Exploring pre-service teachers’ perception towards gender-biased texts in EFL textbook

In education, gender is a very serious issue that needs to be discussed, particularly in academic circles. Textbooks are the only open and inexpensive resource for education, they should have been a critical tool to identify better gender equity. This study explored the pre-service teachers’ perception of gender biased in EFL textbook. The result of the research reveals that pre-service teachers still cannot really comprehend the idea of gender bias and unable to notice that the texts are gendered. However, after receiving explanations about gender bias and the importance of paying attention to the conditions in certain textbooks, pre-service teachers are willing to do a better job in selecting textbooks. In addition, they will also educate students and other teachers about the situations to reflect the ideal state of gender equality in all aspects of life.DOI: 10.26905/enjourme.v6i2.5578

The Principles of The City-State in Aflatun’s View

Aflatun’s thoughts, as great Greek philosopher, are still counted as one of the best references in terms of political philosophy and are in practice in the world of politics. Aflatun owns a utopian state based on the foundation of justice and virtue. Aflatun’s state, ruled by philosopher-kings, is characterized by having particular thoughts about the system of education. Politics is vitally important within Aflatun’s philosophy. It is regarded as means of planning his utopian city. Aflatun believes that political systems can be classified, in accordance to their ruling type, into aristocracy, timocracy, oligarchy, democracy, monarchy and dictatorship. Among them, Aflatun believes that aristocracy is the best since it’s practiced by a philosopher-king. Aflatun in his ideal state refers to metaphysics as an important basic of his utopian city. Aflatun’s view is that the ideal state can only be cherished in the life of hereafter, though those in power may be able to find some sort of the ideal life in this world. The philosopher-kings, on the other hand, are able to practice such an ideal life in this world. In Aflatun’s view, any sort of change happening in the world from the perfection towards the imperfection and weakness. This is due to the unstable feature of the world that never stays constantly. Only God is characterized by stableness and mortality. Aflatun thinks that ‘ethics’ is one of the practical fields of philosophy which shows the will of any human being that depends on performing the duty of individuals in the society to establish social justice. Aflatun states that education refers to the right preparation of human beings to suit the world of justice. He sees the education as the highest virtue. Aflatun repeats that all the social city-state classes have to get the proper education formed in certain phases based on the age of the citizens.

The Emergence of the Islamic Messiah Al Mahdi and his “Ideal” State

This study aims to present the emergence of the Islamic Messiah Al Mahdi and his “ideal” state. Many modern preachers, clerics and thinkers are trying to find the signs of the appearance of the expected messiah given by Sharia tests and their interpretations by Islamic legal authorities. Thus, they create their own geopolitical versions, explaining modern political dynamics, based on their aspirations to build the ideal state formed under the light of the crescent. The dispositions of the Sharia norms are explained in a way that forms a logical-looking version of the emergence of a universal just state, led by the expected savior – Imam Mahdi. Muhammad ibn al-Hasan al-Mahdi (Arabic: مُحَمَّد ابْن ٱلْحَسَن ٱلْمَهْدِي, Muhammad ibn al-Hasan al-Mahdi) is believed by Twelver Shia to be the Mahdi, who has two other eschatologists with Jesus (Jesus) to fulfill their mission to bring peace and justice to the world. The Shivers of Twelver believe that al-Mahdi was born on the 15th of Sha'ban in 870 AD / 256 AH and adopted the Imam at the age of almost four after the assassination of his father, Hassan al-Askari. In the early years of his Imam, he is believed to have had contact with his followers only through the Four Deputies. This period was known as the Small Occult (ٱلْغَيْبَة ٱلصُّغْرَىٰ) and lasted from 873 to 941. A few days before the death of his fourth deputy Abu al-Hasan Ali ibn Mohammed al-Samari in 941, he is believed to have sent a letter. to his followers. In this letter from Al-Samari, he announced the beginning of the main occult (ٱلْغَيْبَة ٱلْكُبْرَىٰ), during which the Mahdi was not to have direct contact with his followers, but had instructed them to follow the pious high clergy he had mentioned. some distinctive merits.

What Are Self-Cultivation Philosophies?

The chapter defines the concept of a self-cultivation philosophy. This proposes that human beings can and should move from a troubled state of existence to some ideal state of being via spiritual exercises guided by some philosophical analysis. Philosophy is defined as a reflective practice that seeks understanding of fundamental assumptions in our life. Philosophy may be a practical discipline or a theoretical one, and it may be based on whatever cognitive capacities human beings possess, including reason and awareness. This claim is defended by reference to virtue epistemology. Self-cultivation philosophy has a four-part structure: an account of human nature, an existential starting point, an ideal state of being, and a transformation program. The transformation program consists of exercises which have four functions: Cognition, Purification, Doctrine, and Habituation. Self-cultivation philosophies are often expressed in transformational texts intended to guide people in how to live their lives according to the philosophy

Epicureanism

The chapter argues that ancient Epicureanism (mainly Epicurus, Lucretius, and Philodemus) is plausibly interpreted as a self-cultivation philosophy. The existential starting point is a life of irrational fears and frustrated desires. The ideal state of well-being is a life of pleasure, understood primarily as the absence of physical pain and mental distress (more tranquilism than hedonism). This ideal life is free of fear of death and the gods, and it is devoted to friendship, moral virtue, and the pursuit of desires only if they are natural and necessary. The philosophical foundation is a materialist, atomistic theory of nature and human nature that entails that death is nothing to fear, the gods are unconcerned with us, and only natural and necessary desires are important. We achieve this ideal through spiritual exercises that involve learning Epicurean philosophy, modifying desires, and cultivating virtue in a community of like-minded people.

Pyrrho and Pyrrhonism

The chapter argues that Pyrrho and ancient Pyrrhonian skepticism (specifically, Sextus Empiricus) are plausibly interpreted as accepting a self-cultivation philosophy, though in somewhat different senses and with some qualification. For both, the existential starting point is an emotionally troubled life rooted in beliefs about the world, and the ideal state of being is a life of tranquility without these beliefs and guided by appearances. It is difficult to say what spiritual exercises Pyrrho thought were needed to achieve the ideal state: perhaps learning his philosophy and habituating ourselves to follow it. However, for Sextus, employment of skeptical arguments was the primary exercise. Since neither Pyrrho nor Sextus supposed we could make assertions about the specific nature of things, neither had a philosophy of human nature in a straightforward sense. Nonetheless, presentations of their outlooks betray some perspective on this (e.g., about the relationship between absence of belief and tranquility).

Indian Buddhism

The chapter argues that the teaching of the Buddha, Buddhaghosa’s Visuddhimagga, and Śāntideva’s Bodhicaryāvatāra are each plausibly interpreted as self-cultivation philosophies. For each, the existential starting point is that we are caught in a cycle of rebirth permeated by suffering caused by craving, something rooted in the delusion that we are selves or have an intrinsic nature. The ideal state of being is centrally the awareness that we are not selves or are empty of an intrinsic nature. This awareness—nirvana—is a state of peace and compassion that ends the cycle of rebirth. The transformation from suffering to nirvana is achieved through intellectual, ethical, and meditative disciplines, the spiritual exercises, namely the Eightfold Path or the Six Perfections. Though Buddhism denies that there is a self, this denial is connected to an understanding of human nature as consisting of five kinds of “aggregates” and having the capacity for enlightenment.

THE CONCEPT OF AN IDEAL SOCIETY IN NIZAMI GANJEVI'S POEM «ISKENDERNAME»

Throughout history, the concept of an “ideal society” and the idea of an ideal state structure have been the focus of attention of philosophers and poets. One of the first who gave a description of a utopian society in the Muslim east was Abu Nasr al-Farabi. After him, the idea of an “ideal society” was presented in his five poems by the Azerbaijani poet-philosopher of the XII century, Nizami Ganjavi. Almost all the works of the great Azerbaijani thinker Nizami Ganjavi are imbued with the idea of an ideal society, an ideal state and an ideal ruler. But a special place it is occupied by his last poem from “Hamse” – “Iskendername”. This article gives a brief summary of Nizami's philosophical thoughts about an ideal society, about an ideal ruler, mainly based on the poem “Iskendername”.

The Motivation Gradient of Maintenance: Maintenance Goals Are Uniquely Influenced by Proximity to the Ideal State

When are people motivated to maintain what they have? We tested differences in the motivation to maintain versus approach and avoidance at different distances from one’s ideal state. Although keeping things as they are (maintenance) is often equated with avoiding changes, we predicted pronounced differences between these two goals. We reasoned that maintenance goals are energized by appreciation for the current state, which increases and leads to greater motivation with proximity to the ideal state. Avoidance, in contrast, is motivated by threat and should decrease as one’s situation improves. We tested these predictions in hypothetical scenarios (Study 1; N = 399) and real-life goals (Study 2; N = 401). Both studies confirm a pattern wherein the motivation gradient of maintenance is distinct from both approach and avoidance. More broadly, our results support a theoretical framework that distinguishes between three basic goals types, and may inspire future research in that direction.

THE ANALIZE OF THE FORMS OF GOVERNMENT AND THE PRACTICE OF GOOD GOVERNANCE FROM PLATO TO CONTEMPORANEITY

Plato is one of the brilliant philosophers of Antiquity. The thinker made a wide contribution in the philosophy, culture and politics. Plato was the first philosopher who researched the concept of state power and elaborated the mechanism of the changing of the forms of government. Plus, philosopher created the concept of ideal state, based on virtue and the tendency to achieve the common good. The thinker evaluated the position of man in society, his desires and aspirations. In this study, we aimed to analyze the process of the change of the forms of government in the Plato’s point of view, to identify the similarities and qualitative differences between forms of government analyzed by the great philosopher and to compare Plato’s and Aristotle’s doctrines that refers to the forms of government .