Louis A. Girifalco
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199228966
- eISBN:
- 9780191711183
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199228966.003.0016
- Subject:
- Physics, History of Physics
The theory of relativity is unique and is based on very simple ideas. In fact, it has only one fundamental premise and one physical fact. The premise is that the laws of physics must be the same ...
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The theory of relativity is unique and is based on very simple ideas. In fact, it has only one fundamental premise and one physical fact. The premise is that the laws of physics must be the same everywhere. It does not matter where we are or how we are moving, the laws must be the same. This is just an article of faith in the unity of nature. The physical fact is that the speed of light in a vacuum is the same no matter what. If the light source is stationary, or moving towards us, or moving away from us, we always measure the same speed. This is counterintuitive, but experiment shows it to be true and it must be accepted. Relativity then follows by inexorable logic. This minimalist foundation is part of the beauty of relativity. The structure of the theory is also so beautiful that it compels belief.Less
The theory of relativity is unique and is based on very simple ideas. In fact, it has only one fundamental premise and one physical fact. The premise is that the laws of physics must be the same everywhere. It does not matter where we are or how we are moving, the laws must be the same. This is just an article of faith in the unity of nature. The physical fact is that the speed of light in a vacuum is the same no matter what. If the light source is stationary, or moving towards us, or moving away from us, we always measure the same speed. This is counterintuitive, but experiment shows it to be true and it must be accepted. Relativity then follows by inexorable logic. This minimalist foundation is part of the beauty of relativity. The structure of the theory is also so beautiful that it compels belief.
Hidetoshi Nishimori and Gerardo Ortiz
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- January 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199577224
- eISBN:
- 9780191722943
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199577224.001.0001
- Subject:
- Physics, Theoretical, Computational, and Statistical Physics
Phase transitions and critical phenomena have consistently been among the principal subjects of active studies in statistical physics. The simple act of transforming one state of matter or phase into ...
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Phase transitions and critical phenomena have consistently been among the principal subjects of active studies in statistical physics. The simple act of transforming one state of matter or phase into another, for instance by changing the temperature, has always captivated the curious mind. This book provides an introductory account on the theory of phase transitions and critical phenomena, a subject now recognized to be indispensable for students and researchers from many fields of physics and related disciplines. The first five chapters are very basic and quintessential, and cover standard topics such as mean-field theories, the renormalization group and scaling, universality, and statistical field theory methods. The remaining chapters develop more advanced concepts, including conformal field theory, the Kosterlitz-Thouless transition, the effects of randomness, percolation, exactly solvable models, series expansions, duality transformations, and numerical techniques. Moreover, a comprehensive series of appendices expand and clarify several issues not developed in the main text. The important role played by symmetry and topology in understanding the competition between phases and the resulting emergent collective behaviour, giving rise to rigidity and soft elementary excitations, is stressed throughout the book. Serious attempts have been directed toward a self-contained modular approach so that the reader does not have to refer to other sources for supplementary information. Accordingly, most of the concepts and calculations are described in detail, sometimes with additional/auxiliary descriptions given in appendices and exercises. The latter are presented as the topics develop with solutions found at the end of the book, thus giving the text a self-learning character.Less
Phase transitions and critical phenomena have consistently been among the principal subjects of active studies in statistical physics. The simple act of transforming one state of matter or phase into another, for instance by changing the temperature, has always captivated the curious mind. This book provides an introductory account on the theory of phase transitions and critical phenomena, a subject now recognized to be indispensable for students and researchers from many fields of physics and related disciplines. The first five chapters are very basic and quintessential, and cover standard topics such as mean-field theories, the renormalization group and scaling, universality, and statistical field theory methods. The remaining chapters develop more advanced concepts, including conformal field theory, the Kosterlitz-Thouless transition, the effects of randomness, percolation, exactly solvable models, series expansions, duality transformations, and numerical techniques. Moreover, a comprehensive series of appendices expand and clarify several issues not developed in the main text. The important role played by symmetry and topology in understanding the competition between phases and the resulting emergent collective behaviour, giving rise to rigidity and soft elementary excitations, is stressed throughout the book. Serious attempts have been directed toward a self-contained modular approach so that the reader does not have to refer to other sources for supplementary information. Accordingly, most of the concepts and calculations are described in detail, sometimes with additional/auxiliary descriptions given in appendices and exercises. The latter are presented as the topics develop with solutions found at the end of the book, thus giving the text a self-learning character.
Christine Hayes
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691165196
- eISBN:
- 9781400866410
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691165196.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
In the thousand years before the rise of Islam, two radically diverse conceptions of what it means to say that a law is divine confronted one another with a force that reverberates to the present. ...
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In the thousand years before the rise of Islam, two radically diverse conceptions of what it means to say that a law is divine confronted one another with a force that reverberates to the present. This book untangles the classical and biblical roots of the Western idea of divine law and shows how early adherents to biblical tradition—Hellenistic Jewish writers such as Philo, the community at Qumran, Paul, and the talmudic rabbis—struggled to make sense of this conflicting legacy. This book shows that for the ancient Greeks, divine law was divine by virtue of its inherent qualities of intrinsic rationality, truth, universality, and immutability, while for the biblical authors, divine law was divine because it was grounded in revelation with no presumption of rationality, conformity to truth, universality, or immutability. The book describes the collision of these opposing conceptions in the Hellenistic period, and details competing attempts to resolve the resulting cognitive dissonance. It shows how Second Temple and Hellenistic Jewish writers, from the author of 1 Enoch to Philo of Alexandria, were engaged in a common project of bridging the gulf between classical and biblical notions of divine law, while Paul, in his letters to the early Christian church, sought to widen it. The book then delves into the literature of classical rabbinic Judaism to reveal how the talmudic rabbis took a third and scandalous path, insisting on a construction of divine law intentionally at odds with the Greco-Roman and Pauline conceptions that would come to dominate the Christianized West. This book sheds critical light on an ancient debate that would shape foundational Western thought, and that continues to inform contemporary views about the nature and purpose of law and the nature and authority of Scripture.Less
In the thousand years before the rise of Islam, two radically diverse conceptions of what it means to say that a law is divine confronted one another with a force that reverberates to the present. This book untangles the classical and biblical roots of the Western idea of divine law and shows how early adherents to biblical tradition—Hellenistic Jewish writers such as Philo, the community at Qumran, Paul, and the talmudic rabbis—struggled to make sense of this conflicting legacy. This book shows that for the ancient Greeks, divine law was divine by virtue of its inherent qualities of intrinsic rationality, truth, universality, and immutability, while for the biblical authors, divine law was divine because it was grounded in revelation with no presumption of rationality, conformity to truth, universality, or immutability. The book describes the collision of these opposing conceptions in the Hellenistic period, and details competing attempts to resolve the resulting cognitive dissonance. It shows how Second Temple and Hellenistic Jewish writers, from the author of 1 Enoch to Philo of Alexandria, were engaged in a common project of bridging the gulf between classical and biblical notions of divine law, while Paul, in his letters to the early Christian church, sought to widen it. The book then delves into the literature of classical rabbinic Judaism to reveal how the talmudic rabbis took a third and scandalous path, insisting on a construction of divine law intentionally at odds with the Greco-Roman and Pauline conceptions that would come to dominate the Christianized West. This book sheds critical light on an ancient debate that would shape foundational Western thought, and that continues to inform contemporary views about the nature and purpose of law and the nature and authority of Scripture.
Erinn Gilson
- Published in print:
- 2021
- Published Online:
- May 2021
- ISBN:
- 9780197266830
- eISBN:
- 9780191938160
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197266830.003.0006
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Social and Cultural Anthropology
The discourse on vulnerability has been beset by criticism. This chapter argues that the account of vulnerability best suited to address these problems is one that places the ambiguities of the ...
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The discourse on vulnerability has been beset by criticism. This chapter argues that the account of vulnerability best suited to address these problems is one that places the ambiguities of the concept at its center. Foregrounding vulnerability’s ambiguity makes it possible both to do justice to the complexity and diversity of experiences of vulnerability, and to provide a sufficiently theoretically complex and nuanced concept. The chapter focuses on three aspects of vulnerability in order to respond to this criticism: the attribution of commonness to vulnerability and the contrast between a universal, ontological notion of vulnerability and a situational one; vulnerability’s connection to affect; and vulnerability’s relationship to social identity, inequality, and oppression. In the final section, the claim that understanding vulnerability as ambiguous best captures its simultaneously political and ethical salience is applied through analysis of two recent assertions of vulnerability in US immigration politics.Less
The discourse on vulnerability has been beset by criticism. This chapter argues that the account of vulnerability best suited to address these problems is one that places the ambiguities of the concept at its center. Foregrounding vulnerability’s ambiguity makes it possible both to do justice to the complexity and diversity of experiences of vulnerability, and to provide a sufficiently theoretically complex and nuanced concept. The chapter focuses on three aspects of vulnerability in order to respond to this criticism: the attribution of commonness to vulnerability and the contrast between a universal, ontological notion of vulnerability and a situational one; vulnerability’s connection to affect; and vulnerability’s relationship to social identity, inequality, and oppression. In the final section, the claim that understanding vulnerability as ambiguous best captures its simultaneously political and ethical salience is applied through analysis of two recent assertions of vulnerability in US immigration politics.
Robert W. Batterman
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195146479
- eISBN:
- 9780199833078
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195146476.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Science
This book focuses on a form of reasoning in science that I call “asymptotic reasoning.” At base, this type of reasoning involves methods that eliminate details and, in some sense, precision. ...
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This book focuses on a form of reasoning in science that I call “asymptotic reasoning.” At base, this type of reasoning involves methods that eliminate details and, in some sense, precision. Asymptotic reasoning has received systematic treatment in physics and applied mathematics, but virtually no attention has been paid to it by philosophers of science. I argue that once one understands the role played by asymptotic reasoning in explanatory arguments of scientists, our philosophical conceptions of explanation, reduction, and emergence require significant modification.Less
This book focuses on a form of reasoning in science that I call “asymptotic reasoning.” At base, this type of reasoning involves methods that eliminate details and, in some sense, precision. Asymptotic reasoning has received systematic treatment in physics and applied mathematics, but virtually no attention has been paid to it by philosophers of science. I argue that once one understands the role played by asymptotic reasoning in explanatory arguments of scientists, our philosophical conceptions of explanation, reduction, and emergence require significant modification.
Joseph Raz
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780199248001
- eISBN:
- 9780191598272
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199248001.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Moral Philosophy
The book offers a penetrating examination of a set of fundamental questions about human thought and action. In these essays, Joseph Raz examines the nature of normativity, reason, and the will; the ...
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The book offers a penetrating examination of a set of fundamental questions about human thought and action. In these essays, Joseph Raz examines the nature of normativity, reason, and the will; the justification of reason; and the objectivity of value. He argues for the centrality, but also demonstrates the limits of reason in action and belief. He suggests that our life is most truly our own when our various emotions, hopes, desires, intentions, and actions are guided by reason. He explores the universality of value and of principles of reason on one side and their dependence on social practices on the other side, and their susceptibility to change and improvement. He concludes with an illuminating explanation of self‐interest and its relation to impersonal values, in general, and to morality, in particular.Less
The book offers a penetrating examination of a set of fundamental questions about human thought and action. In these essays, Joseph Raz examines the nature of normativity, reason, and the will; the justification of reason; and the objectivity of value. He argues for the centrality, but also demonstrates the limits of reason in action and belief. He suggests that our life is most truly our own when our various emotions, hopes, desires, intentions, and actions are guided by reason. He explores the universality of value and of principles of reason on one side and their dependence on social practices on the other side, and their susceptibility to change and improvement. He concludes with an illuminating explanation of self‐interest and its relation to impersonal values, in general, and to morality, in particular.
Jean Zinn-Justin
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199227198
- eISBN:
- 9780191711107
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199227198.001.0001
- Subject:
- Physics, Theoretical, Computational, and Statistical Physics
This book provides an elementary introduction to the notions of continuum limit and universality in statistical systems with a large number of degrees of freedom. The existence of a continuum limit ...
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This book provides an elementary introduction to the notions of continuum limit and universality in statistical systems with a large number of degrees of freedom. The existence of a continuum limit requires the appearance of correlations at large distance, a situation that is encountered in second order phase transitions, near the critical temperature. In this context, the book emphasizes the role of gaussian distributions and their relations with the mean field approximation and Landau′s theory of critical phenomena. The book shows that quasi-gaussian or mean-field approximations cannot describe correctly phase transitions in three space dimensions. The book assigns this difficulty to the coupling of very different physical length scales, even though the systems we will consider have only local, that is, short range, interactions. To analyze the unusual situation, a new concept is required: the renormalization group, whose fixed points allow understanding the universality of physical properties at large distance, beyond mean-field theory. In the continuum limit, critical phenomena can be described by quantum field theories. In this framework, the renormalization group is directly related to the renormalization process; that is, the necessity to cancel the infinities that arise in straightforward formulations of the theory. The book discusses the renormalization group in the context of various relevant field theories. This leads to proofs of universality and to efficient tools for calculating universal quantities in a perturbative framework. Finally, the book constructs a general functional renormalization group, which can be used when perturbative methods are inadequate.Less
This book provides an elementary introduction to the notions of continuum limit and universality in statistical systems with a large number of degrees of freedom. The existence of a continuum limit requires the appearance of correlations at large distance, a situation that is encountered in second order phase transitions, near the critical temperature. In this context, the book emphasizes the role of gaussian distributions and their relations with the mean field approximation and Landau′s theory of critical phenomena. The book shows that quasi-gaussian or mean-field approximations cannot describe correctly phase transitions in three space dimensions. The book assigns this difficulty to the coupling of very different physical length scales, even though the systems we will consider have only local, that is, short range, interactions. To analyze the unusual situation, a new concept is required: the renormalization group, whose fixed points allow understanding the universality of physical properties at large distance, beyond mean-field theory. In the continuum limit, critical phenomena can be described by quantum field theories. In this framework, the renormalization group is directly related to the renormalization process; that is, the necessity to cancel the infinities that arise in straightforward formulations of the theory. The book discusses the renormalization group in the context of various relevant field theories. This leads to proofs of universality and to efficient tools for calculating universal quantities in a perturbative framework. Finally, the book constructs a general functional renormalization group, which can be used when perturbative methods are inadequate.
Michael Rustin
- Published in print:
- 1995
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198280088
- eISBN:
- 9780191599927
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198280084.003.0002
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Theory
Michael Rustin examines Michael Walzer's theory of justice against the background of significant currents in modern socio‐philosophical thought. He argues that Walzer's attempt to revitalize the ...
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Michael Rustin examines Michael Walzer's theory of justice against the background of significant currents in modern socio‐philosophical thought. He argues that Walzer's attempt to revitalize the ideal of equality for contemporary industrial societies ultimately fails to establish equality as a moral goal of post‐modern societies. Rustin examines the extent to which a theory of justice rejecting abstract universality and historicist approaches can retain normative force.Less
Michael Rustin examines Michael Walzer's theory of justice against the background of significant currents in modern socio‐philosophical thought. He argues that Walzer's attempt to revitalize the ideal of equality for contemporary industrial societies ultimately fails to establish equality as a moral goal of post‐modern societies. Rustin examines the extent to which a theory of justice rejecting abstract universality and historicist approaches can retain normative force.
H. Patrick Glenn
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199227655
- eISBN:
- 9780191713606
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199227655.001.0001
- Subject:
- Law, Comparative Law, Legal History
The concept of common law has been one of the most important conceptual instruments of the western legal tradition, but it has been neglected by legal theory and legal history for the last two ...
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The concept of common law has been one of the most important conceptual instruments of the western legal tradition, but it has been neglected by legal theory and legal history for the last two centuries. There were many common laws in Europe, including what is known in English as the common law, yet they have never previously been studied as a general phenomenon. Until the 19th century, the common laws of Europe lived in constant interaction with the particular laws which prevailed in their territories, and with one another. Common law was the main instrument of conciliation of laws which were drawn from different sources, though applicable on a given territory. Claims of universality could be, and were, reconciled with claims of particularity. Nineteenth and 20th century legal theory taught that law was the exclusive product of the state, yet common laws continued to function on a world-wide basis throughout the entire period of legal nationalism. As national legal exclusivity is increasingly challenged by the process of globalization, the concept of common law can be looked to once again as a means of conceptualization and justification of law beyond the state, while still supporting state and other local forms of normativity.Less
The concept of common law has been one of the most important conceptual instruments of the western legal tradition, but it has been neglected by legal theory and legal history for the last two centuries. There were many common laws in Europe, including what is known in English as the common law, yet they have never previously been studied as a general phenomenon. Until the 19th century, the common laws of Europe lived in constant interaction with the particular laws which prevailed in their territories, and with one another. Common law was the main instrument of conciliation of laws which were drawn from different sources, though applicable on a given territory. Claims of universality could be, and were, reconciled with claims of particularity. Nineteenth and 20th century legal theory taught that law was the exclusive product of the state, yet common laws continued to function on a world-wide basis throughout the entire period of legal nationalism. As national legal exclusivity is increasingly challenged by the process of globalization, the concept of common law can be looked to once again as a means of conceptualization and justification of law beyond the state, while still supporting state and other local forms of normativity.
Webb Keane
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691167732
- eISBN:
- 9781400873593
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691167732.003.0009
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Social and Cultural Anthropology
This concluding chapter discusses the universal aspirations of contemporary human rights and humanitarian movements and the problems that they face. The human rights movement aims to realize the ...
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This concluding chapter discusses the universal aspirations of contemporary human rights and humanitarian movements and the problems that they face. The human rights movement aims to realize the assertion in the 1948 United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights that “all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.” Meanwhile, humanitarianism tends to focus on suffering and the prevention or amelioration of physical harm. Both movements, however, are predicated on ethical universality in principle and its global reach in practice. That is, since ethical values, the sentiments they should induce, and the obligations they impose pertain to all humans, so too should ethical agency be indifferent to any distinctions of culture, ethnicity, religion, gender, age, or political divisions.Less
This concluding chapter discusses the universal aspirations of contemporary human rights and humanitarian movements and the problems that they face. The human rights movement aims to realize the assertion in the 1948 United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights that “all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.” Meanwhile, humanitarianism tends to focus on suffering and the prevention or amelioration of physical harm. Both movements, however, are predicated on ethical universality in principle and its global reach in practice. That is, since ethical values, the sentiments they should induce, and the obligations they impose pertain to all humans, so too should ethical agency be indifferent to any distinctions of culture, ethnicity, religion, gender, age, or political divisions.
Benedict Kingsbury and Adam Roberts
- Published in print:
- 1992
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198277712
- eISBN:
- 9780191598890
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198277717.003.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics
This exposition of the main themes of the book considers the significance of De Jure Belli ac Pacis; the concept of ‘international society’ in the Grotian tradition; the place of war in international ...
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This exposition of the main themes of the book considers the significance of De Jure Belli ac Pacis; the concept of ‘international society’ in the Grotian tradition; the place of war in international society; law as an institution of international society; the enforcement of international law against third states; the place of the non‐European world in Grotian thought; the universality of international society and international law; and the Grotian tradition in international relations.Less
This exposition of the main themes of the book considers the significance of De Jure Belli ac Pacis; the concept of ‘international society’ in the Grotian tradition; the place of war in international society; law as an institution of international society; the enforcement of international law against third states; the place of the non‐European world in Grotian thought; the universality of international society and international law; and the Grotian tradition in international relations.
Hedley Bull
- Published in print:
- 1992
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198277712
- eISBN:
- 9780191598890
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198277717.003.0002
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics
The work of Grotius is one of the great landmarks in modern thinking about international relations, and has lost none of its importance. Grotius, a major intellectual figure of Europe, was a leading ...
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The work of Grotius is one of the great landmarks in modern thinking about international relations, and has lost none of its importance. Grotius, a major intellectual figure of Europe, was a leading exponent of the concept of international society—that states form a society or community with one another. He partially set the intellectual framework for the Peace of Westphalia, which was concluded in 1648, three years after his death. His view of international society placed emphasis on natural law, universality of international society, the importance of individuals as well as states, and solidarism in the enforcement of rules.Less
The work of Grotius is one of the great landmarks in modern thinking about international relations, and has lost none of its importance. Grotius, a major intellectual figure of Europe, was a leading exponent of the concept of international society—that states form a society or community with one another. He partially set the intellectual framework for the Peace of Westphalia, which was concluded in 1648, three years after his death. His view of international society placed emphasis on natural law, universality of international society, the importance of individuals as well as states, and solidarism in the enforcement of rules.
Marko Milanovic
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199696208
- eISBN:
- 9780191729805
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199696208.003.0006
- Subject:
- Law, Human Rights and Immigration, Public International Law
This concluding chapter brings together the themes explored in the earlier chapters such as extraterritorial application, human rights, state jurisdiction, universality, and effectiveness.
This concluding chapter brings together the themes explored in the earlier chapters such as extraterritorial application, human rights, state jurisdiction, universality, and effectiveness.
Ronald W. Langacker
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- May 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195331967
- eISBN:
- 9780199868209
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195331967.003.0011
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Syntax and Morphology
A full clause profiles a grounded instance of a process type. Conceptual archetypes function as the prototypical values of basic clause types and clausal elements. Languages naturally differ in their ...
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A full clause profiles a grounded instance of a process type. Conceptual archetypes function as the prototypical values of basic clause types and clausal elements. Languages naturally differ in their implementation of this general characterization, and within a language clauses are varied and complex. Subject and object are defined schematically as trajector and landmark, i.e. primary and secondary focal participant. In most languages a particular semantic role represents the typical choice of trajector: either agent or theme (a patient-like participant). Each is the starting point along a natural path: the path of energy flow in the case of agent, and a path based on conceptual autonomy in the case of theme. In varied proportions and for different grammatical phenomena, every language makes some use of these two basic strategies. This is the basis for nominative/accusative, ergative/absolutive, and agent/patient organization. It can be argued that subject is a grammatical universal when defined abstractly in terms of primary focal prominence. In addition to the most typical clausal organization, every language offers a variety of alternatives for special purposes. Voice alternations (such as active, passive, and middle) pertain to the semantic role of the participant focused as trajector. The trajector can also be a non-participant, e.g. a setting or location. There is comparable variation in the choice of landmark, resulting in different kinds of objects. In agent-oriented languages, clauses which choose the theme as trajector represent an important secondary option. The verb of a clause is often complex. In addition to incorporating nominal or adverbial elements, the verb can exhibit layers of morphological derivation, be a phrase instead of a single word, or even consist in a series of verb-like elements.Less
A full clause profiles a grounded instance of a process type. Conceptual archetypes function as the prototypical values of basic clause types and clausal elements. Languages naturally differ in their implementation of this general characterization, and within a language clauses are varied and complex. Subject and object are defined schematically as trajector and landmark, i.e. primary and secondary focal participant. In most languages a particular semantic role represents the typical choice of trajector: either agent or theme (a patient-like participant). Each is the starting point along a natural path: the path of energy flow in the case of agent, and a path based on conceptual autonomy in the case of theme. In varied proportions and for different grammatical phenomena, every language makes some use of these two basic strategies. This is the basis for nominative/accusative, ergative/absolutive, and agent/patient organization. It can be argued that subject is a grammatical universal when defined abstractly in terms of primary focal prominence. In addition to the most typical clausal organization, every language offers a variety of alternatives for special purposes. Voice alternations (such as active, passive, and middle) pertain to the semantic role of the participant focused as trajector. The trajector can also be a non-participant, e.g. a setting or location. There is comparable variation in the choice of landmark, resulting in different kinds of objects. In agent-oriented languages, clauses which choose the theme as trajector represent an important secondary option. The verb of a clause is often complex. In addition to incorporating nominal or adverbial elements, the verb can exhibit layers of morphological derivation, be a phrase instead of a single word, or even consist in a series of verb-like elements.
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- June 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780804778015
- eISBN:
- 9780804782043
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Stanford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.11126/stanford/9780804778015.003.0007
- Subject:
- Literature, World Literature
This chapter sums up the findings of this study on the works of Japanese-American writer Karen Tei Yamashita. It discusses the problem of interpretively establishing Yamashita as a global novelist, ...
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This chapter sums up the findings of this study on the works of Japanese-American writer Karen Tei Yamashita. It discusses the problem of interpretively establishing Yamashita as a global novelist, and highlights the need to listen to the specificity of her voice as an ethics of interpreting the meaning and significance of her novels. The chapter discusses Derek Attridge's opinion about the universality of a literary work and argues that elevating Yamashita to the status of a transhistorical icon of literary or critical universality may not be the best way to do justice to the importance of her works.Less
This chapter sums up the findings of this study on the works of Japanese-American writer Karen Tei Yamashita. It discusses the problem of interpretively establishing Yamashita as a global novelist, and highlights the need to listen to the specificity of her voice as an ethics of interpreting the meaning and significance of her novels. The chapter discusses Derek Attridge's opinion about the universality of a literary work and argues that elevating Yamashita to the status of a transhistorical icon of literary or critical universality may not be the best way to do justice to the importance of her works.
John M. Anderson
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199297078
- eISBN:
- 9780191711404
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199297078.003.0009
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Semantics and Pragmatics
The internal strucutre and syntax of functions are investigated, including their roles as circumstantials (adjuncts) as well as participants. Circumstantials as well as participants are subject to ...
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The internal strucutre and syntax of functions are investigated, including their roles as circumstantials (adjuncts) as well as participants. Circumstantials as well as participants are subject to localism. Circumstantiality includes the role of semantic relations in apposition. Particular attention is paid to appositions to incorporated categories, which play an important role in syntax. In the light of this, the status of functors in nominal structures is explored, particularly as it relates to their optionality. Amplification by various scholars of the system of semantic relations with ‘macro-roles’ is rejected. More recent attempts to dispense in the syntax with semantic relations (including appeal to the ‘universality of theta assignment hypothesis’ and to abstract syntactic solutions — ‘generative semantics’, ‘argument structure’) are examined and also rejected.Less
The internal strucutre and syntax of functions are investigated, including their roles as circumstantials (adjuncts) as well as participants. Circumstantials as well as participants are subject to localism. Circumstantiality includes the role of semantic relations in apposition. Particular attention is paid to appositions to incorporated categories, which play an important role in syntax. In the light of this, the status of functors in nominal structures is explored, particularly as it relates to their optionality. Amplification by various scholars of the system of semantic relations with ‘macro-roles’ is rejected. More recent attempts to dispense in the syntax with semantic relations (including appeal to the ‘universality of theta assignment hypothesis’ and to abstract syntactic solutions — ‘generative semantics’, ‘argument structure’) are examined and also rejected.
Jonathan Jacobs
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- September 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199542833
- eISBN:
- 9780191594359
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199542833.003.0008
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
This chapter presents the main considerations concerning whether Judaism should be interpreted as involving natural law elements. It is argued that medieval Jewish moral thought should not be ...
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This chapter presents the main considerations concerning whether Judaism should be interpreted as involving natural law elements. It is argued that medieval Jewish moral thought should not be interpreted as a version of natural law theorizing though it shares some features of natural law's concern with the rational, universal validity of moral requirements. The positions of Marvin Fox, J. David Bleich, and David Novak are discussed. Also, it is argued that the ways in which Jewish thought is distinguished from the practical wisdom and natural law approaches do not undermine the extent to which there are objective ‘reasons of the commandments’, a matter of central concern to the medievals. Jewish moral thought offers an approach that is distinct from practical wisdom and natural law approaches despite some likenesses to both. It supplies a distinct conception of the rationality, universality, and objectivity of moral considerations—one that can be constructively integrated into current debates in metaethics.Less
This chapter presents the main considerations concerning whether Judaism should be interpreted as involving natural law elements. It is argued that medieval Jewish moral thought should not be interpreted as a version of natural law theorizing though it shares some features of natural law's concern with the rational, universal validity of moral requirements. The positions of Marvin Fox, J. David Bleich, and David Novak are discussed. Also, it is argued that the ways in which Jewish thought is distinguished from the practical wisdom and natural law approaches do not undermine the extent to which there are objective ‘reasons of the commandments’, a matter of central concern to the medievals. Jewish moral thought offers an approach that is distinct from practical wisdom and natural law approaches despite some likenesses to both. It supplies a distinct conception of the rationality, universality, and objectivity of moral considerations—one that can be constructively integrated into current debates in metaethics.
Zoe Vania Waxman
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199541546
- eISBN:
- 9780191709739
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199541546.003.0006
- Subject:
- History, European Modern History
The concluding chapter argues that while the role of the witness has given survivors a sense of purpose, their testimony is inextricably mediated by the post-war concept of the Holocaust and by ...
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The concluding chapter argues that while the role of the witness has given survivors a sense of purpose, their testimony is inextricably mediated by the post-war concept of the Holocaust and by collective memory. It can be seen that the function of collective memory is not to focus on the past in order to find out more about the Holocaust, but to use the past to inform and address present concerns. Also, it shows how the role of the witness has expanded, so that survivors – who are considered unique – are now expected to educate us not just about the Holocaust, but provide universal lessons regarding morality and the human condition. The sanctification of testimony further serves to entrench and concretize the position of accepted Holocaust narratives and forms of representation.Less
The concluding chapter argues that while the role of the witness has given survivors a sense of purpose, their testimony is inextricably mediated by the post-war concept of the Holocaust and by collective memory. It can be seen that the function of collective memory is not to focus on the past in order to find out more about the Holocaust, but to use the past to inform and address present concerns. Also, it shows how the role of the witness has expanded, so that survivors – who are considered unique – are now expected to educate us not just about the Holocaust, but provide universal lessons regarding morality and the human condition. The sanctification of testimony further serves to entrench and concretize the position of accepted Holocaust narratives and forms of representation.
Paul Crowther
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199579976
- eISBN:
- 9780191722615
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199579976.003.0005
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Aesthetics, History of Philosophy
For Kant, the judgement of taste (i.e. pure aesthetic judgement considered under the conditions of its justification) can claim validity beyond mere personal preference. However, since it is not ...
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For Kant, the judgement of taste (i.e. pure aesthetic judgement considered under the conditions of its justification) can claim validity beyond mere personal preference. However, since it is not grounded in ‘definite’ concepts the validity in question cannot be given a strictly objective justification. The basis of universality and validity is to be sought, rather, in its embodiment of subjective conditions that enable knowledge formation. Kant's proofs of this converge on the relation between imagination and understanding, and on issues bound up with beauty as a symbol of morality. His arguments are scrutinized and weaknesses identified. This chapter offers a revised version of Kant's approach, using a neglected factor in his account of moral life; namely, cultivation based on comparative criteria.Less
For Kant, the judgement of taste (i.e. pure aesthetic judgement considered under the conditions of its justification) can claim validity beyond mere personal preference. However, since it is not grounded in ‘definite’ concepts the validity in question cannot be given a strictly objective justification. The basis of universality and validity is to be sought, rather, in its embodiment of subjective conditions that enable knowledge formation. Kant's proofs of this converge on the relation between imagination and understanding, and on issues bound up with beauty as a symbol of morality. His arguments are scrutinized and weaknesses identified. This chapter offers a revised version of Kant's approach, using a neglected factor in his account of moral life; namely, cultivation based on comparative criteria.
Richard S. Weiss
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- May 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195335231
- eISBN:
- 9780199868803
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195335231.003.0002
- Subject:
- Religion, Hinduism
This chapter considers the largest social compass that siddha practitioners have claimed as their own—that of Indian traditional doctors. In opposition to British medical imperialism and later ...
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This chapter considers the largest social compass that siddha practitioners have claimed as their own—that of Indian traditional doctors. In opposition to British medical imperialism and later Western biomedicine supported by the Indian state, siddha doctors have joined forces with practitioners of the other two major traditional medical systems in India, ayurveda and unani, to argue for the inadequacy of Western biomedicine in healing Indian bodies. They have formulated an autonomous space of Indian medical practice and knowledge, ascribing a radical uniqueness and relativism to their knowledge that renders it immune to the critiques of biomedicine.Less
This chapter considers the largest social compass that siddha practitioners have claimed as their own—that of Indian traditional doctors. In opposition to British medical imperialism and later Western biomedicine supported by the Indian state, siddha doctors have joined forces with practitioners of the other two major traditional medical systems in India, ayurveda and unani, to argue for the inadequacy of Western biomedicine in healing Indian bodies. They have formulated an autonomous space of Indian medical practice and knowledge, ascribing a radical uniqueness and relativism to their knowledge that renders it immune to the critiques of biomedicine.
