This book bears witness to the current reawakening of interest in Reid's philosophy. It first examines Reid's negative attack on the Way of Ideas, and finds him to be a devastating critic of his predecessors.

How (Not) to Be Secular is what Jamie Smith calls "your hitchhiker's guide to the present" -- it is both a reading guide to Charles Taylor's monumental work A Secular Age and philosophical guidance on how we might learn to live in our times. Taylor's landmark book A Secular Age (2007) provides a monumental, incisive analysis of what it means to live in the post-Christian present -- a pluralist world of competing beliefs and growing unbelief. Jamie Smith's book (...) is a compact field guide to Taylor's insightful study of the secular, making that very significant but daunting work accessible to a wide array of readers. Even more, though, Smith's How (Not) to Be Secular is a practical philosophical guidebook, a kind of how-to manual on how to live in our secular age. It ultimately offers us an adventure in self-understanding and maps out a way to get our bearings in today's secular culture, no matter who "we" are -- whether believers or skeptics, devout or doubting, self-assured or puzzled and confused. This is a book for any thinking person to chew on. (shrink)

Prologue, invitation to thinking about God In the Hebrew Bible? -- Part I, questions about God? -- Why does God in the Bible have a body? -- What do God's body parts in the Bible mean? -- Why is God angry in the Bible? -- Does God in the Bible have gender or sexuality? -- Part II, questions about God in the world? -- What can creation tell us about God? -- Who-or what-is the Satan? -- Why do people suffer (...) according to the Hebrew Bible? -- Epilogue, God in the Bible and beyond. (shrink)

The Descartes Dictionary is an accessible guide to the world of the seventeenth-century philosopher René Descartes. Meticulously researched and extensively cross-referenced, this unique book covers all his major works, ideas and influences, and provides a firm grounding in the central themes of Descartes' thought. The introduction provides a biographical sketch, a brief account of Descartes' philosophical works, and a summary of the current state of Cartesian studies, discussing trends in research over the past four decades. The A-Z entries include clear (...) definitions of the key terms used in Descartes' writings and detailed synopses of his works. Also included are entries noting philosophical influences, of both figures that influenced Descartes and those that he in turn influenced. For anyone reading or studying Descartes, rationalism, or modern philosophy more generally, this original resource provides a wealth of useful information, analysis, and criticism. Including clear explanations of often complex terminology, The Descartes Dictionary covers everything that is essential to a sound understanding of Descartes' philosophy. (shrink)

This title presents a comprehensive guide to interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) which is an increasingly popular approach to qualitative inquiry taught to undergraduate and postgraduate students today.

This article suggests evidence for and reasons why prior acquisition may either facilitate or inhibit acquisition of a new construction. It investigates acquisition of the German passive and future constructions which contain a lexical verb with either the auxiliary sein “to be” or werden “to become”, and are related through these to potential supporting constructions. We predicted that a supported construction should be acquired earlier, faster, and unusually rapidly. An inhibited construction should show an extended depressed usage. We analyzed a (...) dense corpus of a German boy between 2;0 and 5;0. He acquired the sein- before the werden-passive. The former was supported by his prior acquisition of the sein copula, whereas the werden-passive itself supported one werden copula construction. He acquired the werden-future extremely slowly due to the hindrance of a semantically identical construction. These results fit with an emergentist approach in which apparently “sudden” acquisition is still due to gradual learning mechanisms. (shrink)

Well known as a scholar of Asian culture, de Bary examines the concepts of self-understanding and self-cultivation in neo-Confucian thought from the 12th to the 17th centuries, in relation to the social, political, and scholarly roles of educated men in late imperial China. Rejecting the notion that.

Is the Confucian tradition compatible with the Western understanding of human rights? Are there fundamental human values, regardless of cultural differences, common to all peoples of all nations? At this critical point in Communist China's history, eighteen distinguished scholars address the role of Confucianism in dealing with questions of universal human rights.

A major addition to our understanding of the development of Neo-Confucianism--its complexity, diversity, richness, and depth as a major component of the moral and spiritual fiber of the peoples of East Asia.

Since it was first published more than forty years ago, _Sources of Japanese Tradition_, Volume 2, has been considered the authoritative sourcebook for readers and scholars interested in Japan from the eighteenth century to the post-World War II period. Now greatly expanded to include the entire twentieth century, and beginning in 1600, _Sources of Japanese Tradition_ presents writings by modern Japan's most important philosophers, religious figures, writers and political leaders. The volume also offers extensive introductory essays and commentary to assist (...) in understanding the documents' historical settings and significance. Wonderfully varied in its selections, this eagerly anticipated expanded edition has revised many of the texts from the original edition and added a great many not included or translated before. New additions include documents on the postwar era, the importance of education in the process of modernization, and women's issues. Beginning with documents from the founding of the Tokugawa shogunate, the collection's essays, manifestos, religious tracts, political documents, and memoirs reflect major Japanese religious, philosophical, social and political movements. Subjects covered include the spread of neo-Confucian and Buddhist teachings, Japanese poetry and aesthetics, and the Meiji Restoration. Other documents reflect the major political trends and events of the period: the abolition of feudalism, agrarian reform, the emergence of poltical parties and liberalism, and the Sino-Japanese and Russo-Japanese Wars. The collection also includes Western and Japanese impressions of each other through Western religious missions and commercial and cultural exchanges. These selections underscore Japanese and Western apprehension of and fascination with each other. As Japan entered the twentieth century, new political and social movements -- Marxism, anarchism, socialism, nationalism, and feminism -- entered the national consciousness. Later readings in the collection look at the buildup to war with the United States, military defeat and American occupation. Documents from the postwar period echo Japan's struggle with its own history and its development as a capitalist democracy. (shrink)

We ordinarily suppose that there is a difference between having and failing to exercise a rational capacity on the one hand, and lacking a rational capacity altogether on the other. This is crucial for our allocations of responsibility. Someone who has but fails to exercise a capacity is responsible for their failure to exercise their capacity, whereas someone who lacks a capacity altogether is not. However, as Gary Watson pointed out in his seminal essay ’Skepticism about Weakness of Will’, the (...) idea of an unexercised capacity is much more difficult to make sense of than it initially appears. The aim of ’Rational Capacities’ is to provide the needed explication of this idea. (shrink)

WE must first state the subject of our inquiry and the faculty to which it belongs: its subject is demonstration and the faculty that carries it out demonstrative science.

Based on lectures delivered at the Collège de France in May 1986.

What kind of animals are human beings? And how do our visions of the human shape our theories of social action and institutions? In Moral, Believing Animals>, Christian Smith advances a creative theory of human persons and culture that offers innovative, challenging answers to these and other fundamental questions in sociological, cultural, and religious theory. Smith suggests that human beings have a peculiar set of capacities and proclivities that distinguishes them significantly from other animals on this planet. Despite (...) the vast differences in humanity between cultures and across history, no matter how differently people narrate their lives and histories, there remains an underlying structure of human personhood that helps to order human culture, history, and narration. Drawing on important recent insights in moral philosophy, epistemology, and narrative studies, Smith argues that humans are animals who have an inescapable moral and spiritual dimension. They cannot avoid a fundamental moral orientation in life and this, says Smith, has profound consequences for how sociology must study human beings. (shrink)

The social order of the current system has brought an increase in the public dissents and turned to a ‘normalized sociological pathology’ of the postmodern world. The unyielding public resistance examples in different cultural geographies, which are fragmented, limited and yet significant and expanding struggles, convey the message that the global order of the Powerful has entered the age of stagnation. This article aims to shed new light on the relationship between the social protests and global order that has given (...) rise to new identities of local and global injustice. I argue that social protests in the last years display discernible patterns of a change in cultural perceptions of the activists in different public spaces. On the one hand, this signals the emergence of a new public order in the 21st century. On the other hand, the ravages of social catastrophe shape the very dynamics of the same public culture. ‘Enduring and resisting public cultures’ is introduced in this article as a benchmark to identify ethnographic struggles of the activists for the quest of a new public space, which represents ‘Another World’. (shrink)

In mainstream analytic epistemology, Reformed theology has made its presence prominently felt in Reformed epistemology, the view of religious belief according to which religious beliefs can be properly basic and warranted when formed by the proper functioning of the sensus divinitatis, an inborn capacity or faculty for belief in God that can be prompted to generate certain religious beliefs when presented with things (e.g., certain majestic aspects of creation). A major competitor to Reformed epistemology is Wittgensteinian quasi-fideism, a position drawn (...) from the epistemology of Wittgenstein’s On Certainty, according to which some foundational religious commitments are not properly basic beliefs but some kind of apodictic, unshakeable certainties that form part of the structure of one’s rationality and worldview. I argue that the Reformed tradition has contained elements of quasi-fideism at least as far back as Calvin’s account of faith from the Institutes of the Christian Religion, book 3, chapter 2. (shrink)

A clearly written, authoritative introduction to Taylor's work.

Abstractabstract:This article examines Harold Ramis’s 2005 noir comedy The Ice Harvest as the critically dystopian counter-panel to his beloved 1993 film Groundhog Day, a film frequently discussed within the paradigm of utopia. While starkly different in genre, tone, and reception, the two films comprise a dialectical dyad that registers the historical transition from the utopian cultural effervescence of the early 1990s to the tragic foreclosure of imaginative horizons and the dystopian transformation of economic, political, and social landscapes in the new (...) millennium. In The Ice Harvest, the author argues, this is achieved through a strategic reactivation of film noir as a variant of the critical dystopia. (shrink)

Is the Confucian tradition compatible with the Western understanding of human rights? Are there fundamental human values, regardless of cultural differences, common to all peoples of all nations? At this critical point in Communist China's history, eighteen distinguished scholars address the role of Confucianism in dealing with questions of universal human rights.

For four decades _Sources of Chinese Tradition_ has served to introduce Western readers to Chinese civilization as it has been seen through basic writings and historical documents of the Chinese themselves. Now in its second edition, revised and extended through Deng Xiaoping and Jiang Zemin-era China, this classic volume remains unrivaled for its wide selection of source readings on history, society, and thought in the world's largest nation. Award-winning China scholar Wm. Theodore de Bary--who edited the first edition in (...) 1960--and his coeditor Richard Lufrano have revised and updated the second volume of Sources to reflect the interactions of ideas, institutions, and historical events from the seventeenth century up to the present day. Beginning with Qing civilization and continuing to contemporary times, volume II brings together key source texts from more than three centuries of Chinese history, with opening essays by noted China authorities providing context for readers not familiar with the period in question. Here are just a few of the topics covered in this second volume of _Sources of Chinese Tradition:_ • Early Sino-Western contacts in the seventeenth century; • Four centuries of Chinese reflections on differences between Eastern and Western civilizations; • Nineteenth- and twentieth-century reform movements, with treatises on women's rights, modern science, and literary reform; • Controversies over the place of Confucianism in modern Chinese society; • The nationalist revolution--including readings from Sun Yat-sen and Chiang Kai-shek; • The communist revolution--with central writings by Mao Zedong; • Works from contemporary China--featuring political essays from Deng Xiaoping and dissidents including Wei Jingsheng. With more than two hundred selections in lucid, readable translation by today's most renowned experts on Chinese language and civilization, _Sources of Chinese Tradition_ will continue to be recognized as the standard for source readings on Chinese civilization, an indispensable learning tool for scholars and students of Asian civilizations. (shrink)

Drawn from a series of lectures that Wm. Theodore de Bary delivered in honor of the Chinese philosopher Tang Junyi, _Confucian Tradition and Global Education_ is a unique synthesis of essay and debate concerning the future of Chinese education and the potential political uses of Confucianism in the contemporary world. Rapid modernization and the rise of English as a global language increasingly threaten East Asia's cultural diversity and long-standing Confucian traditions. De Bary argues that keeping Confucianism alive in (...) China is not only a matter of "Chinese identity," but also a critical part of achieving a multicultural global education. Scholars take different views on what is worth preserving in Confucian tradition, and whether it is possible for the classical teachings to remain relevant in today's high-tech educational environment. De Bary and his contributors assert that the Chinese classics are the key to this survival, and therefore their inclusion in a global humanities curriculum is essential. De Bary also believes in the power of the classics to humanize the modernization process and to shape a more democratic East Asia. Kwan Tze-wan discusses the difficulty of teaching the Chinese humanities in English when certain ideas and values are best expressed in a native language, and Cheung Chan Fai demonstrates how it is still possible for Confucian humanism to contribute to a modern liberal education. Timely and passionately argued, _Confucian Tradition and Global Education_ is a major work emphasizing the importance of Chinese philosophy in the post-World War II era. (shrink)

This paper will attempt to assess the primary differences between what I take to be the two primary philosophical "traditions" in contemporary French philosophy, using Derrida (transcendence) and Deleuze (immanence) as exemplary representatives. The body of the paper will examine the use of these terms in three different areas of philosophy on which Derrida and Deleuze have both written: subjectivity, ontology, and epistemology. (1) In the field of subjectivity, the notion of the subject has been critiqued in two manners, either (...) by appealing either to the transcendence of the other (Levinas, Derrida) or to the immanent jlux of experience itself, in relation to which the Ego itself is trancendent (Deleuze, Foucault, Sartre, James). (2) In the field of ontology, a purely "immanent" ontology would be an ontology in which there is neither a "beyond" or an "otherwise" Being, nor "interruptions" in Being, both of which would require an appeal to a formal element of transcendence (Deleuze). Such a "transcendent" and aporetic structure, which can never appear or be present as such within Being, is what lies at the basis of the project of deconstruction, with its attendant aporias (Derrida). (3) This distinction, finally, finds parallels in Kant's epistemology, for whom the possible experience is conditioned by purely immanent criteria (Deleuze), whereas what goes beyond the limits of possible experience is transcendent (Derrida). Drawing on these three thread of analysis, the paper concludes with an assessment of what is at stake in the ethical differences between the two traditions. The question of "transcendence" is "What mast I do?", which is the question of morality (a duty or obligation that is beyond being, an "ought" beyond the "is"). The question of "immanence" is "What can I do?" (my power or capacity as an existing individual within being). For Levinas and Derrida, ethics precedes ontology because it is derived from an element of transcendence (the Other); for Deleuze, ethics is ontology because it is derived from the immanent relation of beings to Being at the level of their existence (Spinoza). (shrink)

Like the cracking of the genetic code and the creation of the atomic bomb, the discovery of how the brain's neurons work is one of the fundamental scientific developments of the twentieth century. The discovery of neurotransmitters revolutionized the way we think about the brain and what it means to be human yet few people know how they were discovered, the scientists involved, or the fierce controversy about whether they even existed. The War of the Soups and the Sparks tells (...) the saga of the dispute between the pharmacologists, who had uncovered the first evidence that nerves communicate by releasing chemicals, and the neurophysiologists, experts on the nervous system, who dismissed the evidence and remained committed to electrical explanations. The protagonists of this story are Otto Loewi and Henry Dale, who received Nobel Prizes for their work, and Walter Cannon, who would have shared the prize with them if he had not been persuaded to adopt a controversial theory (how that happened is an important part of this history). Valenstein sets his story of scientific discovery against the backdrop of two world wars and examines the fascinating lives of several scientists whose work was affected by the social and political events of their time. He recounts such stories as Loewi's arrest by Nazi storm troopers and Dale's efforts at helping key scientists escape Germany. The War of the Soups and the Sparks reveals how science and scientists work. Valenstein describes the observations and experiments that led to the discovery of neurotransmitters and sheds light on what determines whether a novel concept will gain acceptance among the scientific community. His work also explains the immense importance of Loewi, Dale, and Cannon's achievements in our understanding of the human brain and the way mental illnesses are conceptualized and treated. (shrink)

_Finding Wisdom in East Asian Classics_ is an essential, all-access guide to the core texts of East Asian civilization and culture. Essays address frequently read, foundational texts in Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese, as well as early modern fictional classics and nonfiction works of the seventeenth century. Building strong links between these writings and the critical traditions of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism, this volume shows the vital role of the classics in the shaping of Asian history and in the development (...) of the humanities at large. Wm. Theodore de Bary focuses on texts that have survived for centuries, if not millennia, through avid questioning and contestation. Recognized as perennial reflections on life and society, these works represent diverse historical periods and cultures and include the _Analects of Confucius_, _Mencius_, _Laozi_, _Xunxi_, the _Lotus Sutra_, Tang poetry, the _Pillow Book_, _The Tale of Genji_, and the writings of Chikamatsu and Kaibara Ekken. Contributors explain the core and most commonly understood aspects of these works and how they operate within their traditions. They trace their reach and reinvention throughout history and their ongoing relevance in modern life. With fresh interpretations of familiar readings, these essays inspire renewed appreciation and examination. In the case of some classics open to multiple interpretations, de Bary chooses two complementary essays from different contributors. Expanding on debates concerning the challenges of teaching classics in the twenty-first century, several pieces speak to the value of Asia in the core curriculum. Indispensable for early scholarship on Asia and the evolution of global civilization, _Finding Wisdom in East Asian Classics_ helps one master the major texts of human thought. (shrink)

For four decades _Sources of Chinese Tradition_ has served to introduce Western readers to Chinese civilization as it has been seen through basic writings and historical documents of the Chinese themselves. Now in its second edition, revised and extended through Deng Xiaoping and Jiang Zemin--era China, this classic volume remains unrivaled for its wide selection of source readings on history, society, and thought in the world's largest nation. Award-winning China scholar Wm. Theodore de Bary -- who edited the first (...) edition in 1960 -- and his coeditor Richard Lufrano have revised and updated the second volume of Sources to reflect the interactions of ideas, institutions, and historical events from the seventeenth century up to the present day. Beginning with Qing civilization and continuing to contemporary times, volume II brings together key source texts from more than three centuries of Chinese history, with opening essays by noted China authorities providing context for readers not familiar with the period in question. Here are just a few of the topics covered in this second volume of _Sources of Chinese Tradition:_ • Early Sino-Western contacts in the seventeenth century; • Four centuries of Chinese reflections on differences between Eastern and Western civilizations; • Nineteenth- and twentieth-century reform movements, with treatises on women's rights, modern science, and literary reform; • Controversies over the place of Confucianism in modern Chinese society; • The nationalist revolution -- including readings from Sun Yat-sen and Chiang Kai-shek; • The communist revolution -- with central writings by Mao Zedong; • Works from contemporary China -- featuring political essays from Deng Xiaoping and dissidents including Wei Jingsheng. With more than two hundred selections in lucid, readable translation by today's most renowned experts on Chinese language and civilization, _Sources of Chinese Tradition_ will continue to be recognized as the standard for source readings on Chinese civilization, an indispensable learning tool for scholars and students of Asian civilizations. (shrink)

For four decades _Sources of Chinese Tradition_ has served to introduce Western readers to Chinese civilization as it has been seen through basic writings and historical documents of the Chinese themselves. Now in its second edition, revised and extended through Deng Xiaoping and Jiang Zemin--era China, this classic volume remains unrivaled for its wide selection of source readings on history, society, and thought in the world's largest nation. Award-winning China scholar Wm. Theodore de Bary -- who edited the first (...) edition in 1960 -- and his coeditor Richard Lufrano have revised and updated the second volume of Sources to reflect the interactions of ideas, institutions, and historical events from the seventeenth century up to the present day. Beginning with Qing civilization and continuing to contemporary times, volume II brings together key source texts from more than three centuries of Chinese history, with opening essays by noted China authorities providing context for readers not familiar with the period in question. Here are just a few of the topics covered in this second volume of _Sources of Chinese Tradition:_ • Early Sino-Western contacts in the seventeenth century; • Four centuries of Chinese reflections on differences between Eastern and Western civilizations; • Nineteenth- and twentieth-century reform movements, with treatises on women's rights, modern science, and literary reform; • Controversies over the place of Confucianism in modern Chinese society; • The nationalist revolution -- including readings from Sun Yat-sen and Chiang Kai-shek; • The communist revolution -- with central writings by Mao Zedong; • Works from contemporary China -- featuring political essays from Deng Xiaoping and dissidents including Wei Jingsheng. With more than two hundred selections in lucid, readable translation by today's most renowned experts on Chinese language and civilization, _Sources of Chinese Tradition_ will continue to be recognized as the standard for source readings on Chinese civilization, an indispensable learning tool for scholars and students of Asian civilizations. (shrink)

Although the political and consumer consciousness has turned increasingly green, many firms continue to resist the adoption of environment-friendly technological innovations—even in the face of higher costs, negative health effects, and stricter government oversight. This article examines how business owners weigh the trade-offs associated with environment-friendly innovations by examining the role of prosocial motivation in their decision-making process. We use primary data to overcome a common restriction in studying environmental innovations—the scarcity of relevant data—to analyze how business owners’ expectations, perceptions, (...) and motivations affect innovation in organizational processes and, consequently, the level of environmental friendliness of their products or services. We found that prosocial motivation had a significant negative impact on innovation adoption and that it is expressed differently under high and low levels of customer compatibility—possibly because business owners have a larger number of competing social objectives and priorities. Our results further showed that the innovation’s ability to satisfy downstream customer demands has the greatest impact on environment-friendly innovation adoption decisions by business owners. This study enhances our understanding of how business owners make innovation decisions based on competing business, environmental and social objectives and provides a foundation for future research in this area. (shrink)

Ekonomik ilişkiler ve fetihler sonucu çok geniş bir coğrafyaya yayılan ve bunun bir sonucu olarak da birçok farklı kültürle karşılaşan Müslümanlar, özellikle Bizans (Helen/Yunan), İran ve kısmen Hint kültürleriyle temasları sonucunda bu kültürlere karşı büyük bir ilgi ve merak duymuşlardır. Özellikle İskenderiye, Harran ve Cündişâpûr gibi şehirlerin fethedilmesinin ve bu şehirlerdeki ilmî geleneğin Müslümanlar üzerinde önemli etkileri olmuştur. Nitekim bu fetihler akabinde Müslümanlar, sadece dinî ilimlerle yetinmemiş, bunun yanında antik düşünce geleneğini ve kadim kültürleri tanımak amacıyla o kültürlere ait eserleri (...) Arapçaya çevirmek üzere harekete geçmişler, yani ilk tercüme faaliyetlerine başlamışlardır. İslam medeniyeti ve bilim tarihi açısından son derece önemli olan bu ilk tercüme faaliyetleri, bugüne kadar pek çok çalışmaya konu olmuştur. Ancak yapılan çalışmalar sırasında genellikle tercüme yapılan eserlerin isminin, yapıldığı alanların ve bu tercümeleri yapan mütercimlerin zikredilmekle yetinildiği görülmektedir. Bu çalışmada ise İslam Bilim Tarihi’ndeki ilk tercüme faaliyetleri ve yapıldığı alanlar yanında, tercüme faaliyetlerinden önce Müslümanların bu alanlardaki bilgi ve birikimlerinin ne olduğu ve tercüme faaliyetlerinin bu alanlardaki gelişim veya değişime olan katkısı, yazmış olduğu eserler Batı’da da tanınan farklı yüzyıllardaki Müslüman bilim adamlarından örnekler verilmek suretiyle ortaya konulmaya çalışılacaktır. Bu bağlamda Müslümanlar açısından bilim ve teknolojide II. (VIII.) ile V. (XI.) yüzyıllar arasında yaşanan parlak zaman ve bu zaman dilimi içerisinde yapılan bazı önemli bilimsel faaliyetler; bilgiyi elde etme, bilgiyi sistemleştirme ve özgün bilgi üretme dönemi olmak üzere üç ana bölümde incelenecektir.Özet: Bilim, medeniyetin ve insanlık tarihinin en önemli ortak miraslarından biridir. Bu mirasta en çok katkısı olanlar ise yaşadıkları toplumda bilime, bilimsel çalışmalara ve bilim insanlarına gereken önemi gösterenlerdir. İlk emri “Oku” olan bir dinin müntesipleri olan Müslümanlar da, bilime değer veren ve bunun için önemli çalışmalar altına imza atan toplumlar arasında saygın bir yere sahiptir.Ekonomik ilişkiler ve fetihler sonucu çok geniş bir coğrafyaya yayılan ve bunun bir sonucu olarak da birçok farklı kültürle karşılaşan Müslümanlar, özellikle Bizans (Helen/Yunan), İran ve kısmen de Hint kültürleriyle temasları sonucunda bunlara karşı büyük bir ilgi ve merak duymuşlardır. Özellikle İskenderiye, Harran ve Cündişâpûr gibi şehirlerin fethedilmesinin ve bu şehirlerdeki ilmî geleneğin Müslümanlar üzerinde önemli etkileri olmuştur. Nitekim bu fetihler akabinde Müslümanlar, sadece dinî ilimlerle yetinmemiş, bunun yanında antik düşünce geleneğini ve kadim kültürleri tanımak amacıyla o kültürlere ait eserleri Arapçaya çevirmek üzere harekete geçmişler, yani tercüme faaliyetlerine başlamışlardır.İslam medeniyeti ve bilim tarihi açısından son derece önemli gördüğümüz bu çalışmada, tercüme faaliyetlerinin bilgi üretimine katkısı ele alınacaktır. Bu bağlamda Müslümanlar açısından bilim ve teknolojide VIII. ile XI. yüzyıllar arasında yaşanan parlak zaman ve bu zaman dilimi içerisinde yapılan bazı önemli bilimsel faaliyetler; bilgiyi elde etme, bilgiyi sistemleştirme ve özgün bilgi üretme dönemi olmak üzere üç ana bölümde incelenecektir.İslâm dininin iki ana kaynağı olarak kabul ettiğimiz Kur’ân-ı Kerîm ve Hz. Peygamber’in hadisleri ilmi öven ve teşvik eden pek çok emir ve tavsiye içermektedir. Hatta bu ayet ve hadislere göre ilmin ya da bilimin rolü dinin ve böylece de bütün bir insan hayatının asıl itici gücü olarak öne sürülmüştür de diyebiliriz. Bundan dolayı Hz. Muhammed’in peygamber olarak görevlendirilmesiyle Mekke’de başlayan ve Medine’de devam eden ilmî faaliyetler, Hulefâ-i Raşidîn döneminde de artarak devam etmiştir. Özellikle ilk İslâm fetihleri Müslümanların, Bizans ve İran başta olmak üzere pek çok farklı medeniyetle tanışmalarına, bu medeniyetlerin meydana getirmiş olduğu eserlerden faydalanmalarına, Emevîler ve Abbasîler dönemlerinde de yoğun bir tercüme faaliyetine girişmelerine vesile olmuştur. Bu sayede Müslümanlar, dinî ilimler yanında sosyal bilimler, fen ve sağlık bilimleri alanlarında da ilerlemeye başlamışlardır. Bu anlamda Müslümanların ilk yapmaya çalıştığı şey var olan bilgi birikimini tanımaya ve anlamaya çalışmak, sonrasında ise geliştirmek ve dünyanın istifadesine sunmak olmuştur.Araştırmamızda bilgiyi elde etme dönemi olarak adlandırdığımız dönem; İskenderiye, Harran ve Cündişâpûr gibi şehirlerin fethedilmesinin ve ardından bu şehirlerdeki ilmî geleneğin Müslümanlar üzerindeki önemli etkilerinin bir tezahürü olarak ilk tercüme faaliyetlerinin başladığı dönemdir. Bu dönemde bilim nerede olursa olsun gidip alma çabası hakim olup; amaç, bilgiyi üreten, ister Yunan, ister Hint, ister Farisî olsun onu elde etmek ve Arapçaya çevirmektir. Bilgiyi sistemleştirme dönemi ise hem tercüme faaliyetlerinin artarak devam ettiği hem de tercüme faaliyetleri neticesinde elde edilen bilginin sistematik hale getirilmeye başlandığı bir süreçtir. Bu süreçte amaç, bilgiyi üreterek, kullanılabilir hale dönüştürmek ve toplumun hizmetine sunmak olmuştur. Yine bu süreçte, bilim hem takdir ve teşvik edilme ayrıcalığını kazanmış, hem de dönemin yöneticileri ve ilim meraklıları, bilginin ışığıyla tüm sorunların çözülebileceği yaklaşımı içinde olmuşlar ve bu yönde adımlar atmışlardır. Beytülhikmeler ve rasathaneler, bu sürecin birer meyvesi olarak ortaya çıkmış kurumlardır. Bu dönemde yapılan tercümeler Müslümanlar arasında derin bir ilgi ve etki meydana getirerek onların bilgi ve kültürünü zenginleştirmiştir; ancak hiçbir zaman özgün kimliklerini kaybetmelerine sebep olmamıştır. Bilakis Müslüman âlimler, kendilerinden önce yaşamış bilginlerin çalıştıkları farklı alanlarla ilgili eserleri inceleyerek istifade etmişler; fakat hiçbir zaman onları mutlak bir otorite olarak görmeyip, yeri geldiğinde eksik ve yanlışlarını ortaya koymuşlar, sonunda da kendi gözlem, deney ve düşüncelerini ortaya koymak suretiyle özgün eserler üretmişlerdir.Özgün bilgi üretme süreci olarak adlandırdığımız bu dönemde ise, yaşadığı yüzyılda ön plana çıkmış ve sonrasında Avrupa bilim dünyası tarafından da tanınmış bazı ilim adamlarından ve çalışma yaptıkları alanlardan hareket etmek suretiyle dönemin ilmî anlamda nasıl bir gelişmişlik seviyesine ulaştığı ortaya konmaya çalışılacaktır. Söz konusu bu dönem Fezârî (ö. 190/806), Câbir b. Hayyân (ö. 200/815), Hârizmî (ö. 232/847), Fergânî (ö. 247/861), Ali b. Rabben et-Taberî (ö. 247/861), Ebû Bekir Râzî (ö. 313/925), Bettânî (ö. 317/929), Ebü’l-Vefâ Bûzcânî (ö. 388/998), İbn Sînâ (ö. 428/1037), Ali b. Îsâ el-Kehhâl (ö. 430/1039), İbnü’l-Heysem (ö. 432/1040) ve Bîrûnî (ö. 453/1061) gibi bilim adamı ve düşünürlerin zirvede olduğu bir zaman dilimidir. Bu dönemde bir taraftan tercüme faaliyetleri tüm hızıyla devam ederken (VIII.-X. yüzyıllarda) diğer taraftan araştırmalar, kuralları, yöntemleri ve kavramları olan bir niteliğe kavuşmuş ve İslam bilim tarihinin altın çağı yaşanmıştır. Bu dönem içindeki en parlak çalışmalar, matematik, tıp, fizik, kimya ve astronomi alanlarında gerçekleştirilmiş olup üretilen bilgiler, V. ila XI. yüzyıllar arasında skolastiğin koyu karanlığını yaşayan batı dünyası tarafından, ancak yüzyıllar sonra yani XI. yüzyıldan itibaren Arapçadan çeviriler yapılarak tanınabilmiştir. (shrink)

Globalization refers to more and more interdependence and Integration of relations among people, trade, capital flows, and migration, ideas and culture, religion and customs. Scholars and experts have been disagreeing about the denotation and effect of globalization. For some it is the salvation of humanity, the only way to promote universal prosperity and peace. But some Scholars also realize the fact that as a result of globalization states and its citizens faces the problems of social fragmentation: creating critical vulnerabilities violence (...) and conflicts. The impact of globalization cannot be restricted only to economic process but the sphere of globalization is very wide it has influenced almost every aspect of human life. On the contrary the world is witnessing the scenario where few booming dominions or few influential countries because of the blessings of modernization trying to supersede the rest of the world or the weaker nations in every aspect: economically, socially, politically, through hard power and through cultural imperialism. This situation is a threat to positive and sustainable peace. (shrink)

In this note, I provide an axiomatic characterization of the relative utilitarian bargaining solution to Nash bargaining problems. The solution is obtained when Nash’s independence of irrelevant alternatives axiom is replaced by the weak linearity axiom, while retaining the other three axioms. RU maximizes the sum of proportional gains, or, equivalently, minimizes the sum of proportional losses. RU is scale invariant and compared to the Nash and Kalai and Smorodinsky solutions, it is ex ante efficient when the bargaining problem is (...) considered as a lottery of future bargaining problems. (shrink)

This thoughtful new abridgment is enriched by the brilliant commentary which accompanies it. In it, Laurence Dickey argues that the _Wealth of Nations_ contains--and conceals--a great deal of how Smith actually thought a commercial society works. Guided by his conviction that the so-called Adam Smith Problem--the relationship between ethics and economics in Smith's thinking--is a core element in the argument of the work itself, Dickey's commentary focuses on the devices Smith uses to ground his economics in (...) broadly ethical and social categories. An unparalleled guide to an often difficult and perplexing work. (shrink)

This book explores a question central to philosophy--namely, what does it take for a belief to be justified or rational? According to a widespread view, whether one has justification for believing a proposition is determined by how probable that proposition is, given one's evidence. In this book this view is rejected and replaced with another: in order for one to have justification for believing a proposition, one's evidence must normically support it--roughly, one's evidence must make the falsity of that proposition (...) abnormal in the sense of calling for special, independent explanation. This conception of justification bears upon a range of topics in epistemology and beyond. Ultimately, this way of looking at justification guides us to a new, unfamiliar picture of how we should respond to our evidence and manage our own fallibility. This picture is developed here. (shrink)

These essays explore the continuities and discontinuities between the Neo-Confucian thought of Ming China and early Tokugawa Japan and the practical learning of the 17th and 18th centuries, underlining the need for a deeper examination of the complex relationship between traditional and modern thoughts and values.