On theoretical aspects in literary writing.

Compared to our understanding of positive prediction error signals occurring due to unexpected reward outcomes, less is known about the neural circuitry in humans that drives negative prediction errors during omission of expected rewards. While classical learning theories such as Rescorla–Wagner or temporal difference learning suggest that both types of prediction errors result from a simple subtraction, there has been recent evidence suggesting that different brain regions provide input to dopamine neurons which contributes to specific components of this prediction error (...) computation. Here, we focus on the brain regions responding to negative prediction error signals, which has been well-established in animal studies to involve a distinct pathway through the lateral habenula. We examine the activity of this pathway in humans, using a conditioned inhibition paradigm with high-resolution functional MRI. First, participants learned to associate a sensory stimulus with reward delivery. Then, reward delivery was omitted whenever this stimulus was presented simultaneously with a different sensory stimulus, the conditioned inhibitor. Both reward presentation and the reward-predictive cue activated midbrain dopamine regions, insula and orbitofrontal cortex. While we found significant activity at an uncorrected threshold for the CI in the habenula, consistent with our predictions, it did not survive correction for multiple comparisons and awaits further replication. Additionally, the pallidum and putamen regions of the basal ganglia showed modulations of activity for the inhibitor that did not survive the corrected threshold. (shrink)

L'analyse et le développement du concept d'existence ont constitué un des enjeux philosophiques majeurs de la seconde moitié du XXe siècle en Europe. Or, ces divers courants philosophiques reposent fondamentalement sur une 'double économie de la rareté'. Ils affirment en effet, d'une part, que seul l'homme existe, et, d'autre part, qu'il n'existe que rarement. Que faire d'une telle radicalité, en ce début de XXIe siècle, à l'heure où la plupart des problèmes qui semblent se poser à nous relèvent de ce (...) que nous nommons plutôt la vie? Comment considérer, sans avoir à abandonner une telle perspective, les questions que celle-ci ouvre, à savoir celles relatives au vécu (celles de l'ordinaire ou de la quotidienneté contre toute logique de l'authenticité) et plus encore celles relatives au vivant (au sein d'un contexte animalier et environnemental tendu)?"--Page 4 of cover. (shrink)

Adudüddîn el-Îcî’nin (ö. 756/1355) er-Risâletü’l-vaz‘iyye adlı eserinin esas konusunu oluşturan müphem lafızlar meselesi müteahhir dönem İslâm düşüncesinin iki büyük ismi olan Sa‘duddîn et-Teftâzânî (ö. 792/1390) ile Sey- yid Şerîf el-Cürcânî (ö. 816/1413) arasında mantık ve dil felsefesi açısından ciddi bir ihtilaf konusuna dönüşmüştür. Tartışmanın izleri geç dönem Osmanlı filozoflarından İsmail Gelenbevî (ö. 1205/1791) ve şârihlerine kadar takip edilebilmektedir. Bu makalede ben; söz konusu tartışmayı, çağdaş dil felsefesindeki bağlam duyarlı terimler prob- lemine atıfla ele alıyorum. Yazı boyunca hem Îcî’nin risalesini izleyen (...) literatürü kullanarak konunun dil felsefesi geleneğindeki seyrini hem de mantık eserlerine müracaatla Teftâzânî’nin bu tartışmayı nasıl bir mantık meselesine dönüştürdüğünü inceliyorum. Böylece Teftâzânî’den Gelenbevî’ye kadar bazı filozofların, bağlam duyarlı terimlerin mantıksallaşmasına yönelik katkı veya eleştirilerini göstermeyi amaçlıyorum. (shrink)

Aceasta nu este o carte de matematică, ci una despre matematică, care se adresează elevului sau studentului, dar şi dascălului său, cu un scop cât se poate de practic, anume acela de a iniţia şi netezi calea către înţelegerea completă a matematicii predate în şcoală. Tradiţia predării matematicii într-o abordare preponderent procedural-formală a avut ca efect o viziune deformată a elevilor asupra matematicii, ca fiind ceva strict formal, instrumental şi calculatoriu. Pierzând contactul cu baza conceptuală a matematicii, elevii dezvoltă pe (...) parcurs o "anxietate matematică" şi renunţă la a mai căuta înţelegerea matematicii, care devine "duşmanul tradiţional" din şcoală. Această lucrare şi-a propus materializarea rezultatelor cercetărilor inter- şi trans-disciplinare având ca obiect înţelegerea matematicii, care au concluzionat că domeniile care au potenţialul de a contribui în acest fel la educaţia matematicii, unificând abordările procedurală şi conceptuală, sunt epistemologia şi filosofia matematicii şi ştiinţei, precum şi fundamentele şi istoria matematicii. Aceste rezultate susţin teza că teama de matematică poate fi înlăturată prin abordarea conceptuală, iar un elev cu o bună înţelegere conceptuală va fi un rezolvitor de probleme mai bun. Autorul a identificat acele zone şi concepte aparţinând acestor discipline, care pot fi adaptate şi prelucrate în vederea familiarizării elevului sau studentului cu acest tip de cunoştinţe, care să însoţească conţinutul tradiţional al matematicii şcolare. Lucrarea a fost astfel organizată încât să contureze cititorului o imagine unificatoare asupra complexităţii naturii matematicii, precum şi o perspectivă conceptuală necesară, în final, înţelegerii de tip holistic a matematicii şcolare. Autorul vorbeşte despre matematică, pentru a convinge că a înţelege matematica înseamnă mai întâi să o înţelegem ca întreg, dar şi ca parte a unui întreg. Natura matematicii, conceptele sale primare (cum ar fi numerele şi mulţimile), structurile, limbajul, metodele, rolurile şi aplicabilitatea matematicii, sunt prezentate în conţinutul lor esenţial, iar explicarea conceptelor non-matematice este făcută într-un limbaj accesibil, însoţită de multe exemple relevante. Cartea este o unitate didactică concepută să reprezinte punctul de plecare şi un ghid de orientare către dobândirea înţelegerii de tip holistic a matematicii (pentru elev sau student) şi (pentru dascăl) către o predare de tip epistemic-conceptual, în care înţelegerea conceptuală este la fel de importantă ca antrenarea abilităţilor procedural-aplicative. (shrink)

Lucrarea tratează unul dintre “misterele” filosofiei analitice şi ale raţionalităţii însăşi, anume aplicabilitatea matematicii în ştiinţe şi în investigarea matematică a realităţii înconjurătoare, a cărei filosofie este dezvoltată în jurul sintagmei – de acum paradigmatice – ‘eficacitatea iraţională a matematicii’, aparţinând fizicianului Eugene Wigner, problemă filosofică etichetată în literatură drept “puzzle-ul lui Wigner”. Odată intraţi în profunzimea acestei probleme, investigaţia nu trebuie limitată la căutarea unor răspunsuri explicative la întrebări precum “Ce este de fapt aplicabilitatea matematicii?”, “Cum explicăm prezenţa în (...) natură a conceptelor matematice simple şi complexe?” sau “Cum explicăm rata de succes uriaşă a aplicaţiilor matematice, care presupun modele aproximativ false ale unei realităţi idealizate?”, ci extinsă în plan metateoretic către căutarea unei justificări teoretice a utilizării metodei matematice în practica ştiinţifică, independent de succesul acestei metode. Aceste întrebări şi probleme sunt abordate în detaliu în lucrarea de faţă. Lucrarea, care va continua cu un al doilea titlu, dedicat modelelor teoretice ale aplicabilităţii şi alternativelor structurale ale acestora, se adresează în special – dar nu exclusiv – matematicienilor, fizicienilor, filosofilor ştiinţei, filosofilor limbajului şi epistemologilor, dar şi studenţilor acestor discipline. (shrink)

La musique s'éprouve et se vit, et ne se laisse pas seulement analyser et comprendre. Active, dominatrice, source en même temps d'une passivité unique, elle atteint des couches profondes qui dessinent le mystérieux domaine du pré-verbal, directement en prise sur le vivant du corps. À preuve son aptitude à induire immédiatement du mouvement, dilater l'espace et donner une énergie incomparable, ou encore suspendre le temps. La musique plus que tout autre art instruit sur le "sentir", pour autant qu'on ne la (...) cantonne pas à une autonomie ou à une pureté qui l'ampute du chanter et du danser, lesquels manifestent cette part irréductible. Le sentir obéit à une autre logique que celle du sens et de la vérité. C'est un être-au-monde que les couplages traditionnels comme ceux de l'émotion et de la raison, ou de l'expression et de la forme, échouent à cerner. Sa complexité, son maillage interne, sa structuration dynamique, plaident en faveur de notions qui trouvent dans ce contexte une teneur philosophique renouvelée, comme celles de rythme et de symbole, également d'un art de narrer. L'approche phénoménologique, attentive au corps vécu, et l'orientation de la théorie critique soucieuse de toutes les formes de réification, y compris de la perception et de ses gestes, sont conjointement mobilisées pour explorer le sentir à partir de la musique. Erwin Straus d'une part, en son approche du pathique, Walter Benjamin et Theodor W. Adorno d'autre part, sont les principaux acteurs de ce croisement. Celui-ci s'ouvre à d'autres penseurs, dont André Schaeffner et Susanne Langer. Le premier, à propos de l'instrument de musique, la seconde à propos du symbole non-présentationnel, se montrent en effet particulièrement appliqués à ne pas séparer l'expérience de la musique des processus corporels et physiologiques qui sont en jeu dans le rythme et dans l'écoute."--Page 4 of cover. (shrink)

Cele două secole care au trecut de la moartea lui Immanuel Kant au creat în jurul operei sale instituţii concepute să o editeze, traducă şi interpreteze la un înalt nivel de profesionalism, care a impus anumite exigenţe de traducere şi intrpretare ce trebuie respectate spre a asigura valoarea ştiinţifică a acestei activităţi. Aşadar, în zilele noastre traducerea operei lui Kant nu se mai face după orice ediţie, ci numai după ediţia standard, a cărei paginaţie trebuie marcată în marginea exterioară a (...) paginii, spre a putea urmări conformarea sa cu originalul; aceasta este ediţia Academiei din Berlin, fostă prusacă: Kants Gesammelte Schriften, Berlin, 1902. (shrink)

„Strategia noastră a fost de a gândi un text util pentru profesori, dar de a-l scrie mai ales pentru studenți. Etica este interesantă cu precădere atunci când pune în joc intuiții morale sau valori diferite și când ne confruntăm cu dileme în care decizia nu este evidentă, iar dezacordul este rezonabil. Prin urmare, am încercat să ne ferim pe cât a fost posibil de verdicte și de simpla enumerare a unor interdicții. Veți observa că, de cele mai multe ori, exercițiile (...) și temele de discuție nu au soluții impuse. Nu pentru că autorii manualului nu ar adera la anumite soluții (poate nu la aceleași!), ci pentru că ni s-a părut mult mai importantă conturarea problemelor. Dilemele și întrebările deschise generează dezbateri și prilejuiesc reflecție. Sentințele, pe de altă parte, tind să ucidă discuția și să prilejuiască mai curând reacții de îmbrățișare sau de respingere vehementă. Dacă vom ajunge, în comunitățile noastre profesionale și în societate, să vorbim mai mult unii cu alții și mai puțin unii la alții, vom fi făcut probabil un pas major în direcția corectă pentru dezvoltarea unei atitudini morale.” (Autorii). (shrink)

BackgroundSexual minority (SM) older adults experience mental health disparities. Psychiatric disorders and neuropsychiatric symptoms (NPS) are risk factors for cognitive decline. Although older people in same-sex (SSR) compared to mixed-sex relationships (MSR) perform more poorly on cognitive screening tests, prior studies found no differences in rates of dementia diagnosis or neuropsychological profiles. We sought to explore the role of NPS on neurocognitive outcomes for SM populations. We compared cognitive performance and structural brain parameters of older adults in SSR and MSR.MethodsData (...) were originally collected at Alzheimer's Disease Research Centers (ADRCs). Inclusion criteria were: age of 55+ years, a study partner identified as a spouse/partner, and availability of T1-MRI brain volumes/thickness. Participants were labeled as either SSR or MSR based on their/their co-participant's reported sex. We identified 1,073 participants (1,037 MSR−555 cognitively unimpaired [CU]; 36 SSR−23 CU) with structural MRI data, Mini-Mental State Exam (MMSE), and Neuropsychiatric Inventory Questionnaire (NPI-Q) scores. A subset of the overall sample completed comprehensive neuropsychological assessment (n = 939; 908 MSR−494 CU; 31 SSR−22 CU). Covariates included in statistical models were age, sex, education, total intracranial volume, and apolipoprotein E genotype.ResultsMultivariate general linear models showed significant diagnosis-by-relationship interaction effects on the left parahippocampal gyrus volume. After stratification by relationship group, only cognitively impaired (CI) MSR had significantly smaller left parahippocampal volumes than MSR-CU. The SSR group showed better episodic memory performance. Severity of neuropsychiatric symptoms was negatively associated with volume/thickness of bilateral fronto-temporal areas and with MMSE scores, predominantly in the MSR group.ConclusionIn our study, MSR participants presented with a more compromised cognitive profile than SSR participants. MSR-CI participants showed significantly smaller left medio-temporal volumes, a neural signature of AD. Neuropsychiatric symptoms predicted smaller fronto-temporal volumes in the MSR more consistently than in the SSR group. These findings may be due to unexplored protective factors against cognitive decline in SM elders. Indeed, social support has been proposed as a protective factor warranting future investigation. (shrink)

Im Zentrum des Cusanischen Denkens steht seit seinen Anfängen durchgängig die Auslotung der menschlichen Mittel und Formen, einen adäquaten und genauen Begriff des Absoluten oder des Unendlichen zu gewinnen. Die Studie widmet sich der Analyse der wesentlichen Ausarbeitungen eines Gottesbegriffs durch Nikolaus von Kues aus den Jahren 1459 bis 1464, die als Vollendung seines Denkweges angesehen werden können, weil sie durch konzeptuelle Neuerungen ein spekulatives und argumentatives Niveau erreichen, das eine genuin philosophische und damit christliche Vorgaben überhöhende Logik der Unendlichkeit (...) ermöglicht. (shrink)

Biography of Tran Duc Thao, 1917-1993, a Vietnamese philosopher.

In this book, Jiwei Ci explores the dual nature of justice, in an attempt to make unitary sense of key features of justice reflected in its close relation to ...

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:Legitimacy, Performance, and Political Realism:Response to Ben CrossJiwei Ci (bio)Ben Cross raises important issues in his article and provides a much appreciated occasion for me to join the discussion. He targets his trenchant critique at what he calls Weberian sources of legitimacy, treating my view as a distinctive variation on the Weberian account. I am not sure that the issues on which we differ are most economically framed by (...) drawing Weber so prominently into the debate. Since Cross has already framed the issues in this way, however, I think I can best contribute to the exchange by accepting his terms of reference wherever appropriate and trying to work as fruitfully as possible within them. I will respectfully not take up any of the issues raised in the fourth section of the article, because Cross's use of the notion of civic agency there is so far removed from mine as to leave little room for productive engagement.As Cross notes, Weber identifies three distinct sources of legitimacy (or three types of authority): legality, the traditional, and the charismatic. This, however, is only a typology of specific sources and an incomplete one at that, for it does not cover the two sources that I happen to find most relevant in Democracy in China.1 The teleological legitimacy much discussed in chapter 1 of my book does not come under any of Weber's ideal types and seems to constitute another, distinct ideal type. Nor is the democratic legitimacy based on popular sovereignty that is proposed in chapter 3 as an alternative to teleological legitimacy quite the same as legal authority. It is thus easy to see that—and why—I do not avail myself of what Cross calls the Weberian sources of legitimacy. As a matter of fact, I do not [End Page 149] regard Weber's tripartite classification, regardless of whether it is exhaustive, as the conceptual core of his idea of legitimacy.Cross moves closer to that core when he notes the difference between the type of motive (i.e., non-expedient) that the three Weberian sources of legitimacy are supposed to have in common and the motive of pure expediency. This difference is important because, as Weber puts it in a well-known statement quoted by Cross, "Purely material interests and calculations of advantages as the basis of solidarity between the chief and his administrative staff result, in this as in other connexions, in a relatively unstable situation." Based on Weber's concern with the lack of stability characteristic of relations of pure expediency, Cross is then able to speak of a "Weber-inspired rejection of performance legitimacy." This conclusion, if not exactly mistaken, is nevertheless reached without adequately bringing out the issues involved.Take a close look at the passage in Economy and Society from which the above quote is taken:Purely material interests and calculations of advantages as the basis of solidarity between the chief and his administrative staff result, in this as in other connexions, in a relatively unstable situation. Normally other elements, affectual and ideal, supplement such interests. In certain exceptional cases the former alone may be decisive. In everyday life these relationships, like others, are governed by custom and material calculation of advantage. But custom, personal advantage, and purely affectual or ideal motives of solidarity do not form a sufficiently reliable basis for a given domination. In addition there is normally a further element, the belief in legitimacy.2Here it becomes clear that Weber, even in emphasizing the indispensable role of belief in legitimacy, argues his case much more cautiously and subtly than Cross gives one to understand. To begin with we see Weber take the trouble to stress "purely." We then find three qualifications in a row before Weber allows himself to conclude, as an empirical observation, that "custom, personal advantage, purely affectual or ideal motives of solidarity, do not form a sufficiently reliable basis for a given domination," from which he is apparently compelled to draw the inference that "there is normally a further element, the belief in legitimacy." In an earlier section of Economy and Society Weber makes similar allowances for the empirical proximity of motives... (shrink)

: The Confucian relational concept of the person has been proposed as an epistemically more cogent and ethically more attractive alternative to that of liberal individualism. Two arguments are raised against this proposal without defending liberal individualism. Ethically, Confucianism is vitiated by certain unattractive features that cannot be removed without reducing the Confucian relational concept of the person to an abstract and not very helpful notion of human relatedness. Epistemically, Confucianism commits the essentialist fallacy of treating its own concept of (...) human relations as reflecting the nature of things. In view of these limitations, the Confucian relational concept of the person does not provide a viable framework for dealing with social issues including bioethics. (shrink)

I am extremely grateful to the three commentators for their instructive and challenging criticisms and for giving me the opportunity to make my position more plausible and, where it is bound to remain controversial, clearer than it is in my book.1 In doing so, I will sometimes be concerned simply to clear up what I consider to be misunderstandings on the part of my commentators, in full awareness that my own lack of clarity or emphasis may well have contributed to (...) them. This I take to be worthwhile in its own right, but especially for the sake of locating more precisely the issues where real disagreement exists and facilitating useful engagement on these issues. As the line between these tasks is seldom sharp... (shrink)

This article discusses the issue of arrangement /ordering of compulsory-comprehensive maqāsid. In this respect, the main purpose is to help clarify the ordering problem. To accomplish this task, the classical and contemporary studies on this subject were reviewed. Within the scope of this research, it has been determined that the universal principles are generally listed in the order of religion, nafs, mind, generation and property. However, alternative orderings can be found where the nafs is placed at the forefront. The focal (...) point of the ordering problem is emerges from the question of whether Allah's rights/otherworldly maqāsid should be priorities or servants' rights/worldly maqāsid. The conflict between religion, which is an otherworldly value, and other principles played an active role in this classification of maqāsid. Many legal scholars who placed religion in the first place in the classical period did not clearly explained the justification of their arrangement. Also, many of today's researchers also stated that religion should come first. The scholars who put both the religion and the nafs in the center have listed many evidence for their preference. The legal scholars who put religion at the center have pointed the verse " I have not created the jinn and men but they may worship Me" as the basis for their views. Accordingly, the main purpose of the creation of human being is to serve Allah. Because the most important right to be fulfilled is the right of Allah religion should take precedence over other virtues in maqasid. Religion is also the only essential way that leads to eternal happiness. According to the legal scholars who put religion into the center, other maqasid principles are secondary. Correlatively, other principles serve religion. The hadith "The debt to Allah is more worthy of being paid." has been made the basis. Since religion constitutes the essence of the maqāsid, it is also a requirement of reason to make religion essential. According to another reason they stated, the obligation of jihad also ensures that religion is at the center. The obligation of jihad causes lives to be sacrificed to protect the religion. This means that religion is superior to the nafs and other principles. Because jihad, which is the order of religion, is fard. The scholars who maintain that the rights of the servants should take precedence over the right of Allah have cited also a lot of evidence. We come across with their views presented as a weak view in the sources or as an answer to a possible question. There is no clear information about to whom these views belong. Therefore, it is stated that no one introduces the nafs to religion. As a matter of fact, it is stated that it is not correct to qualify these views as an independent view defended by scholars. In other words, the view putting the nafs at the center and the evidence to this preference at this point should be regarded as hypothetical. We are of the view that these claims of contemporary writers need to be proven. The basic reason of the views that puts the nafs in the center is based on the pre-acceptance that maslahahs like the nafs are the right of servants while religion is the right of Allah. The given reasons can be addressed under three main headings: punishments, mitigation of prayers, and concern with non-Muslims. In case where the rights of the servant and Allah unite, the rights of the servant should be preferred. Because, the rights of servants are on hardship, and the rights of Allah are on breadth and mercy. On the contrary to the rights of the servants, postponing or neglecting the right of Allah will not harm Allah. It is clear that if the rights of the servants face postponement, they will suffer serious damage. The fact that killing a man who both abandoned his religion and killed someone unfairly, not for his departure from religion, but for retaliation, that is, the right of a servant, is a concrete example of this. The shortening of the prayer during the journey, the patient’s abandoning standing in prayer and the fasting, and other examples also require the human to be in the center. Today, there are researchers who take the nafs to the center. The existence of religion for humans and society reflects the view of these researchers. Because it is clear that religion will remain dysfunctional where there is no human and society. When these evidences are examined carefully, it can be concluded that the opinion that defends the nafs to be at the center of comprehensive maqāsid is preferable. (shrink)

For quite some time there has been a collective perception of a moral crisis in post- Mao China. This perception is informed by standards held by members of Chinese society rather than by standards outside of it. In this article, the author attempts to lay the groundwork for a philosophical analysis of this moral crisis. He first explains why it is appropriate to speak of a moral crisis and then examines the structure of the crisis. This examination is partly conceptual (...) and partly causal. The conceptual section of the article discusses terms frequently used in connection with the crisis and introduces some terms and distinctions of the author’s own for further clarity. The causal section traces the moral crisis to a crisis of identification with moral authority or exemplars, the latter crisis in turn containing important clues to the structure of self and agency in Chinese moral culture. (shrink)

Joseph Chan and Sungmoon Kim take me to task for my understanding and uses of Tocqueville, and because of the resemblance they claim to see between one of my major arguments and modernization theory. I think their charges are mistaken or misplaced. Chan and Kim reject my claims that China is already, in a meaningful sense and to a substantial degree, a democratic society, and that, unless such a society is matched by political democratization, a major legitimation crisis is almost (...) inevitable in the foreseeable future. I try to show that they are wrong in their assessment of the state of Chinese society and in their dismissal of the crisis tendencies that only timely democratization can help avert. Chan and Kim completely misconstrue what my prudential argument for democracy in China means, and what it does not, and I explain why. Finally, I reaffirm, over Chan’s objections, the view that the fundamental choice regarding political legitimacy in China today lies between the Mandate of Heaven and democracy, given the demise of communism, and I restate this view in terms of the concept of sovereignty. (shrink)

The human rights discourse is vitiated by its tendency to reification, a tendency manifest in an ideologically motivated failure to take the reasons for human rights seriously. When a set of rights fall short, in range or strength, of the reasons adduced for them, any claim to the universality and priority of the rights in question is open to the charge of falsification and reification. Such a claim invites immanent critique insofar as a human rights discourse fails to take its (...) own reasons seriously by working out a set of rights commensurate with them. Further critique is necessary if the human rights concept as such can be shown to be incapable of living up to the best reasons for human rights, in the shape, the author argues, of agency-based reasons. These kinds of critique, especially the latter, can serve as an antidote to the reifying tendency of the human rights discourse. (shrink)

In this article, the views of Yusuf al-Qaradawi (d. 2022) on the change of the fatwa are discussed. Other issues of the fatwa method are generally excluded from the scope. At the point of solving new problems, the change of the fatwa is important. The aim of the study is to reveal al-Qaradawi's contribution to the issue of changing the fatwa. In this study, in which the qualitative research method was used, thematic reading was made. As it is known, scholars (...) have adopted the idea that the provisions open to ijtihad can be changed. According to al-Qaradawi, there is even a consensus on this. Likewise, there is a consensus that the final provisions are not subject to change. al-Qaradawi mentioned that independent ijtihad activities should continue. Because only in this way can fiqh remain alive and dynamic. Therefore, it can solve new problems. Therefore, the idea that the door of ijtihad is closed cannot be accepted. On the other hand, scholars should take into account the ancient jurisprudence. It should contribute to this information by adding or correcting it. The principles that allow the change of the fatwa are four in the form of time, place, situation and custom. al-Qaradawi stated that he added six new elements to these. These are as follows: The change of information, the change of people's needs, the change of people's power and possibilities, umumu'l-balwa, the change of social, economic and political conditions, the change of opinion and idea. The author has reached these six elements as a result of a deep research. Muftis should take these factors into consideration when issuing a fatwa. Because the maslahah of the servants and the principle of convenience require this. (shrink)

Correct Grammar is an easy to use, powerful and inexpensive grammar checker suitable for IBM personal computers and compatibles. It installs in minutes, is readily customized, and is designed to work with all major word processor programs such as WordPerfect, WordStar and Microsoft Works. It will also process ASCII files. I highly recommend Correct Grammar. It is a fine program.

EndNote is a reference database and bibliography maker for the IBM and compatibles. It is an extremely useful and versatile program and is a must for anyone who does a large amount of scientific writing. It eliminates the drudgery of typing the same references over and over, whether it be for a grant application, a series of submitted manuscripts, or a resubmission of a manuscript to a journal with a different reference format.

On the mysteries and control of mind, based on Hinduism.

In three decades of reform China has become a society that is radically different both from what it used to be in Mao's time and from a liberal society. This new China poses especially interesting questions about freedom - interesting not only in the Chinese context but also more generally. Pivotal for my treatment of these questions is a distinction I draw between de facto freedom and the value of freedom, the latter in turn understood in terms of a larger (...) notion of agency, and divided into such distinct dimensions as moral resource, right, and mode of subjection. This distinction allows me to argue that while China has no shortage of de facto freedom, it lacks the value of freedom, especially freedom as a mode of subjection. The lack of freedom as a value has serious moral and political consequences, as manifested in a prolonged moral crisis in post-Mao China and in a certain fragility of social order caused by the pitting of order against freedom. Such consequences suggest a strong need for China to develop the value of freedom. But it is possible and important to do so in a critical spirit, as I argue through a critical analysis of the place of freedom in a liberal society. © 2011 by Duke University Press. (shrink)