" Constater que chaque génération fait sa propre réécriture de Marx est sans doute un truisme ; ce qu'il convient toutefois d'ajouter c'est que chaque époque apporte à ce procès son propre mode, historiquement spécifique, de réécriture. La nôtre, par exemple, est caractérisée par une combinaison paradoxale de méfiance vis-à-vis de la téléologie, et même du récit historique en tant que tel, et d'une extraordinaire renaissance du genre biographique [...]. La remarquable nouvelle histoire de la formation de la pensée de (...) Marx proposée par Eustache Kouvélakis - peut-être la première nouvelle version véritablement originale de cette formation depuis la monumentale histoire écrite dans l'après-guerre par Auguste Cornu - ne doit pas être considérée comme un simple récit des contingences et des rencontres, des accidents de la découverte intellectuelle et de l'exposition imprévisible aux vents du Zeitgeist, mais aussi comme une nouvelle théorie de ce qui est structurellement central et original dans l'exploit de Marx, à savoir la nature politique unique et la puissance du prolétariat. [...] À un moment où de nouvelles pensées politiques semblent particulièrement rares du côté de la gauche (si ce n'est en réalité partout), un tel Marx pourrait s'avérer pour nous d'un intérêt et d'une valeur des plus élevés. " Fredric Jameson (extrait de la préface). (shrink)

The precarious rights of senior citizens, especially those who are highly educated and who are expected to counsel and guide the younger generations, has stimulated the creation internationally of advocacy associations and opinion leader groups. The strength of these groups, however, varies from country to country. In some countries, they are supported and are the focus of intense interest; in others, they are practically ignored. For this is reason we believe that the creation of a network of all these associations (...) is essential. The proposed network would act as a support for the already-existing policies of the United Nations’ High Commission for Human Rights, of independent experts, and of the Global Alliance for the Rights of Older People. All three have long ago recommended the creation of a recognized instrument for uniting presently scattered efforts. The proposed network, therefore, will seek to promote the international exchange of relevant expertise, and it will reinforce the commitments and actions that single countries are currently taking to meet these objectives. For example, informative public events can be organised to promote particular support initiatives and to provide an opportunity for new members of the network to be presented. The network will promote health for senior citizens, disease prevention, senior mobility, safe free time for seniors, alimentary education, protection against new risks and dangers, as well as equity in the services necessary for seniors to adopt new information and communication technologies. In the case of retired academic members, the network will promote equality with respect to continuing use of digital technologies (particularly email), continuing access to research libraries, and the guaranteed ability for seniors to fund their own research programs and to deliver free seminars. (shrink)

At the beginning of 2020, COVID-19 became a global problem. Despite all the efforts to emphasize the relevance of preventive measures, not everyone adhered to them. Thus, learning more about the characteristics determining attitudinal and behavioral responses to the pandemic is crucial to improving future interventions. In this study, we applied machine learning on the multi-national data collected by the International Collaboration on the Social and Moral Psychology of COVID-19 (N = 51,404) to test the predictive efficacy of constructs from (...) social, moral, cognitive, and personality psychology, as well as socio-demographic factors, in the attitudinal and behavioral responses to the pandemic. The results point to several valuable insights. Internalized moral identity provided the most consistent predictive contribution—individuals perceiving moral traits as central to their self-concept reported higher adherence to preventive measures. Similar was found for morality as cooperation, symbolized moral identity, self-control, open-mindedness, collective narcissism, while the inverse relationship was evident for the endorsement of conspiracy theories. However, we also found a non-negligible variability in the explained variance and predictive contributions with respect to macro-level factors such as the pandemic stage or cultural region. Overall, the results underscore the importance of morality-related and contextual factors in understanding adherence to public health recommendations during the pandemic. (shrink)

The goal of this article is to present the dissertation research which studies the Olympian Zeus’ temples built during the sixth and fifth centuries B.C. The intention is to understand how Olympia was responsible for the origin and dissemination of Olympian Zeus´cult through the Greek world. From the poleis survey that consecrated these temples to the deity and by the mapping of the cult in association to textual informations we will discuss the Olympios epiteth and the name Olympieion, the spacial (...) configuration of the Olympian Zeus sanctuaries and the relationship of the cult and the tyranny. (shrink)

Headache disorders can be considered as the predominant neurological condition. In the field of neurological diseases, migraine was estimated to cost a total of €27 billion per year for the loss through reduced work productivity in the European Community. Medical data and information in turn provide knowledge based on which physicians make scientific decisions for diagnosis and treatments. It is, therefore, very useful to create diagnostic tools to help physicians make better decisions. This paper is focused on a new hybrid (...) clustering system combining analytic hierarchy process and weighted fuzzy c-means clustering method for diagnosing children with primary headache disorder. The proposed three-stage hybrid diagnosing system is tested on data set collected from hospitalized children in the Clinical Centre of Vojvodina, Novi Sad, Serbia. (shrink)

Secara alami dan biologis, jenis kelamin manusia jelas, yaitu laki-laki dan perempaun. Secara tradisoonal diterima oleh masyarakat bahwa ketertarikan seksual bersifat heteroseks, yaitu laki-laki tertarik berelasi seksual dengan perempaun dan perempuan tertarik berelasi seksual dengan pria. Sekarang sebagian masyarakat menerima bahwa ketertarikan seksual bukan hanya bersifat heteroseks, tetapi bisa juga bersifat homoseks, yaitu laki-laki tertarik secara seksual dengan pria, dan perempuan tertarik secara seksual dengan perempuan. Orientasi seksual yang bukan hanya heteroseks makin mendapat perhatiaan (...) saat ini. Perhatian makin serius karena sebagian masyarakat menerima dan mengesahkan perkawinan homoseksual. Gereja Katolik tidak menerima “perkawinan” homoseksual karena tidak sesuai dengan ajaran dan aturan yang melindungi nilai kemanusiaan dan martabat keluarga. Perkawinan sakramental dalam Gereja Katolik terjadi antara laki-laki dan perempuan yang berhubungan dengan ketahanan lembaga keluarga, prokreasi dan keturunan. (shrink)

In this paper I offer a possible approach to accomplishing Benedict's goal proposed in his Regensburg address.1 I take his goal to be twofold. First, we must expand our concept of reason beyond the privileged position of scientific empiricism and philosophical reasoning, both of which form what I have called the Secular Magisterium, put in place as the dominant intellectual force by the Enlightenment. Second, the motivation for expanding our concept of reason is for the purpose of greater dialogue across (...) cultures, across religions and across academic disciplines. Since I take Benedict's goal to be twofold, my paper will address these issues in two parts, the second building from the first.In the first section, I will revisit the counter-Enlightenment thinking of some well known, yet significantly marginalized voices, with the goal of hearing them again and reviving their critique to inform our own. By the end of this section, I will offer what I take to be a counter-Enlightenment approach to knowing our world by means of an expanded concept of reason. In the second section, I will address what I take to be some of the more intellectual challenges to the possibilities for conversation across cultures, religions, and disciplines. It is my goal to show how an embodied version of the counter-Enlightenment approach I offer in the first section can allow for genuine conversation that not only provides opportunities to better know our conversation partners, but also offers the possibility of honest persuasion in which the other sees reality differently and considers this way better. (shrink)

Throughout the nineteenth century, German philosophy was haunted by the specter of the French Revolution. Kant, Hegel and their followers spent their lives wrestling with its heritage, trying to imagine a specifically German path to modernity: a “revolution without revolution.” Trapped in a politically ossified society, German intellectuals were driven to brood over the nature of the revolutionary experience. In this ambitious and original study, Stathis Kouvelakis paints a rich panorama of the key intellectual and political figures in the effervescence (...) of German thought before the 1848 revolutions. He shows how the attempt to chart a moderate, reformist path entered into crisis, generating two antagonistic perspectives within the progressive currents of German society. On the one side were those socialists—among them Moses Hess and the young Friedrich Engels—who sought to discover a principle of harmony in social relations, bypassing the question of revolutionary politics. On the other side, the poet Heinrich Heine and the young Karl Marx developed a new perspective, articulating revolutionary rupture, proletarian hegemony and struggle for democracy, thereby redefining the very notion of politics itself. (shrink)

In this paper, I will examine epistocracy as a form of limiting the political agency of some citizens (by removing their political rights) and offer an internal critique of it. I will argue that epistocracy runs into a number of logical and epistemic problems in trying to define who should be the members of an epistocratic polity. Furthermore, I will argue that the argument for epistocracy cannot ignore unjust background conditions. I will also suggest that some of the problems epistocracy (...) attempts to correct can be solved in a more just way, while preserving democracy. (shrink)

Not so long ago, a well institutionalized predatory journal exposed itself by publishing a hoax article that blew the whistle for its devastating influence on the academic affairs of a small country. This paper puts that experiment in context, gives all the important details and analyzes the results. The experiment was inspired by well-known cases of scientific activism and is in line with recent efforts against predatory publishers. The paper presents the evidence in detail and uses it to analyze the (...) publishing practices of the offending journal, using established criteria for assessing predatory publications. That journal somehow acquired an impact factor and charged money to publish thousands of “scientific” papers without any peer review. Since the impact factor is the major official evaluation criteria for scientists in Serbia, these papers disturbed the whole academic evaluation process. Credentials acquired by those publications form a strong obstacle to institutionalized reasoned efforts against such practices. This case warns the whole community of the long lasting damage when journals with low publishing ethics are taken seriously. (shrink)

Human nature, regardless of how we perceive it, whether from an ethical or psychological standpoint, is arguably such that it prevents the overwhelming majority of people from killing other humans....

Study in the period of coronavirus disease 2019 lockdown and the effect of different exercise training programs on the quality of life dimension are limited. This randomized control study as a part of which the impact of an 8-week neuromuscular training program on the 90 healthy young individuals’ QoL after COVID-19 lockdown was assessed using a short form of the WHOQOL-BREF questionnaire comprising of four domains. The intervention group took part in a neuromuscular training program consisting of dynamic neuromuscular stabilization (...) and whole-body vibration training. In contrast, the control group did not participate in any programmed physical activity. From pre- to post-intervention test, the NT group significantly and substantially improved [mean change ] all the QoL domains, physical for 12.78 scores, psychological for 13.12 scores, social relationships for 20.57 scores, and environmental for 24.40 scores. These results suggest that the NT program could enhance QoL in young and healthy participants following COVID-19 lockdown. (shrink)

When teaching a novel mathematical concept, should we present learners with abstract or concrete examples? In this experiment, we conduct a critical replication and extension of a well‐known study that argued for the general advantage of abstract examples (Kaminski, Sloutsky, & Heckler, 2008a). We demonstrate that theoretically motivated yet minor modifications of the learning design put this argument in question. A key finding from this study is that participants who trained with improved concrete examples performed as well as, or better (...) than, participants who trained with abstract examples. We argue that the previously reported “advantage of abstract examples” manifested not because abstract examples are advantageous in general, but because the concrete condition employed suboptimal examples. (shrink)

ObjectiveAre people with a characteristically large physiological sway rendered particularly unstable when standing on a moving surface? Is postural sway in standing individuals idiosyncratic? In this study, we examine postural sway in individuals standing normally, and when subtle continuous sinusoidal disturbances are applied to their support platform. We calculate consistency between conditions to verify if sway can be considered characteristic of each individual. We also correlate two different aspects of participants’ responses to disturbance; their sway velocity and their regulation of (...) body orientation.MethodsNineteen healthy adults (age 29.2 ± 3.2 years) stood freely on footplates coaxially aligned with their ankles and attached to a motorized platform. They had their eyes closed, and hips and knees locked with a light wooden board attached to their body. Participants either stood quietly on a fixed platform or on a slowly tilting platform (0.1 Hz sinusoid; 0.2 and 0.4 deg). Postural sway size was separated into two entities: (1) the spontaneous sway velocity component (natural random relatively rapid postural adjustments, RMS body angular velocity) and (2) the evoked tilt gain component (much slower 0.1 Hz synchronous tilt induced by the movement of the platform, measured as peak-to-peak (p-p) gain, ratio of body angle to applied footplate rotation).ResultsThere was no correlation between the velocity of an individual’s sway and their evoked tilt gain (r= 0.34,p= 0.15 andr= 0.30,p= 0.22). However, when considered separately, each of the two measurements showed fair to good absolute agreement within conditions. Spontaneous sway velocity consistently increased as participants were subjected to increasing disturbance. Participants who swayed more (or less) did so across all conditions [ICC(3,k)= 0.95]. Evoked tilt gain also showed consistency between conditions [ICC(3,k)= 0.79], but decreased from least to most disturbed conditions.ConclusionThe two measurements remain consistent between conditions. Consistency between conditions of two very distinct unrelated measurements reflects the idiosyncratic nature of postural sway. However, sway velocity and tilt gain are not related, which supports the idea that the short-term regulation of stability and the longer-term regulation of orientation are controlled by different processes. (shrink)

Početkom dvadesetog stoljeća Walter Benjamin ukazao je da s razvojem tehnike reproduciranja dolazi do gubljenja elitističkog statusa autora. S ekspanzijom tiska, filma i fotografije, svakome je, kako ističe, otvorena mogućnost dobivanja uloge u nekom filmu, pisanja nekog teksta koji bi potom bio objavljen u novinama, kreativnog izražavanja putem fotografije. Pojava interneta i novih medija ponovno aktualizira Benjaminovu teoriju. Razvoj cyber svjetova i mogućnost čovjekova kreativnog izražavanja unutar njih, u tekstu su dovedeni u vezu s pitanjem identiteta. Uključivanje čovjeka u cyber (...) prostor shvaćeno je kao otvaranje novih mogućnosti za ostvarenje čovjekovih kreativnih potencijala. U tome smislu, sudjelovanje čovjeka u cyber prostoru, čak i onda kada je usmjereno na stvaranje različitih predodžaba o samome sebi, shvaćeno je kao ostvarivanje čovjeka kao autora, a ne kao proces destabiliziranja čovjekova identiteta.At the beginning of the twentieth century Walter Benjamin pointed out that the development of techniques of reproduction leads to the loss of elite status of author. With the development of the press, film, and photography, as pointed out by Benjamin, everyone has an open possibility to gain a role in a movie, to be the author of a text which would then have been published in newspaper, or to creatively express through photography. Advent of the internet and new media actualized Benjamin’s theory. Development of cyber worlds and the possibility to one to creatively express himself into these worlds, in the text are linked to the question of identity. Inclusion of one in cyber space is understood as opening of new possibilities for the realization of one’s creative potentials. In that regard, the participation of one in cyber space, even when it is focused on creating different ideas about him, is understood as the realization of one as the author, and not as a process of destabilization of human identity. (shrink)

Ako je u antičkom polisu Platona brinulo što se građani samodovoljno oslanjaju na vlastita uvjerenja o vrlinama, ne tragajući za znanjem, današnjeg žitelja globalnog pseudopolisa opčinjavaju simulirane informacije, slike i uvjerenja koja nezamislivim bujanjem kreiraju društvenu svijest. U sjenci masmedijskih pećina uočavaju se obrisi transformirane demokracije koja je sve izloženija silovitim naletima megakorporativnih interesa, dominantnih geopolitičkih utjecaja, kulturnog determinizma i redefiniranog vjerskog fundamentalizma. Usamljenom pojedincu na Agori sve je teže formirati i sačuvati vlastito mišljenje, ideje i vrijednosti. Infoprostor je pokriven (...) globalnom mrežom informacija i podataka, dok čin razmjene simboličkih sadržaja od čovjeka preuzimaju strojevi! Sloboda izražavanja medija je kisik otvorenog, javnog komuniciranja, stup demokratskih građevina, ali problem je u činjenici što čuvari informacijskih ulaza i dalje stražare, ovoga puta pred cyberprostorima.If Plato was upset that people leaned on their own convictions about virtues, without seeking knowledge, present resident of global pseudopolis is obsessed by simulated information, pictures and convictions, which create social consciousness with their hyperproduction. In shadow of massmedia’s caves, contours of transformed democracy can be seen. This democracy is more and more exposed to the interests of megacorporations, dominant geopolitical influence, cultural determinism, and redefined fundamentalism. Under such circumstances, to some lonely individual, “in Athena’s Agora”, is even more difficult to form and keep his or her own opinion, ideas and values. Infospace is covered by global network of information and facts; the process of symbolic exchange is taken off humans by machines. Freedom of speech in media is the air of open, public communication, the pillar of democratic structures, but problem is that watchmen of “information gates” still standing guard, but this time in front of cyber spaces. (shrink)

Recent advances in the neuroscience of episodic memory provide a framework to integrate object relations theory, a psychoanalytic model of mind development, with potential neural mechanisms. Object relations are primordial cognitive-affective units of the mind derived from survival- and safety-level experiences with caretakers during phase-sensitive periods of infancy and toddlerhood. Because these are learning experiences, their neural substrate likely involves memory, here affect-enhanced episodic memory. Inaugural object relations are encoded by the hippocampus-amygdala synaptic plasticity, and systems-consolidated by medial prefrontal cortex (...) (mPFC). Self- and object-mental representations, extracted from these early experiences, are at first dichotomized by contradictory affects evoked by frustrating and rewarding interactions (“partial object relations”). Such affective dichotomization appears to be genetically hardwired the amygdala. Intrinsic propensity of mPFC to form schematic frameworks for episodic memories may pilot non-conscious integration of dichotomized mental representations in neonates and infants. With the emergence of working memory in toddlers, an activated self- and object-representation of a particular valence can be juxtaposed with its memorized opposites creating a balanced cognitive-affective frame (conscious “integration of object relations”). Specific events of object relations are forgotten but nevertheless profoundly influence the mental future of the individual, acting (i) as implicit schema-affect templates that regulate attentional priorities, relevance, and preferential assimilation of new information based on past experience, and (ii) as basic units of experience that are, under normal circumstances, integrated as attractors or “focal points” for interactive self-organization of functional brain networks that underlie the mind. A failure to achieve integrated object relations is predictive of poor adult emotional and social outcomes, including personality disorder. Cognitive, cellular-, and systems-neuroscience of episodic memory appear to support key postulates of object relations theory and help elucidate neural mechanisms of psychodynamic psychotherapy. Derived through the dual prism of psychoanalysis and neuroscience, the gained insights may offer new directions to enhance mental health and improve treatment of multiple forms of psychopathology. (shrink)

Games may seem like a waste of time, where we struggle under artificial rules for arbitrary goals. The author suggests that the rules and goals of games are not arbitrary at all. They are a way of specifying particular modes of agency. This is what make games a distinctive art form. Game designers designate goals and abilities for the player; they shape the agential skeleton which the player will inhabit during the game. Game designers work in the medium of agency. (...) Game-playing, then, illuminates a distinctive human capacity. We can take on ends temporarily for the sake of the experience of pursuing them. Game play shows that our agency is significantly more modular and more fluid than we might have thought. It also demonstrates our capacity to take on an inverted motivational structure. Sometimes we can take on an end for the sake of the activity of pursuing that end. (shrink)

The wider topic to which the content of this paper belongs is that of the relationship between formal logic and real argumentation. Of particular potential interest in this connection are held to be substantive arguments constructed by philosophers reputed equally as authorities in logical theory. A number of characteristics are tentatively indicated by the author as likely to be encountered in such arguments. The discussion centers afterwards, by way of specification, on a remarkable piece of argument quoted in Cicero’s dialog (...) On Divination and ascribed to Stoic thinkers. The Stoics’ formal theory of inference is summarily referred to in this context, with special emphasis on their basic deductive schemata (‘indemonstrables’), some of them recognizable as links in the overall structure of the quoted argument. The main lines of Cicero’s criticism of the Stoic argument are next commented upon, with emphasis on his implied view as to the requirements of a good argument. Towards the end of the paper, a few considerations are added on the changes in the prevailing style of argumentation conspicuous in the three famous Roman Stoics. (shrink)

There seems to be a deep tension between two aspects of aesthetic appreciation. On the one hand, we care about getting things right. On the other hand, we demand autonomy. We want appreciators to arrive at their aesthetic judgments through their own cognitive efforts, rather than deferring to experts. These two demands seem to be in tension; after all, if we want to get the right judgments, we should defer to the judgments of experts. The best explanation, I suggest, is (...) that aesthetic appreciation is something like a game. When we play a game, we try to win. But often, winning isn’t the point; playing is. Aesthetic appreciation involves the same flipped motivational structure: we aim at the goal of correctness, but having correct judgments isn’t the point. The point is the engaged process of interpreting, investigating, and exploring the aesthetic object. Deferring to aesthetic testimony, then, makes the same mistake as looking up the answer to a puzzle, rather than solving it for oneself. The shortcut defeats the whole point. This suggests a new account of aesthetic value: the engagement account. The primary value of the activity of aesthetic appreciation lies in the process of trying to generate correct judgments, and not in having correct judgments. -/- *There is an audio version available: look for the Soundcloud link, below.*. (shrink)

The paper attempts to situate the work of Fyodor Dostoevsky in the tradition of Russian existentialism, and to indicate his influence on the subsequent development of existentialism in its ontological or ethical guise. In fact, Dostoevsky may be seen as the originator of a tradition which will later on influence and be taken up, via Nietzsche and Shestov, by the figures like Emanuel Levinas, Albert Camus or Maurice Blanchot, all explicitly concerned with existentialist questions of debt, guilt or suicide. Dostoevsky's (...) writings are also interpreted in relation to Russian nationalism, and the sense of Russian Messianic election, which at the end of Crime and Punishment coalesce in another destination for Raskolnikov, launching him towards a Messianic future prior to the Abrahamic time and monotheistic sacrificiality. The end of Crime and Punishment imagines another existence for Raskolnikov, before the religious history, or the history tout court, has taken place or time. That time space is akin to something that Jacques Derrida formulated as an advent of an event to-come, a-venir. Dostoevsky is thus, in our interpretation, both a progenitor of the important strains of existentialism, but also a writer returning his hero's existence to an advent of a completely other, time before time, yet to come. (shrink)

Alexander Sokurov’s latest film, Francofonia (2015), produced by the Louvre and filmed in France, takes up the issue of the Louvre in the middle of World War II and the Nazi occupation of Paris. This quasi-documentary, filmed along the lines of Sokurov’s signature documentary “elegies,” also encompasses the history of the Louvre up to the present day. Francofonia follows in the long line of Sokurov’s other films set in museums. Sokurov is an author who has worked more than any other (...) filmmaker to translate paintings into a cinematic medium. While engaging with art history and great museums, however, Sokurov also gives a poignant interpretation of the violence of history that often surrounds great works of art. Thus the museum, in Sokurov’s cinematic interpretation, is both an archive of the most valuable products of civilization, as well as a material monument to the founding cultural and political violence that produced and surrounds it. The overt scrutiny and hypervigilance with which Sokurov films museums affects the very mode of his filming: his camera operates as if it were a museum itself, each film becoming an attempt to save civilization from its own ruination, and from its own blindness. Every frame in Sokurov’s films is thus a freeze-frame, born out of the paralyzing tension between external historical nihilism and the beauty of art. (shrink)