Kevin Elliott: A Tapestry of Values: An Introduction to Values in Science
Review of: Kevin Elliott: A Tapestry of Values: An Introduction to Values in Science Oxford University Press, 2017, 208 pages
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Review of: Kevin Elliott: A Tapestry of Values: An Introduction to Values in Science Oxford University Press, 2017, 208 pages
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The deepening global ecological crisis raises a question about the practical effectiveness of postulates formulated based on the philosophy of sustainable development. In attempting to answer this question, I assumed that the philosophy of sustainable development is a political philosophy, which functions in the sphere of socio-economic life as a fashionable/binding ideology, approved and postulated by the currently dominating political forces and large companies. When I confronted, on the scale of globalised world, the slogans and declarations with political practice and the functioning of the world economy, I came to the conclusion that the current efforts to implement the idea of sustainable development have only slightly contributed to reducing the threat of a global ecological disaster. In fact, they are a kind of ‘smoke screen’ for business and politicians, who in practice continue the existing course of civilisational development aimed at continuous growth of consumption and GDP. This shows that the philosophy of sustainable development is already practically ineffective and is today not able to cope theoretically with the challenges facing humanity in the 21st century.
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Religious arguments are an important factor influencing people’s daily choices. These choices result in, among others, relation to the natural environment and further contribute to improving or deteriorating its condition. This article is aimed at highlighting the ecological potential of Poles’ religious argumentation by presenting common arguments based on their professed faith. In addition, this study presents religious arguments used in the statements made by official representatives of the Catholic Church in Poland on environmental issues and provides examples of religiously inspired initiatives for the environment undertaken by lay Christians.
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Research on the ecological crisis has revealed its global and total character, which implies that any attempts at overcoming it must take into account a wide variety of perspectives. It is not surprising, therefore, that for several decades the study of the ecological crisis has been undertaken by philosophers and religologists who seek inspirations for ways to shape an environmentally friendly lifestyle in various religious traditions. Notwithstanding the prevailing stereotypes as regards Christianity and its allegedly anti-ecological attitudes, there are many indications that this rich religious tradition has a lot to offer in the battle against the environmental crisis. The aim of this study is to present four Christian models of human relations with nature, which confirm the great ecological potential of Christianity. Those include: 1) Celtic animate model; 2) Benedictine custodial model; 3) Nuptial model of Hildegard of Bingen; and 4) St. Francis’ fraternal model.
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The ancient biblical or Hebrew's cosmology, conventionally developed from the bookof Genesis, apparently and severely contradicts with observations of the universe. Thebook of Genesis about the creation of the universe could not be fully addressed,described, and understood by any universe model developed so far. Recently, theauthor developed a new cosmological model called black hole universe, which canexplain all known observations of the universe and overcome all existing cosmicproblems without any hypothetical entities. This study attempts to make an innovativeinterpretation of Genesis according to the black hole universe model. We aim toexamine the origin and development of the universe scientifically, philosophically, andtheologically for the truth, beauty, and love of the universe. This paper as Paper-Ifocuses on the first day from the beginning of creation, Enduing words like Earth,Water, Night, and Day in the book of Genesis with physical implications and meanings,we eliminate all discrepancies between Genesis and observations. The black holeuniverse model makes Genesis to be understandable, consistent with observations, andsupport of the model to thoroughly reveal mysteries of the universe. The secondthrough fourth days will be addressed in next papers.
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In the most general sense, integrity is a concept that can only be understood in relation to another. The Latin "integritas", from which the word “integrity” is derived, refers to the indefinite and irreproachable, untouched condition of an object. Initially, it was used to describe the indeterminate power of the body, but also the chastity or purity of a person, in opposition to an unclean character. Of course, the term can be used with respect to anyone or anything, who/that can have integrity, as long as they/it are intact or untouched. Anyone or anything who has retained their natural characteristics can be regarded as integral. Anyone who is morally weaker in comparison with previous state has lost his integrity. Thus, if we consider this explanation, it can be observed, on closer examination, that this meaning of integrity has a very strong normative connotation because it implies an ideal, a standard from which any rambling is not only a transgression, but an aberration that leads in a worse state. However, there is no measurement system for any object or person that clearly indicates loss of integrity. Not every change means a loss and not every violation represents a loss of integrity. Some changes do not endanger physical or spiritual integrity, because, if they were, no form of life would be integral, because life involves changes and, often, these changes can be seen as real disturbances, but normal from an evolutionary point of view.
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Being dependent on ethical values is important for the feeling of justice and trust in society. As in every institution, in compliance with the ethical values in the customs administrations is important for the declining of state's informal economy and the corruption of the moral values of society. The purpose of this research is to find out whether companies that work with Mersin customs administration meet unethical behaviors or not, if so, the research aims to find out what kind of behaviors they meet. Using the snowball sampling method, the sample of the exploratory research is composed of 30 companies that are working with the customs administration. Participants were interviewed face-to-face through in-depth interviews. According to the results of the research, it is found that the majority of the participants were exposed to unethical behaviors in all the units of the customs administration. Also, privilege is the most observed unethical behavior. It is understood that, the measures taken by the institutions to prevent unethical behaviors are insufficient.
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The starting point for the present analysis is the well-known work of Arthur Schopenhauer: The Art of Being Right. A reference to the sophists’ dialectic and to the Aristotelian topic points out the strands of continuity, but also the clear distinctions between the explicative construction of the German philosopher and the two important moment of Greek dialectic. The text confronts the “stratagems” put forward by Schopenhauer in order to draw the outline of an “eristic dialectic”, with their current interpretations as argumentation sophisms. Thus, Schopenhauer’s outline regarding the art of always being right reveals, at the same time, the virtues for which it should be valued, but also the limits which make it vulnerable so many times.
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In this article we will try todemonstrate that, although parrhêsia is not directly defined as a virtue, from theoccurrences found in Aristotle's texts one might argue that it is an ethical and politicalvirtue; but, one that takes into account the realization of the good of the city or of thefriend. In this sense, the parrhesiast must take into account those addressed to them, tohave a fair measure in the use of frank, sincere speech.
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If the delphic dictum gnōthiseauton is still active, centering gnoseologically the entire western world, another delphicinscription seems to be forgotten by the modern man: epimeleia heautou/ cura sui.Starting from Boethius and reaching Foucault, the author pursues here the career of thisethical-applicative slogan, passing through medieval philosophy and through Kant,to point out the lack of man of today, who no longer seeks the care (epimeleia) ofMrs. Philosophy. The decline of Philosophy, who was the Boethius’ nanny, is thegrowth of self-love, which is the true disease of humanity.
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Best known for his ethical works, Immanuel Kant was part of the liberal Enlightenment and addressed most of the principal political issues of his day. Several of his major works were written in the wake of the storming of the Bastille in Paris, while Europe was engaged in the French Revolutionary Wars. His rejection of revolution but endorsement of the principles for which the French revolutionaries were fighting, as well as his plea for a federation of European states that would settle disputes peacefully, reflected his engagement with the controversies raised by the Revolution. But, although he could not countenance revolution, he declared that, once a revolutionary government has succeeded in establishing itself, citizens should obey the new government, rather than try to restore the ousted authorities.
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The ability to create and perceive art has long been understood as an exceptional human trait, which should differentiate us from the rest of the organisms or robots. However, with the uprising of cognitive sciences and infor-mation stemming from them, as well as the evolutionary biology, even the human being began to be understood as an organism following the evolutionarily and culturally obtained algorithms and evaluation processes. Even fragile and multidimensional phenomena like beauty, aesthetic experience or the good have lately been analyzed using computational aesthetics, neuroaesthetics, and neuroethics, suggesting that the entire aesthetics, art or ethics can be understood as a result of a certain algorithmic data analysis. In the following article, I will attempt to think about the concept of computational aesthetics and the possibilities (pros and cons), benefits and shortcomings of artificial intelligence in the creation, as well as in perception and evaluation of artworks. I will introduce multiple models of artistic work based on AI, quality/originality evaluating computer programs, as well as mechanisms of its perception. In the end, I will attempt to present the basic aesthetic problems stemming from the development of AI and its usage in the field of art.
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Africa over the years has been struggling to catch up with other continents in terms of educational advancement. Many theories have been postulated in attempts to fashion out a better course for education in the continent. In spite of these attempts, Africa still lags behind. This work through a critical analysis aims at showing the great part culture has played in the slow growth of education in the continent. The work argues that some aspects of African (Nigeria specifically) culture need to be done away with, if education must thrive well in the continent. The work therefore, advocates the use of ‘force training’ as Aristotle postulated in his Nicomachean Ethics to change these dysfunctional aspects of culture so that the functional one would blossom. It is when this is done that education will blossom in Nigeria as well as in other countries.
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The development of biomedical technologies has enabled the procreation using the latest reproductive technologies, among which the method of surrogacy is the most radical. Therefore, qualitative legal regulation of this issue is essential to avoid the problems that accompany it, in particular, human trafficking, exploitation of women and children, discrimination on various grounds, failure to fulfill obligations by the parties to such legal relations, violation of the fundamentals of legal identity of the child born with the help of this method. Therefore, this article is intended to provide a legal analysis of the use of the right to reproduction by the method of surrogacy. Thus, we reveal the legal nature and formation of the institution of surrogacy. In the next part of this study, we reveal the basic foundational principles of commercial surrogacy as the most controversial form of reproduction. Surrogate motherhood is a chance not only for infertile couples to become parents, but also for same-sex couples (if such relations are legalized in the country domestic law), or couples where one of the partners has health problems other than infertility, which makes it difficult for a person to carry a baby on their own.
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The author analyzes the problem of the spirituality of upbringing the personality in the non-rhetoric of cordocentrism on the principles of the philosophy of the heart of Gregory Skovoroda, Pamfil Yurkevich, Nikolai Gogol, Vasyl Zenkovsky and other velements of the spirit and words in the conditions of crisis, faith, morals, inflation of the word. Characterizes the potential of non-rhythmicity of cordocentrism in the national-patriotic, spiritual, moral, state development of the creative person homo verbo agens, which is based on the best achievements of the educational ideal of the Ukrainian people of European and world value experience. The integration approach of rhetoric, rhetoric, homiletics, philosophy, pedagogy, psychology, etc. to the horizons of spirituality of education of the rhetorical personality culture of the twenty-first century is covered. with the goal of broad humanization of society, democratization of power, strengthening of the spiritual and moral security of the state.
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Jenny Acterian (1916–1958) graduated from the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters in Bucharest in 1940. Nae Ionescu was her favorite teacher. She was a passionate reader and was captivated by authors such as Baudelaire, Proust, Pascal, Kierkegaard, Shestov, Unamuno. Acterian also sensed similarities in thinking with her colleague and friend Emil Cioran. At the same time, she developed a passion for algebra and mathematical logic.In this article I follow her interest in the issue of death, as it appears in her intimate diary, that she kept from adolescence to maturity, when she would break up with philosophy. Reading this diary, published posthumously under the title Jurnalul unei fete greu de mulţumit (Diary of a hard-to-please girl), we find that, prone to meditation and loneliness, she continually sought an explanation for the fear of death. She discovered the role of faith without being able to share it because of excessive lucidity. Terrified by the specter of war, the loss of her brother and the failure of her career, she associated her thoughts of death with paradox and absurdity. She investigated with a lot of logical rigor and emotional involvement the relationship between death and suffering, death and immortality, the hypotheses of post-mortem life and the identity between death and nothingness. Faced with a love drama, she realized that the real tragedy is only around death and various decompositions. Learning that love also dies, she came to the conclusion that death is the only certainty, “perfect and flawless”. In the face of this evidence, her essay on death remained a project. She didn’t write it, but she lived it.
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Review of: Michael E. Bratman "Planning, Time and Self-governance: Essays in Practical Rationality", New York: Oxford University Press, 2018, 272 pp. Review by: David Grčki
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To begin to answer the question of whether every moral truth could be known by any one individual, this paper examines David Chalmers’ views on the scrutability of moral truths in Constructing the World. Chalmers deals with the question of the scrutability of moral truths ecumenically, claiming that moral truths are scrutable on all plausible metaethical views. I raise two objections to Chalmers’ approach. The first objection is that he conflates the claim that moral truths are scrutable from PQTI with the claim that moral truths are scrutable from nonmoral truths. The upshot of this objection is that Chalmers has not in fact shown the scrutability of moral truths from the scrutability base from which he proposed to do so, PQTI. The second objection concerns his handling of moral sensibility theory, which fails to take into account certain features of the emotions-features which generate what I term synchronic and diachronic emotional co-instantiation problems. The upshot of this objection is that we have good reason to deny that any one individual could ascertain all moral truths, if moral sensibility theory is true, no matter how idealized the emoter.
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"The elitist" we have to think differently today. Farther and deeper, reaching beyond the social, not referring the elitist to the social layer. The elitist - that is, the elitist, which requires our care and pleading for what is important and forgotten - would be founded on human discipline. It would be formulated outside of herd thinking, whether it is related to a larger or smaller group, leadership or not. The elitist - necessarily referred to the subject - would consist (1) in cultivating a responsible, undisciplined thought (2) while maintaining discipline in life. The source of elitism is man, not society.
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Drawing on the example of anorexia nervosa, this paper critically approaches the issue of medicalization. It argues that using ethnographic autoethnographic perspective leads to better understanding of this complex disease. It describes the phenomenon of medicalization and its effects on patients. The work is based on the analysis of literature and in depth ethnographic interviews (conducted by Iga Kowalska) with young women who have experienced anorexia and its treatment in Poland. It also describes historical, social and cultural contexts of anorexia. We put forward a thesis that between social sciences and medicine a dialogue is needed because anorexia can not be explained only in medical terms. This could help to implement the different ways of understanding and bring new solutions to the anorexia treatment system.
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