Non-forgetfulness and forgetfulness 忘 (wang) in ancient Chinese philosophical texts

In this study, I examine conceptualizations of memory in classical Chinese philosophical texts with the purpose of encouraging the inclusion of ideas of non-Western cultures in memory studies. The texts selected for this study are Kongzi’s Analects, Mengzi, the Xici commentary on the Book of Changes, the Zhuangzi, and the Xunzi. Methodologically, I differentiate between the mnemic process and its goal. My point of departure is the complementary relation that marks the non-forgetfulness and forgetfulness sequence. This study proposes the paradigm of an axis and margins to represent the yin- yang reasoning implied by the complementary relation in conjunction with the narrativity of the mnemic process. Two major consequences of this model are the understanding of non-forgetfulness and forgetfulness in terms of attentive and suspended awareness, and the supportive role of forgetfulness or suspended awareness in enhancing the function of memory.

Objects Reconfiguring the Present and the Presence. Routes of Displacement for Humans: Yoko Ogawa, Han Kang, Olga Tokarczuk

The materiality of the human body is to be understood in a complementary relation with the objects that produce an extension of life and the privation of it. The Memory Police (Yoko Ogawa) and Human Acts (Han Kang) reassemble the past through the instrumentalization of objects, thus creating life in the present. The question that arises is whether this certain present can preserve the integrity of the human. Flights by Olga Tokarczuk suggests the body as a locus of conversion and tackles contemporary interests regarding plastic, for instance. These texts authored by Ogawa, Kang and Tokarczuk allow for a repositioning of the standpoint from which the consequences of subject-object relation are approached in literature, because they tap into human experience by addressing the essentiality of objects as repositories of memories. The essay attempts to analyse how objects having either a beneficial or a lethal meaning can be seen as deeply encapsulated in human existence.

Decoupling Representations and the Chain of Arguments

In this paper, I propose to understand argumentative decoupling—that is, the structural fact of the argumentative chain self-referring to one (or more) of its constituents (reason, data, conclusion, point of view) in subsequent arguments—as part of the way in which cognitive decoupling representation works. In order to support this claim, I make use of part of the discussion developed in cognitive studies and evolutionary theories that describes this phenomenon when explaining intentional communication. By using Toulmin’s model, I exemplify how decoupling representation may be seen as part of a chain of arguments in which a second argumentative move is usually oriented to action. I conclude by reflecting on the relationship between this human cognitive capacity and the problem of recursion to hold that these two concepts are not synonymous but stand in a subordinated and complementary relation to each other.

A Complementary Relation of Fluctuations between Energy and Temperature in a Small Specimen

Research on fluctuations in energy and temperature is presented for a small specimen. The small specimen in contact with a heat bath shows energy fluctuations, [Formula: see text], at the constant temperature. On the other hand, when this small specimen is isolated from the reservoir and adiabatic isolation is kept, it exhibits temperature fluctuations, [Formula: see text], at the constant energy. This means that the temperature is unsharp if a sharp energy is assigned. A complementary relation between [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] is proposed in a simple formula. The connection between [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] is mediated by the heat capacity [Formula: see text]. This complementary relation is valid in general and it does not depend on the amount of substance. If the constituent number[Formula: see text] of the system is of the order of Avogadro’s number, then the fluctuations have been masked by large [Formula: see text]and we cannot see the influence of the fluctuations. However, when the number [Formula: see text] decreases, the intrinsic features of fluctuations come out gradually. This paper presents the quantitative analyses of the fluctuations in the energy and temperature for several physical models. Typical characteristics in the fluctuations can be clearly seen only in a small specimen, which are shown in the graphical representations. It is stressed that the values of [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] are defined for the different prescribed conditions specified above.

Reading Storylines of Religious Motherhood with Ethics of Joy

In this article the storylines of a religious mother are read with Rosi Braidotti’s formulation of joyful and affirmative ethics. This ethics sets these storylines in motion and illuminates the changes that occur concerning devotion, resistance, and resilience in the face of the expectations of religious motherhood. This diffractive reading makes explicit the changing affects functioning in non-normative narratives and the compound and polyvocal ethics of becoming concerning (religious) motherhood, reproduction, and sustenance in these troubling times—times which compel us to live within compassionate ethics. The ethics of joy brings forward affective elements by allowing also the negative affects entangled in pain and trauma to be recognised as resistance. Besides assisting in reading the storylines for possible breaks, turns, and changes, diffractive reading makes often-neglected tacit elements matter. The forces fuelling the movement in the storylines bring forth equally symmetries, disparities, and changes, and the complex but also complementary relation of resilience and resistance as a part of feminist genealogies of affect.

On grammaticalized complex prepositions in Portuguese

Some complex prepositions (CPs) have long stories of grammaticalization behind them. In Portuguese, such is the case of the CPs that have started from simple elements such as ante or trás. In the present paper, I will observe the changes that have given rise to present-day Pt diante de, perante, atrás de, detrás de, among other complex formations. It will be seen that spatial signaling (place or direction) plays an important role on the development of these prepositions, but that a tendency to neutralization of semantic differences may lead more recent forms to convey meanings already expressed by older forms, which in turn may spur the emergence of even more complex formations (de diante de, por detrás de, …). Increased complexity, however, seems to bring redundancy with it, a fact that calls for a satisfactory explanation. The complexification process is accompanied by context extension, from spatial to the temporal, and from these to more abstract realms (cause, condition, circumstance, …). As is to be expected from prepositions that are frequently used, they compete with other units, with which they may at first be in a complementary relation, but whose affinities in distribution and meaning may cause their replacement in the long run (diante de versus em face de, face a). Finally, another important phenomenon concerning these formations is their capacity to expand beyond their category, giving rise to morphologically related nouns and verbs.