Critical analysis of the philosophy of death in Indic religions.

The aim of the paper is to shed light on the concept of cataleptic phantasy, which in Stoic fhiilosophy has been the kriterion of true knowledge. On the basis of original texts of Stoic fragments the author points out specific subjective and objective symptoms of its cataleptical chracter, distinguishing at the same time strictly between sensory ane non-sensory kind of Stoic phantasies. The author shows, that the way from a cataleptic phantasy to a cognitive content is not a straightforward one (...) and that it is the logical menaning that makes it possible. Thus the author inclines clearly to the rationalist interpretation of Stoic epistemology, which, contrary to sensualistic approaches, puts the stress on the importance of non-sensory cataleptic phantasy as the kriterion of true knowledge in Stoic Philosophy. (shrink)

The paper gives an outline of the Socratic Cynic school and its influence on Stoicism. In its first part the author gives a general characteristics of Cynicism of the 4th century B. C., showing, that the Cynic movment was based on the presupposition of an absolute incompatibility of virtue with the laws of polis. From the doxographical materials available it shows the basic characteristics of the Cynic virtue, such as self-sufficiency, the importance of physical work, stressing the poverty, a new (...) approach to women and an ascetic way of life. The second part of the paper is devoted to the relationship between Cynicism and Stoicism itself. It tries to highlight the consequences of the stoic merging of physics and ethics for a new understanding of life according to nature. The author argues, that the theory of appropriation - allowing for a value differentiation of the sphere of the indifferent in Stoa - introduced by the stoics was decisive for a new understanding of this Cynical philosophers' challenge. In conclusion an interesting personality of a cynicizing Stoic-apostate Ariston of Chia is presented, whose coming back to Cynicism in the frame of Stoa could not bring about a consequent revival of the original - often radical and exhibitionist - views an practices of old Cynics. (shrink)

The paper tries to represent the polemic between the Stoics and the sceptically oriented Academy, concerning the abilities of human knowledge. It gives a brief account of the stoic epistemology on the basis of the characteristics of its criterion of knowledge – cataleptic fantasy. The description of the external and internal features of the latter is the ground of its criticism from Academy’s side. In its core this criticism tries to prove, that there is no fantasy meeting the strict claims (...) of the Stoics criterion on the truth. The author shows the stoic response to the Academy criticism, which initiated the revision of the original stoic attitudes. (shrink)

The paper deals with the role of assent and instinct in the process of cognition. The author shows, that the Stoic instinct is a dynamic aspect in the processes of cognition, decision making and action, its consequence being at the same time the assent, i. e. the approval of a given descriptive or prescriptive proposition as a true one. Tha paper wants to stress e remarcable rationalistic character of the Stoic epistemology - the only constitutive elemnent of the instinct is, (...) at least in early Stoicism, the rational capacity of the soul. The three Stoic levels of cognition: opinion, understanding and cognition are intoruced as related to various intensities of assent given to the particual meanings of the proposition. (shrink)

The aim of our paper is to broaden the international discussion on environmentally friendly lifestyles. In most of the previous research, via a survey technique involving the self-nomination of participants, voluntary simplifiers are presented as part of a social movement typically connected with an urban environment. Our paper follows the third wave of longitudinal research conducted in the post-socialist Czech Republic in the years 1992, 2002 and 2015. The data were collected using in-depth interviews combined with observations in 20 voluntary (...) modest households. The biographical style of interview enables us to interpret the sources of the participants’ motivation for relocating to the countryside or staying in the urban environment as they interpret it retrospectively. Four dominant narratives emerged: 1) narrative of distaste for city life, 2) narrative of a nice life, 3) narrative about living in freedom, 4) narrative of a return to roots. (shrink)

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to review critical emancipatory literature to identify a discourse that could be used to successfully customise generic Enterprise Resource Planning systems to particular user‐needs. The customisation exercise is posited in the context of contemporary society, which has to try to become more sustainable amidst uncertainty about the complex interrelationships between elements of the ecosystem. It raises new challenges for the customisation exercise, that of fostering the precautionary ethos and engaging realistically with complexity and uncertainty (...) inherent in emergent knowledge about ecological resilience.Design/methodology/approachThis is a conceptual paper that draws on published research papers to tease out political constructs which are vital for facilitating sustainable decisions.FindingsThis paper argues that the critical emancipatory influence on systems design has generated attempts to formulate socio‐ethical information systems. However, these systems are limited by their inability to engage with the politics of asymmetrical distribution of power, even though these systems rely on bottom‐up participation to change the status quo. Hence, it is suggested that systems design should learn from Gandhi's experiences in mobilising social reform to instil a precautionary ethos in the context of asymmetrical power relations. The discourse used to customise ERP should facilitate social learning about ecological resilience as it affects the capacity to reform in the interest of sustainable outcomes. It is proposed that the discourse be socially constructed on the vocabulary of integrated risk because it would enable management to take advantage of lived experiences and enhance the organisation's capacity to learn about formulating sustainable business practices.Practical implicationsThe recommended approach to identifying user‐needs is based on Gandhi's tried‐and‐tested approaches of mobilising bottom‐up participation in social reform.Originality/valueThis paper brings in Eastern philosophy into the predominately Western‐dominated systems design arena. Its value lies in its practical applicability to real‐world design challenges. (shrink)

Seminar papers; Study with special reference to Advaita philosophy of Śaṅkarācārya.

Cieľom článku je nanovo reflektovať činnosť jednej z najslávnejších ženských filozofiek, Hip­parchie z Maróneie. Naším zámerom je ukázať, prečo sa stala v porovnaní s inými ženami antiky taká významná a v mnohom signifikantná pre ďalší vývoj procesu ženskej eman­cipácie. Hlavným svedectvom je pre nás fragment SSR V I 1 od Diogena Laertského, ktorý kladieme do súvislosti s ďalšími antickými správami o Antisthenovi a raných kynikoch. Dve hlavné témy Diogenovho svedectva sú Kratétova svadba s Hipparchiou a spor Hipparchie s Theodórom. Vo (...) výklade poukazujeme na momenty, v ktorých je filozofická osobnosť Hip­parchie nadčasová a inšpiratívna aj pre súčasnosť. (shrink)

We study Fermat's last theorem and Catalan's conjecture in the context of weak arithmetics with exponentiation. We deal with expansions of models of arithmetical theories (in the language ) by a binary (partial or total) function e intended as an exponential. We provide a general construction of such expansions and prove that it is universal for the class of all exponentials e which satisfy a certain natural set of axioms. We construct a model and a substructure with e total and (...) (Presburger arithmetic) such that in both and Fermat's last theorem for e is violated by cofinally many exponents n and (in all coordinates) cofinally many pairwise linearly independent triples. On the other hand, under the assumption of ABC conjecture (in the standard model), we show that Catalan's conjecture for e is provable in (even in a weaker theory) and thus holds in and. Finally, we also show that Fermat's last theorem for e is provable (again, under the assumption of ABC in ) in “coprimality for e”. (shrink)

Commentary on Aṣṭāvakragītā, work on Vedanta philosophy; includes some passages in Hindi and text in Gujarati.

El presente libro es un trabajo de investigación conjunto del Departamento de Filosofía de la Universidad de Navarra y el Instituto K. J. Somaiya Bharatiya Sanskriti Peetham. Se trata de un estudio centrado en cinco filósofos que abarcan el período que va del siglo VIII hasta el siglo XVI; los filósofos estudiados pertenecen a la Escuela Vedanta cuyo objetivo principal es analizar la naturaleza del Ser Absoluto y sus relaciones con el universo increado de seres materiales y espirituales. La obra (...) pretende mostrar una parte de esa búsqueda de la verdad, a nivel teórico y práctico, que ha caracterizado la filosofía en el subcontinente indio. (shrink)

On the religious aspects of consumption (economics) in Islam.

The paper attempts to introduce the Stoic concept of a deterministic universe and the centrality of the Stoic sage in it, using selected parts of Stoic philosophy (physics of the elements, psychology, causality and hierarchization of causes). The basic line of interpretation is to prove the thesis that the freedom of the sage is based on the autonomy of his manifestations justified by the sovereignly rational disposition of his soul. The author of the paper argues in support of the thesis (...) that akrasia as acting against the order of reason and nature is not possible in the Stoic sage. (shrink)

Recently there has been a debate on whether Pyrrho’s philosophy could be influenced by Indian Buddhist philosophy. Discussions revealing striking similarities between them often point out Pyrrho’s complicated sentence, referred to as tetralemma, as one of the most striking similarities. The central question of this paper is whether Pyrrho’s sentence is of the tetralemmatic kind. Authors argue that if Pyrrho’s sentence is not fourfold in structure it could scarcely be classified as similar to the Buddhist tetralemma. A careful analysis of (...) the question is provided, arguing that the approach to the problem of tetralemmatic structure cannot be carried out solely on syntactic grounds. An aspect of a deeper philosophical meaning of the formula is applied, which alone enables us (if at all) to link Pyrrho’s philosophy to Buddhism. (shrink)

Recently there has been a debate on whether Pyrrho’s philosophy could be influenced by Indian Buddhist philosophy. Discussions revealing striking similarities between them often point out Pyrrho’s complicated sentence, referred to as tetralemma, as one of the most striking similarities. The central question of this paper is whether Pyrrho’s sentence is of the tetralemmatic kind. Authors argue that if Pyrrho’s sentence is not fourfold in structure it could scarcely be classified as similar to the Buddhist tetralemma. A careful analysis of (...) the question is provided, arguing that the approach to the problem of tetralemmatic structure cannot be carried out solely on syntactic grounds. An aspect of a deeper philosophical meaning of the formula is applied, which alone enables us (if at all) to link Pyrrho’s philosophy to Buddhism. (shrink)

© 2017. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.We present new observations of the low-mass companion to HD 984 taken with the Gemini Planet Imager as a part of the GPI Exoplanet Survey campaign. Images of HD 984 B were obtained in the J and H bands. Combined with archival epochs from 2012 and 2014, we fit the first orbit to the companion to find an 18 au orbit with a 68% confidence interval between 14 and 28 au, an eccentricity (...) of 0.18 with a 68% confidence interval between 0.05 and 0.47, and an inclination of 119°with a 68% confidence interval between 114°and 125°. To address the considerable spectral covariance in both spectra, we present a method of splitting the spectra into low and high frequencies to analyze the spectral structure at different spatial frequencies with the proper spectral noise correlation. Using the split spectra, we compare them to known spectral types using field brown dwarf and low-mass star spectra and find a best-fit match of a field gravity M6.5 ±1.5 spectral type with a corresponding temperature of K. Photometry of the companion yields a luminosity of log=2.88 ± 0.07 dex with DUSTY models. Mass estimates, again from DUSTY models, find an age-dependent mass of 34 ±1 to 95 ±4 M Jup. These results are consistent with previous measurements of the object. (shrink)

Development is a consistent element in the implementation of Indonesian policies. However, it has become increasingly challenging, particularly following the decline of the New Order regime and Indonesia’s rejection of certain political practices associated with it. This paper aims to present a reflective analysis of the evolving nature of development, from its initiation under the New Order regime to the present post-Reformation era, and how nationalist development navigates the intricate cultural landscape in Indonesia as well as exploring the possibility of (...) the idea of ecological modernization being an alternative to the obsolete New Order development model. (shrink)

"This book brings together articles, which I previously published on my blog, Barrarsīhā-ye Tārīkhī, about the history of kalām and falsafa (Islamic theology and philosophy). Many of the articles contain research on the history of Muʿtazilī kalām, especially among the Shīʿa, whether Zaydīs or Imāmīs. Some articles also discuss the history of philosophical theology in Islam, the Avicennian tradition in Khurāsān and the relationship between the theologians and the philosophers, especially in the sixth and seventh centuries hijrī. A chapter about (...) the maktab-e tafkīk is also included, in which the relationship between the Akhbārī position and the philosophical approach among the Imāmiyya, is discussed. In addition, some of the articles treat the concept of imāma according to Zaydī and Muʿtazilī thinkers, and the genre of imāma in their literature, as well as the refutations that were written between Zaydīs and Muʿtazilīs, and also Imāmīs. Some articles on the history of Sunnī kalām are also included. Part of the book takes a bibliographical approach, or is based on texts, and part takes a historical approach to study the history of kalām and falsafa as well as the relationship between both. The purpose of this book is to provide readers a historical reading of the history of kalām and falsafa —mostly within the Shīʿī and Muʿtazilī traditions. Even at present, many Muʿtazilī texts have not been edited and studied. Although most of the texts of Ibn Sīnā and his students have already been edited, we still need to provide a historical approach to the falsafa of Ibn Sīnā in order to situate the philosophical questions in the Avicennian tradition in a broader context, among the theologians and the philosophers. Many of the topics which are discussed in the Avicennian tradition are also approached in theological texts by the Muʿtazilīs and the Ashʿarīs, and I hope that this book provides a basic foundation in preparation for future studies on this topic." -- from publishers. (shrink)

Study of 11 lectures of Murtaz̤á Muṭahharī on religion; also on Islamic theology.

This article examines the relationship between religion, tradition and identity as seen from the myth about eclipses in a village in Central Java. Javanese people in rural areas still hold beliefs passed down from their ancestors about eclipses, both lunar and solar eclipses. Using a qualitative approach, the results of the study showed that the villagers believe that eclipses occur because of evil giants called buto named Batara Kala who try to devour the sun or the moon. This natural phenomenon (...) is believed to bring disaster to pregnant women and livestock. To fight the disaster, they must perform certain ceremonies or rituals. Based on ethnographic studies, this research provides an overview of eclipse mythology for Javanese locals and analyses it from identity theory. This shows that mythical rituals reflect a continuous identity formation. Although the traditions associated with these myths to some extent transcend the boundaries of the Islamic religion, they remain unchallenged. CONTRIBUTION: This research suggests that myths play an important role in the life and identity of the people who believe in them and perform the rituals associated with them. (shrink)

Essays on structuralism and post-structuralism.