Edwin Southern developed a blotting technique for DNA in 1973, thereby creating a staple of molecular biology laboratory procedures still used after several decades. It became a seminal technology for studying the structure of DNA. The story of the creation and dissemination of this technology, which was not patented and was freely distributed throughout the scientific community, stands as a case study in open science. The Southern blot was developed at a time when attitudes about commercial intrusion into health research (...) were beginning to change and the practical value of molecular genetics was becoming apparent to industry. Interest from industry in fundamental molecular biological techniques meant that scientists began to think about commercial uses of their work even in otherwise "basic" research. The unpatented Southern blot is contrasted with later patented technologies, particularly microarray methods, which were created in the same environment by many of the same people, but which followed significant changes to UK policies encouraging commercialization of academic research and a norm shift friendlier to such commercialization within academic molecular biology. Professor Southern's personal experience illuminates how the technologies evolved, and his views provide insight into how scientists' attitudes about commercialization have changed. (shrink)

How does the Social Lab methodology support participatory research? This paper provides an evidence-based analysis of experiences of 19 implemented Social Labs applying experiential learning cycles on the question of how to induce Responsible Research and Innovation in the Horizon2020 research funding scheme of the European Commission and beyond. It looks at the potentials of Social Labs to allow participation in research and innovation addressing societal challenges and contrasts empirical results with the theoretical conceptualisation of a scientific Social Lab methodology. (...) It discusses drivers and barriers of engagement, and provides evidence for the impacts of experimental engagement on participation in the context of the labs, substantiated by concrete examples from some of these labs. (shrink)

Accountability and responsibility are key concepts in the academic and societal debate on Autonomous Weapon Systems, but these notions are often used as high-level overarching constructs and are not operationalised to be useful in practice. “Meaningful Human Control” is often mentioned as a requirement for the deployment of Autonomous Weapon Systems, but a common definition of what this notion means in practice, and a clear understanding of its relation with responsibility and accountability is also lacking. In this paper, we present (...) a definition of these concepts and describe the relations between accountability, responsibility, control and oversight in order to show how these notions are distinct but also connected. We focus on accountability as a particular form of responsibility—the obligation to explain one’s action to a forum—and we present three ways in which the introduction of Autonomous Weapon Systems may create “accountability gaps”. We propose a Framework for Comprehensive Human Oversight based on an engineering, socio-technical and governance perspective on control. Our main claim is that combining the control mechanisms at technical, socio-technical and governance levels will lead to comprehensive human oversight over Autonomous Weapon Systems which may ensure solid controllability and accountability for the behaviour of Autonomous Weapon Systems. Finally, we give an overview of the military control instruments that are currently used in the Netherlands and show the applicability of the comprehensive human oversight Framework to Autonomous Weapon Systems. Our analysis reveals two main gaps in the current control mechanisms as applied to Autonomous Weapon Systems. We have identified three first options as future work for the design of a control mechanism, one in the technological layer, one in the socio-technical layer and one the governance layer, in order to achieve comprehensive human oversight and ensure accountability over Autonomous Weapon Systems. (shrink)

CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION Philosophy originates in man's amazement over the richness and complexity of reality. It attempts to articulate in words and ...

The capability approach of Martha Nussbaum and Amartya Sen places human capabilities at the centre stage of discussions about justice, equality, development and the quality of life. It rejects too much emphasis on mere preference satisfaction or resource provision and highlights the importance of human agency and freedom. This approach has already significantly influenced different fields of application, such as economics and development studies. Only recently have scholars started to explore its relevance for and application to the area of technology (...) and design, which can be crucial factors in the expansion of human capabilities. How does technology influence human capabilities? What difference could a capability approach make to policies and practices of applying ICT in development processes in the South? How can we criticize and improve the design of technology from the perspective of the capability approach? The authors of this volume explore the implications of the capability approach for technology & design and together create the first volume on this emerging topic. (shrink)

Hierdie boek is n inleiding tot moderne denkrigtings wat alle fasette van die staat betref. Dit verduidelik die verbintenis tussen die huidige proses van staatsvorming in Suid-Afrika en die tradisionele faktore wat dit elders in die w reld aangehelp het.

Community acceptance still remains a challenge for wind energy projects. The most popular explanation for local opposition, the Not in My Backyard effect, has received fierce criticism in the past decade. Critics argue that opposition is not merely a matter of selfishness or ignorance, but that moral, ecological and aesthetic values play an important role. In order to better take such values into account, a more bottom-up, participatory decision process is usually proposed. Research on this topic focusses on either stakeholder (...) motivations/attitudes, or their behavior during project implementation. This paper proposes a third research focus, namely the ‘objects’ which elicit certain behavioral responses and attitudes—the wind turbine and parks. More concretely, this paper explores Value Sensitive Design as way to arrive at wind turbines and parks that better embed or reflect key values. After a critical discussion of the notion of acceptance versus acceptability and support, the paper discusses existing literature on ecology and aesthetics in relation to wind turbine/park design, which could serve as ‘building blocks’ of a more integral VSD approach of the topic. It also discusses the challenge of demarcating wind park projects as VSD projects. A further challenge is that VSD has been applied mainly at the level of technical artifacts, whereas wind parks can best be conceptualized as socio-technical system. This new application would therefore expand the current practice of VSD, and may as a consequence also lead to interesting new insights for the VSD community. The paper concludes that such an outcome-oriented approach of wind turbines and park is worth exploring further, as a supplement to rather than a replacement of the process-oriented approach that is promoted by the current literature on community acceptance of wind parks. (shrink)

It is argued that two different types of concept are often intermingled in discussions of Aktionsart. The most common type of classification is one of situation types, relating to the potential actualisation of a situation, although some of the definitions have to do with the actual realization of the situation. This distinction, adequately captured by the notions (a)telicity and (un)boundedness (Declerck 1989), is explored and it is shown how NPs, PPs and tense influence a sentence''s classification as (un)bounded.

A specific mapping mechanism is defined as the basic unit of “Biological Memory”. This mechanism must account for the characteristic frequency patterns in the organic world, where future probability is a function of past experience. The conditions for the function of biological memory are analysed. It is found that asymmetry, and irreversibility as a consequence of complexity, are the basic principles of memory function. The essential asymmetries in genetic memory are pointed out, and the problem of bilateral symmetry in a (...) basically asymmetrical organization is briefly outlined.Complexity is defined in terms of symmetry. The thermodynamic arrow of time and the biological arrow of time are discussed in relation to elementarity and complexity with their specific types of repeatabilities: non-accumulative in the first case and accumulative as a result of “copy-reproduction” by memory in the second case. The application of terminology from Information Theory and Thermodynamics to Memory Mechanics is critically considered.The immediate and inevitable consequences of memory function are shown to be irreversible expansion and irreversible, unpredictable diversification, leading to growing complexity and size on all but the sub-molecular levels of biological structure. (shrink)

Augustinus interpretiert als erster Denker in der zum Christentum be kehrten Welt das Geschehen auf Erden als sinnvolle Geschichte mit der Absicht, dem zentralen Dogma von Inkarnation und Erl6sung gerecht zu werden. Die Bibel beschreibt den Anfang der Welt und spricht auch von ihrem Ende. Die Zeit dazwischen umfasst nach Augustinus' Auffassung die Geschichte vom Slindenfall, von der Er- 16sung durch Christus und vom Wachsen der christlichen Gemeinschaft bis zu Christi erwarteter Wiederkehr. Christi Leben auf Erden ist flir Augustinus kein (...) Symbol, kein Mythos, sondern eine irdische Realitat, welche sich an einem bestimmten Ort zu einer bestimmten Zeit ab spielte. Das zentrale und einmalige Geschehnis der Inkarnation lasst die Vergangenheit als eine Vorbereitung flir dies en Moment erscheinen und sie gibt der Zukunft Richtung. Augustinus weist die antike Auf fassung der Geschichte als eine ewige Wiederholung und Verjlingung des Kosmos ab und stellt dieser die Auffassung eines Ablaufs des Weltgeschehens gegenliber, dessen einziges Ziel das Heil der Mensch heit ist. Augustinus ist der Grlinder der Geschichtstheologie. Das mittelalterliche Denken ist ganz von Augustinus' Weltkon zeption beherrscht. Der Glaubige weiss, dass das anscheinend will klirliche Geschehen auf Erden von Gott gelenkt wird. Flir ein naheres Verstandnis der verwirrenden Welt wendet man sich im Mittelalter also der Offenbarung zu, dem Schllissel flir jedes Verstehen der Welt. Die Interpretation der Geschichte auf Grund der Bibel gibt mit Hilfe von biblischen Vorbildern, Priifigurationen, Allegorien und Typolo gien, den konkreten Ereignissen einen religi6sen Sinn. (shrink)

Beschouwingen over de instandhouding van menselijkheid en moraal in het postmoderne relativisme.

The hermeneutical ontology proposed in this book steers away from the rocks of realism and anti-realism.

Thomas Pogge answers the question if the capability approach can be justified with a firm ‘no’. Amongst others, he ridicules capability theorists for demanding compensation for each and every possible natural difference between people, including hair types. Not only does Pogge, so this paper argues, misconstrue the difference between the capability approach and Rawlsian resourcism. Even worse: he is actually implicitly relying on the idea of capabilities in his defence of the latter. According to him the resourcist holds that the (...) institutional order should not be biased towards the average person or the needs of some. Yet, as his own case of blind people and traffic lights can illustrate, whether or not this is the case is impossible to assess without resorting to some concept like people’s capabilities. Secondly, it is argued that the real issue at stake is not at all the best metric of justice—primary goods or capabilities—but rather the scope of theories of justice. On the surface the difference of opinion seems to be how to deal with so-called “personal heterogeneities”, yet the discussed case of interpersonal differences in metabolism and communal land-use choices hints at something else; Whereas Pogge insists that questions of justice only concern the institutional structure of society, many capability theorists support the inclusion of culture and social practices as possible sources of injustice. Unfortunately Pogge does not properly acknowledge this, as right from the start of his paper he frames the debate between both approaches in terms of institutions only. (shrink)

The foundation and administration of European Zoological gardens in the 19th century is analized. It is significant of such new institutions, that they are founded in the large cities, and that most of the founders looked at the great models in Paris and London, which are described first. Further it is shown that the change from princely menageries to public Zoological Gardens is caused both by common interests in people's education and pleasure and by scientific aims which leaded to choose (...) the name Zoological “garden” in analogy to botanical gardens. It seems to be characteristic of such public institutions created by citizens in the 19th century that they are mostly supported by commercial or scientific local societies. This is exemplified by describing the administration of the Zoological gardens of Berlin (1841), Frankfurt (1856) and Hamburg (1863), which initiated also research for acclimatization of wild animals. (shrink)

In discussions about justice, development, well-being and equality, the capability approach (CA)Footnote1 founded by economist Amartya Sen and philosopher Martha Nussbaum attaches central importance to individual human capabilities. These are the effective freedoms or real opportunities of people to achieve valuable ‘beings and doings’ (also called ‘functionings’ by capability theorists). Resources—including technical artifacts—may contribute to the expansion of one’s capabilities, but there may also be all sorts of ‘conversion factors’ in place that prevent this. The approach highlights the ‘multidimensionality’ of (...) well-being and sees people as active agents shaping their own lives. In 1998 Sen won the Nobel Prize in economics for his work, which has deeply influenced the United Nations Development Program (UNDP). In the field of development studies the CA has indeed gained popularity, but this is not the only area of application. (shrink)

ZusammenfassungNTM publiziert diesen Aufsatz anläßlich des 80. Geburtstages von Frau Univ.-Doz. Dr., Ilse Jahn mit den besten Wünschen für die Jubilarin. Die Biologiehistorikerin und langjährige Mitarbeiterin des NTM-Boards begeht diesen Geburtstag am 2. Februar 2002. Vorliegender Aufsatz ist ein Vortrag, den sie am 16. November 2000 in Berlin hielt und der als Preprint 175 des Max-Planck-Instituts für Wissenschaftsgeschichte erschien: Dörries, Matthias; Daston, Lorraine; Hagner, Michael (Hrsg.):Wissenschaft zwischen Geld und Geist, Berlin 2001, S. 47–55. Wir danken herzlich für die freundliche (...) Genehmigung zum Abdruck. (shrink)

No School Manifesto' is a book that serves as a key reference and inspiration for people working in (creative) education, ranging from teachers and school leaders at informal, secondary and vocational education and academies to museum educators, artists (in the broadest sense of the word), policy makers, and everyone who supports education and has an interest in developing new perspectives through creativity. No School is a movement that wants to open up the meaning of learning and fundamentally questions traditional education, (...) through creativity. Curiosity, experimentation, unrestricted thinking, making and developing--by yourself and in collaboration with others--are basic elements of all forms of learning and living together. In the current educational system these values are regularly overshadowed by rules, legislation, bureaucracy, a unitary approach, and little attention to the intrinsic inquisitiveness of both the student and the teacher. No School is a growing movement that together with the creative field wants to provide space for experiment, flexibility, cooperation, 'wild' thinking, looking ahead; experimenting off the beaten track with different forms of learning, in which creativity is the key concept. (shrink)