scholarly journals Coronavirus in light of philosophy

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 6-32
Author(s):  
Emil Vlajki
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Manipulation ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Technological Development ◽  
Modern Medicine ◽  
Human Virus ◽  
The Us ◽  
History Of ◽  
Ancient Times ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Scientific And Technological Development

The history of humanity is a history of rationality. As a result, mankind has progressed from the Stone Age to the era of modern medicine, genetics, computer science, robotics, and nanotechnology. The life span of a man in ancient times was about twenty years, and today, in highly developed societies, a man lives, on average, to eighty-six years. Advances in science and technology have not always had a positive impact. Suffice to say, the ongoing environmental problems that seriously affect humanity or, for example, the dietary problems that have resulted due to genetic manipulation. Scientific and technological development must be considered in a serious and philosophical manner. Ethics are increasingly becoming an integral part of life. In this paper, we focused on the new coronavirus that has led to the planetary-wide disease called COVID-19. All countries have engaged in their efforts to suppress the resulting pandemic. However, some of the utilized measures have been suspect: whether to lock-down people in quarantine, whether their movement should be restricted, whether they should be forced to vaccinate, and so on. Claiming to act prophylactically, scientists, by adding some DNA, RNA segments (gain of function, GOF) to an innocuous human virus, have created a dangerous artificial influenza virus. Likewise, an artificial, infectious coronavirus was created in a laboratory. Both procedures for creating these dangerous, hybrid viruses have been described in eminent scientific journals. The scientists involved in this research told us that they wanted to find cures and vaccines for these non-natural viruses on the off-chance they ever appeared among humans; when carefully handled, engineered organisms provide a unique opportunity to study biological systems in a controlled fashion. Biotechnology is a powerful tool to advance medical research and should not be abandoned because of irrational fears. But the chance of this type of virus appearing among humans is almost non-existent. However, what if these viruses "escape" from the lab, as has happened in the recent past? What if a terrorist organization start producing these viruses on their own according to detailed instructions and then use them? Finally, since the two great world powers, the US and China, that jointly created the artificial coronavirus, called SHC014-MA15, who can stop them from continuing this practice? Isn't it possible that they also created the current SARS-CoV-2 provoking a death of two and a half million people? Related to these questions, this study deals with the issue of tolerance. A large number of world-renowned scientists really believe that the current cause of the pandemic, SARS-CoV-2, is an artificial, laboratory-created virus, presenting a number of facts for this. It is not disputed that their claims are arguable. This, however, does not mean that their opponents, pharmaceutical companies and some superpowers, who have far greater political and economic power, have to incorrectly and utterly embarrass them all over, morally discredit them, nor ban their texts on the subject. In science, the struggle must be waged by arguments, not by totalitarian Orwellian methods.

scholarly journals Unwanted Conflict? The Analysis of the Impact of Misperception, Beliefs and Psychology of President Nasser at the Outbreak of the Six Day War

2019 ◽  
Vol 01 (02) ◽  
pp. 1950003
Author(s):  
Janko Šćepanović
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Structural Explanation ◽  
Defining Moments ◽  
The Us ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Six Day War ◽  
The Impact

The Six Day War was one of the most defining moments in the history of the Modern Middle East. This paper seeks to add to the existing scholarship on the subject by going beyond the structural explanation. It gives special attention to the role of unit-level variables like perception, personality, and political psychology of decision-makers. As one scholar noted, threats are not perceived in a vacuum, and are, instead, products of complex synthesis of subjective appraisal of events by the decision-makers. The focus will be on the beliefs and perceptions of the most impactful actor in this crisis: Egyptian President Nasser. As will be argued, his decision-making was shaped by his experience with foreign imperialism, a general misconception of super power intentions, an incorrect analogy between two crucial crisis situations with Israel: the February 1960 Rotem Crisis, and the build-up to the June War in 1967, and especially his complicated relations with the US leaders.

Interpretation of Material Cultural Heritage in the Context of Museum

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (3-2) ◽  
pp. 337-351
Author(s):  
Sergey Pilyak ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Heritage ◽  
Cultural Values ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Main Method ◽  
History Of ◽  
Ancient Times ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Cultural Heritage Objects ◽  
Creative Understanding ◽  
Cultural Heritage Preservation

Interpretation of cultural values and cultural heritage is one of the most common types of their development and creative understanding. However, the concept of ‘interpretation’ remains blurred among related processes, usually without getting much mention. In the field of cultural heritage preservation, interpretation is the main method of human development of cultural heritage objects. The process and results of interpretation, as shown by the long history of preservation of cultural heritage, also affect the preservation of cultural heritage. The proposed material is devoted to the consideration of a museum as an example of one of the most consistent built spaces and tools for the interpretation of cultural heritage. The subject of the research is the methods of museum work considered in the context of mechanisms of interpretation of material cultural heritage. Museum as an instrument of interpretation has been known since ancient times. Human interest in ancient artifacts that act as visible symbols of historical and cultural memory of the past, eventually led to the development of collecting, and then, with the publication of collections, to the emergence of museums. Museum and its activities occupy a special place in the methodology of interpretation. The museum space can set its own special rhythm of historical time and create conditions for comfortable perception of the presented artifacts. No other cultural institution has such a task, and if it is necessary to present an artifact, interested persons in one way or another turn to the method tested on museum sites. As a result of the research, the author identified five stages of museum activities, which are generally typical for the mechanism of interpretation of cultural heritage. Therefore, the main goal of museum activities should be recognized as an interpretation of cultural heritage. In accordance with this goal, the museum's tasks are also implemented, including the preservation, publication and promotion of the collection's artifacts. Thus, the role and place of the museum as a specific space created for the purpose of interpreting cultural heritage is proved. These provisions allow us to look at the theory and practice of museum activities in a different way, in the context of interpreting cultural identity.

Health Policy

2020 ◽  
pp. 463-480
Author(s):  
Christy Ford Chapin
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Private Health Insurance ◽  
Health Care Policy ◽  
Health Care Systems ◽  
Modern Medicine ◽  
Government Programs ◽  
Economic Framework ◽  
Care Systems ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Subject

This article reviews the history of the U.S. health care system and important themes in the scholarly literature pertaining to the subject. It argues that understanding the politics of health care, including the structure of government programs such as Medicare, requires careful attention to the private sector’s economic framework. This essay traces the development of modern medicine, health care systems in the 20th century, private health insurance, and federal and state health care policy.

Muse

2011 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 48-50
Author(s):  
barbara koenen
Keyword(s):  
War On Terror ◽  
Pomegranate Juice ◽  
Weapons Of Mass Destruction ◽  
Mass Destruction ◽  
Religious Symbol ◽  
Fertile Crescent ◽  
The Us ◽  
Us Government ◽  
History Of ◽  
Ancient Times

Muse is a personal investigation into the historical and contemporary correlations between pomegranates and hand grenades by the author, an artist based in the Midwest. The essay begins with her reminiscences of witnessing a red-stained feast of the “exotic” pomegranate that was hosted by a friend of Armenian descent; then it chronicles the fruit’s historical associations as a fertility and religious symbol in many cultures since ancient times and its cultivation, beginning in the Fertile Crescent and extending across Asia and into Europe and North America. Upon her realization that hand grenades are named after pomegranates, the author describes physical comparisons between the bomb and the fruit, provides a brief history of grenades and grenadiers, and then muses on the contemporaneous marketing campaigns for the War on Terror that paved the way for the 2003 United States invasion into Iraq, and for POM Wonderful beverages that “defy death” as an “Antioxidant Superpower™.” As the hyperbolic claims of both marketing campaigns were later debunked—Saddam Hussein had no weapons of mass destruction and pomegranate juice does not cure cancer—the essay concludes by noting a recent, modest investment by the US government into the cultivation and exporting of pomegranates in Afghanistan as a hopeful sign.

scholarly journals Greek demons who murdered children

2021 ◽  
pp. 54-68 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vladislava Igorevna Makeeva
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Analysis ◽  
Sudden Infant ◽  
Ancient Greek ◽  
Greek Society ◽  
History Of ◽  
Ancient Times ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Common ◽  
Murdered Children

This article describes the Ancient Greek mythological characters who were attributed with murdering children: Lamia (Λάμια), Mormo (μορμώ) and Gello (γελλώ).The ssuperstitions associated with these demons remain in Greece to this day, although their images have undergone certain transformation. The object of this research is the mythological representations of the Ancient Greeks, while the subject is demons who murdered children. The goal of this article is to determine the role of children's horror stories in life of the Ancient Greek society. The author reviews the facts testifying to the existence of characters as Lamia, Mormo, Gello and Empusa in the Greek and Roman texts, as well gives characteristics to their images based on the comparative analysis. The conducted analysis reveals the common traits of the demons who murdered children: frightening appearance, combination of human and animal traits, ability to transform, identification with Hecate, as well as the story of the failed motherhood underlying the history of emergence of the demon. The key functions of these mythological characters consisted in explanation of the sudden infant and maternal mortality typical to the ancient times, as well as teaching children and adults a lesson. The first could be frightened with such stories, and the latter had to learn from the tale that demonstrates the harm of reckless following the temptations or refusal of fulfilling the prescribed social roles, socially acceptable behavior.

Rascals, Scoundrels, Villains, and Knaves: The Evolution of the Law of Piracy from Ancient Times to the Present*

2011 ◽  
Vol 39 (3) ◽  
pp. 346-383
Author(s):  
Rebecca Fantauzzi
Keyword(s):  
Golden Age ◽  
Court Cases ◽  
International Treaties ◽  
The Us ◽  
History Of ◽  
Traditional Sense ◽  
Ancient Times ◽  
The Law ◽  
Definition Of

AbstractThis paper begins by tracking the history of piracy from Greek and Roman times, to the Golden Age of piracy, into modern day. It also looks at the motivations for becoming a pirate and the “piracy cycle.” The paper then moves into a discussion of how piracy has influenced the law, such as its impact on Universal Jurisdiction and international treaties like the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea; however, a stable definition of what constitutes “piracy” has become troublesome, even with the abundance of legal sources related to the subject. The paper then moves into a discussion of three US court cases dealing with the issue of piracy: the first from the Golden Age of piracy, the second in the early part of this century showing how piracy is not always prosecuted in the traditional sense, and finally with the case of the famous pirate the US Navy SEALS captured during the rescue of Captain Richard Phillips of the Maersk Alabama. Finally, the paper concludes the discussion using the modern day situation of Somalia to show how the “piracy cycle” is still capable of explaining what draws people to piracy, how that particular situation has been combated by the international community, and how neighboring countries, like Kenya, are using their own court systems to the advantage of the rest of the world.

Strategic Planning as a Tool to Overcome Russia’s Technological Backwardness

2019 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 32-42 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. B. Lenchuk ◽  
V. I. Filatov
Keyword(s):  
Strategic Planning ◽  
Russian Federation ◽  
Technological Development ◽  
Federal Law ◽  
Logistic Analysis ◽  
Russian Economy ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Russian Federation ◽  
Further Development ◽  
Scientific And Technological Development

Topic. The subject of the article is the analysis of approaches to overcoming the stagnation of scientific and technological development of the Russian economy in the context of the emerging system of strategic planning in the Russian Federation.Purpose. The authors set the following main tasks. First — based on the assessment of the current situation in the field of scientific and technological development of the Russian Federation — to analyse the tools used for strategic planning of scientific and technological development for their internal connectivity. Second — based on analysis mentioned above — to form the directions of further development and improvement of the formed system of strategic planning of scientific and technological development in the RF.Methods. The logistic analysis of the developed documents of strategic planning of scientific and technological development of the Russian Federation on the subject of their substantial conjugacy and compliance with the logic and requirements of the Federal law No. 172 “On strategic planning in the Russian Federation” made it possible to formulate proposals for its further development and improvement.Results. The analysis showed that Federal law No. 172 “On strategic planning in the Russian Federation” forms the conceptual basis for strategic planning of scientific and technological development in the RF. Further development and improvement of the formed system of strategic planning of scientific and technological development of the RF should take place in the direction of strengthening the substantive interface of strategic planning documents (strategies and programs) at the Federal level with similar documents at the industry and regional levels. To this end, it is necessary, first, to finalize, in the context of the tasks of scientific and technological development, the methodological requirements for the documents of the sectoral and regional level and, secondly, to ensure the logic (sequence) of the development of such documents, allowing to really ensuring their meaningful internal relationship.

Assessment of the Volume of State Funding for the Development of Biomedicine in Russia and in the USA

Acta Naturae ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 4-10
Author(s):  
A. N. Petrov ◽  
N. G. Kurakova
Keyword(s):  
Research And Development ◽  
Technological Development ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
State Funding ◽  
Research Fields ◽  
Scientific Organizations ◽  
The Us ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Russian Medical ◽  
Scientific And Technological Development

This article demonstrates that Russias funding for research and development is less than 2.5 % of global funding, whereas the amount of financing of just three countries, the USA, China, and Japan amounts to 50%. It is argued that the inadequacy of Russias domestic financing for the development of the science sector vis a vis that of developed countries allows the country to prioritize only a limited number of research fields in its scientific and technological development. We have compared and contrasted expenditures on research and development in biomedicine in the USA and Russia. It has been demonstrated that in 2014, basic funding for 27 research centers included in the US National Health Institutes network exceeded the amount of financing for 104 Russian medical scientific and research institutes subordinated to the Russian Ministry of Health and Federal Agency of Scientific Organizations by 173 times. We have concluded that a substantial increase in state funding for fundamental, exploratory, and applied research in the field of biomedicine is required if life sciences are to be preserved as one of the priorities in the scientific-technological and social development of Russia. It is also necessary to eliminate all administrative and tax barriers that prevent active participation of domestic industrial entities in the co-financing of the development of Russian drugs and medical equipment.

scholarly journals Determination of the baseline value of the target of the national project «Science» related to the publication activity of the Russian Federation in priority areas

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 101-113 ◽  
Author(s):  
V. I. Starodubov ◽  
F. A. Kurakov
Keyword(s):  
Russian Federation ◽  
Web Of Science ◽  
Technological Development ◽  
Subject Area ◽  
Priority Areas ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Russian Federation ◽  
Number Of Publications ◽  
Scientific And Technological Development

One of the seven target indicators of the National Science Project (NSP) is “The place of the Russian Federation by share in the total number of articles in the areas defined by the priorities of scientific and technological development in publications indexed in international databases”. The purpose of this study was to assess the basic value of this indicator for disciplines related to priority areas, according to the Strategy of scientific and technological development of the Russian Federation. The volumes of publication flows of the Russian Federation in 112 disciplines are compared with a similar indicator of countries ranked fifth in the number of publications in the subject area under consideration, indexed in the Web of Science Core Collection (WoS CC). A 5–10 fold lag of the Russian Federation was recorded for the most part of the priority areas identified by the passport of the NSP.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document