1161. Intentio Spiritus : the materialist, pneumatological origins of intention in AugustineAlberto Parisi, 2023, original scientific article Abstract: Intention is one of the catchwords of 20th-century Western philosophy. Positively or negatively, it takes a central role in numerous traditions, from phenomenology to analytic philosophy, and in none of them has it anything to do with air or breath. According to its widely accepted lineage, the concept of intention can be traced back to Medieval Scholastic philosophy, specifically to Augustine’s utilisation of this term. It is in Augustine’s intentio animi (the intention of the soul) – most critics argue – that intention first meant directing one’s attention towards something or a voluntary design or plan. In this paper, such a genealogy will not be proved wrong but rather complicated by taking seriously the (anti-)pneumatological context in which Augustine developed his concept of intention and, at the same time, those unheeded studies of his works that claim the origins of his use of intentio to lie in the Ancient Stoic concept of τόνος (tonos, tension or tone). A new study will show that intentio is what allows Augustine every time to prove the spirit to be immaterial, namely to not be a form of material air or breath. By transforming intentio into attentio (attention) first and voluntas (will) later, Augustine makes possible the realm of the immaterial spirit. Furthermore, however, this article also shows that his arguments seem to take for granted and reject an earlier, materialist pneumatological conception of intention, whose traces can be found in some of the works of the Roman Stoic Seneca, as well as in now-lost 4th century CE Christian heretical theories of the Holy Spirit. Keywords: Augustine, intention, intentio, attention, will, pneuma, spirit, breath, air, pneumatology, Stoicism, Neo-Platonism, Holy Spirit, Holy Ghost Published in DiRROS: 14.05.2024; Views: 274; Downloads: 241
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1162. From respiration to fleshpiration : a Merleau-Pontian journey into respiratory philosophy and respiratory religion with Jesus, St. Paul, Claudel, and Merleau-PontyPetri Joakim Berndtson, 2023, original scientific article Abstract: In this article, I introduce a new word, the neologism “fleshpiration.” It is a word or a name in which I intertwine “flesh” and “spirit” or “spiration.” This new word is inspired by the thinking of Jesus, St. Paul, Paul Claudel, and Maurice Merleau-Ponty. The interpretative starting point of my article is taken from Clau-del, who states: “the spirit is respiration.” With Claudel’s idea, which has its roots in the etymological analysis of pneuma and spiritus, I interpret the spirit (pneuma) of Jesus and St. Paul to mean respiration in the first place. Within this respira-tory interpretative context, I suggest that both Jesus and St. Paul emphasised the essentiality of breathing in their religious thinking. For St. Paul, life according to the flesh and life according to the Spirit as life according to the Respiration are opposite lifestyles. Within the context of Merleau-Ponty, it can be said that St. Paul’s dichotomy between the flesh and the Spirit can be challenged and surpassed. For Merleau-Ponty, the flesh and the Spirit can be intertwined in a paradoxical manner. Within this framework of paradoxical thinking, it becomes possible to discover this new word “fleshpiration” and initially claim that it names a new res-piratory beginning for philosophy and religion. Keywords: Maurice Merleau-Ponty, Paul Claudel, Jesus, St. Paul, respiration, flesh, fleshpiration Published in DiRROS: 14.05.2024; Views: 296; Downloads: 218
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1163. Air and breathing in Medieval Jewish mysticismMichael Marder, 2023, original scientific article Abstract: This essay is a study of the element of air and the process of breathing in light of the medieval book of Zohar and related aspects of the broader Jewish tradition. Mapping air onto the divine body comprised of the sefirot, or the emanations of God, I reconsider the connection between breath and spirit, while also focusing on the sensuous and atmospheric aspects of aerial and pneumatic phenomena: wind, scents, the rising expansion of hot air and the falling condensation of the cold. Breathing is examined throughout the entire respiratory system, from the lungs to the nostrils, with respect to both the sefirotic divine body and the breath of life, animating the creaturely realm. Throughout the study, I pay particular at-tention to the paradoxical mode in which air remains an indeterminate, literally groundless element and, at the same time, is at the heart of theo-anatomy, of life, and of sustaining a fragile world Keywords: air, breath, mysticism, emanations, spirit Published in DiRROS: 14.05.2024; Views: 250; Downloads: 211
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1164. In that very body, within that very dream : soteriological dreaming technique in the tradition of Buddhist yogisNina Petek, 2023, original scientific article Abstract: The first part of the paper briefly outlines the role of dreams in early Budd-hism and their importance in establishing the continuity of the whole tradition, before presenting in the second part entirely new aspects of dreams in the Budd-hist eremitic tradition, influenced by the Tantric spiritual horizon, in particular by a transformed concept of the body. The central part of the paper follows an analysis of the soteriological technique of dreaming (Tib. rmi lam) in the tradi-tion of Buddhist yogis and yoginīs, based on the fragments of mahāsiddha Tilopa (Ṣaḍdharmopadeśa), Gampopa’s commentaries, collected in the treatise Dags po'i bka' 'bum, and findings from studies on Buddhist eremitic tradition in Ladakh in the region of the Indian Himalayas. The four stages of dream yoga are also hi-ghlighted in relation to other psychophysical soteriological techniques (the six dharmas, Skrt. ṣaḍdharma, Tib. chos drug). The philosophical and soteriological foundations of dream yoga are presented on the basis of the doctrine of consciou-sness in the yogācāra school, highlighting in particular the three modifications of consciousness presented by Vasubandhu. The last part the paper outlines the si-gnificance of training in the dreaming technique in the very process of dying that leads to the unconditioned state beyond life and death, nirvāṇa. Keywords: dreams in Buddhism, Buddhist yogis and yoginis, six dharmas, yogacara, vijñana, nirvana Published in DiRROS: 14.05.2024; Views: 279; Downloads: 344
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1165. Neuromuscular component of muscle quality assessment in older adults : narrative reviewKatarina Puš, Boštjan Šimunič, 2024, review article Abstract: The concept of muscle quality encompasses both microand macroscopic aspects of muscle architecture and composition and has gained increasing attention with inclusion in the definition of sarcopenia, indicating the significance of muscle quality in evaluating muscle function and strength among older individuals. Muscle quality consists of two main components: neuromuscular and morphological and is often defined as the ratio between the two. The aim of this review is to present currently used methods for assessment of muscle quality with an emphasis on neuromuscular component in older adults. The most used methods for assessing morphological component are imaging techniques, such as magnetic resonance imaging, computed tomography, dualenergy X-ray absorptiometry and non-imaging bioimpedance analysis. In the neuromuscular component upper and lower body strength are assessed with different methods such as hand grip strength, isokinetic lower limb strength and isometric lower limb strength. Currently, there are three proposed muscle quality assessment methods for field or population studies: muscle quality index, ultrasound sarcopenia index and bioimpedancederived phase angle. Despite the exploration of muscle quality through various assessment methods, a consensus on the most appropriate and universally applicable approach has yet to be established. Keywords: ageing, skeletal muscle, ultrasound sarcopenia index, muscle quality index, phase angle Published in DiRROS: 13.05.2024; Views: 261; Downloads: 147
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1166. Dreaming with AISheldon Juncker, 2023, original scientific article Abstract: our goal is to highlight the capabilities of modern, generative aI systems using the widely used and accessible ChatGPT text completion models from openaI, focusing on how they can be used for the analysis of dreams and dream journals. We start with a brief overview of the nature of dreams, methods of dream inter-pretation, and the importance of the human-dream relationship. We explore the ways that technology, specifically aI, fits into this space and examine the ways in which aI can be used to help us understand our dreams. We progress from simple dream interpretations, to interpretations according to different schools of thought, to interpreting symbols within individual dreams, and finally to analyzing pat-terns in individual dream journals. We conclude with a discussion of the ethical concerns surrounding aI and dreams, providing insights from past technological revolutions and how they have both helped and hindered the human endeavor. We finally outline what we believe to be a practical, realistic, and hopeful vision of how we see this field progressing based on the experiments and methodologies that were explored in this paper. Keywords: dreams, dream interpretation, artificial intelligence, gernerative AI, psychoanalysis, ethics Published in DiRROS: 13.05.2024; Views: 315; Downloads: 201
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1167. New approaches in the empirical study of dreamsKelly Bulkeley, 2023, original scientific article Abstract: Dream research is entering a new era of accelerating insights and discoveries, thanks to the rise of powerful digital analysis tools that are enabling important advances in the empirical study of dreams. This paper illustrates the use of these tools, drawing on the resources of the Sleep and Dream Database, a free online archive of information about sleep and dreaming. These tools include statistical analyses of survey responses, systematic word searches of large collections of dream reports, and a well-grounded set of baseline frequencies to help with comparative measurement. The goal of this paper is to provide readers with an initial orienta-tion to the new world of dream discovery that has opened up because of tools like these. Several basic empirical findings are presented regarding clearly observable patterns of perception, emotion, and social interaction in dreaming. The paper will close with reflections on the emerging interplay of dreaming and technology. Keywords: dreams, word searching, content analysis, continuity hypothesis Published in DiRROS: 13.05.2024; Views: 266; Downloads: 159
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1168. An ancient disease in a modern world : epilepsy and dream researchMary C. Walsh, 2023, original scientific article Abstract: For thousands of years people have attempted to understand epilepsy. Thro-ughout our long history, healing traditions have incorporated dreams into both epilepsy diagnosis and treatment. recent studies provide new information on the impact of epilepsy on sleep and dreaming, while research into epileptic dream content offers insight into the emotional and spiritual experience of people with epilepsy. Modern neurological research has increased our knowledge and improved treatment of this ancient disease, yet the stigma and misconceptions that have per-colated for millennia continue to impact epileptic care and quality of life globally. While modern technologies afford better treatment, they can also impact sleep, dreaming, and seizure frequency in epileptics. This article provides an overview of current research into dreams and epilepsy and explores implications of this research for epileptic care in a modern world. research surveyed includes recent stu-dies into the protective role of rEM sleep on seizures, epileptic dream content, the impact of epilepsy on specific populations and emerging paradigms for under-standing epileptic spiritual experience. Studies suggest the need for a multi-disci-plinary and multi-cultural approach to epilepsy. Implications for therapeutic and medical care, and avenues for future research are discussed. Keywords: dreams, epilepsy, sleep, technology, spirituality Published in DiRROS: 13.05.2024; Views: 223; Downloads: 184
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1169. Dreams, sleep quality, and collective trauma : an investigation of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemicCarmela Mento, Maria Catena Silvestri, Amelia Rizzo, Clara Lombardo, Hadipour Lakmesani Abed, Ferdinando Testa, Kelly Bulkeley, Toshio Kawai, 2023, original scientific article Abstract: The aim of the current study was to explore the impact of the CoVID-19 out-break on the dreams of a group of Italian participants. a total of 403 individuals were recruited online through a cross-sectional survey on Moodle. The qualitati-ve content of their dreams was analysed using the Dream Interview (TKYDQ), a tool created by Bulkeley. In addition, the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) was used to assess the quantitative aspects of dreams. from the results of our stu-dy, three macro-categories of content in the participants' dreams were identified: 1) dreams with phobic content; 2) dreams with a persecutory theme and 3) “old normal” dreams. Moreover, some sleep-related difficulties such as problems falling asleep and mild clinical sleep disorders were identified in the sample. The pro-longed quarantine and the lifestyle adopted during the pandemic have intensely influenced our dream activities, and it seems that CoVID-19 has already entered our collective unconscious in a symbolic way and through the processing of images and scenes related to the epidemic. The study, therefore, aims to explore how cata-strophic events affect mental health, specifically sleep quality and dream content. Keywords: dreams, sleep, collective trauma, COVID-19, pandemic Published in DiRROS: 13.05.2024; Views: 257; Downloads: 166
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