Recent Publications
METAPHORICAL CIRCUIT: Negotiations Between Literature and Science in 20th Century Japan
Joseph A. Murphy (AALL)
Website
The Metaphorical Circuit argues that the division of knowledge between literature and science in the modern university produced a necessity to choose that became a central, animating tension for Japanese intellectuals in the early 20th century. Each chapter begins with a point in an author's work where mathematical representation becomes an issue in negotiating the boundary, and follows the analysis to a wall, or a point of indeterminacy, that leaves the author again with a heterogeneous field. The book offers substantial, original readings of a series of major figures such as Natsume Sôseki, Mori Ogai, and Edogawa Ranpo, the physicist Terada Torahiko, and the critics Maeda Ai and Karatani Kôjin as they write about this period. It follows its subject in introducing the styles of reasoning and inquiry of the sciences into the field of culture, where it can offend.
"Located at the boundary between literary studies and the history of science, this book offers an important new perspective on the recent ‘science wars’ and the ‘two cultures’ debate. Training in both mechanical engineering and Japanese literature helps Murphy to argue effectively for moving beyond the cultural limitations of Anglo-American humanism, restoring mathematics to its proper place in the non-science curriculum, and taking epistemological issues seriously. [This] is a brilliant, path-breaking work meriting attention from a wide range of readers."
—Prof. James R. Bartholomew, The Ohio State University, author of The Formation of Science in Japan: Building a Research Tradition"It is a matter of common wisdom in our technological world that the humanities and the sciences must find ways to speak well to each other, and a matter of common concern that they rarely do. In Metaphorical Circuit, Joseph Murphy honors both literature and science by taking each seriously, as shown through his fluency in both languages. That creates an atmosphere in which progress can be made. Beyond this essential starting point, Murphy provides a path to deeper understanding as he examines a national culture where science and literature had reasons to engage each differently than they do in the United States. That milieu is the Japan of the early 20th century."
—from the Foreword by Sidney Perkowitz, Candler Professor of Physics, Emory University, author of Foam and Empire of Light
Spirituality in the Land of the Noble: How Iran Shaped the World's Religions
Richard Foltz (Religion)
Oneworld Publishing
Spirituality in the Land of the Noble: How Iran Shaped the World's Religions offers a history of world religions from the perspective of their interactions with Iranian civilization over the course of four thousand years. Iran is seen, along with the Near East and South Asia, to be one of the world's major "cradles of religions," having given rise to Zoroastrianism, Manichaeism, and the Baha'i faith, and played a pivotal role in transforming and transmitting Judaism, Christianity, Buddhism, and Islam. This is the first book to discuss Iran's contribution to the history of religions in such broad perspective. -- from the book jacket
“Is Vegetarianism Un-Islamic?”
in
Steven Sapontzis, ed., Food for Thought: The Debate over
Eating Meat
Richard Foltz (Religion)
Prometheus Books, 2004
Do animals really suffer in the production of meat? Does the pleasure of eating animal flesh outweigh any pain that might be involved for the animal? Is a vegetarian diet innately healthier than a diet that contains animal products? Do religious traditions teach that humans have a God-given right to sacrifice animals for our benefit or that we have a special responsibility to care for God's creations? For anyone who has ever wondered about the ethics of killing animals for food, this is the definitive collection of essays on the issue. Written by internationally recognized scholars on both sides of the debate, the provocative articles included in FOOD FOR THOUGHT will provide both vegetarians and meat eaters with a thorough grounding in all aspects of this controversial topic.
After an introduction to the nature of the debate by editor Steve F. Sapontzis, seven sections examine the finer points of the subject. The first section reviews the history of vegetarianism. The discussion in the second section highlights the health issues and what anthropology has to tell us about human diet. Section three includes classic cases for and against vegetarianism and new essays rebutting these classic arguments. The fourth section examines religious teachings about eating animals drawn from Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, as well as Native American and Eastern traditions. Finally, in the last three sections, the authors debate the ethics of eating meat in connection with feminism, environmentalism, and multiculturalism.
- Publisher
Vietnamese Tone: A New Analysis
Andrea Hoa Pham, African and Asian
Languages and Literatures
Routledge
The Vietnamese language heavily relies on the speaker--a different tone of voice may produce different word meanings. A long-standing myth, however, is that pitch determines the tone of the language. Professor Andrea Hoa Pham seeks to disbar this falsehood in her new book Vietnamese Tone: A New Analysis.
This reader-friendly version of Pham's 2001 doctoral dissertation presents her research, which studies breathiness and creakiness as the basis for tone in Vietnamese. Pham says altering breathiness and creakiness in tone changes the settings, which ultimately changes the meaning. For her research, Pham spent time in her native Vietnam and specifically studied the country's northern dialect.
Pham came to UF in 2002, and she teaches
Vietnamese language courses. Recognizing the different levels
of proficiency based on culture, Pham created a heritage and
non-heritage course. She says the different classes allow non-Vietnamese
students to learn a new language they have probably never been
exposed to while giving Vietnamese students a further exploration
of their own culture. Currently, Pham teaches Vietnamese I and
II and hopes to develop a literature course.
"While I do not teach my research in class, as a language teacher, I am able to test my hypothesis on my students," Pham says. "Students have different reasons for wanting to take the course; dating in the Vietnamese culture, spreading the culture, or simply learning the language. So it is now or never to maintain high enrollment in both the non-native and heritage classes to ensure future development of the program."
--Kimberly A. Lopez
World Views, Religion, and the Environment: A Global Anthology
Richard Foltz (Religion)
Thomson / Wadsworth
In an age when life support systems are in jeopardy, the relationship of humanity to nature needs to be re-addressed in spiritual as well as material terms. Within the world of faith institutions, there has been increasing attention in recent years to environmental stewardship issues. Contemporary debates have begun from the assertion that Western values and Christianity, in particular, are to blame for the present global crisis. Is this accusation valid? Are other traditions more "eco-friendly"? Composed of 65 essays, World Views, Religion, and the Environment is a compilation of what various cultural traditions of the world say about human responsibility toward the natural environment.
--Preface
