Translated from Arabic, the novels June Rain by Jabbour Douaihy and Dear Mister Kawabata by Rachid El-Daïf constitute a written testimony that allows us to discover the cultural heritage of the Lebanese village Zgharta. The novel of Douaihy is inspired from a historical fact, the massacre of Miziara which has happened in a church. The heroic abaday myth glorified and dethroned at the same time emerges in an authentic context in Juin Rain. However, Douaihy represents a positive divine figure which (...) incarnates the revolt against violence in a holy space. This heroic world is devalorized by the exogenous westernized vision. In fact, El-Daïf denounces violence that he associates to ignorance, rejection of modernization that he links to the resistance of a divine figure in the collective conscience of the villagers. (shrink)

Why is the number seven lucky--even holy--in almost every culture? Why do we speak of the four corners of the earth? Why do cats have nine lives? From literature to folklore to private superstitions, numbers play a conspicuous role in our daily lives. But in this fascinating book, Annemarie Schimmel shows that numbers have been filled with mystery and meaning since the earliest times, and across every society. In The Mystery of Numbers Annemarie Schimmel conducts an illuminating tour of (...) the mysteries attributed to numbers over the centuries. She begins with an informative and often surprising introduction to the origins of number systems: pre-Roman Europeans, for example, may have had one based on twenty, not ten, while the Mayans had a system more sophisticated than our own. Schimmel also reveals how our fascination with numbers has led to a rich cross-fertilization of mathematical knowledge: "Arabic" numerals, for instance, were picked up by Europe from the Arabs, who had earlier adopted them from Indian sources. But the heart of the book is an engrossing guide to the symbolism of numbers. Number symbolism, she shows, has deep roots in Western culture, from the philosophy of the Pythagoreans and Platonists, to the religious mysticism of the Cabala and the Islamic Brethren of Purity, to Kepler's belief that the laws of planetary motion should be mathematically elegant, to the unlucky thirteen. After exploring the sources of number symbolism, Schimmel examines individual numbers ranging from one to ten thousand, discussing the meanings they have had for Judaic, Christian, and Islamic traditions, with examples from Indian, Chinese, and Native American cultures as well. Two, for instance, has widely been seen as a number of contradiction and polarity, a number of discord and antithesis. And six, according to ancient and neo-platonic thinking, is the most perfect number because it is both the sum and the product of its parts. Using examples ranging from the Bible to the Mayans to Shakespeare, she shows how numbers have been considered feminine and masculine, holy and evil, lucky and unlucky. A highly respected scholar of Islamic culture, Annemarie Schimmel draws on her vast knowledge to paint a rich, cross-cultural portrait of the many meanings of numbers. Engaging and accessible, her account uncovers the roots of a phenomenon we all feel every Friday the thirteenth. (shrink)

This study is defined within the context of the critical posthuman project of decentring humanist subjectivity. We argue that because agential realism, and the agency and performativity that go with it, do not enable non-human matter to be accountable, only human matter, in its intra-active becoming with non-human matter, can support an ethical project. Secondly, we map our understanding of Barad’s agential realism, explaining the importance of agential cuts in phenomena-in-their-becoming that are the world worlding itself, and evaluate ethics, agency, (...) and performativity in this material-discursive framework. Thirdly, understanding the material-discursive to underpin storied matter, we engage it via some clarification of narrative, and narrative agency. We conclude that much organic or inorganic nature as non-human matter is directional and responsive, so alive and generative and, in this sense, capable of worlding itself. However, it does not tell its own stories in the process. (shrink)

Study of Islamic philosophy of Yaḥyá ibn Ḥabash Suhrawardī, 1152 or 1153-1191.

Nietzsche, Friedrich Wilhelm, 1844-1900--Criticism and interpretation. ; Nietzsche, Friedrich Wilhelm, 1844-1900--Views on ethics.

(1996). The Conradian inheritance in the African novel. The European Legacy: Vol. 1, Fourth International Conference of the International Society for the study of European Ideas, pp. 101-108.

Objective: To describe the professional values of the nurse lectures according to 241 nursing students, who participated voluntarily, in three different universities of Bogotá. Methodology: This is a quantitative, descriptive cross-sectional study that applied the Nurses Professional Values Scale—permission secured—Spanish; three dimensions of values were applied: ethics, commitment, and professional knowledge. Ethical consideration: Project had ethical review and approval from an ethics committee and participants were given information sheets to read before they agreed to participate in the project. Findings: It (...) was concluded that nursing students, in general, do perceive these values in their professors, and they give priority to the dimension of ethics, followed by the knowledge dimension, and finally, commitment. Discussion: It is evident that professional values are transmitted by professors and students place importance to such values. Values related to the other’s care are paramount in nursing training in Colombia as well as in other countries. Conclusion: It was found that participating students observed professors directly in relation to values focused on direct patient care, respect for privacy, respect for life, while matters related to professional improvement, participation in unions were not actually analyzed may be due to poor promotion activities and unions during undergraduate studies. The results obtained are primary approach to the study of values related to nursing, a topic which needs to be researched, something vital to all the country offering nursing training programs. (shrink)

In recent years, preimplantation genetic testing (PGT) of IVF embryos have gained much traction in clinical assisted reproduction for preventing various genetic defects, including Down syndrome. However, such genetic tests inevitably reveal the sex of IVF embryos by identifying the sex (X and Y) chromosomes. In many countries with less stringent IVF regulations, information on the sex of embryos that are tested to be genetically normal is readily shared with patients. This would thus present Muslim patients with unintended opportunities for (...) sex selection based on personal or social biases without any pressing need or valid medical reason. Additionally, there are other patients who claim using PGT for preventing genetic defects as a pretext or “convenient excuse,” with a secret intention to do sex selection when it is banned in their home country. Currently, non-medical sex selection is a highly-controversial and hotly debated issue in Islam, because there is generally a strong preference for having sons over daughters due to widespread cultural norms of elderly parents depending on their sons for financial support, as well as the need for male heirs to continue the family lineage within the backdrop of local patriarchal cultures. There is a risk of gender imbalance and social disequilibrium occurring in Islamic societies due to prevalent sex selection. Hence, the question is whether opportunistic sex selection with PGT would contravene Islamic ethics and principles, which will thus be discussed here. (shrink)

(1996). The Conradian inheritance in the African novel. The European Legacy: Vol. 1, Fourth International Conference of the International Society for the study of European Ideas, pp. 101-108.

The folklore studies scholar, such as Dorson (1976, Folklore and fakelore: Essays toward the discipline of folk studies, Harvard: Harvard University Press), was emphatic about the distinction between folklore and ‘fake lore’, one being authentic and the other as invented by the popular industry; however, he paradoxically maintained interest in the contemporariness of folklore. This was a paradox since the contemporariness of folklore is largely, and usually, due to intersections of folk with popular and political. (...) Nevertheless, the emphasis on contemporariness was a harbinger of discussion on the potential dynamics of folklore, and everything buried therein, including value orientation. This essay is guided by the observations emerging from folklore studies, socio-cultural anthropology and performance studies in order to get into a specific case of Bihu, a folk performance inclusive of songs, dance, attires and instruments inter alia in Assam, in the northeast of India. The curious case of Bihu in flux divulges dynamics of value orientation and intersections of identity politics, in the wake of the contemporariness of folklore. (shrink)

Taking a set of central issues from ancient Greek medicine and biology, this book studies firstly, the interaction between scientific theorising and folklore or popular assumptions; secondly, the ideological character of scientific inquiry. Topics of interest in the philosphy and sociology of science illuminated here include the relationship between primitive thought and early science, the roles of the consensus on the scientific community, tradition and the authority of the written text, in the development of science.

This monograph explores the logical systems of early logicians in the Arabic tradition from a theoretical perspective, providing a complete panorama of early Arabic logic and centering it within an expansive historical context. By thoroughly examining the writings of the first Arabic logicians, al-Fārābī, Avicenna and Averroes, the author analyzes their respective theories, discusses their relationship to the syllogistics of Aristotle and his followers, and measures their influence on later logical systems. Beginning with an introduction to the writings of the (...) most prominent Arabic logicians, the author scrutinizes these works to determine their categorical logic, as well as their modal and hypothetical logics. Where most other studies written on this subject focus on the Arabic logicians’ epistemology, metaphysics, and theology, this volume takes a unique approach by focusing on the actual technical aspects and features of their logics. The author then moves on to examine the original texts as closely as possible and employs the symbolism of modern propositional, predicate, and modal logics, rendering the arguments of each logician clearly and precisely while clarifying the theories themselves in order to determine the differences between the Arabic logicians’ systems and those of Aristotle. By providing a detailed examination of theories that are still not very well-known in Western countries, the author is able to assess the improvements that can be found in the Arabic writings, and to situate Arabic logic within the breadth of the history of logic. This unique study will appeal mainly to historians of logic, logicians, and philosophers who seek a better understanding of the Arabic tradition. It also will be of interest to modern logicians who wish to delve into the historical aspects and progression of their discipline. Furthermore, this book will serve as a valuable resource for graduate students who wish to complement their general knowledge of Arabic culture, logic, and sciences. (shrink)

A distinguished wise man, Emil Cioran, with whom I share a country of birth and the thought that follows, said once that the two most interesting things in life are gossip and metaphysics. I can hardly think of a more self evident and enjoyable truth, if wisely construed. This volume combines the two pleasures, for it is an exercise in the metaphysics of wise gossip, of how we make sense of each other, and how, as a result we interpret, explain, (...) rationalize and evaluate our representations and actions. The body of wisdom which allows us to do all this is currently currently called folk or common sense psychology. I will also call it psychofolklore or the folklore of the mind. (shrink)

Nadia Anghelescu, Identitatea arabă: istorie, limbă, cultură. (Arab Identity: History, Language, Culture) Iaşi: Polirom, 2009, 442 p.

Este artículo contiene la edición y traducción al castellano de cinco cartas conservadas en el Archivo nacional de la Torre do Tombo (Portugal). Estos documentos datan de la primera mitad del siglo XVI y forman parte de la correspondencia procedente de las plazas portuguesas en el Norte de África. Desde un punto de vista lingüístico, las cartas se caracterizan por estar escritas en árabe medio, una variedad de lengua que presenta importantes divergencias gramaticales con respecto a la norma del árabe (...) clásico y en la cual se combinan elementos dialectales y otros del árabe estándar. (shrink)

Medieval Arabic algebra is a good example of an artificial language.Yet despite its abstract, formal structure, its utility was restricted to problem solving. Geometry was the branch of mathematics used for expressing theories. While algebra was an art concerned with finding specific unknown numbers, geometry dealtwith generalmagnitudes.Algebra did possess the generosity needed to raise it to a more theoretical level—in the ninth century Abū Kāmil reinterpreted the algebraic unknown “thing” to prove a general result. But mathematicians had no motive to (...) rework their theories in algebraic form. Because it offered no advantage over geometry, algebra remained a practical art in both the Islamic world and in Europe until the scientific uphevals of the 17th–18th centuries. (shrink)

En el presente artículo analizamos el motivo de «los reyes de Etiopía y Nubia» en una de las familias textuales del Apocalipsis árabe del Pseudo Atanasio. El propósito de este trabajo es demostrar, mediante el análisis de los elementos que conforman el motivo, cómo los autores de obras apocalípticas trabajaron sobre la base de un material en buena medida estandarizado, al que denominamos testimonia, del que se sirvió cada autor en función de circunstancias varias. Esta labor plasmada en los textos (...) apocalípticos fue generada y desarrollada en el seno de una tradición textual y literaria en la que el recurso a la intertextualidad actuó como un mecanismo estructural determinante en la configuración, modelización y pervivencia de este género literario con el paso de los siglos entre las varias comunidades cristianas orientales. (shrink)

Arabic literacy skills are essential for Muslim learners to comprehend religious texts; however, when trying to improve these skills, students face numerous obstacles that require immediate attention. This study aims to develop and evaluate an Arabic learning model designed to enhance the capability of students in Indonesian boarding schools to read religious books. The research follows a three-stage approach: introductory study, model development, and model validation. The study takes place in Al-Jawami and Al-Falah boarding schools in West Java Province, Indonesia. (...) These schools were selected due to the emphasis they place on the Arabic reading skills needed for comprehending religious scriptures. The research employs the research and development (R&D) method, involving 80 students. A three-time experimental test compared the learning outcomes of students in the experiment group (EG) using the new model with those in the control group (CG) using the existing model. Data analysis utilized both qualitative and quantitative approaches, employing t-test statistics. Results indicated significantly higher effectiveness in the treatment group, demonstrating that the Arabic learning model utilized in this study effectively enhances the reading capacity of students. Additionally, student perspectives on the developed model were sought, revealing a highly positive response. The majority of students expressed satisfaction with the model's impact on their reading skills and demonstrated enthusiasm for self-directed Arabic learning. Overall, the research contributes valuable insights into effective Arabic language education strategies, with the developed model proving to be a successful approach in enhancing students' reading proficiency in religious texts. (shrink)

The article characterizes post-folklore as a cultural phenomenon of the network society and defines various aspects of its functioning − sociocommunicative, cultural and psychological. The research methodology consisted of a set of basic approaches, principles and methods of scientific research. To achieve the goal, a set of general scientific and special methods was used, including the methods of logical analysis, problemchronological, generalization, synthesis, induction, and analogy.Research results. It has been proven that post-folkloric creativity is important for the development of (...) social communications, as it promotes the exchange of information between users of social networks, conveys people’s knowledge, moods, feelings, and emotions. In the cultural aspect, the works of post-folklore appear as cultural heritage of modern urbanized society and are represented by various types and genres. From the point of view of psychology, post-folklore has an impact on individual and social consciousness, on the development of cognitive processes, etc. The emergence of post-folklore in the field of education is separately mentioned, which indicates its important importance for the formation of the worldview of school youth.Conclusions. Today post-folklore is the subject of scientific research as a phenomenon of mass culture and network society, as a means of social communication, as a phenomenon that has an impact on public and individual consciousness and is gradually being established in the field of education. In the era of accelerated development of information and communication technologies, everyone has the opportunity to become a collector or author of post-folkloric creativity. Further research is planned to be carried out in the direction of studying the prospects for the development of post-folklore in Ukrainian and foreign cultures. (shrink)

We present a formal Arabic wordnet built on the basis of a carefully designed ontology hereby referred to as the Arabic Ontology. The ontology provides a formal representation of the concepts that the Arabic terms convey, and its content was built with ontological analysis in mind, and benchmarked to scientific advances and rigorous knowledge sources as much as this is possible, rather than to only speakers’ beliefs as lexicons typically are. A comprehensive evaluation was conducted thereby demonstrating that the current (...) version of the top-levels of the ontology can top the majority of the Arabic meanings. The ontology consists currently of about 1,800 well-investigated concepts in addition to 16,000 concepts that are partially validated. The ontology is accessible and searchable through a lexicographic search engine that also includes about 150 Arabic-multilingual lexicons, and which are being mapped and enriched using the ontology. The ontology is fully mapped with Princeton WordNet, Wikidata, and other resources. (shrink)

Games, festivals, folklore, a derivation of them, and artistic expression are manifestations of symbolic invention. To compare them is to bring out the differences in the order of the symbolic production and have, as a consequence, a differentiated perception of the way they function. It is also to put them into a perspective of filial relationship. In fact, a genealogy appears with the processes that regulate the passage from one to the other of these means of expression. Through the (...) successive dissipation of structural stabilizations that are in turn play, festival and folklore, a generative order of complexity is established of which art, with its dynamics open to all expressive invention, is the end result. Finally, it is to discover at the end of the process the literary text, conceived as a work of art, surrounded by expression and preceded by it, appearing from then on according to one of the precepts of the theory of the text, as a production “of society and history” and as issuing from the social phenomenon in its entirety. “I am not only undertaking a study of a sociology of games,” wrote Roger Caillois. “My idea is to lay the foundations for a sociology beginning with games.” We would say of a sociology in which we would be permitted to glimpse the achievement of the task of explaining the entire social phenomenon itself. (shrink)

El autor discurre sobre la historia y esencia del arte, y su relación con las demás manifestaciones del saber humano.

The government of the State of Ohio determined to design several mandatory programs in regular classes to help NRC’s female in mates to prepare themselves upon their release back to the community; one of the programs is Islamic teaching. It is a chance to insert and implement the innovated peaceful Islamic propagation beside the conventional one, especially in western countries like the United States of America. The chance for an innovated dakwah is open upon observing that a lot of non- (...) Muslimah in mates were curious about Islam in an inter-religious meeting. The Arabic script classis not a part of mandatory NRC programs, it is voluntary for non- Muslimin mates designed and implemented by the author. They learn to write and pronounce the Arabic alphabet from “alif’ to ‘ya’ within six weeks. This free class is to support the government programs in order to reduce recidivism among in mates, and upon completing this class they are encouraged to attending the Islamic teaching class. This paper is qualitative research using a sociology approach. The data collection for this research is using participative observation, voluntary interview, and documentation; the collected data were analyzed in the descriptive-qualitative method. The effectiveness and efficacy of the research should be measured in a quantity of non- Muslimah in mates who gradually and peacefully convert to become Muslimah after attending the Arabic script class. The benchmark of effectiveness should be affirmed in mathematic formula i.e. the effectiveness is equal to the number of Muslimah converts divided by the total participant time 100; it is x 100 = 33.33%. Among 9 non- Muslimah participants of free Arabic script class,3 of them converted to be Muslimah. (shrink)

Se aborda en este trabajo el estudio de un precioso manuscrito de la Biblioteca Nacional de París, el n.º 2849 de los fondos árabes. Se trata de un manuscrito de origen andalusí que contiene la traducción al árabe de la Materia Medica de Dioscórides, escrito en Siria a principios del siglo XIII, cuyos márgenes están repletos de glosas de naturaleza sinonímica, relativas a los nombres griegos que reciben las plantas descritas por la farmacología griega. Estas glosas son de orígen andalusí, (...) y ofrecen una gran riqueza terminológica que se inscribe en un amplio movimiento árabe, y más concretamente andalusí, de revisión y comentario de la traducción árabe de la Materia Medica. En la primera parte de este estudio se ofrece una presentación general del manuscrito, mostrando su valor para una reedición crítica de la obra, de las glosas que contiene y particularmente de las glosas botánicas andalusíes, insistiendo en su valor sinonímico y su contribución terminológica. En la segunda parte, el autor propone una edición crítica anotada de 44 glosas extraídas de la primera maqāla de la obra. (shrink)

Los objetivos principales de este trabajo son, por una parte, plantear una propuesta metodológica para el estudio del cambio lingüístico en árabe clásico y, por otra, explorar las particularidades de los procesos de gramaticalización y el cambio lingüístico en esta lengua semítica. Para ello, hemos analizado los procesos de cambio y gramaticalización experimentados por la partícula ḥattā (‘hasta’, ‘incluso’) en árabe clásico desde el siglo VII hasta el XX. Se han analizado 731 ejemplos de ḥattā extraídos de uno de los (...) más completos corpus históricos del árabe, el HADC, todavía inédito. El estudio ha tenido en cuenta 30 variables diferentes que se han recogido en fichas recopiladas en una base de datos relacional. Los resultados se han organizado en un esquema conceptual que presenta la vinculación semántica de cada uno de los cinco valores de ḥattā así como las trayectorias evolutivas de esta partícula en árabe clásico. Las conclusiones más relevantes son que, por descontado, sí hay cambio lingüístico en árabe clásico, si bien sus trayectorias evolutivas se ven constreñidas tanto por la presión de la norma coránica como por su naturaleza de lengua esencialmente escrita. Los resultados también revelan que existe una marcada estratificación, persistencia y divergencia en los procesos y apuntan, a su vez, la relevancia de incluir variables como el origen del autor o los tipos de texto cuando se analiza el cambio lingüístico. (shrink)

Se aborda en este trabajo el estudio de un precioso manuscrito de la Biblioteca Nacional de París, el n.º 2849 de los fondos árabes. Se trata de un manuscrito de origen andalusí que contiene la traducción al árabe de la Materia Medica de Dioscórides, escrito en Siria a principios del siglo XIII, cuyos márgenes están repletos de glosas de naturaleza sinonímica, relativas a los nombres griegos que reciben las plantas descritas por la farmacología griega. Estas glosas son de orígen andalusí, (...) y ofrecen una gran riqueza terminológica que se inscribe en un amplio movimiento árabe, y más concretamente andalusí, de revisión y comentario de la traducción árabe de la Materia Medica. En la primera parte de este estudio se ofrece una presentación general del manuscrito, mostrando su valor para una reedición crítica de la obra, de las glosas que contiene y particularmente de las glosas botánicas andalusíes, insistiendo en su valor sinonímico y su contribución terminológica. En la segunda parte, el autor propone una edición crítica anotada de 44 glosas extraídas de la primera maqala de la obra. (shrink)

Within the professional practice of psychology the code of ethics characterizes what is morally right or wrong, by means of a set of principles, values, and standards of conduct. While there are numerous international mental health organizations that incorporate ethical guidelines such as the APA and EFPA; these codes still fall short in providing guidelines for psychologists working in non-western cultures, especially when there are no universally adopted and valid cross-cultural ethics codes. This paper explores various challenges psychologists in the (...) Arab region face when using a western code which does not reflect the values and traditions of their culture. A comparison of several ethical codes from different Arab countries is presented, with a focus on challenging areas of interest such as confidentiality, informed consent and multiple relationships. (shrink)

Neste estudo, procura-se mostrar, através de um autor cristão do século 10, como comentários às obras de Aristóteles foram continuamente feitos, desde os gregos até Averróis. Por meio de alguns textos da Metafísica, é possível perceber que, mesmo sem ter contato direto com o original grego, foram cotejadas pelo autor diversas traduções, tanto do grego como do siríaco. Nesses casos, tratava-se, não apenas de tradução, mas também de comentário ao texto de Aristóteles. PALAVRAS-CHAVE – Aristóteles. Metafísica. Filosofia islâmica. Traduções para (...) o árabe. Comentários. (shrink)

Popular Traditions, Folklore and Politics The article studies how the "language" of folk traditions and folklore continues to be a tried-and-tested means for the representation and propagation of political concepts and ideas. The author notes transformations in the significance of folklore and folk traditions in historically changing both political and socio-cultural contexts. Attention is drawn to the significance of folklore in the nation-forming thinking of the 19th century, the place of honour accorded to it as an (...) expression of the working people during the period of socialism, and its contradictory perception in the post-socialist context today. (shrink)

This scholarly discussion on the inextricable links between Arabic and Western philosophy features six eminent experts in the field.

This article explores how Paul Féval’s work integrates and transforms Breton legends and popular beliefs to shape a distinctive imaginary novel. Féval, born in Rennes in 1816, was influenced by the oral traditions of his native region. He drew on this rich cultural heritage to create works combining fantasy, the marvellous and romanticism, such as La Femme blanche des marais, Les Belles-de-nuit and La Fée des Grèves. These stories illustrate a hybrid between elements of authentic folklore and literary reinterpretations (...) influenced by European Romanticism. Féval is particularly interested in legendary female figures linked to water and the Other World, such as the White Woman of the Marshes, a spectre protecting the Malestroit family, and the Belles-de-nuit, ghosts mourning their tragic fate. These characters do more than simply enrich the poetic background: they play an active part in the plot and crystallise the introduction of the modern marvellous, where the supernatural emerges in a realistic setting, provoking fascination and turmoil. The novelist also explores the figure of the fairy, as in La Fée des Grèves, where this romantic aquatic creature, both protective and ambiguous, crosses symbolic thresholds between life and death, land and sea. The fairy, often associated with natural forces and sometimes Christianised, reflects the Breton imagination in constant transformation. This article also highlights the way in which Féval uses legends to meet the expectations of a wider audience, eager for a marvellous story that is accessible and rooted in geographical and historical reality. This process includes adapting traditional stories to make them compatible with the serial novel, a genre that values intrigue and mystery. Finally, this article highlights the ideological function of these stories: to re-enchant a modern world perceived as disenchanted by industrialisation and the rise of materialism. The reworked legends thus become a narrative and poetic tool enabling Féval to celebrate a past imbued with spirituality and mystery, while at the same time criticising a society in the throes of change. (shrink)

Au vu de l’éclosion soudaine de ce « printemps arabe » qui a essaimé de pays en pays, cet article montre comment, à l’ère de la transparence et de la simultanéité, les moyens d’information et de communication ont créé un champ d’action propice au soulèvement contre les dictatures. Mais, si les réseaux sociaux numériques – Facebook en particulier –, les SMS, et les e-mails, ont donné aux citoyens les moyens de leur révolution, il est aussi question d’imagination constituante. En (...) effet, les chaînes d’information en continu du monde arabe – Al Jazeera principalement –, ont alimenté un imaginaire révolutionnaire à coup d’images télévisuelles, et surtout de discours informationnel « ami », souvent protecteur, qui a en même temps insufflé des idées et du courage à des peuples arabes endormis depuis des décennies, qui soudain croient en une révolution possible et passent à l’action.This article shows how, in the sudden “Arab Awakening” and its domino effect as it spread from country to country, means of information and communication in an age of transparency and simultaneity opened up a sphere for action that could potentially trigger an uprising against dictatorship. But although the social networking sites – especially Facebook –, text messaging and emails gave citizens the means to revolt, there is also the question of the imagination that created that terrain. The 24-hour news channels in the Arab world, especially Al Jazeera, nourished the revolutionary imagination with telegenic images and especially a “ friendly” and often protective informational discourse that, in parallel, inspired people with courage and ideas after decades of slumber, galvanising them into action. (shrink)

The logical rule of contraposition as applied to a particular affirmative proposition (I-contraposition), despite its rejection in the medieval Latin logic, had a different history in the medieval Arabic logic, varying from common acknowledgement to total dismissal (it was accepted by Avicenna and by all of his followers in the eleventh and twelfth centuries and rejected by all of Arabic logicians in the late thirteenth century onwards). This paper is a narrative of the fate of I-contraposition in the early Arabic (...) logic. I will study Avicenna’s, al-Suhrawardī’s, al-Rāzī’s, al-Kashshī’s, and al-Khūnajī’s views on this rule. Although Avicenna explicitly acknowledged I-contraposition in a brief note, and in an apparently Meinongian language, the other four figures found I-contraposition problematic and listed some counterexamples to it. Nonetheless, they all attempted to justify Avicenna’s acceptance of the rule by restricting its application conditions. These efforts led to interesting syntactic and semantic analyses but gathered little attention from later medieval logicians. Finally, in the middle Arabic logic, the revised versions of I-contraposition were also declared invalid. (shrink)

Le fr. 2 de Boéthos de Sidon est transmis par deux commentateurs alexandrins des Catégories d'Aristote. En voici le texte grec:[2a] Ioannes Philoponus, In Aristotelis Categorias commentarium, 5.15-20Τρίτον ἦν ἐφεξῆς κεφάλαιον τὸ πόθεν δεῖ ἄρχεσθαι τῶν Ἀριστοτελι-[16]κῶν συγγραμμάτων. Βόηθος μὲν οὖν φησιν ὁ Σιδώνιος δεῖν ἀπὸ τῆς [17] φυσικῆς ἄρχεσθαι πραγματείας ἅτε ἡμῖν συνηθεστέρας καὶ γνωρίμου, δεῖν [18] δὲ ἀεὶ ἀπὸ τῶν σαφεστέρων ἄρχεσθαι καὶ γνωρίμων. ὁ δὲ τούτου δι-[19]δάσκαλος Ἀνδρόνικος ὁ Ῥόδιος ἀκριβέστερον ἐξετάζων ἔλεγε χρῆναι πρό-[20]τερον ἀπὸ τῆς λογικῆς (...) ἄρχεσθαι, ἥτις περὶ τὴν ἀπόδειξιν καταγίνεται. (shrink)