Apocalypticism as Radical Realism? On the Dangers and Benefits of Wishful Thinking in Prefigurative Politics

2021 ◽  
pp. 003232172110184
Author(s):  
Ben Cross
Keyword(s):  
The Other ◽  
Wishful Thinking ◽  
Pivotal Role ◽  
Bernard Williams ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
Mutual Interest ◽  
Potential Benefits ◽  
Prefigurative Politics ◽  
Political Question

In this article, I aim to bring apocalypticism and radical realism into conversation, with a view to their mutual interest in prefigurative politics. On one hand, radical realists may worry that an apocalyptic approach to prefigurative politics may be marred by wishful thinking. On the other hand, radical realists can (and sometimes do) acknowledge that wishful thinking is sometimes desirable. I argue that an apocalyptic approach to prefigurative politics suggests one way of guarding against the dangers of wishful thinking, while allowing space for its potential benefits; prefigurativists have reason to pay at least some attention to what Bernard Williams calls ‘The First Political Question’. I will argue for this claim with reference to the case of Omar Aziz, a Syrian activist who played a pivotal role in the construction of local councils in the aftermath of the 2011 protests.

scholarly journals The principle of vulnerability and its potential applications in bioethics

2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 181-186
Author(s):  
Enikő Demény
Keyword(s):  
The Other ◽  
Ethical Action ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
Potential Applications ◽  
Potential Benefits ◽  
The One ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
European Bioethics

Abstract The principle of vulnerability is a specific principle within European Bioethics. On the one hand, vulnerability expresses human limits and frailty on the other hand it represents moral and ethical action principles. In this paper a discussion on the relationship between the concepts of autonomy, vulnerability and responsibility is proposed and presentation of some possible applications of the principle of vulnerability within bioethics. In conclusion, some potential benefits of applying the principle of vulnerability as well as possible difficulties in its application are highlighted.

scholarly journals Everything Changes… More or Less. Opinions about the Post-Pandemic World among Ethnic Hungarians from Transylvania (Romania)

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 57-76
Author(s):  
Laura Nistor ◽  
Orsolya Gergely ◽  
Ágnes Sántha ◽  
Balázs Telegdy
Keyword(s):  
Regression Analysis ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
The Other ◽  
Wishful Thinking ◽  
Convenience Sample ◽  
Independent Variables ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
The World ◽  
Materialistic Values

AbstractThe analysis presents some of the results of an online survey regarding the COVID-19 pandemic, which was undertaken among ethnic Hungarians from Transylvania. The survey was based on a convenience sample and was realized between 16 and 26 April 2020, so during a specific period of the lockdown. Among others, the questionnaire asked the respondents about the degree in which the post-pandemic world would change. The answers to the question show that nearly three quarters of the respondents think that the world will not change at all or it will suffer only minor changes. Those who are more prone towards seeing a totally or a majorly changed world are in a minority. We assume that this situation could reflect a wishful thinking in front of an uncertain context. The regression analysis showed that respondents’ opinion regarding the change can be only marginally predicted by the selected independent variables. Men, those holding materialistic values, are significantly less convinced that the world will suffer major/total changes. On the other hand, trust in several institutions raises the odds of formulating the opinion that the post-pandemic world will be considerably changed.

George the Chemist

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 48-59
Author(s):  
Sergei Talanker
Keyword(s):  
Research Program ◽  
The Other ◽  
Bernard Williams ◽  
Disaster Prevention ◽  
Ethical Codes ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
Professional Duty ◽  
The One ◽  
Senior Colleague

The present paper is an attempt to answer Bernard Williams' classical dilemma of George the chemist, who is asked by a senior colleague to partake in a CBW research program. Both George and the colleague oppose the research, and George is advised not to publicize his attitude for George to get the job instead of someone more eager. On the one hand, George does not want to be involved in the research, yet on the other hand, he does not want to allow it to be completed faster. The author views George's potential actions as sabotage and argues that since the existing ethical codes demand putting safety ahead of the pressures of the employers, sabotage should not be out of the question. CBW endangers entire communities, and thus secretly sabotaging its research amounts to disaster prevention and should be considered a professional duty by consequentialists and deontologists alike, even if it may involve deception and furthermore deception about deception.

Calculators in Elementary Schools

1979 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 18-21
Author(s):  
Grayson H. Wheatley ◽  
Richard J. Shumway ◽  
Terrence G. Coburn ◽  
Robert E. Reys ◽  
Harold L. Schoen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Elementary Schools ◽  
The Other ◽  
Mathematics Skills ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
Potential Benefits ◽  
Widespread Availability ◽  
The Impact

With the widespread availability of inexpensive calculators, educators and parents have expressed concern over the effects of calculator use on basic mathematics skills. They want to know the impact calculators will have on learning before they sanction the use of calculators in the classroom. On the other hand, proponents of calculators in schools cite increased motivation and better understanding as potential benefits of calculator use.

scholarly journals Aufsätze / Essays. Exegese als Kampfmittel in der Auseinandersetzung zwischen Heiden und Christen: Zum „Sündenbock“ von Lev 16 bei Julian und Kyrill von Alexandrien

2012 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Christoph Riedweg
Keyword(s):  
Late Antiquity ◽  
Literal Meaning ◽  
The Other ◽  
Pivotal Role ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
Imperial Period ◽  
The Right

ABSTRACTWithout exegesis no philosophy and no theology either: that’s how one could - somewhat pointedly - outline the intellectual situation in Late Antiquity. To read and interprete texts that were generally recognized and taken to be normative, had become constitutive for pagan as well as for Jewish-Christian thinking at the latest since Platonism had acquired its predominant position in the Imperial Period.In the controversy between pagans and Christians, too, the issue of the correct exegesis played a pivotal role. Whereas the right to adopt an “all-egorical” interpretation that transcends the literal meaning was claimed for one’s own tradition as a matter of course, it used on the other hand to be vigorously denied to the opponents.In this paper, Julian the Apostate’s and Cyril of Alexandria’s dealing with the Mosaic account of the “scapegoat” in Lev 16 shall be analysed as a particularly intricate and paradoxical example (The fact that Cyril harshly rejects not only Julian’s pagan interpretation but also a di-prosopic, typological interpretation, sheds some light on the role this biblical passage must have played in the christological controversies of the 5th century C.E.

scholarly journals Die uitwerking van emosionele toestand op die aanleer van visuele vaardighede

2014 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Caroline E. Mills ◽  
Nicoleen Coetzee ◽  
Evangeline Nortje ◽  
Michael Kleynhans ◽  
Ronél Ferreira ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Quantitative Research ◽  
The Other ◽  
Emotional States ◽  
Social Success ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
Visual Skills ◽  
Essential Components ◽  
Quasi Experimental ◽  
Potential Benefits ◽  
Sports Vision

The findings of the present study suggest that anxiety, to some extent, influences the learning of focusing, tracking and vergence. Curiosity, on the other hand, did not influence the learning of any of the visual skills under investigation in the present study. Good visual skills are essential components in achieving educational, economic and social success, and independence. A need has been identified to determine whether the visual skills of students can be improved through sports vision exercises, and whether the potential benefits derived from these sports vision exercises could be influenced by emotional states such as anxiety and curiosity. Since little research has been conducted on the relationship between the learning of visual skills and the presence of these two emotional states, one needs to determine the extent to which anxiety and curiosity affect the learning of visual skills. For the purposes of this study, a quantitative research methodology was used. A quasi-experimental approach was employed to collect data on visual skills and the effects of sports vision exercises on these visual skills. The sample consisted of second-year physiology students (n = 204) and included students of genders, various ethnicities, and ages ranging from 18 to 27 years of age. Anxiety and curiosity were measured by using the State-Trait Personality Inventory (STPI), whilst the visual skills of the participants were measured by using a battery of visual skills tests. The results proved that sports vision exercises can improve some visual skills. It should, however, be noted that anxiety levels must be controlled when administering this training. The findings of the present study suggest that anxiety, to some extent, negatively influences the learning of focusing, tracking and vergence. Curiosity on the other hand did not influence the learning of any of the visual skills under investigation in the present study.

scholarly journals Agglomeration, Institution, and Social Capital: Main Concepts and Methodologies

2021 ◽  
pp. 35-56
Author(s):  
Iwan J. Azis
Keyword(s):  
Social Capital ◽  
Collective Action ◽  
The Other ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
Potential Benefits ◽  
Survey Questionnaires

AbstractThe concepts and methodologies used to develop the survey questionnaires are discussed here. The dualism and inequality are not merely the results of policies but also the consequence of agglomeration forces and the interplay of policies and prevailing institution. On the other hand, potential benefits of the same forces could provide incentives for MSMEs to operate in clusters for collective action, the effectiveness of which depends crucially on the interplay of policies and social capital.

scholarly journals Kultura i gospodarka z perspektywy gospodarki doświadczeń

2019 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 75-93
Author(s):  
Jacek Schindler
Keyword(s):  
Human Subjects ◽  
Derived Categories ◽  
The Other ◽  
Pivotal Role ◽  
Academic Disciplines ◽  
Experience Economy ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
Cultural Processes

Culture and economy from the perspective of experience economyAs the humanities are increasingly turning to nature, things, posthumanism and the Anthropo­cene, fields considered typically as separate, or even contradictory, are being explored from perspec­tives that combine a number of different academic disciplines. However, there has been less interest in the territories stretching between culture and economy, let alone in approaching economic and cultural processes as closely interrelated. This is probably because humanistic turns have one thing in common: the rejection of anthropocentrism. On the other hand, it is difficult to consider culture and economy without acknowledging the pivotal role of agency, subjectification and resource avail­ability of human subjects. The ambition of the paper is to demonstrate that an approach that does this enables a new, different, more in-depth perspective on culture and economy.The author analyses a number of cases where humanities-derived categories are used to describe economic processes, as well as to address the process of creating products based on cultural resour­ces, eminently exemplified by experience economy.

Morality and Ignorance of Fact

Philosophy ◽  
1975 ◽  
Vol 50 (193) ◽  
pp. 283-293
Author(s):  
C. A. Davies
Keyword(s):  
Everyday Life ◽  
Good Deal ◽  
The Other ◽  
Wishful Thinking ◽  
Moral Criticism ◽  
Other Hand

A good deal of moral criticism employed in everyday life associates, in a variety of ways and in varying degrees of complexity, selfish behaviour and attitudes with a deficiency in what Dr Leavis calls ‘ethical sensibility’. A primitive ethical sensibility is a species of ignorance; it is to be unperceptive, muddled, superficial, undiscriminating and slipshod in one's understanding and appreciation of the nature and quality of one's own and other people's experience. It might involve, for example, being afflicted with sentimentalism; perceiving people through a distorting medium of stereotypes or impressionistically; being dominated by wishful thinking in the Freudian sense; holding beliefs on the basis of hearsay, authority, or because it suits one to hold them; being immersed in situations and relationships whose continued existence requires self-deception; having the sense of one's own worth be wholly dependent upon the opinions of others. A developed ethical sensibility, on the other hand, includes what Professor Peters and others believe to be among the defining characteristics of rationality—impartiality; a caring for clarity, evidence, relevance, consistency and sincerity; a willingness to question authorities, tradition and one's own motives; refusing to be tempted by the cosiness of easy certainties and the stock response. The content of such a sensibility will, of course, depend upon the context in which reason is employed, and attempts to describe the content must take the form of a detailed discussion of particular cases.

scholarly journals Examining Duffy’s Textual Space in “Water” and “Cold” through the Unnatural Ecopoetics Concept

2020 ◽  
Vol 28 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Zainab Abdulkadhim Mhana ◽  
Rosli Talif ◽  
Zainor Izat Zainal ◽  
Hardev Kaur Jujar Singh
Keyword(s):  
Contemporary Poetry ◽  
The Other ◽  
Pivotal Role ◽  
Literary Texts ◽  
English Poetry ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
Textual Space ◽  
New Directions ◽  
The World ◽  
Carol Ann Duffy

Unnatural ecopoetics presents new directions for poetry scholars. It is a theoretical lens that studies how texts use self-reflexive language and formal experimentation to create a textual space where material and nonmaterial environmental elements are uncovered. The term material stands for all physical objects and places, whether man-made or occurring naturally in the world. Nonmaterial, on the other hand, refers to the invisible emotional, historical, political, and personal elements that influence the speaker’s experience of space and the translation of it to the textual space of a poem. Post-modernist poet Carol Ann Duffy has played a pivotal role in contemporary English poetry. While many studies have dealt with her poetry, few have examined Duffy’s poetry in light of the unnatural ecopoetics concept. In this paper, the reader is invited to read within the textual space of Duffy’s “Water” and “Cold” (2011) through the lens of unnatural ecopoetics. This article argues that Duffy’s experience and memories of her mother’s last days configured nonmaterial elements fused with material elements of her environment. The findings of this study provide a new way of analysing contemporary poetry through ecopoetics reading by delving into literary texts and examining all the environmental elements and situations around a persona in a poem or the poet.

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