Candida Moss
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199739875
- eISBN:
- 9780199777259
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199739875.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Theology, Early Christian Studies
This book uses the martyrs’ imitation of Jesus in the acts of the martyrs as a window into the history of ideas. It argues, first, that the presentations of the deaths of the martyrs are modeled on ...
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This book uses the martyrs’ imitation of Jesus in the acts of the martyrs as a window into the history of ideas. It argues, first, that the presentations of the deaths of the martyrs are modeled on portrayals of the death of Jesus in early Christian literature and practice. Given that the martyrs are presented as Christ figures, they serve as narrative reinterpretations of the death of Jesus and can serve as valuable, early sources for the reception history of the New Testament. It also argues that the assimilation of the martyrs to Christ goes further than the narrative contours and stylistic features of their deaths. In the depiction of the salvific value of the martyr’s death, the postmortem functions of martyrs in heaven, and the martyrs’ status vis-à-vis Christ in the afterlife, the martyrs continue to be presented as Christly figures. As a result, the martyr acts can also contribute to our understanding of the development of ideas about Jesus (Christology) and the way in which human beings are saved (soteriology) in the early church in the pre-Constantinian period.Less
This book uses the martyrs’ imitation of Jesus in the acts of the martyrs as a window into the history of ideas. It argues, first, that the presentations of the deaths of the martyrs are modeled on portrayals of the death of Jesus in early Christian literature and practice. Given that the martyrs are presented as Christ figures, they serve as narrative reinterpretations of the death of Jesus and can serve as valuable, early sources for the reception history of the New Testament. It also argues that the assimilation of the martyrs to Christ goes further than the narrative contours and stylistic features of their deaths. In the depiction of the salvific value of the martyr’s death, the postmortem functions of martyrs in heaven, and the martyrs’ status vis-à-vis Christ in the afterlife, the martyrs continue to be presented as Christly figures. As a result, the martyr acts can also contribute to our understanding of the development of ideas about Jesus (Christology) and the way in which human beings are saved (soteriology) in the early church in the pre-Constantinian period.
Yasmin Annabel Haskell
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780197262849
- eISBN:
- 9780191734588
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197262849.003.0007
- Subject:
- Literature, 17th-century and Restoration Literature
National loyalties and literary tastes generally compete with institutional and ideological alliances, as was the case of the Jesuits, where there was an unspoken conflict of taste between the ...
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National loyalties and literary tastes generally compete with institutional and ideological alliances, as was the case of the Jesuits, where there was an unspoken conflict of taste between the classicism and patriotism of Rapin and the mannerisms of his Neopolitan contemporaries. Although Neopolitan Jesuits were aware of the existence of a Rapinian model, they were more inclined to imitate local, non-Jesuit, Latin authors. As with the literary terms, the didactic poems of Jesuits also exhibit diverse aims as various as their geographical and chronological contexts. Although their poems were dominated by individual aims and intentions, Jesuit didactic poetry nevertheless exhibited uniform lineament. Most Jesuit didactic poems were tailored after Virgil's Georgics and the Virgilian form. There were also various mechanisms of internal imitation wherein a group of poems share thematic preoccupations and stylistic idiosyncrasies. Jesuit didactic poetry is also characterized by an emphasis on experience and usefulness, on orderliness, on difficulty embraced and surmounted, and on efforts divinely ordained and rewarded.Less
National loyalties and literary tastes generally compete with institutional and ideological alliances, as was the case of the Jesuits, where there was an unspoken conflict of taste between the classicism and patriotism of Rapin and the mannerisms of his Neopolitan contemporaries. Although Neopolitan Jesuits were aware of the existence of a Rapinian model, they were more inclined to imitate local, non-Jesuit, Latin authors. As with the literary terms, the didactic poems of Jesuits also exhibit diverse aims as various as their geographical and chronological contexts. Although their poems were dominated by individual aims and intentions, Jesuit didactic poetry nevertheless exhibited uniform lineament. Most Jesuit didactic poems were tailored after Virgil's Georgics and the Virgilian form. There were also various mechanisms of internal imitation wherein a group of poems share thematic preoccupations and stylistic idiosyncrasies. Jesuit didactic poetry is also characterized by an emphasis on experience and usefulness, on orderliness, on difficulty embraced and surmounted, and on efforts divinely ordained and rewarded.
Gregory Currie
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199282609
- eISBN:
- 9780191712432
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199282609.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Aesthetics, Philosophy of Mind
Narratives are artefacts of a special kind: they are devices which function to tell stories, and do so by conveying the storytelling intentions of their makers. But, narrative itself is too inclusive ...
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Narratives are artefacts of a special kind: they are devices which function to tell stories, and do so by conveying the storytelling intentions of their makers. But, narrative itself is too inclusive a category for much more to be said about it than this; we should focus attention instead on the vaguely defined but interesting category of things rich in narrative structure. Such devices offer significant possibilities, not merely for the representation of stories, but for the expression of point of view; they have also played an important role in the evolution of reliable channels of information, an issue pursued in three chapter appendices. This book argues that much of the pleasure of narrative depends on early developing tendencies in human beings to imitation and to joint attention, and imitation turns out to be the key to understanding such important literary techniques as free indirect discourse and character‐focused narration. The book also examines irony in narrative, with an emphasis on the idea of the expression of ironic points of view; a case study of this phenomenon is offered. Finally, the book examines the idea of Character, as evidenced in robust, situation‐independent ways of acting and thinking, and its important role in many narratives. It is asked whether scepticism about the notion of Character should have us reassess the dramatic and literary tradition which places such emphasis on Character.Less
Narratives are artefacts of a special kind: they are devices which function to tell stories, and do so by conveying the storytelling intentions of their makers. But, narrative itself is too inclusive a category for much more to be said about it than this; we should focus attention instead on the vaguely defined but interesting category of things rich in narrative structure. Such devices offer significant possibilities, not merely for the representation of stories, but for the expression of point of view; they have also played an important role in the evolution of reliable channels of information, an issue pursued in three chapter appendices. This book argues that much of the pleasure of narrative depends on early developing tendencies in human beings to imitation and to joint attention, and imitation turns out to be the key to understanding such important literary techniques as free indirect discourse and character‐focused narration. The book also examines irony in narrative, with an emphasis on the idea of the expression of ironic points of view; a case study of this phenomenon is offered. Finally, the book examines the idea of Character, as evidenced in robust, situation‐independent ways of acting and thinking, and its important role in many narratives. It is asked whether scepticism about the notion of Character should have us reassess the dramatic and literary tradition which places such emphasis on Character.
Alessandro Barchiesi
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691161815
- eISBN:
- 9781400852482
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691161815.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, Criticism/Theory
The study of Homeric imitations in Vergil has one of the longest traditions in Western culture, starting from the very moment the Aeneid was circulated. This is the first English translation of one ...
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The study of Homeric imitations in Vergil has one of the longest traditions in Western culture, starting from the very moment the Aeneid was circulated. This is the first English translation of one of the most important and influential modern studies in this tradition. As a revised and expanded edition it advances innovative approaches even as it recuperates significant earlier interpretations, from Servius to G. N. Knauer. Approaching Homeric allusions in the Aeneid as “narrative effects” rather than glimpses of the creative mind of the author at work, the book demonstrates how these allusions generate hesitations and questions, as well as insights and guidance, and how they participate in the creation of narrative meaning. The book also examines how layers of competing interpretations in Homer are relevant to the Aeneid, revealing again the richness of the Homeric tradition as a component of meaning in the Aeneid. Finally, the book goes beyond previous studies of the Aeneid by distinguishing between two forms of Homeric intertextuality: reusing a text as an individual model or as a generic matrix. For this edition, a new chapter has been added, and in a new afterword the author puts the book in the context of changes in the study of Latin literature and intertextuality. The book has valuable insights for the wider study of imitation, allusion, intertextuality, epic, and literary theory.Less
The study of Homeric imitations in Vergil has one of the longest traditions in Western culture, starting from the very moment the Aeneid was circulated. This is the first English translation of one of the most important and influential modern studies in this tradition. As a revised and expanded edition it advances innovative approaches even as it recuperates significant earlier interpretations, from Servius to G. N. Knauer. Approaching Homeric allusions in the Aeneid as “narrative effects” rather than glimpses of the creative mind of the author at work, the book demonstrates how these allusions generate hesitations and questions, as well as insights and guidance, and how they participate in the creation of narrative meaning. The book also examines how layers of competing interpretations in Homer are relevant to the Aeneid, revealing again the richness of the Homeric tradition as a component of meaning in the Aeneid. Finally, the book goes beyond previous studies of the Aeneid by distinguishing between two forms of Homeric intertextuality: reusing a text as an individual model or as a generic matrix. For this edition, a new chapter has been added, and in a new afterword the author puts the book in the context of changes in the study of Latin literature and intertextuality. The book has valuable insights for the wider study of imitation, allusion, intertextuality, epic, and literary theory.
John V. Kulvicki
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- September 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780199290758
- eISBN:
- 9780191604010
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/019929075X.003.0013
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Aesthetics
Verity, discussed in Chapter 11, is not the whole story about pictorial realism. Other accounts of realism appeal to the relative informativeness of representations, the way in which perceiving them ...
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Verity, discussed in Chapter 11, is not the whole story about pictorial realism. Other accounts of realism appeal to the relative informativeness of representations, the way in which perceiving them mimics our perception of their contents, and the extent to which they are of a standard kind. There is something right about each of these approaches, and this chapter sorts that out in light of the new account of depiction presented earlier.Less
Verity, discussed in Chapter 11, is not the whole story about pictorial realism. Other accounts of realism appeal to the relative informativeness of representations, the way in which perceiving them mimics our perception of their contents, and the extent to which they are of a standard kind. There is something right about each of these approaches, and this chapter sorts that out in light of the new account of depiction presented earlier.
Lynne Dale Halamish and Doron Hermoni
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- November 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195325379
- eISBN:
- 9780199999811
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195325379.003.0013
- Subject:
- Palliative Care, Patient Care and End-of-Life Decision Making, Palliative Medicine and Older People
This chapter examines the concept of freedom in relation to the experience of 25-year-old Judah, who took the responsibility of caring for her girlfriend Sarah after they had a car accident and she ...
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This chapter examines the concept of freedom in relation to the experience of 25-year-old Judah, who took the responsibility of caring for her girlfriend Sarah after they had a car accident and she was seriously hurt with a head injury. Judah spent most his time caring for Sarah but later realized that he needed to earn money and decided to go to the Far East to sell imitation brand-name products. He was imprisoned for three months for selling illegal products, and when he returned to Sarah he learned to strike balance between caring for her and his personal life.Less
This chapter examines the concept of freedom in relation to the experience of 25-year-old Judah, who took the responsibility of caring for her girlfriend Sarah after they had a car accident and she was seriously hurt with a head injury. Judah spent most his time caring for Sarah but later realized that he needed to earn money and decided to go to the Far East to sell imitation brand-name products. He was imprisoned for three months for selling illegal products, and when he returned to Sarah he learned to strike balance between caring for her and his personal life.
Martin L. McLaughlin
- Published in print:
- 1996
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198158998
- eISBN:
- 9780191673443
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198158998.003.0013
- Subject:
- Literature, European Literature, 16th-century and Renaissance Literature
This book clearly shows that imitatio is the dominant critical concept in Italian writers from Petrarch to Bembo, and the outcrop of polemics on the subject at the end of the fifteenth century ...
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This book clearly shows that imitatio is the dominant critical concept in Italian writers from Petrarch to Bembo, and the outcrop of polemics on the subject at the end of the fifteenth century confirms the pre-eminent status of literary imitation on the critical agenda of the time. Once Petrarch discovers that imitatio is an integral part of the creative process, his emphasis on both the suitability and the pitfalls of literary imitation ensures that the topic remains in the forefront of literary debates in the next century and a half. The question of imitation thus embraces the major figures in the development of Italian literary history in this period, from Petrarch via Alberti and Poliziano to Bembo. The imitation debate has a theoretical and practical coherence in the period under review, moving from Dante's embryonic notions of imitatio to the complexity and consistency of Bembo's position two centuries later.Less
This book clearly shows that imitatio is the dominant critical concept in Italian writers from Petrarch to Bembo, and the outcrop of polemics on the subject at the end of the fifteenth century confirms the pre-eminent status of literary imitation on the critical agenda of the time. Once Petrarch discovers that imitatio is an integral part of the creative process, his emphasis on both the suitability and the pitfalls of literary imitation ensures that the topic remains in the forefront of literary debates in the next century and a half. The question of imitation thus embraces the major figures in the development of Italian literary history in this period, from Petrarch via Alberti and Poliziano to Bembo. The imitation debate has a theoretical and practical coherence in the period under review, moving from Dante's embryonic notions of imitatio to the complexity and consistency of Bembo's position two centuries later.
Edward Nye
- Published in print:
- 2000
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198160120
- eISBN:
- 9780191673788
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198160120.003.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, European Literature, Criticism/Theory
This introductory chapter begins with a brief discussion of the difficulty in defining the idea of imitation. It then sets out the purpose of the book, which is to present the ideas of thinkers who ...
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This introductory chapter begins with a brief discussion of the difficulty in defining the idea of imitation. It then sets out the purpose of the book, which is to present the ideas of thinkers who study imitation in language. They have the remarkable ability to avoid the polemical territory occupied by the different factions of the various ‘querelles littéraires’, and instead they study imitation in a disinterested, quasi-objective way. It is argued that 18th-century speculation on language provides an unusually rich number of perspectives on contemporary thought, touching as it does a wide range of intellectual problems, from the linguistic to the social, the anthropological, the rational, the psychological.Less
This introductory chapter begins with a brief discussion of the difficulty in defining the idea of imitation. It then sets out the purpose of the book, which is to present the ideas of thinkers who study imitation in language. They have the remarkable ability to avoid the polemical territory occupied by the different factions of the various ‘querelles littéraires’, and instead they study imitation in a disinterested, quasi-objective way. It is argued that 18th-century speculation on language provides an unusually rich number of perspectives on contemporary thought, touching as it does a wide range of intellectual problems, from the linguistic to the social, the anthropological, the rational, the psychological.
Edward Nye
- Published in print:
- 2000
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198160120
- eISBN:
- 9780191673788
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198160120.003.0007
- Subject:
- Literature, European Literature, Criticism/Theory
This chapter discusses how 18th-century language debates are a rich source of theories about imitation in the arts and a remarkable attempt to answer the ‘what’ and ‘how’ questions to which it gives ...
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This chapter discusses how 18th-century language debates are a rich source of theories about imitation in the arts and a remarkable attempt to answer the ‘what’ and ‘how’ questions to which it gives rise. It argues that the despite the doubts raised about the theory of imitation in the 18th century, for many it is the best working hypothesis available.Less
This chapter discusses how 18th-century language debates are a rich source of theories about imitation in the arts and a remarkable attempt to answer the ‘what’ and ‘how’ questions to which it gives rise. It argues that the despite the doubts raised about the theory of imitation in the 18th century, for many it is the best working hypothesis available.
Edward C. Page
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780199250158
- eISBN:
- 9780191599439
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199250154.003.0010
- Subject:
- Political Science, European Union
Europeanization represents something of a paradox: at one level it is impossible to argue that the state has not been ‘Europeanized’ to some degree in various sectors; and on the other hand, there is ...
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Europeanization represents something of a paradox: at one level it is impossible to argue that the state has not been ‘Europeanized’ to some degree in various sectors; and on the other hand, there is precious little evidence of ‘Europeanization’. The difference between these two views can be explained by the different meanings of ‘Europeanization’ on which they are based: the first argument is based on the definition of Europeanization as impact of whatever sort on the way in which policies are developed in member states of the European Union (EU); the second argument is far more exacting since it is based on a definition of Europeanization as having a homogenizing impact on specific institutions and practices across a wide range of state activities; to a very large degree then the argument about whether and to what extent ‘Europeanization’ is taking place, depends upon the definition used. This investigation addresses a central theme in much of Vincent Wright’s later comparative work, as well as his work on French politics – the persistence of national differences in the light of wider global as well as European influences on the institutions of individual states. The chapter looks at the expectation of homogenization, and whether or not European administrative systems have converged. The various mechanisms considered through which this convergence could occur are: coercion, imitation, adjustment and polydiffusion.Less
Europeanization represents something of a paradox: at one level it is impossible to argue that the state has not been ‘Europeanized’ to some degree in various sectors; and on the other hand, there is precious little evidence of ‘Europeanization’. The difference between these two views can be explained by the different meanings of ‘Europeanization’ on which they are based: the first argument is based on the definition of Europeanization as impact of whatever sort on the way in which policies are developed in member states of the European Union (EU); the second argument is far more exacting since it is based on a definition of Europeanization as having a homogenizing impact on specific institutions and practices across a wide range of state activities; to a very large degree then the argument about whether and to what extent ‘Europeanization’ is taking place, depends upon the definition used. This investigation addresses a central theme in much of Vincent Wright’s later comparative work, as well as his work on French politics – the persistence of national differences in the light of wider global as well as European influences on the institutions of individual states. The chapter looks at the expectation of homogenization, and whether or not European administrative systems have converged. The various mechanisms considered through which this convergence could occur are: coercion, imitation, adjustment and polydiffusion.
Aviad Kleinberg
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780231174701
- eISBN:
- 9780231540247
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Columbia University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7312/columbia/9780231174701.003.0010
- Subject:
- Religion, Philosophy of Religion
Where the finger of Doubting Thomas ends up in the flesh of St. Francis of Assisi.
Where the finger of Doubting Thomas ends up in the flesh of St. Francis of Assisi.
Candida R. Moss
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199739875
- eISBN:
- 9780199777259
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199739875.003.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Theology, Early Christian Studies
This chapter examines the theme of suffering in imitation of Jesus in the New Testament and literature of the Jesus movement. It begins with a discussion of the importance of mimesis and imitation in ...
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This chapter examines the theme of suffering in imitation of Jesus in the New Testament and literature of the Jesus movement. It begins with a discussion of the importance of mimesis and imitation in the ancient world and argues that rather than viewing imitation in New Testament literature as “discipleship” and imitation in noncanonical literature as “imitation,” we should treat both in a similar manner. It argues, as a result of this position, that the idea of following Jesus by suffering like him was an important component of discipleship and feature of exhortation in the writings of the Jesus movement (including the Pauline epistles, gospels of Mark and Luke, 1 Peter, Hebrews, Revelation, First Clement, and writings of Ignatius).Less
This chapter examines the theme of suffering in imitation of Jesus in the New Testament and literature of the Jesus movement. It begins with a discussion of the importance of mimesis and imitation in the ancient world and argues that rather than viewing imitation in New Testament literature as “discipleship” and imitation in noncanonical literature as “imitation,” we should treat both in a similar manner. It argues, as a result of this position, that the idea of following Jesus by suffering like him was an important component of discipleship and feature of exhortation in the writings of the Jesus movement (including the Pauline epistles, gospels of Mark and Luke, 1 Peter, Hebrews, Revelation, First Clement, and writings of Ignatius).
Candida R. Moss
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199739875
- eISBN:
- 9780199777259
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199739875.003.0002
- Subject:
- Religion, Theology, Early Christian Studies
This chapter uses the acts of the martyrs as a window into the reception history of the passion narrative. It begins with a discussion of the ways in which martyrdom was presented as grounded in ...
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This chapter uses the acts of the martyrs as a window into the reception history of the passion narrative. It begins with a discussion of the ways in which martyrdom was presented as grounded in scripture and an interpretation of various commands and instructions given by Jesus in the New Testament. From here it proceeds to analyze in detail the various ways in which narrative elements of the death of Jesus — prayer, crucifixion, overturning tables in the temple, forgiving executioners, the citation of psalmody, the conversion of bystanders, and so forth — were interpreted in the acts of the martyrs for liturgical, rhetorical, and theological effect.Less
This chapter uses the acts of the martyrs as a window into the reception history of the passion narrative. It begins with a discussion of the ways in which martyrdom was presented as grounded in scripture and an interpretation of various commands and instructions given by Jesus in the New Testament. From here it proceeds to analyze in detail the various ways in which narrative elements of the death of Jesus — prayer, crucifixion, overturning tables in the temple, forgiving executioners, the citation of psalmody, the conversion of bystanders, and so forth — were interpreted in the acts of the martyrs for liturgical, rhetorical, and theological effect.
Adam Ockelford
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- January 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780199607631
- eISBN:
- 9780191747687
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199607631.003.0010
- Subject:
- Psychology, Music Psychology, Developmental Psychology
This chapter reflects on the findings of the book as a whole. It considers the epistemological status of ‘applied musicology’, concluding that it lies somewhere midway between the cognitive ...
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This chapter reflects on the findings of the book as a whole. It considers the epistemological status of ‘applied musicology’, concluding that it lies somewhere midway between the cognitive neurosciences of music on the one hand, and postmodern music-sociological research on the other. It restates the belief that the richest and most vital source of information about the musical mind is the music that we as human beings produce, either as individuals or, more commonly, with others. Future prospects are set out, including the use of technology to undertake some of the more mechanical aspects of applied musicological analysis (such as the identification of repetition), leaving practitioners to use the limited time and resources available to them to make the judgements that only they can make: identifying, for example, when repetition derives from imitation—the central tent of zygonic theory, and crucial in determining intentionality and influence in musical interactions.Less
This chapter reflects on the findings of the book as a whole. It considers the epistemological status of ‘applied musicology’, concluding that it lies somewhere midway between the cognitive neurosciences of music on the one hand, and postmodern music-sociological research on the other. It restates the belief that the richest and most vital source of information about the musical mind is the music that we as human beings produce, either as individuals or, more commonly, with others. Future prospects are set out, including the use of technology to undertake some of the more mechanical aspects of applied musicological analysis (such as the identification of repetition), leaving practitioners to use the limited time and resources available to them to make the judgements that only they can make: identifying, for example, when repetition derives from imitation—the central tent of zygonic theory, and crucial in determining intentionality and influence in musical interactions.
SUSAN BLACKMORE
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780197264195
- eISBN:
- 9780191734540
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197264195.003.0003
- Subject:
- Psychology, Cognitive Psychology
This chapter determines the existence of human imagination and creativity through the concept of human culture and meme. It aims to rebut the two assumptions governing creative imagination in humans. ...
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This chapter determines the existence of human imagination and creativity through the concept of human culture and meme. It aims to rebut the two assumptions governing creative imagination in humans. The first assumption suggests that imagination evolved because humans are biologically adaptive. The second assumption claims that the existence of consciousness is the driving force behind creativity and imagination. In this chapter, it is argued that human creativity is the result of evolutionary processes based on memes rather than genes. This concept suggests that if hominid ancestors of humans are capable of imitation, a new set of replicators are set loose driving human minds to become better at copying, storing, and recombining memes. This coevolution of memes and their copying machinery led to the modern imaginative minds which evolved not because they are biologically adaptive but because they are advantageous for the memes. Hence the driving force behind human imagination is therefore not consciousness but aevolutionary algorithm which function is not biological but memetic.Less
This chapter determines the existence of human imagination and creativity through the concept of human culture and meme. It aims to rebut the two assumptions governing creative imagination in humans. The first assumption suggests that imagination evolved because humans are biologically adaptive. The second assumption claims that the existence of consciousness is the driving force behind creativity and imagination. In this chapter, it is argued that human creativity is the result of evolutionary processes based on memes rather than genes. This concept suggests that if hominid ancestors of humans are capable of imitation, a new set of replicators are set loose driving human minds to become better at copying, storing, and recombining memes. This coevolution of memes and their copying machinery led to the modern imaginative minds which evolved not because they are biologically adaptive but because they are advantageous for the memes. Hence the driving force behind human imagination is therefore not consciousness but aevolutionary algorithm which function is not biological but memetic.
GREGORY CURRIE
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780197264195
- eISBN:
- 9780191734540
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197264195.003.0008
- Subject:
- Psychology, Cognitive Psychology
This chapter discusses the impact of narratives on the imaginative faculties of the readers. Imaginative engagement with a narrative has two aspects: what is to be imagined from the narratives and ...
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This chapter discusses the impact of narratives on the imaginative faculties of the readers. Imaginative engagement with a narrative has two aspects: what is to be imagined from the narratives and how it is imagined. The second aspect requires the notion of a point of view wherein readers imagine the events of the story from a certain vantage point, which involves eliciting certain kinds of responses to the events and to the characters who act them out. Narratives have the capacity to prescribe a certain point of view just as they are able to enforce what is to be imagined. This capacity to prescribe specific point of view is done not through explicit direction but rather through the expressive nature of the narratives. In this chapter, the focus is on the many relevant factors that motivate the readers to imitate or adopt the point of view offered by the authors or the narratives. It examines the tendency of readers to respond imitatively to their own imaginative construction of the author’s mind.Less
This chapter discusses the impact of narratives on the imaginative faculties of the readers. Imaginative engagement with a narrative has two aspects: what is to be imagined from the narratives and how it is imagined. The second aspect requires the notion of a point of view wherein readers imagine the events of the story from a certain vantage point, which involves eliciting certain kinds of responses to the events and to the characters who act them out. Narratives have the capacity to prescribe a certain point of view just as they are able to enforce what is to be imagined. This capacity to prescribe specific point of view is done not through explicit direction but rather through the expressive nature of the narratives. In this chapter, the focus is on the many relevant factors that motivate the readers to imitate or adopt the point of view offered by the authors or the narratives. It examines the tendency of readers to respond imitatively to their own imaginative construction of the author’s mind.
Dominique Guellec
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- May 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199216987
- eISBN:
- 9780191711831
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199216987.003.0003
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Development, Growth, and Environmental
This chapter investigates the rationale of patents, their economic role, and the circumstances in which they are the most effective. The utilitarian theory considers patents as an incentive — a ...
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This chapter investigates the rationale of patents, their economic role, and the circumstances in which they are the most effective. The utilitarian theory considers patents as an incentive — a policy instrument used by society for encouraging inventions. Patents are a response to the public good nature of knowledge, which makes imitation easier than invention. They are one of the instruments of innovation policy along with grants, prizes, subsidies, universities, and public laboratories. Compared with other instruments, patents are more market friendly, leaving all technical and economic choices to firms and customers; and they restrict the use of knowledge. The evidence so far supports the view that patents are quite effective in encouraging innovation, especially in certain industries like pharmaceuticals or chemicals, and less so in electronics, and have little direct effect in other industries, especially in services.Less
This chapter investigates the rationale of patents, their economic role, and the circumstances in which they are the most effective. The utilitarian theory considers patents as an incentive — a policy instrument used by society for encouraging inventions. Patents are a response to the public good nature of knowledge, which makes imitation easier than invention. They are one of the instruments of innovation policy along with grants, prizes, subsidies, universities, and public laboratories. Compared with other instruments, patents are more market friendly, leaving all technical and economic choices to firms and customers; and they restrict the use of knowledge. The evidence so far supports the view that patents are quite effective in encouraging innovation, especially in certain industries like pharmaceuticals or chemicals, and less so in electronics, and have little direct effect in other industries, especially in services.
Stephen Clucas
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780197264133
- eISBN:
- 9780191734649
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197264133.003.0014
- Subject:
- Literature, 16th-century and Renaissance Literature
This chapter examines Thomas Watson's Hekatompathia, the first Petrarchan sonnet sequence in English. It explains the use of Hekatompathia to investigate the status of imitation in late ...
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This chapter examines Thomas Watson's Hekatompathia, the first Petrarchan sonnet sequence in English. It explains the use of Hekatompathia to investigate the status of imitation in late sixteenth-century Europe. It analyses the variety of ways in which Watson articulates the relationship between his poems and the originals, from faithful, line-by-line renderings to various kinds of partial translation, to centoni and paraphrase.Less
This chapter examines Thomas Watson's Hekatompathia, the first Petrarchan sonnet sequence in English. It explains the use of Hekatompathia to investigate the status of imitation in late sixteenth-century Europe. It analyses the variety of ways in which Watson articulates the relationship between his poems and the originals, from faithful, line-by-line renderings to various kinds of partial translation, to centoni and paraphrase.
William Hoppitt and Kevin N. Laland
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691150703
- eISBN:
- 9781400846504
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691150703.003.0001
- Subject:
- Biology, Animal Biology
This book explores social learning concepts and methods as well as new developments in the field. These methods include: experimental and statistical methods that allow researchers to categorize ...
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This book explores social learning concepts and methods as well as new developments in the field. These methods include: experimental and statistical methods that allow researchers to categorize cases of social learning according to their underlying psychological processes and learning mechanisms; neuroscientific methods for identifying the brain structures, neural circuitry, and physiological processes underlying both social learning and social influences on decision making; and mathematical methods for predicting the pattern of diffusion of novel learned innovations, and for modeling cultural evolution and gene-culture coevolution. This introductory chapter presents some definitions such as “social learning,” “imitation,” “innovation,” and “social transmission” and explains why social learning is an important field of study. It also provides an overview of the chapters that follow.Less
This book explores social learning concepts and methods as well as new developments in the field. These methods include: experimental and statistical methods that allow researchers to categorize cases of social learning according to their underlying psychological processes and learning mechanisms; neuroscientific methods for identifying the brain structures, neural circuitry, and physiological processes underlying both social learning and social influences on decision making; and mathematical methods for predicting the pattern of diffusion of novel learned innovations, and for modeling cultural evolution and gene-culture coevolution. This introductory chapter presents some definitions such as “social learning,” “imitation,” “innovation,” and “social transmission” and explains why social learning is an important field of study. It also provides an overview of the chapters that follow.
William Hoppitt and Kevin N. Laland
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691150703
- eISBN:
- 9781400846504
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691150703.003.0002
- Subject:
- Biology, Animal Biology
This chapter provides a brief historical background to social learning research. The history of research into social learning and imitation dates back to Aristotle, who explicitly made the claim that ...
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This chapter provides a brief historical background to social learning research. The history of research into social learning and imitation dates back to Aristotle, who explicitly made the claim that animals acquire behavior through imitation and other forms of social learning. Aristotle was particularly impressed with the human imitative tendency. The three insights made in the fourth century BC—that humans are uncharacteristically reliant on imitative learning compared to other animals, that young children in particular acquire important aspects of their behavioral repertoire through copying, and that imitation appears intrinsically rewarding to children—are remarkably relevant to contemporary social learning research. The chapter examines how investigations of social learning have been central to research into the evolution of mind, the mechanisms of social learning, animal culture, the diffusion of innovations, child development, and cultural evolution.Less
This chapter provides a brief historical background to social learning research. The history of research into social learning and imitation dates back to Aristotle, who explicitly made the claim that animals acquire behavior through imitation and other forms of social learning. Aristotle was particularly impressed with the human imitative tendency. The three insights made in the fourth century BC—that humans are uncharacteristically reliant on imitative learning compared to other animals, that young children in particular acquire important aspects of their behavioral repertoire through copying, and that imitation appears intrinsically rewarding to children—are remarkably relevant to contemporary social learning research. The chapter examines how investigations of social learning have been central to research into the evolution of mind, the mechanisms of social learning, animal culture, the diffusion of innovations, child development, and cultural evolution.
