Patient support tools have drawn on a variety of disciplines, including psychotherapy, social psychology, and social care. One discipline that has not so far been used to support patients is philosophy. This paper proposes that a particular philosophical approach, phenomenology, could prove useful for patients, giving them tools to reflect on and expand their understanding of their illness. I present a framework for a resource that could help patients to philosophically examine their illness, its impact on their life, and its (...) meaning. I explain the need for such a resource, provide philosophical grounding for it, and outline the epistemic and existential gains philosophy offers. Illness often begins as an intrusion on one’s life but with time becomes a way of being. I argue that this transition impacts on core human features such as the experience of space and time, human abilities, and adaptability. It therefore requires philosophical analysis and response. The paper uses ideas from Husserl and Merleau-Ponty to present such a response in the form of a phenomenological toolkit for patients. The toolkit includes viewing illness as a form of phenomenological reduction, thematizing illness, and examining illness as altering the ill person’s being in the world. I suggest that this toolkit could be offered to patients as a workshop, using phenomenological concepts, texts, and film clips to reflect on illness. I conclude by arguing that examining illness as a limit case of embodied existence deepens our understanding of phenomenology. (shrink)

The dominant approach to environmental policy endorsed by conservative and libertarian policy thinkers, so-called “free market environmentalism”, is grounded in the recognition and protection of property rights in environmental resources. Despite this normative commitment to property rights, most self-described FME advocates adopt a utilitarian, welfare-maximization approach to climate change policy, arguing that the costs of mitigation measures could outweigh the costs of climate change itself. Yet even if anthropogenic climate change is decidedly less than catastrophic, human-induced climate change is likely (...) to contribute to environmental changes that violate traditional conceptions of property rights. Viewed globally, the actions of some countries—primarily industrialized nations—are likely to increase environmental harms suffered by other countries—less developed nations that have not made any significant contribution to climate change. It may well be that aggregate human welfare would be maximized in a warmer, wealthier world, or that the gains from climate change will offset environmental losses. Yet such claims, even if demonstrated, would not address the normative concern that the consequences of anthropogenic global warming would infringe upon the rights of people in less-developed nations. As a consequence, this paper calls for a rethinking of FME approaches to climate change policy. (shrink)

Studying Mesilat Yesharim with Hadar Goldin.

Articles; chiefly on Islamic ethics and conveying non Muslims for Islam.

For two hundred years, Americans have believed that they have an obligation to improve the lot of humanity, a belief that has consistently shaped U.S. foreign policy. Yet within this consensus, there are two competing schools of thought: the "exemplarist" school (Brands' term) which holds that what America chiefly owes the world is the benign example of a well-functioning democracy, and the "vindicationist" school which argues that force must sometimes supplement a good example. In this book, H.W. Brands traces the (...) evolution of these two schools as they emerged in the thinking and writing of the most important public thinkers of the past two centuries. (shrink)

Deacon speculates on the origin of interpretation of signs using autocatalytic origin of life models and Peircean terminology. I explain why interpretation evolved only later as a triadic intervention between symbols and actions. In all organisms the passive one-dimensional genetic informational symbol sequences are converted to active functional proteins or nucleic acids by three-dimensional folding. This symbol grounding is a direct symbol-to-action conversion. It is universal throughout all evolution. Folding is entirely a lawful physical process, leaving neither freedom nor necessity (...) for interpretation. Similarly, the initial converse action-to-symbol conversion of sensory inputs also leaves no freedom for interpretation until after the action-to-symbol conversion. (shrink)

The International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF), designed by the WHO, attempts to provide a holistic model of functioning and disability by integrating a medical model with a social one. The aim of this article is to analyze the ICF’s claim to holism. The following components of the ICF’s complexity are analyzed: (1) health condition, (2) body functions and structures, (3) activity, (4) participation, (5) environmental factors, (6) personal factors, and (7) health. Although the ICF claims to be (...) holistic, it presupposes a monistic materialistic ontology. We indicate some limitations of this ontology, proposing instead: (a) a pluralistic–holistic ontology (PHO) and (b) a multidimensional view of the human being, with individual and environmental aspects, in relation to three levels of reality implied by the PHO. For the ICF to attain its holistic claim, the interactions between its components should be based on (a) and (b). (shrink)

يتحدث هذا الكتاب عن مفهوم المقاومة بمعناه الواسع، فليست المقاومة مرهونة فقط بالعنف والرصاص والدم، ولا محصورة في خوض المعارك وممارسة القتال. فإذا كانت مقاومة المستعمر والمحتل والمغتصب هي الأبرز والأعلى صوتًا، فإن هناك جبهات أخرى تدور عليها المواجهة لا تقل أهمية عن التصدي للمستعمر، وصيانة استقلال الوطن وحريته. وأولى هذه الجبهات، مقاومة الحاكم الجائر لرده عن الظلم والطغيان، ودفعه إلى إقامة العدل الذي هو أساس الملك. وتأخذ هذه المقاومة أشكالًا متعددة عبر التاريخ، منها ما لجأ إلى أقصى درجات العنف (...) والدم كالثورتين الفرنسية والبلشيفية، ومنها ما كان مقاومة سلبية نجحت في تحقيق الغرض منها من دون أي عنف مثل حركة المقاومة التي قادها الزعيم الهندي الخالد غاندي ضد الاحتلال الإنجليزي لبلاده. والجبهة الثانية للمقاومة هي مقاومة الأفكار المتخلفة والتقاليد البالية، وهذه الجبهة هي الأكثر تأثيرًا على مدى التاريخ الإنساني؛ فعطاء المفكرين والعلماء والمبعدين لا يحدث تغييرًا فوريَّا، ولكن يكون تأثيره متتاليًا ومتراكمًا على مدى زمني طويل على حركة المجتمع نحو التقدم الأخلاقي والاجتماعي. أما الجبهة الثالثة فهي مقاومة أو مجاهدة النفس التي هي أمارة بالسوء، والحرص على ألا تفقد النفس نخوتها فتسقط في التبلد واللامبالاة، والعمل على بناء النفس الواثقة الثابتة الوفية الصابرة، مما يجعل صاحبها سويًّا وإيجابيًّا بما يمكنه من أن يؤدي دوه باقتدار على جبهات المقاومة الأخرى. (shrink)

Institutional theory of law (ITL) reflects both continuity and change of Kelsen's legal positivism. The main alteration results from the way ITL extends Hart's linguistic turn towards ordinary language philosophy (OLP). Hart holds –like Kelsen – that law cannot be reduced to brute fact nor morality, but because of its attempt to reconstruct social practices his theory is more inclusive. By introducing the notion of law as an extra-linguistic institution ITL takes a next step in legal positivism and accounts for (...) the relationship between action and validity within the legal system. There are, however, some problems yet unresolved by ITL. One of them is its theory of meaning. An other is the way it accounts for change and development. Answers may be based on the pragmatic philosophy of Charles Sanders Peirce, who emphasises the intrinsic relation between the meaning of speech acts and the process of habit formation. (shrink)

In The Will and its Brain, Hans Helmut Kornhuber and Lüder Deecke present evidence that proves we can record activity from the human brain occurring prior to our volitional actions. They claim that we have free will, albeit not absolutely free, but realized in degrees of freedom"--Publisher's description.

Beschrijving door de gereformeerde theoloog van de geschiedenis van de 'godgeleerdheid' als leverancier van kennis over God en het einde van die visie na Karl Barth, waarbij hij pleit voor een herijking van de theologie.

This is a reproduction of the original artefact. Generally these books are created from careful scans of the original. This allows us to preserve the book accurately and present it in the way the author intended. Since the original versions are generally quite old, there may occasionally be certain imperfections within these reproductions. We're happy to make these classics available again for future generations to enjoy!

I provide a philosophical analysis of the claim that ICTs are necessary preconditions for the eradication of poverty. What are the links between information and communication technologies (ICTs) and poverty? I first define technology and then give a brief depiction of ICTs. Thereafter I define poverty and give a brief explanation of its context and causes. Next I discuss the relationship between poverty and ICTs in three paradigm cases: [i] the role of ICTs in poor societies, [ii] the effect of (...) poor ICT knowledge and skill of individuals in highly developed technological societies, and [iii] the impact of impoverished ICT knowledge and skills on the rich, powerful, and intelligent ones in society. I propose a procedure for decision making about the appropriation of ICTs by individuals and societies. I assess the claim that both access to ICTs and effective use of them are preconditions for the eradication of poverty. (shrink)

Taylor's project is vastly ambitious. He has touched impressively, though not decisively, on how widely or how narrowly contexts of texts should be defined. It is clear that his construal is very wide indeed, for he has extended the philosopher's canon by including �poietics� as an essential part of understanding the present state of moral thought, but not as holding any special call on us as a morally-driven aesthetic. He also has expanded the historical context by drawing imaginatively from the (...) languages of specific discourses to suggest that these have been languages of moral inquiry reaching their way to the present. Lastly, he has claimed that there need be no necessary conflict between a historical account of the present state of moral philosophy and a strongly held moral position. (shrink)