The Geological Present: A Critique of the Aesthetic Anthropocene

<p>This thesis is a response to an emergent discourse on the relationship between the visual arts and the Anthropocene. The latter—the stratigraphic designation for a new geological epoch—has accrued a popularity within the contemporary art-world that is rarely afforded to a concept from the earth sciences. The uptake in Anthropocene-themed exhibitions, publications, and think-pieces reflects the concept’s promise of an art-making and art-critical methodology that may foster a revised relationship to nature in the age of climate change. Despite the new-found fashionability of the term, this relationship between art and the Anthropocene has neither been comprehensively demonstrated, nor disproved. Consequently, the purpose of this thesis is to undertake this necessary interrogation. Firstly, this is an engagement with the competing philosophies and intentions that have attached themselves to the Anthropocene label as it progressed from a straightforward geological statement, into a profound suite of assertions regarding the relationship of humanity to our planet. The influence of the posthumanist ecological philosopher, Timothy Morton, is a particular focus for understanding what the aesthetic theory of the Anthropocene consists of. Taken together, this theory is a promise of a new relationship with the natural world through the jettisoning of Romantic fantasies of nature in favour of an engagement with a sub-discursive, material world. Secondly, this theory is read against ecologically conscious contemporary art works. The practices of Pierre Huyghe, Simon Starling, and Conor Clarke speak to the same concerns as the aesthetic Anthropocene. Reading these works through the lens offered by the stratigraphic concept investigates and tests the capability of the aesthetic Anthropocene for delivering its promises of an art without nature, and a new engagement with our environments. Ultimately, the innovations of the aesthetic Anthropocene are novel, plentiful, but unconvincing. As a theory, it is beset by flaws and contradictions which undermine its applicability and critical potential. Consequently, ecologically conscious art does little to reflect the aims and aspirations of the aesthetic Anthropocene, rendering it an unhelpful tool for understanding the geological present.</p>

The Geological Present: A Critique of the Aesthetic Anthropocene

<p>This thesis is a response to an emergent discourse on the relationship between the visual arts and the Anthropocene. The latter—the stratigraphic designation for a new geological epoch—has accrued a popularity within the contemporary art-world that is rarely afforded to a concept from the earth sciences. The uptake in Anthropocene-themed exhibitions, publications, and think-pieces reflects the concept’s promise of an art-making and art-critical methodology that may foster a revised relationship to nature in the age of climate change. Despite the new-found fashionability of the term, this relationship between art and the Anthropocene has neither been comprehensively demonstrated, nor disproved. Consequently, the purpose of this thesis is to undertake this necessary interrogation. Firstly, this is an engagement with the competing philosophies and intentions that have attached themselves to the Anthropocene label as it progressed from a straightforward geological statement, into a profound suite of assertions regarding the relationship of humanity to our planet. The influence of the posthumanist ecological philosopher, Timothy Morton, is a particular focus for understanding what the aesthetic theory of the Anthropocene consists of. Taken together, this theory is a promise of a new relationship with the natural world through the jettisoning of Romantic fantasies of nature in favour of an engagement with a sub-discursive, material world. Secondly, this theory is read against ecologically conscious contemporary art works. The practices of Pierre Huyghe, Simon Starling, and Conor Clarke speak to the same concerns as the aesthetic Anthropocene. Reading these works through the lens offered by the stratigraphic concept investigates and tests the capability of the aesthetic Anthropocene for delivering its promises of an art without nature, and a new engagement with our environments. Ultimately, the innovations of the aesthetic Anthropocene are novel, plentiful, but unconvincing. As a theory, it is beset by flaws and contradictions which undermine its applicability and critical potential. Consequently, ecologically conscious art does little to reflect the aims and aspirations of the aesthetic Anthropocene, rendering it an unhelpful tool for understanding the geological present.</p>

„Blicken wir in die Originalausgabe!“

With his contributions both to textual criticism and editorial methodology, Michael Bernays substantially shaped the field of scholarly editorial practice in the nineteenth century. While his treatise of 1866, Über Kritik und Geschichte des Goetheschen Textes (On the Critical Reception and History of Goethe’s Texts), has come to be recognized as one of ‘foundational’ documents of editorial theory and practice, his 1872 analysis of the gestation and emergence of August Wilhelm Schlegel’s Shakespeare translations (Zur Entstehungsgeschichte des Schlegelschen Shakespeare – The Creation of Schlegel’s Shakespeare), as well as his conception of a new and revised edition of the Schlegel-Tieck translation (1871–1873, 1892), have both until now attracted very little attention. This article attempts to provide a more precise account of Bernays’ text-critical methodology, and to set his editorial deliberations over the Schlegel-Tieck translation in the broader context of contemporary endeavours to create a ‘German’ Shakespeare.

THE EARLY ISLAMIC HISTORY RECORD ~METHODOLOGICAL APPROACH

Historical knowledge has always occupied a distinctive status in human knowledge, as it can truly liberate humankind from their illusions and the transcendent conception of oneself and the past eras, which requires both objectivity and scientific approach. Therefore, I was keen on providing through this research, a historical study revolving mainly around the methodological, scientific, and critical approach, as well as its cognitive aspect in terms of the importance of content, in order to examine the current situation by studying the past. Therefore, a trustworthy historian is required to be based on his awareness of the conditions which he lives under, regardless of his geographical location. And he must wonder: isn’t it among the most crucial and important tasks of the historian, today, to be as equally invested in his current era and circumstances by being a legitimate thinker, even if he was dating back to previous eras ? Are we not supposed to benefit from the methods of experts in sociology and history and critical methodology, in the times where the Islamic minds stagnated, without neglecting the necessity to pay attention to the pitfalls of these curriculums? I have noticed that there has been a cruel indulgence in the early Islamic history record. This requires Muslim researchers, thinkers, and historians to dig deeper into the early Islamic past, as well as getting rid of the emotional reading because of how it impacts the way Muslims perceive their religion, history and how they subsequently react and relate to others who are different from them. This leads to increasing their extremist tendencies and intolerances.

http://habibiaislamicus.com/index.php/hirj/article/view/224

This study aims to explain the foundations of the critical methodology of Imam Al-Alusi in his recantation of Imam Al- Fakhar Al-Razi opinions. The researcher chose this topic to conduct a study on it because both of the exegeses have great value and high status in exegeses field. They contain various benefits and useful matters in different sciences related to the holy Qur’an. Also, knowing the recantations are of great significance in identifying the foundations on which Imam Al- Alusi critical methodology was based. This paper shows how he applied this methodology to criticize the opinion of past exegetes especially Imam Al-Fakhar Al-Razi. In this study researcher has used the inductive extraction and descriptive method of research to discuss the critical methodology followed by Imam Al- Alusi. He refutes the opinions of Imam Al-Fakhar Al-Razi in various issues related to the exegesis.

MUA'LLAGAT ZOHAYR IBN ABI SOLMA: ELEGANT PIECE OF ARABIC POETRY (1)

Zohayr ibn Abi Solma is identified as an eminent poet who produced poetry distinguished with preeminence in courtly and virtuous love. The study employs an analytical and critical methodology, attempting to elucidate the influence of virtuous love narrated by the poet in the first verse lines of his great Mua'llagah. It commences with a terse introductory synopsis shedding light on the importance of classical Arabic and its involvement with poetry. The paper attempts to prove, via the poetry of Zohayr ibn Abi Solma, the greatness of the Arabic classical poetry and demonstrate the aptitudes of the poet through his Mua'llagah. It is divided into four main parts. The first part deals with the greatness of the Arabic language then it moves to the second section that focuses on Arabic Poetry: Treasure of Wisdom. The third one sheds light on the poet's 'The Man and the Poet', and the last main part goes with an analytical and critical endeavor of the first ten verse lines of Al-Mua'llagah of Zohayr. It comes to an end with a conclusion. Keywords: Arabic Literature, Arabic Poetry, Courtly Love Poetry, Courteous Arabic Poetry, Umm Awfa, Virtuous Poetry.

Homo Ludens, Machine Ludens: The Way to Ideal Neural Network and Background of Posthumanism

The article consists of an introduction, a main part with three sections and a conclusion. The purpose of the study is to disclose the content of the concepts of “A Man Playing”, “A Machine Playing”, “Posthumanism” and “Essentiocognitivism”; review current advances in artificial intelligence and neural networks. The article focuses on the philosophy of posthumanism in the context of its application in machine learning, as well as a new philosophical concept called “essentiocognitivism” in its relation to artificial intelligence. The object of the study is the philosophical concept of essentiosocognitivism. The subject of the article is the consideration of certain aspects of this concept related to artificial intelligence as a “playing machine” and the positioning of a human being in the world of posthumanism. In the course of the work, critical methodology was used, on the basis of which the strengths and weaknesses of artificial neural networks were highlighted, the current state of the most famous playing neural networks, such as OpenAI and Alpha series from DeepMind, was analyzed, and the upcoming development of AI is considered in the context of a technological singularity. A philosophical comprehension has been made of certain aspects of essentiocognitivism, which play an important role in the history of the development of posthumanism. It is noted that the future of neural networks is largely determined by the gaming industry and moves towards the creation of a strong artificial intelligence, like the Playing Machine. Scientific novelty consists in examining a fundamentally new concept in the history of philosophy and substantiating the place and role of AI in the evolution of intelligent man. In the course of work, it was revealed that AI and, in particular, promising neural networks allow us to predict the probable future of mankind. As a basic thesis, we use the position derived from biological sciences that the evolution of the species Homo sapiens is not over, and will continue in a technological manner. As a result of the study, a working concept of essentiocognitivism was introduced, and the conclusion was made that trans- and posthumanism can solve many global problems of mankind. It is emphasized that the future lies in the creation of a strong AI.

Deconstructivism in Philosophy, Architecture, and Reusability Contribution

Interest in philosophy and the humanities increased after the Second World War, especially in the West, as the critical movement began to reconsider the Western intellectual and philosophical heritage, and emerged approaches known as” postmodernism“, as critical foundations of Western cultural thought, and a product of that cultural and cognitive movement known as” postmodernism"; the concept of postmodernism, which is central This term is associated with a very diverse group that is rarely associated with each other with common things. The idea of postmodernism appears in a critique of the literary and philosophical trends on which modernism was based, and some theorists and philosophers believe that postmodernism is closely related to the social and political transformations that took place in industrial societies such as the postindustrial or knowledge society. Deconstruction is important critical movement as well as controversial, and no theory in literary criticism has provoked waves of admiration and created a state of aversion and resentment as well, as deconstruction has done in contemporary literary thought. Deconstruction emerged in the 1960s as a reaction to structuralism, the dominance of language, the centralization of the mind, and the dominance of linguistics over all fields of knowledge, and from the 1970s deconstruction became a literary critical methodology, and a mechanism for evaluating rhetoric and interpretation. Deconstructionism is mainly a critique of the structural proposition, which has been working to reveal the basic structures responsible for the most noticeable features of social and cultural interaction, since deconstructionism consistently negates the meaning in the text system and analyzes the margins, gaps, expectations, contradictions and conclusions within the texts, as formulations that contribute to the disclosure of the background of language and structure.