This corpus-based study focuses on the revival of the geopolitical struggle in Africa between the U.S. and Russia (Stronski, 2019; Cohen, 2020). I investigate a corpus of speeches given by the Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and the U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken during their respective visits to Africa in July and August 2022. On the one hand, I examine to what extent the two antagonists combine figurative language with various discursive and psycho-cognitive strategies in order to sustain and (...) convey their ideological standpoint and their geopolitical agenda in Africa. On the other hand, I analyze how they select and construe some particular lexical units and structures, literally or figuratively, for the sake of foregrounding or backgrounding events, participants, and the relationships between them. Finally, based on a sample of reactions to the narratives, section (2.5) deals with their socio-cognitive perceptions by the African leaders and people. (shrink)

This research, titled "The Triliteral Root (ʿAgnosia) in the Holy Quran: This paper aims at offering both linguistic and semantic analysis of the triliteral root “ʿ-Agnosia” in the Quran: A Linguistic Study. Incredibly, the language study of The Holy Quran is an academic interest to date, with the Holy Scripture being an ocean of knowledge. This research resulted from the need to be more precise in understanding some of the suras and certain features of Arabic and the Quran in particular (...) some aspects of the root “ʿ-Agnosia” which is mentioned in some verses of the Quran with different meaning in Arabic. The work is divided into three sections each discussing a facet of the root ‘ʿAgnosia’ In the first place, the morphological and phonological properties of the root ‘ʿ ʿAgnosia’ with reference to the Quran. This is how this root expands the quantitative and qualitative meaning sphere of Quranic Arabic and adds its variety to the language, in general. The second section is therefore concerned with the phonic properties of the root: the place and the manner of articulation of the letters making up the root, and the phonological regularity which may be gleaned from the use of the root. The present analysis proves useful to throw the light on the auditory profile and the rhythm pattern of the root and how it is intoned in quranic recital with harmony and precision. The third section is devoted to the relations of this root with the internal structure of the words and phrases of the Quranic text: analysis of the morphological aspect of “ʿ- ʿAgnosia” In addition, identification and differentiation of number of forms and derivations of the root and correlation with the variables of the verses where it is used to determine the significance of the root in the verses of QURAN. When this analysis is done, not only works of classical and modern linguistics in reference to the root are reviewed and discussed and but also interpretations of the Quran. In the final section of the study, the authors reiterate the findings of investigation also bringing out the major ideas regarding the centrality of the root for enhancing the proclamatory task of the Quran as the Word of God. It is in this light, then, that this study aims at contributing to the existing body of knowledge on Quranic linguistics through a word by word examination of a particular root, the lack of which greatly hinders meaning construction in the Quran. It serves at making the reader to be appreciate on the difficulty in the language of the Quran and that the writers took their time to pen down the Quran. The study concludes by tabulating the basic findings in addition to identifying the sources that have been used in the course of the study. I pray to Allah, the Almighty Allah to shower his blessings to this work and any other further research to be made on the linguistic miracles of the Holy Quran. (shrink)

The robustness of a system indicates its ability to withstand disturbances while maintaining its properties, performance, and efficiency. There are plenty of studies on the robustness of air transport networks in the literature. However, few works consider its mesoscopic organization. Building on the recently introduced component structure, we explore the impact of targeted attacks on the weighted world air transportation network on its components. Indeed, it contains five local components covering different regions and one global component linking these regions. We (...) investigate targeted attacks based on influential weighted centrality measures. Results show that the local components gradually separate from the world air transportation network as the fraction of removed airports grows. The weighted betweenness attack removes fewer top airports to isolate the regions compared to its alternatives. Furthermore, it is still convenient to travel locally in the separate areas. In contrast, strength and PageRank attacks need to target more airports to split the network. However, they are more disruptive. Indeed, the size of the isolated local components reduces drastically, so it becomes more challenging to travel locally. Looking at the world air transportation network through its component structure reveals a new viewpoint on its resilence. It opens new perspectives to design more efficient attacks. (shrink)

This study is a socio-pragmatic analysis of persuasive strategies used by the participants in “al-ittijāh al-muʿākis”, “The Opposite Direction”, on the Al-­Jazeera TV channel. An ethnographic approach was adopted in the research; the analysis focused on the use of politeness strategies and face-saving and face-­threatening interactions in order to find out their persuasive factors. I observe that religious citations, prophetic sayings, proverbs, and metaphor are used predominantly by the participants in communicating various political issues. I argue that the persuasiveness of (...) these rhetorical strategies stems from their aesthetic influence in establishing moral credibility and in evoking emotional responses. I also argue that these rhetorical strategies are speech acts that indirectly provoke responses and/or aim at saving the speakers’ and/or addressees’ face. The study concludes that persuasiveness is facilitated in part by transferring socio-pragmatic meanings through the use of some politeness and figurative devices such as honorific modes, metaphors and proverbs. (shrink)

BACKGROUND: In today’s world of increased awareness regarding the concepts of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and corporate governance (CG), many firms in the developed countries consider noncompliance with CSR and CG standards as an important source of risk to their reputations with stakeholders. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between the corporate social responsibility disclosure (CSRD) index and corporate factors, namely, board size, board independence, board meetings, CEO duality, a firm’s size, leverage, profitability and age. (...) This is the first known study in the case of Saudi Arabia to use the GRI 4th edition indicators to construct the CSRD index and evaluate Saudi listed firms. Results: The results show that profitability and size factor have positive and significant association with CSR disclosure in listed Saudi firms. While CG characteristics have no impact on CSR disclosure except board independence which has a negative impact. Conclusion: The average of CSRD index among Saudi firms is too low, it is about 11% that means Saudi firms disclose 11% of the information that they have to provide for stockholders according to GRI guidelines. Furthermore, the study concludes that the most polluted sectors “Ener. (shrink)

This paper seeks to determine the extent of anti-corruption information disclosure in the sustainability reports originating from Gulf countries. Focus primarily on the fight against corruption, this study utilizes a deeply-rooted content analysis technique of corporate sustainability reporting, covering 66 Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) firms during 2014. Strengthened by the application of institutional theory, insight into the results points to a state of limited maturity regarding the disclosure of anti-corruption procedures in the region. More specifically, the results highlight the compliance (...) in the reporting of conduct code, while reporting information on whistle-blowing was significantly less in comparison. Firms in Qatar and UAE ultimately release better informed reports; inclusive of detailed information on internal anti-corruption practices. (shrink)

The aim of this article is to examine the usefulness of spirituality and aesthetics for generating new perspectives and understandings with regard to business ethics. Using an interpretive mixed-methods approach, data were collected through an online survey of 223 respondents and focus group interviews with 20 participants. Analysis of the quantitative and qualitative data suggests that the presence of aesthetic spirituality and religious spirituality, along with the factors of optimism, contentment, making a difference and interconnectedness, are significantly associated with ethical (...) practice in the workplace. These factors may be focused upon when considering the ethical climate of organizations. Although this research does not support universal conclusions, the relationship between ethics, spirituality and aesthetics identified in the Australian services sector might be replicated elsewhere. (shrink)

Purpose This paper aims to provide a framework that might be used to tackle the multifaceted challenges facing humanity, which are increasing in seriousness and complexity. The Millennium Project had identified such challenges, and over time periods until and including 2050, which pose the question, how would societies cope with these challenges averting any disastrous results? contemplating the suggested ethical principles, and the three central beliefs of “end-based”, “rule-based” and “care-based”. In some cases, individuals might not be blamed to think (...) that “it is only a miracle” that might save humanity. Design/methodology/approach This paper, through the use of literature review, intends to provide an insight into these challenges, the suggested ethical principles and the three central beliefs, providing brief overview of the concept “miracle” leading to discussion on ethical mindsets, its components and their dimensions. Findings Concluding with framework for the way forward tackling these challenges. Research limitations/implications The limitation of this paper might lie in the fact that it is only a conceptual paper, but it calls on researchers to conduct further research using the suggested framework. Originality/value This might seem to be forward thinking, but it is a call for researchers to conduct more research in this area, and for governments to fund such research, to allow for the establishment of a method to refine the mindsets of individuals around the world to change into “ethical”, and thus, the world becomes better equipped to face and reduce the challenges and threats that are being faced by the world. (shrink)

This book addresses Muslim business community members who have to deal with ethical situations on a day-to-day basis. It gives key principles of management from an Islamic point of view. Its goal is to help Muslims engaged in business to act in accordance with the Islamic system of ethics. The writer’s experience with different Islamic activities give him a practical background that supports and enlightens his academic knowledge in the vital fields of business management and administration.

The original edition of Kant: Political Writings was first published in 1970, and has long been established as the principal English-language edition of this important body of writing. In this new, expanded edition two important texts illustrating Kant's view of history are included for the first time, his reviews of Herder's Ideas on the Philosophy of the History of Mankind and Conjectures on the Beginning of Human History, as well as the essay What is Orientation in Thinking?. In addition to (...) a general introduction assessing Kant's political thought in terms of his fundamental principles of politics, this edition also contains such useful student aids as notes on the texts, a comprehensive bibliogaphy and a new postscript, looking at some of the principal issues in Kantian scholarship that have arisen since the first edition. (shrink)

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work. This work is in the public domain (...) in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant. (shrink)

Noticia del texto El escrito cuya traducción el lector tiene entre sus manos nunca llegó a publicarse en vida de Kant, sino años más tarde por obra de Dilthey (1889). Fue redactado en el contexto de una polémica intelectual que, por ese entonces, agitaba la vida académica alemana. En efecto, luego de la publicación de la Crítica de la razón pura en 1781, las reacciones –tanto positivas como negativas– no se hicieron esperar. Entre las negativas se cuenta la de Johann (...) August Eberhard (1739-1809), férreo defensor de Leibniz y Wolff, quien edificó una trinchera en contra del kantismo desde la Universidad de Halle. Para estos fines, fundó la Philosophisches Magazin (1788-1792), órgano destinado a difundir las ideas en contra del filósofo crítico. En 1790, Kant respondió a estos ataques publican do el escrito Über eine Entdeckung nach der alle neue Kritik der reinen Vernuft durch eine ältere entbehrlich gemacht werden soll ( Ak. VIII ) 1 y dio la disputa por terminada. En lo que respecta al texto que hemos traducido, ocurre que, en la cuarta sección del tomo segundo de la Philosopisches Magazin (1790), se publicaron tres artículos del matemático alemán Kästner (1719-1800): “¿Qué significa “posible” en la geometría euclideana?” ( cf. 391-402), “Sobre el concepto matemático del espacio” ( cf. 403-419) y “Sobre los axiomas geométricos” ( cf. 420-430). Estos artículos tenían el objetivo de demostrar la superioridad de la postura de Eberhard. Sin embargo, en un osado movimiento, Kant redacta (también en 1790) una recen sión argumentando que, por el contrario, las afirmaciones de Kästner le dan la razón a él y no a Eberhard. (shrink)

Addresses Kant's crucial belief that we must clearly distinguish and fully honor the separate demands of science and morality in our souls.

The original edition of Kant: Political Writings was first published in 1970, and has long been established as the principal English-language edition of this important body of writing. In this new, expanded edition, two important texts illustrating Kants's view of history are included for the first time: his reviews of Herder's Ideas on the Philosophy of The History of Mankind and Conjectures on the Beginning of Human History; as well as the essay What is Orientation in Thinking. In addition to (...) a general introduction assessing Kant's political thought in terms of his fundamental principles of politics, this edition also contains such useful student aids as notes on the texts, a comprehensive bibliography, and a new postscript, looking at some of the principal issues in Kantian scholarship that have arisen since first publication. (shrink)

Essays in Arabic Literary Biography, 925–1350. Edited by Terri DeYoung and Mary St. Germain. Mîzân: Studien zur Literatur in der islamischen Welt, vol. 17,1. Wiesbaden: haRRaSSoWitz, 2011. Pp. vii + 371. €68.

Immanuel Kant probably counts as one of the most important European philosophers. In advance of his 300th birthday in 2024, in the context of the Kant Decade (since 2014), many activities have shed new light on several aspects of his work, but the importance of Kant's basis, Konigsberg, both town and Albertus university, has been widely neglected. This was the reason why the Historische Kommission fur ost- und westpreussische Landesforschung, the Ostpreussisches Landesmuseum, the Institut fur Kultur und Geschichte der Deutschen (...) in Nordosteuropa and the Civic Museum in Luneburg organized an interdisciplinary conference in Luneburg in 2021 which is documented in the present volume. The articles discuss the importance of Kant for the theory of humaneness, his early years, the developments at the university of Konigsberg in the second half of the 18th century, as well as the later reception of Kant. (shrink)

The aim of this article is to investigate the relatively neglected and under-theorized area of ethical mindsets in the Australian services sector. Employing a mixed-methods approach, quantitative data was collected through online survey of 66 items and qualitative data was collected by focus group interviews with 20 participants. An analysis of the survey data (N = 223) suggests that ethical mindsets exist, and the qualitative analysis allowed the identified components to be refined. This research potentially adds to developing business ethics (...) literature about ethical mindsets and contributes to the methodological debate about the efficacy of online surveys and the mixed-methods approach. (shrink)

This volume collects Kant's most important ethical and anthropological writings from the 1760s, before he developed his critical philosophy. The materials presented here range from the Observations, one of Kant's most elegantly written and immediately popular texts, to the accompanying Remarks which Kant wrote in his personal copy of the Observations and which are translated here in their entirety for the first time. This edition also includes little-known essays as well as personal notes and fragments that reveal the emergence of (...) Kant's complex philosophical ideas. Those familiar with Kant's later works will discover a Kant interested in the 'beauty' as well as the 'dignity' of humanity, in human diversity as well as the universality of morals, and in practical concerns rather than abstract philosophizing. Readers will be able to see Kant's development from the Observations through the Remarks towards the moral philosophy that eventually made him famous. (shrink)

This Element argues that Kant was a consistent proponent of the claim that the moral law is the causal law of a free will, and that the supposed ability of free will to choose indifferently between options is an empty concept.

This expanded edition of James Ellington's preeminent translations of _Grounding for the Metaphysics of Morals and Metaphysical Principles of Virtue_ includes his new translation of Kant's essay On a Supposed Right to Lie Because of Philanthropic Concerns, in which Kant replies to one of the standard objections to his moral theory, as presented in the main text of _Grounding_, that it requires us to tell the truth even in the face of harmful consequences.

This volume is a new translation of one of Immanuel Kant's most puzzling works, Dreams of a Spirit-Seer, a scathing satire of the works of Emanuel Swedenborg. An introduction by translator Gregory R. Johnson puts the essay in the context of Kant's life and thought, shedding new light on this pivotal work.

The current study analyzes trans-cultural universalities and specificities in the recognition of status roles, dominance perception and social evaluation based on nonverbal cues. Using a novel methodology, which allowed to mask clues to ethnicity and cultural background of the agents, we compared impression of Germans, Americans and Arabs observing computer-animated interactions from the three countries. Only in the German stimulus sample the status roles could be recognized above chance level. However we found significant correlations in dominance perception across all countries. (...) Significant correlations were only found for evaluation between German observers and observers from the other two countries. Perceived dominance uniformly predicted the assignment of status-roles in all cultures. Microanalysis of movement behavior further revealed predictive value of specific nonverbal cues for dominance ratings. Results support the hypothesis of universalities in the processing of dominance cues and point to cultural specificities in evaluative responses to nonverbal behavior. (shrink)

Kant's Foundation of Ethics, translated by Leo Rauch, includes "What is Enlightenment?" and Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysics of Morals. These unabridged works, in contemporary English with oral interpretation, articulate the fundamental principles of Kant's ethical world view. Taken together, these works challenge all free people to think about the requirements for self-determination, both in our individual lives and in our public and private institutions.

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work. This work is in the public domain (...) in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant. (shrink)

This book presents the necessary methods and resources for managers and directors to be successful in leading their corporations in a responsible and morally conscious manner and examining the dangers of unethical behavior.

This seminal text in the history of moral philosophy elaborates the basic themes of Kant ’s moral theory, gives the most complete statement of his highly original theory of freedom of the will, and develops his practical metaphysics. This new edition, prepared by an acclaimed translator and scholar of Kant ’s practical philosophy, presents the first new translation of the work to appear for many years, together with a substantial and lucid introduction.