bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Epilogue
Authors: Kelly Casey Ryan
Published: May 2023

I conclude by illustrating what it would entail for us to, in Žižek’s words, “traverse the fantasy” of postracial and postfeminist culture to bring about a productive reckoning with the horrors, fissures, and failures of the Symbolic—to cease attributing the Other with the possession of the lost object and to transform white masculinity’s relationship to the death drive. In this Epilogue, I consider the implications of calling back the law of the paternal signifier in relation to the Other’s enjoyment. Part of the problem with prescribing political alternatives is that prohibition is the ultimate source of enjoyment for the transgressor. I suggest that one healthy route is to create space for indifference to the Other’s enjoyment—not so much a matter of ignoring the law as much as it is a refusal to look, so as to change our psychical orientation toward the death drive.
Reforming the System
Authors: Kamrava Mehran
Published: May 2023

Nearly two decades after its establishment, the Islamic Republic went through what could have been a period of profound transformation. The late 1990s and the early 2000s promised to be a period of reform and readjustment, a time when the very essence of state-society relations in the Islamic Republic was to be rewritten, corrected, and, supposedly, made democratic. This, at least, seemed to be the yearning of the populace, of the urban middle classes tired of war and endless revolutionary mobilization, hoping to finally see the revolution's promises of liberty and democracy come true. Such was the premise and promise of what came to be called "the reform movement," more a feeling than an actual movement, of the people and the elite literati alike, to make Islam and the Islamic Republic democratic, to foster civil society, and to finally have freedom in the social, political, and intellectual domains.
A Very Political Economy
Authors: Kamrava Mehran
Published: May 2023

To one extent or another, all three factors—institutional setting, oil, and sanctions—have been instrumental in shaping the Iranian economy since the revolution. This chapter traces the odyssey of the Iranian economy from the success of the revolution until today. It starts with a brief history of the economy, then examines the positions and conditions of the various economic classes, and ends with an examination of the many obstacles that have hampered Iran's economic development. Throughout, there are three key considerations that inform the analysis. First, the Iranian economy is shaped by the country's institutional setting, and more specifically by the policy decisions made by state leaders on the one hand and the broader, structural conditions within which Iran found itself on the other. Second, Iran's economy continues to be shaped by the structural characteristics of the country's political economy as an oil exporter. Third, Iran's developing economy has had to contend with international economic isolation due to comprehensive, biting sanctions.
The Nasty Style of Politics
Authors: Zeitzoff Thomas
Published: May 2023

This chapter begins with several vivid examples of nasty politics in the U.S. and Ukraine. These include lead up to the January 6 insurrection and attempted coup in the U.S., and the time preceding the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. It then introduces the concept of nasty politics as an umbrella term for a set of tactics that politicians use to insult, accuse, denigrate, threaten, and in some cases physically harm their opponents. These different tactics vary in their underlying aggression and threat, with insults being the least threatening and actual violence the most threatening. It then discusses the main puzzle of nasty politics: why do politicians use nasty politics if the public reduces support for those who employ it? What explains the strategic logic of nasty politics? This chapter provides a preview of the theory of nasty politics and justifies the case selection of Ukraine, the U.S., and Israel.
How Does the Public Respond to Nasty Rhetoric?
Authors: Zeitzoff Thomas
Published: May 2023

This chapter focuses on the demand side of nasty rhetoric by using survey experiments in both the U.S. and Ukraine. Voters in both contexts hold consistent views on nasty politics. On average they don’t like it. And they have a rank-ordering of nastiness. Incitement and threats of violence—such as threatening to beat opponents up—are worse than insults. But there are two important caveats. First, certain personality types are more accepting of nasty politics. Those who are more aggressive, like tough leaders, or believe violence can be justified are more accepting of violent nasty rhetoric. This is true in both the U.S. and Ukraine. The context and framing of nasty politics matters. Survey experiments show that respondents are more likely to support politicians who use nasty rhetoric when an outgroup is framed as an existential threat or engaged in actual violence.
Which Politicians Choose to Get Nasty and When?
Authors: Zeitzoff Thomas
Published: May 2023

How and why do the politicians use insults, accusations, intimidating statements, incitement, and even actual violence? To answer this question, the chapter turns to a variety of novel datasets, including: (1) databases of nasty politics from 2016–2019 in Ukraine and the U.S. constructed from media sources; (2) a dataset of fights, blockades, and disruptions in the Ukrainian Rada from 2001–2019; and (3) a large dataset of incivility in U.S. Congressional tweets during the 115th Congress (2016–2017). Across all three datasets I show that insults and accusations are quite common, while incitement and actual violence are relatively rare—though both are more common in Ukraine. The nasty style of politics tends to be carried out by more extreme politicians, and those in the opposition. Increases in nasty politics tend to precede contentious events and political conflict. Finally, nasty rhetoric gets attention from the public.
Nasty Politics and Its Implications for Democracy
Authors: Zeitzoff Thomas
Published: May 2023

What are the implications of nasty politics for democracy? Data collected from surveys and survey experiments in Israel, Ukraine, and the U.S. shows that voters have negative views of nasty politics. But they sometimes think it can be acceptable to use it to call out dangerous people and groups. The surveys and survey experiments further show that ingroup politicians have more leeway to use nasty rhetoric. Nasty rhetoric increases threatening perceptions of the outgroup, but it doesn’t lead the public to increase support for democratic subversion. Nasty politics also affects political participation in two ways. First, it makes voters less likely to participate in politics. Second, when it becomes a core part of a political party, or in the system in general, outrage and attention become the currency of politics. Thus, nasty politics has long-term effects on who runs for office and who leaves politics altogether.
Nuclear Decisions
Authors: Koch Lisa Langdon
Published: May 2023

Nuclear Decisions: Changing the Course of Nuclear Weapons Programs investigates state leaders’ decisions to accelerate or reverse nuclear weapons development. The paths states take toward the bomb are rarely linear because they are shaped and interrupted by nuclear decisions. This book examines the political information environment in which leaders form and reconsider their beliefs and preferences about nuclear weapons. Leaders weigh the security benefits nuclear weapons may provide against drawbacks such as domestic resource trade-offs, potential damage to strategic international relations, and the likelihood of program success. This book discusses two key mechanisms that shape leaders’ understandings of the costs and benefits of their nuclear pursuits. The internal mechanism is the intervention of domestic experts in key scientific and military organizations. If the conditions are right, those experts may be able to influence a leader’s nuclear decision-making, including how the leader thinks about the value of nuclear weapons in relation to the security environment. The external mechanism emerges from the international system. The book identifies three different proliferation eras, in which changes to international political and structural conditions have constrained or freed states pursuing nuclear weapons development. The book tests the mechanisms through case studies of nine states across the three proliferation eras. Through this global approach to studying nuclear proliferation, this book pushes back against the conventional wisdom that determined states pursue a straight path to the bomb. Instead, nuclear decisions define a state’s nuclear pursuits.
Proliferation Curves
Authors: Koch Lisa Langdon
Published: May 2023

This chapter demonstrates that nuclear proliferation should be conceived of as a political process that hinges on decisions. These decisions are strongly linked to state interests and are made at the highest levels of government. Observable outcomes that follow from those decisions may not be reached for years, if ever. Types of nuclear decisions are identified. The chapter then presents empirical evidence of the proliferation pathways—which this book calls proliferation curves—taken by six nuclear weapons pursuers. The proliferation curves indicate that leaders do not pursue nuclear weapons in uniform ways. At first glance, nuclear decisions do not appear to be easily predictable.
The Permissive Period
Authors: Koch Lisa Langdon
Published: May 2023

This chapter examines nuclear decisions in the Soviet Union, Israel, and France. During the permissive period (1941–1964), states pursued nuclear weapons with relatively few external constraints. Across these three cases, nuclear decisions were made by both strong and weak leaders, within different types of political regimes, and in security contexts ranging from rivalry to existential threat. Nuclear acceleration decisions did not simply follow leaders’ interests in acquiring nuclear weapons, nor did they mirror the state’s security environment. Organizational interests and politics also played a role in shaping the course of each nuclear weapons program. The Soviet nuclear organization had the interest and capacity to silence opposing voices and influence nuclear decision making. Israel’s pursuit of nuclear weapons was marked by divided organizational preferences, especially within the military. High levels of secrecy and the nuclear agency’s legal informality further limited organizational influence on Israeli nuclear weapons development. In France, as domestic political conditions changed, the army either gained or lost leverage to influence nuclear decision making.
Technology and the Making of Experimental Film Culture
Authors: Powers John
Published: May 2023

The Bolex camera, 16 mm reversal film stocks, commercial film laboratories, and low-budget optical printers were the small-gauge media technologies that provided the infrastructure for experimental filmmaking at the height of its cultural impact. This book examines how the avant-garde embraced these material resources and invested them with meanings and values adjacent to those of semiprofessional film culture. By reasserting the physicality of the body in making time-lapse and kinesthetic sequences with the Bolex, filmmakers conversed with other art forms and integrated broader spheres of humanistic and scientific inquiry into their artistic process. Drawing from the photographic qualities of stocks such as Tri-X and Kodachrome, they discovered pliant metaphors that allowed them to connect their artistic practice to metaphysics, spiritualism, and Hollywood excess. By framing film labs as mystical or adversarial, they cultivated an oppositionality that valorized control over the artistic process. And by using the optical printer as a tool for excavating latent meaning out of found footage, they posited the reworking of images as fundamental to the exploration of personal and cultural identity. Providing new detail about the making of canonized avant-garde classics by such luminaries as Carolee Schneemann, Jack Smith, and Stan Brakhage, as well as rediscovering works from overlooked artists such as Chick Strand, Amy Halpern, and Gunvor Nelson, this book uses technology as a lens for examining the process of making: where ideas come from, how they are put into practice, and how arguments about those ideas foster cultural and artistic commitments and communities.
Orange is the New Corruption
Authors: Hale Henry E. , Onuch Olga
Published: May 2023

This chapter covers the history of Ukraine from the 2004 Orange Revolution through the start of the Euromaidan mass mobilization in 2013. It examines how some members of the independence generation rallied to the civic nation while others like Zelensky did not yet join in. The hopes of the Orange Revolution were soon dashed as "politics as usual" returned in Ukraine, resulting in incessant and corrupt political battles among rival political-economic networks rather than true people power. Ukraine's masses grew increasingly disillusioned and even voted the Orange Revolution's chief villain, Viktor Yanukovych, into the presidency in a free and fair election. It was during this time, after working in Moscow, that Zelensky returned to Ukraine, founded his famous Kvartal 95 studio, and rose to prominence both as a performer and a media mogul. This position gave him major managerial experience, but also put him in the uncomfortable position of overseeing highly biased news coverage on the country's leading TV channel while simultaneously producing biting satire that lambasted Ukraine's political establishment, reflected the struggles of ordinary Ukrainians, and gained him considerable fame. His rise coincides with that of the independence generation and the continued strengthening of Ukraine's civic national identity.
The Art of Politics
Authors: Hale Henry E. , Onuch Olga
Published: May 2023

The chapter explains the 2013 Euromaidan mass mobilization and assesses the resulting, important changes in Ukrainian politics and society. It also examines Zelensky's relationship to oligarchs and political life more generally. Yanukovych sparked the Euromaidan by moving Ukraine away from Europe, toward Russia. By violently attacking the protesters, he turned even more of the country against him, resulting in his February 2014 ouster and the election of a new president, Petro Poroshenko. Within weeks, Russia had seized Ukraine's Crimean peninsula and fomented insurgency in other Ukrainian regions, launching a war that would kill thousands yearly straight through 2022. While Zelensky lay low during the Euromaidan itself, his entertainment production ramped up its political content soon afterward, now giving special emphasis to Ukrainian civic identity, territorial integrity (including Crimea), the need to support Ukraine's military, criticism of the political establishment, and citizens' own duty to fight corruption in daily life as well as politics. The chapter examines his Servant of the People TV series and shows how it set the stage for his entry into electoral politics. Ukraine's civic national identity deepened considerably and became more firmly Euro-Atlantic in orientation. Zelensky's growing public appeal tapped into just this.
The Virtual Incumbent
Authors: Hale Henry E. , Onuch Olga
Published: May 2023

This chapter addresses Zelensky's 2019 presidential campaign, explaining how the reputed "comedian" wound up winning Ukraine's largest presidential landslide election ever. His strategy, arguably unique, was not simply to run as an outsider or to emphasize social media (which he used very effectively), but to run as a virtual incumbent. This means not only that he ran while playing a president on a TV series that was being aired during the actual campaign, but also that he (like many actual incumbent presidents) forewent traditional campaigning practices like political rallies and instead emphasized continuing to do his job "as usual." In his case, this meant performing concerts and producing, appearing in, and advertising his shows. The chapter documents that he did, however, have a clear message in his campaign (one based on civic national identity and duty) and shows how it resonated more strongly with the Ukrainian population than did the messaging of his opponent, the actual incumbent Poroshenko. The chapter examines apparent support Zelensky received from key Ukrainian oligarchs, including media they owned, and how this compared to his chief rival.
President “Ze!”
Authors: Hale Henry E. , Onuch Olga
Published: May 2023

This chapter assesses the Zelensky presidency from his 2019 election up until the night Russia launched its all-out war in February 2022. Zelensky's presidency compares favorably to past Ukrainian presidencies in terms of reforms enacted and the ability to win and sustain popular support, even though he had to face the additional challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. While many expected him to reverse key Poroshenko-era reforms, in fact he continued and deepened many of them, including language policy, decentralization, and military reform. Continuing to strike his central theme of civic national duty, Zelensky won many Ukrainians newly over to a pro-democracy, Euro-Atlantic orientation. Opponents' accusations of incompetence and cronyism are addressed, as are Zelensky's role in the Trump impeachment scandal and his relationship with oligarchs and corruption. The strongest case for his naivete is in his expectation that simply talking with Russia could end the war, though he quickly changed tactic. Unable to persuade or manipulate Zelensky, the Kremlin realized it no longer had any hope of winning over Ukraine by anything other than massive force, arguably explaining the Kremlin's war timing.
Fear and Insecurity
Authors: Leslie Jonathan G.
Published: May 2023

To observers of the Iran–Israel conflict, its vitriolic rhetoric might suggest an ancient hatred between Jews and Muslims--a biblical feud dating back hundreds, or thousands, of years. But this rivalry is a far more modern development. In this authoritative study, Jonathan G. Leslie examines the origins of the conflict. Drawing on extensive archival and open-source research, he concludes that--despite the animosity surrounding the Iran-Israel relationship--the twenty-first century's hostilities are not inevitable consequences of these nations' history, nor of contemporary political events. The intensification of tensions has been largely the product of one nation's efforts, with Israel viewing Iran as a far greater danger than Iran does Israel. Using a novel theoretical approach considering the power of narrative within historical context, Leslie outlines how Israel's leaders successfully reimagined their erstwhile ally Iran as an existential threat. Former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took this further, employing populist strategies in an attempt to rewrite history, depict Iran as a global menace, and recruit allies against the JCPOA nuclear deal. Fear and Insecurity provides important new insights into the history of the Iran–Israel conflict, and offers fresh prospects for defusing the tensions threatening both global and regional security.
Introduction
Authors: Leslie Jonathan G.
Published: May 2023

This book opens with a consideration of Jalal Al-e Ahmad's visit to Israel in 1963. During that trip, the famous Iranian intellectual, whose work would later inspire the leaders of the Islamic Revolution, observed both the promise and peril of an ambitious religious country seeking to establish its place in the Middle East. He came away largely impressed with what he saw, and in a subsequent travelogue, he speculated about the lessons the Jewish State held for his homeland. Al-e Ahmad's experience offers a glimpse of an Iran-Israel narrative that might have been, one that challenges the idea that the two nations were destined to become the bitter enemies they are today. This chapter sets the stage for the analysis to come by defining the distinction between the historical and threat narratives surrounding this conflict. It is the divergence of the latter from the former that forms the basis for the present-day hostility.
The Power of Narrative
Authors: Leslie Jonathan G.
Published: May 2023

Chapter 1 explores the power of narrative. This chapter begins by contextualizing the threat narrative as a species of the political version. A threat narrative empowers a leader to construct a policy agenda based on followers' fears and insecurity. The chapter continues with a discussion of how the recently developed theory of securitization modifies conventional international relations theory, and how a further modification into "populist securitization" provides a framework for understanding Benjamin Netanyahu's eventual success in constructing and disseminating a persistent threat narrative with the power to change the course of Middle East politics, foreign policy, and history. Netanyahu's Iran narrative enabled him to challenge both democratic governance at home and global stability abroad as he promoted and escalated Israel's conflict with Iran.
History
Authors: Leslie Jonathan G.
Published: May 2023

This chapter provides the background for the analysis by detailing and analyzing Iran and Israel's historical relationship. Beginning in antiquity, this chapter guides the reader through the biblical accounts of interactions between Jews and Persians. These ancient interactions are significant for our modern understanding of two proud cultures, both of which value and utilize their history as part of their political and cultural identity. Ironically, their complex and complicated relationship does not support the simplistic account of historical enmity that exists today. This chapter also recounts how Israel's relationship with the ill-fated Iranian monarchy contributed to the anti-Shah fervor that culminated in the 1979 Islamic Revolution, and it offers insights into the oft-ignored subtleties and contradictions regarding both nations' policies in the early years of the Islamic Republic.
Messaging
Authors: Leslie Jonathan G.
Published: May 2023

Through the lens of populist securitization theory, this chapter focuses on the pivotal role of Benjamin Netanyahu in promoting, securitizing, and sustaining the Iran threat in Israeli society. It explores his return to political prominence in the late 2000s, from his takeover of the Likud Party to his re-ascension to prime minister in 2009. Analysis of his speeches and actions reveals how Netanyahu, speaking from a position of authority, succeeded in driving the urgency of confronting Iran, reframing the narrative of the contest between Israel and Iran from one of competing strategic interests into a Manichean struggle with potentially apocalyptic stakes. For much of this period, Netanyahu's foreign policy stand in stark contrast to that of Iran, which grew increasingly eager for reengagement with the West. When Iran signed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (a.k.a. the Iran Deal) in 2015, it appeared as though Iran had succeeded in its objective while Netanyahu had failed.
Iran and Israel in the Age of Populism
Authors: Leslie Jonathan G.
Published: May 2023

The final chapter details the surprising twists of history following the signing and implementation of the Iran Nuclear Deal. Thanks to the aid of a fellow populist leading the world's biggest superpower, Netanyahu was able to resurrect his populist securitization strategy and, by extension, his political fortunes. The global "wave of populism" that began in 2016 did not spare the United States, and the election of Donald Trump gifted Netanyahu a powerful ally in his competition against Iran. With Trump's help, Netanyahu sought to isolate Iran, renewing the fear that re-empowered hardliners in Tehran might seek to foster violence and mayhem in response. This version of Iran was a clear threat not only to Israel's existence but also to regional and global stability. Netanyahu exploited the Iranian reaction to Trump's "maximum pressure" campaign to chip away at Israel's historical regional isolation, pursuing ties with Arab states as a method of countering Iran.
From Contestation to Infighting
Authors: Hamming Tore
Published: May 2023

Based on analytical frameworks inspired by the study of social movements and insurgencies, this chapter develops the book's theoretical perspective and empirical focus. Presenting an overview of episodes of intra-Jihadi conflict between 2013–2019, it illustrates the scope of Jihadi fratricide in recent years followed by a discussion of the drivers of such conflict. These involve specific narratives of conflict, inadequate institutionalization, and distinctive group and counter-group dynamics that all played a central role in enabling and promoting conflict.
Tracing the Islamic State’s Split from al-Qaida 1999–2014
Authors: Hamming Tore
Published: May 2023

This chapter traces the relationship between al-Qaida and its Iraqi affiliate from the beginning of the affiliation to the splinter in 2013. It tells the story of how al-Qaida on several occasions faced challenges with its official affiliates or partners and the leadership's efforts of crisis management to mitigate negative impact and to guide the broader Jihadi movement. Focusing especially on the relationship to its Iraqi affiliate, the chapter offers a new and more complex narrative of the de-affiliation process and the growing factionalism that came to dominate al-Qaida's internal affairs. It presents the argument that the creation of the Islamic State of Iraq in 2006 is key to understanding the official splinter that materialized seven years later in 2013.
Diverging Attitudes
Authors: Hamming Tore
Published: May 2023

This chapter builds on the previous chapter's analysis of the escalation of conflict between al-Qaida and the Islamic State. It explains how conflict escalation was also driven by diverging attitudes to the Jihadi project and especially how the competing groups viewed the process of reaching their desired end state. For the Islamic State this involved the establishment of the caliphate and a process of sanctification while al-Qaida pursued a more gradualist approach. The chapter also describes how the Islamic State's rebellion, as a former affiliate in the global al-Qaida network, involved a challenge to the dominant authority within the Sunni Jihadi movement. This challenge was led by a group of younger Jihadi scholars and leaders who suddenly started to discredit and vilify their former teachers and superiors.
Al-Qaida and the Syrian Jihad
Authors: Hamming Tore
Published: May 2023

Similar to the Islamic State, al-Qaida would from 2016 onwards face internal turbulence. This chapter covers the splintering of the al-Qaida network in Syria leading to the establishment of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and the ensuing tensions with al-Qaida loyalists. While beginning as an organizational matter, it quickly turned ideological and resulted in further fragmentation of the Sunni Jihadi movement. Suddenly in opposition to its former brothers-in-arms in al-Qaida, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham's new strategy depended on regional hegemony in Idlib which occasionally involved violent confrontations with competing Jihadis. For those supportive of al-Qaida, the judgement was clear; Hayat Tahrir al-Sham was abandoning the true religious principles and it now represented a threat to the Jihadi project.
The Returns to Power
Authors: Remington Thomas F.
Published: May 2023

The Returns to Power: A Political Theory of Economic Inequality argues that to understand why economic inequality in the United States is so high and is increasing, we must examine the policy choices made over the past four decades. Employing an unconventional comparative framework, the book shows how the market-oriented reforms in Russia and China after they dismantled their planned economic systems shed light on the causes and consequences of the recent surge of inequality in the United States. The book also discusses post–World War II Germany, where the reconstruction of the war-oriented, centrally controlled Nazi economy created a market system that provides widely shared prosperity, high growth, and robust democracy. The book details income and wealth inequality in the United States across multiple dimensions. It explains why rent-seeking fuels a self-reinforcing alliance between wealthy economic interests and government. It shows how inequality contributes to political polarization and extremism, undermining democracy. Finally, it proposes a new conception of economic and political liberalism.
The Threat to Democracy
Authors: Remington Thomas F.
Published: May 2023

This book argues that political forces, together with economic drivers such as technological change and globalization, have helped to produce extreme economic inequality in the United States. The book argues that our high income and wealth inequality threatens democracy. It fuels political polarization, which in turn contributes to the surge of right-wing extremism. It uses comparisons with Russia, China, and Germany to show different pathways a major turn to economic liberalization can take. Russia and China exhibit in extreme form tendencies that have played out in less dramatic fashion in the United States over the past four decades. Germany, on the other hand, offers an example of a country where the opening of the market economy brought about a more equal distribution of prosperity throughout society.
I Judge No One
Authors: Dusenbury David Lloyd
Published: May 2023

Why was Jesus, who said "I judge no one," put to death for a political crime? Of course, this is a historical question--but it is not only historical. Jesus' life became a philosophical theme in the first centuries of our era, when "pagan" and Christian philosophers clashed over the meaning of his sayings and the significance of his death. Modern philosophers, too, such as Immanuel Kant and Friedrich Nietzsche, have tried to retrace the arc of Jesus' life and death. I Judge No One is a philosophical reading of the four memoirs, or "gospels," that were fashioned by early Christ-believers and collected in the New Testament. It offers original ways of seeing a deeply enigmatic figure who calls himself the Son of Man. David Lloyd Dusenbury suggests that Jesus offered his contemporaries a scandalous double claim. First, that human judgements are pervasive and deceptive; and second, that even divine laws can only be fulfilled in the human experience of love. Though his life led inexorably to a grim political death, what Jesus' sayings revealed--and still reveal--is that our highest desires lie beyond the political.
“What Is This Wisdom?”
Authors: Dusenbury David Lloyd
Published: May 2023

In The Gospel of Thomas, one of Jesus' disciples says to him: "You are like a wise philosopher." Jesus has been a recurring figure in philosophical texts for twenty or twenty-one centuries. From the beginning, his sayings have been seen by certain "pagans" and Judaeans as wise. This chapter begins to show that the Galilean rabbi is originally depicted, in the gospels, as a philosophically intriguing figure. It is further argued that there seem to be echoes of Graeco–Roman philosophical sayings in the gospels. And it is shown, finally, that subtle differences in Jesus' sayings can be as revealing as their similarities to certain Graeco-Roman sayings.
Jesus and the Presentiment of Death
Authors: Dusenbury David Lloyd
Published: May 2023

Did Jesus know, before his capture, that he would face a hard death in Jerusalem? This chapter introduces the problem of Jesus' predictions of his own death in the gospels. What are these predictions? And are they credible? It is argued that Jesus' presentiments of death should not be dismissed by modern commentators. And it is suggested, further, that they should not merely be seen as instances of "prophecy." For the first-century philosopher Seneca wrote: "The wise man knows all the things that are in store for him." In a first-century context, Jesus' presentiments of death do not only mark him out as a prophetic figure, but as a philosophical one.
“A God Who was Condemned”
Authors: Dusenbury David Lloyd
Published: May 2023

Before the life of Jesus is retraced within the gospels (in later chapters), it is reasonable to ask how his life is recollected outside them. Therefore, this chapter introduces the surviving Syrian, Roman, and Judaean texts about Jesus from the first two centuries CE. Certain commonalities are noted. For instance, in both Syrian and Roman texts, Jesus seems to represent something "new." Further, opinions about Jesus are sharply divided in early non-Christian texts. Reading them, we are led to ask: Is he a philosopher, or a sophist? A god, or a dead convict? A wise man, or a deceiver?
Judaean Philosophies and Confused Judges
Authors: Dusenbury David Lloyd
Published: May 2023

Before the life of Jesus is retraced within the gospels (in later chapters), it is reasonable to ask: What are the main traditions of thought that were present in Galilee and Judaea in the early first century CE? This chapter offers very brief introductions to Jerusalem's landed aristocracy, the Sadducees; to a rigorist lay-movement, the Pharisees; to a separatist ascetic communion, the Essenes; and to a tradition of violent resistance, the Zealots. It is argued that Jesus demonstrably belongs to none of these traditions--or, as the historian Josephus calls them, "philosophies." It is because of this that Jesus' judges, in the gospels, do not know what to make of him. In other words, the figure of Jesus that emerges from the four gospels is--within an early first-century context--a confusing one.
Jesus among the Believers
Authors: Dusenbury David Lloyd
Published: May 2023

There is a remarkable scene in Luke 12, in which Jesus is asked to divide an inheritance. Significantly, Jesus refuses to do so. Yet the exact meaning of his refusal is hard to establish--until this passage in Luke 12 is compared to a passage in Acts 7, on the life of the prophetic legislator Moses. Once these texts are read in conjunction, it becomes clear that Jesus portrays himself, in Luke, as a prophet who is importantly different from Moses. In what way? Where Moses came as a political judge, Jesus seems to see himself only as a mystical judge. His words, and his "laws," do not judge the body--but only, the soul.
Jesus among the Rulers
Authors: Dusenbury David Lloyd
Published: May 2023

This chapter offers a new interpretation of the scene in which Jesus memorably says: "Hand back to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's." What is the context of this saying? Why are we told in Matthew, Mark, and Luke that this saying's first hearers "marveled" at it? How does this saying relate to some of Jesus' other sayings about God and Currency? And how does it set up a contrast between Jesus and those he calls, in Luke 22, "the kings of the gentiles"? This chapter argues that Jesus does not only refuse to act as a political judge (in chapters 10 and 11); he refuses to act as a rebel, too.
Jesus the Reject
Authors: Dusenbury David Lloyd
Published: May 2023

This chapter offers a new reading of Jesus' arrest, and his interrogation by a council--or "Sanhedrin"--which is said to have been convened by the Judaean high priest, Caiaphas. It is on the night before Jesus' death that he is questioned and, finally, condemned by the rulers of his own ancestral cultus. But what are the charges which are brought, according to the gospel-writers? Who testified against him? And on what grounds was he eventually condemned? These are intricate questions, which require great care. But it is argued, here, that early first-century Judaea must be understood to have been--like first-century Rome--a "temple-state." And it is as a perceived threat to his ancestral "temple-state" that Jesus is condemned by Caiaphas.
Blasphemy and Majesty
Authors: Dusenbury David Lloyd
Published: May 2023

It seems clear that Jesus changed hands on the morning of his death. This is attested by the gospel-writers, and by the historian Josephus. Having been interrogated by Judaeans (in chapter 17), he is consequently put to death by Romans. This both heightens and complicates the drama of Jesus' death. And in this chapter, a new interpretation of the legal question at stake in his Roman trial is offered. It is argued that the Judaean crime of "blasphemy" is, finally, translated into the Roman crime of "majesty." And this translation is possible because Rome, no less than Judaea, is a "temple-state."
Jesus the Convict
Authors: Dusenbury David Lloyd
Published: May 2023

This chapter offers a new reading of the Roman trial of Jesus. It is argued that the basic structure of this trial in Mark--the first gospel to be written--is maintained by the writers of Matthew, Luke, and John. Special attention is given to two traditions which are unique to the Roman trial in Matthew. Namely, the saying in which a crowd massed before Pilate's tribunal seems to inculpate the entire nation of Israel; and the gesture by means of which Pilate seems to exculpate himself. It is argued that both traditions have been catastrophically misinterpreted by many in Christian history, and that neither tradition is--per se, and within the literary horizons of Matthew--anti-Judaic, or anti-Semitic.
Death and Paradise
Authors: Dusenbury David Lloyd
Published: May 2023

This chapter offers a concluding reflection on the death of Jesus as it is remembered in Luke. Here, Jesus converses with one of the convicts who is crucified with him on a hill called "Skull." Their exchange serves to reintroduce the question of "Christian difference" that Julia Kristeva articulated in one of her books. And it is argued, in conclusion, that Jesus' death--and his promise of "Paradise"--supports Friedrich Nietzsche's argument that Christianity is "a religion of love." The gospels' religion proves not to be a negation of political reason, but it is nevertheless a challenging reminder that our highest desires lie beyond the political. And our sense of that beyond owes incalculably much to the political life, and death, of Jesus.
Introducing Moore’s Paradox
Authors: Williams John N.
Published: May 2023

Chapter 1 provides a brief historical overview of Moore’s paradox, and summarizes currently orthodox thinking about the paradox. A central tenet of the orthodox view is that Moorean absurdity in assertion is to be explained in terms of Moorean absurdity in belief: a claim that will be challenged in subsequent chapters. The chapter then sets out the aims for the rest of the book.
Moore on Moore’s Paradox
Authors: Williams John N.
Published: May 2023

Chapter 2 examines G. E. Moore’s own views on his eponymous paradox, with particular attention to the question of in what sense assertions like ‘It’s raining but I don’t believe it’ and ‘It’s raining but I believe it isn’t’ are absurd. Omissive and commissive versions of Moore’s paradox are distinguished from one another, as are assertions that are Moorean and assertions that are Moore-paradoxical.
Wittgenstein on Moore’s Paradox
Authors: Williams John N.
Published: May 2023

Chapter 3 explores Wittgenstein’s remarks on Moore’s paradox. Though suggestive, these remarks do not ultimately yield a satisfactory solution to the paradox. Wittgenstein distinguishes between Moorean utterances and Moore-paradoxical assertions; this distinction reveals that to achieve a successful diagnosis of Moore-paradoxical assertion, we need to gain a deeper understanding of the nature of assertion itself. The chapter concludes with a summary of the distinctive features of Moore-paradoxical assertion.
Expressing Belief and Knowledge, Assertion, and the Expressivist Approach
Authors: Williams John N.
Published: May 2023

Chapter 5 argues that we need to analyse assertion, if we are to diagnose the absurdity of Moore-paradoxical assertions. An analysis of assertion is provided in terms of the assertor’s expressive intentions with regard to actual or potential interlocutors. An expressivist account of Moore-paradoxical assertion is developed in the light of this analysis.
An Account of Belief
Authors: Williams John N.
Published: May 2023

Chapter 6 describes different types of belief—occurrent, dispositional, conscious, and unconscious—and argues that it’s possible for someone to have overtly contradictory beliefs. Searle’s principle, that if one has a belief then one has the ability to think the thought of its content, is defended against various objections. Accounts of beliefs as assignments of subjective probabilities are criticized for being psychologically unrealistic.
The Priority of Belief Thesis and the Incredibility of the Assertor
Authors: Williams John N.
Published: May 2023

Chapter 10 argues against the priority of belief thesis, according to which Moore-paradoxical assertions are absurd because they express absurd Moore-paradoxical beliefs. If this thesis is to be non-vacuous, it should be understood as the claim that the practical irrationality of Moore-paradoxical assertions is explained by the epistemic irrationality of Moore-paradoxical beliefs. However, there are counterexamples to this version of the thesis, as well as other cases of deviant assertion, which militate in favour of the incredibility of the assertor approach, according to which Moore-paradoxical assertions are absurd when the assertor cannot be rationally believed. The incredibility of the assertor approach also accommodates other examples of Moore-paradoxical assertion.
Conscious Belief
Authors: Williams John N.
Published: May 2023

Chapter 11 argues that conscious belief collects (as well as distributes) over conjunction. The chapter then discusses Rosenthal’s principle, according to which if one consciously believes that p, then one believes that p and believes that one oneself believes that p. The principle is strengthened to require conscious belief in the consequent, but then restricted to first- and second-order beliefs to block infinite regress. This explains the epistemic irrationality of fully conscious Moore-paradoxical beliefs. The chapter concludes by discussing cases of Moore-paradoxical beliefs that arise diachronically due to ‘dawning awareness’.
Eliminativism, Dialetheism, and Moore’s Paradox
Authors: Williams John N.
Published: May 2023

Chapter 13 considers the case of Ellie, an eliminativist about mental states like belief who makes assertions such as ‘It is raining but I do not believe that it is raining.’ According to John Turri, Ellie’s assertion is neither unreasonable nor absurd, if the sincerity of her assertion requires her to believe its content. A commissive counterpart of Ellie is Di, a dialetheist who asserts or believes, ‘The Russell set includes itself but I believe that it is not the case that the Russell set includes itself.’ It is argued that neither Ellie’s assertion nor her belief is irrational yet both are absurd. Likewise neither Di’s assertion nor her belief is irrational, yet in contrast neither is absurd. Thus not all Moore-paradoxical assertions or beliefs are irrational, and the syntax of Moore’s examples is not sufficient for the absurdity found in them.
Moore’s Paradox and Sorensen’s Iterated Cases
Authors: Williams John N.
Published: May 2023

Chapter 14 argues that Sorensen’s iterated cases ‘p and I don’t believe that I believe that p’ and ‘p and I believe that I believe that not-p’ do not display Moore-paradoxical absurdity. Moreover, the chapter argues Sorensen is wrong that Moore-paradoxical absurdity decreases further with subsequent iterations, as in ‘p and I don’t believe that I believe that I believe that p’ and so on.
The Justification Approach to Moore-Paradoxical Belief
Authors: Williams John N.
Published: May 2023

Chapter 15 begins with an externalist argument to the effect that if one is justified in believing that p, then one is justified in believing that one oneself believes that p. This principle is used to explain the epistemic irrationality of omissive and commissive Moore-paradoxical beliefs. Objections raised by Hamid Vahid and Jordi Fernández are answered. In response to Anthony Brueckner, the account is generalized to internalist conceptions of justification. Finally, the account is applied to other examples of Moore’s paradox.
Moore’s Paradox and Desire
Authors: Williams John N.
Published: May 2023

Chapter 17 introduces Moorean desires as the syntactic counterparts of Moorean beliefs, and distinguishes a Moorean desire from a ‘Frankfurt’ conjunction of desires. The chapter then discusses putative examples of rational and irrational desires, suggesting that there are norms of rational desire. It is shown that there are rational as well as irrational Moorean desires. Those that are irrational are also absurd, although there seem to be absurd desires that are not irrational. The chapter concludes that certain norms of rational desire should be rejected.
How to be a plant macroparasite
Authors: Gilbert Gregory S. , Parker Ingrid M.
Published: May 2023

Two groups of larger organisms cause disease on plants: plants and nematodes. Parasitic plants may be holoparasites that depend on their host plants for water, nutrients, and sugars, whereas hemiparasites tap into xylem and exploit their hosts for water only. Mistletoes, dodder, and witchweeds are well-known examples. Parasitic plants evolved independently many times from diverse lineages of flowering plants. Nematodes (also called roundworms) are animals in the phylum Nematoda. Nematodes can reproduce sexually or asexually via parthenogenesis. Plant parasitic nematodes are recognized by their retractable stylets, which they use to pierce plant cell walls to feed on cellular contents. Some nematodes are migratory, moving among plants to feed; others are sedentary, manipulating plant hormones to create stable sites on plant roots from which to feed.
Types of plant diseases
Authors: Gilbert Gregory S. , Parker Ingrid M.
Published: May 2023

Plant pathogens affect their hosts in diverse ways. Some deprive the host of carbon by parasitizing it or by reducing photosynthetic tissue, and some restrict access to water by disrupting the vascular system; either can slow the growth of the plant and reduce host fecundity. Other pathogens directly kill parts or all of the plant, and still other pathogens change growth patterns by manipulating host physiology or genetics. All plants can experience foliar diseases, developmental diseases caused by hormonal manipulation by the pathogen, stunting or dwarfing, damping off, vascular diseases, and root rot. Diseases of woody plant species include cankers and heart rot/butt rot. Some pathogens attack flowers and the reproductive organs of plants, including smut fungi on the anthers of flowers, fruit rot, and seed-decay fungi. All these impacts can reduce the fitness of the plants, altering population dynamics or driving down crop yields. Necrotrophs actively kill cells, causing chlorosis and necrosis, while biotrophs like rusts and viruses depend on live plant tissue to grow and reproduce. The life-history strategies of the pathogens, whether necrotrophs, biotrophs, or opportunistic saprotrophs, often strongly influence the impacts they have on their hosts as well as their level of host specificity.