As interest in women’s roles in agriculture increases, research on women livestock-keepers remains limited. Advances in feminist scholarship highlight farming women’s dual roles in agricultural production and biological and socio-cultural reproduction, including women’s uncompensated labor in child-bearing, child-rearing and home-making. To expand knowledge about women pastoralists’ lived experiences, we conducted life-history interviews with 25 herder women in two regions of Mongolia, following-up with participatory workshops in each region. As mothering and carework emerged as key themes, we drew on feminist care (...) ethics and the anthropology of mothering and motherhood to analyze interview data and co-interpret results with workshop participants. Our findings reveal three caring conflicts experienced by Mongolian herder women: between caring for _nutag_ (homeland) and caring for herds, between caring for herds and caring for children, and between caring for family, herd and _nutag_ and caring for self. These conflicts highlight contradictions between normative Mongolian motherhood as depicted in cultural images and narratives, and the lived reality of herder mothers, and between public valorization of and incentives for motherhood and the lack of sufficient public support for mothers and carework in rural Mongolia. Unmet needs for care, resulting risks to maternal and child health, and the extraordinary workload associated with mothers’ multiple caring tasks likely contribute to rural–urban migration and increasing masculinization of the Mongolian countryside. Although Mongolian culture frames mothers as leaders who unify their communities through their wisdom, many herder-mothers today live isolated lives where their multiple caring responsibilities preclude active participation in community development and governance. (shrink)

Plato’s characterization of philia in Lysis, on one hand, as one-sided belonging to the ultimate object of our desire and, on the other, as interpersonal reciprocal belonging appears problematic. Yonesawa has recently claimed that one can make sense of both uses of “belonging” if we assume that one is the other’s friend when each one coincides in being the ultimate object of the other’s desire. This paper proposes instead that Lysis’ ‘reciprocity’ of friendship results from friends’ right wanting, which presupposes (...) their souls are well-disposed to a true object of desire. To prove this, I will argue that (i) the action and the argument of the dialogue exhibit this kind of reciprocity, (ii) there is a ‘unique’ ultimate object of desire (‘teleological monism’), that consists of a ‘knowledge about the good life’ and (iii) only the common longing for such knowledge can make possible friends’ reciprocal belonging. (shrink)

Die Platonforschung hat sich immer wieder mit den interpretatorischen Schwierigkeiten des Philebos befasst. Wahrscheinlich besteht die ernsthafteste Schwierigkeit dieses Dialogs darin, die Vielfalt der Themen, die hier behandelt werden, miteinander zu verbinden. Im Philebos wird die Frage nach dem guten Leben als Hauptthema vorgestellt, aber im Laufe des Dialogs werden sowohl dialektische Überlegungen über das Problem des Einen und Vielen als auch eine Klassifikation der ontologischen Gattungen des Kosmos eingeführt. Angesichts dieser Situation haben sich viele Interpreten ausschließlich auf die theoretischen (...) Fragen konzentriert, ohne den Zusammenhang zwischen diesen Fragen und der ethischen Fragestellung zu berücksichtigen. Dieser Beitrag versucht zu erklären, wie die Frage nach dem guten Leben mithilfe der Begriffsanalyse behandelt werden soll, sodass die dialektische Reflexion über die Bedingungen der Sprache durch die Sachorientierung der ethischen Fragestellung erforderlich wird. Der Philebos kann demnach nur als eine kompositorische Einheit betrachtet werden, sofern man zunächst die hier vorliegende Verbindung von Ethik und Dialektik versteht. (shrink)

A pesar de desarrollar una teoría del placer que incorpora elementos de tradiciones filosóficas posteriores, Damascio defiende en su Comentario al Filebo la concepción platónica del placer como un "proceso de repleción". Este trabajo pretende mostrar que Damascio no solo respeta la letra del Filebo, sino también el espíritu de la comprensión platónica del placer y, en particular, de los placeres intelectuales. Suponiendo la polaridad entre el deseo y su satisfacción, Damascio propone entender la experiencia de placer intelectual como aquella (...) en la que el deseo es efectivamente realizado, de modo que tanto el proceso como el resultado del conocer producen placer. Contra lo que inicialmente se podría pensar, la exégesis del filósofo neoplatónico permite poner de relieve supuestos fundamentales de la concepción platónica del placer, a saber, la conexión entre el placer y la experiencia humana de la temporalidad como su dependencia con respecto a la estructura del deseo. In spite of developing a theory of pleasure that incorporates elements from subsequent philosophical traditions, Damascius defends, in his Commentary on the Philebus, the Platonic conception of pleasure as a "process of filling". This paper aims to show that Damascius respects not only the letter of the Philebus, but also the spirit of Plato’s understanding of the nature of pleasure and, in particular, that of intellectual pleasures. Having assumed the polarity between desire and its satisfaction, Damascius proposes to understand the experience of intellectual pleasure as the experience where desire is fully achieved, so that both the process and the result of knowing produce pleasure. Contrary to what one may initially expect, the exegesis of the Neoplatonic Philosopher allows to highlighting some of Plato’s underlying assumptions about the nature of pleasure, namely: the connection between pleasure and the human experience of temporality, and the dependence of pleasure on the structure of desire. (shrink)

La cifra sobre desplazamiento forzoso en el mundo alcanzamáximos históricos, y se verá incrementada en el futuro debido aldesplazamiento humano que provoca el calentamiento del planeta y ladegradación ecológica que caracteriza la actual era del Antropoceno. Laprotección internacional que otorga el derecho a las personas que huyende sus tierras y buscan refugio está relacionada con la exposición a peligros,la vulnerabilidad y la dificultad de estas personas para ejercer susderechos humanos. La movilidad por causas ambientales provoca nuevosmotivos de protección jurídica no (...) previstos en la Convención sobreel estatuto de los refugiados, pero a la que hay que dar respuesta y solución.En el siglo xxi Naciones Unidas consolida un nuevo enfoque delos derechos humanos con relación al cambio climático y las migraciones,y este paradigma debe resolver el vacío de la doctrina jurídica tradicionalpara abordar el problema de las migraciones climáticas. Tambiénse encuentran en situación de vulnerabilidad, junto a las mujeres y los menores, que sí son reconocidas y protegidas por el derecho, ylos jóvenes varones refugiados, muchos de los cuales se ven abocadosa ejercer la prostitución para sobrevivir. A la reflexión sobre los conceptosde refugiado/migración y al análisis de los nuevos motivos devulnerabilidad por razones del cambio climático se dedica el presentetrabajo, para evidenciar que el actual modelo migratorio de defensa defrontera actúa en sentido opuesto a la solución real de un movimientocreciente de personas vulnerables que deambula por el mundo en buscade refugio. (shrink)

El propósito de nuestro estudio tiene dos objetivos, el primero es identificar la lógica de la propuesta misionera del Papa Francisco, derivada del sujeto que debe llevarla a cabo: el discípulo misionero; y en segundo lugar mostrar los elementos ontológicos que estructuran la persona llamada a evangelizar. Descubrimos en el Papa Francisco la influencia de la lógica del humanismo de Nicolás de Cusa, así como la categoría principal de la ontología antropológica que lo sostiene: la paradoja.

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is a developing technology. New generations of DBS technology are already in the pipeline, yet this particular fact has been largely ignored among ethicists interested in DBS. Focusing only on ethical concerns raised by the current DBS technology is, albeit necessary, not sufficient. Since current bioethical concerns raised by a specific technology could be quite different from the concerns it will raise a couple of years ahead, an ethical analysis should be sensitive to such alterations, or (...) it could end up with results that soon become dated. The goal of this analysis is to address these changing bioethical concerns, to think ahead on upcoming and future DBS concerns both in terms of a changing technology and changing moral attitudes. By employing the distinction between inherent and noninherent bioethical concerns we identify and make explicit the particular limits and potentials for change within each category, respectively, including how present and upcoming bioethical concerns regarding DBS emerge and become obsolete. Many of the currently identified ethical problems with DBS, such as stimulation-induced mania, are a result of suboptimal technology. These challenges could be addressed by technical advances, while for instance perceptions of an altered body image caused by the mere awareness of having an implant may not. Other concerns will not emerge until the technology has become sophisticated enough for new uses to be realized, such as concerns on DBS for enhancement purposes. As a part of the present analysis, concerns regarding authenticity are used as an example. (shrink)

Most studies of corporate social responsiveness (CSR) focus on the relationship between CSR and profit. Here, we use three perspectives (institutional theory, economic theory and agency theory) to explain CSR. Industry norms, market share and indicators of management reputation predict variance in CSR. The combined perspectives improve understanding of both CSR and the CSR-profit relationship in two ways. First, they suggest that CSR levels and their relationship with profit will vary by industry. Second, they suggest that stock market measures and (...) accounting measures will respond differently to CSR measures. Stock market measures lead, while accounting measures lag, CSR. (shrink)

In many ways one’s quest for knowledge can go wrong. Since the publication ofAmélie Rorty’s article “Akratic Believers”, in 1983, there has been a great deal of discussion asto one particular form of flaw in reasoning to which we, as less-than-perfect rational entities,are continuously prone to in our epistemic endeavors: “epistemicakrasia”. The debate that article gave rise became, then, split between authors to whom the ideaof epistemicakrasiapromotes an interesting diagnosis of some of our intellectual imperfec-tions, and their opponents, those who (...) disclaim the very possibility of the phenomenon. Inthis paper I’ll examine, and present original objections to, four of the main arguments put for-ward by the latter, showing that none of them have consistently ruled out all the legitimatelyconceivable forms of the phenomenon. (shrink)

This article analyzes the Arabisms and other lexical devices that are used to characterize the Native American in the Relación de la jornada de Cíbola by Pedro de Castañeda, a text that deals with the expedition that Francisco Vázquez de Coronado led to the present-day Southwestern United States from 1540 to 1542. After a general presentation of the text, the work focuses on the analysis of seven Arabisms along with other words, including nicknames, to disentangle the meanings and sociolinguistic implications (...) of the use of these words to refer to the American reality. In order to do so, great use is made of information garnered from documentary and lexical sources. We depart from the premise that in the conquest and colonization of New Spain, the models from the previous conquests of Granada and North Africa are followed. And through this perspective of continuity, we identify parallel political measures, identical discursive traditions, as well as a shared attitude and linguistic awareness. From a lexical point of view, this attempt to explain the New World is transmitted by various processes, including the use of lexical Arabisms to plastically illustrate an unknown and pagan culture through codes that are familiar, and equally pagan, to the reader. This contribution helps to expand our understanding about the presence of Arabisms in the history of the Spanish language. (shrink)

Self-enhancement is the biasing of one’s view of oneself in a positive direction. The brain correlates of self-enhancement remain unclear though it has been reported that the medial prefrontal cortex may be important for producing self-enhancing responses. Previous studies have not examined whether the neural correlates of self-enhancement depend on the particular domain in which individuals are enhancing themselves. Both moralistic and egoistic words were presented to participants while transcranial magnetic stimulation was applied to the MPFC, precuneus or in a (...) sham orientation. Participants were asked to make decisions as to the words describing themselves, some of which were positive and some of which were negative. It was found the MPFC TMS significantly disrupted egoistic self-enhancement when TMS was delivered to the MPFC. Judgments involving moralistic words were not influenced by TMS. These data provide further evidence that MPFC is involved in self-enhancement, and that the role of MPFC may be selective in this regard. (shrink)

The aim of this study was to explore the existence of moral distress among nurses in Lilongwe District of Malawi. Qualitative research was conducted in selected health institutions of Lilongwe District in Malawi to assess knowledge and causes of moral distress among nurses and coping mechanisms and sources of support that are used by morally distressed nurses. Data were collected from a purposive sample of 20 nurses through in-depth interviews using a semi-structured interview guide. Thematic analysis of qualitative data was (...) used. The results show that nurses, irrespective of age, work experience and tribe, experienced moral distress related to patient/nursing care. The major distressing factors were inadequate resources and lack of respect from patients, guardians, peers and bosses. Nurses desire teamwork and ethics committees in their health institutions as a means of controlling and preventing moral distress. There is a need for creation of awareness for nurses to recognize and manage moral distress, thus optimizing their ability to provide quality and uncompromised nursing care. (shrink)

We contribute to feminist and gender scholarship on cultural notions of motherhood by analyzing the importance of motherhood among mothers and non-mothers. Using a national probability sample of U.S. women ages 25-45, we find a continuous distribution of scores measuring perceptions of the importance of motherhood among both groups. Employing OLS multiple regression, we examine why some women place more importance on motherhood, focusing on interests that could compete with valuing motherhood, and controlling for characteristics associated with becoming a mother. (...) Contrary to cultural schemas that view mother and worker identities as competing, we find that education level is not associated with the importance of motherhood for either group and that valuing work success is positively associated with valuing motherhood among mothers. Consistent with feminist explanations for delayed fertility, valuing leisure is negatively associated with valuing motherhood for non-mothers. (shrink)

Hermeneutic phenomenology is absent in 4 EAC literature . The aim of this article is to show that hermeneutic phenomenology as elaborated in the work of Heidegger is relevant to 4 EAC research. In the first part of the article I describe the hermeneutic turn Heidegger performs in tandem with his ontological turn of transcendental phenomenology, and the hermeneutic account of cognition resulting from it. I explicate the main thesis of the hermeneutic account, namely that cognition is interaction with the (...) world, followed by a discussion of the modes of cognition distinguished in the hermeneutic account. In the second part of the article I discuss the implications of this account with respect to the status and meaning of first, second and third person perspective of cognition. The article concludes with the draft and discussion of an exploratory model of hermeneutic cognition. (shrink)

In this essay I compare Nussbaum's and Arendt's approach to narrativity. The point of the comparison is to find out which approach is more adequate for practical philosophy: the approach influenced by cognitive theory or the one influenced by hermeneutic phenomenology. I conclude that Nussbaum's approach is flawed by methodological solipsism, which is due to her application of cognitive theory.

Does home-based family involvement influence academic performance? To answer this question, a case study research was carried out with 96 children from all six levels of primary education at a public school, and their families. Data regarding home-based family involvement were collected using a questionnaire. Academic achievement was measured from school marks. The results reveal that, apart from two of the factors considered, home–family involvement as a whole is not significantly related to academic achievement. These two factors are access to (...) informal education resources and parents’ employment. Family involvement related to the access of children to informal education resources is significantly related to a better academic achievement. Those students with both parents working perform best, and those with none working, worst. Although gender does not appear to significantly influence academic achievement and family involvement, the results show that girls attain better school performance and re... (shrink)

In this paper, we examine the scientific, legal, and ethical foundations for inclusion of transgender women athletes in competitive sport, drawing on IOC principles and relevant Court of Arbitration for Sport decisions. We argue that the inclusion of trans athletes in competition commensurate with their legal gender is the most consistent position with these principles of fair and equitable sport. Biological restrictions, such as endogenous testosterone limits, are not consistent with IOC and CAS principles. We explore the implications for recognizing (...) that endogenous testosterone values are a ‘natural physical trait’ and that excluding legally recognized women for high endogenous testosterone values constitutes discrimination on the basis of a natural physical trait. We suggest that the justificatory burden for such prima facie discrimination is unlikely to be met. Thus, in place of a limit on endogenous testosterone for women, we argue that ‘legally recognized gender’ is most fully in line with IOC and CAS principles. (shrink)

Abstract:Brain–computer interfaces (BCIs) can enable communication for persons in severe paralysis including locked-in syndrome (LIS); that is, being unable to move or speak while aware. In cases of complete loss of muscle control, termed “complete locked-in syndrome,” a BCI may be the only viable solution to restore communication. However, a widespread ignorance regarding quality of life in LIS, current BCIs, and their potential as an assistive technology for persons in LIS, needlessly causes a harmful situation for this cohort. In addition (...) to their medical condition, these persons also face social barriers often perceived as more impairing than their physical condition. Through social exclusion, stigmatization, and frequently being underestimated in their abilities, these persons are being locked out in addition to being locked-in. In this article, we (1) show how persons in LIS are being locked out, including how key issues addressed in the existing literature on ethics, LIS, and BCIs for communication, such as autonomy, quality of life, and advance directives, may reinforce these confinements; (2) show how these practices violate the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and suggest that we have a moral responsibility to prevent and stop this exclusion; and (3) discuss the role of BCIs for communication as one means to this end and suggest that a novel approach to BCI research is necessary to acknowledge the moral responsibility toward the end users and avoid violating the human rights of persons in LIS. (shrink)

This article outlines a middle-range theory of pastoralist/rancher identity, offering a framework for analyzing the meanings, symbols, and practices associated with four interrelated dimensions of pastoralist identity: identification with livestock, place, family and community, and occupation. Poetic analysis of interviews from pastoral systems in transition in Mongolia’s Khangai and Gobi regions, the Spanish Pyrenees, and Colorado, USA shows how theorizing pastoralist identity, animated by place-based knowledge and emotion, may support deeper understanding of livestock-keepers’ social conflicts and responses to change. Even (...) in capitalist systems, livestock-keepers are often primarily motivated by maintaining identities and lifeways rather than by profit maximization. (shrink)

Background: Ethical competence in nursing practice helps clinical nurses to think critically, analyse issues, make ethical decisions, solve ethical problems and behave ethically in their daily work. Thus, ethical competence contributes to the promotion of high-quality care. However, studies on ethical competence in Malawi are scanty. Objectives: The aim of this study was to explore ethical competence among clinical nurses in selected hospitals in Malawi. Methodology: A cross-sectional survey was conducted in four selected hospitals in Malawi with a sample of (...) 271 clinical nurses. Data were collected using self-administered questionnaires, which included a Moral Competence Scale for Home Care Nurses. Descriptive statistics and logistic regression were computed for the dataset using STATA version 12.0. Ethical consideration: The study protocol complied with all ethical requirements and was approved by the College of Medicine Research Ethics Committee under the University of Malawi. Results: The clinical nurses in Malawi are ethically competent. However, there is a significantly high number (p 0.05). Three determinants of high ethical competence level (strong will, judgement skills and recognition of discrepancy of intention) were identified through a reduced model after stepwise logistic regression analysis. Furthermore, results show that indicators of ethical competence include caring, confidentiality and observance of nurses dressing code. The study has also confirmed that the Moral Competence Scale for Home Care Nurses is a reliable tool to assess ethical competence in low-resource settings. Conclusion: The majority of nurses who completed the survey had low ethical competence. However, clinical nurses with high ethical competence level are required to competently manage complex ethical challenges in health facilities. Strategies for enhancing ethical competence such as continuing ethics education, establishment of ethics committees and provision of supportive supervision are recommended to enable nurses in Malawi attain a high level of ethical competence. (shrink)

We live in dangerous times, ruled by the imperatives of what Hannah Arendt calls “the catastrophic interiority of the selfish I” 1 which threatens the planet and the survival of humanity. But I believe, nevertheless, that it is possible to reinvent the world since, by and large, it is evident that its shape reflects our notions of reality and value, the way we weave together the various strands of existence. Antonio Gramsci may have had something like this in mind when (...) he wrote that it is only by “the conquest of greater consciousness” that we will be able to bring a different kind of culture into being because, “man is above all spirit,” a creature, that is, with imagina- tion, the ability to reconfigure the way we see ourselves and the world. Just as importantly, he argues that this may mean returning to some things we once knew but have now forgotten or ignored. Poetry or, to be more accurate, poetic ways of seeing, may be one of these things, to the extent that it generates ways of seeing beyond the merely rational. In this essay I therefore want to explore the work of Judith Wright and the ways in which it explores the possibilities of being ‘true to the earth’. 2. (shrink)

Almost 40 years since the discovery of microtubule dynamic instability, the molecular mechanisms underlying microtubule dynamics remain an area of intense research interest. The “standard model” of microtubule dynamics implicates a “cap” of GTP‐bound tubulin dimers at the growing microtubule end as the main determinant of microtubule stability. Loss of the GTP‐cap leads to microtubule “catastrophe,” a switch‐like transition from microtubule growth to shrinkage. However, recent studies, using biochemical in vitro reconstitution, cryo‐EM, and computational modeling approaches, challenge the simple GTP‐cap (...) model. Instead, a new perspective on the mechanisms of microtubule dynamics is emerging. In this view, highly dynamic transitions between different structural conformations of the growing microtubule end – which may or may not be directly linked to the nucleotide content at the microtubule end – ultimately drive microtubule catastrophe. (shrink)

Feminist anthropologists have evidenced the social and cultural aspects of motherhood and have challenged the universality of the nuclear family as the basis for residential and child-rearing practices. From a feminist anthropological perspective, the concept of the household has thus been redefined to capture the ways in which different principles of household recruitment and residence shape the activities and access to resources of women and men of different ages and status. This paper examines the relationship between household composition and coffee (...) production in Ocotal Grande, a Popoluca community in the Sierra de Santa Marta in Southern Veracruz, Mexico. It shows that polygamous households are larger and have higher yields of coffee than other types of households. However, this does not mean that all members of the household profit equally from their contribution to coffee production. While some relationship exists between labor input and returns, the distribution of benefits is based on gender and age hierarchies and is open to conflict and dispute. (shrink)

Neste artigo, realiza-se uma discussão sobre as atividades políticas de María de Molina, regente do trono castelhano após a morte do esposo e rei Sancho IV, em 1295, durante a minoridade do filho Fernando IV, de 1295 a 1301, assim como no decurso da minoridade do neto Alfonso XI, de 1212 a 1325. Nesses quase vinte e seis anos na condução política do reino, María de Molina constitui-se o principal baluarte da resistência e das negociações dos assuntos do reino diante (...) dos interesses das principiais facções nobiliárias, que aproveitavam períodos de debilidade do poder régio para obter relevância política e dividendos. Não menos importante foi seu desempenho em relação à política externa ao celebrar diversos acordos com outros reinos e com o papado no desígnio de alcançar apoio para sequência da sua linhagem ao comando da coroa castelhana. (shrink)

Después de exponer sintéticamente sus lineamientos generales y a partir de la problematización de un ejemplo modelo, este artículo se plantea como objetivo ensayar una crítica a la versión bayesiana de la teoría de la decisión individual y la noción de subjetividad aislada del contexto que adopta en el marco de su matriz individualista. Lo hace desde una perspectiva construida en base a diversos aportes de la epistemología feminista que convoca a analizar cómo las relaciones desiguales de poder y los (...) mandatos androcéntricos repercuten en la configuración de los deseos y creencias de las personas que sufren experiencias de subordinación, condicionando – al extremo anular – sus márgenes de elección y actuación. (shrink)

Las Lecciones de fenomenología de la conciencia interna del tiempohan sido caracterizadas tanto por su enigmática belleza textual como por su dificultades e inconsistencias. El objetivo de esta comunicación es intentar establecer algunos puntos centrales de la teoría del tiempo husserliana en sus textos tempranos, conducido por el texto de las Leccionesyacompañado por la totalidad de escritos del período y las discusiones más relevantes que se han hecho al respecto.