Philosophy Commons^™

Roblox As Open Text: Identity, Meaning, And Ideology Through Eco’S Semiotics, Yuyus Rustandi, Nanang Sutisna

Paradigma: Jurnal Kajian Budaya

This study examines Roblox as a digital cultural space that constructs and represents adolescent identity through Umberto Eco's semiotic approach. Roblox functions not only as a game platform but also as an open text comprising visual signs, social symbols, and complex narratives. This studi is based on a literature review from nine prior empirical studies, this research analyzes how avatars, virtual environments, Robux economy, and user communities shape diverse systems of meaning. Findings show that Roblox serves as a site for identity construction, simulation of social values, and reproduction of dominant discourses such as capitalism and gender performance. The study …

From Editor, Rahayu Surtiati

Paradigma: Jurnal Kajian Budaya

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year 2026.

In this edition readers will find ten articles plus one book review proposing an idea of how culture survives modernization. The four articles (1, 2, 4, and 8 show how culture and ecology or culture and traditions can reshape collective memory and identity. Two articles: 6 and 7 discuss Japanese culture: first elderly people show learning a foreign language can keep their spirit of life; second Japanese urban culture in contemporary context. Last but not least three articles (3, 5, 9, and 10) describe three different situations: roads represent symbolic dimensions; priestly …

Third Place And Nostalgia In Postcolonial Jakarta: Adaptive Reuse Of Cikini Post Office, Ade Ariyani Sari Fajarwati, Mochamad Aviandy

Paradigma: Jurnal Kajian Budaya

The transformation of space in postcolonial cities extends beyond the restoration of old buildings; it involves cultural practices that reshape collective memory and identity. Through adaptive reuse, colonial-era heritage spaces are revitalised as social hubs. This study examines Post Kantoor cafe, a former colonial post office turned into a “third place” within urban spatial culture. Using qualitative methods—visual observation, spatial documentation, and a literature review—the study finds that nostalgic aesthetics, evident in antique artefacts, colonial atmospheres, and curated visuals, foster emotional connections across generations and social classes. More than a site of consumption, the cafe becomes a space for dialogue, …

The Silent Witness: The Journey Of Celibacy In The Life Of Diocesan Clergy Of Pagadian, Jumar T. Lague, Enrique C. Tapanan, Raven M. Leyte, Jinggle C. Selgas

Paradigma: Jurnal Kajian Budaya

Celibacy is a defining vow in the life of Catholic priests, requiring thorough preparation and ongoing commitment. While celibacy enables priests to devote themselves fully to ministry, it also presents challenges that can influence their fidelity to priesthood. This study aimed to explore how Catholic priests experience, sustain, and interpret their vow of celibacy within their ministry. Using a transcendental phenomenological design, ten diocesan priests from Pagadian, representing junior, middle, and senior clergy, were purposively selected and interviewed. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews, validated with participant feedback, and analyzed thematically while bracketing researcher biases. The findings reveal that priests …

Homoeopathy During One Hundred Years Of Lmhi (1925–2025)– Part 1: Philosophical Perspectives, Josef M. Schmidt

Indian Journal of Research in Homoeopathy

The celebration of 100 years of “Liga medicorum homoeopathica internationalis” (LMHI) in 2025 gives reason to reflect on the philosophical essence of Homoeopathy as well as its historical development within a dynamic, changing world up to now.

From a philosophical perspective, in this first part, it is pointed out that Hahnemann, the founder of Homoeopathy, needs to be understood in his entirety– not only as a keen discoverer, practitioner and thinker, but also in his spiritual shape, i.e. in his ethical, religious and humanitarian attitude and conviction.

Only thus may one grasp the significance of the schism pervading Homoeopathy’s history …

Kalunga Crossings: Waterscapes Of Terror And "Teachment" In The African Atlantic World, Dianne M. Stewart, Tracey E. Hucks, Solimar Otero

Yale Journal of Music & Religion

In this article, we think alongside historian of religions Charles H. Long to analyze the relationship between water and empire, explore theoretical approaches to water and modernity, and probe the significance of water in Africana ecologies and spiritual cultures, highlighting its suggestive contributions to restorative epistemologies of ecological co-habitation. Our investigation advances an Africana religious framework of “waterscapes of terror and ‘teachment’” that centers diaspora bodies of water as loci for analyzing history, materiality, and ecological regard. Teachment is an anti-colonial linguistic irruption, an all-encompassing term for Africana pedagogies and epistemologies that defy antiblack and anti-African colonial instruction. Examining how …

Martial Arts Studies: A Commentary On The Exploration Of Consciousness In Modern Martial Arts, James H. Sutton

Journal of Conscious Evolution

The rapid globalization of martial arts has reconditioned how the beliefs, customs, and philosophies of traditionally based systems are interpreted and applied in modern practice. As contemporary scholarship struggles to accommodate the cultural histories, myths, and traditions that permeate the perception of martial arts in modern contexts, the focus of inquiry has shifted towards explaining cultural variations in practice rather than understanding the nature of self-awareness derived from self-practice. Consequently, the deeper meanings of martial arts as pathways to personal and transpersonal awareness are often invalidated in favor of objective and verifiable explications. In short, the role of consciousness is …

Pedagogical Escapism And Western Performativity: A Psycho-Aesthetic Critique Of Belly-Dance Adaption Symbolics, Maryam Farahani

Comparative Woman

This paper addresses positionality misreading in Western pedagogical adaptions of belly dancing. Raqs Sharqi, known in the West as belly dancing, is a predominantly West Asian and North African discipline and performance art with multimodal varieties, globally taught and practiced while crossing sport, narratology, and story-telling boundaries. As a unique performance activity, it portrays a dynamic entertainment space to connect one’s multiple identities. I argue that Raqs Sharqi, not only as an aesthetic-educational art form but also, perhaps unwittingly, reiterated as an Orientalist communication trope in belly dancing, has forged East-West performativity models. However, the historical education-literature for Western women …

From Sensibility To Critical Engagement: Sympathy, Animality, And Subjecthood In Wollstonecraft’S Maria And Vindication, Yingnan Shang

Comparative Woman

This paper examines Mary Wollstonecraft’s strategic use of sentimental animal tropes alongside rationalist critique in Maria, or The Wrongs of Woman (1798) and A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792), arguing that she mobilizes sensibility not as an end in itself, but as a pedagogical instrument within a broader project of aesthetic education—one intended to move readers from affective sympathy toward political and philosophical judgment. Focusing in particular on animal metaphors—especially in the character of Jemima, who repeatedly figures herself as a domesticated and brutalized creature—I trace how Wollstonecraft employs tropes of animality to illuminate the processes by which …

The Game Of Chance, Alieth Caceres

First-Gen Voices: Creative and Critical Narratives on the First-Generation College Experience

Through my first semester at college, I was faced with the capability of not coming back due to being from a low-income family. Being a first-gen, I didn’t have anyone to guide me and I went from place to place begging for something to hold on to. My biggest goal for my family and I is to graduate from college and it is unfair that this opportunity will come short only because of financial problems. In some moments I felt all was lost, some telling me that I couldn’t and should just give up. All the connections I had reached …

Breaking Barriers First-Gen Experiences, Fiorella Salazar, Alondra Hernandez, Alieth Caceres, Aolanni Jimenez-Gonzalez, Alberto Martinez, Karol Martinez, Jesus Arias, Julian Melendez Miranda, Gabby Flores, Isabell Lachinpour, Jefferson Ramos, Annette Gomez, Zahir Pineda, Alejandra Rodriguez, Carla Bueno

First-Gen Voices: Creative and Critical Narratives on the First-Generation College Experience

In Breaking Barriers: First-Gen Experiences, first-gen students showcased their stories through poems, art, research, and personal reflections. Every story reflects resilience and creativity as they navigate their educational and personal journeys with a first-gen identity. These are stories that we can connect to and learn from to further build bridges for future generations in The First to Go Program!

An Outline History Of The Unionisation Of Hotel, Restaurant And Catering Workers In Dublin, Norman Croke

European Journal of Food Drink and Society

George Orwell in his classic Down and Out in Paris and London described the hotel industry’s work system as an elaborate caste system, with a prestige graded system to that of a soldier. The elaborate management system placed the manager at the top, followed by the maître d’hôtel, head waiter, head cook, chef du personnel, other cooks, waiters, laundress, apprentices, the plongeurs (menial tasks in the restaurant), chambermaids and cafetières, in that order. A key feature of hotels was the division of labour from the concierge, who looks after arrivals and departures, to the porter, receptionist, housekeeping, restaurant, the maître …

Culinary Collections In The National Library Of Ireland, Joanne Carroll, Nora Thornton

European Journal of Food Drink and Society

The National Library has been collecting, preserving and making the documentary heritage of Ireland available to the public since 1877 and cares for over 12 million items today. In 1926 it became a legal deposit Library so by law one copy of each book and periodical published in the Republic of Ireland must be deposited here. The NLI also acquires books and manuscripts through purchases, such as auctions or private sales and we receive donations of materials into our collections, from individuals and organisations. The Library is made up of different departments including Published Collections, Special Collections and Digital Collections …

Jennie Moran - How To Soften Corners, Kevin A. Griffin

European Journal of Food Drink and Society

No abstract provided.

Jp Mcmahon - An Irish Food Story: 100 Foods That Made Us, Gabrielle Kathleen Machnik-Kekesi

European Journal of Food Drink and Society

No abstract provided.

Breaking The Mould: The Origins Of Irish Farmhouse Cheese In The Countercultures Of The 1970s And 1980s, Finbar Deery

European Journal of Food Drink and Society

This article examines the origins of farmhouse cheese in Ireland, which began in West Cork in 1974 with the creation of Milleens by Veronica Steele. This new farmhouse cheese industry is an example of food production that had no comparable reference in Ireland at the time. The farmhouse cheese industry is examined as an expression of a growing countercultural movement on the island in the 1970s and 1980s. This paper argues that the re-emergence of small-scale cheese production in Ireland is one expression of broader changes in the country and is both connected to and instrumental in the development of …

The Battle To Brand And Market Irish Beef—1950–73, Declan O'Brien

European Journal of Food Drink and Society

This article examines the controversy around the marketing of Irish beef up to Ireland’s entry into the EEC in 1973. The internal industry wrangle simmered from the birth of the modern processing industry in the 1950s but burst into life following the collapse in beef farmer incomes in the late 1960s. The article will explore how the Department of Agriculture and successive ministers for agriculture sought to navigate a middle line between the conflicting positions of the farm organisations and meat factory owners. While the National Farmers’ Association (NFA) and the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers’ Association (ICMSA) consistently called for …

Agricultural Extension In Ireland: A Century Of Continuity And Change, Mícheál Ó Fathartaigh, Áine Macken-Walsh, Monica Gorman

European Journal of Food Drink and Society

In 1901, Ireland had the largest publicly funded professional extension service – agricultural scientists helping farmers to farm better – relatively, in the world. Utilising a wide range of historical sources and contemporary data, this paper provides a snapshot of the education and work of Irish advisors and their extension activities then and now. It identifies what has changed and what has not, showing key influences on Ireland’s current advisory services. Education for advisors 100 years ago was characterised by gender segregation, with less capacity and diversity. Continuity in the work of advisors then and now is shown in a …

Why The Irish Don’T Eat Offal, Niall Toner

European Journal of Food Drink and Society

In the past fifty years or so, the diverse and colourful displays of animal offal and organ meats that used to be seen in butchers’ shop windows in Ireland, as well as in the UK and America, have all but disappeared. In Ireland, which has seen a gastronomic renaissance in more recent times, these traditional foodstuffs appear to have been slow to return to our plates. But have offal and organ meats a place in the future of the cuisine, and can the increased consumption of offal and organ meats, produced locally, contribute towards a more sustainable food production system, …

“Add What You Think Proper”: Exploring The Culinary Narrative Of Newbridge House Through The Cobbe Recipe Book (1806–1838) And Archive, Cathal Dowd Smith

European Journal of Food Drink and Society

Newbridge House, in north County Dublin, was built in 1747 by Archbishop of Dublin, Charles Cobbe to designs by prominent architect James Gibbs. Having arrived in Ireland in 1717, acquiring land and ecclesiastical promotion, Cobbe settled in north Dublin and built a house in the Palladian vision for his family. In 1755 his heir and sole surviving son Thomas married Lady Elizabeth ‘Betty’ Beresford, daughter of the 1st earl of Tyrone. Together Thomas and Lady Betty assembled an art collection at Newbridge, extending the house for that purpose. Included in that extension were more bedrooms, but, importantly here, increased servants’ …

The History Of Dublin Coddle And Its Significance As Part Of Ireland’S Intangible Cultural Heritage, Sinéad Mcglynn, Máirtín Mac Con Iomaire

European Journal of Food Drink and Society

Dublin coddle is held in great affection by generations of Dubliners and is a significant cultural identifier, yet to date there has been little or no academic research into its historical origins. Dublin coddle is a divisive dish which appears to be linked with the capital city, with almost tribal associations, where other ‘tribes’ refuse to consume it. This study argues for the inclusion of Dublin coddle-making, a regional dish made with sausages, ham or bacon, potatoes and onions, as part of Ireland’s Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) as set out by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). …

Food Traditions In The Folklore Of Oíche Shamhna (Halloween): An Exploratory Study Of Food In The Schools’ Collection 1937–39, Caitríona Nic Philibín

European Journal of Food Drink and Society

Oíche Shamhna or Halloween marks the end of the harvest, the beginning of winter and the last of the four Quarter Days of the Irish calendar year. While food is plentiful at this time of year, food specific studies of this feast day are few. Through archival research this paper explores food traditions at Oíche Shamhna found in the Schools’ Collection 1937–’39 (folklore collected from more than 50,000 schoolchildren in Ireland). Analysis of a sample taken from the Collection reveals four main themes: ‘Games,’ ‘Games with Divinations,’ ‘Supernatural,’ and ‘Cakes and dishes in general.’ Within these themes the significance of …

Feasts Of Prestige: Political Hospitality In The Early Irish Sagas Through The Framework Of Dietler’S Commensal Politics, Elizabeth Waters, Elaine Mahon

European Journal of Food Drink and Society

This exploratory article appliesMichael Dietler’s framework of commensal politics to representations of feasting in the early Irish sagas preserved in Irish medieval literature. Although set in a mythic past, the sagas reflect the social and political structures of early medieval Ireland, where feasting was a ritualised means by which social hierarchies were expressed, and political relationships were defined. Dietler’s model centres on three types of feasts: empowering feasts, patron-role feasts, and diacritical feasts, each with defining characteristics that contribute in distinct ways to the social order. Viewed through the interpretive lens of this framework, this study reveals that, similar to …

Editorial, Mairtin Mac Con Iomaire, Dorothy Cashman, Michelle Share

European Journal of Food Drink and Society

No abstract provided.

Cover And Table Of Contents

European Journal of Food Drink and Society

No abstract provided.

"Breaking Barriers: First-Gen Experiences", Julian Melendez Miranda

First-Gen Voices: Creative and Critical Narratives on the First-Generation College Experience

Journey to college as a first-generation student, navigating challenges and self-doubt.

First Gen Voices, Jesus Arias

First-Gen Voices: Creative and Critical Narratives on the First-Generation College Experience

Looking back at my first semester, I’ve made some truly fond memories. Starting off with an amazing group of people in the program and going on our retreat helped me find a community I could rely on. This community has remained by my side, even during challenging times, and for that, I’ll always be grateful. Whether it was tackling escape rooms or being part of First Year Seminar, the first-gen community has shown itself to be incredibly strong and tightly connected.

The First Generation, Alberto Martinez

First-Gen Voices: Creative and Critical Narratives on the First-Generation College Experience

My poem basically describes how I feel as a first-generation student is. Many of us including myself, felt as if we were alone, not knowing if we have someone by our side, but through our experience, we do share a common ground. First to go is a place where we all can share that and is a place where we do not have to be alone but have the support of those around us who can relate to how we feel.

Roots, Aolanni Jimenez-Gonzalez

First-Gen Voices: Creative and Critical Narratives on the First-Generation College Experience

This poem closely focuses on my experience and acceptance of my first-generation identity. Language is a symbol of my heritage from my family and how I carry hope and resilience as I navigate my everyday life. I want to depict my journey through language and how it serves as a powerful source to communicate with my loved ones and others. While appreciating the roots and strength of my family and striving to live out my dreams and be the first of many to come.

Balance, Alondra Hernandez

First-Gen Voices: Creative and Critical Narratives on the First-Generation College Experience

Through the poem, I wanted to explain my journey as a First Gen student who was struggling to balance school and work. I also wanted to represent the many students who are facing the same fight everyday. My hope was to show encouragement and motivation to keep going.Making sure to remind yourself to live each day knowing you're doing your best.