A very obscure definition: Descartes’s account of love in the Passions of the Soul and its scholastic background

The definition of love given by Descartes in the Passions of the Soul (art. 79–84) has never stopped puzzling commentators. If the first Cartesian textbooks discreetly evoke or even fail to discuss Descartes’s account of love, Spinoza harshly criticizes it, pointing out that it is ‘on all hands admitted to be very obscure’. More recently several scholars have noticed the puzzling (or even paradoxical) character of the articles of the Passions of the Soul on love and hate. In this paper, I would like to propose a reassessment of the definition of love provided by the Passions of the Soul and the Letters to Elisabeth and Chanut. By tracing back Descartes’s scholastic sources (namely Aquinas’s treatises on the passions and charity in the Summa Theologiae), I will demonstrate how Descartes builds up his definition of love by displacing or subverting the meaning of several major elements of the thomistic vulgata on love. Hence, a significant part of the obscurity of the definition given by the Passions of the Soul possibly finds its ultimate rationale in this attempt to recover some traditional questions of the scholastic debate on love, while advancing new answers to them.     

Traditional and Modern Characteristics Across the Generations: Similarities and Discrepancies

Abstract

The authors examined, through an analysis of self-construals and beliefs about social interaction, the traditional and modern orientations of younger and older generations of Taiwanese people. The authors surveyed 169 pairs of parent-child dyads with a battery of structured questionnaires. Within-subjects analyses revealed high generational correlations as well as discrepancies in both traditional and modern characteristics. Between-subjects analyses further indicated that individual traditional and modern characteristics were affected by age and gender and by their interactions. The authors discuss (a) the pattern of generational similarities and discrepancies in the framework of culture stability and change and (b) the coexistence of traditional and modern characteristics in a rapidly changing society.     

A History of Western Astrology,volume II: The Medieval and Modern Worlds,by Nicholas Campion

Abstract

The text of the ‘Summary’ of 1523, which forms the basis of this article, has been exhaustively studied in biographies of Bucer, and its theological content has been analysed considerably. I would like to approach it with a question which can appear a little strange. In the years 1522-23, if a Christian layman or woman embraced or shaped themselves to the reforming message of the preacher Martin Bucer, what would that have meant for them in concrete terms in their everyday life? Such a questioning obviously carries with it the risk of too great a subjectivity. I admit this and I accept it. For, on occasions, the reformer himself uses the expression of the Christian life (pp. 100, 13), of life totally centred in Christ, ‘volkommen christlich Leben’ (pp. 116, 21). Here is the result of researches yet to be completed. This research also needs to be measured against texts from Bucer which stem from his mature years.¹     

Synthesis and characterization of nanocrystalline MoBi2Te5 thin films for photoelectrode applications

Molybdenum bismuth telluride thin films have been prepared on clean glass substrate using arrested precipitation technique which is based on self-organized growth process. As deposited MoBi₂Te₅ thin films were dried in constant temperature oven at 110°C and further characterized for their optical, structural, morphological, compositional, and electrical analysis. Optical absorption spectra recorded in the wavelength range 300–800?nm showed band gap (E _g) 1.44?eV. X-ray diffraction pattern and scanning electron microscopic images showed that MoBi₂Te₅ thin films are granular, nanocrystalline having rhombohedral structure. The compositional analysis showed close agreements in theoretical and experimental atomic percentages of Mo⁴⁺, Bi³⁺, and Te^2? suggest that chemical formula MoBi₂Te₅ assigned to as deposited molybdenum bismuth telluride new material is confirmed. The electrical conductivity and thermoelectric power measurement showed that the films are semiconducting with n-type conduction. The fill factor and conversion efficiency was characterized by photoelectrochemical (PEC) technique. In this article, we report the optostructural, morphological, compositional, and electrical characteristics of nanocrystalline MoBi₂Te₅ thin films to check its suitability as photoelectrode in PEC cell.     

现代针灸学研究应当警惕被文化绑架

针灸学的文化属性由其漫长的历史积淀特质所决定,针灸学的科学属性由其在现实中治疗疾病的有效性及其机制的探索过程所决定.针灸学的文化属性与科学属性犹如硬币的正反两面永远无法分离,但无法实现同一个角度的双面认识.不能以其文化属性而排斥科学属性,不能利用文化角度的认识方法和认识结果取代科学角度的探索方法和探索结果,反之亦然.文化的针灸可以努力固守,以保个性的纯洁与永恒;但科学的针灸需要不断发展,以超越个性文化而走向科学大同.现代针灸学研究应当警惕被文化绑架.     

《针灸治疗学》教材的改革应当紧跟临床需要——建立现代针灸学临床诊疗体系的思考

以“辨证治疗”为主体的针灸教材,与针灸临床实践需要相脱节。主要的针灸专业杂志的文献多数采用“辨病治疗”模式。脱离临床的针灸学课本知识制造了“学非所用,用非所学”的尴尬状态。虽然新版针灸教材仍然以“辨证诊疗”为主体,但和旧版教材比较仍然展现了针灸临床“辨病治疗”模式的发展趋势。为了适应针灸临床的实践需要,《针灸治疗学》教材应当进行更为务实的改革。建立现代针灸学临床诊疗体系既是适应环境变化的客观需要,也是针灸学术发展的内在要求。基于数据和事实,从学术发展的历史角度,论述了针灸临床的辨证施治模式向辨病治疗模式转化的客观趋势。     

大学生学校心理环境问卷的编制

目的:探索大学生学校心理环境的结构并进行问卷编制。方法:通过文献分析、现状分析和专家讨论形成问卷初始结构。在两次试测后,以262名大学生为正式样本进行因素分析、信效度分析和多元概化理论分析。结果:大学生学校心理环境结构包括:师生关系、同学关系、集体活动、专业发展、资源和制度与秩序六个因素。问卷的验证性因素分析结果表明,六因素模型和二阶因子模型拟合度均良好。结论:大学生学校心理环境问卷具有良好的信效度指标,可以作为大学生学校心理环境的测量工具。     

针刺作用四大规律的统一与现代针灸学理论的发展

探求事物的内在联系或内在统一性是科学活动的重要目标。针刺作用的四大规律：针刺作用的双向调节规律、针刺手法作用的基本规律、针刺时间作用的基本规律、针刺作用的时效规律,其所涉及的影响因素各不相同,但这四大作用规律在“机能状态”这个基本环节获得了统一。