First Wave Feminism: Craftswomen in Plato’s Republic

Ancient Athenian women worked in industries ranging from woolworking and food sales to metalworking and medicine; Socrates’ mother was a midwife. The argument for the inclusion of women in the guardian class must be read in light of this historical reality, not least because it allows us retain an important manuscript reading and construe the passage as relying on an inductive generalization rather than a possibly circular argument. Ultimately, Plato fails to fully capitalize on the resources he has for a more egalitarian conclusion than the one he settles on, which regards women as “lesser than” yet “similar to” men.

Walther, Reinmar, and Biographism in the Second Degree: A Text-Centered Interpretation of Walther von der Vogelweide's Obituary of Reinmar Walther, Reinmar und der Biographismus auf zweiter Stufe: Eine textfokussierte Interpretation des Reinmar-Nachrufs Walthers von der Vogelweide

Most critics have seen the remarks of Walther von der Vogelweide on the death of his colleague Reinmar as an expression of a private quarrel between both singers. The contrast between the obituary's emphatic praise of Reinmar's singing on the one hand and apparent personal disparagement on the other is usually regarded either as a result of interpersonal conflicts or, alternatively, as a rhetorical means to even intensify the praise of Reinmar's art. This article wants to demonstrate that the assumption of a personal struggle between Walther and Reinmar is based on a biographistic circular argument. A reading that refrains from biographical assumptions proves the obituary's supposed personal aspect to be mere speculation. Instead, a purely text-centered reading points out the text's poetological and auto-reflexive functions. In der Forschung sind die Aussagen Walthers von der Vogelweide zum Tod seines Sängerkollegen Reinmar zumeist als Ausdruck tiefgreifender persönlicher Differenzen zwischen beiden Sängern verstanden worden. Der Kontrast zwischen ausdrücklichem Lob der Sangeskunst einerseits und scheinbarer persönlicher Abwertung andererseits wurde entweder als Nachwirkung persönlicher Konflikte interpretiert oder aber als rhetorisches Mittel Walthers, das Lob der Kunst Reinmars noch zu verstärken. Die vorliegende Untersuchung zeigt auf, dass der Nachruf nur dann als Beleg für eine nicht-literarische, persönliche Dimension der Auseinandersetzung Walthers mit Reinmar aufgeführt werden kann, wenn man mittlerweile widerlegte oder fragwürdige außerliterarische Axiome an den Text heranträgt und einen biographistischen Zirkelschluss zur Basis der Lektüre macht. Eine Lesart hingegen, die auf jegliche biographische Präsuppositionen verzichtet, erweist den vermeintlichen privaten Aspekt des Nachrufs als spekulativ und verdeutlicht stattdessen die poetologischen und autoreflexiven Funktionen des Textes.

Environmental Insecurity: Another Case for Concept Change

For decades, scholars and policy-makers have disputed whether environmental degradation caused by human-induced climate change needs to be addressed and reversed in order to prevent conflict, or whether the instabilities generated by such degradation (resource scarcity, reduction of arable land, mass migration of so-called environmental refugees, etc.) provides a compelling new rationale for preparing militarily to fight the "climate change conflicts" of the future. Exploring the tension between these perspectives, the paper argues that any effective practical response implies and requires a change in the conceptual climate of the debate sufficient to discredit a literally devastating circular argument: that environmental problems, caused in part by the multiple impacts of industrial militarism, can be adequately addressed by new military strategies and spending, a "war reflex" only serving to exacerbate political tensions, widen and deepen already chronic inequalities, and inflict further ecological harm. The paper contrasts the state-centric status quo with the human-centric agenda of sustainable peace, a concept with the potential – if defined with sufficiently radical, transnational rigor – to disrupt and transform the sovereignty paradigm. The paper concludes by drawing on both Western and Indigenous political theory to ask what we think we mean by – or have come to accept as – "peace" and "power."

Inference to the Best Explanation and Epistemic Circularity

Inference to the best explanation (IBE) tells us to infer from the available evidence to the hypothesis which would, if correct, best explain that evidence. As Peter Lipton puts it, the core idea driving IBE is that explanatory considerations are a guide to inference. But what is the epistemic status of IBE itself? One issue of contemporary interest is whether it is possible to provide a justification for IBE itself which is non-objectionably circular. We aim to carve out some new space in this debate. In particular, we suggest that the matter of whether a given rule-circular argument is objectionably circular itself depends crucially on some subtle distinctions which have been made in the recent literature on perceptual warrant. By bringing these debates together, a principled reason emerges for why some kinds of rule-circular justifications for IBE are considerably less objectionable than others.

Identifying and Managing Mental Health Needs of Homeless Individuals

The economic downturn worldwide since 2008 has raised many issues, including an increase in homelessness. Individuals who are homeless are visible across the globe. Definitions of homelessness also vary. Living on the streets in all kinds of inclement weather, brings a different set of issues and problems including physical and mental illnesses. Here homelessness is defined as a lack of customary regular access to a conventional dwelling unit. It has been shown in several studies that nearly half were either depressed or had substance use disorders and half had traumatic brain injury. Homelessness is a social issue and the role of the psychiatrist in reaching these vulnerable individuals is a matter of critical importance. In the UK health services are geographically delineated making it more difficult for ‘out of area’ individuals to get help. The responsibility for looking after people who are homeless, have mental illness or physical co-morbidity, lies with policymakers as well. As clinicians we must advocate for vulnerable patients and psychiatry care needs to be in a joined-up manner. Early interventions and home treatments where and if available are suitable and can be effective but are often linked with secure addresses. Policies must take into account huge variations across cultures and societies and the contributions that unemployment and poverty can play in increasing homelessness. Whether psychiatric disorders lead to homelessness and whether homelessness leads to mental illness is a circular argument and this vicious downward spiral needs to be broken by adequate care and policy support.Disclosure of interestThe author has not supplied his declaration of competing interest.

Gothic evidence for the pronunciation of Greek in the fourth century AD

The Gothic Bible offers valuable secondary evidence for the pronunciation of Greek in the fourth century AD. However, inferences based on such data may result in a vicious circle, as the interpretation of Gothic is, to a great extent, dependent on the historical details of contemporary Greek. I show that a circular argument can be avoided by using a novel method, which is based on the comparison of transcription correspondences of Greek loan words and biblical names occurring in the Greek original and the Gothic version. I test the method by applying it to three example cases. The first concerns the aspirated stops φ, θ, χ: Gothic evidence confirms the fricativization of these stops. The second case concerns the potential fricativization of voiced stops β, δ, γ: the results are inconclusive, which is an important finding, since this shows that Gothic cannot be used as evidence for the fricativization of these stops. The third case concerns front vowels: Gothic evidence confirms the coalescence of αι and ε on the one hand, and ει and ῑ on the other, while it also indicates that η was not (yet) pronounced as [iː] in the fourth century AD.