This paper explores attitudes regarding tax evasion and the relationship between personal moral philosophy and such attitudes in a weak tax environment. The results confirm the multidimensionality of tax evasion attitudes. Idealism was negatively related to self-interest tax evasion attitudes while relativism was positively related to such attitudes. Idealism was also positively related to tax evasion attitudes stemming from concerns about the justice of the tax system. Idealists in a weak tax environment seemingly go through a cognitive reframing process where (...) they recognize that the tax system is unfair, and accordingly tax evasion is a way to serve a different moral absolute, that is of equity, rather than another different moral absolute, which is fulfilling obligations to governments. The results are also explained in light of the suggested low moral intensity of tax evasion among respondents. Policy implications are presented. (shrink)

The dominant approach to understanding Islamic Business Ethics has been based almost exclusively on either interpretations of the Qur’an and Sunna or influenced by Western understanding of Islam and ethics. However, there is a rich—largely ignored-tradition of ethical analysis conducted by Muslim philosophers which would broaden our understanding of Islamic ethics and hence IBE. We seek to correct this imbalance by examining works of Al-Ghazali, an early Muslim philosopher, scholar, and mystic. His approach to Sufism, combining an interpretation of revelation (...) with reason, can contribute to new developments in business ethics scholarship and practice especially in Muslim communities. His thought portrays a vibrant work ethic that, while based in Sufism, has important practical implications for business. We argue that including such historically and contextually recognized perspectives in our understanding of BE, both in theory and in practice, would work well with an audience that looks to Islam as a source of justice and proper moral conduct. (shrink)

This article begins with the premise that market-oriented development strategies require more than the free movement of the factors of production from one use to another; they also require a positive work ethic and an energetic and committed workforce. However, the existing Arab work ethic does not seem conducive to␣development and change. This article assesses some antecedents that might have led to the emergence of the existing work ethic. First, we address the potential role of religion in developing a value (...) system that is not conducive to growth and development. We also tackle family dynamics in the Arab world and the impact of family structures on personal and group development. Then, we move our attention to the educational system in the Arab world trying to uncover any common patterns in the various educational approaches in the Arab world that could have had lasting impressions on power dynamics in␣Arab societies. We also address power and leadership relationships and focus our attention on how groups actually function in the Arab world. Thereafter, we tackle what has emerged out of these societal institutions and relationships, and offer some implications marking out paths for international managers. (shrink)

Mobility is becoming a defining feature of today’s globalising society. Individuals move for a variety of reasons, including finding employment or pursuing education. This paper focuses on the interrelationship between two different types of migrants who have all moved out of one specific country to another. It builds on the perceptions of Turkish graduates of German universities who moved cross-border recently to study in German universities, the self-styled ‘New Wave Turks’, to understand their place within the existing Turkish diaspora there. (...) Although the existing Turkish diaspora in Germany is well researched, as is how diasporas can facilitate further mobility, the interaction between these newcomers and the existing Turkish diaspora in Germany has received little scholarly attention. Through in-depth semi-structured interviews with recent Turkish graduates of German universities, we explored how the existing diaspora provides support but also challenges for the newcomers, complicating their experiences. We argue that international student mobility led to the emergence of a new form of ‘total diaspora’ in Germany, comprising both the existing Turkish diaspora and newly joined Turkish graduates of German universities. Social media was instrumental for these newcomers in setting themselves apart within the total diaspora, allowing them to create their own community identity. (shrink)

Among Turkic speaking countries there is solidarity in economic, political and military fields. Moreover, they carry out common studies within the universities of these countries. As a result, the relationship among the communities is getting stronger via these studies. This research serves as an example of this development. The problem sentence of the research; “Do students’ perceptions change about Turkey after they’ve completed an internship period in Turkey?”. In this research, it was studied to determine Kyrgyz students’ impression about our (...) country Turkey, before and after their intership period in Turkey. The study was implemented within the survey model design. Research’s universe is the students who study in Yusuf Balasagun Krygyz National University, Liberal Arts University, in Kyrgyzstan Turkey Manas University during their education in the year of 2018-2019. As for the research sampling, students who are in the city of Antalya for the purpose of internship were selected from Yusuf Balasagun Kyrgyz National University, Liberal Arts University, in Kyrgyzstan Manas University. A total of 49 students were attented the research. According to the results of the research; internship students have generally positive opinions about Turkey and Turkish people. This is pleasing result for our country. The students think that the Language Enhancement Program will be useful for them to learn Turkish better. (shrink)

The Sufyānī narration, which is also referred in some studies carried out today, is mentioned in the early Shiite and Sunnī sources. The anticipated savior perception of the period has an important place in understanding the Sufyānī narrations in the emergence process of which political and sectarian events were effective. Narrations stating that the Mahdī named Muḥammad, one of the descendants of the Prophet Muḥammad (pbuh), would appear in the end of times and establish justice by bringing order to the (...) world where oppression, injustice and inequity have spread, were effective in the political and social life after the Prophet (pbuh). The emergence of the Sufyānī narrations, whose intellectual infrastructure was constituted by the expected Mahdī perception that is effective in the society, was the result of the political conflicts of the period. The death of Muʻāwiya ibn Yazīd (d. 64/684), the third Caliph of the Umayyad State, without leaving a crown behind caused a political crisis. The cousin of the Muʻāwiya II, Marwān bin al-Ḥakam, the experienced politician who turned this moment of crisis into an opportunity and who was from the same dynasty but from a different family, took over the administration and thus the sultanate continued. Although the reign continued from the sons of Umayyad, the administration passed from sons of Sufyān to the sons of Marwān, who were from the same dynasty. This situation caused discomfort in Sufyānīs. Thus, Muʻāwiya II's brother Khālid ibn Yazīd, whose right of administration was seized from him, with the intention of gaining his lost reputation in the society and turning the pessimism towards his family into hope and desire, has been claimed to spread the savior Sufyānī narrations expected from the sons of Sufyān, parallel to the Mahdī narrations expected from the sons of Alī, which was influential in the society. Thus, the Sufyānī came to be expected like the expected Mahdī, who was influential in society and exploited by the Shiite sects in their own belief systems. The rebellions carried out by the sons of Sufyān against the administration in the 2nd century hijrī and afterwards were conceived as the appearance of the Sufyānī expected by the society and the person who led the rebellion was described as Sufyānī. The most important of these rebellions is the revolt of ʻAlī ibn Abdullah ibn Khālid nicknamed Abū ʻAmayṭar, formed by the coalition of sons of ʻAlī and sons of Sufyān who descend from the sons of Umayya. Abū ʻAmayṭar, who is considered to be the Sufyānī and some sections of whose life constitute a source for many narrations on the Sufyānī, declared his caliphate during the period of Abbasī Caliph al-Amīn (d. 198/813) and called for allegiance to himself. The announcement of his caliphate was considered by his supporters as the expected savior. The period of Abū ʻAmayṭar and the sayings about him are extremely important in terms of presenting the expected savior perception in the society, the Sufyānī understanding and the date of his emergence. Sections from Abū ʻAmayṭar's life reflected in the narrations about the Sufyānī in many Shiite and Sunnī sources. In this article, it is tried to examine the emergence of the Sufyānī narrations, its development and particularly its transformation within the Shiite sect, in a detailed manner and especially based on political and sectarian events of the early period. (shrink)

RésuméCet article traite d’une solution au tristement célèbre paradoxe du menteur, généralement connu dans la littérature arabe sous le nom de Maġlaṭat al-ǧaḏr al-aṣamm. La solution est donnée dans un traité ottoman du XVe siècle attribué, entre autres, à Ḫaṭībzāde Muḥyiddīn Efendī. L’article la compare également à la solution du philosophe persan contemporain, Ǧalāl al-Dīn al-Dawānī. Le court traité consacré au paradoxe est l’un des rares ouvrages des Ottomans sur le sujet et il aborde de manière exhaustive le paradoxe sous (...) ses deux formes. En tant qu’analyse de la solution offerte par le traité au paradoxe, l’article fait connaître à l’érudition contemporaine les discussions ottomanes sur le menteur, et il contribue à combler le vide évident dans la littérature sur le paradoxe dans la pensée islamique. (shrink)

ABSTRACT:We examine the practice of nepotism in the Arab World and analyze how a rational-legal model of bureaucracy was never able to take hold. We draw upon ideas from institutional theory and related notions of legitimacy to provide an explanation of nepotism’s extraordinary persistence. Then we use arguments to speculate how the appearance of institutional entrepreneurs who are advocates for a new hybrid form of nepotism might begin to colonize a social space created by larger political and economic changes that (...) are sweeping the Arab World. Those entrepreneurs must persuade other members of an extended family that the current practice of nepotism is typically destructive of a firm’s competitive performance. In addition, they will argue that nepotism as currently practiced violates teachings of Islam. This second argument is likely to be particularly effective with an audience that sees Islam as a source of universal notions of justice and fairness. (shrink)

In this paper, we explore whether the ethical positions of students are firmly entrenched when they enter college, or do they change due to maturity, experience to ethical discussions in coursework, work experience, or a combination of factors. This study compared the ethical attitudes of freshmen and junior accounting majors, and graduate MBA students when confronted with two ethical dilemmas. Undergraduates were found to be more justice oriented than their MBA counterparts, who were more utilitarian in their ethical approach. While (...) males tended to be more utilitarian, they were also more tentative and neutral in their responses. Females expressed more definite ethical positions than males when assessing specific ethical behaviors. Prior exposure to ethics via coursework or employment did not significantly affect ethical attitudes. (shrink)

Deixis is the thing referred to by linguistic units outside the text or the discourse. The act of demonstrating or indicating the elements of a state through gestures or linguistic units is called deixis. Deictic is the name given to the linguistic elements such as pronouns, demonstrative nouns and adverbs which refer to the personal, spatial or temporal aspects of a speech act and which are, therefore, all directly related to the context surrounding its act of communication. Since the references (...) of the deixis expressions can only be identified within the context of actual communication, the subject is considered as a part of the pragmatics. This study aims to analyse the demonstrative nouns used in Qur’anic verses within the context of deixis and types of deixis, which are research areas of pragmatics, and to identify the types of deixis used in Qur’an. This study also aims to provide insight about how to present the references of demonstrative nouns especially in Qur’anic translations to be understood correctly by the readers. This is because the translations of Qur’an are presented in written form and the references of the deictic units are not expressed clearly in some of them. In this case, it is assumed that the reader might have difficulty understanding the meanings of the deixis such as “this, to this, these”. This study, firstly by studying deixis and types of deixis from the modern linguistics and pragmatics resources, aims to form a conceptual framework. After the first chapter, upon which the main problem of the study will be built, is completed, the demonstrative nouns are analysed in terms of their structural and referential aspects within balâg̲h̲a and tafsîr sources, classical Arabic language nahw sources being in the first place. After the obtained data is analysed, by associating the demonstrative nouns in Qur’anic verses to types of deixis, anaphora and cataphora, their references are determined. In this direction, firstly the demonstrative nouns in Qur’an will be identified and the type of deixis is tried to be explained by providing one example for each one of the demonstrative nouns in terms of their referential variety. For this purpose, this study highlights the demonstrative nouns which cannot be directly understood but only can be identified by checking the context. That is, the demonstrative nouns which take adjectives or which are adjectives themselves will not be included in the scope. The references of these nouns existing in the verses will be specifically analysed within the classical tafsîr works. This study is significant as it reveals the references of the demonstrative nouns by analysing the types of deixis in order to understand Qur’an more accurately. Though there are various studies regarding the demonstrative nouns, there are no studies found analysing the references of these nouns according to their types of deixis. With this study, it is understood that classical tafsîrs mention the deixis, types of deixis, and the references anaphora and cataphora for demonstrative nouns. As the demonstrative nouns, which are deictic elements, are used to point to all types of living and non-living creatures, they are considered as indefinite things. It is understood that for the other interpreters, the vagueness can only be eliminated by taking pragmatic factors such as the speaker, listener and the context of communication into consideration. 20 types of demonstrative nouns were used for a total of 1047 times in 89 different surahs. These demonstrative nouns are as following: “ذا، هذا، هذان، هاتين، هؤلاء، ذلك، ذانك، ذلكما، ذلكم، تلك، ذلكن، هذه، أولئك، أولئكم، أولاء، كذلك، كذلكم، هاهنا هنالك، ثم”. The fact that demonstrative nouns are used so often in Qur’an prove that these nouns are quite important in understanding the Qur’an. This study addresses the verses with demonstrative nouns in terms of types of deixis, as part of pragmatics, by referring to classical tafsîr and linguistic sources. It has been determined that demonstrative nouns in Qur’an make personal, spatial or temporal references, discourse deixis, anaphora and cataphora, however they do not perform as social deixis. It has been concluded that identifying the references of demonstrative nouns is quite important in understanding and interpreting Qur’an correctly. It is also understood that the methods to determine the references of demonstrative nouns by the sources used in the study have pragmatic characteristics. It is observed that the references of the demonstrative nouns are not presented in certain Qur’an translations. In this context, it has been concluded that stating the references of these nouns in written form for the translation of Qur’an into different languages is vital for these references to be understood correctly. It has also been concluded that it is a requirement in terms of pragmatics to take the references of the deictic elements mentioned especially in the primary sources into consideration. (shrink)

As in all languages, there are various structures in the syntax in Arabic. Some of these structures are about phonetic and some are about syntax. In this study, the subject of iṭba‘, which takes place in the syntax structure form in Arabic, is discussed. First of all, the phenomenon of iṭba‘, which consists of bringing a second word to reinforce the first word in terms of meter and rhyme, has been examined in terms of its use in Arabic. The expression (...) “Hasanun basanun” in Arabic can be given as an example of iṭba'. In this example, it can be said that the second word, basanun, was introduced to emphasize the word hasenun and also adds a phonetic form to the sentence. In this context, it is possible to say that the main benefit of iṭba‘ is decoration and reinforcement. This subject, which is discussed under the title of "reduplication" with various parts in Turkish, has not been mentioned in terms of Turkish language in the study. The classical period usages of iṭba‘ examples are mostly discussed. As a matter of fact, most of them are out of circulation in the modern period. However, it is possible to encounter this type of usage in literary texts. In Arabic, this subject has been handled with different titles such as iṭba‘, muhāzat, muzāwaja, izdiwāj. In this study, the subject was examined with the name iṭba‘. As a matter of fact, there are some differences between it and the others. For this reason, our study has been concluded by examining the semantic differences between the derivatives of iṭba‘ and determining the results. (shrink)

BackgroundIdentifying biomarkers for autism can improve outcomes for those affected by autism. Engaging the diverse stakeholders in the research process using community-based participatory research can accelerate biomarker discovery into clinical applications. However, there are limited examples of stakeholder involvement in autism research, possibly due to conceptual and practical concerns. We evaluate the applicability of CBPR principles to biomarker discovery in autism and critically review empirical studies adopting these principles.MethodsUsing a scoping review methodology, we identified and evaluated seven studies using CBPR (...) principles in biomarker discovery.Results and conclusionsThe limited number of studies in biomarker discovery adopting CBPR principles coupled with their methodological limitations suggests that such applications are feasible but challenging. These studies illustrate three CBPR themes: community assessment, setting global priorities, and collaboration in research design. We propose that further research using participatory principles would be useful in accelerating the pace of discovery and the development of clinically meaningful biomarkers. For this goal to be successful we advocate for increased attention to previously identified conceptual and methodological challenges to participatory approaches in health research, including improving scientific rigor and developing long-term partnerships among stakeholders. (shrink)

There is a consensus that the effects of medical brain drain, especially in the Sub-Saharan African countries, ought to be perceived as more than a simple misfortune. Temporary restrictions on the emigration of health workers from the region is one of the already existing policy measures to tackle the issue—while such a restrictive measure brings about the need for quite a justificatory work. A recent normative contribution to the debate by Gillian Brock provides a fruitful starting point. In the first (...) step of her defence of emigration restrictions, Brock provides three reasons why skilled workers themselves would hold responsibilities to assist with respect to vital needs of their compatriots. These are fair reciprocity, duty to support vital institutions, and attending to the unintended harmful consequences of one’s actions. While the first two are explained and also largely discussed in the literature, the third requires an explication on how and on which basis skilled workers would have a responsibility as such. In this article, I offer a vulnerability approach with its dependency aspect that may account for why the health workers in underserved contexts would have a responsibility to attend to the unintended side effects of their actions that may lead to a vital risk of harm for the population. I discuss HIV/AIDS care in Zimbabwe as a case in point in order to show that local health workers may have responsibilities to assist the population who are vulnerable to their mobility. (shrink)

In the Qur’an, human distinctiveness was first questioned by angels. These established denizens of the cosmos could not understand why God would create a seemingly pernicious human when immaculate devotees of God such as themselves existed. In other words, the angels asked the age-old question: what makes humans so special and different? Fast forward to our present age and this question is made relevant again in light of the encroaching arrival of an artificial superintelligence (ASI). Up to this point in (...) history, humans have exceeded other creatures in various respects; now a possibility has arisen that another entity, namely ASI, will exceed humans at least on the level of intelligence and power. In relation to the age of angels, pre-modern Sunni exegesis construed human distinctiveness along the axes of reproductive knowledge and stewardship. Both brittle, distinguishing markers will disappear in the age of the ASI. Conversely, a more resilient and creative Islamic response can be derived from Ibn al-ʿArabī’s (d. 1240) views on God and the imago Dei. Inspired by the Akbarian perspective, this paper construes human distinctiveness in relation to a capacity to expansively respond to God’s love to be recognized, a response that relies on (a) imitating divine virtues that operate in counterintuitive and illogical ways, and (b) exhibiting fragility and lack rather than exceptionalism. ASI, while responding already in part to God’s love, needs to make strides towards these traits before it can answer divine love as commensurately as humans can. (shrink)

This paper undertakes an in-depth examination of the intriguing argument for the existential import of negative propositions by the fifteenth-century Ottoman scholar Hatibzâde Mehmed (d. 1496) and the counterarguments by his disciple, Taşköprizâde Kâsım (d. 1513). It argues that this discussion is a significant example of Ottoman scholars engaging in long-standing disputes concerning the nature and ontological ground of negative propositions, which date back to Plato and Aristotle. It is also intended to underline the need for considering not only logic (...) texts but also works primarily associated with other disciplines in order to attain a comprehensive picture of logical discussions in the post-classical period of Islamic thought. (shrink)

This study deals with the sceptical arguments by one of the most important figures in the philosophical Sufi tradition (the Akbarian school) and the foremost disciple of Ibn ʿArabī, Ṣadr al‐Dīn al‐Qūnawī. Though not a sceptic in the strict sense, Qūnawī employs sceptical arguments from relativity of rational knowledge and disagreement among philosophers to prove inefficacy of reason and rational procedures of knowledge in terms of achieving certain knowledge of metaphysical matters, namely of God and the ultimate principles of things. (...) The paper questions Qūnawī's implicit assumption that, if there is disagreement on a proposition p, then p is relative and thus cannot provide certain knowledge. It aims to philosophically analyse and assess his scepticism as well as to shed light on the largely unknown terrain of scepticism in the mediaeval Islamic world. (shrink)

This study is devoted to the ways and means to justify a ‘more’ cosmopolitan realization of certain policy implications, in the case of immigration. The raison d’être of this study is the idea that the contemporary debate over open borders suffers from indeterminate discussions on whether liberal states are entitled to restrict immigration. On the other hand, most of the liberal cosmopolitan accounts neglect the detrimental consequences of their open borders argument – which take it as a means to compensate (...) people in need –, such as brain drain and the effects of brain drain on the opportunity sets of members of sending countries. Therefore I offer a moral cosmopolitan account of immigration which takes the interests of would-be immigrants, the residents in receiving, along with the residents in sending countries in respect to their opportunity sets because of the way arbitrary border control represents the inequality of opportunity. I do not provide a well-formed immigration policy here, yet I believe the account provided here is more feasible in considering phenomena such as brain drain. (shrink)

Kelâm tarihi göz önüne alındığında belli parametrelere göre farklı dönemlere ayrıldığı görülmektedir. Bunlardan en çok bilinen dönemlendirmeye göre Cüveynî ile başlayan kelâmın felsefileşme evresi Gazzâlî ile ivme kazanmış ve Fahreddîn er-Râzî ile kemale ermiştir. Felsefi dönem kelâm âlimlerinden birisi de Ebü’s-Senâ el-İsfahânî’dir. Kelâmın yönteminin kusursuzlaşması ve delillerinin kesinliğinin artması noktasında kaleme aldığı eserleriyle bu alana yaptığı katkı göz ardı edilemeyecek durumdadır. Kelâmın felsefileşmesiyle beraber içerik ve yöntem olarak değişen konulardan biri olan tenzîhî sıfatlar meselesinde İsfahânî’nin felsefi yöntemi kullandığı bariz bir (...) şekilde anlaşılmaktadır. Bu bağlamda o, tenzîhî sıfatları felsefi bir ifade olan “zorunlu varlık” kavramı üzerinden ispat etmeye çalışmaktadır. Ayrıca İbn Sînâcı gelenekten de haberdar olan İsfahânî, “Allah’ın zâtının aklî lezzetlerle vasıflanabileceği” şeklindeki görüşüyle bu hususta belli ölçüde de olsa kelâmcıların bakış açısını terk edip filozofların görüşünü benimsediği görülmektedir. Bu makalede İsfahânî’nin konu hakkındaki görüşleri ve Fahreddîn er-Râzî özelinde kelâmcılara itirazları değerlendirilecektir. (shrink)

We extended the Barut’s classical model of zitterbewegung from 3+1 dimensional spacetime into 2+1 and 1+1 dimensional spacetimes and discussed the symmetry and integrability properties of the model in 2+1, 1+1 and 3+1 dimensions. In these cases, the free particle current or the velocity of the particle can be decomposed as a constant convection current and polarization currents.In 2+1 dimensional spacetime, a velocity of the particle and spin tensor are dependent to each other and the chirality can not be introduced. (...) The free particle has 7 constants of motion: The momentum three vector, the charge, the energy in proper time, the scalar constant spin or magnetic polarization and the two components of total angular momentum. Two component electric polarizations oscillate with Zitterbewegung frequency.In 1+1 dimensional spacetime we have an independent velocity vector and a scalar spin tensor. The free particle has 5 integrals of motion: The momentum two vector, the charge, the energy in proper time, and the scalar total angular momentum. The normal component of the velocity or the scalar electric polarization oscillates with Zitterbewegung frequency.In 3+1 dimensional spacetime, the particle has an independent velocity vector, spin tensor and chirality. The free particle has 12 integrals of motion: The momentum four vector, the charge, the energy in proper time or mass, the three vector spin or magnetic polarizations and three components of total angular momentum. The parallel component of velocity into momentum and the normal components of the spin tensor or the spin three vector are constants of motion for the free particle. The chirality and electric polarizations oscillate with the Zitterbewegung frequency. The system is superintegrable in all dimensions. (shrink)

Official statistics on abortion in South Australia for the period 1971–86 are analysed in terms of incidence, age of patients and nuptiality, reasons for abortion, method of termination, period of gestation, previous abortions and concurrent sterilisation. Demographic implications are discussed and recommendations are made for more education and counselling, especially for younger and unmarried women for whom the incidence of abortion seems to be rising.

This is an era when the Islamic World is making a range of attempts to redefine itself and to grapple with the challenges of modernity. Many schools of thought have emerged which seek to position modern Islam within the context of a rapidly changing contemporary world. Exploring and defining the relationship between religion and knowledge, Ismail Rafi Al-Faruqi, a distinguished 20th century Arab-American scholar of Islam, formulated ideas which have made substantial contributions to the Islam-and-modernity discourse. His review of the (...) interaction between Islam and knowledge examines the philosophy behind this relationship, and the ways in which Islam can relate to our understanding of science, the arts, architecture, technology and other knowledge-based fields of enquiry. This book includes contributions from Seyyed Hossein Nasr, John Esposito, Charles Fletcher and others, and will prove an essential reference point for scholars of Islam and students of philosophy and comparative religion. (shrink)

PurposeSelf-efficacy has been argued theoretically and shown empirically to be an essential construct for students’ improved learning outcomes. However, there is a dearth of studies on its causal effects on performance in mathematics among university students. Meanwhile, it will be erroneous to assume that results from other fields of studies generalize to mathematics learning due to the task-specificity of the construct. As such, attempts are made in the present study to provide evidence for a causal relationship between self-efficacy and performance (...) with a focus on engineering students following a mathematics course at a Norwegian university.MethodThe adopted research design in the present study is a survey type in which collected data from first-year university students are analyzed using structural equation modeling with weighted least square mean and variance adjusted estimator. Data were generated using mainly questionnaires, a test of prior mathematics knowledge, and the students’ final examination scores in the course. The causal effect of self-efficacy was discerned from disturbance effects on performance by using an innovative instrumental variable approach to structural equation modeling.ResultsThe findings confirmed a significant direct effect of the prior mathematics knowledge test on self-efficacy, a significant direct effect of self-efficacy on performance, and a substantial mediating effect of self-efficacy between a prior mathematics knowledge test and performance. Prior mathematics knowledge and self-efficacy explained 30% variance of the performance. These findings are interpreted to be substantial evidence for the causal effect of self-efficacy on students’ performance in an introductory mathematics course.ConclusionThe findings of the present study provide empirically supports for designing self-efficacy interventions as proxies to improve students’ performance in university mathematics. Further, the findings of the present study confirm some postulates of Bandura’s agentic social cognitive theory. (shrink)

This paper explores a neglected category of propositions in Arabic logic, propositions with negative predicates (sālibat al-maḥmūl), by addressing two pivotal questions concerning this propositional form: first, whether it is possible to defend it as distinct from metathetic and simple negative propositions and second, whether affirmative instances of these propositions have existential import. The paper argues for the existence of two distinct and conflicting theories of existential import frequently implicit in the views of Arabic logicians: one centered on the copula (...) and the other on the predicate. (shrink)

In a recent paper, Mpofu, Sen Gupta, and Hays attempt to outline the obligations of recruiting high-income countries and would-be emigrant health workers to tackle the effects of mass exodus of health workers from underserved regions. They reconstruct Rawlsian and Kantian global justice approaches to argue for moral obligations of HICs and an individual justice approach to point to non-enforceable social responsibilities of HWs to assist their compatriots. This critical commentary demonstrates that the argumentation within their individual justice approach is (...) problematic on the basis of three reasons: their discussion under-theorizes and undervalues individual rights and more specifically the right to exit, their argumentation in the latter part, even if problematically, does rather point to moral obligations in lieu of social responsibilities of HWs, and they overlook many other important freedoms, interests, and values pertinent to the issue of retention. (shrink)

Responsible Management in Theory and Practice in Muslim Societies delineates principles of responsible management from an Islamic perspective, exploring the concept of responsibility in Islamic religious texts, and how the understanding of responsibility evolved in Islamic jurisprudence. He explains aspects of individual and group responsibility in Islam and the dissonance between theoretical discourse and practical application. Yusuf M. Sidani focuses on the factors that have both facilitated and hampered the application of responsible management principles in practice in this unique (...) context. Themes explored across the book include Islamic texts and responsible leadership, responsibility in Islamic jurisprudence, individual and group responsibilities, and bridging the gap divide between theory and practice in Muslim societies. Sidani also poses proactive questions, including 'Who is a responsible manager?' and 'what does it take to reaffirm both individual and collective responsibilities', and 'whether things can be put back on track again in Muslim societies, and how?'. (shrink)