Ethical Turn in Legal Analogy

Al-Ghazālī’s articulation that the purposes of the divine Law (maqāṣid al-sharīʿa) are to attain maṣlaḥa for the five necessary elements of human existence was not only novel but had long-lasting influence on the way Muslim jurists understood the procedure of analogy (qiyās). The correctness of the ratio legis was determinable by its consequences in bringing about maṣlaḥa. This shift was possible only by intellectual shifts in understanding the relationship between ethics and law. This paper traces the development in conceptions of ethics and its impact on the procedure of analogy in three 5th/11th century predecessors of al-Ghazālī, namely al-Baṣrī, al-Dabbūsī, and al-Juwaynī. It shows that al-Ghazālī’s definition of the purposes of the Law was developed based on previous conceptual shifts in the ratio legis from being a sign for the ruling to reflecting the ethical content of the divine injunction.

The Politeness Strategies Found in @kulinersby’s Instagram Account in Promoting Culinary Businesses

This study aims to find out the types of politeness2 that are found in @kulinersby’s promotion culinary business promotion, and from there, the comments that are included as politeness1. The analysis is based on the theories of Brown and Levinson (1987) and Watts (2003). Watts (2003) states that what is theoretically considered as politeness (politeness2) in Brown and Levinson (1987) may not be the case in reality (politeness1). This qualitative study is limited to video-based posts, with the comments only related to how the account’s administrator promotes culinary businesses. From this research, the writers find that even though both politeness2 and politeness1 conflict with each other, there are some similarities that are found in analyzing both politeness. In conclusion, despite the lasting influence of Brown and Levinson’s (1987) theory, it still has some notable flaws, notably with universality and multiple interpretation of the strategies by different individuals, among others.

Effects of Heat Stress on Follicular Physiology in Dairy Cows

Follicular organization starts during mid-to-late fetal life with the formation of primordial follicles. The bilateral interplay between the oocyte and adjoining somatic cells during follicular growth and ovulation may be sensitive to heat stress (HS). Mechanisms giving rise to pre-ovulatory temperature gradients across reproductive tissues are mostly regulated by the pre-ovulatory follicle, and because the cooling of the gonads and genital tract depends on a counter-current transfer system of heat, HS may be considered a major factor impairing ovulation, fertilization and early embryo development. There is evidence of a long-lasting influence of HS on oogenesis and final follicular maturation. Follicular stages that are susceptible to HS have not been precisely determined. Therefore, the aim of this review was to describe the influence of HS during the staged follicular development in dairy cattle, from the activation of primordial follicles to ovulation. Some clinical prospects are also considered.

About some aspects of digital ecology

The situation with the spread of disinformation in the modern information environment and the complexity of the presentation and perception of refutations caused by the effects of "lasting influence", "reverse action" and the existence of polarized communities — "echo chambers" have been analysed. The dangers of deepfakes have been considered. A new type of content marketing with the self-explanatory name clickbait has been considered. It has seriously revolutionized the way content is distributed and attracted readers' attention. The proficiency of media literacy skills by children and adults in these conditions becomes a key factor in assessing online content and detecting misinformation. And as disinformation takes on new and viral forms, teaching children and teachers how to identify it and interact with it becomes especially relevant. It is concluded that it is necessary to create and introduce a media literacy course into the training program for all subject teachers.

Associations between Perceived Social Eating Norms and Initiation and Maintenance of Changes in Dietary Habits during the First COVID-19 Lockdown in France

Changes in dietary habits of the French population have been reported during the national lockdown that was enforced due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This study investigated whether perceived social eating norms were associated with the initiation and maintenance of dietary changes that took place as a result of lockdown. An online study collected information on (1) changes in consumption implemented during the lockdown and the maintenance of these changes, and (2) perceptions about changes in consumption implemented during lockdown by household members, relatives out of home, and the general population. The changes in consumption were classified as foods to increase or to decrease according to French national recommendations. The perception of changes to dietary habits by household members and relatives out of home was related to the changes made by individuals for each of the food categories (all p < 0.05) but not to the perception of changes made the general population. Increased consumption of foods to increase was more likely to be maintained when there was a positive perception of the changes made by household members (p = 0.03). These results highlight the influence of the perception of social eating norms, especially by household members and relatives, on the implementation of dietary changes during lockdown and suggest that social eating norms can have a lasting influence.

The first ‘Soviet type’ research institute of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences and its Stalin Prize-awarded director, Imre Szörényi

The Hungarian Academy of Sciences (HAS, established in 1825), similar to the academies of the old Soviet bloc, ran a research network from 1950 until 2019 when it was detached from the Academy. The first research institute of the HAS was the Institute of Biochemistry, which started its operation in 1950. Its first director was Imre Szörényi (1905–1959) who lived in emigration in Kiev until he was called back to Hungary in 1950 by the Secretariat of the Hungarian Workers Party. Initially, for a few years research in the Institute was partly influenced by Lepeshinskaya's ‘New Cell Theory’ and Szörényi himself became the chair of the ‘Living Protein’ Committee of the HAS. He returned for more than two years to Kiev where he received a shared Stalin Prize in 1952 for the development of the antibiotic, Microcid. After his final return to Hungary in 1953, he was able to shape the characteristic image of the Institute of Biochemistry, making it one of the leading workshops of Hungarian biochemistry. From 1956 onwards, ideological considerations no longer interfered with the choice of research topics. The relationship between the chemical structure and the specific biological function of enzymes became the main profile of the Institute. In spite of his untimely death, Szörényi exerted a long-lasting influence on Hungarian biochemistry through his disciples.

The structure of evolutionary theory: Beyond Neo-Darwinism, Neo-Lamarckism and biased historical narratives about the Modern Synthesis

The last decades have seen frequent calls for a more extended evolutionary synthesis (EES) that will supposedly overcome the limitations in the current evolutionary framework with its intellectual roots in the Modern Synthesis (MS). Some radical critics even want to entirely abandon the current evolutionary framework, claiming that the MS (often erroneously labelled “Neo-Darwinism”) is outdated, and will soon be replaced by an entirely new framework, such as the Third Way of Evolution (TWE). Such criticisms are not new, but have repeatedly re-surfaced every decade since the formation of the MS, and were particularly articulated by developmental biologist Conrad Waddington and paleontologist Stephen Jay Gould. Waddington, Gould and later critics argued that the MS was too narrowly focused on genes and natural selection, and that it ignored developmental processes, epigenetics, paleontology and macroevolutionary phenomena. More recent critics partly recycle these old arguments and argue that non-genetic inheritance, niche construction, phenotypic plasticity and developmental bias necessitate major revision of evolutionary theory. Here I discuss these supposed challenges, taking a historical perspective and tracing these arguments back to Waddington and Gould. I dissect the old arguments by Waddington, Gould and more recent critics that the MS was excessively gene centric and became increasingly “hardened” over time and narrowly focused on natural selection. Recent critics have consciously or unconsciously exaggerated the long-lasting influence of the MS on contemporary evolutionary biology and have underestimated many post-Synthesis developments, particularly Neutral Theory and evolutionary quantitative genetics. Critics have also painted a biased picture of the MS as a more monolithic research tradition than it ever was, and have downplayed the pluralistic nature of contemporary evolutionary biology, particularly the long-lasting influence of Sewall Wright with his emphasis on gene interactions and stochasticity. Finally, I outline and visualize the conceptually split landscape of contemporary evolutionary biology, with four different stably coexisting analytical frameworks: adaptationism, mutationism, neutralism and selectionism. I suggest that the field can accommodate the challenges raised by critics, although structuralism (“EvoDevo”) and macroevolution remain to be conceptually integrated within mainstream evolutionary theory.

Xuanzang

Xuanzang玄奘, the peripatetic Chinese Buddhist scholar-monk of the Tang dynasty (618-907 ce), was born into a literati family in Henan province in 600 or 602 ce. He is known by the sobriquet “Master of the Three Baskets [comprising the Buddhist Canon] .” (Skt.: Trepiṭaka; Ch.: Sanzang三藏) Xuanzang is regarded as the most prolific translator of Indic Buddhist texts from Sanskrit into Chinese—as well as the most historically significant, given that his comprehensive translations of Indic abhidharma and Yogācāra sutras and treatises (śāstras) revolutionized the study of Buddhism in East Asia. Attesting to his lasting influence on the tradition of East Asian Buddhism, all Buddhist Indic texts translated prior to Xuanzang are known as either the “ancient translations” (guyi古譯) or “the old translations” (jiuyi舊譯), while Xuanzang’s translations are termed “the new translations” (xinyi新譯). By retrieving the unalloyed teachings of abhidharma and Yogācāra Buddhist traditions from India and rendering them into fluid and readable classical Chinese, Xuanzang has left a legacy in the study of Buddhism in East Asia. Many of Xuanzang’s translations, such as the Heart Sūtra (Xinjing心經), remain the most widely used and circulated versions of these texts. Xuanzang’s long and arduous trek across the Silk Road to India is famously recorded in his travelogue entitled the Da Tang Xiyu ji (Great Tang records of the western regions). During his fourteen years in India (629–643 ce), Xuanzang collected Indic Buddhist texts hitherto not translated, studied with Buddhist masters, engaged in various religious debates, and acquired and mastered a vast and comprehensive knowledge of the Indic Buddhist texts in their original Sanskrit forms. Xuanzang returned to his native China in 645 ce to much acclaim and fanfare. Turning down a prestigious civil service appointment offered by Emperor Taizong, Xuanzang engaged in massive translation projects to render the texts he had gathered during his travels in India into Chinese. Under the lavish patronage of the second and third Tang emperors, Taizong and Gaozong, Xuanzang rose in status to become the preeminent East Asian Buddhist scholar and translator of his generation. Attracting students from Korea, Japan, and China, Xuanzang engaged the finest minds of East Asia in his translation and exegetical projects. Xuanzang has lived on in Chinese popular literary imaginary as the basis for the character Tang Sanzang 唐三藏 (Trepiṭaka of the Tang Dynasty) in the Xiyou ji西游記 (Journey to the west), one of the four great novels of the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644).

Japanese Cartography between East and West

This chapter examines the role of influential Ming texts such as the Sancai tuhui (Illustrated Compendium of the Three Fields of Knowledge) and the Huang Ming zhifang ditu (Administrative Atlas of the Imperial Ming) in Japan, even in the context of Japan’s comparatively direct contact with the cartographic traditions of the Dutch, the Portuguese, and other European lands. The role of Jesuit cartography and the long-lasting influence of Buddhist cosmology are considered within this trans-regional context.