scholarly journals Between the World Ship and the Spaceship

Prism ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 210-234
Author(s):  
Zhuoyi Wang
Keyword(s):  
Science Fiction ◽  
The State ◽  
Important Case ◽  
Literary Studies ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Environmental Disaster ◽  
Historical Sources ◽  
Environmental Deterioration ◽  
The World ◽  
Complex Forms

Abstract Planetarianism, proposed by Masao Miyoshi for literature and literary studies, calls for a new sense and organization of human totality truly inclusive of all and against neoliberal division, exclusion, repression, and egocentric consumption. Ironically, it is also the global neoliberal economy that lays the only realistic foundation for such a totality, albeit under negative circumstances. This economy has caused a rapid environmental deterioration that involves everyone on the planet, regardless of identity. Human beings are left with just two choices: either collectively forge new relationships among ourselves and with the planet or perish in the environmental devastation wrought by our continuous consumption, exploitation, division, and conflict. Imagining a totalizing environmental disaster and a global unity fighting for the survival of humanity and Earth, the 2019 Chinese sci-fi blockbuster The Wandering Earth is an important case for illustrating what complex forms the idea of planetarianism may take in a concrete ideological and creative context. The author argues that the film's future imagination bears laudable potential to promote a turn from exclusionist individualism, represented by the Hollywood science fiction model, to inclusive planetarianism. However, the film's persuasiveness is significantly limited by the double-layered restraint imposed on it by the state and the market. This article traces the turn and the restraint to their historical sources, closely analyzes where the film succeeds and fails in moving beyond the Hollywood vision of the planet's future, and thereby enriches our understanding of the cinematic imagination of planetarianism.

Giving effect to the human right to a clean environment in Botswana

2021 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-39
Author(s):  
Tinashe Madebwe ◽  
Emma Chitsove ◽  
Jimcall Pfumorodze
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Protection ◽  
The State ◽  
Human Right ◽  
Environmental Rights ◽  
Environmental Deterioration ◽  
Clean Environment ◽  
The World ◽  
The Right

Environmental deterioration remains a concern in Botswana. Despite efforts being made to address this issue by the state, more needs to be done in this regard. This is particularly interesting in the light of reports that the country is looking to draft a new constitution. Against this backdrop, this article considers whether including environmental rights in Botswana’s constitution would advance environmental protection efforts. To this end, the article relies on experiences with rights drawn from different jurisdictions across the world, as well as commentary on these experiences, to build a tool for measuring the extent to which the turn to environmental rights holds value in a given jurisdiction. Using this tool, and drawing from experiences in looking to establish environmental rights in Botswana, the article measures the extent to which including the right in the constitution would hold value in advancing Botswana’s pursuit of environmental protection objectives.

On the Harm of Genocide

2018 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-49
Author(s):  
Paul Kucharski
Keyword(s):  
Human Nature ◽  
The State ◽  
Human Condition ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Community Or ◽  
The World ◽  
Scholarly Discussion ◽  
Insight Into ◽  
Individual Human ◽  
The Human Condition

My aim in this essay is to advance the state of scholarly discussion on the harms of genocide. The most obvious harms inflicted by every genocide are readily evident: the physical harm inflicted upon the victims of genocide and the moral harm that the perpetrators of genocide inflict upon themselves. Instead, I will focus on a kind of harm inflicted upon those who are neither victims nor perpetrators, on those who are outside observers, so to speak. My thesis will be that when a whole community or culture is eliminated, or even deeply wounded, the world loses an avenue for insight into the human condition. My argument is as follows. In order to understand human nature, and that which promotes its flourishing, we must certainly study individual human beings. But since human beings as rational and linguistic animals are in part constituted by the communities in which they live, the study of human nature should also involve the study of communities and cultures—both those that are well ordered and those that are not. No one community or culture has expressed all that can be said about the human way of existing and flourishing. And given that the unity and wholeness of human nature can only be glimpsed in a variety of communities and cultures, then part of the harm of genocide consists in the removal of a valuable avenue for human beings to better understand themselves.

Introduction

2009 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 403-409
Author(s):  
Daniela Merolla
Keyword(s):  
Visual Arts ◽  
Visual Representations ◽  
Literary Studies ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Creation Myths ◽  
History Of Art ◽  
The World ◽  
Critical Approaches ◽  
History Of

AbstractSculptures, paintings, drawings, performances, and films have often refashioned narratives of the origins of the cosmos and of human beings. The essays collected in Creation Myths and the Visual Arts investigate the interplay between image and narrative and offer critical approaches from literary studies, the history of art, archaeology, and anthropology on the interpretation and categorization of verbal and visual representations of “creation myths” from all over the world.

scholarly journals Lessons from science fiction: Frederik Pohl and the robot prosumer

2020 ◽  
pp. 146954052094422
Author(s):  
MJ Ryder
Keyword(s):  
Science Fiction ◽  
New Technology ◽  
Ecological Impact ◽  
Business Management ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Production And Consumption ◽  
The Social ◽  
The World ◽  
Vital Resource ◽  
Impact Mass

The diverse fields of business, management and marketing have long explored the concept of the ‘prosumer’ – the producer-consumer who not only consumes those products produced by industry, but also has some hand in their creation. But while the term itself is often credited to futurist Alvin Toffler , the concept he describes (and that which Ritzer et al. adapt) is a central concern of science fiction, which has much to offer our understanding of modern-day prosumption and is not limited by the language and limitations of purely scientific academic discourse. Indeed, one of the most important voices in this area is author and editor Frederik Pohl, with his co-authored novel The Space Merchants and short stories including ‘The Midas Plague’ and ‘The Man Who Ate the World’. In each of these works, Pohl seeks to satirise the mindless robot-like behaviour of human beings, while also posing a word of warning for the social, economic and ecological impact mass-prosumption. This is a particularly relevant message given the rise of ‘surveillance capitalism’ – the real world manifestation of the dystopias that Pohl and his contemporaries describe. In this paper, I argue that science fiction isn’t just a useful tool for social theorists, but rather, a vital resource, as it provides a speculative framework through which to interrogate the potential impacts and implications of new technology, and the links between production and consumption, technology and work. Furthermore, it provides the means through which to imagine possible futures and the lasting impacts of consumption that go beyond describing the world as it is, and move into the realms of what the world may become.

Measuring World Development

1975 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 131-158 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Galtung ◽  
A. Guha ◽  
A. Wirak ◽  
S. Sjlie ◽  
M. Cifuentes ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
The State ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
The World ◽  
Radical Content ◽  
State Of Affairs ◽  
World Development ◽  
Selection Of

The purpose of this article is to discuss how the old and rather technocratic idea of expressing the state of affairs in a society in numbers, by means of social indicatros, can be given a more radical content. One idea is to measure not only how good a society is to its own citizens, but also how good or bad it is to the rest of the world. A second idea is to avoid abstractions like GNP and averages and try to develop measures that reflect the state of affairs at the level of human beings. A third idea is to find ways of developing indicators that would give less power to experts and more to people themselves. The article starts by giving the outline of a basic discussion on indicators, proceeds with a discussion of the basic values guiding the selection of indicators and ends with a presentation of the indicators.

scholarly journals Ecology and Science Fiction. Managing Imagination in the Age of the Anthropocene

2021 ◽  
pp. 79-97
Author(s):  
Grażyna Gajewska
Keyword(s):  
Social Science ◽  
Environmental Change ◽  
Science Fiction ◽  
Environmental Policies ◽  
The State ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Social Imagination ◽  
State Of Affairs ◽  
Climate Crisis ◽  
Disaster Science

When formulating proecological strategies, social imagination is devoted relatively little attention. Contribution of the humanities to the management in the age of the Anthropocene is most often perceived as explaining threats that we and the future human and non-human beings will have to face as a result of irresponsible environmental policies. Hence, the presumed task of the humanities (and social science) consists primarily in analyzing and presenting the causes and the processes which culminated in the climate crisis and the decline of biodiversity. However, such an approach does not allow this knowledge to be actively engaged in constructing alternative, proecological attitudes. Consequently, I argue in this paper that in order for the state of affairs to change one requires not only new scientific tools (methodology, language), but also new sensitivity and aesthetics. The author argues that the challenges of the current times, resulting from environmental change, destruction of habitats and ecological disasters, direct our sensibilities and aesthetics ever more tangibly towards the fantastic: horror, science fiction, or fantasy. However, while ecohorror mainly exposes the negative aftermath of the Anthropocene – culminating in the inevitable disaster – science fiction offers leeway for a more speculative approach, enabling one to construct such visions of reality in which multispecies justice will be observed and cultivated. It is therefore suggested that there is much need for a science fiction aesthetic and narration that would be capable of guiding us out of the anthropocentric entanglement and the Anthropocene into the Chthulucene (as conceived by Haraway).

scholarly journals Features of plot building of the lyrical cycles of travels in Russian poetry of Mordovia of the late XX – early XXI centuries

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 436-445
Author(s):  
S. P. Gudkova ◽  
◽  
O. Yu. Osmukhina ◽  
V. A. Samoylenko ◽  
◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Specific Form ◽  
The State ◽  
Literary Studies ◽  
Compositional Structure ◽  
The World ◽  
Russian Poetry ◽  
Russian Literary ◽  
Geographical Space ◽  
Comprehensive Study ◽  
Modern Russian

Introduction: the article is devoted to the study of genre and aspect specifics of the travel lyric cycle as a major genre form in modern Russian poetry of Mordovia and it fits into the complex of research of Russian literary studies concerning the problem of genre synthesis. The subjects of the analysis are the features of plot building of the lyrical cycles of travels. Objective: to reveal the genre and problem-thematic originality of the lyrical cycles of travels in the works of modern poets of Mordovia. Research materials: cycles of travels of V. Gadaev, V. Yushkin, K. Smorodin. Results and novelty of the research: in modern Russian poetry of Mordovia large genre forms as the most flexible actively develop. Among them, a special place is occupied by lyrical cycles with diverse thematic lines. In this context, travel cycles that synthesize the features of genre forms of the cycle and travelogue are quite remarkable. The complex compositional structure marked by the presence of a real geographical route, the image of a traveler comprehending the cultural and historical atmosphere of the visited country / city, reflects the author’s worldview, historiosophy, and the idea of the world space. In the works of V. Gadaev, V. Yushkin and K. Smorodin such cyclic forms carry out various creative objectives. For V. Gadaev, trip brings the opportunity to rethink the tragic moments of history, to understand the state of a person who is far from his homeland. The plot-forming beginning of his works is the opposition «native – alien», where the image of the Mordovian region turns out to be the semantic artistic center. In V. Yushkin’s lyrical cycles, the traveler’s route is connected with the comprehension of semantic codes of geographical space, contact with important cultural and literary places. In the K. Smorodin’s center of attention is an image of a lyrical hero-traveler who is under the impression of the surrounding world’s beauty. The motif of travel in the works of Russian poets of Mordovia is largely enriched by landscape and philosophical, love motifs, which indicates the synthetic nature of this genre-specific form. The scientific novelty of the work is connected with the fact that it represents the first experience of the comprehensive study of the features of the lyric cycle of travels in Russia

scholarly journals Os direitos humanos no contexto internacional: para além dos limites de uma obrigação específica?

2018 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 113-126
Author(s):  
André Luiz Olivier da Silva
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Human Person ◽  
International Community ◽  
The State ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Contemporary World ◽  
The World ◽  
Universal Human Rights ◽  
Special Rights ◽  
The Ideal

Resumo: Neste trabalho analisam-se as exigências por direitos humanos enunciados a partir de uma perspectiva universal, segundo a qual esses direitos se constituem dentro de obrigações gerais e são válidos para todas as pessoas do mundo. Mas podemos falar em direitos humanos considerados gerais e absolutos mesmo quando não se consegue especificar o detentor e o destinatário dos direitos em uma relação obrigacional específica? Com base em um procedimento de observação e na explicitação de algumas exigências por direitos humanos no mundo contemporâneo, aborda-se a natureza dos direitos a partir da correlação obrigacional entre direitos e deveres, bem como a distinção entre direitos especiais e direitos gerais, destacando que os direitos humanos são reivindicados como direitos gerais e universais, embora não se possa afirmar que sejam universais em si mesmos. A hipótese  neste artigo é a de que os direitos humanos são reivindicados “como se” fossem “gerais” dentro de obrigações específicas, seja em um conflito entre cidadãos e o Estado, seja a partir das relações dos países na comunidade internacional. Quando não estão especificados em obrigações concretas, esses direitos apresentam dificuldades quanto à sua efetividade justamente porque não se consegue identificar e especificar sujeitos e destinatários – que não são exatamente o Estado ou o cidadão deste ou daquele país, mas, sim, a pessoa humana. Nesse sentido, ainda estamos longe do ideal de universalização dos direitos humanos na comunidade internacional, e esses direitos só podem ser exercidos quando incorporados a um ordenamento jurídico ou, ao menos, inseridos em práticas morais e sociais.Palavras-chave: Direitos humanos. Direitos gerais. Universalidade. Obrigações específicas. Abstract: This paper discusses the claims by human rights from a universal perspective, according to which human rights constitute general obligations and are valid for all people of the world. Can we talk about human rights considered general and valid for all human beings even when we can not specify the holder and the addressee of rights in a specific obligational relationship? Based on a procedure of observation and explanation of some claims for human rights in the contemporary world, this article aims to approach the nature of these rights from the obligational correlation between rights and duties, as well as the distinction between special rights and general rights, highlighting that human rights are claimed as general rights, emphasizing its “universal” character, although we can’t ensure that these rights are universal in themselves. Our hypothesis is that human rights are claimed “as if” they were “general” within specific obligations, whether in a conflict between citizens and the state, as based on the relations of countries in the international community. When not specified in concrete obligations, human rights have doubts as to its effectiveness precisely because it is not easy to identify and specify recipients and subject of rights – which are not exactly state or country, but rather the human person. In this sense, we are still far from the ideal of universal human rights in the international community, and these rights may be exercised only when incorporated into a law, or at least, embedded in moral and social practices.Keywords: Human Rights. General rights. Universality. Specific obligations.

scholarly journals The origin of scientific activities and science in ancient timesBilimsel faaliyetlerin kökeni ve Eski Çağ’da bilim

2017 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 2453
Author(s):  
Sırrı Tiryaki
Keyword(s):  
Human Life ◽  
Medical Science ◽  
Modern Science ◽  
The State ◽  
English Abstract ◽  
Educational Institutions ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
World Science ◽  
The World ◽  
Ancient Times

The first inventions made by the first humans on earth to survive started the beginning of first scientific activities. The first instruments made of bone and stone are a product of this philosophy. The fact that human beings begin to lead a life based on settled life means the world science develops rapidly. Because the settled life enabled the establishment of villages and cities for world civilization and the commencement of trade. Along with all these things, concepts such as writing, books, literature, library, astronomy, mathematics, chemistry and physics began to enter into human life. The discovery of mining revealed the facts like armed soldiers, armies and states. Along with the concept of the state, scientific activities have become more systematic and more widespread. Because it is known that states supported scientific activities within their borders. For example, the creation of the writing by the Sumerian civilization, the preparation of textbooks, the development of the calendar, the development of medical science in Egypt, the invention of the compass by the Chinese civilization, the opening of the museum in Alexandria in the Hellenistic Age and the starting of the studies about anatomy in this museum, the opening of a three different educational institutions in Rome, were all happening as a result of the encouragement and support of the respective states. In this study, we tried to put forth that all the scientific activities in the Old Era the basis of the modern science as well.Extended English abstract is in the end of PDF (TURKISH) file. ÖzetYeryüzündeki ilk insanların hayata kalabilmek için yaptıkları ilk icatlar aynı zamanda ilk bilimsel faaliyetleri başlamaktadır. Kemik ve taştan yapılan ilk aletler bu felsefenin bir ürünüdür. İnsanoğlunun yerleşik yaşama dayalı bir hayat sürdürmeye başlaması ise dünya biliminin hızla gelişmesi anlamına gelmektedir. Çünkü yerleşik yaşam dünya uygarlığı için köylerin ve kentlerin kurulması ve ticaretin başlaması demekti. Bütün bunların yanı sıra yerleşik yaşamla birlikte yazı, kitap, edebiyat, kütüphane, astronomi, matematik, kimya ve fizik gibi kavramlar insan hayatına girmeye başladı. Madenciliğin keşfi ise silahlı askerler, ordular ve devletler gibi olguları ortaya çıkardı. Devlet kavramıyla birlikte bilimsel faaliyetler daha sistematik hâle geldi ve daha da yaygınlaştı. Çünkü devletlerin kendi sınırları içerisinde bilimsel aktiviteleri teşvikleri söz konusuydu. Örneğin yazının Sümer uygarlığı tarafından icat edilmesi, ders kitaplarının hazırlanması, takvimin geliştirilmesi, Mısır’da tıp biliminin oldukça gelişmesi, pusulanın Çin uygarlığı tarafından icat edilmesi, Helenistik Çağ’da İskenderiye kentinde müzenin açılması ve bu müzede anatomi alanında çalışmaların başlatılması ile Roma’da üç farklı eğitim kurumunun açılması gibi konuların tamamı dönemin söz konusu devletlerinin teşvik ve destekleri sonucunda gerçekleşen olgulardı. Çalışmamızda Eski Çağdaki bütün bu bilimsel faaliyetlerin aynı zamanda modern bilimin temelini oluşturduğunu ortaya koymaya çalıştık.

scholarly journals Jilbab dalam al-Qur’an dan Relevansinya dengan Pendidikan Islam

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-28
Author(s):  
Sain Hanafy
Keyword(s):  
The State ◽  
Three Dimensions ◽  
Islamic Education ◽  
Open Aperture ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Relationship With God ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
The World ◽  
The Veil ◽  
Islamic Values

This article shows that: the concept of Quran about the veil not only instructs women to wear the hijab, but also to the believing men and women of Muslims to adorn themselves with piety jewelry. The concept of the veil was ordered not to say in a voice seductive, stimulating and provoke lust, stay indoors, not out except in a situation that really needs, not tabarruj, not open-aperture, establish prayers, pay zakat, submit and obey all which Allah recommended to His Apostle to what came to him. The relevance of the concept of Qur'an about the veil with the goal of Islamic education is its compatibility in the formation of human morality that leads to the personality of Islam by always strengthening the faith and piety, so as to be useful human beings for the state, religion and achieve happiness of the world and the hereafter. Vocabulary education is philosophically oriented towards Islamic values based on three dimensions, (a) inculcating a balanced and harmonious relationship with God, (b) establishing a harmonious, harmonious and balanced relationship with the community, (c) developing the ability to explore, managing, and utilizing the natural wealth for the benefit of the welfare of his life with a harmonious attitude.

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