Background Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a global threat to human and livestock health. Although AMR is driven by use of antimicrobials, it is often attributed to “misuse” and “overuse”, particularly for antibiotics. To curb resistance, there has been a global call to embrace new forms of moral personhood that practice “proper” use, including prescription, dispensing and consumption of antimicrobials, especially antibiotics. This paper seeks to reflect on complex questions about how morality has become embedded /embodied in the AMR discourse as (...) presented in the data collected on antimicrobial prescription, dispensing and use in human and livestock health in Tanzania, primarily focusing on antibiotics. Methods This reflection is anchored on Jarrett Zigon’s morality framework that is comprised of three dimensions of discourse; the institutional, public, and embodied dispositions. The data we use within this framework are derived from a qualitative study targeting human and animal health care service providers and community members in northern Tanzania. Data were collected through 28 in-depth interviews and ten focus group discussions and analysed through content analysis after translation and transcription. In addition, a review of the Tanzania’s National Action Plans on antimicrobial resistance was conducted. Results Application of the framework demonstrates points of convergence and divergence in the institutional morality discourse articulated by the Tanzania National Action Plans, the public discourse and the embodied dispositions/ lived experiences of human and animal health care service providers and community members. We demonstrate that AMR is not just associated with “inappropriate” behaviour on the part of drug prescribers, dispensers, and users but also with shortcomings in health systems and service delivery. Conclusion Antibiotic dispensing and use practices that may be associated with the development of AMR should not be viewed in isolation from the broader health context within which they occur. (shrink)

In Philosophical Fragments the pseudonymous author Johannes Climacus explored the question: What is required in order to go beyond Socratic recollection of eternal ideas already possessed by the learner? Written as an afterword to this work, Concluding Unscientific Postscript is on one level a philosophical jest, yet on another it is Climacus's characterization of the subjective thinker's relation to the truth of Christianity. At once ironic, humorous, and polemical, this work takes on the "unscientific" form of a mimical-pathetical-dialectical compilation of (...) ideas. Whereas the movement in the earlier pseudonymous writings is away from the aesthetic, the movement in Postscript is away from speculative thought. Kierkegaard intended Postscript to be his concluding work as an author. The subsequent "second authorship" after The Corsair Affair made Postscript the turning point in the entire authorship. Part One of the text volume examines the truth of Christianity as an objective issue, Part Two the subjective issue of what is involved for the individual in becoming a Christian, and the volume ends with an addendum in which Kierkegaard acknowledges and explains his relation to the pseudonymous authors and their writings. The second volume contains the scholarly apparatus, including a key to references and selected entries from Kierkegaard's journals and papers. (shrink)

Kenya’s land question concerns the distributional inequalities that were occasioned by colonial land policies, and which impact the country’s political stability. There are two main schools of thought that explore how the land question and attendant political issues may be resolved. These are the dominant and the subaltern. The dominant school of thought has largely informed Kenya’s land law system, but it has failed to effectively address issues around political stability. This has meant that subaltern ideology, which was historically ignored (...) in the formulation of the country’s land policy, is now increasingly informing land policy. Gender is primarily included in the dominant school of thought, but is excluded from subaltern ideology. The exclusion of gender from subaltern ideology results in the mis-framing and lack of holistic understanding of how women experience inequality with regard to land. This article explains why the subaltern ideology excludes gender and demonstrates the importance of including gender lenses in this ideology. (shrink)

Our paper builds on earlier research to show how Bimal Krishna Matilal and Henry Odera Oruka challenge dominant narratives of the West-centered progress of philosophical and other forms of critical rationality. On the basis of persisting “enlightenment” and colonialist prejudices, a majority of Western philosophers have ignored philosophical inquiry in non-Western cultures. Both philosophical decolonizers had much of their upbringing and education while their countries were British colonies, earned their Ph.D.s in the West, and became renowned philosophers at Oxford and (...) the University of Nairobi. Oruka advocated mainly oral but increasingly written philosophical reflections in various ethnic traditions of Kenya and East Africa, though his ideas have also been applied to other cultures of the continent. Matilal focused on South Asian, Sanskrit philosophical traditions, which though comprising a large written literature are also often oral in their origins and ongoing pedagogical and hermeneutic culture. Beyond just demonstrating that Africans, Indians, and others can think for themselves, the two thinkers have laid the groundwork for, and initiated a number of more substantive philosophical engagements. The perhaps initially slow but exponentially increasing exchanges among non-Western peoples are well exemplified by the dialogs being organized in the present issue, as well as other efforts throughout the global academy. (shrink)

The historical reconstruction of the origins of the Neutral Theory of Molecular Evolution (NTME) has been seen purely as an extension of a long-held theoretical debate between the classical and balance schools of Population Genetics. In this perspective, the NTME is but a different interpretation of the then recently published data on high intrapopulation genetic variability. In this paper we try to show that this thesis is deficient and partially incorrect. We show that the sources for the construction and development (...) of the NTME are more varied than this traditional account. We support the Dietrich Historical Thesis, which is the view that different versions of the NTME (Kimura, and King and Jukes) show different kinds of experimental and theoretical support and coincide in recognizing the importance of the then new molecular experimental approach and of its comparative results in evolutionary biology. We stress this case to show the limits of the traditional approach in history and philosophy of science that emphasizes the theoretical activities of scientists and the theoretical characterization of disciplines. (shrink)

Edna Ullmann-Margalit provides an original account of the emergence of norms. Her main thesis is that certain types of norms are possible solutions to problems posed by certain types of social interaction situations. She presents illuminating discussions of Prisoners' Dilemma, co-ordination, and inequality situations.

Stem cell tourism is a small but growing part of the thriving global medical tourism marketplace. Much stem cell research remains at the experimental stage, with clinical trials still uncommon. However, there are over 700 clinics estimated to be operating in mostly developing countries – from Costa Rica and Argentina to China, India and Russia – that have lured many patients, mostly from industrialized countries, driven by desperation and hope, which in turn continue to fuel the growth of such tourism.While (...) much research has focused on such dimensions as the promotions that allow such businesses to make their services known, media coverage, some patient research, and regulatory conditions for developing country clinics, little attention has been paid to the non-affected members of the general population, the future potential users of such services. This empirical study based on five focus group discussions with a diverse group of healthy adults in a Canadian city, explored participant views of patients who use stem cell tourism services, the likelihood they would avail themselves of such services if they were to suffer similar illnesses, and the conditions under which they might do so, and the impact that admonitions and advice from international expert bodies might have on their decisions. Our findings suggest that these healthy adults are sympathetic to the drivers of hope and desperation, and, despite cautions about research limitations, may seek such treatments themselves under similar conditions. These findings are discussed in the context of the policy and ethical issues raised by this form of medical tourism. (shrink)

The paper tries to show that an evolutionary perspective helps us to address what is called the adaptation problem, that is, the remarkable coherence, and seemingly successful design, existing between our cognitive tools and the phenomena of the material world. It argues that a fine-grained description of the structure and function of experimental techniques—as a special type amongst evolving scientific practices—is a condition for a better understanding and, ultimately, an explanation of how adaptation among the heterogeneous elements of experimental knowledge (...) is attained. Some apparently contradictory features of techniques, such as their high context-dependency and their capabilities to reproduce and diversify outside their original contexts, are addressed with the help of the concepts of technical variation and the historical entrenchment of phenomena in techniques. In order to do so, a case-study on the construction of satellite-DNA and the evolution of nucleic acid hybridization, a research project carried out by Roy J. Britten and his colleagues in the 1960s, is presented in detail. This case illustrates the close relationship existing between the evolution of techniques and the stabilization of phenomena in experimental biology. (shrink)

The various kinds and conditions of love are a common theme for Kierkegaard, beginning with his early Either/Or, through "The Diary of the Seducer" and Judge William's eulogy on married love, to his last work, on the changelessness of God's love. Works of Love, the midpoint in the series, is also the monumental high point, because of its penetrating, illuminating analysis of the forms and sources of love. Love as feeling and mood is distinguished from works of love, love of (...) the lovable from love of the unlovely, preferential love from love as the royal law, love as mutual egotism from triangular love, and erotic love from self-giving love. This work is marked by Kierkegaard's Socratic awareness of the reader, both as the center of awakened understanding and as the initiator of action. Written to be read aloud, the book conveys a keenness of thought and an insightful, poetic imagination that make such an attentive approach richly rewarding. Works of Love not only serves as an excellent place to begin exploring the writings of Kierkegaard, but also rewards many rereadings. (shrink)

Lotman’s contribution to semiotic theory, anthroposemiotics, the study of artistic texts and defining the relationship between language and culture represent some of the most powerful work produced within the Tartu–Moscow School of Semiotics. The importance of translation is one of the central principles that unites all of Lotman’s work. In the following paper, we will consider Lotman’s definition of translatability in the context of (1) the definition of semiospheric internal and external boundaries and the importance of crossing these boundaries, (2) (...) the role of no fewer than two languages as a minimal unit of semiotic meaning-generation, (3) culture text-level generation of collective memory, and (4) the ever-present tension in the communication act. In our concluding section, we will offer an extended model of the communication act, based on the fundamental principles given in Jakobson, Sebeok and Lotman, in order to specify important moments of the translation process. (shrink)

The purpose of this paper is to articulate the central issues and controversies that currently dominate the study of the relationship between language and brain and, as a result, we will attempt to fundamentally redefine the way language is viewed by the neurosciences by recasting traditional linguistic definitions of human language. In order to achieve these goals, we will take into account important aspects of neuroanatomy, neurophysiology, and neurofunctionality, the role of imaging technologies in formulating specific questions for testing hypotheses (...) about language and the brain, including what these technologies can and cannot do, and a discussion of the myths about the neurological representations of human language. Our conclusions will take into account evidence on aphasias and medial temporal lobe damage that directly affects the way we understand the relationship between language, brain, and memory. (shrink)

Xenotransplantation, or the use of animal cells, tissues and organs for humans, has been promoted as an important solution to the worldwide shortage of organs. While scientific studies continue to be done to address problems of rejection and the possibility of animal-to-human virus transfer, socio-ethical and legal questions have also been raised around informed consent, life-long monitoring, animal welfare and animal rights, and appropriate regulatory practices. Many calls have also been made to consult publics before policy decisions are made. This (...) paper describes the Canadian public consultation process on xenotransplantation carried out by the Canadian Public Health Association in an arm’s length process from Health Canada, the ministry overseeing government health policy and regulation. Focusing on six citizen fora conducted around the country patterned after the citizen jury deliberative approach, the paper describes the citizen panelists’ recommendations to hold off on proceeding with clinical trials and the rationales behind this recommendation. The consultation process is discussed in the context of constructive technology assessment, a framework which argues for broader input into earlier stages of technology innovation, particularly at the technology design stage. (shrink)

O texto busca discutir paradoxos do debate público na era da Inteligência Artificial. Parte da concepção de esfera pública de Habermas e sua aplicabilidade no seio das reflexões atuais sobre o debate público e suas novas modalidades potencializadas pelas tecnologias digitais. Pretende trazer ao escrutínio das reflexões as formas de como jovens adultos de diferentes países garantem sua participação na esfera pública digital através do exercício da cidadania, da consolidação de uma sociedade bem-informada e coautora de seus sistemas político e (...) jurídico. Na configuração da ágora digital, o uso da inteligência artificial em diferentes enquadramentos sociais e políticos originam diferentes níveis de participação, uma vez que estamos situados em três domínios de fronteiras difusas: Mundo analógico (cidadãos desconectados) Mundo digital (cidadãos conectados) e Mundo híbrido (cidadãos e máquinas conectados). Se, conforme argumenta Habermas, a vida em sociedade não é possível sem a comunicação e a relação com o outro, como garantir diálogo e consenso no mundo híbrido? Como pensar a democracia no cyberespaço e em uma esfera pública, que agregue vontades, argumentos, posições, defesas e consensos? (shrink)

In Philosophical Fragments the pseudonymous author Johannes Climacus explored the question: What is required in order to go beyond Socratic recollection of eternal ideas already possessed by the learner? Written as an afterword to this work, Concluding Unscientific Postscript is on one level a philosophical jest, yet on another it is Climacus's characterization of the subjective thinker's relation to the truth of Christianity. At once ironic, humorous, and polemical, this work takes on the "unscientific" form of a mimical-pathetical-dialectical compilation of (...) ideas. Whereas the movement in the earlier pseudonymous writings is away from the aesthetic, the movement in Postscript is away from speculative thought. Kierkegaard intended Postscript to be his concluding work as an author. The subsequent "second authorship" after The Corsair Affair made Postscript the turning point in the entire authorship. Part One of the text volume examines the truth of Christianity as an objective issue, Part Two the subjective issue of what is involved for the individual in becoming a Christian, and the volume ends with an addendum in which Kierkegaard acknowledges and explains his relation to the pseudonymous authors and their writings. The second volume contains the scholarly apparatus, including a key to references and selected entries from Kierkegaard's journals and papers. (shrink)

Our investigation on Hilary Putnam’s internal realist perspective(internalism) traces parallels and identifies differences between Putnam’s ideasand their antipodes: metaphysical realist (externalism) and radical relativist. Ourresearch has focused upon the contemporary debate in which it is inserted, par-ticularly, upon the challenge that radical relativism to impose on contemporaryepistemology. Such challenge will not be surmounted through classical project tofind absolute certainties. The history of science to point out that theories are notnets that to catch the reality as it is in itself. But (...) this do not to imply that our viewof knowledge are only determined for contingent aspects. In this scenery are hard enterprise but it is worthy-while to take into account efforts of philosophersas Putnam to propose a via media. (shrink)

O objetivo deste artigo foi investigar a leitura neopragmatista de Richard Rorty (1931-2007) sobre a concepção de subjetividade em Michel Foucault (1926-1984). Rorty ficou conhecido como um celebre filósofo que se opôs à concepção moderna de sujeito, sobretudo, o excesso de antropocentrismo e cientificismo. Quanto ao filósofo francês Michel Foucault, pode-se constatar no terceiro domínio de sua produção teórica, a presença de uma investigação vigorosa sobre a constituição do sujeito. Inicialmente, percebe-se desde seus primeiros escritos, o papel que exerce o (...) poder e a verdade enquanto mecanismos criadores de subjetividade, impondo aos sujeitos modos de ser e de relacionar-se consigo e com os outros. Todavia, a análise sobre a questão da constituição do sujeito se configura de forma mais delimitada nos cursos Subjetividade e Verdade (1981) e A Hermenêutica do Sujeito (1982). Foucault desenvolve uma investigação sobre a subjetividade a partir das noções de ética, filosofia, espiritualidade, sexualidade, arte de viver e cuidado de si, buscando compreender como o sujeito torna-se assujeitado pelo poder e saber, sugerindo novos modos de subjetividade, diferentes daqueles propostos pelo poder. Entretanto, contrariamente ao que propôs Foucault, o filósofo norte-americano neopragmatista Richard Rorty, conhecido por propor uma filosofia edificante, afirma na obra Contingência, ironia e solidariedade (2007) que as ideias do filósofo francês, embora tentem se desvencilhar da concepção moderna de subjetividade, ainda se mantêm atreladas a ela. Assim, pretende-se explorar os argumentos rortyanos que justificam às objeções a Foucault, e com base na análise de textos específicos de ambos os autores, se busca identificar os argumentos usados por Rorty para acusar Foucault de permanecer no quadro teórico da modernidade. (shrink)

The theme of ISSEI’s 2023 conference, ‘The Role of the Intellectual in Times of Turmoil: Ways of Looking at Europe’s Troubled Geist’—draws attention to the responses of the academic community to (a...

O presente artigo analisa o projeto filosófico de John Dewey (1859-1952) que consta de uma crítica radical à epistemologia tradicional a partir da concepção pragmatista de experiência. O status científico da filosofia, conforme Dewey, não exigirá uma teoria científica passível de prova, mas um programa metafísico construído a partir de lógicas situacionais. O presente artigo apresenta as dimensões históricas e científicas da metafísica empírica de Dewey, argumentando a favor da articulação entre as duas abordagens que configuram o projeto de reconstrução (...) da filosofia. Dewey compreende que a busca dos fundamentos últimos tornou a filosofia prisioneira de uma imagem da mente como construtora de representações - algumas exatas, outras não, mas todas com a pretensão de serem estudadas por meio de métodos puros, não empíricos. Diferentemente dessa tradição que supõe uma ideia de superioridade intelectual do saber, revelado por meio de métodos não empíricos, Dewey argumenta a favor do empírico em filosofia e se coloca contra uma comum concepção da realidade como segura, regular e acabada. Palavras Chave: Experiência. Natureza. Metafísica empírica. Reconstrução filosófica. (shrink)

A memória humana é essencial para a atividade teatral. Isso por um motivo óbvio: é ela que possibilita aos atores gravarem suas falas e ao público compreender a mensagem passada pela peça. Neste trabalho, investigamos as noções de memória propostas por Descartes, Hume e Kohonen. Para eles, a memória é imprescindível na obtenção e desenvolvimento do conhecimento. A nosso ver, o estudo da memória é de grande importância para o teatro, à medida que este não seria possível sem aquela.

Assembling the pieces : the neuroscience disciplines essential for the study of language and brain -- Building the basis : linguistic contributions to a theory of language and their relevance to the study of language and brain -- Neuroscience applications to the study of multilingualism -- Exploring the boundaries of cognitive linguistics and neurolinguistics : reimagining cross-cultural contributions -- Imaging technologies in the study of multilingualism : focus on BOLD fMRI -- Reassembling the pieces : languages and brains.

Examina a relevância da Lei de Acesso à Informação – LAI na consolidação institucional do Ministério Público Federal - MP no Brasil. Analisa a sua a atuação durante o regime militar e no processo de redemocratização após a Constituição de 1988. Aponta a sua evolução como instituição permanente e essencial à função jurisdicional do Estado, responsável, perante o Judiciário, pela defesa da ordem jurídica e dos interesses indisponíveis da sociedade, assim como seu papel na investigação de fatos nacionais sobre os (...) perpetradores de violações aos direitos humanos. (shrink)

A new generation of climate fiction called Cli-fi has emerged in the last decade, marking the strong consensus that has emerged over climate change. Science fiction’s concept of cognitive estrangement that combines a rational imperative to understand while focusing on something different from our everyday world provides one linkage between climate fiction and science fiction. Five novels representing this genre that has substantial connections with science fiction are analyzed, focusing on themes common across these books: their framing of the climate (...) change problem, their representations of science and scientists, their portrayals of economic and environmental challenges, and their scenarios for addressing the climate challenge. The analysis is framed through Taylor’s ideas of the social imaginary and the sociology of expectations, which proposes that expectations are promissory, deterministic, and performative. The novels illustrate in varying ways the problems attending the science-society relationship, the economic imperatives that have driven the characters’ choices, and the contradictory impulses that define our connections with nature. Such representations provide a picture of the challenges that need to be understood, but scenarios that offer possibilities for change are not as fully developed. This suggests that these books may represent a given moment in the longer trajectory of climate fiction while offering the initial building blocks to reconsider our ways of living so that new expectations and imaginaries can be debated and reconceived. (shrink)