The thrust of this paper is to take a reflection on Nigerian situation of religion and African identity. This systematic and functional position has become necessary in view of rich and deep insight into social functions of religion in building African cultural identity in a globalized world. This exploratory survey makes use of literary, sociological and historical methods and analyzed through culture centred approach. The result shows that religion has rich social functions and if fully tapped will build a cohesive (...) society and progressive African identity based on African cultural values. This will be achieved through collaborative effort of all sundry. (shrink)

Obnoxious labels are derogatory terms which speak extensively on the ignorant dispositions of scholars who either rush into faulty conclusions, or have prior decisions to promote class distinction through the uncomplimentary colours they paint of what others hold as divine, spiritual, and transcendental. For such derogatory terms to gain wide audience in a globalized age explain the frame of mind of discordant voices which have been based on arm-chair scholarship. The thrust of this article therefore, is to use Igbo experience (...) to explore the problems of atheism and humanism in a globalized world. The exploratory research will help adopt cultural centred approach in analyzing the dichotomy between the various philosophical view points on God, spirits and man’s religious belief system in Igbo land in particular and Africa in general. It is hoped that the analyses of the challenges posed by atheism and humanism in a globalized world will balance ideas, views, attitudes and behaviour that will reposition Igbo religious beliefs, values and practices in line with the proposed theistic humanism associated with Igbo culture in particular and African culture in general. This will breach the persisted conflict between the sacred and the secular pointing to a dynamic and progressive Igbo culture. (shrink)

Many research fields concerned with the processing of information contained in human faces would benefit from face stimulus sets in which specific facial characteristics are systematically varied while other important picture characteristics are kept constant. Specifically, a face database in which displayed expressions, gaze direction, and head orientation are parametrically varied in a complete factorial design would be highly useful in many research domains. Furthermore, these stimuli should be standardised in several important, technical aspects. The present article presents the freely (...) available Radboud Faces Database offering such a stimulus set, containing both Caucasian adult and children images. This face database is described both procedurally and in terms of content, and a validation study concerning its most important characteristics is presented. In the validation study, all frontal images were rated with respect to the shown facial expression, intensity of expression, clarity of expression, genuineness of expression, attractiveness, and valence. The results show very high recognition of the intended facial expressions. (shrink)

Die Maschinenethik arbeitet mit Künstlicher Intelligenz und Robotik zusammen. Sie bringt maschinelle Moral hervor und untersucht sie. Ausgangspunkt sind teilautonome und autonome Systeme, etwa selbstständig fahrende Autos, Serviceroboter, Kampfroboter und Chatbots. Dieses Handbuch liefert Grundlagen zur Maschinenethik, erkundet Anwendungsgebiete der Disziplin und stellt Prototypen moralischer Maschinen vor. Neben der Maschinenethik kommen Roboterethik und Rechtswissenschaft zu Wort.

This article, based on a desk study, connects African spirituality to the phenomenon of poverty and argues that mundane poverty alleviation strategies that ignore the cultural perspective of a people are doomed to fail, especially in the African context. Within this context, a domain such as transcendence is as ‘real’ to the people as the material world. This article delves into the alchemy of the traditions of African people from a Zimbabwean perspective in an attempt to understand some of the (...) causes of poverty. The authors aver that development practitioners stand to gain if they take into account such (African) worldviews. The article shows that there is a disconnect between western culture and indigenous cultural beliefs and suggests that it is necessary to use phenomenological methods to unpack this disconnect because the spiritual world can support or limit the extent to which poverty alleviation programmes are effective. This means that the notion of development rooted in western knowledge frames may require opening discourses that imagine different social ontologies to find solutions in an (African) context. Thus, the challenge for phenomenologists is to research culturally-appropriate approaches to development using phenomenology. (shrink)

Sethi and Schepers have identified an important issue for the global economy: Providing some mechanism for requiring assurance that environmental, social, and corporate governance information provided by a business is accurate and objective. Where they have gone wrong is in trying to change the mission of the United Nations Global Compact. From its inception, the UNGC has been clear that its mission is not to provide such assurance. This article first outlines the background for the historic announcement of the UNGC (...) by the then Secretary-General of the UN, Kofi Annan. Then a summary of the major criticisms of the initiative is provided with a focus on the Sethi–Schepers article. Finally, I argue that the mission of the UNGC, to gain consensus in the global community on the shared values and moral norms that will guide the global economy, is being accomplished, although it is a work in progress. (shrink)

Vom „Altruismus“ über die „Filter Bubble“ bis hin zum „Whistleblowing“: Die Sprache der Informationsethik zeichnet sich durch unzählige Fachtermini und Anglizismen aus. Das vorliegende Nachschlagewerk eignet sich für den ersten schnellen Überblick. In 400 übersichtlichen Beiträgen werden die Grundlagen erläutert. Die Erklärungen sind verständlich formuliert und bieten Basiswissen für alle, die einen schnellen Einstieg in die Grundfragen der Informationsgesellschaft suchen und sich für Informationsethik interessieren.

Alex Oliver and Timothy Smiley provide a new account of plural logic. They argue that there is such a thing as genuinely plural denotation in logic, and expound a framework of ideas that includes the distinction between distributive and collective predicates, the theory of plural descriptions, multivalued functions, and lists.

Islamic philosophy is a unique and fascinating form of thought, and particular interest lies in its classical period, when many of the ideas of Greek philosophy were used to explore the issues and theoretical problems which arise in trying to understand the Qur'an and Islamic practice. In this revised and expanded 2001 edition of his classic introductory work, Oliver Leaman examines the distinctive features of Classical Islamic philosophy and offers detailed accounts of major individual thinkers. In contrast to many (...) previous studies that have treated this subject as only of historical interest, he offers analysis of the key arguments within Islamic philosophy so that the reader can engage with them and assess their strengths and weaknesses. His book will interest a wide range of readers in philosophy, religious studies and Islamic studies. (shrink)

Orthodox neurocognitive accounts of the bodily sense of agency suggest that the experience of agency arises when action-effects are anticipated accurately. In this paper, I argue that while successful anticipation is crucial for the sense of agency, the role of unsuccessful prediction has been neglected, and that inefficacy and uncertainty are no less central to the sense of agency. I will argue that this is reflected in the phenomenology of agency, which can be characterized both as the experience of efficacy (...) and effort. Specifically, the “sense of efficacy” refers to the perceptual experience of an action unfolding as anticipated. The “sense of effort”, in contrast, arises when an action has an uncertain trajectory, feels difficult, and demands the exertion of control. In this case, actions do not unfold as anticipated and require continuing adaptation if they are to be efficacious. I propose that, taken individually, the experience of efficacy and effort are insufficient for the sense of agency and that these experiences can even disrupt the sense of agency when they occur in isolation from each other. I further argue that a fully-fledged sense of agency depends on the temporally extensive process of prediction error-cancelation. This way, a comparator account can accommodate both the role of accurate prediction and prediction error and thus efficacy and effort. (shrink)

Forecasting is an integral part of the planning process and analogously without forecasting we cannot even attempt to understand all the complexity of today’s world, the phenomena and processes that occur in it, the complexity of situations and systems if we do not face the need from their understanding and prediction. Analysing all aspects of forecasting is a very complex and difficult task, as it is characterized by great dynamism, complexity, and specificity. Therefore, the study of forecasting should primarily be (...) based on its full understanding and differentiation from other security management functions to avoid any one-sidedness. Forecast within the framework of this paper primarily has several meanings. First, significant specifics and characteristics of the forecasting are determined. Second, in the context of forecasting, the emphasis is on forecasting and prognosing. Third, theoretical explication refers to establishing the causality of forecasting and planning in order to perceive the dialectical relationship and connection. (shrink)

The way we answer the question, .what ought I to do?. goes to show what we believe about our life and the way to live that life. However we answer the question .what ought I to do?., we are prescribing a mode of -/- action and this action has a direct bearing on other people and our society at large. So the moral question has a direct connection with what society becomes. If we answer rightly then the impact on our (...) society will be salutary but if wrongly, the impact too will be fatal. So, what we do influences society for good or bad. -/- In this book, the meaning of morality and, ethics and how these can help in personal and national development will be examined. (shrink)

Von „Big Data“ über die „Künstliche Intelligenz“ bis hin zur „Sozialen Robotik“: Im Kontext der Digitalisierung gibt es unzählige Fachtermini. Das vorliegende Nachschlagewerk ist für alle geeignet, die einen schnellen Einstieg in das Gebiet der Digitalisierung suchen und sich für Fragen der Ethik interessieren. In 350 übersichtlichen Beiträgen werden die Grundlagen und Entwicklungen leicht verständlich erläutert.

The unification of microscopic and macroscopic models of brain behaviour is of paramount importance and Wright & Liley's target article provides some important groundwork. In this commentary, I propose that a useful approach for the future is to incorporate a developmental perspective into such models. This may be an important constraint, providing a key to understanding the nature of macroscopic measures of brain function such as functional measures like ERP.

Challenging Heidegger’s thesis that animals are poor in world while humans are world-building, in The Beast and the Sovereign, Volume II, Jacques Derrida claims that each singular living being inhabits its own solitary world, its own desert island. There, he claims both, on the one hand, that animals share our world and may be world-building and, on the other, that we cannot be certain that human beings share a world or are world-building (at least not in Heidegger’s sense as set (...) apart from animals). In this article, I trace the ethical implications of Derrida’s seemingly contradictory claims that we both share a world, and that each singular being, like an island, is a world unto itself. (shrink)

_This essay outlines the author’s professional trajectory, a good portion of which is a journey through what historian Richard M. Morse called “the strange career of Latin American Studies.” The author’s intellectual interests span several fields but center most often at the intersections of philosophy, women’s and gender studies, and Spanish and Latin American letters. Further channeling Morse, what one’s occupation is called, is far less important than doing one’s work with _cha cha chá.

This book demonstrates the vast range of philosophical approaches, regional issues and problems, perspectives, and historical and theoretical frameworks that together constitute feminist philosophy in Latin America and Spain.This is important while feminist philosophy was long dominated by Anglo-American authors. It makes available recent feminist thought in Latin America and Spain to facilitate dialogue among Latin American, North American, and European thinkers.

North Korea is under strict UN economic sanctions because it violated UN policy in its development of nuclear weapons and long range missiles as well as for its militant rhetoric. South Korea and Japan, as close allies of the USA, are unsure of the future. Is there a way to bring some peace and stability to the Korean peninsula? Some argue that this is a hopeless task as long as the current leadership of North Korea is in power. This article (...) takes a more positive stance and outlines a possible way forward. The study, following the position of the Heidelberg Institute for International Conflict Research, assumes that the conflict is at root one over ideology and power. The leadership of North Korea understands itself as “a revolutionary and socialist state” and is determined to continue to control the country through a rigorous and sometimes brutal government oversight of the culture. Although poverty and hunger are widespread, the people have little opportunity to be heard. What if the leaders of North Korea were persuaded that they could gain legitimacy through developing a dynamic economy that brought flourishing to their people and respect by fellow-nations in the global village? The article proposes to start this new adventure by developing enterprise zones in the North that would bring jobs and food to hundreds of thousands of North Koreans. To begin this project, there would need to be dramatic steps toward denuclearization on the part of the North in order to relax the UN economic sanctions. Is it possible? The article outlines a way forward. (shrink)

In our recent article, "Where Does Cumulative Culture Begin? A Plea for a Sociologically Informed Perspective" we commented on a fundamental notion in current approaches to cultural evolution, the “zones of latent solutions”, and proposed a modification of it, namely a social and dynamic interpretation of the latent solutions which were originally introduced within an individualistic framework and as static, genetically fixed entities. This modification seemed, and still seems, relevant to us and, in particular, more adequate for coping with the (...) archaeological record. Bandini et al. rejected our proposition and deemed it unnecessary. In their critique, they focused on: our reservations about an individualistic approach; our objections to the presumption of fully naive individuals; and our demand for an extended consideration of forms of social learning simpler than emulation and imitation. We will briefly reply to their critique in order to clarify some misunderstandings. However, the criticisms also show that we are at an impasse on certain crucial topics, such as the meaning of ZLS and the scope and nature of culture in general. Thus, we consider it necessary to make an additional effort to identify the conceptual roots which are at the very basis of the dissent with Bandini et al. (shrink)

It is commonly assumed that linguistically the Rigveda is a heterogeneous collection of texts. Since the early days of Vedic scholarship, researchers have tried to correlate grammatical properties with individual parts of the Rigveda, aiming at identifying layers and strata. In this article we review stratifications proposed in previous literature and assess the support for these strata by performing statistical analyses with allomorphic linguistic features that have been claimed to bear signals of stratification. In addition, we run a cluster analysis (...) exploring how the books are grouped given the same allomorphic linguistic data. Our results show that once we control for metrical positioning, prosodic structure, and content, the allomorph distributions do not lend significant support for any of the proposed stratifications. Moreover, the cluster analysis favors the assumption that book 10 occupies a special position, but overall differences across the ten books of the Rigveda are not substantial. (shrink)

The Earthquake Observers: Disaster Science from Lisbon to Richter, Chicago/London: University of Chicago Press 2013. 348 S., geb., $ 35,00. ISBN 978‐0‐226‐11181‐0.

This article analyses the relation between reflexivity and mediality (what makes a medium a medium) by presenting concrete situations of optical and specular reflections in literature and film, such as doubles (Doppelgänger) and split figures. Thus it can be shown that since the 18th century every medium is self-reflexive and that the concept of subjectivity has its basis in the interplay of reflexivity and mediality. The subject is an effect of medialitity as may be demonstrated by a new recapitulation of (...) Foucault’s famous Meninas-interpretation. (shrink)

The question with which the paper is concerned is whether beauty must be literally "objective" if there are to be any aesthetic standards. the same issue is discussed in ethics and the conclusion reached that no analogy obtains between the two disciplines. the suggestion is made, in conclusion, that adequate aesthetic standards are possible even though beauty is "subjective.".

The paper is an investigation of the concept ‘reflexivity’ and its possible relation to consciousness. By taking advantage of Knud Grue-Sørensens discussions of ‘reflexivity’ in his treatise Studier over refl eksivitet. En fi losofi sk afhandling, I discuss a number of arguments to the effect that there is an intimate connection between reflexivity, consciousness and epistemology. The idea that pedagogy is somehow essentially related to reflexivity is also briefly taken into consideration.

Medical ethics involve more than a prohibition against advertising or solicitation of patients, or a limit on the height of the letters on a doctor's office door. The true ethics of health care are the fundamental values that guide-or should guide-physicians in every aspect of their interaction with patients, their families, and society at large. Professional ethics is a complex and controversial issue, but one that must be dealt with in an era of increasing skepticism about the practice of medicine. (...) Medical Stewardship is a carefully reasoned historical and philosophical inquiry into the origins of our notions of medical ethics, and the ways in which a true sense of the doctor's proper role can be restored. Tracing the development of medical ethics from ancient times to the modern era, Dr. Kepler consides them in relation to the medical profession of today. He considers several areas seldom discussed in works on medical ethics: the exploitation of the patient, preventive versus disease treatment, ethical problems in medical education, drug abuse by physicians, the ethics of organized medicine, and some important but under-utilized roles of the physician. (shrink)