How Traditions Live and Die

Olivier MorinLanguage Arts & Disciplines
How Traditions Live and Die

Author: Olivier Morin

Publisher: Oxford University Press

ISBN: 9780190210502

Category: Language Arts & Disciplines

Page: 319

View: 550

GET EBOOK
Of all the things we do and say, most will never be repeated or reproduced. Once in a while, however, an idea or a practice generates a chain of transmission that covers more distance through space and time than any individual person ever could. What makes such transmission chains possible? For two centuries, the dominant view (from psychology to anthropology) was that humans owe their cultural prosperity to their powers of imitation. In this view, modern cultures exist because the people who carry them are gifted at remembering, storing and reproducing information. How Traditions Live and Die proposes an alternative to this standard view. What makes traditions live is not a general-purpose imitation capacity. Cultural transmission is partial, selective, often unfaithful. Some traditions live on in spite of this, because they tap into widespread and basic cognitive preferences. These attractive traditions spread, not by being better retained or more accurately transferred, but because they are transmitted over and over. This theory is used to shed light on various puzzles of cultural change (from the distribution of bird songs to the staying power of children's rhymes) and to explain the special relation that links the human species to its cultures. Morin combines recent work in cognitive anthropology with new advances in quantitative cultural history, to map and predict the diffusion of traditions. This book is both an introduction and an accessible alternative to contemporary theories of cultural evolution.

Jane Eyre in German Lands

Lynne TatlockLiterary Criticism
Jane Eyre in German Lands

Author: Lynne Tatlock

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA

ISBN: 9781501382369

Category: Literary Criticism

Page: 288

View: 257

GET EBOOK
Lynne Tatlock examines the transmission, diffusion, and literary survival of Jane Eyre in the German-speaking territories and the significance and effects thereof, 1848-1918. Engaging with scholarship on the romance novel, she presents an historical case study of the generative power and protean nature of Brontë's new romance narrative in German translation, adaptation, and imitation as it involved multiple agents, from writers and playwrights to readers, publishers, illustrators, reviewers, editors, adaptors, and translators. Jane Eyre in German Lands traces the ramifications in the paths of transfer that testify to widespread creative investment in romance as new ideas of women's freedom and equality topped the horizon and sought a home, especially in the middle classes. As Tatlock outlines, the multiple German instantiations of Brontë's novel-four translations, three abridgments, three adaptations for general readers, nine adaptations for younger readers, plays, farces, and particularly the fiction of the popular German writer E. Marlitt and its many adaptations-evince a struggle over its meaning and promise. Yet precisely this multiplicity (repetition, redundancy, and proliferation) combined with the romance narrative's intrinsic appeal in the decades between the March Revolutions and women's franchise enabled the cultural diffusion, impact, and long-term survival of Jane Eyre as German reading. Though its focus on the circulation of texts across linguistic boundaries and intertwined literary markets and reading cultures, Jane Eyre in German Lands unsettles the national paradigm of literary history and makes a case for a fuller and inclusive account of the German literary field.

Discourses on Aging and Dying

Suhita Chopra ChatterjeeSocial Science
Discourses on Aging and Dying

Author: Suhita Chopra Chatterjee

Publisher: SAGE Publications Pvt. Limited

ISBN: UOM:39015081854716

Category: Social Science

Page: 284

View: 840

GET EBOOK
The first section is both philosophical and prescriptive. It explores our rich religious and philosophical tradition to probe the very concepts of life and death and then suggests strategies - age old and time-tested - for coping with the inevitability of aging and dying. Hindu, Buddhist and Islamic perspectives on aging, dying, euthanasia, and related concepts are explored and coping strategies suggested. The second section deals with socio-ethical issues related to aging and dying in the Indian context, in light of the existing state of affairs and possible directions for the future. The third and final section looks at the most pressing problems that confront both Indian society and medicine – end-of-life care.

The Zen of Living and Dying

Philip KapleauPhilosophy
The Zen of Living and Dying

Author: Philip Kapleau

Publisher: Shambhala Publications

ISBN: UVA:X004141884

Category: Philosophy

Page: 316

View: 949

GET EBOOK
Combining the writings of Eastern and Western religious literature on death, the author provides insights into meditation, living wills, funerals, and consoling the bereaved

To Live and Die with Dignity

Samuel L. PelusoLaw
To Live and Die with Dignity

Author: Samuel L. Peluso

Publisher: Vista Pub

ISBN: STANFORD:36105044596562

Category: Law

Page: 176

View: 673

GET EBOOK
The book takes the reader through the worlds of medical technology, life, death & the law. This is by no means another how-to-book that leaves the reader feeling empty & confused. Although the subject is demanding, the book is written in an upbeat & positive fashion. Living Wills are not about pulling the plug. They are about planning & control. They are about accepting the good which medical technology has to offer & rejecting the unwanted. Medical care & dying are eventualities which need to be discussed. Modern technology can extend life often beyond that which the patient may wish to tolerate. The first portion of the book helps the reader understand the broadening gap between medical technology & the ability to cure disease. Next, the book educates the reader about the medical & legal communities, providing definitions of certain life-sustaining treatment & legal terms. This is followed by a historic perspective of the legal principles & important cases dealing with the individual's right to choose or reject certain medical treatments. The final portion of the book focuses on certain high risk groups whose members may be more likely than others to require life-sustaining treatment.

Legal Traditions of the World

H. Patrick GlennComparative law
Legal Traditions of the World

Author: H. Patrick Glenn

Publisher: Oxford : Oxford University Press

ISBN: STANFORD:36105060199267

Category: Comparative law

Page: 408

View: 587

GET EBOOK
Written in a clear and accessible style, this prize-winning work seeks to recast the discipline of comparative law and offers a major new means of conceptualizing law and legal relations across the world. Instead of a narrow focus on national legal systems, Glenn places national laws in the broader context of legal traditions. He examines seven of the world's most important and complex legal traditions in detail: chthonic (or indigenous) law; talmudic law; civil law; islamic law; common law; hindulaw; and Asian law. Each tradition is examined in terms of its institutions and substantive law, its foundational concepts and methods, its attitude towards the concept of change, and its teaching on relations with other traditions and peoples. Mutual influences throughout history are noted and,whilst the major and important differences are admitted, the various traditions are nevertheless shown to be fundamentally commensurable. Legal Traditions of the World concludes with a synthesis of the contribution of legal traditions to the understanding of tradition generally. The normativity and multiplicity of the world's legal traditions are examined, as is their ability, as complex traditions, to reconcile major differences ofopinion or belief in a peaceable manner. Complex traditions are ultimately shown to represent multivalent forms of logic and can thus be regarded as the best means of facilitating sustainable human diversity in an increasingly interdependent world.

Handing on the Faith

Robert P. ImbelliRELIGION
Handing on the Faith

Author: Robert P. Imbelli

Publisher: Herder & Herder

ISBN: IND:30000109963391

Category: RELIGION

Page: 268

View: 537

GET EBOOK
Volume 1: THE CHURCH IN THE 21st CENTURY SERIESA new venture of Herder & Herder in cooperation with 'The Church in the 21st Century Center'at Boston College (www.bc.edu/church21/).

Bioethics Beyond the Headlines

Albert R. JonsenPhilosophy
Bioethics Beyond the Headlines

Author: Albert R. Jonsen

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Pub Incorporated

ISBN: STANFORD:36105114516540

Category: Philosophy

Page: 274

View: 987

GET EBOOK
Bioethics asks fundamental questions. 'Who lives? Who dies? Who decides?' These questions are relevant to us all. Too often, the general public's sole encounter with these weighty questions is through sound bites fed to us by the media-where complex, difficult matters are typically presented in superficial and inaccurate terms. Here, renowned bioethicist Albert R. Jonsen equips readers with the tools and background to navigate the fascinating and complex landscape of bioethics. Bioethics Beyond the Headlines is a primer. You will not find convoluted philosophical arguments in this volume. Rather, you will find an engaging sampling of the key questions in bioethics, including euthanasia, assisted reproduction, cloning and stem cells, neuroscience, access to healthcare, and even research on animals and questions of environmental ethics-areas typically overlooked in general introductions to bioethics. But a 'primer' is not merely a first book-it should also 'prime' the interest of the reader, to prepare the mind for a more expansive venture into these issues. Bioethics Beyond the Headlines intends to do just that.

Macmillan Encyclopedia of Death and Dying

Robert KastenbaumSocial Science
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Death and Dying

Author: Robert Kastenbaum

Publisher: MacMillan Reference Library

ISBN: UOM:39015058205165

Category: Social Science

Page: 552

View: 157

GET EBOOK
Contains over three hundred alphabetically arranged articles that provide information about issues of death and dying, focusing on an understanding of the present and future, and includes a listing of related organizations.