SAINT AUGUSTINE: HIS LIFE AND INTELLECTUAL SOURCES

In this article, we aim to introduce the most prominent thinkers who emerged from the medieval period - the Christian fathers - and he is St. Augustine (354-430 AD), the most important philosophers and thinkers representing moral thought and one of the most prominent who occupied the moral problem. St. Augustine is a central figure in Christianity and the history of thought. Western alike, his name has dominated Western thought, and has not lost its luster to this day. St. Augustine immortalized his name in world history thanks to his political, religious and intellectual ideas. He is a religious man. He has his position and is revered and appreciated throughout the Christian world, especially in the world of thought. Therefore, there is no doubt that the stations of his life, his intellectual sources, and his sayings have weight, value, and influence, and a sense from us of this. Weight and Impact We saw that we take up this great character. In this research, we want to shed light on the personality of St. Augustine, who represented the Christian thought in that era, trying to focus on his life's path, highlighting the most important major milestones in his life and his intellectual sources‎‎. Keywords: The Middle Ages, Augustine, Berber, His Life, Confessions

Augustinus en vroulike homoërotiek in die vroeë Middeleeue: ’n Foucaultiaanse ideëhistoriese interpretasie

Augustine and female homoeroticism in the early Middle Ages: A Foucaultian idea-historical interpretation. Taking his reading of Romans 1:26–27 and Genesis 19 as its hermeneutical key, an idea-historical interpretation of the views of the Western church father Augustine of Hippo (354–430) on female homoeroticism is presented in this article. The accentuation of French philosopher Michel Foucault (1926–1984) on the overall significance of Augustine in the Western history of sexuality, in his posthumous Histoire de la sexualité 4 (Les aveux de la chair, under editorship of Frédéric Gros, 2018), is used to contextualise Augustine’s views on sexual desire as the ‘form of the will’, here positioned specifically within a female homoerotic context. Drawing on the substantial studies of John Boswell (in 1980) and Bernadette Brooten (in 1996), which, although relatively dated, are still without equal in Medieval research, the article subsequently explores Augustine’s views on intimate relations between women, both in monasteries and in secular society. It is shown that intimate relations between women must have transpired in fifth-century monasteries and that female homoeroticism was for the next two centuries dealt with with restraint rather than with forms of exclusion and punishment, despite the negative portrayals of same-sex relations by some of Augustine’s patristic contemporaries (particularly John Chrysostom [ca.347–407]), yet precisely on the basis of Augustine’s understated approach. Although Augustine renounced homoerotic relations as a form of ‘unnatural’ (for him, expressly, all ‘non-procreative’) sex, he dealt with the incidence of female same-sex relations with understatement. Given his general authority in the early Middle Ages, one effect of Augustine’s non-homophobic approach was that female homoeroticism was de facto bypassed as a ‘moral problem’ in the fifth and sixth centuries, until handbooks of penance, that prohibited all forms of same-sex relations, started circulating at the end of the sixth century.Contribution: This article contributes to the ongoing study of Medieval female sexuality, and particularly of female homoeroticism in late Antiquity and the early Middle Ages, by exploring Augustine’s views on same-sex relations between women around the early fifth century, while concurrently contributing to ongoing analyses of Michel Foucault’s interpretation of the church and desert fathers in the (edited) fourth volume of Histoire de la sexualité (Les aveux de la chair), published in 2018.

Ius In Bello IV

Contemporary armed conflict no longer consists of wars with designated armed forces confronting each other to gain or hold political control of territory. This short chapter explains why the Kantian account of the in bello norms still applies, in particular, clarifying the way in which they reflect the distinctive moral problem of war. Misconceived instrumentalist accounts of the normative basis of the in bello rules create the impression that changed circumstances should generate different rules. Three issues are considered: war between enemies that deny each other’s legitimacy; combatants with uniforms; and wars against adversaries who reject the laws and customs of war. In each case, the Kantian account is shown to apply.

Easing Restrictions During Vaccine Scarcity. How Mitigation Measures Help Tackling Associated Moral and Behavioral Challenges

Background: When vaccines became first available during the Covid-19 pandemic, their demand significantly exceeded their supply. In consequence, the access to vaccines, initially, was distributed unequally. At the same time, governments started easing pandemic restrictions for vaccinated and recovered persons and restoring their freedoms since their risk of transmitting the virus is significantly reduced.Evidence: We show that restoring freedoms for vaccinated and recovered persons – while upholding restrictions for the rest of the population – is morally unfair during vaccine scarcity. Further, it may yield unintended side-effects, including perverse incentives, growing rifts in society, and the expansion of marginalization.Policy Options & Recommendations: We recommend accompanying easing for vaccinated and recovered individuals by mitigation measures for those who are neither vaccinated nor recovered. We propose, first, to temporarily lift the same restrictions for negative-tested individuals, as for vaccinated or recovered people. Second, the state must ensure broad and easy access to testing for everyone – free of charge.Conclusion: If done right, these mitigation measures create (at least temporarily) equal access to freedom for everybody – solving the moral problem of unfair access to freedoms and counteracting possible negative consequences.

The Problem with Naked Statistical Evidence

There has been much debate over the value of naked statistical evidence (NSE). However, while most scholars agree that it is problematic to base a verdict on NSE, they disagree on why it is problematic, pointing to different characteristics of NSE as the root of the problem. In the last decade, the debate has been energized by publications that propose a number of new approaches. This chapter joins the most recent debates on NSE—in particular, the objections to naked statistics based upon sensitivity, normalcy, incentives for lawful conduct, and free will. The authors argue that the problem of NSE is not an epistemic one, as some assume, but is actually a moral problem.

Ethics of fetal reduction: a reply to my critics

In the article, Twin pregnancy, fetal reduction and the ‘all or nothing problem’, I argued that there is a moral problem in multifetal pregnancy reduction from a twin to a singleton pregnancy (2-to-1 MFPR). Drawing on Horton’s original version of the ‘all or nothing problem’, I argued that there are two intuitively plausible claims in 2-to-1 MFPR: (1) aborting both fetuses is morally permissible, (2) aborting only one of the twin fetuses is morally wrong. Yet, with the assumption that one should select permissible choice over impermissible choice, the two claims lead to a counter-intuitive conclusion: the woman ought to abort both fetuses rather than only one. It would be odd to promote such a pro-death view. Begović et al discuss my article and offer insightful criticism, claiming, that there is no ‘all or nothing problem’ present in 2-to-1 MFPR. In this short reply, I respond to some of their criticism.

Membangun Penjelasan Dan Sikap Etis Trinitarian Terhadap Kejahatan Natural COVID-19

COVID-19 merupakan kejahatan natural yakni kejahatan yang disebabkan oleh proses natural yang sudah tidak berfungsi sebagaimana mestinya sebagai akibat kejatuhan manusia dalam dosa. Keberadaan COVID-19 sebagai kejahatan natural akan menimbulkan pertanyaan mengapa kejahatan natural dapat ada, untuk apa kejahatan natural ini dan bagaimana akhir dari kejahatan natural ini (problem metafisika kejahatan)? Pertanyaan lain adalah bagaimana respons atau sikap orang-orang percaya terhadap keberadaan kejahatan natural ini (problem moral kejahatan)? Penulis berupaya menjawab dua problem tersebut dengan menggunakan penjelasan trinitarian dari metanarasi Kristen yakni dari sudut providensi Allah, karya Yesus Kristus di salib, dan karya Roh Kudus di dalam gereja Tuhan. Allah di dalam kedaulatan-Nya mengizinkan kejahatan natural COVID-19 untuk kebaikan yang lebih besar. Anak Allah Yesus Kristus mengalahkan kejahatan melalui pelayanan-Nya di bumi dan di Salib. Roh Kudus, yang diutus Bapa dan Anak, menghibur dan memberi kuasa kepada gereja untuk melanjutkan misi Yesus Kristus. COVID-19 is a natural evil, namely an evil caused by a natural process that is not functioning properly because of the fall of humans into sins. The existence of COVID-19 as a natural evil will raise the question of why natural evil can exist, what is the purpose of natural evil, and how does this natural evil ends (the metaphysical problem of evil)? Another question is how the response or the attitude of the believers to the existence of this natural evil (the moral problem of evil)? The author tries to answer these two problems by using a trinitarian explanation of Christian metanarrative, namely from the point of God’s providence, the work of Jesus Christ on the cross, and the work of the Holy Spirit in the church. God in his sovereignty permits the natural evil of COVID-19 for the greater good. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, triumph over evil through His ministry on earth and on the cross. The Holy Spirit, sent by the Father and the Son, comforts, and empowers the church to continues the mission of Jesus Christ.

Development of Variational Indicators and Methods for Measuring the Irregularity of Multidimensional Economic Structures

The main problems facing humanity are the problem of peaceful, nuclear-free coexistence of all states, the ecological problem of preserving the natural environment, the demographic problem of stabilizing the population of the Earth, and the ideological and moral problem of the goal of further progress. These problems require for their solution not so much a quantitative, volumetric increase in parameters the existence and activity of people, but mainly, the restructuring of this activity.