Is man immortal? and God in nature.

Mode of access: Internet.

Reflections for every day in the year on the works of God in nature and providence /

Translation of: Betrachtungen über die Werke Gottes.

The Kingdom of God, or, Christ's teaching according to the synoptical Gospels /

Includes bibliographical references and index.

The sinner's justification before God; its nature and means.

Mode of access: Internet.

Walking with God through Nature: An Examination of John Flavel’s Behavioural Instructions on Matters Related to Christian Piety

John Flavel was a Reformed Puritan of the seventeenth-century who wrote a series of devotional guides that offered instructions drawn from Christian mystical traditions on how to improve religious activities as a means of ecstatically encountering God. Evaluating the efficacy of these instructions from a scientifically-based behavioural perspective, this study has found that Flavel’s techniques were likely helpful to his readers in facilitating socially normative ecstatic experiences through ordinary Christian practice. Furthermore, discovering that Flavel promoted the use of these techniques for engaging with ecological materials in the wilderness and country-side, this essay proposes that Flavel introduced his readers to effectual manners that could help them ecstatically encounter God during the practice of meditational nature-based walks.

Espinosa: potência natural e seus reflexos no direito e na política

Este trabalho versa sobre o conceito de potência natural em Espinosa, sua amplitude e abrangência e seus reflexos no direito natural e na política. Procura revelar a originalidade do conceito de direito natural em Espinosa, muito diferente dos pontos de vista de Grotius, de Hobbes e de todos os demais filósofos e doutrinadores, levando-o, também, a uma visão diferente sobre a formação do Estado; e, finalmente, a sua doutrina sobre o Estado e suas diversas instituições políticas, enfatizando sempre a liberdade e a dignidade humanas como a razão de ser da criação desse mesmo Estado. Procuramos também revelar neste modesto trabalho o avanço, a novidade e a contribuição de Espinosa à ciência jurídica contemporânea.

Encounters with the Virtual : The Experience of Art In Gilles Deleuze's Philosophy

My thesis concerns the notion of existence as an encounter, as developed in the philosophy of Gilles Deleuze (1925 1995). What this denotes is a critical stance towards a major current in Western philosophical tradition which Deleuze nominates as representational thinking. Such thinking strives to provide a stable ground for identities by appealing to transcendent structures behind the apparent reality and explaining the manifest diversity of the given by such notions as essence, idea, God, or totality of the world. In contrast to this, Deleuze states that abstractions such as these do not explain anything, but rather that they need to be explained. Yet, Deleuze does not appeal merely to the given. He sees that one must posit a genetic element that accounts for experience, and this element must not be naïvely traced from the empirical. Deleuze nominates his philosophy as transcendental empiricism and he seeks to bring together the approaches of both empiricism and transcendental philosophy. In chapter one I look into the motivations of Deleuze s transcendental empiricism and analyse it as an encounter between Deleuze s readings of David Hume and Immanuel Kant. This encounter regards, first of all, the question of subjectivity and results in a conception of identity as non-essential process. A pre-given concept of identity does not explain the nature of things, but the concept itself must be explained. From this point of view, the process of individualisation must become the central concern. In chapter two I discuss Deleuze s concept of the affect as the basis of identity and his affiliation with the theories of Gilbert Simondon and Jakob von Uexküll. From this basis develops a morphogenetic theory of individuation-as-process. In analysing such a process of individuation, the modal category of the virtual becomes of great value, being an open, indeterminate charge of potentiality. As the virtual concerns becoming or the continuous process of actualisation, then time, rather than space, will be the privileged field of consideration. Chapter three is devoted to the discussion of the temporal aspect of the virtual and difference-without-identity. The essentially temporal process of subjectification results in a conception of the subject as composition: an assemblage of heterogeneous elements. Therefore art and aesthetic experience is valued by Deleuze because they disclose the construct-like nature of subjectivity in the sensations they produce. Through the domain of the aesthetic the subject is immersed in the network of affectivity that is the material diversity of the world. Chapter four addresses a phenomenon displaying this diversified indentity: the simulacrum an identity that is not grounded in an essence. Developed on the basis of the simulacrum, a theory of identity as assemblage emerges in chapter five. As the problematic of simulacra concerns perhaps foremost the artistic presentation, I shall look into the identity of a work of art as assemblage. To take an example of a concrete artistic practice and to remain within the problematic of the simulacrum, I shall finally address the question of reproduction particularly in the case recorded music and its identity regarding the work of art. In conclusion, I propose that by overturning its initial representational schema, phonographic music addresses its own medium and turns it into an inscription of difference, exposing the listener to an encounter with the virtual.

Les limites du champ de l'extase chez Bataille

Le sujet de ce mémoire s'attache à circonscrire le champ de l'extase chez Georges Bataille. Il s’agit de délimiter les frontières d’un concept qui, a priori, ne peut en avoir, d’où un paradoxe à résoudre : comment parvenir à poser des limites à ce qui est illimité par essence ? Nous verrons que l’extase bataillienne rompt de façon radicale avec la tradition mystique en créant un concept qui, au lieu d’embrasser l’absolu, le tout, demeure une expérience purement intérieure. Nous nous focaliserons ensuite sur le caractère érotique de ses fondations. Bataille revendique en effet l’essence érotique, et non mystique, de l’extase. Parce que pour Georges Bataille, la mystique c’est l’impossible, nous analyserons enfin l’impasse apparente de son extase. Car si le champ de ce dernier se borne au seuil du mystique, il en résulte une puissance et portée moindres que celles de l’extase proprement mystique. Dès lors, nous nous interrogerons sur les failles d’un tel concept. Étant donné que l’extase bataillienne rejette toute mystique de son champ, il nous faudra nous pencher sur la possibilité de la définir comme un échec. Georges Bataille a-t-il conceptualisé l'extase du drogué ? Ou les débris laissés par le mort de Dieu ? A moins que l'extase bataillienne ne concrétise simplement l'agonie du spirituel... Dans cette recherche, nous définirons des notions batailliennes telles que : « nudité », « angoisse », « dépense improductive », « souveraineté » ou « petite mort ». Et pour ce faire, nous nous concentrerons en priorité sur ces ouvrages : L’expérience intérieure, Ma mère, L’histoire de l’œil, Le bleu du ciel et L’Érotisme.

DAS GESPRÄCH ZWISCHEN HÖLDERLIN, HEGEL UND SCHELLING ÜBER KANTS ANTINOMIEN

«Die Art, wie er den Mechanismus der Natur mit ihrer Zweckmäßigkeit vereiniget, scheint mir eigentlich den ganzen Geist seines Systems zu enthalten»: This quotation, which originated the present essay, is solely extracted from a letter sent by Hölderlin to Hegel, and yet, it condensates three different approaches from the three Tübingen friends to the problem of Kant’s philosophy of religion and to its possible resolution between 1795 and 1796. From this epistolary dialogue emerges a simultaneous study of Kant, originated by the growing dissension towards the orthodox thought of the Stift. The turning point – or the maximum cumulative point – of this discordance happens precisely with the discovery of the «spirit of Kant’s system», as a combined explanation of the religious and philosophical phenomena [«Die Art, wie er den Mechanismus der Natur mit ihrer Zweckmässigkeit vereiniget»]. This, I think, is something which the three friends discover gradually and not independently from the concept of «providence», which Kant himself, according to Hölderlin, had used to «attenuate his antinomies», which Hegel uses in his first religious writings and the initial formation of his own philosophy and which Schelling will later explore in his System of Transcendental Idealism. In a word, providence is consensually the comprehension axis between man, God and nature and, thus, the explanatory link between the antinomical poles which regulate human existence. On the other hand, however – this being the aspect I would like to stress –, this decisive moment for a whole generation, for the history of philosophy itself, means the consummation of a new revolutionary perspective born in Kant, a new vision of the absolute and the divine and, therefore, a new way to write philosophy about philosophy, less philosophical than before, to the extent that the new situation of man and his reflection within the problem ultimately destined them – as is the case in the three young philosophers – to silence and death. The final aim of this essay is, therefore, to know what this «last step of philosophy» is and what dies along with it, what such a step may have meant and what it already foretold in terms of the development of philosophy.

Religião cristã e ciência moderna: uma análise comparativa dos discursos nas obras Os fundamentos, organizada por A. R. Torrey, e Religião e ciência de Bertrand Russell

Religião e ciência submetidas à Análise do Discurso Crítica. O fundamentalismo protestante a partir da obra Os fundamentos e a ciência moderna sob a perspectiva da obra de Bertrand Russell Religião e ciência, ambas as obras submetidas a uma análise crítica de seus discursos a partir da concepção faircloughiana para assim delinear seus textos, discursos, intenções e práticas sociais. O advento da modernidade, ao influenciar os diversos segmentos da sociedade e alterar a maneira de o indivíduo se relacionar com Deus, com a natureza e com seu semelhante, consequentemente, também alterou algumas percepções religiosas existentes até a Idade Média. A modernidade se destaca ao propiciar à humanidade outras possibilidades para lidar com seus problemas cotidianos e questões existenciais. Recorrer às técnicas científicas para solucionar problemas da natureza, melhorar a produção agrícola, curar doenças, ou até mesmo prever catástrofes naturais abriu precedente para que o homo religiosus ampliasse seus horizontes rumo ao moderno e questionasse a importância da vida religiosa como apresentada até então. O sagrado e o profano entram em debate acirrado. Enquanto a era da razão conquista seu espaço por meio do racionalismo, o mundo religioso se esforça para se reinventar e enfrentar um novo mundo com suas ideologias atraentes. Religião e ciência se aferram a seus espaços para delinearem seus limites, mas sempre contemplando e considerando um magistério em comum: a ciência moderna.

Beyond charity : outlines of a jurisprudence for civil society

There is not a single, coherent, jurisprudence for civil society organisations. Pressure for a clearly enuciated body of law applying to the whole of this sector of society continues to increase. The rise of third sector scholarship, the retreat of the welfare state, the rediscovery of the concept of civil society and pressures to strengthen social capital have all contributed to an ongoing stream of inquiry into the laws that regulate and favour civil society organisations. There have been almost thirty inquiries over the last sixty years into the doctrine of charitable purpose in common law countries. Those inquiries have established that problems with the law applying to civil society organisations are rooted in the common law adopting a ‘technical’ definition of charitable purpose and the failure of this body of law to develop in response to societal changes. Even though it is now well recognised that problems with law reform stem from problems inherent in the doctrine of charitable purpose, statutory reforms have merely ‘bolted on’ additions to the flawed ‘technical’ definition. In this way the scope of operation of the law has been incrementally expanded to include a larger number of civil society organisations. This piecemeal approach continues the exclusion of most civil society organisations from the law of charities discourse, and fails to address the underlying jurisprudential problems. Comprehensive reform requires revisiting the foundational problems embedded in the doctrine of charitable purpose, being informed by recent scholarship, and a paradigm shift that extends the doctrine to include all civil society organisations. Scholarly inquiry into civil society organisations, particularly from within the discipline of neoclassical economics, has elucidated insights that can inform legal theory development. This theory development requires decoupling the two distinct functions performed by the doctrine of charitable purpose which are: setting the scope of regulation, and determining entitlement to favours, such as tax exemption. If the two different functions of the doctrine are considered separately in the light of theoretical insights from other disciplines, the architecture for a jurisprudence emerges that facilitates regulation, but does not necessarily favour all civil society organisations. Informed by that broader discourse it is argued that when determining the scope of regulation, civil society organisations are identified by reference to charitable purposes that are not technically defined. These charitable purposes are in essence purposes which are: Altruistic, for public Benefit, pursued without Coercion. These charitable puposes differentiate civil society organisations from organisations in the three other sectors namely; Business, which is manifest in lack of altruism; Government, which is characterised by coercion; and Family, which is characterised by benefits being private not public. When determining entitlement to favour, it is theorised that it is the extent or nature of the public benefit evident in the pursuit of a charitable purpose that justifies entitlement to favour. Entitlement to favour based on the extent of public benefit is the theoretically simpler – the greater the public benefit the greater the justification for favour. To be entitled to favour based on the nature of a purpose being charitable the purpose must fall within one of three categories developed from the first three heads of Pemsel’s case (the landmark categorisation case on taxation favour). The three categories proposed are: Dealing with Disadvantage, Encouraging Edification; and Facilitating Freedom. In this alternative paradigm a recast doctrine of charitable purpose underpins a jurisprudence for civil society in a way similar to the way contract underpins the jurisprudence for the business sector, the way that freedom from arbitrary coercion underpins the jurisprudence of the government sector and the way that equity within families underpins succession and family law jurisprudence for the family sector. This alternative architecture for the common law, developed from the doctrine of charitable purpose but inclusive of all civil society purposes, is argued to cover the field of the law applying to civil society organisations and warrants its own third space as a body of law between public law and private law in jurisprudence.

Locating 'Agency' Within Ubiquitous Computing Systems

The final shape of the "Internet of Things" ubiquitous computing promises relies on a cybernetic system of inputs (in the form of sensory information), computation or decision making (based on the prefiguration of rules, contexts, and user-generated or defined metadata), and outputs (associated action from ubiquitous computing devices). My interest in this paper lies in the computational intelligences that suture these positions together, and how positioning these intelligences as autonomous agents extends the dialogue between human-users and ubiquitous computing technology. Drawing specifically on the scenarios surrounding the employment of ubiquitous computing within aged care, I argue that agency is something that cannot be traded without serious consideration of the associated ethics.

Outline of the Personal Property Securities Act 2009 (Cth)

Australia has new national legislation - the Personal Property Securities Act 2009 (Cth) and the Personal Property Securities Regulations 2010 – which commenced operation on 30 January 2012. The policy objectives of the new legislation are to increase certainty and consistency and to reduce complexity and cost. To achieve this, the legislation treats like transactions alike, by focusing on substance over form, and so removes distinctions between security interests which have been based on their structure. Differences based on the location or nature of the secured property and the debtor’s legal form, as an individual or company, have also disappeared. We now have one single national scheme and one national electronic registration system for all security interests throughout Australia. The Act applies to security interests in tangible and intangible personal property, including those based on some form of title retention which are not security interests under the general law. This legislation rationalises previous laws and bring about substantial changes to this area of law. This paper seeks to explain the principal changes and their implications.

Ureaplasma parvum undergoes selection in utero resulting in genetically diverse isolates colonising the chorioamnion of fetal sheep

Ureaplasmas are the microorganisms most frequently isolated from the amniotic fluid of pregnant women and can cause chronic intrauterine infections. These tiny bacteria are thought to undergo rapid evolution and exhibit a hypermutatable phenotype; however, little is known about how ureaplasmas respond to selective pressures in utero. Using an ovine model of chronic intra-amniotic infection, we investigated if exposure of ureaplasmas to sub-inhibitory concentrations of erythromycin could induce phenotypic or genetic indicators of macrolide resistance. At 55 days gestation, 12 pregnant ewes received an intra-amniotic injection of a non-clonal, clinical U. parvum strain, followed by: (i) erythromycin treatment (IM, 30 mg/kg/day, n=6); or (ii) saline (IM, n=6) at 100 days gestation. Fetuses were then delivered surgically at 125 days gestation. Despite injecting the same inoculum into all ewes, significant differences between amniotic fluid and chorioamnion ureaplasmas were detected following chronic intra-amniotic infection. Numerous polymorphisms were observed in domain V of the 23S rRNA gene of ureaplasmas isolated from the chorioamnion (but not the amniotic fluid), resulting in a mosaic-like sequence. Chorioamnion isolates also harboured the macrolide resistance genes erm(B) and msr(D) and were associated with variable roxithromycin minimum inhibitory concentrations. Remarkably, this variability occurred independently of exposure of ureaplasmas to erythromycin, suggesting that low-level erythromycin exposure does not induce ureaplasmal macrolide resistance in utero. Rather, the significant differences observed between amniotic fluid and chorioamnion ureaplasmas suggest that different anatomical sites may select for ureaplasma sub-types within non-clonal, clinical strains. This may have implications for the treatment of intrauterine ureaplasma infections.

Recent advances in the design of artificial corneas

Purpose of review: Artificial corneas are being developed to meet a shortage of donor corneas as well as to address cases where allografting is contraindicated. A range of artificial corneas has been developed. Here we review several newer designs and especially those inspired by naturally occurring biomaterials found with the human body and elsewhere. Recent findings: Recent trends in the development of artificial corneas indicate a move towards the use of materials derived from native sources including decellularized corneal tissue and tissue substitutes synthesized by corneal cells in vitro when grown either on their own, or in conjunction with novel protein-based scaffolds. Biologically inspired materials are also being considered for implantation on their own with the view to promoting endogenous corneal tissue. Summary: More recent attempts at making artificial corneas have taken a more nature-based or nature-inspired approach. Several will in the near future be likely to be available clinically.