This paper is motivated by the desire to formulate a relativistically covariant hidden-variable particle trajectory interpretation of the quantum theory of the vector field that is formulated in such a way as to allow the inclusion of gravity. We present a methodology for calculating the flows of rest energy and a conserved density for the massive vector field using the time-like eigenvectors and eigenvalues of the stress-energy-momentum tensor. Such flows may be used to define particle trajectories which follow the flow. (...) This work extends our previous work which used a similar procedure for the scalar field. The massive, spin-one, complex vector field is discussed in detail and the flows of energy-momentum are illustrated in a simple example of standing waves in a plane. (shrink)

We illustrate, using a simple model, that in the usual formulation the time-component of the Klein–Gordon current is not generally positive definite even if one restricts allowed solutions to those with positive frequencies. Since in de Broglie's theory of particle trajectories the particle follows the current this leads to difficulties of interpretation, with the appearance of trajectories which are closed loops in space-time and velocities not limited from above. We show that at least this pathology can be avoided if one (...) adapts in a covariant form the formulation of relativistic point particle dynamics proposed by Gitman and Tyutin. (shrink)

Many Victorian philosophers of history attempted to explain what they took to be the evident divergence in the level of civilizational achievement that was attained by different peoples. One prominent paradigm for explaining this divergence was the biological-racialist paradigm. According to this paradigm, endorsed by the likes of Robert Knox, Samuel George Morton, Carl Vogt, and James Hunt, what explains divergence is racial difference. In this paper, I show how one African philosopher, James Africanus Beale Horton, sought to (...) undermine this paradigm and to offer an alternative explanatory paradigm. I argue that Horton presents an alternative paradigm which does not deny that there are divergences that must be explained and which seeks to explain such divergences by appealing to factors such as environmental changes, cultural contact with other societies (and the severing of such contacts), and failures of social organization due to decadence after a period of high civilizational achievement in a given society. Horton presented an alternative philosophy of history which does not give up on the concept of progress, but which also does not condone colonialism and imperialism. (shrink)

Many Victorian philosophers of history attempted to explain what they took to be the evident divergence in the level of civilizational achievement that was attained by different peoples. One prominent paradigm for explaining this divergence was the biological-racialist paradigm. According to this paradigm, endorsed by the likes of Robert Knox, Samuel George Morton, Carl Vogt, and James Hunt, what explains divergence is racial difference. In this paper, I show how one African philosopher, James Africanus Beale Horton, sought to (...) undermine this paradigm and to offer an alternative explanatory paradigm. I argue that Horton presents an alternative paradigm which does not deny that there are divergences that must be explained and which seeks to explain such divergences by appealing to factors such as environmental changes, cultural contact with other societies (and the severing of such contacts), and failures of social organization due to decadence after a period of high civilizational achievement in a given society. Horton presented an alternative philosophy of history which does not give up on the concept of progress, but which also does not condone colonialism and imperialism. (shrink)

Among Turks, major religions with universal messages have always been welcomed with tolerance. The fact that Turks generally did not convert to religions other than Islam led to the interpretation of Islam as the most suitable religion for the character and national culture of Turks, and for this reason, Turks accepted Islam voluntarily, not by force. The proximity of the Turks to the Muslim regions made it easier for them to become Muslims and they became Muslims in groups. The statement (...) in the Qur’ānic Ayat âl -Kursi; His pulpit has encompassed the heavens and the earth كُرْسِيُّهُ السَّمٰوَاتِ وَالْاَرْضَۚ وَلَََا يَؤُ۫دُهُ حِفْظُهُمَاۚ وَهُوَ الْعَلِيُّ الْعَظ۪يمُ the similarity in the fact that Gök Tengri, which they have believed in since the beginning of their existence, is both in the sky and much closer to them (closer than their jugular veins) has facilitated the change of belief in the Turks. The seven stories of the sky, which their ancestors saw as Uçmak, the fact that hell is seven stories below the earth, free thought and tolerance in both religions and the fact that there is only one God religion. The compatibility of the belief in God with hundreds of years of customs and traditions facilitated the acceptance of the idea that Islam was a suitable religion for them. The enmity against Muslim Turks, which started in the Christian world with the progress of Turkish tribes towards the West after the adoption of Islam, has increased the efforts of fanatical missionary Christian writers to create prejudice with their publications, which are far from historical facts, to demonize Turks in the Western public opinion. The common characteristics of these writers are that they fictionalize alleged inhumane crimes against Christians and present them as if they were true, and that they unconditionally support Greeks and Armenians, whom they see as the real owners of Anatolia. In this way, they accelerated the spread of "Islamophobia" in Western public opinion, and the persecution and massacres of Muslims were ignored. However, neither the Holy Qur’ān, the Turks, nor the Prophet Muhammad deserve these accusations and slanders. However, the literature review revealed that no specific research (thesis, book, article) has been conducted on the subject. In this context, although Muslim-Turkish enmity has been used in different ways in original studies conducted by researchers, the impact of missionary activities that started especially in the 19th century and the main reasons for this enmity have not been investigated specifically by missionary writers. The publications of the two missionary authors researched in this study have not been translated into Turkish until today. As a methodology, the literature review on the impact of missionary and missionary activities on Muslim Turcophobia was applied in the form of the publications and analysis of the missionary authors taken as an example for the study during the period. The study aims to investigate the root causes of Muslim Turcophobia and to draw the attention of researchers to the issue in the context of two missionary writers (George Horton (d. 1942), Sir Edwin Pears (d. 1919)) who insulted, slandered, and attacked Muslims and saw Muslims as a threat to Christianity in the Turkish nation. (shrink)

The philosopher and critic George Henry Lewes published this work in two volumes in 1845–6. This is a reissue of an 1892 printing, which brought the volumes into one book. Lewes wrote widely on literature, science and philosophy, and was also the long-term intimate companion of George Eliot. This book is a narrative history, rather than an encyclopedia, of key philosophers. It is, therefore, a partial and personal study instead of an exhaustive textbook. The first volume concentrates solely (...) on Greek philosophy, beginning with the Pre-Socratics and ending with the Neo-Platonists. The second volume jumps to Francis Bacon, concentrating on British, German and French philosophy, and addressing, among others, Spinoza, Locke, Hume and Kant, and ending with Auguste Comte. Containing both historical anecdotes and pithy analyses of ideas, this book reflects the expertise and intellectual sympathies of a Victorian polymath. (shrink)

Epicurus, born at Samos, Greece, in 341 BC, and died at Athens in 270 BC, founded a school of philosophy in the ancient world which has little to do with the meanings that surround the word "Epicureanism" today and more to do with living a mindful, simple life, maximizing simple pleasures and minimizing pain, such as the irrational fear of death--"Death is nothing to us, since when we are, death has not come, and when death has come, we are not." (...) Epicurus did not believe that humans would be punished for their sins after death, and stressed the search for lasting pleasures during the life we have, such as tranquility, friendship, and philosophical inquiry. What is good is what is pleasurable and what is bad is what is painful. Epicurus was a prolific author, but very few of his writings have come down to us. Included in this collection, edited and translated by George K. Strodach, are a collection of observations that were preserved by the biographer of ancient philosophers, Diogenes Laertius, and three important letters. (shrink)

This essay proposes African-based ethical solutions to profound human problems and a working African model to address those problems. The model promotes sustainability through advanced agroecological and information communication technologies. The essay’s first section reviews the ethical ground of that model in the work of the Senegalese scholar, Cheikh Anta Diop. The essay’s second section examines an applied African model for translating African ethical speculation into practice. Deeply immersed in European and African ethics, Godfrey Nzamujo developed the Songhaï Centers to (...) solve the problem of rural poverty in seventeen African countries. Harnessing advanced technologies within a holistic agroecological ecosystem, Nzamujo’s villages furnish education spanning the fields of ethics, information communication technology, microbiology, international development, and mechanical, electrical, civil and biological engineering in a community-based and centered development enterprise. The essay proposes a global consortium of ecovillages based on Nzamujo’s model. The final section explores funding methods for the consortium. The conclusion contemplates a return to Africa to supplement environmental ethics that enhance life’s future on earth. (shrink)

Berkeley asserts that (a) the mind perceives ideas, (b) the mind is wholly distinct from its ideas, and (c) the alleged distinction between (i) the perceiving of an idea and (ii) the idea perceived, is a bogus one. in this paper, the author does the following. first, he gives textual justification for his claim that berkeley did in fact hold each of the theses (a)-(c). he then shows that (a), (b), and (c) together constitute an inconsistent triad of propositions. then (...) he gives berkeley's reasons for asserting (b) and (c) and assesses the merits of these reasons. finally, he indicates the most plausible moves berkeley might make to extricate himself from inconsistency. (shrink)

By most measures, the impact of international human rights law ratification in the Arab Gulf region primarily in the 1990s and 2000s has been minimal. Scholars have found little evidence of correlation between ratification of the core human rights conventions with the minimal improvements in human rights practice in the region. Ratification of most human rights instruments Arab Gulf states in recent decades has, however, offered new cases from which to explore the impact of international human rights law in countries (...) where human rights monitors find protections to be most limited. Using the case of Kuwait’s ratification of the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women, this article examines the impact of ratification in 1994 on discourses on discrimination against women in national press on human rights in the country. Through analysis of reporting in national newspaper Al-Anba, the article identifies how ratification has shaped the language used in national press reporting on women’s rights to increasingly reference the convention and frame rights violations in the language of “discrimination.” In tracing these connections between the convention and related content in local press, the article identifies new avenue to explore the “impact” of human rights treaty ratification, even when formal changes in laws and policies so far have been limited. (shrink)

The Gorgias seems to attack hedonism; the Protagoras seems to defend it. The resolution to this apparent inconsistency is to deny that the Gorgias attacks hedonism, in general. I argue that the target attacked in the Gorgias is hedonism of apparent pleasure: an ethical Protagoreanism.

This paper explores the tension, in the pragmatist tradition between Dewey and James, naturalism and empiricism, political activism and philosophical understanding --within a scheme focused on ontology.

This article argues that Orlando Patterson is a key contributor to postcolonial fiction and postcolonial theory as well as historical sociology and social theory, whose work contains crucial lessons for sociology in general. Patterson has coined striking concepts such as social death and human parasitism and made original historical interpretations such as the origins of freedom in the experiences of female slaves. Patterson has contributed to historical knowledge, social theory, and an alternative epistemology of interpretive social science. And through his (...) fiction, he exemplifies an alternative understanding of the métier of the social scientist, in which literary-aesthetic sensuousness and lyrical pleasure are combined with analytic rigor. The first part of the article suggests that Patterson’s work represents an overlooked foundation for postcolonial sociology. Demonstrating this involves reconstructing Patterson’s early intellectual context and then tracing the interplay between fiction and social analysis in his work. The article then analyses Patterson’s fictional writing, arguing that it is a crucial part of his overall production of social knowledge. The article’s final section argues that Patterson’s work lays out a non-positivist foundation for historical sociology and sociology as a whole. (shrink)

If we are to understand the concept of toleration in terms of everyday life, we must address a key philosophical and political tension: the call for restraint when encountering apparently wrong beliefs and actions versus the good reasons for interfering with the lives of the subjects of these beliefs and actions. This collection contains original contributions to the ongoing debate on the nature of toleration, including its definition, historical development, justification, and limits. In exploring the issues surrounding toleration, the essays (...) address a variety of provocative questions. Is toleration a moral virtue of individuals or rather a pragmatic political compromise? Is it an intrinsically good principle or only a "second best-solution" to the dangers of fanaticism to be superseded one day by the full acceptance of others? Does the value of toleration lie in respect to individuals and their autonomy, or rather in the recognition of the right of minority groups to maintain their communal identity? Throughout, the contributors point to the inherent indeterminacy of the concept and to the difficulty in locating it between intolerant absolutism and skeptical pluralism. Religion, sex, speech, and education are major areas requiring toleration in liberal societies. By applying theoretical analysis, these essays show the differences in the argument for toleration and its scope in each of these realms. The contributors include Joshua Cohen, George Fletcher, Gordon Graham, Alon Harel, Moshe Halbertal, Barbara Herman, John Horton, Will Kymlicka, Avishai Margalit, David Richards, Thomas Scanlon, and Bernard Williams. (shrink)

An approach to the treatment of inference in the presence of uncertain truth values is described, based on representing uncertainties by sets of ordinary (certain) truth values. Both the algebraic and the logical aspects are studied for a variety of lattices used as truth value spaces in the domain of many-valued logic.

This chapter focuses on Gadamer's debts to figures and themes in German idealism, focusing in particular on Kant and Hegel.

ON THE ORIGIN AND NATURE OF ETHICAL SENTIMENT. Of all the remaining productions of the ancient world, there is nothing which is more characteristic and ...