The idea of the Inner is central to our concept of a person and yet is far from being philosophically understood. This book offers a comprehensive account of Wittgenstein's work on the subject and presents a forceful challenge to contemporary views. Written in a non-technical and accessible style, it throws new light both on Wittgenstein's work and on the problem of the Inner self.

_The Contradictions of Modern Moral Philosophy_ is a highly original and radical critique of contemporary moral theory. Paul Johnston demonstrates that much recent moral philosophy is confused about the fundamental issue of whether there are correct moral judgements. He shows that the standard modern approaches to ethics cannot justify - or even make much sense of - traditional moral beliefs. Applied rigorously, these approaches suggest that we should reject ethics as a set of outdated and misguided claims. Rather than facing (...) up to this conclusion, most recent moral philosophy consists of attempts to find some ways of preserving moral beliefs. This places a contradiction at the heart of moral philosophy. As a resilt it is often impossible to tell whether a contemporary philosopher ultimately rejects or endorses the idea of objective right and wrong. On the basis of a Wittgenstein approach Paul Johnston puts forward an alternative account of ethics that avoids this contradiction and recognises that the central issues of ethics cannot be resolved by conceptual analysis. He then uses this account to highlight the contradictions of important contemporary moral theorists such as Bernard Williams, Alasdair MacIntyre, Thomas Nagel and Charles Taylor. (shrink)

According to the thesis of the extended mind (EM), at least some token cognitive processes extend into the cognizing subject's environment in the sense that they are (partly) composed of manipulative, exploitative, and transformative operations performed by that subject on suitable environmental structures. EM has attracted four ostensibly distinct types of objection. This paper has two goals. First, it argues that these objections all reduce to one basic sort: all the objections can be resolved by the provision of an adequate (...) and properly motivated criterion—or mark—of the cognitive. Second, it provides such a criterion—one made up of four conditions that are sufficient for a process to count as cognitive. (shrink)

Die demografische Entwicklung und der medizinische Fortschritt werden die Problematik der Ressourcenknappheit im deutschen Gesundheitswesen in Zukunft weiter verschärfen. Soll nicht nur kurzfristig akuten Sparzwängen ausgewichen werden, steht – wie in verschiedenen Ländern bereits geschehen – auch Deutschland auf Dauer eine Prioritätensetzung im Gesundheitswesen bevor. Diese sollte in möglichst transparenter Weise nach klaren Kriterien erfolgen. Eines der seit einiger Zeit häufig öffentlich zitierten Kriterien der Verteilung von Mitteln in der Gesundheitsversorgung ist die Eigenverantwortung von Patienten. Deren Berücksichtigung in der Allokation (...) von Ressourcen birgt allerdings zahlreiche Probleme. Der vorliegende Beitrag untersucht die gerechtigkeitstheoretischen Grundlagen und die praktischen Probleme bzw. die möglichen Konsequenzen von Eigenverantwortung als Verteilungskriterium im Gesundheitswesen. Auf der Grundlage eines alternativen gerechtigkeitstheoretischen Vorschlags werden drei Möglichkeiten skizziert, Eigenverantwortung von Patienten im deutschen Gesundheitswesen in gerechter Weise stärker zu betonen. (shrink)

Historically, scientists in training have learned the rules of ethical conduct by the example of their advisors and other senior scientists and by practice. This paper is intended to serve as a guide for the beginning scientist to some fundamental principles of scientific research ethics. The paper focuses less on issues of outright dishonesty or fraud, and more on the positive aspects of ethical scientific behavior; in other words, what a scientist should do to maintain a high level of ethical (...) conduct in research.There are a number of fairly specific rules, guidelines, or commonly accepted operating principles that have evolved for the ethical conduct of science. In order to discuss this code of ethics, this paper is divided into sections dealing with specific areas of scientific ethics. These areas are: data collection and storage, ownership of data, confidentiality, communication, authorship, collaboration, the peer review system, and rules of dealing with ethical complaints. Illustrative case histories are presented to provide examples of the type of ethical dispute or problem being discussed. If scientific trainees learn the accepted rules of behavior that govern the conduct of science, ethical problems that arise out of ignorance, misunderstanding, or poor communication can be avoided. (shrink)

Zur patientenorientierten Behandlung bei nichteinwilligungsfähigen Patienten werden aktuell der Einbezug oder auch die Entscheidung durch ein Ethikkonsil oder klinisches Ethikkomitee (KEK) gefordert. Damit die Entscheidung des Entscheidungsträgers durch das KEK unterstützt werden kann, müssen Zuständigkeiten, Besetzung und Arbeitsweise des Gremiums klar umschrieben sein.

Die jüngste höchstrichterliche Rechtsprechung zur Selbstbestimmung der Patienten und zur Normierung medizinischer Handlungen am Lebensende hat eine intensive Debatte ausgelöst. Das Urteil und die akademisch vorgetragene Kritik werden einer grundlegenden medizinethischen Analyse unterworfen. Sie betrifft die objektive Eingrenzung der Zulässigkeit einer Behandlungsbegrenzung und die Subsumtion des Wachkomas als irreversibel tödliches Grundleiden, das ärztliche Ermessen bei der Indikationsstellung, die normative Einordnung einer Ernährungstherapie am Lebensende und die Verbindlichkeit von Patientenverfügungen. Die medizinethische Kritik offenbart eine unzureichende Wahrnehmung medizinischer und medizinethischer professioneller Dokumente (...) und den Rückgriff auf medizinethisch veraltete Konzeptionen der Sterbehilfe durch das Gericht. Die Folge ist eine fehlerhafte Subsumtion der Wachkomapatienten in die Kategorie irreversibel tödlicher Erkrankungen und eine inhaltliche Schwächung der Verbindlichkeit von Patientenverfügungen. Beides bedarf dringend der Korrektur. (shrink)

In _Jacques Derrida: Opening Lines_, Marian Hobson gives us a thorough and elegant analysis of this controversial and seminal contemporary thinker. Looking closely at the language and the construction of some of Derrida's philosophy, Hobson suggests the way he writes, indeed the fact he writes in another language, affects how he can be understood by English speakers. This superb study on the question of language will make illuminating reading for anyone studying or engaged with Derrida's philosophy.

In diesem Artikel geht es um die Beziehungen zwischen der von Jürgen Habermas entwickelten Diskursethik und den Studierendenseminaren, die der Ulmer Arbeitskreis „Ethik in der Medizin“ veranstaltet. Zunächst erfolgt eine Darstellung der Kernaussagen der philosophischen Diskursethik. Sie liefert eine formale Argumentationsprozedur, mit der es möglich ist, die Legitimität strittig gewordener Normen im Diskurs zu prüfen. Anschließend wird das in Ulm von Baitsch und Sponholz entwickelte Modell der Seminare „Ethische Entscheidungskonflikte im ärztlichen Alltag“ vorgestellt. Da sich die Ulmer Seminare unter anderem (...) auf die Diskursethik als theoretischen Hintergrund berufen, werden die Gemeinsamkeiten und Unterschiede beider Konzepte untersucht. Der Hauptunterschied ist der zwischen einem Begründungs- und einem Anwendungsdiskurs. Gemeinsam sind den Ansätzen die grundsätzlich kognitivistische Einstellung und die „Spielregeln“ des Diskurses. (shrink)

ABSTRACT Many people now believe that human reproductive cloning – once sufficiently safe and effective – should be permitted on the grounds that it will allow the otherwise infertile to have children that are biologically closely related to them. However, though it is widely believed that the possession of a close genetic link to our children is morally significant and valuable, we argue that such a view is erroneous. Moreover, the claim that the genetic link is valuable is pernicious; it (...) tends to give rise to highly undesirable consequences, and therefore should be combated rather than pandered to. The emphasis on the genetic is unwarranted and unfortunate; rather than giving us moral reason to support reproductive cloning in the case of infertility, the fact that cloning requests are likely to be motivated by the genetic argument gives us reason to oppose its availability. (shrink)

Resnik’s argument relies upon an undefended and unjustified overvaluation of liberty. First, he overlooks some important arguments in favour of restrictions to liberty, and his consideration of the two he does review is unfair; second his account grossly overestimates the autonomy of our food choices; and lastly his mechanism for balancing liberty against other concerns involves an illicit double counting of the weight of individual liberty.

Eines der medizinischen Felder, in dem die ethische Diskussion um die „wunscherfüllende Medizin“ am intensivsten geführt wird, ist die Reproduktionsmedizin, die die Erfüllung des „Kinderwunsches“ verspricht. Strittig ist besonders, ob Sterilität als Krankheit definiert wird, die eine medizinische Intervention rechtfertigt, ob sich aus der Sterilität oder Infertilität lediglich ein Abwehr- oder auch ein positives Anspruchsrecht auf medizinische Ressourcen ergibt, ob legitime Fortpflanzungsmedizin Grenzen hat. Nach einer Übersicht über Eckpunkte der nationalen und internationalen Debatte beschreiben wir im zweiten Teil Ansichten zum (...) Status ungewollter Kinderlosigkeit, zum Recht auf Fortpflanzungsmedizin und zur möglichen Legitimität ihrer Begrenzung anhand der Ergebnisse unserer vom Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (BMBF) geförderten Studien. Während der letzten fünf Jahre haben wir u. a. Paare mit und ohne Sterilitätsproblematik sowie verschiedene Expertengruppen qualitativ und standardisiert befragt. Die stark divergierenden Auffassungen konfrontieren wir im dritten Abschnitt mit internationalen Standards, zum anderen mit dem „Capability-Ansatz“ und dem freiheitsfunktionalen Liberalismus von Sen und Pauer-Studer. Dies ergibt, dass die Bereitstellung verschiedener Möglichkeiten der In-vitro-Fertilisations-(IVF-)Behandlung nicht lediglich einen Wunsch auf Elternschaft erfüllt sondern als die gesollte Erfüllung eines normativen Bedürfnissanspruchs begriffen werden muss. (shrink)

We propose that institutions consider establishing a position of “Ombudsman for Research Practice”. This person would assume several roles: as asounding board to those needing confidential consultation about research issues — basic, applied or clinical; as afacilitator for those wishing to pursue a formal grievance process; and as aneducator to distribute guidelines and standards, to raise the consciousness regarding sloppy or irregular practices in order to prevent misconduct and to promote the responsible conduct of research. While there are compelling features (...) to this position, many complex issues need to be considered and resolved. We invite readers to respond to questions we raise in the text. (shrink)

Sterelny’s Thought in a Hostile World ([ 2003 ]) presents a complex, systematically structured theory of the evolution of cognition centered on a concept of decoupled representation. Taking Godfrey-Smith’s ([ 1996 ]) analysis of the evolution of behavioral flexibility as a framework, the theory describes increasingly complex grades of representation beginning with simple detection and culminating with decoupled representation, said to be belief-like, and it characterizes selection forces that drive evolutionary transformations in these forms of representation. Sterelny’s ultimate explanatory target (...) is the evolution of human agency. This paper develops a detailed analysis of the main cognitive aspects. It is argued that some of the major claims are not correct: decoupled representation as defined doesn’t capture belief-like representation, and, properly understood, decoupled representation turns out to be ubiquitous among multicellular animals. However, some of the key ideas are right, or along the right lines, and suggestions are made for modifying and expanding the conceptual framework. (shrink)

The Adaptive Toolbox framework specifies heuristics for choice and categorisation that search through cues in previously learned orders (Gigerenzer & Todd, 1999). We examined the learning of three cue parameters defining different orders: discrimination rate (DR) (the probability that a cue points to a unique choice), validity (the probability of correct choice given that a cue discriminates), and success (the probability of correct choice). Success orderings are identical to those by expected information gain (Klayman & Ha, 1987). In two experiments, (...) participants made choices in real-world environments with objective outcome criteria. Participant ratings indicated some appropriate parameter learning when the relevant cue parameter values were highly dispersed. Rated orders of cue validity and DR were less distinct than the objective orders—learning one parameter may be biased towards success by variation in the other. Success ratings capture the variation in validity and DR as well as participants' perception of these parameters. (shrink)

The following paper, by Dr. Walter Jaeschke, of the Hegel-Archiv, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, was discussed during the course of the meeting of the Nineteenth Century Theology Group of the American Academy of Religion which was held in New York City, November 15–17, 1979. It has been translated by Peter C. Hodgson, Chairman, Graduate Department of Religion, Vanderbilt University. The concluding sections of Dr. Jaeschke’s study, along with a proposal by Professor Hodgson for the completion of an English study edition of Hegel’s (...) lectures on religion, will appear in the next issue of the OWL. (shrink)

Im Zuge des „empirical turn“ der Medizin- und Bioethik ist von verschiedenen Autoren in den vergangenen Jahren die Idee einer „evidenzbasierten Ethik“ diskutiert worden. Die Analogie zwischen evidenzbasierter Medizin und „evidenzbasierter Ethik“ soll in diesem Beitrag kritisch diskutiert und dabei gezeigt werden, dass der Ausdruck „evidenzbasierte Ethik“ irreführend ist. Zentraler Ausgangspunkt der Kritik ist die unterschiedliche Bedeutung, die empirische Informationen für das medizinisch-klinische Urteil zum einen und das ethische Urteil in der Medizin zum anderen haben. Im medizinisch-klinischen Urteil können mit (...) Hilfe empirischer Informationen hypothetische Handlungsnormen generiert werden, welche auf den der Medizin inhärenten Zwecksetzungen basieren. Bei Fragen der Ethik in der Medizin hingegen sind die Handlungsziele selbst Gegenstand des Urteils; diese aber können allein aus empirischem Wissen heraus nicht zureichend bestimmt werden. Die Diskussion um die Möglichkeit einer „evidenzbasierten Ethik“ eröffnet weiterhin aufschlussreiche Perspektiven in Bezug auf empirische Forschung und den Umgang mit empirischen Informationen in der Angewandten Ethik und das Aufgabenfeld der Medizinethik. (shrink)

The ability to reason independently from one's own goals or beliefs has long been recognised as a key characteristic of the development of formal operational thought. In this article we present the results of a study that examined the correlates of this ability in a group of 10-year-old children ( N = 61). Participants were presented with conditional and relational reasoning items, where the content was manipulated such that the conclusion to the arguments were either congruent, neutral, or incongruent with (...) beliefs, and either logically valid or logically invalid. Participants also received a measure of working memory capacity (the counting span task) and a measure of inhibitory control (the stop signal task). Indices of belief bias and logical reasoning on belief-based problems were predicted independently by both measures. In contrast logical reasoning on belief neutral problems was predicted by working memory alone. The findings suggest that executive functions play a key role in the development of children's ability to decontextualise their thinking. (shrink)

Wie muss ein ethischer Beratungsdienst strukturiert sein, damit er in moralischen Konfliktsituationen im klinischen Alltag angefragt wird und die Ratsuchenden ergebnisorientiert unterstützen kann? Nach welchen Kriterien lassen sich die Beratungsgespräche auswerten und bewerten? Zur Beantwortung dieser Fragen werden theoretisch fundierte Konzepte ethischer Fallbesprechung aus Nimwegen, Leuven und Basel herangezogen; dies geschieht vor dem Hintergrund der Erfahrungen mit der über zehnjährigen Entwicklung der ethischen Arbeit im Ev. Krankenhaus Bielefeld (EvKB). Als Resultat stellen wir einen strukturierten, multidisziplinären Ansatz vor, mit dem in (...) den Beratungsgesprächen die ethischen Dimensionen unterschiedlicher Vorstellungen herausgearbeitet und möglichst einvernehmlichen Lösungen zugeführt werden. Am Beispiel des EvKB lässt sich zeigen, dass der ethische Beratungsdienst auch in Zeiten knapper Ressourcen implementiert und praktiziert werden kann und eine Gesprächskultur schafft, die zu neuen Zielvariablen führt; hier spielen der Perspektivenwechsel und die Prozessgerechtigkeit eine zentrale Rolle und liefern zugleich Ansatzpunkte für unsere eigene Evaluationsstrategie. Zum aktuellen Stand der Evaluation klinischer Ethikberatung wird die internationale Literatur kritisch gewürdigt. Erste konzeptionelle Ansätze und Ergebnisse einer eigenen Evaluationsstrategie werden vorgestellt. Durch die Offenlegung hoffen wir, die Auseinandersetzung mit diesen Themen zu intensivieren. (shrink)

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:NEWMAN'S PSYCHOLOGICAL DISCOVERY: THE ILLATIVE SENSE (V. Continued) 15. The Universals. A long and vehement dispute once raged about the reality of universals. Are they only mental creations, forged by the human brain, without any reality outside them, or have they some independent existence apart from their mental reality? Anyhow, there was an apparent contradiction between die universal character of our ideas and the individual character of concrete things. (...) The Scholastics solved this problem by drawing clear distinctions. An idea is an abstraction; as soon as it becomes applicable to a number of objects or things in the same sense, it is a universal idea. The "direct universal" (universale directum seu metaphysicum) as such has no existence apart from our minds, because an existing thing is always bound up with concrete, determining, individualizing notes, and it is these very circumstances or accidents which are ignored by the mind as it strips the thing of its individual characteristics. When the mind reflects on this "direct universal," i.e., on the abstract essence of the thing, it sees that this is to be found in many more things and that it is identical in all those things, and in this way the "reflex or logical universal" is formed (universale reflexum seu logicum). This same essence or quiddity is not really different from the thing itself, but the mind makes abstraction of all accidents, and this foundation makes it possible to apply this idea in die same sense to all other beings of the same kind, whether they are actually existing or not. In other words the universal as a universal has only reality in the mind but it has a foundation or a ground in the thing itself. Newman was not so well acquainted with Scholasticism that he knew and mastered the solution of the problem. As a matter of fact he approached it from quite another angle. Hence when scholastically trained minds read some of his statements on universals, they may feel shocked. They sound very curious, they seem incon418 DR. ZENO, O.F.M. CAP.419 sistent with each other, they apparenüy imply a negation of the objective reality of universals. This makes it necessary to compare the texts and to explain his meaning. a. Newman Inconsistent. We should never lose sight of the fact that Newman had no intention at all to enter the province of philosophy in the restricted sense of the word. "I am only contemplating the mind as it moves in fact, by whatever hidden mechanism,"1 that is what could be put as a heading to every page of the Grammar of Assent. And when he virtually deals with metaphysics, he wants us to consider his statements as hypotheses, or as propositions stated only by the way, and in this department he always wishes "to speak under correction." This explains how he could refer to the universale metaphy sicum and the universale directum in a very correct way without realizing he was teaching Scholastic doctrine. As far as I know, it is Professor Walgrave who has first drawn attention to this fact,2 when he dealt with Newman's alleged conceptualism. Newman states that "even one act of cruelty, ingratitude, generosity or justice reveals to us at once intensive the immutable distinction between those qualities and their contraries; that is, in that particular instance and pro bac vice."3 The same holds for the opposites: right and wrong, true and false, just and unjust, beautiful and deformed.4 In one experience, therefore, he sees a thing as an immutable, absolute quiddity, which objectively and in the same sense belongs to all possible things of the same kind, although the mind does not yet explicidy confirm this universal applicability. The contemplated quality remains limited to the particular case; but in its absoluteness it is stripped of all individual, changeable and concrete characteristics. This is the metaphysical universal of the Scholastics. But Newman also mentions the logical universal when he says: "As we form our notion of whiteness from the actual sight of snow, a lily or a cloud, so, after experiencing the sentiment of approbation which arises in us on the sight of certain... (shrink)

The aim of this paper is to find how much AI can be useful or as an aid in developing listening skill. A review has been made to past studies as well as the recent developments and innovations made by linguists and teaching community, yielding relevant observations. The present writing is an attempt at exhibiting how much the latest technology is effective which has been tailor-made to suit determined purpose directed at developing the listening skills of EFL learners. It is (...) well established being significant and continues to gain importance in serving needs of education, sparking interest among students and teachers, the latter for innovating delivery of lessons. Teaching EFL college level students uses English as the medium of instruction for language teaching subjects. It is, however, noticed that difficulties crop up at school, where the students use native language for learning syllabi-related subjects, and where it is noticed that there is low comprehension capacity in the learners that needs to be pushed up to learn second language with success. The present research effort has brought to light the difficulties experienced by students in English learning as they struggle to reach a reasonable level of learning with success. This is despite there being other materials to use where old/traditional system is otherwise thought adequate. Modern approaches were brought into use by which AI-powered tools have removed difficulties they used to experience learning the traditional way resorting to written prescribed books; they experienced that books were monotonous and boring. The researchers made quite a few studies in different educational institutions and recognized the ability of AI aided media to make listening skill learning and teaching of English interesting and easy. AI has enabled educators to develop material and make it user-friendly and student-oriented for facilitating language learning easy. Language Listening builds enhanced capacity enabling EFL students to hear sounds of words of English using AI-aided tools. The present paper has discovered the utility of modern virtual tools as significant in facilitating learners’ success in developed listening skill. Tools which are created using AI have proved very help as they extend tremendous help in increasing and developing practical listening skills of not only the teachers but also, and primarily, the EFL students. (shrink)

This research explores an innovative application of social media platforms, particularly Instagram live streaming sessions and language courses on YouTube, to improve proficiency in speaking and grammar of foreign language undergraduates. It investigated the effects of various social media platforms on language competence and to evaluate the relevance of these platforms to language teaching. The study used a pretest-post-test experiment methodology with a sample size of 392 individuals, who were split into groupings: Control and Experimental. To compare the means of (...) the speaking proficiency and grammatical proficiency scores, t-tests were used as an analytical method. The results indicated that the groups were not significantly different from one another on the pretest, which served as a baseline for the assessment. Nevertheless, the results of the post-test demonstrated a significant rise in the Experimental Group's grammar proficiency (mean = 74.38), supporting the first hypothesis, which states that learning a language through social media can improve one's grammar skills. Just as the control group showed no change in their speaking abilities, the experimental group showed a marked improvement, with a mean score that pointed to increased proficiency. These results show that using YouTube and Instagram in language classes is an effective strategy, showing that it has real-world applications and inspiring teachers to be creative in their methods so that students learn languages more interestingly and engagingly. (shrink)

A relatively high incidence of unsatisfactory review decisions is widely recognised and acknowledged as ‘the peer review problem’. Factors contributing to this problem are identified and examined. Specific examples of unreasonable rejection are considered. It is concluded that weaknesses of the ‘peer review’ system are significant and that they are well known or readily recognisable but that necessary counter-measures are not always enforced. Careful management is necessary to discount hollow opinion or error in review comment. Review and referee functions should (...) be quite separate. (shrink)

The WHO Commission on the Social Determinants of Health revealed that there is a 28-year disparity between the life expectancy in the poorest postcode and the richest postcode of Glasgow (CSDH, 2008). There are two sets of questions that it is important to ask about health inequalities like these: first, epidemiological questions about the mechanisms that cause inequalities in health and the measures that are effective in reducing them. Second, normative questions about which inequalities in health are wrong and why (...) they are wrong. The papers in this symposium result from the inaugural conference of UCL's Centre for Philosophy, Justice and Health (CPJH) and focus on the relationship between these epidemiological and normative questions. (shrink)

Ein Leitmotiv der medizinethischen Auseinandersetzung mit der tiefen Hirnstimulation (THS) ist die Beschäftigung mit Fragen personaler Identität. Da es sich bei personaler Identität auch um ein Problem der theoretischen Philosophie handelt, wird in diesem Aufsatz nicht nur die praktische Frage nach der ethischen Legitimation der THS durch informierte Einwilligung gestellt und ein modifiziertes Legitimationskriterium für wesensändernde THS erarbeitet. Vielmehr wird zunächst versucht, das Problem, um das es in der Debatte um THS und personaler Identität geht, besser zu verstehen.

Background: Detecting and classifying fish diseases is crucial for maintaining the health and sustainability of aquaculture systems. This study employs deep learning techniques, particularly Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs), to automate the detection of various fish diseases using image data. Methods: The study utilizes a carefully curated dataset sourced from the Kaggle database, comprising images representing seven distinct types of fish diseases, along with images of healthy fish. Data preprocessing techniques, including resizing, rescaling, denoising, sharpening, and smoothing, are applied to enhance (...) image quality and facilitate accurate disease detection. Data augmentation is employed to increase the model's ability to generalize to unseen data. The CNN architecture is designed with cascading convolutional layers, ReLU activation functions, and pooling operations to extract high-level features associated with fish infections. The model architecture, implemented using the Keras Sequential API, includes convolutional layers, max pooling layers, and densely connected layers for classification. Results: Experimental results demonstrated promising performance across various disease categories, with high accuracy and balanced precision and recall values for most classes. The study also discussed the impact of climate change on fish disease incidence and underscores the importance of effective monitoring and management practices facilitated by technological innovations such as Big Data, IoT, sensors, and robotics in ensuring sustainable fisheries management. (shrink)

Combining the methodologies of art history, aesthetics and cultural history, this book opens up new ways of looking at the phenomenon of ruins.

One significant experience in children's early life is watching cartoons. This activity has a significant impact on a variety of variables, including kids' behavioral and cognitive development. This study focuses on school-age children, namely those in the 4–13 age range. This study focuses on the effects of the Violence-Oriented Cartoons channel on children's entire development, including language, motor, social learning, social cognitive, and moral development. 500 samples from various ages of children’s Group A and Group B were gathered for this (...) investigation. This study aims to investigate the behavioral and emotional effects of exposure to violence-oriented cartoons on children. In particular, it aims to evaluate the effects of this type of social behavior, aggressiveness levels, attention span, emotional reactions, and the desensitization of violence in comparison to nonviolent cartoons. Using a sample of 500 children, 200 were exposed to non-violence-oriented cartoons and 300 were exposed to violence-oriented cartoons. The study used two groups. The study highlights that children who watched violent cartoons showed significantly higher levels of aggression, lower social behavior, shorter attention spans, increased desensitization, and stronger negative emotional responses than children who watched nonviolent cartoons. Study finds the importance of careful consideration of children's media content and suggests the potential benefits of limiting exposure to violent imagery in cartoons. (shrink)

The contemporary debate centering round the circumference of feminist discourse has of late been very potent in addressing the issues of certain prejudiced notions in our existing patriarchal structure. This paper is an attempt to show the ongoing paradox existing in the world of feminism which has thoroughly critiqued the patriarchal culture and has naturalized sexual identities, thereby glorifying man’s supremacy and dominion. The patriarchal culture lionized the ideals of brevity, courageousness, and intellect and thought of these as the only (...) special possessions of man in society. The qualities of being submissive, kind and caring in nature is considered to be “ideal” and exclusive qualities of a woman. Even though these qualities are “ideal” to women, they are discarded from being considered as universal in nature and are thought of as insignificant in the mainstream societal structure. These qualities are treated as inferior, and exclusively womanly and hence cannot make their stand in the conventional patriarchal social order. For this reason a dilemmatic situation arises here. My effort is to show that this dilemma cannot be exposed in the sense of gender specific human qualities. (shrink)

In wertpluralen Gesellschaften begegnen uns in der medizinischen Versorgung zahlreiche Konflikte, bei denen die kulturellen und religiösen Wertvorstellungen und Einstellungen des Patienten eine wichtige Rolle spielen. Besonders komplex wird es, wenn die betroffene Person nicht mehr in der Lage ist, selbst über die medizinischen Maßnahmen zu entscheiden. Ob eine Patientenverfügung in solchen Konfliktsituationen einen entscheidenden Beitrag zu einer ethisch angemessenen Lösung leisten kann, bleibt eine berechtigte Frage. Im Folgenden werden die ethischen Aspekte im Umgang mit muslimischen Patienten und die Nutzung (...) einer kultursensiblen und kultursensitiven Patientenverfügung bei diesen Patienten differenziert behandelt.Die Vielfalt an Haltungen zu Entscheidungen am Lebensende innerhalb der islamischen Welt, der Einfluss der Familie und traditioneller sittlicher Einstellungen, heterogene Formen der Religiosität und das Gesundheitssystem des jeweiligen Landes erweisen sich als wichtige normative Anhaltspunkte für die Anwendung einer Patientenverfügung bei muslimischen Patienten. Trotz zahlreicher Schwierigkeiten kann eine kultursensible und kultursensitive Patientenverfügung einen wichtigen Beitrag zur Berücksichtigung und Umsetzung der Entscheidungen eines entscheidungsunfähig gewordenen muslimischen Patienten leisten. (shrink)

The rapid spread and development of artificial intelligence technologies has raised important questions that have an impact on laws and regulations related to intellectual property. In light of this, the research aims to explore the impact of artificial intelligence on intellectual property laws and regulations, and to examine the legal implications of the innovations generated by artificial intelligence on authorship, invention, ownership, infringement, and enforcement of intellectual property laws. In light of the great concerns about its impact on intellectual property (...) laws and regulations and the uncertainty and ambiguity in the application of intellectual property laws, the researcher considered it a problem of the study as it leads to potential risks and challenges for creators, inventors, and intellectual property rights holders. The research followed the comparative approach to provide a view of the different approaches regarding this topic, and to help shed light on the main difficulties faced in applying the law in such an evolving context. The study reached many conclusions, but the most important of them is that artificial intelligence threatens office jobs due to its ability to generate high-quality content quickly and at a low cost, and intellectual property laws will continue to be breached, which necessitates the need for the law to adapt to establish rules of conduct and limits of human work, and recommends engaging in an international dialogue to unify laws and manage disputes related to intellectual property across borders. (shrink)

In the digital age, social media has become an integral part of daily life exerting a significant influence on various aspects of our society including education. This study investigates the impact of social media on the writing skills of students learning English as a Foreign Language (EFL) at universities in Saudi Arabia. The research focuses on the perspectives of EFL instructors regarding how social media platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, affect students' writing abilities. A quantitative research design was (...) employed, using a descriptive-analytical approach with a questionnaire distributed to 100 EFL instructors from various universities. The study's findings suggest that social media can enhance student motivation, provide diverse opportunities for writing practice, and foster creativity. However, it also reveals challenges related to the informal nature of social media communication, which can negatively affect adherence to formal academic writing standards. A significant majority of respondents acknowledged the positive effects of social media in enhancing engagement and writing quality through interactive activities and peer feedback. Nevertheless, concerns were raised about the potential promotion of informal writing styles and the need for targeted teacher training to mitigate these challenges. The study concludes by emphasising the importance of balanced integration of social media into the curriculum, suggesting that educators receive specific training to leverage its benefits while addressing its limitations. This research contributes to understanding the role of social media in shaping language proficiency among EFL learners and offers insights into developing effective teaching strategies that align with contemporary digital trends. (shrink)

This study analysis of social media marketing includes use of platforms to communicate with consumers, promote items, and influence their decisions. The process by which customers choose which products or services to purchase is known as consumer purchase behaviour. Data was provided for this study, which observed exactly how social media marketing distresses customer buying behaviour, by consuming 350 participants, 150 marketers, and 200 customers. It is understood that many social media marketing features distress and unfair customer decisions. Hypotheses remained (...) established to observe the relationships between commitment to social media marketing content, frequency of commercials, influencer content, and various social media platforms with consumer purchase behavior. Using SPSS logistic and linear regression analyses remained engaged to evaluate these relationships. Results expose that arrangement with social media marketing comfortable and influencer content positively moves buying behaviour. Linear regression analysis verifies these outcomes, proving the power of these relationships and the importance the effect of standard buying behavior. As that, the study delivers proposals concerning the way to use social media marketing approaches to increase consumer appointment and sales. Based on these insights, the study recommends optimizing social media marketing techniques to maximize customer interaction and improve financial outcomes. (shrink)

Agricultural engineers’ jobs are especially related to sustainability and earth life issues. They usually work with plants or animals, and the aim of their work is often linked to producing food to allow people to improve their quality of life. Taking into account this dual function, the moral requirements of their day-to-day professional practice are arguably greater than those of other professions.Agricultural engineers can develop their ability to live up to this professional responsibility by receiving ethical training during their university (...) studies, not only by taking courses specifically devoted to ethics, but also by having to deal with moral questions that are integrated into their technical courses through a program of Ethics Across the Curriculum (EAC).The authors feel that a suitable pedagogical technique for achieving this goal is the use of moral dilemmas, following Kohlberg’s theory of levels of morality (1981), with the final objective of attaining a post-conventional level. This paper examines the possibilities and limitations of using moral dilemmas as a pedagogical technique for training agricultural engineers. The cases, discussions, and evaluation used in the Agricultural Engineering Department of the Technical University of Valencia (Spain) are also presented. (shrink)

This study examines the relationship between social and emotional abilities and standardized test results among elementary school students in Saudi Arabia. The data was collected using a purposive sampling strategy, with the Social and Emotional Learning Assessment Scale (SELAS) used to assess skills and actual educational material utilized to provide standardized test results. Data analysis involves the utilization of descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation coefficients, regression assessment, ANCOVA, and subgroup analyses. The results indicate a robust and positive correlation between social and (...) emotional abilities and standardized test scores. The regression evaluation demonstrates the ability of these skills to accurately predict academic achievement. The ANCOVA method finds socio-economic variables as the primary moderators. The evident existence of disparities, principally influenced by gender and grade level, highlights the necessity for interventions that are specifically tailored to address these variances. Proposed approaches include integrating comprehensive social and emotional learning activities into educational curricula, implementing targeted interventions to address socio-economic disparities, and implementing strategies customized to individual genders. Maintaining continuous surveillance and assessment is crucial for fostering a comprehensive academic environment. (shrink)

This study aimed to use TED Talks, which are abundant with real-life examples of English language use, that might improve the public speaking skills of elementary-level Jordanian EFL students with learning disabilities. The study also aimed at identifying the attitudes of the students with learning disabilities toward using TED Talks to increase motivation to learn English. This research used a quasi-experimental approach. The present study included 68 female EFL tenth graders from the Irbid Schools for Girls, a public institution under (...) the Irbid Directorate of Education. The researcher created an educational program based on the TED talks. The pre-post-test was used to measure the students’ progress and a questionnaire was used to measure their attitudes to this strategy. The program seems to have created good levels of interaction among the students and boosted their appetite to participate and engage with the visual and audio materials presented in the TED Talks videos. The students showed positive attitudes toward using the TED Talks program to raise their motivation to learn English language. (shrink)

Visitor satisfaction at theatre festivals refers to the positive experience and enjoyment that attendees derive from well-organized events. This study evaluates the impact of various organizational factors on visitor satisfaction at theatre festivals, utilizing comprehensive data collected from 250 visitors and 250 event organizers. The research design incorporated detailed questionnaires and demographic data to assess key aspects such as programming and scheduling, venue management, ticketing processes, customer service, facilities, safety, and transportation. SPSS software had been used to implement factor and (...) regression analyses were employed to determine the relative importance of these factors. The findings reveal that programming and scheduling significantly influence festival success, while venue management and ticketing also play important roles. In contrast, transportation, amenities, and facilities had minimal impact. The cumulative variance analysis confirmed the comprehensive influence of all factors combined. These insights suggest that future improvements should focus on optimizing programming and scheduling while addressing the broader range of variables affecting festival performance and attendee satisfaction. (shrink)

ZusammenfassungDie von einem multiprofessionellen Behandlungsteam durchgeführte Symptombehandlung bei inkurablen Patienten am Lebensende erweist sich als hoch effektiv und verschafft den meisten Patienten eine ausreichende Linderung. Dennoch verbleibt ein Patientenanteil, bei dem auch unter Berücksichtigung physischer, psychischer, sozialer und spiritueller Bedürfnisse kein erträglicher Zustand erreicht werden kann. In diesen Extremfällen können Sedierungsmaßnahmen zur Linderung eingesetzt werden. Der Begriff und das Angebot der terminalen Sedierung sind in vielerlei Hinsicht umstritten. Eine Kasuistik soll die Problemstellung veranschaulichen und zeigen, wie die terminale Sedierung von (...) erfahrenen Behandlern als ergänzendes Instrument der Symptombehandlung eingesetzt werden kann, auch wenn sie keine perfekte Antwort auf unerträgliches Leiden in der Sterbesituation darstellt. Im Literaturvergleich werden aktuelle medizinische, rechtliche und psychosoziale Fragen diskutiert. (shrink)

Demographischer Wandel und medizinischer Fortschritt haben zur Folge, dass immer mehr Patienten außerstande sind, selbstbestimmt über eine medizinische Behandlung zu entscheiden. Dann sind andere gefordert, unter Berücksichtigung von Wohl und Willen des Patienten stellvertretend zu entscheiden. Dabei bieten sich drei Entscheidungskriterien an: Paternalismus, substitutive Autonomie (mutmaßlicher Wille) und prospektive Autonomie (vorausverfügter Wille). Keines dieser Kriterien garantiert für sich genommen eine optimale Entscheidung. Realistisch ist nur ein integratives Modell, das diese Kriterien pragmatisch verbindet. Je klarer im Einzelfall die Evidenz für den (...) autonomen Patientenwillen ist, desto mehr Gewicht sollte ihm eingeräumt werden. Dabei lassen sich konkrete Schritte benennen, wie die Evidenz für eine autonome Willensbekundung beurteilt werden kann. Obgleich stellvertretende Entscheidungen in der medizinischen Praxis oft von Ärzten, professionellen Betreuern und Richtern getroffen werden, gibt es überzeugende Gründe für die These, dass der nächste Angehörige am besten geeignet ist, prima facie als stellvertretender Entscheidungsträger zu fungieren. (shrink)

Digital evolution in the banking sector refers to the integration and development of digital innovations, such as internet banking, mobile applications, AI, and data analytics in banking operations and customer service measures. The research examines the influence of digital development on customer interaction strategies in the banking sector. As banks increasingly adopt digital tools to meet customer expectations for convenience and personalized services, the dynamics of customer relationships are changing. The study purpose is to understand how digital transformation influences customer (...) engagement, satisfaction, loyalty and challenges banks face in maintaining personalized interactions in a digital environment. The study looks into a number of factors, including digital engagement, customer satisfaction, service personalization, customer loyalty, service accessibility, trust and security. The study involves 600 banking customers filling out a questionnaire after being informed about the purpose of the survey. SPSS was employed to conduct various statistics tests such as, pearson correlation, chi square, and t-test the obtain data and variables. The result indicates a positive correlation between the adoption of digital banking solutions and increased customer engagement. Research results underscore the importance of continued investment in a digital technologies to maintain a competitive edge in the banking industry. Banks that effectively integrate digital tools into their customer relationship management practices are better positioned to evolving requirement of customers, leading to improved satisfaction and loyalty. (shrink)