Cassirer’s enlightenment: on philosophy and the ‘Denkform’ of reason

ABSTRACT

This paper examines the way in which Cassirer implicitly commented on current issues in his historical studies, proposing a case study on his monograph The Philosophy of the Enlightenment, published in November 1932. It begins with a general overview of a few famous and a few neglected instances of Cassirer’s position-takings through historical studies, before discussing briefly the context in which this monograph was written and examining how the Enlightenment is presented in the monograph from 1932. The paper claims that at the centre of Cassirer’s engagement with the Enlightenment was his concern with the autonomy of reason. The way in which Cassirer elaborated on this further shows that his defense of the Enlightenment was not just directed against the threats of totalitarian politics, but also had the aim of clarifying the nature of philosophy and its place in culture. This, however, the paper concludes, does not refute the notion that Cassirer was concerned with current politics when writing The Philosophy of the Enlightenment. The point is rather that he comprehended philosophy as political just in virtue of its exercising the autonomy that characterizes reason.     

齐都临淄空间形态演变的功能性导向

战国时期临淄小城的修筑,是临淄城市空间发展的重要节点,使其空间形态出现了功能性导向的演变:在布局形式上,由宫城、郭城内外相套演变为小城、大城相互衔联。在功能配置上,以宫廷、官府为中心的政治性功能设施,部署于小城,形成以宫为核心的政治功能区;而市、手工业作坊等经济性功能设施,分布在大城,形成以市为核心的经济功能区。在地形利用上,将宫城布置在西南部地势高亢处,以利于防守和排水。这种演变趋向,表明我国古代都城空间形态,越来越贴近政治、军事、经济功能的实际需要,逐渐从形式上的规范走向功能上的实用。     

Is knowledge of family history related to psychosocial functioning? Comparison of adolescents living in institutional care and adolescents living with their biological families

We tested adolescents growing up in institutional care and adolescents living with their birth families using the ‘Do you know?’ scale and other measures of psychosocial functioning. We found that children living in group homes knew significantly less of their family history, exhibited more behavioural problems and had a more external locus of control. Moreover, the correlations between self-esteem and knowledge of family history were significantly different between the groups. This may suggest that the contribution of the knowledge of family history to self-esteem is different depending on the quality of family history. We also found a significant correlation between locus of control and behavioural problems for the children in institutional care, but not children living with their birth families, which may indicate that their behavioural problems may partially stem from the sense of lack of control over their lives.     

Form-Specific Visual Priming in the Left and Right Hemispheres

Word fragment completion performance was examined for items that were presented in the same or different letter case at study and test. During the study phase words and nonwords were presented at central fixation, then during the test phase a divided visual field technique was used in which word fragments were presented briefly to the right hemisphere (left visual field) or the left hemisphere (right visual field). Previous research using the word stem completion task indicated that only the right hemisphere was sensitive to case changes in words from study to test. In contrast, the current results indicate that in the fragment completion task the priming effects for the test items presented to either hemisphere were greater when the fragments were in the same compared to different letter case at study and test. These results indicate that both hemispheres are capable of supporting form-specific visual implicit memory.     

Cities and the real world

It is generally recognized that modern cities pose many problems for their inhabitants and contribute to environmental damage. However, neither planners nor scientists give adequate consideration to cities’ place in the evolutionary process and the planet's ecological system. By recognizing these connections and natural laws, planning would become more realistic, and meaningful progress could be made in solving serious social and environmental problems. Some basic problems influencing urban form are discussed, and a schematic example of how we might approach the planning of urban settlements is presented.     

Effects of angularity of the figures with sharp and round corners on visual evoked potentials

Following a study in which equilateral triangles elicited larger visual evoked potentials (VEPs) than either squares or circles, we examined the effect of single-line angular figures with a sharp or a round corner at angles of 45°, 90°, 135° or 180°. VEPs were recorded monopolarly at four locations on the midline of scalp for 10 subjects, while the figure was tachiscopically presented to the lower visual field. Subtracted waves were obtained between figure and control (blank) conditions. N1 (peak latency 135–142 ms) and P2 (235–237 ms) waves were identifiable. N1 amplitude tended to decrease as a function of angularity, irrespective of orientation (angle pointing up or down). The effect of the sharpness/roundness of the corner was much smaller than that of its angularity. These findings suggest that the greater VEP response with triangles than with squares and circles may be attributable to the acute angularity of triangles. Related cortical processes and VEP components are also discussed.     

Ghost stories

This essay reflects on the exclusions and invisibilities that haunt academic subjectivities, spaces, and research practices. The exclusion criteria that delimit both scholars and scholarship are not natural or fair; they are the expressions of classed, raced, gendered, and ableist ideals, that privilege separation, order, and certainty. That which is marked as other – the remainder, which must not or cannot be admitted – is not fully excluded, but lurks at or below the waterline of legibility, disrupting academic bodies and departments with its persistent, often affective traces. Rather than trying to explain something that is primarily characterized by its inexplicability, the author brings readers into her department, to try to show them the ghosts that she has (not quite) seen, in order to appeal for more humane, inclusive, ghost-friendly ways of being and working in the academy.     

论价值规范

价值规范既是社会生活意义与秩序的表现形式，又是社会资源控制和利益分配的约束条件。当它从古代习俗走向现代国家意识形态时，它自身不仅成为了公共利益的抽象符号，而且还成为了个体自我认识的知识形式。作为一种社会化的公共实践话语，它日益同国家权力和技术系统相结合，并渗透在系统整合的诸多方面，由此便引出值得思考的问题。     

Jump performance and augmented feedback: Immediate benefits and long-term training effects

Drop jumps and their adaptations to training have been extensively investigated. However, the influence of augmented feedback (aF) on stretch-shortening cycle (SSC) was not scrutinized so far despite the well-known positive effects of aF on motor performance and motor learning. The aim of the present study was therefore to investigate the effects of aF by evaluating immediate within-session effects and long-term adaptations. 34 participants were assigned to three groups that trained drop jumps with different relative frequencies of aF about their jump height: 100%, 50%, or 0%. A significant within-session effect of aF on jump height was observed before and also after the training period (pre: +4.6%; post: +2.6%). In the long-term (comparing pre- to post-measurement), the 100% group showed the greatest increase in jump height (+14%), followed by the 50% (+10%) and the 0% group (+6%). The importance of aF on drop jumps is therefore twofold: (i) to immediately increase jump performance and (ii) to improve long-term training efficacy. In contrast to the proposition of the guidance hypothesis, high frequency of aF seems to be beneficial when maximizing SSC-performance. As jump height cannot be quantified without objective technical measures it is recommended to include them into daily training.