Right-hemisphere speech representation and comprehension of syntax after left cerebral injury

Comprehension of language and visuo-spatial abilities were studied in 12 surgical patients with left cerebral lesions and right-hemisphere speech representation verified by sodium amobarbital tests. When left-hemisphere symptoms preceded the acquisition of speech, impaired understanding of syntactically complex sentences was associated with an early, but not late, onset of convulsive seizures. Other behavioral measures did not show a similar effect of age at seizure onset. Sparing or loss of comprehension could not be related to any aspects of the neurological histories in cases with right-hemisphere speech acquired before the onset of left-hemisphere symptoms. Factors which may have influenced the development of right-hemisphere language comprehension are discussed.     

The Lure of Pan(en)theism

Abstract

This response to Karmen MacKendrick’s work follows the thematic trail of desire through Divine Enticement (2012), seeking to clarify the relationship in MacKendrick’s work between God and creation. While MacKendrick expresses an initial desire for an “immanent divine,” especially in relation to the work of St. Augustine, she later feels more drawn to “a world that in its beauty calls out the name of its creator” than to a world “in which the creator is simply present.” This brief engagement explores MacKendrick’s logic of seduction in relation to the panentheist and pantheist theologies of Cusa and Bruno, ultimately suggesting that “immanence” only collapses the distance of desire if creation is understood to be finite and self-identical.     

Observation and discrimination learning in the rat: Effects of stimulus substitution

Effects of prior observation of modeling performances upon learning simultaneous visual discriminations were studied in nine groups of rats. Stimulus patterns which had been positive (“Cued”) or negative (“Uncued”) for the model animal and novel stimuli were presented. Observers learned faster if discriminations required approach to, rather than avoidance of, the previously positive stimulus. Approach to the negative stimulus was acquired more rapidly only if the second stimulus was novel. Approaches to a substituted new stimulus combined with either of the previously viewed stimulus patterns required nearly twice the training needed for a similar response attachment when both stimuli were novel. Attentional changes appear to underlie the stimulus control exerted over the observer rat in instrumental learning situations.     

SIGNALING STATIC: ARTISTIC,RELIGIOUS, AND SCIENTIFIC TRUTHS IN A RELATIONAL ONTOLOGY

Abstract. In this essay I point toward the difficulties inherent in ontological objectivity and seek to restore our truth claims to validity through a relational ontology and the dynamic of coimplication in signals and noise. Theological examination of art and science points toward similarities between art, religion, and science. All three have often focused upon a “metaphysics of presence,” the desire for absolute presence of the object (the signified, the divine, the natural object). If we accept a relational ontology, however, we must accept that the revelation of presence is always simultaneously a concealment. This helps explain technoscientific achievement without recourse to a philosophically flawed objectivity. Twentieth‐century information theory shows the impossibility of a “pure signal.” By accepting that signal and noise are permanently interconnected, we begin to see how noise makes signal possible and even how noise becomes signal (allowing the discovery of novel facts). Information theory thus underscores important similarities and leads toward new approaches in aesthetics, Christian theology, and scientific research. By comparing art, religion, and science, I argue that rejecting a metaphysics of presence without rejecting presence itself allows human beings to know the world. Although religion, science, and art often seek the absolute presence of their objects, they function better without.     

Giordano Bruno and the Historical Task of Higher Education

The mission and goal of the Giordano Bruno GlobalShift University is to provide education to young people that is affordable and meaningful and enables young people to be self-reliant and responsible members of society. To develop new thinking and a new consciousness is the challenge awaiting the young generation. Meeting it calls for questioning established values and dogmas, much as Giordano Bruno did in regard to the Aristotelian view of the cosmos embraced at the time by the Catholic Church. Bruno's “heresy” laid the foundations for the modern scientific worldview, and it continues to inspire the view that will rise above it. It inspires the Giordano Bruno GlobalShift University to question the dominant materialist and reductionist paradigm in science and society, offering in its place a holistic, dynamic, and evolutionary view, and foundation for a more peaceful, equitable, and sustainable world.     

The Atomistic Revival

In our recent book (Abraham and Roy 2010 Abraham, Ralph H. and Sisir, Roy. 2010. Demystifying the Akasha: Consciousness and the quantum vacuum, Rhinebeck, NY: Epigraph.  [Google Scholar]) we have repurposed a mathematical model for the quantum vacuum as a model of consciousness. In this model, discrete space and time are derived from a discrete cellular dynamical network. As our model is essentially atomistic, we included in our book a short support chapter on atomism. In this aticle we expand on the few pages of that chapter devoted to the history of atomism, to place the current revival of atomism in a larger context.     

TESTING LATOUR'S APP: A USER'S GUIDE

I reconstruct Bruno Latour's ideas about science and religion and compare them to Ian G. Barbour's and Mikael Stenmark's models, as well as to the discussion of technology and religion developed by John C. Caiazza and Antje Jackelén. I show how using “Latour's App” enlightens some aspects of said models which Barbour and Stenmark themselves were seemingly struggling with, and that Caiazza's and Jackelén's views can be reconciled despite their apparent opposition. The result of such tests is an overall assessment of Latour's proposal. I argue that, under the disguise of a flamboyant and original language, Latour's method is not that distant from those of the other authors analyzed here, and that his discussion might conceal some unwelcome philosophical shortcomings.     

Rehabilitating materiality: bodies,gods, and religion

In More Than Belief, Manuel A. Vásquez offers a theory of religion that attends to its multiple materialities by locating what religion scholars study in networks of bodies engaging in practices in particular places. With Vásquez' approach as a jumping-off point, this essay draws upon actor-network theory, as developed by John Law and Bruno Latour and applied by Albert Piette and Matthew Day, not only to attend to the materiality of human bodies but also to construe non-human entities, such as the gods and the category of ‘religion’ itself, as effective actors in the world.     

Plotinus’ concept of matter in Giordano Bruno’s De la causa,principio et uno*

The aim of this paper is to focus on the reception of Plotinus’ concept of matter in the Renaissance philosopher Giordano Bruno and his early Italian dialogue De la causa, principio et uno (1584). I argue that Bruno’s concept of materia in De la causa, principio et uno reflects Plotinus’ theory of intelligible matter in Ennead ii 4 [12] 2–5 as well as Plotinus’ positive view of the perceptible world in Enneads ii 9 [33] and iv 8 [6]. It is suggested that Bruno interprets Plotinus as an ancient philosopher who supported the unity and homogeneity of matter. Giordano Bruno’s reception of Plotinus in De la Causa, principio et uno could enlighten contemporary discussions in Neoplatonic studies concerning the question of matter in the Enneads.     

The Giordano Bruno Practice

The educational practice of Giordano Bruno University is to use cyber-technology and active-learning teaching methods to deliver low cost, on-demand higher education. The result will be the empowerment of women and men who historically have not had access to this means of enhancing capability and self esteem.