests that women were recommended to seek to overcome their femaleness altogether by transforming their female bodies into male bodies in order to reach ultimate "healing" in terms of salvation. In lay circles, however, the Buddhist divinities and other powerful deities were worshipped to ensure this-worldly "healing" in terms of successful procreation and continuation of the family line.

Um espelho possível de santidade na Bahia colonial: madre Vitória da Encarnação (1661-1715)

O artigo procura analisar a obra de d. Sebastião Monteiro da Vide publicada em 1720, que trata da vida virtuosa e da morte santa de Vitória da Encarnação, freira do Convento de Santa Clara do Desterro. O objetivo principal é comparar a narrativa em foco com hagiografias e modelos de devoção influentes no contexto do período, como aqueles propiciados pelas vidas das santas Catarina de Siena e Rosa de Lima.

“As Flies to Wanton Boys”: Dilemmas and Dodging in the Field of Nonhuman Animal Ethics

On a daily basis, one of us (MA) drives around the Australian state of Tasmania where the “roadkill” bodies of native animals can be found everywhere, adding up to hundreds of thousands every year. Clearly, if these were humans, there would be an outcry! Initially, one may be saddened and even outraged to witness such public and unnatural deaths, but this tends to subside, becoming accepted as “unavoidable” and so invisible in plain sight, only to be revisited by anger, sorrow, and powerlessness again from time to time. On the other side of the world, one of us (LER) dreams regularly of her childhood dog. Rather than buoyed by happy memories, she often awakens dismayed, not merely because the family pet has long since departed this world but because she regrets selfish decisions made in youth that today seem inexplicable. She’s not sure why she relocated the dog’s bed to the hallway after years of sharing a room or where she was when the dog was sprayed by a skunk and had to endure a traumatic tomato juice “shower” to mitigate the stench or how she could be absent when it was time to put the family friend “to sleep.” There were, of course, many years of walks and tug-o’-war with toys and other ways of taking responsibility and showing care, but the dreams are a haunting reminder of the moral duty to “be better,” to live a more virtuous and contemplative life even with regard to nonhumans. Many of us live uneasily with animal suffering and death. Some of us are vegetarians and vegans, some advocate for research and products not tested on animals, some join environmental and animal rescue organizations. But for others this is just “collateral damage” on what is seen as the “dominant” human journey—a callous, hierarchical relationship akin to what Shakespeare wrote in King Lear to remind us of our own insignificant place: “As flies to wanton boys are we to th’ gods./They kill us for their sport” (IV.i.36–37). In this special issue of the Journal of Bioethical Inquiry, we revisit the area of “Nonhuman Animal Ethics” and what it means—morally—to be human in an interconnected, species-diverse world. How do we derive and sustain animal rights and improve, monitor, and regulate our Bioethical Inquiry (2013) 10:429–433 DOI 10.1007/s11673-013-9490-3

‘Van groeter bannicheit hoers herten’ - De conditionering van de alledaagse gevoelswereld in vrouwelijke gemeenschappen uit de laatmiddeleeuwse Moderne Devotie

The Devotio Moderna was one of the most important movements of religious reform in the late Middle Ages, especially in the Low Countries and the northern parts of the Rhineland. The new devout attached particular importance to the daily process of spiritual progress through good deeds, meditations, spiritual exercises, and continuous building of the self via self-examination and mutual correction. In accordance with their belief in the importance of self-fashioning, devouts also developed a remarkable interest in the emotional life of the individual. They aimed at detaching themselves completely from their own natural and intuitive emotions in order to lead a truly virtuous life. In this article we focus on the conditioning of the emotional life in three houses of devout women belonging to the Devotio Moderna through the lens of so-called sister books written in these communities. These sources allow us to deal with the emotional vocabulary deployed by the sisters, with how different emotions were assessed in specific situations, and with their physical expression. Finally, we analyse the narrative power of the many anecdotes recounted in the sister books. These stories not only conveyed to the younger sisters models for exemplary emotional behaviour, but must also have functioned as spiritually sound emotional triggers among the ones who read or heard them.