The Indiscipline of Reading

This chapter deals with the experiences and perceptions of reading within the nineteenth-century criminal system, with particular emphasis on Australian-bound transportees. It shows how attempts on the part of the authorities often fell short of their expectations, as prisoners themselves asserted their insubordination through acts of reading and writing. In particularly harsh regimes such a Norfolk Island, literacy and reading became sources of conflict among the authorities. Many took a prohibitive view of reading provision while others, like Thomas Maconachie, took a liberal attitude towards the encouragement of literacy. From transportation earlier in the period, a certain number of transportation prisoners were highly educated and often skilled in other ways. The final wave of transportation in the 1860s coincided with increased Fenian unrest in Ireland. Political prisoners in particular included a high proportion of well qualified individuals, some of them popular celebrities. Their highly literate use of reading and writing earned them the name of ‘Specials’.

The Eunuch and the Baldhead: Sexuality in Early Jewish-Christian Polemic

Defining appropriate attitudes towards sexuality has always been an issue in Jewish-Christian polemic. Contemporary Jewish writers tend to boast of Judaism’s liberal attitude toward sexuality, while medieval Jewish polemicists were defensive when confronting Christian attacks on this matter. In ancient times, when sexual puritanism was less popular, Jewish theologians did not refrain from showing their contempt for the Christian value ​​of celibacy. This article proposes a new reading of the Talmudic legend about an argument between Joshua b. Karhah and a Christian eunuch. In this reading, the Christian figure stands for Origen, a Church father described in Christian sources as having castrated himself owing to a literal interpretation of the New Testament. In this reading, the debate summarizes the Talmudic rabbis’ perspective on the difference between Jewish and Christian views of sexuality.

From a private collection to a state museum: Pauls Stradiņš Museum of the History of Medicine

In 2021, Pauls Stradiņš Museum of the History of Medicine in Rīga (Latvia) will celebrate 60 years since it acquired the status of a state museum. This article describes the history of its creation, the work of the museum from 1961 to 2019, its basic functions and structures, the consequences of ideological deviations, and outlines the vision for the future development of the museum. On the one hand, the museum is based on the idea and collection of Doctor Pauls Stradiņš, an avid enthusiast, and his skill in keeping, supplementing, and improving his collection and legalising it as a state-run institution. However, no less important has been the attitude of the public and the authorities towards this institution, public support for P. Stradiņš’ idea. The relatively liberal attitude towards the initially private museum is explained by the fact that healthcare was declared one of the priorities of the Soviet Union, and the history of medicine was ideologically a relatively neutral field. In addition, the “national” moment was less emphasised in P. Stradiņš Museum – in the context of Latvia, the museum mainly showed folk medicine, fighting against epidemics, medicine in cities but did not highlight medical achievements during the years of Latvia’s independence. The paradigm of the museum has changed today. Aspects of medicine, as in natural and technological sciences, which are within the competence of social history, anthropology and cultural theory have come to the fore. The experience of the global pandemic has brought conflict and tension into and around health in public opinion. This calls for a review of the six decades of exhibition traditions and the dynamics of the relationship with the museum’s existing and potential audience, which has been cultivated for six decades.

Freedom and inequality: On the problem of the history and philosophy of liberalism

The article is devoted to the study of the problem of the doctrinal identification of freedom and inequality by classical liberalism and neoliberalism. Identifying the features of the naturalistic and theological approaches to the manifestation of inequality in human communities, the author notes the philosophical justification of the legal argumentation of inequality in the theories of natural law and the social contract of modern thinkers. The appeal to the value dynamics reflected in the slogans of the French revolution of the 18th century allows the author to reveal the gradual displacement of the priorities of “Equality” and “Brotherhood”, which were put forward by the revolutionary democracy, by the liberal movements. The final statement of Locke’s version of the orientation of classical liberalism on the triad “Freedom. Property. Life”, according to the author, logically determines the identification of freedom with inequality, and equality with slavery by representatives of liberal circles. The development of the concepts of “social solidarity” by the theorists of neoliberalism, according to the author’s proof, does not change the liberal attitude to “freedom in inequality”. The analysis of the categories of freedom and inequality allows the author to formulate the contradictions of this provision. The article concludes that with the aggravation of the derived contradiction to the maximum, the risk of self-denial of liberalism increases.

CONCEPTUAL ART AND SOCIAL DEVIANCE IN SFR YUGOSLAVIA

The paper investigates the relationship between the phenomenon of conceptual art and various manifestations of social deviance in the area of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. The first part discusses the general relationship between conceptual art and social deviance, while the second part presents the socio-political context in which Yugoslav conceptual art developed during the 1970s. The third part is dedicated to recognizing and analyzing several socially deviant forms that can be noticed in connection with the mentioned segment of Yugoslav art from the 1970s. Special attention is paid to the category of deviant phenomena which we defined as “anti-system deviations.” In the final, fourth part, the peculiarities of socially deviant Yugoslav conceptual art manifestations are noticed. Among the more significant insights, the considerable presence of anti-system deviations within the activities of one part of the Yugoslav conceptual scene was emphasized. The ambivalence of the Yugoslav regime in terms of its attitude towards the artistic neo-avant-garde was also identified: on the one hand, a significantly more liberal attitude compared to the Eastern Bloc regimes, but also readiness for decisive persecution in case of open encroachment on the ruling order. As one of the primary conclusions, it was noticed that Yugoslav conceptual art (following the fate of Yugoslavia as a state “between East and West”), in terms of social deviance, was also halfway between conceptualists from Western countries and those from the Eastern Bloc. In that sense, the socio-political regime in the SFRY provided a much higher degree of personal and artistic freedoms than was the case in most socialist states, but at the same time vigorously sanctioned anti-systemic and anti-state actions to ensure the ruling order.

The development of protections for the right to marry guaranteed by Article 12 of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms

Starting from the 21st century, the European Court of Human Rights has changed the approach regarding the interpretation of the right to marry protected under Article 12 of the European Convention on Human Rights. The new liberal attitude towards the content of this right has opened up opportunities for new categories of persons to enter into marriage and start a family. The question arises whether the European Court of Human Rights will continue with this trend of interpretation and what consequences that could cause for the international understanding of marriage and family.

Why Couldn’t Muslim Astronomers Discover the Heliocentric System?

It comes to question the reasons why Muslim astronomers could not recognize the centrality of the Sun in the planetary system. While Europeans have spent centuries in their dark ages, Muslims spent the same centuries trying to verify the Ptolemaic planetary theory which has adopted the assumption of geocentricism, both theoretically and observationally. Many generations of Muslim astronomers from the 8th century to the 15th century lived circling in boring games of epicycles and deferments. Undoubtedly, Muslim astronomers devoted great efforts for developing the astronomical observations. For this purpose, they invented and developed many precise astronomical instruments and on the side of scientific literature, they wrote thousands of manuscripts in astronomy and observational techniques. This article questions the reasons why Muslim astronomers could not recognize the heliocentric system, despite their serious critique of the Ptolemaic geocentric model. For this purpose, we try to interrogate the astronomical manuscripts written by Muslim astronomers during the centuries before the Copernican breakthrough, since it is now believed that the efforts of Muslim astronomers have contributed great deal to the Copernican discovery of the heliocentric system. Some new studies in this area have already pointed to the fact that prominent Muslim astronomers have criticized the Ptolemaic geocentric system starting with the article of Ibn al-Haytham entitled “The Doubts about Ptolemy”, then al-Beruni’s assertion of the possibility of the spinning Erath while rotating around the Sun which comes in his assessment of the Indian astronomers' claim of the heliocentric model. The work of the astronomers of Muragha school and the Muragha observatory which was erected in 1259 and their models proposing to explain the observed planetary motions using the intelligent model of the “Tusi Couple”, in addition to the comments and suggestions of Ibn al-Shatir of Damascus about the lunar motion have contributed a great deal to the advancement of astronomy. These and many other flash points in the history of Islamic astronomy marked a strong zeal for a change that never took place. The question is: why could not Muslims adopt a new paradigm? This article emphasizes the fact that a transformation from the assumption of a geocentric system to a heliocentric system required a fundamental paradigm shift from the Aristotelian belief in the geocentric planetary system and the more developed Ptolemaic models. Such a paradigm was prevailing in the thoughts of Muslim philosophers as well as the religious clerics. We point to the fact that in addition to the observed reality of the celestial objects rotating around the Earth with different periods, the Aristotelian picture of the universe was in agreement with the interpretations of some verses of the Qur'an related to the celestial motion. We point here to the description of the heavenly spheres given by Ikhwan as-Safa who were a group of religious philosophers with some influence in the scientific circle. While being in doubt about the Ptolemaic models, Muslim astronomers were unable to continue their revolution to adopt a profoundly different model. The traditional understanding of some religious texts may have influenced the realization of some scientific facts. This may explain why Nasir al-Din al-Tusi, who belongs to the same sect of Ikwan as-Safa, resorted to device his couple to explain the apparently non-circular orbits of the planets by circular motion of his couple. However, we allude to the possibility that Muslim Mutakallimun could have achieved such a paradigm should they have the chance to continue their project on the Islamic worldview of nature. The endeavour of Mutakallimun to establish a rational and liberal attitude towards science and religion was negatively affected by their muddling with the theological question more than the questions related to natural philosophy. Internal fight between different factions of the Mutakallimun dispersed their efforts. Furthermore, the prohibition of kalam and the debates related to kalam aborted any progress in the rational approach to establish a scientific trend in religious studies. Keywords: Geocentric model, Heliocentric model, Ptolemy, Tusi couple, Islamic astronomy.

El relato amoroso en Marianela (1878): Una ejemplificación galdosiana del positivismo comtiano

La presente colaboración trata de evidenciar la apuesta de Benito Pérez Galdós por convertir a Marianela (1878) en un exponente del llamado positivismo comtiano. El análisis del devenir del idilio amoroso entre Pablo, el ciego y Nela, su lazarillo, nos permite descubrir la inclinación de Galdós a favor de las tesis del denominado naturalismo positivista. Un posicionamiento que coincide con el talante progresista y liberal tan propio del temperamento de nuestro autor. The present collaboration tries to demonstrate the attempt by Benito Pérez Galdós to turn his novel Marianela (1878) in an example of the so-called Comtian positivism. The analysis of the development of the amorous relationship between Pablo, the blind man and Nela, his guide, allows us to discover the inclination of Galdós in favor of the thesis of the so-called positivist naturalism. A positioning that coincides with the progressive and liberal attitude so dear the writer´s own temperament.

SEX KNOWLEDGE AND ATTITUDE AMONG UNDERGRADUATE MEDICAL STUDENTS: A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY

Background: The word ‘sex’ in India is a taboo and not discussed openly. Sex attitude referes to one’s attitude toward sexuality or different sexual behaviors such as masturbation, oral sex, anal sex and sexual relationships. Poor sex knowledge causes many of these problems. Liberal attitude without adequate knowledge is harmful. Aims: The present study aimed to assess the knowledge and attitude of undergraduate medical students. Methods: a cross sectional study was carried out to assess sex knowledge and attitude among 752 medical undergraduate students. The Google document contained structured questionnaire in four important parts: (1) Demographic details of students (2) Sex Knowledge and Attitude Questionnaire II (SKAQ II). Results: The mean score of participants on attitude towards sex scale is 25.47 ±5.04. Overall participants shows conservative attitude towards sex. Female participants have statistical significantly higher sex knowledge (p=0.038) and attitude towards sex score (p<0.001). As academic year of participants increases sex knowledge increases (p<0.001). Statistical significant positive correlation was observed between sex knowledge and attitude scores (r=0.544, p<0.001). Conclusion: Participants are deficits in sex knowledge and conservative attitude in certain areas. Females, higher education level and urban area participants have higher sex knowledge and liberal attitude. Liberal attitude towards sex develops as sex knowledge increases. There are areas of sex knowledge and attitude which need improvement by proper sex education.