bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Topological network analysis of patient similarity for precision management of acute blood pressure in spinal cord injury
Authors: Torres-Espín Abel , Haefeli Jenny , Ehsanian Reza , Torres Dolores , Almeida Carlos A , Huie J Russell , Chou Austin , Morozov Dmitriy , Sanderson Nicole , Dirlikov Benjamin , Suen Catherine G , Nielson Jessica L , Kyritsis Nikos , Hemmerle Debra D , Talbott Jason F , Manley Geoffrey T , Dhall Sanjay S , Whetstone William D , Bresnahan Jacqueline C , Beattie Michael S , McKenna Stephen L , Pan Jonathan Z , Ferguson Adam R ,   The TRACK-SCI Investigators
Published: November 2021

Background:

Predicting neurological recovery after spinal cord injury (SCI) is challenging. Using topological data analysis, we have previously shown that mean arterial pressure (MAP) during SCI surgery predicts long-term functional recovery in rodent models, motivating the present multicenter study in patients.

Methods:

Intra-operative monitoring records and neurological outcome data were extracted (n = 118 patients). We built a similarity network of patients from a low-dimensional space embedded using a non-linear algorithm, Isomap, and ensured topological extraction using persistent homology metrics. Confirmatory analysis was conducted through regression methods.

Results:

Network analysis suggested that time outside of an optimum MAP range (hypotension or hypertension) during surgery was associated with lower likelihood of neurological recovery at hospital discharge. Logistic and LASSO (least absolute shrinkage and selection operator) regression confirmed these findings, revealing an optimal MAP range of 76–[104-117] mmHg associated with neurological recovery.

Conclusions:

We show that deviation from this optimal MAP range during SCI surgery predicts lower probability of neurological recovery and suggest new targets for therapeutic intervention.

Funding:

NIH/NINDS: R01NS088475 (ARF); R01NS122888 (ARF); UH3NS106899 (ARF); Department of Veterans Affairs: 1I01RX002245 (ARF), I01RX002787 (ARF); Wings for Life Foundation (ATE, ARF); Craig H. Neilsen Foundation (ARF); and DOD: SC150198 (MSB); SC190233 (MSB); DOE: DE-AC02-05CH11231 (DM).
A highly conserved host lipase deacylates oxidized phospholipids and ameliorates acute lung injury in mice
Authors: Zou Benkun , Goodwin Michael , Saleem Danial , Jiang Wei , Tang Jianguo , Chu Yiwei , Munford Robert S , Lu Mingfang
Published: November 2021

Oxidized phospholipids have diverse biological activities, many of which can be pathological, yet how they are inactivated in vivo is not fully understood. Here, we present evidence that a highly conserved host lipase, acyloxyacyl hydrolase (AOAH), can play a significant role in reducing the pro-inflammatory activities of two prominent products of phospholipid oxidation, 1-palmitoyl-2-glutaryl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine and 1-palmitoyl-2-(5-oxovaleroyl)-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine. AOAH removed the sn-2 and sn-1 acyl chains from both lipids and reduced their ability to induce macrophage inflammasome activation and cell death in vitro and acute lung injury in mice. In addition to transforming Gram-negative bacterial lipopolysaccharide from stimulus to inhibitor, its most studied activity, AOAH can inactivate these important danger-associated molecular pattern molecules and reduce tissue inflammation and injury.
Efficacy of FFP3 respirators for prevention of SARS-CoV-2 infection in healthcare workers
Authors: Ferris Mark , Ferris Rebecca , Workman Chris , O'Connor Eoin , Enoch David A , Goldesgeyme Emma , Quinnell Natalie , Patel Parth , Wright Jo , Martell Geraldine , Moody Christine , Shaw Ashley , Illingworth Christopher JR , Matheson Nicholas J , Weekes Michael P
Published: November 2021

Background:

Respiratory protective equipment recommended in the UK for healthcare workers (HCWs) caring for patients with COVID-19 comprises a fluid-resistant surgical mask (FRSM), except in the context of aerosol generating procedures (AGPs). We previously demonstrated frequent pauci- and asymptomatic severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection HCWs during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in the UK, using a comprehensive PCR-based HCW screening programme (Rivett et al., 2020; Jones et al., 2020).

Methods:

Here, we use observational data and mathematical modelling to analyse infection rates amongst HCWs working on ‘red’ (coronavirus disease 2019, COVID-19) and ‘green’ (non-COVID-19) wards during the second wave of the pandemic, before and after the substitution of filtering face piece 3 (FFP3) respirators for FRSMs.

Results:

Whilst using FRSMs, HCWs working on red wards faced an approximately 31-fold (and at least fivefold) increased risk of direct, ward-based infection. Conversely, after changing to FFP3 respirators, this risk was significantly reduced (52–100% protection).

Conclusions:

FFP3 respirators may therefore provide more effective protection than FRSMs for HCWs caring for patients with COVID-19, whether or not AGPs are undertaken.

Funding:

Wellcome Trust, Medical Research Council, Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust, NIHR Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre, NHS Blood and Transfusion, UKRI.
Maturation of persistent and hyperpolarization-activated inward currents shapes the differential activation of motoneuron subtypes during postnatal development
Authors: Sharples Simon A , Miles Gareth B
Published: November 2021

The size principle underlies the orderly recruitment of motor units; however, motoneuron size is a poor predictor of recruitment amongst functionally defined motoneuron subtypes. Whilst intrinsic properties are key regulators of motoneuron recruitment, the underlying currents involved are not well defined. Whole-cell patch-clamp electrophysiology was deployed to study intrinsic properties, and the underlying currents, that contribute to the differential activation of delayed and immediate firing motoneuron subtypes. Motoneurons were studied during the first three postnatal weeks in mice to identify key properties that contribute to rheobase and may be important to establish orderly recruitment. We find that delayed and immediate firing motoneurons are functionally homogeneous during the first postnatal week and are activated based on size, irrespective of subtype. The rheobase of motoneuron subtypes becomes staggered during the second postnatal week, which coincides with the differential maturation of passive and active properties, particularly persistent inward currents. Rheobase of delayed firing motoneurons increases further in the third postnatal week due to the development of a prominent resting hyperpolarization-activated inward current. Our results suggest that motoneuron recruitment is multifactorial, with recruitment order established during postnatal development through the differential maturation of passive properties and sequential integration of persistent and hyperpolarization-activated inward currents.
Software defect prediction using hybrid model (CBIL) of convolutional neural network (CNN) and bidirectional long short-term memory (Bi-LSTM)
Authors: Farid Ahmed Bahaa , Fathy Enas Mohamed , Sharaf Eldin Ahmed , Abd-Elmegid Laila A.
Published: November 2021

In recent years, the software industry has invested substantial effort to improve software quality in organizations. Applying proactive software defect prediction will help developers and white box testers to find the defects earlier, and this will reduce the time and effort. Traditional software defect prediction models concentrate on traditional features of source code including code complexity, lines of code, etc. However, these features fail to extract the semantics of source code. In this research, we propose a hybrid model that is called CBIL. CBIL can predict the defective areas of source code. It extracts Abstract Syntax Tree (AST) tokens as vectors from source code. Mapping and word embedding turn integer vectors into dense vectors. Then, Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) extracts the semantics of AST tokens. After that, Bidirectional Long Short-Term Memory (Bi-LSTM) keeps key features and ignores other features in order to enhance the accuracy of software defect prediction. The proposed model CBIL is evaluated on a sample of seven open-source Java projects of the PROMISE dataset. CBIL is evaluated by applying the following evaluation metrics: F-measure and area under the curve (AUC). The results display that CBIL model improves the average of F-measure by 25% compared to CNN, as CNN accomplishes the top performance among the selected baseline models. In average of AUC, CBIL model improves AUC by 18% compared to Recurrent Neural Network (RNN), as RNN accomplishes the top performance among the selected baseline models used in the experiments.
Landscape and microhabitat features determine small mammal abundance in forest patches in agricultural landscapes
Authors: Dorigo Luca , Boscutti Francesco , Sigura Maurizia
Published: November 2021

Intensification of agricultural landscapes represent a major threat for biodiversity conservation also affecting several ecosystem services. The natural and semi-natural remnants, available in the agricultural matrix, represent important sites for small mammals and rodents, which are fundamental for sustaining various ecosystem functions and trophic chains. We studied the populations of two small mammals (Apodemus agrarius, A. sylvaticus) to evaluate the effects of landscape and habitat features on species abundance along a gradient of agricultural landscape intensification. The study was performed in Friuli Venezia Giulia (north-eastern Italy) during 19 months, in 19 wood remnants. Species abundance was determined using Capture-Mark-Recapture (CMR) techniques. In the same plots, main ecological parameters of the habitat (at microhabitat and patch scale) and landscape were considered. Abundance ofA. agrariusincreased in landscapes with high extent of permanent crops (i.e., orchards and poplar plantations) and low content of undecomposed litter in the wood understory. Instead,A. sylvaticus, a more generalist species, showed an opposite, albeit less strong, relationship with the same variables. Both species were not affected by any landscape structural feature (e.g., patch shape, isolation). Our findings showed that microhabitat features and landscape composition rather than wood and landscape structure affect populations’ abundance and species interaction. The opposite response of the two study species was probably because of their specific ecological requirements. In this light, conservation management of agricultural landscapes should consider the ecological needs of species at both landscape and habitat levels, by rebalancing composition patterns in the context of ecological intensification, and promoting a sustainable forest patch management.
Nighttime migrations and behavioral patterns of Pempheris schwenkii
Authors: Koeda Keita , Touma Hideyuki , Tachihara Katsunori
Published: November 2021

Background

Although the biomass of the nocturnal fishes is almost same as that of diurnal fishes, most of the ecological studies that examine feeding or reproductive behaviors are on diurnal fishes. Therefore, there is limited ecological information regarding the nocturnal fishes. This fact may be attributed to the difficulty in observing them during darkness. Members of the genus Pempheris (Pempheridae) are one of the most abundant nocturnal fishes on coral reefs.

Methods

The nighttime migrations of Pempheris schwenkii were observed by attaching a chemical luminescent tag. Tagged fishes were followed by an observer without torch and SCUBA, and their positions and estimated depths were plotted on an underwater topographic map. Aquarium tank observation was carried out to further describe their habits during the night.

Results

The new tagging method provided good data for observing the migration behavior. In all five observations, the target fishes started nighttime migration from the entrance of their cave within 1 h after sunset. All of them immediately left the inner reef and spent most of the observation time near the surface (0–5 m depth) or shallow (5–15 m depth) water-columns of the outer reef. Their migration pattern varied between days, but they migrated long distance (379–786 m/h) during each observation. The behavior observed in the aquarium tank was categorized into five patterns: schooling, shaking, migrating, spawning, and feeding. Shaking and spawning were observed during one of three observation days.

Discussion

The present study firstly clarified the small-scale but dynamic nocturnal migration pattern of P. schwenkii in nature by a new method using chemical luminescent tags. In addition, combined observations from nature and an aquarium could be used to estimate the behavior of this species. Pempheris schwenkii may reduce their predation risk of eggs and adults by spawning at outer reef in nighttime. It was estimated that they can potentially migrate 4–7 km/night. The rapid growth known for this species may have been supported by their feeding behavior where they can fill up their stomach every night with rich zooplankton in outer reefs. Furthermore, the behavior of this species indicates the possibility that they make an important contribution to the flow of energy and materials in their coral reef ecosystem.
Comparative analysis of twelve mitogenomes of Caliscelidae (Hemiptera: Fulgoromorpha) and their phylogenetic implications
Authors: Gong Nian , Yang Lin , Chen Xiangsheng
Published: November 2021

Here, the complete mitochondrial genomes (mitogenomes) of 12 Caliscelidae species, Augilina tetraina, Augilina triaina, Symplana brevistrata, Symplana lii, Neosymplana vittatum, Pseudosymplanella nigrifasciata, Symplanella brevicephala, Symplanella unipuncta, Augilodes binghami, Cylindratus longicephalus, Caliscelis shandongensis, and Peltonotellus sp., were determined and comparatively analyzed. The genomes varied from 15,424 to 16,746 bp in size, comprising 37 mitochondrial genes and an A+T-rich region. The typical gene content and arrangement were similar to those of most Fulgoroidea species. The nucleotide compositions of the mitogenomes were biased toward A/T. All protein-coding genes (PCGs) started with a canonical ATN or GTG codon and ended with TAN or an incomplete stop codon, single T. Among 13 PCGs in 16 reported Caliscelidae mitogenomes, cox1 and atp8 showed the lowest and highest nucleotide diversity, respectively. All PCGs evolved under purifying selection, with atp8 considered a comparatively fast-evolving gene. Phylogenetic relationships were reconstructed based on 13 PCGs in 16 Caliscelidae species and five outgroups using maximum likelihood and Bayesian inference analyses. All species of Caliscelidae formed a steadily monophyletic group with high support. Peltonotellini was present at the basal position of the phylogenetic tree. Augilini was the sister group to Caliscelini and Peltonotellini.
Identification of the Golden-2-like transcription factors gene family in Gossypium hirsutum
Authors: Zhao Zilin , Shuang Jiaran , Li Zhaoguo , Xiao Huimin , Liu Yuling , Wang Tao , Wei Yangyang , Hu Shoulin , Wan Sumei , Peng Renhai
Published: November 2021

Background

Golden2-Like (GLK) transcription factors are a type of transcriptional regulator in plants. They play a pivotal role in the plant physiological activity process and abiotic stress response.

Methods

In this study, the potential function of GLK family genes in Gossypium hirsutum was studied based on genomic identification, phylogenetic analysis, chromosome mapping and cis-regulatory elements prediction. Gene expression of nine key genes were analyzed by qRT-PCR experiments.

Results

Herein, we identified a total of 146 GhGLK genes in Gossypium hirsutum, which were unevenly distributed on each of the chromosomes. There were significant differences in the number and location of genes between the At sub-genome and the Dt sub-genome. According to the phylogenetic analysis, they were divided into ten subgroups, each of which had very similar number and structure of exons and introns. Some cis-regulatory elements were identified through promoter analysis, including five types of elements related to abiotic stress response, five types of elements related to phytohormone and five types of elements involved in growth and development. Based on public transcriptome data analysis, we identified nine key GhGLKs involved in salt, cold, and drought stress. The qRT-PCR results showed that these genes had different expression patterns under these stress conditions, suggesting that GhGLK genes played an important role in abiotic stress response. This study laid a theoretical foundation for the screening and functional verification of genes related to stress resistance of GLK gene family in cotton.
Abelard, Peter
Authors: Wilks Ian
Published: November 2021

Peter Abelard (1079–1142) achieved eminence in both logic and theology; the elements of a philosophy of religion emerge from the conjunction of these pursuits. His workSic et non(Yes and No) exposes inconsistencies among Patristic sources, and advocates a reasoned approach to their resolution. HisDialogus inter philosophum, Judaeum et Christianum(Dialogue Between a Philosopher, a Jew and a Christian) advocates a similar approach to religious belief in general, which he sees as closely linked to the philosophical study of the highest good. God's existence is argued for in the theological writings, as are the divine properties of simplicity, omnipotence, and omniscience, discussion that sometimes takes a technical turn. Further analysis is applied to the divine property of benevolence in theDialogus, on the basis of which a theodicy is duly constructed.
Advaita Vedānta
Authors: Dalal Neil
Published: November 2021

Advaita Vedānta articulates a philosophical position of radical nondualism derived from the texts of the Upaniṣads. This entry provides an overview of Advaita Vedānta's metaphysical identification of nonduality with the pure consciousness underlying individual subjectivity. It traces the development of the tradition from its early systematizer, Śaṅkarā, through its later iterations and subschools, and pays attention to key philosophical issues such as the nature of nonduality (
brahman
), the self (
ātman
), consciousness, ignorance, liberation (
mokṣa
), and contentions with rival South Asian philosophical traditions.
Aesthetics and Indian Religion
Authors: Reich James D.
Published: November 2021

When thinking about aesthetics and Indian religion it is necessary to keep three different factors in mind: the literature itself, religious ideas and religious scriptures, and formal theories of aesthetics. Each of these has been influential on the other two, and none can be understood entirely in isolation. Tracking the interactions of these three elements can often reveal a great deal that is of significance and might otherwise be hard to see.
African Religion
Authors: Iddrisu Abdulai
Published: November 2021

Africans have always called upon God, with different names in multiple situations, be it in times of joy or sorrow, or in anticipation of either of the two. But European missionaries and travelers were quick to deny the significant place of religion in African lives while arguing that Africans had no knowledge of God. There is enough scholarship now to demonstrate that through observation and interpretation of ideas and forms, received or revealed, Africans have expressed appreciation of their environment through proverbs, folktales, oral tradition, ethics and mores, dances, liturgies, and shrines. These are interpreted to better (i) understand the intentions of the outer world, (ii) find solutions to nagging issues, (iii) request favors, and most often (iv) petition the outer world to influence events so as to reverse known outcomes. Traditional African religion is thus not focused on the afterlife, as in Islam or Christianity. The concern is the material world, and the wellbeing of humanity.
Afterlife
Authors: Steinhart Eric
Published: November 2021

Ancient theories of life after death involve souls and gods. Reincarnation theories say an immortal soul travels from one mortal body to another. Lives are shaped by karmic laws, which may be retributive or progressive. Resurrection theories say that persons are bodies. After you die, God will revive your body, or reassemble it from its atoms, or recover it from information stored in the divine memory or your soul, or replicate it in another universe. Modern afterlife theories rely heavily on ideas from computer science. Life after death involves simulation, promotion, uploading, digital ghosts, and recursive self‐improvement. The many‐worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics entails that some versions of your life never die.
Al‐Ghazālī
Authors: Kukkonen Taneli
Published: November 2021

Abū Ḥāmid Muḥammad al‐Ghazālī (1056–1111
ce
) stands as perhaps the single most impactful intellectual in Islamic history. Al‐Ghazālī contributed in decisive ways to discussions in Islamic theology, philosophy, legal theory, and practical spirituality; his work continues to be read to this day by scholars and laypeople alike. Overshadowing everything else is the monumental
Revival of the Religious Sciences
(
Iḥyāʾ ʿulūm al‐dīn
), a sprawling mid‐career work that appropriates materials from across a range of genres in service of what al‐Ghazālī calls the “science of the path of the hereafter.” But the surface‐level approachability of al‐Ghazālī's writing conceals philosophical depths, at the same time as it glides over sticky conceptual problems. Both aspects of al‐Ghazālī's thought – its philosophical fecundity and its vagueness when it comes to key internal tensions – are important in gauging al‐Ghazālī's significance and impact.
Analogy (in Medieval Theology)
Authors: Flannery Kevin
Published: November 2021

Medieval theologians, the most prominent of whom is Thomas Aquinas, made extensive use of what Aristotle says about the meanings and applications of nonunivocal, nonequivocal words, often employing the word “analogy” in this regard where he had not. In his commentary on Peter Lombard's
Sentences
, Aquinas distinguished types of analogy, including what came to be called intrinsic and extrinsic analogy of attribution. He subsequently refined this analysis, identifying “one to one other” (as distinct from “two to a third”) intrinsic analogy of attribution. The latter is especially important for metaphysics and for understanding the relationship between the creator and creation.
Anātmavāda
Authors: Harris Stephen E.
Published: November 2021

Anātmavāda
, a Sanskrit term meaning “the doctrine of selflessness” refers to one of the most distinctive of Buddhist philosophical tenets: the rejection of any enduring unified self (
ātman
). Although they deny the existence of the
ātman
, Buddhists accept the existence of persons as conceptually unified aggregations of mental and physical events. Philosophically, their defense of the rejection of a self puts Buddhists at odds with rival schools of Indian philosophy, leading to over a thousand years of philosophical debate. Soteriologically, Buddhists claim that realizing the nonexistence of any enduring self (
ātman
) is a key factor in achieving liberation from
saṃsāra
, the round of rebirth and suffering.
Anekāntavāda
and
Syādvāda
Authors: Balcerowicz Piotr
Published: November 2021

Anekāntavāda
is a theory of realist ontology and a corresponding epistemology developed within Jainism to describe the complexity of the world within which each thing is understood to be interconnected with other things through infinite relations.
Syādvāda
presents an epistemology and semantics to describe each thing of such a multiplex structure in a comprehensive way through “a method of seven basic figures.”
Angels and Communication
Authors: Sirridge Mary
Published: November 2021

Thinking about angelic communication in Christian antiquity, e.g. by Augustine and Pseudo‐Dionysius, though underdeveloped, is already interwoven with philosophical theories about language and cognition. Among Scholastics of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries the discussion of angelic communication was complicated by general acceptance of the immateriality of angels and explorations of the metaphysical consequences of immateriality and by the desire for a theory of communication that applied
mutatis mutandis
both to humans and to angels as intelligent beings. The entry describes five principal medieval theoretical approaches: the views of Thomas Aquinas, Robert Kilwardby, Giles of Rome, John Duns Scotus, and William of Ockham.
Angels, Early Theories
Authors: Guthrie Shandon L.
Published: November 2021

This entry consists of a historical discussion about the nature of good and evil angels as proffered by representatives of early Greek, Jewish, and Christian sources. The dominant view shared amongst these early traditions is that angels are both ontologically and functionally intermediary realities – usually construed as nonhuman, spiritual persons – that transcend the physical universe but are capable of interacting with it. Accordingly, they are thought to provide spiritual commerce between God/the gods and mankind.
Anti‐Theodicy
Authors: Trakakis N.N.
Published: November 2021

In contrast to a “theodicy,” which seeks to justify God's permission of evil, an “anti‐theodicy” rejects all such justifications in principle. Recent philosophy of religion has seen increasing discussion of anti‐theodicy, particularly amongst those influenced by Wittgensteinian or Continental streams of philosophy. Anti‐theodicy is typically developed as a moral critique, arguing (for example) that theodicies do not cohere with certain fundamental aspects of our moral thinking or practice.
Āryadeva
Authors: Tillemans Tom J.F.
Published: November 2021

Āryadeva is, along with Nāgārjuna, the founder of the school of Buddhist thought known as the “Philosophy of the Middle” (Madhyamaka). His major work, the
Catuḥśataka
, uses dialectics to reject all metaphysical positions in favor of a thesisless quietism. Another Āryadeva, sometimes confused with the second–third‐century
ce
philosopher, was a much later tantric writer.
Astell, Mary
Authors: Broad Jacqueline
Published: November 2021

This entry focuses on the philosophy of religion of English writer Mary Astell (1666–1731), an early modern Cartesian feminist. The entry covers her ontological and cosmological arguments for the existence of God, her Pascal's Wager‐style argument against atheists and libertines, and her intellectualist conception of God's nature. It is demonstrated that in Astell's writings her religious principles and arguments form part of a wider strategy: to raise awareness in women about the true source of their happiness – conformity to the will of God – and to challenge common prejudices about female education.
Atheistic Arguments in Indian Philosophy
Authors: Watson Alex
Published: November 2021

This entry is an account of the stage that atheistic thinking in India had reached by the end of the first millennium
ce
. The schools of philosophy that composed atheistic refutations of the existence of God in premodern India were Buddhism, Jainism, Cārvāka, Mīmāṃsā, and Sāṅkhya. These refutations either directly attacked the inferences of God's existence put forward by Nyāya and Vaiśeṣika, or they pointed to unresolvable problems that theists have to face regarding God's nature.
Atonement
Authors: Jedwab Joseph
Published: November 2021

Atonement, in the general sense, is the state of being reconciled, which implies the reconciled parties are initially estranged. Atonement, in the usual sense, is the means by which reconciliation is achieved. Different religions have different views as to with whom, for what, and how humans reconcile. In the Christian religion, sin (original and actual) estranges humans from God. And Christian atonement refers to Christ's sacrifice that deals with sin so that God and humans may reconcile. There are at least six different theories of the atonement: the mystic, exemplarist, ransom, satisfaction, penal substitutionary, and merit theories. Each faces problems or needs to be further developed.
Ghose, Sri Aurobindo
Authors: Raveh Daniel
Published: November 2021

Sri Aurobindo Ghose (1872–1950) was a philosopher, poet, translator, political activist against the British rule in India, Yogi, and guru. Unlike other mystics, philosophical argumentation was not foreign to him, even if his yogic, or mystic experience, was his foremost “source of knowledge.” In his magnum opus,The Life Divine, Sri Aurobindo articulates his “disharmony argument,” intended to substantiate his “grand conclusion” about future evolution towards the utopian situation which he refers to as “life divine.” Aurobindo's notion of “evolution” corresponds with that of Darwin, but he takes this concept in a new direction. He envisions “volitional evolution,” in which the human consciousness “evolves” owing to the yogic work of the aspirant, with the purpose of establishing a salient connection between “earth” and “beyond.” His “integral yoga” is intended to change the world, in tune with his outlook highlighting the interconnectedness between the metaphysical and the historical, political, and even social.
Ibn Rushd
Authors: López‐Farjeat Luis Xavier
Published: November 2021

This entry introduces Averroes (1126–1198), his conception of religion, and some of his philosophical reflections on the interpretation of religious matters. Averroes understood religion in philosophical terms. This means that in order to make sense, the content of religious propositions should be harmonious with Aristotelian philosophical propositions. Thus, Averroes holds that Islam is an allegorical presentation of philosophical demonstrations. The entry discusses in detail Averroes's alleged rationalization of religion.
Ibn Sīnā
Authors: Lammer Andreas
Published: November 2021

Ibn Sīnā (also known as Avicenna; 980?–1037) was the most significant Muslim philosopher and physician of the so‐called Middle Ages. He understood philosophy as a systematic and universal scientific endeavor, and considerably shaped the way in which theological and religious matters – just as much as concerns from within metaphysics, natural philosophy, and logic – have been conceived by Muslim, Christian, and Jewish authors writing in the wake of his accomplishments. His long‐lasting influence is attested by numerous commentaries and reactions to his account of reality. Central aspects of his philosophy include the description of God as well as the scientific explanation of creation, prophecy, evil, and the afterlife.
Bergson, Henri
Authors: Lefebvre Alexandre
Published: November 2021

Henri Bergson (1859–1941) was the preeminent French philosopher of the early twentieth century. His main contribution to the field of religion is found in his
The Two Sources of Morality and Religion
(1932). It develops a theory of religion that combines elements of naturalism, mysticism, and vitalism.
Berkeley, George
Authors: Jakapi Roomet
Published: November 2021

George Berkeley (1685–1753) proposed three original arguments for the existence of God, all of which include specific metaphysical premises. Berkeley argued for the view that morality cannot be separated from religion. He also offered a novel theory to show the meaningfulness of sentences expressing the Christian mysteries.
Bhartṛhari
Authors: Flood Gavin
Published: November 2021

Bhartṛhari, who probably lived between 450 and 510
ce
, was a Grammarian and philosopher of language whose work influenced later grammatical tradition, Tantric philosophy, and Advaita Vedānta. His seminal work, the
Vākyapadīya
, offers an analysis of language, demonstrating how it works and linking language to cosmological and metaphysical speculation. Meaning occurs at sentence level and language itself emerges through a developmental process from an undifferentiated reality identified with the absolute
brahman
itself.
Bhattacharyya, Kalidas
Authors: Raveh Daniel
Published: November 2021

Kalidas Bhattacharyya (1911–1984, KDB) was a contemporary Indian philosopher. The early KDB (of the 1940s and 1950s) proclaimed that philosophy consists of undecidable alternatives, a standpoint influenced by the Jaina doctrine of
naya
, as well as by Krishnachandra Bhattacharyya's (KDB's father) thought. The later KDB (of the 1960s) is essentially a metaphysician. His metaphysical position is rooted in Advaita Vedānta and Śaivism, but is in constant dialogue with contemporary philosophical trends such as phenomenology. An interesting point in KDB, which corresponds with his father's thought, relates to the body as a tool or key towards freedom. The living body marks a level of subjectivity, through which the first hint of freedom is reached.
Bhāviveka
Authors: Heitmann Séraphia
Published: November 2021

The sixth‐century Indian Buddhist philosopher Bhāviveka (c. 500–570
ce
), an illustrious scholar with an encyclopedic knowledge of philosophy, gained historic significance in the Madhyamaka tradition. Well acquainted with the whole range of Indian systems of thought (
darśana
), Bhāviveka innovated in doxography to challenge tenets of rival Indian schools, taking on various substantialist theories of reality. At the center of Mādhyamika debates, he sparked off the bifurcation of the Madhyamaka tradition with his use of autonomous inferences (
svatantra‐anumāna
) in reconstructing Nāgārjuna's arguments for the Middle Path (
madhyamā pratipat
). His major works,
Madhyamakahṛdayakārikā
(Verses on the heart of the middle way) and a commentary thereon called
Tarkajvālā
(Light of reason), became forerunners of the Tibetan doxographical or
Grub mtha'
literature.
Bible, Hebrew
Authors: Jindo Job Y.
Published: November 2021

The Hebrew Bible is a literary anthology of the religion and culture of ancient Israel, a canon which traditional Jews and Christians believe contains the revealed teachings of God. As a record of God's eternal covenant with the people Israel, it traces the formative period of Israel within a broader spectrum, from the creation of the world up to the restoration of Zion after the Babylonian exile (the fifth centurybce). Produced over many centuries, it exemplifies diverse religious insights and attitudes through a variety of literary genres, including epic, law, ritual text, historical narrative, prayer, prophetic oracle, lament, wisdom, and practical guidance.

This entry limits its scope to the Hebrew Bible itself. It will concern neither the history of its formation nor the myriad ways in which it has been read through the ages, although these subjects are extremely rich and significant.
Bonaventure, Saint
Authors: Casarella Peter J.
Published: November 2021

St. Bonaventure (1221–1274) pursued philosophy as a scholastic thinker and a prominent Franciscan friar and educator, eschewing the separation of faith and wisdom that he associated with certain prevalent forms of Aristotelianism and embracing a reinvigorated path to wonder at the beauty of creation that he had discovered in St. Augustine, Pseudo‐Dionysius, St. Anselm, and their defenders in the medieval Latin tradition. His thought includes reflections on faith and reason, the existence of God, and the nature and attributes of the divine being (including God's eternity). He also brings to the fore in a rigorous and architectonic fashion the goodness and love that one can with the proper propaedeutic find in God's work of art, i.e. the harmonious order and very fabric of created reality.
Bradley, Francis Herbert
Authors: Basile Pierfrancesco
Published: November 2021

Francis Herbert Bradley (1846–1924) was the greatest of the British Idealists. This entry provides a brief explanation of his main metaphysical views and sketches the arguments in its support, focusing especially upon Bradley's notorious but widely misunderstood critique of the concept of relation. His theory of reality is characterized as a form of monistic idealism alternative to the one advocated by Hegel, and combining in an original fashion skeptical and mystical themes.
Buber, Martin
Authors: Wright Tamra
Published: November 2021

Martin Buber (1878–1965) is best known for his 1923 work
Ich und Du
(
I and Thou
), in which he contends that there are two distinct ways of being in the world and relating to others: “I–it” (
Ich
–
es
) and “I–thou” (
Ich
–
du
). I–it is our everyday way of relating to objects, animals, and people, engaging with them on a superficial level, often in pursuit of our own ends. To enter into an I–thou encounter, by contrast, is to bring one's deeper self to a reciprocal relationship with the other. The I–thou encounter is a mutual one, in which each party encounters the other as “thou” rather than “it.” Ultimately, for Buber, every such encounter is also an encounter with God or the “Eternal Thou.”
Buddha‐Nature (
Tathāgatagarbha
)
Authors: Mathes Klaus‐Dieter
Published: November 2021

Some of the early Mahāyāna discourses of the Buddha (sutras), such as the
Discourse for the Queen Śrīmālā
(
Śrīmālādevīsūtra
), clearly teach that all beings possess a buddha‐nature inseparable from all buddha‐qualities. This differs from an actual buddha only in that this nature is covered by adventitious stains resulting from ignorance, which extends back into beginningless time. Such a buddha‐nature doctrine was unable to serve as a basis for a school of its own, probably because of its proximity to non‐Buddhist “soul/self” (
ātman
) theories, but was instead, and possibly for similar reasons, brought doctrinally in line with the schools of either Yoga Conduct (Yogācāra) or the Middle Way (Madhyamaka), the two main currents of Great Vehicle (Mahāyāna) Buddhism. The doctrine became particularly influential, and sometimes controversial, through its later diffusion in East and Central Asian Buddhism.
Cognitive Science and Natural Theological Arguments
Authors: Marsh Jason
Published: November 2021

This entry considers various interpretations of the relationship between cognitive science and natural theology. Arguments according to which findings in cognitive science evidentially support theism, challenge theism, and lack significance for theism are considered. Other matters addressed include whether cognitive science explains the enduring appeal of natural theological arguments themselves, and whether natural theology should be expanded to reflect a more global approach to religion.
Cognitive Science of Religion
Authors: Barrett Justin L.
Published: November 2021

Cognitive science of religion (CSR) is an interdisciplinary area of study that draws upon the cognitive sciences in an attempt to explain and predict patterns in religious belief and practice. This entry characterizes CSR in relation to neighboring areas in the scholarly study of “religion,” offers a brief history of the field, and identifies areas that may be of particular interest to philosophers of religion.
Creationism and Creationist Critiques of Physicalism
Authors: Taliaferro Charles , Farris Joshua R.
Published: November 2021

In this entry, the term
creationism
refers to the view that human souls are created directly by God. Reasons are provided why creationism has been preferred by many Christian philosophers rather than alternative accounts of human origins.
Darwin, Charles
Authors: Ruse Michael
Published: November 2021

Charles Robert Darwin (1809–1882) published his
On the Origin of Species
in 1859. He argued that all organisms including humans are the end products of a long, slow law‐bound process of change, evolution, and that the main mechanism of change is natural selection, brought on by the struggle for existence. Although Darwin moved from an evangelical childhood to deism in maturity and then in old age later to agnosticism, religion influenced his thinking greatly and this continues to this day. Whether Darwinism is fully consistent with Christianity is an ongoing question as people continue to wrestle with the bleak world into which Darwin led us.
Derrida, Jacques
Authors: Hart Kevin
Published: November 2021

Jacques Derrida (1930–2004) determines a new mode of ideality in Western thought, one that overruns preset limits. His analyses of religion provide examples of how this rethinking of ideality works, especially with respect to the auto‐immunity of religion.
Diderot, Denis
Authors: Israel Jonathan
Published: November 2021

Although one of the most prominent and important philosophers (as well as art critics and literary figures) of the Enlightenment era, Denis Diderot (1713–1784) never received either much remuneration for his immense efforts or any form of official recognition or honors. This was mainly due to the subversive implications of his thought, which aimed at undermining existing structures of authority both with respect to religion and, especially during the last phase of his life, from the late 1760s onwards, also with respect to the political and legal sphere.
Dignāga
Authors: Yoshimizu Kiyotaka
Published: November 2021

Dignāga (c. 480–540), one of the most innovative and influential philosophers in Indian Buddhism, flourished in the early sixth century when India began to enter the early medieval era. In this transition period, the systematization of dialectics was increasingly needed among Buddhist and Brahmanical schools as a result of the intensification of their competition for social influence. Having deeply studied dialectics in addition to the Yogācāra theory of consciousness and the Sautrāntika theory of nominalism, Dignāga investigated how a human being acquires knowledge through perception, inference, and language. Examining these cognitive faculties possessed by ordinary people, he paid special attention to the function of conception (
vikalpa
), which had been evaluated in traditional Buddhism only as an inferior faculty of discrimination that tends to induce one's desires.
Dilthey, Wilhelm
Authors: Crowe Benjamin D.
Published: November 2021

Wilhelm Dilthey (1833–1911) was an important German philosopher whose study of religion was integral to his larger project of developing a “Critique of Historical Reason,” or account of the discovery, production, and transition of meaning in history. In addition to an incomplete but magisterial biography of Friedrich Schleiermacher (1870), he also authored numerous studies on religious figures in intellectual history, essays on the nature of worldviews, monographs on the history and logic of the “human sciences,” and an essay on “The Problem of Religion” (1911). Dilthey defended a nonmetaphysical interpretation of religious experience as well as expressivism about religious language. In his later works, he defended the distinctive kind of knowledge found in religious life and argued that practical and existential adequacy serves to justify belief.
Divine Attributes
Authors: Hoffman Joshua , Rosenkrantz Gary S.
Published: November 2021

This entry explains the idea of God as a maximally great or perfect being and various conceptual issues that it raises. Topics such as God's omnipotence, omniscience, impassibility, simplicity, and relationship to space and time are briefly explored.
Divine Command Theory
Authors: Miller Christian B.
Published: November 2021

Divine command theory is one of the leading positions concerning the metaphysical basis of moral properties. As its name suggests, the view holds that all or at least certain moral properties are grounded in the commands of God. DCT is a version of what is called “theological voluntarism,” which is a more general label for any approach to grounding moral properties in God. Rather than commands, alternative versions of voluntarism focus on God's desires, intentions, or emotions. This entry reviews some of the leading arguments for why one might adopt a voluntarist approach in general, as well as clarifies divine command theory and the main challenges it faces.
Divine Hiddenness
Authors: Moser Paul K.
Published: November 2021

This entry identifies some main approaches to divine hiddenness, and outlines an approach that makes some sense of divine hiddenness in the light of the moral character and purposes of a redemptive God.
Divine Simplicity
Authors: Grant W. Matthews
Published: November 2021

This entry introduces the doctrine of divine simplicity, first, defining the doctrine and giving evidence of its central place within traditional theism; second, sketching the most important arguments that have been offered in support of the doctrine; third, considering some of the most serious objections that contemporary philosophers of religion have raised against the doctrine; and, finally, discussing some of the ways in which the doctrine's proponents have responded to those objections.
Dölpopa Sherab Gyeltsen
Authors: Mathes Klaus‐Dieter
Published: November 2021

Educated by Kadampa (bKa' gdams pa) and Sakyapa (Sa skya pa) masters in Mustang and at Sakya itself, Dölpopa Sherab Gyeltsen (Dol po pa Shes rab rgyal mtshan, 1292–1361) not only impressed his contemporaries as an excellent scholar but also with his controversial hermeneutics ofzhentong(gzhan stong, “empty of other”). His unconditional endorsement of a truly existent ultimate buddha‐nature that is notrangtong(rang stong, “empty of an own nature”) greatly upset the Tibetan Buddhist establishment and has been hotly disputed ever since. Jonang (Jo nang), the monastic seat where he gained hiszhentonginsight lent its name to a Tibetan school in which Dölpopa was venerated as a second Buddha. The Jonang school remained widely influential until the seventeenth century and is still active in eastern Tibet.
Dream Argument
Authors: Kachru Sonam
Published: November 2021

Reading this sentence, can you entertain the thought that you might be dreaming? Arguments from dreaming typically try to astonish one into entertaining just such a thought. But they may do so in different ways and to different ends. In this entry, we tour some of the major types of arguments that have been offered on the basis of dreams, exploring arguments found in Classical and early modern Europe as well as arguments from Classical Chinese, Indian, and Islamic philosophy.
Durkheim, Émile
Authors: Poggi Gianfranco
Published: November 2021

The great French sociologist Émile Durkheim (1858–1917) expressed in numerous writings his keen interest in the phenomenon of religion, before devoting to it the last of his four major books,
Les formes élémentaires de la vie religieuse
(1912). In this he concentrated his attention on the beliefs and practices which prevailed at the time – according to accounts given by travelers, missionaries, and anthropologists – among Australian aboriginal populations. Durkheim interpreted their
totemic
form of religion as the most primitive, which as such suggested his own distinctive (and controversial) view of the religious phenomenon at large. That is: at bottom all religions constitute ways in which a social group both collectively generates its basic understanding of its own identity and periodically renews submission to its moral demands. The ritual experience plays a central role in this process.
Early Nyāya Theology
Authors: Dasti Matthew
Published: November 2021

This entry provides an introduction to early Nyāya theology in the work of Vātsyāyana (c. 450) and Uddyotakara (c. 550).
Emerson, Ralph Waldo
Authors: Kovalainen Heikki A.
Published: November 2021

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882) was a Harvard‐educated American essayist, poet, and philosopher, who acted for a time as a Unitarian minister in Boston (1829–1832) but established his fame during his lifetime as a popular lecturer and essayist. Emerson's thought developed at the intersection of various philosophical currents: English Romanticism and Post‐Kantian German idealism; Platonism and Neoplatonism, and Scottish commonsense philosophy. His religious sources were also eclectic, ranging from Unitarian and Calvinist Christianity to Hinduism and Buddhism. In philosophy, Emerson has been conventionally interpreted as a Kantian philosopher, yet textual evidence from Emerson's own works argues for a strong Platonic influence. Emerson's philosophy had a crucial influence on later philosophers both in classical American and continental philosophy. For Friedrich Nietzsche, he was one of the abiding influences; for the pragmatists Charles S. Peirce, William James, and John Dewey, Emerson was also an indispensable source of inspiration.