The Bureau and the Realism of Spy Fiction

This article addresses the issue of realism in relationship to contemporary serial fiction. Drawing on The Bureau (Canal+, 2015–2020), it argues that spy TV series are “realistic” not because they correspond to reality but because of their impact on reality. It begins by giving an overview of the many ways in which “realism,” in the ordinary sense of a resemblance with reality, served as the working framework for The Bureau’s team. It then identifies three distinct types of realisms in the series. The first is a “fictional realism,” namely the ability of The Bureau to conform to the aesthetic and narrative conventions of realistic fictions. The second type of realism, which I qualify as “ordinary,” refers to the possibilities offered by the show’s aesthetics and the enmeshment of The Bureau with viewers’ ordinary experience. The third type of “performative realism” refers to the series’ impact on shared representations and reality. By providing a common language about the secret activities of the state, The Bureau has gone from being a framed version of reality to being one of the defining frameworks through which state secrecy is experienced both individually and collectively, by insiders and the public at large.

Spirituality

‘Spirituality’ examines the import of psychedelic evidence for the philosophical project of naturalising spirituality. This chapter argues that psychedelic research vindicates the claim that there are transformative experiences and practices that can legitimately be called ‘spiritual’ and are compatible with adherence to a naturalistic worldview. The existential transformation afforded by some psychedelic experiences provides a paradigm for naturalistic spirituality: the temporary suspension of our default, self-referential mode of cognition, making available experiences of connectedness and feelings of wonder and awe. Jerome Stone (2012) has reviewed recent philosophical work on naturalistic spirituality and extracted some core ideas: notably (i) that spirituality is about connection, aspiration, and asking the Big Questions, and (ii) that these are all ways of overcoming the limitations of the ordinary sense of self. This chapter argues that psychedelic evidence supports these claims, as well as the further claim that such experiences and practices are independent of non-naturalistic metaphysical ideations.

ADDITIONAL BELTS OF CHORA TOWER OF CHERSONESSOS: FORTIFICATION OR ANTISEISMIC?

The article discusses the question of the appointment of additional belts, which were erected on the sites of Chersonesos Chora in the III-II centuries BC. In ordinary sense, these architectural elements served to strengthen the walls and towers, however, for today in Russian historiography there is no consensus about the reasons and purpose of such strengthening. Almost all of researchers, who have addressed this case, agree with on their “anti-ram” (ie fortification) or anti-seismic purpose. In connection with the significant accumulation of archaeological data both in Russia and abroad, it seems possible to consider this architectural phenomenon in a wider time and geographical framework, as well as to attach some facts that may indicate other reasons for the emergence these architectural elements. This research based on the consideration of analogies to the studied architectural objects - construction remains similar in design, recorded in the territory of the Eastern Crimea. Thus, the expanded geography and chronology of the architectural phenomenon allows one to obtain new theoretical generalizations.

Local Wisdom and Social Change (Roland Barthes' Semiotic Analysis in Advertisement "The Light of Aceh")

This research focuses on answering how Acehnese local wisdom is represented and sees social changes in the community through advertising media. Using Roland Barthes' semiotic analysis to find the meaning of denotation, connotation, and myths in TV commercial "The Light of Aceh", this research employs the constructivism paradigm with qualitative methods. The denotation falls in several objects, such as a traditional house Rumoh Aceh as a place for Acehnese people to live, the customs to honor guests and eat together with them as a symbol of friendship between communities, and the Pacu Kude tradition. The connotation of the local wisdom object has been cultured and become the community's identity, then displayed in the advertisement as the result of the construction of the existing reality. This construction is interpreted as a myth that does not necessarily refer to mythology in the ordinary sense. It is traditional stories, legends, et cetera, but rather an explanation of messages with a connotative dimension. The myths found in the advertisements show the social changes taking place in Acehnese society. Fokus penelitian ini adalah menjawab bagaimana kearifan lokal Aceh direpresentasikan dan melihat perubahan sosial yang terjadi di masyarakat melalui media iklan. Dengan menggunakan analisis semiotik Roland Barthes untuk menemukan makna denotasi, konotasi, dan mitos dalam iklan TV “The Light of Aceh”, penelitian ini menggunakan paradigma konstruktivisme dengan metode kualitatif. Makna denotasi terdapat pada beberapa objek, seperti rumah adat Rumoh Aceh sebagai tempat tinggal masyarakat Aceh, adat istiadat untuk menghormati tamu dan makan bersama sebagai simbol persahabatan antar masyarakat, serta tradisi Pacu Kude. Objek kearifan local yang berkonotasi telah membudaya dan menjadi identitas masyarakat, kemudian ditampilkan dalam iklan tersebut sebagai hasil konstruksi dari realitas yang ada. Konstruksi ini dimaknai sebagai mitos yang tidak serta merta mengacu pada mitologi dalam pengertian biasa. Ini adalah cerita tradisional, legenda, dan sebagainya, tetapi lebih merupakan penjelasan tentang pesan dengan dimensi konotatif. Mitos yang ditemukan dalam iklan tersebut menunjukkan perubahan sosial yang terjadi pada masyarakat Aceh.

The Baire Category of Subsequences and Permutations which preserve Limit Points

Let $$\mathcal {I}$$ I be a meager ideal on $$\mathbf {N}$$ N . We show that if x is a sequence with values in a separable metric space then the set of subsequences [resp. permutations] of x which preserve the set of $$\mathcal {I}$$ I -cluster points of x is topologically large if and only if every ordinary limit point of x is also an $$\mathcal {I}$$ I -cluster point of x. The analogue statement fails for all maximal ideals. This extends the main results in [Topology Appl. 263 (2019), 221–229]. As an application, if x is a sequence with values in a first countable compact space which is $$\mathcal {I}$$ I -convergent to $$\ell $$ ℓ , then the set of subsequences [resp. permutations] which are $$\mathcal {I}$$ I -convergent to $$\ell $$ ℓ is topologically large if and only if x is convergent to $$\ell $$ ℓ in the ordinary sense. Analogous results hold for $$\mathcal {I}$$ I -limit points, provided $$\mathcal {I}$$ I is an analytic P-ideal.

Perception in Augustine’s De Trinitate 11

In this paper, I explore Augustine’s account of sense cognition in book 11 of De Trinitate. His discussion in this context focuses on two types of sensory state—what he calls ‘outer vision’ and ‘inner vision,’ respectively. His analysis of both types of state is designed to show that cognitive acts involving external and internal sense faculties are susceptible of a kind of trinitarian analysis. A common way to read De Trin. 11, is to interpret Augustine’s account of ‘outer’ vision as an analysis of sense perception and his account of ‘inner’ vision as an analysis of occurrent sensory memory and imagination. I argue against such a reading of De Trin. 11. Insofar as we take perception to be a phenomenally conscious mode of sensory awareness, outer vision cannot, I claim, be the equivalent of ordinary sense perception. For, on Augustine’s view, the deliverances of outer vision only reach the threshold of consciousness, when outer vision occurs in conjunction with inner vision. Hence, on my analysis, sense perception turns out to be a complex, hybrid state—one that involves both outer and inner vision. If I am right, acts of sense perception turn out not to be directly susceptible to trinitarian analysis. Even so, the account is interesting and nuanced for all that.

Teologia jako nauka sui generis. W kontekście teologii ks. Franciszka Dziaska

Rev. Franciszek Dziasek, S.Th.D. was a lecturer of the Archbishop’s Seminary in Poznan from 1950 to 1964. In his lectures, Introduction to Theological Sciences, step by step he justifies claims of theology to be science in the university sense. From the reception of his lectures we learn that he was living with what he preached. In the integral view of the two realities, [theologian and his knowledge] we are shown a trait of theology wisdom, which shows its specificity as the queen of sciences. A Poznan lecturer argues that theology is a science in the ordinary sense of the word. It is also the science of sui generis, because it derives its data from a revelation that is credible in the community of the Church.

Land Transaction and Its Impact on Society and Economy in Imperial China: An Exchange with “Dian and the System of Land-Rights Transaction under the Qing” by Long Denggao et al.

This article challenges the view that land transactions in China from the Song to the late Qing periods became increasingly marketized and effective in resource allocation. In traditional China, the land was never a commodity in the ordinary sense; it served as the very basic means of survival and production for peasants while functioning as the most critical determinant shaping the sustainability of the environment for the survival of humankind. Neither market transactions nor any means external or internal to the state were effective enough in regulating either the total demand or the total supply of the land in China and alleviating the tension in man-to-land relations. Land transactions in imperial China were very different by nature and in terms of their social and economic impact from the received wisdom in Western economic theories, which assumes the decisive roles of supply and demand in shaping market prices and the patterns of production in the commodity economy.

Derivative Goodness and Derivative Badness

In addition to the goodness and badness of wellness and illness, Spinoza has things to say about the goodness and badness of types of actions and about such things as food, music, sporting activities, and knowledge of God. This chapter continues to flesh out his moral philosophy. To avoid confusion with “action” in Spinoza’s technical sense of the word (3D2), the author uses “deed” when speaking of actions in our ordinary sense. By “deed” is meant an individual’s voluntary behavior—that is, behavior that results from an individual’s desires, emotions, and beliefs regardless of whether the desires and emotions are active or passive and regardless of whether the beliefs are adequate or inadequate. In contrast with the underivative goodness of wellness and the underivative badness of illness, this chapter shows that Spinoza is committed to the derivative goodness and derivative badness of deeds and of spatially external objects.

Glasgow’s Reply to Haslanger, Jeffers, and Spencer

In Chapter 4, Joshua Glasgow argued that race in the ordinary sense is defined in such a way that race cannot be a social construction and is not a biological reality. That chapter concluded with the claim that either race is not real, or if it is, it is real in a very basic way that is not captured by social or biological facts. In this chapter, Glasgow develops his view by responding to Haslanger, Jeffers, and Spencer. After first clearing up some misconceptions about racial anti-realism, Glasgow explains how his argument against constructionism applies to Haslanger’s and Jeffers’s specific constructionist theories. He then explores how Spencer’s view is exposed to a mismatch objection and further argues that it faces additional problems of accounting for some central kinds of communication. This chapter also includes an Appendix that explores how a wide methodological ground is shared among the theories presented in this book.