Ian Kennedy extols the virtues of self-determination by patients: they should make their own decisions about medical treatment after being given advice by their doctors; for doctors to make such decisions on their patients' behalf is authoritarian and unacceptable (I). I present a case where, despite thorough consultation and counselling, the decisions made by the patient and supported by her doctors were found to be consistently inappropriate to her changing lifestyle.

This study examines the representation of male and female musicians in world-class symphony orchestras. Personnel of 40 orchestras of three regions, UK, Europe and the USA and distributions of men and women across the four orchestral departments: strings, woodwind, brass and percussion are compared. Significant differences in representation between orchestras of the three regions are reported. Practices adopted by orchestras when appointing musicians to vacant positions are reviewed and numbers of males and females appointed to rank-and-file and Section Principals are (...) compared. Career patterns of male and female musicians are also compared. Increases in numbers of women appointed to orchestral posts in the last three decades are compared with increases in the proportion of women in the general workforce. The data of orchestral membership are then compared with the numbers of young people receiving tuition on orchestral instruments retrieved from a large national database (n = 391,000 students). Implications for the future of male and female representation in orchestral personnel are then considered. (shrink)

The writer of the below thought he would do something clever and out of the way. I tried to dissuade him, but without success. I told him that readers would prefer a more sober scholarly approach. I tried to appeal to his other work and his systematic proclivities. Why not try like Schelling to produce a system of freedom? He looked at me queerly. I was a bit taken aback when he burst out laughing in my face, and blurted out: (...) “You must not have read Dostoevski’s Notes from the Underground!” I’m afraid he has spent too much time with the prodigals he has written about. He muttered something almost inaudible about Dostoevski’s double, but I said nothing.If I am not mistaken these pieces have to do with four great and very influential philosophers: Kant, Hegel, Marx, Nietzsche. To help the reader I have put the abbreviation K, H, M and N before each ‘monologue.’ In fact, I am not sure if the writer was mocking me: as if my sober efforts to talk of these four thinkers was being doubled with voices like and unlike; voices as if spoken from within, and yet said to have come from beyond; ego and alter; an odd twin of my scholastic sobriety. (shrink)

For John M. Anderson philosophy, as the love of wisdom, is a concern for what is ultimate. The essays in this volume take to heart this understanding of philosophy, and are therefore responses to the ultimate. The first four essays by Kaelin, Schrag, Baillif and Johnstone, deal with Anderson's own account of ultimacy as it is presented in his reflections on the aesthetic occasion, the experience of the sublime, on freedom and on insight. The concern for what is ultimate is (...) formulated differently by each of the other eight essays. Desmond articulates ways of our encounter with the ultimate by means of what he calls essential perplexity. Gendlin reflects on Aristotle's characterization of thinking as an activity that is ultimate. Biemel and Lingis present death as an aspect of the ultimate. Hersch sees our loss of meaning and value as the result of our refusal of finitude and thus of our denial of the ultimate which reveals itself in this finitude. Ginsberg initiates us into the ultimacy of the human encounter that is dialogue. Verene speaks of the ultimate through his account of the fool. For Kockelmans philosophy, unlike science, deals with what-is as it manifests itself in our encounter with our lived world which is a source of meaning, and in that sense an ultimate. Finally, John M. Anderson writes of the awareness of our becoming more than we are, and does so by bespeaking the origin of the dialogue we are. (shrink)

Academic dishonesty (AD) is a threat to quality education, ethics of professional practices and career outcomes. Psychopathy is connected to AD. This study investigated whether academic confidence (AC) mediates the relationship between psychopathy and AD. University students (N = 335, mean age = 18.38 years) completed measures of relevant variables, in addition to providing demographic details. Results of statistical analysis showed that AC mediated the association between primary psychopathy and AD. Considering the extent of students' belief, trust and expectation that (...) they can execute their academic tasks by themselves could be important target in enhancing ethical behaviors among students. (shrink)

Study of Śivasvarodaya, work on yoga; includes original Sanskrit text with English translation.

A comparison of the political ideas of the 18th-century Vietnamese poet, encyclopedist, and government official Lê Quý Đôn and the younger Korean agronomist, philosopher and poet Chŏng Yag-yong as expressed in their commentaries on the Shu jing.

Qualities of an ideal human character, according to Islam.

‘위인’ 정약용이 아닌 ‘인간’ 정약용을 찾아서... 한국 사상가들의 발자취를 찾아가는 ‘우리 인물 답사기’의 첫 책! 동녘 ‘우리 인물 답사기’ 시리즈의 첫 책. 이 시리즈는 철학 소설 형식으로 한국 사상가들의 삶과 사상을 들려준다. ‘달중과 미영’이라는 한국학을 공부하는 대학원생이 여러 인물들을 만나면서 그들과 대화를 하며 한국 사상가들을 인상적으로 스케치한다. 이 시리즈는 그동안 ‘위인’으로 바라보았던 사상가들의 얼굴을 한 겹 벗겨내고, 한 ‘인간’으로서의 모습을 그려내는 데 주력한다. 첫 번째로 찾아가는 인물은 18세기 실학사상을 집대성한 한국 최고의 학자이자 개혁가라고 평가받는 다산 정약용이다. 정약용에 관한 책은 많지만, (...) 평소 어렵고 두꺼운 인문서를 통해 정약용을 알아가는 데 아쉬움이 컸던 독자들에게 소설적 이야기로 풀어나가는 이 책은 흥미롭게 정약용의 삶에 접근하는 지름길이 되어준다. 먼저 등장하는 고교생 서연은 엄마를 아홉 살에 잃었다. 우연히 정약용도 아홉 살에 어머니를 여읜 사실을 알고 서연은 묘한 동질감을 느낀다. 어느 날 건축 일을 하는 아빠가 춘천 현장에서 한자로 ‘열수’라고 새겨진 모형 배를 줍게 되고, ‘열수’가 잘 알려지지 않은 정약용의 호라는 것을 알고 있던 서연은 그 배가 정약용과 관련이 있을 것이라고 생각한다. 아빠와 함께 남양주로 정약용 답사를 떠나기로 한 서연과 아빠는 정약용의 고향 ‘마재’에서 뜻밖의 귀인을 만나 함께 동행하게 되는데...... 마재, 여유당, 운길산 수종사, 수원 화성, 다산 초당, 강진 사의재... 정약용의 흔적이 묻어 있는 공간에서 그의 삶을 철학 소설로 풀다! (shrink)

Study on the contributions of Śaṅkarācārya to Hindu philosophy.

Contributed articles on Jacques Derrida, French philosopher, and his theories of deconstruction and postmoderinsm; includes articles on his perpectives on literature and philosophy.