In code we trust: the concept of Rumūz in Andalusī alchemical literature and related texts

2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sébastien Moureau ◽  
Godefroid de Callataÿ
Keyword(s):  
The Other ◽  
Muslim World ◽  
Transfer Of Knowledge ◽  
Arab Muslim ◽  
Symbol Code ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
The Way

Abstract In the medieval Arabic tradition of the so-called occult sciences, the concept of ramz (symbol, code) has acquired an important role in the way the authors were considering and reading the texts of their predecessors and writing their owns. This term, closely related to the notion of secret, covered various ideas of code: from allegories and allusions to codenames and secret alphabets. Above all, the alchemists made ramz a real topos of their literature. In this paper, we focus on the Rutbat al-ḥakīm of Maslama b. Qāsim al-Qurṭubī (written in 339–342/950–953) and some of its main sources, such as the corpus of texts attributed to Jābir b. Ḥayyān, Ibn Waḥshiyya’s Filāḥa Nabaṭiyya, the Rasā’il Ikhwān al-Ṣafāʾ and the Risāla Jāmiʿa. We argue that Maslama produced a detailed definition of ramz, conceived a true typology of it, and proposed his own key to reading the alchemical ramz. This rich development is not found in any of the other texts that we have examined here. This observation confirms that Maslama b. Qāsim al-Qurṭubī, far from being a simple transmitter of Eastern ideas and practices to the Western Arab-Muslim world, was an original and innovative milestone in the transfer of knowledge.

scholarly journals The Ash’arite Dogma: the Root of the Arab/Muslim Absolutism

2008 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-34
Author(s):  
Ali Mabrook
Keyword(s):  
The Other ◽  
Muslim World ◽  
Cultural Aspects ◽  
Arab Muslim ◽  
Historical Fact ◽  
Way Of Thinking ◽  
The Way

There are three major categories upon which all of the world’s civilizations are established, namely, God, Man and World. The differentiation of worldly civilizations and the diversity of systems of knowledge are due to the way of drawing up the relation thereby the three categories are arranged. Some scholars assumed that these categories are communicated and totally correlated each other, in a way that each cannot be realized except in its connectivity to the others. While some others thought that the three categories should be separated and disconnected, in a way that each of the three is realized as an absolute and dominant one while the two others are marginal and dependent ones. Needless to say, while the first perception provokes the values of tolerance and the acceptance of the other, the second one motivates absolutism and the negation of the other. Unfortunately the Ash’arism, not only a dogma but —and more importantly— a stable and dominant way of thinking, is stimulated by the second perception based on an absolutism and the negation of the other. It departs from that historical fact that this paper argues that absolutism, manifested in political, religious and cultural aspects of nowadays Muslims life, can be related to the dominance ofAsh’arism all over the Muslim world.

Excellence Is by No Means Enough

2019 ◽  
Vol 25 (1-3) ◽  
pp. 259-270
Author(s):  
Stanley N. Katz
Keyword(s):  
Natural Resources ◽  
The Other ◽  
Internal Governance ◽  
Special Obligation ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
The University ◽  
Do So ◽  
The Way

This essay asks the question “What would it mean to be a just university?” and answers to that the question may be understood in two ways. One way to understand “just” is procedural, having to do with internal governance and ensuring that a university’s policies are themselves just. The other is substantive, having to do with the university’s purpose or reason for existing. The second assumes the university is to serve some function necessary for the general good. This good is often defined in material terms: fostering a stronger economy, medical breakthroughs, more efficient use of natural resources, and so on. But such a view of the university defines its value entirely by factors external to itself. Proponents of one definition of the university’s purpose typically acknowledge some validity in the other, and universities commonly strive to fulfill the claims of both definitions. But universities also have an obligation to teach the young and to do so within the context of a common set of values that both determines the setting in which teaching takes place and encourages students to develop values that will shape their own lives. Katz argues in particular that intellectuals have a special obligation to work cooperatively to eliminate intellectual obstacles that stand in the way of commensuration, communication, and comprehension globally. It is this responsibility that he calls “intellectual philanthropy.”

Textual Genetics and Manuscript in Word Processing. A new Definition of the Text?

2009 ◽  
Vol 23 ◽  
pp. 45-61 ◽  
Author(s):  
Irène Fenoglio
Keyword(s):  
Word Processing ◽  
Text Processing ◽  
The Other ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
The Future ◽  
The Status ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
The Way

Abstract: Very little research has been devoted to the way in which the textual genetics approaches the manuscripts in the text processing. However the future of the genetics depends, partly, on the interest which one can carry to this new materiality of the manuscript. The notion of text, the concept of what text is, have they been changed, or at least modified by the use of text processing? To write a text is to elaborate a discourse in the form of an utterance and to record it. The order of the discourse, in other words, the semiotic (the linguistic recognizable) / semantic (the meaning expressed (uttered) in the discourse) ratio should in no way be modified by the use of text processing. What changes, on the other hand, it is the materialization of the paper support of the text and consequently the status of this materialization.

The Institutional Definition of Poetry: Some Heretical Thoughts

1998 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-13 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Fishelov
Keyword(s):  
Institutional Context ◽  
The Other ◽  
Verse Form ◽  
The One ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Oriented Approach ◽  
The Way

A few contemporary theories of poetry (e.g., Culler, 1975; Fish, 1980) claim that texts do not have any poetic qualities prior to, and independently of, the institutional context in which they are presented. When a text, any text, is printed in verse form, in a book whose subtitle is “Poems,” then we start looking for poetic qualities. And what we look for, we are bound to find. In order to challenge this approach, and to argue for a more objective, text-oriented approach to the categorization of texts (Hanaor, 1996; Miall & Kuiken, 1996), I have conducted a test. My test was based on two types of questionnaires, the one in prose form, the other in verse, in which students were asked to identify those texts that were “originally” poems or prose. The results obtained corroborate the assumption that readers have quite definite intuitions about the poetic qualities of texts prior to and independently of the way they are institutionally presented.

scholarly journals Non-fiction, fiction – or what? A discussion of genre in the writings of K. O. Viderø

2015 ◽  
Vol 60 ◽  
pp. 53
Author(s):  
Bergur Djurhuus Hansen
Keyword(s):  
The Other ◽  
Non Fiction ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
Travel Writings ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
The Way

The writings of the Faroese author, pastor and Bible translator K.O. Viderø (1906­1991) trespass the border between fiction and non­ fiction and are difficult to define in relation to genre. A definition of genre is on the other hand crucial for the way we read them. K.O. Viderø wrote about himself and about travels, events and people, he experienced, but he did so in his own imaginative way. The article discusses relevant theories of genre and the problems connected to at final definition of K.O. Viderø“s writings. The publication <em>Á Suðurlandið </em>(1990) is analyzed and used as an example of how Viderø found it hard to adjust himself to the limitations of traditional genres and indirectly wrote about it. The article finally argues that most of the writings, where Viderø writes about himself, are to be read as literary travel writings.

scholarly journals Affective Governance During the COVID-19 Crisis: Building Leadership, Trust, and Good Citizens

Tripodos ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (47) ◽  
pp. 67-86
Author(s):  
Emiliana De Blasio ◽  
Donatella Selva
Keyword(s):  
The Other ◽  
Fake News ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
National Boundaries ◽  
The One ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The Way

Concepts such as emotional govern­ance, affective citizenship and trans­formational leadership point at the way governments are addressing the COVID-19 crisis from an emotional perspective. The study takes the Ital­ian and Spanish leaders as case stud­ies, analysing TV speeches, press con­ferences and parliamentary addresses, on the one hand, and Facebook posts, on the other hand. The results show that the two cases adopt different emotional repertoires, depending on the historical and cultural leanings but also on the style of leadership they embrace. This style reverberates in the relationship they seek to build with citizens to stimulate compliance with their decisions and in the use of Facebook to promote positive mes­sages and counter the spreading of misinformation. The article also shows how affective governance and style of leadership contribute to the normative definition of good and deviant citizens in critical historical junctures. In par­ticular, the diffusion of fake news (and not just their manufacturing) is de­picted as anti-patriotic and non-civic. We argue that the crisis has catalysed processes and trends that were al­ready at play, while at the same time defining a new trait of leadership in the ability to promote cross-genera­tional solidarity and sense of belong­ing beyond national boundaries. Keywords: citizenship, communica­tion, emotions, governance, leader­ship, solidarity.

scholarly journals On Lines of Flight: The Theory of Political Transformation in A Thousand Plateaus

2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 433-456
Author(s):  
Edward Thornton
Keyword(s):  
Conceptual Framework ◽  
Vital Role ◽  
The Other ◽  
Political Transformation ◽  
Specific Question ◽  
Deleuze And Guattari ◽  
Direct Definition ◽  
General Meaning ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
The Way

The concept of the line of flight is used with striking regularity throughout A Thousand Plateaus where it plays a vital role in connecting the other conceptual innovations of the book, including the concepts of the assemblage and the machine. Despite its importance, Deleuze and Guattari never offer a direct definition of the concept, and the reader of A Thousand Plateaus is left to discern its meaning from its various uses. This is especially frustrating for those whose interest in the text is political and who wish to use the conceptual framework of the book to analyse the socio-political assemblages in which they live. In response to this issue, this paper offers a clear and concise introduction to the concept of the line of flight. Furthermore, by analysing the way in which Deleuze and Guattari use this concept in their political analyses of feudalism and capitalism, this article illuminates the more general meaning of the concept of the line of flight through the more specific question of its usage in Deleuze and Guattari's attempt to think a post-capitalist future.

Questions for philosophical counselling

Human Affairs ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Blanka Šulavíková
Keyword(s):  
Critical Thinking ◽  
The Self ◽  
The Other ◽  
Critical Reasoning ◽  
Philosophical Counselling ◽  
The Third ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
Classical Conception ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
The Way

AbstractThe article poses three questions relating to the self-definition of philosophical counselling: 1. Is it an alternative to psychological and psychotherapeutic approaches? 2. What is the therapeutic nature of philosophical counselling? 3. Is it contemplation or critical reasoning? The first part introduces some examples of the concepts that sharply distinguish philosophical counselling from psychological and psychotherapeutic approaches. It also considers those that mix these different approaches. The second part deals with the question of whether or not philosophical counselling can be considered to be a therapy. Some philosophical counsellors work on the belief that there is a synchrony between modern philosophical counselling and the classical conception of philosophy as therapy. Many, however, are of the opinion that it is not possible to speak of it in terms of therapy. The third part gives examples of the way in which philosophical counselling is understood to be contemplation and on the other hand of those who employ approaches based on critical thinking in philosophical counselling.

scholarly journals III. Postscript to a paper "on compound colours, and on the relations of the colours of the spectrum."

1860 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
pp. 484-486
Keyword(s):  
The Other ◽  
Concave Mirror ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Sun Light ◽  
The Way

Account of Experiments on the Spectrum as seen by the Colour-blind . The instrument used in these observations was similar to that already described. By reflecting the light back through the prisms means of a concave mirror, the instrument is rendered much shorter and more portable, while the definition of the spectrum is rather improved. The experiments were made by two colour-blind observers, one of whom, however, did not obtain sunlight at the time of observation. The other obtained results, both with cloud-light and sun-light, in the way already described. It appears from these observations— I. That any two colours of the spectrum, on opposite sides of the line “F,” may be combined in such proportions as to form white.

scholarly journals Shiatsu and Acupressure: Two Different and Distinct Techniques

2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 4-10
Author(s):  
Fernando Cabo, MSc ◽  
Amanda Baskwill, MSc ◽  
Slava Christophe-Tchakaloff, LLM ◽  
Isaac Aguaristi ◽  
Jean-Philippe Guichard
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Body Weight ◽  
Mechanism Of Action ◽  
The Other ◽  
Clear Distinction ◽  
Specialized Schools ◽  
Common Definition ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
The Way ◽  
Research Studies

Background: Although shiatsu has been taught in specialized schools in Japan since 1940, there is a limited amount of research for its practice. As a result, authors substitute shiatsu with acupressure to use available research on acupressure. It is the position of the authors that, while the two share common aspects, they are substantively different. This project was undertaken to describe technical differences and advocate for a clear distinction, especially in research studies and academic discussions.Methods: To understand whether it is appropriate to include acupressure studies in the evidence for shiatsu an analysis of the references included in a frequently cited systematic review was conducted to collect information about the protocols. In addition, a preliminary exploration of shiatsu practitioners’ perceptions about the differences between shiatsu and acupressure is described. This exploration used videos of shiatsu and acupressure techniques and asked practitioners to comment on their perception of similarity.Discussion: The results identified several key technical differences between the two, including type of pressure applied, the positioning of the thumb, and the way in which body weight is used. Researchers should separate shiatsu and acupressure in their designs and purposively choose one or the other. To facilitate such clarification, we have proposed a definition for shiatsu that may facilitate the differentiation between these two techniques.Conclusion: The authors hope to stimulate discussion about the differences between shiatsu and acupressure, and to question the appropriateness of using acupressure studies as evidence of the efficacy of shiatsu. A true understanding of the efficacy of shiatsu cannot be determined until studies use a common definition of shiatsu and discontinue substituting acupressure research for evidence of shiatsu efficacy. When this happens, it is proposed that a clearer picture of the safety, efficacy, and mechanism of action of both shiatsu and acupressure will emerge.

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