Publications of Michael A. Peters

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

Ефективност на методите за убеждаване в кандидатпрезидентската реторика

Author(s): Mariyana Kuzmanska / Language(s): Bulgarian Publication Year: 0

This text explains and emphasize on the methods which the presidential-candidates in Bulgaria use to convince their audience in what they say in their speeches. In the following text it is shown which methods are effective and should be used while speaking in front of the audience and which methods are ineffective and better be avoided by the speakers. How these methods reflect the listeners, why it is important to use them when necessary and how to classify them by their importance for both speakers and audience is the main purpose of this paper.

Conflicting Methodological Metaphors Pertaining to Sameness and Difference: Eliade and Deleuze in Dialogue

Author(s): Carl Olson / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

In this paper, I propose to examine the postmodern challenge to hermeneutics exercised by historians of religions by using the hermeneutical method of Mircea Eliade as an example of an approach that has been used in Religious Studies scholarship. This hermeneutical method is compared to the postmodern approach of Gilles Deleuze and special attention will be focused on the importance of difference among postmodernists. We will witness that Eliade’s approach to the study of religion is shaped by fundamentals of Enlightenment philosophy and its representational mode of thinking that is evident in his use of the phenomenological method, intentionality, intuition, morphological classification, and his stress upon order over chaos instead of the simulacra discussed by numerous postmodern thinkers. It is possible, of course, to also find romantic thinking and the influence of Eastern Orthodox religiosity on Eliade’s thinking, but such considerations can be suspended for another paper. The phenomenological aspects of Eliade’s method presuppose a metaphysical stance and a coherence theory of truth, which are diametrically opposed to the overall postmodern position of Gilles Deleuze and his emphasis on difference. Moreover, this paper is narrowly focused on Eliade’s morphological classification expressed by the metaphor of a tree, which is compared to Deleuze’s rhizomatic method and its reliance on the metaphor of the root. This essay also compares the two thinkers on the problem of time and history because of their relationship to the hermeneutics of the two thinkers. Moreover, this paper examines the presuppositions of both positions and the advantages and disadvantages of these approaches for the future study of religion.

Between Colonial Laws and Religious Traditions: Hindu Women in the Nineteenth Century India

Author(s): Maria-Daniela Pomohaci / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

In order to understand social reforms regarding women’s rights in nineteenth century India, one needs to begin by taking a look at the ideas of “rule of law” and at the “rule of colonial difference”, which animated legislation initiatives in the field of gender and discrimination in colonial India.

H.P. Lovecraft’ın “Dunwich Dehşeti” Adlı Öyküsünde Posthümanist Ögeler

Author(s): F. Gül Koçsoy / Language(s): Turkish Publication Year: 0

İnsanı, diğer varlıkların üzerinde istisnai bir özne olarak gören Hümanist bakışa tepki olarak doğan posthümanist düşünce, insanın varoluşsal kimliğini sorgular. Edebiyat, sosyoloji, felsefe, siyaset bilimi ve medya çalışmaları gibi birçok disiplinle ilintili olan Posthümanizm, insana dair yeni bir anlayış getirir: insan artık Hümanizm’in parolası olan ‘bütün şeylerin ölçüsü’1 ve efendisi değil, evrenin sıradan ve mütevazı bir üyesidir. Hümanizmanın sorgulanması Friedrich Nietzsche ve Max Stirner gibi felsefecilerle 19. yüzyıla kadar götürülebilir; ancak toplumsal karşılığını bulması, İkinci Dünya Savaşı’ndan sonra özellikle de altmışlı yıllarda, feminizm ve ırkçılık karşıtlığı gibi hareketlerle birlikte postmodernitenin kendini göstermesiyle gerçekleşir. “Bu hareketler Batı demokrasisi, liberal bireycilik ve herkes için sağlandığı iddia edilen özgürlüğe dayalı Soğuk Savaş belagatinin yavanlığına meydan okumuştu” (Braidotti 27). Bunundevamında seksenli yıllardan itibaren ortaya çıkan Hümanizma karşıtı fikirler bileşkesi olan Posthümanizm, insanların Rönesans’tan beri etik anlayışların tek yapıcısı, temsilcisi ve uygulayıcısı olduğu kavramına karşı çıkar. “Aslında Posthümanistler, teknoloji yönelimli geleceğimizde dünyayı ahlaki bir hiyerarşi olarak anlamanın ve insanı da bunun tepesine yerleştirmenin artık bir anlamı olmadığını iddia ederler” (ethics).

Angela Carter’ın Spekülatif Romanlarında Hümanizm Eleştirisi ve Posthümanist Belirsizlik

Author(s): Barış Ağir / Language(s): Turkish Publication Year: 0

Rönesans ve sonrasında Batı düşüncesinde etkin bir felsefi söylem olarak kendine yer edinen Hümanizm, Orta Çağ Hristiyanlığının “Tanrı merkezli bir varlık ve toplum tasavvuru” (Evkuran 39) olan teosentrik dünya görüşünün reddedildiği ve odağını Tanrı’dan insana kaydıran “homosentrik paradigmayı”1(Best ve Keller 180) ifade etmektedir. Nicola Abbagnon’un tanımlamasıyla “hümanizm insanın değerini kabul eden; onu her şeyin ölçütü olarak tanımlayan, insanın doğasını, yetilerinin ölçüsünü (sınırlarını) ya da ilgilerini konu edinen bir felsefedir” (763). Aydınlanma ve Modernite ile birlikte düşünsel zirvesine ulaşan hümanizm, insanları Tanrı’nın vesayetinden kurtararak, seküler değerlerin benimsenmesini, teknolojik egemenliği ve bilimsel akılcılığı teşvik eder. “Batı medeniyetinin seküler ve rasyonel doğrularını bariz bir şekilde yansıtan” (Davies 9) hümanizm, insan-dışı yaşam biçimlerinde olmadığını iddia ettiği temel bir insan özünde ısrar eder. Dolayısıyla, hümanizm ve ona eşlik eden kapitalist düzen Ben / Öteki, Erkek / Kadın, Doğal / Yapay, İnsan / İnsan Olmayan vb. ikili karşıtlar yaratır. Egemen aklın öznesine dayanan bu karşıtlıklar posthümanist söylemde eleştirilmektedir. Çeşitli anlam kalıplarına açık, “birden fazla ve birbiri içine geçmiş” (Ağın 1) anlamlara sahip bir kavram olan posthümanizm, hümanist söylemin iddialarını kabullenmeyi reddederek, hümanizmin hegemonyasına meydan okumayı ve onu dönüştürmeyi amaçlayan bir dizi eleştirel söylemler bütünüdür. Gülnur Güvenç’e göre “posthümanizm, hümanizmin neden olduğu bunalımları açıklayan, düzenleyen veya bunlarla başa çıkmaya yönelik fikirler içeren bir şemsiye terim olarak kabul edilir” (49). İkili karşıtlıkları aşma yönünde, insanı fiziksel ve ontolojik olarak değişime uğratan gelişmiş teknoloji kültürüne posthümanizm de özel bir önem atfetmektedir. Posthümanizmin doğayı ve ekolojiyi de kapsayan tekno-bilimsel felsefesi, artık saf olmayan ve teknolojiyle dönüştürülmüş özneler üzerinde durmaktadır. Andy Miah’ın da belirttiği gibi, “teknolojik değişim posthümanizmin çağdaş temsillerinin bir merkezi haline gelmiştir” (271). Bu atfedilen tekno-kültürde organik ve doğal olmayan “insan/makine, hayvan/organizma/insan, fiziksel/fiziksel-olmayan melez” dönüşümler gibi “posthuman’daki ‘post’ ön eki insanın sınırlarını aşan hem ‘sonra’ hem de ‘öte’ anlamını işaret eder” (Buran 126). Bu bağlamda posthümanizm insanın tarihsel bir eleştirisinden yola çıkarak hümanizm sonrası döneme önceliğini verir ve teknolojinin dönüştürücü etkisini de göz önünde bulundurur (Yeşilyurt 9). Anti-hümanist, feminist ve postmodern düşünürlerin fikirleri ekseninde gelişen posthümanizmin özünde yatan niyet, hümanizmin insanlığa dayattığı totaliter büyük anlatıları parçalayarak, onları çeşitlilik ve akışkanlık fikirleriyle değiştirmektir. Bu özellikleriyle posthümanizm klasik hümanist kavramların eleştirisini yapan, yüksek teknoloji kültürünün dönüştürücügücüne vurgu yapan postmodern bir düşünce olarak da kabul edilebilir.

Proiectul cultural al generației interbelice. De la provincialism la universal

Author(s): Ion Cordoneanu / Language(s): Romanian Publication Year: 0

In this chapter I will discuss the role that Mircea Eliade had, as an exponent of the generation, in the interwar Romanian culture in general and the humanist thinking in particular, under two challenges, the historical and the political. Between the two tendencies crystallized in the Romanian interwar period, philosophical universalism and autochthonism, Mircea Eliade intuits that, after the achievement of the national unity on December 1, 1918, the Romanian culture must assume a new direction. Between the first tendency, which understood that the specificity of modernity lies in the universality of truth beyond the national specificity, and the second interested in deciphering the "Romanian vein" in the cultural and philosophical capitalization of ethnicity, Eliade projects the destiny of national culture in the universal dimension, considering that Romania's destiny must be a cultural one, and our cultural modernity should by represented by the "universal man". Eliade's project, perhaps, was doomed to failure or had a partial and unfinished character, and modernity understood as cultural universalization was only the awareness of a trend that, under the "terror of history", did not materialize. But he became a personal project that Mircea Eliade assumed through the hermeneutics of the world's religions and the understanding of homo religiosus and "total man".

Tradiție și modernizare în filosofia lui Mircea Florian

Author(s): Mihaela Gligor / Language(s): Romanian Publication Year: 0

In an attempt to capture the beginnings of modernity in Mircea Florian's philosophy (and, implicitly, in Romanian philosophy in the twentieth century) we start from the philosophy of recessiveness developed by the Romanian thinker and discuss, for a start, the relationship between philosophy and nation, on the one hand , and the relationship between Romanian philosophy and universal philosophy, on the other hand. In both cases, the recessive ratio indicates a duality. Philosophy means infinity, generality, totality, and the nation expresses the essence, the real, the individual. The dominant term is philosophy, and the nation is recessive. Mircea Florian accentuated the state of Romanian philosophy through a series of rules of philosophical conduct, thus affirming its autonomy from other fields of spirit and recognizing its existence in a national context.

INDIVIDUALISM SI COLECTIVISM – TEORII, METODE ȘI APLICAȚII

Author(s): Marilena Doncean / Language(s): Romanian Publication Year: 0

The connotations of the term individualism have been debated many time throughout history, giving it a wide range of meanings, more vague or more precise, depending on those who use it - historians, writers, anthropologists, philosophers of social sciences, politics or political theorists. Each gave it its own meaning and thus integrated it into their work. The promoters of individualism have as their ultimate goal the individual goals and desires, in other words, individualism is the opposite of holism, collectivism, totalitarianism, which support the community objectives of society. The last part of the twentieth century was the period when neoclassical market policies began to dominate the globe. This was due to two series of major events: the crisis of the welfare state and the fall of communism. The triumphalist spirit of this age, present in works such as Francis Fukuyama's "The End of History and the Last Man" was the New Spirit of the New Age. The term individualism was the one that best captured this spirit better than any other.

The Philosophical Vision of Legal Punishment

Author(s): Virginia Zaharia,Veronica Pozneacova / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

The concept of punishment represents one of the most difficult legal issues that are related to the concept of human freedom and responsibility. Since Antiquity, the brilliant minds of humanity contemplated about the sense of punishment and the function of this institution. Each epoch analyses this concept from different aspects and some of them are reflected in the actual legislation. The most important principles of contemporary criminal law were expounded by the Ancient, Modern and Contemporary philosophers. The field of research of this article is the philosophy of punishment of criminal law. In this study, we have applied the method of historical research of the proposed topic, which gives us the opportunity to analyze the development of criminal punishment and its goals from a historical perspective. In this paper, we aimed to determine the philosophical base of the legal punishment that legitimizes the application of sanctions to the person who committed the crime. We established the importance of the theories developed by brilliant thinkers for the contemporary concept of penal retribution and legal regulation of this institution. This theme generates several discussions that are formed in the process of comparison and debating of the ideas of influential philosophers regarding the purpose of criminal punishment. Therefore, we consider that the analysis of the theories of great thinkers gives us the possibility to understand the complexity of the phenomenon of criminal punishment, and leads to the more effective application of state constraint towards the offender.

Entre temps cyclique et temps linéaire. Temps, littérature, théologie

Author(s): Evagrina Dîrțu / Language(s): French Publication Year: 0

Our main objective in the present paper is to analyse how time is understood and reflected in some theological and some literary examples, while connecting these perspectives with how science, on the other hand, understood and reflected this dimension of our universe, in different historical periods. We use in our analysis three scientific sources in which the transdisciplinary or the vulgarisation approaches prevail, from which we extract the physical explanations and models. Our starting point is that fiction and religion are often annexes to science in the paradigm of knowledge, as they ask questions and propose answers, in accordance with their own rules, distinct from the ones that science puts forward, but which wonderfully converge so often, that the mirroring is worth bringing to light. Our approach focuses on three main topics, i.e. the issue of the beginning/ending of the universe, the past-present relationship, and the existence of the ‘multiverse’ in relation to the existence of the multiple universes as treated by narratology.

ETHICAL AND BEHAVIOURAL ASPECTS OF ON-LINE EDUCATION

Author(s): Livia Durac / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

The implementation of online education has roughly the same beginnings as the Internet. Without being new, therefore, education in the online system - adopted selectively and optionally, depending on the needs and possibilities of different geographical areas of the world - has become, as a result of the medical context generated by COVID-19, part of the educational reality of any student and teaching staff respectively. An extreme situation that required the adaptation and instant reconfiguration of methods of knowledge transmission and evaluation within the institutionalized training process. Beyond the component of replacing the physical space of the class/course with a domestic environment, (a variable of great psychological impact on the subjects) there is the problem of adjustment, respectively reception and reproduction (through evaluation) of informational contents in an exclusively non-interactive manner proved to be the real challenge. One that everyone involved in the didactic process had to face, this time the "selective" and "optional" criteria becoming imperative. Even though before the start of the period in question, the e-learning system was an integral part of the educational process, it operated in a hybrid manner, with participants having the possibility of direct collaboration. The new reality, translated by cancelling these possibilities, brought with it profound transformations, especially at the cognitive, behavioural, and relational level. How the students understood to report this new reality from the perspective of ethical behaviour objectifies this article.

THE TEACHER, A MODEL FOR THE TRANSMISSION OF MORAL VALUES

Author(s): Simona Cristina Albu / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

The models are systems that orient, give direction and convey values, so their choice is essential for the path they draw. Throughout the specifics of his profession, the knowledge transmission and the education offered by himself, the teacher is a model that children follow and he is responsible for. Education transmitted to children includes personal competences, authenticity and self-respect, attitude towards learning, educational partners and learning environment, but also motivation as a resource of psychic energy necessary for learning. The own value system is the benchmark to which the teacher relates and which can be inspired by life experiences, specific teaching methods, the Bible and the supreme model, Jesus. The purpose of this article is to emphasize the importance of having an authentic role model for children to follow. Qualitative research has shown that models can influence the life course.

Man as co-creator Theological presuppositions of the ethics of reproduction

Author(s): Vantsos Miltiadis / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

While God is the creator and giver of life, man can become co-creator in having offspring by following His command to “increase and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it” (Gen 1: 28). Man's synergy in the creation of life is expressed by the free will of the future parents and is reflected in the resemblance between the parents and the child, due to the laws of heredity. Parenthood is therefore not determined solely by God, but it is also shaped by man based on his personal desires and goals. At the same time the notion of man as a cocreator indicates that his reproductive freedom should be in accordance with divine providence and wisdom. Therefore, procreation should not only be understood as a personal right, but also as a significant responsibility, both towards God and the child who comes into existence. The theological understanding of man as co-creator allow us to come to some conclusions regarding the ethics of termination of the unborn human life through abortion, and the human desire to overcome the obstacle of infertility through the methods of assisted reproduction.

The Benefit of the Patient in the Hippocratic Oath and the Golden Rule of Christian Ethics

Author(s): Marlena Zerva / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

Modern medical science aims at the benefit of the patient which is achieved through the treatment of the patient. The physician must act in the best interest of the patient and consequently his health. In an ideal world every doctor besides treating a patient would also love him. In this text, there will be examined two fundamental ethical imperatives that can be applied in the doctor – patient relationship. On the one hand the position, do not do unto others as you would not like to do unto you, on the other hand the positive formulation of that sentence which is, do to others whatever you would like them to do to you. The first of those two positions can be found in the ancient oath of Hippocrates, whereas the second position is the basis of the Golden Rule of Christian ethics. These two ethical imperatives will be examined in the context of modern bioethics as well, since the benefit of the patient is the major concern of two of its basic principles, namely the principle of beneficence and that of non-maleficence. The oath of Hippocrates moves in the realm of the moral idea that you should not do to others what you do not want to be done to yourself. The above position is based on the affirmative propositions that are imprinted within the oath. On the other hand, the Golden Rule of Christian ethics consists of a positive exhortation, to do to the other what you would like to happen to you. Each Christian is called to love his fellowman as he loves himself, since the supreme good in Christian morality is the love of God and fellowman that fulfills the purpose of man’s existence, which is the communion with God. Both positions examined in the text have relevant content, aiming at the benefit of the patient, the patients good, either by a direct positive obligation, or by preventing the doctor from harming the patient.

Социалните мрежи – генератор на фалшиви новини

Author(s): Stefan Ivanov Michev / Language(s): English,Bulgarian Publication Year: 0

The main thesis defended in the report is that modern social networks and virtual civil communities, among other things, can and should be analyzed as generators of fake news. The impact of fake news is not at all in the field of credibility. To reflect this fact, the term „post-truth“ emerged. In our opinion, in order to reveal the essence of fake news, it is necessary to use the concept of „illusion“, one of the main concepts in epistemology, but also in psychology, and in a certain sense also in sociology. In short, to understand why people believe fake news, one must analyze their need to live in an illusory world.

Изкуствен интелект и етично поведение

Author(s): Vasil Hristov Georgiev / Language(s): English,Bulgarian Publication Year: 0

The report examines the possible security risks associated with ensuring the ethical behavior of artificial intelligence systems.

Съпоставка на някои митове за сътворението

Author(s): Reni Stoyanova / Language(s): English,Bulgarian Publication Year: 0

Mythology is the basic feature of every ethnicity.The Creation of the world is an important starting point and is differently represented by every nation. In addition, myths are spread into pieces. Here is a brief comparison of the Chinese, Greek, Japanese Egyptian, Indian and Hittite Anatolia mythology. Each of them has its unique features, but they also have some overlapping points. Generally speaking there are one and the same elements, people or things appearing in the myths mentioned above. For example we can find the conception of the Chaos not only within the Chinese myths but also in the Greek and Indian ones.

Seuils de la connaissance ésotérique dans « Le langage des oiseaux » de Farid-ud-Din 'Attâr

Author(s): Atmane Bissani / Language(s): French Publication Year: 0

Knowledge in the mystical tradition of Islam progresses from the exoteric to the esoteric. We are referring to a progress that transforms the reality of the sensible world into a way to get access to the secrets that only the devoted sâliq – wayfarer – is able to discover. On the other hand, the way and the thresholds along the way to the esoteric require perseverance, patience and bravery from the Soufi. The reason is the fact that the progress towards the esoteric knowledge is consubstantial with the progress towards the knowledge of God, the knowledge of the Truth. This knowledge is not available to everyone, but it divulges itself in the heart of the wayfarer as being God’s secret word. Le langage des oiseaux by Faridud- Din ‘Attâr, the text we deal with in the present paper, comes in the wake of the Soufi masters’ Thresholds leading to the esoteric knowledge, in many respects. Indeed, the birds crossing the seven valleys (thresholds, stations) in order to find the Simurgh (God) end up discovering themselves as being God. The illumination, God’s light, reigns then and the esoteric knowledge takes shape and makes sense, resulting in the access to the Numinous. Our paper questions the Thresholds of this mystical progress towards the ultimate experience of the Xvarnah, God’s light and glory.

SURSE COMPLEMENTARE DE OPTIMIZARE A REGLĂRII CONDUITEI MORALE

Author(s): Liliana Stan / Language(s): Romanian Publication Year: 0

The claim of morality in the existence of individuals and groups is a natural constant of all times. The materialization of moral conduct requires both subjective instances established at the level of each individual (such as moral conscience) and external benchmarks. The present study finds out the diversity and complementarity of external sources for optimizing the regulation of moral agents’ actions: regulatory documents (such as codes of ethics/ deontology/ codes of conduct or behaviour), individuals or groups of individuals responsible for supervising/ supporting the moral and ethical quality of professional activities (such as ethics counselors or ethics committees), institutions and their actions. In addition, the study points out the characteristics of some sources of optimization, respectively, of the ethics counselor, integrity advisor, the ombudsman, according to the provisions of the Romanian legislation. The components shown are also relevant to the sphere of educational action.