Being poor can influence how one makes ethical decisions in various fields. Nepotism is one such area, emerging as kinship-based favoritism in the job market. People can be poor on at least three levels: one can live in a poor country, be poor compared to others around them, or feel poor in their given situation. We assumed that these levels can simultaneously influence nepotistic hiring decisions among Hungarian and US participants. Prior cross-cultural, non-experimental studies demonstrated that nepotism is more prevalent (...) in poorer countries such as Hungary than in richer countries such as the United States. However, contrary to our expectations, in our non-representative, preliminary study, US participants showed stronger nepotistic behavioral tendencies than Hungarians. Furthermore, people with lower socioeconomic status had less nepotistic intentions than richer people. When participants were asked to imagine themselves as a poor person, they tended to be more nepotistic than had they imagined themselves to be rich. Finally, nepotistic hiring intentions were in general stronger than non-nepotistic hiring intentions. These seemingly paradoxical results were interpreted in the light of the COVID-19 job market context and were explained by the mechanisms described by research on wealth and immoral behaviors, as well as the presence of risk aversion. (shrink)

'...a challenging and useful book, both because it provokes a careful scrutiny of one's own basic ideas regarding evolutionary theory, and because it cuts across so many biological disciplines.' -The Quarterly Review of Biology 'In my view, this work exemplifies Theoretical Biology at its best...here is rampant speculation that is consistently based on cautious reasoning from the available data. Even more refreshing is the absence of sloganeering, grandstanding, and 'isms'.' -Biology and Philosophy 'Epigenetics is fundamental to understanding both development and (...) gene expression, and not surprisingly, evolutionary biologists have long been fascinated with its proper place in evolutionary theory...Enter Jablonka and Lamb, who provide a thoughtful review of the recent molecular literature and suggest a number of potential consequences.' -EvolutionSince first publication of this controversial book, much of the initial opposition to the ideas it contained has been replaced by a general, although often grudging, acceptance of them. Advances in knowledge, especially at the molecular level, have enhanced general awareness and interest in epigenetics and the evolution of systems that store and transmit information and put any of the authors' speculations on a more solid basis. This paperback edition contains a new Preface that sets out the major changes in the scientific world and in the authors' own thinking that have occurred since the book was published. A new Appendix provides a selected bibliography of the many books and articles about epigenetic inheritance and its role in evolution that have appeared since first publication. (shrink)

To find more information about Rowman and Littlefield titles, please visit www.rowmanlittlefield.com.

This paper outlines Jesse Prinz’s theory that emotions represent values by registering bodily changes, discusses two objections, and concludes that Prinz’s theory stands in need of modification: while emotions do represent values, they do not do so in the first place by registering bodily changes, but by processing information about how things we care about fare in the world. The function of bodily changes is primarily to motivate and prepare us for action.

The paper deals with the position of a scholar in the society, as articulated in the philosophy of J. G. Fichte. It also offers a brief outline of the philosophies of education of the 18th and 19th centuries and their differences. It shows different interpretations of the concept of Bildung in German philosophy, which in that time became almost a “fashion”. The spirit of that time is reflected also in the idealist views of J. G. Fichte, especially those concerning education, (...) upbringing and personality development. (shrink)

An intensified discussion on the role of normative ideals has re-emerged in several debates in political philosophy. What is often referred to as “ideal theory,” represented by liberal egalitarians such as John Rawls, is under attack from those that stress that political philosophy at large should take much more seriously the nonideal circumstances consisting of relations of domination and power under which normative ideals, principles, and ideas are supposed to be applied. While the debate so far has mainly been preoccupied (...) with defending or rejecting ideal theory through a defense or rejection of a specific ideal theory, this paper instead focuses on a number of general philosophical concerns on which the critique relies. More specifically, it brings up for scrutiny, and ultimately rejects, three charges against ideal theory: the charge that ideal theory is not action-guiding, that ideal theory is impossible, and that ideal theory is distorting. By investigatingthese charges in tandem, the paper shows that the criticism against ideal theory is premised on assumptions about the relationships between thought and action and between concepts and the world for which there is little or no support. (shrink)

As Acharya Vidyanand writes in the Foreword of Samayasara, it is the ultimate conscious reality. The enlightened soul has infinite glory. It has the innate ability to demolish the power of karmas, both auspicious as well as inauspicious, which constitute the cycle of births and deaths, and are an obstacle in the path of liberation of the soul. Samayasara is an essential reading for anyone who wishes to lead a purposeful and contented life. It provides irrefutable and lasting solutions to (...) all our problems, concerning worldly ways as well as spiritual curiosities and misgivings. (shrink)

BackgroundResearch using data from medical care promises to advance medical science and improve healthcare. Academia is not the only sector that expects such research to be of great benefit. The research-based health industry is also interested in so-called ‘real-world’ health data to develop new drugs, medical technologies or data-based health applications. While access to medical data is handled very differently in different countries, and some empirical data suggest people are uncomfortable with the idea of companies accessing health information, this paper (...) aims to advance the ethical debate about secondary use of medical data generated in the public healthcare sector by for-profit companies for medical research (ReuseForPro).MethodsWe first clarify some basic concepts and our ethical-normative approach, then discuss and ethically evaluate potential claims and interests of relevant stakeholders: patients as data subjects in the public healthcare system, for-profit companies, the public, and physicians and their healthcare institutions. Finally, we address the tensions between legitimate claims of different stakeholders in order to suggest conditions that might ensure ethically sound ReuseForPro.ResultsWe conclude that there are good reasons to grant for-profit companies access to medical data if they meet certain conditions: among others they need to respect patients’ informational rights and their actions need to be compatible with the public’s interest in health benefit from ReuseForPro. (shrink)

The paper deals with the question of religious tolerance in Europe’s past and present. Tolerance within Christianity (and within the other so called “Abrahamitic” or “Biblical” Religions) is one of the main points. However, the reader is also invited to take a brief look at Europe’s pre-christian past. To some extent, the religious situation of the Roman Empire in particular rather seems to resemble our own experiences with pluralistic societies in today’s Europe than medieval and early modern circumstances would do. (...) Even the ancient problems with “religious freedom” can be linked with modern counterparts. So this paper will avoid long retrospectives at the well known facts of Europe’s Christian past such as inquisition and European religious wars in order to deal with some more hidden perspectives of European religious his- tory, which were often obscured by the main historiographical narrative. (shrink)

Empathy as “Feelingly Grasping” Perhaps the central question concerning empathy is if and if so how it combines aspects of thinking and feeling. Indeed, the intellectual tradition of the past centuries has been marked by a dualism. Roughly speaking, there have been two pathways when it comes to understanding each other: 1) thinking or mind reading and 2) feeling or empathy. Nonetheless, one of the ongoing debates in psychology and philosophy concerns the question whether these two abilities, namely, understanding what (...) the other is thinking and “understanding” what the other is feeling, are separate or not. Most of the authors in this volume consider the cognitive and affective dimensions at work within empathy. Each author does this within and beyond their own field. Coming from the humanities, we propose the following definition for empathy: Empathy is a social feeling that consists in feelingly grasping or retracing the present, future, or past emotional state of the other; thus empathy is also called a vicarious emotion. We would like to highlight two aspects of this definition in particular: 1.) the peculiar position of “grasping” which involves a cognitive dimension and 2.) the social dimensions of relating to the emotions of another human being. (shrink)

Alloparenting, wherein people provide care to children who are not their biological offspring, is a key aspect of human child-rearing. In the Pacific, many children are adopted or fostered by custodial alloparents even when both biological parents are still alive. From a behavioral ecology perspective, such behaviors are puzzling: why parent someone else’s child at your expense? Furthermore, little is known about how these arrangements are made in Pacific Islander societies today, who provides care, and what kinds of outcomes fostered (...) children experience. A better understanding of these proximate factors may help reveal the ultimate drivers behind custodial alloparenting. Here, we report findings from a survey carried out with the caregivers of 282 children in rural areas of Vanuatu, an island nation in Melanesia. Most fostered and adopted children lived with relatives such as aunts, uncles, and grandparents (87.5%) rather than unrelated caregivers, with a strong preference for maternal kin. The most common reasons for these arrangements were that the parents had separated (16.7%), were engaging in labor migration (27.1%), or a combination of both (27.1%). Results for investment in children’s education and their educational outcomes were mixed, although children removed from crisis situations did more poorly than children removed for aspirational reasons. Our findings suggest that custodial alloparenting helps families adapt to socioeconomic transitions and changing marriage practices. Outcomes may depend on a range of factors, such as the reason children were transferred out of the natal home to begin with. (shrink)

In this article, we analyse the global consensus on the UN’s partnership approach to businesses through an agonistic lens. In doing so, we seek to understand the positioning of states, particularly those in the Global South, towards the partnership approach. We draw on Mouffe’s conceptualisation of ‘the political’, in which the appearance of consensus is always an expression of hegemony accompanied by exclusion and dissensus. First, we show that the partnership approach was initially promoted by the Global North, in particular (...) European states together with UN leadership, against fears and criticism raised by Global South states. Second, we show that Global South states have not fundamentally challenged the idea of engaging in partnerships with businesses, but they have questioned how these partnerships should be designed to shape a more equally beneficial global economy. With this article, we contribute to the literature on the UN and business ethics by identifying how the evolution of the consensus on business partnerships has been a hegemonic arrangement since the 2000s. Furthermore, we illustrate the role that states have had in forming this consensus. We also contribute to business ethics studies engaging with dissensus by problematising the potential of ‘agonistic deliberation’ at the UN level in supporting the interests of the Global South. (shrink)

Hobbes’s theory of authorisation poses numerous puzzles to scholars. The weightiest of these conundrums is a supposed contradiction between chapter 17 of Leviathan, that calls for unconditional submission to the sovereign, and chapter 21, that defends the liberties of the subject. This article offers a fresh perspective on the theory’s consistency, function and addressees. While existing research doubts the theory’s consistency, focuses on its immunisation function and on the subjects as the theory’s main addresses, the paper argues that Hobbes’s theory (...) of authorisation is consistent with the doctrine of the liberty of subjects, and that it serves the dual purpose of immunising the sovereign against criticism and disciplining the sovereign via a counsel of memento mori: A hitherto underexplored element of authorisation theory is a reminder of the mortality of sovereignty directed at the sovereign to convince him to make restricted use of his absolute right to rule. Hobbes’s theory of authorisation can thus be read as part of a complex argumentative strategy for peace, rooted in a ‘liberal absolutism’ which is not as paradoxical as it sounds, and which is reflected in the frontispiece by the friendly smile of the sovereign. (shrink)

Animal Studies Journal 2023 12(2): Introduction: Critical Animal Studies in an Age of Extinction.

A beautifully clear and accessible explanation of how to live a Taoist life--by reknowned Taoist master Eva Wong. Being Taoist is one of the most readable books on Taoist philosophy available. It shines a light on exactly what it takes to live a Taoist life. Taoist living rests on four pillars--the public, the domestic, the private, and the spirit lives. Not only do Taoists strive to live these four aspects fully and in a balanced way, they also believe there is (...) an outlook and an art to each of them. Eva Wong uses the teachings of Taoist masters (one for each pillar) to explain the essential concepts. She then gives voice to these texts--simplifying them, removing barriers to understanding, and making them completely accessible and relevant to the modern reader. Wong is a clear and enthusiastic guide to this intriguing spiritual Way, and she challenges us to stop, reflect, and ask ourselves: Do we balance the public, domestic, private, and spirit aspects in our lives? Do we emphasize some at the expense of the others? Do we ever think about unifying worldly and spiritual wisdom in our lives? (shrink)

This article explores the question of what a concept of postautonomy, as opposed to one of heteronomy, might do to describe current trends in contemporary literature. It is argued that a reading of contemporary literature and literariness benefits from being tied to earlier theoretical and literary conceptions of the relationship between aesthetics and society.

What distinguishes aesthetic thinking from other forms of thinking, such as logical, for instance? In order to clarify this question, the following contribution deals with a reception-aesthetic problem that has been controversially discussed in English-language aesthetics for decades as the ‘paradox of fiction’. It will be shown that the intentional orientation of mind and imagination towards the non-existent, the counterfactual, and the fictive belongs to the decisive peculiarity of aesthetic thinking. Its productivity consists in the process of playing through the (...) possible and imaginable and thereby transcending and thwarting the given and the existing. (shrink)

Durch die Entdeckung und das vertiefte Verständnis der sogenannten „Genscheren“ CRISPR/Cas9 rücken Eingriffe in das Genom zukünftiger Menschen in greifbare Nähe und erfordern mit neuer Dringlichkeit die Beantwortung einer fundamentalen politiktheoretischen Frage: Können Eingriffe in die genetische Ausstattung zukünftiger Menschen im Namen der Gerechtigkeit erlaubt oder gar geboten sein? Rawls’sche Theorieelemente haben in der Debatte um Keimbahneingriffe – trotz Rawls’ vergleichsweise spärlicher eigener Bemerkungen zu eugenischen Fragen – erstaunliche Prominenz entfaltet. Unter Rekurs auf die Rawls’sche Theorie der Grundgüter wird in (...) der Debatte argumentiert, dass Eingriffe im Namen der Chancengleichheit geboten sind und/oder keine Einschränkung der Freiheiten zukünftiger Personen vorliegt, sofern nur sogenannte „genetische Grundgüter“ nicht minimiert oder vermehrt werden. Ich argumentiere für die These, dass diese Argumente einer „liberalen Eugenik“ auf einer verkürzten Rezeption der Rawls’schen Grundgütertheorie basieren. Rawls selbst sah sich nach seiner Veröffentlichung der Theorie der Gerechtigkeit dazu veranlasst, Missverständnisse in Bezug auf seine Grundgütertheorie auszuräumen, und konzedierte, dass seine Darstellung in der Theorie möglicherweise missverständlich gewesen sei. Eine Rekonstruktion der komplexen Theorie der Grundgüter, wie sie in der Theorie angelegt ist, und später von Rawls weiterentwickelt wurde, kann daher die brandaktuelle Debatte um Keimbahneingriffe informieren, indem sie erstens zeigt, dass die gängigen Argumente für Eingriffe sich nicht in der üblichen Form auf Rawls’ Grundgütertheorie stützen können und zweitens Möglichkeiten aufzeigt, mit Rawls ein Argument gegen eine weitgehende Freigabe von Keimbahneingriffen zu formulieren, das die Begründungspflicht wieder zulasten interventionistischer Positionen verschiebt. Meinem Aufsatz liegt folgende Struktur zugrunde: Zuerst rekonstruiere ich zwei Hauptargumente „liberaler Eugenik“ und zeige, dass und wie beide Argumente auf die Rawls’sche Idee der Grundgüter zurückgreifen und breite Verwendung in der bioethischen Debatte gefunden haben (1). In einem zweiten Schritt skizziere ich eine komplexere Version von Rawls’ Grundgütertheorie, die bereits in der Theorie der Gerechtigkeit angelegt ist, aber auch für spätere Schriften wichtig bleibt (2). Danach zeige ich, dass sich die Argumente der „liberalen Eugenik“ nicht auf diese komplexere Version der Theorie der Grundgüter stützen können und dass sich mithilfe der komplexen Theorie der Grundgüter sogar ein Argument gegen eine umfassende Freigabe von Keimbahneingriffen formulieren lässt, das die Begründungspflicht für interventionistische Positionen vergrößert (3). Ich schließe mit einem kurzen Fazit zur Relevanz von Rawls’ Theorie im biotechnischen Zeitalter (4). (shrink)

In unserem Beitrag möchten wir zunächst auf die kategoriale Einordnung des philosophischen Begriffs “Respekt” eingehen und danach zeigen, wie Kinder in der philosophischen Community of Inquiry mit Problemen umgehen, die mit dem Begriffsfeld „Respekt“ verbunden sind. Aus dem breiten Angebot der dabei entwickelten Kategorie möchten wir auf der einen Seite die Kategorie „eine epistemische und moralische Tugend“ herausgreifen und auf der anderen Seite die Kategorie „ein Gefühl“ und zeigen, dass der philosophische Begriff “Respekt” als „Respekt vor jemand oder etwas“, sich (...) in seinem Anforderungsprofil mit der Nähe zum Gegenstand wandelt. Dadurch ergeben sich folgende Fragen: Müssen Personen immer respektiert werden? Kannst du jeden respektieren? Wer verdient Respekt? Kann man sich Respekt verdienen? Welche Handlungen sollten nicht respektiert werden? Kann man Respekt verlieren? Kann man Respekt kaufen? Gibt es falschen Respekt? Hierzu analysieren wir die Kinderdialoge eines philosophischen Gesprächs mit 6 -14 jährigen Kindern sowie ihre Kinderzeichnungen. In unserem Beitrag deuten wir Kinderzeichnungen und Kinderdialoge aus dem von der DAAD geförderten Forschungsprojekt „Kinder philosophieren über das Konstrukt ‚Respekt’“. Die 8 -15 Jahre alten Probanden sind Studierende der Kinderuniversität Bretten. (shrink)

This study describes the theoretical assumptions and the application for health‐promoting conversations, as a communication tool for nurses when talking to patients and their families. The conversations can be used on a promotional, preventive and healing level when working with family‐focused nursing. They are based on a multiverse, salutogenetic, relational and reflecting approach, and acknowledge each person's experience as equally valid, and focus on families’ resources, and the relationship between the family and its environment. By posing reflective questions, reflection is (...) made possible for both the family and the nurses. Family members are invited to tell their story, and they can listen to and learn from each other. Nurses are challenged to build a co‐creating partnership with families in order to acknowledge them as experts on how to lead their lives and to use their own expert knowledge in order to facilitate new meanings to surface. In this way, family health can be enhanced. (shrink)

Physician-pharmaceutical industry interactions continue to generate heated debate in academic and public domains, both in the United States and abroad. Despite this, recent research suggests that physicians and physicians-in-training remain ignorant of the core issues and are ill-prepared to understand pharmaceutical industry promotion. There is a vast medical literature on this topic, but no single, concise resource. This book aims to fill that gap by providing a resource that explains the essential elements of this subject. The text makes the reader (...) more aware of the key ethical issues and allows the reader to be a more savvy interpreter of industry promotion, have a heightened awareness of the public and medical legal consequences of some physician-pharmaceutical industry interactions, and be better equipped to handle real-life encounters with industry. (shrink)

Promoting philosophical and ethical education in schools requires academic education of teacher candidates who are able to apply professional methods. In schools, information pills in contrast to the academy, advice philosophy and ethics need to be taught in a practical and interactive way.?Learning-by-doing?, more about as distinguished from philosophy according to the?scholastic concept?. Philosophy according to the?universal concept? deals with questions generally asked not only by philosophers, but by all thinking people.

predators stalk their chosen prey, and so forth. The genius of “instinct†comes in abundant variety, and breeds true. “It must be in the genesâ€â€“that’s what we tend to conclude. But when we do, we may be jumping to conclusions, because there are other possibilities: the clever behavior we observe could be the do-it-yourself invention or discovery of the individual behaver or it could be a clever trick copied from an elder member of its species, most likely one of its (...) parents. This last possibility is an ancient doctrine, enshrined in folklore about animal parents sternly but lovingly training their young, and in countless anecdotes, but this appealing idea of animals benefitting from hand-me-down wisdom from earlier generations much the way we do has recently languished in the shadow of the genes, an oversight this book seeks to correct. The folklore is not all fanciful; some of it can be supported by good science, which moreover will open up surprising vistas on the role of individual behavior in evolution. The book is fascinating on at least three levels: first, it provides a vivid and insightful survey.. (shrink)

Abstract„What thinks in man, is not he himself, but his social community.“ These words by the early sociologist Ludwig Gumplowicz (1838–1909) were quoted several times by Ludwik Fleck (1896–1961) and seem to be in complete agreement with his own theory of thought collectives. The assumption that even scientific ideas were not so much generated by the scientist as an autonomous individual but rather by and within the social environment was still considered provocative by Fleck in the 1930s. This article will (...) explore the implications of this assumption by comparing Fleck with Gumplowicz as well as with Tadeusz Bilikiewicz (1901–1980), a psychiatrist, philosopher and historian of medicine working like Fleck in the cultural milieu of Lwów/lemberg. (shrink)

We compute the model-theoretic Grothendieck ring, \\), of a dense linear order with or without end points, \\), as a structure of the signature \, and show that it is a quotient of the polynomial ring over \ generated by \\) by an ideal that encodes multiplicative relations of pairs of generators. This ring can be embedded in the polynomial ring over \ generated by \. As a corollary we obtain that a DLO satisfies the pigeon hole principle for definable (...) subsets and definable bijections between them—a property that is too strong for many structures. (shrink)