The Russian Artist in Plato's Republic

In Book 10 of the Republic, Plato launches an extensive critique of art, claiming that it can have no legitimate role within the well-ordered state. While his reasons are multifac- eted, Plato’s primary objection to art rests on its status as a mere shadow of a shadow. Such shadows inevitably lead the human mind away from the Good, rather than toward it. How- ever, after voicing his many objections, Plato concedes that if art “has any arguments to show it should have a place in a well-governed city, [he] would gladly welcome it back.” Over two millennia later, the nineteenth-century Russian philosopher Vladimir Solov’ev implicitly responded to this challenge in his Lectures on Godmanhood (1881). Solov’ev cited the phenomenon of art as additional proof in favor of his model of the metaphysical foundations of reality. According to Solov’ev, art is not three steps removed from ultimate reality; rather, an artist creates true art only when he has experienced a vision of the univer- sal and substantial ideas that stand over and above particular things, and then conveys them to the viewer directly, via the artistic medium. Hence, the artist is able to sidestep the in- termediate shadow and produce something that is more than a shadow—a clear reflection of that higher reality. If Solov’ev is correct, the artist should enjoy the elevated status of sage, per- haps even philosopher-king, rather than face exile from Plato’s republic, because the artist both knows the Good and guides the less enlightened toward it. After a brief sketch of the metaphysical grounds for Plato’s critique of art, I provide an analysis of Solov’ev’s ontology, as represented in his Lectures on Godmanhood. Next, I describe Solov’ev’s concept of the three-fold mission of art and its relationship to human nature, drawing both from the Lectures and from The Universal Meaning of Art (1890). Finally, in the last section, I demonstrate how the afore-mentioned account comprises Solov’ev’s robust and successful response to Plato’s challenge, from within a platonic framework

The Simplicity of Divine Ideas: Theistic Conceptual Realism and The Doctrine of Divine Simplicity

There has been little discussion of the compatibility of Theistic Conceptual Realism (TCR) with the doctrine of divine simplicity (DDS). On one hand, if a plurality of universals is necessary to explain the character of particular things, there is reason to think this commits the proponent of TCR to the existence of a plurality of divine concepts. So the proponent of the DDS has a prima facie reason to reject TCR (and vice versa). On the other hand, many mediaeval philosophers accept both the existence of divine ideas and the DDS. In this paper I draw on Mediaeval and contemporary accounts of properties and divine simplicity to argue that the two theories are not logically incompatible

The Inhomogeneous Wind of the LBV Candidate CygOB2-No.12

We present the results of high-resolution spectroscopy of the extremely luminous star CygOB2-No.12. We identified about 200 spectral features in the range 4552-7939 AA, including the interstellar NaI, KI lines and numerous very strong DIBs, along with the HeI, CII, and SiII lines. An MK spectral type we derived for the object is B4.5Ia+. Our analysis of the radial velocity data shows the presence of a gradient in the stellar atmosphere, caused by both atmospheric expansion and matter infall onto the star. The Halpha emission displays broad Thompson wings, a slightly blue-shifted PCyg type absorption component and a time-variable core absorption. We conclude that the wind is variable in time.Comment: 3 pages, 2 figures, IAU Symposium No.272 "Active OB stars: structure, evolution, mass loss and critical limits", 201

New Technologies for Hull Assemblies in Shipbuilding

The modern stage of shipbuilding industry development is characterized by an intense competition and the beginning of introduction of new materials and effective welding technologies, which change the appearance of this quite conservative field, at leading global shipbuilding enterprises. In particular, the application of laser technologies during ship construction decreases the cost of hull manufacturing by 30%, increases the production capacity by 10%, and reduces welding deformations by 30% compared to traditional welding methods. The application of composite materials for ship construction allows decreasing the ship weight by 10%, which leads to 1-7% decrease in fuel consumption, reduction of polluting emissions and significant saving of expenditures. Adhesion-bonded joints become more frequently used in shipbuilding, as they offer a possibility of joining different materials along with the advantages brought by the adhesion process itself, being reliable, cost-efficient and ensuring easy maintenance and repair

EU Transgovernmental cooperation through twinning in the Eastern neighbourhood : democratic substance, role of member states, and effectiveness

This PhD dissertation seeks to deepen the current understanding of the European Union’s (EU) transgovernmental (TG) cooperation with its Eastern neighbours under the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP). Scholars of Europeanization and EU external governance have already pointed out the potential of EU TG cooperation to advance EU democracy promotion goals and regulatory standards to the ENP countries under the absence of EU membership perspective. The major instrument of such cooperation is Twinning, which fosters peer-to-peer, cross-border networks between civil servants and experts from EU member states (MS) and their ENP counterparts. Nevertheless, the existing literature overlooks several important aspects of EU TG cooperation, which pertain to the democratic substance, the role of MS, and the effectiveness of Twinning projects under the ENP. By drawing on interdisciplinary scholarship from EU studies and public administration, this dissertation addresses those gaps in four thematic articles. The first article provides the context for this study by presenting TG cooperation as a promising but little studied instrument, which may help the EU advance its democracy promotion agenda under the ENP. The second article introduces the concept of democratic governance substance and explores the presence and variation of democratic governance norms in Twinning projects in the Eastern neighbourhood. The third article discusses the added value that Central and Eastern European countries (CEECs) and the older MS bring for Twinning cooperation in Azerbaijan and Ukraine. The fourth and last article explores to what extent Twinning projects in Ukraine have been effective and what conditions explain their (in)effectiveness. The overall geographical focus of this work are the countries of the EU’s Eastern neighbourhood, which are covered by the ENP framework. In such a way, this dissertation proposes a new concept of democratic governance substance, conceptualises the comparative advantages of EU MS for Twinning cooperation, and suggests an original way of understanding the effectiveness of Twinning projects. In contrast to the predominantly qualitative studies of EU TG cooperation under the ENP, it also seeks to make a methodological contribution by embracing mixed-method approaches to data analysis. Finally, it provides policy-relevant recommendations regarding Twinning implementation in the future. In doing so, it relies on an original analysis of 45 semi-structured interviews, conducted with Twinning participants and experts from the Eastern neighbourhood countries, EU member states, and the European Commission between November 2014 and May 2016. Additionally, it uses a wealth of supplementary data from official Twinning documents, sectoral watchdogs, international organizations, government sources in the EU and the Eastern neighbourhood, and existing policy research. The findings reveal that, through its Twinning projects in the Eastern neighbourhood, the EU promotes democratic governance substance, which varies by configuration and magnitude across policy sectors and countries. This variation is best explained by domestic variables, such as the country’s political liberalisation, sector politicization, and sector technical complexity. In addition, the dissertation demonstrates that, during Twinning cooperation, CEECs manifest mostly country-specific comparative advantages, such as their recent transition and accession experience, socio-linguistic proximity, and shared historical legacies with the Eastern neighbourhood countries. In contrast, the older MS typically offer sector-specific comparative advantages, owing to their institutional experience, sectoral fit, existing sectoral networks with the Eastern neighbourhood countries, and prior Twinning participation. Both types of comparative advantages are found to be complementary. Finally, a configurational analysis of the effectiveness of Twinning projects in Ukraine indicates that a policy fit is the only necessary condition behind the legal and institutional convergence of the country with the EU’s policy recommendations. Thereby, institutional convergence occurs in parallel to or exceeds legal convergence in effective Twinning projects. This undermines the mainstream scholarly expectations of the wide gap between EU norm adoption and implementation (application) in EU TG cooperation under the ENP

Optical spectrum of the IR-source IRC+10420 in 1992-1996

To understand the evolutionary stage of the peculiar supergiant IRC+10420, we have been taking spectra for several years at the 6m telescope. The optical spectrum of IRC+10420 of the years from 1992 through 1996 points to the increase in the temperature: spectral class A5 instead of the former F8, as was pointed out by Humpreys et al., (1973). Now it resembles the spectra of late-type B[e] stars. The spectrum contains absorptions (mainly of ions) formed in the photosphere, apparently stationary with respect to the star center of mass, and emissions too, which can be formed in the fossil expanding envelope as well as partly in its compressing region. Using our spectra and spectral data obtained by Oudmaijer (1995) we estimated the atmospheric parameters Teff=8500 K, logg=1.0, Vt=12km/s and concluded that metallicity of IRC+10420 is solar: the average value [(V,Cr,Fe)/H]=-0.03. Combination of results allows us to consider IRC+10420 as a massive supergiant evolving to the WR-stage.Comment: 14 pages, Latex, 4 ps figures, uses supertab.sty. Accepted for publication in the MNRA

Stubble subsoil moisture – a crop planning tool

Non-Peer Reviewe