The article deals that biblical theology of Еmerging church focused primarily on the issues of the role of the community in the interpretation of Holy Scripture, the characteristics of the Biblical narrative and comparison of the Bible and the Word of God. According the theology of community sources for the development of theology found in Holy Scripture, tradition and culture, through which God speaks. Therefore Holy Scripture is not the monopoly authority in matters of faith and theology. (...) To explain Holy Scripture can only staying in the church community where truly knowable Christian truth. According B.McLaren the Bible should never be studied and analyzed. The Bible should be seen as a work of art and to read like a story based on the fact that most of the text of Holy Scripture is precisely the narrative. The cause of erroneous traditional reading of the biblical narrative is that it was generated by the synthesis of the Greek philosophical tradition with the political, economic and military dominants of Roman Empire. B.McLaren considers the correct way of understanding the Bible attitude to it as a library of specific community, which traces its history to the biblical patriarchs. The task of the modern reader of the Bible - put yourself in text, in conversation, in history, in a community of people who seek God. (shrink)

Cet article explore comment les femmes de la bourgeoisie occupaient l’espace urbain au début de l’époque moderne entre négociations et circulations à partir de sources normatives et de documents du for privé. Aux xvie et xviie siècles, le contrôle social exercé sur les femmes se durcit. Leur circulation dans l’espace urbain est ainsi l’objet d’une codification précise attribuant aux femmes l’espace domestique, rêvé comme un lieu de vertu, de travail et de protection, en réalité un lieu de circulation et d’échanges, (...) tandis que l’espace public est de plus en plus considéré comme masculin. Bien que les femmes soient sous l’observation stricte des théologiens, des pasteurs et des autorités publiques, certaines ont su s’adapter de ces limitations, et ont pu faire de longs voyages par nécessité, ce qui démontre l’écart entre les normes, et les pratiques au quotidien. (shrink)

Au XVIe siècle, le Saint Empire romain de nation allemande constitue un ensemble politique complexe, caractérisé par un système à plusieurs niveaux de représentation politique et par l’existence de multiples États placés sous l’autorité impériale. L’étude des cartes et des descriptions géographiques de l’espace germanique produites à cette période met au jour la compréhension qu’avaient les contemporains des formes de souveraineté existant dans l’Empire et ses territoires. Elle montre notamment que le pouvoir impérial, à la différence des pouvoirs (...) territoriaux, n’était pas conçu au premier chef comme une forme d’autorité s’exerçant sur un espace, mais comme une entité juridique et institutionnelle chargée d’assurer le fonctionnement politique et l’unité de l’Empire. (shrink)

This article analyses how the reception of Hobbes in Germany in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries was determined within the context of the Holy Roman Empire. It argues that it is precisely this context that forms the peculiarities of the Hobbes reception in Pufendorf, Thomasius, and Hegel. It thereby offers a new way of viewing the development of the particular political theories of these three figures and their relationship to the English philosopher’s political thought.

This paper investigates John Dee’s relationship with two kinds of alchemist: the authorities whose works he read, and the contemporary practitioners with whom he exchanged texts and ideas. Both strands coincide in the reception of works attributed to the famous English alchemist, George Ripley. Dee’s keen interest in Ripley appears from the number of transcriptions he made of ‘Ripleian’ writings, including the Bosome book, a manuscript discovered in 1574 and believed to have been written in Ripley’s own hand. In 1583, (...) Dee and his associate Edward Kelley left England for East Central Europe, taking with them a proportion of Dee’s vast library, including alchemical books—the contents of which would soon pique the interest of continental practitioners. Kelley used Ripley’s works, including the Bosome book, not only as sources of practical information, but as a means of furthering his own relationships with colleagues and patrons: transactions that in turn influenced Ripley’s posthumous continental reception. The resulting circulation of texts allows us to trace, with unusual precision, the spread of English alchemical ideas in the Holy Roman Empire from the late sixteenth century. (shrink)

SummaryThe problem of conquests and territorial expansion, including their interpretation, evaluation, and legitimisation, has been crucial for European national historiographies. Consequently, attempts by the Holy Roman emperors, particularly of the Saxon and Hohenstaufen dynasties, to control Italy and Burgundy were hotly debated among nineteenth-century German historians, while Poland's union with Lithuania, and the annexation of the vast territories of the east which followed, was a central topic for Polish historians of the time. Modern historians of historiography in both (...) countries have carefully analysed these narratives, emphasising their ideological and political contexts, such as their involvement in the Grossdeutsch versus Kleindeutsch controversy and the controversy between the so-called Cracow and Warsaw historical schools. In this paper I propose a comparative analysis of these two discourses which dealt with analogical issues and, as I demonstrate, developed with a parallel dynamic. Such an analysis, I argue, allows an escape from the paradigm of national exceptionalism, and the discovery of what was typical or, perhaps, constitutive of the discourse on territorial expansion of the time, instead of focusing on the uniqueness of the national context. This analysis embraces the conceptualisation, argumentation, and rhetoric of those nineteenth-century German and Polish historians discussing the expansion of the medieval Holy Empire and early-modern Poland. Moreover, it locates their interpretations within an international context of a broader Western historiographical tradition, involving issues of domination, cultural transfer, and colonialism. Finally, it examines the parallel mechanism of searching for, advocating, and perpetuating the idea of uniqueness of national history. (shrink)

Spreading the universal monarchy myth in the early 16th century was closely linked to the magnitude of the territories controlled by Charles V. For the imperial chancellor Mercurino Gattinara, universal and messianic ideas, which were integrated into the symbolism of the Empire, were to legitimate a policy that aimed at giving a more rational structure to Charles’ territories and at securing a prominent influence for the Habsburg family in the whole of Europe. Gattinara imagined a kind of supranational monarchy, (...) organised in accordance with the mythical model of the Roman Empire, which would be able to guarantee peace under the aegis of Christianity. (shrink)

This book examines the intersection between religious belief, dynastic ambitions, and late Renaissance court culture within the main branches of Germany's most storied ruling house, the Wittelsbach dynasty. Their influence touched many shores from the "coast" of Bohemia to Boston.

SummaryThis essay aims to study the impact made by Véron de Forbonnais's Elémens du commerce on the development of economic thought in the German Empire. Starting from the 1755 translation of the Elémens, construed here as an aspect of the gemeinnützig-oekonomische Aufklärung, it will examine the reception of the work in cultural and political terms. The analysis will thus focus first on the German universities, where a renewed teaching of Polizei transposed Forbonnais's theoretical ideas into a new ‘science of (...) the state’ centred on economic and commercial mechanisms. Secondly, the political reading of the Elémens during the Seven Years’ War and in the years of Kaunitz's government in Vienna will be taken into consideration. The Journal de commerce published in Brussels will serve as a pathway towards understanding the complex cultural transfer between France and the Empire that Forbonnais's work facilitated: the Elémens were in fact variously used as the manifesto of a new political and economic alliance between the French Crown and the court of Vienna and as theoretical support of Habsburg politics which, in the second half of Maria Theresa's reign, were committed to the principles of free trade and anti-corporatism. (shrink)

Determinism and chance seem to be irreconcilable opposites: either something is chancy or it is deterministic but not both. Yet there are processes which appear to square the circle by being chancy and deterministic at once, and the appearance is backed by well-confirmed scientific theories such as statistical mechanics which also seem to provide us with chances for deterministic processes. Is this possible, and if so how? In this essay I discuss this question for probabilities as they occur in the (...) empirical sciences, setting aside metaphysical questions in connection with free will, divine intervention and determinism in history. (shrink)

This study examines the impact of board of director gender diversity on corporate tax aggressiveness. Based on a sample of 418 U.S. firms covering the 2006–2009 period, our ordinary least squares regression results show a negative and statistically significant association between female representation on the board and tax aggressiveness after controlling for endogeneity. Our results are consistent across several measures of tax aggressiveness and additional robustness checks.

Ethical concerns of Internet users continue to rise. Accordingly, several scholars have called for systematic empirical research to address these issues. This study examines the conceptualization and measurement of consumers' perceptions regarding the ethics of online retailers. Also, this research represents a first step into the analysis of the relationship between CPEOR, consumers' general Internet expertise and reported positive word of mouth. Results, from a convenience sample of 357 online shoppers, suggest that CPEOR can be operationalized as a second-order construct (...) composed of four dimensions: security, privacy, fulfillment, and non-deception. Our findings also indicate that consumers' general Internet expertise significantly improves CPEOR and CPEOR are strongly predictive of consumers' WOM. Managerial and research implications are offered. (shrink)

BackgroundThe theory and practice of ethics consultations (ECs) in health care are still characterized by many controversies, including, for example, the practice of giving recommendations. These controversies are complicated by an astonishing lack of evidence in the whole field. It is not clear how often a recommendation is issued in ethics consultations and when and why this step is taken. Especially in a facilitation model in which giving recommendations is optional, more data would be helpful to evaluate daily practice, ensure (...) that this practice is in line with the overarching goals of this approach and support the development of standards.MethodsWe analyzed all consultations requested from an EC service working under a facilitation approach at a maximum-care university hospital in Germany over a period of more than 10 years. Our aim was to better understand why—and under what circumstances—some consultation requests result in a recommendation, whereas others can be sufficiently addressed solely by facilitated meetings. We especially wanted to know when and why clients felt the need for clear advice from the EC service while in other cases they did not. We compared ethics consultations in terms of the differences between cases with and without recommendations issued by the ethics consultants using χ2 difference tests and Welch’s t-test.ResultsA total of 243 ECs were carried out between September 2008 and December 2019. In approximately half of the cases, a recommendation was given. All recommendations were issued upon the request of clients. When physicians asked for an EC, the consultation was significantly more likely to result in a recommendation than when the EC was requested by any other party. ECs in cases on wards with ethics rounds resulted in comparably fewer recommendations than those in wards without ethics rounds. When interpersonal conflicts were part of the problem or relatives were present in the meeting, clients less frequently asked for a recommendation.ConclusionFrom the client’s point of view, there does not seem to be only one “right” way to provide ethics consultations, but rather several. While facilitated meetings are obviously appreciated by clients, there also seem to be situations in which a recommendation is desired (especially by physicians). Further empirical and theoretical research is needed to validate our single-center results and re-evaluate the role of recommendations in ethics consultations. (shrink)

This article will introduce Isaac Newton’s fundamental methodological concepts applied for a solution concerning a question of gravity in his Principia Mathematica. The method of deduction of propositions from phenomena can be described as demonstrative induction. The main aim is to show that this method proposed by Newton explicitly contains a criticism of hypothetico-deductive methodology as an inadequate approach to the study of nature. As opposed to hypothetico-deductive method, demonstrative induction is capable of producing theories with much richer empirical and (...) epistemological value. Delimitation against hypothetically deduced theories is closely connected with criticism of mechanical materialism, most notably in a form proposed by René Descartes. Consequently, it has led Newton to not only reject the universality of mechanical premise but also to certain level of immunization against all competitive hypothetically based theories. (shrink)

Editorial: the second phenomenology, by A. T. Tymieniecka.--Roman Ingarden, critique de Bergson, par J. M. Fataud.--Some remarks on the ego in the phenomenology of Husserl, by C. van Peursen.--The empirical and transcendental ego, by M. Natanson.--Rencontre et dialogue, par E. Minkowski.--Quelques thèmes d'une phénoménologie de rêve, par J. Héring.--Man and his life-world, by J. Wild.--Die Verwirklichung des Wesens in der Sprache der Dichtung: Gustave Flaubert, von F. Kaufmann.--Le langage de la poésie, par J. F. Mora.--L'analyse de l'idée et la (...) participation, par A. T. Tymieniecka. (shrink)

This study examines the impact of corporate tax avoidance on board of directors and chief executive officer reputation. Our regression results show that when firms engage in tax avoidance, both directors and CEOs, on average, are rewarded by improvements in their reputations as proxied by an increased number of outside board seats. In particular, both independent directors and non-CEO executive directors undergo positive changes in reputation. We also find that CEOs of tax-aggressive firms experience enhanced reputations by gaining extra board (...) seats. Our main regression results hold based on additional analyses. Overall, this study provides important empirical evidence confirming an association between tax avoidance and the individual reputations of directors and CEOs. (shrink)

Aicardi et al. look to neuroscience to mitigate the limitations of current robotics technology. They propose that robotics technology guided by neuroscience has the capacity to create intelligent robots that function with awareness and capacity for abstraction and reasoning. As neurorobotics extends the capability of robotics technology, it introduces new social and ethical concerns, in particular co-opting civilian applications for military use, conflicts between industry and the academy, and data security. However, here we argue that empirical evidence has shown that (...) human cognition is faulty; therefore there is not a clear motivation to build intelligent robots on a human model; representation of meaning in the brain is not well-understood; therefore neuro-robotics is limited; and to the extent that intelligent robots become a reality, the ethics of robot rights will be of central concern. (shrink)

Although migration and religion have traditionally developed as two separate research topics, in the current context of globalization and trans-nationalism attention begins to focus on the way they interconnect. Religion received little attention in Romanian studies on migration undertaken so far. Using the results of our survey among Romanian international migrants of different religious faiths, this paper aims to raise interest in migration-religion relationship and, at the same time, to improve the understanding of the economic performance factors in a migration (...) context by focusing on the distinctive characteristics of Romanian religious minorities. We address both the theoretical and the empirical dimension of this topic, making use of various statistical methods. Our main findings are consistent with the assumption that religious belief is reflecting upon the behavior and economic performance of Romanian migrants. (shrink)

The main idea of the article is that every belief is an answer to a question. Such question is called "calling the belief". It has a strictly assigned set of possible answers, such that they exclude one another. Understanding a belief means to know the question and all the alternative answers. Total ignorance of a question means that the curve that shows the level of affirmation of every possible answer is horizontal. Getting knowledge means folding the curve. Then some possibilities (...) become better affirmed then others. The possibility of folding the curve means that the question has empirical content. When one of the possibilities wins and becomes highly affirmed whereas others fall down to be rejected the subject obtains the truth. (shrink)

As scientists spend a substantial part of their time building, testing, comparing and revising theories or models, it is no surprise that the nature of theories and models is a subject of central importance within the philosophy of science. This book provides a critical survey of, and introduction to, the debates surrounding theories and models within analytical philosophy of science. It combines coverage of standard topics such as the syntactic and semantic views of theories as well as ones less often (...) discussed in connection with models and theories but which nevertheless are shown to have a clear bearing on the topic, such as Munich structuralism, thought experiments, the applicability of mathematics in the empirical sciences and measurement theory. The book provides a clearly structured and systematic introduction to a field, which, due to its richness and complexity, can be difficult to master. (shrink)

The article discusses ways of developing bioethical guidance in the Orthodox Christian discourse. Here, “ethical” refers to what contributes to holiness, “un-ethical” refers to sin as what hinders man’s foundational calling to holiness. To explore the development of guidance for emerging bioethical issues, we use the “therapeutic” understanding of treatment for sin in two senses. (1) It refers to the spiritual means provided by the “hospital” of the Orthodox Church for healing the fallenness of human nature in general; and (2) (...) it helps identify in particular cases both what counts as transgression of unconditional boundaries (defining what is illicit for everyone) and what is advisable in order to help particular persons to choose rightly within the area of the “more or less licit” (or “permissible”). Sources of the Orthodox faith that frame the general understanding of the boundaries between the permissible and the impermissible reflect the work of the Holy Spirit in the Church framing her Sacred (Holy) Tradition. In Holy Tradition, prayers, as communion with God, occupy a central position. This is why Orthodox moral reasoning, and thus also Orthodox bioethics, takes the form of liturgical bioethics. Penalties of excommunication determine hard boundaries that believers should not overstep: when crossing such boundaries, they enter on a spiritually dangerous path that completely distracts them away from God. Many minor sins, by contrast, have not been codified in Canons. They are not taken to remove the sinner completely from contact with the Lord. Within this realm of actions, it depends on a person’s spiritual maturity whether such actions are classified as sinful. Thus, an act can be counted merely as a small offense if committed by a beginner, while that same act can become a grave sin for an advanced believer. Due to acceleration of the technological progress, Orthodox recourse to Holy Tradition encounters ever-new challenges. There are bioethical issues that had not surfaced at the time of the Fathers of the Church. Today, Bishops gathered at a local council can supply the guidance lacking on a newly emerging bioethical problem. Even if ratified only by such local councils, the resulting decrees can also be regarded as the expression of the Holy Spirit working within a local Church and conveying His guidance. The article illustrates this source of Christian bioethics by reference to how the Russian Orthodox Church orients and develops its position on the ethics of reproductive technologies. (shrink)

The topic of the study is a component of modern scientific exploration that examines the role of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in building our multi-denominational society. In particular, the issue of determining the place and role of the Adventist Church in society and the state is important. However, today it is possible to unleash it only by summing up the accumulated experience in this field for the whole period of the history of Adventism in Ukraine. The problem of state-confessional relations (...) is important, but it has not been given sufficient importance in terms of theoretical research, which sometimes leads to gross errors in the construction of these relations, which is not beneficial to society. Thus, it is interesting for us to experience the emergence of relations between the state and the Adventist faith in the Ukrainian lands that were part of the Russian Empire, since that is when the formation of the Adventist Church in the domestic territories began. (shrink)

The paper proposes an outline of a reconciliatory approach to the perennial controversy between epistemological realism and anti-realism (constructionism). My main conceptual source in explaining this view is the philosophy of pragmatism, more specifically, the epistemological theories of George H. Mead, John Dewey, and also William James’ radical empiricism. First, the paper analyzes the pragmatic treatment of the goal-directedness of action, especially with regard to Mead’s notion of attitudes, and relates it to certain contemporary epistemological theories provided by the cognitive (...) sciences (Maturana, Rizzolatti, Clark). Against this background, the paper presents a philosophical as well as empirical justification of why we should interpret the environment and its objects in terms of possibilities for action. In Mead’s view, the objects and events of our world emerge within stable patterns of organism-environment interactions, which he called “perspectives”. According to pragmatism as well as the aforementioned cognitive scientists, perception and other cognitive processes include not only neural processes in our heads but also the world itself. Elaborating on Mead’s concept of perspectives, the paper argues in favor of the epistemological position called “constructive realism.”. (shrink)

Recent theoretical and empirical studies tend to highlight the prominent role that time plays in society, in a context of changing rhythms of work, the ageing of the European population and changing family structures. In this contribution I analyse the way time is used for leisure in Romania and situate it in the European context. I highlight the time use for creative and leisure activities in respect with gender, following the hypothesis that leisure is an important dimension of gender gap. (...) It was used factor analysis to observe the differences existing in time use for leisure in respect with occupational status, marital status and education. (shrink)

La formación del profesional de la salud de perfil amplio constituye uno de los objetivos principales en la educación médica superior. Sobre la base de este planteamiento se desarrolló una investigación en la Facultad de Ciencias Médicas de la Universidad de Ciencias Médicas "Carlos J. Finlay", de Camagüey, con el objetivo de exponer los fundamentos teóricos en los que se sustenta la competencia comunicativa intercultural en la enseñanza-aprendizaje del idioma Inglés. Se utilizaron diferentes métodos de investigación de los niveles teórico (...) y empírico. Se concluyó que estos fundamentos integran factores cognitivos, afectivo-emocionales, motivacionales, sociales, culturales, axiológicos y creativos, del proceso de desarrollo de la competencia comunicativa analizada. Formation of the health professionals with a wide profile constitutes one of the main objectives in high medical education. On this basis the present work is the result of a research carried in the Faculty of Medical Sciences at the Medical College of Camaguey. Its main objective is to expose the theoretical foundations of the intercultural communicative competence in the learning and teaching of English. For its elaboration different investigative methods of theoretical and empirical levels were applied. (shrink)