D. H. Lawrence’s Travel Writing: Concept of Nudity and Sexuality with a Difference

In that he spent most of his life outside Britain, D. H. Lawrence often seems the least British of the British Modernists. His interest in and willingness to be influenced by Italy, Sicily, the American Southwest, Mexico and Australia can be easily explored in his travel books. Whereas his novels are too didactic in nature, his philosophies get naturally matured as he travels and they are expressed very succinctly in his travel writing. In various parts of his four travel books, namely Twilight in Italy (1916), Sea and Sardinia (1921), Morning in Mexico (1927), Sketches of Etruscan Places (1932) Lawrence depicts the difference between nudity and nakedness and how they influence him. The other contrast here is between art and life, with the nude standing for art and nakedness for life with the section on Florence and the art there. The essay focuses on how Lawrence views art differently when actually experiencing these works himself during his travels. I show different phases in his response to nudity/nakedness as shown in his four travel books and what accounts for these changes. The thesis is the examination of Lawrence’s belief that the touch of amateurism and primitivism can inject new freshness into our lives and can salvage them from the clutches of habit, and the mechanized civilisation. Nudity and sexuality as part of primitive modes of life can balance and heal what Freud termed the discontents of civilisation. Situated on the thin line between nudity and sexuality, D.H. Lawrence’s travel writing recounts man’s true relationship with the cosmos. And finally, the paper shows some misunderstanding on the part of the second wave feminists on his representation of masculinity in nakedness.

Být člověkem a být filosofem podle J.-J. Rousseaua

The present paper aims to analyse how Rousseau conceives the possibility of being a philosopher and how he views the task of philosophy. While Rousseau is very critical towards contemporary philosophers and philosophy in general, he does describe his own enquiry as a philosophical one. In his view, the proper task of philosophy is ‘the knowledge of man’ that can be also understood as ‘the knowledge of oneself’. As Rousseau states in the Second Discourse, such knowledge is to be accomplished through our reason, yet the philosophy of his time fails in this task because the philosophers let themselves be dominated by their opinions. This claim is related to Rousseau’s distinction between love of oneself (amour de soi) and self-love (amour-propre). While reason is present in men naturally, it develops only under necessity related to the progress of society and social passions. Therefore, it cannot serve as the criterion of rightful conduct; this task belongs to conscience. As has been shown by Derathé, only man truly listening to his conscience can use his reason properly. Rather than to direct one’s self-love in a right direction, it seems that the solution of the problem for a philosopher is to convert self-love back to love of one-self to recreate the original unity of his person. Being human and being a philosopher thus becomes the same thing and the turn towards oneself can become the foundation of true self-understanding as well as true relationship to others.

Special Features of the Spiritual Leadership of St. Theofan the Recluse

Статья посвящена специфике аскетической практики известного русского подвижника благочестия епископа Феофана (Говорова). В начале статьи даётся историческое обоснование диалектическому противостоянию между миром и монастырём, которое разрешается в одну из благодатных форм христианской жизни. Далее проводится различение между понятиями «мир Божий», как сотворённая Богом Вселенная, и «мир греха», как господство зла, вторгшегося в окружающий мир по вине человека. Это различение помогает снять распространённое заблуждение относительно монашеского отречения от мира и выявить подлинные отношения, которые рождает человек, ставший на монашеский путь духовного возрождения. Развивая эти отношения, монах входит в целостное, органическое, духовное и благодатное единство с миром Божиим, что позволяет ему установить основанное на любви ко всему божественному творению подлинное отношение ко всем обитателям тварного мира. На этом основополагающем принципе монашеской жизни, как пишет епископ Феофан, Затворник Вышенский, как раз и нужно строить архипастырское руководство всеми членами Церкви - не только монашеским братством, но и мирскими людьми, тем самым продолжая духовную традицию русского старчества. The article is devoted to the specifics of the ascetic practice of the famous Russian devotee of piety, Bishop Theofan (Govorov). At the beginning of the article, a historical basis is given for the dialectical confrontation between the world and the monastery, which is resolved into one of the blessed forms of Christian life. Further, a distinction is made between the concepts of «the world of God», as the universe created by God, and the «world of sin», as the rule of evil that invaded the surrounding world through the fault of man. This distinction helps to remove the common misconception about monastic renunciation of the world and to reveal the true relationship that a person gives birth to when he embarks on the monastic path of spiritual rebirth. Developing these relationships, the monk enters into an integral, organic, spiritual and grace-filled unity with the world of God, which allows him to establish a genuine relationship based on love for the entire divine creation with all the inhabitants of the created world. On this fundamental principle of monastic life, as Bishop Theofan, the Recluse of Vyshensky writes, it is precisely necessary to build the archpastoral leadership of all members of the Church - not only the monastic brotherhood, but also the secular people, thereby continuing the spiritual tradition of the Russian eldership.

Detecting true relationships in time series data with different orders of integration

It is fairly well-known that proper time series analysis requires that estimated equations be balanced. Numerous scholars mistake this to mean that one cannot mix orders of integration. Previous studies have clarified the distinction between equation balance and having different orders of integration, and shown that mixing orders of integration does not increase the risk of type I error when using the general error correction/autoregressive distributed lag (GECM/ADL) models, that is, so long as equations are balanced (and other modeling assumptions are met). This paper builds on that research to assess the consequences for type II error when employing those models. Specifically, we consider cases where a true relationship exists, the left- and right-hand sides of the equation mix orders of integration, and the equation still is balanced. Using the asymptotic case, we find that the different orders of integration do not preclude identification of the true relationship using the GECM/ADL. We then highlight that estimation is trickier in practice, over finite time, as data sometimes do not reveal the underlying process. But, simulations show that even in these cases, researchers will typically draw accurate inferences as long as they select their models based on the observed characteristics of the data and test to be sure that standard model assumptions are met. We conclude by considering the implications for researchers analyzing or conducting simulations with time series data.

Entrepreneurial Orientation and Start-Up Performance: A Configurational Approach

The relationship between entrepreneurial orientation and firm performance has been the object of a number of studies, but the literature has not yet reached a consensus about the true relationship between the two variables. Previous research attributes this lack of consensus to the moderating effect of numerous variables, including those related to the firm’s environment. While the literature evaluates the direct and moderating effects of uncertainty and hostility on the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation and firm performance, no one has investigated how these environmental variables simultaneously affect this relationship. To fill this gap, we use a configurational approach to clarify the nature of the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation and firm performance and investigate how hostility and uncertainty jointly moderate this relationship. Our arguments are tested using a sample of 140 Brazilian start-ups, and we conclude that there is a positive relationship between entrepreneurial orientation and firm performance. Nevertheless, this relationship is jointly conditioned by the level of environmental hostility and uncertainty.

Pairwise relatedness testing in the context of inbreeding: expectation and variance of the likelihood ratio

In this paper we investigate various effects of inbreeding on the likelihood ratio (LR) in forensic kinship testing. The basic setup of such testing involves formulating two competing hypotheses, in the form of pedigrees, describing the relationship between the individuals. The likelihood of each hypothesis is computed given the available genetic data, and a conclusion is reached if the ratio of these exceeds some pre-determined threshold. An important aspect of this approach is that the hypotheses are usually not exhaustive: The true relationship may differ from both of the stated pedigrees. It is well known that this may introduce bias in the test results. Previous work has established formulas for the expected value and variance of the LR, given the two competing hypotheses and the true relationship. However, the proposed method only handles cases without inbreeding. In this paper we extend these results to all possible pairwise relationships. The key ingredient is formulating the hypotheses in terms of Jacquard coefficients instead of the more restricted Cotterman coefficients. While the latter describe the relatedness between outbred individuals, the more general Jacquard coefficients allow any level of inbreeding. Our approach also enables scrutiny of another frequently overlooked source of LR bias, namely background inbreeding. This ubiquitous phenomenon is usually ignored in forensic kinship computations, due to lack of adequate methods and software. By leveraging recent work on pedigrees with inbred founders, we show how background inbreeding can be modeled as a continuous variable, providing easy-to-interpret results in specific cases. For example, we show that if true siblings are subjected to a test for parent-offspring, moderate levels of background inbreeding are expected to inflate the LR by more than 50%.

Language, Ethics and "The Merits of Being Involved in Meaning". Review of Maria Balaska: Wittgenstein and Lacan at the Limit: Meaning and Astonishment

Working through Balaska’s deeply perceptive, elegantly written, and profoundly honest book, Wittgenstein and Lacan at the Limit, a reader steeped in the recent academic literature about either or both of its main figures may come to feel herself placed at what is, itself, a certain kind of limit. The limit I mean is the limit of a familiar type of theoretical discourse about the constitution and structure of language and subjectivity as Wittgenstein and Lacan treat them: it includes the discourses that seek, for instance, to articulate how language and sense are constituted in the Tractatus, and thus what is really meant by “logical form” and “nonsense” there; or those that aim to comprehend the true relationship of our biological nature to language, culture, and the advent of freedom in Lacan; or, again, those that try to find, in either thinker’s works (or both), the precise location of the delicate logical buttonhole that would alone permit us entry, from within everyday language and life, to the absoluteness of an ineffable beyond. These discourses all treat of language and life, but handle these phenomena (so we might say) at arm’s length, theorizing the structure of each and the form of their relationship in such a way as to establish, ultimately, their mutual convertibility to one another, their mutual absorption into a third, more inclusive term (such as “nature” or “biology), or adduce translations from the dense theoretical matrices of one thinker’s treatment of them to the other’s (for instance, from the terminology of logic to that of psychoanalysis, or back again). Balaska’s book, doing none of these things, rather succeeds in bringing out how an interconnected reading of the Wittgenstein of the Tractatus and Lacan may speak to and inform our response to a certain kind of experience that is characteristic for both thinkers, and typical as well of those moments and occasions of our lives in which we may find ourselves drawn to reflect on what meaning is and how we relate to it.

Overconsumption as Ideology

In response to climate change projections, scientists and concerned citizens are increasingly calling for changes in personal consumption. However, these calls ignore the true relationship between production and consumption and the ongoing propagation of the ideology of overconsumption. In this article, we draw from Western Marxist theorists to explain the ideology of overconsumption and its implications for addressing global climate change. Drawing from Herbert Marcuse and Guy Debord, we illustrate how production drives consumption, how advertising promotes false needs and excess, how these power relations are concealed, and how they undermine social and ecological well-being. Specific to climate change, continued widespread support for increasing levels of production and economic growth will undermine efforts to reduce carbon emissions and limit global warming. Given the relationships between production and carbon emissions, effective mitigation efforts will require significant systemic changes in work, production, consumption, advertising, and social norms.

Fora de campo e Campo sonoro em Cinema.

Usually associated with the practice of cinema, offscreen is understood as everything and what is not contained in the field of cinema, in the plane of image and sound. This conference addresses the issue, placing the field and the field out of the image creation and its relation to what the plan entails and obliterates, in the same way as theatre space, the existence of another space that is filmic. In the same way, the sound field installs itself as the offscreen, to where it is sent what is not in the field. The sound construction, far from replicating the field of the image, establishes the possibility of the film being composed, in fact, by two films. The absence of sound in silent films would have its adherents in the totalizing idea of the art of moving images. However, offscreen was a real need to occupy this field. With the advent of sound, the transformations of silent cinema into sound cinema, established the possibility of a new cinematographic art, in fact two arts: silent cinema and sound cinema. The characteristics of both are not complementary, but rather simultaneous. That means a true relationship between the need of to show everything in field and to reinforce the idea that the field doesn’t exclude the offscreen. Cinema is a sound art, like music and theatre. Like them, cinema founds its nature in the replica of the human: the voice, the sound production, the silence. Like the theatre, cinema makes use of two organs for its reception and for its creation: the eye and the ear. In this way, the cinema works the look more than the see and works more listening than hear.

Prokofiev and Shostakovich

Much has been written on the professional and personal trajectories of the two luminaries of Soviet/Russian music, Sergei Prokofiev and Dmitri Shostakovich. Their true relationship, however, has yet to be seriously explored. Many writers have focused on the composers’ alleged personal and professional antagonisms, caused by their supposed individual claims to the title of “the greatest Soviet composer,” referencing anecdotes of questionable reliability. This chapter compares the two composers’ contributions to certain genres; their typical compositional procedures; their collaborations with other highly regarded exponents of Soviet cultural life, and their common predecessors. It also contrasts the two composers’ written assessments of one another’s compositions, and compares their works, in which we can observe not only how Prokofiev influenced his younger contemporary but also how each composer might have inspired the other.