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T e x t 6

Genetic Amniocentesis

Amniocentesis, from the Greek amnion, the fetal mem­ brane, and kentesis, a pricking or puncture, signifies the in­ sertion of a needle into the membranous sac surrounding the fetus , in the womb of a pregnant woman and the with­ drawal of some of die fluid in which the fetus is sus­ pended. The fluid is sometimes withdrawn late in a preg­ nancy to remove, the excess that accumulates in the patho­ logical condition called polyhydramnios. Currently.it is sampled far more often with an entirely different intent.

In 1955 Povl Riis and I, working at the University of Copenhagen, demonstrated that the sex of a fetus can be determined by staining the nuclei of cells found floating in the amniotic fluid, because the cells are from the fetus and in cells from the tissues of a female the chromatin (the material in the nucleus that accepts the stain) includes a condensation that can be seen as a dark mass; the Barr body. We also were able to determine the ABO blood group of the fetus by adding cells from the amniotic fluid to solu­ tions containing red blood cells whose blood group is known and then adding to the solution the antibody to cells of such a group. In the solution in which the two popula­ tions of cells are of the same group (both types of cells have ABO marker molecules arrayed on their surface) the antibody causes a clumping of cells in which both popula­ tions participate.

Such findings led us to predict as early as 1956 that many other features of the genetic makeup of the fetus could be identified by examining the amniotic fluid and the cells floating in it, and that it might therefore be possible to diagnose a number of hereditary disorders well before the birth of an afflicted infant. What we surely did not predict was the rapidity with which the prenatal diagnosis of ge­ netic disorders has progressed since those early years.

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T e x t 7

The Cutting Edge ofEnvironmental Protection

The protectors of the world's environment turn their. eyes to Bonn each autumn. The object of their attention is the agenda released by Germany's Expert Committee for Computer Sciences in Environmental Protection. The agenda tells die world's environmental protectors which in­ novations are going to be showcased at die committee's "Information technologies in Environmental Protection" ("Umweltinformatik") conference. The environmental pro­ tectors' interest in the agenda is eminentiy comprehensible. The innovations previewed at the conferences, held for the first time in 1986, have revolutionized the way the world detects, abates and avoids damages and dangers to the envi­ ronment.

The innovations are highly diverse in nature, as the agenda of the most recent conference, staged from October 4 - 6,2000 in Bonn, amply detailed. On the agenda were more than 60 lectures, four tutorials and a workshop. These events were attended by more than 2 0 0 businesspersons, scientists and environmental officials, from 14 countries. Millions more followed its proceedings on the Internet. The roster of its sponsors provides a nice indication of the im­ portance of die event In addition to Germany's environment ministry, its sponsors included Oracle, the world's leading provider of information management software.

T e x t 8

Russia under Alexander II

Great as the number was of those, who during the reign of the Emperor Nicolas must have been designated as 'dis­ affected', or 'liberal'; real parties were out of the question, thanks to the strictness and effective power of the secret police ever since the tribunal of 1826, and still more since

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the boyish Petraschevski conspiracy of 1848. Whoever cherished liberal views, kept them to himself; and was glad, if he could interchange them undisturbed in the circle of his intimate acquaintances: never, since 1850, outside Poland, so far as the sceptre of the Emperor extended, had practical political aims been spoken of. Nevertheless, among the so-called Russ liberals, for the last thirty years, three different tendencies might be pointed out, all differing from each other. The best known and the most wide-spread of these were the groups of fault-finding aristocrats; among these, who appeared especially numerous in Moscow, there were people of the most various kind, however, bound to­ gether by scarcely any other bond, than that of common aversion to the Petersburg rulers. The greater number con­ sisted of members of old Boyare families, who, for any rea­ son, had become obnoxious at court, had failed in their ca­ reer, or had quitted it against their will. Pensioned generals and privy-councillors, ambitious marshals who had quar­ relled with the higher officials, and lastly noble idlers, who had gained in Paris and London an idea, that the noble may be destined to a higher vocation than courtly service; these formed the main portion of this society: with regard to moral and intellectual culture, differing but little from the court-circle, this party was distinguished only by greater independence of the tone given in St. Petersburg, and by warmer interest in the national literature. But it was signifi­ cant, that among them there were not only many bearing famous names, but also men who, as inheritors of the lib­ eral traditions of the better age of Alexander I. stood in conscious and wilful opposition to the political system of the emperor Nicolas, and had remained faithful to those ideas of enlightenment, and of national interest in state af-

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fairs, which Alexander himself had renounced after his re­ turn from the Vienna Congress.

T e x t 9

In Search OfAn Integral Definition O fMan

As all beings, man is characterised by objective definiteness of his own. But man is the oly being in the biogeosphere which is characterised by self-definiteness. Philosophy is the most advanced form of man's general self-definition. Since any definition is a correlation of the object to be defined and a broader sphere and an indication of the defined object's differentia specifica, man's nature is also defined via his basic relationships.

Such self-definition becomes feasible and necessary as man advanced anthropologically as Homo sapiens, and as man's consciousness — philosophical or scientific — deve­ loped. It becomes feasible and necessary under major changes or even collisions in the ambient world. The pres­ ent-day situation works as a categorical imperative in forcing man to cognise his own nature and die meaning, significance, and purport of his life, as well as the objective fundamentals of human existence. When it comes to die point of Hamlet's dilemma "to be or not to be", "existential thinking" must find reasons in favour of "to be".

However, man's existence is not equal to its anthro­ pological definition. Definiteness of the quality of man's existence is historically mutable. The history of philosophy and present-day science make it possible to synthetically cognise the way of man to his ego and to seek means for his self-determination, despite the threat of self-destruction.

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T e x t 10

Language and World

"Language is not just one of man's possessions in the world; rather on it depends the fact that man has a world at all." This is the phenomenological pivot of Gadamer's in­ vestigation here. In one sense language is a possession, a tool, which mediates our interaction with the world. But the peculiarly human freedom from habitat, the freedom to choose the shape and meaning of the world around us, "im­ plies the linguistic constitution of the world. Both belong together. To rise above the pressure of what impinges on us from the world means to have language and to have 'world.'" Language does not sever us from our habitat but simultaneously permits our participation in the world and a "free, distanced orientation" toward it.

Gadamer argues that the paradigmatic scene of lan­ guage is one very close to us: "It must be emphasized that language has its true being only in conversation, in the ex­ ercise of understanding between people." In fact it is in such everyday communication that we see the unity of lan­ guage and world:

Coming to an understanding is not a mere action, a pur­ poseful activity, a setting-up of signs through which I transmit my will to others. Coming to an understanding as such, rather, does not need any tools, in the proper sense of the word. It is a life process in which a community of life is lived out. . . In linguistic communication, "world" is dis­ closed. Reaching an understanding in language places a

. subject matter before those communicating like a disputed object set between them. Thus the world is the common ground, trodden by none and recognized by all, uniting all

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who talk to one another.

Thus "whoever has language has' the world, and con­ versely, "in language the world itself presents itself." In the final analysis, our linguistic experience of the world "does not imply that a world-in-itself is being objectified." There is no such absolutely independent object. If we can use the adjective 'absolute' at all, it is only to say, as Gadamer does, that "verbal experience of the world is 'absolute.' It tran­ scends all the relative ways being is posited because it em­ braces all being-in-itself, in whatever relationships (rela­ tivities) [sic] it appears."

T e x t 11

Stanislaw Ossowskifs Conception

ofSocial Sciences

The Foundation o fAesthetics is the first major work by Stanislaw Ossowski. Ossowski is well known to the Eng­ lish reader for his sociological works, and especially for his book Class Structure in Social Consciousness and the ma­ jority of his works deal with various theoretical and meth­ odological problems of sociology. It should be stressed here, that the book in the field of aesthetics constitutes a turning point in his biography, in the process of changing his focus of interest from logic to sociology.

Ossowski studied philosophy with Tadeusz Kotarbinski, one of the central figures of the Lwow-Warsaw logical school, and in 1924 presented his Ph.D. dissertation, An Analysis o f the Concept of Sign. When analysing the vari­ ous functions of "semantic products" he distinguished among die others the function of picturing, visualising the denoted object. In the summary of nis paper he stressed that he tried to deal in it with strietly logical aspects of the problem only. But he gave as. the motto to his paper the

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following quotation from Romeo and Juliet:

What’s in a name ? that which we call a rose,

By any other name wouldsmell as sweet;

Sb Romeo would, were he not Romeo call'd;

Retain that dearperfection which he owes

Without that title.

This motto revealed his fascination by other aspects of at least some categories of semantic products, their propen­ sity to stimulate me experience of beauty. Driven by this fascination he undertook his study in the field of the foun­ dations of aesthetics. As he wrote in the preface to his book: "This .work came into being due to these facts: the problems which are considered here were thrust upon us by our association with works of art and the beauty of nature, with concerts, the theatre and the cinema, by reflections on literary works and art. Our interests in certain concrete ob­ jects which are a source of joy to the spectators, readers and listeners caused us to undertake theoretical studies, general reflections and conceptual analysis."

T e x t 12

What is Political Science? Elements ofa Definition

Introduction. Before beginning a study of the content of political science, its methods, or the approaches people use to study politics, we must answer the question, "What Is Political Science?" We must at least try to answer the question, perhaps by providing a number of different an­ swers in terms of the field's scope and content. Several an­ swers are necessary because no "twenty-five words or less" definition — or even one of several hundred words — is available. Confusion and disagreement about political sci­ ence, as well as its changing nature and uncertain bounda-

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ries, make a single, fixed definition inaccurate. Ibis confu­ sion and fluidity require us to delineate the scope of our study so we do not find ourselves studying an unlimited universe of material.

Taking the position that definitions, or formulations of the boundaries of political science, are only more or less useful, not correct or incorrect, we will limit ourselves to a working definition of political science. More flexible than a formal definition (the sort you might expect to memorize), a working definition allows us to spell out various elements which writers have suggested should lie included within the study of politics and leaves the door open for the future.

Two definitions of political science which have been of­ fered more than their usefulness would warrant are that it is

(1) the study of politics and (2) what political scientists do from 9:00 — 5:00. The first definition is of little help until we define politics, and the second doesn't tell us what po­ litical scientists are. They study politics — and so we are back where we started. The second definition is used to suggest the absence of agreement on a definition of the field as well as to show the wide range of activities which some would like to have called political science.

T e x t 13

What is Sociological Theory? Origins ofSociology

Why do people commit suicide? One traditional commonsense answer is that people inherit the desire to kill themselves. Another view is that sunspots drive people to take their own lives.

Sociologists are not particularly interested in why any one individual commits suicide; they are more concerned

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with why people in general take their own lives. In order to undertake such research, sociologists develop theories that offer a general explanation of some type of behavior.

In sociology a theory is a statement or a series of state­ ments that uses concepts to explain problems, actions or behavior. An effective theory will have both explanatory and predictive power. That is, it will help us to develop a broad and integrated view of seemingly isolated phenom­ ena and to understand how one type of change in an envi­ ronment leads to others.

An essential task in building a sociological theory is to examine the relationship between bits of data, gathered through research, that may seem completely unrelated. For example, in researching the problem of suicide sociologists are primarily concerned not with the personalities of indi­ vidual suicide victims, but rather with suicide rates, and how they vary from country to country..And their research suggests that suicide, while a solitary act, is related to group life. They have developed a theory to explain how individual behavior can be understood within a social con­ text. Their theory has predictive power, since it suggests that suicide rates will rise or fall in conjunction with certain social and economic changes.

It is important to understand that a theory — even the best of theories — is not a final statement about human be­ havior. This theory of suicide is not an exception. Sociolo­ gists continue to examine factors which contribute to a so­ ciety's rate of suicide. The sociological research shows that the incidence of suicide increases following nationally tele­ vised stories about suicide, and die impact is the greatest after the publicized suicide of an entertainer or politician, and is somewhat less after the suicide of an artist, a crimi­ nal or a member of the economic elite.

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T e x t 14

The economicproblem: The individual and society

Most introductory textbooks of Economics begin by posing the question, 'What is Economics about?' Although Economics is a vast subject and precise definitions are usu­ ally very complex, it is not a difficult matter to give a sim­ ple and sensible answer to this basic question. Economics is essentially a study of the ways in which humankind pro­ vides for its material wellbeing. Economists are concerned with the ways in which people apply their knowledge, skills, and efforts to the gifts of nature in order to satisfy their material wants.

Economics limits itself to the study of the material as­ pects of life, and while it is true that man cannot live by bread alone, it is equally true that he cannot live without it. An underlying problem in economics is that of survival and we must examine how people have solved or are trying to solve this problem. In the more advanced countries this may seem a very remote problem — few people, if any, are conscious of a life or death struggle for existence. In many other countries however, the continuity of human existence is by no means assured — starvation is a very real prospect for millions of human beings.

Even in the prosperous, economically advanced coun­ tries there is an aspect of survival which attracts little or no attention from those of us fortunate enough to live in these areas. This is our relative helplessness as 'economic' indi­ viduals. The Indian peasant and the South American peon have an extremely low standard of living, yet, left com­ pletely to their own devices, they can survive. Such people have the abilities to sustain life without outside assistance.

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