Xavier Zubiri: An Introduction

In this essay, I seek to present Zubiri the man, the teacher, and the writer. Zubiri\u27s influence as a philosopher is quite apparent given the large body of translations and secondary literature on him in many different languages and cultures

On the Very Problem of the Problem of God in Zubiri and Unamuno

Perhaps one innovation brought about by Spanish philosophy is the notion that “God” names a problem instead of an entity. This is what Xavier Zubiri means when he uses the phrase “the problem of God.” Although he does not employ the Zubirian phrase, Miguel de Unamuno also addresses God as a problem. This paper compares Zubiri’s and Unamuno’s accounts of how God appears to human beings polemically. For both thinkers, God is a problem only for human beings; there is something about the structure of human existence that makes God come to mind. For Zubiri, God comes to mind because human beings find themselves implanted into reality. For Unamuno, God comes to mind because human beings understand their own mortality and seek to overcome it. After presenting their respective views on the structures of human beings that account for the problem of God, the philosophical implications of such a view are explored. If we take Zubiri and Unamuno to be correct about “the very problem of the problem of God,” true theism would not be evidentialist (this is the way “theism” works in traditional philosophy of religion). Also, true atheism (the claim that God does not exist) would be impossible, for even if the entity called “God” does not in fact exist, “God” as a problem (the problem of God) does

Prophetic Pragmatism and the Practices of Freedom: On Cornel West\u27s Foucauldian Methodology

This essay explores the Foucauldian influence on Cornel West’s prophetic pragmatism. Although West argues that Foucauldian methods are insufficient to deliver a philosophy of liberation, I argue that there is nothing in Foucault that would prohibit West from such a goal, even though a philosophy of liberation was not one of Foucault’s goals. Fortunately, one can understand West’s own project of liberation in terms of practices of freedom, allowing one to describe West’s philosophical project in strict Foucauldian terms

The Down Low and the Sexuality of Race

There has been much interest in the phenomenon called the Down Low, in which otherwise heterosexual African American men have sex with other black men. This essay explores the biopolitics at play in the media’s curiosity about the Down Low. The Down Low serves as a critical, transgressive heterotopia that reveals the codetermination of racism, sexism, and heterosexism in black male sexuality

Zubiri and the Very Problem of the Problem of Evil

This essay continues the line of thought started in a previous article of mine, The Very Problem of the Problem of God in Zubiri and Unamuno, in The Xavier Zubiri Review 6 (2004), pp. 73-88. There I argued that true atheism is impossible if Xavier Zubiri and Miguel de Unamuno are correct about the re&son human beings talk about God at all

Prophetic Pragmatism and the Practices of Freedom: On Cornel West's Foucauldian Methodology

This essay explores the Foucauldian influence on Cornel West’s prophetic pragmatism. Although West argues that Foucauldian methods are insufficient to deliver a philosophy of liberation, I argue that there is nothing in Foucault that would prohibit West from such a goal, even though a philosophy of liberation was not one of Foucault’s goals. Fortunately, one can understand West’s own project of liberation in terms of “practices of freedom,” allowing one to describe West’s philosophical project in strict Foucauldian terms

Job Embeddedness Theory: Can It Help Explain Employee Retention Among Extension Agents?

The study reported here examined Job Embeddedness theory, as introduced by Mitchell, Holtom, Lee, Sablynski, and Erez (2001), which offers a method of discovering why people stay in an organization. Extension agents in two states (N=454) reported significantly different levels of job embeddedness during the study period. Regression analyses showed that job embeddedness was significantly correlated with and predicted unique variance in intent to stay

Foraging theory provides a useful framework for livestock predation management

A societal shift toward plant dominant diets and a reduction in livestock rearing could have broad social, environmental and conservation benefits. Livestock husbandry, however, has a wealthy cultural history, strong support and high consumer demand. It is therefore likely to continue as a major land use and conservation issue for predators. From a producer’s perspective, the primary goals of livestock protection are maximising, or at least maintaining, production by minimising losses and mitigating detriment to stock welfare. Lethal removal of predators remains a commonplace solution. Such management measures are questionable as they raise animal welfare and conservation concerns, risk inhibiting ecological processes, are often expensive, and in some circumstances, exacerbate livestock predation problems. Non-lethal alternatives can facilitate co-existence between livestock farmers and predators, ideally reducing the ecological impact of pastoralism and achieving conservation goals. The need for rigorous study of non-lethal approaches has however been recently highlighted. Tools and methods involved in livestock protection, as well as the theoretical basis of how we perceive and manage the problem, require deeper consideration. Non-lethal approaches require knowledgeable implementation and an effective decision making system is a prerequisite for successful practice. Livestock predation and its prevention are fundamentally influenced by the underlying principles of foraging ecology and risk theory. We propose that manipulating elements of Brown’s (1988) quitting harvest rate model provides a useful conceptual framework for reducing livestock predation and encouraging coexistence.http://www.elsevier.de/jnc2020-06-01hj2019Centre for Wildlife Managemen