Spinoza on Superstition

2020 ◽  
pp. 43-57
Author(s):  
Susan James
Keyword(s):  
Affective State ◽  
Way Of Life ◽  
False Prophets

One of the strengths of Spinoza’s philosophy is his recognition that what we can achieve politically depends in part on our affective capacities, an insight illustrated in his account of the distinction between ‘true religion’ and superstition. I argue that superstition, as Spinoza sees it, is an affective state. To be superstitious is to be subject to a pervasive and damaging kind of fear. False prophets, for example, harness the resources of imagination to encourage political division and superstitious anxiety. By contrast, defenders of true religion appeal to existing imaginative resources to foster devotion to God and promote cooperation. However, the boundary between these two strategies is far from distinct. Superstition may play a role in a harmonious way of life.

Associations Between Self-Report of Emotional State and the EEG Patterns in Affective Disorders Patients

2010 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-40 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miroslaw Wyczesany ◽  
Jan Kaiser ◽  
Anton M. L. Coenen
Keyword(s):  
State Energy ◽  
Emotional State ◽  
Spectral Power ◽  
Bipolar Affective Disorder ◽  
Affective State ◽  
Manic Episode ◽  
High Energy ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Major Depressive ◽  
High Tension

The study determines the associations between self-report of ongoing emotional state and EEG patterns. A group of 31 hospitalized patients were enrolled with three types of diagnosis: major depressive disorder, manic episode of bipolar affective disorder, and nonaffective patients. The Thayer ADACL checklist, which yields two subjective dimensions, was used for the assessment of affective state: Energy Tiredness (ET) and Tension Calmness (TC). Quantitative analysis of EEG was based on EEG spectral power and laterality coefficient (LC). Only the ET scale showed relationships with the laterality coefficient. The high-energy group showed right shift of activity in frontocentral and posterior areas visible in alpha and beta range, respectively. No effect of ET estimation on prefrontal asymmetry was observed. For the TC scale, an estimation of high tension was related to right prefrontal dominance and right posterior activation in beta1 band. Also, decrease of alpha2 power together with increase of beta2 power was observed over the entire scalp.

Emotional Reactivity to Visual Content as Revealed by ERP Component Clustering

2015 ◽  
Vol 29 (4) ◽  
pp. 135-146 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miroslaw Wyczesany ◽  
Szczepan J. Grzybowski ◽  
Jan Kaiser
Keyword(s):  
Emotional Reactivity ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Affective State ◽  
Occipital Lobe ◽  
Stimulus Onset ◽  
Emotional States ◽  
Neural Basis ◽  
Temporoparietal Junction ◽  
The Right ◽  
The Impact

Abstract. In the study, the neural basis of emotional reactivity was investigated. Reactivity was operationalized as the impact of emotional pictures on the self-reported ongoing affective state. It was used to divide the subjects into high- and low-responders groups. Independent sources of brain activity were identified, localized with the DIPFIT method, and clustered across subjects to analyse the visual evoked potentials to affective pictures. Four of the identified clusters revealed effects of reactivity. The earliest two started about 120 ms from the stimulus onset and were located in the occipital lobe and the right temporoparietal junction. Another two with a latency of 200 ms were found in the orbitofrontal and the right dorsolateral cortices. Additionally, differences in pre-stimulus alpha level over the visual cortex were observed between the groups. The attentional modulation of perceptual processes is proposed as an early source of emotional reactivity, which forms an automatic mechanism of affective control. The role of top-down processes in affective appraisal and, finally, the experience of ongoing emotional states is also discussed.

Stepfamilies: Complexity and Confusion as a Way of Life

1996 ◽  
Vol 41 (8) ◽  
pp. 802-802
Author(s):  
Jean A. Carter
Keyword(s):  
Way Of Life

In the present moment: Mindfulness as a way of life

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathryn L. Norsworthy ◽  
Kelly Caniglia ◽  
Sharri Harmel ◽  
Alexandra Lajeunesse ◽  
April Obermeyer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Present Moment ◽  
Way Of Life

Way of Life Scale

1990 ◽  
Author(s):  
Logan Wright ◽  
Kurt von Bussmann ◽  
Alice G. Friedman ◽  
Mary Khoury ◽  
Fredette Owens ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Way Of Life ◽  
Life Scale

Small Industry, Gimmicks and Moscow Statistics, or How the Small Russian Enterprise Came into the World (Russian Physiological Sketch, 1830-1840)

2009 ◽  
pp. 123-129
Author(s):  
Yu. Golubitsky
Keyword(s):  
Small Businesses ◽  
Statistical Data ◽  
Russian Enterprise ◽  
Small Enterprises ◽  
Business Practices ◽  
Way Of Life ◽  
The World ◽  
Small Industry ◽  
Xix Century

The article considers business practices of Moscow small industry in the XIX century, basing upon physiological sketches of N. Polevoy and I. Kokorev, statistical data and the classification of professions are also presented. The author claims that the heroes of the analyzed sketches are the forefathers of Moscow small businesses and shows what a deep similarity their occupations and a way of life bear to the present-day routine existence of small enterprises.

Isolasi Sosio-Budaya Masyarakat Orang Asli di Malaysia dan Kesannya Terhadap Pentafsiran Hukum Islam

2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-20
Author(s):  
Paiz Hassan ◽  
Mohd Anuar Ramli
Keyword(s):  
Indigenous People ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Islamic Law ◽  
Way Of Life ◽  
Low Literacy ◽  
Orang Asli ◽  
Library Research ◽  
Local Background ◽  
Negative Perceptions ◽  
Closed Door

Majority of the indigenous people who are the original inhabitants in Malaysia inhibit the remote area of tropical forest which is rich in natural resources. Their lives are separated from the outside community due to several factors such as geography, low literacy, negative perceptions of the surrounding community, and the closed-door attitude of the indigenous people. Consistent preaching activities have changed the faith of the indigenous people from animism orientation towards believing in the Oneness of God. The practice of Islam as a way of life in the lives of indigenous peoples is found to be difficult to practice because the fiqh approach presented to them does not celebrate their local condition. In this regard, this study will examine the socio-cultural isolation of indigenous peoples and their impact on the interpretation of Islamic law. To achieve this objective, the researchers have applied the library research method by referring to the literatures related to the discussion of Islamic scholars in various disciplines of fiqh and usūl al-fiqh. The research found that there is rukhsah and taysir approach given to isolated people as well as with local background to facilitate the religious affairs of the indigenous people. Abstrak Majoriti masyarakat Orang Asli yang merupakan penduduk asal di semenanjung Malaysia mendiami kawasan pedalaman di hutan hujan tropika yang kaya dengan khazanah alam. Kehidupan mereka terasing daripada masyarakat luar disebabkan beberapa faktor seperti geografi, kadar literasi yang rendah, pandangan negatif masyarakat sekitar dan sikap tertutup masyarakat Orang Asli. Gerakan dakwah yang dijalankan secara konsisten telah membawa perubahan kepercayaan sebahagian masyarakat Orang Asli daripada berorientasikan animisme kepada mempercayai Tuhan yang Esa. Pengamalan Islam sebagai cara hidup dalam kehidupan masyarakat Orang Asli didapati agak sukar untuk dipraktikkan lantaran pendekatan fiqh yang disampaikan kepada mereka tidak meraikan suasana setempat mereka. Sehubungan itu, kajian ini akan meneliti keadaan isolasi sosio-budaya masyarakat Orang Asli dan kesannya terhadap pentafsiran hukum Islam. Bagi mencapai objektif tersebut, pengkaji menggunakan kajian kepustakaan sepenuhnya dengan menelusuri literatur berkaitan dengan perbincangan sarjana Islam dalam pelbagai disiplin ilmu fiqh dan usul fiqh. Hasil kajian mendapati terdapat rukhsah dan pendekatan taysir diberikan kepada mereka yang hidup terasing serta berlatar belakang budaya setempat bagi memudahkan urusan keagamaan masyarakat Orang Asli.

Otherness in More’s Utopia

Moreana ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 53 (Number 205- (3-4) ◽  
pp. 73-94
Author(s):  
Guillaume Navaud
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Major Part ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Way Of Life ◽  
Old World ◽  
Self Sufficiency

Utopia as a concept points towards a world essentially alien to us. Utopia as a work describes this otherness and confronts us with a world whose strangeness might seem disturbing. Utopia and Europe differ in their relationship to what is other (Latin alienus) – that is, that which belongs to someone else, that which is foreign, that which is strange. These two worlds are at odds in regards to their foreign policy and way of life: Utopia aspires to self-sufficiency but remains open to whatever good may arrive from beyond its borders, while the Old World appears alienated by exteriority yet refuses to welcome any kind of otherness. This issue also plays a major part in the reception of More’s work. Book I invites the reader to distance himself from a European point of view in order to consider what is culturally strange not as logically absurd but merely as geographically remote. Utopia still makes room for some exoticism, but mostly in its paratexts, and this exoticism needs to be deciphered. All in all, Utopia may invite us to transcend the horizontal dialectics of worldly alterity in order to open our eyes to a more radical, metaphysical otherness.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document