Voice and Sign in Pindar

Ramus ◽  
1990 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 109-129 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keith M. Dickson

We all secretly venerate the ideal of a language which in the last analysis would deliver us from language by delivering us to things.M. Merleau-Ponty,The Prose of the WorldIn a study published some years ago, J.-P. Vernant drew attention to the fundamental distinction Greek thought makes between spoken and all other modes of divination. It is a difference that reflects certain givens of ancient social and political structure, and that has its roots in the marked orientation of Greek society towards open discourse. What he has in mind as a paradigm of oral divination is the question-and-answer format of many ancient oracles. He argues that this provides far more direct and more ‘democratic’ access to the will of deity or the way of things than do styles of consultation dependent on interpretative schemes which, because of their indirect nature, are accessible only to a small and privileged group. The fine art of pyromancy, for instance, deploys a framework of transformational rules and techniques whose complexity removes the interpretation of ‘fire signs’ (empura sēmata) from the realm of ordinary skills and makes it instead the special province of a priestly caste, such as that of the Iamidai at Olympia.

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 597-627
Author(s):  
Muslim Hassan Mohammed ◽  
Zryan Hamza Aziz

Aflatun’s thoughts, as great Greek philosopher, are still counted as one of the best references in terms of political philosophy and are in practice in the world of politics. Aflatun owns a utopian state based on the foundation of justice and virtue. Aflatun’s state, ruled by philosopher-kings, is characterized by having particular thoughts about the system of education. Politics is vitally important within Aflatun’s philosophy. It is regarded as means of planning his utopian city. Aflatun believes that political systems can be classified, in accordance to their ruling type, into aristocracy, timocracy, oligarchy, democracy, monarchy and dictatorship. Among them, Aflatun believes that aristocracy is the best since it’s practiced by a philosopher-king.    Aflatun in his ideal state refers to metaphysics as an important basic of his utopian city.  Aflatun’s view is that the ideal state can only be cherished in the life of hereafter, though those in power may be able to find some sort of the ideal life in this world. The philosopher-kings, on the other hand, are able to practice such an ideal life in this world. In Aflatun’s view, any sort of change happening in the world from the perfection towards the imperfection and weakness. This is due to the unstable feature of the world that never stays constantly. Only God is characterized by stableness and mortality.    Aflatun thinks that ‘ethics’ is one of the practical fields of philosophy which shows the will of any human being that depends on performing the duty of individuals in the society to establish social justice. Aflatun states that education refers to the right preparation of human beings to suit the world of justice. He sees the education as the highest virtue. Aflatun repeats that all the social city-state classes have to get the proper education formed in certain phases based on the age of the citizens.


2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 79-88
Author(s):  
Ainul Fithriyah

The variety of thoughts about the optimal attainment of human self and the satisfaction of human life is what may have made Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1868) deny all worldly phenomena. He saw that the world was full of suffering. Humans, as the supreme product of the basic activities of the world, are in fact the most unfortunate creatures. Therefore, humans will be able to achieve happiness when they are able to kill passions and cravings. Studies on the optimal achievement of humans and the meaning of human life from the two figures above, are still important and beneficial to do. Because the concept of the ideal human being is a model and example for us that we can emulate or maybe we can make it happen if we feel fit and believe in the truth. But the question might arise, is it still relevant to study the thoughts of long-dead figures such as Ibn Arabi and Neitzsche? in the opinion of the author, the study of their thinking is still relevant. Because in their thoughts are contained eternal pearls, and because of the peculiarity of each thought. This is evident if we pay attention today, where the thoughts of the two figures are still the subject of study in various countries, both in the West and the East. The works that examine Nietzsche's thoughts about the Ubermensch man include the work of Chairul Arifin, entitled The will to power: Briedrich Nietzsche. This book discusses Nietzsche's views on human beings and his anti-theism. These two thoughts are then connected by the author of this book with Nietzsche's main thought, namely the will to power. And in one of its chapters, the book also examines the concept of Ubermensch Nietzsche. Another work that addresses Nietzsche and Nietzsche's main ideas, including Ubermensch in a separate chapter is Nietzsche by St Sunardi. Besides that, there are other books. Of the books mentioned above and others to the best of the author's knowledge, there has never been found a work that specifically compares Ibn Arabi's insan kamil concept and Nietzsche's Ubermensch concept.


2017 ◽  
Vol 225 (4) ◽  
pp. 324-335 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dimitrios Barkas ◽  
Xenia Chryssochoou

Abstract. This research took place just after the end of the protests following the killing of a 16-year-old boy by a policeman in Greece in December 2008. Participants (N = 224) were 16-year-olds in different schools in Attiki. Informed by the Politicized Collective Identity Model ( Simon & Klandermans, 2001 ), a questionnaire measuring grievances, adversarial attributions, emotions, vulnerability, identifications with students and activists, and questions about justice and Greek society in the future, as well as about youngsters’ participation in different actions, was completed. Four profiles of the participants emerged from a cluster analysis using representations of the conflict, emotions, and identifications with activists and students. These profiles differed on beliefs about the future of Greece, participants’ economic vulnerability, and forms of participation. Importantly, the clusters corresponded to students from schools of different socioeconomic areas. The results indicate that the way young people interpret the events and the context, their levels of identification, and the way they represent society are important factors of their political socialization that impacts on their forms of participation. Political socialization seems to be related to youngsters’ position in society which probably constitutes an important anchoring point of their interpretation of the world.


Author(s):  
Gerald Gaus

This book lays out a vision for how we should theorize about justice in a diverse society. It shows how free and equal people, faced with intractable struggles and irreconcilable conflicts, might share a common moral life shaped by a just framework. The book argues that if we are to take diversity seriously and if moral inquiry is sincere about shaping the world, then the pursuit of idealized and perfect theories of justice—essentially, the entire production of theories of justice that has dominated political philosophy for the past forty years—needs to change. Drawing on recent work in social science and philosophy, the book points to an important paradox: only those in a heterogeneous society—with its various religious, moral, and political perspectives—have a reasonable hope of understanding what an ideally just society would be like. However, due to its very nature, this world could never be collectively devoted to any single ideal. The book defends the moral constitution of this pluralistic, open society, where the very clash and disagreement of ideals spurs all to better understand what their personal ideals of justice happen to be. Presenting an original framework for how we should think about morality, this book rigorously analyzes a theory of ideal justice more suitable for contemporary times.


2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 133-153
Author(s):  
Toufan Aldian Syah

Banking industry has a very important role in economic development in a country. Indonesia, which is the largest Muslim country in the world, certainly has the prospect of the development of Sharia Banking Industry is very good in the future. However, the development of Sharia Bank has been slowing down in recent years and the profitability of sharia comercial banking is still below the ideal value. This study aims to determine the internal factors and external factors that affect the profitability of Sharia Bank in the year of January 2012 until August 2017. The variables used in this study are ROA, Inflation, NPF, and BOPO. The data used is aggregate data of all Sharia Commercial Banks recorded at Bank Indonesia. Measurement of Statistic Description, F-Test, T-Test, Correlation Coefficient, Coefficient of Determination and Multiple Linear Regression using IBM SPSS 21 software. The results showed that significant negative effect of BI rate, NPF and BOPO was found, while Inflation variable showed negative but not significant. Overall, the above variables affect the ROA of 87.7%, while 12.3% is likely to be influenced by other factors.


2020 ◽  
Vol 63 (10) ◽  
pp. 74-87
Author(s):  
Irina N. Sidorenko

 The author analyzes the conceptions of ontological nihilism in the works of S. Kierkegaard, F. Nietzsche, M. Heidegger, E. Jünger. On the basis of this analysis, violence is defined as a manifestation of nihilism, of the “will to nothingness” and hypertrophy of the self-will of man. The article demonstrates the importance of the problem of nihilism. The nihilistic thinking of modern man is expressed in the attitude toward a radical transformation of the world from the position of his “absolute” righteousness. The paradox of the current situation is that there is the reverse side of this transformative activity, when there is only the appearance of action and the dilution of responsibility. Confidence in the rightness of own views and beliefs increases the risk of the violent imposition of own vision of reality. Historical and philosophical reconstruction of the conceptions of nihilism allowed to reveal the following projects of its comprehension and resolution: (1) the project of “positing of values,” which consists in the transformation of the evaluation, which is understood as another perspective of positing values, leading to the affirmation of being; (2) the project of overcoming nihilism from the space of temporality, carried out through the resoluteness to accept the historicity of own existence; (3) the project of overcoming nihilism as the oblivion of being from the spatial perspective of the “line,” allowing to realize the “glimpse” of being. The author concludes that it is impossible to solve the problem of violence and its various forms of its manifestation without overcoming “ontological nihilism.” Significant role in solving the problem of ontological violence is assigned to philosophy as a critical and responsible form of thinking, which is capable to help a person to bear the burden of the world, to provide meanings and affirm being, as well as to unite people and resist the fundamentalist claims of exclusivity and rightness.


2018 ◽  
pp. 38-74
Author(s):  
Barry Rider

This article is focused on exploration not merely proposed developments in and refinements of the law and its administration, but the very significant role that financial intelligence can and should play in protecting our societies. It is the contention of the author that the intelligence community at large and in particular financial intelligence units have an important role to play in protecting our economies and ensuring confidence is maintained in our financial institutions and markets. In this article the author considers a number of issues pertinent to the advancement of integrity and in particular the interdiction of corruption to some degree from the perspective of Africa. The potential for Africa as a player in the world economy is enormous. So far, the ambiguous inheritance of rapacious empires and the turmoil of self-dealing elites in post-colonial times has successfully obscured and undermined this potential. Indeed, such has been the mismanagement, selfishness and importuning that many have grave doubts as to the ability of many states to achieve an ordered transition to what they could and should be. South Africa is perhaps the best example of a society that while avoiding the catastrophe that its recent past predicted, remains racked by corruption and mismanagement. That there is the will in many parts of the continent to further stability and security by addressing the cancer of corruption, the reality is that few have remained or been allowed to remain steadfast in their mission and all have been frustrated by political self-interest and lack of resources. The key might be education and inter-generational change as it has been in other parts of the world, but only an optimist would see this coming any time soon – there is too much vested interest inside and outside Africa in keeping things much as they are! The author focuses not so much on attempting to perfect the letter of the law, but rather on improving the ways in which we administer it.


2020 ◽  
pp. 204-227
Author(s):  
Milana Živanović ◽  

The paper deals with the actions undertaken by the Russian emigration aimed to commemorate the Russian soldiers who have been killed or died during the World War I in the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes / Kingdom of Yugoslavia. The focus is on the erection of the memorials dedicated to the Russian soldiers. During the World War I the Russian soldiers and war prisoners were buried on the military plots in the local cemeteries or on the locations of their death. However, over the years the conditions of their graves have declined. That fact along with the will to honorably mark the locations of their burial places have become a catalyst for the actions undertaken by the Russian émigré, which have begun to arrive in the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (Kingdom of SCS) starting from the 1919. Almost at once after their arrival to the Kingdom of SCS, the Russian refugees conducted the actions aimed at improving the conditions of the graves were in and at erecting memorials. Russian architects designed the monuments. As a result, several monuments were erected in the country, including one in the capital.


Author(s):  
Hallie M. Franks

In the Greek Classical period, the symposium—the social gathering at which male citizens gathered to drink wine and engage in conversation—was held in a room called the andron. From couches set up around the perimeter of the andron, symposiasts looked inward to the room’s center, which often was decorated with a pebble mosaic floor. These mosaics provided visual treats for the guests, presenting them with images of mythological scenes, exotic flora, dangerous beasts, hunting parties, or the specter of Dionysos, the god of wine, riding in his chariot or on the back of a panther. This book takes as its subject these mosaics and the context of their viewing. Relying on discourses in the sociology and anthropology of space, it argues that the andron’s mosaic imagery actively contributed to a complex, metaphorical experience of the symposium. In combination with the ritualized circling of the wine cup from couch to couch around the room and the physiological reaction to wine, the images of mosaic floors called to mind other images, spaces, or experiences, and, in doing so, prompted drinkers to reimagine the symposium as another kind of event—a nautical voyage, a journey to a foreign land, the circling heavens or a choral dance, or the luxury of an abundant past. Such spatial metaphors helped to forge the intimate bonds of friendship that are the ideal result of the symposium and that make up the political and social fabric of the Greek polis.


Author(s):  
T. M. Robinson

If in the context of early and classical Greek thought, the term “theology” is taken to mean “of God/gods/the gods and his/their putative relationship, causal and directive, to the world and its operations, and to ourselves within that world,” or something of that order, the first ascription of such a notion to a Presocratic philosopher is to be found in Aristotle's comment that “Thales thought that all things are full of gods”. The Presocratic period ends with no neat causal sequence. If one train of thinking was moving in the direction of a divinely guided, teleologically explicable universe, another was moving in exactly the opposite direction. For the atomists Democritus and Leucippus, the ever-changing universe is an infinity of space in which, across eternity, chance agglomerations of ever-moving atoms produce and will forever go on producing those contents of the universe that we call realities, from gazelles to galaxies.


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