419 research outputs found
Fragile Identities, Capable Selves
The spotlight that Martha Nussbaum turns on the plight of women in developing nations brings the disproportion between human capabilities and the opportunities to exercise them sharply into focus. Social prejudices, economic discrimination, and deep-seated traditions and attitudes all harbor the seeds of systemic injustices within governing policies and institutions. The refusal on the part of a dominant class to recognize the rights and claims of subaltern individuals and groups has both symbolic and material consequences. The power that one group exercises over another brings the refusal to recognize the rights and claims of others to the fore. Thanks to the moral priority that Paul Ricoeur accords to the victim against such refusals, I tie the fragility of identity to the idea of justiceâs federating force. This federating force, I therefore argue, accompanies the struggle for recognition among capable human beings.  La lumiĂšre que Martha Nussbaum jette sur le sort des femmes dans les pays en dĂ©veloppement met en Ă©vidence la disproportion entre les capacitĂ©s humaines et les possibilitĂ©s de les exercer pleinement dans le foyer. Les prĂ©jugĂ©s sociaux, la discrimination Ă©conomique, les traditions et les attitudes profondes renferment toutes les racines d'injustices systĂ©miques que l'on trouve dans  les politiques gouvernementales et les institutions. Le refus de la part d'une classe dominante de reconnaĂźtre les droits et les revendications des individus et des groupes minoritaires a des consĂ©quences Ă la fois symboliques et  matĂ©rielles. La puissance qu'un groupe exerce sur un autre charrie le refus de reconnaĂźtre les droits et les revendications des autres. GrĂące Ă la prioritĂ© morale que Paul Ricoeur accorde Ă la victime contre ce refus de reconnaissance, j'attache Ă l'idĂ©e de la force fĂ©dĂ©ratrice de la justice la fragilitĂ© de l'identitĂ©. Je soutiens donc que cette force fĂ©dĂ©ratrice accompagne la lutte pour la reconnaissance parmi les ĂȘtres humains capables
Exemplarity and the âLaw of Superabundanceâ
Paul Ricoeurâs critique of social emancipatory projects that claim to be absolutely radical sets the stage for my investigation into the exemplary value of esteemed moral and political acts. Like works of art, such acts reform or revolutionize praxis through refashioning the world from within. By placing textual hermeneutics under the theme of the increase in being evinced by the work of art, Ricoeurâs analysis on the way that metaphor as a work in miniature iconically augments reality forges a link between the imaginationâs productive power and the âlaw of superabundance.â This law inheres in the logic of hope. The hope of the ânot yetâ and the âmuch moreâ thus draws support from exemplary acts that bear the mark of the future through testifying to the reign of goodness, generosity, courage and love. However, Ricoeurâs claim that an eschatology of nonviolence constitutes the critique of ideologyâs ultimate philosophical horizon raises a question concerning this eschatologyâs theological equivalent. Ricoeur maintains that the projection of the task of actualizing freedom is the philosophical equivalent of a theology of hope. This theology draws its meaning from the âhope of things to comeâ based on the eschatological event. Correlatively, this taskâs ethico-political impulse takes root in hopeâs practical and existential necessity, which inheres in the structure of action. The hope of as yet unfulfilled expectations and demands ignites the passion for the possible and fuels the will and the desire to intervene in the worldâs course. In contrast to the contagion of violence and evil, moral and political actsâ exemplary value stands as a demonstration and proof of hope. The theme of the increase in being that rules over textual hermeneutics consequently has a practical counterpart in the task that an eschatology of nonviolence adopts as its own, namely, the task of actualizing freedom within the historical reality of humankind
Space of Experience, Horizon of Expectation. Spatiotemporal Metaphors, Philosophical Anthropology, and the Flesh
Paul RicĆurâs recourse to the metahistorical categories, space of experience and horizon of expectation, invites an inquiry into geographyâs role as the guarantor of history. The ontology of the flesh provides the first indication of how oneâs body is implicated in the sense of oneâs place in the world. In turn, narrative inscriptions of events on the landscape transform the physical topography of a place into an array of sites where memories of ancestral wisdom and historical traumas endure. By anchoring historiansâ representations of the past in the places and locales in which events took place, geography constructs a third space analogous to the third time of history. The aporias engendered by the phenomenology of time, however, have no equivalent in the phenomenology of space. The dissymmetry between the dialectic that informs the discourse of space and the one that informs the discourse of time thus keeps in place the  reciprocal relation between geography and historiography.Le recours de Paul RicĆur aux catĂ©gories mĂ©tahistoriques dâespace dâexpĂ©rience et dâhorizon dâattente invite Ă sâinterroger sur le rĂŽle de la gĂ©ographie en tant que garante de lâhistoire. Lâontologie de la chair fournit la premiĂšre indication concernant la maniĂšre dont le corps de lâindividu est impliquĂ© Ă travers la place quâil occupe dans le monde. Ă leur tour, les inscriptions narratives des Ă©vĂ©nements dans le paysage transforment la topographie physique dâun lieu en un ensemble de sites oĂč perdurent les souvenirs de la sagesse ancestrale et les traumatismes historiques. En ancrant les reprĂ©sentations du passĂ© des historiens dans les lieux et localitĂ©s oĂč les Ă©vĂ©nements prennent place, la gĂ©ographie construit un troisiĂšme espace analogue au troisiĂšme temps de lâhistoire. Les apories engendrĂ©es par la phĂ©nomĂ©nologie du temps nâont cependant pas dâĂ©quivalent dans la phĂ©nomĂ©nologie de lâespace. La dissymĂ©trie entre la dialectique que sous-tend le discours de lâespace et celle qui est sous-tendue par le discours du temps maintient ainsi en place la relation rĂ©ciproque entre gĂ©ographie et historiographie
Thought and Political Judgment
Hannah Arendtâs claim that thinking is the last defense against the moral outrages of criminal political regimes sets the problematic of good and evil in relief. Human freedom, Paul RicĆur reminds us, is responsible for evil. The avowal of the evil of violence is thus the condition of our consciousness of the freedom to act anew.Aesthetic experienceâs lateral transposition onto the planes of ethics and politics highlights our capacity to respond to exigencies in apposite ways. Exemplary representations of the good, the right, and the justexpress a desire for being. Eros is accordingly the law of every work, word, deed, or act that answers to a difficulty, challenge, or crisis. Bound to living experiences, thought attains its true height through interrogating, demystifying, and vacating frozen norms, standards, and mores. Judgment actualizes thoughtâs liberating effects in answer to the demands of the situations in which we find ourselves.Lâaffirmation dâHannah Arendt selon laquelle la pensĂ©e est la derniĂšre dĂ©fense contre les outrages moraux des rĂ©gimes politiques criminels met en relief la problĂ©matique du bien et du mal. La libertĂ© humaine, nous rappelle Paul RicĆur, est responsable du mal. Lâaveu du mal causĂ© par la violence est donc la condition de la prise de conscience de notre libertĂ© dâagir Ă nouveau.La transposition latĂ©rale de lâexpĂ©rience esthĂ©tique sur les plans de lâĂ©thique et de la politique met en Ă©vidence notre capacitĂ© Ă rĂ©pondre aux exigences de maniĂšre appropriĂ©e. Les reprĂ©sentations exemplaires du bien, du droit et du juste expriment un dĂ©sir dâĂȘtre. Eros est donc la loi de toute Ćuvre, parole, action ou acte qui rĂ©pond Ă une difficultĂ©, un dĂ©fi ou une crise. LiĂ©e aux expĂ©riences vĂ©cues, la pensĂ©e atteint sa vĂ©ritable hauteur en interrogeant, dĂ©mystifiant et rejetant les normes, les standards et les mĆurs figĂ©s. Le jugement actualise les effets libĂ©rateurs de la pensĂ©e en rĂ©ponse aux exigences des situations dans lesquelles nous nous trouvons
Aesthetic Experience, Mimesis and Testimony
In this article, I relate the demand that Paul Ricoeur suggests mimesis places on the way we think about truth to the idea that the work of art is a model for thinking about testimony. By attributing a workâs epochĂ© of reality to the work of imagination, I resolve the impasse that arises from attributing music, literature, and artâs distance from the real to their social emancipation. Examining the conjunction, in aesthetic experience, of the communicability and the exemplarity of a work reveals how Ricoeurâs definition of mimesis as refiguration relates to the âruleâ that the work summons. This âruleâ constitutes the solution to a problem or question for which the work is the answer. In conclusion, as a model for thinking about testimony, the claims that works make have a counterpart in the injunctions that issue from exemplary moral and political acts. Dans cet article, jâĂ©tablis un lien entre lâexigence que, selon Paul RicĆur,la mimĂšsis place dans notre façon de penser la vĂ©ritĂ©, et lâidĂ©e que lâĆuvre dâart est un modĂšle pour penser le tĂ©moignage. Appliquant lâĂ©pochĂ© de la rĂ©alitĂ©Â Ă lâoeuvre dâimagination, jâĂ©vite lâimpasse qui se dresse lorsquâon attribue la musique, la littĂ©rature et la distance artistique du rĂ©el Ă leur Ă©mancipation sociale. LâĂ©tude de la conjonction du caractĂšre communicable et exemplaire dâune Ćuvre â dans lâexpĂ©rience esthĂ©tique - met en lumiĂšre la relation que la dĂ©finition par RicĆur de la mimĂ©sis comme refiguration établit avec la ârĂšgleâ que lâĆuvre convoque. Cette rĂšgle est la solution au problĂšme auquel lâoeuvre apporte une rĂ©ponse. Finalement, un modĂšle pour penser le tĂ©moignage peut ĂȘtre trouvĂ© dans des oeuvres qui trouvent leur contrepartie dans les injonctions produites par les actions morales et politiques exemplaires.
UV-optical from space
The following subject areas are covered: (1) the science program (star formation and origins of planetary systems; structure and evolution of the interstellar medium; stellar population; the galactic and extragalactic distance scale; nature of galaxy nuclei, AGNs, and QSOs; formation and evolution of galaxies at high redshifts; and cosmology); (2) implementation of the science program; (3) the observatory-class missions (HST; LST - the 6m successor to HST; and next-generation 16m telescope); (4) moderate and small missions (Delta-class Explorers; imaging astrometric interferometer; small Explorers; optics development and demonstrations; and supporting ground-based capabilities); (5) prerequisites - the current science program (Lyman-FUSE; HTS optimization; the near-term science program; data analysis, modeling, and theory funding; and archives); (6) technologies for the next century; and (7) lunar-based telescopes and instruments
Jubilee mugs:the monarchy and the Sex Pistols
With rare exceptions sociologists have traditionally had little to say about the British monarchy. In the exceptional cases of the Durkheimian functionalism of Shills and Young (1953), the left humanism of Birnbaum (1955), or the archaic state/backward nation thesis of Nairn (1988), the British nation has been conceived as a homogenous mass. The brief episode of the Sex Pistols' Jubilee year song 'God Save the Queen' exposed some of the divisions within the national 'mass', forcing a re-ordering of the balance between detachment and belonging to the Royal idea. I argue that the song acted as a kind of 'breaching experiment'. Its wilful provocation of Royalist sentiment revealed the level of sanction available to the media-industrial complex to enforce compliance to British self-images of loyal and devoted national communicants
Molecular Hydrogen in the FUSE Translucent Lines of Sight: The Full Sample
We report total abundances and related parameters for the full sample of the
FUSE survey of molecular hydrogen in 38 translucent lines of sight. New results
are presented for the "second half" of the survey involving 15 lines of sight
to supplement data for the first 23 lines of sight already published. We assess
the correlations between molecular hydrogen and various extinction parameters
in the full sample, which covers a broader range of conditions than the initial
sample. In particular, we are now able to confirm that many, but not all, lines
of sight with shallow far-UV extinction curves and large values of the
total-to-selective extinction ratio, = / -- characteristic
of larger than average dust grains -- are associated with particularly low
hydrogen molecular fractions (). In the lines of sight with large
, there is in fact a wide range in molecular fractions, despite the
expectation that the larger grains should lead to less H formation.
However, we see specific evidence that the molecular fractions in this
sub-sample are inversely related to the estimated strength of the UV radiation
field and thus the latter factor is more important in this regime. We have
provided an update to previous values of the gas-to-dust ratio, (H)/, based on direct measurements of (H) and (H I).
Although our value is nearly identical to that found with Copernicus data, it
extends the relationship by a factor of 2 in reddening. Finally, as the new
lines of sight generally show low to moderate molecular fractions, we still
find little evidence for single monolithic "translucent clouds" with 1.Comment: 35 pages, 5 tables, 7 figures, accepted for publication in The
Astrophysical Journal Supplements Serie
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