Late Medieval Magistrate’s Sword from the Collections of Buchlov State Castle

The collections of Buchlov State Castle include, among other things, a richly decorated late medieval long-sword that can be, based on its overall character, including maker’s marks on its blade, reliably interpreted as a so-called magistrate’s sword made around the turn of the 16th century in Passau, Bavaria. This article discusses the nature of its decoration in comparison with other similar preserved Central European magistrates’ swords of Passau provenance, as well as both the practical and symbolic function of these weapons.

Javanese Cultural Heritage Building (Case Study: Joglo House)

For centuries East Java is one of the tribes in Indonesia that has a unique cultural treasure. This culture has been passed down from generation to generation since the days of the kingdom. Model approach in this research is leading to a descriptive qualitative ethnographic, in which the empirical reality a result, demanding researchers go directly to the location of the study, to be able to live up to their tradition, and the symptoms of everyday life that is full of social phenomena local culture. The relation between construction is a structure which is strongly influenced by the manifestation process mythology and cosmology Java). This means that the traditional Javanese house is not just a place to shelter (practical function), but also understood as a manifestation of the ideals and outlook on life or a symbolic function. In this case the traditional Javanese houses are not only placed as an autonomous element, a separate stand alone, but being seen in context, particularly relevant to the context of allied Javanese cosmology that underlie the view that the Javanese philosophy of life.

The arts and their functions

In asking the question ‘What is art?’, four major conceptions of a work of art can be considered: an object; an indicator of beauty; an indicator of craftsmanship or creativity; and a process of performance. This chapter contends that the two principal functions of the arts are re-creation and interpersonal coordination. Re-creation reflects the inherently narrative and symbolic function of the arts, as conveyed through storytelling, acting, narrative dance, and figurative forms of visual art. Interpersonal coordination—as seen in artforms such as dance and music—occurs in the three domains of time, physical space (dance), and tonal pitch space (music). A unified view of the arts reveals not only the cognitive similarities among artforms, but the widespread ability of artforms to combine with one another to form syntheses, as seen in songs with words and dances choreographed to music. A comparative analysis of the arts provides greater insight into each artform than is possible by looking at artforms in isolation.

Relational Rules and Communist Single-Party Regimes

Relational rules structure the relationship between the oligarchs and the elite, and the oligarchs and the institutions of the regime. The chapter analyses how the 11 relational rules functioned in the Soviet Union and China over the life of the respective regimes. It explains how the oligarchs sought to insulate themselves from below and, in looking at the role of political institutions, tackles the idea that institutions serve little more than a symbolic function in authoritarian regimes. A major focus is also the power of the individual leader, its nature and bases and how this related to those institutions.

Hate speech and holocaust denial: The prohibition of false historical discourse in modern society

<p>The existence and magnitude of the largest genocide of the twentieth century, the Holocaust, are now being denied by individuals worldwide. This paper analyses the European legislation criminalising Holocaust denial from a freedom of expression perspective. The paper argues that Holocaust denial is inherently anti-Semitic, and is thus consistent with hate speech theory and the hate speech laws that have been enacted internationally in an attempt to remedy the harm hate speech can cause. The thesis of this paper is that the legislative restrictions on hate speech and Holocaust denial are justified from a free speech perspective on theoretical grounds. Such restrictions are a necessary prioritisation of human dignity and equality in the circumstances. Explicit Holocaust denial laws, while performing an essential symbolic function in European jurisdictions, are unnecessary in non-European states, as generic hate speech laws are sufficient to capture the harm caused by upper-level Holocaust denial.</p>

Hate speech and holocaust denial: The prohibition of false historical discourse in modern society

<p>The existence and magnitude of the largest genocide of the twentieth century, the Holocaust, are now being denied by individuals worldwide. This paper analyses the European legislation criminalising Holocaust denial from a freedom of expression perspective. The paper argues that Holocaust denial is inherently anti-Semitic, and is thus consistent with hate speech theory and the hate speech laws that have been enacted internationally in an attempt to remedy the harm hate speech can cause. The thesis of this paper is that the legislative restrictions on hate speech and Holocaust denial are justified from a free speech perspective on theoretical grounds. Such restrictions are a necessary prioritisation of human dignity and equality in the circumstances. Explicit Holocaust denial laws, while performing an essential symbolic function in European jurisdictions, are unnecessary in non-European states, as generic hate speech laws are sufficient to capture the harm caused by upper-level Holocaust denial.</p>

El escotoma cultural en tiempos de pandemia. El empobrecimiento de la función simbólica del hombre

This text addresses the cultural scotoma of these times of pandemic. To do this, we seek to apply the metaphor of the scotoma, used by Oliver Sacks in the clinical setting, expanding it to examine the cultural phenomenon of the pandemic. This scotoma is characterized by the impoverishment of the symbolic function of man. This impoverishment can be seen, for example, in the cultural phenomena of statistical panic and the loss of the most basic rituals, through which man used to face death. The examination of this scotoma is carried out in the light of the philosophical anthropology inspired by Cassirer and Blumenberg, insofar as this anthropology highlights the existence of man in his symbolic function.

Solar Home Systems in South Asia: Examining Adoption, Energy Consumption, and Social Practices

Renewable electricity generation from solar energy has rapidly increased in South Asia. This paper presents a systematic review of 79 scholarly papers on the topic of solar home system adoption, energy consumption, and social practices in South Asia. Using an intersectionality lens, the paper demonstrates that various categories of difference, such as gender, age, class, and ethnicity, intersect and shape the adoption of this technology in South Asia. Utilizing a social practice theory lens, the paper shows that solar home systems shape the spatial and temporal arrangements and practices of members of households that have adopted the technology, as well as their counterparts who have not. This technology has a practical but also symbolic function; the symbolic function and social meaning are derived from the economic and socio-cultural contexts. As this renewable energy technology is embedded in economic and socio-cultural contexts, people reconfigure it in creative ways to meet their everyday energy needs. The paper identifies research gaps and suggests future research agendas.

Die ‘vyf trane’ as mistieke uitdrukking in die Dialoë van die Dominikaanse non Katharina van Siëna (1347–1380)

The ‘five tears’ as mystical expression in the Dialogues of the Dominican nun Catherine of Siena (1347–1380). This article explores the underestimated teaching of the ‘five tears’ as mystical expression in the text Il dialogo (The dialogues, written in 1378) by the Dominican (Mantellate) nun and philosopher-theologian, Catherine of Siena (Caterina Benincasa, 1347–1380). The objective of the article is to indicate the significance of the teaching of the ‘five tears’, against the backdrop of the wider symbolic function of tears and ‘holy grief’ in Late Medieval mysticism. After presenting a biographical introduction, the contemplative, communicative and secretive import of the meaning of tears in the Middle Ages are reappraised and applied to The dialogues. By synthesising the scarce references in the relevant secondary literature, the teaching of the five tears are henceforth discussed: the tears of damnation, which are the tears of ‘evil and sinful people’; the tears of fear, which are the tears of fallen humankind in the presence of God’s judgement; the tears of gratitude, cried by a ‘saved humanity’ who now ‘see and taste God’s goodness’ (implicitly referring to the eucharist); the perfect tears, cried by people in their selfless disposition toward and love for the human Other; and the sweet tears of tenderness, cried by those who love God and humankind, in a radicalisation of Jesus of Nazareth’s summary of the Law, ‘more than thyself’. Catherine’s teaching of the ‘five tears’ certainly presents unique features and its own considerations, but should, nevertheless, be interpreted as an extension of the contemplative and secretive functions of ‘holy grief’ as already presented in Scripture and reconsidered by the Eastern and Western church fathers in the second to the fifth centuries. Catherine’s contribution to Medieval mysticism is established therein that she expanded those initial contents by presenting the teaching of the five tears as a ritualised prerequisite for development in the Medieval pilgrim’s spiritual itinerary to God.Contribution: This article contributes to scholarship in Medieval philosophy by contextualising Catherine of Siena’s teaching of the ‘five tears’ within the wider symbolic realm of tears and ‘holy grief’ in late Medieval mysticism, stressing the contemplative, communicative and secretive import of tears throughout the Middle Ages.