In a previous paper in the European Review one of us discussed the positioning of the Archangel Gabriel in Annunciation pictures from the point of view of his chirality.1 By means of a very extensive database it was shown that the Angel is mostly represented as dextral, which favours his position on the left of the picture. We have now extended and improved this database. In the previous work we were able to discuss chirality in only a fraction of the over 1000 examples treated, because in many of them the Angel has his arms crossed on his chest. We observed that dextrals normally do this with the right arm over the left one. In 1073 examples from the third century (henceforth C3) to 1750 we found only 99 sinistrals. The period from C3to 1400 is very important, being more stable, so that the pictorial traditions of the Annunciation were established during it and it shows only two sinistrals over 100 examples. There are several hypotheses about the positioning of the Angel and Virgin in the pictures which were not discussed in the previous paper and which will now be treated in the light of our results. It is clear that there are two different strands: until 1400 the weight of tradition prevails, but after this period fashion becomes more significant, with great painters such as Titian creating a large number of imitators. After 1400, composition becomes freer and more complex and artists become more interested in the pictorial impact of their work than the iconographic impact. The new freedom enjoyed by the artists means nevertheless that some purely pictorial conventions acquire greater weight; they appear to rule the composition and are discussed in detail in this article.

Why did English lords build Gothic ruins, Flemish textile barons recreate medieval cities, and the Prussian elites restore castles?

Why does it feel that the time passes faster as we get older? What is the physical basis for the impression that some days are slower than others? Why do we tend to focus on the unusual (the surprise), not on the ever present? This article unveils the physics basis for these common observations. The reason is that the measurable ‘clock time’ is not the same as the time perceived by the human mind. The ‘mind time’ is a sequence of images, i.e. reflections of nature that are fed by stimuli from sensory organs. The rate at which changes in mental images are perceived decreases with age, because of several physical features that change with age: saccades frequency, body size, pathways degradation, etc. The misalignment between mental-image time and clock time serves to unite the voluminous observations of this phenomenon in the literature with the constructal law of evolution of flow architecture, as physics.

In this article, I claim that Wittgenstein was familiar with Hamann’s work, particularly with two of the latter’s original contributions: (a) the idea of transforming Luther’s concept of grammar into a critical philosophical and linguistic tool; and (b) Hamann’s use of a kenotic, impure style as a means to attain the humility his religious stance demands. I suggest that an understanding of Hamann’s style as a tool to achieve humility sheds light on Wittgenstein’s later refutation of the purity of the Tractarian style. As reflected in remarks published in collections such as Culture and Value and Public and Private Occasions, Wittgenstein – like Hamann – aspired to modesty not only in his private life, but also in his philosophical work, attributing it a religious significance. In this context, his later style of philosophizing, characterized by the use of everyday rather than metaphysical terms, the inclusion of impure concepts and humble examples, dialogue and fragmentariness, is a means to ‘dismantle one’s pride’, in the practice of philosophy conceived as ‘working on oneself’.

In recent years investor–state arbitration has faced a number of criticisms, such as the pro-investor allegation, the lack of transparency and the regulatory chilling effect. In 2015, the EU proposed an Investment Court System (ICS) in the investment chapter of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership negotiated between the EU and the US. This new mechanism is designed to improve the investor–state dispute settlement mechanisms, in particular the investor–state arbitration. A unique feature of the ICS is that it deprives the right of the disputing parties to appoint arbitrators. This is an apparent departure from the common practice of conventional investor–state arbitration, such as that conducted under the rules of the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes. This new approach seems to formulate itself on the pro-investor hypothesis that asserts that the appointment of an arbitrator by an investor will lead to the appointee’s bias in favour of the investor. This paper assesses whether such methodology is justifiable and necessary by discussing the pro-investor allegation and rebutting it with empirical evidence. This paper considers the challenge procedure as the more appropriate and practical safeguard against an arbitrator’s bias.

This study examines whether the financial market development and integration have affected the current account balances in the European Union (EU) countries in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) during 1996–2015. First, the results suggest that the higher bank credit flows have resulted in the current account deficits especially after EU accession. The larger pool of bank lending flows due to the foreign mergers and acquisitions has helped finance domestic investment. This has led to the larger current account deficits. Second, the results indicate that the larger stock market size due to EU accession has caused current account surpluses rather than deficits. This contradicts the findings of previous studies, which find that higher financial market development leads to current account deficit. Finally, the result confirms that financial integration has facilitated higher current account deficits. The European Monetary Union has eliminated the regulatory restrictions on cross-border capital flows. The increase in foreign capital inflows has helped finance the growing local consumption and investment needs, which has made the CEE countries run the larger current account deficits.

Public procurements have been high on the agenda of policy makers, decision makers, scholars, and other interested parties in Europe in the last few decades, as such procurements make up nearly one-fifth of Europe’s total gross domestic product. Nevertheless, not many attempts have been made to measure the efficiency of public procurement systems and accordingly rank European countries. The most important measurement that highlights this issue is the Single Market Scoreboard for Public Procurements. However, this scoreboard is subject to bias and numerous omissions, which significantly decreases its operational usage and deteriorates the real efficiency of public procurements. This article aims to rank European countries in an unambiguous, objective, and impartial manner by using the Composite I-distance Indicator (CIDI) methodology. Instead of using biased weights for individual indicators, assigned by experts, the CIDI method creates new weights in an objective manner. The study analysed 30 European countries. The results of the study are, to some extent, different from current practice for public procurement efficiency measurement. The novel approach to ranking provides an opportunity to interested parties to improve the performance of their public procurements by reviewing them on a multidimensional basis.

Due to attacks carried out by terrorist organisations, most European countries have placed this phenomenon at the forefront of their priorities in the field of security policy. The fight against terrorism has sparked a heated debate about the significance of security and civil liberties. The law on anti-terrorist operations of 2 July 2016 triggered the debate in Poland as well. This article attempts to answer the question of whether it is possible to maintain a balance between freedom and security. Therefore, the contemporary challenge that many governments face is not effective terrorist attack prevention, but rather an effective anti-terrorism policy whose provisions will not pose a greater threat to democracy than terrorists themselves.

This article contributes to the scholarly as well as societal decades-long debate on the state of democracy in the EU. The objective is to problematize, discuss, and come up with constructive ideas on the role of expert groups in the processes of legitimization of decision-making within the EU. The analysis is guided by a general research question: how could expert involvement compensate for an incomplete capability of legitimization through democratic representation? The empirical analysis of expert influence in decision-making is guided by a new modelling of the so-called Epistemic Community approach. The case chosen to illustrate the model is the authorization process of the emergency contraceptive ellaOne, within the institutional setting of the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) at the European Medicines Agency. The empirical material consists of interviews with eight members of the CHMP. To guide the empirical analysis the paper introduces a two-dimensional model of the epistemic community approach, which distinguishes between the institutional preconditions and the ideational motivations of expert groups. The results indicate that the experts within the CHMP had an influence on the policy-making process thanks to favourable institutional preconditions as well as ideational motivations of the experts themselves. Our conclusion is that there is a need for ‘institutional engineering’ as regards the involvement of experts in decision-making, to sustain the legitimacy of expert involvement, and level out the institutional conditions for experts’ influence on policy-making within the EU.

Through a panel analysis conducted in Bavaria, which covers two adjacent elections – the federal elections and the European elections in 2013 and 2014 – we examine the attitudinal factors that drive citizens’ propensity to turn out. We find that abstainers have generally low levels of knowledge, interest and sense of civic duty. National-level voters have relatively high interest, knowledge and sense of duty in national politics, but not in European affairs. In contrast, European- and national-level voters have high interest, knowledge and a sense of duty for both national and European politics. This finding contextualizes the characterization of European elections as second-order national elections. While prior research has established that voters make their vote choice based on national-level politics, we demonstrate that European elections are not national elections when it comes to citizens’ decision to vote. Rather, knowledge, interest and a sense of duty about national politics are not sufficient conditions for somebody to vote in the European elections. The person needs to have the same positive attitudes about European affairs as they have about national politics to participate in European elections.