The novel coronavirus disease is impactful on all aspects of individuals’ lives, particularly mental health due to the fear and spirituality associated with the pandemic. Thus, purpose of this study was to identify the relationship among fear, spirituality, and mental health on COVID-19 among adults in Malaysia. This study also examines spirituality as a mediator in relationship between fear and mental health. The study involved around 280 adults in Malaysia. This research is a quantitative study. Data analysis method has been (...) used for data analysis. Based on descriptive analysis, mental health questionnaire indicated that 60.0% of them are at a poor level of mental health whereas 57.5% of respondents showed a moderate level of COVID-19 fear, and 60.4% of respondents owned moderate level of spiritual well-being. The results also demonstrated that respondents that have a high level of fear would have a high level of mental health; interestingly, those with a high level of spirituality will have a lower level of mental health. Findings indicated that spirituality significantly mediated the relationship between fear and mental health. This research will help to demonstrate how important spirituality values to control mental health to be more positive among adults in Malaysia. The main contributions of this study are to help come out with new intervention method for those who are mentally ill and need help. (shrink)

The early 20thcentury works of Kurdish Islamic thinker Said Nursî explore how cinema can provide access to the divine. Yet, considering the periods of Nursî’s life that were spent in prison, or in exile in remote locations, it is likely that the cinema he was discussing was, very specifically, the early silent cinema of attractions. Thus the distinctive format of this cinema can be uncovered in, and seen to structure, Nursî’s formulation of ‘God's cinema’. With this proposition in mind, this (...) article indicates something of the potential that an engagement with Nursî’s cinematic writing offers for reconsidering topics already much discussed in film-philosophy, such as that of time in the works of Gilles Deleuze. (shrink)

In this new publication, Cristina Cormos professionally addresses a sensitive issue, complex and difficult in the same time, and ambitiously manages to give us a picture of international migration viewed through identity change. Starting from the hypothesis that "migration is a change that simultaneously occurs in both physical and socio-cultural realms, which implies not only movement from one community to another, but also the disintegration of structural bonds in the departure area, paralleled by a cultural assimilation of the destination environment", (...) the author analyzes identity changes of the emigrants throughout the entire migration process, the factors underlying these changes, as well as the consequences and implications of these factors in the return migration. The issues addressed within this book also cover the changes occurred in the family and community of origin as a result of the absence of one of its members and of the manifestation of identity changes respectively. (shrink)

După un sfert de veac -- Pelerinaj oriental: Ex oriente lux? ; Fascinația yogii -- Pelerinaj occidental: O yogă europeană ; Ucenicie întru ale cugetării -- Pelerinaj românesc: Popasuri la compatrioți -- Pelerinaj muzical și inițiatic: Călătoria în noi înșine ; Realitatea interioră ; Chemarea transcendenței ; Forța care dă viață ; Ideea de inițiere ; Profanatorii misterelor ; Marea ascensiune -- Pelerinaj lăuntric: Ce este spiritul?

Volume 20, Issue 7, July 2020, Page 182-184.

El margen práctico con el que se hace la defensa de los cristianos en tiempos de persecución comporta un aspecto significativo del pensamiento de Atenágoras, en el que descansa toda la aprobación para con los seguidores de Cristo. Sin embargo, se carece de estudios reflexivos respecto de una praxis cristiana como argumento apologético en este ateniense, estudios que transitarían desde un enfoque dogmático del cristianismo a uno más operativo. De aquí que, criticar la tradición religiosa de sus contemporáneos, procurar una (...) vida pura y colaborar con la paz del imperio, implican un ideal ético en términos de crítica y de adhesión paradójicas que caracterizan al cristianismo de los primeros siglos. (shrink)

Utopics has two parts. The first is a study of Thomas More's Utopia, where the noun "utopia" appears for the first time. It attempts to provide the elements for a theoretical reflection on utopic signifying practice. The second part can be seen as an application of the first: It is an analysis of utopic and pseudo-topic spaces. Marin's analysis shows how utopian texts open the way to an alternative future.

We conducted a thorough investigation of the impact of representativeness on reasoning and metacognitive processes by employing the Linda problem. In congruent versions, the more representative res...

The work of Anthony J. Steinbock on emotions―particularly moral emotions―and on religious experience is closely related to a methodological claim. This claim is that the concepts of “experience” and “manifestation” should be understood in a broader manner than that of classical phenomenology, particularly Edmund Husserl’s phenomenology. In this paper, I examine the way in which Steinbock understands and conceptualizes the kind of givenness to which he refers with the notion of “vertical experience”. I focus on his claim that vertical experiences (...) are irreducible to the kind of experiences that can be described in terms of what he calls “provocation”, “presentation” and the “noesis-noema structure”. Even though I make a criticism of his assertion that the latter implies that they should not be understood as forms of givenness founded on the above-mentioned structure, I agree with some major implications that he draws from them. In the last part of the paper, I discuss his suggestion that the Husserlian conceptualization of emotional givenness should be revised to set forward their structure in terms of what he calls “evocation” and try to give additional reasons, drawn from Husserl himself, to support this claim. The paper comes concludes by stressing the relevance of Steinbock’s analyses concerning what he calls “idolatry”. I argue that his analyses of attitudes that negate the vertical dimension of experience have far reaching implications that go beyond the field of philosophy of religion and open new, promising paths for phenomenological research on social and moral problems. (shrink)

In this article, we suggest that the study of social interactions and the development of a “sense of agency” in joint action can help determine the content of relevant explanations to be implemented in artificial systems to make them “explainable.” The introduction of automated systems, and more broadly of Artificial Intelligence, into many domains has profoundly changed the nature of human activity, as well as the subjective experience that agents have of their own actions and their consequences – an experience (...) that is commonly referred to as sense of agency. We propose to examine the empirical evidence supporting this impact of automation on individuals’ sense of agency, and hence on measures as diverse as operator performance, system explicability and acceptability. Because of some of its key characteristics, AI occupies a special status in the artificial systems landscape. We suggest that this status prompts us to reconsider human–AI interactions in the light of human–human relations. We approach the study of joint actions in human social interactions to deduce what key features are necessary for the development of a reliable sense of agency in a social context and suggest that such framework can help define what constitutes a good explanation. Finally, we propose possible directions to improve human–AI interactions and, in particular, to restore the sense of agency of human operators, improve their confidence in the decisions made by artificial agents, and increase the acceptability of such agents. (shrink)

Hannah Arendt is one of the twentieth century’s foremost thinkers on totalitarian regimes. For her, such a political development becomes possible particularly because people abrogate their faculty of thinking. Totalitarianism, in turn, breeds conformity, engenders an ethics of alienation. Moreover, language, too, loses its hermeneutical ability to conjure up other possible, alternative, imaginative scenarios, as the regime clamps down on the use of words and phrases, creating a rhetorically univocal echo chamber from which it becomes increasingly more difficult to escape. (...) The observations of Stanislav Aseyev, a Ukrainian journalist, corroborates Arendt’s reflections, underscoring her perennial relevance on this matter. (shrink)

Brains enjoy a bodily life. Therefore animals are subjects with a point of view. Yet, coding betrays an anthropomorphic bias: we can, therefore they must. Here I propose a reformulation of Brette's question that emphasizes organismic perception, cautioning for misinterpretations based on external ideal-observer accounts. Theoretical ethology allows computational neuroscience to understand brains from the perspective of their owners.

Traducción capítulo siete del libro de Brian O’Connor Adorno, publicado por Routledge en 2013.

Based on the assumption that consumers will reward firms for their support of social programs, many organizations have adopted corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices. Drawing on social identity theory, a model of influence of CSR on loyalty is developed and tested using a sample of real consumers. Results demonstrate that CSR initiatives are linked to stronger loyalty both because the consumer develops a more positive company evaluation, and because one identifies more strongly with the company. Moreover, identity salience is shown (...) to play a crucial role in the influence of CSR initiatives on consumer loyalty when this influence occurs through consumer-company identification. A strong identifier is not necessarily in a constant state of salience, but activating identity salience of a particular consumer social identity (a company) will affect consumer reactions to product stimuli, increasing consumer loyalty. (shrink)

Development strategy of using modern portfolio theory focused on the short term. However, macroeconomic uncertainty and geopolitical environment makes their use ineffective. And challenge is to provide a reasonable balance between the short and long term profitability. Another issue, which is to some extent related to the previous observation is the absence in most matrices strategic recommendations for non-standard "behavior" of business units with dynamic analysis. This applies to the use of a relatively new tool matrix approach to development strategies (...) the company and its strategic business units - SPACE-analysis that also takes into account not forecasts of changes in the environment impact on the company. The aim of this paper is to develop methods of portfolio analysis on the basis of SPACE-dynamic analysis and formation of the list of possible strategic initiatives for definite basic trajectories of its strategic business units energy holding DTEK. Methods. SPACE-analysis, analytic hierarchy process, expert analysis. Results. The authors proposed a methodological approach to the implementation of dynamic SPACE-analysis company. The technique involves a strategic segmentation of the company, the formation of an expert group to assess reliable energy holding the current forecast period and on four aspects of SPACE-analysis. Also, using the analytic hierarchy determined by weighting the partial evaluation criteria. Methodology offers a "weighting" expert estimates within a particular group of partial criteria: sectors to "competitive advantage" and "stability branch" scale ratings is positive. The next phase involves the construction of vectors for the current and projected state holding that can be placed in one of four quadrants. Each quadrant has 4 basic strategic trajectory states, they can also be interpreted as a strategic gaps. In other words diagnosis of trajectories allows to identify and evaluate strategic gaps company or its individual business units according to specific criteria and receive partial numerical values of generalized gaps on key evaluation criteria. Conclusions. The authors matrix formed strategic decisions SPACE-dynamic analysis. The article graphically interpreted SPACE-analysis for the energy holding in three strategic business units. The study offers an integrated approach to the definition of policy recommendations for each strategic unit based on an analysis of superposition defined basic trajectories. S-trajectory or S-vectors can be represented as the sum of two vectors : numbers and appropriate call intensity factors relevant basic trajectories since their values determine the degree of contribution of each of these basic paths in the integrated S-vector is a vector strategic set of strategic business units to achieve strategic objectives, transfered into numerical form by partial criteria by expert predictive testing. These coefficients also make it possible to calculate the value of integrated strategic gaps generalized criteria. (shrink)

On the Beginnings of the Greek Doctrine of the Transmigration of Souls. In this article, I state that attendant on the acceptance of the idea of an immortalsoul is a legitimate question concerning the soul's status before the individual's birth and after its death. Whether the Greeks were the originators of the doctrine of the transmigration of souls or this was an influence from another culture is still open to debate.

Este trabajo profundiza en la legitimación teológica perversa que el falso místico hace de sus actos sexuales. Con tal propósito, se hace una introducción histórica a las prácticas sexuales de carácter gnóstico y se considera el juego discursivo ambiguo entre lo exotérico y esotérico. Como ejemplo, se analizan algunas ambigüedades textuales en la obra de Javier Garrido OFM (condenado canónicamente por “falso misticismo”), a la luz de la investigación sobre los abusos sexuales de los hermanos Philippe OP y Jean Vanier. (...) Asimismo, se exploran tres coincidencias con ideas ajenas al cristianismo que divinizan la pulsión sexual. Y se concluye apelando al discernimiento y la prudencia sobre el lenguaje místico-esponsal, y a la claridad en la moral sexual. (shrink)

O encontro entre filosofia e crianças é possível e a proposta didático-metodológica da Comunidade de Investigação se apresenta como um excelente caminho para propiciá-lo. Porque através de jogos? Porque jogar é uma oportunidade criativa de se encontrar com a gente mesmo, com os outros, com o todo. É uma maneira lúdica, prazerosa e criativa de aprender a pensar, a agir, a refletir, a filosofar.

El objetivo consiste en analizar qué se entiende por naturaleza en Epicuro y cómo se sortean los males que se le endilgan a una sensación tenida por contraria a la práctica de la virtud. En primer lugar, se enfatiza el modo como la percepción sensible trae consigo ciertas consecuencias éticas. Luego, se presenta la estructura sistemática de naturaleza-sensación-acción en el epicureísmo y una posición moderada entre determinismo causal y arbitrariedad ética. Finalmente, se defiende el nexo entre virtud y goce sobre (...) la base del atomismo. Las conclusiones vuelven sobre el concepto de naturaleza y su relación con la percepción sensible y placentera. (shrink)

The phenomenon of missed interactions between online users is a specific issue occurring when users of different language games interact on social media platforms. We use the lens of institutional theory to analyze this phenomenon and argue that current online institutions will necessarily fail to regulate user interactions in a way that creates common meanings because online institutions are not set up to deal with the multiplicity of language games and forms of life co-existing in the online social space. We (...) argue for the need to enable and foster grassroots online institutions that can stabilize the norms of interaction by redesigning algorithms and user interfaces. Such online grassroots institutions would facilitate user orientation at three distinct levels: informational, normative, and semantic-pragmatic. We propose user orientation as a principle that would facilitate the formation of institutions aiming to regulate information exchanges between users inhabiting various forms of life. This principle of user orientation should guide design decisions, while designer teams would need to become aware of the institutional power unleashed when they set up interfaces and algorithms for user-generated content. (shrink)

The current literature shows great interest in the issue of gender diversity on boards of directors. Some studies have hypothesized a direct relationship between diversity and the value of the firm, but not many examine the intermediate mechanisms that may exert an influence on such relationships. We employ two stages of GMM estimation methodology to exhibit evidences of the relationship between gender diversity and compensation of top managers in the Spanish context. Results show that gender diversity positively affects the effectiveness (...) of boards—in terms of composition, structure, size and functioning—influencing a proper design of top managers compensation linked to company performance. Evidences suggest that legislative actions aimed at increasing the presence of women on boards of directors are justified not only for ethical reasons, but also for reasons of economic efficiency. (shrink)

An increasingly popular solution to the anti-scientific climate rising on social media platforms has been the appeal to more critical thinking from the user's side. In this paper, we zoom in on the ideal of critical thinking and unpack it in order to see, specifically, whether it can provide enough epistemic agency so that users endowed with it can break free from enclosed communities on social media (so called epistemic bubbles). We criticise some assumptions embedded in the ideal of critical (...) thinking online and, instead, we propose that a better way to understand the virtuous behaviour at hand is as critical engagement, namely a mutual cultivation of critical skills among the members of an epistemic bubble. This mutual cultivation allows members within an epistemic bubble (in contrast, as we will show, with the authority-based models of epistemic echo chambers) to become more autonomous critical thinkers by cultivating self-trust. We use the model of relational autonomy as well as resources from work on epistemic self-trust and epistemic interdependence to develop an explanatory framework, which in turn may ground rules for identifying and creating virtuous epistemic bubbles within the environments of social media platforms. (shrink)

In this chapter we argue that emotions are mediated in an incomplete way in online social media because of the heavy reliance on textual messages which fosters a rationalistic bias and an inclination towards less nuanced emotional expressions. This incompleteness can happen either by obscuring emotions, showing less than the original intensity, misinterpreting emotions, or eliciting emotions without feedback and context. Online interactions and deliberations tend to contribute rather than overcome stalemates and informational bubbles, partially due to prevalence of anti-social (...) emotions. It is tempting to see emotions as being the cause of the problem of online verbal aggression and bullying. However, we argue that social media are actually designed in a predominantly rationalistic way, because of the reliance on text-based communication, thereby filtering out social emotions and leaving space for easily expressed antisocial emotions. Based on research on emotions that sees these as key ingredients to moral interaction and deliberation, as well as on research on text-based versus non-verbal communication, we propose a richer understanding of emotions, requiring different designs of online deliberation platforms. We propose that such designs should move from text-centred designs and should find ways to incorporate the complete expression of the full range of human emotions so that these can play a constructive role in online deliberations. (shrink)

A short number of entries in Andalusi biographical sources are devoted to pious women. These women are usually described as practising the recitation of the Quran, giving alms, leading a retired life and fasting. Together with other texts, these biographies draw a picture in which a secluded life and fasting became the privileged characteristics of religious piety among Andalusi women. Fasting, in particular, could be used as a means of going beyond the limits imposed on women by Muslim orthopraxis.

Cet article dresse un état des lieux de l’utilisation de la sémantique distributionnelle en morphologie. L’approche distributionnelle, qui repose sur une représentation vectorielle du sens des mots, s’intègre dans l’évolution empirique que connaît la morphologie depuis quelques années, en contribuant par une analyse quantitative et basée sur les corpus du sens des mots morphologiquement construits. Nous présentons brièvement cette approche, puis nous donnons un aperçu de la diversité de ses utilisations pour la morphologie dérivationnelle, tant théorique que méthodologique. Nous soulignons (...) enfin l’importance des choix linguistiques dans l’utilisation de cet outil. (shrink)

This paper proposes three principles for the ethical design of online social environments aiming to minimise the unintended harms caused by users while interacting online, specifically by enhancing the users’ awareness of the moral load of their interactions. Such principles would need to account for the strong mediation of the digital environment and the particular nature of user interactions: disembodied, asynchronous, and ambiguous intent about the target audience. I argue that, by contrast to face to face interactions, additional factors make (...) it more difficult for users to exercise moral sensitivity in an online environment. An ethics for social media user interactions is ultimately an ethics of human relations mediated by a particular environment; hence I look towards an enactive inspired ethics in formulating principles for human interactions online to enhance or at least do not hinder a user’s moral sensitivity. This enactive take on social media ethics supplements classical moral frameworks by asking us to focus on the relations established through the interactions and the environment created by those interactions. (shrink)