Organisational leaders mismanaging business affairs are guided by performance pressures and/or greed while pressurising employees to follow. Unethical activities have led to stakeholder losses, with no accountability by individuals perpetuating the fraud. Corporate governance frameworks and subsequent reforms have been used merely as tick box measures, proving them inefficient in numerous corporate collapses. This study intends to explore and analyse the roles of personal and collective virtues in corporate citizenship. Developing from the virtues theory and using a mixed method of (...) three focus group discussions and a self-administered questionnaire of 119 participants from various organisations, the authors establish that personal virtues are important to portray ethical individualism. However, in a corporate setting, collective virtues are more important to enhance corporate citizenship, through ethical culture and collective accountability. (shrink)

When a scientific paper, dissertation or thesis is published the author have a duty to report who has contributed to the work. This recognition can take several forms such as authorship, relevant acknowledgments and by citing previous work. There is a growing industry where publication consultants will work with authors, research groups or even institutions to help get their work published, or help submit their dissertation/thesis. This help can range from proof reading, data collection, analysis, helping with the literature review (...) and identifying suitable journals/conferences. In this opinion article we question whether these external services are required, given that institutions should provide this support and that experienced researchers should be qualified to carry out these activities. If these services are used, we argue that their use should at least be made transparent either by the consultant being an author on the paper, or by being acknowledged on the paper, dissertation or thesis. We also argue that publication consultants should provide an annual return that details the papers, dissertations and thesis that they have consulted on. (shrink)

We live in the Age of Big Data. In medicine, artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms, fueled by big data, promise to change how physicians make diagnoses, determine prognoses, and develop new treatments. An exponential rise in articles on these topics is seen in the medical literature. Recent applications range from the use of deep learning neural networks to diagnose diabetic retinopathy and skin cancer from image databases, to the use of various machine learning algorithms for prognostication in cancer and (...) cardiovascular disease. Many factors are driving the adoption of AI in health care, from... (shrink)

I thought the paper by Kai-yee Wong and Chris Fraser was fascinating and insightful. Two things I especially appreciated are the clarity with which they summarize my views. I think they are quite fair and accurate. Second, I appreciate their suggestion that the way to deal with the practical problem of weakness of will has much to do with the role of the Background in shaping our actions. I think they are especially on the right track when they say that (...) the improvement of Background skills may actually narrow the range of real options for action, (p. 21) nonetheless, they do not decrease freedom. As they say, “It is a process of strengthening the self, and the agent is likely to experience the concomitant restriction of ‘live’ options not as a limitation but as strength of character.” (p. 21). That seems to me very much on the right track. What they are suggesting, and it is a powerful addition to my own writings, is that we should not just think of the Background as facilitating languages, games and social practices generally, but for morality as well (p. 23). (shrink)

This article presents a theoretical model of the self processes involved in autobiographical memories and proposes competing hypotheses for the role of visual perspective in autobiographical memory retrieval. Autobiographical memories can be retrieved from either the 1st person perspective, in which individuals see the event through their own eyes, or from the 3rd person perspective, in which individuals see themselves and the event from the perspective of an external observer. A growing body of research suggests that the visual perspective from (...) which a memory is retrieved has important implications for a person’s thoughts, feelings, and goals, and is integrally related to a host of self-evaluative processes. We review the relevant research literature, present our theoretical model, and outline directions for future research. (shrink)

Designing an ontology that meets the needs of end-users, e.g., a medical team, is critical to support the reasoning with data. Therefore, an ontology design should be driven by the constant and efficient validation of end-users needs. However, there is not an existing standard process in knowledge engineering that guides the ontology design with the required quality. There are several ontology design processes, which range from iterative to sequential, but they fail to ensure the practical application of an ontology and (...) to quantitatively validate end-user requirements through the evolution of an ontology. In this paper, an ontology design process is proposed, which is driven by end-user requirements, defined as Competency Questions (CQs). The process is called CQ-Driven Ontology DEsign Process (CODEP) and it includes activities that validate and verify the incremental design of an ontology through metrics based on defined CQs. CODEP has also been applied in the design and development of an ontology in the context of a Mexican Hospital for supporting Neurologist specialists. The specialists were involved, during the application of CODEP, in collecting quality measurements and validating the ontology increments. This application can demonstrate the feasibility of CODEP to deliver ontologies with similar requirements in other contexts. (shrink)

Lemogne and colleagues offer an interesting extension to their previous work on visual perspective and depression: Individuals at-risk for depression , without a history of mood disorders, report retrieval of positive memories from the 3rd person perspective. Their findings suggest that the retrieval of positive experiences from the 3rd person perspective may be a risk-factor for depression, not just a lingering consequence of it. Their study, however, also reports a genetic association in a severely underpowered sample. Rather than focusing on (...) gene x environment interactions, which large, well-powered studies on related phenotypes have failed to detect, a greater understanding of the phenomenology of visual perspective may be a more fruitful avenue for future research. (shrink)

In this paper we present two types of logics and \ ) where certain p-adic functions are associated to propositional formulas. Logics of the former type are p-adic valued probability logics. In each of these logics we use probability formulas K r,ρ α and D ρ α,β which enable us to make sentences of the form “the probability of α belongs to the p-adic ball with the center r and the radius ρ”, and “the p-adic distance between the probabilities of (...) α and β is less than or equal to ρ”, respectively. Logics of the later type formalize processes of thinking where information are coded by p-adic numbers. We use the same operators as above, but in this formalism K r,ρ α means “the p-adic code of the information α belongs to the p-adic ball with the center r and the radius ρ”, while D ρ α,β means “the p-adic distance between codes of α and β are less than or equal to ρ”. The corresponding strongly complete axiom systems are presented and decidability of the satisfiability problem for each logic is proved. (shrink)

Naturalistic theories of disease appeal to concepts of biological function, and use the notion of dysfunction as the basis of their definitions. Debates in the philosophy of biology demonstrate how attributing functions in organisms and establishing the function-dysfunction distinction is by no means straightforward. This problematization of functional ascription has undermined naturalistic theories and led some authors to abandon the concept of dysfunction, favoring instead definitions based in normative criteria or phenomenological approaches. Although this work has enhanced our understanding of (...) disease and illness, we need not necessarily abandon naturalistic concepts of function and dysfunction in the disease debate. This article attempts to move towards a new naturalistic theory of disease that overcomes the limitations of previous definitions and offers advantages in the clinical setting. Our approach involves a re-evaluation of concepts of biological function employed by naturalistic theories. Drawing on recent insights from the philosophy of biology, we develop a contextual and evaluative account of function that is better suited to clinical medicine and remains consistent with contemporary naturalism. We also show how an updated naturalistic view shares important affinities with normativist and phenomenological positions, suggesting a possibility for consilience in the disease debate. (shrink)

The article presents musicological and existentialist philosophical discourses on renaissance and baroque structures in the works of two contemporary classical composers. The existentialist point of view is imposed due to the examination of contemporary music works in which historically conditioned practices are also found. Being and Time and Introduction to Metaphysics by Martin Heidegger serve as a starting point for the reflections. The two works D’Om Le Vrai Sens by Kaija Saariaho and Concerto Grosso “Sun Reflections” by Yordan Goshev are (...) stylistically very different but the first bears renaissance and the second – baroque features respectively. In consequence, Der Man or Das Man is defined by the opposition between renaissance humanism and the metaphysics of Being. (shrink)

There remains no consensus among social scientists as to how to measure and understand forms of information deprivation such as misinformation. Machine learning and statistical analyses of information deprivation typically contain problematic operationalizations which are too often biased towards epistemic elites' conceptions that can undermine their empirical adequacy. A mature science of information deprivation should include considerable citizen involvement that is sensitive to the value-ladenness of information quality and that doing so may improve the predictive and explanatory power of extant (...) models. (shrink)

Developing World Bioethics, Volume 22, Issue 2, Page 76-85, June 2022.

Informal science learning sites create opportunities for children to learn about science outside of the classroom. This study analyzed children’s learning behaviors in ISLS using video recordings of family visits to a zoo, children’s museum, or aquarium. Furthermore, parent behaviors, features of the exhibits and the presence of an educator were also examined in relation to children’s behaviors. Participants included 63 children and 44 parents in 31 family groups. Results showed that parents’ science questions and explanations were positively related to (...) children observing the exhibit. Parents’ science explanations were also negatively related to children’s science explanations. Furthermore, children were more likely to provide science explanations when the exhibit was not interactive. Lastly there were no differences in children’s behaviors based on whether an educator was present at the exhibit. This study provides further evidence that children’s interactions with others and their environment are important for children’s learning behaviors. (shrink)

This study investigates the interaction effects of two business strategies (differentiation and low cost) and human resource (HR) management (HRM) practices (recruitment and selection, training and development, compensation, performance management, employment security and work–life balance) on employee outcomes (organizational commitment, turnover intention, employee involvement and job satisfaction). These relationships are further analyzed on the extent of differences between public and private limited companies in Malaysia. Structural equation modelling (SEM) is used to examine the effect of the three variables and the (...) invariance effect of the two types of companies. The results show that HRM practices mediate the interaction of business strategy and employee outcomes. Furthermore, the effects of business strategy and HRM practices on employee outcomes in public limited companies are only slightly different from the ones implemented in private limited companies. Specifically, the moderation analysis shows invariance between differentiation strategy and variance in low-cost strategy. (shrink)

The book offers a novel exploration into the semantic development of English terms concerning the concept of 'joy' (bliss, cheer, delight, dream, game, gladness, glee, joy, and mirth). The author adopts a panchronic perspective, according to which language reflects the way speakers experience the world.

Over the last few years, automatic facial micro-expression analysis has garnered increasing attention from experts across different disciplines because of its potential applications in various fields such as clinical diagnosis, forensic investigation and security systems. Advances in computer algorithms and video acquisition technology have rendered machine analysis of facial micro-expressions possible today, in contrast to decades ago when it was primarily the domain of psychiatrists where analysis was largely manual. Indeed, although the study of facial micro-expressions is a well-established field (...) in psychology, it is still relatively new from the computational perspective with many interesting problems. In this survey, we present a comprehensive review of state-of-the-art databases and methods for micro-expressions spotting and recognition. Individual stages involved in the automation of these tasks are also described and reviewed at length. In addition, we also deliberate on the challenges and future directions in this growing field of automatic facial micro-expression analysis. (shrink)

From a rebellious young woman with a dangerous heroin habit to a globe-trotting fashion model to “First Lady of Yoga” (The New York Times), Colleen Saidman Yee tells the remarkable story of how she found herself through the healing power of yoga—and then inspired others to do the same. I’ve learned how to extract the beauty of an ordinary day. I’ve learned that the best high exists in the joy—or the sadness—of the present moment. Yoga allows me to surf the (...) ripples and sit with the mud, while catching glimpses of the clarity of my home at the bottom of the lake: my true self. The very first time Saidman Yee took a yoga class, she left feeling inexplicably different—something inside had shifted. She felt alive—so alive that yoga became the center of her life, helping her come to terms with her insecurities and find her true identity and voice. From learning to cope with a frightening seizure disorder to navigating marriages and divorces to becoming a mother, finding the right life partner, and grieving a beloved parent, Saidman Yee has been through it all—and has found that yoga holds the answers to life’s greatest challenges. Approachable, sympathetic, funny, and candid, Saidman Yee shares personal anecdotes along with her compassionate insights and practical instructions for applying yoga to everyday issues and anxieties. Specific yoga sequences accompany each chapter and address everything from hormonal mood swings to detoxing, depression, stress, and increased confidence and energy. Step-by-step instructions and photographs demonstrate her signature flow of poses so you can follow them effortlessly. Yoga for Life offers techniques to bring awareness to every part of your physical and spiritual being, allowing you to feel truly alive and to embody the peace of the present moment. (shrink)

As a doxastic voluntarist, I am of the view that what I believe stems from what I want. This does not mean that I believe what I want when I want. It does not mean that in desiring to believe that p, I can bring about the belief that p—just like that. This is not what doxastic voluntarism is about. It must, however, be noted that this is the very conception opponents of the doctrine hold. Doxastic involuntarists maintain that voluntarism (...) is based on this idea of "belief by fiat," where the relation between desiring and believing is close and unmediated—where a subject S's desire to believe that p directly effects the belief that p in S. It is on this misconception that charges of irrationality and incoherence are based. (shrink)

The paper deals with the epistemological problems posed by the application of the modus ponens rule in cognitive processing of distributed information. Distinguishing the deductive correctness of a rule of inference from its normativity for rational belief, we consider ‘counterexamples’ of modus ponens proposed in modern epistemology of logic that endanger not its model-theoretic validity, but epistemic rationality for boundedly rational cognitive agents. We explain the epistemic lacunas in the closure of knowledge according to modus ponens revealed by Dretske’s ‘counterexamples’ (...) by a variety of standards of validity that go beyond ‘common sense’. However, the epistemic ‘counterexamples’ of modus ponens proposed by McGee, Kolodny and MacFarlane require, in our opinion, an appeal to less obvious epistemic phenomena, which can be discovered by reasoning for interpretation. We demonstrate that the supposed ‘counterexamples’ to modus ponens do not conflict with either the epistemic neutrality of logic or its epistemic relevance to boundedly rational agents. On the contrary, the appeal to reasoning for interpretation, which is needed to resolve the difficulties caused by these ‘counterexamples’, helps to achieve a balance between the epistemic constraints of reasoning agents and the logical requirements for the correctness of their interpretive and deductive cognitive operations. (shrink)

Published data and studies on research misconduct, which focuses on researchers in Malaysia, is still lacking, therefore, we decided that this was an area for investigation. This study provides qualitative results for the examined issues through series of in-depth interviews with 21 researchers and lecturers in various universities in Malaysia. The aims of this study were to investigate the researchers’ opinions and perceptions regarding what they considered to be research misconduct, their experience with such misconduct, and the factors that contribute (...) to research misconduct. Our findings suggest that the most common research misconducts that are currently being witnessed in Malaysian universities are plagiarism and authorship disputes, however, researchers seldom report incidents of research misconduct because it takes too much time, effort and work to report them, and some are just afraid of repercussions when they do report it. This suggests possible loopholes in the monitoring system, which may allow some researchers to bypass it and engage in misconduct. This study also highlights the structural and individual factors as the most influential factors when it comes to research misconduct besides organizational, situational and cultural factors. Finally, this study highlights the concerns of all participants regarding the ‘publish or perish’ pressure that they believe would lead to a hostile working environment, thus enhancing research misconduct, as researchers tend to think about their own performance rather than that of whole team or faculty. Consequently this weakens the interpersonal relationships among researchers, which may compromise the teaching and supervision of junior researchers and research students. (shrink)

There have recently been novel applications of medical systematic review guidelines to economic policy interventions which contain controversial methodological assumptions that require further scrutiny. A landmark 2017 Cochrane review of unconditional cash transfer (UCT) studies, based on the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE), exemplifies both the possibilities and limitations of applying medical systematic review guidelines to UCT and universal basic income (UBI) studies. Recognizing the need to upgrade GRADE to incorporate the differences between medical and policy interventions, (...) the GRADE Public Health Project Group (PHPG) was convened to enumerate and address these methodological challenges. However, in light of our analysis of additional methodological challenges that arise for UCT and UBI studies, we argue that the adaptation of medical systematic review guidelines to economic methodology is far from straightforward and is in fact more challenging than claimed by the PHPG. (shrink)

Educators across the nation are engaged in well-meaning efforts to address diversity in schools given the current context of NCLB, Race to the Top, and the associated pressures of standardization and accountability. Through rich ethnographic accounts of teachers in two demographically different secondary schools in the same urban district, Angelina E. Castagno investigates how whiteness operates in ways that thwart even the best intentions and common sense—thus resulting in educational policies and practices that reinforce the status quo and protect (...) whiteness rather than working toward greater equity. Whereas most discussions of the education of diverse students focus on the students and families themselves, _Educated in Whiteness_ highlights the structural and ideological mechanisms of whiteness. In schools, whiteness remains dominant by strengthening and justifying the status quo while simultaneously preserving a veneer of neutrality, equality, and compassion. Framed by critical race theory and whiteness studies, this book employs concepts like interest convergence, a critique of liberalism, and the possessive investment in whiteness to better understand diversity-related educational policy and practice. Although in theory most diversity-related educational policies and practices are intended to bring about greater equity, too often in practice they actually maintain, legitimate, and so perpetuate whiteness. Castagno not only sheds light on this disconnect between the promises and practices of diversity-related initiatives but also provides insight into _why_ the disconnect persists. (shrink)

The purpose of this study is to encourage and highlight discussion on how to improve the teaching of research ethics in institutions of higher education in Malaysia. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with 21 academics in a research-intensive university in Malaysia, interviewees agreed on the importance of emphasizing the subject of research ethics among students, as well as academics or researchers. This study reveals that participants felt that there is an urgent need to improve the current awareness and knowledge of issues (...) related to misconduct in research among students and academics. The results of this study indicate a need for better teaching on the subject of research ethics in order to prevent misconduct in research. Finally, it concludes with suggestions that there should be a clear definition of research misconduct, to include consequences when engaging in misconduct; a separate research ethics syllabus for pure and social sciences should be conducted; research ethics should be implemented as a core subject, and there should be an early intervention and continuous learning of research ethics, with an emphasis on ethics training. (shrink)

Mercier and Sperber (MS) have ventured to undermine an age-old assumption in logic, namely the presence of premise-conclusion structures, in favor of two novel claims: that reasoning is an evolutionary product of a reason-intuiting module in the mind, and that theories of logic teach next to nothing about the mechanisms of how inferences are drawn in that module. The present paper begs to differ: logic is indispensable in formulating conceptions of cognitive elements of reasoning, and MS is no less exempt (...) from taking notice of premise-conclusion structures than the commonplace theories of reasoning are. Our counterclaim is realized in terms of diagrammatic reasoning dating back to Charles Peirce’s pragmaticism. The upshot is that pragmatist logic restores the premise-conclusion structures in argumentation, supplants reason-intuition module with logical content, and validates good reasoning as an indispensable resource evident to all rational minds that claim ownership of reason and understanding. (shrink)

Minimal residual disease (MRD), a measure of residual cancer cells, is a concept increasingly employed in precision oncology, touted as a key predictive biomarker to guide treatment decisions. This paper critically analyzes the expanding role of MRD as a predictive biomarker in hematologic cancers. I outline the argument for MRD as a predictive biomarker, articulating its premises and the empirical conditions that must hold for them to be true. I show how these conditions, while met in paradigmatic cases of MRD (...) use in cancer, may not hold across other cancers where MRD is currently being applied, weakening the argument that MRD serves as an effective predictive biomarker across cancer medicine. (shrink)

IntroductionTo explore academia perceptions and experience with unethical authorship practices in their respective institutions.Method21 in‐depth interviews were carried out.ResultsOur analysis revealed variability in experiences with various types of unethical authorship practices among the interviewees. Second, we found that unethical authorship practices are not so unusual among academia although the exact numbers of incidents are unknown due to the fact that such practices are seldom reported. Third, our interviewees revealed that the culture of ‘publish or perish’ could be the main contributor (...) to unethical practices of authorship because publication records are the main criteria for researcher's career evaluation besides, others, which are set by the university.ConclusionIt was suggested that the institution must play a proactive role in educating and promoting awareness on authorship guidelines, through education and training, ethical leadership as well as promoting the importance of publication ethics. (shrink)

The publication of Angelova A. «Conception of “spiritual eldering” of Z. Schachter-Shalomi» is devoted to research gerontosophy ideas of one of the leaders of the World Jewish renewal movement. The organic combination of orthodox Judaism, Kabbalah and Hasidism, as well as Christian, Eastern and Sufi mysticism engendered very actual doctrine of “spiritual eldering” to the modern world. Promoting, translating texts of Jewish thinker and reformer Z. Schachter in Ukraine and neighbour countries will help to improve difficult gerontological situation of today´s (...) world, to go beyond negative stereotypes of perception of old age and aging. (shrink)

Gender inequality, poverty, racial discrimination, and ecological catastrophes are some of the problems we are currently facing. While these problems may seem to be separate and independent, most of the oppressions could be attributed to the domination of capitalist patriarchy. Ecofeminism sees an intersection behind these oppressions—most of the oppressions could be attributed to the domination of capitalist patriarchy. With a prime focus on environmental issues, ecofeminism suggests that the attitudes and mechanisms behind the mastery over women and nature are (...) not only similar but are one and the same. For ecofeminists, environmental issues are feminist issues. A decoding of the conquest of nature and the... (shrink)

Although marijuana use is highly prevalent among university students in Argentina, little is known about the factors that distinguish frequent marijuana users from sporadic users. For this reason, the present study investigated the possible variations in the contexts of consumption, motives for consumption, perceived norms, and protective behavioral strategies among university students with frequent or sporadic marijuana use, and analyzed the usefulness of this set of variables to distinguish between these two types of users. For this purpose, a sample of (...) 1083 Argentine university students completed an online survey on substance use. In particular, this work was conducted with the subsample that reported using marijuana in the last 30 days. The survey asked about marijuana use and associated negative consequences, as well as motives for use, perceived social norms, and protective behavioral strategies. As a result, frequent users had a higher number of negative consequences than sporadic users, and a distinctive profile was found on a set of variables. At the multivariate level, cheerleading motives, protective behavioral strategies, solo use, and college party use discriminated significantly between the two classes of users. Overall, the findings revealed heterogeneous subpopulations of marijuana users that differ not only in use and its consequences, but also in contexts of use and in a set of relevant variables. These distinct subpopulations require different and specific interventions. (shrink)

RESUMO No presente estudo de casos, discutimos a produção de sentidos carregados com elementos prosódicos no começo da vida. Alinhamos essa discussão com observações de Bakhtin acerca de características da enunciação. Com esse alinhamento investimos em explicações sobre o status linguístico da prosódia nos diálogos entre adulto e bebês em situação de aquisição de linguagem. Os dados foram registros videográficos da interação de duas díades adulto-criança, uma francesa e uma brasileira, durante atividades cotidianas1. Nas análises, comparamos variações da curva entonacional (...) dos enunciados dos adultos com vocalizações dos bebês. Nos resultados discutimos como essas variações refletiram exercícios de posições axiológicas, discutidas no âmbito da apropriação enunciativa. Concluímos que os aspectos prosódicos são recursos principais para enunciação no começo da vida e vinculam as práticas com a linguagem ao desenvolvimento humano. ABSTRACT In the present case study, we discuss meaning production, which is full of prosodic elements in early life. We align this discussion with Bakhtin's observations about the characteristics of enunciation. With this alignment, we invested in explanations about the linguistic status of prosody in dialogues between adults and babies in the process of language acquisition. The data we discuss consist of videographic records of interactions of two adult-child dyads, one French and one Brazilian, both recorded during daily life activities.1 In the analyses, we compared variations in the intonational curves of the adults’ utterances with the babies’ vocalizations. In the results, we discuss how these variations reflected in practices of axiological positions, discussed in the context of enunciative appropriation. We conclude that prosodic aspects are the main resources for enunciation at the beginning of life and they enable the link between language practices and human development. (shrink)

Tumor necrosis is a common histological feature and poor prognostic predictor in various cancers. Despite its significant clinical implications, the mechanism underlying tumor necrosis remains largely unclear due to lack of appropriate pre‐clinical modeling. We propose that tumor necrosis is a synergistic consequence of metabolic stress and inflammation, which lead to oxidative stress‐induced cell death, such as ferroptosis. As a natural consequence of tumor expansion, tumor cells are inevitably stripped of vascular supply, resulting in deprivation of oxygen and nutrients. The (...) resulting metabolic stress has commonly been considered the cause of tumor necrosis. Recent studies found that immune cells, such as neutrophils, when recruited to tumors, can directly trigger ferroptosis in tumor cells, suggesting that immune cells can be involved in amplifying tumor necrosis. This article will discuss potential mechanisms underlying tumor necrosis development and its impact on tumor progression as well as the immune response to tumors. (shrink)

While pre-implantation genetic diagnosis is available and legal in Malaysia, there is an ongoing controversy debate about its use. There are few studies available on individuals’ attitudes toward PGD, particularly among those who have a genetic disease, or whose children have a genetic disease. To the best of our knowledge, this is, in fact, the first study of its kind in Malaysia. We conducted in-depth interviews, using semi-structured questionnaires, with seven selected potential PGD users regarding their knowledge, attitudes and decisions (...) relating to the use PGD. The criteria for selecting potential PGD users were that they or their children had a genetic disease, and they desired to have another child who would be free of genetic disease. All participants had heard of PGD and five of them were considering its use. The participants’ attitudes toward PGD were based on several different considerations that were influenced by various factors. These included: the benefit-risk balance of PGD, personal experiences of having a genetic disease, religious beliefs, personal values and cost. The study’s findings suggest that the selected Malaysian participants, as potential PGD users, were supportive but cautious regarding the use of PGD for medical purposes, particularly in relation to others whose experiences were similar. More broadly, the paper highlights the link between the participants’ personal experiences and their beliefs regarding the appropriateness, for others, of individual decision-making on PGD, which has not been revealed by previous studies. (shrink)

Francis Ysidro Edgeworth’s unduly neglected monograph New and Old Methods of Ethics (1877) advances a highly sophisticated and mathematized account of social well-being in the utilitarian tradition of his 19th-century contemporaries. This article illustrates how his usage of the ‘calculus of variations’ was combined with findings from empirical psychology and economic theory to construct a consequentialist axiological framework. A conclusion is drawn that Edgeworth is a methodological predecessor to several important methods, ideas, and issues that continue to be discussed in (...) contemporary social well-being studies. (shrink)

The history of economic thought witnessed several prominent economists who took seriously models and concepts in physics for the elucidation and prediction of economic phenomena. Econophysics is an emerging discipline at the intersection of heterodox economics and the physics of complex systems, with practitioners typically engaged in two overlapping but distinct methodological programs. The first is to export mathematical methods used in physics for the purposes of studying economic phenomena. The second is to export mechanisms in physics into economics. A (...) conclusion is drawn that physics transfer is often justified at the level of mathematical transfer but unjustified at the level of mechanistic transfer. (shrink)

The paper offers a formalization of reasoning about distributed multi-agent systems. The presented propositional probabilistic temporal epistemic logic $\textbf {PTEL}$ is developed in full detail: syntax, semantics, soundness and strong completeness theorems. As an example, we prove consistency of the blockchain protocol with respect to the given set of axioms expressed in the formal language of the logic. We explain how to extend $\textbf {PTEL}$ to axiomatize the corresponding first-order logic.

In my paper, I argue that a first-person perspective (the perspective of a patient/recipient of an action) pertaining to response analysis is significant in Confucianism given the deeply personal nature of Confucianism. It matters whether oneself or others is the patient of an action because Confucianism as a virtue theory emphasizes self-reflection and reflexivity of one’s response in self-cultivation. Moreover, as an account of role-ethics, Confucianism calls attention to one’s particular relationship with others—one reacts differently in kind, not just in (...) degrees, depending on whether one’s or others’ family is at risk. I also appeal to Thomas Nagel’s framework of objectivity vs subjectivity to help elucidate the Confucian position on the value of an individual’s particular perspective, distinguishing the person who is the patient from other people. Finally, I revisit the mirror and the one body analogy discussed by Shun and highlight their point of impartiality rather than objectivity as implied by Shun. (shrink)

Tomasello, Kruger & Ratner make the very interesting and valid point that the transmission of culture must depend on understanding others' minds. Culture is shared among a people and is passed on to progeny. The sharing of culture implies that the purpose of (and therefore the meaning behind) any given cultural element (behavioral tradition, word, or artifact) is understood. Because meaning or purpose emanates from minds, something about others' minds must be understood in order to truly learn some element of (...) a culture. It thus makes sense that cultural learning should depend on social-cognitive skills. But what exactly is cultural learning?There are two rival interpretations of the term cultural learning. In the first, one would define a given type of cultural learning by the type of social-cognitive skill it entails. For example, imitative learning would be defined as any learning of a cultural element in which another's goals or intentions are taken into account. This definition of cultural learning, however, would force Tomasello et al.'s argument into a circle: Imitative learning relies on this social-cognitive skill because imitative learning is defined as learning that relies on this social-cognitive skill. Such a circular definition does not do their argument justice. (shrink)

In his denial that language refers to anything but itself and in his undoing representation, Joyce anticipates contemporary developments in the history of critical theory. Contrary to modern criticism, Joyce does not abandon representation, the idea that language affords access to reality.

“Actionability” is a key concept in precision oncology. Its precise definition, however, remains contested. This article undertakes a philosophical analysis of “actionability” to aid in conceptual clarification. We map distinct concepts of actionability, arguing that each is best understood as a contextually objective category articulated to mitigate risk of “conceptual slippage.” We defend “interactive pluralism,” acknowledging the need for distinct concepts but also for conceptual interaction in practice. This article thus offers insights for both practitioners and philosophers, clarifying approaches to (...) actionability for scientists and clinicians and serving as a case study to test competing views on scientific pluralism. (shrink)

The tropical rain-forest regions in Borneo Island have in place various tough environmental policies to manage the economic use of natural resources sustainably. Nevertheless, their biological landscapes are struggling against unprecedented ecological assault amid rapid industrial transformations which have involved massive and irreversible exploitation of land resources. The main reason behind this mismatch of sustainable resource management vis-à-vis unsustainable resource use is the failure on the part of the policy makers to act under the guidance of certain ethical virtues when (...) attempting to translate environmental rhetoric in print to concrete actions in reality. Ethical engagement with nature is pivotal in helping to stimulate genuine efforts in environmental conservation. Field research in the Borneo tropical rain-forest state of Sarawak, Malaysia is able to identify and evaluate the distinctive environmental attitudes, values, and practices of the indigenous communities, and their implications on Sarawak’s sustainable land-resource use and to reinforce the importance of ethical leadership in addressing a myriad of today’s environmental challenges. (shrink)