scholarly journals Method vs. Metaphysics

2020 ◽  
Vol 100 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 203-218
Author(s):  
Han van Ruler
Keyword(s):  
Causal Factors ◽  
Scientific Status ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Life Of The Mind ◽  
Huge Impact ◽  
Causal Operators ◽  
Metaphysical Interpretation ◽  
Natural Change ◽  
The Mind ◽  
The Impact

Abstract This article discusses Descartes’s preferred focus on morally and theologically neutral subjects and points out the impact of this focus on the scientific status of theology. It does so by linking Descartes’s method to his transformation of the notion of substance. Descartes’s Meditations centred around epistemological questions rather than non-human intelligences or the life of the mind beyond this world. Likewise, in his early works, Descartes consistently avoided referring to causal operators. Finally, having first redefined the notion of substance in the Principia, Descartes would completely abandon making use of this notion in his later years. Indeed, in contrast to many authors before and after him, Descartes never showed any interest in the long-established metaphysical interpretation of substances as being causal factors of natural change. With God, nature, and mind commonly serving as instances of substantial causality, Descartes’s philosophy had a huge impact on the place of God in science and discreetly excluded theology as a subject to which his method might be applied.

From Psychological Humanities to African Psychology: A Review of Sources and Traditions

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Augustine Nwoye
Keyword(s):  
Intellectual History ◽  
Psychological Research ◽  
Black Psychology ◽  
Western Psychology ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Life Of The Mind ◽  
History Of ◽  
Postcolonial Africa ◽  
Psychological Knowledge ◽  
The Mind

The purpose of the article is to trace the intellectual history of the new postcolonial discipline of African psychology. African psychology as currently conceptualized in universities in the South and other regions of Africa is a proud heir to a vast heritage of sound and extensive intellectual traditions and psychological scholarship on Africa and its peoples found scattered in the multiple disciplines of the humanities (anthropology, archaeology, literature, philosophy, religion, etc.). Even before and after the critical evolution that led to the emergence of African psychology as a new discipline situated in the departments of psychology in some forward-thinking African universities, the different fields of the humanities offered legitimate research and writings on the nature of the life of the mind and culture in pre- and postcolonial Africa. The article reviews the variety and changing psychological themes that occupied the attention of the African and Western humanists and intellectuals within and outside Africa. However, the great limitation of all psychological research and writings which constitute psychological humanities is that they could not and, indeed, are not meant to replace the legitimate role being played by African psychology as a fledgling postcolonial discipline and center of thought and scholarship. This fledgling discipline came into being to argue against and partner with Western psychology and the black psychology popularized in North America, with a view toward the enrichment of both Western and black psychological knowledge with new perspectives for understanding the psychology of Africans in continental Africa. The purpose of the article is to elaborate on these issues.

Alexandria between Antiquity and Islam: Commerce and Concepts in First Millennium Afro-Eurasia

Millennium ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 233-270
Author(s):  
Garth Fowden
Keyword(s):  
Eleventh Century ◽  
Full Range ◽  
Christian Theology ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Late Antique ◽  
Political Role ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
The Mind ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Late antique Alexandria is much better known than the early Islamic city. To be fully appreciated, the transition must be contextualized against the full range of Afro-Eurasiatic commercial and intellectual life. The Alexandrian schools ‘harmonized’ Hippocrates and Galen, Plato and Aristotle. They also catalyzed Christian theology especially during the controversies before and after the Council of Chalcedon (451) that tore the Church apart and set the stage for the emergence of Islam. Alexandrian cultural dissemination down to the seventh century is here studied especially through evidence for the city’s libraries and book trade, together with the impact of its educational curriculum from Iran to Canterbury. After the Arab conquest, Alexandria turned into a frontier city and lost its economic and political role. But it became a city of the mind whose conceptual legacy fertilized not only Greek scholarship at Constantinople, but also Arabic science and philosophy thanks to the eighth- to ninth-century Baghdadi translation movement. Alexandria emanated occult energies too, thanks to the Pharos as variously misunderstood by Arabic writers, or the relics of its Christian saints, not least the Evangelist Mark, surreptitiously translated to Venice in 828-29. Study of the astral sciences too - astronomy but also astrology - was fertilized from Alexandria, as far afield as India and perhaps China as well as Syria, Baghdad and Constantinople. Egypt’s revival by the Fatimids, who founded Cairo in 961, had little impact on Alexandria until about the end of the eleventh century when, for a time, the city attracted Sunni scholars from as far away as Spain or Iran, while commerce benefited from the rise of the Italian merchant republics and the beginning of the Crusades. While the early caliphate had united a vast zone from Afghanistan to the Atlantic, the eleventh century saw a reemergence of late antique distinctions between the Iranian plateau, Syro-Mesopotamia, and the two Mediterranean basins. Alexandria was one of the points where these worlds intersected, though sub-Saharan Africa, to which it formally belonged, remained largely beyond its horizon until the twentieth century.

The Impact of a Strong Commitment on Disaster Resilience: A Longitudinal Study of the 2012 Korean Typhoons

2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kyujin Jung ◽  
Minsun Song
Keyword(s):  
Emergency Management ◽  
Heckman Selection Model ◽  
Emergency Situations ◽  
Institutional Collective Action ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Huge Impact ◽  
Strong Commitment ◽  
Two Stages ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Heckman Selection

Abstract Natural and technical disasters are abrupt and have a huge impact on relatively broad regions, yet little research has examined how local organizations overcome institutional collective action dilemmas in collaborative emergency management. Since simply participating in collective agreements and adopting coordination plans are inadequate for achieving effective collaboration in emergency situations, this research aims to test whether organizations’ decisions to engage in joint emergency programs are sufficient for building resilient emergency response networks. We systemically design a Heckman selection model with two stages by utilizing data derived from the 2012 and 2013 emergency management surveys conducted before and after the 2012 Korean typhoons. The results demonstrate how a strong commitment though participation in joint exercises significantly influences disaster than formal planning and network affiliations. The findings imply that network interactions forged by such full-scale exercises reduce transaction costs of collaboration and improve community resilience.

scholarly journals Study on Sediment Regime Changes in Downstream of the Ba River, Vietnam under the Impact of Reservoirs System

2017 ◽  
Vol 33 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nguyen Tien Giang ◽  
Hoang Thu Thao ◽  
Tran Ngoc Vinh ◽  
Pham Duy Huy Binh ◽  
Vu Duc Quan
Keyword(s):  
Sediment Supply ◽  
Average Amount ◽  
River Bank ◽  
Regime Changes ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Huge Impact ◽  
Sediment Data ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Sedimentation Regime ◽  
Hydrological Station

Reservoirs system in upstream of Ba River has been affecting to the hydrology and sediment regime at the downstream. Sediment imbalance causes consequences such as erosion at river bank, lack of sediment supply to downstream areas and deposition/erosion in estuaries. This study focused on a quantitative assessment of the impact of Ba Ha reservoir and Song Hinh reservoir on sediment regime at the Cung Son hydrological station (12 km downstream of Ba Ha reservoir and 45 km from the mouth of the Da Dien river). Research used analytical and statistical methods with flow and suspended sediment data measured at the Cung Son hydrological station from 1977 to 2016. The results show that the system of these two reservoirs has a huge impact to the sedimentation regime, especially after the operation of Ba Ha reservoir. The average amount of sediment in the period before and after 2008 significantly reduced from about 2.5 million to about 1 million tons per year.

Strategic Role of Zakat in Multidimensional Quality of Life in Sijunjung, Indonesia

2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 55-72
Author(s):  
Herlin Hamimi ◽  
Abdul Ghafar Ismail ◽  
Muhammad Hasbi Zaenal
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Wealth Distribution ◽  
Absolute Poverty ◽  
Before And After ◽  
The Status ◽  
Being There ◽  
The Impact

Zakat is one of the five pillars of Islam which has a function of faith, social and economic functions. Muslims who can pay zakat are required to give at least 2.5 per cent of their wealth. The problem of poverty prevalent in disadvantaged regions because of the difficulty of access to information and communication led to a gap that is so high in wealth and resources. The instrument of zakat provides a paradigm in the achievement of equitable wealth distribution and healthy circulation. Zakat potentially offers a better life and improves the quality of human being. There is a human quality improvement not only in economic terms but also in spiritual terms such as improving religiousity. This study aims to examine the role of zakat to alleviate humanitarian issues in disadvantaged regions such as Sijunjung, one of zakat beneficiaries and impoverished areas in Indonesia. The researcher attempted a Cibest method to capture the impact of zakat beneficiaries before and after becoming a member of Zakat Community Development (ZCD) Program in material and spiritual value. The overall analysis shows that zakat has a positive impact on disadvantaged regions development and enhance the quality of life of the community. There is an improvement in the average of mustahik household incomes after becoming a member of ZCD Program. Cibest model demonstrates that material, spiritual, and absolute poverty index decreased by 10, 5, and 6 per cent. Meanwhile, the welfare index is increased by 21 per cent. These findings have significant implications for developing the quality of life in disadvantaged regions in Sijunjung. Therefore, zakat is one of the instruments to change the status of disadvantaged areas to be equivalent to other areas.

ANALISIS PENGARUH PEMBANGUNAN JALAN LAYANG JANTI TERHADAP PERKEMBANGAN TATA RUANG KAWASAN JANTI STUDI KASUS : KAWASAN JANTI, DESA CATURTUNGGAL, KABUPATEN SLEMAN, D. I. YOGYAKARTA

2017 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 255
Author(s):  
Jeky El Boru
Keyword(s):  
Road Network ◽  
Open Space ◽  
Qualitative Description ◽  
Analysis Method ◽  
Open Spaces ◽  
The Road ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Linkage Method ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Parking Place

Abstract: This research aims to analyze the impact of Janti Flyover Construction toward the growth of layout at Janti Urban Area, including structured space, open space, and linkage. Method used for data collecting are observation, air photograph monitoring, and interview, whereas the analysis method is qualitative description, which is the superimposed method of two layers, that are the layout condition before and after flyover construction. The result shows that the impact of Janti Flyover construction can be seen on building mass (solid), the increasing number of open spaces, including the road network, parking place, and park, whereas the relation between spaces, visually and structurally, can be seen on the growth of buildings which have new shapes and styles, therefore the performance of the overall building does not have a proportional shape. Considering Janti Street at the collective relation, its role is getting stronger as the main frame road network.Keywords: Flyover construction, layout changing, Janti AreaAbstrak: Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk menganalisis pengaruh pembangunan Jalan Layang Janti terhadap perkembangan tata ruang Kawasan Janti, meliputi ruang terbangun, ruang terbuka, serta hubungan antar ruang (“linkage”). Metode pengumpulan data dilakukan melalui observasi, pengamatan foto udara, dan wawancara; sedangkan metode analisis melalui deskripsi secara kualitatif yang berupa “superimposed method” dari dua lapisan kondisi lahan, yakni kondisi tata ruang sebelum dan sesudah pembangunan jalan layang. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa pengaruh pembangunan Jalan Layang Janti terdapat pada massa bangunan (“solid”), pertambahan ruang terbuka yang berupa jaringan jalan, parkir, dan taman; sedangkan pada hubungan antar ruang ̶ secara visual dan struktural ̶ yakni tumbuhnya bangunan dengan bentuk dan gaya baru, sehingga bentuk tampilan bangunan secara keseluruhan tidak proporsional. Pada hubungan kolektif, Jalan Janti semakin kuat perannya sebagai kerangka utama jaringan jalan.Kata kunci : Pembangunan jalan layang, tata ruang, Kawasan Janti

Impact of merger on efficiency and productivity : a case study of commercial banks in Malaysia

1970 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 77
Author(s):  
Mahadzir Ismail ◽  
Saliza Sulaiman ◽  
Hasni Abdul Rahim ◽  
Nordiana Nordin
Keyword(s):  
Efficiency Score ◽  
Malmquist Productivity Index ◽  
Productivity Index ◽  
Data Envelopment ◽  
Master Plan ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Domestic Banks ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Efficiency And Productivity

The Financial Master Plan (2001- 2010) aims to enhance the capacity of banking industry so that higher effic iency and productivity can be reaped in the future. This study seeks to determine the impact of merger on the efficiency and productivity ofcommercial banks in Malaysia for the period 1995 until 2005. The study uses a non-parametric approach, nam ely DEA (data envelopment analysis?) to estimate the efficiency scores and to construct the Malmquist productivity index. To enable this estimation, three bank inputs and outputs are used. Amongst the findings are those banks exhibit higher efficiency score after the merger and thefo reign banks are more efficient than the local banks. Productivity of the banks is calculated in both periods, before and after the merger: The results show that, it is the local banks that have improved the most after the merger. The main source of productivity is technical change or innovation. The findings support the existing policy of having larger domestic banks in term of size.

THE EFFECT OF METACOGNITIVE INSTRUCTION ON MAXIMIZING EFL LEARNERS’ METACOGNITIVE AWARENESS IN LISTENING

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 8-17
Author(s):  
Mahsa Assadi
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Research ◽  
Listening Comprehension ◽  
Intervention Program ◽  
Metacognitive Awareness ◽  
Listening Test ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Metacognitive Instruction ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Comprehension Ability ◽  
The Impact

This study reports a pre-experimental research on the impact of metacognitive instruction on EFL learners’ metacognitive awareness and their listening performance. To obtain the goal of the study, a group of 30 Iranian intermediate EFL learners, including 14 males and 16 females, were selected randomly. Their ages range from 20 to 24. The participants took part in 16 weeks’ intervention program based on metacognitive pedagogical sequence consisted of five stages. The metacognitive awareness listening questionnaire (MALQ), and a listening test were also used to find changes in metacognitive awareness and listening performance before and after the treatment. The results of comparing pre and posttests scores revealed that metacognitive instruction raised the learners’ metacognitive awareness and helped them improve their listening comprehension ability.

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