53 research outputs found
Attempting to teach the event: an experiment in pedagogical reflection
This article focuses on the impossible task of teaching the event, using some ideas from Jacques Derrida, Jacques Lacan, John D. Caputo, and Catherine Keller. It also performs a pedagogical experiment by including some voices or testimonials from former students and others who have experienced this attempt to teach the event. There is a political and philosophical value to this form of education that works as a counter to the positivism of neo-liberal education
Derrida after the End of Writing
This book explores some of the implications of interpreting Derrida through the new materialist lens of technicity or plasticity, attending to the significance of ethics, religion and politics in his later work. Here the intersection of religion and politics becomes the site for Derrida to develop a “political theology without sovereignty.” By reading Derrida from a new materialist perspective, fresh readings are offered of his ideas of sovereignty, religion, responsibility, and mourning, including engagements with Malabou, Timothy Morton, John D. Caputo, and Karen Barad...Derrida’s philosophy is relevant not just for human ethical language and animality, but to profound developments in the physical and natural sciences, as well as ecology. Here is a new reading of Derrida beyond the conventional understandings of poststructuralism and deconstruction, that is responsive to and critical of some of the newer trends in Continental philosophy
Red Supergiants in the Andromeda Galaxy (M31)
Red supergiants are a short-lived stage in the evolution of moderately
massive stars (10-25Mo), and as such their location in the H-R diagram provides
an exacting test of stellar evolutionary models. Since massive star evolution
is strongly affected by the amount of mass-loss a star suffers, and since the
mass-loss rates depend upon metallicity, it is highly desirable to study the
physical properties of these stars in galaxies of various metallicities. Here
we identify a sample of red supergiants in M31 (the most metal-rich of the
Local Group galaxies) and derive their physical properties by fitting MARCS
atmosphere models to moderate resolution optical spectroscopy, and from V-K
photometry.Comment: Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journa
The Profanation of Revelation: On Language and Immanence in the Work of Giorgio Agamben
This essay seeks to articulate the many implications which Giorgio Agamben’s work holds for theology. It aims therefore to examine his (re)conceptualizations of language, in light of particular historical glosses on the ‘name of God’ and the nature of the ‘mystical’, as well as to highlight the political task of profanation, one of his most central concepts, in relation to the logos said to embody humanity’s ‘religious’ quest to find its Voice. As such, we see how he challenges those standard (ontotheological) notions of transcendence which have been consistently aligned with various historical forms of sovereignty. In addition, I intend to present his redefinition of revelation as solely the unveiling of the ‘name of God’ as the fact of our linguistic being, a movement from the transcendent divine realm to the merely human world before us. By proceeding in this manner, this essay tries to close in on one of the largest theological implications contained within Agamben’s work: the establishment of an ontology that could only be described as a form of ‘absolute’ immanence, an espousal of some form of pantheism (or perhaps panentheism) yet to be more fully pronounced within his writings
Extensive optical and near-infrared observations of the nearby, narrow-lined type Ic SN 2007gr: days 5 to 415
We present photometric and spectroscopic observations at optical and
near-infrared wavelengths of the nearby type Ic SN 2007gr. These represent the
most extensive data-set to date of any supernova of this sub-type, with
frequent coverage from shortly after discovery to more than one year
post-explosion. We deduce a rise time to B-band maximum of 11.5 \pm 2.7 days.
We find a peak B-band magnitude of M_B=-16.8, and light curves which are
remarkably similar to the so-called 'hypernova' SN 2002ap. In contrast, the
spectra of SNe 2007gr and 2002ap show marked differences, not least in their
respective expansion velocities. We attribute these differences primarily to
the density profiles of their progenitor stars at the time of explosion i.e. a
more compact star for SN 2007gr compared to SN 2002ap. From the
quasi-bolometric light curve of SN 2007gr, we estimate that 0.076 0.010
Msun of 56Ni was produced in the explosion. Our near-infrared (IR) spectra
clearly show the onset and disappearance of the first overtone of carbon
monoxide (CO) between ~70 to 175 days relative to B-band maximum. The detection
of the CO molecule implies that ionised He was not microscopically mixed within
the carbon/oxygen layers. From the optical spectra, near-IR light curves, and
colour evolution, we find no evidence for dust condensation in the ejecta out
to about 400 days. Given the combination of unprecedented temporal coverage,
and high signal-to-noise data, we suggest that SN 2007gr could be used as a
template object for supernovae of this sub-class.Comment: A&A accepted; 26 pages & 16 figure
Production of dust by massive stars at high redshift
The large amounts of dust detected in sub-millimeter galaxies and quasars at
high redshift pose a challenge to galaxy formation models and theories of
cosmic dust formation. At z > 6 only stars of relatively high mass (> 3 Msun)
are sufficiently short-lived to be potential stellar sources of dust. This
review is devoted to identifying and quantifying the most important stellar
channels of rapid dust formation. We ascertain the dust production efficiency
of stars in the mass range 3-40 Msun using both observed and theoretical dust
yields of evolved massive stars and supernovae (SNe) and provide analytical
expressions for the dust production efficiencies in various scenarios. We also
address the strong sensitivity of the total dust productivity to the initial
mass function. From simple considerations, we find that, in the early Universe,
high-mass (> 3 Msun) asymptotic giant branch stars can only be dominant dust
producers if SNe generate <~ 3 x 10^-3 Msun of dust whereas SNe prevail if they
are more efficient. We address the challenges in inferring dust masses and
star-formation rates from observations of high-redshift galaxies. We conclude
that significant SN dust production at high redshift is likely required to
reproduce current dust mass estimates, possibly coupled with rapid dust grain
growth in the interstellar medium.Comment: 72 pages, 9 figures, 5 tables; to be published in The Astronomy and
Astrophysics Revie
Global overview of the management of acute cholecystitis during the COVID-19 pandemic (CHOLECOVID study)
Background: This study provides a global overview of the management of patients with acute cholecystitis during the initial phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: CHOLECOVID is an international, multicentre, observational comparative study of patients admitted to hospital with acute cholecystitis during the COVID-19 pandemic. Data on management were collected for a 2-month study interval coincident with the WHO declaration of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic and compared with an equivalent pre-pandemic time interval. Mediation analysis examined the influence of SARS-COV-2 infection on 30-day mortality. Results: This study collected data on 9783 patients with acute cholecystitis admitted to 247 hospitals across the world. The pandemic was associated with reduced availability of surgical workforce and operating facilities globally, a significant shift to worse severity of disease, and increased use of conservative management. There was a reduction (both absolute and proportionate) in the number of patients undergoing cholecystectomy from 3095 patients (56.2 per cent) pre-pandemic to 1998 patients (46.2 per cent) during the pandemic but there was no difference in 30-day all-cause mortality after cholecystectomy comparing the pre-pandemic interval with the pandemic (13 patients (0.4 per cent) pre-pandemic to 13 patients (0.6 per cent) pandemic; P = 0.355). In mediation analysis, an admission with acute cholecystitis during the pandemic was associated with a non-significant increased risk of death (OR 1.29, 95 per cent c.i. 0.93 to 1.79, P = 0.121). Conclusion: CHOLECOVID provides a unique overview of the treatment of patients with cholecystitis across the globe during the first months of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. The study highlights the need for system resilience in retention of elective surgical activity. Cholecystectomy was associated with a low risk of mortality and deferral of treatment results in an increase in avoidable morbidity that represents the non-COVID cost of this pandemic
Derrida after the End of Writing
This book explores some of the implications of interpreting Derrida through the new materialist lens of technicity or plasticity, attending to the significance of ethics, religion and politics in his later work. Here the intersection of religion and politics becomes the site for Derrida to develop a “political theology without sovereignty.” By reading Derrida from a new materialist perspective, fresh readings are offered of his ideas of sovereignty, religion, responsibility, and mourning, including engagements with Malabou, Timothy Morton, John D. Caputo, and Karen Barad...Derrida’s philosophy is relevant not just for human ethical language and animality, but to profound developments in the physical and natural sciences, as well as ecology. Here is a new reading of Derrida beyond the conventional understandings of poststructuralism and deconstruction, that is responsive to and critical of some of the newer trends in Continental philosophy
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