Disenchantment of the world: Weber, Judaism, and Maimonides

2017 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 173-190 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan J Zisook
Keyword(s):  
Social Action ◽  
Historical Development ◽  
Sociology Of Religion ◽  
Jewish Law ◽  
Medieval Period ◽  
Special Significance ◽  
The World ◽  
Intellectual Legacy

One of the central comparative-historical features of Max Weber’s sociology of religion is his theory of disenchantment, whereby magical forms of social action come to be eclipsed by religious forms. This article explicates Weber’s theory of disenchantment, underscoring his original distinction between magic and religion, while emphasizing the unique and often underappreciated position Judaism occupies in Weber’s theory. I accord special significance to the philosopher Maimonides as a medieval expositor of an ideal typically disenchanted form of Judaism. I apply Weber’s theory of disenchantment as a framework for understanding two central features of Maimonides’ intellectual legacy: (1) Maimonides’ codification of Jewish law; and (2) Maimonides’ philosophical and sociohistorical rationalizations of Biblical commandments. In so doing, I situate Maimonides within the broader discourse of sociology of religion and extend a Weberian analysis of Judaism into the medieval period, demonstrating that the role of Judaism in the historical development of “Western” rationality is not alone a product of antiquity as Weber contended.

In Search of the Sharīʿah

2018 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
pp. 315-354 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammad Omar Farooq ◽  
Nedal El-Ghattis
Keyword(s):  
Historical Development ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Primary Sources ◽  
The World

Abstract The centrality of Sharīʿah as a term and concept, together with its ubiquitous usage, reflects present Muslim understanding of their religion. Existing research indicates this Sharīʿah-based conception represents a later historical development. However, earlier studies have not documented contemporary understanding and use of the term in the primary sources of Islam. This has important implications regarding the imparting of sacredness according to its traditional conceptualization. Based on comprehensive research and close examination of the Hadith literature in particular, this represents the first work to examine whether and to what extent the term Sharīʿah was used by the Prophet and his companions. The present investigation makes the case for fundamentally re-evaluating the role of the Sharīʿah in understanding Islam, and argues that this is necessary in order for a positive impact on contemporary Muslim societies and their relationship with the rest of the world to occur.

scholarly journals From Awareness to Social Action: The Role of Dementia Friends in Sustaining Dementia Inclusiveness

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 513-514
Author(s):  
Martha Williman ◽  
Bonnie Burman
Keyword(s):  
Social Action ◽  
Collective Impact ◽  
Impact Model ◽  
Community Awareness ◽  
Raising Awareness ◽  
The World ◽  
Three Components

Abstract According to the World Dementia Council, three components are important to effectively engage a community to become dementia inclusive, 1) raising awareness and consequently decreasing stigma, 2) enabling participation, and 3) providing support—including in health and care settings. Too many times these components are separate initiatives thus limiting their effectiveness and sustainability. By applying the collective impact model and utilizing the Dementia Friends program as the link between the three, all dementia inclusive efforts can be enhanced and sustained regardless of the range of activities and approaches a community chooses to adopt. This symposium provides both evidence and examples of how to personalize and employ the Dementia Friends program to optimize the process, outcome, and impact of dementia inclusive initiatives. By engaging the entire community, awareness is raised, the structure is in place to enable action, and cross-sector collaboration will ensure continuation and sustainability of these important efforts.

scholarly journals Myth Actualization as a Way to Build the Self-Reflective Plot of the Film “Ilyich’s Gate”

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (6) ◽  
pp. 595-605
Author(s):  
Aleksey O. Bezzubikov
Keyword(s):  
Historical Development ◽  
The Self ◽  
Time And Space ◽  
Self Reflection ◽  
The Third ◽  
Cultural Codes ◽  
Fourth Part ◽  
The World ◽  
The Moment

The article provides the analysis of mytho­logical dimension of the film “Ilych’s Gate” (Zastava Ilycha) by M.M. Khutsiev. The author concludes that the text of this film represents self-reflexive structure. Firstly, the plot of the film quite clearly depicts the mythological perception of reality. Secondly, the course of narration reproduces the influence of mytho­logical codes on the perception of the audience. The text of the film contains a description of its own mechanism of influence on the viewer as well as the processes taking place in the minds of the audience at the moment of viewing.The first part informs of the main principles of mytho­logical thinking and the idea of time and space in the myth, referring to the works by C. Lévi-Strauss, R. Barthes, M. Eliade, A. Losev, E. Cassirer and others. Special attention is paid to the role of myth and initiation ritual in the psychological formation of a personality, as, based on the following, this is the theme that forms the basis of the film plot.The second part deals with the methods by which the mythological dimension is manifested in the text of the film.In the third part, the researcher shows how the contrast of secular and sacral becomes the main semantic opposition promoting the motion of the plot.In the fourth part, the author proves that the reflection of reality in the characters’ minds is a referent of the images shown on the screen. The characters’ development lies in the actualization of the sacral and mythological perception of the world. In turn, the cultural codes contained in the text of the film are designed to evoke a kind of response in the minds of the audience — to actualize the same sacred modus of perception in its ideas, the achievement of which is the ultimate goal of the characters. Thus, the inner path of the characters in the film reflects the processes that excite the studied film in the perception of the audience.The relevance of the article lies in the discovery and description of the principle of self-reflection in the structure of the film “Ilych’s Gate”, which allows us to understand at a qualitatively new level its structure and place in the historical development of Russian cinematography.

scholarly journals ‘What is that to us? See to it yourself’ (Mt 27:4): Making atonement and the Matthean portrait of the Jewish chief priests

2014 ◽  
Vol 70 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dorothy Jean Weaver
Keyword(s):  
Gospel Of Matthew ◽  
Jewish Law ◽  
Modus Operandi ◽  
Judas Iscariot ◽  
Jerusalem Temple ◽  
Religious Context ◽  
The People ◽  
The World ◽  
Overall Performance

To read the Gospel of Matthew within its 1st century religious context is to read an intensely Jewish narrative. Central to the world of this Gospel are the Jerusalem temple, its administrators, the chief priests, and the sacrificial system which they are charged by Jewish law to officiate. This article assesses the Matthean portrait of the Jewish chief priests of Jesus’ day against the scriptural backdrop which lays out their prominent role within Jewish religious life, namely ‘making atonement’ before God for the ‘sins’ of the people. In section one I sketch out the Matthean portrait of the scripturally assigned role of the priests, connecting this portrait to its biblical antecedents. In section two I assess the overall performance of the Matthean chief priests against the backdrop of their assigned role. In section three I address the question of atonement. Crucial here is 27:3–10, the account of Judas Iscariot, who returns his 30 silver coins to the chief priests and says (27:4a; emphasis mine), ‘I have sinned, because I have handed over innocent blood’. Here I highlight Matthew’s ironic modus operandi as he portrays the chief priests’ non-priestly response to Judas. Additionally, I contrast Matthew’s portrait of the Jewish chief priests with a brief portrait of Jesus’ own ministry within the Jewish community, a ministry which fulfils the priestly role abandoned by the chief priests. I conclude my article in section four with brief reflections on the rhetorical impact of Matthew’s portrait of the Jewish chief priests within his overall narrative.

scholarly journals Role of Object Imagery in Comprehending Real World Phenomena Attributes

2018 ◽  
Vol 50 ◽  
pp. 01074
Author(s):  
Elena Fedyaeva ◽  
Marina Ivleva
Keyword(s):  
Physical Properties ◽  
Real World ◽  
Historical Development ◽  
English Language ◽  
Grammatical Structure ◽  
Evaluation Tool ◽  
Spatial Properties ◽  
The World ◽  
Human Feature

The paper analyzes the functioning of nouns as paragons of certain attributes characterizing various properties of the real world objects. Humans perceive the objects they see in space as possessing definite inherent attributes (shape or dimension). Perception results in the system of parametric adjectives. However, adjectives denote rather abstract meanings thus possessing a more sophisticated structure of categorial meaning in comparison with nouns. The dimensional nomination by adjectives is “vague”, while nouns can actualize several attributes and create a holistic image. The factual material analysis reveals that: 1) the use of nouns as an “evaluation tool” of the objects’ physical properties is due to the specific human feature to perceive the world primarily in essential, substantial or “objectified” images; 2) object images specify and simplify processing of the incoming data by cognitive structures; 3) object imagery is one of the tools to conceptualize spatial properties of the objects; 4) linguistic representation of object imagery is culture specific and depends on a grammatical structure of a given language conditioned by its historical development; 5) the English language is characterized by frequent direct nominal representation of an idea in contrast with the same idea being expressed by a simile in Russian.

Acute Paranoid Reaction (Bouffée Délirante) in Canada

1982 ◽  
Vol 27 (5) ◽  
pp. 366-373 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Allodi
Keyword(s):  
Historical Development ◽  
World Literature ◽  
Third World ◽  
Psychiatric Training ◽  
Sociocultural Factors ◽  
Reaction Type ◽  
Canadian Data ◽  
Canadian Context ◽  
The World

The syndrome of acute paranoid reaction is studied within the Canadian context. The main purpose of the study is to clarify its nosology and diagnostic criteria so that its diagnosis becomes more reliable and true epidemiological rates may be established. The historical development of the concept is briefly outlined in a review of the world literature, with particular attention being paid to its defining characteristics. The differential diagnosis with schizophrenia and paranoid states is of great importance given the different prognosis and treatment. Evidence from the literature is presented to show the role of sociocultural factors in the causation and diagnosis of this syndrome. Canadian data of first admissions to mental hospitals with diagnoses of reactive psychosis, including acute paranoid reaction type, for the years 1969–1973, in selected provinces, are presented. Rates of reactive psychoses as proportions of all admissions and all admission psychoses are compared with rates available for other European and Third World countries. Canadian national rates are lower and it is argued that the lower incidence is partly attributable to misdiagnosis which in turn is due to psychiatric training and to the neglect of the role attributed to sociocultural factors in the genesis of this condition.

scholarly journals The wall of silence surrounding literature and remembrance: Varlam Shalamov’s “Artificial Limbs”, Etc. as a metaphor of the soviet empire

2020 ◽  
Vol 57 (2) ◽  
pp. 7-25
Author(s):  
Marcin Kępiński
Keyword(s):  
Short Story ◽  
Second World War ◽  
Artificial Limbs ◽  
World War ◽  
Special Significance ◽  
The Holocaust ◽  
The World ◽  
Forced Labour ◽  
Second World

Literature of an autobiographical character acquires a special significance in the world of the bloody tragic events of the 20th century, i.e. the Holocaust, the Second World War, the realities of the Nazi and Soviet totalitarianisms, death camps, and forced labour. Those are the recollections of experienced trauma which shatters identity, and of existential experiences of a borderline nature, of which Shalamov, a witness to the epoch, felt an obligation to talk. An anthropological analysis of Varlam Shalamov’s short story titled Artificial Limbs, Etc. enables one to grasp the role of memory and autobiographical testimony as a kind of cultural and literary antidote to silence and memory distorted by the Soviet totalitarianism. The author of Kolyma Tales offered a faithful description of a world outside the‘human’ world, one which was almost impossible to describe due to its inherent moral void, level of violence, and fear of the authorities who made people forget about the crimes, victims, and oppressors.

The Neutral Dead and the Pietist Dead

2020 ◽  
pp. 115-147
Author(s):  
Susan Weissman
Keyword(s):  
Medieval Period ◽  
The World ◽  
The Dead ◽  
Physical Objects ◽  
To Come ◽  
Strong Attachment

This chapter examines the role of the neutral dead in Sefer ḥasidim and shows how the concern for clothing the dead, in its various stages of existence, assumed specifically medieval forms. It also looks at the Pietist practice of burial in a talit with tsitsit, which highlights the singularity of the Pietists' unusually strong attachment to burial in such a garment and reveals an affinity with an ancient Germanic belief and custom regarding the afterlife. The belief that physical objects possessed the power to propel their bearers to Paradise was present in Ashkenazi sources both within and outside the Pietist circle. In this light, various Ashkenazi halakhists viewed specific garments of the dead, such as the tsitsit, as aids in the passage of the soul to the hereafter. These garments were not solely intended, as the talmudic rabbis would profess, for the time of the resurrection. The focus on the period immediately after death, rather than a concern with the World to Come, was a hallmark of the medieval period and one which separated yet again the world of the Pietists from the world of the rabbis of the Talmud.

Itineraries, iconoclasm, and the pragmatics of heritage

2020 ◽  
pp. 146960532096909
Author(s):  
Alexander A Bauer
Keyword(s):  
Social Action ◽  
White Supremacy ◽  
Transformational Change ◽  
Careful Examination ◽  
Rhetorical Device ◽  
The Us ◽  
The World

Recent calls across the world for removing monuments to White supremacy have brought widespread attention to the power of images and the role of heritage in society. A more careful examination of heritage’s itineraries and pragmatics—its practical effects—is thus warranted. This paper interrogates the pragmatics of heritage in two ways. First, what are the discourses and rhetorics of heritage—how is heritage invoked and talked about, like a sign of history, in making statements about the world? Second, what does heritage do, as a sign in history, when it is invoked, encountered, and circulated? What does heritage activate, and what are the practical effects of its itineraries? Drawing on the examples of the return of the Euphronios krater to Italy and the removal of Confederate and racist monuments in the US and elsewhere, I argue that while operating in these two modes—as signs of and in history—heritage’s greatest potential for transformational change is when it ceases acting as a rhetorical device and instead becomes itself the center of experiential social action.

scholarly journals THE EVOLUTION OF THE ROLE OF THE ARCHITECT'S PROFESSION AS AN ARCHITECT, ARTIST, DESIGNER OF THE FUTURE

2020 ◽  
pp. 15-31
Author(s):  
Maryna Avdieieva ◽  
Nataliіa Avdieieva
Keyword(s):  
Historical Development ◽  
Educational Process ◽  
Theoretical Research ◽  
Human Environment ◽  
Design Synthesis ◽  
Decorative Art ◽  
The World ◽  
Ancient Times ◽  
Historical Periods

The article examines the evolution of the role of architect – artist, his properties, based on the study of architectural, artistic, monumental features, both historical stages and modernity on the examples of architectural objects, design synthesis of arts – sculpture, painting, monumental and decorative art. The expediency of generalizing the nature of different attitudes to the architect as a specialist – an architect-artist in order to popularize the profession is substantiated. The article substantiates the study of the role of the architect in the historical development of architecture, the peculiarities of the perception of the architect as the main in the formation of the architectural environment, socio-political, historical events of society to promote it and approve the architect as the main builder, making the name of the architect of the object in history. The expediency of the attitude to the architect as to the specialist – the architect-artist, for the purpose of popularization of a profession is proved. The article examines the historical stages and styles in architecture, from ancient times the formation of human environment for existence and ending with the present. Theoretical methods, generalization of information are used in the work when considering scientific research related to the historical periods of architecture of the world and Ukraine. It is important to deepen the understanding of the culture of the profession. The generalization of research results provides material for understanding the role of the architect's profession as the main one in the implementation of the postulate "expediency, benefit, beauty", as well as in the implementation of theoretical research in the educational process of architects and designers and is a continuation of previous research.

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