Definite descriptions, I shall argue, have two possible functions. 1] They are used to refer to what a speaker wishes to talk about, but they are also used quite differently. Moreover, a definite description occurring in one and the same sentence may, on different occasions of its use, function in either way. The failure to deal with this duality of function obscures the genuine referring use of definite descriptions. The best known theories of definite descriptions, those of Russell and Strawson, (...) I shall suggest, are both guilty of this. Before discussing this distinction in use, I will mention some features of these theories to which it is especially relevant. (shrink)

This volume collects Keith Donnellan's key contributions dating from the late 1960s through the early 1980s, along with a substantive introduction by the editor Joseph Almog, which disseminates the work to a new audience and for posterity.

Despite the robust evidence that congruent background music in the physical store environment positively affects consumer reactions, less is known about its effects in an online context. The present study aims to examine whether congruency via multiple elicited crossmodal correspondences between background music and the online store environment leads to more positive affective, evaluative, and behavioral consumer reactions and to investigate the moderating role of shopping goals on this crossmodal congruency effect. Previous research showed that low task-relevant atmospheric cues like (...) music can have a negative effect on consumers when they visit a website with a purchase goal in mind. An online experiment was conducted with 239 respondents randomly assigned to a shopping goal and a music condition. Our results show that crossmodally incongruent background music leads to more positive consumer reactions for experiential browsers and more negative consumer reactions for goal-directed searchers. Conversely, crossmodally congruent background music has a positive effect on experiential browsers and no adverse effect on goal-directed searchers. Additionally, the presence of crossmodally congruent background music leads to more positive consumer reactions than the presence of crossmodally incongruent background music, independent of the shopping goal. We extend previous research on multisensory congruency effects by showing the added value of establishing congruency between music and the store environment via multiple elicited crossmodal correspondences in the online environment, countering previously found negative effects of low-task relevant atmospheric cues for goal-directed searchers. (shrink)

In the first phase of the research project Nanotechnologies for Tomorrow's Society (www.nanosoc.be), the research consortium explored a variety of futuristic visions or technoscientific imaginaries. This exploration took the form of a Policy Delphi, adapted to the particular objective of jointly constructing nano-imaginaries, taking participants' personal visions of possible future applications and societal issues as a starting point. The participants were nanoresearchers, as well as societal experts and primary involved citizens. In this article, the authors describe the theoretical frame that (...) inspired their methodological approach, present the analytical results obtained, and bring some reflections to the fore that arose as a result of the performance and analysis of this Delphi-exercise. (shrink)

Ending the influence which politicalparties exercised over judicial appointmentswas a prominent aim of the project of reformingthe Belgian criminal justice system in the1990s. However, focusing on various highprofile scandals affecting public confidence inthe judiciary, this paper questions whether thepolitical nature of the judiciary is capable ofbeing eradicated. Drawing on the work ofChantal Mouffe, this analysis starts with aconsideration of the discursive element inpolitical identity, which is furthercorroborated by the semiotics of Saussure andGreimas. Applying this perspective to theBelgian situation in the (...) 1990s, it is arguedthat a redefinition of politics in terms of an``us/them'' divide between citizens andinstitutions took place. In this process,judges were targeted as part of theestablishment and cast as the constitutiveoutside buttressing the collectiveidentification between the media, victims ofcrime and the general public. In explaining theinstitutional gap, individual traits of judgesconstituted a significant focus, as can beshown through the extraordinary visibility ofone judge who courted media attention when hewas tried for sadomasochistic activities in1997. (shrink)

“Brave the Shave”, a campaign by the UK charity Macmillan Cancer Support, encourages people to seek sponsorship to shave off all their hair and share the event on social media. Brave the Shave has...

Il reste difficile de distinguer dans les récits patriarcaux un cycle bien-défini, qu'on pourrait appeler le 'cycle d'Isaac'. On attendrait celui-ci entre le 'cycle d'Abraham' et le 'cycle de Jacob'. La présentation d'Isaac dans le Pentateuque est, cependant, assez déficiente, tout aussi bien au niveau quantitatif que qualitatif. À première vue, plusieurs éléments concernant Isaac semblent être perdus. Les hypothèses 'traditio-historiques', proposées, par exemple par Martin Noth, pour résoudre le problème quantitatif, n'expliquent pas le 'faible' présence d'Isaac dans la bible. (...) Le problème est encore plus net quand on compare la présentation forte de Rébecca, comme une femme décidée et dominante. Partant d'une analyse de la caractérisation des deux personnages dans les récits d'Isaac et de Rébecca, notre étude essaye de découvrir les raisons de la présence particulière du deuxième couple patriarcal dans la bible. Isaac et Rébecca jouent manifestement chacun leur rôle particulier dans le récit des promesses divines. Isaac apparaît comme le 'porteur' de la promesse, le récipient indispensable, mais passif. Rébecca est choisie par Dieu comme l'intermédiaire. Elle aide à passer les promesses ancestrales aux générations suivantes. En considérant le cycle d'Isaac et de Rébecca comme un ensemble, on constate que cet ensemble narratif n'est nullement déficient. Notre analyse nous amène, même, à proposer une terminologie nouvelle. On évitera de traiter des 'récits patriarcaux'. Il s'agit, en fait, des 'récits ancestraux'. (shrink)

The main objective of the Flemish research project ‘Nanotechnologies for tomorrow’s society’ (NanoSoc) is to develop and try out an interactive process as a suitable methodology for rendering nanoresearchers aware of underlying assumptions that guide nanotech research and integrating social considerations into the research choices they face. In particular, the NanoSoc process should sustain scientists’ capacities to address growing uncertainties on the strategic, scientific and public acceptance level. The article elaborates on these uncertainties and involved dilemmas scientists are facing and (...) proposes a process approach which addresses strategic uncertainty by alternating between ‘visioning’ and ‘technology assessment’; a process design which manages complexity by promoting reflexivity among scientists by exposing them to deliberations in civil society (social experts, stakeholders, citizens) on plausible futures with nanotechnologies; and as an answer to societal ambivalence, certain process quality requirements such as an attitude of perplexity or openness towards ‘plurality’ and an attitude of ‘temporary closure’, both in support of understanding and learning from differences. (shrink)

In this appeal the House of Lords held that a school’s refusal to change its school uniform rules to accommodate the religious beliefs of one of its pupils did not constitute an interference with freedom of religion and the right to an education. This note asks whether the House of Lords by framing the issue as a matter of individual choice and informed consent may have underestimated the potential for social harm inflicted by a school’s unwillingness to accommodate certain types (...) of religious beliefs where it has already adapted its school uniform rules for others. (shrink)

Within contemporary health care, many of the decisions affecting the health and well-being of patients are not being made by the clinicians or health professionals, but by those involved in health care management. Existing literature on organizational ethics provides insight into the various structures, processes and strategies - such as mission statement, ethics committees, ethical rounds … - that exist to create an organizational climate, which fosters ethical practices and decision-making It does not, however, show how health care managers experience (...) their job as being intrinsically ethical in itself. In the present article, we investigate the way in which ethical values are present in the lived experiences and daily practice of health care management. What does it imply to take up a managing position within a health care institution and to try to do this in an ethically inspired way? We carried out a qualitative study (Grounded Theory Approach) to explore the essence of values-based leadership in health care. We interviewed 15 people with extensive experience in health care management in the fields of elderly care, hospital care and mental health care in the various regions of Flanders, Belgium. Six predominant themes, presented as metaphors, illustrate the essence of values-based leadership in health care management. These are: (1) values-based health care management as managing a large garden, (2) as learning and using a foreign language, (3) going on a trekking with an ethical compass, (4) embodying integrity and authenticity in a credible encounter with everyone, (5) being a present and trustworthy leader during sun and storm, and (6) contributing to human flourishing by giving people wings to fly. Notwithstanding the importance of organizing a good ethics infrastructure, values-based leadership in health care entails much more than that. It is about the co-creation of an integrated and comprehensive ethical climate of which community-model thinking and authentic leadership are essential components. As a never-ending process, the six metaphors can help leaders to take substantive proactive steps to shape a fruitful ethical climate within their organization. (shrink)

Although not explicitly stated, Nobert Elias’s Civilizing Process provides a theoretical framework for Prolegomenon Toward a Primate Rights Bill. The core tenets of Elias’s work, including interdependency, habitus, and privatization, are common threads throughout the book. The book depicts a utopian ideal whereby the transformation in societal attitudes to nonhuman primates reaches a level wherein all primates come within the protection of the law. This will require the metamorphosis of attitudes and approaches, including state involvement and intervention, in order to (...) ensure the proposed bill of rights is enforced. Whether this will continue as an ideal or, in the future, form the basis of federal legislation akin to the European Convention on Human Rights or the Universal Declaration of Human Rights remains to be seen; nevertheless, the book raises some compelling arguments. (shrink)

This dossier article contains four short and varied contributions from activists and other service and healthcare providers who have been agitating and working on the frontlines of HIV/AIDS in Ireland since the early 1980s. The dossier contains: (1) a history, by Bill Foley, of the early collective efforts of a group of gay men to provoke government action and healthcare under the umbrella of Gay Health Action (GHA) (2) a speech delivered by Dr. Erin Nugent to government officials on the (...) re-branding of HIV Ireland in 2015; (3) a brief history, recounted by Noel Donnellan, of ACT UP Dublin since it was revitalized in 2016 by a small cohort of dedicated activists from a dormant group into a vibrant collective that has achieved great legislative change with regards to pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP); and (4) a polemic, written by Thomas Strong, on living with HIV as a queer man in Ireland that demonstrates the ways in which HIV stigma not only thrives in but molds and shapes twenty-first-century gay men’s communities, both in real life and online. (shrink)

This book, which transcends the boundaries between literature, social history, and philosophy, studies Plutarch's practical ethics, a group of twenty-odd texts ...

The Human Rights Act 1998 is one of the most important constitutional reforms to have been implemented by the New Labour administration in Britain. In addition to incorporating the European Convention on Human Rights into domestic law, its main ambition is the creation of a human rights culture. However, while citizens appear to have very little understanding of what the legislation entails, there is a strong tide of negative media publicity which depicts the Human Rights Act as a ‘villains’ charter’. (...) It has been suggested that the government should do more to promote human rights. This paper reflects on how this may be achieved. An important strategy for creating a positive public awareness of human rights involves eradicating myths which have been allowed to flourish in sections of the British press. However, drawing on the work of Roland Barthes, this paper argues that this may be an unattainable goal. Human rights are empty signifiers which invite mythical appropriation. Both proponents and detractors of human rights legislation mobilise this capacity for mythmaking in their rhetoric. (shrink)