We asked whether the influence of an invisible prime on movement is dependent on conscious movement expectations. Participants reached to a central target, which triggered a directional prime–mask arrow sequence. Participants were instructed that the visible arrows would most often signal a movement modification in a specific direction. Kinematic analyses revealed that responses to the visible mask were influenced by participants’ intentional bias, as movements were fastest when the more probable mask was displayed. In addition, responses were influenced by the (...) invisible prime without regard to its relationship to the more probable mask. Analysis of the time of initial trajectory modifications revealed that both primes influenced responses in a similar manner after accounting for participants’ bias. These results imply that invisible stimuli automatically activate their associated responses and that unconscious priming of the motor system is insensitive to the conscious expectations of the participant making the pointing movements. (shrink)

Although performance pressure has desirable consequences, there is evidence that it can produce unintended outcomes as employees tend to engage in dysfunctional and unethical behaviors to meet performance goals. Thus, the process through which employees think and behave unethically under performance pressure deserves more research attention. This study goes beyond the stress-appraisal perspective and investigates whether and when performance pressure influences individual work mindsets and behaviors from a moral reasoning perspective. Specifically, we contend that performance pressure is related to employee (...) expediency through moral decoupling. We further hypothesize dialectical thinking and moral identity to be the boundary conditions of the proposed relationships. Analyses of data from a field study in three waves provide support for most of the hypotheses. In particular, we find that moral decoupling accounts for additional variance after we control for the stress-appraisal effect of performance pressure on employee expediency. The study offers several contributions to the literature on performance pressure and unethical behavior. (shrink)

Recent years have seen a significant increase in stakeholder pressure on firms to be not only economically sustainable but also from an environmental and social perspective. Besides operational changes in practices and products companies have reacted toward this increased pressure from a strategic perspective through structural changes of their top management team. A recent addition to the TMT has been the appointment of the chief officer of corporate social responsibility. In this paper, we take a behavioral perspective and investigate how (...) the employment of a chief officer of CSR to the TMT impact on firm performance. Specifically, we explore how certain characteristics of the newly appointed chief executive of CSR impact on a firm’s financial performance. We collected secondary, longitudinal data of listed companies in the United States. Results indicate that appointing a chief executive of CSR does under certain conditions and characteristics result in financial performance benefits. Furthermore, the greatest financial performance benefits can be achieved if the appointee is female and has a CSR functional background. (shrink)

Employees perceive illegitimate tasks as inappropriate assignments because such tasks are beyond what they expect to do in any given job position. Extant literature indicates that, in addition to creating psychological strain and reducing well-being, illegitimate task assignments can result in counterproductive work behavior. This study extends the literature by examining whether illegitimate tasks may lead to two specific forms of CWB targeting organizations: destructive voice and time theft. To understand how and when this happens, we investigate the mediating role (...) of moral disengagement and the moderating role of psychological entitlement. Survey results based on 258 supervisor–subordinate dyads in China reveal that illegitimate tasks are positively related to destructive voice and time theft through moral disengagement. Furthermore, psychological entitlement strengthens the positive relationship between illegitimate tasks and moral disengagement and the indirect effect of illegitimate tasks on destructive voice and time theft. Overall, the findings provide insightful theoretical and managerial implications for research related to illegitimate tasks and CWB. (shrink)

Background: Greater vulnerability to negative emotions appears associated with the development and maintenance of eating disorders. A systematic review of psychophysiological studies using emotion-eliciting film clips reveals that there are no studies examining the effect of standardized validated film clips on psychophysiological response across a range of EDs.Methods: Using standardized validated film clips without ED-specific content, the present study examined self-reported emotions and psychophysiological responses of women with Binge-Eating Disorder, Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa, and Healthy Controls at Baseline, during Neutral, (...) Sad, Happy, and Fear-inducing film clips, and at Recovery.Results: Throughout the protocol, the ED groups reported significantly greater sadness and anxiety than HCs. Additionally, the AN group reported more fear, the BED group more frustration, and the BED and BN groups more tension than HCs. Compared to HCs, the BED group reported stronger urges to binge throughout the protocol, whereas BN group reported stronger urges to binge relative to the HC group only at Baseline and Recovery. The BN and BED groups experienced decreased urges to binge during all film clips compared to Baseline. Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia levels were significantly lower in the BED group compared to HCs and the BN group throughout the protocol.Discussion: Standardized validated film clips can be used to elicit expected self-reported emotion and skin conductance responses in ED groups, although individuals with EDs compared HCs report greater negative emotions. Interestingly, film clips appeared to reduce urges to binge in binge-eating groups. (shrink)

This study provides a comparison of the ethical perceptions of managers and non-managers, including professionals, teachers, sales persons and clerks, as well as technical and plant workers. Data of working individuals were collected in Hong Kong in the form of questionnaires which contain vignettes of questionable ethical issues. Factor analysis was used to identify the major ethical dimensions which were then used as the basis of comparison. Regression analyses were used to study the effect of various variables on ethical perceptions (...) in terms of the identified dimensions. Our study reviews that managers tend to possess deontological views that are more ethical than that found in other occupations. The gap between managers and professionals in perceiving unethical behavior is narrower compared to that between the former and individuals in other occupations. The acceptability of unethical behavior tends to decline with income. Besides, there are indications that people working in non-profit organizations tend to have higher ethical standards. Based on our results, recommendations are made to improve the ethical culture of organizations. (shrink)

Embodied theories of language postulate that language meaning is stored in modality-specific brain areas generally involved in perception and action in the real world. However, the temporal dynamics of the interaction between modality-specific information and lexical-semantic processing remain unclear. We investigated the relative timing at which two types of modality-specific information (action-based and visual-form information) contribute to lexical-semantic comprehension. To this end, we applied a behavioral priming paradigm in which prime and target words were related with respect to (1) action (...) features, (2) visual features, or (3) semantically associative information. Using a Go/No-Go lexical decision task, priming effects were measured across four different inter-stimulus intervals (ISI = 100, 250, 400, and 1000 ms) to determine the relative time course of the different features. Notably, action priming effects were found in ISIs of 100, 250, and 1000 ms whereas a visual priming effect was seen only in the ISI of 1000 ms. Importantly, our data suggest that features follow different time courses of activation during word recognition. In this regard, feature activation is dynamic, measurable in specific time windows but not in others. Thus the current study (1) demonstrates how multiple ISIs can be used within an experiment to help chart the time course of feature activation and (2) provides new evidence for embodied theories of language. (shrink)

Discourse particles have received a considerable amount of scholarly attention in linguistic research. Although their use in specific text types has been discussed, few studies have actually attempted to look at the effect of text type on their use. Therefore, how the use of discourse particles is related to the situational context in which they are produced remains a largely unexplored area. In this article, the use of one of the most frequently occurring yet often overlooked discourse particles, so, in (...) a number of monologic and dialogic texts is examined. Drawing on data from a spoken corpus of Hong Kong English, the present study shows that the frequency rates and functions of so as a discourse particle vary according to the text type in which it occurs. Findings from the study thus argue that the full range of functions realized by so as a discourse particle cannot be determined without taking into account the wide range of communicative events in which the particle is used. This highlights the fact that contextual cues are indispensable in the interpretation of the pragmatic meanings of discourse particles. (shrink)

BackgroundAn increasing number of studies utilize intracranial electrophysiology in human subjects to advance basic neuroscience knowledge. However, the use of neurosurgical patients as human research subjects raises important ethical considerations, particularly regarding informed consent and undue influence, as well as subjects’ motivations for participation. Yet a thorough empirical examination of these issues in a participant population has been lacking. The present study therefore aimed to empirically investigate ethical concerns regarding informed consent and voluntariness in Parkinson’s disease patients undergoing deep brain (...) stimulator (DBS) placement who participated in an intraoperative neuroscience study.MethodsTwo semi-structured 30-minute interviews were conducted preoperatively and postoperatively via telephone. Interviews assessed participants’ motivations for participation in the parent intraoperative study, recall of information presented during the informed consent process, and participants’ postoperative reflections on the research study.ResultsTwenty-two participants (mean age = 60.9) completed preoperative interviews at a mean of 7.8 days following informed consent and a mean of 5.2 days prior to DBS surgery. Twenty participants completed postoperative interviews at a mean of 5 weeks following surgery. All participants cited altruism or advancing medical science as “very important” or “important” in their decision to participate in the study. Only 22.7% (n = 5) correctly recalled one of the two risks of the study. Correct recall of other aspects of the informed consent was poor (36.4% for study purpose; 50.0% for study protocol; 36.4% for study benefits). All correctly understood that the study would not confer a direct therapeutic benefit to them.ConclusionEven though research coordinators were properly trained and the informed consent was administered according to protocol, participants demonstrated poor retention of study information. While intraoperative studies that aim to advance neuroscience knowledge represent a unique opportunity to gain fundamental scientific knowledge, improved standards for the informed consent process can help facilitate their ethical implementation. (shrink)

On conduct of life and ethics of Islamic seminarians.

Introduction: Probationers, offenders with less serious and non-violent offences, and under statutory supervision, have low levels of self-esteem and physical health, and high level of family conflict, and poorer quality of family relationships. This study examined the effectiveness of the existing probation service and the additional use of a positive family holistic health intervention to enhance physical, psychological, and family well-being in probationers and relationships with probation officers.Methods: Probationers under the care of the Hong Kong Social Welfare Department were randomized (...) into a care-as-usual control group, a brief intervention group receiving two 1-h individual sessions [of a brief theory-based positive family holistic health intervention integrating Zero-time Exercise and positive psychology themes of “Praise and Gratitude” in the existing probation service], or a combined intervention group receiving BI and a 1-day group activity with family members. The outcomes were physical activity, fitness performance, self-esteem, happiness, anxiety and depression symptoms, life satisfaction, quality of life, family communication and well-being, and relationships with probation officers. Self-administered questionnaires and simple fitness tests were used at baseline, 1-month and 3-month follow-up. Linear mixed model analysis was used to compare difference in the changes of outcome variables among groups, adjusted of sex, age, and baseline values. Focus group interviews were conducted. Thematic content analysis was used.Results: 318 probationers were randomized into CAU, BI, or CI group. CAU showed enhanced physical activity, fitness performance and psychological health, and family communication with small effect sizes. BI and CI showed further improved physical activity, family communication and family well-being. Additionally, CI reported greater improvements in the relationships with probation officers than CAU with a small effect size. CI also reported greater increases in physical activity and family communication than BI with small to moderate effect sizes. Qualitative feedbacks corroborated the quantitative findings.Conclusion: Our trial provided the first evidence of the effectiveness of probation service and the additional use of an innovative, relatively low-cost, theory-based brief positive family holistic health intervention. This intervention may offer a new model for enhancing probation service.Trial Registration: The research protocol was registered at the National Institutes of Health. (shrink)

Background Residual dried blood spots (rDBS) from newborn screening programmes represent a valuable resource for medical research, from basic sciences, through clinical to public health. In Hong Kong, there is no legislation for biobanking. Parents’ view on the retention and use of residual newborn blood samples could be cultural-specific and is important to consider for biobanking of rDBS. Objective To study the views and concerns on long-term storage and secondary use of rDBS from newborn screening programmes among Hong Kong Chinese (...) parents. Methods A mixed-method approach was used to study the views and concerns on long-term storage and secondary use of rDBS from newborn screening programmes among Hong Kong Chinese parents of children 0–3 years or expecting parents through focus groups (8 groups; 33 participants) and a survey (n = 1012, 85% mothers) designed with insights obtained from the focus groups. We used framework analysis to summarise the themes as supportive factors, concerns and critical arguments for retention and secondary use of rDBS from focus group discussion. We used multiple logistic regression to assess factors associated with support for retention and secondary use of rDBS in the survey. Results Both in focus groups and survey, majority of parents were not aware of the potential secondary use of rDBS. Overall secondary use of rDBS in medical research was well accepted by a large proportion of Hong Kong parents, even if all potential future research could not be specified in a broad consent. However parents were concerned about potential risks of biobanking rDBS including leaking of data and mis-use of genetic information. Parents wanted to be asked for permission before rDBS are stored and mainly did not accept an “opt-out” approach. The survey showed that parents born in mainland China, compared to Hong Kong born parents, had lower awareness of newborn screening but higher support in biobanking rDBS. Higher education was associated with support in rDBS biobanking only among fathers. Conclusion Long-term storage and secondary use of rDBS from newborn screening for biomedical research and a broad consent for biobanking of rDBS are generally acceptable to Hong Kong parents given their autonomy is respected and their privacy is protected, highlighting the importance of an accountable governance and a transparent access policy for rDBS biobanks. (shrink)

Ce texte est écrit à quatre mains : Tamara Dmitrieva est sociologue, spécialiste de l’enfance sourde, qui s’est découverte comme entendante par la rencontre avec des sourd·e·s, et Mélanie Joseph, artiste-chercheuse, sourde signante et implantée, vivant avec le trouble dans sa lutte d’éloignement de la doctrine oraliste. Cet article donne à voir des perspectives de leurs recherches respectives qui s’y entrelacent, en créant un espace de réflexion sur la condition sourde et les possibilités de faire exister les diversités dans la (...) société de demain, selon les perspectives sourdiennes. (shrink)

Nature, not books Content Type Journal Article Category Book Review Pages 1-3 DOI 10.1007/s11016-011-9564-y Authors Melanie Keene, Homerton College, Hills Road, Cambridge, CB2 8PH UK Journal Metascience Online ISSN 1467-9981 Print ISSN 0815-0796.

Indagar sobre la esencia femenina es una tarea fundamental en nuestro tiempo. Sin embargo, es un esfuerzo que ha caído en el descrédito dado que se considera que no tiene en cuenta las diferencias individuales de las mujeres y contribuye a la sumisión femenina. Especialmente, a través de la formación de imágenes estereotipadas. En este artículo estudiaremos las conferencias sobre la mujer de Edith Stein, y algunos de sus estudios antropológicos, con la intención de aproximarnos a una comprensión que une (...) la esencia femenina con la acción y manifiesta su intrínseca unidad con la individualidad. Stein está convencida que toda mujer posee una triple vocación: a nivel humano, femenino e individual que se ha de desarrollar de manera integral y complementaria. Sin embargo, esto solo será posible si reconoce el orden metafísico –cristiano– del que depende su ser. (shrink)

La pandemia del coronavirus llegó intempestivamente y el afán de compartir esta experiencia, unió a escritores a través de diversas plataformas. Ya existía interés en conformar un grupo de minificcionistas antes de la pandemia y este pareció el momento propicio. Cada integrante trajo a otros, hasta conformar un grupo de 19 escritores de Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia, Chile, Ecuador, España, Guatemala, Honduras, Marruecos, México, Nicaragua, Panamá, Perú y Venezuela.

Este artículo explora ciertas conexiones entre la representación de la mortalidad en el retrato y el tratamiento filosófico de nuestra necesidad de ser reconocidos por los demás. En primer lugar, se examina la conexión que establece Georg Simmel en su estudio filosófico sobre Rembrandt entre la capacidad del artista para representar en sus retratos individuos irrepetibles, y su capacidad para capturar la finitud de los mismos en tanto que seres mortales. Tras señalar que ninguna de las explicaciones de Simmel sobre (...) el carácter trágico de los sujetos de los retratos de Rembrandt resulta completamente satisfactoria, recupero los escritos de Rousseau sobre nuestra necesidad de ser reconocidos por los otros, para argumentar que consideramos que los otros son insustituibles porque son capaces de satisfacer esta necesidad ; y que es, precisamente, a esta clase de insustituibilidad a la que apunta Simmel al enlazar los conceptos de individualidad y mortalidad en sus escritos sobre los retratos de Rembrandt. A partir de este punto, sostengo que las ideas anteriores son, de hecho, centrales para la comprensión de la escritura psicoanalítica de Melanie Klein, y, en particular, al planteamiento de Klein sobre la percepción de las otras personas por parte de los niños, que relaciona con sus ansiedades acerca de la posibilidad de la pérdida irreparable de esas personas; su planteamiento de que la condición de persona del otro se debe a que los percibimos como fuentes de reconocimiento; y su análisis de la pintura de retratos como una actividad con la que abordar estas ansiedades. (shrink)

THE OCCASION FOR THE ESSAYS RESPONDING TO MANAGING DIVERSITY IN academe follows in response to a challenge issued by Miguel De La Torre in a 2006 plenary panel regarding the invisibility of minority scholars' work in SCE publications. That 2006 panel, which included presentations by De La Torre, Melanie Harris, Gabriel Salgado, and Darryl Trimiew, stimulated discussions in both the Women's Caucus and the meeting of the Board of Directors; this set of essays from a 2008 plenary session and (...) a concurrent session held later in the meeting is the result of those earlier discussions. The two sessions both address diversity: these essays feature minority voices presenting specific proposals for how minority scholarship should and should not be used by majority and other minority scholars; the concurrent session featured a discussion by majority scholars on what whites must do to diversify the society. Our hope is that these essays and the discussions they generate will shed more light on this extremely complex and important issue for the SCE and the institutions in which members work. (shrink)

C’est à coup sûr un document hors du commun que Mélanie Traversier a mis à la disposition des historiens. La reine Marie-Caroline de Naples est bien connue des spécialistes de l’Italie méridionale et de l’ère napoléonienne comme une souveraine qui a eu vocation à se mêler de politique : à vrai dire, si les circonstances y ont aidé (Charles III de Bourbon étant passé en Espagne, la couronne de Naples échut à Ferdinand, qu’elle avait épousé en 1767 et qui n’avait (...) aucune disposition pour un méti... (shrink)

Ce sont les Actes d’un colloque interdisciplinaire qui s’est tenu, en avril 2011, à l’Université de Genève. Comme l’indiquent les éditeurs scientifiques dans leur introduction, la rencontre avait pour but d’étudier, à travers différents contextes culturels et historiques, la manière dont l’homme pense l’espace clos des jardins et comment s’exprime, en l’occurrence, le rapport de la nature et de la culture. Dix-sept contributions concourent à ce projet et trois disciplines principales y sont r...

El psicoanálisis, desde mi punto de vista, es una teorí­a y una práctica para la vida personal. Su históricamente original telos fue, valga la expresión, el desmontaje de la familia, la liberación de lo individual de sus patrones paternal y maternal. Así­, para entender la diferencia que el género representa para las mujeres analistas de la década de 1920, tenemos que situarlas en relación con el despliegue de la historia de la vida personal. ésta, en cualquier caso, es la aproximación (...) que desarrolla este ensayo, centrado en las contribuciones de Melanie Klein."œThe ironic fate of feminist psichoanalysis: The case of Melanie Klein"From my point of view psychoanalysis is a theory and practice for personal life. Historically its original telos was, excuse the expression, the dismantling of the family, the liberation of the individual from his or her paternal and maternal masters. Thus, in order to understand the diference that the genre represents for women analysts in the 192 0s, we have to place them in relation to the unfolding of the history of personal life. This, in any case, is the approach developed in this essay, based on Melanie Klein "™s contributions. (shrink)

El artículo analiza un pasaje autobiográfico de la vida de al-Ṭurṭūšī (c. 451/1059-520/1126, o Ŷumādā al-awwal 525/abril de 1131) contenido en el Siyar A‘lām al-Nubalā’ de al-Ḏahabī (673/1274-748/1348). El texto informa sobre una notable serie de fenómenos meteorológicos acaecidos durante la visita de al-Ṭurṭūšī a Bagdad en 478/1085-86. Fierro interpretó la historia como la descripción de un eclipse y como el origen del cambio de al-Ṭurṭūšī hacia el ascetismo, paralela a una historia similar sobre el anterior Muḥammad Iḅn Waḍḍāḥ. Aquí (...) demuestro, basado en registros astronómicos, que no hubo eclipse en aquel tiempo en Bagdad, por lo que en consecuencia, lo que al-Ṭurṭūšī experimentó no pudo haber sido tal. Además, al-Ṭurṭūšī tampoco lo entendió así. No pudo, por lo tanto, haber sido la causa de su vuelta al ascetismo. La descripción apunta más bien a una tormenta de polvo o simún. Por lo tanto, no hay vínculo alguno, literario o de otro orden, entre este punto de la vida de al-Ṭurṭūšī y el de Muḥammad Iḅn Waḍḍāḥ. (shrink)

In his 1936 paper,On the Concept of Logical Consequence, Tarski introduced the celebrated definition oflogical consequence: “The sentenceσfollows logicallyfrom the sentences of the class Γ if and only if every model of the class Γ is also a model of the sentenceσ.” [55, p. 417] This definition, Tarski said, is based on two very basic intuitions, “essential for the proper concept of consequence” [55, p. 415] and reflecting common linguistic usage: “Consider any class Γ of sentences and a sentence which (...) follows from the sentences of this class. From an intuitive standpoint it can never happen that both the class Γ consists only of true sentences and the sentenceσis false. Moreover, … we are concerned here with the concept of logical, i.e.,formal, consequence.” [55, p. 414] Tarski believed his definition of logical consequence captured the intuitive notion: “It seems to me that everyone who understands the content of the above definition must admit that it agrees quite well with common usage. … In particular, it can be proved, on the basis of this definition, that every consequence of true sentences must be true.” [55, p. 417] The formality of Tarskian consequences can also be proven. Tarski's definition of logical consequence had a key role in the development of the model-theoretic semantics of modern logic and has stayed at its center ever since. (shrink)

Türk ve İslam tarihinin kırılma noktalarından birisi 1040 yılında Selçuklular ile Gazneliler arasında cereyan eden Dandanakan Savaşı’dır. Savaşın ardından Selçuklular hızlı bir yükselişle özellikle Sünnî İslam coğrafyasında etkin ve belirleyici güç haline gelmiştir. Göçebe kültürden gelen ve bir oba hüviyetinde iken çok kısa bir sürede önlenemez bir şekilde hâkimiyet alanını Türkistan coğrafyasından Anadolu içlerine kadar genişleten Büyük Selçuklu Devleti, kurumsal olarak da olgunlaşmaya başlamıştır. Bu noktada hem merkezi yönetimde hem de vilayetlerde ortaya çıkan yetişmiş eleman ihtiyacını birçoğu daha önce Gazneli (...) devlet teşkilatında görev yapmış Fars asıllı devlet adamları karşılamıştır. Bu isimlerden birisi de ileride Nizâmülmülk adıyla şöhret bulacak ve namı isminin önüne geçecek olan Hasan b. Alî b. İshâk et-Tûsî’dir. Nizâmülmülk, devlet gücünün askeri alanda elde edilen zaferlere endekslendiği bir dönemde askerî, idarî, ilmî ve ekonomik alanda attığı adımlar ve aldığı tedbirlerle Büyük Selçuklu Devleti’nin kurumsallaşmasında son derece etkin bir isim olmuştur. Bu etkinlik neticesinde hem halk hem de devlet adamları nezdinde saygın bir yer edinmiştir. Bu çalışma çerçevesinde Nizâmülmülk’ün devlet bürokrasisi içerisindeki konumuna, hükümdar ve hanedan üyeleri ile olan ilişkilerine ve vezirlik sürecinde attığı adımların Selçuklu tarihine yansımalarına değinilecektir. Özet: Devlet kademesinde görev almaya Gazneliler Devleti’nin Horasan Valisi Ebü’l-Fazl Sûrî’nin yanında başlayan Nizâmülmülk, Horasan Bölgesi’nin Selçukluların kontrolüne geçmesiyle birlikte hizmetlerine Selçuklu Devleti’nde devam etmiştir. Çağrı Bey’in hizmetinde rüştünü ispat eden Nizâmülmülk, Çağrı Bey’in en güvendiği isimlerden biri haline gelmiştir. Öyle ki, Çağrı Bey ileride önce Horasan’ın sonrasında tüm Selçuklu yurdunun yönetimini üstlenecek olan oğlu Alparslan’ı Nizâmülmülk’e emanet etmiş, oğluna da Nizâmülmülk’ü bir baba olarak kabul etmesini, ona muhalefet etmemesini öğütlemiştir. Alparslan, babasının tavsiyeleri ve üvey kardeşi Süleyman ile giriştiği taht mücadelesinde gösterdiği yararlılık münasebetiyle devletin en önemli idari görevi olan vezirlik makamını Nizâmülmülk’e tevdi etmiştir. Bu dönemden itibaren vefatına kadar, yaklaşık 30 yıl kesintisiz bir süreyle Büyük Selçuklu Devleti’nin vezirliğini yapmış ve V./XI. yy.’ın ikinci yarısından itibaren Büyük Selçuklu siyasetinin en etkin figürü haline gelmiştir. Melikşah’ın tahta geçebilmesinin Nizâmülmülk ile ilişkilendirilmesi, onun döneminde elde edilen başarıların ve devlet sisteminin düzenlenmesi, şehirlerin imarı, ekonominin güçlenmesi gibi ülke içerisinde yaşanan olumlu gelişmelerin Nizâmülmülk’ün marifetiyle gerçekleştirildiğinin dillendirilmesi, Tanrı tarafından yeryüzünü yönetmek ve inşa etmek için seçildiği düşünülen bir sultan varken bir vezirin devlet için nimet olarak gösterilmesi sultanın vezirine bakışını etkilemiştir. Bu noktada üzerinde durulması gereken hususlardan birisi de Nizâmülmülk’ün kendisini nasıl gördüğü ve devlet içerisinde kendini nerede konumlandırdığıdır. Nizâmülmülk’ün Sultan Melikşah’a verdiği bir cevapta devletin geldiği noktayı ve sultanın mevcudiyetini kendi varlığıyla eşleştirmesi, tarihinin gördüğü en yetenekli vezirlerden biri olan Nizâmülmülk’ün özgüveninin son derece yüksek ve kendisini kudret sahibi olarak gördüğüne işaret etmektedir. Bu anlamlandırma halk nezdinde herhangi bir kutsiyeti bulunmayan vezirlik makamındaki bir kişinin, toplum nezdinde Allah tarafından seçildiğine inanılan kutlu kişiye meydan okutan gücü kendisinde hissetmesinin kaynağını sorgulatmaktadır. Aranan cevap Nizâmülmülk’ün vezirlik sürecinin çeşitli başlıklar altında ve bu başlıklara dair verilecek örneklerle incelenmesi neticesinde onun devletin iç işleyişine etkisinin tespitinde ve farklı kesimlerle kurduğu ilişkide saklıdır. Nizâmülmülk, Selçuklu tahtına karşı sıkı bir bağlılık göstermiştir. Bu bağlılığını lüzumu halinde savaş meydanında göğüs göğüse çarpışarak sergilemiş, gerekli olduğunda kıvrak zekâsı ile sorunları devlet için tehlikeli boyuta gelmeden çözmüş, siyasi öngörüsü ile aldığı tedbirler sayesinde devletin büyümesine katkı sağlamıştır. Onun bu sadakati ve samimiyeti, Selçuklu sultanları tarafından karşılık bırakılmamış, Alparslan vezirinin fikirlerine büyük önem verip tercihlerini bu doğrultuda şekillendirirken, aleyhine söylenen sözlerin hiçbirine kulak asmamıştır. Melikşah da, bir anlamda kendisine Selçuklu tahtını veren Nizâmülmülk’e gerekli hürmeti göstererek bütün devlet işlerinin yürütülmesini ona tevdi etmiş ve kendisini bir “baba” gibi gördüğünü ifade etmiştir. İlaveten Selçuklu tarihinde bir ilk olmak üzere Melikşah, Nizâmülmülk’e atabeg (el-emîrü’l-vâlid) unvanını vermiştir. Melikşah, Büyük Selçuklu tahtındaki ilk yıllarını, gençliğin etkisiyle, polo oynayıp, büyük av partileri düzenlemekle geçirmiş ve bundan dolayı devlet içerisinde bütün güç Nizâmülmülk’ün eline geçmiştir. Ortaya çıkan bu durum da “ülke resmen ve ismen sultanın olmakla birlikte gerçekte ‘Nizam’ına kavuştu.” ifadesiyle açıklanmıştır. Ayrıca Melikşah’ın saltanatı döneminde elde edilen askerî, siyasî ve ekonomik başarılar Nizâmülmülk’ün yeteneği ve devlet işlerinde attığı adımlara bağlanmıştır. Nizâmülmülk, hanedan ile kurduğu ilişkinin yanı sıra devlet kademesinde görev alan farklı zümrelerle de güven üzerine dayalı yakın bir ilişki biçimi geliştirmiştir. Örneğin, Nizâmülmülk’ün katıldığı askerî seferlerde bir nefer gibi askerlerin içerisinde savaşa katılması ordu içerisinde kendisine saygı duyulmasına yol açmıştır. Ayrıca, Melikşah ile Kirman Hâkimi Kavurd Bey arasındaki taht mücadelesinde Melikşah’ın safında yer almakla birlikte Kavurd Bey’i destekleyen bazı isimlerin yazdıkları destek mektuplarının ortaya çıkmasına engel olarak hem emirlerin korkularını yatıştırırmış hem de itibarını artırmıştır. Nizâmülmülk’ün yakın ilişki içerisinde olduğu bir diğer grup ilmiye sınıfı olmuştur. Bilge vezir, Tuğrul Bey döneminde Amidülmülk Kündürî tarafından takibata uğrayan ve baskılara maruz kalan ilim adamlarının yurtlarına dönebilmelerine imkân sağlamıştır. Bu ilim adamları da yurtlarına dönüşlerini sağlayan isme zihinlerinde ve gönüllerinde her zaman özel bir yer ayırmışlardır. Birçok âlimin çalışmalarını Nizâmülmülk’e ithaf etmesi, diğer saiklerle birlikte, bunun bir göstergesidir. Nizâmülmülk bir adım daha atarak, Sultan Alparslan ve Melikşah’ın müsaadeleriyle, bu ilim adamları için hâkim olunan coğrafyanın her tarafında ilimle iştigal edebilecekleri medreseler inşa etmiştir. Nizâmülmülk’ün adına nispetle Nizamiye Medreseleri olarak isimlendirilen bu medreselerde hem eğitim-öğretim kadrosuna hem de öğrenim süresi boyunca ve de mezun olduktan sonra öğrencilere sunulan imkânlar, insanların medreselere olan ilgisini arttırıyordu. Medreseler eliyle bir taraftan önceki dönemde yerlerinden edilen ve baskıya maruz kalan ilim adamlarına bir borç ödenip iade-i itibar sağlanırken diğer taraftan da Büyük Selçuklu Devleti’nin idari ve adli sisteminin ihtiyaç duyduğu yetişmiş insan gücü inşa edilmiştir. Nizâmülmülk, toplum lehine attığı adımlar ve sorunların çözümüne verdiği önem ile halkın desteğini sağlamıştır. Öyle ki insanların hayatları boyunca ona minnettar kaldığı vurgulanmıştır. Nizâmülmülk halkın sorunlarının çözümüne önem göstermiş ve onlarla yakından ilgilenmiştir. Nizâmülmülk’ün verdiği güven duygusu halkın hoşuna gitmiş ve toplum içerisinde kabul görmesine vesile olmuştur. Nizâmülmülk’ün bir diğer hasleti de fakirlere sofrasını açmasıdır. Böylece onlarla diyalog kurmuş ve gönüllerini kazanmıştır. Her yönüyle eksiksiz bir devlet adamı olan Nizâmülmülk, toplumun her türlü ihtiyacının çözümünü düşünmüş ve bu yönde adımlar atmıştır. Nizâmülmülk’ün toplumun her kesimi ile kurduğu samimi ve yakın ilişki o kadar büyük bir takdir ve beğeni toplamıştır ki bu durum Nizâmülmülk’ün toplum nezdinde sultan itibarı görmesine sebep olmuştur. İlaveten Selçuklu coğrafyasının her yerinden ve toplumun her kesiminden insanın kendisine yönelmesi hasebiyle Kâbe’ye benzetilmiştir. Nizâmülmülk, devlet kademesinde görev alan aile bireyleri, ilişki içerisinde olduğu âlimler, kendi ordusu ve emirleri ile bir güç odağı haline gelmiştir. Bunun sonucunda Nizâmülmülk, 11. yüzyılın son çeyreğinde rakipsiz bir şekilde Büyük Selçuklu siyasetinin en etkin figürü, Selçuklu yönetimini ve politikalarını belirleyen isim ve Selçuklu tarihinin en önemli olaylarında karar mercii olmuş ve sonuçta Selçuklu tarihine damga vurmuştur. İbnü’l-Esîr, Fatımî veziri Bedr el-Cemalî’nin kendisi için kullandığı sayısız lakabı kaydettikten sonra sadece Mısır’a hâkim olan bir devletin veziri bu kadar lakap kullanıyorsa Nizâmülmülk’ün “ilah”lık iddiasında bulunması gerekirdi diyerek hem Selçuklunun azametini hem de Selçuklu devletinde Nizâmülmülk’ün yerini göstermektedir. (shrink)

Background: Although ethics consultation has been introduced to clinical practice for many years, the results of empirical studies to evaluate the effectiveness of ethics consultation are still controversial. The design of randomised controlled trials is considered the best research design to evaluate the effect of a clinical practice on the outcomes of interests. In order to understand the effects of ethics consultation, we conducted this search for studies with the design of randomised controlled trials to evaluate ethics consultation.Objective: To provide (...) an integrated review of studies with the design of randomised controlled trials to evaluate the effectiveness of ethics consultation.Methods: PubMed was used to search for studies using the randomised controlled trial design to evaluate the effectiveness of ethics consultation. The search term used was “ethics consultation”. The selection criterion was limited to “randomised controlled trial”.Results: Four articles that met both search criteria were retrieved. One of these articles reported a study that did not actually use the design of a randomised controlled trial and is excluded from the following discussion.Conclusions: To apply randomised controlled trials to evaluate the effectiveness of ethics consultation is extremely difficult as long as two issues are not resolved: the standardisation of ethics consultation and a placebo for ethics consultation to eliminate the placebo effect. Thus, the results generated by the design of randomised controlled trials are always problematic. Furthermore, as long as the two issues exist, the results generated by the design of quantitative research methods always pose problems. (shrink)

Humans can learn complex functional relationships between variables from small amounts of data. In doing so, they draw on prior expectations about the form of these relationships. In three experiments, we show that people learn to adjust these expectations through experience, learning about the likely forms of the functions they will encounter. Previous work has used Gaussian processes—a statistical framework that extends Bayesian nonparametric approaches to regression—to model human function learning. We build on this work, modeling the process of learning (...) to learn functions as a form of hierarchical Bayesian inference about the Gaussian process hyperparameters. (shrink)

Hastings Center Report, Volume 52, Issue S1, Page S89-S89, March‐April 2022.

Bowers et al. propose to use controlled behavioral experiments when evaluating deep neural networks as models of biological vision. We agree with the sentiment and draw parallels to the notion that “neuroscience needs behavior.” As a promising path forward, we suggest complementing image recognition tasks with increasingly realistic and well-controlled task environments that engage real-world object recognition behavior.

The essential nature of legislative power is to make the laws; that of executive power is to execute those law. The difference between the two is both substantial and significant; it is the difference between the rule of arbitrary power and the rule of law. This paper will seek to trace the genesis of an independent judicial power, in both theory and practice, through an examination of sections of The Constitutions of Clarendon, The Assize of Clarendon, Hobbes’ Leviathan, Locke’s Second (...) Treatise, Montesquieu’s Spirit of the Laws, as well as The Federalist Papers. Moreover, it will seek to establish its executive nature and to explain why it is so often (at least presently) misunderstood to be akin to the legislative power. (shrink)