Athena and the Paphlagonian in Aristophanes' Knights. Re-considering Equites 1090-5, 1172-81

AbstractThis paper re-examines the treatment of Athena in some passages of Aristophanes' Knights along the lines of a previous study by C.A. Anderson (1991 and 1995). Two topics will be considered: the dream-oracles of Athena (Eq. 1090-5), and some epithets characterizing the goddess during the food-serving contest (Eq. 1172-81). The Paphlagonian's and Sausage-Seller's portraits of Athena are self-referential images in that they are able both to play a significant 'dramatic' role in the contest for the steward-ship of Dêmos, by preparing for the final fate of each character within the comic plot (Eq. 1090-5), and to mirror, respectively, the war-mongering, grasping and violent nature of Cleon (Eq. 1172-81), and the poet's and Athenians' political ideal. By focusing on the self-referential nature of the Paphlagonian's portrait of Athena, I shall argue that Athena's image also resonates with a particular trait of Cleon, which is a constant object of Aristophanes' denunciation concerning the manipulative politics of the demagogue, i.e. his tendency to make people believe that the polis' welfare is his main concern; in other words, his pretense to be a good leader, sincerely interested in the citizens' well-being. This meaning of the Paphlagonian's portrait of Athena is corroborated by the characterization of the goddess through specific epithets in the food-serving contest.

Download Full-text

Heterogenizing and Enriching the Self

10.1093/oso/9780190687793.003.0007 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Hubert J. M Hermans

Keyword(s):

Communication Channels ◽

Well Being ◽

The Self ◽

Central Feature ◽

Subjective Well Being ◽

Dynamic Relationship

A central feature of a democratic self is its heterogeneity, expressed in its diversity of positions and richness of experience. Heterogeneity is explored by examining three phenomena: the multiplicity of subjective well-being; the polarity between shadow and shining positions in the self; and the dynamic relationship between comfort, challenge and danger zones in the self-space. The existence of shadow positions is elaborated by a discussion of scapegoating and the construction of an enemy image. Furthermore, the concepts of homophily and heterophily are compared. Homophily refers to the finding that contact between similar people occurs at a higher rate than among dissimilar people. Heterophily refers to the tendency to communicate with people who are dissimilar to one’s own views, values, and experiences. Enlarging the communication channels between I-positions requires both tendencies, because homophily facilitates efficiency of communication, while heterophily stimulates innovation.

Download Full-text

Misapplication and Individuality

10.1093/oso/9780190877132.003.0002 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Jason Hanna

Keyword(s):

Well Being ◽

The Self ◽

Institutional Constraints ◽

Self Development ◽

Paternalistic Intervention

This chapter critically examines two of John Stuart Mill’s consequentialist objections to paternalism: that paternalistic authority is likely to be misapplied or abused and that intervention in the self-regarding sphere threatens individuality and self-development. It is argued here that both objections can be resisted. Concerns about misapplication and abuse pose no challenge to intervention that is likely to succeed in achieving its benevolent aims, and attempts to avoid this problem by construing Mill’s arguments in rule-consequentialist terms are unconvincing. Concerns about Millian individuality or self-development leave considerable room for justified paternalism, both because individuality is not the only component of well-being and because paternalistic intervention can sometimes promote individuality. Mill’s arguments may show that there ought to be some institutional constraints on the government’s ability to intervene in the self-regarding sphere, but defenders of paternalism can happily accept this result.

Download Full-text

Furloughs, Teleworking and Other Work Situations during the COVID-19 Lockdown: Impact on Mental Well-Being

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph18062898 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 18 (6) ◽

pp. 2898

Author(s):

Israel Escudero-Castillo ◽

Fco. Javier Mato-Díaz ◽

Ana Rodriguez-Alvarez

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Ad Hoc ◽

Well Being ◽

The Self ◽

Exogenous Shock ◽

Work Location ◽

Negative Effect ◽

Market Status ◽

Mental Well Being ◽

Labour Market Status

As a consequence of the Spring 2020 lockdown that occurred in Spain due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many people lost their jobs or had to be furloughed. The objective of this study is to analyse the influence of the latter changes in labour market status on psychological well-being. For this purpose, an ad-hoc questionnaire featuring socio-demographic and mental health criteria was created. Granted that the pandemic can be viewed as an exogenous shock, the bias caused by the bidirectional problems between the work situation and mental well-being can be tackled. Results indicate that the lockdown exerted a greater negative effect on the self-perceived well-being of unemployed and furloughed persons than on those in employment. Moreover, among those in continuous employment, teleworkers experienced a lesser degree of self-perceived well-being post lockdown as compared to those people remaining in the same work location throughout the COVID-19 crisis. Finally, the lockdown provoked worse effects on the self-perceived well-being of women as compared to men, a result that appears to be related to gender differences in household production. In conclusion, these results could be especially relevant given that the evolution of the pandemic is having ongoing effects on employment and, therefore, on the mental health of workers.

Download Full-text

CD25890, a conserved protein that modulates sporulation initiation in Clostridioides difficile

Scientific Reports ◽

10.1038/s41598-021-86878-9 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Diogo Martins ◽

Michael A. DiCandia ◽

Aristides L. Mendes ◽

Daniela Wetzel ◽

Shonna M. McBride ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Life Cycle ◽

Biofilm Formation ◽

Regulatory Protein ◽

Well Being ◽

Human Intestine ◽

Healthy Humans ◽

Clostridioides Difficile ◽

Nutritional Conditions ◽

Sporulation Initiation

AbstractBacteria that reside in the gastrointestinal tract of healthy humans are essential for our health, sustenance and well-being. About 50–60% of those bacteria have the ability to produce resilient spores that are important for the life cycle in the gut and for host-to-host transmission. A genomic signature for sporulation in the human intestine was recently described, which spans both commensals and pathogens such as Clostridioides difficile and contains several genes of unknown function. We report on the characterization of a signature gene, CD25890, which, as we show is involved in the control of sporulation initiation in C. difficile under certain nutritional conditions. Spo0A is the main regulatory protein controlling entry into sporulation and we show that an in-frame deletion of CD25890 results in increased expression of spo0A per cell and increased sporulation. The effect of CD25890 on spo0A is likely indirect and mediated through repression of the sinRR´ operon. Deletion of the CD25890 gene, however, does not alter the expression of the genes coding for the cytotoxins or the genes involved in biofilm formation. Our results suggest that CD25890 acts to modulate sporulation in response to the nutrients present in the environment.

Download Full-text

Teaching Mindfulness for the Self-Care and Well-Being of Counselors-in-Training

Journal of Creativity in Mental Health ◽

10.1080/15401383.2019.1642171 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 15 (2) ◽

pp. 140-153 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Lacretia Dye ◽

Monica Galloway Burke ◽

Cheryl Wolf

Keyword(s):

Self Care ◽

Well Being ◽

The Self ◽

Counselors In Training

Download Full-text

The Covid-19 lockdown in the United Kingdom and subjective well-being: Have the self-employed suffered more due to hours and income reductions?

International Small Business Journal Researching Entrepreneurship ◽

10.1177/0266242620986763 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 026624262098676 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Wei Yue ◽

Marc Cowling

Keyword(s):

United Kingdom ◽

Rare Events ◽

Well Being ◽

The Self ◽

Subjective Well Being ◽

Data Set ◽

The United Kingdom ◽

Hours Of Work ◽

Period Data ◽

The Uk

It is well documented that the self-employed experience higher levels of happiness than waged employees even when their incomes are lower. Given the UK government’s asymmetric treatment of waged workers and the self-employed, we use a unique Covid-19 period data set which covers the months leading up to the March lockdown and the months just after to assess three aspects of the Covid-19 crisis on the self-employed: hours of work reductions, the associated income reductions and the effects of both on subjective well-being. Our findings show the large and disproportionate reductions in hours and income for the self-employed directly contributed to a deterioration in their levels of subjective well-being compared to waged workers. It appears that their resilience was broken when faced with the reality of dealing with rare events, particularly when the UK welfare support response was asymmetric and favouring waged employees.

Download Full-text

Boosting urban health and well-being through cross-sectoral cooperation

European Journal of Public Health ◽

10.1093/eurpub/ckaa166.376 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 30 (Supplement_5) ◽

Author(s):

A Liinamo ◽

K Matinheikki-Kokko ◽

I Gobina ◽

A Villeruša

Keyword(s):

Health Promotion ◽

Baltic Sea ◽

Well Being ◽

The Self ◽

The Baltic Sea ◽

Self Assessment ◽

Health And Wellbeing ◽

Baltic Sea Region ◽

The Baltic ◽

Health And Well Being

Abstract In the future, health promotion would require developed strategies that lead to stronger cross-sectoral cooperation. Cross-sectoral cooperation enables the integration of fragmented resources and competencies, which benefit service solutions for urban health. Healthy Boost “Urban Labs for Better Health for All in the Baltic Sea Region”, funded by the EU Interreg Baltic Sea Region -program, aims to develop the Model for cross-sectoral cooperation, which will be tested in the cities of the Baltic Sea Region during 2020-21. The self-assessment tool for cross-sectoral cooperation was developed, and the self-assessment among the nine cities in seven countries from the Baltic Sea Region was conducted in 2019. The results indicated to what extent the staff (n = 329) in the cities have recognized the cross-sectoral cooperation for health and wellbeing as strategically crucial in their policies, communication, and in the design of their organizational functions. The daily practices were evaluated in terms of how systematically cities have implemented cross-sector actions for health and wellbeing. The biggest challenges for cooperating across sectors for the cities were coordination and systematic identification of the community needs for health promotion. The cooperative actions were less systematic than expected in the strategic approach. The variation among respondents' assessments was high within the cities that lead to a conclusion about existing gaps in coordination, communication, and leadership of cross-sectoral work within the cities. The Likert type self-assessment measurement was statistically reliable in both strategic and operational dimensions of cooperation. Key messages Evaluation and measurements are needed to identify cross-sectoral actions to health and well-being. The evidence-based Model developed in the Healthy Boost project will guide partners towards systematic cross-sectoral cooperation processes.

Download Full-text

Estimating the shape and size of supramolecular assemblies by variable temperature diffusion ordered spectroscopy

Organic & Biomolecular Chemistry ◽

10.1039/c4ob01373e ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 12 (40) ◽

pp. 7932-7936 ◽

Cited By ~ 23

Author(s):

Benjamin M. Schulze ◽

Davita L. Watkins ◽

Jing Zhang ◽

Ion Ghiviriga ◽

Ronald K. Castellano

Keyword(s):

Self Assembly ◽

Variable Temperature ◽

Supramolecular Assemblies ◽

The Self ◽

Conjugated Oligomers ◽

Photovoltaic Devices ◽

Temperature Diffusion ◽

Shape And Size

Reported is characterization of the self-assembly of π-conjugated oligomers, molecules studied recently in photovoltaic devices, using variable temperature diffusion ordered spectroscopy; the approach has allowed estimation of assembly size, shape, and molecularity.

Download Full-text