Margaret Urban Walker
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195315394
- eISBN:
- 9780199872053
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195315394.003.0008
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Feminist Philosophy
Representational practices affect moral perception and moral recognition, and so are proper studies for moral philosophy. Using Wittgenstein's idea that a human body pictures a soul, this chapter ...
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Representational practices affect moral perception and moral recognition, and so are proper studies for moral philosophy. Using Wittgenstein's idea that a human body pictures a soul, this chapter examines three patterns of representation of human bodies that impair or bias moral perception and proper recognition of human beings. Stereo-graphy fuses representation of the bodies of one kind of human being to a particular kind of comportment. Porno-graphy repetitively pictures certain bodies in sexualized ways. Necro-graphy produces representations of bodies that picture living human beings as already dead or beyond hope, or inscribe dead human bodies with an insult to their humanity. Moral graphics — the study of morally significant patterns of representation — aids in understanding the construction of identities, the nature and impact of stereotypes, and the fact that some kinds of prejudice are not easily accessible by conscious reflection.Less
Representational practices affect moral perception and moral recognition, and so are proper studies for moral philosophy. Using Wittgenstein's idea that a human body pictures a soul, this chapter examines three patterns of representation of human bodies that impair or bias moral perception and proper recognition of human beings. Stereo-graphy fuses representation of the bodies of one kind of human being to a particular kind of comportment. Porno-graphy repetitively pictures certain bodies in sexualized ways. Necro-graphy produces representations of bodies that picture living human beings as already dead or beyond hope, or inscribe dead human bodies with an insult to their humanity. Moral graphics — the study of morally significant patterns of representation — aids in understanding the construction of identities, the nature and impact of stereotypes, and the fact that some kinds of prejudice are not easily accessible by conscious reflection.
Stephen J. Davis
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- May 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199258628
- eISBN:
- 9780191718052
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199258628.003.0005
- Subject:
- Religion, Early Christian Studies
Human bodies were contested commodities in the ancient church, Early Christian writers frequently wrangled over the ethical implications of dress and bodily adornment, and sought to regiment various ...
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Human bodies were contested commodities in the ancient church, Early Christian writers frequently wrangled over the ethical implications of dress and bodily adornment, and sought to regiment various forms of physical interaction and movement within their communities, from sexual contact to pilgrimage travel. Bodies — and how they were used — functioned as privileged markers of Christian identity, as valuable capital in the complex economies of Christian discourse and practice. Nowhere was this more the case than in discussions about Christ's body and its relation to his divinity. This chapter examines visual representation of Christ's body among Coptic communities, and the relation that representation had to Egyptian Christian understandings of the Incarnation. It focuses on two particular contexts for such visual representation: (1) images of Christ on Coptic textiles and clothing, and (2) images of Christ on the walls of Coptic churches. In each of these two cases, the ritualized contexts for the wearing and viewing of christological images are explored.Less
Human bodies were contested commodities in the ancient church, Early Christian writers frequently wrangled over the ethical implications of dress and bodily adornment, and sought to regiment various forms of physical interaction and movement within their communities, from sexual contact to pilgrimage travel. Bodies — and how they were used — functioned as privileged markers of Christian identity, as valuable capital in the complex economies of Christian discourse and practice. Nowhere was this more the case than in discussions about Christ's body and its relation to his divinity. This chapter examines visual representation of Christ's body among Coptic communities, and the relation that representation had to Egyptian Christian understandings of the Incarnation. It focuses on two particular contexts for such visual representation: (1) images of Christ on Coptic textiles and clothing, and (2) images of Christ on the walls of Coptic churches. In each of these two cases, the ritualized contexts for the wearing and viewing of christological images are explored.
Alexandra Barahona de Brito
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780199240906
- eISBN:
- 9780191598869
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199240906.003.0005
- Subject:
- Political Science, Democratization
This chapter examines how Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Chile fared with truth and justice policies after the transition from authoritarian rule, looking at the issue from an institutional and ...
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This chapter examines how Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Chile fared with truth and justice policies after the transition from authoritarian rule, looking at the issue from an institutional and political angle, and at the social politics of memory. Efforts to deal with the past and their significance in the overall politics of transition to democracy are shaped by country-specific historical conditions and developments: the nature and legacies of repression and authoritarian rule; and the nature of the transition process and the various political, institutional and legal factors conditioning the post-transitional period, among which are the nature of repression, the presence and strength of a human rights movement, inherited legal or constitutional limitations, relations between political parties and Human Rights Organizations (HROs), the degree of executive or party commitment to policies of truth and justice, the unity of democratic parties, the ability of the military to mobilise against any policies of accountability as well as their relations with the democratic executive, the attitude of the judiciary to past violations, the presence of a strong legislative right, and the degree to which repression penetrated the social fabric. The way in which the first democratically elected authorities deal with the past, together with the relative strength of the human rights movement in the post-transitional period, sets the agenda for the subsequent evolution of the issue; more specifically, the past remains a source of open conflict if there are loopholes in official policies that preclude full closure or amnesty, and if transnational groups or regional and international human rights bodies challenge national policies favouring impunity. The past also remains a source of conflict if there are strong HROs that continue to contest official decisions on how to deal with the past, and have allies in the formal political arena or the courts. Official policies to deal with the past are not of themselves directly relevant to the process of democratisation, and what is more, during the first transitional period, truth and justice policies are unrelated to (or may even place obstacles in the way of) wider institutional reform; the reverse is also true, but whatever the case, the past becomes part of the dynamic of democratic politics. Indeed, although the continued pursuit of truth and justice and its links to wider reforms may be difficult to establish across the board, the politics of memory more widely conceived are important for a process of democratization in all four countries examined here, as it is about how a society interprets and appropriates its past, in an attempt to mould its future, and as such it is an integral part of any political process, including progress towards deeper democracy.Less
This chapter examines how Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Chile fared with truth and justice policies after the transition from authoritarian rule, looking at the issue from an institutional and political angle, and at the social politics of memory. Efforts to deal with the past and their significance in the overall politics of transition to democracy are shaped by country-specific historical conditions and developments: the nature and legacies of repression and authoritarian rule; and the nature of the transition process and the various political, institutional and legal factors conditioning the post-transitional period, among which are the nature of repression, the presence and strength of a human rights movement, inherited legal or constitutional limitations, relations between political parties and Human Rights Organizations (HROs), the degree of executive or party commitment to policies of truth and justice, the unity of democratic parties, the ability of the military to mobilise against any policies of accountability as well as their relations with the democratic executive, the attitude of the judiciary to past violations, the presence of a strong legislative right, and the degree to which repression penetrated the social fabric. The way in which the first democratically elected authorities deal with the past, together with the relative strength of the human rights movement in the post-transitional period, sets the agenda for the subsequent evolution of the issue; more specifically, the past remains a source of open conflict if there are loopholes in official policies that preclude full closure or amnesty, and if transnational groups or regional and international human rights bodies challenge national policies favouring impunity. The past also remains a source of conflict if there are strong HROs that continue to contest official decisions on how to deal with the past, and have allies in the formal political arena or the courts. Official policies to deal with the past are not of themselves directly relevant to the process of democratisation, and what is more, during the first transitional period, truth and justice policies are unrelated to (or may even place obstacles in the way of) wider institutional reform; the reverse is also true, but whatever the case, the past becomes part of the dynamic of democratic politics. Indeed, although the continued pursuit of truth and justice and its links to wider reforms may be difficult to establish across the board, the politics of memory more widely conceived are important for a process of democratization in all four countries examined here, as it is about how a society interprets and appropriates its past, in an attempt to mould its future, and as such it is an integral part of any political process, including progress towards deeper democracy.
David Brown
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199231829
- eISBN:
- 9780191716218
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199231829.003.0002
- Subject:
- Religion, Theology
This chapter focuses on the two aspects of body that are often said to be the furthest removed from Christianity's own emphases: the body as beautiful and as sexual. It highlights key moments of ...
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This chapter focuses on the two aspects of body that are often said to be the furthest removed from Christianity's own emphases: the body as beautiful and as sexual. It highlights key moments of engagement from the earlier history of the Christian tradition. The ancient Greek understanding of beautiful bodies as graced by the divine was renewed at the Renaissance, just as the potentiality of sexuality as a religious metaphor was rediscovered in Baroque art. The chapter suggests that there is a desperate need for sexuality to be freed from the rather narrow range of associations it has come to acquire in the modern world.Less
This chapter focuses on the two aspects of body that are often said to be the furthest removed from Christianity's own emphases: the body as beautiful and as sexual. It highlights key moments of engagement from the earlier history of the Christian tradition. The ancient Greek understanding of beautiful bodies as graced by the divine was renewed at the Renaissance, just as the potentiality of sexuality as a religious metaphor was rediscovered in Baroque art. The chapter suggests that there is a desperate need for sexuality to be freed from the rather narrow range of associations it has come to acquire in the modern world.
Abdulaziz Sachedina
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- May 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195378504
- eISBN:
- 9780199869688
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195378504.003.0007
- Subject:
- Religion, Islam
The chapter deals with the sanctity and integrity of the human body after death. Anatomical dissection and postmortem examinations are a routine part of medical education and diagnostic techniques ...
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The chapter deals with the sanctity and integrity of the human body after death. Anatomical dissection and postmortem examinations are a routine part of medical education and diagnostic techniques that stress the need for such procedure in understanding illnesses and evaluating incompletely known disorders or discovering new diseases. Accordingly, the scope of clinical diagnosis requiring autopsy has expanded beyond the traditionally validated justifications in the classical juridical formulations. One of the major decisions facing a dying person and his family is the possibility of donating organs for transplant. This means allowing surgical procedures that constitute a desecration of the dead in the Shari‘a in order to retrieve an organ. A visible incision into the body or the removal of externally visible or internal organs represents true desecrations. The chapter examines juridical principles that permitted an incision or mutilating procedure for the immediate saving of the life of a patient who is dying of organ failure. The possibility of organ transplantation for saving a critically ill patient did not exist in the past. The relatively high rate of success in organ transplantation has encouraged Muslim jurists to search for legal-ethical justifications to formulate their rulings to keep pace with the demand for such medical procedures, which are already a de facto practice in many hospitals in Muslim countries. All the jurists agree that saving of the life makes it possible to approve lesser evil of desecration for the larger good that such an act promises.Less
The chapter deals with the sanctity and integrity of the human body after death. Anatomical dissection and postmortem examinations are a routine part of medical education and diagnostic techniques that stress the need for such procedure in understanding illnesses and evaluating incompletely known disorders or discovering new diseases. Accordingly, the scope of clinical diagnosis requiring autopsy has expanded beyond the traditionally validated justifications in the classical juridical formulations. One of the major decisions facing a dying person and his family is the possibility of donating organs for transplant. This means allowing surgical procedures that constitute a desecration of the dead in the Shari‘a in order to retrieve an organ. A visible incision into the body or the removal of externally visible or internal organs represents true desecrations. The chapter examines juridical principles that permitted an incision or mutilating procedure for the immediate saving of the life of a patient who is dying of organ failure. The possibility of organ transplantation for saving a critically ill patient did not exist in the past. The relatively high rate of success in organ transplantation has encouraged Muslim jurists to search for legal-ethical justifications to formulate their rulings to keep pace with the demand for such medical procedures, which are already a de facto practice in many hospitals in Muslim countries. All the jurists agree that saving of the life makes it possible to approve lesser evil of desecration for the larger good that such an act promises.
Seyyed Hossein Nasr
- Published in print:
- 1996
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195108231
- eISBN:
- 9780199853441
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195108231.003.0008
- Subject:
- Religion, Islam
The great drama concerning the origin of human life and the enormous questions posed by bioengineering and related problems of bioethics all point to the truth that the religious understanding of the ...
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The great drama concerning the origin of human life and the enormous questions posed by bioengineering and related problems of bioethics all point to the truth that the religious understanding of the order of nature, as far as the human body is concerned, is now faced with a final challenge by the scientistic and secularist view. With the acquiescence to a large extent of Western religion, this view succeeded in secularizing the cosmos and extending its mechanistic view—or for that matter the agnostic, vitalistic one—of the order of nature to an ever greater degree to the human body. Both the environmental crisis and the rediscovery of the significance of nature by religious thinkers have been accompanied during the past few decades with a remarkable rise of interest in the physical body and its religious significance. And it is here that the greatest struggle is now taking place in the West between the claims of diametrically opposed views concerning the meaning of life and death and the significance of the human body.Less
The great drama concerning the origin of human life and the enormous questions posed by bioengineering and related problems of bioethics all point to the truth that the religious understanding of the order of nature, as far as the human body is concerned, is now faced with a final challenge by the scientistic and secularist view. With the acquiescence to a large extent of Western religion, this view succeeded in secularizing the cosmos and extending its mechanistic view—or for that matter the agnostic, vitalistic one—of the order of nature to an ever greater degree to the human body. Both the environmental crisis and the rediscovery of the significance of nature by religious thinkers have been accompanied during the past few decades with a remarkable rise of interest in the physical body and its religious significance. And it is here that the greatest struggle is now taking place in the West between the claims of diametrically opposed views concerning the meaning of life and death and the significance of the human body.
Roderick Floud
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780197263471
- eISBN:
- 9780191734786
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197263471.003.0014
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Economic History
This chapter explores evidence on the changing shape of the British human body, in particular its height and weight, in order to shed light on the past and possibly future standard of living of the ...
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This chapter explores evidence on the changing shape of the British human body, in particular its height and weight, in order to shed light on the past and possibly future standard of living of the British population. It focuses on anthropometric measures (based on height, weight, and body mass index) that are employed as indicators of material welfare of the population.Less
This chapter explores evidence on the changing shape of the British human body, in particular its height and weight, in order to shed light on the past and possibly future standard of living of the British population. It focuses on anthropometric measures (based on height, weight, and body mass index) that are employed as indicators of material welfare of the population.
David Brown
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199231829
- eISBN:
- 9780191716218
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199231829.003.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Theology
This introductory chapter begins with a summary of the book, which is intended as a sequel to God and Enchantment of Place: Reclaiming Human Experience. The book continues the work of its predecessor ...
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This introductory chapter begins with a summary of the book, which is intended as a sequel to God and Enchantment of Place: Reclaiming Human Experience. The book continues the work of its predecessor in showing the range of artistic and cultural experience that theology must pay more attention to. But while God and Enchantment of Place focused on place, this book focuses on the human body — how the body might mediate the experience of God. An overview of the three parts of the book is presented.Less
This introductory chapter begins with a summary of the book, which is intended as a sequel to God and Enchantment of Place: Reclaiming Human Experience. The book continues the work of its predecessor in showing the range of artistic and cultural experience that theology must pay more attention to. But while God and Enchantment of Place focused on place, this book focuses on the human body — how the body might mediate the experience of God. An overview of the three parts of the book is presented.
David Brown
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199231829
- eISBN:
- 9780191716218
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199231829.003.0005
- Subject:
- Religion, Theology
This chapter explores the aspects of Christian attitudes toward the body that non-believers usually find most difficult — the exaltation of the body as ‘ugly and wasted’. Most of the chapter is ...
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This chapter explores the aspects of Christian attitudes toward the body that non-believers usually find most difficult — the exaltation of the body as ‘ugly and wasted’. Most of the chapter is concerned with a selective historical survey that seeks to interpret sympathetically some of the stranger aspects of Christian history, beginning with an examination of the types of changes that were made to the telling of the crucifixion story in order to make affective appropriation easier. A comparison is then made between one of the Gospels and the response of the 15th-century English mystic Margery Kempe in her own distinctive gift of tears. Thereafter, two more extreme types of reaction are explored: the asceticism of those, such as Catherine of Siena, who sought to live on virtually nothing; and the way in which the classical legend of the flaying of Marsyas was adapted to Christian ideals in normally quite restrained artists such as Michelangelo and Titian. In pursuing this more sympathetic analysis, the intention is not to declare right and proper such extremes. Rather, it is to call into question blanket condemnations and to raise the question of whether the modern world is really necessarily any better in its approach.Less
This chapter explores the aspects of Christian attitudes toward the body that non-believers usually find most difficult — the exaltation of the body as ‘ugly and wasted’. Most of the chapter is concerned with a selective historical survey that seeks to interpret sympathetically some of the stranger aspects of Christian history, beginning with an examination of the types of changes that were made to the telling of the crucifixion story in order to make affective appropriation easier. A comparison is then made between one of the Gospels and the response of the 15th-century English mystic Margery Kempe in her own distinctive gift of tears. Thereafter, two more extreme types of reaction are explored: the asceticism of those, such as Catherine of Siena, who sought to live on virtually nothing; and the way in which the classical legend of the flaying of Marsyas was adapted to Christian ideals in normally quite restrained artists such as Michelangelo and Titian. In pursuing this more sympathetic analysis, the intention is not to declare right and proper such extremes. Rather, it is to call into question blanket condemnations and to raise the question of whether the modern world is really necessarily any better in its approach.
Brian Leftow
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- September 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199556182
- eISBN:
- 9780191721014
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199556182.003.0020
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Mind, Metaphysics/Epistemology
This chapter adumbrates a Thomistic, non-Cartesian version of dualism, defending the Thomistic theory from the familiar charge of inconsistency by showing how it is possible to assert simultaneously ...
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This chapter adumbrates a Thomistic, non-Cartesian version of dualism, defending the Thomistic theory from the familiar charge of inconsistency by showing how it is possible to assert simultaneously that the human being is a single, unitary substance, that the soul is the ‘form’ of the human body, and yet that the soul can exist without the body by virtue of being an immaterial particular. It demonstrates that a Thomistic ‘form’ need not be a mere state of a thing, like a shape: it may also be an immaterial particular, present in every part of a substance, that causes it be in a certain state (such as that of being alive). Aquinas's view of the embodied souls avoids being dualistic by denying that the human body is a separable substance in its own right. What combines with the soul to produce a substantial human thing is not one thing but a plurality. Moreover, the chapter explains that Aquinas's claim that human thought has no bodily ‘organ’ does not entail the natural independence of our cognitive functions from the physical condition of the brain. It does, however, imply that mental content cannot be fully and determinately encoded in the brain's physical condition. Finally, the chapter clarifies the sense in which the disembodied soul is not for Aquinas (unlike Descartes) a substance.Less
This chapter adumbrates a Thomistic, non-Cartesian version of dualism, defending the Thomistic theory from the familiar charge of inconsistency by showing how it is possible to assert simultaneously that the human being is a single, unitary substance, that the soul is the ‘form’ of the human body, and yet that the soul can exist without the body by virtue of being an immaterial particular. It demonstrates that a Thomistic ‘form’ need not be a mere state of a thing, like a shape: it may also be an immaterial particular, present in every part of a substance, that causes it be in a certain state (such as that of being alive). Aquinas's view of the embodied souls avoids being dualistic by denying that the human body is a separable substance in its own right. What combines with the soul to produce a substantial human thing is not one thing but a plurality. Moreover, the chapter explains that Aquinas's claim that human thought has no bodily ‘organ’ does not entail the natural independence of our cognitive functions from the physical condition of the brain. It does, however, imply that mental content cannot be fully and determinately encoded in the brain's physical condition. Finally, the chapter clarifies the sense in which the disembodied soul is not for Aquinas (unlike Descartes) a substance.
Michael O'Flaherty
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199217908
- eISBN:
- 9780191705380
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199217908.003.0002
- Subject:
- Law, Human Rights and Immigration
The seven principal United Nations-sponsored human rights treaties stipulate that states parties submit periodic reports to the respective treaty monitoring bodies on their implementation of the ...
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The seven principal United Nations-sponsored human rights treaties stipulate that states parties submit periodic reports to the respective treaty monitoring bodies on their implementation of the treaty obligations. Following a report review, the treaty body in question issues a set of ‘Concluding Observations’ containing its collective assessment of the state's record and recommendations for enhanced implementation of the rights in question. This chapter analyzes the weaknesses of the current system of uncoordinated recommendations between the seven UN treaty bodies, and highlights the need for integration of the recommendations. Failure to do so could give rise to ‘clashes of approach’ and cases of ‘inconsistent or contradictory recommendations’. Integration of the approaches of the treaty bodies based on a human rights-based approach can enhance the structure and fulfilment of the obligations under the main human rights treaties, including the ICESCR, as well as the work of the respective Committees, including the ESCR Committee.Less
The seven principal United Nations-sponsored human rights treaties stipulate that states parties submit periodic reports to the respective treaty monitoring bodies on their implementation of the treaty obligations. Following a report review, the treaty body in question issues a set of ‘Concluding Observations’ containing its collective assessment of the state's record and recommendations for enhanced implementation of the rights in question. This chapter analyzes the weaknesses of the current system of uncoordinated recommendations between the seven UN treaty bodies, and highlights the need for integration of the recommendations. Failure to do so could give rise to ‘clashes of approach’ and cases of ‘inconsistent or contradictory recommendations’. Integration of the approaches of the treaty bodies based on a human rights-based approach can enhance the structure and fulfilment of the obligations under the main human rights treaties, including the ICESCR, as well as the work of the respective Committees, including the ESCR Committee.
Byron L. Sherwin
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- February 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195336238
- eISBN:
- 9780199868520
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195336238.003.0006
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
This chapter deals with four places where living in the covenant can affect a rendezvous with the divine, an intimate encounter with God: the sacred word, the sacred deed, the world, the self. Among ...
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This chapter deals with four places where living in the covenant can affect a rendezvous with the divine, an intimate encounter with God: the sacred word, the sacred deed, the world, the self. Among other factors, the reality of one's own mortality is portrayed as a stimulus to embarking on the spiritual and existential quest. Overcoming self-deception, pride, depression and cultivating sincerity, humility and joy are discussed as prerequisites for the human-divine relationship and for the articulation of the divine element in each human person. The world and the human body are then offered as further vehicles toward a rendezvous with God. Attitudes such as love and gratitude, and actions such as prayer, repentance, study of the Torah, sacred deeds, observance of Jewish law (halakhah) and acts of loving kindness are discussed as ways of affecting communion and intimacy with the divine.Less
This chapter deals with four places where living in the covenant can affect a rendezvous with the divine, an intimate encounter with God: the sacred word, the sacred deed, the world, the self. Among other factors, the reality of one's own mortality is portrayed as a stimulus to embarking on the spiritual and existential quest. Overcoming self-deception, pride, depression and cultivating sincerity, humility and joy are discussed as prerequisites for the human-divine relationship and for the articulation of the divine element in each human person. The world and the human body are then offered as further vehicles toward a rendezvous with God. Attitudes such as love and gratitude, and actions such as prayer, repentance, study of the Torah, sacred deeds, observance of Jewish law (halakhah) and acts of loving kindness are discussed as ways of affecting communion and intimacy with the divine.
Paul U. Unschuld
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520257658
- eISBN:
- 9780520944701
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520257658.003.0001
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Medical Anthropology
This chapter focuses on the human body and examines a commonly used name for the invisible something, the spirit or soul, denoted by X. It is assumed that the body cannot live without a soul and the ...
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This chapter focuses on the human body and examines a commonly used name for the invisible something, the spirit or soul, denoted by X. It is assumed that the body cannot live without a soul and the soulless body exists only as a dead body. An endeavor to explain certain functions of the body, and with that to explain certain human behaviors, leads to the assumption of invisible, intangible, but nevertheless real parts of the living body. The names for X are adapted to their context of interpretation, sometimes religious, sometimes secular. Certain conventions can impress themselves in a cultural context. The ethereal and astral parts of the body are differentiations of X. The idea emerged that a body and its X could seem totally normal or healthy to the naïve observer, but still be classified by experts as sick or abnormal. Even in very early times, there was a differentiation between illness of the tangible, visible body and illness of X, the intangible, invisible spirit.Less
This chapter focuses on the human body and examines a commonly used name for the invisible something, the spirit or soul, denoted by X. It is assumed that the body cannot live without a soul and the soulless body exists only as a dead body. An endeavor to explain certain functions of the body, and with that to explain certain human behaviors, leads to the assumption of invisible, intangible, but nevertheless real parts of the living body. The names for X are adapted to their context of interpretation, sometimes religious, sometimes secular. Certain conventions can impress themselves in a cultural context. The ethereal and astral parts of the body are differentiations of X. The idea emerged that a body and its X could seem totally normal or healthy to the naïve observer, but still be classified by experts as sick or abnormal. Even in very early times, there was a differentiation between illness of the tangible, visible body and illness of X, the intangible, invisible spirit.
Anne Phillips
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691150864
- eISBN:
- 9781400846368
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691150864.003.0005
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Political Philosophy
This chapter moves on to markets in body tissues and parts, focusing on the trade in live kidneys. Given the risks to vendors, and the significant number of patients dying each year while waiting for ...
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This chapter moves on to markets in body tissues and parts, focusing on the trade in live kidneys. Given the risks to vendors, and the significant number of patients dying each year while waiting for a transplant, why not make the transactions more open? Why not allow people to sell nonvital parts of their body while they are still alive? If we allow them to donate, we presumably do not consider the health risks prohibitive. Why not also allow them to sell? It is argued that the kidney trade relies on and undermines our status as equals. The chapter also returns to claims about property as protection, restating and developing reservations about those who favor more body property as a means to resist excessive marketization.Less
This chapter moves on to markets in body tissues and parts, focusing on the trade in live kidneys. Given the risks to vendors, and the significant number of patients dying each year while waiting for a transplant, why not make the transactions more open? Why not allow people to sell nonvital parts of their body while they are still alive? If we allow them to donate, we presumably do not consider the health risks prohibitive. Why not also allow them to sell? It is argued that the kidney trade relies on and undermines our status as equals. The chapter also returns to claims about property as protection, restating and developing reservations about those who favor more body property as a means to resist excessive marketization.
Michael Neill
- Published in print:
- 1997
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198183860
- eISBN:
- 9780191674112
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198183860.003.0003
- Subject:
- Literature, Drama, 16th-century and Renaissance Literature
The trauma of epidemic disease was by no means the only factor contributing to the early modern reinvention of death. Of particular importance, in educated circles at least, was the reinvigorated ...
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The trauma of epidemic disease was by no means the only factor contributing to the early modern reinvention of death. Of particular importance, in educated circles at least, was the reinvigorated science of anatomy which, from the mid-sixteenth century, helped to produce an entirely new understanding of the human body and its processes of morbidity. The bible of this revolutionary science was the magnificent De Humani Corporis Fabrica, written by the Flemish physician Andreas Vesalius. Within half a century of the publication of Vesalius' masterpiece in 1543, the classically derived pieties that had ruled scholastic anatomy for several hundred years had been utterly displaced. Vesalius insisted on restoring the investigative, exploratory role of dissection, which the anatomist must now perform in person.Less
The trauma of epidemic disease was by no means the only factor contributing to the early modern reinvention of death. Of particular importance, in educated circles at least, was the reinvigorated science of anatomy which, from the mid-sixteenth century, helped to produce an entirely new understanding of the human body and its processes of morbidity. The bible of this revolutionary science was the magnificent De Humani Corporis Fabrica, written by the Flemish physician Andreas Vesalius. Within half a century of the publication of Vesalius' masterpiece in 1543, the classically derived pieties that had ruled scholastic anatomy for several hundred years had been utterly displaced. Vesalius insisted on restoring the investigative, exploratory role of dissection, which the anatomist must now perform in person.
John C. Waldmeir
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- March 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780823230600
- eISBN:
- 9780823236923
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Fordham University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5422/fso/9780823230600.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Literature
The metaphor of the Church as a “body” has shaped Catholic thinking since the Second Vatican Council. Its influence on theological inquiries into Catholic nature and practice is well-known; less ...
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The metaphor of the Church as a “body” has shaped Catholic thinking since the Second Vatican Council. Its influence on theological inquiries into Catholic nature and practice is well-known; less obvious is the way it has shaped a generation of Catholic imaginative writers. This is the first full-length study of a cohort of Catholic authors whose art takes seriously the themes of the Council: from novelists such as Mary Gordon, Ron Hansen, Louise Erdrich, and J. F. Powers, to poets such as Annie Dillard, Mary Karr, Lucia Perillo, and Anne Carson, to the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright John Patrick Shanley. Each of these writers encourages readers to think about the human body as a site—perhaps the most important site—of interaction between God and human beings. Although they represent the body in different ways, these late-twentieth-century Catholic artists share a sense of its inherent value. Moreover, they use ideas and terminology from the rich tradition of Catholic sacramentality, especially as it was articulated in the documents of Vatican II, to describe that value. In this way they challenge the Church to take its own tradition seriously and to reconsider its relationship to a relatively recent apologetics that has emphasized a narrow view of human reason and a rigid sense of orthodoxy.Less
The metaphor of the Church as a “body” has shaped Catholic thinking since the Second Vatican Council. Its influence on theological inquiries into Catholic nature and practice is well-known; less obvious is the way it has shaped a generation of Catholic imaginative writers. This is the first full-length study of a cohort of Catholic authors whose art takes seriously the themes of the Council: from novelists such as Mary Gordon, Ron Hansen, Louise Erdrich, and J. F. Powers, to poets such as Annie Dillard, Mary Karr, Lucia Perillo, and Anne Carson, to the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright John Patrick Shanley. Each of these writers encourages readers to think about the human body as a site—perhaps the most important site—of interaction between God and human beings. Although they represent the body in different ways, these late-twentieth-century Catholic artists share a sense of its inherent value. Moreover, they use ideas and terminology from the rich tradition of Catholic sacramentality, especially as it was articulated in the documents of Vatican II, to describe that value. In this way they challenge the Church to take its own tradition seriously and to reconsider its relationship to a relatively recent apologetics that has emphasized a narrow view of human reason and a rigid sense of orthodoxy.
Kerri Johnson and Maggie Shiffrar (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- January 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780195393705
- eISBN:
- 9780199979271
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195393705.001.0001
- Subject:
- Psychology, Cognitive Psychology
The human body has long been a rich source of inspiration for the arts, and artists have long recognized the body's special status. While the scientific study of body perception also has an important ...
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The human body has long been a rich source of inspiration for the arts, and artists have long recognized the body's special status. While the scientific study of body perception also has an important history, recent technological advances have triggered an explosion of research on the visual perception of the human body in motion, or as it is traditionally called, biological motion perception. Now reaching a point of burgeoning inter-disciplinary focus, biological motion perception research is poised to transform our understanding of person construal. Indeed, several factors highlight a privileged role for the human body as one of the most critical classes of stimuli affecting social perception. Human bodies in motion, for example, are among the most frequent moving stimulus in our environment. They can be readily perceived at a physical distance or visual vantage that precludes face perception. Moreover, body motion conveys meaningful psychological information such as social categories, emotion state, intentions, and underlying dispositions. Thus, body perception appears to serve as a first-pass filter for a vast array of social judgments from the routine (e.g., perceived friendliness in interactions) to the grave (e.g., perceived threat by law enforcement). This book provides an exciting integration of theory and findings that clarify how the human body is perceived by observers.Less
The human body has long been a rich source of inspiration for the arts, and artists have long recognized the body's special status. While the scientific study of body perception also has an important history, recent technological advances have triggered an explosion of research on the visual perception of the human body in motion, or as it is traditionally called, biological motion perception. Now reaching a point of burgeoning inter-disciplinary focus, biological motion perception research is poised to transform our understanding of person construal. Indeed, several factors highlight a privileged role for the human body as one of the most critical classes of stimuli affecting social perception. Human bodies in motion, for example, are among the most frequent moving stimulus in our environment. They can be readily perceived at a physical distance or visual vantage that precludes face perception. Moreover, body motion conveys meaningful psychological information such as social categories, emotion state, intentions, and underlying dispositions. Thus, body perception appears to serve as a first-pass filter for a vast array of social judgments from the routine (e.g., perceived friendliness in interactions) to the grave (e.g., perceived threat by law enforcement). This book provides an exciting integration of theory and findings that clarify how the human body is perceived by observers.
Anne Phillips
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691150864
- eISBN:
- 9781400846368
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691150864.003.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Political Philosophy
This introductory chapter provides an overview of the book's main themes. This book considers what, if anything, is the difference between markets in sex or reproduction or human body parts and the ...
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This introductory chapter provides an overview of the book's main themes. This book considers what, if anything, is the difference between markets in sex or reproduction or human body parts and the other markets we commonly applaud. What—if anything—makes the body special? It argues that some things should not be for sale, and that it is not transparently obvious either why this is so or which these are. It considers not just markets and the body, but also the implications and consequences of thinking of the body as something that we own. It examines cases of body commodification, focusing on commercial surrogacy and markets in body parts. It also considers instances where thinking of the body as property has no obvious implications in terms of making it available for sale. This book addresses, therefore, two distinct though related questions. What, if anything, is wrong with thinking of oneself as the owner of one's body? What, if anything, is wrong with making our bodies available for rent or sale?Less
This introductory chapter provides an overview of the book's main themes. This book considers what, if anything, is the difference between markets in sex or reproduction or human body parts and the other markets we commonly applaud. What—if anything—makes the body special? It argues that some things should not be for sale, and that it is not transparently obvious either why this is so or which these are. It considers not just markets and the body, but also the implications and consequences of thinking of the body as something that we own. It examines cases of body commodification, focusing on commercial surrogacy and markets in body parts. It also considers instances where thinking of the body as property has no obvious implications in terms of making it available for sale. This book addresses, therefore, two distinct though related questions. What, if anything, is wrong with thinking of oneself as the owner of one's body? What, if anything, is wrong with making our bodies available for rent or sale?
Ramchandra Chintaman Dhere
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199777594
- eISBN:
- 9780199919048
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199777594.003.0016
- Subject:
- Religion, Hinduism
This final chapter presents a culminating stage in the evolution of the cult of Viṭṭhal: its interpretation in spiritual terms. The chapter discusses, in turn, spiritual interpretations that the ...
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This final chapter presents a culminating stage in the evolution of the cult of Viṭṭhal: its interpretation in spiritual terms. The chapter discusses, in turn, spiritual interpretations that the Marathi poet-saints have given of the river at Pandharpur, of Pandharpur itself, of the temple of Viṭṭhal there, and of the god himself. The chapter discusses analogies in bhakti literature between the human body and temples, and analogies between various moral categories, such as remorse or a good person, on the one hand, and holy water-places (tīrthas), on the other. The chapter also examines the extensive image Jñāneśvar uses in comparing the Bhagavadgītā to the “Kailās” cave-temple at Ellora.Less
This final chapter presents a culminating stage in the evolution of the cult of Viṭṭhal: its interpretation in spiritual terms. The chapter discusses, in turn, spiritual interpretations that the Marathi poet-saints have given of the river at Pandharpur, of Pandharpur itself, of the temple of Viṭṭhal there, and of the god himself. The chapter discusses analogies in bhakti literature between the human body and temples, and analogies between various moral categories, such as remorse or a good person, on the one hand, and holy water-places (tīrthas), on the other. The chapter also examines the extensive image Jñāneśvar uses in comparing the Bhagavadgītā to the “Kailās” cave-temple at Ellora.
Andrew Lang
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199592647
- eISBN:
- 9780191731396
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199592647.003.0004
- Subject:
- Law, Public International Law
This chapter begins by chronicling the way that official international human rights bodies began to address international trade issues from about 1998 onwards. During this time, international human ...
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This chapter begins by chronicling the way that official international human rights bodies began to address international trade issues from about 1998 onwards. During this time, international human rights bodies adopted and re-articulated many of the critiques of trade emanating from the global justice movement — but they did so selectively, incrementally, and usually in a moderated and modified form. The result was that by at least the middle of the 2000s, there was a burgeoning international legal debate concerning the relationship between trade law and human rights law. The second part of the chapter shift gears, and focuses on the dominant discursive framework of this debate, referred to as the ‘coherence framework’. It describes the nature of this discursive framework, and shows how it shaped the lines of inquiry and criticism which have so far been characteristic of the trade and human rights debate.Less
This chapter begins by chronicling the way that official international human rights bodies began to address international trade issues from about 1998 onwards. During this time, international human rights bodies adopted and re-articulated many of the critiques of trade emanating from the global justice movement — but they did so selectively, incrementally, and usually in a moderated and modified form. The result was that by at least the middle of the 2000s, there was a burgeoning international legal debate concerning the relationship between trade law and human rights law. The second part of the chapter shift gears, and focuses on the dominant discursive framework of this debate, referred to as the ‘coherence framework’. It describes the nature of this discursive framework, and shows how it shaped the lines of inquiry and criticism which have so far been characteristic of the trade and human rights debate.
