Let Carolyn Jane Bohler inspire you to consider a wide range of images of God in order to refine how you imagine God to have and use power, and how God wills ...

An increase in the number of companies that publish corporate social responsibility (CSR) statements, and a rise in their ‘sustainability’ research, reflects a growing acceptance that broad ethical considerations are key for any type of company. However, little is known about how companies consider moral objectives for their research and development (R&D) activities, or the basis upon which these activities are chosen. This research involves qualitative investigation into Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) in the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) industry, (...) comprising 30 in-depth, pan-European interviews with key personnel in the industry, and focus groups with employees at 14 different companies. Through investigation of the ‘responsible’ activities these companies currently undertake, we shed light on the types of moral goals they set and their underlying ethical standpoints. By reviewing both the responsible innovation and sustainability discourses, and presenting phenomenological evidence, we demonstrate that companies have adopted some aspects of RRI, even though it might not be recognised as such. Our findings indicate that these innovators recognise some of the ethical and societal concerns associated with their activities but their approach is often piecemeal; primary focus is upon the most immediate issues and on legal compliance, to the detriment of broader societal issues and wider challenges. We recommend explicit mechanisms that draw upon established ethical thought and practical academic work to improve companies' abilities to carry out their sustainability activities, and incorporate them into a responsible business strategy. We conclude with recommendations for innovators, corporate research and development, and policy. (shrink)

When we criticize social institutions and practices, what kinds of reasons can we offer for such criticism? Political philosophers often assume that we must rely on universal moral principles that are not necessarily connected to the particular social practices of our communities. Traditionally,continental critical theory has rejected this claim through its endorsement of the method of immanent critique. Immanent critique is a critique of social practices that draws on norms already present within these practices to demand social change, rather than (...) merely conservatively reproducing them. This book defends the claim that such a critique is not only possible, but also has politically powerful potential. Taking up recent developments in analytic collective intentionality theory and in the philosophy of language, the book argues that all social practices rest on structures of mutual recognition between persons that allow social theorists to reconstruct hidden norms present within these practices. Starting from a comprehensive critique of contemporary critical theory, the book also spells out the consequences of this line of thought for the practice of social critique, for the social sciences and for political philosophy. (shrink)

There has been much debate whether computers can be responsible. This question is usually discussed in terms of personhood and personal characteristics, which a computer may or may not possess. If a computer fulfils the conditions required for agency or personhood, then it can be responsible; otherwise not. This paper suggests a different approach. An analysis of the concept of responsibility shows that it is a social construct of ascription which is only viable in certain social contexts and which serves (...) particular social aims. If this is the main aspect of responsibility then the question whether computers can be responsible no longer hinges on the difficult problem of agency but on the possibly simpler question whether responsibility ascriptions to computers can fulfil social goals. The suggested solution to the question whether computers can be subjects of responsibility is the introduction of a new concept, called “quasi-responsibility” which will emphasise the social aim of responsibility ascription and which can be applied to computers. (shrink)

The increasing use of information and communication technologies (ICT) to help facilitate neuroscience adds a new level of complexity to the question of how ethical issues of such research can be identified and addressed. Current research ethics practice, based on ethics reviews by institutional review boards (IRB) and underpinned by ethical principalism, has been widely criticised and even called ‘imperialist’. In this paper, we develop an alternative way of approaching ethics in neuro-ICT research, based on discourse ethics, which implements responsible (...) research and innovation through dialogues. We draw on our work in Ethics Support, using the Human Brain Project as empirical evidence of the viability of this approach. (shrink)

Sensitivity to interpersonal timing was assessed in mother–infant interaction. In Study 1, 3-month-old infants interacted with their mothers over television and the mothers’ audio-visual presentation was either live or temporally delayed by 1 second. Infants gazed longer when the mother was presented live compared to delayed by 1 second, indicating that they detected the temporal delay. In Study 2, mothers interacted with their 3-month-old infants over television and the infants’ audio-visual presentation was either live or temporally delayed by 1 second. (...) Mothers’ behavior was not altered by a 1-second delay in their infants’ behavior compared to a live presentation. In Study 3 and 4, the results were replicated with 6-month-old infants. Whereas infants detected the temporal delay in maternal responses, mothers likely adjusted to the delay in infant behavior. The discussion focuses on the role of interpersonal timing for detecting social contingency in dyadic and triadic communication. (shrink)

Ethical issues of information and communication technologies (ICTs) are important because they can have significant effects on human liberty, happiness, and people’s ability to lead a good life. They are also of functional interest because they can determine whether technologies are used and whether their positive potential can unfold. For these reasons, policy makers are interested in finding out what these issues are and how they can be addressed. The best way of creating ICT policy that is sensitive to ethical (...) issues pertain to being proactive in addressing such issues at an early stage of the technology life cycle. The present paper uses this position as a starting point and discusses how knowledge of ethical aspects of emerging ICTs can be gained. It develops a methodology that goes beyond established futures methodologies to cater for the difficult nature of ethical issues. The authors outline how the description of emerging ICTs can be used for an ethical analysis. (shrink)

Information security can be of high moral value. It can equally be used for immoral purposes and have undesirable consequences. In this paper we suggest that critical theory can facilitate a better understanding of possible ethical issues and can provide support when finding ways of addressing them. The paper argues that critical theory has intrinsic links to ethics and that it is possible to identify concepts frequently used in critical theory to pinpoint ethical concerns. Using the example of UK electronic (...) medical records the paper demonstrates that a critical lens can highlight issues that traditional ethical theories tend to overlook. These are often linked to collective issues such as social and organisational structures, which philosophical ethics with its typical focus on the individual does not tend to emphasise. The paper suggests that this insight can help in developing ways of researching and innovating responsibly in the area of information security. (shrink)

Constellations, Volume 29, Issue 3, Page 310-328, September 2022.

For centuries, philosophers and theologians debated the meaning of monstrous births. This article describes the debates that took place in the early modern period concerning the origins of monstrous births and examines how they might be relevant to our understanding of disability today. I begin with the central questions that accompanied the birth of conjoined twins in the early 17th century as well as the theological origins of those questions. I then show the shifts that occurred in philosophical debate in (...) the 18th century, which reveal the changing understanding of God’s interaction with creation, as well as the burgeoning medical responses to monstrous births. By reexamining these earlier debates, I claim some of the earlier questions posed by philosophers and theologians have been neglected but remain relevant in bioethics debates concerning how best to consider and treat newborns with certain disabilities. (shrink)

Several results about the game of cops and robbers on infinite graphs are analyzed from the perspective of computability theory. Computable robber-win graphs are constructed with the property that no computable robber strategy is a winning strategy, and such that for an arbitrary computable ordinal \, any winning strategy has complexity at least \}\). Symmetrically, computable cop-win graphs are constructed with the property that no computable cop strategy is a winning strategy. Locally finite infinite trees and graphs are explored. The (...) Turing computability of a binary relation used to classify cop-win graphs is studied, and the computational difficulty of determining the winner for locally finite computable graphs is discussed. (shrink)

This paper critically evaluates the semantic externalist conception of Race and Gender concepts put forward in Sally Haslanger's 2012 essay collection "Resisting Reality". I argue that her endorsement of "objective type externalism" limits the options for critique compared to social externalist approaches.

In the vertex pursuit game of cops and robbers on finite graphs, the cop has a winning strategy if and only if the graph admits a dominating order. Such graphs are called constructible in the graph theory literature. This equivalence breaks down for infinite graphs, and variants of the game have been proposed to reestablish partial connections between constructibility and being cop-win. We answer an open question of Lehner about one of these variants by giving examples of weak cop-win graphs (...) which are not constructible. We show that the index set of computable constructible graphs is Π11 hard and the index set of computable constructible locally finite graphs is Π40 hard. Finally, we give an example of a computable constructible graph for which every dominating order computes 0″. (shrink)

Der Zusammenhang zwischen dem Recht auf Privatheit und dem Recht auf demokratische Selbstbestimmung wird oft so verstanden, dass Privatheitsrechte lediglich instrumentellen Wert für demokratische Partizipation haben und alleine in der Möglichkeit bestehen, sich von der Teilnahme an der Öffentlichkeit zurückzuziehen. Ich stelle in meinem Beitrag drei Argumente dafür vor, dass ein engerer, interner Zusammenhang zwischen beiden Rechten besteht: Das Recht auf Privatsphäre schützt politische Öffentlichkeiten gegen epistemische Ungleichheit, schützt Gruppen in der Öffentlichkeit vor einem Verlust ihrer deliberativen Autonomie und verhindert (...) die Kolonialisierung deliberativer Öffentlichkeiten durch strategische Handlungsorientierungen. Aus diesen Argumenten ergibt sich ein genuin politisches Argument für das Recht auf Privatheit. (shrink)

In this response to the critiques of Fontaine (2016) and Hughes and Evans (2016), we touch on main points of consensus and contention, and offer some suggestions for future programs of research.

An ironic work, Hume's _Dialogues_ continues to be subject to varying estimates of his reputed hostility to religion. The paper presents the _Dialogues_ as an answer to Minucius.

This essay reflects on occasions when images of the author’s body stirred wonder and challenged the author’s understanding of her relationship to her body. Wonder is not a sentimental or romantic feeling, but an intermingling of both admiration and fear. Wonder is perhaps closest to awe, which has connotations of both reverence and terror. Wonder holds together both the negative and positive emotions that awe once elicited. Finding wonder in your own body, therefore, can be both a fearful and exhilarating (...) experience, one that demands a kind of reconstitution of the self, since the body that was once taken for granted has now become alien. (shrink)

Through close readings of Frost's poetry and often ignored prose, Mark Richardson argues that Frost's debates with Van Wyck Brooks, Malcolm Cowley, and H. L. Mencken informed his poetics and his poetic style just as much as did his deep identification with earlier writers like Emerson and William James.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to give an introduction to the special issue by providing background on the ETHICOMP conference series and a discussion of its role in the academic debate on ethics and computing. It provides the context that influenced the launch of the conference series and highlights its unique features. Finally, it provides an overview of the papers in the special issues. Design/methodology/approach – The paper combines an historical account of ETHICOMP and a review of (...) the existing papers. Findings – ETHICOMP is one of the well-established conference series focused on ethical issues of information and computing. Its special features include: multidisciplinary and diversity of contributors and contributions; explicit outreach to professionals whose work is to design, build, deploy and maintain specific computing applications in the world at large; creation of knowledge that is accessible and relevant across fields and disciplines; intention of making a practical difference to development, use and policy of computing principles and artefacts; and creation of an inclusive, supportive and nurturing community across traditional knowledge silos. Originality/value – The paper is the first one to explicitly define the nature of ETHICOMP which is an important building block in the future development of the conference series and will contribute to the further self-definition of the ETHICOMP community. (shrink)

The Hegelian insight that subjectivity depends on recognition has been taken up by two competing traditions: Post-Hegelian theories (Honneth, Brandom) take recognition to be a precondition for a critical stance of subjects towards society. In contrast, theories of subjection (Althusser, Butler) take the dependency of subjects on subordinating relations of recognition as undermining their capacity for critique. I argue that this worry has not been taken seriously enough by the post-Hegelian tradition, especially by its model of immanent critique. However, theories (...) of subjection ignore that the very structure of recognitive relations supports critical capacities that can never be fully effaced by ideology. (shrink)

Der Artikel verfolgt den Einfluss Fichtes auf das Denken der Junghegelianer als "Philssophie des Selbstbewusstseins". -/- The article traces Fichte's influence on the thinking of the Young Hegelians as a "philosophy of self-consciousness".

While work in modern corporations tends to take place in groups or teams it is not quite clear which status these groups have. Are they genuine agents or are they simply collections of individuals? The question is important because the answer is often held to determine whether collectives can be viewed as subjects of responsibility. This paper raises the question of collective responsibility and focuses on the impact the use of information systems (IS) has on it. Starting with an analysis (...) of the concept of responsibility it argues that the ascription of responsibility is admissible if it achieves certain social goals and it reviews the arguments concerning responsibility and collective subjects. Turning to information systems, it argues that their use can affect the process of ascribing responsibility both negatively and positively. It proposes the idea of ‘reflective responsibility’ and employs the reflective approach as a basis for using IS to support and enable the ascription of collective responsibility. (shrink)

Did Aristotle, with his categories, classify only expressions or also something extralinguistic? In the second case his classification seems to be not exclusive, at least if the usual universes of discourse are considered. However, if we use certain enlarged universes, which may have more than one individual for each individual of the usual universes, we may construct exclusive general classifications that approach the aristotelian categories. The latter ones should then be considered second order classes that classify classes of individuals. If (...) the individuals are taken from one of the indicated enlarged universes, we can obtain the exclusivity that we do not have for the usual universes. (shrink)

The stories in this issue of Narrative Inquiry in Bioethics demonstrate two important things. First these stories explore the space between bodily impairment and the social structures that both enable and constrain the flourishing of those who are differently embodied. The authors of these narratives resist the dominant biomedical interpretation of their impairments, but also demonstrate their dependency upon others—social, medical, or familial others. Second, in writing these narratives, the authors are also engaged in an act of identity formation, which (...) sometimes challenge and sometimes embrace the label of disability. By telling their stories in the middle of the action of their lives— in media res, taking up or resisting the label of disability—they also demonstrate the way in which lives can be lived open to new possibilities and interpretations. (shrink)

In the work of the Russian symbolist Andrej Belyj the question concerning the essence of personality [ličnost'] plays an important role throughout his life and is developed in both his literary and philosophical-theoretical writings. Although Belyj wrote no text specifically devoted to this notion, it is nonetheless possible to reconstruct genetically a more or less cohesive theory of personality. In the case of Aleksandr Blok, who left behind relatively few works of a theoretical nature, the situation is different. In these (...) works, moreover, the problems involved in the notion of personality are hardly touched upon and are not philosophically deepened. Nevertheless, a few disparate elements of a notion of personality can be pointed out for Blok. /// Im Schaffen des russischen Symbolisten Andrej Belyj nimmt die Frage nach dem Wesen von Persönlichkeit [ličnost'] zeit seines Lebens einen wichtigen Raum ein und ist sowohl in seinen literarischen wie philosophisch-theoretischen Schriften entwickelt. Wenngleich Belyj keinen Text verfasst hat, der sich diesem Begriff eigens widmet, können dennoch aus seinem Werk Grundzüge einer Theorie der Persönlichkeit genetisch rekonstruiert werden. Anders sieht dies im Fall von Aleksandr Blok aus, der verhältnismäßig wenige Arbeiten mit theoretischem Charakter hinterlassen hat. Auch wird in ihnen die Problematik des Persönlichkeitsbegriffs kaum berührt und nicht philosophisch vertieft. Dennoch können vereinzelte Elemente eines Persönlichkeitsbegriffs für Blok aufgezeigt werden. (shrink)

Georg (György) Lukács (1885–1971) was a literary theorist and philosopher who is widely viewed as one of the founders of “Western Marxism”. Lukács is best known for his pre-World War II writings in literary theory, aesthetic theory and Marxist philosophy. Today, his most widely read works are the Theory of the Novel of 1916 and History and Class Consciousness of 1923. In History and Class Consciousness, Lukács laid out a wide-ranging critique of the phenomenon of “reification” in capitalism and formulated (...) a vision of Marxism as a self-conscious transformation of society. (shrink)

The author argues that genetic technologies can never be fully sepa­rated from their eugenic ends. Because of this, the Church’s sexual ethic must be integrated with its social teaching to respond faithfully to ethical issues that arise with the use of genetic technologies. The author discusses, first, the Catholic opposition to eugenics from the turn of the twentieth century to the official papal condemnation of eugenics in 1930; next, the Church’s reaction to advances in DNA research in the 1950s and (...) 60s; and finally, the shift from optimism to caution from the 1970s on, as new genetic technologies emerged in embryonic stem cell research, genetic counseling, and gene therapy. The author explores both the sources on which the Church has drawn in responding to genetic advances and the social issues that should prove fruitful for con­templation in the future. (shrink)

In regard to the explanation of actions that are governed by institutional rules, John R. Searle introduces the notion of a mental “background” that is supposed to explain how persons can acquire the capacity of following such rules. I argue that Searle’s internalism about the mind and the resulting poverty of his conception of the background keep him from putting forward a convincing explanation of the normative features of institutional action. Drawing on competing conceptions of the background of Heidegger and (...) Wittgenstein, I propose to revise Searle’s conception. The background of institutional agency can only provide a convincing explanation if it includes the context of actions and intersubjective structures of a shared life-world. I suggest that a further development of this idea would lead to the identification of the background with a web of social recognition. (shrink)