The stated purpose of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders is to classify mental disorders. However, no tenable operational definition of mental disorder is offered in the manual. This leaves the possibility open that the behaviors labeled as disordered in the DSM are not members of a valid category. Attempts to define mental illness fall into the category of essentialist or relativist based, respectively, on the acceptance or denial of the existence of a defining biological attribute that all (...) mental disorders possess. However, the disorders in the DSM cannot be accounted for by either of these approaches making it unlikely that they represent a single valid concept. Simultaneous inclusion of brain illnesses and normal behaviors in the DSM are a likely explanation for the disparate nature of DSM disorders. (shrink)

Freedom is a key concept in universal affairs. It is so important in human affairs that individuals, countries and even continents cannot do without it. The term freedom is highly subjective as its meaning may differ from one individual to another. It equally applies to countries and continents. This factor however does not in any way reduce the philosophical importance of the concept of freedom and its critical role in human affairs. This work evaluates the concept of African freedom based (...) on Maduabuchi Dukor’s incisive work on African freedom titled “African freedom: The freedom of philosophy”. The paper takes the strong but painful position that Africa in not really free and gives reasons for this unfortunate scenario. It further discusses the way out of the continent’s quagmire. (shrink)

Abstract Ab? Yazid al?Bist?mi (d. 874 AD) was a renowned early s?fi who exerted a tremendous influence upon the doctrinal formulation of the sufism of medieval times. A highly controversial figure, he is venerated by some as a top?ranking saint and s?fi, condemned by others as a notorious heretic, and there are still others who suspend judgement on him. More than 200 years after him al?Ghaz?li (1058?1111 AD) flourished as the greatest s?fi of all times; he examined and evaluated the (...) teachings of his s?fi predecessors including Ab? Yazid. To determine his evaluation of Ab? Yazid and his opinion on the related, well?known concept of man's union with God at the highest peak of spirituality is the main aim of this paper. To achieve this aim al?Ghaz?li's citations from Ab? Yazid's teachings on many basic doctrines of sufism, together with his explicit comments on them, are analysed in the second section of the paper, and he is found to have evaluated these teachings as of a very high grade and to have extolled Ab? Yazid as a s?fi of the highest rank. The third section studies al?Ghaz?li's opinion on the most important aspect of Ab? Yazid's teachings, i.e. his shatah?t or ecstatic utterances apparently expressive of union, fusion and divine indwelling. This began with a consideration of al?Ghaz?li's definition of two kinds of shath and his condemnation of them on the grounds of their harmful consequences. In connection with a study of his condemnation of the shatah?t of Ab? Yazid and al?Hall?j an investigation is made into his opinion on union and fusion. It is found that throughout his s?fi life he condemned them as false concepts. However Ab? Yazid's shatah?t, which apparently mean union, fusion, etc. are interpreted in an orthodox manner, and he is adjudged an elect of the elect, a gnostic who reached the level of reality of realities, a perfect s?fi who attained to God. All the above findings are based on al?Ghaz?li's explicit comments on Ab? Yazid. The fourth section of the paper deals with his implicit, indirect comments which also prove his appreciation of, and indebtedness to, Ab? Yazid in respect of several central concepts of sufism. (shrink)

Jeong Jae-gyu (鄭載圭, 1843-1911) was a scholar in the late Joseon Dynasty who contributed to the solidification and formation of the Nosa school (蘆沙學派) through the publication of Nosajib (蘆沙集) and active lecture activities based on the independent acceptance of his teacher, Ki Jeong-jin (奇正鎭). He explained the concept of intelligence based on the definitions of Shen Gui-bao (沈貴珤), an early scholar of the Yuan Dynasty, and even though the volume was not large, he presented a deep analysis and a (...) unique interpretation. Few Joseon Neo-Confucian scholars had explained the concept of intelligence based on Shen Gui-bao, so his attempts are unique. Shen Gui-bao explained, “the Intelligence includes the axis of change in the real world where the heavenly principles are inherent and has a mirror to judge the conflicts of human affairs”. Hu Bing-wen (胡炳文) used the explanation to justify his concept of intelligence. However, since intelligence is a principle, and the “axis of change in the real world” is also a principle, an unreasonable proposition of ‘principle includes principle’ can be established according to Shen Gui-bao’s definitions. Therefore, Kim Chang-hyeop (金昌協) and others criticized Shen Gui-bao, saying that such a proposition cannot be accepted. However, in the 19th century, Lee Hang-ro (李恒老) and Lee Jin-sang (李震相) showed a positive attitude toward Shen Gui-bao’s definitions. Jeong Jae-gyu, who partially accepted the influence of Lee Jin-sang, reaffirmed the fundamental position of intelligence through the phrase “Intelligence includes the axis of change in the real world”, and emphasized that intelligence is the basis for both moral judgment and the principle of perception. Furthermore, in the Neo-Confucian system, intelligence corresponds to a quiet virtue, so Jung Jae-gyu’s emphasis on it might lead to a theory of cultivation centered on solitude (靜), which can be confirmed in questions and answers shared with Ki Jung-jin, his writings, and poems. (shrink)

Arithmetic optimization algorithm (AOA) is one of the recently proposed population-based metaheuristic algorithms. The algorithmic design concept of the AOA is based on the distributive behavior of arithmetic operators, namely, multiplication (M), division (D), subtraction (S), and addition (A). Being a new metaheuristic algorithm, the need for a performance evaluation of AOA is significant to the global optimization research community and specifically to nature-inspired metaheuristic enthusiasts. This article aims to evaluate the influence of the algorithm control parameters, namely, population (...) size and the number of iterations, on the performance of the newly proposed AOA. In addition, we also investigated and validated the influence of different initialization schemes available in the literature on the performance of the AOA. Experiments were conducted using different initialization scenarios and the first is where the population size is large and the number of iterations is low. The second scenario is when the number of iterations is high, and the population size is small. Finally, when the population size and the number of iterations are similar. The numerical results from the conducted experiments showed that AOA is sensitive to the population size and requires a large population size for optimal performance. Afterward, we initialized AOA with six initialization schemes, and their performances were tested on the classical functions and the functions defined in the CEC 2020 suite. The results were presented, and their implications were discussed. Our results showed that the performance of AOA could be influenced when the solution is initialized with schemes other than default random numbers. The Beta distribution outperformed the random number distribution in all cases for both the classical and CEC 2020 functions. The performance of uniform distribution, Rayleigh distribution, Latin hypercube sampling, and Sobol low discrepancy sequence are relatively competitive with the Random number. On the basis of our experiments’ results, we recommend that a solution size of 6,000, the number of iterations of 100, and initializing the solutions with Beta distribution will lead to AOA performing optimally for scenarios considered in our experiments. (shrink)

In this study, we tried to reveal what philosophy is and its function based on the concepts. Man, who is a reasonable being, needs philosophy. The philosophy that man needs is the one compatible with reality. Philosophy, which critically examines the concepts put forward about human, universe and existence, is a mental effort. The functions of philosophy towards concepts and beliefs are analysis, synthesis and criticism. Philosophy explains concepts, and critically evaluates beliefs. It tries to justify (...) the conclusions based on explanation and criticism. Philosophy examines the main characteristics of the relationships among existence, human and human-being. At this stage, philosophy abides by concepts whose one side scrutinize the beings. Philosophy, which is also accepted as the process of analysing the structure of thought, turns to language and therefore to the analysis of concepts as the appropriate ground for realizing this function. Sciences also use concepts, but only philosophy does the analysis of the concepts. Individually, Philosophy performs this function based on the human reason. Because philosophy is an activity based on reason and it is individual. Despite the objective nature of science, philosophy is subjective. As an individual activity, philosophy is based on the individual's ability to produce and create based on his/her reasoning. What philosophy produces and creates on the occasion of individual contemplation are concepts. Concepts are what the philosopher thinks about by discovering. The philosopher, who has the power to produce and create concepts, is concept-friendly. Therefore, philosophy can be described as a discipline that includes creating concepts or as knowledge acquired through pure concepts. (shrink)

The correct understanding of the Qurʾān verses is possible by examining the concepts in them linguistically and revealing the meaning they express in the integrity of the Qurʾān. The verb “h-m-m” is one of these concepts. This verb has been used as sulasi mucerred in a total of seven verses in Āl-i 'Imrān 3/122, al-Nisāʾ 4/113, al-Māʾidah 5/11, at-Tawba 9/13, 74, Yūsuf 12/24, al-Mu'min 40/5. In our study, the aforementioned verses in which the verb “h-m-m” is used, have (...) been examined through the sources of tafsir and based on the meaning of the mentioned word in the unity of the Qurʾān, the verse of "Woman had tend to him. He also tended to the woman. If he had not seen the proof of his Lord. This is what We did to drive away evil and immorality from him. Surely, he is one of Our sincere servants." (Yūsuf 12/24) has been analyzed. First of all, information about the verb “h-m-m” was given within the scope of the conceptual framework, then it was emphasized that in which verses the related verb is used and how it can be considered within the context of the verse in Yūsuf Surah and narrations about revelation reasons of this verse. In the context of the relevant verse, the views in the "Manar Tafsir" have been handled separately since it differs from almost all commentaries in terms of approach. Although it is examined how the relevant verse in Yūsuf Surah is handled in the Bible, this aspect of the subject has not been mentioned because it will not contribute to our study and because of the limited structure of the article. In the handling of our subject, as a method, the integrity of the Qurʾān within the scope of the verb “h-m-m”, the narrations about the revelation reasons and the context of the verse were taken as basis. The aim of our study is to reveal what is meant by the verb “h-m-m” in the mentioned verse, based on the uses of the verb in the Qurʾān and considering the context of the relevant verse and narrations about its revelation reasons. In this context, it can be said that the verb “h-m-m” in the relevant verse of Yūsuf Surah means to decide and attempt an attack in connection with sexual impulses. (shrink)

As a fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence) term, the concept of “ignorance” ex-presses uncertainties in legal transactions and, in Islamic law, is accepted as a situation that negatively impacts the legitimacy of contracts. If the sale is deferred, clarification of the delivery time of the price to be paid for the goods sold, the number of installments, etc. during the contract is considered essential for the validity of the transactions in order not to damage the principle of mutual consent in purchase and (...) sale transactions and to avoid conflicts between the parties. However, not every uncertainty is considered an obstacle to the validity of the contract, and minor uncertainties that do not lead to disputes are tolerated. The fiqh sources of four Islamic sects contain many examples of these uncertainties. This study firstly examines the effect of ignorance on the validity of purchasing contracts in Islamic law using the issues in classical fiqh sources and then analyses the housing sales contract of TOKI’s (housing development administration of Turkey) “my first house social housing project” in this context from a fiqh perspective. In addition, the study addresses the related housing sales contract in terms of the juristic preference method by considering the aspect of meeting an important need of society and realizing the purpose of this project. Then, while evaluating the issue from a juris-prudential point of view, the study discusses that the absolute and strict interpretation of the rule of “ignorance renders the contract void,” which is adopted by ignoring the public interest, does not produce favorable results. (shrink)

Two experiments investigated whether moral evaluations of organ transplantation influence judgments of death and causation. Participants’ beliefs about whether an unconscious organ donor was dead and whether organ removal caused death in a hypothetical vignette varied depending on the moral valence of the vignette. Those who were randomly assigned to the good condition were more likely to believe that the donor was dead prior to organ removal and that organ removal did not cause death. Furthermore, attitudes toward euthanasia and organ (...) donation independently predicted judgments of death and causation, regardless of experimental condition. The results are discussed in light of the framework of motivated reasoning, in which motivation influences the selection of cognitive processes and representations applied to a given domain, as well as Knobe’s person-as-moralist model, in which many basic concepts are appropriately imbued with moral features. On either explanatory framework, these data cast doubt on the psychological legitimacy of the mainstream justification for vital organ procurement from heart-beating donors, which holds that neurological criteria for death are scientifically justified, independently of concerns about organ transplantation. These data suggest that, rather than concluding that organ removal is permissible because the donor is dead, people may believe that the donor is dead because they believe organ removal to be permissible. (shrink)

CASUS is an authoring system, which should enable physicians to produce problem-based computer learning programs with minimal technical effort and give them sound instructional support. The theoretical background of CASUS are constructivist approaches to learning and instruction, which deal mainly with the question, how to design problem-based learning environments. The paper presents the constructivist concept of CASUS and results of a forma-tive evaluation. Four authors were observed and interviewed while developing a learning case with CASUS. The evaluation pursued (...) mainly the question of which difficulties arise while producing a case with CASUS and which measures are necessary in order to improve the authoring system. Results show that with regard to technical aspects physicians can produce learning cases even without any special prior knowledge. There were far more problems with instructional aspects of the production of cases. Most of these difficulties were very specific to the content of the cases. Therefore, it seems that an appropriate way to design learning cases with high quality, is a cooperation between some authors with different expertise. (shrink)

Berichte zur Wissenschaftsgeschichte, Volume 44, Issue 4, Page 391-413, December 2021.

In a recent paper, Groarke proposes a view of emotional arguments that seems too narrow. While his notion of pathos and emotional arguments may aid in the development of normative analysis, it is not sufficient in addressing all emotional arguments and is guilty of strictly adhering to the tradition’s conception of emotion’s place in argumentation. I suggest an alternative evaluation of emotional arguments - relying on Walton’s dialogue types and goals as its foundation.

Using Grunbaum 1984 and 1993 as a springboard, Greenwood (this issue) claims to have offered several methodologically salubrious and exegetically illuminating theses on empirical evaluations of theoretical explanations of psychotherapeutic efficacy. According to his exegesis of Grunbaum's construction (1984, Ch. 2, Section C; 1993, 184-204) of Freud's "Tally Argument," that argument bespeaks a rife neglect of the epistemologically-significant distinction between empirical evaluations of the efficacy of psychotherapy and evaluations of theoretical explanations of that efficacy. Greenwood presents a defense of a (...) qualified version of Popper's critique of psychoanalysis against Grunbaum's objections to it (1984, Ch. 1B). Finally, Greenwood offers a clarification of the concept of a "placebo control" investigation, taking issue with Grunbaum's 1993 (84-87, 91-93). In the present paper, it is argued contra Greenwood that: (1) his purportedly "best" reading of Freud's Tally Argument and of its import founders, (2) the distinction that Greenwood bemoans as being neglected by mental health researchers actually is a commonplace in the literature on treatment-process and therapeutic outcome, (3) Greenwood's defense of Popper's critique of psychoanalysis is an anachronism, and (4) Greenwood's conceptual analysis of placebo controls is nebulous and misconceived. (shrink)

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:The Evaluation of Implicit AnthropologiesJochen Fahrenberg (bio) and Marcus Cheetham (bio)Keywordsmind-body, philosophical assumptions, human natureThe three commentaries and the reviewer’s notes contain valuable reflections and expand on number of important points. There is general agreement that surprisingly little is known about psychologists’, psychotherapists’, clinicians’, and other professionals’ philosophical assumptions about human nature. It is conceivable that these implicit anthropologies represent a potential source of bias in research and (...) practice and that further research is therefore justified.Doctor Walach emphasizes the pluralism of world views, which is evident in the questionnaire response patterns. The findings contradict the assumption that monism, immanence, and a scientific worldview are predominant preconceptions. Instead, psychology students mostly favor ontological or methodological dualism, and con-firm that they have spiritual beliefs or indeed some belief in paranormal phenomena. From this, Dr. Walach extends his thought-provoking perspective to folk psychology, as opposed to mainstream psychology, and reflects on the influence of individual beliefs on scientific culture. It is especially from this perspective that the investigation of certain key concepts and belief systems should be given every encouragement.Doctors Wells and Rackley were particularly interested in the implicit anthropologies of clinicians. They are inclined to attribute individual differences in understanding and interaction with patients to “psychological” traits or to momentary experience rather than to philosophical beliefs. The latter view was supported by the majority of students in our investigation. With respect to psychotherapists and clinicians, our article contained only a short reference to the interviews conducted by Wider. The majority of the forty-two professionals taking part in this pilot study assumed that there may be such differential biases in their fields, but they conceded that the momentary clinical condition and pragmatic necessities would often override such biases. An empirical investigation to differentiate psychological, pragmatic–clinical, and philosophical factors and the associated bias would be an ambitious project; very careful interviews and perhaps participant observation would be necessary. But before undertaking such a study, further descriptive studies and the development of testable hypotheses are required.Doctor Brendel referred to the intricacies of the mind–body problem. We agree that many of the recent philosophical writings show nonreductive physicalism to be among the highly favored conceptions. (We do not know whether this discourse represents the majority opinion of philosophers, psychologists, clinicians, or even neuroscientists.) [End Page 213] The inclusion of this specific conception in the multiple-choice item list would require the inclusion of a specific vocabulary and some definitions that are controversial, even among the proponents of nonreductive physicalism. We decided to restrict the wide spectrum of concepts to five categories. Doctor Brendel goes on to voice explicit support for the conceptualization proposed by Horgan, who recommended a pragmatic approach and the use of double vocabularies. He suggests that context-related features in a given instance would suffice for selecting the most appropriate explanation. It is, however, conceivable that close examination of the decision process would reveal criteria containing or stemming from philosophical assumptions.Doctor Walach makes reference to the complementarity principle, which has a certain intellectual appeal when cross-category relationships are considered, and is not restricted to the domain of physics. Compared with a double-language dualism, the complementarity principle postulates that both frames of reference are fundamentally different in categories, exhaustive within their specific explanation scheme, but are essentially incomplete if, for example, brain and consciousness are viewed as a whole.Pertinent methodological aspects were already addressed in the article and endnote. However, the appropriateness of a questionnaire with which to assess philosophical standpoints will continue to be met with concern and require careful consideration. It is clear that there is no other practical method for gathering in a population like first-year students of psychology representative data about ontological beliefs, religious attitudes, or assumptions on human nature.Doctors Wells and Rackley noted discrepancies in the response to two items relating to spiritual existence after death and the cessation of consciousness with biological death. The two statements seem to be contradictory and the observed inconsistencies point to possible misunderstandings, response tendencies, context-dependent effects, or other shortcomings well-known in research using personality questionnaires. However, the assumed postmortal existence... (shrink)

The concept of “public participation” is currently one of great interest to researchers and policy makers. In response to a perceived need for greater public involvement in decision making and policy formation processes on the part of both policymakers and the general public, a variety of novel mechanisms have been developed, such as the consensus conference and citizens jury, to complement traditional mechanisms, such as the public meeting. However, the relative effectiveness of the various mechanisms is unclear, as efforts at (...) evaluation have been sparse. In this article, the authors describe an evaluation of a two-day “deliberative conference” on the topic of radiation dose assessment. The authors detail the evaluation framework that they adopt and describe the instruments that they have developed to determine the attainment of the evaluationcriteria stipulated in that framework. They then describe the participation exercise that they have evaluated. Finally, they apply the instruments to assess the effectiveness of the exercise, and discuss the results and their implications for the conduct of evaluations and the use of this particular participation mechanism. (shrink)

Graduate nursing students should have a strong ethical theoretical foundation to identify and explore scientific and technological ethical issues impacting nursing care, to assume leadership positions in practice and education, and to conduct research contributing to nursing’s knowledge base. This paper reports the implementation and evaluation of a new ethics course at Turkish doctoral nursing programs. The first section describes course design and implementation. The second section evaluates the course and discusses results. Students’ evaluations indicated that the concept of (...) caring in key ethical theories, particularly care ethics, was vital to course content. The most preferred teaching method was case analysis. Students suggested increase in course length and credits, content inclusion of feminist ethics, and real-world knowledge application by other teaching strategies such as clinical practice visits and hospital ethics committee member participation. (shrink)

Naturalistic theories of disease appeal to concepts of biological function, and use the notion of dysfunction as the basis of their definitions. Debates in the philosophy of biology demonstrate how attributing functions in organisms and establishing the function-dysfunction distinction is by no means straightforward. This problematization of functional ascription has undermined naturalistic theories and led some authors to abandon the concept of dysfunction, favoring instead definitions based in normative criteria or phenomenological approaches. Although this work has enhanced our understanding (...) of disease and illness, we need not necessarily abandon naturalistic concepts of function and dysfunction in the disease debate. This article attempts to move towards a new naturalistic theory of disease that overcomes the limitations of previous definitions and offers advantages in the clinical setting. Our approach involves a re-evaluation of concepts of biological function employed by naturalistic theories. Drawing on recent insights from the philosophy of biology, we develop a contextual and evaluative account of function that is better suited to clinical medicine and remains consistent with contemporary naturalism. We also show how an updated naturalistic view shares important affinities with normativist and phenomenological positions, suggesting a possibility for consilience in the disease debate. (shrink)

Conceptual engineering is the method for assessing and improving our concepts. However, little has been written about how best to conceive of concepts for the purposes of conceptual engineering. In this paper, I aim to fill this foundational gap, proceeding in three main steps: First, I propose a methodological framework for evaluating the conduciveness of a given concept of concept for conceptual engineering. Then, I develop a typology that contrasts two competing concepts of concept that can be (...) used in conceptual engineering — namely, the philosophical and psychological ones. Finally, I evaluate these two concepts of concept using the proposed methodological framework and I show that, when it comes to making conceptual engineering an actionable method, the psychological concept of concept outclasses its philosophical counterpart on all counts. This provides a baseline from which the concept of concept can be further improved for the purposes of conceptual engineering. (shrink)

The concept of health is not only a specific criterion for evaluation of water quality delivered by a distribution system but also a suitable paradigm for overall functioning of the hydraulic and structural components of the system. This article views health, despite its complexities, as the only criterion with suitable depth and breadth to allow a holistic assessment of system performance. Although many decisions relating to the planning and design of water distribution systems do implicitly consider human health, engineers (...) and planners seldom explicitly adopt a “health mindset” overall and, thus, miss the richness and possibilities of a health framework for a wider range of system evaluations, considerations, and trade-offs. This article argues why a breakdown in a healthy system will so frequently result in stresses experienced by humans and briefly reviews the concepts of human health and system health and provides specific examples of a significant interaction between the two. (shrink)

Researchers often pursue proof of concept research, but criteria for evaluating such research remain poorly specified. This article proposes a general framework for proof of concept research that k...

The way metrologists conceive of measurement has undergone a major shift in the last two decades. This shift can in great part be traced to a change in the statistical methods used to deal with the expression of measurement results, and, more particularly, with the calculation of measurement uncertainties. Indeed, as we show, the incapacity of the frequentist approach to the calculus of uncertainty to deal with systematic errors has prompted the replacement of the customary frequentist methods by fully Bayesian (...) procedures. The epistemological ramifications of the Bayesian approach merge with a deep empiricist mood tantamount to an “epistemic turn”: measurement results are analysed in terms of degrees of belief, and central concepts such as error and accuracy are called into question. We challenge the perspective entailed by this epistemic turn: we insist on the centrality of the concepts of error and accuracy by underlining the intentional character of measurement that is intimately linked to the process of correction of experimental data. We further circumvent the difficulties posed by the classical analysis of measurement by stressing the social rather than the epistemic dimension of measurement activities. (shrink)

This article describes a process of developing, implementing and evaluating a clinical ethics support service intervention with the goal of building up a context-sensitive structure of minimal clinical-ethics in an oncology department without prior clinical ethics structure. Scholars from different disciplines have called for an improvement in the evaluation of clinical ethics support services for different reasons over several decades. However, while a lot has been said about the concepts and methodological challenges of evaluating CESS up to the (...) present time, relatively few empirical studies have been carried out. The aim of this article is twofold. On the one hand, it describes a process of development, modifying and evaluating a CESS intervention as part of the ETHICO research project, using the approach of qualitative-formative evaluation. On the other hand, it provides a methodological analysis which specifies the contribution of qualitative empirical methods to the evaluation of CESS. We conclude with a consideration of the strengths and limitations of qualitative evaluation research with regards to the evaluation and development of context sensitive CESS. We further discuss our own approach in contrast to rather traditional consult or committee models. (shrink)

In the verse of Sūrah al-An'ām 6/38, "Nothing has we omitted from the Book" as it is stated in the 59th verse of the same sūrah, “Anything fresh or dry (green or withered) but is (inscribed) in a record clear (to those who can read)." has been commanded. In the verses of the an-Naḥl 16/44 and 89, it is stated that it was revealed to the Prophet to explain to people everything that was revealed to them. In this meaning, there (...) are other verses in the Qur'ān. Based on these and similar verses, according to some, the Qur'ān; it is a general source of information that anyone who has lost his camel's bridle as an allusion to all knowledge, all knowledge of those before him and those who will come until the Day of Judgment, can find it in the Qur'ān. On the contrary, according to some, it is useless to look for everything in the Qur'ān, which was sent for the guidance of man, happiness in this world and the hereafter, and it is necessary to look for things in line with his goals. From this point of view, the article focuses on the content of the thesis that there is knowledge of everything in the Qur'ān, in Turkish and Arabic websites, and it is tried to understand how the Qur'ān is portrayed as a source of information on these platforms. While doing this, a search was made on Google, one of today's popular and easy access to information platforms, by typing ‘Is there everything in the Qur'ān’. And the content in the first five rows, written and visual, was transferred to the study without falling into repetition. Among these, an evaluation was made based on the most read internet sites and it was seen that the general opinion was that there is everything in the Qur'ān. Content creators have often answered the question of how such a thing is possible, by analogy, in which all the information of a tree is stored in a kernel, a large bale of cotton takes up very little space when compressed, or -in an easy-to-understand analogy for today's people- huge amounts of memory cards are stored in tiny memory cards explained by compressing information. As proof of this, History in the Qur'ān, Technology in the Qur'ān, Astronomy in the Qur'ān and Mathematics in the Qur'ān, are just a few of the titles in this content. Again, according to those who think this way, it is another way of explaining the subject that the Qur'ān is secret and only those who have deepened in science and have certain competence can discover that secret when the time comes. On the other hand, there are also some who say that there is no knowledge of everything in the Qur'ān, even if it is a little. Despite the verses stating that nothing is missing in the book and that everything wet and dry is in the book, it is important how those who hold this view explain the subject. For example, the concept of kitāb is one of the words that have a wujūhāt (different meanings) when the whole of the Qur'ān is taken into account. Because, in various places in the Qur'ān, this word is used in the meaning of the Qur'ān, the lawh-i mahfūẓ, the written/obligatory and the book of deeds. In addition, even if the Qur'ān is meant, it has been stated that the wording here is common, not in the meaning that the knowledge of everything is in the Qur'ān, but in the sense that the things about guidance or in line with the goals of the Qur'ān can be found in it. As a matter of fact, there are other examples of this in the Qur'ān. Considering the context, there is no explicit or implicit presumption in the relevant verses that the Qur'ān is meant by the kitāb-ı mubīn (a revealed book). Therefore, the first period commentators and later commentators understood this expression not as the Qur'ān, but as the lawh-i mahfūẓ. Interestingly, some of the content producers of the website were able to claim that although the commentators expressed their views in writing or orally, the Qur'ān was meant by the kitāb-ı mubīn, and the preference for the lawh-i mahfūẓ needed explanation. As a result, it is understood that those who claim to have all the information in the Qur'ān actually understand the verses in question literally. If the Qur'ān has everything, it is the necessary consequence of this proposition that the Qur'ān will suffice for us without the need for anything else. In our opinion, it is an important contradiction that among those whose views are given, that they leave the method aside on this issue, even though they emphasize reason and method. This makes it very difficult to obtain healthy information about the epistemic value of the Qur'ān from the internet, which is a popular source of information, and to clarify the mind of ordinary people on this subject. (shrink)

The early gene knockout studies with a neurobiological focus were directed at fairly obvious target genes and added very little to our knowledge of behavioural neuroscience. On the contrary, since the behavioural consequences were often predictable, this helped confirm that the technology was working. However, a substantial number of knockouts of genes expressed in the brain have been without obvious behavioural consequences, supporting the concept of genetic canalisation and redundancy. Others have produced a behavioural deficit for which there is no (...) obvious explanation. Many cells of different tissue types have a capacity for memory, and in the brain, cells of the hippocampus are important for spatial learning and memory. Deleting genes that are expressed in the happpocampus has received considerable attention in this behavioural context. Although the initial studies experienced problems of interpretation, considerable advances have since been made. Knockout mice are now subject to tests of different forms of learning, multicellular hippocampal recordings, and restricted gene deletion specific to cells of component regions. This multi‐level approach is proving more informative. Nevertheless, there is still a need to recognise that behavioural expression is several steps removed from gene expression, and that the relationship between genes and behaviour can be reciprocal. (shrink)

We have national guidelines for the responsible conduct of research (RCR) and procedures for handling allegations of misconduct in Finland. The guidelines have been formulated and updated by the Finnish Advisory Board on Research Integrity (TENK). In this article, we introduce and evaluate the national RCR guidelines. We also present statistics of alleged and proven RCR violation cases and frequency of appeals to TENK on the decisions or procedures of the primary institutions. In addition, we analyze the available data on (...) seven investigated cases in more detail. Positive aspects in the Finnish system are a fairly good infrastructure to investigate suspected RCR violations and a wide concept of RCR violations, which consists of fabrication, falsification, plagiarism, misappropriation, and other misbehaviors. However, the guidelines contain poorly elaborated definitions, do not treat the complainant and the suspect in an equal way, and need to be revised. Confusion about the concepts and criteria of the RCR violations seems to be common in primary institutions and among the complainants. Even if research institutions and universities have officially adhered to the national RCR guidelines, slipping from the guidelines occurs quite commonly. All these factors lead to frequent dissatisfaction with the decisions or procedures applied, high rate of appeals to TENK, and far from optimal functionality of the system. (shrink)

Contemporary brain reading technologies promise to provide the possibility to decode and interpret mental states and processes. Brain reading could have numerous societally relevant implications. In particular, the private character of mind might be affected, generating ethical and legal concerns. This paper aims at equipping ethicists and policy makers with conceptual tools to support an evaluation of the potential applicability and the implications of current and near future brain reading technology. We start with clarifying the concepts of mind (...) reading and brain reading, and the different kinds of mental states that could in principle be read. Subsequently, we devise an evaluative framework that is composed of five criteria-accuracy, reliability, informativity, concealability and enforceability-aimed at enabling a clearer estimation of the degree to which brain reading might be realistically deployed in contexts where mental privacy could be at stake. While accuracy and reliability capture how well a certain method can access mental content, informativity indicates the relevance the obtainable data have for practical purposes. Concealability and enforceability are particularly important for the evaluation of concerns about potential violations of mental privacy and civil rights. The former concerns the degree with which a brain reading method can be concealed from an individual’s perception or awareness. The latter regards the extent to which a method can be used against somebody’s will. With the help of these criteria, stakeholders can orient themselves in the rapidly developing field of brain reading. (shrink)

This study was conducted to examine how the concepts of existential philosophy are addressed in the movie. Employing phenomenology, one of the qualitative research methods, the study was carried out with 15 university students. The study data were collected by interviewing the participating students. Within this context, the movie was evaluated through the eyes of existential philosophy using the concepts of existence. The study revealed that the way the characters in the movie handled existence problems was related to (...) their own characters and that life is a place to be questioned and the depth of meaning of life, the anxiety of life, existence and nothingness were all together. (shrink)

This article aims to evaluate the types of customary marriage, the reasons that paved the way for its spread, the sociological approach of the people with statistical data, and the evaluation in terms of Islamic Fiqh (jurisprudence). In the study, it has been tried to reach the right result by considering the social reasons and legal norms together. In order to correctly evaluate people's orientation to customary marriage, statistical data was used in the study, thus it was aimed to (...) reveal the sociological dimension of the research. In the research, firstly, the definition of the concept of marriage, its elements, conditions and types were briefly explained and the conceptual, legal framework and imagination of marriage were drawn. Thus, the main concepts and norms in which the customary marriage will be evaluated and compared have been put forward. Afterwards, the definition of customary marriage, which is the main subject of the study, its types, the countries where it is spreading, statistical data, the reasons that paved the way for its emergence, and Islamic Fiqh from the classical to the present were made. As a result, customary marriage was performed in three different ways, two of which were permissible, one was not; It has been determined that the applicants for this wedding are generally those who want to have more than one marriage and the university students. It has been seen that this customary marriage has some positive and negative consequences, and those who look at its positive aspects are allowed, while those who consider its negative aspects are not. However, from the classical period to the present, it has been determined that it is permissible for the public to hide the two-witness marriage on the grounds that it fulfills the condition of announcement, even if it is demanded from the witness. (shrink)

This paper critically assesses the model of evaluation of scientific research for democratic societies defended by Philip Kitcher. The “significant truth” approach proposes a viable alternative to two classic images of science: that of the “critics”, who believe that science always serves the interests of the powerful and that of the “faithful”, who argue that the pursuit of scientific knowledge is always valuable and necessary. However, the democratic justification of Kitcher’s proposal is not compatible with the ethical problems generated (...) by the international biomedical research in developing countries. To overcome this problem, I revise the national democratic framing of the significant truth approach in light of the theory of justice of John Rawls. (shrink)

We argue that the economic evaluation of health care (cost–benefit analysis) should respect individual preferences and should incorporate distributional considerations. Relying on individual preferences does not imply subjective welfarism. We propose a particular non-welfarist approach, based on the concept of equivalent income, and show how it helps to define distributional weights. We illustrate the feasibility of our approach with empirical results from a pilot survey.

In biology the term “vitalism” is usually associated with Hans Driesch’s doctrine of the entelechy: entelechies were nonmaterial, bio-specific agents responsible for governing a few peculiar biological phenomena. Since vitalism defined as such violates metaphysical materialism, the received view refutes the doctrine of the entelechy as a metaphysical heresy. But in the early twentieth century, a different, non-metaphysical evaluation of vitalism was endorsed by some biologists and philosophers, which finally led to a logical refutation of the doctrine of the (...) entelechy. In this non-metaphysical evaluation, first, vitalism was not treated as a metaphysical heresy but a legitimate response to the inadequacy of mechanistic explanations in biology. Second, the refutation of vitalism was logically rather than metaphysically supported by contemporary biological knowledge. The entelechy was not a valid concept, because vitalists could neither formulate vital laws, nor offer convincing examples of experimental indeterminism. (shrink)

In the literature seeking to explain concepts in terms of their point, talk of ‘the point’ of concepts remains under-theorised. I propose a typology of points which distinguishes practical, evaluative, animating, and inferential points. This allows us to resolve tensions such as that between the ambition of explanations in terms of the points of concepts to be informative and the claim that mastering concepts requires grasping their point; and it allows us to exploit connections between types (...) of points to understand why they come apart, and whether they do so for problematic ideological reasons or for benignly functional reasons. (shrink)

One of the common points between Ahl al-Sunnah and Shia is the com-mon hadiths, which both have. These hadiths have been seen as a means of bringing the two sides closer in recent years. Although common narrations, which are seen as a means of bringing the two sects closer, have been men-tioned in recent years, when going into detail, it is understood that there are differences in terms of wording and interpretation. Some of the common hadiths are transmitted in the (...) exactly same way in Shia and Ahl al-Sunnah. The two sects were able to make different evaluations in terms of meaning in such hadiths. The wording differences of a hadith in Shia enable the follow-up of the formation within the sect. A similar situation can be seen in the interpretations attributed to the hadiths in the Ahl al-Sunnah. As a concrete example of these determinations, it is possible to consider the hadith of firâsah, which includes abstract concepts within the scope of faith. The study consists of two parts. In the first part, status of authenticity the hadith of firâsah in Ahl al-Sunnah and the meaning attributed to the hadith are emphasized. It was seen that Sufi scholars concentrated more on this hadith as a result of the research on hadith, tafsir and sufism sources.The hadith of firâset, which is almost identical in terms of text in the books of Shia and Ahl as-sunna, has been accepted as evidence of the understanding of firâset among the Ahl as-Sunnah, especially as a way of Sufis obtaining knowledge. (shrink)

In the discussion about consequences of the release of genetically modified (GM) crops, the meaning of the term “environmental damage” is difficult to pin down. We discuss some established concepts and criteria for understanding and evaluating such damages. Focusing on the concepts of familiarity, biological integrity, and ecosystem health, we argue that, for the most part, these concepts are highly ambiguous. While environmental damage is mostly understood as significant adverse effects on conservation resources, these concepts may (...) not relate directly to effects on tangible natural resources but rather to parameters of land use or ecological processes (e.g., the concept of biological integrity). We stress the importance of disclosing the normative assumptions underlying damage concepts and procedures for the evaluation of damages by GM crops. A conceptualization of environmental damage should precede its operationalization. We recommend an unambiguous definition for damage developed earlier and recommend that evaluation criteria be based on this. However, a general damage definition cannot replace case-specific operationalization of damage, which remains an important future challenge. (shrink)

Concepts are the key to the world of meanings, which include many senses. Knowing the accuracy of recitation and understanding certain issues connected to recitation views that was conveyed have importance since it is both related to Kur’an and recitation dicipline. Conceptionally, the necessity to go into recitations breeds because studying on concepts related to variations of recitations concerned about its dicipline puts across the issue thoroughly. Therefore, recitation kinds are terminologically accounted for its accuracy in this article. (...) Although the first-term recitation scholars approached to recitations similarly, the accuracy of recitation views, reading situation of valid recitation imams, whether some recitations are accurate, issues such as these are discussed. Recitations are divided into acceptable and unacceptable. Some concepts for the acceptable ones are used. There are different approaches as to one recitation is either valid or rumour. Although valid recitations in old recitation works are ment as famous recitations, this concept is thought as a recitation kind in the later term. There are some recitation kinds which do not have valid recitation features despite that they are in a few sources. These are exceptional, ahad, subjet or editting (müdrec) in the confrontation of issues such as its conveying way, Kur’an and Arabian but exceptional is used as a main term for these recitations In this article, some points in dark side will be enlightened in the center of old pieces about recitation kinds and the accuracy of valid recitations will be taken in hand, mentioning about the connections in concepts, whic include meanings and senses. In this context, it will be spoken to the concepts that recitations scholars use to remark recitation kinds and their definitons. Lastly, different approaches will be analyzed. (shrink)

After a brief review of the literature on Student Evaluation of Teaching (SET), I employ a Foucauldian analysis to argue that student evaluations are forms of power that involve aspects of both discipline and governmentality. After examining how SETs are used to improve teaching, I identify some techniques that instructors use to respond to SET that undermine the legitimate interests of students or the educational institution. I endorse a hybrid model where a single global teaching question is used for (...) summative purposes and fifteen or twenty additional questions are used for formative purposes. Finally, I argue that to resist the normalizing pressure of SET, instructors might, as Foucault suggested, return to the Hellenistic concept of the care of self. Through techniques of the care of self, it is my hope that instructors could cultivate a more robust subjectivity, a subjectivity less vulnerable to the normative power of student evaluations. (shrink)