bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Constitutive Rules and Agency
Authors: Ludwig Kirk
Published: November 2017

Chapter 7 first analyzes the concept of a constitutive rule in terms of essentially intentional activity patterns. Then it defines a form of constitutive agency in terms of that. Finally, it contrasts the account with John Searle’s. The rules of chess are constitutive rules. Following them brings into existence a type of activity that would not exist otherwise. The rules define an activity pattern that can be instantiated unintentionally. The rules are followed when it is instantiated intentionally. Thus constitutive rules are constitutive relative to an activity type defined as the intentional instantiation of a pattern of activity. Constitutive rules make available a form of constitutive agency in which what an agent does intentionally contributes constitutively to bringing about an essentially intentional activity type. Searle says constitutive rules have the form ‘X counts as Y in C’. But these instead define certain moments in activities governed by constitutive rules.
Summary and Conclusion
Authors: Ludwig Kirk
Published: November 2017

This chapter summarizes in broad terms the work of the book, which focuses on how the multiple agents account of collective action can be extended to institutional and mob action. It reviews the problems raised by singular group agents. It reviews the account of logical form developed for grammatically singular group action sentences. It reviews the account of constitutive rules and constitutive agency. It reviews the analysis of status functions, collective acceptance, and conventions. It reviews the account of membership in singular group agents. It reviews the account of proxy agency. It reviews the application to corporations and nation states. It concludes with a big picture view of the territory and brief description of directions for future research.
Just Like Leaves in the Wind? Exploring the Effect of the Interplay of Media Coverage and Personal Characteristics on Issue Salience
Authors: Kratz Agatha , Schoen Harald
Published: November 2017

This chapter explores the effect of the interplay of personal characteristics and news coverage on issue salience during the 2009 to 2015 period and during the election campaign in 2013. We selected four topics that played a considerable role during this period: the labor market, pensions and healthcare, immigration, and the financial crisis. The evidence from pooled cross-sectional data and panel data supports the notion that news coverage affects citizens’ issue salience. For obtrusive issues, news coverage does not play as large a role as for rather remote topics like the financial crisis and immigration. The results also lend credence to the idea that political predilections and other individual differences are related to issue salience and constrain the impact of news coverage on voters’ issue salience. However, the evidence for the interplay of individual differences and media coverage proved mild at best.
Electoral Competition, Candidates’ Campaign Styles, and the Personalization of the Vote
Authors: Weßels Bernhard
Published: November 2017

This chapter contributes to the debate about the (increasing) personalization of electoral campaigning. It investigates the orientation of the campaign focus and the degree of personalization of campaign activities in Germany’s federal elections of 2013 based on the candidate survey of the German Longitudinal Election Study. Theory on the incentives to cultivate a personal vote suggests it is the context of competition that matters. Two dimensions of competition are relevant: electoral competition and competition in the nomination. Results show that contrary to expectation electoral safety and not electoral pressure is connected to personalized campaigning. Strong electoral competition actually prevents personalization, whereas competitive pressure in the nomination process is strongly connected with a personalized campaign strategy. Why the competitive context in the nomination contributes to personalization and why there is a spillover into campaigning is a desideratum of research and theory that has to be investigated and explained.
Not Second-Order, but Still Second-Rate? Patterns of Electoral Behavior in German State Elections
Authors: Giebler Heiko
Published: November 2017

Looking at differences in electoral outcome in first- and second-order elections, there is only scant evidence that the second-order approach holds when translated to and tested on the micro level. We present a more nuanced framework that distinguishes between direct and indirect contextual effects as implicit elements of the original second-order approach. Applying our framework to Länder and federal elections in Germany, we show that electoral behavior does not differ—there is no direct effect of the second-order arena. However, the analysis makes a strong case for an indirect effect that refers to the importance of first-order factors for their second-order counterparts. The first-order arena strongly influences individuals’ perceptions of the second-order arena and this indeed speaks in favor of a substantively revised second-order approach.
Candidate Perception and Individual Vote Choice
Authors: Roßteutscher Sigrid , Bieber Ina , Stövsand Lars-Christopher , Blumenberg Manuela
Published: November 2017

This chapter explores the relevance of social cues for voting behavior in Germany. It explores effects of social cues that build on role-based and social-similarity-based stereotyping. Using data from voter surveys that are merged with information about candidate characteristics, the analysis demonstrates that role-based cues played no part in affecting voter decisions on the first vote in the 2009 and 2013 German federal elections. By contrast, cues that build on social similarity (e.g. gender, age, education, social class, religion, or migrant background) appear to have made a difference, at least in certain subsections of the electorate, such as partisan independents.
Conclusion
Authors: Schoen Harald , Roßteutscher Sigrid , Schmitt-Beck Rüdiger , Weßels Bernhard , Wolf Christof
Published: November 2017

This concluding chapter summarizes the main findings of the preceding chapters in light of the model of contextual effects on voter behavior. Accordingly, the processes of communication and politicization are of key importance for contextual effects. By implication, we cannot take for granted that contextual features exert sizable effects on voters’ opinion formation and behavior in each and every case. Findings about contextual effects are also context-sensitive and thus do not lend themselves to generalization by default. These observations suggest that context plays a nuanced and conditional role in voting behavior. Exploring it further should be a focal topic of future research on political behavior and democratic politics.
The Development of the Christian Biblical Canon
Authors: Gallagher Edmon L. , Meade John D.
Published: November 2017

In order to provide context for the presentation of the canon lists, here we introduce the major stages in canon history, the data relevant to each stage, and the prominent scholarly theories regarding the development of the biblical canon. Our goal is not to advocate for one particular view, but to help readers understand the significance of the canon lists. We begin by looking at the Old Testament, investigatng how the books came to be accepted as authoritative and whether there might have been a diversity of biblical canons in ancient Judaism. Turning to the New Testament, we examine the evidence for the reception of each section of the New Testament, starting with the Gospels, then the Pauline letters, the Catholic Epistles, the book of Acts, and finally Revelation.
The Tyranny of Territoriality
Authors: Svantesson Dan Jerker B.
Published: November 2017

This chapter provides an in-depth analysis of the sources most commonly cited concerning the reason why the current paradigm is so focused on territoriality. In particular, attention is given to the Lotus case and the Harvard Draft—the two sources often relied upon without proper analysis. In addition, a broader analysis is provided highlighting that: (1) the territoriality principle cannot alone be the jurisprudential core of jurisdiction; (2) a strict application of territoriality is destructive; (3) State practice has already moved beyond territoriality, territorial sovereignty, and the Harvard Draft principles; (4) the imprecise, and conceptually flawed, concept of extraterritorial jurisdiction undermines territoriality as a concept; (5) territoriality is a component of a dysfunctional system; and (6) the flaws associated with territoriality also impact the offline world of jurisdiction.
A Layered Approach to Jurisdiction
Authors: Svantesson Dan Jerker B.
Published: November 2017

This chapter observes how it may be inappropriate to apply a single jurisdictional threshold to diverse instruments such as data privacy laws. In the light of this observation, a proposal is outlined for a ‘layered approach’ under which the substantive law rules of such instruments are broken up into different layers, with different jurisdictional thresholds applied to each such layer. This layered approach is discussed primarily as a technique to be utilized in legal drafting, but it may also be applied in the interpretation and application of legal rules. Article 3 of the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation, which determines that regulation’s scope of application in a territorial sense, provides a particularly useful lens through which to approach this topic and, thus, the discussion is largely centred around that Article.
Final Remarks
Authors: Svantesson Dan Jerker B.
Published: November 2017

This chapter summarises the discussions and proposals of the previous chapters without attempting to add any additional arguments. It highlights the importance of tackling the complex issues of Internet jurisdictions, not only for the disciplines of private international law and public international law (as they are traditionally defined), but for society more broadly. Emphasis is also placed on the need for immediate action. In addition, it links the discussion of international law concepts to the Swedish word lagom, said to stem from Viking-era drinking etiquette. It is suggested that the idea of ‘lagom jurisdiction’ nicely brings together much of the arguments presented in this book.
The Teleology of Action in the Ascent Passage of the Symposium
Authors: Payne Andrew
Published: November 2017

This chapter is concerned with the ascent passage of the Symposium, which describes the development of eros or love in a single lover. The lover desires the beauty of bodies, souls, customs and laws, and sciences, and finally arrives at the vision of the Form of Beauty. The recognized varieties of teleological explanation, intentional teleology and natural teleology, will not support Plato’s claim that the vision of the Form of Beauty is the end or purpose for the sake of which all the previous stages took place. An account of the function of eros, giving birth in the beautiful, is presented. The concept of function allows Plato to claim in the ascent passage that particular actions are carried out for the sake of an unintended end, namely the vision of the Form of Beauty. This is an instance of the functional teleology of action.
The Defense of Justice in Republic 1
Authors: Payne Andrew
Published: November 2017

In this chapter, Socrates’ defense of justice in Book 1 is addressed. Thrasymachus’ definition of justice as the interest of the stronger provides the impetus for this defense. Socrates refutes this definition of justice and goes on to argue that justice rather than injustice makes for a better life for a human being. Although Thrasymachus is refuted in Book 1, he makes an important contribution to the dialogue by connecting justice to partnerships and, in particular, to the sort of partnership that is a political community regulated by laws. Socrates takes over from Thrasymachus this understanding of justice as linked to the activity of engaging in partnerships. His arguments for the benefits of justice rely on the insight that justice is the virtue that perfects the activity of engaging in partnership.
Victory Though the Heavens Fall? Unlimited Warfare as Theme and Phenomenon
Authors: Johnson James Turner
Published: November 2017

While recent moral discourse on war focuses on limiting the conduct of war even at the expense of unclear outcomes, the idea of unlimited war has paralleled the idea of delimited war, recurring in various contexts. Historically, this has often been associated with religious war, which appeals to a divinely ordained cause so overwhelming in its claims that enemies become enemies of God and no limits can be tolerated in fighting them. But appeal to national survival can serve a similar purpose, as in the RAF and US military’s counter-population bombing tactics during World War II. The idea of unlimited warfare as necessary for victory seems destined to endure. This chapter examines this idea through selected historical cases of unlimited warfare. Doing so sharpens the definition of unlimited war and explores what circumstances, if any, might provide justification for use of unlimited methods in the effort to achieve victory.
The Ethics of Unwinnable War
Authors: Tierney Dominic
Published: November 2017

According to just war theory, military campaigns should only be fought as a last resort, with the goal of correcting a grave evil, and where there is a high probability of success. But what happens when a military campaign unravels and becomes unwinnable? How can a leader reconcile just war theory with the need to extricate the country from a quagmire? In recent decades, US presidents have repeatedly faced such moral dilemmas, as campaigns in Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan, and Iraq all became unwinnable. When victory is no longer achievable, leaders should dial down the goals of the war, resist the pressure to embrace barbarism, negotiate with the adversary, and seek the best possible peace from the range of plausible alternatives.
Conclusion
Authors: Ready Jonathan L.
Published: November 2017

This chapter reviews the two methods of comparison adopted in this book and suggests avenues for future research, including an investigation of the Hellenistic-era papyri of the Homeric poems.
Molecular dynamics
Authors: Allen Michael P. , Tildesley Dominic J.
Published: November 2017

This chapter introduces the classical equations of motion for a system of molecules, and describes their solution by stable, accurate, time-stepping algorithms. Simple atomic systems, rigid molecules, and flexible molecules with and without constraints, are treated, with examples of program code. Quaternions are introduced as useful parameters for solving the rigid-body equations of motion of molecules. A simple example of a multiple timestep algorithm is given, and there is a brief summary of event-driven (hard-particle) dynamics. Examples of constant-temperature molecular dynamics using stochastic and deterministic methods are presented, and the corresponding constant-pressure molecular dynamics methods for fixed and variable box-shape are described. The molecular dynamics method is extended to the treatment of polarizable systems, and dynamical simulation of the grand canonical ensemble is mentioned.
Long-range forces
Authors: Allen Michael P. , Tildesley Dominic J.
Published: November 2017

A wide variety of special techniques for handling long-range forces are explained in this chapter. This includes the traditional Ewald sum, and the particle-mesh methods that use a discrete Fourier transform. A number of techniques based on spherical truncation such as the Wolf method, the isotropic periodic sum and the reaction field are also considered. Techniques for larger systems such as the fast-multipole method, the multilevel summation approach, and the direct solution of Maxwell’s equations, are explained. The advantages and disadvantages of the different approaches are reviewed, and a number of methods for tackling long-range forces in inhomogeneous systems, particularly in a slab geometry, are presented.
Parallel simulation
Authors: Allen Michael P. , Tildesley Dominic J.
Published: November 2017

Parallelization is essential for the effective use of modern high-performance computing facilities. This chapter summarizes some of the basic approaches that are commonly used in molecular simulation programs. The underlying shared-memory and distributed-memory architectures are explained. The concept of program threads and their use in parallelizing nested loops on a shared memory machine is described. Parallel tempering using message passing on a distributed memory machine is discussed and illustrated with an example code. Domain decomposition, and the implementation of constraints on parallel computers, are also explained.
Nonequilibrium molecular dynamics
Authors: Allen Michael P. , Tildesley Dominic J.
Published: November 2017

This chapter explains some of the fundamental issues associated with applying perturbations to a molecular dynamics simulation, along with practical details of methods for studying systems out of equilibrium. The main emphasis is on fluid flow and viscosity measurements. Spatially homogeneous perturbations are described to study shear and extensional flow. Non-equilibrium methods are applied to the study of heat flow and the calculation of the thermal conductivity. Issues of thermostatting, and the modelling of surface-fluid interactions for inhomogeneous systems, are discussed. The measurement of free energy changes through non-equilibrium work expressions such as those of Jarzynski and Crooks is also explained.
Labour Colonies in North America
Authors: Arneil Barbara
Published: November 2017

In Chapter 4, the author analyses the introduction of domestic labour colonies in the United States and Canada. Unlike Europe, permanent labour colonies for the general population of ‘idle poor’ were rejected. Instead they were either implemented temporarily at moments of crisis (post-WWI and the Depression) or, more importantly, for racialized minorities over a longer period of time. The bulk of the chapter is thus spent on two case studies: colonies for freed African-American slaves in the United States viewed as the necessary corollary of emancipation and colonies for Metis and indigenous peoples of Canada as important tools in the assimilation of such populations. Racialized colonies were justified by many of the leading thinkers in both countries, including two of the most iconic and celebrated figures in American and Canadian history, Abraham Lincoln and Tommy Douglas, who make the case for colonies for freed slaves and Metis people, respectively, in their jurisdictions, nearly a century apart.
Farm Colonies for the Mentally Ill and Disabled in Europe and America
Authors: Arneil Barbara
Published: November 2017

In Chapter 5, the volume turns to the second category of domestic colonies, namely, farm colonies for the ‘irrational’ (the mentally ill, disabled, and those with epilepsy), focusing on the first farm colonies in Europe and then America through archival records and secondary literature but also the justifications advanced in their defence by domestic colonialists including Walter Fernald, Charles Bernstein, and Henry Goddard. The chapter shows how these defenders of the farm colony repeatedly deployed the same arguments used by external colonialists to justify farm colonies, namely, both the economic benefits of colonization (working the land creates revenues to offset the cost to the state of maintaining such populations) and ethical benefits (segregation and farm labour had therapeutic value). Finally, while most historians view farm colonies as the product of eugenics, I argue that domestic colonialism provides a better explanation. Indeed, domestic colonies were viewed as institutions that served eugenicist ends but also were alternatives to both eugenics and the constraints of asylums. Thus, as sterilization was introduced, colonialists in America such as Bernstein rejected it, and argued for the colony as an alternative solution.
Utopian Colonies
Authors: Arneil Barbara
Published: November 2017

This chapter examines utopian colonies, beginning with an analysis of how they differ from labour and farm colonies. It could be argued that these colonies differ from the others because they are voluntary, that is, members created colonies by and for themselves based on religious, racial, and/or political commitments. But these minorities were not entirely ‘free’ or ‘voluntary’, since their choices were limited by persecution and discrimination. The key difference with the utopian colony is their radical politics. While rooted in the same principles of domestic colonialism (segregation, agrarian labour, and improvement), the first principle, segregation, was chosen by the colony’s members in order to protect and preserve their collective way of life from what was perceived to be the immorality of the larger society that surrounded it. The case studies examined in this chapter are Doukhobor colonies in Canada and Robert Owen’s utopian socialist colonies in Britain and America.
African-American Utopian Colonies
Authors: Arneil Barbara
Published: November 2017

The third case study of utopian colonies is proposed and/or implemented at the end the Reconstruction era, by African Americans themselves within America, as opposed to colonies proposed for freed slaves by white Americans as discussed in Chapter 4. One of the key proponents of these colonies was the leading African-American intellectual of the late nineteenth century, Booker T. Washington. Many freed slaves came to believe that true emancipation would only be possible if they lived segregated from white society within their own communities. While the principle of segregation from white society remained the same, its purpose was different—if African Americans were to live in equality and freedom, own and work their own land, and prove they were capable of self-government, segregation was necessary within a deeply racist society. The colony thus was seen as a radical political challenge to the racism and white supremacism of the wider society.
Imagination that Amounts to Knowledge from Fiction
Authors: Hazlett Allan
Published: November 2017

The idea that the imagination can help us acquire knowledge is relatively uncontroversial. For example, that you can imagine some state of affairs seems like evidence that that state of affairs is possible. But imagination sometimes plays a more central role in the acquisition of knowledge: imagination sometimes amounts to knowledge, rather than merely being among the causes of knowledge. In the same way that instances of belief amount to knowledge in paradigm cases of knowledge, instances of imagination can amount to knowledge. In the relevant cases, your imagination that p is partly constitutive of your knowledge that p. Such cases include some cases of knowledge from fiction, providing one way in which engagement with fiction can provide knowledge.
Stronger than Fiction
Authors: Krans Jan
Published: November 2017

The eventful career of the ‘Velesian readings’ constitute an instructive chapter in the history of New Testament exegesis. Around 1570, Pedro Fajardo, Marquis of los Vélez, jotted down some 2,000 variant readings in a printed New Testament, giving later researchers the impression that these annotations resulted from a persistent perusal of Greek manuscripts. The original annotated book was never found, but the Velesian readings found their way into many editions, for example Walton’s 1657 Polyglot. Eventually, the readings were shown to be retranslations from Latin into Greek, intended to vindicate the Latin Vulgate against the received Greek text. This chapter traces the role scholars played in their unmasking. It shows that variant readings were of paramount importance in theological controversy.
The Janus Face of Scaliger’s Philological Heritage
Authors: Miert Dirk van
Published: November 2017

Daniel Heinsius and Hugo Grotius worked on the New Testament in the same decade, 1630–1640, and within the same genre of a selective annotation, but they ended up publishing two contrasting types of commentary, with diverging consequences for the authority of God’s Word. Two factors shaped these different outcomes. First, the instrument of philology was subjugated to different philosophical agendas: Heinsius aimed at highlighting the existence of a Hellenistic language, while Grotius was driven by the wish for Christian reunification. Secondly, as an exile Grotius enjoyed greater freedom than Heinsius, who taught at Leiden University. These contexts either stimulated or neutralized the subversive potentiality of biblical philology. A comparison with the agendas and positions of other contemporary critics illustrates the inherently destructive effects of philology upon scriptural authority.
God’s Word Defended
Authors: Fisher Benjamin
Published: November 2017

Early seventeenth-century Amsterdam Jewish community life was marked by specific concerns about the consistency of the biblical text. In his Conciliador (1632–1651) Menasseh ben Israel tried to solve anomalies, for example those relating to the chronology of the reigns of the kingdoms Israel and Judah. Menasseh conducted his studies in a country dominated by Reformed Christianity, in which religious diversification and developments in both natural philosophy and chronology led to concerns about the infallibility of scriptural authority. This background explains Menasseh’s exceptional sensitivity to issues that his rabbinic predecessors had broached more casually. He explicitly took his distance from medieval solutions, which were not rigorous enough for his taste, and ostensibly set out to employ a systematic, mathematical method to solve the problems.
Witches and Forgers
Authors: Mandelbrote Scott
Published: November 2017

Scepticism and loyalty represent the poles of van Dale’s career. Two contexts have been mentioned as relevant here: the seventeenth-century attack on magic and superstition, and the circles of friendship that created a contemporary Republic of Letters. This chapter evaluates both contexts, as well as others that may throw light on his relatively neglected attitude to the text of the Bible. It brings into focus two important intellectual episodes: his treatment of the account of the Witch of Endor (1 Samuel 28:3–25), and his engagement with Hellenistic sources relating to the text of the Old Testament, especially to the miraculous composition of the Septuagint. These issues brought van Dale to ask questions about God’s Word. The chapter explores the limits of his scepticism, the extent of his scholarship, and the role of friendship and isolation in his development. Finally, it draws attention to his place in contemporary Mennonite debates.
Challenges for Financial Decision Making at Older Ages
Authors: Gamble Keith Jacks
Published: November 2017

Increased longevity has brought about financial challenges for which many seniors and their families are unprepared. This chapter describes recent research findings on financial decision making at older ages enabled by the Rush Memory and Aging Project, a large cohort study of aging. Although financial experience increases with age, financial decision making capabilities tend to diminish due to declines in cognitive ability. Declines in cognition coincide with diminished financial literacy and declining self-confidence. Older adults who experience cognitive decline often have difficulties managing their money and are more likely to get help with their financial decisions. Older adults are frequently targeted by scammers. Declining cognition is a significant risk factor for becoming a victim of financial fraud. Seniors who are over-confident in their financial knowledge are more likely to be victimized.
Choosing a Financial Advisor
Authors: Kim Hugh Hoikwang , Maurer Raimond , Mitchell Olivia S.
Published: November 2017

This chapter examines advice-seeking by defined contribution plan participants as they approach retirement, focusing upon the categories, correlates, and timing of advice-seeking. The empirical analysis utilizes a large Australian database, identifies the drivers of advice-seeking behavior, and, most importantly, pinpoints age-specific reference points that appear to prompt participants to seek advice about retirement planning from the plan administrator. The authors analyze the patterns of advice-seeking by older participants, focusing upon the topics raised and determinants of advice-seeking discriminating between the effects of age, gender, and account balances on retirement planning. An important aspect of the chapter concerns whether there is evidence of an increasing focus on retirement as participants go from 45–9 years to 65 years or older. Implications are drawn for the design of pension plans as regards their engagement with older participants.
Understanding and Combating Investment Fraud
Authors: Kieffer Christine N. , Mottola Gary R.
Published: November 2017

Investment fraud is a significant problem in America. Many Baby Boomers are entering retirement with significant assets, and enforcement actions by financial regulators indicate that investors can be vulnerable to fraud at key ‘wealth events’ in their lives, such as when they face a decision about what to do with money arising from the sale of a house, an inheritance, or an IRA rollover. Protecting these assets—for Baby Boomers and younger generations who face key wealth events—will be important to ensure the financial well-being and retirement security of millions of Americans. This chapter reviews the prevalence and impact of financial and investment fraud, explores the value of using demographic characteristics, psychographic characteristics, and the number of times an individual is targeted for fraud to predict investment fraud victimization, explains how fraudsters use social influence tactics to defraud their victims, and describes current investor protection efforts.
Macroscopic Manifestations of Quantum Mechanics
Authors: Levin Frank S.
Published: November 2017

Some possibly unexpected macroscopic manifestations of quantum mechanics are described in Chapter 12. The first is a laser, a device both man-made and one that relies on phase effects to achieve its potent beam. How this is done is illustrated by a diagram. The next is an estimate of the maximum height of a mountain, whose result was originally shown to rely on quantum mechanics. That result, approximately 30 km, is followed by showing that white dwarf and neutron stars are each gigantic manifestations of the Pauli Exclusion Principle, the first mainly consisting of carbon nuclei and electrons, the second mainly of neutrons. In each case, the primary constituent is a fermion, whose quantum behavior is governed by the Exclusion Principle. Along the way to showing this is a review of stellar evolution and energy sources. The final example is the first quantum machine, which is barely macroscopic.
Quantum Tunneling
Authors: Levin Frank S.
Published: November 2017

Quantum tunneling, wherein a quanject has a non-zero probability of tunneling into and then exiting a barrier of finite width and height, is the subject of Chapter 13. The description for the one-dimensional case is extended to the barrier being inverted, which forms an attractive potential well. The first application of this analysis is to the emission of alpha particles from the decay of radioactive nuclei, where the alpha-nucleus attraction is modeled by a potential well and the barrier is the repulsive Coulomb potential. Excellent results are obtained. Ditto for the similar analysis of proton burning in stars and yet a different analysis that explains tunneling through a Josephson junction, the connector between two superconductors. The final application is to the scanning tunneling microscope, a device that allows the microscopic surfaces of solids to be mapped via electrons from the surface molecules tunneling into the tip of the STM probe.
Constructing Prophetic Divination
Authors: Nissinen Martti
Published: November 2017

This chapter lays the theoretical foundation of the book, defining prophecy as a non-technical, or inspired, form of divination, in which the prophet acts as an intermediary of divine knowledge. It is argued that prophecy is as much a scholarly construct as a historical phenomenon documented in Near Eastern, biblical, as well as Greek textual sources. The knowledge of the historical phenomenon depends essentially on the genre and purpose of the source material which, however, is very fragmentary and, due to its secondary nature, does not yield a full and balanced picture of ancient prophecy. The chapter also discusses the purpose of comparative studies, arguing that they are necessary, not primarily to reveal the influence of one source on the other, but to identify a common category of ancient Eastern Mediterranean prophecy.
Hebrew Bible
Authors: Nissinen Martti
Published: November 2017

This chapter considers prophecy in the Hebrew Bible. It is presented as literature which is rooted in the prophetic phenomenon but which no longer serves as a direct document of prophets in ancient Israel and Judah. The prophetic book is a genre of its own, owing its emergence to the scribal activity of the Second Temple period. Once regarded as the source of prophecy par excellence, the Hebrew Bible is a very different kind of a source for the ancient Eastern Mediterranean prophetic phenomenon—not because the phenomenon itself was different but because the scribal transmission of prophecy in Israel and Judah finds a distinctive literary expression in the biblical books.
Lying as Infidelity
Authors: Stroud Sarah
Published: November 2017

Why is it wrong to lie? This chapter offers a clarification of what such questions presuppose. It then canvasses some natural potential answers drawn from leading moral theories. These often seek to ground the wrongness of lying in the wrongness of (intentional) deception, given that when we lie we are typically aiming to induce a false belief in our interlocutor (i.e., to deceive him). The present chapter offers a different diagnosis of the wrongness of lying. The account highlights the structural parallels between telling someone something and promising someone something: both are voluntary acts in which the speaker takes on responsibilities vis-à-vis her addressee which she did not have before. The proposal is that lies, like insincere promises, are wrong in virtue of being faithless pledges. The chapter thus resurrects in a somewhat different form W. D. Ross’s suggestion that lying violates the pro tanto duty of fidelity.
The Centrality of One’s Own Life
Authors: White Stephen
Published: November 2017

We are all, to some degree or other, self-centered; we tend to concentrate on our own needs and interests to the relative exclusion of most other people’s. This chapter explores the prospects for justifying such partiality on grounds of individual autonomy. Two versions of this approach are considered. The first develops the idea that, to be autonomous, an agent must have available a significant range of morally permissible options. This approach is rejected in favor of a second, according to which a strong duty of impartial beneficence would objectionably render an agent subject to the wills of other agents. That is, insofar as a person is entitled to a special authoritative status in relation to what she does, that person will bear the primary responsibility for how well her life goes. The chapter concludes by considering the implications for our understanding of morally required beneficence.
The African Union and Universal Jurisdiction
Authors: Mennecke Martin
Published: November 2017

Universal jurisdiction permits states to investigate and prosecute perpetrators of certain widely condemned offences, irrespective of whether they possess any of the traditional territorial, nationality, or other jurisdictional links to the offence. As a legal principle, African states accept the principle of universal jurisdiction, but in the past decade they have pushed back against it due to the perception that the courts of various European states have unfairly targeted African government officials that they perceive as enemies. Against this background, the chapter examines the status of the universal jurisdiction debate and how it relates to the role of the International Criminal Court and that of the African Union and its member states, in addition to evaluating the proposals made by African states within the framework of the United Nations to address the African government concerns about double standards in the application of universal jurisdiction through a special ad hoc committee of the General Assembly.
Trying Sitting Heads of State
Authors: Gaeta Paola , Labuda Patryk I
Published: November 2017

The issue of the exercise of the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) jurisdiction over sitting heads of state is one of the major bones of contention in the tense relationship between the ICC and Africa. Legally, the disagreement revolves around the interpretation of the two rules of the Rome Statute, that is, article 27(2) and article 98(1), concerning the personal immunities. The Al Bashir and Kenyatta cases constitute the litmus test with which the analysis of these rules of the Rome Statute can be carried out to clarify the scope and purport of these two provisions. The Al Bashir case raises two different issues: (i) whether the same immunities preclude the ICC from exercising its adjudicatory jurisdiction over a sitting head of state of a non-member state; (ii) if this is not the case, whether the ICC member states are obliged under the Rome Statute to execute the request by the ICC to arrest and surrender him.
State Withdrawals from the Rome Statute of the International Criminal CourtSouth Africa, Burundi, and The Gambia
Authors: Ssenyonjo Manisuli
Published: November 2017

In 2016, African leaders’ growing discontent with the work of the International Criminal Court in Africa culminated in the unexpected withdrawal of three African states parties from the ICC. This chapter examines several key issues connected with the three states’ notifications of withdrawal. The first part examines reasons for the filing of the withdrawal notifications. The second section analyses the likely legal and other consequences of the withdrawal notifications for states parties. In the third part, the chapter considers whether the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights might serve as a suitable African regional alternative or a mechanism that could be complementary to the ICC. The final section offers concluding observations, debating whether the three African states should consider withdrawing their withdrawal notifications and outlining measures that might be taken to avoid, or at least minimize, further withdrawals and to avoid conferring impunity of perpetrators of international crimes in states that have withdrawn from the Rome Statute.
Subnational Authorities in EU Law
Authors: Finck Michèle
Published: November 2017

This book explores the role and status of local and regional authorities (also referred to as ‘subnational authorities’ or ‘SNAs’) in European Union law. It highlights that SNAs’ status varies depending our constitutional imagination. The discussion is focused through two conceptions of the status of SNAs in relation to the EU: ‘the insider narrative’ and ‘the outsider narrative’. If we examine EU law through a formal legal lens, SNAs appear as outsiders, that is to say entities of a fundamentally different status from the Member States that at best entertain indirect relations to the Union. If the perspective adopted is of a functional nature, SNAs however emerge in a noticeably different light, namely as allies of the Union that have in many ways assumed functions analogous to the Member States’ and which are able to influence EU law’s substantive development. The monograph explores these two narratives and moreover identifies the reasons and consequences of their coexistence. The concepts of polycentricity, porosity, and neofunctionalism are used to illuminate the analysis.
Brexit and the English Question
Authors: Tierney Stephen
Published: November 2017

The chapter examines Brexit and the English question, arguing that Brexit should be understood as a result of the ongoing demotic process in England. As Tierney explains, the UK is an asymmetric system. England alone constitutes population-wise almost four-fifths of the UK. This has influenced devolution: while since the 1990s power has transferred outwards towards the devolved nations, England herself has never received equivalent constitutional autonomy, or recognition, within the UK. Proposals for regional devolution within England, transferring powers to nationwide cities, have also failed. the recent introduction within the House of Common of the principle ‘English Votes for English Laws’—allowing only MPs elected in English constituencies to vote on laws concerning England alone, thus overcoming the well-known West Lothian question—is also an inadequate response to ever-increasing nationalistic views. To address this situation post-Brexit, Tierney concludes that constitutional reform is necessary, entrenching a coherent system of intergovernmental relations.
Brexit and the Scottish Question
Authors: Douglas-Scott Sionaidh
Published: November 2017

The chapter examines Brexit and the Scottish question, arguing that the UK secession from the EU may be the trigger for Scotland’s secession from the UK. While Scottish voters had by majority rejected independence in a referendum in 2014, they voted overwhelmingly to remain in the EU during the Brexit referendum. At the same time, as Douglas-Scott explains, efforts by the Scottish government after the Brexit referendum to obtain a special deal to remain within the EU single market have received only scant attention from the UK government. Moreover, new tensions are likely to emerge between Holyrood and Westminster in the implementation of the UK government. EU Withdrawal Bill. Although pursuant to the Sewel Convention Scotland should be consulted on any UK primary Legislation relating to its devolved powers, the UK government does not seem sensitive to the issue—not least because the UKSC in Miller classified constitutional conventions as non-enforceable norms. Given the unsuccessful exhaustion of all these alternative roads to protect Scotland’s interest, the prospect of a new independence referendum gains credibility.
Brexit and the Northern Ireland Question
Authors: Doyle John , Connolly Eileen
Published: November 2017

This chapter analyses the potential impact of Brexit on the Northern Ireland ‘peace process’, through a discussion of four interrelated issues—political divisions in Northern Ireland; the single market; the common travel area; and the Good Friday Agreement, all of which reflect the fundamental political divisions between Irish nationalists and those who believe that Northern Ireland should remain part of the UK. The chapter highlights two main threats to peace – the undermining of the Good Friday Agreement which is premised on membership of the EU and its institutional framework, and the crucial issue of where the inevitable hard border between the EU and the UK will be located. It argues that Brexit has the potential to destroy the peace process and suggests possible policy solutions to mitigate the impact of Brexit on Northern Ireland, while also assessing the political obstacles to the adoption of such flexible policy solutions.
Brexit and Euroskepticism
Authors: Wind Marlene
Published: November 2017

Doomsdays preachers suggested that Brexit and Trump would mean the end of the liberal world order as we know it and thus the end of the EU. The research presented here suggests the opposite. Not only have Europeans turned their back to populism by voting yes to reforms and pro-EU-parties and governments in different member states over the past months, but Brexit and Trump also seems to have given a complete new momentum to the European project. This chapter demonstrates why Brexit cannot be generalized to the rest of the continent but is the result of a complicated and special British conception of what it means to be a sovereign state in the twenty-first century. Moreover, and paradoxically, surveys show that the greatest fear among Europeans today is not more European integration but right wing populism and European disunion.
The Foundations of Conditional Kingship
Authors: Winkler Emily A.
Published: November 2017

In Old Testament narratives, invasion and conquest were the catalysts of the institution of kingship. Chapter 2 explores relevant biblical models for medieval kingship, both conditional and unconditional. It also considers the paradoxes of writers’ decisions about how to distribute responsibility and justice in classical sources, which lacked a providential framework for the explanation of human actions and obligations. Together, these ancient models of royal responsibility, both causal and moral, illuminate approaches to the problem of explaining contingency with which later writers were familiar. The chapter also identifies several key Carolingian precedents for guiding evaluating kings to show where Anglo-Saxon and Anglo-Norman thought about kingship diverged from continental models.
Invasion, Explanation, and Responsibility in Anglo-Saxon England
Authors: Winkler Emily A.
Published: November 2017

Chapter 3 begins by providing an overview of the key events of eleventh-century England, to serve as a guide for comparing and evaluating both contemporary and twelfth-century retellings of this narrative. It then goes back in time to examine Anglo-Saxon models for leadership from the time of Gildas (writing in post-Roman Britain) and Bede, up to the last versions of ASC written in the eleventh century. The chapter discusses sources from the reign of King Alfred, in which we find early glimmers of the tensions among the responsibilities of kings which occur in a more pronounced fashion in the twelfth century. In considering the immediate reaction to each eleventh-century conquest, it explains that historians in late eleventh-century England saw themselves, the people, and their kings as victims of conquest, and that historians at the time explained the disasters of invasion by employing traditional models of collective sin and providential will.
Conclusions
Authors: Winkler Emily A.
Published: November 2017

Chapter 9 argues that perceptions of kingship in English historical writing changed significantly within the first half of the twelfth century, in part due to the historians’ changing experience of power, wider reading in ancient sources, and efforts to salvage the reputation of the English people. In questioning the contingency of kingship, twelfth-century invasion narratives responded to ancient ideas about rule. They depart from Carolingian and Anglo-Saxon modes of explanation in that they either reject explanation by collective sin or modify in ways that enhance the force of royal responsibility. In other ways, their narratives are quintessentially English, for they continue the Anglo-Saxon trend of inclusion: Anglo-Saxon kings often claimed to rule the whole island of Britain; the peoples counted among the English expanded over time. William, Henry, John, and Gaimar made English kingship an office of great effect, one that could only be held by worthy individuals.
Political Fairness
Authors: Scanlon T. M.
Published: November 2017

One reason for objecting to economic inequality is that it interferes with the fairness of the political system by giving the rich an unacceptable degree of influence over political outcomes. More needs to be said, however, about whether this influence is improper or whether it is unequal. One way in which the influence of the rich can be improper is by leading officials to adopt policies that fail to give proper weight to the interests of poorer citizens. In other cases, it may be that what officials should do is to be guided by the expressed preferences of their constituents. In such cases unequal influence seems more relevant, although even here the basic wrong is failing to be guided by the right standards of official conduct. The ideal of equal influence is best understood not in terms of likelihood of success but rather in terms of equal access to means of influence.