In a recent blog post, Joshua Clover rightly notices the swift emergence of a new panoply of “genres of the quarantine.”1 It should not come as a surprise that one of them centers on Michel Foucault’s notion of biopolitics, asking whether or not it is still appropriate to describe the situation that we are currently experiencing. Neither should it come as a surprise that, in virtually all of the contributions that make use of the concept of biopolitics to address the (...) current coronavirus pandemic, the same bunch of rather vague ideas are mentioned over and over again, while other—no doubt more interesting—Foucauldian insights tend to be ignored. In what follows, I discuss two of these insights, and I conclude with some methodological remarks on the issue of what it may mean to “respond” to the current “crisis.”. (shrink)

Practical wisdom and judgment, rather than seen as ‘things’ hidden inside the mind, are best talked of, we suggest, as emerging developmentally within an unceasing flow of activities, in which practitioners are inextricably immersed. Following a performative line of thinking, we argue that when practitioners (namely, individuals immersed in a practice, experiencing their tasks through the emotions, standards of excellence and moral values the practice engenders or enacts) face a bewildering situation in which they do not know, initially at least, (...) how to proceed, the judgment they exercise emerges out of seeking to establish a new orientation to their puzzling surroundings. They do so through actively trying to be in touch with their felt emotions and moral sensibilities, while attempting to articulate linguistically the feelings experienced in order to get a clearer view of relevant aspects of the situation at hand. Coming to a judgment involves moving around within a landscape of possibilities, and in so doing, being spontaneously responsive to the consequences of each move, and assessing which one (or combination of moves) seems best in resolving the initial tension aroused in one’s initial confusion. (shrink)

Self-control failure occurs when an individual experiences a conflict between immediate desires and longer-term goals, recognises psychological forces that hinder goal-directed action, tries to resist them but fails in the attempt. Behavioural economists often invoke assumptions about self-control failure to justify proposals for policy interventions. These arguments require workable methods for eliciting individuals’ goals and for verifying occurrences of self-control failure, but developing such methods confronts two problems. First, it is not clear that individuals’ goals are context-independent. Second, facing an (...) actual conflict between a desire and a self-acknowledged goal, a person may consciously choose not to resist the desire, thinking that spontaneity is more important than self-control. We address these issues through an online survey that elicited individuals’ self-reported judgements about the relative importance of self-control and spontaneity in conflicts between enjoyment and health-related goals. To test for context-sensitivity, the judgement-elicitation questions were preceded by a memory recall task which directed participants’ attention either to the enjoyment of acting on desires or to the satisfaction of achieving goals. We found little evidence of context-sensitivity. In both treatments, however, judgements that favoured spontaneity were expressed with roughly the same frequency and strength as judgments that favoured self-control. (shrink)

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:The Tyranny of the BureaucratsSimon Wilson (bio) and Gwen Adshead (bio)Keywordsviolence, mental health, bureaucracyWe are grateful for the opportunity to respond to the two kind and thoughtful commentaries on our paper. Sadler suggests irrationality may be the key to distinguishing psychiatric from nonpsychiatric violence. We are not so sure that this is necessarily as helpful as it might at first seem. Who gets to decide what is rational? Much (...) “normal” violence, committed in the heat of the moment, impulsively, and drunkenly, may not appear that rational, even to the perpetrator, in the cold light of day. We are not sure one would wish to bring this sort of violence within the province of psychiatric explanations. Likewise, a point we made in our paper: Even delusionally driven violence often has its own internal coherence and rationality within an irrational framework.We found much to agree with in McCallum’s commentary, and perhaps his alternative approach is more helpful. He proposes a more sociological model of understanding what is going on in these complex cases, one that starts with societal dividing practices. Our present times have been described as the tyranny of the bureaucrats. Professional approaches are devalued. Diagnosis is only relevant in terms of its bureaucratic utility in moving people from one category to another. Since the writing of our paper, the criminal law has changed further in England and Wales. The Criminal Justice Act 2003 brought with it new sentences of indeterminate detention for public protection for those offenders categorized as “dangerous.” The presence or absence of psychiatric disorder being largely irrelevant for these purposes. This would seem to fit nicely with McCallum’s analysis, and in principle rather takes the wind out of our sails when we argued about the discrimination against psychiatric violence—now a diagnosis is not necessary for the state to intervene in a probabilistic fashion to prevent future violence. Deciding between what sort of violence counts as psychiatric and what does not, does not have quite the same drastic differential effect on the individual as perhaps it did. Its importance is now, as predicted by McCallum’s model, more to do with bureaucracy: Which government department will be paying for the individual’s preventive detention (Department of Health or Ministry of Justice)? [End Page 75]Related ArticlesFeature Article: When Violence Becomes a Psychiatric SymptomCommentary: The Contingent Object of PsychiatryCommentary: Reasons CountResponse: The Tyranny of the BureaucratsSimon Wilson Simon Wilson is a Consultant Forensic Psychiatrist at the Maudsley Hospital and an Honorary Senior Lecturer at the Institute of Psychiatry, London, UK. He qualified at Leeds University and trained in psychiatry at the Maudsley Hospital. He was previously Consultant Forensic Psychiatrist at HM Prison, Brixton, UK. He has particular interests in prisons, philosophical, and ethico-legal issues in psychiatry. He can be contacted via e-mail at:[email protected] Adshead Gwen Adshead is a Forensic Psychiatrist and Psychotherapist. She works as a psychotherapist in a high-security hospital. She is a group analyst and researcher in attachment theory as it relates to offenders. She has a Master’s degree in Medical Law and Ethics, and is a founder member of the Philosophy Special Interest Group of the Royal College of Psychiatrists. She can be contacted via e-mail at:[email protected] © 2009 The Johns Hopkins University Press... (shrink)

Much of today’s public and private discourse surrounding social norms, morals, and values is non-productive, if not counter-productive. It is rare that any kind of consensus is reached when such discrepancies surface. Some of this is due to honest disagreement among genuinely reflective and open-minded individuals, but it is becoming more obvious that a large and perhaps growing portion of this problem stems from misunderstandings about the nature of these concepts themselves. Sadly, these misunderstandings do not seem to be diminishing. (...) This essay is an attempt to further the clarification of these ideas from the perspective of a concerned citizen. (shrink)

The great leader Heydar Aliyev at both stages of his political leadership through his titanic activity proved that he is the patron of science and education in Azerbaijan. Independent Azerbaijan and its achievements in the field of science and education are the crowning achievement of the great leader. Heydar Aliyev, whose life and work are an example for history and for the people, always paid special attention to the development of science and education and took care of these areas as (...) a priority policy of the state. Although science and education are two independent fields of development, it is impossible to isolate one from the other, and from this point of view, the problems of science and education should be approached comprehensively - as both areas are part of the overall state policy and are of a strategic nature, their integration is inevitable. The national leader repeatedly emphasized that the future of each nation depends on the development of its science and education, and also considered the development of science and education one of the important conditions for the development of an independent state. Against the background of the integration of independent Azerbaijan into the world community, the need to integrate Azerbaijani science and education into world science and education was one of the main priorities in the activities of the world famous politician. To destroy a nation, it is enough to destroy its science and education - in this context, Heydar Aliyev saved the Azerbaijani people from destruction - he repeatedly mentioned that any progress depends on the development of science and education. Having chosen the path of integration into secular education, Azerbaijan paid special attention to this strategic area as one of the important factors of national security after the restoration of independence. (shrink)

The ideas of prominent statesmen and politicians who served to preserve and transmit the traditions of statehood to future generations are always relevant. The ideas of Heydar Aliyev, who occupied an invaluable place in the history of the construction and national development of the Republic of Azerbaijan, who was awarded the high title of national leader by the people, put forward new calls for peace and cooperation in the post-conflict period. The 30-year period that has passed since the restoration of (...) state independence has once again confirmed that the brilliant victory of the Azerbaijani Army in the 44-day Patriotic War is based on the ideas and political ideology of Heydar Aliyev. In the more than two years that have passed since the war, the Republic of Azerbaijan has strengthened its policy at the regional and international levels, and has somewhat increased its socio-economic potential in security conditions. The policy pursued by President Ilham Aliyev, who is currently contributing to the sustainable development of the Azerbaijani state, aimed at protecting the national interests of the Republic as the victorious Supreme Commander, attracts the attention of international organizations and states interested in recognizing the country and cooperating with it. It is the post-conflict period of the country's leadership by President Ilham Aliyev, who, adhering to the ideas of the statehood of Heydar Aliyev, with great pride and honor represents Azerbaijan in the international arena, can be considered an era of revival, logical sequence of ideas and wise policy of the national leader. The achievement of cooperation and development on such a delicate topic as migration, as in all spheres of life in the republic, manifests itself in a short period of time after the war and requires a scientific and theoretical approach to research. The ideas of Heydar Aliyev played an exceptional role in preventing acute emigration, especially intellectual, observed in Azerbaijan in the 1990s. During the reign of Heydar Aliyev, the legal framework of migration legislation was formed in the republic and new documents were consistently signed, as a result of which an independent migration policy of the independent state emerged. The ideas of Heydar Aliyev, which since 1993 formed the basis for the gradual liberation of the country from the socio-economic blockade and attracting international investments to the republic, as well as the reconstruction of industrial enterprises, the launch of factories and plants, the creation of new jobs, progressive steps in education and science, gave rise to national development. In the academic research work, the state programs implemented in the post-conflict period of Heydar Aliyev's ideas, the significant impact of giant projects on labor migration, the positive dynamics observed in the field of migration management in the country were studied, the relevance of the topic was brought to attention, the factual materials used were analyzed and the scientific results obtained were listed. (shrink)

The article deals with the socio-political situation at the beginning of the 19th century in Azerbaijan, the crisis situation of the people and the activities of Hasan bey Zardabi, who was looking for a way out of the situation, and also had an unparalleled service in the education of the people, national self-consciousness and the development of political consciousness. In this direction, his intellectual and practical activity is considered from the point of view of choosing a more convenient means of (...) expressing national ideas - the press, awakening his nation, spreading the idea of national and religious unity. At the same time, the contribution of Hasan bey Zardabi to the awakening of the national self-consciousness of his people, the mobilization of national thinkers to reflect on national problems and the dissemination of the problems of the nation through the media, as well as his general philosophical views and thoughts in the direction of understanding the world, is emphasized. (shrink)

A person should establish a connection between both his material and spiritual worlds and maintain this harmony by establishing harmony between these two worlds. In this sense, a person must have a philosophy of spirituality. Because moral values stand like a beacon above the ideas and thoughts that extend from the individual to the society, from the state to history, from economic order to art and religion. The values and norms that people have to obey in the establishment of social (...) relations constitute the moral philosophy of a person in public life. The source that satisfies this need for a modern human model or personality is the history, literature, cultural and religious tradition of the society in which a person lives. As the famous historical scholar Bernard Lewis said: "In human history, political ideologies such as socialism and capitalism have not offered anything to man in the desired form, so the man of the 21st century will look for his happiness in his historical roots". It is for this reason that in the Turkish world in recent times, "the need for our people to turn to the history of philosophical thought in order to review the traditional sources of spirituality with the possibilities of modern times" has been voiced as the main principle. Nurettin Topcu, a philosopher who considers spirituality and morality to be one of the elements of the state, says: “Morality and spirituality take their source from religion. Therefore, morality is the basis and direct essence of the Islamic religion. Those who want to separate morality from religion or religion from morality are those who want to see the inner world of a person separate from himself”. We can easily say that this philosophical approach was accepted by the national leader Heydar Aliyev as the main criterion for the formation of the Azerbaijani people as a nation in the 21st century. He was saying: "We will never depart from our faith and religion and we will build our future using these spiritual resources!" As a leader with one or another slogan, he emphasized that our history of philosophical thought is rich in every platform and that it is easy to achieve and implement it in the context of modern possibilities. The article reflects the philosophy of spirituality in general and the context of Heydar Aliyev. (shrink)

This article reports on a survey of the moral problems that Dutch nurses experience during their everyday practice. A questionnaire was developed, based on published literature, panel discussions, in-depth interviews and participation observations. The instrument was tested in a pilot study and proved to be useful. A total of 2122 questionnaires were sent to 91 institutions in seven different health care settings. The results showed that nurses were not experiencing important societal issues such as abortion and euthanasia as morally the (...) most problematic, but rather situations such as verbally aggressive behaviour of colleagues towards patients, keeping silent about errors, and medical treatment given against the wishes of patients. Moral problems occurred especially when nurses experienced feelings of powerlessness with regard to the well-being of patients. Moreover, these moral problems proved to be related to institutional organization, leadership, and collaboration with colleagues and other disciplines. Nurses appeared to have a limited awareness of the moral dimensions of their practice. (shrink)

This article argues that many situations in social life can be analyzed by their requirement for the justification of action. It is in particular in situations of dispute that a need arises to explicate the grounds on which responsibility for errors is distributed and on which new agreement can be reached. Since a plurality of mutually incompatible modes of justification exists, disputes can be understood as disagreements either about whether the accepted rule of justification has not been violated or about (...) which mode of justification to apply at all. The article develops a grammar of such modes of justification, called orders of worth (grandeur), and argues that the human capacity for criticism becomes visible in the daily occurrence of disputes over criteria for justification. At the same time, it is underlined that not all social situations can be interpreted with the help of such a sense of justice, which resides on a notion of equivalence. Regimes of love, of violence or of familiarity are systematically distinct from regimes of justification. (shrink)