Valerie Tiberius
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- May 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199202867
- eISBN:
- 9780191707988
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199202867.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Moral Philosophy
How should you live? Should you devote yourself to perfecting a single talent or try to live a balanced life? Should you lighten up and have more fun, or buckle down and try to achieve greatness? ...
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How should you live? Should you devote yourself to perfecting a single talent or try to live a balanced life? Should you lighten up and have more fun, or buckle down and try to achieve greatness? Should you try to be a better friend? Should you be self-critical or self-accepting? And how should you decide among the possibilities open to you? Should you consult experts, listen to your parents, or should you do lots of research? Should you make lists of pros and cons, or go with your gut? These are not questions that can be answered in general or in the abstract. Rather, these questions are addressed to the first person point of view, to the perspective each of us occupies when we reflect on how to live without knowing exactly what we're aiming for. To answer them, this book focuses on the process of living one's life from the inside, rather than on defining goals from the outside. Drawing on traditional philosophical sources as well as literature and recent work in social psychology, this book argues that to live well, we need to develop reflective wisdom: to care about things that will sustain us and give us good experiences, to have perspective on our successes and failures, and to be moderately self-aware and cautiously optimistic about human nature. Further, we need to know when to think about our values, character, and choices, and when not to. A crucial part of wisdom, the book maintains, is being able to shift perspectives: to be self-critical; to be realistic; to examine life when reflection is appropriate, but not when we should lose ourselves in experience.Less
How should you live? Should you devote yourself to perfecting a single talent or try to live a balanced life? Should you lighten up and have more fun, or buckle down and try to achieve greatness? Should you try to be a better friend? Should you be self-critical or self-accepting? And how should you decide among the possibilities open to you? Should you consult experts, listen to your parents, or should you do lots of research? Should you make lists of pros and cons, or go with your gut? These are not questions that can be answered in general or in the abstract. Rather, these questions are addressed to the first person point of view, to the perspective each of us occupies when we reflect on how to live without knowing exactly what we're aiming for. To answer them, this book focuses on the process of living one's life from the inside, rather than on defining goals from the outside. Drawing on traditional philosophical sources as well as literature and recent work in social psychology, this book argues that to live well, we need to develop reflective wisdom: to care about things that will sustain us and give us good experiences, to have perspective on our successes and failures, and to be moderately self-aware and cautiously optimistic about human nature. Further, we need to know when to think about our values, character, and choices, and when not to. A crucial part of wisdom, the book maintains, is being able to shift perspectives: to be self-critical; to be realistic; to examine life when reflection is appropriate, but not when we should lose ourselves in experience.
Avi Besser, Gordon L. Flett, and Paul L. Hewitt
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195398090
- eISBN:
- 9780199776900
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195398090.003.0014
- Subject:
- Psychology, Social Psychology, Clinical Psychology
This chapter explores the associations between personality factors, depression, and self-silencing. The authors contend that there are many reasons why individuals engage in self-silencing and these ...
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This chapter explores the associations between personality factors, depression, and self-silencing. The authors contend that there are many reasons why individuals engage in self-silencing and these reasons reflect personality vulnerability factors associated with depression that are also associated with self-silencing. They present evidence that self-silencing combines with these personality factors, either as mediators or as moderators, to increase the risk for depression in certain individuals. Through an examination of particular personality variables, namely dependency, self-criticism, and perfectionism, the authors demonstrate that people with vulnerable personalities who also engage in self-silencing may suffer from chronic and destructive forms of stress that can be damaging to health and well-being.Less
This chapter explores the associations between personality factors, depression, and self-silencing. The authors contend that there are many reasons why individuals engage in self-silencing and these reasons reflect personality vulnerability factors associated with depression that are also associated with self-silencing. They present evidence that self-silencing combines with these personality factors, either as mediators or as moderators, to increase the risk for depression in certain individuals. Through an examination of particular personality variables, namely dependency, self-criticism, and perfectionism, the authors demonstrate that people with vulnerable personalities who also engage in self-silencing may suffer from chronic and destructive forms of stress that can be damaging to health and well-being.
William F. Bristow
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- May 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199290642
- eISBN:
- 9780191710421
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199290642.003.0006
- Subject:
- Philosophy, History of Philosophy
This chapter argues that the method of the Phenomenology (the many contortions of that method) is determined by the effort to meet the epistemological demand of Kantian critique without implicitly ...
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This chapter argues that the method of the Phenomenology (the many contortions of that method) is determined by the effort to meet the epistemological demand of Kantian critique without implicitly presupposing subjectivism. This project turns out to require self-transformational criticism.Less
This chapter argues that the method of the Phenomenology (the many contortions of that method) is determined by the effort to meet the epistemological demand of Kantian critique without implicitly presupposing subjectivism. This project turns out to require self-transformational criticism.
A. Raghuramaraju
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780198070122
- eISBN:
- 9780199080014
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198070122.003.0004
- Subject:
- Sociology, Social Theory
This chapter examines how reading contemporary Indian philosophers' writings as modern texts or considering them as modern authors fails to capture some important ideas contained in them. There are ...
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This chapter examines how reading contemporary Indian philosophers' writings as modern texts or considering them as modern authors fails to capture some important ideas contained in them. There are two different sets of interpretations on contemporary Indian philosopher Swami Vivekananda. The first consists of those like Tapan Raychaudhuri, who sees no traces of Hindu revivalism in Vivekananda. Raychaudhuri, together with Nemai Sadhan Bose, tries to project universalism, ultimate truth, rather than Hindu religion, as central to Vivekananda. The second set comprises those like Javeed Alam, who sees certain thoughts and categorizations of communalism in Vivekananda. This chapter argues that democracy in India can be sustained not only through a liberal epistemology based on empirical claims about reality, but also through Buddhist epistemology. To develop this argument, the chapter considers a crucial structural feature of democracy: criticism. It elaborates the three modes of criticism: criticism as rejection, self-criticism, and internal criticism.Less
This chapter examines how reading contemporary Indian philosophers' writings as modern texts or considering them as modern authors fails to capture some important ideas contained in them. There are two different sets of interpretations on contemporary Indian philosopher Swami Vivekananda. The first consists of those like Tapan Raychaudhuri, who sees no traces of Hindu revivalism in Vivekananda. Raychaudhuri, together with Nemai Sadhan Bose, tries to project universalism, ultimate truth, rather than Hindu religion, as central to Vivekananda. The second set comprises those like Javeed Alam, who sees certain thoughts and categorizations of communalism in Vivekananda. This chapter argues that democracy in India can be sustained not only through a liberal epistemology based on empirical claims about reality, but also through Buddhist epistemology. To develop this argument, the chapter considers a crucial structural feature of democracy: criticism. It elaborates the three modes of criticism: criticism as rejection, self-criticism, and internal criticism.
Richard Kearney
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- March 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780823223176
- eISBN:
- 9780823235155
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Fordham University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5422/fso/9780823223176.003.0014
- Subject:
- Philosophy, General
Paul Ricoeur believes that Europe has produced a series of cultural identities which brought with them their own self-criticism, and he thinks ...
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Paul Ricoeur believes that Europe has produced a series of cultural identities which brought with them their own self-criticism, and he thinks that this is unique. Even Christianity encompassed its own critique. Plurality is within Europe itself. Europe has had different kinds of Renaissance—Carolingian, twelfth-century, Italian and French, fifteenth-century, and so on. The Enlightenment was another expression of this, and it is important that in the dialogue with other cultures people keep this element of self-criticism, which Ricoeur thinks is the only specificity of Europe (along with, of course, the enhancement of science). The kind of universality that Europe represents contains within itself a plurality of cultures which have been merged and intertwined, and which provide a certain fragility, an ability to disclaim and interrogate itself.Less
Paul Ricoeur believes that Europe has produced a series of cultural identities which brought with them their own self-criticism, and he thinks that this is unique. Even Christianity encompassed its own critique. Plurality is within Europe itself. Europe has had different kinds of Renaissance—Carolingian, twelfth-century, Italian and French, fifteenth-century, and so on. The Enlightenment was another expression of this, and it is important that in the dialogue with other cultures people keep this element of self-criticism, which Ricoeur thinks is the only specificity of Europe (along with, of course, the enhancement of science). The kind of universality that Europe represents contains within itself a plurality of cultures which have been merged and intertwined, and which provide a certain fragility, an ability to disclaim and interrogate itself.
Thomas Nagel
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195149838
- eISBN:
- 9780199872206
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195149831.003.0002
- Subject:
- Philosophy, General
In Nagel's view, any challenge to reason involves reason and implicitly authorizes the use of reason. Separating the idea of reason from the idea that its results must carry absolute certainty, Nagel ...
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In Nagel's view, any challenge to reason involves reason and implicitly authorizes the use of reason. Separating the idea of reason from the idea that its results must carry absolute certainty, Nagel stresses the importance of the aspiration of reason for universality. His defense of the authority of reason resembles Descartes’ cogito, which identifies the limits of self‐criticism from an external viewpoint. Rejecting Richard Rorty's pragmatism as inconsistent with the consensus upon which Rorty attempts to “ground” objectivity, Nagel states that epistemological skepticism is only possible with an implicit reliance on the capacity for rational thought.Less
In Nagel's view, any challenge to reason involves reason and implicitly authorizes the use of reason. Separating the idea of reason from the idea that its results must carry absolute certainty, Nagel stresses the importance of the aspiration of reason for universality. His defense of the authority of reason resembles Descartes’ cogito, which identifies the limits of self‐criticism from an external viewpoint. Rejecting Richard Rorty's pragmatism as inconsistent with the consensus upon which Rorty attempts to “ground” objectivity, Nagel states that epistemological skepticism is only possible with an implicit reliance on the capacity for rational thought.
Richard W. Kaeuper
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199244584
- eISBN:
- 9780191697388
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199244584.003.0014
- Subject:
- History, European Medieval History
This chapter discusses the critical and reformist views of the knights. The ideas for change and improvement did not all come from the non-knightly. If model knights loudly and predictably praised ...
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This chapter discusses the critical and reformist views of the knights. The ideas for change and improvement did not all come from the non-knightly. If model knights loudly and predictably praised chivalry, their fear and their ideals for reform were true, and their chosen words audible and important.Less
This chapter discusses the critical and reformist views of the knights. The ideas for change and improvement did not all come from the non-knightly. If model knights loudly and predictably praised chivalry, their fear and their ideals for reform were true, and their chosen words audible and important.
Menachem Fisch
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- May 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780226514482
- eISBN:
- 9780226514659
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226514659.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Science
Creatively Undecided offers a new way to look at how scientific understandings change. Thomas Kuhn has shown us how scientific practice and thinking depends on the normative framework in which it is ...
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Creatively Undecided offers a new way to look at how scientific understandings change. Thomas Kuhn has shown us how scientific practice and thinking depends on the normative framework in which it is conducted, but he and his followers have failed to show how such frameworks can be deemed the possible outcomes of the kind of critical assessment that Popper viewed as central to all rational deliberation. How can a scientist subject her standards to rational appraisal if that very act requires the use of those standards? The novel way out argued for in the book is to realize that exposure to external normative criticism is capable of destabializing normative commitment to a far greater extent than mere self-critique. Therefore, while science can only be transformed from within, by people who have standing in the field, criticism from the outside is essential. We may not be able to be sufficiently self-critical on our own, but trusted criticism from outside, even if resisted, can begin to change our perspective—at which point transformative self-criticism becomes a real option. The book’s novel thesis, argued for philosophically in the first four chapters comprising Parts I and II, is put to the test of a detailed case study in the history of British mathematics in Part III.Less
Creatively Undecided offers a new way to look at how scientific understandings change. Thomas Kuhn has shown us how scientific practice and thinking depends on the normative framework in which it is conducted, but he and his followers have failed to show how such frameworks can be deemed the possible outcomes of the kind of critical assessment that Popper viewed as central to all rational deliberation. How can a scientist subject her standards to rational appraisal if that very act requires the use of those standards? The novel way out argued for in the book is to realize that exposure to external normative criticism is capable of destabializing normative commitment to a far greater extent than mere self-critique. Therefore, while science can only be transformed from within, by people who have standing in the field, criticism from the outside is essential. We may not be able to be sufficiently self-critical on our own, but trusted criticism from outside, even if resisted, can begin to change our perspective—at which point transformative self-criticism becomes a real option. The book’s novel thesis, argued for philosophically in the first four chapters comprising Parts I and II, is put to the test of a detailed case study in the history of British mathematics in Part III.
Bobbie Farsides (ed.)
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- November 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198567745
- eISBN:
- 9780191730436
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198567745.003.0011
- Subject:
- Palliative Care, Patient Care and End-of-Life Decision Making, Palliative Medicine Research
This chapter examines ethical issues in the multidisciplinary teamwork setting in palliative care. It contends that one of the great advantages of the multidisciplinary team is that each subgroup ...
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This chapter examines ethical issues in the multidisciplinary teamwork setting in palliative care. It contends that one of the great advantages of the multidisciplinary team is that each subgroup within it acts as a corrective to the view that any one group of professionals can do everything that is needed for a patient and their family. This corrective mechanism can also work at a moral level where no one perspective is allowed to prevail to the extent that moral debate and self-examination are replaced by complacency and lack of self-criticism or awareness.Less
This chapter examines ethical issues in the multidisciplinary teamwork setting in palliative care. It contends that one of the great advantages of the multidisciplinary team is that each subgroup within it acts as a corrective to the view that any one group of professionals can do everything that is needed for a patient and their family. This corrective mechanism can also work at a moral level where no one perspective is allowed to prevail to the extent that moral debate and self-examination are replaced by complacency and lack of self-criticism or awareness.
Bruce Arroll
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- January 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780195383263
- eISBN:
- 9780199344871
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195383263.003.0022
- Subject:
- Social Work, Health and Mental Health
In Chapter 22, the author discusses his career as a physician in general practice. He describes an especially harrowing experience accompanying a patient on a helicopter ride to the hospital with ...
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In Chapter 22, the author discusses his career as a physician in general practice. He describes an especially harrowing experience accompanying a patient on a helicopter ride to the hospital with severe wounds that suddenly stopped breathing. The lessons learned from his career are both practical and theoretical. A practical lesson is the need to train rural physicians and staff in the skills and issues of transferring sick patients. The author also discusses self-criticism limitations and the need to accept one’s limitations and try to learn from mistakes.Less
In Chapter 22, the author discusses his career as a physician in general practice. He describes an especially harrowing experience accompanying a patient on a helicopter ride to the hospital with severe wounds that suddenly stopped breathing. The lessons learned from his career are both practical and theoretical. A practical lesson is the need to train rural physicians and staff in the skills and issues of transferring sick patients. The author also discusses self-criticism limitations and the need to accept one’s limitations and try to learn from mistakes.
Peter Hays Gries
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520232976
- eISBN:
- 9780520931947
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520232976.003.0007
- Subject:
- History, Asian History
This chapter discusses Chinese nationalism and China's apology diplomacy. It considers Sino-Japanese relations, and suggests that many contemporary Chinese confront their perceived humiliation at ...
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This chapter discusses Chinese nationalism and China's apology diplomacy. It considers Sino-Japanese relations, and suggests that many contemporary Chinese confront their perceived humiliation at Japanese hands alternately with self-criticism and with anger at their rival. The chapter highlights Western scholars' criticism on the elites' use of nationalism to bolster their legitimacy and their dismissal of emotions as irrelevant to nationalist politics.Less
This chapter discusses Chinese nationalism and China's apology diplomacy. It considers Sino-Japanese relations, and suggests that many contemporary Chinese confront their perceived humiliation at Japanese hands alternately with self-criticism and with anger at their rival. The chapter highlights Western scholars' criticism on the elites' use of nationalism to bolster their legitimacy and their dismissal of emotions as irrelevant to nationalist politics.
Glenn Feldman
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780813123639
- eISBN:
- 9780813134758
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Kentucky
- DOI:
- 10.5810/kentucky/9780813123639.003.0013
- Subject:
- History, Cultural History
This concluding chapter sums up the key findings of this study on the relationship between religion and politics in the American South. The history of the South has been, most fundamentally, the ...
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This concluding chapter sums up the key findings of this study on the relationship between religion and politics in the American South. The history of the South has been, most fundamentally, the story of the struggle between liberalism and conservatism in a variety of venues and in a spectrum of areas. And in overarching struggle between liberalism and conservatism, the latter won out repeatedly and the South is still the most conservative region of the U.S. In the final analysis, the stream of toleration, progressivism, and self-criticism is still a distinctly minority current in the South and this is most apparent in the critical intersection between politics and religion.Less
This concluding chapter sums up the key findings of this study on the relationship between religion and politics in the American South. The history of the South has been, most fundamentally, the story of the struggle between liberalism and conservatism in a variety of venues and in a spectrum of areas. And in overarching struggle between liberalism and conservatism, the latter won out repeatedly and the South is still the most conservative region of the U.S. In the final analysis, the stream of toleration, progressivism, and self-criticism is still a distinctly minority current in the South and this is most apparent in the critical intersection between politics and religion.
Menachem Fisch
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- May 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780226514482
- eISBN:
- 9780226514659
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226514659.003.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Science
The introduction introduces the problem of accounting for the rationality of scientific paradigm shifts that motivates the book, sketches the solution proposed, and briefly outlines the chapters to ...
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The introduction introduces the problem of accounting for the rationality of scientific paradigm shifts that motivates the book, sketches the solution proposed, and briefly outlines the chapters to come. To replace a scientific framework rationally requires deeming it sufficiently wanting to merit seeking an alternative. But how can one’s scientific norms and standards be found scientifically wanting if it is by means of them that one scientifically appraises? The solution turns on the difference between self-criticism and exposure to external criticism, which at times can destabilize a norm sufficiently, and render those committed to it sufficiently ambivalent to take a critical stand. The Introduction briefly indicates how this works in science, and outlines the case study detailed in the final three chapters.Less
The introduction introduces the problem of accounting for the rationality of scientific paradigm shifts that motivates the book, sketches the solution proposed, and briefly outlines the chapters to come. To replace a scientific framework rationally requires deeming it sufficiently wanting to merit seeking an alternative. But how can one’s scientific norms and standards be found scientifically wanting if it is by means of them that one scientifically appraises? The solution turns on the difference between self-criticism and exposure to external criticism, which at times can destabilize a norm sufficiently, and render those committed to it sufficiently ambivalent to take a critical stand. The Introduction briefly indicates how this works in science, and outlines the case study detailed in the final three chapters.
Christopher Berg
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- December 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780190051105
- eISBN:
- 9780190051143
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780190051105.003.0011
- Subject:
- Music, Performing Practice/Studies
The final chapter poses questions to readers who have successfully navigated material in the book in the interests of determining the steps best suited for their long-term artistic development: Do I ...
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The final chapter poses questions to readers who have successfully navigated material in the book in the interests of determining the steps best suited for their long-term artistic development: Do I have the foundational background to study successfully my next repertoire piece? Do I have the experience to make artistic and nuanced decisions, or will my ear be compromised by a struggling, exercise-like reading of a work? Am I only drawn to the type of music that comes easily to me, or am I willing to strike out in new directions? The answers may highlight differences between unexamined received wisdom and critical thinking. It is in these differences that a student’s development as an artist can begin to take flight.Less
The final chapter poses questions to readers who have successfully navigated material in the book in the interests of determining the steps best suited for their long-term artistic development: Do I have the foundational background to study successfully my next repertoire piece? Do I have the experience to make artistic and nuanced decisions, or will my ear be compromised by a struggling, exercise-like reading of a work? Am I only drawn to the type of music that comes easily to me, or am I willing to strike out in new directions? The answers may highlight differences between unexamined received wisdom and critical thinking. It is in these differences that a student’s development as an artist can begin to take flight.
Arnoud Visser
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780198779919
- eISBN:
- 9780191825927
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198779919.003.0010
- Subject:
- History, Cultural History
This chapter discusses the works of academic historian Sari Kivistö, an expert in charting the moral discourse about scholarly vices in late Baroque and early Enlightenment Europe. Kivistö ...
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This chapter discusses the works of academic historian Sari Kivistö, an expert in charting the moral discourse about scholarly vices in late Baroque and early Enlightenment Europe. Kivistö concentrates largely on dissertations written by German intellectuals between approximately 1670 and 1730, a period where academic self-criticism became a flourishing genre of publication. Kivistö's main purpose is to investigate how scholarly vices were conceptualized in this period of change, exploring in particular the connections between knowledge and morality. Her exploration is divided into five thematic chapters that explore the vices of self-love, the desire for fame, quarrelling, curiosity, and bad manners. Although these vices regularly overlap, Kivistö explains the division by stating that these sins are the most prominently discussed in the primary sources.Less
This chapter discusses the works of academic historian Sari Kivistö, an expert in charting the moral discourse about scholarly vices in late Baroque and early Enlightenment Europe. Kivistö concentrates largely on dissertations written by German intellectuals between approximately 1670 and 1730, a period where academic self-criticism became a flourishing genre of publication. Kivistö's main purpose is to investigate how scholarly vices were conceptualized in this period of change, exploring in particular the connections between knowledge and morality. Her exploration is divided into five thematic chapters that explore the vices of self-love, the desire for fame, quarrelling, curiosity, and bad manners. Although these vices regularly overlap, Kivistö explains the division by stating that these sins are the most prominently discussed in the primary sources.
Muhammad Khalid Masud
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- June 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780198092063
- eISBN:
- 9780199082872
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198092063.003.0001
- Subject:
- Sociology, Comparative and Historical Sociology
The prevailing grand narrative of Islam and modernity overlooks the phenomenon of non-Western modernity. It refuses to recognize continuing trends of reconciliations, self-criticism, and ...
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The prevailing grand narrative of Islam and modernity overlooks the phenomenon of non-Western modernity. It refuses to recognize continuing trends of reconciliations, self-criticism, and accommodation in Muslim thought, especially in South Asia. This chapter sets out to remedy some of these misunderstandings. From 1857 when the Raj introduced its ‘modernity project’ in India, the narrative of modernity changed. Hindu and Muslim civilizations were presented as indulging in casuistry, mythologies, and treacherous political ideas. Muslims were divided into puritan and nominal. The modernity project aimed at civilizing the natives. The ‘Western impact’ defined modernity as Westernism. It generated among Indian Muslims a cultural resistance to modernity. Religious groups began organizing themselves into political parties that stood for conservatism that was justified as denunciation of colonialism and imperialism. Eventually this conflict led to fundamentalist and extremist religious trends in the twentieth century.Less
The prevailing grand narrative of Islam and modernity overlooks the phenomenon of non-Western modernity. It refuses to recognize continuing trends of reconciliations, self-criticism, and accommodation in Muslim thought, especially in South Asia. This chapter sets out to remedy some of these misunderstandings. From 1857 when the Raj introduced its ‘modernity project’ in India, the narrative of modernity changed. Hindu and Muslim civilizations were presented as indulging in casuistry, mythologies, and treacherous political ideas. Muslims were divided into puritan and nominal. The modernity project aimed at civilizing the natives. The ‘Western impact’ defined modernity as Westernism. It generated among Indian Muslims a cultural resistance to modernity. Religious groups began organizing themselves into political parties that stood for conservatism that was justified as denunciation of colonialism and imperialism. Eventually this conflict led to fundamentalist and extremist religious trends in the twentieth century.
Stephen Eric Bronner
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- March 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780814748923
- eISBN:
- 9780814748930
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- NYU Press
- DOI:
- 10.18574/nyu/9780814748923.003.0015
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
This chapter argues that we must not allow fears of the Protocols in the 21st century to blind us to the differences between the text's role in our day and its role a century ago on the one hand, and ...
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This chapter argues that we must not allow fears of the Protocols in the 21st century to blind us to the differences between the text's role in our day and its role a century ago on the one hand, and not allow our fears of anti-Semitism to silence responsible self-criticism, in particular that of Jews criticizing aspects of Israeli policy, on the other. A rigorous critique of Israel is thus not only legitimate, but necessary. The very creation of Israel has fundamentally changed the situation, as Jews are no longer in the ghetto or an oppressed minority, therefore one cannot compare the real victims of Protocols-inspired genocidal paranoia to Israeli Jews, who can now defend themselves.Less
This chapter argues that we must not allow fears of the Protocols in the 21st century to blind us to the differences between the text's role in our day and its role a century ago on the one hand, and not allow our fears of anti-Semitism to silence responsible self-criticism, in particular that of Jews criticizing aspects of Israeli policy, on the other. A rigorous critique of Israel is thus not only legitimate, but necessary. The very creation of Israel has fundamentally changed the situation, as Jews are no longer in the ghetto or an oppressed minority, therefore one cannot compare the real victims of Protocols-inspired genocidal paranoia to Israeli Jews, who can now defend themselves.
Robert F. Taft S.J.
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- January 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780823251926
- eISBN:
- 9780823253067
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Fordham University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5422/fordham/9780823251926.003.0002
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
This chapter suggests a mutual “purification of memories” for healing the dolorous history of Catholic-Orthodox relations, its Catholic author first providing an examination of Catholic misdeeds ...
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This chapter suggests a mutual “purification of memories” for healing the dolorous history of Catholic-Orthodox relations, its Catholic author first providing an examination of Catholic misdeeds vis-avis the Orthodox East, then suggesting that the Orthodox, too, learn the uses of history in a modern academic climate that seeks to be fair and objective insofar as that is possible, eschew scapegoating and the “our hands are always clean” victim-hood pretence, the use of the double-standard, and learn a little self-criticism and fairness. This will require that the Orthodox make their own frank examination of conscience too.Less
This chapter suggests a mutual “purification of memories” for healing the dolorous history of Catholic-Orthodox relations, its Catholic author first providing an examination of Catholic misdeeds vis-avis the Orthodox East, then suggesting that the Orthodox, too, learn the uses of history in a modern academic climate that seeks to be fair and objective insofar as that is possible, eschew scapegoating and the “our hands are always clean” victim-hood pretence, the use of the double-standard, and learn a little self-criticism and fairness. This will require that the Orthodox make their own frank examination of conscience too.
Gerry Canavan
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- April 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780252040665
- eISBN:
- 9780252099106
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Illinois Press
- DOI:
- 10.5406/illinois/9780252040665.003.0003
- Subject:
- Literature, 20th-century and Contemporary Literature
This chapter discusses Octavia E. Butler's writing career during the period 1971–1976, focusing on her early Patternist books, Patternmaster (1976), Mind of My Mind (1977), and Survivor (1978), along ...
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This chapter discusses Octavia E. Butler's writing career during the period 1971–1976, focusing on her early Patternist books, Patternmaster (1976), Mind of My Mind (1977), and Survivor (1978), along with the unpublished “The Evening and the Morning and the Night” [I] (1970s). The chapter begins with an overview of Butler's career struggles, her early interest in fantasy and science fiction, her initial foray into commercial fiction, and her love of comic books. It then considers Butler's preference for novel writing, her professional frustrations, and her depression and self-criticism before analyzing her Patternist series in greater detail. It also examines the theme of power that pervades Butler's stories.Less
This chapter discusses Octavia E. Butler's writing career during the period 1971–1976, focusing on her early Patternist books, Patternmaster (1976), Mind of My Mind (1977), and Survivor (1978), along with the unpublished “The Evening and the Morning and the Night” [I] (1970s). The chapter begins with an overview of Butler's career struggles, her early interest in fantasy and science fiction, her initial foray into commercial fiction, and her love of comic books. It then considers Butler's preference for novel writing, her professional frustrations, and her depression and self-criticism before analyzing her Patternist series in greater detail. It also examines the theme of power that pervades Butler's stories.
Charles S. Young
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- April 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780195183481
- eISBN:
- 9780199344796
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195183481.003.0007
- Subject:
- History, American History: 20th Century, Military History
American POWs initially acquiesced to the Chinese political education classes. However, since the Chinese sought genuine converts, they had to engage in give and take; there was no actual ...
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American POWs initially acquiesced to the Chinese political education classes. However, since the Chinese sought genuine converts, they had to engage in give and take; there was no actual brainwashing. As POWs realized what they could get away with, they either tuned out or became increasingly resistant, arguing with their instructors or even mocking them. The prisoners especially resented how insufferably long and boring the politics classes were. The communist instructors adapted by toning down the Marxist theory and focusing instead on the ugliness of war and the brutality of the United Nations forces led by America. Nevertheless, they had little success in bridging the gaps between races, cultures, or between captive and captor. Mandatory study ended after one year. Some prisoners known as “Progressives” continued studying voluntarily, but they retained little of the indoctrination after returning to the United States. The postwar impression of unprecedented capitulation and assistance to the enemy was wrong. What collaboration occurred was comparable to what happened in other wars.Less
American POWs initially acquiesced to the Chinese political education classes. However, since the Chinese sought genuine converts, they had to engage in give and take; there was no actual brainwashing. As POWs realized what they could get away with, they either tuned out or became increasingly resistant, arguing with their instructors or even mocking them. The prisoners especially resented how insufferably long and boring the politics classes were. The communist instructors adapted by toning down the Marxist theory and focusing instead on the ugliness of war and the brutality of the United Nations forces led by America. Nevertheless, they had little success in bridging the gaps between races, cultures, or between captive and captor. Mandatory study ended after one year. Some prisoners known as “Progressives” continued studying voluntarily, but they retained little of the indoctrination after returning to the United States. The postwar impression of unprecedented capitulation and assistance to the enemy was wrong. What collaboration occurred was comparable to what happened in other wars.