A comparative study of Tibetan Buddhist logic and Aristotelian logic of argument.

Research Ethics, Volume 18, Issue 1, Page 39-50, January 2022. Internet users’ comments in online spaces have attracted researchers’ attention in recent years. Although this data is typically publicly available, its use requires careful consideration so as to not cause harm to the users, while complying with the terms and conditions of the online spaces. However, the Ts & Cs and researchers’ ethical considerations may sometimes be in conflict. I faced such a conflict when I conducted discourse analysis of online (...) discussions that were sourced from a public online learning platform owned by a private company. In this article, I reflect on how I navigated the Ts & Cs and copyright law, taking users’ likely expectations into consideration when deciding whether to seek informed consent and anonymize content. I employed an ‘attribution with anonymization’ method to acknowledge users for their comments while safeguarding their confidentiality. Given the variety of online spaces and research methods, ethical decision-making must be a contextualized process that requires researchers to consider the nature of the online platform and the potential experience of the users, rather than simply following guidelines or Ts & Cs. (shrink)

bakhsh-i 1. Muqaddamah, Manṭiq, Umūr-i ʻāmmah, Ṭabīʻyāt, Ilāhīyāt.

Facsimile of miscellaneous Persian and Arabic texts in Mullā Ṣadrā's handwriting.

Over the last two decades, many philosophers have been increasingly inclined to consider science fiction films as philosophical exercises that center on the nature of human consciousness and existence. Albert Camus' philosophy of the absurd, however, has almost never been employed as a constructive perspective that can illumine unexplored aspects of these films. This is surprising, since science fiction films seem to be packed with visions and dialogues that echo the Sisyphean universe. Cosmos and Camus endeavors to set foot on (...) this uncharted terrain. Its first part aims to introduce the main components of Camus' absurdity in such a way that it can be easily applied to the analysis of the films later. Equipped with these Camusean essentials, it delves into an in-depth analysis of two first-encounter films (Contact and Arrival) and two AI films (A.I. and Her). These analyses yield more than an insightful reflection of the absurd contents in science-fiction film. Indeed, imaginative collisions with nonhumans seem to tell us a lot about the nature of the absurd in the human condition, as well as raising the question of whether absurdity is exclusively a human matter. Ultimately, the interpretation of the films illuminates the films themselves just as much as it illuminates, challenges, and expands Camus' concept of absurdity, thus contributing to our current understanding of what the absurd reality is and how we can either live with it or transcend it. (shrink)

jild-i 1. Ittiṣāf al-māhīyah bil-wujūd, al-tashkhkhus, Sarayān al-wujūd ajūbah al-masāʼil li-baʻḍ al-khallān, Shawāhid al-rubūbīyah, al-Mizāj -- jild-i 2. Ḥashar al-ashyāʼ, al-Ḥasharīyah, Khalq al-aʻmāl, al-Qaḍāʼ wa-al-qadar, al-Maʻād al-jismānī -- jild-i 3. Iksīr al-ʻārifīn fī maʻrifah ṭarīq al-ḥaqq wa-al-yaqīn al-wāridāt al-qalbīyah fī maʻrifah al-rubūbīyah -- jild-i 4. al-Ḥikmah al-ʻarshīyah, al-Masāʼil al-qudsīyah, al-Mashāʻir, Mathnawī --.

Criticism and interpretation of Akhlāq-i Jalālī, a work of Muḥammad ibn Asʻad Dawwānī, 1426 or 7-1512 or 13, on Islamic ethics.

al-Masāʼil al-qudsīyah -- Mutashābihāt al-Qurʼān -- Ajwibat al-masāʼil.

The Vessantara J?taka is not only the most popular of all the Buddhist J?taka tales, but is important in the tradition as a whole, generally considered by the Therav?din tradition to display the epitome of the Bodhisatta’s perfection of giving. While most studies have focused on philological approaches, numerous questions as to the text’s structure and how to interpret individual parts within that structure have remained unresolved. My study shall employ the theory of ‘chiasmus’ to shed new light on both (...) the key message of the story and also the sub-themes within it. In terms of textual criticism, I shall first elucidate the chiastic structure of the text and discuss how this structure can provide insights on text-critical readings. In terms of interpretation, I shall then see how the structure clearly demarcates the text’s scope through its prologue and conclusion with surrounding framework, its paired parallel sub-themes, and its central climax point, all in the light of its chiastic structure. Finally, considering broader implications, on comparison with other recently discovered Buddhist textual chiasmi I shall present a tentative hypothesis as to the origins of such structures in the ‘bodhisatta’ literary genre. (shrink)

jild-i 1. Kitāb-i 1 tā kitāb-i 10 -- jild-i 2.Kitāb-i 11 tā kitāb-i 20.

This article examines several aspects of the appreciation of Chinese calligraphy, seeking to address two questions. First, what are the aesthetic objects in its appreciation? And second, how can we characterize the process of coming to understand calligraphic works? The answers, I contend, can be found in classical texts on this art. I hold that the aesthetic objects in the experience of a calligraphic work are twofold: the outer form and the inner qualities. This is analogous to what Noël Carroll (...) understood as the object of aesthetic experience, that is, the formal and/or expressive properties.1 I propose that calligraphy appreciation can be understood as a process of retrieval, a term I take from Richard... (shrink)

Critical study on Mādhyamika philosophy of Madhyamakāvatāra of Candrakīrti.

After the COVID-19 outbreak, the health status of the general population has suffered a huge threat, and the health system has also encountered great challenges. As critical members of human capital in the health sector, medical students with specialized knowledge and skills have positively fought against the epidemic by providing volunteer services that boosted the resilience of the health system. Although volunteer behavior is associated with individual internal motivation, there is sparse evidence on this relationship among medical students, especially regarding (...) potential mechanisms. Therefore, this study had two main objectives: to examine the influence of prosocial motivation of medical students on their VB; and to verify the chain-mediating role of calling and vocation as well as social responsibility in the relationship between PM and VB. Study I: a total of 2454 Chinese full-time medical students were invited to complete an online survey. Data analysis was performed using descriptive statistics, Pearson’s correlation coefficient, and multiple linear regression analysis. The results demonstrated that PM significantly affected VB in medical students ; CV as well as SR chain-mediated the relationship between PM and VB. PM promoted the formation of SR by positively evoking CV of medical students, further resulting in increased VB. Study II: A 28 person qualitative interview was conducted. Qualitative data are added to reduce the limitations of online questionnaires. At the same time, we can also critically study the VB of Chinese medical students during COVID-19. The results showed that there were various reasons for medical students to volunteer in the process of fighting against COVID-19, and the experience of volunteer service and the impact on their future life were different. Lastly, the current findings suggest that fostering volunteerism among medical students requires the joint effort of the government, non-profit organizations, and medical colleges. (shrink)

Ṣadr al-Dīn Shīrāzī, Muḥammad ibn Ibrāhīm, -1641. Asfār al-arbaʻah fī al-ḥikmah. ; Islamic philosophy -- Iran.

bakhsh-i 1. Shāmil-i imtiyaz-i akhlāq-i Qurʼān va sharḥ-i mawz̤ūʻāt-i akhlāqī -- bakhsh-i 2. Shāmil-i tamām-i āyat-i akhlāqī-i Qurʼān.

This study uses insights from the political perspective on corporate governance to investigate the influence of geographic concentration of institutional blockholders on workplace safety violations. When institutional investors who have a blockholding stake (i.e., institutional blockholders) are geographically concentrated, corporate managers are more likely to pursue efficiency at the expense of employee interests because these blockholders may find it easier to coordinate their actions, strengthening their power over corporate managers and ultimately giving rise to more workplace safety violations. We also (...) contend that the influence of institutional blockholders’ geographic concentration on workplace safety violations hinges upon the ownership of employees, socially responsible investment funds, and the CEO. Findings from a longitudinal sample of 1316 U.S. firms support our arguments. This study contributes to a nascent stream of research examining the influence of capital market participants on workplace safety by highlighting the role of institutional blockholders’ geographic concentration as a new channel through which investors can shape employee outcomes. (shrink)

This essay considers the way Georges Bataille associates sovereignty with ecstasy through his peculiar emotive reactions to the photographic images of lingchi execution. Aside from the traditional views relating to political authority, I show how Bataille holds an idiosyncratic notion of sovereignty that is firmly connected with ecstasy, which is disclosed and best exemplified in his fascination with the lingchi photos with intolerable imagery of torture and cruelty. I argue that the reasons for Bataille to seek ecstatic experience is to (...) overcome banality and servility derived from the instrumentalization of our culture, so as to allow sovereignty to come into being. Although cruelty is a persistent theme in Bataille’s writings, I point out that what makes the lingchi photos pivotal for him is that it is the mirror of somatic disintegration, extreme physical violence and cruelty that corresponds to the rupture of psychological integrity as the state of ecstatic loss of self in a metaphysical sense, reflecting thus the non-boundary of uncontained sovereign individual. Furthermore, in the experience of ecstatic self-loss, an empathic identity is built up between Bataille and the victim of the lingchi execution, which not only allows the conception of ecstatic sovereignty to be endowed with ethical implication but also makes it an alternative approach to the issue of intercultural communication. (shrink)