Introduction Introducing Accessibility theory 0.1 On the role of context Utterances cannot be processed and interpreted on their own. ...

The discussion of the soul as a principle of life in ancient Greek philosophy was not limited to the soul’s relation to the body, the capacities of the soul, and the functions of the living organism. The debates about the soul and life also concerned issues of embryogenesis, such as the generation, formation, and animation of an organic body in the womb. The fragments of these debates can be traced in the writings of Alexander of Aphrodisias, particularly in his treatise (...) On the Soul. In this paper, I examine Alexander’s views on animal reproduction, especially considering the problematic question of the life and animation of the embryo. Analyzing generation among the other capacities of the nutritive soul in On the Soul, Alexander considers the causes of embryogenesis. As the first cause, he indicates the nutritive capacity, which is transmitted from the parent through the seed and acts in the embryo. In addition, as Simplicius states in his commentary on Aristotle’s Physics, Alexander claims that the soul of the parent acts as a paradeigma that specifies the order and the goal of the embryo’s development. Thus, I explain Alexander’s understanding of the causes of the embryo’s development and animation in the context of his idea of the soul as a capacity (δύναμις) and state (ἕξις). (shrink)

This document presents the Bonn PRINTEGER Consensus Statement: Working with Research Integrity—Guidance for research performing organisations. The aim of the statement is to complement existing instruments by focusing specifically on institutional responsibilities for strengthening integrity. It takes into account the daily challenges and organisational contexts of most researchers. The statement intends to make research integrity challenges recognisable from the work-floor perspective, providing concrete advice on organisational measures to strengthen integrity. The statement, which was concluded February 7th 2018, provides guidance on (...) the following key issues: § 1. Providing information about research integrity§ 2. Providing education, training and mentoring§ 3. Strengthening a research integrity culture§ 4. Facilitating open dialogue§ 5. Wise incentive management§ 6. Implementing quality assurance procedures§ 7. Improving the work environment and work satisfaction§ 8. Increasing transparency of misconduct cases§ 9. Opening up research§ 10. Implementing safe and effective whistle-blowing channels§ 11. Protecting the alleged perpetrators§ 12. Establishing a research integrity committee and appointing an ombudsperson§ 13. Making explicit the applicable standards for research integrity. (shrink)

What role should the political ideal of non-domination play in theorizing global justice? The importance of this ideal is defended most prominently in neo-republican political thought where non-domination embodies a conception of political freedom and serves as the foundational ideal of state citizenship [Pettit, Philip. 1997. Republicanism: A Theory of Freedom and Government. Oxford: Clarendon Press; Laborde, Cecile. 2008. Critical Republicanism. Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press]. It has been argued, however, that these theories can be extended to the global (...) political community and yield a separate framework for global justice. This paper agrees with proponents of non-domination that there is a significant critical and normative potential in the ideal's capacity to speak to the structural inequalities of power in the global order and to make them central, in a way that not only encompasses but also moves beyond questions of redistribution. Yet it argues that this should be conceived as a complement to existing approaches to global justice, rather than a full-fledged alternative. Non-domination's central contribution lies in reframing our perspective on the political authority of states and global institutions. As such it should be viewed as a freestanding principle to assess the political legitimacy of institutionalized global power relations. (shrink)

Inspired by the Enlightenment readings of Hebrew biblical texts generated in the seventeenth through the nineteenth centuries, Mira Morgenstern's _Reframing Politics in the Hebrew Bible_ goes beyond the pioneering interpretations of various biblical texts penned by such noted Bible students as Spinoza, Rousseau, and Angelina Grimké to present an introduction to the Hebrew Bible as a whole from the perspective of a modern-day political theorist. In doing so, it offers a brilliant thematic guide to the Hebrew Bible's most politically (...) salient passages, complete with text and commentary. Morgenstern's account of the significance of these ancient yet strangely modern texts will fascinate students of both ancient and modern political theory—as well as all readers of the Hebrew Bible itself. (shrink)

This new reading of Jean-Jacques Rousseau challenges traditional views of the eighteenth-century political philosopher's attitudes toward women and his perceived pessimism about human experience. Mira Morgenstern finds in Rousseau an appreciation of the complexities and multidimensionality of life that allowed him to criticize various easy dualisms promoted by his fellow liberal thinkers and point to the crucial mediating role that women fulfill between the private and public spheres. Morgenstern sees Rousseau as an important contributor to the feminist thoughts and (...) concerns that animate so much of our public and private discourse today. While Rousseau is commonly seen as a patriarchal misogynist, Morgenstern finds evidence in his writing that belies much of this claim. Rousseau was very much a man of his time, but he also believed that women were the key to transmitting his ideals of personal and political authenticity, thereby transforming his theory from ephemeral ideas into practical reality. A careful evaluation of Rousseau's writings on women reveals his highly complex sense of reality, especially his awareness that the solutions to life's complex problems are often temporary and must be renegotiated over time. Rousseau is more persistent than most in highlighting the weaknesses and pitfalls of liberal political thought, whose fundamental characteristic is its categorization of life on the basis of dualistic categories: public and private, outside and inside, male and female. Ultimately, what makes Rousseau worth reading today, argues Morgenstern, is his ability to illuminate critical weaknesses in the dualisms of liberal political theory and his pointing out, if only by implication, alternative ways of reaching the full measure of our individual and communal humanity. In honoring the traditional liberal emphasis on individual liberty and self-development, Rousseau’s meditations on the proper aim of political life are especially helpful to those today who seek ways to expand liberalism's promise of freedom and authenticity, while not losing sight of the common threads of meaning and community that continue to bind us together. (shrink)

La fraternidad nace en la experiencia sensible y se eleva luego a concepto racional. Radica ahí la dificultad de la aprehensión de su doble naturaleza, así como su eficacia política. Próxima a conceptos como amistad cívica, solidaridad o humanismo, se diferencia de todos ellos. Al analizar la fraternidad tal y como emerge a lo largo de la Revolución francesa a través de distintos autores en un contexto histórico político bien particular de crisis económica que se transmuta en revolución y cambio, (...) llegamos a la conclusión de que la fraternidad es una fuerza de acción colectiva que emerge en ese impás entre lo individual y lo colectivo que hace necesaria una restructuración del orden económico y político establecido. Por consiguiente, si aceptamos que el ser humano es un ser político, la fraternidad nos revela algo de la real naturaleza política, entendida más allá del simple pacto social, a saber: cuando el ser humano se apodera de la palabra, dirigida siempre al otro, conjugándola con la acción. (shrink)

Der Mann wurde vor der Frau erschaffen – dass es so im Alten Testament und im Koran steht, ist bis heute eine weit verbreitete Vorstellung, die in unterschiedlichen gesellschaftlichen Kontexten fortgeschrieben wird. Dabei speisen sich dieses und andere (Vor-) Urteile über die Geschlechterbeziehungen viel stärker aus der antiken und gegenwärtigen Rezeption der Texte als aus ihnen selbst. Vor diesem Hintergrund zielt die vorliegende Studie darauf, Aspekte von Geschlechtlichkeit und Sexualität aus alttestamentlicher und koranischer Perspektive neu zu verhandeln und in ein (...) Gespräch miteinander zu bringen. (shrink)

_In _Diverse Families, Desirable Schools_, Mira Debs offers a richly detailed study of public Montessori schools, which make up the largest group of progressive schools in the public sector._ As public Montessori schools expand rapidly as alternatives to traditional public schools, the story of these schools, Debs points out, is a microcosm of the broader conflicts around public school choice. Drawing on historical research, interviews with public Montessori educators, and ethnographic case studies, Debs explores the forces that pull intentionally (...) diverse, progressive schools toward elitism. At the heart of Debs’s book is a thoughtful analysis of the notion of “fit” between parents and schools—an idea that is central to school choice, which is often marketed as an opportunity for parents to find the perfect fit for their kids. By exploring parents’ varied motivations in choosing these schools and observing how families experience—or fail to experience—a “good fit” _after_ having chosen a particular school, Debs makes an original contribution to the literature on school choice and sheds light on the dilemmas entailed in maintaining diversity in progressive charter and magnet schools. (shrink)

In this paper I draw attention to the grammatical “deep joke”. Wittgenstein refers to this type of joke in PI §111, comparing its depth to the depth of philosophy. I start with a brief review of Wittgenstein’s notions of “grammar” and “depth”. Building on these ideas, I first offer some general considerations regarding jokes and then present descriptive remarks about deep jokes. I evaluate possible examples of deep jokes, including primary examples provided by Wittgenstein, which appear in preliminary versions (1936-46) (...) of the Philosophical Investigations but were cut later. I attempt to capture the distinctive qualities of deep jokes and seek to elucidate their philosophical potential. The results of the investigation of deep jokes provide an original reflection on our (mis-)understanding of linguistic practices. (shrink)

Since the late 1970s, disruptions and “failure” of maternal-infant bonding have been causally linked to postpartum depression. Part I of this paper examines the grounds for this connection while tracing the ramifications of bonding theory (Klaus and Kennell 1976) through obstetrics, pediatrics, and psychiatry, as well as in the (mis)representations of it in the popular media. This discussion resolves into a view of maternal attachment as a long-term development progressively established through intensive mother-infant interaction. The forms of this interaction are (...) phylogenetically determined, albeit culturally and personally mediated. Flowing from this premise, Part II of the paper casts postpartum depression as an adaptive response to threat (from whatever cause) to adequate mothering, and develops an argument for the evolutionary role of enacted social ties in the establishment of maternal responsiveness. (shrink)

Chez P. Ricoeur se distingue de langue et de parôle en analysant de discours. Il souligne en quoi une meilleure étude des structures narrative est éclairante pour l'étude du régime d'historicité, à condition de ne pas confondre dans une indistinction ontologique les discours d'ordre historique et d'ordre fictionnel.Avec Temps et Récit, Ricoeur poursuit aussi sa confrontation avec l'oeuvre de Heidegger, dont la réflrxtion sur l'historialité a beaucoup compté pour lui. On peut déceler derrière la triologie de Ricoeur une forme de (...) réponse à Etre et Temps. Selon Ricoeur, il ne s'agit d'hypostasier ni le récit ni le temps, mais de montrer comment dans la triangulation récit-temps-action, c'est en fait cette dernière dimention qui occupe une position fondatrice, car c'est dans l'agir et le pâtir que se situe la structure première du temps, laquelle ne peut s'exprimer que sous la forme d'un récit. On peut ainsi mesurer, sur un thème commun aux deux périodes, le parcours réalisé avec Temps et Récit. A la notion traditionnelle de continuité en histoire il substitue la notion plus élaborée de mise en intrigue, commeopération configurante du rapport du récit au temps. L'autre continuité majeure qui accompagne son intérêt pour la question de l'historicité est son souci de tenir ensemble les deux versants de celle-ci, le versant de l'histoire racontée et celui de l'histoire à faire, donc l'articulation sur un agir. P. Ricoeur place donc le discours historique dans une tension qui lui est propre entre identité narrative et ambition de vérité. Il y a aussi la condition de l'événement historique devient tributaire de sa mise en intrigue. Elle est la médiation qui assure la matérialisation du sens de l'expérience humaine du temps "aux trois niveaux de sa préfiguration pratique, de sa configuration épistémique et de sa reconfiguration herméneutique." La mise en intrigue joue le rôle d'opérateur, de miseen relation d'événements hétérogènes. En réticent face aux risques de l'hyperbole, convaincu du caractère aporétique de toute quête directe, de toute tentative de remontée aux conditions qui donnent accès à une temporalité toujours déjà constituée, déjà‐là, et donc nécessairement imparfaite. (shrink)

Las normas internacionales, como la Convención sobre los Derechos de las Personas con Discapacidad, suponen un avance hacia la equidad. Asimismo, im­plican tanto un incremento de la legislación nacional y autonómica, como una mayor complejidad institucional, para hacer efectivos estos derechos. Por ello, queremos conocer cómo se ha implementado el derecho a la accesibilidad univer­sal en la legislación. Se realizó un análisis de contenido de 36 normas relaciona­das con la discapacidad y la dependencia en Aragón. Finalmente, se detectó que, a (...) pesar de ciertos avances, la adaptación de la normativa no se ha consolidado, afectando al reconocimiento de derechos de las personas con discapacidad, espe­cialmente de las más jóvenes y aquellas con grandes necesidades de apoyo. (shrink)

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: The governments and citizens of the developed nations are increasingly called upon to contribute financially to health initiatives outside their borders. Although international development assistance for health has grown rapidly over the last two decades, austerity measures related to the 2008 and 2011 global financial crises may impact negatively on aid expenditures. The competition between national priorities and foreign aid commitments raises important ethical questions for donor nations. This paper aims to foster individual reflection and public debate on (...) donor responsibilities for global health. METHODS: We undertook a critical review of contemporary accounts of justice. We selected theories that: (i) articulate important and widely held moral intuitions; (ii) have had extensive impact on debates about global justice; (iii) represent diverse approaches to moral reasoning; and (iv) present distinct stances on the normative importance of national borders. Due to space limitations we limit the discussion to four frameworks. RESULTS: Consequentialist, relational, human rights, and social contract approaches were considered. Responsibilities to provide international assistance were seen as significant by all four theories and place limits on the scope of acceptable national autonomy. Among the range of potential aid foci, interventions for health enjoyed consistent prominence. The four theories concur that there are important ethical responsibilities to support initiatives to improve the health of the worst off worldwide, but offer different rationales for intervention and suggest different implicit limits on responsibilities. CONCLUSIONS: Despite significant theoretical disagreements, four influential accounts of justice offer important reasons to support many current initiatives to promote global health. Ethical argumentation can complement pragmatic reasons to support global health interventions and provide an important foundation to strengthen collective action. (shrink)

En este trabajo abordamos dos preguntas centrales en la metafísica de los universales y las propiedades, tal como este tema queda delineado en el trabajo de D. Armstrong y D. Lewis, y en desarrollos recientes de sus ideas por parte de otros autores. En particular, nos centraremos en la cuestión de qué tan escasos son los universales, y en la de qué es la naturalidad perfecta que se atribuye a ciertas propiedades. Argumentamos que la posición más estable sobre estas cuestiones (...) consiste en postular universales sólo para propiedades perfectamente naturales, y tomar a la naturalidad perfecta como un primitivo sólo parcialmente caracterizado por sus conexiones con la idea de similitud objetiva y con la de base mínima de sobreveniencia. (shrink)

Authenticity has become one of the key ethics in contemporary society and culture. This research analyses the present ideals of authenticity in work-life, building on theories on post-secularization and new spiritualities, neoliberalism, and the concept of ideal worker deriving from organizational studies. Corporate mindfulness is looked at as a topical example of authenticity practices in current work-life. The research utilizes interview data was produced in a knowledge work organization that had launched its own mindfulness program and become part of the (...) wider workplace spirituality movement. The research question focused on what kind of discourses on authenticity are born when the organization simultaneously discourages full expressions of one’s personality as not being professional or adequate in work-life context, and roots for mindfulness, which hails for recognizing reality as it is, accepting oneself and finding authentic self. Using discourse analysis, four themes were found in data, each revealing a different discourse on authenticity. (shrink)

In his works for a few decades since the 1960s, Theodore Roszak, professor of California State University, has made an emphatic call to rethink all the fundamental objectives and values of the techno-scientific civilization and consumer society. His name became famous when he published his book “The Making of a Counterculture. Reflections on the Technotronic Society and Its Youthful Opposition” (New York, 1968), supporting the oppositional movement of the young Americans which he named counterculture. Theodore Roszak came to the conclusion (...) that the consumer society did not bring happiness to all people, that it could rapidly bring mankind to an environmental disaster, and that it is a blind alley in terms of social development. (shrink)

Replacements for corporate farm managers are increasingly hard to find. At the same time, there is a large pool of potential managers that has been hardly tapped into: young female professionals. Focusing on the supply side of the labor market for farm managers, we investigate how gender-specific life aspirations impact occupational intention. To explain gender-specific occupational intention, we operationalize two conceptual frameworks: a behavioral economic conceptualization that focuses on the material and non-material cost and benefits associated with occupational choice, and (...) a psychological conceptualization based on the theory of planned behavior. Our analysis of survey data among agricultural students shows that participating women are less inclined to pursue a farm manager position than participating men for two main reasons: first, they expect less internal benefits from such a position. Second, they believe to be less suited to meet the professional requirements. (shrink)