Intellectum
Eurozine
Intellectum
2010-01-29
Abstracts for Intellectum 6 (2009)
Victor Tsilonis -- Editorial
The individualist's marathon: a strange competition
The individualist's marathon is a special competition with inevitably odd rules: it begins unofficially with our birth or even a little while later (for instance, in a case of twins) and officially when we acquire conscience of our "ego" and comprehend our interactivity with others. The competition ends when we say farewell to life, as all living beings, with any discrepant metaphysical extensions. So, although the starting point is known and certain to everyone, the finishing point is different and initially uncertain for every one of us.
David S. Oderberg
Why I am not a consequentialist
Originally written in English, translated to Greek by Victor Tsilonis and Nancy Rapti
David S. Oderberg expounds on some basic problems related to consequentialism. In particular, he focuses on the problematic issues which render consequentialism an absolutely inacceptable and dangerous moral theory. He presents the way in which consequentialists perceive the notions of good, value, respect and justice and ventures to deconstruct consequentialism via the utilization of well-founded arguments.
Angelos Chaniotis
Archaeology and law: legal aspects in research and management of archaeological remains
The article examines the relation between law and archaeology and refers to critical issues such as the prevention of clandestine excavations and the illegal export of antiquities, the legality of private collections, the protection of antiques and the right of study and publication of archaeological findings. Contemporaneously, the article criticizes the way that university Schools, the National Archive of Monuments and the local services and museums approach these issues and mainly focuses on the wrong way in which the rights of study and publication of the archaeological findings are granted, resulting in the extreme delay of the research procedure.
Anna-Maria Konsta
Some aspects of the American legal culture: the abject of law in Arthur Miller's The Crucible and William Gaddis' A Frolic of His Own
Originally written in English, translated to Greek by Danai Roussou
Anna-Maria Konsta explores, through the analysis of the novels The Crucible by Arthur Miller and A Frolic of His Own by William Gaddis, the way people who are initially subjects of law, i.e. holders of rights and obligations, can be transformed by the law and through the law into "abjects". An "abject" is considered to be a person who at some point comes in contact with "the fragility of the law"; in other words with actions that take place when the limits and rules fall apart and transform people into abjects of law, a "dead body".
Susan Power
Re-enganging the Gaza debate: the impact of Operation Cast Lead
Originally written in English, translated to Greek by Victor Tsilonis and Nancy Rapti
In December 2008, Israel launched a military attack with the code name "Operation Cast Lead" in the Gaza Strip. This introduction aims at re-examining the legal status of the area after this operation and the application or not of the law of belligerent occupation according to the criteria of "potential" and "real control" of international humanitarian law. The contradicting interpretations and political concerns on the issue still obstruct the proper application of Hague Regulations.
Elisavet Symeonidou-Kastanidou
The Council Framework Decision 2008/919/JHA of 28.11.2008 on combating terrorism
Elisavet Symeonidou-Kastanidou examines the recent Council Framework Decision 2008/919/JHA of 28.11.2008 on combating terrorism in Europe, which introduces three new forms of crimes: the public provocation to commit a terrorist offence, the recruitment and training for terrorism. Through the analysis, it is concluded that the EU expands beyond the terrorist acts in the field of the ideological domination of terrorism. However, the freedom of expression and dissemination even of radical ideas should constitute a self-evident limit on every penalization, as it is explicitly acknowledged in article 2 of the new Framework Decision.
Victor Tsilonis
The lady anatomist: an interview with Sue Black
Sue Black, acclaimed professor of forensic anthropology at the University of Dundee (Scotland) with worldwide experience in mass grave exhumations in states where hideous war crimes and crimes against humanity have been committed, talks, inter alia, about her life, forensic science, the United Nations' operation and the dangers she faced during her missions in Kosovo, Irak and Sierra Leone.
Klianis Eleytherios
Fraud via a personal computer (Section 386A Greek Criminal Code)
The great technological developments and public use of the Internet brought about new "intelligent" forms of economic crimes. Klianis Eleytherios examines, under the prism of new forms of crime, the distinction and application respectively of the criminal provisions which regulate "common" and "electronic" fraud. The submission of modern crime to the proper legal rule as well as the legal combating of electronic crime in general does not only require an adequate knowledge of the penal law but also comprehension of the way the new technologies operate.
Christina Kretsi
Modern forms of electronic crime
The digital era generated many modern forms of criminality, such as the Nigerian letter, electronic phishing messages, pharming and dialers. The rapid growth of new electronic crimes causes many problems in the everyday use of the Internet (detection of the criminals is often difficult) and renders urgent the need of public awareness.
Diamantis Kryonidis
Harold Kushner's incomplete circle of happiness
In an era where humans seek perfection, rabbi Harold Kushner vehemently defends the view that the hunt for perfection constitutes at the same time the source of our unhappiness at a social and personal level. And since no one is perfect, it is absolutely essential for humans to build relations of confidence and forgive and accept others as they are. This is key to achieve happiness.
Charalambos Tsekeris
Blogs and society: capabilities and prospects in cyberspace
Charalambos Tsekeris briefly presents and analyses some basic theoretical and methodological thoughts and reflections on the complex emerging relation between blogs and the (globalized) society. Their great social impact, the significant predominance of the "weblog" over televisual information, and the relevant independence of social dynamics are demonstrated. These methodological questions on the non-predictability of Internet developments Tsekeris eventually concludes with a critical-reflective theoretical reasoning of the democratic interventions and perspectives in cyberspace.