Liturgical texts and practices in the ancient world. This project aims to reconstruct the liturgical life of one of the most diverse and influential religious traditions across Eurasia, from Roman Egypt to early modern China: the Manichaeans. It investigates cultural adaptation, chronological development and unity of practice in a deeper manner that helps support the discipline of religious studies more generally. It expects to generate new knowledge through the critical editing of complex texts ....Liturgical texts and practices in the ancient world. This project aims to reconstruct the liturgical life of one of the most diverse and influential religious traditions across Eurasia, from Roman Egypt to early modern China: the Manichaeans. It investigates cultural adaptation, chronological development and unity of practice in a deeper manner that helps support the discipline of religious studies more generally. It expects to generate new knowledge through the critical editing of complex texts and the employment of emergent methodologies for an integrated, holistic understanding of community literatures in terms of lived religion. Expected outcomes are advances to methodology and the profiling of one aspect of the ancient world.Read moreRead less
Transforming the East: Jesuit Translations of the Confucian Classics. The Jesuit translations of the Confucian canon not only provided the first European window into Chinese philosophy but also changed the intellectual and cultural history of Europe. This project examines the rich history of these translations and their dissemination, and interrogates how Confucian ideas influenced the development of Enlightenment philosophy. It will produce the first comprehensive history of these translations ....Transforming the East: Jesuit Translations of the Confucian Classics. The Jesuit translations of the Confucian canon not only provided the first European window into Chinese philosophy but also changed the intellectual and cultural history of Europe. This project examines the rich history of these translations and their dissemination, and interrogates how Confucian ideas influenced the development of Enlightenment philosophy. It will produce the first comprehensive history of these translations and make available to anglophone scholars primary and secondary sources in various European languages and Chinese. The project will advance our understanding of the personal and textual networks through which the first substantial philosophical exchange was conducted between Europe and China.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE230101136
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$428,416.00
Summary
Understanding Philosophical Progress. This project aims to develop the first unified account of progress in science and philosophy, by extending the noetic account of scientific progress into an account of philosophical progress. According to this account, progress consists in increased understanding, i.e., in grasping how something depends on, or fails to depend on, something else. Developing a unified account will shed light on the nature of intellectual progress quite generally, as well subst ....Understanding Philosophical Progress. This project aims to develop the first unified account of progress in science and philosophy, by extending the noetic account of scientific progress into an account of philosophical progress. According to this account, progress consists in increased understanding, i.e., in grasping how something depends on, or fails to depend on, something else. Developing a unified account will shed light on the nature of intellectual progress quite generally, as well substantially advancing meta-philosophical debates about (i) the prevalence of philosophical progress; (ii) whether, and the ways in which, expert disagreement would undermine progress; and (iii) which philosophical methodologies promote progress.Read moreRead less
A life in time. This project aims to explore the connection between theories of time and timelessness in metaphysics and physics, and our lived experience as agents. The story of our lives is one that unfolds through time; ever changing and updating as we add to the store of memories through which we understand our past selves, and our store of intentions, through which we shape our future selves. Yet there is disagreement about the nature of time: about what time is and whether, in fact, it rea ....A life in time. This project aims to explore the connection between theories of time and timelessness in metaphysics and physics, and our lived experience as agents. The story of our lives is one that unfolds through time; ever changing and updating as we add to the store of memories through which we understand our past selves, and our store of intentions, through which we shape our future selves. Yet there is disagreement about the nature of time: about what time is and whether, in fact, it really exists at all. The project will look to determine what structure the temporal dimension must have if it is to support agents like us, and whether, if there is no temporal dimension, as some physicists suggest, we can make any sense of our lived experience.Read moreRead less
Islamic Bureaucracies and Pious Publics in Turkey and Indonesia. This project aims to investigate state support for Islamic practices in two large, Muslim-majority nation states, Turkey and Indonesia. In these countries, massively-funded bureaucracies allocate state resources for pious practices that until recently were considered outside the national interest. Combining the skills of anthropologists of Islam as well as a public economist, this project will ask which Muslim actors and practices ....Islamic Bureaucracies and Pious Publics in Turkey and Indonesia. This project aims to investigate state support for Islamic practices in two large, Muslim-majority nation states, Turkey and Indonesia. In these countries, massively-funded bureaucracies allocate state resources for pious practices that until recently were considered outside the national interest. Combining the skills of anthropologists of Islam as well as a public economist, this project will ask which Muslim actors and practices receive and are denied these budgetary allocations. An outcome of the project will be to establish the role in governance of these compacts between Muslims and governments. The benefit is to gauge the prospects for moderate Islam in the two countries that are known as the foremost incubators of progressive Islam. Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE220100387
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$352,000.00
Summary
Life without Birth: The Ethics, Politics, and Law of Artificial Wombs. This project aims to assess the morality of ectogenesis, the process of gestating a foetus in an artificial womb. Recent technological advances in non-human ectogenesis raise the question of whether it is desirable to pursue research in human ectogenesis. This project expects to generate new knowledge in social philosophy by inquiring into the value of natural gestation, the foundations of parenthood, and the interests of foe ....Life without Birth: The Ethics, Politics, and Law of Artificial Wombs. This project aims to assess the morality of ectogenesis, the process of gestating a foetus in an artificial womb. Recent technological advances in non-human ectogenesis raise the question of whether it is desirable to pursue research in human ectogenesis. This project expects to generate new knowledge in social philosophy by inquiring into the value of natural gestation, the foundations of parenthood, and the interests of foetuses during gestation. Expected outcomes of this project include an improved understanding of the costs, risks, and benefits of ectogenesis. This should provide significant benefits, such as resources for ethical decision-making in light of technologies aimed at radically reshaping the process of human creation. Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE230101329
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$432,355.00
Summary
Trading Privacy, Bandwidth and Accuracy in Algorithmic Machine Learning. This project aims to investigate the trade-offs between privacy, communication costs and accuracy of results when learning from users' sensitive data. The project intends to design faster and more accurate algorithms for a wide range of machine learning tasks by developing a novel and widely-applicable algorithmic framework. Expected outcomes of this project include new theoretical tools to guide the design of data-driven d ....Trading Privacy, Bandwidth and Accuracy in Algorithmic Machine Learning. This project aims to investigate the trade-offs between privacy, communication costs and accuracy of results when learning from users' sensitive data. The project intends to design faster and more accurate algorithms for a wide range of machine learning tasks by developing a novel and widely-applicable algorithmic framework. Expected outcomes of this project include new theoretical tools to guide the design of data-driven decision systems and rigorously analyse their performance and privacy guarantees. Privacy of individuals' information in data analytics pipelines is a key societal concern. This project should lead to significant benefits by strengthening privacy in these pipelines while also improving accuracy and cost-efficiency.Read moreRead less
Remote sensing to improve structural efficiency of high-speed catamarans. This project aims to develop a monitoring system to remotely measure ship motions, loads and ride control activity under commercial operations. Data will be analysed using advanced statistical methods to inform evidence-based design to improve both structural efficiency and passenger comfort. The research will impact on design rules used worldwide, reducing weight and increasing payload and transport efficiency for this cl ....Remote sensing to improve structural efficiency of high-speed catamarans. This project aims to develop a monitoring system to remotely measure ship motions, loads and ride control activity under commercial operations. Data will be analysed using advanced statistical methods to inform evidence-based design to improve both structural efficiency and passenger comfort. The research will impact on design rules used worldwide, reducing weight and increasing payload and transport efficiency for this class of vessel. A "Smart” semi-autonomous interface will be developed to provide on-board seakeeping guidance to the ship captain. This technology will have significant benefits such as increased ship safety, vessel longevity and improving passenger comfort for all types of vessels worldwide including high-speed catamarans.Read moreRead less
Religious freedom, LGBT+ employees, and the right to discriminate. This research aims to identify constructive strategies to manage religious freedom and LGBT+ rights in religiously affiliated workplaces in education, health care, and social welfare. The project will carefully describe workplace experiences, religious beliefs, and current legislation associated with religious freedom and LGBT+ rights. It will evaluate different policies and managerial practices in terms of their impact on religi ....Religious freedom, LGBT+ employees, and the right to discriminate. This research aims to identify constructive strategies to manage religious freedom and LGBT+ rights in religiously affiliated workplaces in education, health care, and social welfare. The project will carefully describe workplace experiences, religious beliefs, and current legislation associated with religious freedom and LGBT+ rights. It will evaluate different policies and managerial practices in terms of their impact on religious practitioners and LGBT+ workers. The research combines systematic empirical research with legal and philosophical analysis. It will produce findings that policy makers and religiously affiliated social service providers can immediately use to guide their responses to religious freedom and LGBT+ rights.Read moreRead less