Lords of Asia Minor: An Introduction to the Lydians. By Annick Payne and Jorit Wintjes. Philippika, vol. 93. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag, 2016. Pp. x + 144, illus. €29.80.

Existing research shows consistently high levels of concern among people in the UK over the scale of immigration and its impact on jobs, wages and services. At the same time, that same body of research does not provide much in the way of detail about the nature of these concerns. This is partly because much of the data is from opinion polls which say little about the priorities and perspectives that underlie the aggregate numbers. Moreover, very little research has been (...) carried out on what new immigration policies the British public would like to see once the UK leaves the EU and free movement ends. Our research for this report aims to fill these gaps by providing evidence about how people use and understand information about economic impacts of immigration, and what they might wish to see from new, post-Brexit, policies. (shrink)

In The Ethics of Food, Gregory E. Pence brings together a collection of voices who share the view that the ethics of genetically modified food is among the most pressing societal questions of our time. This comprehensive collection addresses a broad range of subjects, including the meaning of food, moral analyses of vegetarianism and starvation, the safety and environmental risks of genetically modified food, issues of global food politics and the food industry, and the relationships among food, evolution, and human (...) history. (shrink)

Often portrayed as a period bound by the dogma of slavish obedience to the diktats of reason and progress, the Age of Enlightenment is revealed by this profound analysis to have been riddled with skeptical attitudes and characters, even in the Enlightenment's most codified locations, such as Germany. Most philosophers of the period are still widely regarded today as having been dominated by a core triple nexus of optimism, dogmatism and rationalism, and despite a growing body of literature exploring the (...) features of their work that could be regarded as informed by skepticism, this unrivaled survey points up the deficiencies of the former. This volume, then, offers an exploration of the impact of skepticism in both its historic and geographic dimensions, providing readers with a reevaluation of the role played by skepticism itself. The detailed narrative covers every identifiable instance of skepticism in the Eighteenth Century, tracing its influence of thought on major British, French and German philosophers, and including lesser-known figures whose contemporary influence requires their inclusion in a comprehensive study such as this. This volume, then, offers an exploration of the impact of skepticism in both its historic and geographic dimensions, providing readers with a reevaluation of the role played by skepticism itself. The detailed narrative covers every identifiable instance of skepticism in the Eighteenth Century, tracing its influen ce of thought on major British, French and German philosophers, and including lesser-known figures whose contemporary influence requires their inclusion in a comprehensive study such as this. (shrink)

We formulate and analyze the dynamics of an influenza pandemic model with vaccination and treatment using two preventive scenarios: increase and decrease in vaccine uptake. Due to the seasonality of the influenza pandemic, the dynamics is studied in a finite time interval. We focus primarily on controlling the disease with a possible minimal cost and side effects using control theory which is therefore applied via the Pontryagin’s maximum principle, and it is observed that full treatment effort should be given while (...) increasing vaccination at the onset of the outbreak. Next, sensitivity analysis and simulations (using the fourth order Runge-Kutta scheme) are carried out in order to determine the relative importance of different factors responsible for disease transmission and prevalence. The most sensitive parameter of the various reproductive numbers apart from the death rate is the inflow rate, while the proportion of new recruits and the vaccine efficacy are the most sensitive parameters for the endemic equilibrium point. (shrink)

J.C.D. Clark demythologizes the history of Thomas Paine, understanding the impact he has had on modern human rights, democracy, and internationalism.

In this study, complex dynamics of Briggs–Rauscher reaction system is investigated analytically and numerically. First, the Briggs–Rauscher reaction system is reduced into a new nonlinear parametric oscillator. The Melnikov method is used to derive the condition of the appearance of horseshoe chaos in the cases ω = Ω and ω ≠ Ω. The performed numerical simulations confirm the obtained analytical predictions. Second, the prediction of coexisting attractors is investigated by solving numerically the new nonlinear parametric ordinary differential equation via the (...) fourth-order Runge–Kutta algorithm. As results, it is found that the new nonlinear chemical system displays various coexisting behaviors of symmetric and asymmetric attractors. In addition, the system presents a rich variety of bifurcations phenomena such as symmetry breaking, symmetry restoring, period doubling, reverse period doubling, period-m bubbles, reverse period-m bubbles, intermittency, and antimonotonicity. On the contrary, emerging chaotic band attractors and period-1, period-3, period-9, and period-m bubbles routes to chaos occur in this system. (shrink)

This article sketches the broad outlines of Matthew's ironic portrayal of children, examining first the 'lower level' of the narrative and then the 'upper level' of the narrative. When viewed from the 'lower level' of Matthew's narrative, the everyday circumstances of children reflect the nurture of their parents as well as significant challenges: debilitating physical conditions, serious illnesses, military violence and premature childhood death. In addition, children occupy the lowest rung on the 1st-century Mediterranean social ladder, a status they share (...) with slaves. But on the 'upper level' of his narrative, from the 'God's-eye' perspective, Matthew turns everyday reality for children on its head in ironic fashion. Emmanuel, the 'God who is with us', appears as a 'child' who has just 'been born' and who exhibits all the powerlessness and vulnerability of such a 'child'. In a violent showdown between 'King Herod' and the one 'who has been born king of the Jews', it is Herod, the powerful ruler, who dies, while the vulnerable 'child' ends up safely in Nazareth. Throughout his ministry, Jesus heals children along with adults. To the apparent chagrin of his disciples, Jesus lays hands on children in an act of blessing. He commends the messianic praises of children, in contrast to the outrage of the Jewish leadership. Moreover, Jesus proclaims that it is 'to such as these [children] that the kingdom of heaven belongs'. (shrink)

English summary: Arnold presents the first systematic study of the early biblical and exegetical writings from Schelling's schooldays and years of study in Tubingen (1787-1795) and puts them in the context of the complex history of problems in the late Enlightenment. Apart from the general challenge of theology due to Kant's reception, debates on basic principles regarding authenticity and and the Bible's claim to divine authority had begun. Arnold shows that Schelling studied these controversies very closely and developed them into (...) his own hermeneutic methodology. Schelling's theory of interpreting the Scriptures, of the Christian religion and of the concept of faith, developed as a result of these studies, is also significant for understanding his later works on the history of philosophy and moral philosophy. German description: Mit diesem Band liegt die erste systematische Untersuchung der fruhen biblisch-exegetischen Schriften aus Schellings Schul- und Tubinger Studienzeit (1787-1795) vor. Diese Schriften stellt Arnold in den Horizont der komplexen Problemgeschichte der Spataufklarung: Neben der generellen Herausforderung der Theologie durch die Rezeption Kants waren im Vorfeld Grundsatzdebatten zur Authentizitat und zum gottlichen Autoritatsanspruch der Bibel aufgebrochen. Dabei zeigt Arnold, dass Schelling diese Kontroversen intensiv rezipiert und zu einer eigenen hermeneutischen Methodik ausgearbeitet hat. Schellings aus dieser Auseinandersetzung entwickelte Theorie der Schriftinterpretation, der christlichen Religion und des Glaubensbegriffs ist gerade auch fur das Verstandnis seines spateren geschichts- und moralphilosophischen OEuvres bedeutsam. (shrink)

Dieses Buch rekonstruiert erstmals die faszinierende Geschichte einer Reihe fiktiver Totengespräche, die zwischen 1729 und 1734 - anonym oder unter Pseudonym und sämtlich als Flugschriften veröffentlicht - in Deutschland erschienenen sind. Die Protagonisten dieser Gespräche gehören zu den berühmtesten Denkern der Frühaufklärung (u. a. Chr. Thomasius, A. H. Francke, J. Fr. Budde, N. H. Gundling) und Philosophen des 17. Jahrhunderts (Descartes, Leibniz, Bekker). In den fünf Jahren, in denen die Dialoge erschienen, lösten sie auf verschiedenen Feldern (philosophischen, theologischen, ökonomischen, persönlichen) (...) scharfe Kontroversen aus. Die Wechselbeziehungen zwischen allen Texten und häufig sogar ihre Existenz waren bisher jedoch völlig unbekannt. Die Arbeit weist die Zuordnung der untersuchten Dialoge zu einem einzigen, einheitlichen Korpus von Totengesprächen nach, rekonstruiert ihre Genese, interpretiert die in den Gesprächen inszenierten Kontroversen, widerlegt die - lange angenommene - Verfasserschaft des sächsischen Journalisten David Fassmann und versucht, dem Umfeld der Autoren anonymer philosophischer Flugschriften auf die Spur zu kommen. Die Integration von gewöhnlich getrennten Forschungsfeldern (clandestine Literatur, Anonymität, Flugpublizistik, philosophischer Dialog) und die Aufmerksamkeit für Kreise, die sich am Rande des universitären Establishments befanden, eröffnen neue Perspektiven auf die Debatten und Strömungen der deutschen Frühaufklärung. (shrink)

Riedel, M. Teleologische Erklärung und praktische Begründung.--Tuomela, R. Erklären und Verstehen menschlichen Verhaltens.--Hertzberg, L. Sich Entscheiden.--Kim, J. Intention und praktischer Schluss.--Stoutland, F. Die kausale Theorie der Handlung.--Martin, R. Erklären und Verstehen in den Geschichtswissenschaften.--Niiniluoto, I. Induktive Erklärung, Disposition und Handlung.--Meggle, G. Eine Handlung verstehen.--Wright. G. H. v. Erwiederungen.

In an article in Philosophy R. G. Swinburne set out to argue that none of Hume's formal objections to the design argument ‘have any validity against a carefully articulated version of the argument’ . This, he maintained, is largely because Hume's criticisms ‘are bad criticisms of the argument in any form’ . The ensuing controversy between Swinburne and Olding 1 has focused upon the acceptable/unacceptable aspects of the dualism presupposed in Swinburne's defence of the design argument; upon whether any simplification (...) is achieved by reducing scientific explanation to agent explanation; and upon the problems which arise from taking a man's acting upon his body as the analogy for understanding a disembodied agent acting upon matter. In this article I shall refer to the Swinburne-Olding controversy when appropriate but my main concern is to return to Swinburne's original article and argue, seriatim , that Hume's individual criticisms of the design argument are for the most part a great deal more powerful than Swinburne allowed. I shall contend that cumulatively they destroy the design argument as any sort of rational foundation for theistic belief. But first I shall indicate briefly the character of the argument together with one or two of the distinctions and refinements in terms of which it has been found helpful to carry on the discussion in recent years. (shrink)

I want to consider in this paper a question that is looming large in the theology of most world religions, not least in the Christian tradition. The following discussion will be confined to the Christian standpoint, though I hope mutatis mutandis the main points will be seen to apply to other religious perspectives as well. Specifically then, this question can be ex–pressed in two ways. We may ask, in the context of the contemporary dialogue situation, how is the committed Christian (...) to regard the adherents of non–Christian religions? and what status do these alien belief–systems have with respect to the Christian faith–response? Both forms of the issue are often discussed it seems to me without due attention being given to an important distinction between them. So, at the outset, it will be useful to make one or two observations about this. First of all, it is inevitable, I think, that an evaluational factor is implied by both formulations. We are pondering a basically Christian assessment of religious traditions that are non–Christian, and any solution suggested which eventually eliminates a one-sided overall perspective will apparently put us in a dilemma. For, on the one hand, a Christian theology of religions will be expected to produce a Christian result; on the other hand, a finally nonevaluational solution seems unable to be called a Christian view of things at all. In the event of such a ‘neutral theology’ as the latter resulting , is the dilemma that becomes apparent a genuine one, or can it be resolved by a more stringent analysis of the relevant issues? (shrink)

Flew's challenge to the religious believer asks him to specify what would count as a disproof for, e.g. ‘There is a God’. A statement of such a specifiable condition I called an ‘empirical denial’. In my earlier paper I was concerned to show that a statement is a statement whether or not it has such an empirical denial. I was not particularly concerned to show that there are some statements which do not have an empirical denial; my concern was to (...) show that it is not essential that they do. It was in connection with this point that the statement ‘John loves Mary’ was discussed. But this very same example may indeed serve as an example of a statement for which, in certain complex situations, there is no empirical denial. That is, in some circumstances, no matter what empirical conditions are specified, when the statement ‘John loves Mary’ is made, they could obtain and still John might love Mary, as the developing situation would make clear. If the condition specified is that John is cruel to Mary and shows no concern for her, details could always emerge in such a situation to explain why, even though he loved her, he was cruel and showed no concern. And so on. (shrink)

The aim of this paper is to give a characterisation of religion and the Religious Spirit, basing itself on the Platonic assumption that there are Forms, salient jewels of simplicity and affinity, to be dug out from the soil of vague experience and cut clear from the confusedly shifting patterns of usage, which will give us conceptual mastery over the changeable detail in a given sector. It will further be Platonic in that it will not seek to discount the deep (...) gulfs between the species into which religion qua genus divides itself, i.e. its theistic, polytheistic and atheistic subvarieties, taking it to be of the essence of a true genus to extend itself over mutually exclusive species, only being what it is by including in its sense the alternatives which are thus mutually exclusive. And my treatment will be Platonic, thirdly, in that it will endeavour to delimit the Religious Spirit by, on the one hand, setting it over against what it excludes, all purely this-world talk and life which is quite irreligious, and by, on the other hand, opposing it to forms of talk and life which fall short of it in various ways or which deviate from it variously, thereby likewise contributing to our understanding of what it is. The practice of Plato, which could study the deviations from his ideal city in order to confirm his notion of its structure and excellence, and which also paired every ideal pattern with its opposite— piety with impiety, justice with self-interested tyranny, etc.—is plainly one to be followed: Plato, as we know from a citation from his contemporary Hermodorus in one of the Aristotelian commentators, always set beside the ‘in itself’ of the pure Form the deviant and the wholly negative which were nonetheless part of its sense. Religion will therefore stand before us as a target that it is possible to fall short of or miss altogether as well as to hit squarely, and we shall try by a series of glancing darts to end by hitting it squarely. (shrink)

In ‘ The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy ’ Laurence Sterne writes: That of all the several ways of beginning a book which are now in practice throughout the known world, I am confident my own way of doing it is the best—I'm sure it is the most religious—for I begin with writing the first sentence—and trusting to Almighty God for the second.

The Limits of Thought is a series of penetrating dialogues between the great spiritual leader, J. Krishnamurti and the renowned physicist, David Bohm. The starting point of their engaging exchange is the question: If truth is something different than reality, then what place has action in daily life in relation to truth and reality? We see Bohm and Krishnamurti explore the nature of consciousness and the condition of humanity. These enlightening dialogues address issues of truth, desire awareness, tradition, and love. (...) Limits of Thought is an important book by two very respected and important thinkers. Anyone interested to see how Krishnamurti and Bohm probe some of the most essential questions of our very existence will be drawn to this great work. (shrink)

In the introductory chapter to this collection, the editors point out that, until recently, most Anglophone Spinoza scholarship has been focused on the metaphysics and epistemology of the Ethics. But according to Kisner and Youpa, Spinoza thought that metaphysics and epistemology were significant chiefly because they are required for understanding the more important part of his project—the ethical doctrine developed in the last three parts of the work. Ethica was so-titled because it is a book about ethics.In recent years, the (...) scholarly community has begun to shift its attention to bring itself more in line with Spinoza's intentions—to focus more directly on his ethical views. The volume under review presents... (shrink)