bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Conclusion
Authors: Canuel Mark
Published: March 2022

My book concludes by assessing the troubled fate of Romantic progressivism over the past two centuries. Victorian writers such as Matthew Arnold helped to define an enduring view of the Romantics, criticizing poets from William Wordsworth to Lord Byron for their lack of proper normative progress to maturity and philosophical learning. Arnold’s poignant reaction to this predicament is to view himself as Romanticism’s troubled cultural heir: a poet “wandering between two worlds,” he inhabits the stunted position of the Romantic dreamer while still yearning for the lost opportunity to enhance civilization’s organic growth. Generations of critics and theorists in the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries appear to echo a Victorian fear of Romanticism as they focus progressive politics on specific criteria and dismiss unwelcome distractions from those criteria. Turning to twentieth- and twenty-first-century examples of 1970s feminism and the more recent “Occupy” movement, I show how progressive political initiatives have focused energies on single, unified interests while pushing other people, arguments, and interest groups to the margins in order to avoid a supposedly self-defeating structurelessness. But I close with a more positive assessment to be found in Frederic Jameson’s An American Utopia. At one of its decisive moments, Jameson’s argument sounds utterly, although unintentionally, Romantic. Harnessing the energy of the “collective” in order more effectively to counter the destructive forces of capitalism, Jameson simultaneously seeks to accommodate numerous “antagonisms” in order to include “people with whom you have nothing in common and would normally avoid.” Whenever our efforts to achieve a collective good are simultaneously sundered by such forms of internal dissent, I argue, we’re recalling, and honoring, Romantic progressivism.
Normal skin
Authors: McPherson Tess
Published: March 2022

This chapter defines normal skin by considering the roles it fulfils in keeping us healthy. In practical terms, these include the ability to regulate temperature, absorb sunlight, and prevent infection, as well as to play host to a microbiome of more ‘friendly’ bugs on the skin surface. It is also recognized that there is a more emotive side to having normal skin, however, due to the prevalence of flawless skin in the media and its importance in society. This idea is addressed in turn, but with the conclusion that skin doesn’t necessarily have to look perfect in order to be healthy or normal.
Spots and acne
Authors: McPherson Tess
Published: March 2022

This chapter looks at the process by which spots form on the skin, considering various contributing factors, before then moving on to a discussion of the treatment of spots and acne. It aims to debunk the myth that spots and acne develop just because you are dirty; instead, the way hair follicles become blocked by grease is detailed, and the role of hormones in this process explained. The types of spots that can develop as a result are discussed, and the creams and tablets available to treat these are explained. One tablet treatment—known as isotretinoin—is mentioned in more detail, in order to address the risks, benefits, and side effects of this particular medication.
Hives/Urticaria
Authors: McPherson Tess
Published: March 2022

This section focuses on urticaria—known more commonly as hives—and covers the relation between urticaria and allergy, alongside discussion of alternative causes, diagnosis, and treatments. Urticaria very common, and at least 1 in 5 people will experience an episode of spontaneous urticaria at some point in their lives. Urticaria, as well as a form that affects deeper layers of the skin known as angioedema, are both issues that can be triggered by a variety of things other than allergy. It is therefore important to know when allergy testing will be useful, before deciding how best to treat the itch and skin changes commonly associated with this condition.
Hidradenitis suppurativa
Authors: McPherson Tess
Published: March 2022

This chapter provides an evidence-based approach to the condition known as hidradenitis suppurativa (HS), covering the symptoms, diagnosis, and management of the painful spots caused by HS. HS is a complex condition, and the causes are not completely understood. As with other inflammatory skin conditions, both genes and environment play a role. It gives an explanation of the apocrine glands, and the process by which they become blocked and inflamed in HS, before then moving on to the potential triggers—in particular smoking and weight—associated with the condition. Treatment of HS, including preventative steps, tablet options, and surgical management, are also evaluated in detail.
Genital skin
Authors: McPherson Tess
Published: March 2022

This chapter focuses on genital skin, and how it can be affected during puberty and beyond. Normal variations in this area, skin conditions specific to this region, and the ways in which other skin problems including eczema and psoriasis can affect the genitals, are all discussed in turn. The ways in which the genitals develop through puberty—and the skin changes that are considered normal in this time—are first covered, before the signs and symptoms that may indicate a genital skin condition requiring treatment are then outlined. Specific conditions, known as lichen sclerosus and lichen planus, are two of the more common examples, and the diagnosis and treatment of these is explained in more detail.
Moles and marks
Authors: McPherson Tess
Published: March 2022

This section describes the different marks that can appear on skin over a lifetime, with particular focus on moles. The medical term for these is naevi, or naevus if there is only one, and you can either be born with them or develop them throughout your life. The majority of moles that we see in childhood and adolescence will never become cancerous; they should be checked if you are ever concerned, but most will not need removing. There are not many reasons to remove a mole, and—given the risks of scarring associated with these procedures—living with or possibly camouflaging these marks can often be a better option.
Skin infections and infestations
Authors: McPherson Tess
Published: March 2022

Our skin is host to a whole range of friendly bugs, including bacteria, viruses, and fungi; some bugs—if they grow unchecked, however—can cause problems for the skin, and the infections that result are the focus of this chapter. Viruses that cause chickenpox, molluscum, herpes, and warts are covered, as are bacteria involved in abscesses, boils, and conditions known as impetigo and cellulitis. Fungal and yeast infections are also detailed, alongside a short explanation of infestations such as head lice and scabies. Certain skin conditions—such as eczema and hidradenitis suppurativa—can make a person more prone to infections. On the other hand, however, other skin conditions, including psoriasis, might actually protect people from skin infections.
Brain and skin
Authors: McPherson Tess
Published: March 2022

This chapter discusses the development of the brain during adolescence, and the ways in which a person’s skin might affect this. Teenage years are an important time in the development of habits, skills, and decision-making abilities, and also represent the period that we become more conscious of the way others view us. Having a skin condition can therefore begin to seem more problematic, as people start to feel as if they are noticeably different to others. Reasons for this are explored, and the idea that inflammation in the skin may even have direct effects on the way the brain functions is addressed.
How to be comfortable in your skin
Authors: McPherson Tess
Published: March 2022

The final section of the book deals with the stresses and worries that often come with skin conditions, and looks at various techniques that can be helpful in managing these. There are tips on diet, sleep, exercise, smoking and alcohol, and advice as to how strict—or not—to be with these things. The chapter then moves on to discuss how skin conditions might affect the way you view yourself, and the way in which you may feel you are viewed by others. Dealing with these kinds of issues, particularly in the age of social media, can feel like a huge burden sometimes, and so the book ends by exploring some strategies that might make this easier.
The All-Or-Nothing Reading
Authors: Ogden Stephen R.
Published: March 2022

In order to understand Averroes on intellect, it is necessary to understand his primary source text, Aristotle’s De Anima, especially DA III.4–5. This chapter explains and defends Averroes’ reading of these chapters of the DA. Contemporary commentators often overlook an important core and structural interpretation advanced by Averroes and later, following him, Thomas Aquinas. However much Averroes and Aquinas disagree on the separate substantiality of the intellects, the key to both their interpretations is an all-or-nothing reading of the shared immaterial ontological status of both the material/possible intellect (MPI) and the agent/active intellect (AI). It is argued that this is a legitimate interpretation of Aristotle’s Greek text. The chapter proceeds with some comparison to Aquinas’s views and also an evaluation of the other major rival strand of interpretation, originally proposed by Alexander of Aphrodisias, according to which the active intellect is God.
Averroes’ Unity Argument
Authors: Ogden Stephen R.
Published: March 2022

Since Chapter 2 claims that the Determinate Particular Argument is insufficient to establish the complete unicity thesis, this chapter explains Averroes’ other major proof, the Unity Argument (UA), and defends it as his strongest argument. Unlike the DPA, the UA directly attacks the opposing view (that there are many individual human material intellects), arguing that this alternative position cannot explain shared, unified knowledge. It leads to an infinite regress of intelligibles and intellects. Averroes, however, can explain unified knowledge because there is only one thing known in only one intellect. The chapter further evaluates the UA in comparison to other ancient and medieval strategies for unifying the intelligibles, including by Alexander of Aphrodisias, Themistius, Avicenna, and Aquinas. It is suggested that the doctrine of common essences (in Avicenna and Aquinas) stands the greatest chance of defeating the UA, while still positing reasons Averroes might resist such a solution.
You Don’t Understand
Authors: Ogden Stephen R.
Published: March 2022

This chapter considers the strongest philosophical arguments against Averroes’ unicity thesis, in particular, arguments by Thomas Aquinas based on a seemingly obvious fact: “This human being understands” (hic homo intelligit), the HHI Argument. The HHI Argument works on both a phenomenological and metaphysical level. The chapter explores how Averroes anticipates and might defend against such arguments with his dual subject theory (according to which humans play an integral role in acts of understanding through imagination) and his notion of conjunction (ittiṣāl) with the separate intellects. In dialogue with the work of Black, Brenet, and Taylor, the chapter argues that Averroes can defeat the HHI Argument on the phenomenological level but must admit on the metaphysical level that human beings do not strictly understand. Averroes adopts an error theory of human understanding, though he provides some positive reasons why humans can be said to understand in some looser way.
Conclusion
Authors: Ogden Stephen R.
Published: March 2022

This final chapter offers a brief conclusion to the preceding chapters on Averroes’ arguments—textual and philosophical, including both the DPA and UA—, in comparison with those of Aristotle, Avicenna, and Aquinas. A short summary of the main points elaborated in each chapter is presented. The chapter begins by taking stock of where Averroes’ case is weakest (the real philosophical cost implied by the HHI Argument, i.e., an error theory of intellect, as set out in Chapter 4) and moves to where it is most formidable, especially the Unity Argument and Averroes’ simpler hylomorphic account of human beings. Through a wider lense, it is suggested that Averroes’ view urges us toward deeper reflection on hylomorphism and philosophical accounts of intellect.
Environmental Law in Arab States
Authors: Olawuyi Damilola S.
Published: March 2022

Environmental Law in Arab States offers a comprehensive and authoritative account of the guiding principles and rules relating to environmental protection in the Arab region. The book introduces readers to the latest developments of environmental law across the Arab region, including the applicable legislation, governance structures, and legal innovations in each of the major areas of environmental regulation, including air pollution, water pollution, biodiversity, conservation of nature and cultural heritage, chemicals and waste management, construction and infrastructure development, and Islamic ecology. Yet this book is not simply a stock-taking exercise. It also outlines participatory and bottom-up legal strategies—focusing on transparency, accountability, gender justice, human rights safeguards, and regional cooperation—needed to achieve greater coherence and coordination in the implementation and enforcement of environmental regulation across the region. The book also provides legal assessments and reflections on how Arab countries can advance existing national strategies and visions on trade and investment, green growth, Islamic green finance, circular economy, blue economy, and low carbon future among others, through clear and comprehensive legislation. Taking an international and comparative approach, this text is an essential reference and textbook for students, academics, and practitioners who work in the areas of environmental law and policy, human rights, sustainable development, political ecology, environmental diplomacy, and environmental studies, particularly area studies on the Middle East, Africa, and West Asia.
Construction and Town Planning
Authors: Olawuyi Damilola S.
Published: March 2022

This chapter provides a survey of legal requirements and procedures for the planning, design, and implementation of construction and town planning projects in Arab states. It discusses environment, health, and safety (EHS) obligations that must be considered when planning, designing, and implementing construction activities, and the associated legal liability and risks relating to non-compliance. The chapter then unpacks the strengths and weaknesses of town and construction planning laws and systems in Arab states. It discusses how inadequate guidance on climate proofing, gaps in disaster risk management and response frameworks, insufficient training and capacity development in the construction industry, and limited opportunities for private participation through robust public–private partnership laws may weaken the coherent integration of environmental objectives into town and country planning laws in Arab states. The chapter discusses legal innovations that should be adopted by stakeholders in the significant construction industry to sustainably anticipate and manage EHS risks.
Law on Chemicals and Hazardous Wastes
Authors: Olawuyi Damilola S.
Published: March 2022

Managing the production and disposal of waste is one of the most significant sustainability challenges facing the Arab region. Due to a rise in industrialization, urbanization, population growth, conflicts, and displacements, the Arab region has witnessed a steady annual increase in waste generation and accumulation which places increased pressure on the abilities of Arab countries to sustainably manage wastes. This chapter examines the law and governance framework for the safe, orderly, and environmentally responsible management of municipal and hazardous wastes in the Arab region. First it examines the meaning, nature, and scope of municipal and hazardous wastes, and the nature of legal problems associated with managing the illegal dumping and disposal of hazardous waste in Arab countries. Second, it examines the legal frameworks for waste management at international, regional, and national levels. It also evaluates the effectiveness and appropriateness of legal responses to modern waste management in the Arab region.
Low Carbon Energy Transition, Green Growth, and the Future of Environmental Law in Arab States
Authors: Olawuyi Damilola S.
Published: March 2022

This chapter examines the future of environmental law in Arab states, specifically in the light of the increasing transition to low carbon economy and renewable energy systems across the world. The world is at the early stages of a global energy transition that may result in radical transformations of energy industries and required environmental regulation in the Arab region. In response, several Arab states have established legislation, guidelines, and strategies aimed at promoting low carbon transition, renewable energy technologies, and the green economy. Despite these efforts however, Arab countries rank comparably low in green growth performance measurements. One key reason is the absence of corresponding law, governance, and information-gathering systems that can support the ambitious energy transition visions. This chapter discusses the need for a rapid reimagination of environmental law across the Arab region in order to advance the tenets of green growth and low carbon transition. It examines the scope, drivers, and contours of the low carbon energy transition in the Arab region, current legislative trends across the region, as well as lessons learned for the future development of environmental law in Arab states.
The Kaiser and the Colonies
Authors: Fitzpatrick Matthew P.
Published: March 2022

Many have viewed Kaiser Wilhelm II as having personally ruled Germany, dominating its politics and choreographing its ambitious leap to global power. But how accurate is this picture? As this book shows, Wilhelm II was a constitutional monarch like many other crowned heads of Europe. Rather than an expression of Wilhelm II’s personal rule, Germany’s global empire and its Weltpolitik had their origins in the political and economic changes undergone by the nation as German commerce and industry strained to globalize alongside other European nations. More central to Germany’s imperial processes than an emperor who reigned but did not rule were the numerous monarchs around the world with whom the German Empire came into contact. In Africa, Asia and the Pacific, kings, sultans, and other paramount leaders both resisted and accommodated Germany’s ambitions as they charted their own course through the era of European imperialism. The result was often violent suppression, but also complex diplomatic negotiation, attempts at manipulation, and even mutual cooperation. In vivid detail drawn from archival holdings, this book examines the surprisingly muted role played by Wilhelm II in the German Empire and contrasts it with the lively, varied, and innovative responses to German imperialism from monarchs around the world.
A Siamese Charm Offensive
Authors: Fitzpatrick Matthew P.
Published: March 2022

Via a close study of the royal visit of King Chulalongkorn of Siam to Germany, this chapter illustrates but also questions the efficacy of royal summitry in imperial conditions. It outlines the international context of the Franco-British contest for Siam and the use of royal diplomacy by the Siamese king. This chapter shows that while King Chulalongkorn was received with pomp, ceremony, and warmth by the crowned heads of Europe, including Kaiser Wilhelm II, this willingness to fete a brother monarch from Asia did not stretch so far as to impede the mechanics of German Weltpolitik. This is demonstrated by the plans to annex the Siamese island of Langkawi that were made immediately after his visit. The global bonds of royal cosmopolitanism, this chapter shows, always remained subordinate to the geostrategic and economic demands of the nation state.
A Pilgrim to the Holy Land
Authors: Fitzpatrick Matthew P.
Published: March 2022

Kaiser Wilhelm II’s plans to visit the Ottoman Empire in 1898 sparked heated speculation in Britain, France, and Russia that the German emperor would use the royal visit to establish a German colony on Ottoman territory, thereby causing a scramble for Ottoman colonial possessions. The diplomatic order of Europe was further ruffled when Wilhelm II announced his intention to visit British-occupied Egypt. While the visit to Egypt was abandoned, the growing momentum for the Baghdad Railway and the emperor’s discussions with both German Templer colonists and the Zionist leader Theodor Herzl exacerbated the rumours of a colonial announcement. The reality of the visit and the Kaiser’s summit diplomacy, however, was far more modest, amounting to a pilgrimage to open a new German church in Jerusalem on land that had been donated to his father, Kaiser Friedrich III.
Defending a Sovereign Sultan
Authors: Fitzpatrick Matthew P.
Published: March 2022

In the aftermath of the signing of the Entente Cordiale, Germany faced the clear prospect of being shut out of North African trade by the combined forces of Britain and France. The Sultan of Morocco too could see that Britain was no longer willing to defend his independence or sovereign rights and that his sultanate was on the verge of being incorporated into the French Empire. These two realities meant that when the Sultan of Morocco approached the Germans for support against the encroachments of the French, Chancellor Bernhard von Bülow instructed the German Foreign Office to support the sovereign rights of the sultan. This diplomatic initiative culminated in the chancellor instructing an extremely unwilling Kaiser Wilhelm II to land in Tangier in a show of royal solidarity to proclaim the importance of the principle of the open door for trade.
Company Rule and the Sultan of Zanzibar
Authors: Fitzpatrick Matthew P.
Published: March 2022

When Sultan Barghash bin Said of Zanzibar, died, the German state, including the German Kaiser, exerted diplomatic pressure on the new Sultan Khalifa to grant the German East African Company a long-term lease over an extensive territory that was in reality ruled by the sultan’s vassals. Outraged at not having been consulted, these local rulers launched a fierce uprising that brought into focus the clear inability of the German company to control the territory they had leased. The result of the rebellion was not to reconsider the territorial claims of the German company, but rather to suspect that Sultan Khalifa had betrayed the Germans and was abetting the rebelling local rulers. In Germany, the military campaign was disingenuously presented to the German Reichstag not as a question of contested sovereignty or economic overreach but rather as a principled campaign against slavery.
Swapping a Sultanate for an Island
Authors: Fitzpatrick Matthew P.
Published: March 2022

In an attempt to consolidate their trading and strategic position in East Africa, German companies, supported by the German state, sought an alliance with Sultan Ahmed of Wituland and his successor, Sultan Fumo Bakari. Dogged by the omnipresent threat of the neighbouring Sultanate of Zanzibar, which had been urged to absorb Wituland by the British, the rulers of Wituland readily agreed to place themselves under German protection. The territorial integrity of Wituland and the sovereign rights of its sultan seemed to have been secured, as had the economic position of Germans interests in the region. This situation was radically altered, however by the signing of the Heligoland-Zanzibar treaty between Britain and Germany, which traded German pre-eminence in Wituland for the North Sea island. The destructive results of this treaty were rapidly felt. Within a year, Germans in Wituland had been massacred and Sultan Fumo Bakari had lost his life during the subsequent British-led military reprisals against him.
The Kaiser’s Birthday Present
Authors: Fitzpatrick Matthew P.
Published: March 2022

During the period of German treaty-harvesting in the Pacific, one prominent leader in the Marshall Islands, Kabua, was treated by the Germans as the King of the Marshall Islands, despite the fact that he held no such rank among the Marshallese. Kabua’s paramountcy remained uncontested among the Germans until a legal case to determine the ownership of a parcel of land brought him into conflict with the German authorities. After initially threatening a violent rebellion against the Germans, the arrival of the German navy saw Kabua change his approach and seek to establish a personal relationship with Kaiser Wilhelm II through the mutual exchange of gifts. While Wilhelm II expressed an openness towards this gesture, the German Colonial Office ensured that no personal bond could be established with the Marshallese paramount leader, whose loyalty they questioned.
Empire on the Seine
Authors: Prakash Amit
Published: March 2022

The origins of contemporary tensions between police and minorities in France lie in the history of race and empire. The metropole and the colony dynamically co-developed a policing regime over the course of the nineteenth and through the late twentieth century to manage colonial and racial difference. With the North African community emerging as a sizable and durable presence in Paris after World War I, this policing became a key state practice in imagining and administering the immigrant population. Despite the French state’s current reluctance to use race as an official category, racial thought and racial targets animated police services, social services, and urban planning schemes from the 1920s until the 1970s. Police archival records, reports from colonial officials, urban planning and housing studies, and the records of French social workers and immigrant associations reveal that colonial racism was integrated into the policing of Paris and that architecture, urbanism, and social housing assumed police functions for colonial and postcolonial migrants. In light of this history, contemporary social and racial segregation, periodic protests and rioting against police violence, and the aggressive posture of the Parisian police emerge as the material traces of French colonialism in the metropole.
Imperial Sentinels
Authors: Prakash Amit
Published: March 2022

In 1958, the new Prefect of Police, Maurice Papon, grew and coordinated the constellation of police services dedicated to Algerians but often swept up Tunisians, Moroccans, and, in some cases, nationals from South American countries. The flagrant, often violent, racialized surveillance of Paris was conceived by police officials as necessary to preserve the empire. In effect, the Paris police acted as sentinels on the imperial ramparts, their activity characterized by growing militarization and the introduction counterinsurgency techniques borne of the wars in Indo-China and Algeria. In addition to police pressures upon the North African community in Paris were the effects of the “fraternal” war between competing Algerian nationalist organizations, chiefly the MNA and the FLN. These groups had their own surveillance and disciplinary mechanisms, which meant that the North African community was a target of social and political control from various directions. This chapter provides a history of this dangerous period for the North African community through an analysis of police records and materials emanating from the FLN and MNA.
Droit de Cité(s)
Authors: Prakash Amit
Published: March 2022

This chapter provides a social history of the construction and living conditions of the North African bidonvilles in the mid-twentieth century, their policing, and the creation of state housing schemes to eradicate slums. Based on official reports from the police, the Ministry of Urbanism and Construction, civil society organizations, memoirs of bidonville inhabitants, and the personal papers of the French social worker Monique Hervo, this chapter traces how the French civilizing mission lingered in the post-imperial era. This entailed an attempt to impose French modern life as modern life itself on the colonies and colonial subjects at home. As the bidonvilles came to be perceived as a blight on the landscape of Paris, three major housing schemes were inaugurated by the French state to facilitate the “adaptation” of North Africans to modernity: transit cities, SONACOTRA, and HLMs. In different ways, slum clearance and rehousing took on a police function to deter a drift toward radical politics among migrants from the colonies.
The Robots Are Coming
Authors: Bear Julia B. , Pittinsky Todd L.
Published: March 2022

The authors examine a caregiving “solution” that is rising up all around, though many are still hardly aware of it—artificial intelligence (AI)–powered caregiving robots. As in so many areas of our lives, AI is taking over. Robot caregivers are currently widely used in Asian countries and on the verge of rolling out in the United States. Ostensibly, the rise of caregiving robots is a classic case of supply meeting the tremendous demands of caring for older and younger populations. The problem that emerges is not so much that robot caregiving will take over but that it will take over with many serious social, emotional, political, and ethical issues left unaddressed. The authors examine where caregiving robots currently are and where this technology might be headed. They offer principles for wisely managing the mass rollout of robots into one of the most intimate actions humans perform, caregiving.
Debating Multiculturalism
Authors: Lenard Patti Tamara , Balint Peter
Published: March 2022

Multiculturalism has been subject to backlashes across democratic states. These voices argue that after years of accommodation, minorities have failed to integrate and ought to be encouraged more forcefully to abandon norms and values that are in tension with those of their broader society. In this context, Debating Multiculturalism brings together two prominent scholars of the political theory of multiculturalism. Both agree with the need for minority accommodation in liberal democracies, but disagree on the pathway forward. Patti Tamara Lenard argues that multiculturalism must be robustly defended. Lenard argues that the accommodation of cultural and religious practices is key to achieving substantive political inclusion in democratic states. Rather than generating segregation and separation, the accommodation of such practices ensures that minorities can participate across multiple domains of politics as equal citizens. She examines claims for cultural preservation, too, and argues that an emphasis on political inclusion can explain why preservationist claims should be respected. In contrast, Peter Balint argues against the need for minority rights in multicultural contexts. Balint defends a radical form of neutrality, “active indifference,” which can achieve the accommodation of minority ways of life, without recourse to minority rights. He argues that if the problem arises because of a favoring of majority ways of life, then rather than add minority rights as a solution, majority privilege should simply be removed. This solution is not only fairer, but avoids many of the problems that have plagued minority rights. The book concludes with both authors critiquing each other’s positions.
Introduction
Authors: Balint Peter , Lenard Patti Tamara
Published: March 2022

The introduction to Debating Multiculturalism outlines the main defenses and objections to multicultural accommodation in the political theory literature. It situates these debates in the context of real-world political controversies over whether and when to accommodate the cultural and religious practices of minorities in democratic states. It outlines the two positions defended over the course of the book: Patti Tamara Lenard’s defense of a robust multiculturalism which grants minority rights because of the importance of political inclusion, and Peter Balint’s defense of neutrality among ways of life as the guiding principle for democratic politics in diverse states, and which does not require minority rights.
Cultural Preservation and Multicultural Accommodation
Authors: Balint Peter , Lenard Patti Tamara
Published: March 2022

This chapter examines cultural preservation claims and explains why they have, previously, been treated as controversial in democratic states. Critics of multiculturalism have argued that cultural preservation rights lead to the separation of cultural groups from the larger society. In response to this claim, the chapter argues in general that claims for cultural preservation ought to be accommodated, because they too serve to enhance political inclusion by enabling members of minority cultures to raise their voices. It makes this case through the in-depth examination of three cases: public support for ethnically exclusive organizations, culturally specific schools, and the revitalization of Indigenous self-determination.
Shared Public Culture in Diverse States
Authors: Balint Peter , Lenard Patti Tamara
Published: March 2022

This chapter examines the worry that acknowledging cultural claims serves to emphasize how citizens differ from each other rather than what they share in common and therefore undermines the solidarity that is meant to bind together members of a diverse democratic community. According to this view, not only does a robust multiculturalist approach undermine solidarity, but any attempt to build solidarity violates the commitments that multiculturalism is to supposed hold. In response to these worries, this chapter argues that communal solidarity is important to a well-functioning democracy and that attempts to build solidarity both can and must be sensitive to the cultural diversity that characterizes democratic states. It offers an account of the content of a shared public culture on which communities can build robust multicultural solidarity.
National Minorities, Indigenous Peoples, and Historical Injustice
Authors: Balint Peter , Lenard Patti Tamara
Published: March 2022

This chapter examines the question of Indigenous peoples and other national minorities. While the argument so far has been against multicultural minority rights, nothing has been said about Indigenous peoples and other national minorities. While there is significant overlap between multicultural minority rights and the rights of Indigenous peoples and other national minorities, these issues are distinct. This is mainly because national minorities usually have additional grounds for claiming rights, commonly in the form of issues of sovereignty, historical injustice, and a desire for political autonomy. Where there is relative institutional disadvantage, active indifference may still play a role, but because there are additional—non-multicultural—grounds for differentiated rights, they may still be granted. But just because they may be granted in some cases for national minorities does not justify their need in the case of multicultural minorities.
Multiculturalism and the Demands on Citizens
Authors: Balint Peter , Lenard Patti Tamara
Published: March 2022

This chapter looks at the role of citizens in accommodating minorities. Two different multicultural virtues are examined: respect and appreciation of difference and tolerance of difference. Despite its initial appeal, respect and appreciation of difference is not as accommodating as tolerance of difference. Tolerance, by focusing on behavior and not attitude, accommodates a much broader range of ways of life than respect and appreciation of difference. Tolerance is also much more neutral toward the different ways of life that exist in contemporary diverse societies.
Conclusion to Part II
Authors: Balint Peter , Lenard Patti Tamara
Published: March 2022

This chapter concludes Part II of the book. It explains how neutrality is the friend, not enemy of disadvantaged minorities, and how neutrality, when properly realized, is critical of a status quo that privileges majority ways of life. This means that neutrality is the best way to achieve minority accommodation. But while multicultural minority rights and active indifference are both neutralizing of majority privilege, these two forms of neutrality are not equal. If the problem is majority privilege, the solution should be removing that privilege rather than adding new forms of privilege. This form of neutrality is both fair and accommodating of minority ways of life, and at least in multicultural contexts, can avoid the problems associated with minority rights and provide its own freedom-enhancing benefits.
Response to Lenard
Authors: Balint Peter , Lenard Patti Tamara
Published: March 2022

This chapter takes issue with Lenard’s defense of minority rights. Three issues are focused on. The first is her stretching of “political inclusion” to seemingly fit all cases, as well as the risks of relying too heavily upon it (it may actually push against minority accommodation instead of leading to it). The second is Lenard’s argument for a shared public culture to counteract the potential fragmenting that may occur because of multicultural accommodation. Not only that she takes this concern too seriously and seems to forget about the state, but there are nonidentity ways of achieving social cooperation. The third is the fact that many of Lenard’s examples seem to involve no minority rights at all, and so seem to actually support the argument for neutrality as the best way of gaining minority accommodation.
The Categorical Imperative
Authors: Stohr Karen
Published: March 2022

This chapter assesses the humanity formulation, highlighting the concepts of dignity, respect, and self-respect. Rational capacity is, for Kant, the source of a very crucial kind of value. That value is explained through two related claims that he makes about rational beings: 1) that we have dignity, rather than price, and 2) that we have absolute or unconditional value, rather than conditional value. Thus, the humanity formulation has two parts. It tells us never to treat humanity in ourselves or others as a mere means, and it also tells us always to treat humanity as an end in itself. The first part is a duty to avoid certain ways of treating people who have dignity, and the second part is a duty to promote the dignity of those same people. The first type is usually called a negative duty, not because it is bad, but because it tells us what not to do. It is also sometimes called a perfect duty.
The Categorical Imperative
Authors: Stohr Karen
Published: March 2022

This chapter addresses the kingdom of ends formulation, with a focus on moral community. There are several key points in Kant's ethics where he emphasizes the significance of the communities in which we live and the ways in which those communities shape our moral decisions and behavior. The kingdom of ends formulation of the categorical imperative is one of these places. To see yourself as a member of the kingdom of ends is to see yourself as one among many rational beings, each with the capacity for autonomy and each deserving of respect. In the universal law formulation, Kant argues that we must think about our actions from a perspective that incorporates the perspectives of other rational agents. The kingdom of ends formulation formalizes this. It instructs us to imagine ourselves as making laws for members of a community of rational agents, including ourselves. In less legalistic language, it instructs us to develop principles that could be endorsed from a particular standpoint, one that is communal in its form.
Arrogance
Authors: Stohr Karen
Published: March 2022

This chapter reviews arrogance, explaining why it is also a failure of Kantian self-respect insofar as it involves making mistakes about a person's value relative to others. Kantian arrogance comes in when a person demands more recognition respect than other people on whatever basis. Recognition respect is what we warrant simply in virtue of being rational beings. On Kant's view, if an arrogant person really understood the source of their own value, they would not insist on special treatment. The special treatment would be unnecessary to mark their status as a valuable individual. It is only because they are confused about the basis on which people deserve respect that they fail to realize this. In this regard, the arrogant person has a lot in common with the servile person. Both make mistakes about their own status in relationship to other people. Both locate their value in features of them that are not actually essential to their true moral status.
Mockery
Authors: Stohr Karen
Published: March 2022

This chapter evaluates the vice of mockery or taking pleasure in ridiculing others. Kant describes mockery as the propensity to laugh at people for their flaws, real or perceived. The flaws do not necessarily have to be moral ones. It is possible to mock people for their appearance, their accent, or their background. The key thing is that the feature of the person in virtue of which they are being mocked is being singled out for negative assessment. What makes it disrespectful is that the target of the mockery is being portrayed as inferior for some characteristic that has no bearing on their value as a person. Kant points out that the pleasure of mockery tends to involve malice, or the enjoyment of watching someone suffer.
Personal Development
Authors: Stohr Karen
Published: March 2022

Part Four sets out five central moral tasks for living a Kantian life. Chapter 20 takes up the Kantian imperfect duty to make something of ourselves, or to cultivate our natural capacities and talents. Chapter 21 considers the Kantian ideal of cheerful self-sufficiency in the face of deprivation and disappointment, highlighting Kant’s sympathy with Stoicism. Chapter 22 focuses on why Kant thinks that candor is overrated and why we should strive for reserve about our thoughts and our moral flaws. Chapter 23 takes up the Kantian imperfect duty to promote the happiness of others, or the duty of beneficence. It considers the extent to which we are required to help others, as well as the moral constraints on when and how we help. Chapter 24 explores what Kant calls the sacred duty of gratitude, explaining why it is so important and also why it is sometimes quite challenging.
Good Manners
Authors: Stohr Karen
Published: March 2022

This chapter reflects on Kant's view that we have a moral duty to cultivate good manners, on the grounds that they help us become more virtuous as individuals and improve our communities. Kant thinks that how we present ourselves in public makes a big difference to the overall social climate. This can work both ways, but presumably he wants us to develop social habits and manners that improve the moral environment in which we operate. That would seem to involve manners that reflect the respect and consideration that people actually deserve. We owe it to other individuals not to treat them rudely or perpetuate microaggressions against them. We also owe it to the moral community more generally to create an environment conducive to moral progress. This suggests that if good manners make our social world morally better, then we need to improve our social skills.
Dinner Parties without Drama
Authors: Stohr Karen
Published: March 2022

This chapter reviews Kant's carefully considered views about the best way to conduct a dinner party and why he thinks that a well-planned dinner party has moral benefits for the people who participate in it. For Kant, dinner parties have two moral aims. The first is the aim of cultivating our understanding, which is part of our duty of self-improvement. The conversation at a good dinner party will expand our horizons and make us feel as though we have learned something new, or at least thought about something differently. It keeps our brains active and livens up our thinking. The second is the aim of cultivating fellow-feeling among other members of our community. At a good dinner party, we will make new friends and deepen the relationships we already have with people. We will leave feeling good about other people and maybe even more hopeful about the world.
Staying Hopeful
Authors: Stohr Karen
Published: March 2022

Part Six emphasizes how a person striving to live a Kantian life would try to think about the future. Chapter 29 focuses on Kant’s account of hope and explores its relationship to living a good life. The chapter takes up the Kantian case for the rationality of hope in the possibility of moral progress, both for individuals and for communities. It considers the importance of hope and optimism in a world beset by seemingly insurmountable problems, as well as the moral risks of despair and cynicism. Chapter 30 serves as a conclusion to the book with some general remarks about the value of a Kantian way of life and the freedom it represents.
Where Sight Meets Sound
Authors: Zazulia Emily
Published: March 2022

ABSTRACT: The main function of Western musical notation is incidental: it prescribes and records sound. But during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, notation began to take on an aesthetic life all its own. Composers sometimes asked singers to read the music in unusual ways—backwards, upside-down, or at a reduced speed—to produce sounds whose relationship to the written notes is anything but obvious. This book explores innovations in late-medieval music writing as well as how modern scholarship on notation has informed—sometimes erroneously—ideas about the premodern era. By viewing notation as a complex technology that did more than record sound, the book revolutionizes the way we think about music’s literate traditions.
Small Songs Made Big
Authors: Zazulia Emily
Published: March 2022

This chapter explores the prevalence of augmentation and diminution, whereby singers mentally substitute the next-larger or next-smaller note value for the one that is written. In the early fifteenth century, augmentation took over from diminution as the most common temporal transformation. Whereas tenors in long note values stemmed from the tradition of early motets, the priorities of notational appearance changed in the mid-fifteenth century with the increase in tenors borrowed from chansons. By using augmentation, composers could introduce the slow-moving, long-note tenors characteristic of ceremonial music while maintaining the visual appearance of borrowed chanson melodies, written in small note values. Composers invented myriad ways of indicating augmentation, which led to controversy and confusion, even as each method opened up distinct compositional possibilities. One prominent critic of augmentation’s manifold mechanisms was the music theorist-composer Johannes Tinctoris, who took notational offenders to task in his Proportionale musices (Proportions in Music, 1472–75), a treatise proposing reforms designed to produce a notational system rooted in mathematical clarity. Tinctoris’s concerns, which have been subject to as much debate in modern scholarship as they were in the fifteenth century, offer a view of how bottom-up experimentation with notational technologies conflicted with prescriptive theories about how one “ought” to use them.
Blending Control and Inclusion
Authors: Gueorguiev Dimitar D.
Published: March 2022

Chapter 1 sets the theoretical stage for the rest of the book by connecting two, often estranged sets of scholarship. The first, and better established, deals with dilemmas of authoritarian control. The second, and more recent, covers participatory governance in non-democratic countries. The primary goal of the chapter is to explain how control and inclusion can be integrated as a basis for inclusive authoritarianism. Chapter 1 also covers key concepts such as oversight, planning, and processing, which are further developed in subsequent chapters. Finally, this chapter explains why Leninist regimes, owing to complex organizational structures and socialist ideologies, are inclined to pursue inclusive authoritarianism, and explores how modern technology facilitates those inclinations. This latter discussion on facilitating technology also serves as an explanation for the use of “retrofitting” in the book’s title.