André Bazin's Film Theory

Author(s):  
Angela Dalle Vacche

The best way to understand Bazin’s film theory is to pay attention to art, science, and religion, since spectatorship depends on perception, cognition, and hallucination. By arguing that this dissident Catholic’s worldview is anti-anthropocentric, Angela Dalle Vacche concludes that cinema recapitulates the history of evolution and technology inside our consciousness, so that we may better understand how we overlap with, but also differ from, animals, plants, objects, and machines. Whereas in “Art,” the author explains the difference between painting as a static object and the moving image as an event unfolding in time, in “Science,” she discusses Bazin’s dislike of classical geometry and Platonic algebra, his fascination with biology and modern calculus to underline his holistic Darwinism, and his anti-Euclidean mathematics of motion and contingency. Comparable to a religious practice, Bazin’s cinema is the only collective ritual of the twentieth century capable of fostering an emotional community by calling on critical self-interrogation and ethical awareness. Especially keen on Italian neorealism, Bazin argues that this sensibility thrives on beings and things displacing themselves in such a way as to turn the Other into a Neighbor. Bazin’s film theory acknowledges the equalizing impact of the camera lens, which is analogous to, but also different from, the human eye. In the cinema, two different kinds of eyes coexist: one is mechanical and objective, the other is human and subjective. By refusing to reshape the world according to an a priori thesis, Bazin’s idea of an anti-anthropocentric cinema seeks surprise, dialogue, risk, and experiment.

Open Theology ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 430-450
Author(s):  
Kristóf Oltvai

Abstract Karl Barth’s and Jean-Luc Marion’s theories of revelation, though prominent and popular, are often criticized by both theologians and philosophers for effacing the human subject’s epistemic integrity. I argue here that, in fact, both Barth and Marion appeal to revelation in an attempt to respond to a tendency within philosophy to coerce thought. Philosophy, when it claims to be able to access a universal, absolute truth within history, degenerates into ideology. By making conceptually possible some ‚evental’ phenomena that always evade a priori epistemic conditions, Barth’s and Marion’s theories of revelation relativize all philosophical knowledge, rendering any ideological claim to absolute truth impossible. The difference between their two theories, then, lies in how they understand the relationship between philosophy and theology. For Barth, philosophy’s attempts to make itself absolute is a produce of sinful human vanity; its corrective is thus an authentic revealed theology, which Barth articulates in Christian, dogmatic terms. Marion, on the other hand, equipped with Heidegger’s critique of ontotheology, highlights one specific kind of philosophizing—metaphysics—as generative of ideology. To counter metaphysics, Marion draws heavily on Barth’s account of revelation but secularizes it, reinterpreting the ‚event’ as the saturated phenomenon. Revelation’s unpredictability is thus preserved within Marion’s philosophy, but is no longer restricted to the appearing of God. Both understandings of revelation achieve the same epistemological result, however. Reality can never be rendered transparent to thought; within history, all truth is provisional. A concept of revelation drawn originally from Christian theology thus, counterintuitively, is what secures philosophy’s right to challenge and critique the pre-given, a hermeneutic freedom I suggest is the meaning of sola scriptura.


2019 ◽  
pp. 191-197 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elena Ilnitskaya ◽  
Lyudmila Naumova ◽  
Valentina Ganich ◽  
Sergey Tokmakov ◽  
Marina Makarkina

История виноградарства на Дону насчитывает несколько веков, местные сорта винограда многообразны и специфичны. Микросателлитные маркеры широко используются для генотипирования сортов и подвоев винограда, при изучении происхождения сортов и анализе их родословной. Целью исследования было изучение выборки редких и малораспространенных автохтонных донских сортов и сравнение их с другими аборигенными донскими генотипами на основе данных ДНК-анализа. В исследования включены 23 стародавних донских сорта. Генотипирование проводили методом микросателлитного профилирования. В исследовании использовали микросателлитные маркеры (SSR), рекомендованные в качестве основного минимального набора для ДНК-паспортизации сортов вида Vitis vinifera L.: VVMD5, VVMD7, VVMD27, VVS2, VrZAG62 и VrZAG79. По результатам проведенного анализа все изученные образцы показали сорт-специфическую комбинацию аллелей в идентифицированных ДНК-профилях. Количество выявленных аллелей составило в среднем 8 аллелей/локус. Наибольший полиморфизм в исследовании этой группы донских сортов был обнаружен в локусе VVMD5: идентифицировано 10 аллелей на локус, наименьшее - в локусе VrZAG62: 6 аллелей/локус. Основываясь на данных SSR-анализа, степень генетического сходства сортов оценивали с использованием метода UPGMA. Кластерный анализ матрицы генетических дистанций, созданный на основе выявленных значений аллелей в шести микросателлитных локусах исследуемых сортов, определил несколько групп генотипов. Сорт Красностоп золотовский выделился в отдельную ветвь, что указывает на различия между этим генотипом и другими сортами исследуемой выборки. Наивысший уровень генетического сходства наблюдался между следующими парами сортов: Крестовский и Бургундский, Шилохвостый и Мушкетный, Кумшацкий черный и Ефремовский.The history of viticulture on the Don goes back several centuries. Local grapevine varieties are diverse and peculiar. Microsatellite markers are widely used in genotyping grapevine cultivars and rootstocks, in grapevine origin and breeding background analysis. Our study aimed to examine samples of rare and less common autochthonous Don varieties, and compare them with the other aboriginal Don genotypes using DNA data. The study involved 23 traditional Don varieties. The genotyping was done by microsatellite profiling. The study used microsatellite (SSR) markers recommended as the basic minimum set for DNA-certification of the genotypes of Vitis vinifera L.: VVMD5, VVMD7, VVMD27, VVS2, VrZAG62 and VrZAG79. Based on the findings, all the studied samples demonstrated variety-specific combination of alleles in the identified DNA profiles. The number of detected alleles on average was 8 alleles/locus. The greatest polymorphism in the studied group of Don varieties was detected in VVMD5 locus: 10 alleles per locus were identified, the smallest in VrZAG62 locus: 6 alleles/locus. UPGMA method was used to assess the extent of genetic similarity of the varieties based on SSR-genotyping data. Based on determined allele values of the studied varieties, cluster analysis of the genetic distances matrix determined several groups of genotypes. ‘Krasnostop zolotovskiy’ variety stood out as a separate branch, which indicates the difference between this genotype and the other varieties of the studied sampling. The highest level of genetic similarity was observed between the following pairs of varieties: ‘Krestovskiy’ and ‘Burgundskiy’, ‘Shilohvostyi’ and ‘Mushketnyi’, ‘Kumshatskiy chornyi’ and ‘Efremovskiy’.


Religions ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (11) ◽  
pp. 569
Author(s):  
Arpita Mitra

There has been a long-standing academic debate on the religious orientation of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa Paramahaṁsa (1836–1886), one of the leading religious figures of modern India. In the light of his teachings, it is possible to accept that Rāmakṛṣṇa’s ideas were Vedāntic, albeit not in a sectarian or exclusive way. This article explores the question of where exactly to place him in the chequered history of Vedāntic ideas. It points out that Rāmakṛṣṇa repeatedly referred to different states of consciousness while explaining the difference in the attitudes towards the Divine. This is the basis of his harmonization of the different streams within Vedānta. Again, it is also the basis of his understanding of the place of śakti. He demonstrated that, as long as one has I-consciousness, one is operating within the jurisdiction of śakti, and has to accept śakti as real. On the other hand, in the state of samādhi, which is the only state in which the I-consciosuness disappears, there is neither One nor many. The article also shows that, while Rāmakṛṣṇa accepted all of the different views within Vedānta, he was probably not as distant from the Advaita Vedānta philosopher Ādi Śaṁkara as he has been made out to be.


1970 ◽  
Vol 117 (538) ◽  
pp. 267-274 ◽  
Author(s):  
George Winokur

Primary affective disorder is defined as an illness which is characterized by depressions or manias or both. This illness is seen in an individual who has no history of any preexisting psychiatric illness except for uncomplicated episodes of depression or mania. Clinically there are two types of primary affective disorder. The first is manic depressive disease (bipolar psychosis) which may be considered as a primary affective disorder in which mania is seen; usually, but not always, depression is also seen in this kind of patient. The other type may be called depressive disease; a synonym that might be used is unipolar psychosis; here only depressive episodes are seen (one or more episodes). In addition to the difference in the clinical picture, considerable genetic data exist which indicate that the two illnesses are quite distinct from each other.


2010 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 44-50 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yedidia Bentur ◽  
Yael Lurie ◽  
Ada Tamir ◽  
Daniel C Keyes ◽  
Fuad Basis

The objective of this study was to determine the reliability of denial of acetaminophen ingestion in intentional drug overdose patients. All intentional drug overdose patients admitted to an emergency department who were able to provide a history were included. A detailed history was obtained on names, timing and number of medications ingested, and serum acetaminophen was assayed. Multidrug ingestion was defined as the reporting of ≥2 medications. Patients were considered ‘reliable’ if they reported acetaminophen ingestion and had detectable acetaminophen levels or the other way around. Validity parameters of acetaminophen history were assessed by sensitivity, specificity and positive and negative predictive values. A total of 154 patients were included. History was significantly more reliable in patients who denied ingestion of acetaminophen (n = 107) compared with patients who reported it (n = 47; 95.3% vs 65.9%, respectively; p < 0.0001, 95% CI of the difference 17.5%—41.2%). No suicidal patient who denied both acetaminophen and multidrug ingestions had a detectable acetaminophen level (negative predictive value 1, 95% CI 0.93—1.0). It is suggested that denial of both acetaminophen and multidrug ingestions by intentional drug overdose patients after a thorough history taking can be considered reliable for acetaminophen history. In facilities with limited resources, these patients may not require routine acetaminophen screening.


2018 ◽  
pp. 174-190
Author(s):  
Piotr Sobolczyk

The paper revises the biographical data about Michel Foucault’s stay in Poland in 1958-1959. The main inspiration comes from the recent very well documented literary reportage book by Remigiusz Ryziński, Foucault in Warsaw. Ryziński’s aim is to present the data and tell the story, not to analyse the data within the context of Foucault’s work. This paper fulfills this demand by giving additional hypotheses as to why Polish authorities expelled Foucault from Poland and what the relation was between communism and homosexuality. The Polish experience, the paper compels, might have been inspiring for many of Foucault’s ideas in his Madness and Civilization, Discipline and Punish, and The History of Sexuality. On the other hand the author points to the fact that Foucault recognized the difference between the role of the intellectual in the West and in communist countries but did not elaborate on it. In this paper the main argument deals with the idea of sexual paranoia as decisive, which is missing in Foucault's works, although it is found in e.g. Guy Hocquenghem.


1967 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 165-202
Author(s):  
Th. M. Steeman

This study is intended as an attempt, on the one hand, to collect and order a number of salient facts concerning modern Dutch Catholicism, on the other hand, on the basis of these facts to render more compre hensible the movement at present stirring in the Church and which appears at first sight to be a confusion of conflicting tendencies, in a historico-sociological perspective. The author employs in his observations both the available statistical information, relative to the present-day vitality of Dutch Catholicism, and the likewise clearly evident tendencies toward renewal, and attempts to bring both aspects to a synthesis in a total view. Here it is primarily a matter of placing the ascertainable decline in religious practice, which incidentally goes hand in hand with a greater stability of Catholic social, political and educational institutions, into a closer connection with the tendencies toward renewal. Therefore, the general conclusion of this study is not that Dutch Catholicism is declining but that it has taken a different form now that the social emancipation struggle in this country may be considered over. It is in essence no loss in vitality but a vitality with a different objective. Dutch Catholicism is strong but finds itself, precisely because it has successfully fought a hard battle for emancipation, in a completely different situation, forcing it to re-orientate itself. From this inner strength it is now experiencing a crisis in a search for forms in which, in the world of today, now that it is full-grown, it can express itself adequately. The study thus states that what is going on at present in Dutch Catholicism is comprehensibly seen from its own history, albeit in close contact with the more general tendencies in the history of the West. At the heart of the renewal lies a striving for a more authentic Christianity, just as the alienation of ecclesiastical Christianity lies at the heart of de-churching with regard to modern man. In essence here we are concerned with the fact that the Catholic of our times, who has himself become a modern man in every respect in the emancipation struggle, now wishes to be modern in his religious life too, or rather, by his being modern has become conscious in a different way of the significance of his faith in the Gospel and in Jesus Christ. He consequently experiences the tension between modern life and ecclesiastical life as an inner tension. For those who find themselves at the heart of the renewal, the phase of dialogue between Church and world - in which Church and world are involved in discussion as independent entities - is past; for them it is an inner struggle for an understanding of Christ's message now, in this world. This theme is explained by various examples. In this it is not the concern of the author to take up a personal position in the discussions, but more to arrive at an understanding of the tendencies in the light of the dynamics revealed in them, which must be made understandable in their turn historically and sociologically. Moreover, the author presents a few principles from which the fact that the situation itself appears so confused, can be understood. The dynamics emerge at a moment in which the traditional ecclesiastical forms for large groups have, it is true, lost their meaning, but for others have retained their full significance. All these things cannot go without conflict, without pain and sorrow on the one hand, without courage and impatience on the other.


1898 ◽  
Vol 18 ◽  
pp. 129-132 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul F. Perdrizet

The Imperial Ottoman Museum has recently acquired a very valuable and interesting gold ring (Fig. 1) which was found in 1894 or 1895 in a tomb at Lampsacus. The Museum authorities subsequently undertook further excavations in the necropolis of which this tomb formed part, and it is a matter for great regret that no detailed report of the results was drawn up; we are therefore forced to content ourselves with the somewhat meagre information given by the late Baltazzi-Bey to M. Salomon Reinach, according to which the necropolis yielded fragments of red-figured pottery and specimens of silver autonomous coins of Lampsacus. Both these details are of importance in fixing the date of the ring; for on the one hand silver coins of this class belong almost exclusively to the fourth century, and on the other, the manufacture of painted vases was not continued after that date. When we add that the evidence of coins and inscriptions proves that this was the most flourishing period in the history of Lampsacus, we have strong a priori reason for assigning the ring to this century, while a consideration of the style of the intaglio may help us to fix the date within narrower limits.


2015 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 240-257 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dalia Nassar

In 1785 Kant published a series of critical reviews of Johann Gottfried Herder’s Ideas for a Philosophy of the History of Humanity (1784–1785), in which he not only challenges Herder’s conception of nature but also, and more importantly, his methodology. Kant’s complaint is that by relying on analogy, Herder draws deeply mistaken conclusions that overlook fundamental differences between human and nonhuman beings. But was Kant’s critique of Herder entirely fair? And how does it compare to Kant’s own use of analogy? My claim is that Herder’s use of analogy posed a fundamental methodological challenge to Kant, a challenge he sought to meet in the years following the reviews. In so doing, however, Kant found himself in the untenable situation of, on the one hand, granting analogy greater significance, and, on the other, severely restricting its use. By tracing the shifts in Kant’s thought through the lens of analogy, I aim to show that Kant’s transformed understanding of analogy reveals a fundamental tension between his a priori “metaphysics of nature” and empirical science, a tension that fundamentally shaped the philosophies of nature after Kant.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (19) ◽  
pp. 8943
Author(s):  
Rudy Alexis Guejia Burbano ◽  
Giovanni Petrone ◽  
Patrizio Manganiello

In this paper, an artificial neural network (ANN) is used for isolating faults and degradation phenomena occurring in photovoltaic (PV) panels. In the literature, it is well known that the values of the single diode model (SDM) associated to the PV source are strictly related to degradation phenomena and their variation is an indicator of panel degradation. On the other hand, the values of parameters that allow to identify the degraded conditions are not known a priori because they can be different from panel to panel and are strongly dependent on environmental conditions, PV technology and the manufacturing process. For these reasons, to correctly detect the presence of degradation, the effect of environmental conditions and fabrication processes must be properly filtered out. The approach proposed in this paper exploits the intrinsic capability of ANN to map in its architecture two effects: (1) the non-linear relations existing among the SDM parameters and the environmental conditions, and (2) the effect of the degradation phenomena on the I-V curves and, consequently, on the SDM parameters. The ANN architecture is composed of two stages that are trained separately: one for predicting the SDM parameters under the hypothesis of healthy operation and the other one for degraded condition. The variation of each parameter, calculated as the difference of the output of the two ANN stages, will give a direct identification of the type of degradation that is occurring on the PV panel. The method was initially tested by using the experimental I-V curves provided by the NREL database, where the degradation was introduced artificially, later tested by using some degraded experimental I-V curves.


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