scholarly journals Encountering Worlds: Performing In/As Philosophy in the Ecological Age

2015 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 195
Author(s):  
João Florêncio

Within the context of the ‘Anthropocene’, the current geological epoch marked by the impact of human activity on terrestrial ecosystems and geological formations, this article considers the ways in which the ecological blurring of boundaries between ‘Nature’ and ‘Culture’ might affect existing ontologies of performance. Departing from Richard Bauman’s definition of performance as both communication and enactment, we will use the postulates of Graham Harman’s Object-Oriented Ontology to speculate on what performance might mean beyond the human/nonhuman divide.  Ultimately, it will be claimed, performance, understood as both enactment and unveiling, is at the core of all encounters between all bodies and irrespective of their perceived nature. As a result, the world must once again be thought as theatrum mundi, as a stage where bodies always encounter one another through the contingency of the personae they play, personae that nonetheless are unable to exhaust the full being of the bodies behind them.

Author(s):  
Giovanni Gabutti ◽  
Erica d’Anchera ◽  
Francesco De Motoli ◽  
Marta Savio ◽  
Armando Stefanati

Starting from December 2019, SARS-CoV-2 has forcefully entered our lives and profoundly changed all the habits of the world population. The COVID-19 pandemic has violently impacted the European continent, first involving only some European countries, Italy in particular, and then spreading to all member states, albeit in different ways and times. The ways SARS-CoV-2 spreads are still partly unknown; to quantify and adequately respond to the pandemic, various parameters and reporting systems have been introduced at national and European levels to promptly recognize the most alarming epidemiological situations and therefore limit the impact of the virus on the health of the population. The relevant key points to implement adequate measures to face the epidemic include identifying the population groups most involved in terms of morbidity and mortality, identifying the events mostly related to the spreading of the virus and recognizing the various viral mutations. The main objective of this work is to summarize the epidemiological situation of the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe and Italy almost a year after the first reported case in our continent. The secondary objectives include the definition of the epidemiological parameters used to monitor the epidemic, the explanation of superspreading events and the description of how the epidemic has impacted on health and social structures, with a particular focus on Italy.


2019 ◽  
pp. 313-325
Author(s):  
Borislav Grozdic ◽  
Valerija Dabetic

In the aggressive dominance of critical rational thinking over the mythical worldview, myth as a historical and effective force does not lose its actuality and importance, because myths often hide deeper messages than what history can offer. In such a social context, the significance of the spiritual message of the Kosovo myth - the commitment to the Heavenly Kingdom, as a lasting common value of the Serbian people, returns as a theme. In spite of its omnipresence, the opinion prevails that the myth belongs to the past, and if it is not yet obsolete, it certainly should be. The authors advocate the idea that myth, as a comprehensive experience of the world, and therefore the Kosovo myth as well, is a factor of national integration, a part of collective identity, and a common value system. Analysing the secular and spiritual understanding of the Kosovo myth, the authors point out the importance of the vivid memory of the prince Lazar?s commitment to the Heavenly Kingdom. For Christians, this represents the value and goal above all others and it forms the core of the Serbian historical consciousness and spiritual community. The paper shows that the spiritual message of the Kosovo myth is not understood or it is misunderstood nowadays, since the commitment to Kosovo is perceived as a call and an obligation to die for it. The authors conclude that the Kosovo myth is not a call to die in the war, on the contrary, it is a struggle for external and internal freedom, as well as for the highest values that are implied by the definition of the Heavenly Kingdom ? peace, love, honour, justice, dignity, and others.


Author(s):  
N. HRYNCHAK

Information and analytical database for the market support is required to prevent communications of contradictory information to higher levels of management, with adverse effects for the process of taking rational management decisions. The article’s objective is to substantiate the information and analytical support for studies of the logistics services market, with constructing a system of statistical indicators for this market assessment, to be laid as the solid basis for elaborating medium-term and long-term strategies and policies of the logistics services market in Ukraine.  A definition of information and analytical support for studies of the logistics services market is given; a review of secondary sources of data for this market studies is made. A conceptual model for information and analytical studies of the logistics services market is proposed. The key statistical indicators for studies of this market are identified, with substantiating the feasibility of their use in computing multivariate indicators for the assessment of performance and capacities of the logistics services market in Ukraine. The core criteria to be met by the abovementioned system of statistical indicators are highlighted. A system of statistical indicators for the assessment of the logistics services market is proposed, containing four modules. It allows for diagnosis of this market performance and tendencies, with accounting for the impact of other related markets and activities, and for forecasting. This system, constructed with consideration to the global practice, is designed for comprehensive studies of the logistics services market.


Author(s):  
Kari Jæger ◽  
Guðrún Helgadóttir

Abstract Landsmót (the National Championship of the Icelandic horse), the main equestrian event in Iceland, provides an opportunity to present Icelandic nature and culture in many ways, through horses, clothing, equipment and food. Landsmót is a biennial sports event which has become a meeting place for local and national participants (audience and volunteers) and also international audiences and volunteer tourists. It provides access to what is commonly termed 'the world of the Icelandic horse'. The findings in this chapter are based on interviews with volunteers and fieldwork at the Landsmót event at Hólar, Iceland, in 2016. There were two types of volunteers at the event: volunteer tourists who signed up due to their interest in the core activity; and members of local non-profit associations that took on tasks for the event as a fundraising activity. The findings suggest that these two groups require different volunteer management approaches and that a clearer strategy for managing international volunteer tourists is needed to meet their needs and expectations of the event community and to facilitate their co-creation of memorable experiences.


2017 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 243-281 ◽  
Author(s):  
Agostino Cera ◽  

Abstract: While putting forward the proposal of a “philosophy of technology in the nominative case,” grounded on the concept of Neoenvironmentality, this paper intends to argue that the best definition of our current age is not “Anthropocene.” Rather, it is “Technocene,” since technology represents here and now the real “subject of history” and of (a de-natured) nature, i.e. the (neo)environment where man has to live.This proposal culminates in a new definition of man’s humanity and of technology. Switching from natura hominis to conditio humana, the peculiarity of man can be defined on the basis of an anthropic perimeter, the core of which consists of man’s worldhood: man is that being that has a world (Welt), while animal has a mere environment (Umwelt). Both man’s worldhood and animal’s environmentality are derived from a pathic premise, namely the fundamental moods (Grundstimmungen) that refer them to their respective findingness (Befindlichkeit).From this anthropological premise, technology emerges as the oikos of contemporary humanity. Technology becomes the current form of the world – and so gives birth to a Technocene – insofar as it introduces in any human context its ratio operandi and so assimilates man to an animal condition, i.e. an environmental one. Technocene corresponds on the one side to the emergence of technology as (Neo)environment and on the other to the feralization of man. The spirit of Technocene turns out to be the complete redefinition of the anthropic perimeter.While providing a non-ideological characterization of the current age, this paper proposes the strategy of an ‘anthropological conservatism,’ that is to say a pathic desertion understood as a possible (pre)condition for the beginning of an authentic Anthropocene, i.e. the age of an-at-last-entirely-human-man.


2011 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 63 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dean R. Manna ◽  
Gayle Marco ◽  
Brittany Lynn Khalil ◽  
Sara Meier

The traditional definition of sustainability calls for policies and strategies that meet societys present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs (1). Sustainability is a concern in private and public sectors all over the world; it is an issue that resonates with people in all age ranges, income levels, and geographic locations. The main idea of sustainability is reduce, reuse, and recycle. People and organizations alike must consider every possible effect from the decisions they make in regards to the environment. With over 600,000,000 passenger cars on the road in the world, and over 50,000,000 passenger cars built each year, it is imperative that automakers make sustainable decisions (2). It is not just the large number of vehicles in the world that is cause for concern, but the immense amount of resources needed to manufacture, transport, and fuel them. Automakers must consider the impact that each car has during every stage of its life cycle, in addition to their responsibility to society (in terms of the environment, education, and safety) and the impact of their suppliers. This case study is designed to discuss the background of Toyota and highlight the companys current actions in regard to sustainable marketing; a comparison will also be made to the sustainable efforts of Honda and Subaru.


Stasis ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 181-207
Author(s):  
Bronislaw Szerszynski

In this paper I make a case for a philosophy of continuous matter, in dialogue with object-oriented ontology. A continuous-matter philosophy is one that focuses not on the identity, properties, and relations of discrete, countable objects, but on the nature of extended substances, both in relation to human experience and in terms of their own “inner life.” I explore why and under what conditions humans might perceive the world as objects or as continuous substances, and the language that humans use for talking about both. I argue that approaching the world as continua requires the foregrounding of concepts that emphasize the immanent (internal to a region of space), the inclusive (with contrasting properties coexisting in the same substance), the gradual (manifesting differentially at different points), and the generative or virtual (involving the constant production of form and new gradients). I suggest that starting philosophy from continuous matter rather than objects also has wider implications for speculative thought


Humaniora ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 190 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mia Angeline

This article describes the role of myth and some universal themes of myth, such as the creation of the world, a huge flood, death, and the end of the world. Almost all the world's myths concern this universal themes, as seen from the similarity of some of the myths followed by many cultures in the world. These myths have primary functions to human’s behavior and attitude because people keep telling almost the same myths to their predecessors. The goals for this research are (1) knowing the functions of myths with famous themes from various culture and (2) knowing the background and relationship between myths and modern culture. The result describes the relationship between the cultural myths, where the core of the story is the truth of humanity. In addition, myth acts as a template to organize their daily activities as well as human activity, but it also serves to introduce human to a greater power in the universe. The values in each story will be interpreted as rules and customs that must be met, and this has resulted in the emergence of a culture passed down from generation to generation. 


2018 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. 62-78
Author(s):  
Emiliano Minerba

This paper discusses the character of King Juha, the protagonist of the comedy Mfalme Juha by Farouk Topan, using an approach that considers the humoristic dimension of this character. The definition of humorism employed here is that given by Pirandello: the result of an aesthetic process in which the comic effect deriving from an object of laughter is tempered and contrasted by a “sentiment of the contrary” that observes and builds empathy with the inner contradictions of the object itself. After a short outline of Mfalme Juha’s critical history which shows that the humoristic dimension of King Juha has never been considered in critiques, this paper focuses on an analysis of this character, in which the core feature of egocentricity is identified. Juha’s egocentricity and its humoristic nature are analysed in the character’s relationship with his subjects as their king and in his idea of art and culture; in both cases it is shown that what is important is not the wickedness or egoism of Juha, but his lack of comprehension of the world. Juha is incapable of understanding his environment and other people, since he can not doubt his own superiority: this puts him in several comic situations, but on the other hand makes him a victim of his smart subjects, so that he arouses a feeling of sympathy in which Pirandello’s sentiment of the contrary can be traced.


Author(s):  
Kevin Gray ◽  
Susan Francis Gray

Titles in the Core Text series take the reader straight to the heart of the subject, providing focused, concise, and reliable guides for students at all levels. This chapter introduces a number of concepts that are fundamental to an understanding of the contemporary law of land in England and Wales. It discusses: definition of ‘land’ as physical reality; the notion of abstract ‘estates’ in land as the medium of ownership; the relationship between law and equity; the meaning of ‘property’ in land; the impact of human rights on property concepts; the ambivalence of common law perspectives on ‘land’; the statutory organisation of proprietary rights in land; and the underlying policy motivations that drive the contemporary law of land.


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