We use the example of the introduction of the anti-smoking legislation to model the relationship between the cultural make-up, in terms of values, of societies and the acceptance of and compliance with norms. We present two agent-based simulations and discuss the challenge of modeling sanctions and their relation to values and culture.

SUMMARY The apothecary occupied a liminal position in early modern society between profit and healing. Finding ways to distance their public image from trade was a common problem for apothecaries across Europe. This article uses the case of a Bolognese apothecary, Filippo Pastarino, to address the question of how early modern apothecaries chose to represent themselves to political authorities and to the wider public. ‘Mercy’, alongside ‘craft’, was a pillar of apothecaries’ social identity. By contrast, no matter how central financial (...) transactions (‘money’) were to their activity, apothecaries did not want to be perceived as merchants. Thus, the assistance and advice apothecaries provided to patients and customers resulted as central aspects of their social role. In this context, Bolognese apothecaries aimed to defend their current status, which had been challenged by naturalist Ulysses Aldrovandi, city authorities and local monasteries. However, Pastarino's claims can also be seen as antecedents to the self-legitimizing strategy that seventeenth-century artisans deployed when faced with the need to enhance their new status as natural philosophers. The present study attributes a name, a date of birth and a shop to Filippo Pastarino, revising previous interpretations. More broadly, by focusing on how these artisans defended their position in the city it enriches our understanding of the self-representation of apothecaries. (shrink)

Lo scritto costituisce un primo saggio preparatorio (redatto in forma di dialogo a quattro voci) di un volume consacrato al pensiero di Eraclito. In esso, si indaga il senso greco iniziale della parola "logos", quale dizione fondamentale della grecità.

«Nel settantesimo anno della Dichiarazione Universale dei Diritti dell’Uomo si susseguono riflessioni, studi e pubblicazioni. la molteplicità degli approfondimenti e la vastità delle prospettive di analisi rivelano l’ampiezza e la complessità della tematica. il solo approccio capace di giungere ad una rilevante e feconda proposta, che tenga insieme la pluralità dei punti di vista e dunque delle culture che i diritti rappresentano, rinvia ad un aggiornamento che celebra la persona come soggetto di doveri prima ancora che di diritti. inserirsi in (...) una prospettiva incentrata sulla persona e sui suoi doveri verso l’umanità aiuta a configurare anche un diritto davvero universale in quanto capace di considerare le particolarità di ciascun popolo e di ogni cultura» (dalla Prefazione di Giuseppe Gennaro Curcio). (shrink)

Nella sua straordinaria opera scientifica, Franco Selleri si è sempre opposto alla rinuncia alla comprensione della struttura della realtà e della natura degli oggetti fisici, che egli considera come l’elemento caratterizzante delle principali teorie della fisica del Novecento e che è stata stigmatizzata da Karl Popper come tesi della “fine della strada in fisica”. Sin dalla fine degli anni ’60, egli ha sviluppato quella riflessione critica nei confronti delle teorie fondamentali della fisica moderna, in particolar modo della teoria delle particelle (...) elementari e della meccanica quantistica, e in un secondo tempo delle teorie relativistiche, che contraddistingue il suo programma di ricerca. Nel corso della sua intensa e infaticabile attività scientifica, Selleri è entrato in proficuo contatto con molti grandi fisici e filosofi della scienza, instaurando un intenso dialogo critico con Louis de Broglie, John Bell e Karl Popper. Le sue originali e non convenzionali ricerche lo hanno portato a risultati significativi non solo nell’ambito dei fondamenti della fisica, ma anche della storia e della filosofia della fisica. Per questo abbiamo voluto dedicare un numero speciale di Isonomia al nostro impareggiabile amico e collega, sia per la sua passione instancabile e la sua profonda conoscenza dei fondamenti formali, concettuali e filosofici delle teorie della fisica contemporanea, sia e forse ancor più come maestro di una prospettiva perennemente critica che egli ha sempre seguito e proposto con particolare rigore ed estrema determinazione. (shrink)

L’autore muove dal ruolo dell’utopia nella filosofia politica moderna e ne individua due tratti centrali: l’anelito ad una felicità dalla quale siano estir¬pate radicalmente le cause dei conflitti, e l’immagine collettivistica della società che a quest’idea è correlata. Tramite un’analisi della Utopia di Tommaso Moro, tuttavia, evidenzia come il pensiero utopistico sia già una riflessione intorno ai rischi del proprio perfezionismo, e s’avvalga piut¬tosto di strumenti stilistici e riflessivi quali l’esagerazione e l’ironia, che lasciano spazio anche alla creatività individuale. (...) L’utopia è così riportata alla propria strutturale ambivalenza, al terreno sfuggente d’una doppia normatività.Forst describes the role of utopia in modern political philosophy, and cha¬racterizes its main features: the longing towards a happiness freed from conflicts, and the image of a collectivistic society, linked to this idea of happiness. Nevertheless, through an analysis of Thomas More’s Utopia, Forst points out that the utopian thought is itself a reflection on the risks of its own perfectionism, and rather makes use of stylistic and reflective instruments, such as exaggeration and irony, which also allow individual creativity to emerge. Utopia is so brought to its structural ambivalence, to the shifty ground of a double normativeness. (shrink)

1 There have been several editions of Fridugisus’ letter. I have consulted those in Jaques-Paul Migne, Patrologiae cursus completus … series latina, 221 vols., (Paris: J.-P. Migne, 1844–1864), vol. 105, cols. 751–756; Francesco Corvino, “Il ‘De nihilo et tenebris’ di Fredegiso di Tours,” Rivista critica di storia della filosofia (1956), pp. 273–286; and the most recent and authoritative edition, in Concettina Gennaro, Fridugiso di Tours e il “De substantia nihili et tenebrarum”: Edizione critica e studio introduttivo, (“Pubblicazioni dell’istituto universitario (...) di magistero di Catania,” serie filosofica — saggi e monografie, no. 46; Padua: Casa editrice Dott. Antonio Milani, 1963). Fridugisus’ letter survives in four manuscripts. Nevertheless the text is corrupt in places, and all editors have had to suggest emendations here and there. For my translation I have followed Gennaro’s edition, but not always her interpretation. There is another translation, by Hermigild Dressler, in John F. Wippel and Allan Wolter, eds., Medieval Philosophy from St. Augustine to Nicholas of Cusa, (New York: The Free Press, 1969), pp. 104–108. Note that references to the Psalms in this translation are given according to the numbering in the Revised Standard Edition. (shrink)

How does the use of military drones affect the legal, political, and moral responsibility of different actors involved in their deployment and design? This volume offers a fresh contribution to the ethics of drone warfare by providing, for the first time, a systematic interdisciplinary discussion of different responsibility issues raised by military drones. The book discusses four main sets of questions: First, from a legal point of view, we analyse the ways in which the use of drones makes the attribution (...) of criminal responsibility to individuals for war crimes more complicated and what adjustments may be required in international criminal law and in military practices to avoid ’responsibility gaps’ in warfare. From a moral and political perspective, the volume looks at the conditions under which the use of military drones by states is impermissible, permissible, or even obligatory and what the responsibilities of a state in the use of drones towards both its citizens and potential targets are. From a socio-technical perspective, what kind of new human machine interaction might drones bring and which new kinds of shared agency and responsibility? Finally, we ask how the use of drones changes our conception of agency and responsibility. The book will be of interest to scholars and students in ethics and to those in law, politics and the military involved in the design, deployment and evaluation of military drones. (shrink)

Studying drug relationships can provide deeper information for the construction and maintenance of biomedical databases and provide more important references for disease treatment and drug development. The research model has expanded from the previous focus on a certain drug to the systematic analysis of the pharmaceutical network formed between drugs. Network model is suitable for the study of the nonlinear relationship of the pharmaceutical relationship by modeling the data learning. Association rule mining is used to find the potential correlations between (...) the various sets of massive data. Therefore, based on the network model, this research proposed an algorithm for drug interaction under improved association rules, which achieved accurate analysis and decision-making of drug relationship. Meanwhile, this research applied the established association rule algorithm to discuss the relationship between Chinese medicine and mental illness medicine and conducted the algorithm research and simulation analysis of the association relationship. The results showed the association rule algorithm based on the network model constructed was better than other association algorithms. It had reliability and superiority in decision-making in improving the drug-drug relationship. It also promoted the rational use of medicines and played a guiding role in pharmaceutical research. This provides scientific research personnel with research basis and research ideas for disease-related diagnosis. (shrink)

Background: There is growing awareness that patient care suffers when nurses are not respected. Therefore, to improve outcomes for patients, it is crucial that nurses operate in a moral work environment that involves both recognition respect, a form of respect that ought to be accorded to every single person, and appraisal respect, a recognition of the relative and contingent value of respect modulated by the relationships of the healthcare professionals in a determined context. Research question/aim: The purpose of this study (...) was to develop better understandings of perceptions of nursing’s professional respect in community and hospital settings in England. Research design: The research design was qualitative. Focus groups were chosen as the most appropriate method for eliciting discussion about nursing’s professional respect. Participants and research context: A total of 62 nurses who had been qualified for at least a year and were working in two localities in England participated in this study. Methods: Data were collected using 11 focus group sessions. The data were analysed by means of an inductive content analysis, extracting meaning units from the information retrieved and classifying the arising phenomena into conceptually meaningful categories and themes. Ethical considerations: To conduct the research, permission was obtained from the selected universities. Results: Recognition respect of human beings was perceived as ingrained in the innermost part of nurses. Regarding appraisal respect, a great importance was placed on: the interactions among healthcare professionals, the time to build trust in these relationships, the influences of the workplace characteristics and nurses’ professional autonomy and decision-making. Conclusion: Recognition respect of persons was embedded in the inmost part of nurses as individuals. Concerning appraisal respect, it was thought to be deeply enshrined in the inter- and intra-healthcare professional interactions. The forging of trusting relationships over time was deemed to be strongly associated with good quality interactions with other healthcare professionals. (shrink)