This chapter, which critically assesses the potential of participatory and reflexive governance in realizing sustainability goals, discusses the condition along with favorable reflexive and participatory mechanisms needed to realize local knowledge, collective learning, and environmental goals. It presents the findings of a meta-analysis of many studies on the collective environmental decision-making processes, focusing on examples of public participation initiated to agree on relevant public decisions. The samples required for the meta-analysis are taken from a database of 200 case studies of (...) collaborative environmental management in Western countries. The sample cases are selected according to the comprehensiveness of available information derived from North America, demonstrating the significance of participatory governance in the United States and Canada. (shrink)

Marine ecosystems are under increasing pressure from human activity, yet successful management relies on knowledge. The evidence-based policy (EBP) approach has been promoted on the grounds that it provides greater transparency and consistency by relying on ‘high quality’ information. However, EBP also creates epistemic responsibilities. Decision-making where limited or no empirical evidence exists, such as is often the case in marine systems, creates epistemic obligations for new information acquisition. We argue that philosophical approaches can inform the science-policy interface. Using marine (...) biosecurity examples, we specifically examine the epistemic challenges in the acquisition and acceptance of evidence to inform policy, discussing epistemic due care and biases in consideration of evidence. (shrink)

Planning is a significant process function and counterpoises a very complex,dynamic and specific activity, which means that its subject consists of all forms of socialactivity, activities and life. Planning and programming are equally important to allentities regardless of their size and goals, as they all have experienced painful problemswith their planning efforts. Some emerge from the planning process itself, and somefrom the implementing procedure. Therefore the question arises: „How to help overcomefailures in planning from failures in implementation?” Hence, the management (...) teamhas no choice regarding the question: “Do they want to plan or not?” The sole alternativeis to carry out the planning completely, pragmatically and systematically. Onthe other hand, programming connects planning with budgeting and execution, andcounterpoises a sort of rational assumption to “turn” plans from adopted plans into programs,that is, projects and activities across main accounting categories, in accordancewith the desired capabilities and priorities. The analysis of the entire matter processedin this paper is carried out in a very specific way through the prism of identifying notonly the problems related to planning, programming and budgeting, but also makinga scientific contribution to the foundation of this rather significant conditionality andinterdependence. (shrink)

Definition of the problem “Ulysses contracts” are advance directives by means of which a patient authorizes compulsory treatment for a phase of a temporary inhibition of competence. Ethical discussion of Ulysses contracts usually focuses on the question of the “moral authority” or the “binding force” of Ulysses contracts, i.e., of whether Ulysses contracts should be honored or whether the competent patient’s prospective wishes for compulsory treatment are overridden by the patient’s actual preferences in the situation of treatment. Arguments In this (...) contribution, I argue that, even if the Ulysses contract undoubtedly applies to the actual situation, there may be reasons for not acting upon it. The main argument is that acting in conformity to a Ulysses contract may be justified but nevertheless wrong. After some terminological clarifications, I argue that Ulysses contracts justify the use of compulsory treatment but do not necessarily make it the right course of action. They authorize physicians to act in accordance with the patient’s advance directive and, thereby, protect them from blame and sanctions in case they administer compulsory treatment. Whether compulsory treatment is right or wrong, however, hinges on whether the patient retrospectively consents to it. It may be the case that administering compulsory treatment in conformity to the Ulysses contract is justified but turns out to be wrong if the patient does not retrospectively consent to it. It may also be the case that not obeying the Ulysses contract turns out to be right if the patient retrospectively consents to not following it. Conclusion In view of this, I conclude that Ulysses contracts should not be seen as morally binding and that they should not be made legally binding. They are not normatively on par with other advance directives that relate to, for example, states of dementia. (shrink)

The purpose of the paper is to defend a modified version of the report given by Strabo about the transmission of the writings of Aristotle during the Hellenistic period. The basic dilemma was pointed out by Dom Jean Liron in 1717: The existence of our Corpus Aristotelicum entails that Strabo must be exaggerating either in assuming that the manuscripts brought by Neleus to Scepsis were the only manuscripts of the Aristotelian and Theophrastean writings, or in asserting that these manuscripts were (...) severely damaged. Many writings of our Corpus are missing in the Hellenistic catalogue of Aristotle's works while they are listed in the later catalogue of Ptolemy al-Gharïb; furthermore, the single books of the transmitted treatises are labelled by means of the pre-Hellenistic system of 24 letter labels, whereas in the Hellenistic catalogue the single books are numbered by means of the Hellenistic system of 27 alphabetic numerals. This suggests that the treatises missing in the Hellenistic catalogue formed part of a collection which was inaccessible in Hellenistic times and which, therefore, preserved the pre-Hellenistic system of book-labelling. After the rediscovery of the collection its system of book-labelling was maintained by the editors who laid the foundations of our Corpus. The same criterion reveals the Eudemian Ethics in eight books to be a later compilation. (shrink)

Yah boo sucks to the grammer wot we lernt in skool! Grammar (and the bad old traditional logic) says that quantifier phrases such as 'nobody', 'everyone', 'all women', 'some men' and 'a man' are in the same category as names such as 'Milly', 'Molly' and 'Mandy'. So, prior to their first corrective lessons, students are awfully muddled, the first and fundamental problem being the Woozle hunt for somebody called 'nobody'. Hoorah for modern logic and logic teachers! The story used to (...) justify our current logics is entirely fictional. The claims about names and quantifier phrases in English are wildly false. Two of the heroes of modern logic, Russell and Hilbert, make the very mistakes which are falsely blamed on traditional logic. The villain, Meinong, turns out to have been working a different patch. Ideas ascribed to traditional grammar are modern inventions. Neither logicians nor grammarians can be trusted to tell the history of either grammar or logic. (shrink)

ABSTRACT I argue against both neuropsychological and cognitive accounts of our grasp of numbers. I show that despite the points of divergence between these two accounts, they face analogous problems. Both presuppose too much about what they purport to explain to be informative, and also characterize our grasp of numbers in a way that is absurd in the light of what we already know from the point of view of mathematical practice. Then I offer a positive methodological proposal about the (...) role that cognitive science should play in the philosophy of mathematics. (shrink)

The use of behavioural science to inform policy is one of the main developments in the social sciences over the last several decades. In this book, Adam Oliver offers an accessible introduction to the development of behavioural public policy, examining how behavioural economics might be used to inform the design of a broad spectrum of policy frameworks, from nudges, to bans on certain individual behaviours, to the regulation of the commercial sector. He also considers how behavioural economics can explain (...) and predict phenomena as a challenge to economists' assumptions around how people perceive time, utility and money. The book offers an intellectual foundation for all those concerned with behavioural public policy, from academics, undergraduate and postgraduate students with a diverse range of disciplinary perspectives, such as economics, political science, sociology and anthropology, to policy makers and practitioners working directly with behavioural public policy in their everyday working lives. (shrink)

The concept of mediation plays a central part in several positions of contemporary philosophy of technology. Especially Don Ihde and Peter-Paul Verbeek have served to establish mediation as one of the core concepts in the postphenomenologically rooted philosophical analysis of human-technology-world relations. While meditation theory provides many important conceptual and empirical contributions to our knowledge of how material artefacts shape our embodied being in the world, too little attention has arguably been given to the development of concepts that enable a (...) philosophical analysis of the symbolic aspect of technological artefacts. This paper aims to develop the notion of ‘symbolic mediation’ by drawing on inspiration from the tradition of philosophical anthropology, more specifically, the work of Ernst Cassirer and his Philosophy of Symbolic Forms (PSF). Drawing on empirical examples of human-robot interactions (HRI), I coin two types of symbolic mediation: 1) mythic mediation and 2) aesthetic mediation. (shrink)

An invaluable textbook for aspiring and practicing managers who want to create a 21st century business that is ethical and sustainable Principles of Management: Practicing Ethics, Sustainability, Responsibility is a book that places humanity, positivity and the world instead of profit at the center of its understanding of management principles. This new and fully revised edition maintains the intention of the first edition to re-think the idea of management in the face of the crises of the modern world. It has (...) been updated with three brand new chapters on communicating, innovating and leading. This accessible and engaging textbook will help students become responsible and ethical managers ready for the 21st century workplace, armed with essential workplace skills. This textbook also includes coverage of the UN's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which are central to business education and practice today. Key Features Fully revised and updated with the latest developments in professional management Exclusive interviews with management pioneers and professionals All new case studies which include Lego, Patagonia, and Greta Thunberg Worksheets and exercises which make for an active learning experience. (shrink)

It is thus opposed to all axiological, or value-grounded, theories, which make goodness - with its opposite, badness - the single fundamental ethical ...

While he is widely acknowledged as the most important Russian thinker of the nineteenth century, Vladimir Soloviev's place in the landscape of world philosophy nevertheless remains uncertain. Approaching him through a single synoptic lens, this book foregrounds his unique envisioning of the interaction between humanity and the material world. By investigating the development of a single theme in his work--his idea of the "spiritualization of matter", the "task" of humanity--Smith constructs a rounded picture of Soloviev's overall importance to an understanding. (...) If nineteenth-century thought, as well as to modern theology and philosophy. The picture that emerges is of a writer whose contribution to a Christian philosophy of matter resonates with many of the religious debates of modernity. (shrink)

Although Peano arithmetic is necessarily incomplete, Isaacson argued that it is in a sense conceptually complete: proving a statement of the language of PA that is independent of PA will require conceptual resources beyond those needed to understand PA. This paper gives a test of Isaacon’s thesis. Understanding PA requires understanding the functions of addition and multiplication. It is argued that grasping these primitive recursive functions involves grasping the double ancestral, a generalized version of the ancestral operator. Thus, we can (...) test Isaacon’s thesis by seeing whether when we phrase arithmetic in a context with the double ancestral operator, the result is conservative over PA. This is a stronger version of the test given by Smith, who argued that understanding the predicate “natural number” requires understanding the ancestral operator, but did not investigate what is required to understand the arithmetic functions. (shrink)

Modern natural science and philosophies of nature are often hostile to the notion of teleology in nature. Nevertheless, teleological orientation is ascribed to human behaviour because such behaviour is deliberative and intentional. This establishes a dualism between nature and culture, but also between intentional mind and inert matter. This essay argues that such dualisms are overcome by resisting a distinction between ‘extrinsic’ teleology and ‘intrinsic’ teleology, and by recovering Aristotle’s connection between teleology and form. Recent work on autopoiesis in the (...) philosophy of mind indicates overlap with Aristotelian form. Finally, the new category of cooperation applied first to human behaviour in the realm of game theory, and latterly to evolution, indicates ways in which normative descriptions of nature understood teleologically are once again possible. (shrink)

Astronomical observations of redshifts and the cosmic background radiation show that there is a local frame of reference relative to which the solar system has a well-defined velocity. Also, in cosmology the cosmological principle implies the existence of cosmic time and unique local reference frames at all spacetime points. On the other hand, in a fundamental postulate, the theory of special relativity excludes the possibility of the velocity of the Earth from entering into theories of local physics.The theory put forward (...) in this paper resolves this conflict between local physics and cosmology. The theory retains the essential ingredient of the mathematical structure of special relativity, namely covariance under the Lorentz symmetry group, but changes radically the interpretation of the physical significance of the Lorentz transformation. The theory is based on the postulate that in free space the fundamental interactions in physics are propagated with constant velocity with respect to the local rest frame. In Minkowski spacetime the local rest frame of reference defines a unique time axis and consequently a unique three-dimensional spatial hyperplane. One particularly important result of this is that the theory includes the classical notion of simultaneity. From the fundamental postulate it follows that the equations of local physics, when expressed in terms of the rest frame coordinate system, must be covariant under the Lorentz symmetry group. By the identification of the local rest frame with the (unique) cosmological local reference frame the two theories become mutually consistent.The effects of the motion of the Earth on laboratory experiments are discussed. It is pointed out that existing experimental data do not discriminate between the present theory and that of special relativity: a proposal for an experimental test is made. (shrink)

Die Schreibwerkstätten am Literaturhaus in Stuttgart haben in Deutschland Massstäbe gesetzt. Was vor über 10 Jahren als ein Angebot für Schülerinnen und Schüler begonnen hatte, mündete konsequenterweise auch in ein innovatives Programm zur Lehrerfortbildung: die Gesprächsreihe "Literatur und ihre Vermittler". Zehn Autorinnen und Autoren äusserten sich zu wesentlichen Fragen des literarischen Schreibens und gewährten einen sehr persönlichen Blick hinter die Kulissen. Wo und wann beginnt Literatur? Ist Schreiben erlernbar? Wann wird Sprache literarisch? Ist Scheitern die Voraussetzung für etwas Neues? Wer (...) bestimmt die Kriterien, was Qualität ist und was nicht? Diesen und anderen Fragen sind die Schriftsteller nachgegangen. Die Gesprächsreihe "Literatur und ihre Vermittler" wird gefördert von der Breuninger Stiftung Stuttgart. (shrink)

The feeling thinking talking intervention was designed because early childhood seems to be a prime time for fostering young children's language skills. This intervention involved teaching teachers from N = 28 kindergarten groups in N = 13 German kindergartens language support strategies to be used in everyday conversations with the children in their care. The FTT intervention was evaluated in a business-as-usual control group design with N = 281 children who were individually tested using objective tests on grammar, vocabulary and (...) working memory before and after the FTT intervention, and in a follow-up about one year after T1. After propensity matching was applied, multilevel models demonstrated that the children taught by the intervention group teachers made faster progress in their understanding of sentences, their application of morphological rules, and their memory for sentences when numerous covariates were controlled. Results suggest that complex language processing abilities in young children can be promoted by a teacher-led intervention in early childhood education. Improved language skills will further all children's academic and social success in school. (shrink)

Alex Oliver; Discussions: Classes and Goodman's Nominalism, Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society, Volume 93, Issue 1, 1 June 1993, Pages 179–192, https://doi.

I provide a motivation for Wittgenstein's holding to the view that a necessary condition of an item's possessing a sense is its being capable of truth and capable of falsehood. I argue that Wittgenstein adopted the relevant view in order to defend an approach to the determination of logical truth on which the subject matter of a proposition is irrelevant to our making such a determination. This approach was itself conceived of as a remedy to that employed by Russell, and (...) to a conception of logical truth on which the axiom of reducibility counts as logically true. (shrink)

Through a discourse analysis of core documents related to the development of a new primary school subject titled technology comprehension (TC), this article explores how sociotechnical imaginaries of (trans)human perfectibility are promoted in technology education in Denmark. Based on the idea that transhumanism can be understood as a type of eudemonistic virtue ethics, I argue that TC is shaped by the idea that the purpose of technology education is to prepare pupils for the coming of a future characterised by a (...) profound digital transformation of society and human existence through the cultivation of ‘transhuman virtues’ related to normative—and politically produced—ideas of human perfectibility or, in other words, a sociotechnical eudaimonia. I identify two types of transhuman imaginaries, and thus two versions of sociotechnical eudaimonia, in the discourse of TC: 1) the imaginary of technological extension and 2) the imaginary of technological adaptation. (shrink)

This issue is dedicated to consciousness in medieval and early modern philosophy of mind. It aims to shed new light on the continuities and innovations during the transition from medieval to early modern philosophy of mind. The four papers, by Sonja Schierbaum, Daniel Schmal, Oliver Istvan Toth, and Philipp N. Müller, focus on consciousness and, more specifically, on one of its less frequently considered aspects: memory.

The establishment of distinct cellular identities was pivotal during the evolution of Metazoa, enabling the emergence of an array of specialized tissues with different functions. In most animals including vertebrates, cell specialization occurs in response to a combination of intrinsic (e.g., cellular ontogeny) and extrinsic (e.g., local environment) factors that drive the acquisition of unique characteristics at the single‐cell level. The first functional organ system to form in vertebrates is the cardiovascular system, which is lined by a network of endothelial (...) cells whose organ‐specific characteristics have long been recognized. Recent genetic analyses at the single‐cell level have revealed that heterogeneity exists not only at the organ level but also between neighboring endothelial cells. Thus, how endothelial heterogeneity is established has become a key question in vascular biology. Drawing upon evidence from multiple organ systems, here we will discuss the role that lineage history may play in establishing endothelial heterogeneity. (shrink)

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.

Phaenias of Eresus was a member of Aristotle's school, the "Peripatos"or "Lyceum,"and a friend and compatriot of Aristotle's successor, Theophrastus. Phaenias's scholarly interests stretched from strictly philosophical treatises to chronology and the history of philosophy and poetry; to the lives, fortunes, and manners of death of tyrants; to biographical and historical themes and details of famous Athenians; to botanical and zoological issues; and even entertaining, "novelistic"stories and strange reports. This volume includes new scholarship, with translation of source texts for the (...) writings, thought, and influence of Phaenias, as well as essays that take up various areas of his life and work in greater detail. The chapters of Phaenias of Eresus cover a remarkable range of intellectual areas, which is in keeping with the varied interests of the early Peripatetics in general. Phaenias is thus an ideal model for exploring issues of specialization and differentiation in research in the early Peripatos. (shrink)