The resurgence of everyday cycling in the last decades across Western cities has engendered lively debates concerning its increasingly relevant role in innovating urban movement toward more sustainable futures. Most cities are building provisions and drafting plans to become more "cycle friendly," and "cycling indexes" are regularly used to rank the best-performing of them, while the World Health Organization has developed a health economic assessment tool to assist evidence-based decision making for cycling investments.1 Meanwhile, the number of cyclists in certain (...) areas of New York has tripled in the past ten years, the number of people cycling to work in London has doubled since 2001, and Paris, the first big... (shrink)

On relying on De principiis II 149.13-17, the paper highlights the difference between the object of sense-perception, which is the perceptible quality, and the content of perception. The same distinction applies to opinion and discursive thinking as well. Moreover, it is also indicated that Damascius denies all sorts of identity between knowledge and its object, non-discursive thinking included. Instead, he seems to allow for a union between noesis and its object, which rules out numerical identity. Even non-discursive thinking is a (...) form of knowledge, therefore a form of differentiation, and obtains being as related to something else. (shrink)

Review of Michael Palmer & Stanley M. Burgess (eds.), The Willey-Blackwell Companion to Religion and Social Justice , (Oxford: Willey-Blackwell, 2012).

The literature on rock music in socialism oscillates between presenting it in opposition to the socialist society and being part of it. This article tackles the same question by looking at the moments where rock musicians found themselves at odds with mainstream morality: the scandals. Three cases have been selected for analysis: the media campaign against the band Chromatic in 1970, the publication of Ceauşescu’s Theses of July in 1971, and the continuing stream of defectors, including from the rock music (...) scene. The analysis concludes that both sides tended to avoid open confrontations. Rock musicians were no dissidents; they preferred to make music using the available institutional means. Authorities would rather close an eye to problematic events to keep up appearances. Mid-level authorities served as mediators while working for their own benefit. (shrink)

This article examines a series of events that are generally known in historiography as the “Tatarbunar Uprising” – an armed rebellion that took place over ten days in September 1924 in south-eastern Bessarabia. I am also interested in the aftermath of those events as well as in their legal and memorial afterlife. My attempt is to reason through and to clarify the legal and historio­graphical construction of narratives of sovereign power as they emerge from the archives of the trial as (...) well as that of the preceding and subsequent military and police operations. The reflection I will conduct here is indeed grounded in the historical context of 1923-1925, but the jurisprudential and comparative legal and political analysis I will deploy here has more general reach insofar as it aims to grasp some more general points about the status of legality under the conditions of emergency. (shrink)

IntroductionGeneralized Anxiety Disorder is a prevalent emotional disorder associated with increased dysfunctionality, which has a lasting impact on the individual’s quality of life. Besides medication, Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy represents the golden standard psychotherapeutic approach for GAD, integrating multilevel techniques and various delivery formats that enable the development of tailored treatment protocols. The objective of this study was to compare the efficiency of a standard CBT protocol targeting worries, dysfunctional beliefs, and intolerance of uncertainty with an integrative and multimodal CBT intervention augmented (...) with Virtual Reality.Materials and methodsThis study included 66 participants with moderate GAD symptoms that were randomized to the standard CBT group and the Integrative and Multimodal CBT augmented with VR group. The interventions comprised 10 weekly sessions conducted by trained CBT therapists, including cognitive restructuring, problem-solving, behavioral exposure, and relaxation techniques. Baseline and post-assessments were conducted with both groups. Primary outcome measures included the Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale and Penn-State Worry Questionnaire to evaluate the severity of GAD symptoms and worries, respectively. Secondary outcomes involved the administration of Automatic Thoughts Questionnaire, Dysfunctional Attitudes Scale and Unconditional Self-Acceptance Questionnaire.ResultsBoth interventions determined statistically significant effects on both primary and secondary outcomes in the expected direction. However, CBTs was associated with higher effect sizes for anxiety and worries, in contrast to IM-VRCBT. Also, secondary analyses revealed positive correlations between changes in anxiety and worries level and the reduction of dysfunctional cognitive processes.ConclusionThis research emphasized the effectiveness of CBT interventions for treating adults with moderate GAD symptomatology. Specifically, both interventions were efficient for reducing anxiety symptomatology present at individuals with GAD. However, regarding cognitive dysfunctions like worries, the standard CBT protocol performed better, as compared to the IM-VRCBT. In addition, we conclude that VR could be integrated within CBT interventions in a single protocol for GAD treatment. (shrink)

Jacques Derrida’s Death Penalty seminar is haunted, from its margins, by euthanasia. Yet even as he alludes to this question throughout the seminar, he puts it on hold, no doubt because it calls for a standalone analysis. In “Living On,” however, Derrida’s 1979 reading of Maurice Blanchot’s Death Sentence (L’Arrêt de mort), he refers to “a ‘double bind’ that makes every death a crime,” thus subverting this very distinction, which is meant to ensure the hard ethical border between euthanasia and (...) capital punishment. Through a rereading of Blanchot’s Death Sentence that takes its cues from Derrida’s Death Penalty seminar, this article analyses the porous nature of death’s various instantiations when it is conceived as a crime, beginning with the “arrêt” (simultaneously a stop and a judgment), the penalty and the sentence. (shrink)

The separation-of-powers literature has entertained the possibility of differentiating governmental functions at a conceptual, pre-institutional level, as a way of defining the separation of powers. However, it can be objected that attempts at differentiating functions at this level cannot escape a problem of arbitrariness. In this article, I develop an account of the separation of powers which addresses this problem. On my account, the legislative function is defined by the creation of validity claims, understood as claims making it a matter (...) of normative common-knowledge that such and such normative attitudes hold for the interaction between agents. The executive-judicial function is defined by the specification of rights and other jural positions out of the validity claims. This account of the separation of powers has the double advantage that it works at a conceptual, pre-institutional level, and that it is able to distinguish between the functions in a non-arbitrary manner. In developing this account, I also consider its practical implications. I argue that the conceptual distinction between the legislative and the executive-judicial functions is expressive of rule-of-law values, and that this might render it a sufficient but not necessary condition for the institutional separation of powers. (shrink)

Consciousness presents us with many aspects. In trying to explain consciousness, one may be tempted to address only the problem of qualia, as for example explaining color red. But can this attempt be done on its own without somehow taking into account also the subject of experience? In this paper, we will concentrate in addressing the problem of the Self without any reference to any particular quale. The best place where the Self can be analyzed is at a point where (...) it no longer exists, that being in principal the moment of death. By analyzing what life after death might mean, we will shed light on some characteristics of the Self. It will turn out that the problem of the Self is the problem of the continuity or discontinuity of the Self. (shrink)

This article delves into the discreet yet persistent presence of music in Sarah Kofman's work. Three strands or movements of unequal length are explored here, each of which touches upon a specific...

Consciousness is arguably the greatest mystery in science, still being unsolved after millennia of thinking. This book is one further attempt at trying to bring new insights regarding consciousness. While certainly the mystery will continue, the ideas in this book will raise awareness regarding an aspect of the phenomenology of consciousness that has been overlooked by past thinkers, and that is the emergent structure of consciousness, which in the end will be shown to be realized by the nature of self-reference (...) of looking-back-at-itself. The great take-away from appreciating the true nature of self-refence would be the need to switch to an unformal way of thinking in doing science if the problem of consciousness is to be resolved. To unformal way of thinking means abandoning the desire to have clearly defined entities in our theories, like “energy” or “space-time” or “spin”, and instead allow for entities that cannot be formalized, to be responsible for the workings of the world. We will slowly see as the book unfolds why the need for unformal way of thinking arises. -/- Regarding the presentation style, the book is both a popular book and a rigorous presentation that goes into thorough phenomenological analyses of consciousness. The reason is that our lives themselves are both familiar and the very nature of existence. As opposed to other writings that use a more technical approach, the philosophy of this book is that a theory of consciousness should focus more on the most mundane manifestations of consciousness, like the redness of an apple or the warmish feeling of cup of hot chocolate, in order to give a clearer understanding of consciousness. Therefore, the book is full of everyday examples of conscious experiences that the reader can relate to and use them to gain deeper insights into the workings of consciousness. In the same way that LHC is the laboratory of physicists, introspection is our own laboratory, the advantage of introspection over LHC being that it is accessible to anyone. Every person can gain a deep knowledge of consciousness by simply paying close attention to his own experiences. Of course, the difficulty arises because of the huge diversity of our experiences and this might raise an apparent initial obstacle of where one is to begin his understanding of consciousness. The book is designed as a guide through the complexities of everyday experiences in the direction of sorting them out in general and clear ways of thinking, showing that consciousness needs not be something that difficult to understand if only the proper attention is given to our experiences. -/- Therefore, the book starts with a chapter about qualia, where through many examples it is shown to be a form of meaning. Then the reader is familiarized with the Self through simple thought experiments that lead to the conclusion of the unicity of the Self, and then a further logical analysis that shows the eternal existence of the Self. After these initial familiarizations with consciousness, the book goes into its core subject, that being the emergent phenomenology, in which it will be shown how consciousness is structured on a holarchy of levels and how ultimately this structuring is a result of self-reference looking-back-at-itself, consciousness being shown to be possible only because of the unformalizable nature of self-reference. (shrink)

When state regulations prevent owners from certain uses of their property, is this action of the state a taking of property which requires compensation? One way of answering this problem, within a framework viewing property as a bundle of rights, is to inquire into whether the incident of use is an essential element of the bundle making up the property. Given the difficulties with figuring out what is essential and what is not, I propose an alternative solution, which does not (...) give up the bundle-of-rights framework, but which, while assuming all incidents to be equally essential, it concentrates, instead, upon the legal entitlements conveying those incidents. I begin by arguing that while the incident of possession may be expressed by a right to exclude, the incident of use is expressed by a Hohfeldian liberty, and then I consider the consequences of this argument for the question of regulatory takings. I argue that while the liberty to use does not render the incident of use meaningless (at least, insofar as regulation of property use is concerned), there is nonetheless a significant distinction between transgressing a right and transgressing a liberty, and this implies that what it takes for an infringement of the right to exclude to be translated into a taking of the (whole) property is less than what it takes for the infringement of the liberty to use to be translated into a taking of property. As I show in the paper, we can achieve this result either by means of an argument from ‘constitutional residue’ or by means of an argument from the specification of constitutional rights. (shrink)

If you were to build a world from Nothing, how would you do it? By investigating the nature of self-reference, we will show how this can be achieved, how starting from Nothing, Everything can be obtained. Various implications of the definition of self-reference will be investigated, showing how it can account for various aspects of the phenomenology of consciousness, thus showing how starting from only 1 principle, a world of infinite complexity can be obtained. Parallels with set theory will be (...) made along the way. (shrink)

If you were to build a world from Nothing, how would you do it? By investigating the nature of self-reference, we will show how this can be achieved, how starting from Nothing, Everything can be obtained. Various implications of the definition of self-reference will be investigated, showing how it can account for various aspects of the phenomenology of consciousness, thus showing how starting from only 1 principle, a world of infinite complexity can be obtained. Parallels with set theory will be (...) made along the way. (shrink)

In searching for what is the most natural way to regard the world, it will be shown that existence is an interplay between meanings and contexts. This interplay takes the form of consciousness, which arises on top of an infinite ocean of formless contexts. Various aspects of meaning and context will be explored, going through the emergent structure of consciousness, self-reference, the contradictory nature of the formless realm and love as the ultimate context for existence. Given the infinite ramifications of (...) contexts being formless, only a brief introduction can ever be given. (shrink)

Current day Physics and Science in general are based on a computational quantitative-reductionist approach that even though highly successful, they not only still leave consciousness out, but they don’t appear to offer any key of how consciousness is even supposed to be integrated into the current scientific establishment. This delay of integrating consciousness into Science starts to suggest that the current approaches might not be the most suitable tools of tackling consciousness. Therefore, in this paper, an approach that would be (...) in contrast to current Science, but ending by subsuming it, would be employed in analyzing consciousness. Consciousness would be shown to be an emergent phenomenon that would show a consistent structure throughout, and in this structure, suggestions for integrating current Physics would be made. (shrink)

This paper explores what an experiment of consciousness might necessitate. So far, the experimental part of science is considered to be best studied under laboratory conditions in which variables are isolated and controlled in order to study certain aspects of a phenomenon. This paper will argue that certain aspects of consciousness can only be revealed under real-world conditions, for reasons having to do with fundamental ways in which meaning is generated in consciousness. Meaning will be argued to necessitate genuine preconditions (...) in order to appear, thus laboratory conditions being inadequate to study certain aspects of consciousness. We will explore telepathic experiences that I had in relations with girls and highlight the real-world conditions that were needed for such experiences to take place, and then based on such considerations, an analysis of meaning will be undertaken. (shrink)

One of the aspects of consciousness is the fact that it is formed from unifications of qualia. In this paper, unification will be shown to be a phenomenon that works based on the unformal nature of self-reference. Self-reference being an unformal entity, it is no-thing and every-thing both at the same time. These unformal properties will be shown to play an essential role in the existence and manifestation of unification. The best exemplification of the unformal workings of unification will be (...) shown to happen in the phenomenon of telepathy. Telepathy will be argued to be a case of consciousness unification and will be shown that its imperfection is not a reason for rejecting it, but is a door towards the workings of the phenomenon of unification. (shrink)

Following the phenomenology that is revealed by the emergent structure of consciousness, the path will lead to the acknowledgement of consciousness having a self-referential aspect. By following phenomenological clues, properties of self-reference will be revealed. The two most prominent properties of self-reference will be shown to be inclusion and transcendence that will be shown to be found everywhere in the phenomenology of consciousness. Also, self-reference will turn out to be unformalizable, this imposing limits on what a theory of consciousness can (...) ever achieve. The unformalizability of self-reference would be shown to be because self-reference: is itself, includes itself, and transcendes itself, all at the same time. Nevertheless, unformalizability will be shown to be an essential feature needed to bring essences into existence. (shrink)

Current day Physics and Science in general are based on a computational quantitative-reductionist approach that even though highly successful, they not only still leave consciousness out, but they don’t appear to offer any key of how consciousness is even supposed to be integrated into the current scientific establishment. This delay of integrating consciousness into Science starts to suggest that the current approaches might not be the most suitable tools of tackling consciousness. Therefore, in this paper, an approach that would be (...) in contrast to current Science, but ending by subsuming it, would be employed in analyzing consciousness. Consciousness would be shown to be an emergent phenomenon that would show a consistent structure throughout, and in this structure, suggestions for integrating current Physics would be made. (shrink)

Starting from the traditional approaches to teaching science and religion we discuss modern pedagogical methods based on inquiry. We explore whether and how the teaching methods specific to each discipline may benefit in the teaching of the other.

On one account, courts ought to enforce legislative intent only when the public meaning of the text of the statute is unclear, and on another account, they should enforce the intent even when the public meaning is clear. In this paper, I argue against both approaches. My argument rests on considerations related to the moral authority of the democratically made law. More specifically, I argue that those considerations which make democratic law morally authoritative entail that judges ought to enforce the (...) public meaning, when this is clear, and that interpretation of the public meaning which is closest to the balance of moral reasons, when the public meaning is unclear. (shrink)

Before even getting to do science, basic principles need to be established, such as what is it that we want to achieve by science. In this paper, I will argue how the ultimate question of science is the “Who Am I?” question, which also acts as an ontological principle of creation, bringing into existence all the possible experiences that consciousness can have.

Researching into our past, scientists use different methods, from looking at the night sky to digging traces of our past and analyzing DNA. I propose here another method, that can have the potential of shedding more light into our history and the type of entities that we are. Working under philosophical idealism, I propose that evolution is in the first place the evolution of consciousness, and thus the traces of evolution are mostly not to be found in our physical bodies, (...) but in our consciousnesses. I argue that qualia are selected by evolution in order to solve evolutionary problems, and thus, looking into our qualia we can learn about our evolutionary history. (shrink)

By arguing that qualia is meaning or understanding, a new framework for understanding consciousness is developed. In this way, the meaning of yellow and red are uncovered. The suggested solutions are that yellow means “source of light” and red means “important”. Also, in the process of arguing that qualia is meaning, remarkable similarities in the structure of qualia are uncovered. In this way, a reason for why very hot and very cold water feel the same, is given. The same behaviour (...) is also shown to take place for colours. (shrink)

Time is one of the greatest subjects of interest to the disciplines of both Science and Philosophy, being seen to have a greater importance in the workings of reality than other entities. In this paper, a phenomenological analysis of time based on the general workings of the emergent structure of consciousness will be done, and time will be shown to be no different than any other qualia. It will be shown that, like any other qualia, time is an emergent level (...) of consciousness, manifesting all the properties of emergence: inheritance of qualities from the previous levels, top-down influence in levels received from the higher levels and top-down influence in levels impressed on the lower levels. (shrink)

Why is there something rather than nothing? This is probably the most profound question that can be asked. In this paper, a rather unexpected simple solution is provided. The solution comes from analysing the truth value of the proposition “I exist.” It will be shown that this proposition is always true, so our existence is a logical necessity. Speculations about the implications over the universe as a whole are then provided.

Does the democratic provenance of the law ground a pro tanto duty to obey the law? According to the social-egalitarian argument, it does, because individuals have a pro tanto duty to uphold relations of social equality, and because, by obeying a democratically made law, they uphold relations of social equality. In this paper, I argue, however, that even if we grant the premisses of the argument, the conclusion still does not follow.

Degradation of eukaryotic RNAs that contain premature termination codons (PTC) during nonsense‐mediated mRNA decay (NMD) is initiated by RNA decapping or endonucleolytic cleavage driven by conserved factors. Models for NMD mechanisms, including recognition of PTCs or the timing and role of protein phosphorylation for RNA degradation are challenged by new results. For example, the depletion of the SMG5/7 heterodimer, thought to activate RNA degradation by decapping, leads to a phenotype showing a defect of endonucleolytic activity of NMD complexes. This phenotype (...) is not correlated to a decreased binding of the endonuclease SMG6 with the core NMD factor UPF1, suggesting that it is the result of an imbalance between active (e.g., in polysomes) and inactive (e.g., in RNA‐protein condensates) states of NMD complexes. Such imbalance between multiple complexes is not restricted to NMD and should be taken into account when establishing causal links between gene function perturbation and observed phenotypes. (shrink)

In order to study the intelligent collection system of moving object trajectory data under cloud computing, information useful to passengers and taxi drivers is collected from massive trajectory data. This paper uses cloud computing technology, through clustering algorithm and density-based DBSCAN algorithm combined with Map Reduce programming model and design trajectory clustering algorithm. The results show that based on the 8-day data of 15,000 taxis in Shenzhen, the characteristic time period is determined. The passenger hot spot area is obtained by (...) clustering the passenger load points in each time period, which verifies the feasibility of the passenger load point recommendation application based on trajectory clustering. Therefore, in the absence of holidays, the number of passenger hotspots tends to be stable. It is reliable to perform cluster analysis. The recommended application has been demonstrated through experiments, and the implementation results show the rationality of the recommended application design and the feasibility of practice. (shrink)

Explores and articulates Jean-Luc Nancy's profound impact on our understanding of artistic and literary modernism.

The study aimed to identify the psychological changes that result from the amputation of a limb and the ways in which patients coordinate their daily lives. The study uses an interpretative phenomenological analysis aimed at understanding individual experiences in seven patients who have suffered limb amputation. The method used consisted of individual, semi-structured interviews, conducted approximately 4 months after surgery, to patients at home or in hospital, at the time of their regular checkup. The interviews were audio recorded, transcribed and, (...) following the qualitative analysis performed, six common themes were identified: emotional impact, negative affects, tendency toward isolation, role constraints and limitations, phantom limb, and emotional balancing. A specific theme for patients who have suffered amputations is phantom limb pain, which has received special attention from researchers. The last topic relates to the tendency toward emotional balancing and psychological calibration to return to normal life. (shrink)

Our article discusses one of the most challenging phenomena in the post-communist Romanian cultural field, which concerns the fictional depiction of childhood under communism. On the one hand, this prominent topic within Romanian literature and films of the 1990s and 2000s seems to develop a nostalgic viewpoint regarding the totalitarian regime. On the other hand, both the political views expressed publicly by the authors/film directors, and the markedly ideological parts of the novels/films that thematized the childhood of the 1970s and (...) 1980s, expose explicitly anti-communist stances. Within these coordinates, our study argues that the nostalgia embedded in the respective fictional depictions does not concern the communist, but rather the capitalist Western society, which was regarded by cultures of the former Soviet bloc with desire and idealization. The so-called “Ostalgie” proves, in this respect, to be a “Westalgia”: in most post-1989 Romanian novels/films, children characters or narrators express longing not for communism, but for a Western world, which is idealized precisely as long as the totalitarian regime imposes a clear distance from it. (shrink)

My assertion is that God’s biblical image may not reflect entirely His existence in itself as well as His revealed image. Even if God in Himself is both transcendent and immanent at the same time, and He is revealing accordingly in the history of humankind, still the image of God constructed in the writings of the Old Testament is merely the perspective made upon God by His followers to whom the He has revealed. That could be the reason why for (...) centuries God’s biblical image seems to emphasize more His immanence, starting with Pentateuch, where God cohabites with Adam on Earth, then He reveals Himself to Abraham and Moses and so on. Somewhere, after the Babylonian exile, the image suffers slightly differences tilting towards God’s transcendence. In a path already created and grounded by Israel’s ancestors, even this new color of transcendence bears the nuances of immanence. How can this be possible? Let’s take a look on the revelation received by Abraham from God and see how this can fit the profile. Instead of the transcendence of God regarded by others in the differentness of Yahweh appointed by Abraham in his walking out of Mesopotamia, I will prove otherwise, that Abraham is on the contrary proving God’s immanency in this very differentness of His in relation with other gods by providence and omnipresence, indwelling His creation. (shrink)

The new Coronavirus, namely Sars-CoV-2, took the world by surprise and grew into a pandemic worldwide in a couple of months since the beginning of 2020. It managed to lockdown at home almost half of the world population under the threat of illness and sudden death. Due to the extreme medical advises of containing the spread and damages of this threat, mostly directed towards social distancing, public gatherings cancelation, and contact tracing, each State imposed such regulations to their people and (...) for all areas of social activity, including the religious ones. This articles analyses four topics: 1. Restrictions imposed by the State and reactions by religious organizations. The theological-ethical response focused on the fact that all religions what to save lives and defeat death. 2. The pandemic shows the sensitive relation between the State and religions and shows the differences in power relations in the different countries. The theological-ethical response calls for a partnership between the State and the religions in their territory. 3. The relation between science and religion is tested during the pandemic. Whereas the majority of believers adhere to scientific results, a good part refuses scientific knowledge. The theological-ethical response of the authors is that science and religion are complementary and not contradictory. 4. Pandemics as situations of high uncertainty are often accompanied by conspiracy theories that claim to know who is guilty for the disaster, who is the scapegoat, which has to be punished. The theological-ethical response gives theological reasons to say no to conspiracies and scapegoats and yes to take responsibility wherever we are in order to save lives. (shrink)

Just as there are people who are born with certain sensory limits or altered sensitivity (+/-) and perceive the outside world differently, so there are several ‘stimuli’ that alter our subjective perception (+/-) of reality (re)giving a different/distorted image of it, the religious faith being one of those. This role is played, for example, by a strong emotional motivation: when someone who strongly believes that he resists fire [or mentally ignores this factor] to save his/her child becomes unaffected by fire (...) in an extreme situation of ambition and elimination of logical reasons for self-preservation; or someone religiously strongly motivated on thinking that he is ‘divinely sent’ to identify and eliminate opponents of divine forces, will attempt all possible steps (violence, terrorism, genocide) to stop these factors, regardless of human ‘reality’ put into play. Therefore, we initiate a series of articles focusing on the dialogue between several domains for the same purpose: What are the factors involved in altering the image of reality, how is a mentally constructed the image of reality in the stages of psychic development, what are the ‘stimuli’ that can distort that image and who can ‘manipulate’ them, but also who can be the ‘correctors’ of these image distortions. (shrink)

This article examines the subtle interconnection between the sanctity of life and individual autonomy within the context of assisted dying, as seen through the lens of Orthodox Christianity. It seeks to unravel the complex theological, ethical, and pastoral considerations that inform the Orthodox stance on end-of-life issues, particularly the nuanced understanding of suffering, death, and the redemptive potential encapsulated within them. Orthodox theology, with its profound veneration for life as a divine gift, offers a counter-narrative to contemporary discourses that often (...) prioritize personal autonomy and the alleviation of suffering above all. This tradition emphasizes the transformative power of suffering when united with Christ’s own redemptive suffering, proposing a vision of end-of-life care that is rooted in compassion, dignity, and hope for resurrection. The exploration begins with a historical and theological examination of the Orthodox perspective on life’s sanctity, engaging with the teachings of Church Fathers and contemporary theological and bioethical discussions. It highlights the foundational concepts of Orthodox anthropology, which perceives human beings as an indivisible unity of body and soul, reflecting the imago Dei. This anthropological understanding challenges reductionist views of human existence and informs the Orthodox approach to medical ethics, palliative care, and the spiritual accompaniment of the dying. By critically evaluating arguments for and against assisted dying, the article presents a balanced discourse that respects the depth of individual suffering while upholding the intrinsic value of life. It argues that Orthodox Christianity, through its rich theological heritage and pastoral practice, provides a compassionate and ethically nuanced framework for navigating the moral complexities of assisted dying. This framework advocates for an end-of-life care that honors the fullness of the human person, supports the spiritual journey toward eternal life, and fosters a communal embrace of life’s sacred threshold, offering a dignified passage that aligns with the faith’s deepest convictions about human destiny and divine grace. (shrink)

This argument aims to provide an overview of the historical context and main factors shaping the relation between left-wing radical politics and emergency powers in interwar Europe. It also brings to the fore how left-wing radical movements fuelled, reacted to and were connected with the multiple crises of the time span between the two world wars. The main argument is that emergency powers had the potential and were turned into a vehicle for an authoritarian drive, as several cases of that (...) time illustrate. The abuse of emergency powers led to a normalisation of political violence and worked as a corrosive force against the liberal order in several European countries during the interwar period. (shrink)

All the religious traditions raise endless prayers for living aids, those spread all over human lives. Without the hope that in all our needs and trials we have ‘someone’ to second us, so powerful that can help us overcome anything that stands in our path (more accurate 'against our wish'), most religious traditions would not be given any consideration, for humans become religious mostly when falling into a trial of life. By this hope religiousness flourishes and religious offer develops. Still, (...) there is another way of considering prayer, one of spiritual becoming, diverse, and at the same time equally tender. It doesn’t offer goods, or aids, or anything specific, instead, it is professed by many spiritual persons that stood in the divine’s company. Theologians call it apophasis, spiritualists call it contemplation. Non-believers assert that the ‘responses’ of prayers followed by the ‘altering’ of reality is merely a mental projection, a Placebo effect of believing in prayer’s effect, or even just a mere coincidence. Either way, we need to learn prayer’s genuine significance and what it really provides. As for the subtitle, it is an allusion to the ancient game of Go whose main skill is to 'know' in advance tens, hundreds, or even infinite moving variables with their follow-ups, so you can be prepared and have a prepared answer every time to any move the teammate would make. (shrink)

The primary purpose of this study is to understand if/how patients of hospice healthcare require ‘Spiritual’ or/and ‘Religious’ assistance and if its involvement in palliative care helps greatly. We have built a correlative of two scales and administrated them on the same sample, along with complete demographics questions to a group of people under palliative care and several people directly connected with patients, relatives- families. This methodological study is designed to assess the reliability and validity of two scales simultaneously for (...) the same terminally ill patients (TIP): Paloutzian and Ellison’s (1982) Spiritual Well-being Scale. The scale was administered to 49 individuals, of which 45 are patients and 4 family members caring for a terminally ill relative. Background: Coping is a multifactorial and individual process related to responding to stressful situations, such as being a caregiver of a person with health conditions or terminal illness [such as in hospice]. Spiritual [S] / religious [R] coping is an essential internal resource used by individuals enduring stressful situations or, in this particular case, confronting imminent death. Instruments: The 14-item Brief RCOPE is widely used to assess religious coping. The other instrument we have used for S/R assessment is the Spiritual Well-Being (SWB) Scale, a general measure of the subjective quality of life. Neither one is available in the Romanian version Ciocan Tudor-Cosmin (2023) developed following Romanian culture. He worked with Professor Ray Paloutzian - author of the latter scale - to translate and validate the use of the translated scales. Objective: To investigate the S/RWB among palliative care patients in Romania and to identify the correlates of Spiritual and Religious Well-Being. Secondary: To translate, adapt and validate both the 14-item Brief RCOPE and SWBS in Romanian for caregivers of palliative patients facing death. Method: The methodological guideline provided by Ray Paloutzian and Craig W. Ellison was used to examine the psychometric properties of SWBS, while the manual provided by Kenneth Pargament on his website helped us accommodate the Brief RCOPE to Romanian culture and understanding. Results: The linguistic and conceptual equivalence of the scales was determined. The internal consistency was acceptable (Cronbach’s a = 0.891 for SWBS and a = 0.798 for RCOPE). The Principal Axis Factor (PAF) analysis with varimax rotation identified two factors comprising 13 items, and one item was excluded from the scale (14/RCOPE). The faith subscale (SWBS) showed similar distributions. Christians engaged in religious activities reported higher SWB in the meaning and peace subscale than patients without religious attendance. In the multivariate analysis, religious Frequency (P < 0.001), and individual spiritual activities (P < 0.003) were significantly related to a greater SWB. Conclusion: The Romanian versions of the SWBS and Brief RCOPE are reliable and valid measures for assessing both the spiritual and religious coping of patients in hospice, their families, and their caregivers. Although faith practices may be beneficial to improve spiritual well-being among Orthodox Christians (the majority in Romania), further research is needed to determine what individual spiritual activities can be supported by Orthodox Christians positively engaged – since they are very skeptical about practices other than religious ones, introduced by the traditional Church. (shrink)

This article explores the concept of 'adaptive symbiosis' between religion and culture, challenging the notion of religions as static or immutable entities by showcasing their dynamic engagement with and adaptation to local cultural contexts. The notion of ‘adaptive symbiosis’ transcends mere coexistence or amalgamation, embodying a deep, complex process of mutual adaptation. Within this evolutionary dance, both religion and culture emerge not merely as participants but as co-creators of a new reality. Through the examination of various religious traditions—such as Christianity, (...) Islam, Buddhism, and others—it illustrates how religions evolve in symbiotic relationships with host cultures, leading to the creation of hybrid cultural-religious identities. Highlighting the mechanisms of biological adaptation—mutualism, amensalism, commensalism, and parasitism—as metaphors, the article delves into the complex interplay between religious teachings and cultural integration. It argues against viewing religions as immutable, instead presenting them as evolving entities that contribute to the richness and diversity of human civilization, especially in the context of globalization. This dynamic, evolving space of adaptive negotiations underlines the importance of understanding the fluid nature of cultural and religious boundaries in contributing to novel forms of expression and identity. Through this exploration, we aim to shed light on the enduring and evolving relationship between religion and culture, highlighting how this dynamic interplay contributes to the richness and diversity of human civilization. (shrink)

When we talk about dialogue, we always start looking for ways to best present the content of our speech. Approaching another through dialogue does not seem to care too much about the will or desire to accept the otherness for dialogue even if this is the basis of the binary formula of dialogue. Yet, in the case of religious dialogue, things are not at all so clear or proactive; instead, this (accepting otherness) is usually the central issue of interreligious dialogue. (...) However, when we finally manage to bring together two or more religious representatives for dialogue, the most intriguing aspect of the dialogue is less emphasized on the content and issues to be brought to the attention of the participants and more on the issue of accepting, tolerating all others’ traditions through this dialogue. Nervousness, anxiety, discomfort, and squirming are the habitual and, even more shocking, "expected" features in interfaith dialogue. Well, if this is the main problem in interfaith - being able to bring acceptance in this "toxic" environment - then this would be a step forward. But probably all these are since, at present, the construction of interreligious dialogue is still in progress, about to be polished and become a formal custom, an emerging tradition of the current era. However, is the content that all participants in the interfaith dialogue bring, our particular traditions, to blame for this challenge? Can they help us build the bridge or, on the contrary, put interfaith in a limbo state, waiting for a redeemer? To pinpoint the direction in which interreligious dialogue is heading, we must better evaluate and understand a "tradition", what it is, how it works, and why it is developed and preserved. What is the significance of a tradition for people in general and a religious group in particular? How deeply rooted is it in human thinking and how valuable to fight for it? And then, can we consider changing, altering, or even removing a whole tradition from our perspective? If so, [regardless of the response] what is then the impact of [any] tradition on us and our reactions to the current issues, therefore to human endeavor? This article illustrates the role that tradition plays in peoples' views of the world and how tradition influences their behavior and attitudes toward certain practices and against a current acquisition of interreligious relationships, namely interreligious dialogue. (shrink)

My intention is to improve the receiving of the idea of ‘interfaith dialogue and mutual acceptance’ for Romanian people in general and foremost on their teachers, by writing a handbook for teaching it to the students and future public opinion formatters. It is a requirement nowadays firstly to make people understand the benefits of interfaith, then to make them believe it is the only solution of the social common living in such a religiously diverse society, and finally provide methodological and (...) technical support for those who want to become the voices of interfaith in their own environment. I need to lift my training to that level that I can improve myself, maturing from a religious pluralism embracer to a trainer, professionally prepared and systematic instructed. For that matter, this paper is not an unassisted research presentation, but a proposal from which I would like to evolve to a fully developed result that I will share with our Dialogo readers when published. (shrink)

This seventeen issue of DIALOGO [2023] is dedicated to the multi-theme `Freedom, Human Rights, Global Crises, Solidarity & Values ` - addressing several actual issues with a central focus on human rights, seen in our society nowadays concerning globalization amid global crises that occurred in the latest years, and beyond towards a holistic approach of private vs universal values. Finally, DIALOGO collates several articles relating to the empirical measurement of religion and health—an increasingly important area of research. We start our (...) endeavor with the inquiry, “What can we do to preserve human rights and values amid social changes?”. (shrink)

The Soul is considered, both for religions and philosophy, to be the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being, conferring individuality and humanity, often considered to be synonymous with the mind or the self. For most theologies, the Soul is further defined as that part of the individual, which partakes of divinity and transcends the body in different explanations. But, regardless of the philosophical background in which a specific theology gives the transcendence of the soul as the source of (...) its everlasting essence – often considered to survive the death of the body –, it is always appraised as a higher existence for which all should fight for. In this regard, all religious beliefs assert that there are many unseen battles aiming to take hold of the human soul, either between divinity and evil, or between worlds, or even between the body and the soul itself. These unseen battles over the human soul raging in the whole world made it the central item of the entire universe, both for the visible and the unseen worlds, an item of which whoever takes possession will also become the ruler of the universe. Through this philosophy, the value of the soul became abysmal, incommensurable, and without resemblance. The point for making such a broad overview of the soul in religious beliefs is the question of whether we can build an interfaith discourse based on the religions’ most debated and valuable issue, soul? Regardless of the variety of religious beliefs on what seems to be the soul, there is always a residual consideration in them that makes the soul more important than the body. This universal impression is due to another belief or instead need of believing that above and beyond this seen, palpable, finite life and the world should exist another one, infinite, transcendent, and available all the same after here. This variety stretches from the minimum impact that soul has on the body, as being the superior essence that inhabitants and enlivens the matter, to the highest impact in which soul has nothing to do with matter[1] and is only ephemeral linked to it, but its existence is not at all limited, defined or depended on the matter [2], or even placed to the extreme, as the very life of the matter thus this seen universe is merely a thought in the soul/mind [3]. In this extensive variety of soul overviews, the emphasis of the soul’s importance gives an inverse significance to the body/matter, from being everything that matters to a thin, dwindle item that has no existence at all outside consciousness. (shrink)