scholarly journals The Polemic Between J. Searle and D. Dennett from the Perspective of Christian Apologetics

2019 ◽  
pp. 118-147
Author(s):  
Анатолий Анатольевич Парпара
Keyword(s):  
Chinese Room ◽  
World Views ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Christian Apologetics

В статье излагаются взгляды известных философов Дж. Сёрла и Д. Деннета на природу сознания и полемика между ними. Оба автора являются материалистами, однако принадлежат к различным течениям: редукционизму (Деннет) и антиредукционизму (Сёрл): первое утверждает, что явления сознания без остатка сводятся к физической реальности, второе - что они обладают онтологической несводимостью. Рассматриваются мировоззренческие основания обоих мыслителей, в том числе отношение к религии, и кратко разбираются основные теоретические конструкции, которые они используют: эмерджентизм, «китайская комната», виды редукции и субъективности по Сёрлу, «пандемониум», мемы, верификационизм и гетерофеноменология по Деннету. Показано, что споры между редукционистами и антиредукционистами свидетельствуют о наличии существенных противоречий в современном материализме, которые могут быть использованы христианской апологетикой как для критических целей, так и в качестве отправной точки для построения диалога. The article discusses the views of J. R. Searle and D. C. Dennett on the nature of consciousness and their polemic. Both philosophers are materialists but take different positions on the problem of consciousness: Dennett claims that mental phenomena can be completely reduced to physical (reductionism), while Searl maintains ontological irreducibility of the former (antireductionism). The author states their world views, including attitudes towards religion, and briefly discusses the main theoretic constructs they use: emergentism, the Chinese room, types of reduction and subjectivity according to Searle, pandemonium, memes, verificationism and heterophenomenology according to Dennett. It is shown that discussions between reductionists and antireductionists reveal substantial contradictions in contemporary materialism, which may by used by Christian apologetics not only for critics, but as a starting point for a dialog as well.

Is Jesus my Superhero?

2008 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 64-76
Author(s):  
Andy Stirrup
Keyword(s):  
Youth Ministry ◽  
Near East ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
The Creation ◽  
Christian Apologetics ◽  
The Relationship

This paper considers an implicit trend in youth ministry to present Jesus as the archetypal superhero and asks if this is a valid and a helpful approach. The paper examines the relationship between the biblical category of hero and the contemporary notion of superhero and a broader appreciation of the use of myth for communicating Christian apologetics as seen in Lewis and Tolkien. The starting point for the paper is that an arguable starting point for the creation of Superman is in the epic character of Hercules and the biblical hero Samson. Through an examination of biblical and other Near East material the paper calls for a deeper and more nuanced appreciation of the relevance of modern western myth in the task of communicating theological narratives and concepts.

Is Revelation Coherent?

1971 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 278-294
Author(s):  
David Griffin
Keyword(s):  
Biblical Studies ◽  
Rational Approach ◽  
Central Concept ◽  
World Views ◽  
Religious Truth ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
History Of Religions ◽  
History Of ◽  
Rational Criticism

“It is certainly the case that much theological talk about revelation has been associated with an anti-rational approach to religious truth; in fact, much of the motivation in modern theology for making revelation a central concept has been to have a starting point immune from the onslaughts of rational criticism, criticism based on biblical studies, the history of religions, hostile world views, and epistemologies, and the demands of logic and morality. But the idea of revelation as such has no necessary connection with irrational approaches in the quest for truth.”

Differing Global and Regional Perceptions

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yukon Huang
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
The United States ◽  
Public Perceptions ◽  
Economic Power ◽  
The West ◽  
World Views ◽  
Power Politics ◽  
The Past ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
The World

Deng Xiaoping’s death in 1997 marked the end of an era and provides the starting point for a discussion about public perceptions. Today’s China emerged from his reforms, which opened the country to the outside world. Views of outsiders have shifted markedly over the past several decades. The majority of Americans see China’s rise as a threat to their country’s global stature, but Europeans are less preoccupied with power politics. Both groups wrongly see China as the leading economic power contrary to the rest of the world which see the United States. Popular feelings toward China vary widely across and within regions; they are influenced by proximity and colored by history and ideology. This chapter discusses the geopolitical factors that shape these opinions in the West, among the BRICS, in the developing world, and among China’s neighbors, as well as China’s efforts to influence these opinions.

Confessing the Faith in the Intellectual Context

2007 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 132-152
Author(s):  
Alan Sell
Keyword(s):  
Starting Point ◽  
Intellectual Context ◽  
In Christ ◽  
Christian Apologetics ◽  
The Church

AbstractIn this paper an account is offered of a project concerning the prolegomena to Christian apologetics. Two historical soundings are discussed that, between them, raise the questions of the starting-point and content of Christian apologetics. The primary Christian confession and the identity of the confessors are considered, and the challenges to apologetics from within and without the church are noted. The presuppositions concerning transcendence, immanence, and history are discussed, as are the traditional starting-points of reason, faith, and experience. The conclusion is that Christian apologetics will take the form of a reasoned eclecticism that sets out from, and is compatible with, God's saving act in Christ.

Crystal structure images of large gold clusters and growing crystals by HRTEM

1984 ◽  
Vol 42 ◽  
pp. 428-429
Author(s):  
L.R. Wallenberg ◽  
J.-O. Bovin ◽  
G. Schmid
Keyword(s):  
Crystal Structure ◽  
Nucleation And Growth ◽  
Close Packing ◽  
Gold Clusters ◽  
Molecular Weight Determination ◽  
Growth Mechanisms ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Nucleation And Growth Mechanisms ◽  
Points Of View

Metallic clusters are interesting from various points of view, e.g. as a mean of spreading expensive catalysts on a support, or following heterogeneous and homogeneous catalytic events. It is also possible to study nucleation and growth mechanisms for crystals with the cluster as known starting point.Gold-clusters containing 55 atoms were manufactured by reducing (C6H5)3PAuCl with B2H6 in benzene. The chemical composition was found to be Au9.2[P(C6H5)3]2Cl. Molecular-weight determination by means of an ultracentrifuge gave the formula Au55[P(C6H5)3]Cl6 A model was proposed from Mössbauer spectra by Schmid et al. with cubic close-packing of the 55 gold atoms in a cubeoctahedron as shown in Fig 1. The cluster is almost completely isolated from the surroundings by the twelve triphenylphosphane groups situated in each corner, and the chlorine atoms on the centre of the 3x3 square surfaces. This gives four groups of gold atoms, depending on the different types of surrounding.

Two isoprenylated flavonoids from Dorstenia psilurus activate AMPK, stimulate glucose uptake, inhibit glucose production and lower glycemia

2019 ◽  
Vol 476 (24) ◽  
pp. 3687-3704 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aphrodite T. Choumessi ◽  
Manuel Johanns ◽  
Claire Beaufay ◽  
Marie-France Herent ◽  
Vincent Stroobant ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Glucose Uptake ◽  
Human Cancer ◽  
Glucose Production ◽  
Liver Mitochondria ◽  
New Drugs ◽  
Structural Isomer ◽  
Rat Liver Mitochondria ◽  
Ionization Mass ◽  
Ampk Activation ◽  
Starting Point

Root extracts of a Cameroon medicinal plant, Dorstenia psilurus, were purified by screening for AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) activation in incubated mouse embryo fibroblasts (MEFs). Two isoprenylated flavones that activated AMPK were isolated. Compound 1 was identified as artelasticin by high-resolution electrospray ionization mass spectrometry and 2D-NMR while its structural isomer, compound 2, was isolated for the first time and differed only by the position of one double bond on one isoprenyl substituent. Treatment of MEFs with purified compound 1 or compound 2 led to rapid and robust AMPK activation at low micromolar concentrations and increased the intracellular AMP:ATP ratio. In oxygen consumption experiments on isolated rat liver mitochondria, compound 1 and compound 2 inhibited complex II of the electron transport chain and in freeze–thawed mitochondria succinate dehydrogenase was inhibited. In incubated rat skeletal muscles, both compounds activated AMPK and stimulated glucose uptake. Moreover, these effects were lost in muscles pre-incubated with AMPK inhibitor SBI-0206965, suggesting AMPK dependency. Incubation of mouse hepatocytes with compound 1 or compound 2 led to AMPK activation, but glucose production was decreased in hepatocytes from both wild-type and AMPKβ1−/− mice, suggesting that this effect was not AMPK-dependent. However, when administered intraperitoneally to high-fat diet-induced insulin-resistant mice, compound 1 and compound 2 had blood glucose-lowering effects. In addition, compound 1 and compound 2 reduced the viability of several human cancer cells in culture. The flavonoids we have identified could be a starting point for the development of new drugs to treat type 2 diabetes.

Overview of Current Approaches to Aural Rehabilitation for Adults With Cochlear Implants

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (5) ◽  
pp. 1175-1187
Author(s):  
Rachel Glade ◽  
Erin Taylor ◽  
Deborah S. Culbertson ◽  
Christin Ray
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Clinical Practice ◽  
Cochlear Implants ◽  
Practice Patterns ◽  
The United States ◽  
Care Providers ◽  
Aural Rehabilitation ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Clinical Models ◽  
Hearing Health

Purpose This clinical focus article provides an overview of clinical models currently being used for the provision of comprehensive aural rehabilitation (AR) for adults with cochlear implants (CIs) in the Unites States. Method Clinical AR models utilized by hearing health care providers from nine clinics across the United States were discussed with regard to interprofessional AR practice patterns in the adult CI population. The clinical models were presented in the context of existing knowledge and gaps in the literature. Future directions were proposed for optimizing the provision of AR for the adult CI patient population. Findings/Conclusions There is a general agreement that AR is an integral part of hearing health care for adults with CIs. While the provision of AR is feasible in different clinical practice settings, service delivery models are variable across hearing health care professionals and settings. AR may include interprofessional collaboration among surgeons, audiologists, and speech-language pathologists with varying roles based on the characteristics of a particular setting. Despite various existing barriers, the clinical practice patterns identified here provide a starting point toward a more standard approach to comprehensive AR for adults with CIs.

Indirect Assessment of Attitudes with Response-Time-Based Measures

2006 ◽  
Vol 37 (3) ◽  
pp. 131-139 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juliane Degner ◽  
Dirk Wentura ◽  
Klaus Rothermund
Keyword(s):  
Social Cognitive ◽  
Incremental Validity ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Implicit Measures ◽  
Scale Theory ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Self Reports ◽  
Predicting Behavior ◽  
Social Cognitive Theories

Abstract: We review research on response-latency based (“implicit”) measures of attitudes by examining what hopes and intentions researchers have associated with their usage. We identified the hopes of (1) gaining better measures of interindividual differences in attitudes as compared to self-report measures (quality hope); (2) better predicting behavior, or predicting other behaviors, as compared to self-reports (incremental validity hope); (3) linking social-cognitive theories more adequately to empirical research (theory-link hope). We argue that the third hope should be the starting point for using these measures. Any attempt to improve these measures should include the search for a small-scale theory that adequately explains the basic effects found with such a measure. To date, small-scale theories for different measures are not equally well developed.

The Solidarity of Distance1

2005 ◽  
Vol 36 (3) ◽  
pp. 103-115 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert A. Wicklund
Keyword(s):  
Physical Contact ◽  
Emotional Distance ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Shared Emotions ◽  
Common Goals ◽  
Full Interaction ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Social Incompetence

Abstract: Solidarity in the classic sense pertains to a cohesion among humans that entails physical contact, shared emotions, and common goals or projects. Characteristic cases are to be found among families, close friends, or co-workers. The present paper, in contrast, treats a phenomenon of the solidarity of distance, a solidarity based in fear of certain others and in incompetence to interact with them. The starting point for this analysis is the person who is motivated to interact with others who are unfamiliar or fear-provoking. Given that the fear and momentary social incompetence do not allow a full interaction to ensue, the individual will move toward solidarity with those others on a symbolic level. In this manner the motivation to approach the others is acted upon while physical and emotional distance is retained.

A Starting Point for Inquiry Into Inquiry

PsycCRITIQUES ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 51 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph L. Polman
Keyword(s):  
Starting Point
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