The Paradox of Infinite Limits

This chapter distinguishes between different uses of mathematical limits in physics and determines the conditions under which an infinite limit should be understood as giving rise to an “infinite idealization,” intended as a misrepresentation of the target system by way of introducing an infinite system. It points out that when infinite limits are used as infinite idealizations they can lead one to the Paradox of Infinite Limits, which allegedly poses a threat to scientific realism. In particular, this depends on whether the idealization is essential for the explanation of the physical phenomenon under investigation. Instead, other uses of infinite limits such as approximations and abstractions do not raise any substantial problem for scientific realism. The chapter also argues that, even in the case of “essential idealizations,” there are ways of coping with the alleged incompatibility between infinite idealizations and scientific realism, which ultimately rely on empirical considerations.

Loosening the Need-Concept Tie

This chapter on E. J. Craig’s genealogy of the concept of knowledge aims to bring out four attractive features of the method. First, by examining its alleged incompatibility with knowledge-first epistemology, it is shown how genealogy allows one to treat as arising separately what in reality has to arise together, so that one can isolate a concept’s practical contribution even when it could not have arisen in isolation. Second, genealogy allows one to consider a concept’s development out of prior forms that more clearly display its relation to human needs even when these prior forms could not have been realized in history, for reasons that the genealogy itself brings out. Third, genealogy reveals practical pressures driving the de-instrumentalization of concepts, the process whereby concepts shed the traces of their origins in the needs of individual concept-users. And finally, the method allows one to assess and reconcile competing accounts of concepts.

Theodoros Adamakopoulos and Others v. Republic of Cyprus, ICSID Case No ARB/15/49, Decision on Jurisdiction, 7 February 2020

This case note examines the findings of the Tribunal in the Decision on Jurisdiction in Adamakopoulos v. Cyprus, focusing on Respondent’s objections based on the alleged incompatibility of the BIT S and the EU Treaties, and the mass claim nature of the proceeding. The decision of the majority of the Tribunal in dismissing the EU law objection adds to a body of investment arbitration jurisprudence in which similar reasoning has been used to dismiss comparable objections. However, the dissenting opinion of Marcelo Kohen is the first time that an arbitrator, presented with an intra- EU investment arbitration claim, has considered that the tribunal lacks jurisdiction on the basis of the incompatibility between the relevant BIT S and EU law. Furthermore, Adamakopoulos is one of the few ‘mass claim’ arbitrations brought under the ICSID Rules. If it proceeds to the merits stage as planned, it will provide an opportunity for the Tribunal to resolve questions regarding the management of the procedure under the ICSID framework with such a large group of claimants, whilst maintaining the right to be heard, procedural equality and fairness.

Joga dla Polki i Polaka. Rzut oka na recepcję indyjskiej duchowości w Polsce

Yoga for Poles: a glance at the reception of Indian spirituality in Poland: The article starts with a review of data on the religious afliations and involvement of contemporary Poles, with special focus on religious traditions originating in India. Then, outlined briefy is the Polish reception of the Hindu and Buddhist religio-philosophical ideas, regarding the period between the mid-nineteenth century, through the 1990s and on to the present day. Both the oriental religions and psychophysical exercises associated with yoga have various connotations for Poles, who mostly identif themselves as Christians. Along with the gradually growing popularity of modern postural yoga, one can observe increasing fears and prejudices developing, ones which are usually based on ignorance or confusion. In the following part of the article the term “yoga” is elucidated. The author also discusses the origin and the signifcance of yoga as a phenomenon within the context of Hindu culture. Finally, she considers the question as to whether yoga, as it has been adopted in Polish society, should be rather associated with physical culture and a method of relaxation or with a religious movement and a spiritual path. In conclusion, the author addresses the issue of the alleged incompatibility and discrepancy between the non- -western ideas implied by yoga and the Roman Catholic worldview predominating in Poland.

The Diversification of the Muslim Community in St. Petersburg in the 2010s

Through the intensification of migration, the number of Muslims has multiplied in ethnically Russian areas, including St. Petersburg. Within the heterogeneous Muslim community of the city, countless new communities and initiatives have emerged, but they increasingly face suspicions and restrictions from the authorities. These difficulties reflect the general political urge to exercise more control over religious activity in Russia. Nevertheless, discussions about the need to police Islamic activity contain arguments—similar to those in Western Europe—about the alleged incompatibility of Islam and modern secular societies. This article surveys the development and challenges of new Muslim communities in St. Petersburg in the 2010s. It is argued that the diversification of religiosity is an expected outcome of the pluralization of modern societies. Paradoxically, the restrictive politics that are based on the supposed illiberal, anti-modern nature of Islam promotes religious monopolies and thus a very traditional understanding of religiosity.

Soloveitchik, Joseph B. (1903–93)

Joseph B. Soloveitchik was a Jewish philosopher in the fullest sense. For such thinkers, the task of building intellectual and spiritual bridges between their particular traditions and other cultures permeates and shapes all their philosophic commitments and endeavours. Medieval philosophers sought to integrate the competing knowledge claims of natural reason and authoritative revelation. Soloveitchik, by contrast, ignored metaphysics and epistemology, focusing instead on refuting the alleged incompatibility between Judaism and the active, human-centred ethos of modernity. His major concern was not the truth of religion but the relevance and significance of religious human types and ideals in modern Western culture.

The Rietdijk-Putnam (Penrose) Argument.

In this paper, I discuss an argument inspired by the relativity of simultaneity (RoS). That argument purports to establish views such as four-dimensionalism, eternalism and, chiefly, determinism. I will present the most important versions of the argument and point out the differences between them — including Gödel’s version and the idealistic view of time that naturally goes with it. Gödel’s version differs from the others in that he doesn’t endorse determinism. The argument depends crucially on how one interprets Special Relativity (SR). In addition, defenders of the argument make certain semantic and epistemic claims, which lead to an alleged incompatibility between indeterminism and our best theory of time. At the end, I will describe the main reactions to the argument and I will make some general remarks on each of them.

Transculturation and Bourdieu’s habitus theory

In the last two decades, Bourdieu’s sociology has provided appropriate tools for examining the work of literary translators through history. However, Bourdieusian approaches to literary translation seem to reproduce a major problem underlying Bourdieu’s theory; namely, a deterministic view of human behaviour. This article, against the alleged incompatibility between sociological approaches and culturalist paradigms, proposes to combine Bourdieu’s sociology with the notion of transculturation borrowed from Latin American cultural studies. The article demonstrates how transculturation helps elucidating the divided and contradictory nature of the habitus, as it was originally formulated by Bourdieu in his early writings on Kabylian society. Data from my previous study on the translational activity of Dai Wangshu in Republican China are used to illustrate how transculturation reveals itself as a valid model for the study of literary translators through history beyond the limitations of a sociologically-informed approach based exclusively on a Bourdieusian perspective.

Taricco principles beyond Taricco

This contribution examines whether the principles laid down in M.A.S., M.B. (‘ Taricco II’) may play a role in some forthcoming decisions of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU). In Scialdone, the Court will be asked to strike a balance between the effectiveness of national legislation on VAT offences and the principle of lex mitior. The key difference between Taricco and Scialdone lies in the fact that the lex mitior principle, unlike the regulation of the statute of limitation, falls within the scope of the principle of legality at the European level. Kolev concerns instead an alleged incompatibility between Article 325 TFEU and the Bulgarian Code of Criminal Procedure. Unlike Taricco, therefore, the CJEU will have to deal with national rules that form part of procedural criminal law. Nevertheless, it cannot be excluded that the Court may reach a Taricco II-like conclusion (i.e. disapplication in theory, exception to the disapplication in practice), especially if the reasoning of the CJEU will rely on the importance of foreseeability and legal certainty in criminal matters. These same principles could lead the CJEU, in Menci, not to endorse the partial revirement of the European Court of Human Rights in the A. and B v. Norway ruling and, as a consequence, not to lower the EU standard of protection of the right not to be tried or punished twice for the same offence.