Since approval of the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in 2016, it has been widely and repeatedly claimed that the GDPR will legally mandate a ‘right to explanation’ of all decisions made by automated or artificially intelligent algorithmic systems. This right to explanation is viewed as an ideal mechanism to enhance the accountability and transparency of automated decision-making. However, there are several reasons to doubt both the legal existence and the feasibility of such a right. In contrast to the (...) right to explanation of specific automated decisions claimed elsewhere, the GDPR only mandates that data subjects receive meaningful, but properly limited, information (Articles 13-15) about the logic involved, as well as the significance and the envisaged consequences of automated decision-making systems, what we term a ‘right to be informed’. Further, the ambiguity and limited scope of the ‘right not to be subject to automated decision-making’ contained in Article 22 (from which the alleged ‘right to explanation’ stems) raises questions over the protection actually afforded to data subjects. These problems show that the GDPR lacks precise language as well as explicit and well-defined rights and safeguards against automated decision-making, and therefore runs the risk of being toothless. We propose a number of legislative and policy steps that, if taken, may improve the transparency and accountability of automated decision-making when the GDPR comes into force in 2018. (shrink)

This collection of essays, first published two decades ago, presents central feminist critiques and analyses of natural and social sciences and their philosophies. Unfortunately, in spite of the brilliant body of research and scholarship in these fields in subsequent decades, the insights of these essays remain as timely now as they were then: philosophy and the sciences still presume kinds of social innocence to which they are not entitled. The essays focus on Plato, Aristotle, Descartes, Hobbes, Rousseau, and Marx; on (...) the 'adversary method' model of philosophic reasoning; on principles of individuation on philosophical ontology and philosophy of language; on individualistic assumptions in psychology; functionalism in sociological and biological theory; evolutionary theory; the methodology of political science; and conceptions of objective inquiry in the sciences. In taking insights of both Liberal and Marxian women's movements into the purportedly most abstract and value-free areas of Western thought, these essays chart sexist and androcentric assumptions, claims and practices in the cognitive, technical cores of Western sciences and their philosophies. They begin to identify the distinctive aspects of women's experiences and locations in male-supremacist social structures which can provide resources needed for the creation of post-androcentric thinking in research, scholarship, and public policy. Such uses of feminist insights remain controversial today, and even among some feminists. These authors were all junior researchers and scholars two decades ago; today many are among the most distinguished senior scholars in their fields. Their work here provides a splendid opportunity for upper-level undergraduate and graduate students in philosophy and the social sciences to explore some of the most intriguing and controversial challenges to disciplinary projects and to public policy today. (shrink)

Rethinking the ways modern science encodes destructive political philosophies.

Environmental crises, which are consequences of resource-intensive lifestyles and are characterized to a large extent by both a changing climate and a loss of biodiversity, stress the urgent need for a global social-ecological transformation of the agro-food system. In this regard, the bioeconomy and bioeconomic innovations have frequently been seen as instrumental in addressing these grand challenges and contributing to more sustainable land use. To date, the question of how much bioeconomic innovations contribute to sustainability objectives remains unanswered. Against this (...) background, we study four bioeconomic innovations using the case study of animal production and manure utilization in relation to their potential contributions to a social-ecological transformation. The analysis is based on the application of analytical categories derived from the literature that assess the normativity of these innovations and their implicit cultural changes. The results show that the innovations examined manifest existing thought styles and the incumbent socio-technical regime rather than contribute to a more fundamental transition. In this respect, we stress the importance of evolving alterative ideas in innovation design, applying more integrative approaches, such as embedding innovation processes into transdisciplinary processes, and developing adaptive and reflective governance approaches. In return, bioeconomic innovations should adjust towards the design mission of a social-ecological transformation and include a multitude of actors to discuss and harmonize contesting imaginaries and ethical concerns. (shrink)

El relato mitológico de Níobe es un motivo constante en la literatura antigua que se remonta a la Ilíada de Homero. Así, esta primera referencia textual sobre Níobe ha sido reutilizada, remodelada e incluso reinterpretada a lo largo de los siglos hasta la literatura latina de época imperial. No solo nos referimos aquí al relato mítico, en términos de forma o contenido, sino también a la conexión entre el uso y función del propio episodio. Todo ello indica el dinamismo de (...) los textos, es decir, que ni estos ni su interpretación eran fijos, sino que podían cambiar dependiendo de la necesidad del autor en su obra. (shrink)

It is common to assimilate Marx’s and Spinoza’s conceptions of democracy. In this chapter, I assess the relation between Marx’s early idea of “true democracy” and Spinozist democracy, both the historical influence and the theoretical affinity. Drawing on Marx’s student notebooks on Spinoza’s Theological-Political Treatise, I show there was a historical influence. However, at the theoretical level, I argue that a sharp distinction must be drawn. Philosophically, Spinoza’s commitment to understanding politics through real concrete powers does not support with Marx’s (...) anti-institutional conception of true democracy. And as a matter of social theory, the gap between civil society and the state which so troubles Marx is a development of modernity that has not entered Spinoza's premodern field of view. Marx’s true democracy was also influenced by his study of Rousseau, and theoretically, it is just as close if not closer to Rousseau as to Spinoza. (shrink)

Using data drawn from a racially/ethnically diverse sample of participants ( N = 1,489; 52% female; Mage_T1: 18.10; 34% Latino, 21% White, 20% Asian, 11% Black, 11% multiracial/multiethnic, and 3% other), we conducted a binary logistic regression to identify which factors during adolescence and early adulthood were associated with voting behavior in the 2020 presidential election. There were three main findings. First, young adults who had more cross-racial/ethnic friendships and those who participated in volunteer activities during their senior year of (...) high school were more likely to vote. Second, having cross-racial/ethnic friendships and endorsing self-transcendence values (benevolence, universalism) in early adulthood were positively associated with voting behavior, even when controlling for high school factors. Third, those who endorsed self-enhancement values were more likely to vote when they had more cross-racial/ethnic friendships during high school. Implications for voting patterns among young adults in future presidential elections are discussed. (shrink)

Spanish translation of Field, S. L. (2012). 'Democracy and the multitude: Spinoza against Negri'. Theoria: A Journal of Social and Political Theory, 59(131), 21-40. Translated by María Cecilia Padilla and Gonzalo Ricci Cernadas. Negri celebra una concepción de la democracia en la que los poderes concretos de los individuos humanos no se alienan sino que se agregan: una democracia de la multitud. Pero ¿cómo puede actuar la multitud sin alienar el poder de nadie? Para contestar esta dificultad, Negri explícitamente apela (...) a Spinoza. Sin embargo, en este trabajo, sostengo que la filosofía de Spinoza no respalda el proyecto de Negri. Por el contrario, argumento que la multitud spinozista evita la jerarquía interna por medio de la mediación de las instituciones políticas y no a pesar de ellas; de la misma manera, estas instituciones tampoco simplemente emanan de la multitud tal cual es, sino que estructuran, contienen y canalizan sus pasiones. En particular, las instituciones requeridas no son las de la democracia simple y directa. Puede ser que existan otros argumentos no spinozistas en los cuales Negri pueda basar su teoría, pero no puede defender legítimamente su concepción de la multitud democrática apelando a Spinoza. (shrink)

In 2011 members of the School of Philosophy and Theology at The University of Notre Dame Australia (UNDA) Sydney campus, designed two standards rubrics as part of a project aimed at undertaking research within the area of assuring graduate attributes and capabilities in Australian universities. The standards rubrics designed were oriented towards developing particular graduate attributes intrinsic to the Core Curriculum programme in philosophy, ethics, and theology; all students at UNDA are required to undertake this programme, which reflects a ‘liberal (...) arts’ or ‘liberal education’ approach to university education. In this paper, we engage in an institutional case study of this project, discussing the advantages and challenges of developing and using these standards rubrics with a specific focus on: how they have already been used, how we plan to use them in the continuing development of our Core Curriculum programme, and the particular challenges we face in developing standards rubrics within a ‘liberal arts’ or ‘liberal education’ environment. In doing so, we will attempt to demonstrate the usefulness of developing standards rubrics as a basis for careful and systematic review of our pedagogical approach, and curriculum and assessment design so as to assure the achievement of graduate attributes and capabilities. (shrink)

While Austrian social and healthcare service nonprofit organizations are key performers in the COVID-19 pandemic, we also notice their vulnerability in terms of struggling with this disruptive extreme context. The particularity of disruptive extreme contexts is that organizations commonly can neither anticipate them, nor prepare specific countermeasures or specialized resources for fighting against them. Thus, we regard organizational resilience based on non-specialized resources as an appropriate approach for dealing with disruptive extreme contexts. Organizational resilience refers to an organization's ability to (...) resist disruptive extreme contexts while maintaining and adapting functionality and ultimately learning from these extreme contexts by mobilizing and accessing the required resources, behaviors and capabilities. Based on 33 expert interviews with NPO top and middle managers we aim to explore individual-based and interactional resilience mechanisms of NPOs in the pandemic. The qualitative content analysis yielded to following results: Individual personality traits and attitudes constitute individual-based resilience mechanisms. Moreover, a shared understanding, social connectedness and managerial staff orientation as interactional resilience mechanisms helped to maintain and adapt NPOs' functioning. Overall, this study reinforces the multilevel nature of resilience in terms of the crucial combination of individual and interactional resilience mechanisms for facing adversity. Moreover, it emphasizes the evolving nature of resilience in terms of the required time for, e.g., building trust. (shrink)

Political protesters often don’t play by the rules. Think of the Occupy Movement, which brought lower Manhattan to a standstill in 2011 under the slogan, “We are the 99%”. Closer to home, think of the refugee activists who assisted a breakout from South Australia’s Woomera detention centre in 2002. Both are examples of contentious politics, or forms of political engagement outside the institutional channels of political decision-making. The democratic credentials of contentious politics are highly ambivalent. On the one hand, contentious (...) politics appears to have insufficient respect for democratic decision. Protesters are often forceful, uncivil and rowdy, aiming to disproportionately influence policy. But shouldn’t proposals be put forward with civility through the proper channels? And shouldn’t their proponents accept with good grace if they are democratically rebuffed? A closer look at the history of political thought can provide us with the framework to assess the case for and against the democratic reasonableness of contentious politics. (shrink)

This article aims to offer some notes related to the question of the insecurity and fear in urban life. Constitutive condition of many, if not all, contemporary societies, fear and insecurity in urban space, or, in public space, are here analized from two thinkers. The sociologist Zygmunt Bauman is present insofar as he considers the fear a constitutive aspect on two life dimensions : on the fragility and the human contingence towards nature, and on the society itself, constituted by rules (...) and norms. The philosopher Giorgio Agamben is here emphasized on two oportunities. The first, when showing the impossibility of experiences made by human on the current societies context. The second when noting contemporary societies as following the concentration camp paradigm. Starting with these two authors, is found the necessity of rescue the public experience, resignify the economy and revalue the political economy. (shrink)

This book tells a single story, in many voices, about a serious and sustained set of changes in mathematics teaching practice in a high school and how those efforts influenced and were influenced by a local university. It includes the writings and perspectives of high school students, high school teachers, preservice teacher candidates, doctoral students in mathematics education and other fields, mathematics teacher educators, and other education faculty. As a whole, this case study provides an opportunity to reflect on reform (...) visions of mathematics for all students and the challenges inherent in the implementation of these visions in US schools. It challenges us to rethink boundaries between theory and practice and the relative roles of teachers and university faculty in educational endeavors. (shrink)

hiCLIP (RNA hybrid and individual‐nucleotide resolution ultraviolet cross‐linking and immunoprecipitation), is a novel technique developed by Sugimoto et al. (2015). Here, the use of different adaptors permits a controlled ligation of the two strands of a RNA duplex allowing the identification of each arm in the duplex upon sequencing. The authors chose a notoriously difficult to study double‐stranded RNA‐binding protein (dsRBP) termed Staufen1, a mammalian homolog of Drosophila Staufen involved in mRNA localization and translational control. Using hiCLIP, they discovered a (...) dominance of intramolecular RNA duplexes compared to the total RNA duplexes identified. Importantly, the authors discovered two different types of intramolecular duplexes in the cell: highly translated mRNAs with long‐range duplexes in their 3′‐UTRs and poorly translated mRNAs with duplexes in their coding region. In conclusion, the authors establish hiCLIP as an important novel technique for the identification of RNA secondary structures that serve as in vivo binding sites for dsRBPs. (shrink)

Some problems, Aristotle remarks, are so deep it is hard not only to find solutions, but hard even to think out the difficulties well. One such is what we here term the problem of the continuant. When something is generated in the unqualified sense of the term, that is, comes to be not just blue or hot or next to something, but is generated as an entity, what is it that survives the change from the original materials? This is a (...) very old problem: it fascinated Aristotle, and was of endless interest to the medievals. Some very old problems—for example, about the nature of the matter of the unchangeable heavenly bodies—we now see rest on false presuppositions. There are other ancient problems, however, such as the problem of the continuant, which for all of our knowledge of physics and chemistry seem to retain their power to mystify and intrigue. (shrink)

El presente artículo demuestra como el uso de los cuadernillos de trabajo se convierten en una herramienta importante de las estrategias docentes para la enseñanza y aprendizaje del inglés en el CECyTEC. El aumento en los índices de aprobación en este campo disciplinar muestran que esta estrategia tiene un impacto positivo al implementarse en los diferentes planteles y que esta metodología en un futuro pudiera ser implementada en otros estados. Se llega a esta conclusión a través de varios ensayos; se (...) inicia con este proyecto en septiembre de 2020, no propiamente como cuadernillo sino como una compilación de actividades y ejercicios, mismos que no tuvieron un gran impacto en los estudiantes, ya que las oraciones, textos y ejemplos eran ajenos a su cotidianidad o realidad inmediata, se carecía de gráficos o imágenes que ayudaran a focalizar la atención del joven, así como también la ausencia de enlaces o links para que el estudiante siguiera practicando el contenido en cuestión. A partir del semestre febrero-junio 2021 se realizan todos estos “ajustes/modificaciones” resultando más atractivos en contenido y diseño. (shrink)

Resumen: Este trabajo es un estudio de casos preliminar y cualitativo, que considera los intercambios dialógicos argumentativos, ante una tarea de dilema moral, de seis parejas de niños y niñas. El análisis de la información se fundamenta en dos enfoques, Visión General Analítica de la Pragmadialéctica, y el Argumentum Model of Topics de la Escuela de Lugano. El análisis de resultados indicó que todos los grupos son capaces de tomar una postura y defender su posición con al menos un argumento. (...) Sin embargo, a medida que los escolares crecen, van construyendo estructuras de argumentación mucho más elaboradas y aumentan la diversidad de loci utilizados. Se concluye que la VGA y el AMT han resultado ser herramientas útiles para describir el desarrollo argumentativo de los escolares a medida que ellos se hacen mayores. -/- Abstract (EN): This paper presents a preliminary and qualitative case study, which considers the argumentative dialogical exchanges, given in a moral dilemma task, of six pairs of boys and girls. The analysis of the information is based on two approaches, Analytical Overview of the Pragmadialectics, and the Argumentum Model of Topics of Lugano School. The results indicated that all groups are able to defend their position with at least one argument. However, as schoolchildren grow up, they build much more elaborate argumentation structures and increase the diversity of loci used. It is concluded that the AO and the AMT have proved to be useful tools to describe the argumentative development of schoolchildren as they get older. (shrink)

This article examines the nature and structure of witness and defendant narrative accounts in the evidential portions of courtroom trials, using the O.J. Simpson, Oklahoma Bombers and Louise Woodward trials as a database. The article proposes a means of distinguishing narrative from non-narrative accounts, using Labov's definition of the `minimal narrative' as a starting point, and puts forward a modified model of narrative structure. A range of narrative structures are explored, and the model is used to analyse a series of (...) representative example narratives taken from the trial data. Different types of narrative fragmentation produced by multiple tellers of the same narrative are also examined, along with the frequent disjunction between `tellers' and `knowers'. Lastly, the article explores the relationship between narrative structures and narrative fragmentation and the discourse strategies used by lawyers in direct and cross-examination. (shrink)

The contemporary world faces a number of problems that are both deep-seated and interrelated, since they arise from the very nature of technological society. The environment upon which all life depends is seriously threatened by climate change, rising sea levels, pollution, overpopulation, resource depletion and increased risks of droughts, forest fires, floods and other extreme weather events. Environmental degradation is intimately connected to the consumer lifestyle of developed countries. This lifestyle promotes materialism, entertainment and hedonistic superficiality that ultimately lead to (...) moral corruption. Our insensitive and destructive attitude towards nature is not isolated, or unrelated to other problems of social justice. The environmental crisis reflects human structures of domination that include political and economic exploitation, racism, sexism and ageism. These challenges are immense, and solutions to them will require a renewed dedication to moral reflection and a commitment to social justice. This book discusses the challenges in connection with topics such as human rights, economic exploitation and inequality, environmental protection, globalization, global food justice, technology, gender equality and ageism. It provides a plurality of moral and spiritual perspectives including Hinduism, Buddhism, Daoism and Christianity that offer guidance in finding responses that are both possible and reasonable. (shrink)

Chierchia's (1998) theory of noun denotations, formalized in the Nominal Mapping Parameter, makes the prediction that no language will have both a generalized classifier system and a singular – plural contrast in nouns. Evidence presented in this note suggests that Indonesian is just such a language. The evidence is used to raise the more general issue of the extent to which the morphosyntax of nouns can be reliably predicted from the routes by which they are mapped into their denotations (and (...) vice versa). (shrink)

Classical studies of the Idaian Daktyloi rely on evolutionary and survivalist models which assume prehistoric smiths as the locus of their meaning. More recent anthropologies of technology evaluate technological symbols for their integration of technology into the intellectual, ritual, historical and economic structures of the subject culture. A fragmenta incerta of Pherekydes affords a testing-ground for this approach to the Daktyloi. The investigation reveals adaptability and integration into Pythagorean tradition, magical practice, and Cretan history. This offers more cogent reasons for (...) the daimones’ longevity than previous models, and corrects the assumption that a fragmentary record reflects cultural insignificance.Les études classiques sur les Dactyles idéens se fondent sur des modèles évolutionnistes qui donnent sens à ces figures en les associant à des forgerons préhistoriques. Des approches anthropologiques récentes évaluent les symboles technologiques en fonction de l’intégration de la technologie qu’ils opèrent dans les structures intellectuelles, rituelles, historiques et économiques de la culture étudiée. Un fragment incertain de Phérécyde offre une possibilité de tester cette approche des Dactyles. L’étude révèle une adaptabilité et une intégration dans la tradition pythagoricienne, dans la pratique magique et l’histoire crétoise. Cela permet d’expliquer la longévité de ces daimones de manière plus convaincante que ne le faisaient les modèles précédents, et cela corrige l’affirmation qu’un témoignage fragmentaire n’a pas de signification culturelle. (shrink)

Tomando como ponto de partida os trabalhos de Nietzsche, Hannah Arendt e Michel Foucault, este escrito pretende problematizar a lógica interna da compaixão piedosa, pois, como tentaremos mostrar, ela parece instaurar uma modalidade peculiar de exercício de poder que se estrutura a partir do binômio servir-obedecer. A partir desses autores, pretendemos ler alguns exemplos que a história da humanidade nos apresenta para ilustrar o exercí- cio dessa “cruel compaixão”.

El texto presenta un análisis de la estructura del tiempo mesiánico que Benjamin intenta pensar desde el punto de vista de su indisoluble conexión con los conceptos de felicidad y redención. El recorrido conceptual va desde los escritos de juventud, en los que la constelación felicidad-redención adquiere una fisonomía definida -conjugándose con una crítica elegante y puntual de la modernidad- a las tesis Sobre el concepto de historia, en las cuales tal constelación se entrelaza con la figura del Eingedenken, que (...) determina un desplazamiento conceptual importante en el horizonte teórico del autor, y representa además la especificidad y la riqueza de su reflexión sobre el tiempo y la historia.This paper presents an analysis of the structure of Messianic time that Benjamin tries to think from the point of view of its inextricable connection to the concepts of happiness and redemption. The conceptual discussion starts with the early writings, in which the constellation happiness-redemption acquires a definite physiognomy -combining with an elegant and specific critique of modernity- to the theses Über den Begriff der Geschichte, in which this constellation is intertwined with the figure of Eingedenken, which determines an important conceptual shift in the author's theoretical horizon, also representing the specificity and richness of his reflections on time and history. (shrink)

Inevitável para um mais amplo conhecimento das práticas artísticas setecentistas, analisar a influência exercida pela pintura na concretização de objectos escultóricos afigura-se da maior pertinência. Áreas que se relacionam por via do papel desempenhado pelos pintores no desenho de escultura, se, no panorama internacional, o fenómeno tem despertado algum interesse, já no contexto português, apesar de aceite e até referido como corrente, tem sido praticamente ignorado.