Adamson argues that Marxism "teaches us how to interpret social and historical reality, and to relate that interpretation to our current political concerns.".

In Interfaces of the World, Walter J. Ong explores the effects on consciousness of the word as it moves through oral to written to print and electronic culture.

This paper provides an axiomatic analysis of sufficientarian social evaluation. Sufficientarianism has emerged as an increasingly important notion of distributive justice. We propose a class of principles that we label generalized critical-level sufficientarian orderings. The distinguishing feature of our new class is that its members exhibit constant critical levels of well-being that are allowed to differ from the threshold of sufficiency. Our basic axiom assigns priority to those below the threshold, a property that is shared by numerous other sufficientarian approaches. (...) When combined with the well-known strong Pareto principle and the assumption that there be a constant critical level, the axiom implies that the critical level cannot be below the threshold. The main results of the paper are characterizations of our new class and an important subclass. As a final observation, we identify the generalized critical-level sufficientarian orderings that permit us to avoid the repugnant conclusion and the sadistic conclusion, which are known as two fundamental challenges in population ethics. (shrink)

To balance Kubovy & Epstein, I evaluate the relationship between Shepard and Gestalt theorists along three dimensions. First, both discover internal universals by reducing external support. Second, they share strengths and weaknesses of the minimum principle. Third, although their attitudes toward an evolutionary account of perception is superficially different, they are fundamentally similar with respect to the internalization process. [Kubovy & Epstein; Shepard].

Professor Kenneth J. Arrow is one of the most distinguished economic theorists. He has played a major role in shaping the subject and is honoured by the publication of three volumes of essays on economic theory. Each volume deals with a different area of economic theory. The books include contributions by some of the best economic theorists from the United Stated, Japan, Israel and Europe. This second volume is entitled Equilibrium Analysis and is divided into sections on general equilibrium and (...) on the microfoundations of macroeconomics. (shrink)

Deep neural networks (DNNs) have found many useful applications in recent years. Of particular interest have been those instances where their successes imitate human cognition and many consider artificial intelligences to offer a lens for understanding human intelligence. Here, we criticize the underlying conflation between the predictive and explanatory power of DNNs by examining the goals of modeling.

The »dynamic personalism« developed by Karol Wojtyla as a philosophical basis for Catholic sexual ethics attempts to integrate the experiential perspective of modern phenomenology and the traditional concept of nature. The article points out that the use of phenomenology in the service of a preconceived ontology neglects the epistemological problern and reduces human action to a process in which nature appears as a quasi causal agent. In a second step it focusses on the concept of person in the ecumenical discussion (...) of bioethics. (shrink)

Presently, there are two views of human history vying for our allegiance. The one is grounded in the Enlightenment and insists that history is a closed process whose course is determined by the dictum that “might makes right.” The other view is that of supernaturalism, which regards every event in history as a direct act of God. Challenging both of these views is the prophetic construal of history. This construal dares to identify extraordinary human events—the promise of Isaac to Abraham (...) and Sarah, the exodus, the pronouncements of Israel's great prophets, and the ministry of Jesus—as acts of God. Such extraordinary events have the power to free us to speak of God as enacting “newness” also in our time. (shrink)

The world was changing at a blistering speed in Bagehot's day. New scientific ideas were reshaping the world, and every field of human inquiry was affected by this new interest in giving a full explanation for the history of everything in existence. In this work, first published in 1872, Bagehot applies scientific ideas, like survival of the fittest, to the development of nations and government. He further discusses the effect of scientific and technological advancements, like the invention of stronger and (...) more deadly weapons, on politics. British journalist WALTER BAGEHOT (1826-1877) was an early editor of The Economist and was among the first economists to discuss the concept of the business cycle. He is also the author of The English Constitution (1873) and The Postulates of English Political Economy (1885). (shrink)

Das jüdische Eherecht ist eines der religiösen Rechtsfelder, die Rabbiner in ihrer Praxis am meisten beschäftigen. Im Staat Israel ist das jüdische Familienrecht bis heute für die Regelung von Eheschließung und Scheidung zwischen Juden relevant. Das Buch führt in das Jüdische Recht insgesamt und in seine Entwicklung in den verschiedenen Strömungen des Judentums ein. Es folgt ein Überblick über Brautwerbung, Verlobung, Details der Eheschließung wie Zeugenregeln und Festsetzung des Trautermins sowie Eheverbote. Dabei werden die Themen Jüdischer Status, Mischehe und Übertritt (...) zum Judentum ebenso behandelt wie die Entwicklung von der Polygamie zur Monogamie und die Leviratsehe. Welche besonderen Regeln gelten für Angehörige der Priesterkaste? Was beinhaltet der Ehevertrag, die Ketubba? Warum wird bei der Trauung ein Glas zerbrochen, was hat es mit dem Ehering auf sich und mit den Segensprüchen während der Eheschließung? Welche ehelichen Pflichten bestehen nach erfolgter Eheschließung, und können gleichgeschlechtliche Paare heiraten? Auch die Auflösung der Ehe durch Scheidung wird eingehend behandelt, Abfassung und Wortlaut des Scheidebriefes sowie die rechtlichen Folgen einer Scheidung werden erläutert. Das Buch richtet sich insbesondere an Rabbiner in der Gemeindepraxis, an Experten des kanonischen und kirchlichen Rechts und an Juristen, die sich mit vergleichendem Familienrecht beschäftigen. Auch Theologen und Judaisten lesen das Buch mit Gewinn. (shrink)

The starting point for this paper is the ongoing debate about the relation between research and policy in education. Recent developments in England and Scotland are reviewed in the context of political and academic arguments about the nature and function of research activity. The defensiveness of the research community in the face of professional and political attacks is examined critically. A case study of the Higher Still programme is used to illustrate the complexity of the relationships between evidence, ideology, values (...) and professional practice. It is argued that the research community needs to become more politically sophisticated and to advance a clearer vision of its social function in advanced democratic societies if its potential contribution to educational development is to be realised. The dangers of a retreat to a narrow empirical role are highlighted. (shrink)

Wherever I Go the Ministry Follows is an answer to a vision given to Matthew Webster at the young age of fifteen. The book took six years to complete and is a testimony of how God can use the most ordinary people to accomplish extraordinary things through Jesus Christ. It is Matt's prayer that you will be inspired, convicted, and prompted by the Holy Spirit to answer the calling from God to be and act as a chosen generation, a royal (...) priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of Him who hath called you out of darkness into His marvelous light 1 Peter 2:9. The goal of Wherever I Go the Ministry Follows is for you the reader to meditate individually on each chapter and how it relates to surrendering yourself totally to God. This book is short because it is intended to be read slowly and read over and over again. It is an ideal book for a ten or eleven week Bible study. As you read each chapter you are faced with the question, am I taking the gospel everywhere I go? You are challenged to move towards a holy and a righteous lifestyle, to effectively reflect the image of Christ. The amazing thing about Wherever I Go the Ministry Follows is that as you read it you can see how each chapter is intricately woven together to give us the whole picture of what God expects from His people and what God is trying to mold each one of us into. Wherever I Go the Ministry Follows does not shy away from answering the tough questions we face in life like; What is God's will for my life? Is healing for everyone and if so then why am I not healed? Instead of dancing around the issues this book tackles the issues head on. This book is a great book for non-believers, new Christians, and mature Christians alike, because it has something unique to offer each person and it has challenges for all walks with the Lord or for those who currently are not in a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. (shrink)