Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express remains well-read, and its hero Hercule Poirot continues to enjoy popular currency. Yet the text has not aged well due to some of its now clichéd plot developments and dialogue, as well as Christie’s depiction of class, ethnic and national prejudices in it and her other novels. This study hopes to re-energize discussion on Murder by finding defensible reasons for its apparent flaws. Not only do the stereotypical behaviors of the passengers narratively (...) distract Poirot and the reader from a solution, but their flaws serve as foils against which Poirot’s heroic gravitas and cultural values are positively contrasted. Further, criticism often misses the point that the passengers are performing their behaviors, and if so, the deployment of stereotypes as only acted performances destabilizes them as permanent aspects of national or ethnic identity. Can Murder then be read as an anti-racist text? (shrink)

There are archetypal parallels between the shamanic African, and ‘diviner detectives' like Hercule Poirot, when it comes to tracking down homicidal sorcerers, and witches, on the one hand, and direct Western-style murderers on the other. The Ndembu diviner uses the fall of symbolic figurines or images, and the canny questioning of his clients and suspects to pierce the veil of deceit and reveal the sorcerer or witch. Hercule Poirot uses chance clues, questioning, and his intuition to identify the murderer. Both (...) processes culminate in the binding up of an evil, or at least the yearned for revelation of its source. As such they supply a form of purgation or cure to their respective congregations or guilds of readers. When the practices of diviner and detective are compared at an archetypal level, a universal dramatic pattern or model emerges which reveals that the adventitious clues commonly powering the modern detective narrative along, could have developed from what was, or still is in Africa, the old axiomatic belief that an African god is manipulating the images of divination. (shrink)

Este artigo pretende analisar a noção de melancolia tal como apresentada na caracterização de Roquentin, protagonista do romance sartriano _A náusea_, à luz da análise espinosana sobre os afetos, nas partes III e IV da _Ética_. No livro de Sartre, podemos observar sugestões constantes sobre a peculiar tristeza do personagem, baseadas em sua relação com a descoberta da contingência. Por outro lado, de acordo com a necessidade ontológica, as considerações de Espinosa sobre os afetos afirmam a impotência do melancólico e (...) apontam a servidão daquele que crê ser conduzido pela fortuna. Portanto, nesta dinâmica, indicaremos Roquentin como o exemplo do homem que não é senhor de si, nos termos espinosanos. (shrink)

Este artigo tem como objetivo investigar o papel da música no interior das considerações de Sartre sobre a obra de arte, com base no período de publicação dos primeiros escritos do autor. Sabe-se que Sartre, em suas poucas investidas sobre estética, conferiu maior densidade ao caso pictórico. No entanto, isso não significa que a música não possua notáveis peculiaridades frente às demais manifestações artísticas. Em especial, quando consideramos as análises do autor sobre o contraste entre a irrealidade e o real, (...) o exame sobre a música nos oferece importantes nuances para a compreensão do problema. Em vista disso, buscaremos examinar o papel desempenhado pela música em A náusea, romance de 1938, segundo o pano de fundo teórico exposto em O imaginário, obra de 1940. (shrink)

At the third episode of Sophocles’ Electra, the heroine, believing that her brother Orestes is dead, invites her sister Chrisothemis to a plan to kill Aegisthus, in a speech that recalls fifth century Athenian’s public honors to the tyrannicide couple, Harmodius and Aristogiton, and thus presents the two sisters as a kind of democratic champions (v. 947-989). This paper compares the treatment given by contemporary Commentaries to Sophocles’ Electrato this speech with recent gender-oriented studies of Athenian citizenship, in order to (...) argue that the idea of the ancient polisas a “man’s club” depends much more on a modern stereotype about Athenian politics than on the ancient evidence available to us –a stereotype that projects XIX century European conceptions of politics on the ancient context, and perpetuates backwards a supposedly universal masculine domination. In this light, Electra’s attitude, surely exceptional because of her equally exceptional situation, far from strikingly transgressing ancient gender-roles, points to the importance of female citizenship in democratic Athens. (shrink)

Over the last eight years, there has been a sharp increase in government censorship and officially sponsored persecution of the Moroccan free press. The Moroccan press still enjoys greater freedoms now than under the late King Hassan II, thanks to the liberalization efforts he facilitated toward the end of his life, which were also continued in the early years of his son’s reign. However, the freedoms media activists worked so hard to obtain at the end of the last century have (...) rapidly begun to erode, particularly after the 2003 terrorist attacks in Casablanca. Morocco remains an important Arab ally to both the United States and Europe, but the monarchy risks that relationship by tightening the reigns on speech and violating international human rights laws. Moreover, the monarchy puts itself at risk domestically every time it imprisons a journalist or imposes a bankrupting fine on a popular periodical, as Moroccan human rights groups grow less enchanted by their king. Over the last two years, criminal charges against the media have increased significantly, causing some publications to close and leaving a number of journalists in jail for their writings. In addition, since 2008, the Moroccan government has begun to censor the Internet, arresting bloggers and satirists and temporarily suspending access to popular websites, such as YouTube. This article explores Morocco's obligations under international and domestic law relating to freedom of expression and examines some recent court cases involving the Moroccan media. (shrink)

Abstract:AbstractThis article examines how representations of women of color in the 1970s shaped and were shaped by US feminist print cultures. Critiques of the US women's liberation movement importantly focus on its whiteness and US-centrism, deployment of concepts such as sisterhood, and practices such as tokenization. I propose a shift the terms of this conversation through a semiotic and affective analysis of representations of women of color across a range of US feminist periodicals published during the 1970s. Specifically, I identify (...) patterns in the representation of figures of Indochinese and other revolutionary women, attending to what is consistent and what varies in their representation. I argue that the revolutionary, antiracist, antisexist, and anti-imperialist struggles of women of color lent US feminism a weight that countered the ways movement outsiders—particularly mainstream media and the New Left—trivialized and devalued feminist activism. This paper thus seeks to demonstrate that portrayals of women of color countered not only sexism but also the implicit racism in dominant narratives characterizing the women's liberation movement. (shrink)

Philosopher Kings? The Adjudication of Conflicting Human Rights and Social Values, by George C. Christie, examines the attempts by courts to sort out conflicts involving freedom of expression, including religious expression, on the one hand, and rights to privacy and other important social values on the other. It approaches the subject from a comparative perspective, using principally cases decided by European and United States courts. A significant part of this book analyzes conflicts between freedom of expression and the right to (...) privacy. In a world in which, freedom of expression and privacy are said to be of equal value, the book explores whether it is possible to develop, through case-by-case adjudication, a legal regime which can give clear direction as to what expression is or is not permitted. Otherwise, if such a regime proves impossible, in the guise of recognizing the equal value of expression and privacy, privacy may become de facto the preferred value. (shrink)

Presentation of Dossier Gender and Antiquity: problems and methods.

This paper is a study of Dionysian _lysis_, “liberation”_._ We begin with the suggestion that in the description of the _mania telestike _in Plato’s _Phaedrus_ 244d-245a, the best candidate among Dionysian ritual practices abstracted by Socrates’ rhetoric is maenadic trance. The maenadic references also accompany the testimonies on Dionysos _Lysios_ in Corinth, Sicyon and Thebes, but here the evidence invites us to widen the scope of Dionysian cult practices and look at the god’s Mystery cults, notably at the evidence provided (...) by the golden leaves founded in initiated sepultures. We propose then an exclusively Dionysian reading of the Pelinna leave. This reading leans on: an analysis of the leaf’s text; a critique of the interpretations associating _lysis_ with the expiation of the Titans’ crime; an examination of Persephone’s role; the meaning of _lysis_ in OF 350 Bernabé; and the linking up of the famous passages of Plato’s _Republic_ dealing with initiations with the dynamics of postponed punishment in ancient Greek representations of divine justice. Finally, the article suggests that Dionysian _lysis_ is concerned with liberation not only after death, but also during the life of the initiated. In conclusion, it goes back to Plato’s _Phaedrus_ 245a, in order to contrast Dionysian maenadic and mystic trance. (shrink)

Cet article est une étude sur la lysis, la « libération » dionysiaque. On commence avec la suggestion que dans la description de la mania telestike dans le Phèdre 244d-245a, le meilleur candidat parmi les pratiques cultuelles dionysiaques à l’opération de soustraction résultante de la rhétorique socratique c’est la transe ménadique. Les références ménadiques accompagnent également les témoins sur Dionysos Lysios à Corinthe, Sicyone et Thèbes, mais ici les sources nous invitent à élargir l’horizon des pratiques cultuelles dionysiaques pour regarder (...) les cultes à mystère en l’honneur du dieu, notamment aux renseignements des lamelles d’or trouvées dans des sépultures des initiés. Puis, on entreprend de proposer une lecture exclusivement dionysiaque de la lamelle de Pélinna. Cette lecture prend appui sur: une analyse du texte de la lamelle ; une critique des interprétations qui mettent la lysis en rapport avec l’expiation du crime des Titans ; un examen du rôle de Perséphone ; la signification de lysis dans l’OF 350 Bernabé ; l’articulation des célèbres passages de la République où il est question des initiations avec les dynamiques de la punition différée dans les représentations grecques anciennes de la justice divine. Puis, l’article suggère que la lysis dionysiaque porte sur une délivrance non seulement après la mort, mais aussi pendant la vie des initiés. En conclusion, l’étude revient au Phèdre 245a pour mettre en contraste les transes ménadique et mystique. (shrink)

Christie is a member of the Department of Religious Studies at Baldwin-Wallace College, Cleveland, Ohio (U.S.A.).

Generating group interaction is a necessary part of teaching philosophy, but there are many obstacles to creating it in a traditional classroom. We propose that philosophy courses can be improved by turning to hybrid models that integrate classroom discussion with online message boards, or forums. Using anecdotes and a comprehensive survey, we argue that using forums helps instructors overcome time constraints in the classroom, helps some students overcome anxiety over contributing, improves discussion, reduces the need to review, and gives instructors (...) a better view of how their students encounter philosophy. We also provide examples of how to use forums and forum assignments. (shrink)

This book is a defense of political liberalism as a feminist liberalism. A novel and restrictive account of public reason is defended. Then it is argued that political liberalism's core commitments restrict reasonable conceptions of justice to those that secure genuine, substantive equality for women and other marginalized groups.

This groundbreaking book is the first to provide a critical overview of the relationship between contemporary ceramics and curatorial practice in museum culture. Ceramic objects form a major part of museum collections, with connections to anthropology, archaeology and other disciplines that engage with the cultural and social history of humankind. In recent years museums have provided the impetus for cutting-edge artistic practice, either as a response to particular collections, or as part of exhibitions. But the question of how museums have (...) staged contemporary ceramics and how ceramic artists respond to museum collections has not been the subject of published research to date. This book examines how ceramic artists have, over the last decade, begun to animate museum collections in new ways, and reflects on the impact that these new initiatives have had in the broad context of visual culture. Ceramics in the Expanded Field is the culmination of a three-year AHRC funded project, and reflects its major findings. It brings together leading international voices in the field of ceramics, research undertaken throughout the project and papers delivered at the concluding conference. By examining the benefits and constraints of interventions and the dialogue between ceramics and museological practice, this book will bring focus to an area of museology that has not yet been theorized, and will contribute to policy debates and art practice. (shrink)

In 1941 Fritz Saxl and Rudolf Wittkower of the Warburg Institute organized an exhibition on English Art and the Mediterranean. The photographic exhibition showed the long history of artistic and cultural ties between English art and the classical tradition, employing Aby Warburg's method. The project was an attempt by Saxl, as director, to show the relevance of the Warburg Institute's work in England, the new home of the Library since 1933. Kenneth Clark, director of the National Gallery, actively promoted the (...) work of the Institute, including by supporting the naturalization process for many of the Warburg scholars. The popular belief in the cultural ties between England and Italy fed into the positive reception for the exhibition and into acceptance of the work of the Warburg Institute. The exhibition was published in a large format catalog in 1948, further adding to the popularity of the exhibition with a diverse British public. Although the motivation for the exhibition emerged from political conditions and institutional circumstance, it had a lasting effect on the history of the study of English art and architecture. Wittkower and others turned to research on the classical tradition in English art, even though the method had limited relevance beyond the “neoclassical” period. (shrink)

Die "Consolatio philosophiae" von Boethius war im Mittelalter ausserordentlich verbreitet. Als eines der wichtigsten Werke der mittelalterlichen Ethik und zugleich Schullektüre wurde sie häufig kommentiert und in die Volkssprachen übertragen. Die in MS. Hamilton 46 der Bodleian Library, Oxford, überlieferte, 1465 abgefasste Übersetzung ist eine von insgesamt vier noch erhaltenen deutschsprachigen Versionen der Trostschrift, die in der 2. Hälfte des 15. Jahrhunderts unabhängig voneinander entstanden sind. Nur im Oxforder Codex wird die deutsche Übersetzung mit ihrer lateinischen Vorlage samt lateinischer Glossen (...) überliefert. Dadurch ist eine einzigartige Grundlage gegeben, von der aus die Arbeitsweise und Intention des Übersetzers genau untersucht werden kann. In der vorliegenden Publikation wird der Boethius-Text der Hamiltoner Handschrift, der sich aus Grund-, Paratext und deutscher Übersetzung zusammensetzt und im Original nur sehr schwer zu lesen ist, zum ersten Mal in Form einer wissenschaftlichen Edition und Studie zugänglich gemacht. Der synoptischen Edition des lateinischen Basistextes samt vielschichtiger Glossen und der deutschen Fassung folgen ein vergleichender Kommentar und zwei Glossare, welche jeweils Übersetzungstechniken und Wortschatz eingehend erschliessen. Der Edition vorausgeschickt ist eine Studie, die sich mit der Sprache und Provenienz der Übertragung, ihrem Entstehungs- und Verwendungskontext, ihrer Stellung innerhalb der deutschen "Consolatio"-Tradition, ihrer Abhängigkeit vom lateinischen Text und den Glossen, mit dem lateinischen Grund- und Paratext sowie den unterschiedlichen Textherstellungsphasen detailliert befasst."--Page 4 of cover. (shrink)

Culture has been identified as a significant determinant of ethical attitudes of business managers. This research studies the impact of culture on the ethical attitudes of business managers in India, Korea and the United States using multivariate statistical analysis. Employing Geert Hofstede's cultural typology, this study examines the relationship between his five cultural dimensions (individualism, power distance, uncertainty avoidance, masculinity, and long-term orientation) and business managers' ethical attitudes. The study uses primary data collected from 345 business manager participants of Executive (...) MBA programs in selected business schools in India, Korea and the United States using Hofstede's Value Survey Module (94) and an instrument designed by the researchers to measure respondents' ethical attitudes (attitudes toward business ethics in general and toward twelve common questionable practices in particular). Results indicate that national culture has a strong influence on business managers' ethical attitudes. In addition to national culture, respondents' general attitudes toward business ethics are related to their personal integrity; their attitudes toward questionable business practices are related to the external environment and gender, as well as to their personal integrity. A strong relationship exists between cultural dimensions of individualism and power distance and respondents' ethical attitudes toward certain questionable practices. The analysis of the relationship between cultural dimensions of masculinity, uncertainty avoidance and long-term orientation and respondents' ethical attitudes toward questionable practices produced mixed results, likely due to the lack of notable differences in cultural dimension scores among the countries surveyed. (shrink)

This chapter examines the engagement between seventeenth-century Quaker scholars, twentieth-century Quaker theologian Rufus Jones, and the twelfth-century allegorical text Ḥayy ibn Yaqẓān. It argues that HIY was purposely excised from the history of Quaker theological engagement due to a fundamental misunderstanding of the text, which resulted in a complete ignoring of the text by subsequent Quaker theologians, including Rufus Jones. HIY provides an invaluable dialogue partner with Quaker mysticism, which can offer exciting new ways of examining core premises of Quaker (...) mystical theology and practice—human/divine interdependence and the concomitant Quaker balance between contemplative and active mysticism and religious practice—and create opportunities for bringing the different generations of Quaker theology by Robert Barclay and Rufus Jones back into fruitful dialogue. (shrink)

This target article focuses on dynamics that arise in three typical ethically complex cases in which psychiatric consultations are requested by physicians: a dying patient refuses life-prolonging treatment, an uncooperative patient demands to be allowed to go outside and smoke, and an angry patient demands to be admitted to the hospital. The discussion canvasses what is at stake morally and clinically in each of these cases and explores clinician–patient interactions, dynamics in relationships between consulting physicians and consultant psychiatrists, patient transference, (...) and physician countertransference. The article defines legalism and countertransference and argues that an ethically and clinically important consequence of these phenomena for patients is distortion of clinicians' perceptions of patients' decisions and vulnerabilities. The discussion also describes how legalism and countertransference adversely affect how clinicians treat their psychiatrist colleagues. Finally, the article suggests how the effects of legalism and countertransference can be mitigated. (shrink)

The selected effects or ‘etiological’ theory of Proper function is a naturalistic and realist account of biological teleology. It is used to analyse normativity in philosophy of language, philosophy of mind, philosophy of medicine and elsewhere. The theory has been developed with a simple and intuitive view of natural selection. Traits are selected because of their positive effects on the fitness of the organisms that have them. These ‘selected effects’ are the Proper functions of the traits. Proponents argue that this (...) analysis of biological teleology has the unique advantage that the selected effect function of a trait is also a causal explanation of the trait: the trait exists because it performs this function. We show, however, that selected effect functions as currently defined explain the existence of traits only under highly restrictive assumptions about evolutionary dynamics. In many common scenarios in which traits evolve by natural selection, selected effect functions do not explain those traits. This is because definitions of selected effect function extract from any evolutionary scenario only the information that would be explanatorily relevant in the simple evolutionary scenario implicit in those definitions. When applied to more complex scenarios selected effect functions omit the key information that is explanatorily relevant in those scenarios. The assumptions required for selected effect functions to be explanatory are particularly unlikely to hold in the domain that its proponents care most about - the evolution of representation. A more adequate selected effects theory of Proper functions may be possible, but will require much greater attention to the structure of actual evolutionary explanations. (shrink)

There are several important conceptual issues and questions about the practice of healthcare ethics that can, and should, inform the development of any practice standards. This paper provides a relatively short overview of seven of these issues, with the invitation for further critical reflection and examination of their relevance to and implications for practice standards. The seven issues described include: diversity (from the perspective of training and experience); moral expertise and authority/influence; being an insider or outsider; flexibility and adaptability (for (...) local contexts of practice); the relative weighting of procedural and normative aspects of ethics practice; making mistakes or errors; and conflicts of interest in practice. (shrink)

While ethicists have directed much attention to controversial biomedical issues--including euthanasia, abortion, and genetic engineering--they have largely ignored the less obvious, but more pervasive, everyday ethical problems faced by family physicians. Ethical Issues in Family Medicine addresses these problems, offering an ethics that reflects the distinctive features of family practice, and helping family physicians to appreciate the extent to which ethical issues influence their practice.

ABSTRACT When hope is discussed in bioethics’ literature, it is most often in the context of ‘false hopes’ and/or how to maintain hope while breaking bad news to patients. Little or no time is generally devoted to the description of hope that supports these analyses. In this paper, I present a detailed description of hope, one designed primarily for the healthcare context. Noting that hope is an emotional attitude, four key aspects are explored. In particular, the function of imagination in (...) hope is discussed in depth. Through an examination of the relationship between hope and vulnerability, I demonstrate how adequately describing hope can broaden the normative inquiry into the role of hope in healthcare. Three ways in which persons with hope can be vulnerable are illustrated, and the challenge of how healthcare providers can attend in moral ways to the hopes of patients is identified. (shrink)

Is a feminist political liberalism possible? Political liberalism’s regard for a wide range of comprehensive doctrines as reasonable makes some feminists skeptical of its ability to address sex inequality. Indeed, some feminists claim that political liberalism maintains its position as a political liberalism at the expense of securing substantive equality for women. We claim that political liberalism’s core commitments actually restrict all reasonable political conceptions of justice to those that secure genuine substantive equality for all, including women and other marginalized (...) groups. In particular, we argue that political liberalism’s criterion of reciprocity limits reasonable political conceptions of justice to those that eliminate social conditions of domination and subordination relevant to reasonable democratic deliberation among equal citizens and that the criterion of reciprocity requires the social conditions necessary for recognition respect among persons as equal citizens. As a result, we maintain that the criterion of reciprocity limits reasonable political conceptions of justice to those that provide genuine equality for women along various dimensions of social life central to equal citizenship. (shrink)

Wait, what? I've been fired?” I repeated, in the middle of morning rounds in the neonatal intensive care unit. Finally, the nurse who was taking care of our patient, Angela, responded, “Her parents fired you last night. They've already called Patient Relations. They want a new doctor.” My heart sank. Only days into my block of service time as the attending physician in the NICU and I was fired, axed, canned, rejected by a family. How could this have happened? On (...) my first day of service, I had introduced myself to Angela's parents, and I had then met with them daily to review results and the plan and to answer their questions. I thought we had connected well. I thought I had done everything right. I thought they trusted me to care for their daughter. (shrink)

With advancing rank in medical training comes increased academic and clinical responsibility, including education and supervision of trainees and junior staff. When I became a senior postdoctoral fellow sub‐specializing in neonatology, I assumed the role of co‐attending in the neonatal intensive care unit. At that point in my training, I felt well prepared for the challenging task. I would be in charge, make decisions independently with the team, and supervise, as well as teach, the junior fellows, residents, and practitioners. In (...) short, I would assume full responsibility for the care of the patients, their families, and the medical team. My mentor, an experienced attending, would discuss every patient with me each day, but would otherwise stand in the shadows, available for help and guidance when needed. On the very first day, one of the smaller premature babies on our service started having difficulty breathing, and it was soon clear that she would need to have her endotracheal tube reinserted. (shrink)

The idea of public reason is central to political liberalism's aim to provide an account of the possibility of a just and stable democratic society comprised of free and equal citizens who nonetheless are deeply divided over fundamental values. This commitment to the idea of public reason reflects the normative core of political liberalism which is rooted in the principle of democratic legitimacy and the idea of reciprocity among citizens. Yet both critics and defenders of political liberalism disagree over whether (...) or not the idea of public reason permits citizens to appeal to their comprehensive conceptions of the good in public deliberation over matters of basic justice. Our aim in this paper is to provide a defense of an exclusive idea of public reason, and at the same time we aim to dispel the underlying concerns of two prominent criticisms of the idea of public reason—the concern of alienation from the political process, as expressed by religiously oriented critics, and the concern over women's equality, as expressed by feminist critics. We argue that inclusive accounts of the idea of public reason are not consistent with political liberalism's core commitments. Further, we claim, inclusive accounts of the idea of public reason deepen feminist concerns. We think that, properly understood, an exclusive account of the idea of public reason can address feminist concerns about political liberalism and avoid alienating (reasonable) religious persons in an unacceptable way. Thus, we conclude that an exclusive account of the idea of public reason is our best hope for reconciliation. (shrink)

ABSTRACT When hope is discussed in bioethics’ literature, it is most often in the context of ‘false hopes’ and/or how to maintain hope while breaking bad news to patients. Little or no time is generally devoted to the description of hope that supports these analyses. In this paper, I present a detailed description of hope, one designed primarily for the healthcare context. Noting that hope is an emotional attitude, four key aspects are explored. In particular, the function of imagination in (...) hope is discussed in depth. Through an examination of the relationship between hope and vulnerability, I demonstrate how adequately describing hope can broaden the normative inquiry into the role of hope in healthcare. Three ways in which persons with hope can be vulnerable are illustrated, and the challenge of how healthcare providers can attend in moral ways to the hopes of patients is identified. (shrink)