Amidst the Cardboard City

Amidst the Cardboard City examines moments where joyous potential is brought into the seemingly bland moments of daily life. The focus of this inquiry takes the form of a narrative that follows the character Birdman as he journeys through his environment, becoming more and more active within it as he strives for a greater freedom within his world. The thesis artworks take the form of nine multiple-block woodcut prints made through a unique photomechanical process involving set building, digital photography, color separations, hand printing, and laser engraving. A large, eight-foot by eight-foot by eight-foot gallery installation was also exhibited. This installation sought to share the formal and conceptual aspects of the printed artworks in a three-dimensional and human scale. Primary sources of visual inspiration were taken from contemporary artists Carrier Curry and Lothar Osterberg. Writer David Foster Wallace served as a primary source of literary inspiration

Clearance of M16 Anti-personnel Mines in Chile

This report responds to a request for advice on safe and efficient procedures for clearance of M16 bounding fragmentation type anti-personnel mines in a minefield in the Picton Islands. Following an invitation from Colonel Mendoza from CNAD, the GICHD Director, Ambassador Stephan Husy, visited Chile from the 20 to 29 January 2012. The GICHD Director had visited Chile previously when he focused on the minefields in the north of the country. Accompanying the GICHD Director was Ms Aurora Martinez, the GICHD focal point for Spanish speaking countries and specialist on information management. Mr Erik Tollefsen, the GICHD advisor on EOD, stockpile destruction and technology, was also invited to visit the mine action programme in Chile as a follow-on from the CNAD initiated assessment of ongoing clearance activities in 2009. Mr Tollefsen did not have an opportunity to visit Chilean Navy clearance operations on his initial assessment mission, so the January 2013 visit would allow him to provide technical advice to the Marines mine clearance organisation, should this be required. The GICHD recommends the Chilean Navy revisits its procedures planned for the demining operation on the Picton Islands. The current procedures are exposing the operator to unneccesary risk as he/she will have to approach every single mine with an explosive disarmament method twice. The GICHD recommends that the Navy demining team develops SOPs based on the reccomendations found in this report

Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book explores, inter alia, the strategy employed by Augustine in using Plato as a pseudo-prophet against later Platonists and explores Eusebius’ reception of Porphyry’s daemonology. It examines Plotinus’ claim that matter is absolute badness and focuses on Maximus the Confessor’s doctrine of creation and asks whether one may detect any influence on Maximus from Philoponus. The book addresses Christian receptions of Platonic metaphysics and also examines the philosophy of number in Augustine’s early works. It argues that the aspect of Augustine’s philosophy must be read in context with the intellectual problems that occupied him at the beginning of his career as a writer. It draws on a number of sources to investigate the development of the doctrine and the various intellectual issues it confronted, including Plato’s Timaeus, Philo of Alexandria, Clement of Alexandria, Origen, Plotinus and, finally, Athanasius

Fatal Haemorrhage from a Varicose Vein: A Case Report from 50 Years Ago

A 55-year old woman died of haemorrhage from a superficial varicose vein on her right leg. She had been in good health and had never been hospitalised. The author discusses the circumstances leading to this tragic event, which happened 50 years ago, and could have been avoided with simple measures. In fact, the actions taken by her relatives before they called for a doctor probably contributed to her death. A brief review of the literature describing such cases is included

Platonism and Christian Thought in Late Antiquity

Platonism and Christian Thought in Late Antiquity examines the various ways in which Christian intellectuals engaged with Platonism both as a pagan competitor and as a source of philosophical material useful to the Christian faith. The chapters are united in their goal to explore transformations that took place in the reception and interaction process between Platonism and Christianity in this period. The contributions in this volume explore the reception of Platonic material in Christian thought, showing that the transmission of cultural content is always mediated, and ought to be studied as a transformative process by way of selection and interpretation. Some chapters also deal with various aspects of the wider discussion on how Platonic, and Hellenic, philosophy and early Christian thought related to each other, examining the differences and common ground between these traditions. Platonism and Christian Thought in Late Antiquity offers an insightful and broad ranging study on the subject, which will be of interest to students of both philosophy and theology in the Late Antique period, as well as anyone working on the reception and history of Platonic thought, and the development of Christian thought

The Good of Play in John Finnis’s «Natural Law and Natural Rights»

Despite the scrutiny that has been given to John Finnis’s masterwork, Natural Law and Natural Rights, relatively little attention has been given to a feature of that work that plays a recurring role, namely, the place of the basic human good of play in the book. In addition to a number of passing references, that good is discussed in an extended way on three occasions. The first is when the good of play is introduced, as part of Finnis’s taxonomy of basic human goods; the second is in his discussion of Aristotle’s understanding of friendship, when Finnis reframes Aristotle’s friendship of pleasure as instead friendship of play; and then finally, in Finnis’s concluding chapter, with its discussion of the «further point» of morality, where Finnis, following Plato, describes the point of morality as participation in a divine play. Play’s presence at the end of Natural Law and Natural Rights, indeed, in one of the culminating passages of the book, suggests that this good should be paid more attention than has been given to it. After a review of Finnis’s various discussions of play, I argue that Finnis’s account provides resources for answering Thomas Nagel’s skeptical doubts about life’s meaning; and for furthering Finnis’s own claims about the authority of law.A pesar del análisis a que se ha visto sometida la obra maestra de Finnis, Natural Law and Natural Rights, se le ha prestado relativamente poca atención a un rasgo de la misma: el recurrentemente citado bien humano del juego y el lugar que su estudio ocupa en dicho libro. La primera referencia aparece con ocasión de la presentación de dicho bien como parte de la taxonomía de bienes humanos básicos finnisianos. La segunda, figura de la mano de un análisis sobre la amistad aristotélica, en el que Finnis reformula dicha noción, originalmente entendida como relación de placer, en términos de relación de participación en un juego. Finalmente, en el último capítulo, Finnis, se refiere al juego, siguiendo a Platón, cuando sostiene que la referencia adicional de la moralidad queda descrita como participación en una obra divina. La presencia del juego al final de Natural Law and Natural Rights, de hecho, en uno de los pasajes culminantes del libro, sugiere que a este bien se le debe prestar más atención de la que se le ha venido dispensado. Después de revisar las diversas discusiones de Finnis sobre el juego, sostengo que su relato ofrece recursos para responder a las dudas escépticas de Thomas Nagel sobre el sentido de la vida y para ofrecer un mayor recorrido a las afirmaciones de Finnis acerca de la autoridad del derecho

Reports or Readiness: A Dilemma

Life at sea is a high adventure. The few young Americans who still go down to the sea in ships are usually rugged and outspoken in their own element. Seamen have traditionally enjoyed a high degree of tolerance coupled with a keen sense of justice. As a kinetic group, they respect authority and willingly follow the precepts of their shore bound superiors. This authority1 however, when it is abused or unreasonable, inculcates a spirit of disregard by the men who man the fleet ships.