Academician Jonas Kubilius: works dedicated to the history of Lithuanian mathematics

The rise of the Lithuanian mathematical school in the second half of the 20th century is associated with the development of probability theory and its application, and the foundations of that school were insightfully laid by the famous Lithuanian mathematician Jonas Kubilius. However, the academician also had a second vocation – the history of mathematics. At the end of the 20th century, he purposefully researched the mathematical legacy of the poet, bishop A. Baranauskas, recognizing him as the first Lithuanian mathematician researcher of the second half of the 19th century. At the beginning of the 21st century, J. Kubilius undertook a detailed implementation of the idea of a work in the history of Lithuanian mathematics. For this purpose, an informal group of specialists was convened, the content of the work was planned, and the research-based book series ``From the History of Lithuanian Mathematics'' was published. The fourth book in this series, Mathematics in Lithuanian Higher Education Institutions in 1921–1944, presents the research of an academic who reveals the situation of mathematics in universities in Kaunas and Vilnius. In addition, the memoirs of mathematics history by J. Kubilius, dedicated to mathematicians Z. Žemaitis, G. Žilinskas and V. Statulevičius, should be mentioned. The article, at the end of which fragments of the author's memories are presented, is dedicated to the centenary of the birth of Academician J. Kubilius.

"Shaping and Cutting and Improving and Adding": Acknowledged and Hidden Influences in Scott Westerfeld's Uglies series and Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials

<p>This thesis aims to identify and analyse the most prominent influences on Scott Westerfeld's Uglies series and Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy. It looks particularly at the difference between the authors' attitude towards influences they happily acknowledge and those influences which they attempt to conceal because they cause them anxiety (in the case of Westerfeld) or embarrassment (in the case of Pullman). This focus, combined with the speculative analysis of His Dark Materials' influence on Extras, the fourth book of the Uglies series, is intended to show the variability of literary influence. Comparative close readings throughout the thesis display the variety of ways influences are used within the texts, and illustrate the factors on which their use is dependent: the compatibility of the latecomer text with its precursor, the author's opinion of the earlier work, and the reading the author makes of the precursor text. Pullman's acknowledgement of influences is dependent on whether he considers them worthy precursors (in the case of Heinrich von Kleist, William Blake, and John Milton) or an embarrassing ancestor (in the case of C. S. Lewis). Westerfeld's is dependent on how similar his precursor works are to his own texts, as he does not acknowledge the obvious influence of Aldous Huxley, but happily names Ray Bradbury, John Christopher, Ted Chiang, and Charles Beaumont as influences. The thesis shows that the use of literary influences is not straightforward as one author may, as Westerfeld and Pullman do, display different attitudes to and appropriate precursor texts in differing ways within one work.</p>

"Shaping and Cutting and Improving and Adding": Acknowledged and Hidden Influences in Scott Westerfeld's Uglies series and Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials

<p>This thesis aims to identify and analyse the most prominent influences on Scott Westerfeld's Uglies series and Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy. It looks particularly at the difference between the authors' attitude towards influences they happily acknowledge and those influences which they attempt to conceal because they cause them anxiety (in the case of Westerfeld) or embarrassment (in the case of Pullman). This focus, combined with the speculative analysis of His Dark Materials' influence on Extras, the fourth book of the Uglies series, is intended to show the variability of literary influence. Comparative close readings throughout the thesis display the variety of ways influences are used within the texts, and illustrate the factors on which their use is dependent: the compatibility of the latecomer text with its precursor, the author's opinion of the earlier work, and the reading the author makes of the precursor text. Pullman's acknowledgement of influences is dependent on whether he considers them worthy precursors (in the case of Heinrich von Kleist, William Blake, and John Milton) or an embarrassing ancestor (in the case of C. S. Lewis). Westerfeld's is dependent on how similar his precursor works are to his own texts, as he does not acknowledge the obvious influence of Aldous Huxley, but happily names Ray Bradbury, John Christopher, Ted Chiang, and Charles Beaumont as influences. The thesis shows that the use of literary influences is not straightforward as one author may, as Westerfeld and Pullman do, display different attitudes to and appropriate precursor texts in differing ways within one work.</p>

Polemics on Concepts of Evil and Divine Providence in Jewish Medieval Philosophy: Cases of Gersonides and Crescas

This paper is devoted to the analysis and to the comparison of concepts on theodicy and on the nature of evil that was developed by two medieval Jewish philosophers. They are Levi ben Gershom (Gersonides or Ralbag, 1288-1344) and Hasdai Crescas (1340-1410/12). The sources of the analysis are the third chapter of the fourth book of the “Wars of the Lord” (1329) by Gersonides and the second chapter of the second book of the “Light of the Lord” (1410) by Crescas. Both philosophers assert that evil essentially cannot come from God. The causes of evil are the sinfulness of human beings, or the celestial bodies, or the breaking of the connection between human and God. The problem of evil and injustice in this world are closely related for Gersonides and Crescas to other problems, such as divine knowledge of future events, free will, reasons for reward and punishment. Gersonides and Crescas differ considerably on these issues. Gersonides demonstrates that God is not an essential source of evil. He proceeded to build on this statement with the fallacy of the opinion that divine providence extends to individuals. After all, said Gersonides, retribution would make God a source of evil. And in this case, righteous men would always be rewarded, and sinners would always be punished for their sins. But obviously this is not the case. Crescas, in contrast to Gersonides, claims that God knows individuals. This does not prevent him from agreeing with Ralbagh that God is not the source of evil. According to Crescas, any punishment or suffering (even for the righteous) always leads to good. It is obvious therefore that Crescas adheres to a more traditional position, trying, inter alia, to bring his thoughts as close as possible to the ideas expressed in the Torah. Gersonides adheres to a position close to the ideas of Maimonides. Gersonides, in the author’s opinion, created a philosophical concept that is more consistent in comparison with Crescas’ conception, however more distant from the Jewish teaching.

The Term ἀντίψυχος as an Expiatory Sacrifice of Martyrs in the Light of The Fourth Book of Maccabees and Other Ancient Extra-Biblical Literature

The Fourth Book of Maccabees (4 Macc) in the description of Eleazar's prayer, before he suffered a martyr’s death (6:29) as well as the martyrdom of seven brothers and their mother who suffered for the nation (17:21), the term ἀντίψυχος (which means “given in exchange for life”) is used twice. This adjective appears only twice in the Septuagint (LXX), to be precise, in 4 Macc The context of both passages suggests a broader meaning of the term, translated with reference to a sacrifice of life having a propitiatory, expiatory, vicarious and voluntary character, and even atonement for the sins of the Jewish people. In this article, the subject of expiatory martyrdom in 4 Macc will be taken in the context of the biblical, apocryphal and other ancient texts, with reference to the flow of ideas and terminology of Greco-Roman religion, poetry and philosophy. In addition, possible translations of the term ἀντίψυχος will be analyzed, included in the broader context of Greek and other terminologies, so as to show possible connections between the idea of ​​expiatory martyrdom and the ideas described in the New Testament.

E’ lecito ai poeti alterar le favole: The story of Dido according to Giovan Battista Busenello

The aim of this paper is to analyze the rewriting of Dido’s myth by Giovan Battista Busenello, the librettist of the first opera named after the queen of Carthage. The imposing regality of Dido and the highly dramatic tension of the Aeneid are absent in Busenello’s libretto. Interestingly, if in the fourth book of the Virgilian poem Dido kills herself with Aeneas’ sword, in the final act of the opera she marries Iarbas, king of Gaetulians. Poignantly, in her only aria Dido sings her rejection of Iarbas’ advances, instead of her death wish or her sorrow for Aeneas’ departure. The tragic éthos we expect of Dido surfaces in two other characters in the opera, Hecuba and Cassandra, specifically through their laments. The basso lines of their laments call to mind the formal archetype at the heart of the famous Dido’s lament, Dido’s aria in Dido and Eneas, composed by Henry Purcell forty-eight years after the Didone. In that way, Hecuba and Cassandra constitute the actual tragic characters in the Didone, while, conversely, Dido is granted a happy ending, a deviation from the source just as peculiar as its author.

The Actualization of Characters and References in The Classic Arabic Literature Criticism

<p>This study aims to give an overview, review and actualize referral sources in the literary criticism of classical Arabic along with the figures from the source of the referral, which is expected to help and enrich the knowledge and insight for learners criticism in Arabic literature. The method used is descriptive qualitative and the study of literature. Through this method the data and studies taken from various sources of literature are then described and presented in the form of words based on the focus of the book which became the main reference. From the discussion, it could be concluded that the scientific and the development of criticism in Arabic Literature in the classical, more precisely between the eighth century to the twelfth century, is the golden period of development in the scientific criticism in Arabic literature. Moreover, the four centuries was also born to a wide variety of artwork and writing a review or even find a theory and new things related to literary criticism. There are at least four books is the source of the referral (mashdar) literary criticism of classical Arabic that can be actualized and utilized as well as made the object of research to the development of scientific criticism in Arabic literature at the present time. The fourth book is Thabaqāt Fuchūlus-Syu'arā’, al-muwāzanah, al-badi’, and dalā'ilul i'jāz. The fourth book, and its author, is also a testament to the greatness of the development of criticism in Arabic literature in the classic, and has represented a wide range of novelty born of the development of scientific criticism in Arabic literature.</p>

The Ancient Scythian Kings according to Herodotus

In the fourth book of Herodotus’ Histories, in one of the two legends on the origin of the Scythians, we read the name of the progenitor of this people and his descendants. In the following paragraphs, Herodotus recalls names of other Scythian kings. These data cannot be useful in the traditional sense that genealogies have: they do not contribute in any way to date events or to put order in their sequence. They do not even help us to understand the problem of the transmission of power in strict sense. Nevertheless, they are important to enlighten the “Scythian question” and the aspects of the conservation of traditions in the Scythian society. In this article I examine these last two aspects in the context of Scythian studies from the mid-19th century up to now with a particular attention to the so-called “Scythian question” in Russia.

Revising the Supernatural: Prospero Lambertini's Reconsideration of the Concept of Miracle

According to Thomas Aquinas, a miracle had to surpass the whole of the created nature, which meant the visible and corporeal, as well as the invisible and incorporeal nature. Prospero Lambertini (1675–1758), the future Pope Benedict XIV, when he was promoter of the faith, noticed that it was impossible to distinguish a cure that occurred beyond the boundaries of incorporeal and invisible nature (the whole nature) from one that exceeded just corporeal and visible nature. The issue was of utmost importance since it risked delegitimizing the whole system of miracle verification. Consequently, Lambertini, in the fourth book of his magnum opus De servorum Dei beatificatione et beatorum canonizatione (On the Beatification of the Servants of God and the Canonization of the Blessed, 1734–1738), developed a new classification of miracles, which included the works of angels, with the aim of solving the problem. Furthermore, to counteract Spinoza's denial of miracles, he claimed that miracles were not contrary to the laws of nature.