Many people take for granted an absolute conception of property rights. According to this conception, if I own a piece of property I have a moral right to do with it as I please, irrespective of the needs of others.This paper articulates an argument against this conception of property rights. First, it shows that there are many possible conceptions of property rights, and that there are significant differences among the models of ownership which have prevailed in different societies. Then, it (...) argues that there are decisive grounds to refuse to grant that property owners have a moral right to exercise absolute control over their property, and that ownership implies not only rights but also duties and limits. (shrink)

This (by no means exhaustive) survey of Postman’s work reflects on his penetrating analyses of contemporary technology. He focused attention on the ways technology today, especially the television and the computer, inevitably change us. The essential questions he asks us to ask (and answer) are, How does technology affect us? Is it for good or ill? and Must we accept all technological advances? Postman recognized the current dominance and autonomy of technology as well as the concomitant dangers and consequently made (...) the case and the plea for the reassertion of human over technological values. (shrink)

En este trabajo se describe un nuevo dispositivo didáctico que estamos diseñando y completando, los Recorridos de Estudio e Investigación (REI), que quieren contribuir a crear secuencias de enseñanza-aprendizaje.

Newborn screening involves a complex logistical process, which depends on the close cooperation of many professionals, such as midwives, laboratory technicians, general practitioners and pediatricians. These professionals may encounter moral problems in the process, which have not been systematically studied before. This study fills this gap. We conducted interviews with 36 professionals involved in NBS in the Netherlands and made an inventory of the moral problems they encounter, as well as of the ways in which they tend to respond to (...) them. The moral problems professionals encounter stem from interpersonal conflicts and intrapersonal conflicts. Given the complexity of the work of NBS professionals, the study suggests that the moral problems that occur on the work floor cannot easily be solved by means of offering better or more stringent policy guidelines. Rather, it should be appreciated that professionals contribute significantly to shaping the morality of NBS with the help of their daily choices, and they should be supported in carrying out this task—for example with the help of a moral training or regular multidisciplinary moral deliberation, facilitated by an ethicist. (shrink)

First published in 1908 as the second edition of a 1900 original, this book explains the content of the fifth and sixth books of Euclid's Elements, which are primarily concerned with ratio and magnitudes. Hill furnishes the text with copious diagrams to illustrate key points of Euclidian reasoning. This book will be of value to anyone with an interest in the history of education.

The translators have sought an expression generally intelligible to philosophers, rather than one steeped in the phenomenological and existential tradition. This avoids jargon, but sacrifices coin which is becoming current. Locutions which seem peculiar to one oriented within the more restricted viewpoint can generally be justified. The English is often colloquial and imaginative, but sometimes agonized. The great loss is the blind alleys in the English where, in the original, the possibilities of further penetration are limitless. Some terms are misleading. (...) The book includes a valuable glossary of German expressions, copious notes, and an extensive index of English expressions.--J. M. (shrink)

Although Machiavelli was never a military commander, he was throughout much of his life deeply concerned with the conduct of martial affairs; in short, a Renaissance Herman Kahn. This book is an essay on the technique of war: how on army is organized, who make the best soldiers, field manœuvers and battle formations, logistics, internal stability and control of military units, techniques of siege; these are considered both historically with reference to the ancients, as well as the present—the contemporary applications (...) of these techniques in the author's own time. The editor has provided a long critical and historical introduction—amounting to a small monograph in itself—which helps to place Machiavelli's ideas in the tradition of military-political theorists of Western Europe.—P. J. M. (shrink)