Einleitung: Philosophie als Passion. Das gebrochene Denken von Emmanuel Levinas

The essay gives a short introduction to Levinas’ passionate thinking by focusing on the failure of all philosophical trials in theodicy.

Neologismen in Coronatijd – een steekproef

In times of crisis language is often enriched with new words called neologisms. After all, extraordinary circumstances call for new words. This also applies to the corona crisis. For example, the Dutch have had to deal with the anderhalvemetersamenleving and other corona measures. Moreover, the crisis has caused a lot of “corona damage”, both economically, psychologically and physically. The vaccination campaign has set the stage for a return to normality. This route also provides necessary neologisms. This article takes a look at which neologisms were used on one day in a particular newspaper. Since most neologisms consist of compound nouns, the sample will focus on these only. The De Volkskrant online edition, dated 16 April 2021, will be used for this purpose, using the articles obtained after entering the search term corona. After a short introduction to neologisms and the different types of compositions, the neologisms obtained are then categorised according to different composition categories and according to corona themes. Finally, a conclusion is drawn based on the results obtained.

History of Mahakala Cult in Buryatia

The history of the cult of Mahakala in Buryat Buddhism is considered. A short introduction to the history of the deity is presented. It is noted that this is one of the main patrons of the Geluk school, whose views and traditions have spread among the Buryats. A review of works containing the earliest information on the veneration of a deity in Buryat temples is carried out. It is reported that the cult of Mahakala in Buryatia is represented by the predominant veneration of its three forms: Six-armed, Four-faced and White Six-armed. The important role of the cult of Mahakala, which replaced the most revered shaman spirits-ongons in the common Mongolian world, is shown. It is reported that during the spread of Buddhism among the Buryats, the Sakyas direction with its main patron Gurgon Mahakala dominated among the Mongols. It is noted that, despite the Mongolian traditions, another — the Six-armed form of the deity — was established in Buryat Buddhism. The author believes that this is connected with the name of the first Pandito Khambo Lama Damba-Darzha Zayayev, who introduced veneration of this deity to Buryat Buddhism directly from Tibet and appointed him the patron of the first Buryat Buddhist temple. The conclusion is made about the significance of the Mahakala cult, which not only acquired great importance within the framework of its original religion, but also entered the system of shamanistic beliefs.

How the mind comes to life: The physics and metaphysics of dissipative structures

This monograph tries to illuminate the process of live and mind by focusing on a thermodynamic perspective. In doing so a fundamental link is offered between psychology and neuroscience on the one hand and physics on the other hand. Non-equilibrium thermodynamics applied on human structures leads to explanations for highly complex processes like self-healing, the forecast of the structuring of stable neuronal connections or the importance of feedback loops for the formation of metastable neuronal structures. Besides energy there is evidence for the necessity of a second concept: information. To integrate this into a resilient ontology a new definition for „biological information” is required and will be provided. Transferring in analogy the thermodynamic framework of energy to biological information leads to what I shall call Dual Dissipation Theory (DDT). Its essentials will be presented and a short introduction, why dualism can be supported if introduced correctly. Finally, DDT suggests the following insight:The common concept for life is „energy flow“ and „information flow“, grounded in dissipative structures. It could offer a plausible heuristic for the explanation of mind and consciousness closing the gap from physics, i.e. non-ecquilibrium thermodynamics, to neuroscience and psychology.

Kołysanka jak terapia w relacji matki z córką. O powieści „Widziane z drugiej strony” Ken Bugul

The aim of this article is to present the lullaby as a special song based on the intimate relationship between a mother and a daughter in the artistic works of a Senegalese writer, Ken Bugul. An analysis of the novel De l’autre côté du regard is preceded by a short introduction that explains the concept of a lullaby and presents its functions. The author of this article attempts to show how the lullaby can influence the relationship between the main character and her mother, showing the therapeutic role of the song.

Warehouse robot market boosted by Covid pandemic and technological innovations

Purpose This paper aims to provide details of recent commercial and technological developments that are driving robotic warehouse automation. Design/methodology/approach Following a short introduction, this first provides a commercial background and identifies the factors driving the market growth. It then gives examples of robotics companies, products and applications that exploit innovations in artificial intelligence (AI). It then considers future prospects, and finally, brief conclusions are drawn. Findings Amazon’s acquisition of Kiva led to a community of new robot manufacturers and the realisation by major e-commerce companies that robotic automation would be required to maintain competitiveness. The Covid pandemic caused a surge in e-commerce and a critical shortage of labour, which further highlighted the need for automation and boosted robotic deployments. Recent advances in AI have resulted in a rapidly growing community of companies producing AI-powered robots which offer advanced capabilities such as mixed product picking, sorting and kitting. These are being deployed by a growing number of e-commerce and logistics companies and are paving the way towards ever-higher levels of warehouse automation. Full automation will soon become a reality. Originality/value This paper identifies the factors driving the rapidly developing warehouse robot business by considering the companies, products, technology and applications.