In this article I attempt to conceptualize myexistential and institutional experience as thedirector of the Kharkov Center for GenderStudies acquired in the course of introducinggender studies into the system of post-Soviethigher education. The main subject of thearticle concerns the logical ground of genderdiscourse and the complicated relations betweenthe notions of `gender studies', `women'sstudies', and, within the latter, `feminism' inthe former USSR, all in the framework ofconcepts from Western feminists theory.

Résumé Les interstices représentent ce qui résiste encore dans les métropoles, ce qui résiste aux emprises réglementaires et à l’homogénéisation. Ils constituent en quelque sorte la réserve de « disponibilité » de la ville. Du fait de leur statut provisoire et incertain, les interstices laissent deviner ou entrevoir un autre processus de fabrication de la ville, ouvert et collaboratif, réactif et transversal. Ils nous rappellent que la société ne coïncide jamais parfaitement avec elle-même et que son développement laisse en arrière (...) plan nombre d’hypothèses non encore investies. L’interstice constitue certainement un des espaces privilégiés où des questions refoulées continuent à se faire entendre, où certaines hypothèses récusées par le modèle dominant affirment leur actualité, où nombre de devenirs minoritaires entravés, bloqués, prouvent leur vitalité. À ce titre, l’expérience interstitielle représente la parfaite métaphore de ce que peut être le mouvement de l’antagonisme et de la contradiction dans la ville postfordiste : un mouvement qui s’affirme au fur et à mesure de ce qu’il expérimente, qui monte en intensité grâce aux modalités de vie et de désir qu’il libère, qui s’oppose à la hauteur de ce qu’il est susceptible d’inventer et de créer. (shrink)

Dans le cadre d’une recherche-action conduite dans une cité populaire de l’agglomération de Dunkerque, un habitant très actif dans la vie du quartier, en réaction contre les démarches participatives souvent très artificielles, a écrit : « Ils veulent la parole des habitants. Venez dans les quartiers, vous l’aurez », « Viens, on discute. Le conseil citoyen, c’est ici qu’il se tient. Pas là-bas », « Ils veulent nous parler, alors qu’ils acceptent qu’on leur dise… ». Cet article restitue une expérience (...) de démocratie située, vécue au beau milieu du quartier, à l’initiative des habitant·es, une « démocratie éprouvée », à entendre dans la double acception du terme : à l’épreuve des situations (une « preuve » par l’expérience vécue) et à l’écoute des émotions. (shrink)

The question "Where do we come from?" has fascinated philosophers, scientists, and artists for generations. This book reorients the question of the matrix as a place where everything comes from (_chora_, womb, incubator) by recasting it in terms of acts of "matrixial/maternal hospitality" producing space and matter of and for the other. Irina Aristarkhova theorizes such hospitality with the potential to go beyond tolerance in understanding self/other relations. Building on and critically evaluating a wide range of historical and contemporary (...) scholarship, she applies this theoretical framework to the science, technology, and art of ectogenesis (artificial womb, neonatal incubators, and other types of generation outside of the maternal body) and proves the question "Can the machine nurse?" is critical when approaching and understanding the functional capacities and failures of incubating technologies, such as artificial placenta. Aristarkhova concludes with the science and art of male pregnancy, positioning the condition as a question of the hospitable man and newly defined fatherhood and its challenge to the conception of masculinity as unable to welcome the other. (shrink)

We suggest that understanding unethical behavior in organizations involves understanding how people view themselves and their relationships with others, a concept known as self-construal. Across multiple studies, employing both field and laboratory settings, we examine the impact of three dimensions of self-construal (independent, relational, and collective) on unethical behavior. Our results show that higher levels of relational self-construal relate negatively to unethical behavior. We also find that differences in levels of relational self for men and women mediate gender differences in (...) unethical behavior. We discuss both the theoretical and practical implications of these findings. (shrink)

Is medicalization always harmful? When does medicine overstep its proper boundaries? The aim of this article is to outline the pragmatic criteria for distinguishing between medicalization and over-medicalization. The consequences of considering a phenomenon to be a medical problem may take radically different forms depending on whether the problem in question is correctly or incorrectly perceived as a medical issue. Neither indiscriminate acceptance of medicalization of subsequent areas of human existence, nor criticizing new medicalization cases just because they are medicalization (...) can be justified. The article: (i) identifies various consequences of both well-founded medicalization and over-medicalization; (ii) demonstrates that the issue of defining appropriate limits of medicine cannot be solved by creating an optimum model of health; (iii) proposes four guiding questions to help distinguish medicalization from over-medicalization. The article should foster a normative analysis of the phenomenon of medicalization and contribute to the bioethical reflection on the boundaries of medicine. (shrink)

Based on a dual process view of ethical judgment, we examine the role of empathic concern and perspective taking on the acceptability of lying to protect the company. We hypothesize that these traits will matter to a different extent under conditions of high and low perceived time hurriedness. Our research hypotheses are tested in a survey of 134 US workers. Results show that empathic concern reduces the acceptability of lying to protect the company for individuals who tend to do things (...) quickly and feel in a hurry at work. On the other hand, perspective taking reduces the acceptability of lying for individuals who experience low levels of time hurriedness. Theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed. (shrink)

Циљ овог рада је да критички преиспита парадоксалност коју Аница Савић Ребац приписује Платоновој „естетици.“ Нaјпре ћу предочити којом се методом служи наша ауторка. Тежићу, потом, да покажем оригиналност Аничиног разумевања Платоновог односа филозофије и трагичког песништва. Кључни део овог рада биће посвећен Платоновом „парадоксу“, као и томе како Платон схвата космичку лепоту, и зашто је она лепша од било које људске творевине. Такође ћу преиспитати, следећи промишљања Анице Савић Ребац, како је Платон у дијалогу Гозба успео да изрази суштину (...) сваког, па и уметничког стваралаштва. Решење Платоновог „парадокса“, по мом мишљењу, налазимо у Плотиновом схватању лепоте. (shrink)

[Translated by Google] The article touches upon one of the most important problems of criminal - procedural law. It examines the procedural position of the defense in the criminal - procedural production in terms of its role and importance. In the above legal literature expressed views on this issue. Based on the analysis of opinion identified three positions: 1.zaschitnik - representative of the accused; 2.zaschitnik - an independent participant in the process and at the same time representative of the accused; (...) 3.zaschitnik - assistant justice. Expressed about the legal status of the defense of equal rights representative of the accused as an independent subject of Procedure, the defender is why procedural independent entity and to what extent is defined by its independence, in which case the defender is representative of the accused and whether the defender of justice and the assistant. etc. On the basis of comparative analysis examined opinions on the issues of the theory of procedural law in Russia, Poland and Germany. Analyzed the mismatch position and the defense of the accused in relation to the fact of the crime, the ratio of public and private interests, and other questions, suggestions, and opinions. The work refers one of the important problem of the trial theory. A judicial procedure of protector is scrutinized from the standpoint of protector's role in the trial. Opinions expressed about this matter, in Law Literature, are given in this work. It follows that there are three positions: 1. Protector as a representative of the accused; 2. Protector as an independent part of a court trial and simultaneously representative of the accused; 3. Protector as an assistant of court. There are also given opinions about a judicial status of protector, why is it an independent element and etc. The conceptions existed in Russian, German, Polish trial theory about the above-named matter are discussed too. It is analyzed a relationship between the accused and protector, an incompatibility of positions about the fact, correlation of private and common interests and other issues. (shrink)

Résumé Les interstices représentent ce qui résiste encore dans les métropoles, ce qui résiste aux emprises réglementaires et à l’homogénéisation. Ils constituent en quelque sorte la réserve de « disponibilité » de la ville. Du fait de leur statut provisoire et incertain, les interstices laissent deviner ou entrevoir un autre processus de fabrication de la ville, ouvert et collaboratif, réactif et transversal. Ils nous rappellent que la société ne coïncide jamais parfaitement avec elle-même et que son développement laisse en arrière (...) plan nombre d’hypothèses non encore investies. L’interstice constitue certainement un des espaces privilégiés où des questions refoulées continuent à se faire entendre, où certaines hypothèses récusées par le modèle dominant affirment leur actualité, où nombre de devenirs minoritaires entravés, bloqués, prouvent leur vitalité. À ce titre, l’expérience interstitielle représente la parfaite métaphore de ce que peut être le mouvement de l’antagonisme et de la contradiction dans la ville postfordiste : un mouvement qui s’affirme au fur et à mesure de ce qu’il expérimente, qui monte en intensité grâce aux modalités de vie et de désir qu’il libère, qui s’oppose à la hauteur de ce qu’il est susceptible d’inventer et de créer. (shrink)

As in science and philosophy, thought experiments in mathematics link a problem to new epistemic resources that are unavailable in a given practice, e.g., Euclidean geometry. Thought experiments invite us to perform an imaginary scenario involving counterfactual, deductive and sensory elements. This chapter aims to pinpoint the beneficial peculiarities of thought experiments in mathematics in comparison with inferences, diagrams and calculative procedures. Reflection about thought experiments assists us to realize both the limits and opportunities in mathematical thinking. Henceforth, the analysis (...) of examples suggests a broader understanding of mathematical, thought and experiment. (shrink)

The debates between various Buddhist and Hindu philosophical systems about the existence, definition and nature of self, occupy a central place in the history of Indian philosophy and religion.

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:Soldiers of the Invisible Front: How Ukrainian Therapists Are Fighting for the Mental Health of the Nation Under FireIrina Deyneka and Eva RegelIrina DeynekaWhen the Russian army attacked my country, I became a volunteer for a hotline offering psychological support to those in crisis; refugees, those who were under the shelling, those who were hiding in bomb shelters, and who were directly in the zone of fighting. People were (...) lost and disoriented by constant bombing, by the fact that their country was under attack. Once, I had a woman who lived in Mariupol on one of these calls. I was living then in another city, Odessa, but was experiencing the same horrors of war that my client was—the shelling, uncertainty, and despair. We were processing my client’s feelings of grief and anxiety when I heard the sirens on her end. I offered to stop our session so she could seek shelter. She told me she would not have time to find shelter and wanted to continue our meeting. And so, we continued... But soon, Odessa’s sirens broke the silence, and it was my turn to decide what to do; should I continue our session or try to find a bomb shelter for myself? I decided to stay because I thought that was the right thing to do morally, professionally, and personally.I eventually left Odessa, but only after a bomb destroyed a house next to mine, and I saw a family, my neighbors, perish in the destruction. I am now a member of one of Slovakia’s Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and work in a mobile brigade providing medical and psychological support to refugees. I can remember every one of my clients. Children, adults... I can remember their stories, their traumas, their memories of the horrors of war and devastation. Sometimes I meet with them only once, and they move on to another refugee center or are on their way to a Western part of Ukraine, trying to escape the war. And frequently, I do not know how many sessions I will be able to have with clients. Sometimes it is only one time, and sometimes we can meet for many months. Initially, I thought, What can I do in one therapy session? Now, I know that I can do a lot. I can provide people who survived the most inhuman conditions and witnessed death and destruction around them with a space and time to talk through and process their experiences. I am their support, and they lean on me as they try to make sense of what has happened to them and their country. I always tell my clients that my goal as a psychotherapist is to help them withstand, survive, and hold on while still being able to continue to function in a country at war. All I can do is treat each of the therapy sessions as our last one and try to provide as many strategies and skills as possible to cope with anxiety and depression, to be able to function, and to live in the present.Every session is about installing hope, moving slowly forward, and away from traumatic events. One of my clients, a 14-year-old boy, was diagnosed with a neurological condition, involuntary facial muscle spasm, or tics. He was barely talking when I first saw him, and I decided to use art therapy as a trauma-processing tool during one of the therapy sessions. He was drawing an explosion, fire, and destruction of his neighbor’s house. He blacked out the horrors of his experience to preserve his strength. Yet, he began slowly remembering his experiences, re-creating the story of his trauma, and making memories. I was fortunate to work with [End Page E4] him for many months, carefully and thoughtfully helping him re-create the sorry of his trauma, helping to become its witness. Ultimately, it was great to see that he could control his memories and his emotional stress; he felt empowered and in control.Eva RegelThis is the story of Irina Deyneka, one of many Ukrainian psychotherapists working in Ukraine, providing mental health support to a nation ravaged by... (shrink)

Resumen de Tesis Tiempo humano y tiempo natural: una distinción problemática en los debates sobre el tiempo histórico del siglo XX por M. E. Arabarco.

Whereas historiography of the debates on “early man in America” isolates Florentino Ameghino's ideas on human evolution from his paleontological and geological work, this paper presents Ameghino's ideas on human ancestors in regard to the controversies over the origin and dispersion of mammals. Therefore, this paper analyzes the constitution of paleontology in Argentina at the end of nineteenth century by describing, firstly, the Ameghino brothers' organization of research. By tackling this aspect I want also to discuss the place of science (...) in late nineteenth-century Argentina. Secondly, I will sketch “Ameghino's ideas” about Patagonia as a center of distribution of mammals, the age of Patagonian strata, and the South American origin of humankind. The Ameghino brothers' logistics of fieldwork created not only the means for finding a remarkable fossil fauna but also a trap that undermined their scientific credibility. Therefore, I will focus on the problem of fieldwork in “distant” places and of scientific wandering in Patagonia. In the polemics presented here, language, transportation systems, visual representations, and technical devices were crucial elements for the creation of paleontological objects. -/- . (shrink)

_The Bounds of Reason: Habermas, Lyotard & Melanie Klein on Rationality_ is a highly original yet accessible study of the debate between modernity and postmodernity. Emilia Steuerman clearly explains the modernity/postmodernity dispute by examining the problem that has driven the whole debate: whether the use of reason is an emancipatory or enslaving force. Steuerman clearly sets out this debate by critically examining the arguments of two of its key proponents, Jurgen Habermas and Jean-François Lyotard. She clearly explains Habermas' defence (...) of modernity and his attempt to salvage Enlightenment ideas of truth, justice, and freedom through the use of reason. She contrasts this with Lyotard's postmodernism and his scepticism about the use of reason, and its claims to universalism and objectivity. Throughout, Steuerman contrasts the Habermas-Lyotard debate with important insights from psychoanalytic theory, and shows how Habermas' notions of intersubjectivity and a community of shared language users can be compared and contrasted with Melanie Klein's theory of object relations. (shrink)

Invertebrate animals are frequently lumped into a single category and denied welfare protections despite their considerable cognitive, behavioral, and evolutionary diversity. Some ethical and policy inroads have been made for cephalopod molluscs and crustaceans, but the vast majority of arthropods, including the insects, remain excluded from moral consideration. We argue that this exclusion is unwarranted given the existing evidence. Anachronistic readings of evolution, which view invertebrates as lower in the scala naturae, continue to influence public policy and common morality. The (...) assumption that small brains are unlikely to support cognition or sentience likewise persists, despite growing evidence that arthropods have converged on cognitive functions comparable to those found in vertebrates. The exclusion of invertebrates is also motivated by cognitive-affective biases that covertly influence moral judgment, as well as a flawed balancing of scientific uncertainty against moral risk. All these factors shape moral attitudes toward basal vertebrates too, but they are particularly acute in the arthropod context. Moral consistency dictates that the same standards of evidence and risk management that justify policy protections for vertebrates also support extending moral consideration to certain invertebrates. Moving beyond a vertebrate-centered conception of welfare can also clarify foundational moral concepts in their own right. (shrink)

Introduction. At present, the issues of the Far East accelerated economic development remain in the focus of the state attention. Among the key mechanisms of state policy is the formation of advanced development territories (ADT). The article sets the task of studying the impact of the institutional measures taken on the welfare and the population’s life quality in the Far Eastern territories. Particular attention is paid to studying migration processes and analyzing the economic activity of the Far East population. The (...) purpose of the article is to study the effects of implementing mechanisms for accelerated economic growth, as well as assess their impact on the life quality in the Far East regions. Methods. The authors use the following methods: economic and mathematical modeling, computational and analytical methods, comparative and spatial analysis. Scientific novelty of the research. For a comprehensive assessment of the regional well-being, the authors propose to supplement the multiplicative model based on the A. Sen’s extended welfare function with a composite ecological index. It takes into account the ecological conditions of human life, which are an important aspect of well-being. The authors obtain ecologically adjusted indicators of well-being for the eastern regions of the Russian Federation and study their dynamics, as well as the relations with the data on the population’s migration activity during the formation of new institutions of advanced development in the East of the country. Results. The authors find out that most of the Far Eastern territories are still lagging behind the average Russian level in socio-economic development. The results of assessing the level of well-being of regions on the basis of a multiplicative model without taking into account the environmental factor show that the most prosperous areas are raw materials-based territories. It is shown that the role of environmental factors in the life quality in the Far Eastern territories of Russia is very significant - the ecologically adjusted level of well-being is noticeably lower than the indicator that does not take into account this aspect of well-being. The authors reveal that socio-economically disadvantaged regions with difficult natural and climatic living conditions have very high rates of migration outflow. Their coefficients of migration loss reflect the presence of a crisis in economic development, which has been increasing in recent years. An analysis of trends in economic activity shows a relationship between the dynamics of the number of employed and the implementation of ADT projects in the Far Eastern territories. Conclusions. The conclusion is that the measures taken by the state for the advanced economic development of the eastern territories of the country have not yet had a noticeable positive impact on the welfare and life quality in the Far East regions. (shrink)

Dans l'espace spirituel de la civilisation occidentale contemporaine il s'opere un croisement entre deux paradigmes mentaux selon lesquels le rapport entre le transcendant et le phenomenologique est percu d'une maniere fondamentalement differente: il est question des paradigmes de pre-renaissance et de la modernite. Dans le paradigme pre-renaissant, l'univers est percu comme etant ontologiquement divise en deux realites subordonnees, ce qui introduit le Transcendant dans le monde. Avec les progres des sciences, le paradigme mental se bätit sur l'idee principale de l'unidimensionnalite (...) du reel. Or. le monde se retrouve ainsi depourvu de sa dimension transcendante. La solution proposee dans l'expose serait la formation d'un nouveau paradigme mental qui assurerait ä l'homme une presence spirituelle dans le monde. (shrink)

This article focuses on blood donation as a form of bloodletting in a context where donation is commonly seen to alleviate the symptoms of `thick blood'. It deals with the gendered aspects of blood donation, and the parallels drawn between donating blood and menstruating. Women are seen not to need to donate blood as much as men, who, in the absence of menstruation, are more prone to thick blood and require a means to expunge the ensuing excess. While blood donation (...) professionals strive to reconstruct donation as a selfless and ungendered act, counterposing the `facts' of arterial blood circulation to local blood-lore and beliefs, lay understandings challenge this construction in the use they make of blood donation centres or by reiterating the personalistic and gendered dimensions of donation. The article explores cases of patients who use hormonal contraceptives which suppress menstruation and express concerns over the resulting accumulation of blood in the body. It considers how blood donation is adopted by some women as a means of dispelling both the perceived inconveniences of menstrual bleeding and its swelling effects. Such literalized engagements with medical technologies reveal a conception of the body as a permeable, malleable and recipient-like enclosure. These views are often characterized as `ignorance' by medical practitioners, where ignorance is seen to derive not only from the absence of knowledge, but from the presence of the wrong kind of knowledge. (shrink)

We believe with the publication of our Lexicon Spinozanum, that we are meeting a need in Spinoza historiography which has been pointed out by scholars, but has never before been satisfied. In the intro duction of his Spinozas philosophische Terminologie (Leipzig, 1913), G. T. Richter promised "a Spinozistic Lexicon in which the meaning of each term is set out on an historical basis in alphabetical order". In 1924, in the Report, i.e., Nachbericht, of his four volume edition of the complete (...) works of Spinoza (Heidelberg), C. Gebhardt promised a complementary volume comprising, among other things, a general index. However, neither the one nor the other were ever published. The hope of seeing this gap quickly filled has been reiterated recently by Di Vona: "The compilation of a Spinozistic index is a task of the history of philosophy, the execution of which would gratify all scholars". (Di V on a, Studi suIt' ontologia di Spinoza, Florence, 1960). We do not know how closely our Lexicon Spinozanum corresponds to what Richter and Gebhardt projected. We believe, however, that there are common requirements at the basis of works of this sort. In our procedure and in the delimitation of our scope, we have set for ourselves two main criteria: that of clarity and that of completeness. We hope we hav:e not deviated from them too much. (shrink)

Despite recent efforts by the Artificial Intelligence (AI) community to move towards standardised procedures for documenting models, methods, systems or datasets, there is currently no methodology focused on use cases aligned with the risk-based approach of the European AI Act (AI Act). In this paper, we propose a new framework for the documentation of use cases that we call use case cards, based on the use case modelling included in the Unified Markup Language (UML) standard. Unlike other documentation methodologies, we (...) focus on the intended purpose and operational use of an AI system. It consists of two main parts: firstly, a UML-based template, tailored to allow implicitly assessing the risk level of the AI system and defining relevant requirements, and secondly, a supporting UML diagram designed to provide information about the system-user interactions and relationships. The proposed framework is the result of a co-design process involving a relevant team of EU policy experts and scientists. We have validated our proposal with 11 experts with different backgrounds and a reasonable knowledge of the AI Act as a prerequisite. We provide the 5 use case cards used in the co-design and validation process. Use case cards allows framing and contextualising use cases in an effective way, and we hope this methodology can be a useful tool for policy makers and providers for documenting use cases, assessing the risk level, adapting the different requirements and building a catalogue of existing usages of AI. (shrink)

Bioscience ethics facilitates free and accurate information transfer from applied science to applied bioethics. Its major elements are: increased understanding of biological systems, responsible use of technology, and attuning ethnocentric debates to new scientific insights. Pioneered by Irina Pollard in 1994, bioscience ethics has become an internationally recognized discipline, interfacing science and bioethics within professional perspectives such as medical, legal, bio-engineering, and economics. Written for students and professionals alike, the fundamental feature of this book is its breadth, important because (...) bioscience ethics interweaves many diverse subjects in the process of gathering specialist scientific knowledge for bioethical review. It contains chapters which embrace topics affecting human reproduction, end-of-life care and euthanasia, challenge human-dominated ecosystems, and review population growth, economic activity and warfare. A background section describes the evolution of ethical consciousness, explores the future, and proposes that the reworking of ethical boundaries can enhance mature decision-making in harmony with changing technology. (shrink)

Три су битне претпоставке за разумевање еротологије Анице Савић Ребац, а то су: 1. однос филозофије и књижевности; 2. специфичност њене методе; 3. мистичка духовна историја. У овом раду ће се настојати да се покаже како Аница Савић Ребац има кохерентно схватање двострукости и јединства Ероса у грчкој филозофији и књижевности, које је у извесним сегментима и оригинално. Ући ће се у продуктиван, критички дијалог са кључним рефлексијама о Еросу Анице Савић Ребац како би се одредили домети и границе њене (...) „мистичке” еротологије, која је превасходно платонистичке провенијенције. У том контексту ће се показати да је њено полазно становиште у испитивању Ероса филозофско, као и то да у њеном тексту доминира филозофско промишљање. (shrink)

Cet article cherche à montrer comment la pratique mathématique, particulièrement celle admettant des représentations visuelles, peut conduire à de nouveaux résultats mathématiques. L'argumentation est basée sur l'étude du cas d'un domaine des mathématiques relativement récent et prometteur: la théorie géométrique des groupes. L'article discute comment la représentation des groupes par les graphes de Cayley rendit possible la découverte de nouvelles propriétés géométriques de groupes.

The block universe is generally considered as the metaphysical position that best accommodates the outcomes of relativistic physics. Its most consistent formulation postulates a static universe where change is not admitted. However, some of its advocates try to reconcile its basic adynamical commitments as to the nature of physical reality with certain aspects of dynamism that arise, for instance, within human experience. In this article, I first examine how some block viewers try to reconcile dynamism and adynamism. I then go (...) on to discuss the problems that emerge while trying to make room for dynamism within the block. To this end, I clarify the meaning of adynamism and explains what it takes to eradicate dynamism through the implementation of the so-called “Langrangian schema”. Based on this analysis, I juxtapose two resolute attempts at the formulation of a thoroughly adynamical project. The first, named relational block world, aims to make the block view totally static. The second, Barbour’s early works on the implementation of a neo-Machian relational strategy, makes the point that a complete adynamism cannot be achieved within relativity and its metaphysical counterpart. The article in conclusion argues that, by dismissing four-dimensionalism and embracing three-dimensionalism, Barbour proves better at promoting an utterly static physics. (shrink)

The question of whether object recognition is orientation-invariant or orientation-dependent was investigated using a repetition blindness (RB) paradigm. In RB, the second occurrence of a repeated stimulus is less likely to be reported, compared to the occurrence of a different stimulus, if it occurs within a short time of the first presentation. This failure is usually interpreted as a difficulty in assigning two separate episodic tokens to the same visual type. Thus, RB can provide useful information about which representations are (...) treated as the same by the visual system. Two experiments tested whether RB occurs for repeated objects that were either in identical orientations, or differed by 30, 60, 90, or 180°. Significant RB was found for all orientation differences, consistent with the existence of orientation-invariant object representations. However, under some circumstances, RB was reduced or even eliminated when the repeated object was rotated by 180°, suggesting easier individuation of the repeated objects in this case. A third experiment confirmed that the upside-down orientation is processed more easily than other rotated orientations. The results indicate that, although object identity can be determined independently of orientation, orientation plays an important role in establishing distinct episodic representations of a repeated object, thus enabling one to report them as separate events. (shrink)

The relationship between humanism, metahumanism, posthumanism and transhumanism is one of the most pressing topics concerning many current cultural, social, political, ethical and individual challenges. There have been a great number of uses of the various terms in history. Meta-, post- and transhumanism have in common that they reject the categorically dualist understanding of human beings inherent in humanism. The essays in this volume consider the relevant historical discourses, important contemporary philosophical reflections and artistic perspectives on this subject-matter.

The tendencies of postsecularism in the social life of today's Ukraine are especially significant in their influence on the quasi-religious context of religious worships practiced in the country. These factors erode the modernity basis of the society, and Ukraine appears in the contradictory situation of its intention to complete the modernisation process and oppose the antiglobalistic isolationism. The neo-Protestant teachings and practices are obviouly connected with the principles of liberalism and consumerism. Neo-Oriental and new syncretic religions show that they produce (...) significant influence on spreading globalistic views in the Ukrainian society. The marginality characteristics of new religions prove the idea that their values are a challenge to the essentialistic dichotomies of the Ukrainian traditional churches. The sociocultural and political context of globalisation and postmodernism includes religious transformations axiomatically, and the impact of both on the late capitalism stage is evident in different contexts. The culture of postmodernism makes this process complicated in the countries which are still between modernity and postmodernity. The processes of 'label change' are important with the stress on the substitution of the rationalistic foundation by quasi-scientific teachings. The conclusions demonstrate that the very incompleteness of the modernity has led to the expansion of the quasi-religious techniques in the social and cultural life of Ukraine. The erosion of the modernity values results in spreading new religions, which became vivid at the end of the last century. As globalisation promotes syncretic and neo-Oriental religions, antiglobalistic movements are supported by neo-pagan techniques and practices. (shrink)