Batik industry, Indonesia’s traditional practice of dying cloth through wax resist methods, is considered an important source of intangible cultural heritage andprotected under UNESCO. The industry is very diverse and many different colors and motives are used. Research in this article focuses on Batik in Yogyakarta,Surakarta, Lasem, Tuban and Garut regions. This paper studies the connotative implications of Batik’s cultural significations that pass on from older to youngergenerations revealing the importance of visuality and touch in constructing meaning within certain cultures.

Hong Kong is a peculiar case for the study of cultural practices. One of the most Westernized cities in Asia, Hong Kong is, to many people in China, one ofthe most ‘Chinese’ places in the country. Hong Kong’s no-place situation presents an interesting example of the tensions within and without cultural systems and their relations to language.

A belief commonly held in linguistics and philosophy is that semantics is defined by syntax. In this article, I will demonstrate that this does not hold true for Turkish. A fundamental syntactical rule builds around the successive order of words or speech units in a sentence. The order determines the meaning of the sentence, which in turn is rendered meaningless if the rule is not observed. In a given language, if a sentence retains meaning without this rule being applied, then the rule cannot be said to determine meaning. Turkish, with its mathematical structure, is one such language. In effect, the degree to which semantics is determined by syntax varies considerably from one language to the other. If meaning is constructed through dissimilar means in different languages, then it is not possible to talk about a single theory of meaningfulness valid for all languages. Each language is uniquely determined, and is a reflection of its proper cultural background. A theory of language must take into account this cultural framework. In this paper, I shall deal with a different way of constructing meaning whereby syntax does not determine semantics, and present the linguistic possibilities it gives rise to.

The article deals with the concepts and problems of creative society. The author analyses the postmodern, post-industrial, post-rational, post-democratic, post-economic, post-capitalistic distinctiveness of creative society. According to the author, creative society has characteristics such as "outstanding-ness" (of both individual and society), creative living, and casual work relations. The paper deals with the creative aspects of entertainment and with the role of technologies in creative society. The author presents the sketches of creative ecology and creative ethics, the difficulties of empirically researching creativity and potential creative indexes as well as the problems regarding their evaluation. The research appeals to different approaches of creative society (including sociological, and philosophical) as well as methods used in different fields of the humanities (communication, media studies, narrative studies, and cultural studies). The author presents the key scholars of creative society and possible avenues of research emerging from this new subject.

I examine the plausibility that culture may induce moral ignorance to mitigate or vitiate blameworthiness. I show how culturally induced moral ignorance may explain and provide an excuse, but not a justification for, terrorist acts, and how a recognition of their moral ignorance and the basis for it, may indicate the proper moral response to extremist Islamic terrorism. I argue that Moody-Adams' criticisms of culturally induced moral ignorance fail to consider how the brainwashing processes, false beliefs, and the closed nature of oppressive cultures may vitiate an epistemic requirement for blameworthiness. I argue that we cannot assume, as Moody-Adams did, that because relevant moral facts are out there, and because people are rationally capable of knowing those facts and reflecting on their cultural principles as the basis for their actions, when they act immorally, it is because they simply refused to know the relevant moral facts or chose not reflect on their cultural principles.

This paper is an approach to the context in which Dawson's work originated as well as to the main critiques of the works by Oswald Spengler, Arnold Toynbee and Thomas S. Eliot, with whom he differed on how to address the study of culture. The contrasts between Dawson and the views of these authors are significant and help to refine the concept of culture Dawson used in his philosophy. The paper highlights both Dawson's perspective and what separates or brings him closer to these authors. Conclusions are drawn about the elements Dawson took from each one of them.

The role of culture in a field as vast as applied linguistics is so pronounced and vital that even a highly selective overview might not be sufficient to be comprehensive. What follows might be a synoptic account of the role of culture in the realm of applied linguistics. The enigmatic point which even makes the vast field of applied linguistics goes to unbeaten tracks is the similar nature of culture. Due to the aforementioned point, here the canonical overlap of them is emphasised. Moreover, as culture and language are intrinsically intertwined, we decided to have a more cultural stance rather than a linguistic one. Therefore, first, we go through the major studies in connection with language and culture. These studies might fall into three broad categories, namely those relating to epistemology of culture, those relating to its relation to language, and finally those relating to its presentation through a given language. Then, we touch on the trends, and in the end we try sum up and to unravel, or better to say, to come to grips with this enigmatic riddle, culture. In other words, in conclusion, we attempt to portray what culture will be.

Anoixism is a new contemporary philosophy which has spread from Asia to Europe in recent years. Anoixism lists openness as its first principle, accepting and acknowledging every doctrine and philosophy in the world. Phoenixist liberalism and Anoixist naturalism are two main parts of Phoenixist ethics. It starts from human nature and respects every individual's human rights through Phoenixist Constitutionalism. Phoenixist ethics insists on respecting freedom to the maximum degree through its principle of openness, supporting "ethics with the least amount of norms" and "government with the least amount of control (violence)," although it proposes a non-violent liberalism which places reservations on violence so as to respect the value of nature, life and humanity. With the Anoixist concept of being open to nature, life and humanity, Anoixism achieves Buddhist Non-being, Taoist Tao, Humanist liberty and any other possible ultimate value.

There has been a long history of discussion whether intellectual or socioeconomic factors caused the rise of constitutional state and democracy, replacing the previous authoritarian forms of government. Some authors emphasized the role developmental psychology could play in illuminating the intellectual causes to these political phenomena. According to Piagetian researches, modern humankind has run through a psychogenetic evolution during the past several centuries. This psychological transformation entails higher forms of socio-moral consciousness decisive to the loss of legitimacy of authoritarian forms and to the erection of more humane political forms such as constitutional state and democracy.

In the following lines, we consider the current debate concerning the origin, the specificity and evolution of analytical philosophy. We will try to motivate the idea that the origins and evolution of analytical philosophy are not entirely due to the British philosophers; in fact, this problem cannot be properly explained in terms of a single tradition, which would come true by the removal of another one. Regarding the evolution of analytic philosophy, we identify aspects of the German tradition, the British tradition as well as some new elements generated by the interaction between positivism and American pragmatism.

This paper is an attempt to offer a concrete contribution to the study of indigenous African religions and in particular to the support of creating a set of traditions from whose perspective one could engage in the study of indigenous African religions as well as of African spirituality in general through the unifying theme of ecodomy. Defined in terms of a constructive process, ecodomy seeks to provide families and communities with a common element, that of ancestors, which is not only specific to African spirituality but also potentially capable of strengthening and improving the life of African people. Thus, this methodology based on working with ancestry as economy is applied to four distinct scholars and their specific approaches to indigenous African religions: John S. Mbiti, who believes that ancestors have mainly social, not religious roles; Issiaka P. Laleye, for whom ancestors make a connection between the social and religious aspects of life; Jacob K. Olupona, who restricts ancestors to religion, and Israel Kamudzandu, in whose philosophy ancestors can provide African societies with the possibility of moving beyond their indigenous religions into accepting other religious beliefs, such as those provided by Christianity.

Nationalism is inextricably connected with the modern history of nations and nationstates, and reflects the axiological sets derived from the aspirations of young nations. However, recent political, economic and social developments at the global level have determined the resurgence of nationalism, and signs of the pheno¬menon are also visible in Europe, although the old continent has enabled principles of cross-border solidarity and cohesion through transnational constructions such as the European Union. Europeanism, European identity and identification with Europe are still fragile, and rather indefinite, and at the same time challenged by new and powerful types of nationalism. The present work argues that national education emerged and developed as a natural response to the formation and affirmation of nationstates, whereas multicultural, respectively intercultural education may answer the needs of contemporary societies, which face pressure to balance complex national and transnational mutations. This paper's contribution is to focus on the European context, and it stresses the necessity of transnational agreement on terms and semantics connected with intercultural education, given its potential role in supporting equity, solidarity and social stability.

The paper inquiries into the changing patterns of national construction and the importance of hospitality and music in Kazakh culture. In particular, the argument presented here unveils the fundamental role of folk cultural practices and Kazakh nomad heritage in the making of the new nation after independence from the Soviet Union. The paper argues that aspects of the Kazakh hospitality and music tradition serve the purpose of postcolonial national construction. Scholars such as Benita Parry (1994), Partha Chatterjee (1986), or David Lloyd (1997) have argued that nationalism may be a strategy of emancipation from colonial rule. This paper takes this perspective.

In order to grasp the true ethical meaning of Foucault's aesthetics of existence, I begin by explaining in what sense he was an anti-normativist, arguing that the most important thing about the "final" Foucault is his strong emphasis on the idea of human freedom. I go on with a brief discussion about Foucault's sources of inspiration and a criticism of Rorty's kindred plea for "aesthetic life". I strongly reject the interpretation of Foucault's aesthetics of existence in terms of narcissistic individualism, arguing, on the contrary, that it has a definite communitarian dimension. I also claim that it is rooted in the Socratic and Stoic understanding of "care of the self," at the same time allowing new challenging developments fitted for our "post-duty" historical age, by way of analogy with the process of artistic making. I conclude with some short answers to a few questions regarding the status of this aesthetics of living.

The aim in this article is to widen the understanding of the significance of morality in the Norwegian social formation by comparing it with the French and the American case. After the introductory discussion of the new sociology of morality, previous findings from a study of the Norwegian middle class are reported. A short presentation of republicanism in France and Americanism in USA is followed by an analysis of the cultural and structural peculiarities of the Norwegian case, arguing that the content of the Norwegian middle class morality should be seen in light of the egalitarian tradition. Finally, by way of comparison the article points to possible ways the different configuration of values might be transferred institutionally.

Herder, the German humanist from the end of the 18th century, a representative of Weimar classicism and of the Sturm und Drang movement, man of letters, philosopher of history, defender of popular cultures, advocate of the uniqueness and importance of every civilization. The ways in which one may summarize his legacy extend even further. The present paper will focus on the philosophy of history. We will prove that his writings reveal a complex and solid theory of barbarianism, topical for 21st century Europe. First of all, we aim to clarify the multiple meanings of this concept, identifying both the historical data and the theoretical principles behind it. In this way, the grounds on which Herder executed a radical overthrow of the Enlightenment conception (closest to that held nowadays) upon the barbarian will be revealed. Subsequently should derive the relativity of the “civilization–barbarism” opposition, as well as the anticipation of Hegel’s idea that history necessarily continues through the barbarian. Finally, we aim to provide reasonably founded answers to the questions generated by this thesis: 1. What are the qualities that confer on the barbarian the possibility of creating history? – in other words, what turns him from supporting actor into a collective agent able to change the course of history? 2. Is there a law of history that decides whether some barbarians are doomed to perish, while others build empires?

Elaborated in this discourse is the idea that identifying with a punk persona is a necessary step in the ethical development of an individual. Offered are various ethical corollaries of standing on the punk philosophic grounds, including: (I) abomination of the art of following, (II) appreciation of creative aspirations more than the technique, (III) the necessity for the constant shift of the epistemic grounds on which one stands, (IV) revival of the aesthetics of Speer’s theory of ruin values, (V) revitalization of language via its destruction, and (VI) embracement of anarchic revulsion of the concept of authority as a pathway to excellent educational efforts. It is also mentioned that science is inherently a systematic rebellion against stale, prejudiced thinking, and that, as such, it is intrinsically the endeavor of intellectual punks. The final summersault in the course of the philosophical gymnastics class of the hour pertains to realization that the anarchistic ideals underlying the punk culture foster ultimate freedoms that make even the abolition of these very same freedoms and obedience to any rules or principles legitimate. The failure of all the ideologies of the 20th century has been in favor of the anti-ideology of authentic anarchism, and yet this ideology not only insists on ruining the relevance of any ideologies out there, but also calls for the deconstruction of itself, wherefrom the freedom to follow any ideologies under its umbrella naturally emanates.

This article is about a spiritual response to environmental crisis, an emerging field of ethics that joins ecology and environmentalism with the awareness of sacred within the creation2. It investigates into the Vedic texts for finding out the philosophical attitude about the earth and our spiritual obligations and responsibilities to the planet in resolving environmental issues. In the vedic-tradition3, it is the course of experiencing nature as spiritual presence and the awareness to it about our conduct as the moral and rational being. It is a world view that values all that in totality is called “nature” that is, generally, taken as “other” in contrast to human, as existence or spirit. The ethics of respect to “others”, against the effects of imperialistic, ideological conflicts, religious terrorism, industrial, atomic and corporate pollutions, must be worked out as a remedy. The basic argument of spiritual ecology lies in the view that we can find no God more than the spirit abiding in all units of the globe. One must have the view of spirit as ubiquitous principle in treating with and enjoying our needs with the things that the nature permeates as gifts of his care to it. Thus, spiritual ecology of the Vedic tradition has a therapeutic importance; it helps in cultivating our conduct and overcoming the fear of a risk against living on the earth. I am of the view that the rationality of a man and that of a nation is to be determined in proportion to the cultivation and progress of attitude and treatment with “other” but not the vice versa.

Popular posthumanist theories are revealing a lot about their origin from enlightenment humanism. In this paper I will firstly have a closer look on the history of the enlightenment-humanistic concept of human nature and its roots in the Mesopotamian Epic of Gilgamesh. Afterwards I will show how this notion of human nature will be broadened in transhumanist thinking, turned upside down as a modern enlightenment humanism, or even deformed and perverted in the popular posthumanist vision of the immortal and from its body completely abstracted mind in the Singularity of a computer interface.

Playing an irreplaceable role for the whole speedy development in East Asia, Hong Kong is an example of a multicultural cosmopolitan urban centre in the Pacific Rim with strong ties with the Atlantic. However, with regards to mainland China, Hong Kong has always held a marginal position, carrying multiple marginal labels. In recent years, Hong Kong has been struggling to move beyond its Chinese/Western identities, simultaneously searching its own native insular self. This is shown in the way contemporary intellectuals approach Hong Kong’s memory. As an example, this paper looks at Dung Kai-cheung’s novel Atlas: The Archaeology of an Imaginary City. Although Rey Chow describes the Hong Kong situation as namely, “the struggle between the dominant and the subdominant within the native culture itself” (Chow, 1992:153), I would like to argue that Dung Kai-Cheung does not engage in the sort of radical anti-colonial, nationalist discourse that could be read through the lens of The Empire Writes Back. Rather, he seeks a new form of anti-colonial discourse which advances a reconciliatory cosmopolitan vision of multicultural coexistence in a marginocentric city.