Does Plato’s Account of Politeiai in Republic 8 Merit Our Attention?

2009 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 73-88
Author(s):  
Antonis Coumoundouros

Several commentators since Aristotle have sought to convince us that Plato’s discussion of political constitutions or politeiai in Republic 8 is full of problems. In effect, such commentators argue that Plato’s account is not all that helpful in our efforts to understand political life. This paper argues that, despite several objections to Plato’s discussion of political constitutions in Republic 8, there is much that is helpful for thinking about political life. The following issues are taken up in an effort to clarify Plato’s account of regimes: the role of such an account in the main ethical argument of the dialogue (that justice is better than injustice); whether Plato’s discussion has both an a priori perspective and one based on experience; the analogy of the city and the soul and whether this holds together in Republic 8; Plato’s depiction of regime change in temporal/historical terms; and the fact that the account of political regimes seems incomplete because each regime is presented in the manner of a sketch.

Author(s):  
Shuo Zhang ◽  
Vishal Bhavsar ◽  
Dinesh Bhugra

In the modern globalized world with rapid industrialization and urbanization the city has once again become the focus of modern social, economic and political life. Urban spaces and places have been the focus of research by many disciplines, including epidemiology, sociology, anthropology, and urban studies. In this chapter, the authors outline the importance and the role of culture in urban mental health employing various historical, sociological, and epidemiological contexts. The authors point out that modern multicultural approaches in viewing the metropolis can be conceptualized as a global hub of migration. This therefore becomes a place where individuals encounter the other and various boundaries between spaces and residence, and between wellness and illness, intersect. Acculturation to the urban places may take some time and the authors propose that the psychological process of acculturation is a useful beginning in terms of unpicking and understanding the phenomenology of identity formation and cross-cultural contact. The chapter traces the historical development of the city in parallel to the literature on psychosis and the city in developed and developing contexts, before critically examining the role of culture in informing our explanatory and interpretive frameworks of psychosis epidemiology.


2017 ◽  
Vol 47 (4) ◽  
pp. 311-320 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francisco Pinheiro da SILVA ◽  
Rodrigo Ferreira FADINI

ABSTRACT One of the problems affecting the quality of urban trees is their infestation by mistletoes (aerial hemiparasite plants of the order Santalales). Identification of the main types of trees infested, and of the causes of infestation patterns, can help infestation control and the planning of efficient planting regimes. In this sense, the aim of this study was to evaluate the patterns of hemiparasite infestation in trees in an Amazonian urban environment. We aimed to answer (1) which species of mistletoes occur on urban trees in the city of Santarém, in the Brazilian Amazon; (2) what is the proportion and intensity of infestation on infected trees; and (3) if differences in infestation rates among tree species can be explained by mistletoe-tree compatibility. We assessed mistletoe incidence and intensity of infestation on trees in the main avenues of the city. To evaluate the role of mistletoe-tree compatibility in the observed parasitism patterns, we carried out a seed inoculation experiment with seeds of the most abundant mistletoe, Passovia theloneura. Seeds were planted on three tree species (Andira inermis, Handroanthus serratifolius, and Mangifera indica). The overall infestation rate was 19.3%, with exotic tree species more infested than natives. The experiment showed that incompatibility between P. theloneura and the native H. serratifolius is primarily responsible for the observed non-infestation. Mistletoes germinated on A. inermis grew better than those on M. indica, contrary to the infestation prevalence found in the field, suggesting that patterns of infestation are also influenced by seed deposition processes.


2017 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 59-79 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alice Poma ◽  
Tommaso Gravante

In 2006, in the city of Oaxaca in Mexico, the protests of the local section of the teachers’ union (Section XXII-CNTE) turned in a few days to a popular insurrection, which was characterised by the strong participation of women, a group historically excluded and marginalised in Mexican and Oaxaca social and political life. This article analyses the process of empowerment of a group of women who participated in the insurgency and then decided to self-organise as a collective: Mujer Nueva (New Woman). The aim of this article is to contribute to a better understanding of empowerment as a dynamic process and a biographical consequence of protest and activism by analysing the role of different emotions in it.


Author(s):  
Gulnaz B. Azamatova ◽  
◽  
Mikhail I. Rodnov ◽  
Marsil N. Farkhshatov

Introduction. In the Southern Urals traditionally densely inhabited by Turkic peoples, the role of Ufa for the cultural and economic development of Bashkirs and Tatars was extremely important. Goals. The article highlights key moments in the formation of administrative, intellectual and economic resources in the Southern Ural capital, the systemic combination of which has turned Ufa into a center for the Muslim peoples of Russia’s East. The conceptual insight into cultural history of the multinational city presupposes analyses of religious, economic, and sociopolitical preconditions for its emergence. Materials. Along with historiographic data, the article investigates periodicals, archival documents, including a large array of reporting papers by the Volga-Kama Commercial Bank stored at the Russian State Historical Archives. Results. The early history of Ufa was associated with the existence of a Tatar settlement in the city and the shaping of a layer of non-Russian officials and nobility. The strategic efforts aimed at eliminating the influence of Central Asian and Turkish Muslims on co-religionists in the eastern outskirts of Russia resulted in an unprecedented project to create Orenburg Muftiate in Ufa. The latter’s activities became the main prerequisite for further concentration of intellectual and social resources of Russian Muslims in the city. The economic base of Muslim parishes with a full-fledged infrastructure — mosques, madrasas and maktabs — was largely formed by wealthy Ufa-based Muslim merchants. The role of Ufa in the social and political life of Russian Muslims can be traced through the development of the media, regional and national Muslim congresses. Conclusions. The development of Ufa as a center of Russia’s Turko-Islamic society contributes to the understanding of the phenomenon of cultural regionalism and its content.


2013 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 52-58
Author(s):  
L. D. McCann

The concept of metropolitanism, long an accepted fact in Canadian life and letters, has assumed the status of a national myth. Canada is no longer a country structured simply as metropolis and hinterland. Resource wealth has fostered sustained hinterland development and created regional metropolitan centres which directly influence the nation's economic, social, and political life. The strength of regional cities today affects both the redirection of national life and the renewed expression of regionalism which currently characterizes Canada.


1986 ◽  
Vol 80 (2) ◽  
pp. 403-418 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arlene W. Saxonhouse

The earliest attempts at a theoretical understanding of politics occur in the city-states of ancient Greece. Women had no place in the politics of those cities. However, the Greek tragedians and philosophers raised questions about the fundamental assumptions underlying political life by introducing women into their writings. Thus, women appear in some Greek tragedies as a counter to the male sense of political efficacy—the sense that men can create through speech and ignore the facts of physical creation entailed in the process of reproduction. A discussion of two tragedies, The Seven Against Thebes and the Antigone, suggests how the failure of male political leaders to acknowledge the demands of the physical and that which is different brings on tragedy. The Socratic response in the Republic is to overcome tragedy by making the male and the female the same. Aristotle attempts to incorporate sexual difference in the theoretical framework of hierarchy. Finally, there is a brief consideration of the role of the pre-Socratic philosophers in setting the agenda for the Greeks' confrontation with the problems of incorporating difference into the political community.


2020 ◽  
Vol 51 (3) ◽  
pp. 795-806 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth J. Short ◽  
Rachael Cooper Schindler ◽  
Rita Obeid ◽  
Maia M. Noeder ◽  
Laura E. Hlavaty ◽  
...  

Purpose Play is a critical aspect of children's development, and researchers have long argued that symbolic deficits in play may be diagnostic of developmental disabilities. This study examined whether deficits in play emerge as a function of developmental disabilities and whether our perceptions of play are colored by differences in language and behavioral presentations. Method Ninety-three children participated in this study (typically developing [TD]; n = 23, developmental language disorders [DLD]; n = 24, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder [ADHD]; n = 26, and autism spectrum disorder [ASD]; n = 20). Children were videotaped engaging in free-play. Children's symbolic play (imagination, organization, elaboration, and comfort) was scored under conditions of both audible language and no audible language to assess diagnostic group differences in play and whether audible language impacted raters' perception of play. Results Significant differences in play were evident across diagnostic groups. The presence of language did not alter play ratings for the TD group, but differences were found among the other diagnostic groups. When language was audible, children with DLD and ASD (but not ADHD) were scored poorly on play compared to their TD peers. When language was not audible, children with DLD were perceived to play better than when language was audible. Conversely, children with ADHD showed organizational deficits when language was not available to support their play. Finally, children with ASD demonstrated poor play performance regardless of whether language was audible or not. Conclusions Language affects our understanding of play skills in some young children. Parents, researchers, and clinicians must be careful not to underestimate or overestimate play based on language presentation. Differential skills in language have the potential to unduly influence our perceptions of play for children with developmental disabilities.


2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-7
Author(s):  
Andi Samsu Rijal ◽  
Andi Mega Januarti Putri

The essence of language is human activity. Communication with language is carried out through two basic human activities; speaking and listening during the interaction in a group of people. Immigrants in Makassar city communicate with immigrant communities and Makassar people. They used English and Indonesia to communicate with others. The aims of this article were to find out determinant factors of English as language choice among Unaccompanied Migrant Children (UMC) in Makassar and why they used English as their language choice to communicate with other people out of them. The data were taken from UMC in the shelter under the auspices of Makassar’s Social Office and in the public area of Makassar. This research was a qualitative approach; it was from a sociolinguistic perspective and focuses its analysis with the language choice among UMC. This research showed that most immigrants chose English as their language choice since they were in Makassar because they have acquired better than other international language and it has been mastered naturally by doing social interaction among themselves and people outside their community. UMC had more difficulties to socialize with Indonesian than the adult of Immigrants. Other than their lack of language mastery, they also have the anxiety to adapt to other immigrants and Makassar people. English was used by UMC to show their status as a foreigner who lived in a multicultural situation. Language becomes a power for a human being and it becomes a social identity for language user in one community. During the interaction of UMC in Makassar city, the role of English as an International language is shown.


2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 85-91
Author(s):  
Elena E. Rinchinova ◽  
Diyara A. Takumova ◽  
Irina I. Bochkareva

The article discusses main issues of organizing activities for the treatment of stray and street animals in the city of Novosibirsk. The important role of successful solving the problem of stray animals in ensuring environmental comfort and safety of the urban population is noted. Definitions of the concepts “stray animals” and “street animals” are given, the differences between them are emphasized. The main regulatory and legal documents governing the handling of stray and street animals are listed. The ways in which domestic animals get into a stray state are described briefly. The results of the collection and analysis of information on the activities of shelters for stray animals in Novosibirsk are described. The information on the quantitative indicators of the shelters are given. Conclusions on how to solve the problem of stray animals, relying on the latest regulations are drawn.


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