This study of mine examines how India influenced East Asian Nations like Thailand, China, Korea and Japan through Socio-cultural exchanges by the origin and expansion of Buddhism. By doing this, I believe it will be easier for us to comprehend and study how and why Buddhism became so entrenched in these nations that it became their official religion. I strongly believe that this research will enable us to retain a bond that is stronger than it was in the beginning. I (...) believe we may march together into the future as partners to achieve universal well being by eradicating the dark age of racism and selfishness, enlighten humanity with the spirit of Non-violence and continuing to live as close cultural cousins by strengthening our shared spiritual resources. (shrink)

The study aims to investigate how prior experience of interlocutors interacts with actual situational context in intercultural interactions when the latter is represented by a well-known frame: getting acquainted with others. It attempts to demonstrate how the cultural frame of the target language is broken up and substituted with an emergent frame that is co-constructed from elements from prior experience with the target language, the first language and the actual situational experience. Getting acquainted with others is a closed social (...) situation, a cultural frame in which interlocutors usually have to follow a behavior pattern dictated by the requirements of the socio-cultural background in a given speech community. There is a ‘skeleton’ of these ‘getting to know you’ procedures that can be considered universal but is substantiated differently in every language. In each conversation in any language, ‘flesh’ is added to the ‘skeleton’ in a dynamic and co-constructed manner. However, there is a difference between how this happens in L1 and in intercultural interactions. While in L1 the ‘flesh’ on the skeleton is predetermined to a significant extent by requirements of core common ground in the given language, in intercultural encounters this ‘flesh building’ process in the target language is not set but is co-constructed by the interlocutors as emergent common ground relying on their prior experience with their own L1 culture, limited experience with the target culture and the assessment of the actual situational context. In this study the co-construction process, i.e. emergent common ground will be analyzed by examining the use of formulaic language and freely generated language in several discourse segments. (shrink)

Relationship-oriented questions have always been at the crossroads of ethnoreligious identity, religious freedom, religious conversion, religious prejudice, and religious pluralism throughout Muslim-Buddhist co-existence in the sixth century within the Malay Archipelago. Other faiths could be freely practised except for propagation towards Muslim communities with Islam being the religion of the federation. This study aimed to explore Muslim-Buddhist relation types and the issues underpinning the following themes: history, identity, and concerns. Content and thematic analysis as well discourse analysis were utilised as (...) the study method for data collection and evaluation. Resultantly, the Muslim-Buddhist interaction pattern in Malaysia has occurred (culturally and religiously) from the early establishment of both religious communities. This relation, which has shifted in ethnoreligious orientation at every interaction level, opens more avenues and complexities requiring holistic management. (shrink)

Intercultural Approaches between Europe and China via Art? -/- Two landscapes from different cultures, Europe and China, that are both considered masterpieces are the focus of a study by Martina Sauer. To what extent are they each perceived as beautiful? Can the differences in aesthetic understanding tell us something about the respective cultures? Do the results have the potential to contribute to intercultural rapprochement between Europe and China? The possibility that these ideas can be fruitful for intercultural (...) connections and understanding, and for a re-evaluation of the interaction between humans and nature, is considered and analysed using the tools and theory of vitality semiotics (VS). -/- The task is examined by taking up premises from the philosophy of emotions by Sabine A. Döring, from the art history by Heinrich Wölfflin, from the infant research by Daniel N. Stern and from the empirical research in neuroscience on vitality forms by the research group around Giacomo Rizzolatti. -/- Cf. Martina Sauer, Vitality Semiotics: The Ever Beautiful and Its Potential for an Intercultural Approach: In Atmospheric Design and Everyday Aesthetics, edited by David Brubaker & Zhuofei Wang [Contemporary Aesthetics, Special Volume 12, 2024]: 1-11. (shrink)

Technical reproduction in general, and photography in particular have changed the status and practices of art. Similarly, the expansion of Web 2.0 interactive spaces presents opportunities and challenges to artistic communities. Present study focuses on artistic activism: socially sensitive artists publish their creation on the internet on its most interactive space – social media. These artworks carry both artistic and social messages. Such practices force us to reinterpret some elements of the classical art paradigm: its autonomy, authorship, uniqueness (as opposed (...) to copies and series), and the social role of art. The analysis is aimed at Hungarian and Romanian online artistic projects from Transylvania region of Romania, relevant as intercultural communication endeavours. Our research question is the way they differ from the traditional artistic paradigm. (shrink)

The aesthetic construction of the world can originally be traced back to the bodily-affective state of being in the surroundings. In this respect, the newly developed aesthetic concept atmosphere enables a new understanding of the interaction between sensation, emotion and the environment, and is therefore of great importance for the development of a contemporary environmental awareness. In reviewing the studies so far, it would be meaningful to further reflect on the following questions: what role does the spiritual dimension play (...) in atmospheric experience? How is it possible for us to be critical of the atmosphere we encounter? How can a bodily-affective approach to the world be opened up by emphasizing atmospheric experience without excluding other legitimate aspects such as value judgments? These issues require re-examination of the current basic approach, according to which, on the one hand, atmospheric experience is largely confined to a pre-reflective level, and, on the other hand, sensation and awareness of atmosphere are viewed as occurring one after another. Practically, in the experience of atmosphere, corporeality and spirituality are not so clearly delineated, based on the fact that sensory recognition of external stimuli always merges with mental actions such as cognition, imagination, beliefs, values, memory and expectation. In this sense, the experience of atmosphere is not a purely biophysiological response at all. Instead, it is largely shaped by spiritual elements and cultural frameworks. The knowledge of traditions, customs, languages, religions, stories, folklore and/or mythology may modify the ordinary perception of things and thus open an unusual way to the atmosphere. The complexity of atmosphere and atmospheric perception reveals a diversity of life experience that can never be thoroughly represented and described, and thus largely opens up new horizons for an interculturally oriented aesthetics. (shrink)

У статті простежено обставини виникнення і розвитку маргінальної культури. Виявлено, на підставі чого з’являються проблеми маргінальної особистості. Розглянуто спосіб розуміння, розмежування і трактування явища маргінальної особистості в процесі крос-культурних контактів і асиміляції. На основі проведеного дослідження проаналізовано співвідношення понять «маргінальна особистість» і «стратегії акультурації» у реаліях сучасної міжкультурної взаємодії в Одеському регіоні; чинники, що впливають на вибір стратегії акультурації.

The focus of this article is the global and European experience of the reception, assimilation, and social application of the Bible, reproduced in the works of a number of prominent Kyiv Theological Academy (KTA) representatives from the second half of the 19th and early 20th centuries. The analysis specifically covers the works of professors Stefan Solskyi, Kharysym Orda, Nikolai Drozdov, Afanasii Bulgakov, Mykola Makkaveiskyi, Vasylii Pevnytskyi, Arsenii Tsarevskyi, Volodymyr Rybinskyi, Dmytro Bohdashevskyi, and Aleksandr Glagolev. The author uses the metaphor of (...) the Biblical world to describe the historically developed spiritual and cultural component of the European world, for which the Bible played the role of a normative and symbolic core. Affiliation with the Biblical world — as a way of broad social application of the Bible and assimilation of the norms and public behaviors sanctioned by this text — was and still is a stable symbolic marker as well as a cultural and ideological factor of integration with European civilization. The historical panorama of the reception of Biblical knowledge and the inculturation of Biblical morality by Christianized nations, reproduced in the writings of Kyiv academics, is presented as a field of centuries-old intercultural contacts and active inter-confessional interaction, and as an important ideological and moral factor of the socio-political integration and development of civil society. The issues addressed by Biblical studies in Europe and the rest of the world and considerations and solutions prompted by these issues proved to be fruitful for both the academic research and public practices in which academics of the Kyiv Theological Academy were engaged. The past and modern foreign experience related to the inculturation of the Bible was interpreted by the Kyiv researchers in the local context, more specifically, in the modernization attempts of the 19th and early 20th centuries. Therefore, the reflection of European and worldwide experience, though not fully implemented, was productive and was a potential factor that could have contributed to the European modernization of Kyiv cultural and religious life of the time and its integration into the global Biblical World. (shrink)

Metaphors can be used as crucial tools for reaching shared understanding, especially where an epistemic imbalance of knowledge is at stake. However, metaphors can also represent a risk in intercultural or cross-cultural interactions, namely in situations characterised by little or deficient common ground between interlocutors. In such cases, the use of metaphors can lead to misunderstandings and cause communicative breakdowns. The conditions defining when metaphors promote, and hinder understanding have not been analyzed in detail, especially in intracultural contexts. This (...) study proposes an analysis of metaphors identified within an Italian corpus of diabetes care interviews. Through a coding scheme capturing the types and the probative weights of the linguistic evidence that can be used to detect misunderstandings, the communicative effectiveness of metaphors is indirectly assessed. The quantitative and qualitative analyses show a positive correlation between metaphor use and problematic understanding. A more detailed scrutiny of the interlocutors’ roles and topics of the metaphors points out that most of the problematic metaphors are used by patients, while most of the problematic ones used by providers concern non-clinical matters. These results can be explained as resulting from incorrect presumptions of common ground between the interlocutors. (shrink)

Advancements in artificial intelligence and (social) robotics raise pertinent questions as to how these technologies may help shape the society of the future. The main aim of the chapter is to consider the social and conceptual disruptions that might be associated with social robots, and humanoid social robots in particular. This chapter starts by comparing the concepts of robots and artificial intelligence and briefly explores the origins of these expressions. It then explains the definition of a social robot, as well (...) as the definition of humanoid robots. A key notion in this context is the idea of anthropomorphism: the human tendency to attribute human qualities, not only to our fellow human beings, but also to parts of nature and to technologies. This tendency to anthropomorphize technologies by responding to and interacting with them as if they have human qualities is one of the reasons why social robots (in particular social robots designed to look and behave like human beings) can be socially disruptive. As is explained in the chapter, while some ethics researchers believe that anthropomorphization is a mistake that can lead to various forms of deception, others — including both ethics researchers and social roboticists — believe it can be useful or fitting to treat robots in anthropomorphizing ways. The chapter explores that disagreement by, among other things, considering recent philosophical debates about whether social robots can be moral patients, that is, whether it can make sense to treat them with moral consideration. Where one stands on this issue will depend either on one’s views about whether social robots can have, imitate, or represent morally relevant properties, or on how people relate to social robots in their interactions with them. Lastly, the chapter urges that the ethics of social robots should explore intercultural perspectives, and highlights some recent research on Ubuntu ethics and social robots. (shrink)

In order to protect indigenous cultures, their knowledge and their ways of living, it is necessary to analyse the mechanisms of cultural change, with a special focus on those factors that lead to the destabilisation, and even deletion, of formerly autonomous social systems. -/- Cultures consist of human beings, and the mechanisms and interactions within and between cultures consist of human behaviour. Generally, the mutual influences between cultures do not occur in a symmetrical way. Rather, one side is usually exposed (...) to effects of the cultural dominance, which the other side exercises upon it. Within the macrostructure of intercultural influences, cultural elements of indigenous cultures are deleted and replaced by the cultural elements of the dominant culture. In the progress of globalisation, consent among the participants with regard to behaviour patterns and cognitive styles leads to the obliteration of traditional knowledge and behaviour which until then had been characteristic for the respective cultural group. -/- Meanwhile, indigenous cultures are endangered worldwide, and the process of globalisation is determined predominantly by the industrial culture. The transfer of the dominant cultural elements does not only lead to the deletion of specific knowledge of indigenous cultures, but also of context-relevant behaviour patterns of those concerned, who then participate in the destruction of the environment with the further effects of erosion, loss of species, and climate change. Yet, a representation of those mechanisms in functional models helps to define effective methods of intervention. (shrink)

Collaborative learning emphasizes student-to-student interaction and the instructor’s role as a facilitator. Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) was founded in 2005 by the State University of New York (SUNY) to help schools adapt their single classroom courses to an online, collaborative format and establish strong collaborations with professors with whom they would join classes and co-teach using SUNY COIL conferences and website, as well as pre-established partnerships between the institutions. However, as the globe becomes increasingly interconnected, educational challenges aimed (...) at cultivating intercultural competency become more important (Ceo-DiFrancesco & Bender-Slack, 2016). That is why this study aimed to (1) understand the lived experience of students who went under the COIL program in relation to SDG 12, (2) review the new knowledge students obtained when they took part in the COIL program in relation to SDG 12, and (3) discover the challenges students encountered while participating in the COIL program in relation to SDG 12. The researcher surveyed Filipino and Japanese students who participated in the COIL program concerning SDG12 from St. Patrick School of Quezon City, Kwansei Gakuin University, and Meiwa Senior High School. The study employed qualitative phenomenological research, and pertinent data were obtained through an open-ended survey questionnaire. The study was analyzed using Colaizzi’s descriptive phenomenological method. The results showed that the lived experiences of students who went under the COIL program in relation to SD12 have something to do with all their learnings and enjoyable experiences, intercultural and global interactions, and environmental discussions and action plans related to SDG 12. Moreover, students learned and understood better the negative impact of waste on the environment, environmental awareness and practices, the culture and norms in the Philippines and Japan, and the importance and benefits of collaboration. Lastly, the study also revealed the different challenges students encounter while participating in the COIL program in relation to SDG 12, such as cultural differences, language barriers, technical difficulties, and difficulties in experimentation. Thus, it was recommended to learn to adapt to everyone and adjust according to countries’ different cultures, practice and be proficient with the English language, have backup devices and platforms to use to ease technological problems, and improve implementations of experiments. (shrink)

It is with great enthusiasm that Editora Contemporânea presents "Culture and Identity: Perspectives on the Human Sciences -1st Edition". This book is a profound and thought-provoking exploration of the intersection between culture and identity in contemporary society, offering an innovative look at themes that shape our understanding of the world. Culture and identity play fundamental roles in the complex web of society. More than mere concepts, they are living forces that shape our interactions, perceptions, and the very fabric of society. (...) This book highlights the intrinsic importance of these elements in constructing meanings, and connections and shaping the rich tapestry of human diversity. In an era marked by globalization and interconnectedness, understanding cultural dynamics and the nuances of identity becomes essential. "Culture and Identity: Perspectives in the Humanities" offers crucial insights into meeting contemporary challenges, promoting intercultural dialogues, addressing issues of inclusion, and recognizing the complexities of individual and collective identities. This volume not only critically analyzes cultural and identity issues, but also sheds light on the prospects of humanities research. From investigations into changing identities to analyses of cultural influences on community formation, the contributions in this book pave the way for new approaches and reflections in academia. We express our sincere gratitude to the dedicated contributors who made this first edition possible. Each author has brought a unique and valuable insight, enriching the dialog on culture and identity in the human sciences. Their collective efforts have resulted in a work that inspires and challenges, contributing to a profound understanding of human complexity. We invite readers to delve into the pages of this unique work. Discover the multifaceted perspectives on culture and identity that this book offers. May it inspire reflections, dialogues, and actions that promote a deeper and more inclusive understanding of human diversity. Editora Contemporânea thanks you for joining us on this journey of intellectual exploration and discovery. -/- . (shrink)

Today, the focus of consumption has been shifting from pure use value to aesthetic-experiential value. Against this backdrop, the concept of design is undergoing a corresponding transformation - design is no longer solely about the manufacture of the product itself. Instead, the creation of atmosphere is brought to the forefront of design work, so much so that the product becomes one of the design elements. The focus on the design of atmosphere allows us to better reflect on the interaction (...) between object, form, space, environment and human body, emotion and action. Our study will focus on the following issues: how can we create an atmosphere that can be experienced as good and meaningful? For a designer who often works in an international context, another question seems even more critical: to what extent can a significant atmosphere have an impact that transcends individual cultural boundaries? To answer these questions, we attempt to introduce the concept resonance into an ethical exploration of atmosphere design. A resonant relationship can occur in almost all dimensions of the human-world relationship and thus provide normative guidance for a good way of life. It is the responsibility of designers to enhance resonant sensitivity of ecological, interpersonal, cross-cultural as well as marginalized issues through the creation of atmospheric scenarios. (shrink)

Schleiermacher’s Icoses is the first book-length study of the 1813 Academy address “Ueber die verschiedenen Methodes des Uebersetzens”; in addition to celebrating its 200 years of influence, the book undertakes a comprehensive examination of the whole argument, from its theory of hermeneutics to its foreignizing theory of translation and all the passing “poetic” elements on which Schleiermacher’s rhetoric always so heavily relied. The “icoses” in the title are specifically an articulation of the Gefühle/feelings that lie at the heart of Schleiermacher’s (...) hermeneutics—specifically, his insistence that feelings are shaped by society, and so seem “objective” or “universal,” but are experienced inwardly by each individual, so that they seem “subjective” and “private.” Research-based “feeling one’s way into an author” is guided by culture, and is therefore not, pace certain twentieth-century hermeneutical philosophers, mystical but “icotic.” -/- TESTIMONIA -/- Robinson's intriguing study of Schleiermacher's 1813 Academy address "On the Different Methods of Translating," which grew out of an article commemorating its bicentennial, is the first book-length commentary on the address. Robinson works meticulously through the entire text, both the German original and his own English translation, exposing its logical and other argumentative flaws mercilessly, but in order not to attack or dismiss it, rather to show that logic is not the right interpretive lens through which to view Schleiermacher's project. The right lens, Robinson suggests, is what he calls "icoses": social ecologies that shape our thought and convictions as members of a social group. The result is a fresh look at Schleiermacher's address and the hermeneutics that inform it, and one that generates surprising new insights into foreignization, feeling-based hermeneutics, and the Romantic ethos of estrangement. (Radegundis Stolze, Technische Universität Darmstadt) -/- Robinson's reading of Schleiermacher deals in detail with the whole address, and more, bringing out numerous problems that have remained hidden, dormant, and should be discussed. It provocatively picks up what any close reader feels: Schleiermacher's is not a highly coherent account of translation -­ it got some things right but left many gaps and contradictions. Robinson's inquiry suggests how the unresolved problems might be approached in an unexpected way: by a hermeneutic blurring of distinctions between the subjective and the objective, the psychological and the linguistic, the individual and the social. (Anthony Pym, Professor of Translation and Intercultural Studies Rovira i Virgili University, Visiting Professor Monterey Institute of International Studies). (shrink)

This paper is an example of how contextual information interacts with the interpretation of noun phrases (NPs) in discourse. When we encounter an NP escorted by the definite article or a proper name, the expectation is triggered that the speaker is referring to some referent x that the hearer can normally identify. Strawson and Russell have agreed that a referent must be associated with a definite description so that the assertion containing it can be said to be true. In the (...) case where a description does not refer to anything, the assertion is considered by Russell to be false, while Strawson says that the issue of truth or falsity does not arise. In this paper, we examine a case in which contextual information interacts with the interpretation of NPs in discourse and the hearer is not expected to identify a referent when hearing a proper name. In this case, the issue of truth or falsity does not arise, because the hearer does not identify the referent. In fact, s/he does not intend for the discourse to about a referent at all. These situations are primarily represented by sentences uttered during the course of a grammar lecture, in which the lecturer is explaining a rule of language and does not focus on external reality. The hearers are aware of this focus and do not process the NP (in general a proper name) to identify a specific referent. This discourse is of three types, which will be discussed at the end of this paper. -/- Keywords: reference; pragmeme; presupposition; fictional discourse; exemplification acts. (shrink)

This essay in the form of theses presents a new, post–secular type of religiosity that emerged in Russia in the aftermath of the collapse of Soviet dogmatic atheism. Poor faith is faith without any temples, dogma or rites, as integrally standing before God as God Himself is integral and undivided. According to the results of the largest sociological survey in Russia almost 60,000 respondents in 2012, one in four people fall into the category of ‘poor religion’— a simple belief in (...) God without any affiliation to a belief system or denomination. This proportion, 25 %, comes second only to Orthodox Christian believers (41 %) and exceeds Muslims (6.5 %). The poor faith manifested itself as an indivisible sense of God, outside historical, national and confessional traditions. Thus minimal religion became the next stage of apophaticism after it had crossed the line of atheism and reclaimed its religious content. Paradoxically, this "faith as such," "faith in general" was prepared by the atheist denial of all faiths, of all positive distinctions among historical religions. In 95 theses, this essay introduces major aspects of this new a–theology in comparison with Protestantism and other trans–religious teaching: the ethics and theology of singularity, creativity and resurrection; interaction with science and the views on theodicy; the dynamics and stages of poor faith; its similarity and distinction from spirituality; its place among post–secular trends, including "poor messianism." -/- "faith as such," "faith in general" was prepared by the atheist denial of all faiths. (shrink)

The aim of Intercultural Information Ethics (IIE), as Ess aptly puts, is to “(a) address both local and global issues evoked by ICTs / CMC, etc., (b) in a ways that both sustain local traditions / values / preference, etc. and (c) provide shared, (quasi-) universal responses to central ethical problems” (Ess 2007a, 102). This formulation of the aim of IIE, however, is not unambiguous. In this paper, I will discuss two different understandings of the aim of IIE, one (...) of which advocates “shared norms, different interpretations” and another proposes “shared norms, different justifications”. I shall argue that the first understanding is untenable, and the second understanding is acceptable only with qualification. Finally, I shall briefly suggest an alternative way to understand the aim of IIE. (shrink)

This article, the second of a two-part essay, outlines a solution to certain tensions in Thomist philosophical anthropology concerning the interaction of the human person’s immaterial intellectual or noetic operations with the psychosomatic sensory operations that are constituted from the formal organization of the nervous system. Continuing with where the first part left off, I argue that Thomists should not be tempted by strong emergentist accounts of mental operations that act directly on the brain, but should maintain, with Aquinas, (...) that noetic operations directly interact with psychosomatic operations. I develop a Thomist account of noetic–psychosomatic interactions that expands upon the first part’s rapprochement between the new mechanist philosophy of neuroscience and psychology and hylomorphic animalism. I argue that noetic–psychosomatic interactions are best understood as analogous to the way diverse higher and lower order psychosomatic powers interact by actualizing, coordinating, and directing the operations of other psychosomatic powers. I draw on James Ross’s arguments for the immateriality of intellectual operations as realizing definite pure functions in order to elucidate the way noetic operations uniquely actualize, coordinate, and direct the psychosomatic operations they interact with. I conclude with a conjectural sketch of how this presentation of Thomist philosophical anthropology understands the noetic and psychosomatic deficits brought about by damage to the nervous system. (shrink)

The reproducibility crisis in social sciences has revealed significant weaknesses in conventional research practices, including selective publication, questionable statistical methods, and opaque peer review processes. This paper introduces Granular Interaction Thinking Theory (GITT) as a novel framework for understanding the plausibility of scientific findings, conceptualizing knowledge validation as a structured entropy-reduction process. Within this framework, open science practices—such as open data, open review, and open dialogue—initially increase informational entropy by exposing inconsistencies. However, through iterative refinement, they ultimately enhance the (...) robustness and plausibility of scientific knowledge. To systematically assess a study’s plausibility, we propose the Scientific Plausibility Index (SPI)—an entropy-based metric that integrates data and method transparency, replication success rates, and community engagement. Additionally, leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) and natural language processing (NLP), a dynamic plausibility-tracking system could be developed to detect unreliable claims early and accelerate scientific self-correction. This shift—from closed, one-time assessments to continuous, community-driven evaluation models—ensures that scientific knowledge remains rigorously tested and updated. We advocate for shifting from closed, one-time assessments to continuous, community-driven evaluation models, ensuring that scientific knowledge remains rigorously tested and updated. Ultimately, aligning incentives with entropy-reducing mechanisms—such as rewarding replication efforts and fostering open discourse—can cultivate a research culture that prioritizes robustness, transparency, and cumulative knowledge-building. (shrink)

This essay begins with the claim that intercultural dialogue is an art rather than a science or technique and it attempts to point out what it takes to learn the art of intercultural dialogue. In PART ONE some basic forms of intercultural dialogue are presented which correlate to some basic forms of human life, such as family, politics, economy, science, art and religion. Also a few common traits about how intercultural dialogue is practised today are specified. (...) PART TWO is pointing out that cultural pluralism is not merely a political ideology, but rather a realistic political attitude towards the social realities in all cultures. Cultural pluralism means to accept that a certain variety of different forms of life is existing already within every culture, country or nation. Further it it argued that any society whether it is governed by a modern democracy or by a more traditional political system, such as a monarchy, needs some ethical, legal and political orientation in order to guarantee civil liberties, but also to limit civil, economic and political freedom. A common normative orientation being based on ethical ideals, principles, norms and values can only be established by philosophy and jurisprudence and neither by science nor by religion and neither by democracy nor by economy alone. Finally, PART THREE presents and discusses shortly a few reflections about three philosophical models of dialogue by Buber, Jaspers and Gadamer which are relevant to intercultural dialogue, to interreligious dialogue and last, but not least to philosophical dialogue. (shrink)

Cinema is neither neutral nor a universal medium. Particularly in African contexts, cinema contributes to European exceptionalism, imposes European values as the norm, and acts as an instrument of cultural and psychological control. It seems that African cinema is ontologically, politically, and aesthetically Eurocentric. By introducing an intercultural philosophical approach to the realm of cinema, we aim to move away from Eurocentrism in African cinema towards a more intercultural and dialogical orientation as an input for the liberation of (...) humanity. Based on findings from a dramaturgical analysis of five films, we argue that African cinema shows a deficiency in communicating liberation and it often fails to portray African people’s values, will, and interests as it has been alienated from its nature and purpose. Overall, African cinema seems to be either in a state of assimilation or confusion. By exploring aesthetics of liberation in African cinema and art (as described in African and intercultural philosophy,) we search for alternative film aesthetics and a mode of filmmaking that seeks to liberate the image and the minds of the filmmakers and spectators of African cinema. Inspired by Kimmerle’s aesthetic-ethic alternative ‘Living (with) art’, we propose an alternative for critical filmmaking based on aesthetics of liberation with an intercultural orientation: Living cinema. Living cinema is a dialogical and liberational cinema with aesthetics of liberation at its core. Based on aesthetic-ethic principles of African philosophy and interculturality, the liberating function of living cinema can be found in reconnecting the aesthetics and filmmaking with African values. Simultaneously, it might be contributing to the liberation of world cinema as it has an impact on both the hegemonic and the suppressed cinema. (shrink)

A recent study suggests that value and quantum states seem to be governed by the same underlying mechanisms. In our recent book titled "Better economics for the Earth: A lesson from quantum and information theories," specifically Chapter 5, we have proposed an informational entropy-based notion of value, grounded in Granular Interaction Thinking Theory (GITT), which integrates granular worldview and primary features of quantum mechanics, Shannon’s information theory, and the mindsponge theory. Specifically, the notion suggests that values are created through (...) the interactions of information. But how do information and its interactions lead to values? This research note aims to contribute to the answer to this question. (shrink)

Could interacting mindreaders be in a position to know things which they would be unable to know if they were manifestly passive observers? This paper argues that they could. Mindreading is sometimes reciprocal: the mindreader’s target reciprocates by taking the mindreader as a target for mindreading. The paper explains how such reciprocity can significantly narrow the range of possible interpretations of behaviour where mindreaders are, or appear to be, in a position to interact. A consequence is that revisions and extensions (...) are needed to standard theories of the evidential basis of mindreading. The view also has consequences for understanding how abilities to interact combined with comparatively simple forms of mindreading may explain the emergence, in evolution or development, of sophisticated forms of social cognition. (shrink)

Since the 1960s, the focus of African Philosophy has predominantly been Afrocentric, and with an emphasis on racial issues, as a reaction to Eurocentrism. To hold an open intercultural dialogue on African Philosophy with African and other philosophers is, therefore, not-self-evident. This article will argue that intercultural dialogues or (in case of more than two participants) ‘polylogues’ can and should become a more central point of focus in the academic study of African Philosophy. The author will center on (...) how three renowned African(a) philosophers with a focus on the Akan people of Ghana have initiated intercultural dialogues for the enhancement of human wellbeing. These are Kwasi Wiredu, Kwame Gyekye and Kwame Anthony Appiah. What these philosophers have in common is their belief that all human beings are interdependent and that an emphatic, ethic orientation to one another and mutual communication helps to live together in social harmony, which enhances the wellbeing of mankind. Discussing these African philosophers’ insights into depth will pave the way for other scholars to explore the intercultural dialogue as a weak or non-centric and non-racial focused philosophical method and to enhance understanding of its relation to African(a) Philosophy and a Global Ethics of care. Keywords: Global Ethics, African(a) Philosophy, Akan, intercultural philosophical dialogue, human wellbeing. (shrink)

Current research in Intercultural Information Ethics is preoccupied, almost exclusively, by moral and political issues concerning the right and the just These issues are undeniably important, and with the continuing development and diffusion of ICTs, we can only be sure more moral and political problems of similar kinds are going to emerge in the future. Yet, as important as those problems are, I want to argue that researchers' preoccupation with the right and the just are undesirable. I shall argue (...) that IIE has thus far overlooked the issues pertaining to the good life . IIE, I claim, should also take into account these issues. Hence, I want to propose a new agenda for IIE, i.e. the good life, in the current paper. (shrink)

Mental causation, idea that it is us – via our minds – who cause bodily actions is as commonsensical as it is indispensable for our understanding of ourselves as rational agents. Somewhat less uncontroversial, but nonetheless widespread (at least among ordinary people) is the idea that the mind is non-physical, following the intuition that what is physical can neither act nor think nor judge morally. Taken together, and cast into a metaphysical thesis, the two intuitions yield interactive dualism: the view (...) that human persons and their minds are non-physical but can nonetheless interact with their bodies, most notably through their brains. This thesis has two main objectives: first, to defend interactive dualism against objections, and second, to show how it can blend in with a physical world in which laws of nature hold. The first part (chapter 1) consists in a brief motivation of interactive dualism as opposed to non-interactive dualism. I argue that non-interactive, epiphenomenalist dualism sacrifices so many crucial aspects of our human existence that interactive dualism is highly to be preferred to it, barring even stronger counterarguments against the latter. It is those putative counterarguments I address in parts II and III. Part II takes on the philosophical objections from the causal closure of the physical and from causal heterogeneity. The former takes the success of physics and physiology as basis for the doctrine of the causal closure of the physical (CCP). I argue against this that there is not only no convincing argument for CCP, but also that any science-based belief in CCP cannot be epistemically justified. As regards the causal heterogeneity objection, it is ‘weighed and found wanting’, because it relies on unwarranted assumptions about causation. In part III, I examine the objection from energy conservation. It roughly says that if interactive dualism were true, then energy would not be conserved, which physics taught us cannot be the case. My reply is that the underlying conception of energy (and momentum) conservation is wrong-headed and not the one that actual physicists use. Instead of being categorical and global, conservation laws are conditional and local, thereby making natural room for mental interaction. Some dualists, however, have sought to make interactive dualism conservation-friendly, notably by invoking quantum physics; I show that these attempts are unnecessary and create more problems than they solve. Finally, in chapter 9, I turn the tables on non-interactionists by investigating current neurophysiological literature on volitional actions, which, though not addressing the question directly, still encourages the interactive dualist picture more than a non-interactionist one. Part IV is about the interplay between interactive dualism and the laws of nature. The ultimate goal is, if possible, to come up with a theory of the laws of nature that explains the lawlike behavior of nature and at the same time makes room for interaction. I begin by pointing out that the laws of nature are or at least should be what physicalists worry about (chapter 10). I then proceed with a historical survey on the development of the notion of laws of nature (chapter 11) that sheds light on its theistic origin. This is followed by an inquiry into the question how a law of nature could possibly be broken (chapter 12) and a survey of the extant metaphysical theories of the laws of nature with special regard to their receptivity to interaction (chapter 13). Finally, in chapter 14 I develop a theory of the laws of nature both faithful to their divine origin and the possibility of mental interaction: dispositionalist divine decretalism, a synthesis of dispositionalism and Jeffrey Koperski’s divine decretalism. (shrink)

The following review explores Intercultural Information Ethics in terms of comparative philosophy, supporting IIE as the most relevant and significant development of the field of Information Ethics. The focus of the review is threefold. First, it will review the core presumption of the field of IIE, that being the demand for an intermission in the pursuit of a founding philosophy for IE in order to first address the philosophical biases of IE by western philosophy. Second, a history of the (...) various philosophical streams of IIE will be outlined, including its literature and pioneering contributors. Lastly, a new synthesis of comparative philosophies in IIE will be offered, looking towards a future evolution of the field. Examining the interchange between contemporary information ethicists regarding the discipline of IIE, the review first outlines the previously established presumptions of the field of IIE that posit the need for an IE as grounded in western sensibilities. The author then addresses the implications of the foregoing presumption from several non-western viewpoints, arguing that IIE does in fact find roots in non-western philosophies as established in the concluding synthesis of western and eastern philosophical traditions. (shrink)

Coastal environments are widely recognized as valuable public health resources and therapeutic landscapes. However, limited research has examined how specific coastal interactions that foster close connections with nature influence health outcomes. This study investigates the relationship between the frequency of engaging in high-nature-interaction coastal activities―e.g., beach walking, wildlife spotting, water sports, mountain biking, spending time on the beach, beach sports, watching the sunset, seagoing, and shell collecting― and health outcomes among visitors to the Belgian coast. Using a dataset of (...) 1,939 responses, we analyze how the frequencies of these activities over the past year are associated with self-reported mental and general health. Grounded in the Granular Interaction Thinking Theory (GITT) and employing Bayesian GITT Framework analytics, the study identifies distinct patterns in these associations. While frequent engagement in activities, e.g., beach walking and beach sports, is positively linked to both mental and general health, spending time on the beach and shell collecting are unexpectedly associated with negative health outcomes. Watching the sunset is negatively associated with general health, while mountain biking and water sports show negative associations with mental health. In contrast, wildlife spotting exhibits a positive association with mental well-being. These findings highlight the complex interplay of environmental factors, visitor perceptions, and biophysical-psychological interactions in shaping health outcomes. The study emphasizes the need for targeted coastal management strategies to enhance the therapeutic benefits of blue spaces and calls for further research to elucidate the mechanisms underlying these associations. (shrink)

Leibniz has almost universally been represented as denying that created substances, including human minds and the souls of animals, can causally interact either with one another or with bodies. Yet he frequently claims that such substances are capable of interacting in the special sense of what he calls 'ideal' interaction. In order to reconcile these claims with their favored interpretation, proponents of the traditional reading often suppose that ideal action is not in fact a genuine form of causation but (...) instead a merely apparent influence which serves to 'save the appearances.' I argue that this traditional reading distorts Leibniz's thought and that he actually considers ideal action a genuine (though non-standard) form of causation. (shrink)

This paper examines the phenomenon of ‘interactive kinds’ first identified by Ian Hacking. An interactive kind is one that is created or significantly modified once a concept of it has been formulated and acted upon in certain ways. Interactive kinds may also ‘loop back’ to influence our concepts and classifications. According to Hacking, interactive kinds are found exclusively in the human domain. After providing a general account of interactive kinds and outlining their philosophical significance, I argue that they are not (...) confined to the human realm, but that they can also occur elsewhere. Hence, I conclude by arguing that interactive kinds pose a challenge to scientific realism about kinds by making it difficult to make a distinction between real and non-real kinds. (shrink)

This double issue of the journal of hermeneutics and philosophical criticism “Trópos” stems from a workshop held in Padua on November 8th and 9th, 2021, entitled “The Universal and Philosophy,” organized by the Mushin'en Research Group in Intercultural Philosophy (無心円)3, of which the two publishers are founding members.

Interactions between an intelligent software agent and a human user are ubiquitous in everyday situations such as access to information, entertainment, and purchases. In such interactions, the ISA mediates the user’s access to the content, or controls some other aspect of the user experience, and is not designed to be neutral about outcomes of user choices. Like human users, ISAs are driven by goals, make autonomous decisions, and can learn from experience. Using ideas from bounded rationality, we frame these interactions (...) as instances of an ISA whose reward depends on actions performed by the user. Such agents benefit by steering the user’s behaviour towards outcomes that maximise the ISA’s utility, which may or may not be aligned with that of the user. Video games, news recommendation aggregation engines, and fitness trackers can all be instances of this general case. Our analysis facilitates distinguishing various subcases of interaction, as well as second-order effects that might include the possibility for adaptive interfaces to induce behavioural addiction, and/or change in user belief. We present these types of interaction within a conceptual framework, and review current examples of persuasive technologies and the issues that arise from their use. We argue that the nature of the feedback commonly used by learning agents to update their models and subsequent decisions could steer the behaviour of human users away from what benefits them, and in a direction that can undermine autonomy and cause further disparity between actions and goals as exemplified by addictive and compulsive behaviour. We discuss some of the ethical, social and legal implications of this technology and argue that it can sometimes exploit and reinforce weaknesses in human beings. (shrink)

We are increasingly exposed to polarized media sources, with clear evidence that individuals choose those sources closest to their existing views. We also have a tradition of open face-to-face group discussion in town meetings, for example. There are a range of current proposals to revive the role of group meetings in democratic decision-making. Here, we build a simulation that instantiates aspects of reinforcement theory in a model of competing social influences. What can we expect in the interaction of polarized (...) media with group interaction along the lines of town meetings? Some surprises are evident from a computational model that includes both. Deliberative group discussion can be expected to produce opinion convergence. That convergence may not, however, be a cure for extreme views polarized at opposite ends of the opinion spectrum. In a large class of cases, we show that adding the influence of group meetings in an environment of self-selected media produces not a moderate central consensus but opinion convergence at one of the extremes defined by polarized media. (shrink)

Statements about the behavior of biochemical entities (e.g., about the interaction between two proteins) abound in the literature on molecular biology and are increasingly becoming the targets of information extraction and text mining techniques. We show that an accurate analysis of the semantics of such statements reveals a number of ambiguities that have to be taken into account in the practice of biomedical ontology engineering: Such statements can not only be understood as event reporting statements, but also as ascriptions (...) of dispositions or tendencies that may or may not refer to collectives of interacting molecules or even to collectives of interaction events. (shrink)

Carine Defoort, Mario Wenning, and Kai Marchal offer three ways of engaging with Chinese and Buddhist Philosophy in Early Twentieth-Century German Thought and the philosophical, hermeneutical, and historical issues it attempted to articulate and address.1 This work is historical with a contemporary philosophical intent: to reexamine a tumultuous contested epoch of philosophy’s past in order to reconsider its existing limitations and alternative possibilities. One dimension of this book is the investigation of constellations and entanglements of historical forces and concepts for (...) the sake of articulating critical models and alternatives for the present.2 In the book, I contested the modern self-image of philosophy... (shrink)

The Council of Europe’s 2008 White Paper on Intercultural Dialogue: ‘living together as equals in dignity’ points to the need for shared values upon which intercultural dialogue might rest. In order, however, to overcome the monologic separateness that threatens community, we must educate ourselves to recognize the dialogism of our humanity and to engage in deep encounters with others with a mature skepticism of all dogmatisms, including our own. In order to aid us in reaching the necessary insight, (...) the author calls upon Bakhtin’s ideas of the dialogism of every utterance and of the unity and heteroglossia of language, Gadamer’s hermeneutical experience that shakes us loose from what we think we know, and Levinas’s description of that transcendent ideal of a dialogue beyond reciprocity. These perspectives break open our certainty that tribalism and individualism are fundamental, placing them instead as secondary phenomena that, though powerful, pronounce neither the initial nor the final word on our life together. (shrink)

Interactive social cognition theory and approaches of developmental psychology widely agree that central aspects of emotional and social experience arise in the unfolding of processes of embodied social interaction. Bi-directional dynamical couplings of bodily displays such as facial expressions, gestures, and vocalizations have repeatedly been described in terms of coordination, synchrony, mimesis, or attunement. In this paper, I propose conceptualizing such dynamics rather as processes of affective resonance. Starting from the immediate phenomenal experience of being immersed in interaction, (...) I develop the philosophical notion of affective resonance to refer to a dynamic entanglement of moving and being-moved in relation. The concept of affective resonance makes visible that the interaction dynamic itself creates an affective experience rather than transmitting internal feeling states between pre-existent individuals. This leads to a philosophical framework in which relationality and ontogeny are primary over separate individuals, and in which the naturalistic distinction of a fundamental physical level versus an emerging level of social processes has to be given up. (shrink)

O artigo investigou o método para uma filosofia intercultural a partir da Ibero-América, de Raul Fornet-Betancourt. Partiu-se especificamente do texto do autor para posteriormente fornecer considerações críticas aos seus posicionamentos. Nesse sentido, analisou-se a originalidade do tema, a filosofia da libertação como modelo de diálogo intercultural, seus pressupostos hermenêuticos e epistemológicos e, por fim, o pensamento ibero-americano como base para uma filosofia intercultural. No final do trabalho apresentou-se seis críticas ao texto estudado – o problema da arrogância (...) e dissimulação filosófica, a adoção tácita de um platonismo e a não originalidade filosófica, o problema da falácia naturalista e do falsificacionismo e, finalmente, a não razoabilidade política das propostas. (shrink)

The concept of interactional expertise – characterized by sociologists Harry Collins and Robert Evans as the ability to speak the language of a discipline without the corresponding ability to practice – can serve as a powerful way of breaking down expert/non-expert dichotomies and providing a role for new voices in specialist communities. However, in spite of the vast uptake of this concept and its potential to fruitfully address many important issues related to scientific expertise, there has been surprisingly little critical (...) analysis of it. We seek to remedy this situation by considering potential benefits of interactional expertise and the ways in which the current conception can – and cannot – realize those benefits. In particular, we argue that interactional expertise hasn’t reached its full potential for addressing who ought to be involved in scientific research and decision-making, largely owing to an unnecessarily restrictive way of operationalizing the concept. In its place, we offer a broader, more pluralistic account of interactional expertise – one that is in line with the original spirit of the concept, but also captures the diversity that we see as being an important aspect of interactional experts and the value they can bring to the table. (shrink)

According to the neo-Kantian and cultural anthropologist Ernst Cassirer, man always interacts with nature. This assumption forms the basis for his philosophical approach to the Philosophy of Symbolic Forms of 1929. It is based on the thesis that we do not conceive nature as objects (‘Ding-Wahrnehmung’), but immediately feel and suffer nature through the so-called ‘perception of expression’ (‘Ausdrucks-Wahrnehmung’). Thus, our understanding of the world is based on interaction with nature, because feeling and suffering depend on something we feel (...) and suffer about. In conclusion, Cassirer developed already a theory of Enaktivismus, embodiment, and respectively to modern film theories of immersion. The thesis of the following paper is based on these findings of Cassirer and states that that there is no dichotomy between nature and man. (shrink)

Since the 1960s, the focus of African Philosophy has predominantly been Afrocentric, and with an emphasis on racial issues, as a reaction to Eurocentrism. To hold an open intercultural dialogue on African Philosophy with African and other philosophers is, therefore, not-self-evident. This article will argue that intercultural dialogues or (in case of more than two participants) ‘polylogues’ can and should become a more central point of focus in the academic study of African Philosophy. The author will center on (...) how three renowned African(a) philosophers with a focus on the Akan people of Ghana have initiated intercultural dialogues for the enhancement of human wellbeing. These are Kwasi Wiredu, Kwame Gyekye and Kwame Anthony Appiah. What these philosophers have in common is their belief that all human beings are interdependent and that an emphatic, ethic orientation to one another and mutual communication helps to live together in social harmony, which enhances the wellbeing of mankind. Discussing these African philosophers’ insights into depth will pave the way for other scholars to explore the intercultural dialogue as a weak or non-centric and non-racial focused philosophical method and to enhance understanding of its relation to African(a) Philosophy and a Global Ethics of care. Keywords: Global Ethics, African(a) Philosophy, Akan, intercultural philosophical dialogue, human wellbeing. (shrink)

This article will address the considerations that must be examined in the design of public policies and government programs to achieve an intercultural approach to the health of the Pu Mapuce Zomo (Mapuce women). In this sense, the proposed objective is to formulate three essential aspects that serve as a basis to promote adequate frameworks for public health policies oriented towards an intercultural approach. For this, methodologically, from a qualitative approach, the ethical, gender(s) and epistemic aspects that must (...) be considered in the configuration of health programs that favor the health care of indigenous women will be investigated. With this purpose, it begins by delimiting the unavoidable ethical-normative and gender approach to highlight the basic needs of Mapuce women. This approach seeks to establish a parameter about the obligations that States have in relation to the development of human capabilities. Finally, three aspects will be presented that the State must replicate in its health proposals to guarantee the construction of an intercultural approach to health, appropriate to the basic needs of Mapuce women in Argentina. (shrink)

This article aims to elucidate the level of interaction among the different players in the abaca business enterprise in Region VIII, Philippines. The study used a survey method that gathered primary data from farmers, Local Government Units (LGUs), traders, innovators from universities, processors, and nongovernment organizations. Appropriate sampling methods were employed in determining the sample sizes of different players, and the research instrument used to determine the interaction process is a developed questionnaire that involved a Likert scale. The (...) data were analyzed using statistical measures such as count and average mean and presented in tabular form and network analysis. The results showed that abaca farmers have minimal to no interaction with the other key players except with the local traders. With that, the main problem for abaca farmers is the lack of innovative information to improve their production. Local traders interact with farmers moderately but have weak interaction with the Philippine Fiber Industry Development Authority (PhilFIDA) in terms of provision for research, education, and support services, among others. LGUs moderately interact with farmers but have no interaction at all with other Abaca key players. Moreover, PhilFIDA staff only have a moderate interaction with abaca farmers, and local traders rarely interact with PhilFIDA staff. Likewise, PhilFIDA’s interaction with State Universities and Colleges (SUCs) is weak and SUCs have moderate interaction with farmers and the LGUs. Conclusively, the interactions among the players of the abaca industry are generally weak which can be strengthened through institutionalizing a system where stakeholders can work together for the common good and obtain a sustainable supply chain. (shrink)

This paper examines the ways in which social scientific discourse and classification interact with the objects of social scientific investigation. I examine this interaction in the context of the traditional philosophical project of demarcating the social sciences from the natural sciences. I begin by reviewing Ian Hacking’s work on interactive classification and argue that there are additional forms of interaction that must be treated.

In recent years, a number of philosophers and cognitive scientists have advocated for an ‘interactive turn’ in the methodology of social-cognition research: to become more ecologically valid, we must design experiments that are interactive, rather than merely observational. While the practical aim of improving ecological validity in the study of social cognition is laudable, we think that the notion of ‘interaction’ is not suitable for this task: as it is currently deployed in the social cognition literature, this notion leads (...) to serious conceptual and methodological confusion. In this paper, we tackle this confusion on three fronts: 1) we revise the ‘interactionist’ definition of interaction; 2) we demonstrate a number of potential methodological confounds that arise in interactive experimental designs; and 3) we show that ersatz interactivity works just as well as the real thing. We conclude that the notion of ‘interaction’, as it is currently being deployed in this literature, obscures an accurate understanding of human social cognition. (shrink)

MLNova is a structured platform designed to bridge the gap between theoretical knowledge and practical application in machine learning. Focused on enhancing student learning, the platform offers a path for beginners to explore key concepts in data preprocessing and model evaluation. Through interactive modules, MLNova delivers prerecorded lessons and real-world projects, allowing learners to experience hands-on engagement. This paper outlines the platform’s design, methodology, and the impact of interactive learning on improving comprehension of machine learning principles. Early feedback indicates a (...) significant improvement in user engagement and learning outcomes. (shrink)