On Justifying the Study of Religion

This chapter takes up the question whether the study of religion can be justified and indicates why scholars of religion deny themselves reasons for tackling that question. It uses as its point of departure Max Weber’s lecture, “Science as a Vocation” as articulating a methodological standard for studying religion, one that privileges value-neutrality and avows an “ascetic ideal” (following Nietzsche). It is argued that this ideal poses obstacles to making justificatory claims on behalf of studying religion and fortifies a repressive scholarly conscience in the field’s regime of truth. The chapter adds that this conscience is not entirely repressive and notes the presence of quixotic, haphazard appeals to normative ideals that materialize in the study of religion. Lastly, it sketches the book’s alternative to the ascetic ideal and describes ideas from moral philosophy that inform the book’s critical and constructive argument.

Violence-related deaths among people released from incarceration: protocol for a systematic review

IntroductionYoung people and adults released from incarceration have a risk of dying from violence that far exceeds that in the general population. Despite this, evidence regarding the incidence, elevated risk and predictive factors for violence-related deaths after release have not yet been synthesised. This information is important to inform the development of evidence-based approaches to effectively prevent deaths from violence in this population. This systematic review will synthesise the literature examining the crude mortality rates (CMRs), standardised mortality ratios (SMRs) and predictive factors for violence-related deaths among people released from incarceration.Methods and analysisWe searched key electronic health, social science and criminology databases (MEDLINE, PubMed, PsycINFO, Scopus, Web of Science, CINCH, Criminal Justice Abstracts) for peer-reviewed cohort studies published in English on 14th September 2020. Our primary outcome of interest is violence-related deaths occurring in the community following release from incarceration. We will not restrict study eligibility by year of publication or age of participants. The Methodological Standard for Epidemiological Research (MASTER) scale will be used to assess the quality of included studies. If there are sufficient studies and homogeneity between studies, we will conduct meta-analyses to calculate pooled estimates of CMRs, SMRs or predictive factors for violence-related deaths. If there is a sufficient number of included studies, meta-regression will be conducted to examine the influence of subgroups and methodological factors on the CMRs, SMRs or predictive factors. If the studies do not report sufficient data, or if there is substantial heterogeneity, findings will be presented in a narrative form.Ethics and disseminationThis review is exempt from ethics approval as it will synthesise findings from published studies that have already obtained ethics approval. Our findings will be disseminated through a peer-reviewed journal article, and national and international conference and seminar presentations.Trial registration detailsThis study is registered with PROSPERO (CRD42020209422).

Descriptive Turn in Epistemology

The article shows that cultural-historical epistemology erroneously puts forward the thesis of a global crisis in the sphere of modern epistemology and philosophy of science. The key error of such a diagnosis is rooted in the confusion of basic concepts. In the development of epistemological studies, the period of the last decades of the twentieth century, which was called the “descriptive turn”, is very important. In the philosophy of science, the task was set to reflect the real practice of scientific research. This has been successfully carried out in a number of works by Kuhn, Lakatos, Feyerabend, Latour and others. The task of building universal norms of scientific research has faded into the background. In this regard, the subjects of "methodology of science", on the one hand, and "epistemology" and "philosophy of science", on the other hand, were distinguished. The formulation of norms and standards for scientific research has become the task of methodology. Describing scientific practice, including scientific revolutions, has become the task of the professional history of science. The philosophical understanding of the processes of historical evolution, the identification of the laws of the development of science has become the subject of the philosophy of science. Epistemology, in turn, is called upon to consider the phenomenon of knowledge not only in science, but also more broadly – in a variety of historical and cultural contexts. In modern studies in the field of epistemology and philosophy of science, case studies are important, as they provide invaluable empirical material for philosophical generalizations. As for the construction of universal standards for scientific work, such a task, as Feyerabend showed, seems to be impossible. Moreover, the universal methodological standard does not allow discovering the uniqueness of scientific research situations.

Articulated trilobite ontogeny: suggestions for a methodological standard

In order to maximize the utility of future studies of trilobite ontogeny, we propose a set of standard practices that relate to the collection, nomenclature, description, depiction, and interpretation of ontogenetic series inferred from articulated specimens belonging to individual species. In some cases, these suggestions may also apply to ontogenetic studies of other fossilized taxa.

Integration of ancient DNA with transdisciplinary dataset finds strong support for Inca resettlement in the south Peruvian coast

Ancient DNA (aDNA) analysis provides a powerful means of investigating human migration, social organization, and a plethora of other crucial questions about humanity’s past. Recently, specialists have suggested that the ideal research design involving aDNA would include multiple independent lines of evidence. In this paper, we adopt a transdisciplinary approach integrating aDNA with archaeological, biogeochemical, and historical data to investigate six individuals found in two cemeteries that date to the Late Horizon (1400 to 1532 CE) and Colonial (1532 to 1825 CE) periods in the Chincha Valley of southern Peru. Genomic analyses indicate that these individuals are genetically most similar to ancient and present-day populations from the north Peruvian coast located several hundred kilometers away. These genomic data are consistent with 16th century written records as well as ceramic, textile, and isotopic data. These results provide some of the strongest evidence yet of state-sponsored resettlement in the pre-Colonial Andes. This study highlights the power of transdisciplinary research designs when using aDNA data and sets a methodological standard for investigating ancient mobility in complex societies.

O standardach oceny kandydatów do pełnienia urzędu sędziego przez Krajową Radę Sądownictwa

Consideration and evaluation of candidates for the office of judge, and then presentation to the President of the Republic of Poland of applications for the appointment of judges are among the most important competences of the National Council of the Judiciary. The standard of this assessment has essentially been set by constitutional standards and the provisions of the Act on the National Council of the Judiciary. According to these standards and provisions, the assessment should be based on transparent, uniform and fair selection criteria. Consequently, the assessment carried out by the National Council of the Judiciary should meet a specific methodological standard. The aim of the study is to define a constitutional and statutory methodological standard for the assessment of candidates for the office of judge by the National Council of the Judiciary.

New Trends in Modern Translation Studies Review of Mishkurov E.N., 2018. “Hermeneutics of Translation” (Theoretical and Methodological Standard). Moscow, 299 p

The article provides a review of E. Mishkurov’s monograph “Hermeneutics of Translation” (Theoretical and Methodological Standard). Attention is drawn to the introduction to scientific use and a comprehensive analysis of the concept of “hermeneutic translation paradigm”, which is based on the hermeneutic-translation methodological standard. It is illustrated that this standard reveals the essence of the translation process and includes four interrelated and complementary stages: pre-understanding, understanding, interpretation and the stage of making a translation decision. The advantages and perspectives of the hermeneutic translation paradigm over existing methodologies in modern translation studies are proved.

Current trends in the Russian translation theory: towards a new methodological standard of translation (book review: Mishkurov, E. N. Hermeneutics of Translation (towards theoretical and methodological standard of translation): monograph

The article reviews different perspectives concerning the status, origin and functions of double translations in European cultural space throughout the period. The term double translation here refers to the translation of one word with two (rarely more) lexemes connected with a conjunction or another linking word. This technique was universal across medieval translation schools, whatever their geographic origin. However, only particular schools or individual translators have been studied in terms of this technique so far, so the author aims to summarize the findings, delineate some controversial issues in the domain under consideration and place the findings in a common perspective. The controversial issues comprise (but are not limited by) the causes of their emergence in translated texts (from almost accidental fixation of the translator’s hesitation to the conscious decision to apply two different methods of translation based on specific philosophy of language). Another widely discussed question is the status of the words in such a pair – whether they were regarded as synonyms or had another status. One more question that causes discussion is their functions in the text, namely whether they were a rhetorical device or a certain means of semantic differentiation. The author of the article supposes that double translation should be considered dynamically and such chronological consideration makes it possible to argue that double translations first appeared to convey the whole range of meanings of a certain word enabling the reader to make their own choice concerning the exact meaning of the word in each particular context. As for the philosophical or theological background of the technique (be it language philosophy of St. Augustine or the theory of images developed by Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite) sometimes assumed to have been intentionally realized by medieval translators, it is hard to verify such claims as the utterances (Prefaces) of the medieval translators themselves hardly mention (with the possible exception of Praefatio Brixiana) either the technique or its presumed theological grounds. Moreover, word pairs (hendyadis) had been used as a rhetorical device both in the literary tradition and the national epic poetry of many European countries. This rhetorical device was widely used for emphasis, so when double translation actually lost its semantic function, it was retained by languages as set phrases or a purely stylistic device.

Current Trends in the Russian Translation Theory: Towards a New Methodological Standard of Translation / Book Review: Mishkurov, E. N. Hermeneutics of Translation (Towards Theoretical and Methodological Standard of Translation): Monograph. Moscow, Military University Press, 2018, 298 p. (in Russ.)

In the second decade of the 21st century Russian translation studies are receiving a fresh impetus. Amid attempts the culture-oriented translatology undertakes to disown principles of the linguistic approach that traces its origin to R. Jakobson’s works, Russian scholars are first and foremost keen on ensuring consistency with methodology of the Soviet and French Canadian school (J.-P. Vinay, J. Darbelnet, G. Mounin, Y. I. Retsker, A. V. Fedorov, E. G. Etkind, etc.) while revisiting existing approaches to translation and recognizing a huge impact the culture has on it. In our opinion, their goal is to develop some universally applicable paradigm, a sort of “framework” theory, that can explain an interaction of all old and new factors in an act of intercultural mediation by means of translation without casting doubt upon translation as such given it has been proving itself as a practice for many centuries. The focus of recent theoretical research is gradually shifted from linguistic reasoning per se towards an in-depth analysis of counterproductive ideas and factors of linguistic and literature studies approaches in the development of the Russian translatology (R. R. Chaykovskiy), discourse aspect of translation within the framework of a communication situation that allows of taking into account all formants of the latter, including the goal and strategy of translation as well as tactics of its implementation (V. V. Sdobnikov), analysis of the transition discourse in a self-organizing translation space forming the translator’s harmonious outlook aimed at harmonizing meanings of interacting languages and cultures (L. V. Kushnina), in-depth analysis of audiovisual translation peculiarities within the process-oriented translation approach that indisputably requires conveying an image-sense of the film dialogue (V. E. Gorshkova), representation of translation as a discourse and communication model facilitating creation of a discourse dossier as a basis for a translation strategy development as exemplified by an institutional discourse (T. A. Volkova), consideration of ways the verbal and cogitative process and translator’s understanding take their course in the mono- and cross-cultural communication (P. P. Dashinimaeva), development of a systemological transdisciplinary model of translation (N. K. Garbovskiy). All these studies implicitly or explicitly touch upon the hermeneutic aspect of translation, a deep philosophical rationale of which has been given in a monograph by E. N. Mishkurov who interprets it as “a hermeneutical turn” and undertakes a critical analysis of fundamental works by F. Schleiermacher, H.-G. Gadamer, W. Benjamin, G. Steiner, P. Ricoeur and other western philosophers as well those by Russian scholars. He postulates that, within a proposed hermeneutic paradigm of translation (HPT), a hermeneutic-translation methodological standard (HTMS) is created as a transdisciplinary interlingual “mental generative” model of translation mediation under the principle of “hermeneutic circle / hermeneutic spiral”. An “algorithm” of the model described as a standard one presupposes that there must be four stages in it: pre-understanding, understanding, interpretation and translator’s decision. The latter is regarded as a stage where phenomenological reduction of interpretation of meanings taking place at the three previous stages is completed. Thus, translations activity is a development and one of the forms of philosophical and hermeneutical treatment of discourse phenomena that considers interpretation as its main tool. E. N. Mishkurov believes that the use of the above mentioned standard allows us to take into account all classic and innovative translation models providing for a “discourse equivalent and pragmatically adequate” version when dealing with different types of texts, their genres, and particularly when translating contexts that cannot be re-expressed by means of regular translation correspondences. The author’s ideas are backed up by examples in Russian, English, French and Arabic.