The Letter of Recommendation as Strange Work

PMLA ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 127 (4) ◽  
pp. 954-962
Author(s):  
Margaret Ferguson
Keyword(s):  
The Other ◽  
Free Lunch ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
The Gift ◽  
English Major ◽  
The Common ◽  
The One ◽  
Gift Certificate ◽  
Time And Energy ◽  
Made In

On the one hand, the gift presents itself as a radical Other of the commodity—and therefore also of work, insofar as the latter is understood as an investment of time and energy made in the expectation of wages or profit. On the other hand, the idea of the gift seems constantly to be drawn back under the horizon of rational exchange, and to be thus endlessly re-revealed as a secret ally of both work and the Work.—Scott Cutler Shershow, The Work and the GiftI have put together all these details to convince you that this recommendation of mine is something out of the common.Quae ego omnia collegi, ut intellegeres non vulgarem esse commendationem hanc meam.—Cicero, Epistulae ad familiares, book 13LAST FALL I FOUND IN MY OFFICE MAILBOX AN ENVELOPE FROM A SOPHOMORE ENGLISH MAJOR WHO HAD ASKED ME DURING THE SUMMER for a last-minute letter of recommendation for a scholarship competition. The envelope contained a handwritten thank-you note—and a gift certificate for a local restaurant. I e-mailed the student to thank her and to tell her that I couldn't accept the gift certificate since the letter I had written for her was part of my job as a teacher. She insisted; I insisted. She said that several teachers had turned her down before I agreed (from a hotel in Germany) to write for her. I felt rueful, as well as grateful to her for the token of gratitude that I couldn't accept. Eventually she won the debate: I accepted the printed piece of paper and took my daughters out to a free lunch.

The Rubicon of Language

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sebastian Lecourt
Keyword(s):  
The Other ◽  
Racial Identities ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
Max Müller ◽  
The Common ◽  
Human Capacity ◽  
The One ◽  
Religious Differences

This chapter considers a series of formative debates in British anthropology from the 1840s through the 1860s and uses them to map out the two dominant constructions of religion whose politics the subsequent authors in this study would reinvent. It describes, on the one hand, a liberal and evangelical construction of religion as the common human capacity for spiritual cultivation, and on the other hand a conservative, reactionary model that interpreted religious differences as the expressions of fixed racial identities that neither civilization nor Christianization could erase. In the work of the Oxford philologist F. Max Müller we see how the former model tended to associate religion above all with language. But we can also see the subtle forms of determinism that it contained—an ambiguity that Arnold, Pater, Eliot, and Lang would explore by picturing racialized religion as a resource for liberal self-cultivation.

Dziedzictwo dawnej Rzeczypospolitej w języku pierwszego polskiego przekładu poematu „Metai” Kristijonasa Donelaitisa

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 383-400
Author(s):  
Jolanta Mędelska
Keyword(s):  
Eighteenth Century ◽  
The Other ◽  
Political Journalism ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
Polish Language ◽  
Influence Of Substrate ◽  
The One ◽  
Made In

The author analysed the language of the first Polish translation of the eighteenth-century poem “Metai” [The Seasons] by Kristijonas Donelaitis, a Lithuanian Lutheran pastor. The translation was made in 1933 by a socialist activist and close associate of Józef Piłsudski, Kazimierz Pietkiewicz. The analysis showed that the language of the translation is peculiar. On the one hand, this peculiarity consists in refraining from archaizing the translation and the use of elements that are close to the translator’s style of social-political journalism (e.g., dorobkiewicz [vulgarian], feministka [feminist]), on the other hand, the presence at all levels of language of peculiarities characteristic for Kresy Polish language in both its territorial variations. These are generally old features of common Polish, the retention of which in the eastern areas of the Polish Rzeczpospolita was supported by the influence of substrate languages, later also Russian, or by borrowing. This layer was natural in the language of the translator, born in Ukraine, who spent part of his life in Vilnius, some in exile in Russia. This is the colourful linguistic heritage of the former Republic of Poland.

scholarly journals Rethinking Hijab in Contemporary Indonesia: A Study of Hijab Community “Tuneeca Lover Community”

2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 214-221
Author(s):  
Wardah Nuroniyah
Keyword(s):  
Social Class ◽  
Qualitative Method ◽  
Public Domain ◽  
The Other ◽  
The Public ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
The Common ◽  
The Veil ◽  
The One ◽  
Common Perception

Hijab (veil) for female Muslims has been subject to a debate regarding its meanings. On the one hand, it represents the virtue of religious obedience and piety. Still, on the other hand, it is associated with the form of women oppressions in the public domain. At this point, the hijab has been an arena of contesting interpretations. Meanwhile, contemporary Indonesia is witnessing the increase in the use of veil among urban female Muslims that leads to the birth of various hijab wearer communities. One of them is Tuneeca Lover Community (TLC). This community has become a new sphere where female Muslims articulate their ideas about Islam through various activities such as religious gathering, hijab tutorial class, fashion show, and charity activities. This study seeks to answer several questions: Why do these women decide to wear a hijab? Why do they join the TLC? How do they perceive the veil? Is it related to religious doctrines or other factors such as lifestyle? This research employs a qualitative method using documentation and interview to gather the data among 150 members of the TLC.  This research shows that their understanding of the hijab results from the common perception that places the veil as a religious obligation. Nevertheless, each of the members has one's orientation over the hijab. This paper also suggests that they try to transform this understanding into modern settings. As a consequence, they are not only committed to the traditionally spiritual meaning of the hijab but are also nuanced with modern ideas such as lifestyle and particular social class. Their participation in the TLC enables them to reach both goals simultaneously.

scholarly journals Metrical Positions and their Linguistic Realisations in Old Germanic Metres: A Typological Overview

2014 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 9-38 ◽  
Author(s):  
Seiichi Suzuki
Keyword(s):  
Old English ◽  
The Other ◽  
Old Norse ◽  
Old Saxon ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
Common Scale ◽  
The Common ◽  
Linguistic Alignment ◽  
The One ◽  
Linguistic Material

This paper provides a typological account of Old Germanic metre by investigating its parametric variations that largely determine the metrical identities of the Old English Beowulf, the Old Saxon Heliand, and Old Norse eddic poetry (composed in fornyrðislag, málaháttr, or ljóðaháttr). The primary parameters to be explored here are the principle of four metrical positions per verse and the differing ways in which these constituent positions are aligned to linguistic material. On the one hand, the four-position principle works with a maximal strictness in Beowulf, and to a slightly lesser extent in fornyrðislag, whereas it allows for a wider range of deviations in verse size in the Heliand and ljóðaháttr. In málaháttr, however, the principle in itself gives way to the five-position counterpart. On the other hand, the variation in the metrical– linguistic alignment in the three close cognate metres may be generalised by positing the common scale, Heliand > Beowulf > fornyrðislag, for the decreasing likelihood of resolution, the increasing likelihood of suspending resolution, and the decreasing size of the drop.

scholarly journals Immigration, Humanity, and Morality

2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-33 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sunday Adeniyi Fasoro
Keyword(s):  
Political Theory ◽  
The Other ◽  
Moral Principles ◽  
A Value ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
Common Ownership ◽  
Vulnerable People ◽  
The Common ◽  
The One

AbstractThe trend toward the concept of humanity in political theory has arisen largely as a reaction against the mistreatment of vulnerable people such as immigrants. The issue of immigrants’ vulnerability has led political thinkers to ponder on how to apply the principle of humanity to the question of the treatment of immigrants. I would like to address this matter by examining two questions: what is humanity, is it a value property, or a virtue? Does it really matter if the means by which an immigrant immigrates is demeaning to his own humanity as a person? The most common or intuitive reply to these questions would probably be: ‘humanity’ is simply a value-bestowing property, so regardless of immigrants’ actions they are owed respectful treatment. The aim of this paper is to emphasise instead that ‘humanity’ should be conceived as a virtue of actual commitment to act on moral principles. I explore three different meanings of humanity. First, I discuss ‘humanity’ as the common ownership of the earth. Second, I discuss ‘humanity’ as a value property. Third, I discuss humanity as a virtue of acting, on the one hand, with humanity, and on the other hand, on moral principles.

scholarly journals Notes on the Marine Oligochæta of Plymouth

1889 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 69-71 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frank E. Beddard
Keyword(s):  
Fresh Water ◽  
Lumbricus Terrestris ◽  
The Other ◽  
Red River ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
The Common ◽  
Marine Oligochaeta ◽  
The One

The Oligochæta form a division of the Annelida, of which the most familiar type is the common earthworm (Lumbricus terrestris); the group comprises also a great number of smaller worms, which are for the most part inhabitants of ponds and streams, such as the red River worm (Tubifex rivulorum). The Oligochæta were at one time believed to be entirely terrestrial or inhabitants of fresh water, and to be distinguished thus from the Polychæta, which were supposed to be exclusively marine in their habitat. Although the progress of research has not broken down the structural distinctions between these two divisions of the Annelida chætopoda, it has been provedthat no absolute line of demarcation can be drawn between the Oligochæta and the Polychæta as regards their habitat; on the one hand Polychæta have been found in fresh water, and, on the other hand, certain species of Oligochæta are now known to inhabit the mud and gravel of the seashore.

Pride and Burden: The Quest for Consistency in the Anti-Speciesist Movement

2018 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 239-258 ◽  
Author(s):  
Isacco Turina
Keyword(s):  
Animal Rights ◽  
The Other ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Animal Rights Movement ◽  
Just Cause ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Social Segregation ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
The One ◽  
Time And Energy

Abstract This article draws on 22 interviews with Italian anti-speciesists to develop a sociological account of the quest for ethical consistency in the animal rights movement. The essay analyzes three relevant consequences of the search for consistency—identity extension, social segregation, and self-transformation—and discusses their impact on the activists’ lives. Consistency appears as both a source of self-gratification and a burden. On the one hand, self-gratification results from a sense of moral pride and the certainty of fighting for a just cause. On the other hand, the pursuit of a consistent lifestyle is highly demanding in terms of time and energy, and can have negative effects on the activist’s relationships with family and peers. While the paper adopts an individual-level perspective, it also examines how the findings might relate to vegan mobilization. It is argued that the findings might be generalizable to activists in other countries who face similar challenges.

Martin Luther on Christian Hope and the Hope for Eternal Life

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey G. Silcock
Keyword(s):  
Final Analysis ◽  
The Other ◽  
Eternal Life ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
God's Word ◽  
The Gift ◽  
Triune God ◽  
The One ◽  
Two Sides ◽  
Theological Concept

Luther does not develop a theology of hope because hope is not the central driver of his mature theology. Central for him is rather faith in the promise of God, which gives rise to hope as well as love. There are two sides to justification that correspond to the now/not-yet character of Luther’s eschatology. On the one hand, we are already righteous through the gift of Christ’s righteousness, which we have in spe but not yet in re. On the other hand, the hope of righteousness strengthens us against sin as we wait for the perfection of our righteousness in heaven. However, in the final analysis, the basis of our hope is not the incipient righteousness which has begun in us (in re) as we gradually grow in holiness and righteousness, but Christ’s own perfect righteousness which he imputes to us through faith (iustitia aliena). For hope can only be rock-solid if it is grounded not on anything within us, but on Christ alone. The early Luther has a very different view of things because, before 1518, he is still very much under the influence of Augustine, which means that justification is primarily a process that goes on within a person’s heart rather than, as in the later Luther, faith in God’s word of promise that comes to a person from outside and gives what it says. The dominant theological concept in Luther’s early work is the theology of humility, which is predicated on the view that God must first humble you and cause you to despair, before he can raise you up and give you hope. Since here faith is not yet oriented to the promise but defined by humility, it has to remain uncertain, as does hope. In the later Luther, on the other hand, faith gives rise to confidence and hope because it is firmly grounded in God’s word of promise, which is always reliable because God does what he says. With his faith firmly grounded in Christ, Luther knows that he can weather all the trials and struggles of life; in fact, he can even look forward to death, since for Christians death is but the door to life with God forever. For Luther, Christ is the only hope for a hopeless world. For him, this is not wishful thinking but is rock-solid because it is based on the promise of the crucified and risen Lord. This is also the basis of the Christian hope for eternal life in the presence of the Triune God, together with the renewed creation and all the hosts of heaven.

scholarly journals Reification and immaterial production

2019 ◽  
Vol 46 (6) ◽  
pp. 676-702
Author(s):  
Dimitris Gakis
Keyword(s):  
Political Theory ◽  
Social Relation ◽  
The Other ◽  
Symbolic Language ◽  
Central Theme ◽  
Commodity Fetishism ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
Hardt And Negri ◽  
The Common ◽  
The One

Reification, a central theme in radical social/political theory from the 1920s onward, has started falling out of fashion since the 1970s, a period when a number of crucial alterations in the composition of capital and labour start taking place, for example, the tendential hegemony of immaterial/biopolitical labour. The main goal of this article is to discuss reification in light of contemporary changes in the shape of capitalism such as the above. After discussing the relation between reification, alienation and commodity fetishism, I highlight, largely following Hardt and Negri, how reification under the hegemony of immaterial/biopolitical production is, on the one hand, intensified and, on the other hand, (potentially) easier to diagnose, diminish or overcome, due to the increasing emergence of the common as a social relation antagonistic to capital. The article concludes with a note on Wittgenstein and the critique of reification of the symbolic (language) and the ‘inner’ (affects) as the new extended terrain of struggle.

On the independence of Henkin's axioms for fragments of the propositional calculus

1951 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-45
Author(s):  
Maurice L'abbé
Keyword(s):  
Propositional Calculus ◽  
General System ◽  
Function Symbol ◽  
The Other ◽  
Axiom Schema ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
Truth Function ◽  
The One ◽  
Image Position ◽  
Made In

A general system of axioms has been given by Henkin for a fragment of the propositional calculus having as primitive symbols, in addition to the usual parentheses, variables, and implication sign ⊃, an arbitrarily given truth function symbol ϕ. This system of axioms, which we shall denote by S(⊃, ϕ), contains the following three axiom schemataplus the 2m further axiom schemata involving the symbol ϕwhere ϕ is an m-placed function symbol. We refer to Henkin's paper, p. 43, for the detailed description of the axiom schemata (4).The remark was made in the above mentioned paper that each of the 2m axiom schemata of (4) is trivially independent of the rest of the axioms of S(⊃, ϕ), and it was conjectured that the axiom schemata (1), (2) and (3) are also independent. In this note, we prove the general independence of the axiom schemata (1) and (2). As for (3), we show on the one hand its independence in the systems S(⊃) and S(⊃, f), and, on the other hand, its dependence in the system S(⊃, ∼). The net result is, therefore, that in any of these systems of axioms S(⊃, ϕ) all the axiom schemata are independent, except possibly the axiom schema (3).

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