Acéphale

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bruce Elder
Keyword(s):  
Georges Bataille ◽  
Hierarchical Organization ◽  
The Self ◽  
Secret Society ◽  
Modern Humans ◽  
Social Body ◽  
The Gift

The name Acéphale refers to two related projects: one is a journal, founded by Georges Bataille (1887–1962), published between 1936 and 1939, whose articles often extolled Friedrich Nietzsche’s philosophy; the second refers to a secret society that formed around Bataille. That the term derives from the Greek ἀκέφαλος (akephalos, "headless") made it an appropriate name for the counter-religion Bataille aimed at founding to revitalize the mythic experience of plenitude: the head, Bataille maintained, stands for hierarchical organization and God, so the society and journal that gave the gnostic-inflected counter-religion expression should be headless. Bataille’s interest in an atheological counter-religion was grounded in the principle of expenditure that he saw manifested in unproductive forms of consumption, which have no end beyond themselves, and thereby constitute an irrecoverable loss. This anti-Platonic, anti-renascence social body would be headless because it would recover, within the isolation that confines modern humans, the vitalizing experience of the sacred—that is, of a privileged moment of communal unity and convulsive communication of ordinarily suppressed sensations. It would headless, too, because the Dionysian-orgiastic rituals of the secret society would be aimed against both reason and identity. Bataille’s conviction that ultimate expenditure is "the gift of the self" led the participants in Acéphale to an interest in sacrifice.

Population Control: Natural versus Human

1993 ◽  
Author(s):  
Garrett Hardin
Keyword(s):  
Exponential Growth ◽  
Homo Sapiens ◽  
Population Control ◽  
Single Species ◽  
The Self ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
The Gift ◽  
Functional Equivalent ◽  
Level Of Living ◽  
Over Time

Were we able to talk with other animals, it is extremely unlikely that we should hear them debating the problem of population control. They don't need to debate: nature solves the problem for them. And what is the problem? Simply this: to keep a successful species from being too successful. To keep it from eating itself out of house and home. And the solution? Simply predation and disease, which play the role that human beings might label "providence." As far as the written record reveals, no one recognized the self-elimination of a species as a potential problem for animals until the danger had become suspected among human beings. One of the earliest descriptions of this population problem for other animals was given by the Reverend Joseph Townsend, an English geologist. His key contribution was published in 1786, twelve years before Malthus's celebrated essay (Box 25-1). Townsend was dependent upon others for the outline of his story, and there is some question as to whether the details are historically correct. But the thrust of the story must be true: a single species (goats, in this case) exploiting a resource (plants) cannot, by itself, maintain a stable equilibrium at a comfortable level of living. The animals will either die after eating up all the food, or their numbers will fluctuate painfully. (Details differ, depending on the species and the environment.) Stability and prosperity require that the gift of exponential growth be opposed by some sort of countervailing force (predatory dogs, in Townsend's example). However deplorable predators may be for individuals who happen to be captured and eaten, for the prey population as a whole predators are (over time) a blessing. With millions of different species of animals there are many different particular explanations of how they manage to persist for thousands or millions of years. The species we are most interested in is, of course, Homo sapiens. A meditation on Townsend's account led to a challenging set of questions. "If all this great earth be no more than the Island of Juan Fernandes, and if we are the goats, how can we live "the good life" without a functional equivalent of the dogs? Must we create and sustain our own dogs? Can we do so, consciously? And if we can, what manner of beast will they be?"

scholarly journals A wardrobe suitable for a virtuous pauper

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 315-325
Author(s):  
Katarina Marinčič
Keyword(s):  
Young Woman ◽  
18Th Century ◽  
The Self ◽  
Happy Ending ◽  
The Gift ◽  
The Subject

The subject of this paper is not the influence of Pierre de Marivaux's La Vie de Marianne upon Samuel Richardson's Pamela (a question that has been widely discussed since the 18th century). In spite of some obvious similarities, La Vie de Marianne and Pamela are two profoundly dissimilar novels. Pamela is a tale with a happy ending and a clear moral message. La vie de Marianne is an unfinished tale and, as such, morally ambiguous by its very nature. However, at crucial moments of their stories, confronted with the first attempts upon their virtue, both heroines react in accordance with their sense of propriety in clothing as well as with an acute fashion sense. In both novels, the seducer tries to lure his victim with clothes. Upon receiving the gift, both girls display a naive and joyful gratitude. Their dilemma begins when the gift of clothing turns out to be a gift of lingerie. The self-indulgent French heroine, after a short reflection, decides to keep the clothes. Pamela turns out to be a much more modern young woman. She returns the gift and – in a seemingly paradoxical way – puts herself in need of a new set of clothes.

Penjor Sebagai Simbol Pencitraan Diri Umat Hindu di Kota Mataram

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-74
Author(s):  
I Wayan Sutama
Keyword(s):  
Standard Form ◽  
The Self ◽  
Literature Study ◽  
Religious Rituals ◽  
Self Image ◽  
The Gift ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Aesthetic ◽  
Artistic Values ◽  
The City

In contemporary development, the penjor is increasingly being used both as a means of religious rituals and as a profane means. This research focuses on 3 questions 1). What is the process of the emergence of penjor in the city of Mataram? 2). What are the types, functions, and meanings of penjor in the city of Mataram? 3). How is penjor a symbol of the self-image of Hindus in the city of Mataram? This study uses a qualitative descriptive approach that emphasizes the interpretation of denotative and connotative meanings by using the theory of symbolic and semiotic interactionism. Data collection techniques by observation, interview, literature study, and documentation. The results of the analysis include: 1) The appearance of penjor in the city of Mataram began with the history of the attack of the Karangasem kingdom to Lombok. The increasingly safe situation of Lombok encourages the transfer of the Karangasem community to Lombok which carries Balinese Hindu traditions, including penjor, 2) Penjor is divided into 2 types namely ceremonial penjor and ornamental penjor. Penjor ceremony is made from bamboo with curved edges, the trunk is decorated with Ambu (young palm leaves) or Busung (young coconut leaves) filled with accessories. Penjor ceremony functioned as a means of religious rituals (god yadnya) and Manusa yadnya. The meaning of penjor symbolizes the mountain and its contents where the gods come from, as a form of expression of gratitude for the gift given by God and the celebration of Galungan. The commodification of penjor in the city of Mataram is still in a standard form but has begun to use a combination of natural and synthetic ingredients. 3) Penjor is a symbol of the self-image of Hindus, showing internal solidarity with other Hindus and externally to present the front stage as a Hindu that refers to the aesthetic and artistic values ​​of religious ritual symbols that contain the values ​​of the Satyam, Siwam, Sundaram.

Self-realization

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Evans
Keyword(s):  
Human Nature ◽  
The Self ◽  
Social Body ◽  
Individual Person ◽  
Real Nature ◽  
The Common ◽  
The Many ◽  
The Individual

‘Self-realization’ is the development and expression of characteristic attributes and potentials in a fashion which comprehensively discloses their subject’s real nature. Usually, the ‘self’ in question is the individual person, but the concept has also been applied to corporate bodies held to possess a unitary identity. What constitutes the self’s ‘real nature’ is the key variable generating the many conceptions of self-realization. These can be grouped broadly into two types: (1) the ‘collectivist’, in which the self-realizing lifestyle, being either the same for all or specific to a person or subgroup of people, is ultimately definable only in the context, and perhaps with reference to the common purposes, of a collective social body; (2) the ‘individualist’, in which a person’s self-realization has no necessary connection with the ends of a particular community. As an ethic, self-realization can be proposed as the means to achieve a life identified as good by some criterion independent of the self-realizing process, or held to be that which actually defines the good. Its critics typically argue that human nature is such that any equation of ‘self-realization’ and ‘goodness’ is implausible or undesirable.

Secret Societies in Ancient Judaism

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael E. Stone
Keyword(s):  
Hierarchical Organization ◽  
Secret Society ◽  
Secret Societies ◽  
Roman World ◽  
Ancient Judaism ◽  
Greco Roman ◽  
Special Knowledge ◽  
Different Levels

This chapter deals with the sources available for knowledge of Jewish esoteric groups, distinguishing between “insider” and “outsider” sources. The Essenes and the Qumran covenanters as a secret society are introduced. The keeping of secrets in the Greco–Roman world and the consequent importance of archaeology in discovering these secrets are briefly discussed. Typical features of secret societies are given: gradual initiation and limitation of membership, hierarchical organization with different levels, and stages of admission to the special knowledge. The main categories are “secret–open,” not “sectarian–normative,” as in previous studies. Analogous secret cults in the Greco–Roman world are also listed.

Session Fourteen: Altruism

2018 ◽  
pp. 99-103
Author(s):  
Tayyab Rashid ◽  
Martin Seligman
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
Real Life ◽  
The Self ◽  
Psychological Benefits ◽  
Positive Psychotherapy ◽  
Signature Strengths ◽  
Helping Others ◽  
The World ◽  
The Gift

Altruism is helping others without being asked for it and without any financial reimbursement. In positive psychotherapy (PPT), meaning entails using one’s signature strengths to belong to and serve something that one believes is bigger than the self. One wants to make a life that matters to the world and create a difference for the better. The psychological benefits of altruism are significant. In Session Fourteen, clients learn how being altruistic helps both themselves and others. The central PPT practice covered in this session is the Gift of Time. The chapter provides a list of readings, videos, and websites that relate to the Gift of Time and offers a worksheet to practice the concepts learned in the chapter. The chapter also includes real-life case studies that illustrate giving the gift of time.

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