bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Ethical Issues in the Global Arms Industry
Authors: Davis Michael 
Published: March 2023

Abstract
This chapter explores the role of engineers in the ethical development and proliferation of weapons and technology. It observes that engineers employed by manufacturers have a critical role in foreign military sales that is often unnoticed. Manufacturers’ engineers do much more than design the fighter jet, for instance. At an early stage of negotiations, engineers will be sent out to work with their foreign counterparts to evaluate the local infrastructure that would support the jets—air bases, maintenance practices, pilot training, local suppliers, and so forth. Such details involve ongoing discussions and handshake agreements between engineers. The chapter describes these relationships between the exporting firm’s and purchasing country’s engineers as “intimate and enduring.” Hence, the chapter proposes that ethical standards be embedded in the standards of the engineering profession. This would address arms industry ethical dilemmas in three directions. Horizontally, this would broaden the industrial and international ethical standards. Vertically, this would push existing standards down to the practical level of engineers, where many of the critical ethical decisions are made. Temporally, this would introduce ethical considerations from the very beginning that would endure throughout the life cycle of the weapon system.
Mandatory Disclosure
Authors: Yukins Christopher R. 
Published: March 2023

Abstract
This chapter offers a case study in how anti-corruption measures can affect competition in defense markets by focusing on mandatory disclosure. The chapter observes that the mandatory disclosure regime introduced to U.S. federal procurement can have a perverse effect on competition, favoring large incumbents over smaller upstarts. This policy, however well intentioned, exacerbates the divide between large and small contractors, as the latter will often find elaborate compliance systems unaffordable. This not only increased corruption risks but also caused undue reputational risks for the stakeholders with the most to lose: the government and major defense contractors. In response, the chapter proposes a return to the voluntary disclosure system existing for two decades after the “Ill Wind” procurement scandals of the 1980s, which served as a model for the World Bank’s voluntary reporting requirements. Making this program voluntary again would allow coverage of a broader array of misconduct, would reduce implementation costs, and, not least, would have a less damaging effect on competition. Counterintuitively, perhaps, lighter-touch anti-corruption measures may thus yield better results.
Egypt before the Saites
Authors: Li Jean 
Published: March 2023

Abstract
The Third Intermediate Period spanned the time period from the end of the New Kingdom (ca. 1070 bc) to the subsequent reassertion of Egyptian control by the Saite 26th Dynasty (664 bc). Virtually all aspects of the history, archaeology, and social and cultural developments of this era are complex, imperfectly understood, and subject to continued revision. Once characterized as a time of political weakness and cultural decay, Egypt before the Saites witnessed a dynamic period of diffusion of power, in which historically marginalized groups (foreigners and women) participated. The chapter also focuses on the tension between innovative interpretations of cultural concepts and practices, such as kingship, afterlife, religion, and written and material culture, and their place within the framework of enduring Egyptian traditions.
Assyria from Tiglath-pileser I to Ashurnasirpal II
Authors: Shibata Daisuke 
Published: March 2023

AbstractThis chapter deals with the political history of Assyria from the eleventh to the ninth century bc, from the reign of Tiglath-pileser I (1114–1076 bc) to that of Ashurnasirpal II (883–859 bc). The most striking feature of this period is the temporary decline of Assyria, the territorial extent and political influence of which reached a nadir in the first half of the tenth century bc, and its subsequent revival during the late tenth and early ninth centuries bc. Based on a close examination of the extant textual sources, this chapter focuses on how the system of Assyrian territorial governance established in the late second millennium bc collapsed and how a new system of governance was established, especially during the reign of Ashurnasirpal II. This king also moved the political capital from Assur to Kalhu (modern Nimrud) and took the first, decisive steps toward the creation of an entirely new political entity: the Assyrian Empire.
The Assyrian Empire
Authors: Fales Frederick Mario 
Published: March 2023

AbstractThis chapter offers an overview of the Assyrian Empire’s society and culture—inevitably selective due to the wealth of sources and of research perspectives. After tracing continuities going back to the Late Bronze Age, a survey of the textual evidence (learned, official, and mundane) is used to reveal the multilayered culture of the empire, supplemented with evidence from figurative art, a further key source of narrative-historical information, with a particular focus on the depictions of war. The cosmopolitan character of the Assyrian imperial court is investigated by an analysis of the textual data and artifacts reflecting external cultural imprints from Anatolia to the Levant and Egypt. The multiethnic patchwork of peoples forming the empire’s population is analyzed through two distinct and complementary lenses: ethnicity, as a cultural and social construct that shapes group identities from within and outside; and language, as the archival data shed much light on the coexistence of languages and cultures in the cities and the countryside throughout the empire. In the first case, the crucial difference of status that was perceived between “Assyrians” and “others” is elucidated through positive and negative examples. In the second case, onomastics serve to highlight the diffuse tolerance of the imperial ruling class for the linguistically and culturally diverse component communities of the empire—provided that they honored the “Assyrian way of life.” Contextualizing the extraordinary “superiority complex” at state level that marked the Assyrian imperial experience, the chapter emphasizes the optimistic and ultimately positive dimensions of the Assyrian Empire.
The Neo-Babylonian Empire
Authors: Jursa Michael 
Published: March 2023

Abstract
As an accidental heir to major parts of the Assyrian Empire, the Neo-Babylonian Empire controlled in the sixth century bc much of the Middle East before falling to the rising Persian Empire. Imperial domination in Syria and especially the Levant led to large-scale destruction and deprivation, for which the case of Jerusalem and the Judeans’ “Babylonian exile” is the most consequential example. At the same time, the imperial center in Babylonia profited greatly from the inflowing spoils of empire, and the crown initiated an ambitious program of centralized institution-building. The physical transformation of Babylonian cities by large-scale royal building projects is but one feature of the resulting political and socioeconomic transformation.
Polemics and Confessional Ambiguity
Authors: Matthiesen Toby 
Published: March 2023

Abstract
This chapter explores the notion of polemics and confessional ambiguity following the emergence of the Mongols as a new invading force. Mongol conquests of Iran, Anatolia, and the Eastern Arab lands reshuffled the cards between Sunnism and Shiism, and Sufism. Moreover, the conquests upended pre-existing institutions and political arrangements and the Middle East became polarised between two major political powers: the Mongols and the Mamluks. The chapter cites that the rivalry between Sunni and Shii clerics resulted in the most elaborate and vicious polemics. It elaborates on how everyday religiosity became confessional ambiguous between the House of Othman and the Safavids.
Regime Change
Authors: Matthiesen Toby 
Published: March 2023

Abstract
This chapter explores the major transformations in the Middle East following the end of the Cold War. It cites that the period of American hegemony started from 1900 to 2010. Military interventions in the Middle East symbolised American power and its limits. Moreover, the intervention had profound consequences for Sunnis and Shia, wherein the views of Americans affected the Islamic world. Meanwhile, the different conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan, Lebanon and Yemen had local dynamics, but they were increasingly connected. The chapter also considers how online dissemination turns local events into global events, referencing how social media framed the news of Saudi Shia boys leaving concrete pathways across the cemetery of al-Baqia in Medina.
The Arab Uprisings
Authors: Matthiesen Toby 
Published: March 2023

Abstract
This chapter focuses on the Arab uprisings. Protests in Manama called for national unity without regard to the division between Sunni and Shia. Despite the call for changes, the region experienced the most extreme forms of ethno-sectarian violence, which correlates to how regimes in heterogeneous societies were formed via sectarianism in previous decades. The chapter also discusses the second wave of the Arab Spring in Iraq, Lebanon, Sudan and Algeria, referring to the protests against a sectarian political system ad the dysfunction of sectarian elites. It also mentions how US invasions in Afghanistan and Iraq triggered processes that were exacerbated during the Arab Spring.
Experimenting with Religion
Authors: Jong Jonathan 
Published: March 2023

Abstract
Whatever else it might be, religion is a human psychological phenomenon, and psychologists have been interested in it since the beginning of the discipline. In recent decades, psychologists have been pushing back against naysayers who assert that religion simply cannot be studied scientifically, cannot be brought into a lab and quantified. They have been figuring out ways to measure various aspects of religiosity, and to rigorously test theories about why people hold the beliefs that they do about gods, souls, and rituals. They have been experimenting with religion. Experimenting with Religion brings the reader behind the scenes, into the labs where scientists have been working to understand religion. This book describes a series of experiments, puts them in their intellectual context, and interviews the scientists themselves, asking them about where their ideas come from and how these turn into actual experimental data to be interpreted. Each chapter covers a related series of studies, with topics ranging from what children believe about the afterlife to how people assess the effectiveness of spells and charms. Written in the aftermath of the replication crisis in psychology, this book is also a meditation on psychological science itself, and whether and how it can help us understand anything at all, let alone religion.
Do children believe in souls?
Authors: Jong Jonathan 
Published: March 2023

Abstract
This chapter covers two distinct but related lines of research. First, it follows Bruce Hood’s studies with a duplicating machine that makes exact copies of things, including security blankets and live hamsters: or so he tells the children in the study. Then, it introduces Jesse Bering’s studies that ask people what it might be like to be dead. Both research programs suggest that we have deep-seated intuitions about the distinction between minds and bodies, such that minds are unique to individuals and might survive death. These may be the psychological building blocks of the belief in souls and spirits, and in the afterlife. In both cases, the reseachers were influenced by philosophical writings, which an important source for science.
What makes an effective ritual?
Authors: Jong Jonathan 
Published: March 2023

Abstract
This time, we are off to Brazil for another field study. Cristine Legare and Andre Souza invent some spells—simpatias, as they are called in Brazil—to figure out how they work in the minds of those who usually use them for anything from baldness to luck in love. They find that the specificity of the instructions and repetitiveness of the ritual convey a sense of effectiveness, which might explain why rituals are so often rigid and repetitive. This chapter considers the importance of ecological validity, not only of the setting of the research, but also of the materials used in the research: in this case, “artificial” simpatias constructed by the scientists.
Does death anxiety drive religion?
Authors: Jong Jonathan 
Published: March 2023

Abstract
The idea that people are religious because they fear death is a widespread and venerable one. This chapter tells the story of how three groups of researchers subjected this idea to the test, with mixed and somewhat confusing results. Contradictions in experimental findings are common, and it is not always clear how to resolve them. The limits of laboratory-based research also feels acute here, as it is impossible—not to mention unethical—to put the fear of death in participants. The difficulty of measurement is raised here too, as self-report and implicit measures of religiosity seem to diverge in the face of death.
An Overview of Social Roles and Their Ethics
Authors: Barber Alex , Cordell Sean 
Published: March 2023

Abstract
This introductory chapter offers a basic framework for thinking about the topic of social roles and their ethics, and in doing so addresses latent resistance to the very idea that the norms associated with social roles have an ethical claim on us. It suggests a working understanding of what social roles are, a default terminology, a set of key questions, a description of links to neighbouring debates, an overview of the other chapters in the volume, and finally a list of key works on a wrongly neglected topic.
Basics of ultrafast spectroscopy
Authors: Li Hebin , Lomsadze Bachana , Moody Galan , Smallwood Christopher L. , Cundiff Steven T. 
Published: March 2023

Abstract
Basics of ultrafast spectroscopy are introduced in this chapter. We first discuss the basic concept of spectroscopy in terms of linear and nonlinear spectroscopy. We then describe definitions and parameters of ultrashort pulses and the ultrafast nonlinear/coherent spectroscopy. The density matrix formalism of light-matter interaction and the Bloch sphere representation of quantum states are also introduced.
Introduction to multidimensional coherent spectroscopy
Authors: Li Hebin , Lomsadze Bachana , Moody Galan , Smallwood Christopher L. , Cundiff Steven T. 
Published: March 2023

Abstract
An introduction to multidimensional coherent spectroscopy (MDCS) is provided in this chapter. We start out by introducing MDCS in qualitative terms, as an extension of transient absorption spectroscopy. We proceed to discuss the meaning and utility of coherent spectroscopy more generally. We go on to discuss the specifics of MDCS as a specific form of coherent spectroscopy. Pulse sequences involved in generating MDCS plots are introduced. Finally, we discuss density matrix perturbation theory and double-sided Feynman diagrams, and the role of this formalism in simulating and interpreting MDCS.
Interpretation of multidimensional coherent spectra
Authors: Li Hebin , Lomsadze Bachana , Moody Galan , Smallwood Christopher L. , Cundiff Steven T. 
Published: March 2023

Abstract
Interpretation of multi-dimensional coherent spectra is presented in this chapter. Results are presented with the Bloch model. We begin by discussing the characteristic features of an MDCS rephasing plot corresponding to a two-level system. We then discuss the characteristics of inhomogeneous ensembles of two-level systems. We go on to discuss the origins of cross-peaks in MDCS, and then some of the signatures in MDCS that arise as a result of many-body effects. Double-quantum spectra, zero-quantum spectra, three-dimensional spectra, and nonrephasing single-quantum spectra are discussed. Finally, we discuss the impact that finite pulse effects can have on a multidimensional spectrum.
Multidimensional coherent spectroscopy of atomic ensembles
Authors: Li Hebin , Lomsadze Bachana , Moody Galan , Smallwood Christopher L. , Cundiff Steven T. 
Published: March 2023

Abstract
Multidimensional coherent spectroscopy (MDCS) of atomic ensembles is discussed in this chapter. Atomic vapors such as potassium and rubidium atomic vapors are used a model system for demonstrating MDCS. The technique of MDCS can also be used to probe many-body dipole-dipole interaction and correlation in atoms by using double-quantum 2D spectroscopy. Multi-quantum 2D spectroscopy can detect many-body correlations associated with coherent states of multiple atoms in atoms.
Two-dimensional spectroscopy of semiconductor quantum wells
Authors: Li Hebin , Lomsadze Bachana , Moody Galan , Smallwood Christopher L. , Cundiff Steven T. 
Published: March 2023

Abstract
Two-dimensional coherent spectroscopy of semiconductor quantum wells is discussed in this chapter. The chapter starts with an introduction of semiconductor optics. The signatures of many-body interaction and correlation are revealed as spectral features in 2D spectra including one-, double-, and multi-quantum 2D spectra. Two-dimensional coherent spectroscopy can also be used to study the coupling in coupled quantum wells and exciton-polaritons in microcavities.
Two-dimensional spectroscopy of atomically thin 2D materials
Authors: Li Hebin , Lomsadze Bachana , Moody Galan , Smallwood Christopher L. , Cundiff Steven T. 
Published: March 2023

Abstract
Two-dimensional spectroscopy experiments on atomically thin semiconductors, specifically transition metal dichalcogenides, are presented in this chapter. An introduction to 2D materials is given, followed by experiments measuring the homogeneous and inhomogeneous linewidth in 2D materials. Signature of exciton valley coherence and exciton-trion coherent coupling are revealed as unique spectral features in the spectra, which sheds light on the valley dephasing and relaxation processes in these materials.
Selfless Minds
Authors: Chadha Monima 
Published: March 2023

Abstract
Self is central to our ordinary understanding of the mind and ourselves. The fifth-century Abhidharma Buddhist philosopher Vasubandhu presents a radical no-self metaphysics in his Abhidharmakośa-Bhāṣya. Selfless Minds offers a new reading of this no-self view as defending not only eliminativism about self but also about persons, and illusionism about the sense of self and all kinds of self-representation. This radical no-self thesis presents several challenges for Abhidharma Buddhist philosophy of mind. Even if we then grant that there is no self, we are left with deeper questions about the sense of self or self-representations implicated in our ordinary everyday experience and thought about the world and ourselves. This sense of self is involved in all kinds of experiential phenomena: episodic memories, unity of consciousness, sense of ownership, sense of agency, etc. And if we grant that there are no persons, questions remain about the status of our person-related concerns and interpersonal practices. Selfless Minds answers these questions on behalf of the Abhidharma Buddhist. The first part (Chapters 3–7) of the book defends the hypothesis that we can salvage much of our experience and thought without implicating self-representations. The second part (Chapters 8–9) of the book examines the normative implications of the revisionary no-person metaphysics. Some of these seem unpalatable, if not downright absurd. These revisionary implications for our normative commitments give us reason to re-evaluate both the Abhidharma metaphysics and our ordinary person-related practices and concerns in light of each other by using some sort of wide reflective equilibrium.
The Buddhist Path
Authors: Chadha Monima 
Published: March 2023

Abstract
This chapter explores what is required of an individual who chooses to follow and make progress on the Buddhist Path. As we shall see, making the commitment to follow the Buddhist Path means giving up a lot that we ordinarily value in the hope of a better world in which suffering is eliminated. The Buddhist is proposing a radical alteration of our individual cares and concerns, the very fabric of our being. The author argues that pursuing the Bodhisattva ideal would generate significant losses to human life (as we know it). Perhaps it is best for us (and for Buddhists more generally) to be cautious about embracing a Buddhist revolution wholeheartedly.
Concluding Remarks
Authors: Chadha Monima 
Published: March 2023

Abstract
The concluding remarks put forth a recommendation for making progress on some fundamental questions in philosophy: What are we? And how we should live? We can learn more about metaphysics of identity and ethics and be stimulated to develop new approaches to each of them, when we consider them not in isolation, and not from the standpoint of any one particular philosophical tradition. Rather, we should engage with comprehensive world views from a plurality of cultural locations, contexts, and times. Vasubandhu was highly influential in ancient India. This aims to show that his radical no-self view has much to offer to the contemporary debate about personal identity and ethics.
Roman Luxuria
Authors: Berno Francesca Romana 
Published: March 2023

Abstract
In classical Latin, luxuria means ‘desire for luxury’; it is linked with the ideas of excess and deviation from a standard, and in most cases labelled as a vice which contrasts with the innate frugal nature of the Romans. Indeed, Latin authors see it not as endemic, but as an import from the East in the aftermath of military conquests, and as a cause of fatal decline. After dealing with etymological and semantic issues, the book discusses the influence of Greek culture on the Roman concept and the peculiar characteristics of Roman luxuria. Roman views on luxuria are analysed through close readings of selected passages, in their historical evolution from Cato the Elder, who regards it as the opposite of the ideal way of life of the Romans, to the Christian poet Prudentius, who represents it in an allegorical fight with Sobriety. Attention is paid both to single authors and to literary genres, such as historiography and satire. Particular consideration is given to the rhetorical device of personification, which can be traced from the first appearances of luxuria in Latin literature to the ones in late antiquity. Much space is devoted to Seneca the Younger, whose work is very much concerned with this passion, and who both defends himself from the charge of luxuria and violently attacks it in others, describing it as the archenemy of philosophical life. Along the centuries, the focus of this vice shifts from the economic sphere, and the idea of the waste of money, to the erotic one, to the point that in the Christian world luxuria becomes one of the Seven Capital Sins, representing the vice of lust.
What Does Luxuria Mean?
Authors: Berno Francesca Romana 
Published: March 2023

Abstract
This chapter offers a view on etymological and semantic issues concerning luxuria. This word is linked to the ideas of desire, excess, and deviation from a standard, and is strictly related to other passions, such as greed and ambition, and secondarily lust. The Roman narrative constructs luxuria as a vice coming from the East, as a consequence of military conquests, and describes it as a cause of fatal decline. This view can be traced back to Greek historiographical discussion of tryphe (in Thucydides, Herodotus, and Polybius) and to philosophical taxonomies of vices (in Plato and the Stoics). Geographically, luxuria’s preferred location switches from Sybaris in Greek authors to Capua and Baiae in Roman ones. Specific features of Roman luxuria are the spread of the concept through several literary genres, most of them in prose; the relevance of its social aspects; the focus on banquets, with particular attention related to fish dishes and tableware; and the diachronic shift of the concept from a mainly economical to an erotic meaning.