scholarly journals Katherine Dunham and Maya Deren on ritual, modernity, and the African Diaspora

2016 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 44-51
Author(s):  
Ramsay Burt

In the early 1940s, Katherine Dunham engaged the future experimental film-maker Maya Deren to act as her secretary. In 1946 Deren wrote about the importance of ritual in her films, two of which had been made with dancers from Dunham’s company. The following year she made her first visit to Haiti to study and film voodoo rituals that had been the subject of Miss Dunham’s research. These rituals was then generally seen as a survival from a more ‘primitive’ stage of human development that modern educated people, like Dunham and Deren, were not supposed to believe in. This paper shows that Dunham and Deren each used their experiences of voodoo to define a modern approach to spirituality that was grounded in an Africanist approach to the dancing body that was very different from the idea of disembodied transcendence which runs through the European philosophical tradition.

2021 ◽  
Vol 32 (6) ◽  
pp. 29
Author(s):  
Roman Belyaletdinov

The transition from an irregular understanding of nature as a given to the regulatory concepts of human development is one of the central philosophical and socio-humanitarian issues in the development of not only biotechnologies, but also society as a whole. In the theory of philosophy of biomedicine, the discussion is structured as the positioning of various problematic approaches, modeled using the principles of bioethics and philosophical ethics, taking into account the actual experience of the application and social perception of biomedical technologies. The status of problematic approaches is determined not only by philosophical ethics, but also by the willingness of society to accept something new as its own future. At the same time, accepting the future is impossible without rooting the future in the past - the beliefs and expectations that legitimize the future. The correlation of such concepts as the authentic autonomy of J. Habermas and the expansion of utilitarianism into the problems of editing the human genome, the conflict associated with challenges requiring collective moral action, and the rigidity of traditional moral mechanisms lead to the search for such a sociobiological language that would be formed from competitively coexisting old, traditional, and new, bioengineering, concepts of human development. The idea of biocultural theory as a form of connection between culture and biological foundation is associated with the work of A. Buchanan and R. Powell, who propose a systemic definition of biocultural theory as a mutual biological and cultural transformation of a person. Biocultural theory is aimed at shaping such a philosophical horizon, where the body, not only carnal, such as organs, but also personal - the awareness of its own bioidentity, becomes open and understandable due to the expansion of the connection between biology and culture, but at the same time acquires problems that becomes the subject of philosophy and ethics, since now a person, comprehended as a body, receives a variability that is no longer associated exclusively with culture. The goal of the article is to show that editing a person is not so much a traditionally understood risk as a transformation of the understanding of the cultural and biological conditions for the formation of his bioidentity.


Vox Patrum ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 58 ◽  
pp. 307-314
Author(s):  
Augustyn Eckmann

Notes of St. Augustine on joy (gaudium) are based on both the philosophical tradition and the Bible. Bishop distinguishes the true joy from the false one. These two types of joy differ in the subject of happiness and its quality. True joy is pu­rely spiritual (gaudium spiritale), aimed to eternal life, while the false joy turns to the worldly possessions. In this life is possible the joy that comes from hope (gaudium de spe), a real joy (gaudium de re) meet only in the future life. Everyday joy, which is consistent with reason and truth, leads to the eternal joy. The true joy arises when one attains the highest goal. It meets in God and is permanent.


2014 ◽  
Vol 11 (01) ◽  
pp. 35-42
Author(s):  
M. Hermans

SummaryThe author presents his personal opinion inviting to discussion on the possible future role of psychiatrists. His view is based upon the many contacts with psychiatrists all over Europe, academicians and everyday professionals, as well as the familiarity with the literature. The list of papers referred to is based upon (1) the general interest concerning the subject when representing ideas also worded elsewhere, (2) the accessibility to psychiatrists and mental health professionals in Germany, (3) being costless downloadable for non-subscribers and (4) for some geographic aspects (e.g. Belgium, Spain, Sweden) and the latest scientific issues, addressing some authors directly.


2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 7-13
Author(s):  
G. Stankevych ◽  
L. Dmytrenko ◽  
A. Kats ◽  
V. Shpak

In the future, in Ukraine it is planned to increase the sown area for cereals, legumes and oilseeds, to increase the gross grain harvest to 80 million tons, and its export abroad was increased twice. Intensive construction in the southern ports of Ukraine of grain transshipment terminals with large metal silos will solve the problem of increasing grain export in the future. At these powerful terminals, the bulk of the grain comes mainly by rail, and is shipped to water. The aim of the work was to study the characteristics of the grain receiving from railway transport to the grain transshipment terminal of LLC “Ukrelevatorprom” in order to improve its works efficiency. The object of the study was the development of technology of grain receiving at the grain transshipment terminal; the subject of research is cereals, legume sand oil crops, as well as data from daily volumes of receiving and dispensing operations at the grain transshipment terminal of LLC “Ukrelevatorprom” for 2015-2016. The studies were carried out on the basis of processing data from the consignment notes for 2015-2016, according to which there was a summed amount of grain (net) daily transported by the railway. Further processing of the obtained data was carried out by a combined graphoanalytical method, for which, on the basis of tabular values for each studied year, the corresponding histograms and graphs were built and the necessary indicators were determined. Analysis of the structure of grain crops supplied by railway to LLC “Ukrelevatorprom” in 2015 and 2016 and their ratio showed that the main share was occupied by cereal crops (78.0 % and 73.1 % respectively), which were mainly represented by corn, share which was significantly dominated by other crops (wheat of various classes and barley) and amounted to 45.8 % and 44.5 %, respectively, which can be explained by its high demand in the international grain market, in which Ukraine occupies a leading position. Oilseeds (rapeseed) were taken in accordance with 19.1 % and 14.9 %, and legumes (soybeans) — 2.9 % and 12.0 %. An analysis of the timing of the unloading of grain wagons (hopper cars) showed that the total duration of this process, depending on the crops, averages 37...59 minutes. The longest steps for unloading wagons are to determine the grain quality indicators, especially rapeseed, and to spill grain from the wagons, therefore, to reduce their duration, it is necessary to form feeds of wagons with grain batches of the same quality and use more modern express analyzers to determine grain quality indicators, which will increase the productivity of the grain receiving line from the railway. According to the research results, the enterprise has the potential to increase by about 30 % the volume of grain intake. It was established that the periods of the grain receipt at the enterprise in 2015-2016 amounted to 349 and 353 days, respectively, the actual coefficients of the daily irregularity Kdaily for the grain receipt from the railway in these years are equal to 1.47 and 1.52, and the monthly irregularity Kmonth, respectively 1.33 and 1.21, does not exceed the standard values Kdaily = 2.5 and Kmonth= 2.0. This made it possible to clarify the database from the actual characteristics of the process of grain receiving by railway and can be used in design and verification calculations of equipment in technological lines for receiving grain from railway transport, and will contribute to increasing the efficiency of grain transshipment terminals. 


2020 ◽  
pp. 301-323
Author(s):  
Natalya I. Kikilo ◽  

In the Macedonian literary language the analytic da-construction used in an independent clause has a wide range of possible modal meanings, the most common of which are imperative and optative. The present article offers a detailed analysis of the semantics and functions of the Macedonian optative da-construction based on fiction and journalistic texts. The first part of the article deals with the specificities of the optative as a category which primarily considers the subject of a wish. In accordance with the semantic characteristics of this category, optative constructions are used in those discourse text types where the speakers are explicitly designated (the most natural context for the optative is the dialogue). The analysis of the Macedonian material includes instances of atypical usage of the optative da-construction, in which the wish of the subject is not apparent and thereby produces new emotional tonalities perceptible to the reader of a fiction/journalistic text. The study describes Macedonian constructions involving two different verb forms: 1) present tense form (da + praes) and 2) imperfective form (da + impf). These constructions formally designate the hypothetical and counterfactual status of the optative situation, respectively. Thus, the examples in the analysis are ordered according to two types of constructions, which reflect the speaker’s view on the probability of the realisation of his/her wish. Unrealistic wishes can be communicated through the present da-construction, while the imperfective construction denotes situations in which the wish can be realised in the future. The second part of the article is devoted to performative optative da-constructions, which express formulas of speech etiquette, wishes and curses. The analysis demonstrates that these constructions lose their magical functions, when used outside of the ritual context, and begin to function as interjections.


Author(s):  
George Pattison

A Rhetorics of the Word is the second volume of a three-part philosophy of Christian life. It approaches Christian life as expressive of a divine calling or vocation. The word Church (ekklesia) and the role of naming in baptism indicate the fundamental place of calling in Christian life. However, ideas of vocation are difficult to access in a world shaped by the experience of disenchantment. The difficulties of articulating vocation are explored with reference to Weber, Heidegger, and Kierkegaard. These are further connected to a general crisis of language, manifesting in the degradation of political discourse (Arendt) and the impact of new communications technology on human discourse. This impact can be seen as reinforcing an occlusion of language in favour of rationality already evidenced in the philosophical tradition and technocratic management. New possibilities for thinking vocation are pursued through the biblical prophets (with emphasis on Buber’s and Rosenzweig’s reinterpretation of the call of Moses), Saint John, and Russian philosophies of language (Florensky to Bakhtin). Vocation emerges as bound up with the possibility of being name-bearers, enabling a mutuality of call and response. This is then evidenced further in ethics and poetics, where Levinas and Hermann Broch (The Death of Virgil) become major points of reference. In conclusion, the themes of calling and the name are seen to shape the possibility of love—the subject of the final part of the philosophy of Christian life: A Metaphysics of Love.


Author(s):  
Chakravarthi Ram-Prasad

The Introduction outlines the various chapters. It then situates the question of ‘body’ in the modern Western philosophical tradition following Descartes, and argues that this leaves subsequent responses to come under one of three options: metaphysical dualism of body and subject; any anti-dualist reductionism; or the overcoming of the divide. Describing the Phenomenology of Merleau-Ponty as a potent example of the third strategy, the Introduction then suggests his philosophy will function as foil to the ecological phenomenology developed and presented in the book. Moreover, one approach within the Western Phenomenological tradition, of treating phenomenology as a methodology for the clarification of experience (rather than the means to the determination of an ontology of the subject) is compared to the approach in this book. Since classical India, while understanding dualism, did not confront the challenge of Descartes (for better or for worse), its treatment of body follows a different trajectory.


This chapter is a transcript of Haq’s address to the North South Roundtable of 1992, where he identifies five critical challenges for the global economy for the future. If addressed properly, these can change the course of human history. He stresses on the need for redefining security to include security for people, not just of land or territories; to redefine the existing models of development to include ‘sustainable human development’; to find a more pragmatic balance between market efficiency and social compassion; to forge a new partnership between the North and the South to address issues of inequality; and the need to think on new patterns of governance for the next decade.


2002 ◽  
Vol 96 (4) ◽  
pp. 879-880
Author(s):  
David Goldfischer

As Michael O'Hanlon concludes in his excellent contribution to Rockets' Red Glare: “We should…get used to the debate over ballistic missile defenses. It has been around a long time, and no final resolution is imminent” (p. 132). In one sense, a review of these three recent books makes clear that many analysts had grown a bit too used to positioning themselves in terms of the 1972 ABM Treaty. Preoccupied with arguments over whether the treaty should be preserved, modified, or rewritten in light of a changing strategic and technological context, no one seemed to have anticipated that President George W. Bush would simply withdraw from it, invoking Article XV's provision that either party could withdraw if “extraordinary events related to the subject matter of this Treaty have jeopardized its supreme interests.” Even many strategic defense supporters who deemed the treaty obsolete (as Robert Joseph persuasively maintains in his contribution to Rockets' Red Glare) generally believed that it should only—and would only—be scrapped if negotiations over U.S.-proposed changes broke down. (“The Bush Administration,” surmises O'Hanlon, “will surely try very hard to amend it before going to such an extreme”) (p. 112). In the event, the president's team disavowed even the word “negotiation,” saying they were willing only to “consult” the Russians regarding the treaty's impending demise.


2021 ◽  
pp. 2516600X2110059
Author(s):  
Som Sekhar Bhattacharyya ◽  
Rajesh Chandwani

The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the necessity of good quality and adequate quantity of healthcare infrastructure facilities. Healthcare facilities were provided for COVID-19 facilities with improvisation and supplementary lateral infrastructure from other sectors. However, the main point of contemplation going into the future was regarding how to quickly develop healthcare facilities. The subject domain of ‘industrial engineering’ (IE) and its associated perspectives could provide some key insights regarding this. The authors undertook a conceptual literature review and provided theoretical argumentation toward this. The findings provided insights regarding the application of industrial engineering concepts in healthcare facilities and services.


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