مطالب

In this paper, I take for granted the view of a long tradition tracing back to Kant that the content of perception is nonconceptual, nonpropositional, and iconic. However, I challenge the idea that this content is either an existentially quantified proposition (the existential view), an object-involving proposition (the particularist view), both (the pluralist view), or still that there is no fact of the matter about the elusive content of perception (Block). Instead, I propose an alternative hybrid model as the most suitable for perception, namely a mix of the representation of properties (relativistic content) and acquaintance with whatever causes the relevant token experience. Although this format is iconic or map-like, the best semantic model for understanding this relativistic content of perception is an open sentence with predicates and free variables. Since this content is neither particular nor existential, it is incomplete (at least in the light of Fregean semantics). That is, it is neither accurate nor inaccurate per se. Perceptions do not represent particulars, let alone the causal relationship between particulars or environmental conditions and the token experience. In other words, neither particulars nor causal relations belong to the content of the experience. Instead, particulars and causal relations belong to the evaluative circumstances of the content (Lewis's context-index pairs). Perceptions represent "de re" properties as accurate or inaccurate attributions to what is causally responsible for the relevant token experience.

Purpose : The objective of this study is to examine the mediating role of improved performance in sports startups in the impact of AI-driven marketing on sports product marketing strategies. Method: This applied research employed a descriptive-survey design. The study population consisted of physical education professors, sports science students from Mohaghegh Ardabili University, along with sports product sellers and consumers in Ardabil province. Using Cohen’s formula with a test power of 0.80 and an effect size of 0.25, a sample size of 355 participants was determined. Following the removal incomplete responses, 342 questioners were included in the final analyzed. Data collection utilized standardized questionnaires, for which content, divergent validity, and convergent validity were assessed and established. Reliability, measured by Cronbach’s alpha, yielding coefficients of 0.82 for AI marketing, 0.86 for sports product marketing strategies, and 0.78 for sports startups performance. The hypothesis were tested using structural equation modeling (SEM) with SPSS19 and AMOS23 software. Findings : The findings indicated that AI-driven marketing exerts a 0.42 effect on sports product marketing strategies and 0 . 14 effect on the performance improvement of sports startups. Furthermore sports product marketing strategies demonstrated 0.60 effect on enhancing the performance of improvement sports startups. Conclusion : Therefore, leveraging AI in marketing constitutes a key factor for the success and sustainable growth of sports startups.

The present paper intends to study Kazuo Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go from the perspective of Cyborgian concepts of hybridized subjectivity, speed, metamorphic becoming, bio-narrative and bio-discourse, which intersect with cyborg biotechnology to create the bio-capital characters. Ishiguro portrays the non-unitary bio-subjectivities along with challenges of clones through tracing the main character’s memories. The Cyborgian theories of Donna Haraway, Paul Virilio and Rosi Braidotti are mainly used to analyze the genetic organs of the selected novel in bio-discourse. Cyborg biotechnology drains its bio-power, merges borderlines between the conventional polarities, de-politicizes it by destroying inequality in a natural history of transhumanism and, ultimately, makes hybridized privileged – unprivileged subjectivity. Cyborg bio-capital body is a kind of genetically modified object with a shifted boundary; a bio-semiotic body, not the human physiological body. In the novel, this study explores that cyborgian bio-capital subjectivity is the imitation of the original one due to three reasons: first, it has lost its human uniqueness; second, its self-automation is changed into a possible being; and, finally, its biological facet has constructed the equal bio-subjects. A cyborgian bio-capital subject is partly organ and partly machine in the cyborg biotechnology. The thematic features of Ishiguro’s novel as the quintessence of cyborg bio-narrative, including nomadic bio-subjectivity, development of fabricated trans-subjects, bio-animals, trans-genetic organisms, decentered subject, bio-molecule and mechanical body, are the focal points of analysis in this study.

Over the past century, the United Kingdom has transitioned through various international roles, from a global superpower during its imperial era to a key partner within the European Union. Brexit, however, has triggered what many scholars describe as a foreign policy ‘identity crisis’. This paper challenges this conventional narrative by applying an ontological security framework to investigate how EU membership and the European integration process themselves represented an identity crisis for many Britons. The analysis explores the emotional motives behind Brexit by examining how Euroscepticism, combined with a desire to reclaim Britain’s ‘islandness’ identity, contributed to the decision to leave the European Union. Employing a thematic narrative analysis, the research examines the interaction between identity-based motivations and broader political and historical contexts to reveal new understandings of the multifaceted factors driving Brexit and its enduring effects. By investigating ontological security concepts such as existential threat, continuity disruption, and the restoration of narrative identity, the paper argues that EU integration itself, rather than Brexit, was perceived by many as the principal threat to Britain’s biographical narrative and national identity. These insights contribute to understanding how identity-based anxieties influence major political decisions and carry implications for policymaking and EU–UK relations moving forward.

The fundamental norms of the United Nations Charter, particularly the prohibition on the use of force and the inviolability of state sovereignty, have been repeatedly challenged in the modern security landscape. The June 2025 military attacks by Israel, with direct support from the United States, on Iranian territory and its safeguarded nuclear facilities represent a critical juncture in this historical context, testing the resilience of the international legal order. This article aims to provide a comprehensive legal assessment of the legality of these actions under international law. Employing a doctrinal legal research methodology, the study conducts a systematic analysis of primary legal sources, including the UN Charter, ICJ jurisprudence, and non-proliferation treaties, integrated with secondary scholarly commentaries and institutional reports. Findings demonstrate that the attacks constitute a manifest act of aggression in violation of Article 2(4) of the UN Charter and the jus cogens rule prohibition on the use of force, as they were undertaken without Security Council authorization or a valid claim to self-defense under Article 51. Furthermore, the targeting of IAEA-safeguarded nuclear facilities breached the NPT and the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material, eroding the global non-proliferation regime. The study also concludes that Iran’s defensive response was a legitimate exercise of its inherent right to self-defense. In conclusion, the attacks underscore a profound crisis in the UN collective security system, exacerbated by the Security Council's paralysis. The article ends with normative recommendations for upholding accountability and reinforcing the integrity of international law against unilateral militarism.

This paper examines the political philosophy of Artificial Intelligence (AI) through three distinct approaches: optimistic positivist scientism, critical middle ground, and phenomenological pessimism. The central issue addressed is the ethical and political implications of AI, specifically how it influences governance, social structures, and human autonomy. The research questions explore how AI can be understood in terms of its potential and risks, how different political philosophies interpret its role, and what governance models can mitigate its negative consequences. The methodology adopted is a comparative analysis of key thinkers and their contributions to the debate on AI. The framework includes positivist, critical theory, and phenomenological perspectives, with a focus on how these paradigms inform the understanding of technology and its societal impact. Key theorists discussed include Francis Bacon, Karl Marx, Yuval Harari, Jürgen Habermas, Martin Heidegger, and Hannah Arendt, each offering a unique viewpoint on the nature of AI and its implications for governance and human existence. The findings highlight three divergent views: the optimistic positivist approach sees AI as a tool for progress, advocating for technological innovation and global governance; the critical middle ground emphasizes ethical oversight and regulation to prevent social inequality; and the phenomenological pessimism warns of AI’s potential to undermine human freedom and autonomy, leading to a dystopian, technocratic society. The study concludes that while AI offers significant potential for improving human life, it also raises profound challenges that require careful regulation, ethical consideration, and a commitment to preserving democratic freedoms.

ranslated literature almost always involves a degree of manipulation of the source text for a certain purpose. Such manipulations are imposed by the ‘patrons’ who try to regulate the relationship between the literary system and the other systems a society is composed of. Working on this fundamental broadly-acknowledged assumption about translation, the present study aimed at identifying the concepts that are often manipulated in translated literature published in contemporary Iran. It also attempted to spot the manipulative strategies imposed on translations and the counter-manipulative strategies adopted by translators to sidestep those manipulations. Drawing on the findings of the so-called ‘Manipulation School’ and Dukāte’s typology of manipulation strategies, it conducted a comparative analysis of the source texts and translated versions of four American novels recently published in Iran. The codification of the data revealed the frowned upon taboo concepts to be descriptions of, or references to, sexual activity, physical contact between the sexes, human body, extramarital relationships, swear words, prostitution, nudity, homoeroticism, alcoholic drinks, and dancing. The most frequent manipulation strategies were 1) deletion of the taboo concepts, 2) substitution of the concepts with totally different concepts, and 3) attenuation of the forbidden words, that is to say, expressing them in a more polite, softer language. Although the manipulation mechanism is most effectively in place, the translators seemed to have occasionally applied creative strategies to evade the imposed manipulations. Such counter-manipulative strategies were classified as legitimization, archaism, use of less familiar words, degenderalization, denunciation, and borrowing in this study.

Although reflective teaching and well-being have been promoted as a means to promote teaching quality, there is little empirical evidence to illustrate their impact on enhancing professional development. To fill this existing gap, this study adopts a mixed-methods approach to examine the contribution of reflection and psychological well-being as predictors of professional development. In so doing, 350 English language teachers participated in a survey and follow-up interviews. The correlational analysis confirmed the positive relationship among these three constructs, and a structural equation modelling indicated that both reflection and well-being significantly predicted professional development; however, well-being was a stronger predictor compared to reflection. The qualitative analysis of data revealed four main themes contributing to professional development among teachers. The pedagogical implications are also elaborated and discussed.