This unique collection of essays from researchers and teacher educators from around the world presents innovative approaches to education theory, critical policy analyses, de-colonializing reformulations of teacher education, and a "standard of dissensus" for teacher education. This first volume from the International Teacher Education Research Collective (ITERC), illustrates common themes and problems in politics of education, in particular, standardization, marketization, governance of and policy in education with both country specific cases and generally formulated theoretical discussions. The book has three primary (...) aims: to illustrate and critique the ethical, epistemological, and political discourses shaping teacher education; to identify and unravel the entanglements of politics, knowledge, and ethics in teacher education in a range of international settings; and, to revitalize teacher education by proposing and exploring alternative modes of thought and practice. The volume contributes to further reflection and in-depth discussion in education, to the formulation of new areas for educational research, and for critical resistance to hegemonic discourses of education. Making an important contribution to contemporary education discourse, this book is a useful guide for education researchers and theorists, teacher educators and postgraduate and higher degree research students in education. (shrink)

Where we once spoke in military terms, we now often wield the language of the market: health care is a “product” and we are its “providers” and “consumers.” The market metaphor constrains in various ways our vision of the goals we pursue in making health policy, of the options available to us in pursuing them, indeed—because policy implies a certain view of moral agency—of the way we relate to each other.

Neither the George Washington University embryo splitting experiment nor the technique of embryo splitting itself has ethical flaws. The experiment harmed or wronged no one, and the investigators followed intramural review procedures for the experiment, although some might fault them for failing to seek extramural consultation or for not waiting until national guidelines for research on preembryos were developed. Ethical objections to such cloning on the basis of possible loss of individuality, possible lessening of individual worth, and concern about potential (...) harm to the resulting children are discussed and challenged, as are objections to the creation of embryos for the purpose of genetic diagnosis. Many of the ethical questions raised by the George Washington experiment are similar to those posed by existing reproductive technologies that allow the simultaneous production of several embryos. A multidisciplinary group should consider whether regulation of cloning is needed, and laws should be enacted to prohibit a commercial market for all frozen embryos. (shrink)

Jehovah's Witnesses who refuse blood transfusions on religious grounds have long created ethical dilemmas for those in the medical profession trying to serve them. A bioethicist working in a clinical setting explores how one hospital ethics committee grappled with the additional problem of pregnant Jehovah's Witnesses, including the complex interdependence of maternal and fetal rights.

This collection of Marcus's non-technical essays include her earlier ground-breaking axiomatizations of quantified modal logic, and explore such topics as the necessity of identity, the directly referential role of proper names as "tags", the interplay of possibility and existence, and others viewed as iconoclastic when Marcus first addressed them, but now long incorporated into current discussion.

What does it mean to say that ethics committees that provide prospective review of research involving human beings should be “independent”? In the United States, IRBs—which are typically located within and review research protocols at the institution for which most of their members work—cannot really be considered independent. Yet separating the IRB from the research institution may in turn mean less independence from a trial’s sponsors, as this kind of IRB is commercially motivated and paid directly by the sponsor. One (...) possible answer is to create independent IRBs that are not for profit, but how this model would attract financial and administrative support is unclear. (shrink)

Four questions are raised about the semantics of Quantified Modal Logic. Does QML admit possible objects, i.e. possibilia? Is it plausible to admit them? Can sense be made of such objects? Is QML committed to the existence of possibilia?The conclusions are that QML, generalized as in Kripke, would seem to accommodate possibilia, but they are rejected on philosophical and semantical grounds. Things must be encounterable, directly nameable and a part of the actual order before they may plausibly enter into the (...) identity relation. QML is not committed to possibiha in that the range of variables may be restricted to actual objects.Support of the conclusions requires some discussion of substitution puzzles; also, the semantical distinction between proper names which are directly referring, and descriptions even where the latter are "rigid designators".Views of W.V. Quine, B. Russell, K. Donnellan, D. Kaplan as well as S. Kripke are invoked or evaluated in conjunction with these issues. (shrink)

This essay reviews David Halpin's Hope and Education, which aims to bring theories of hope and utopia to bear on the practical processes of schooling in contemporary Britain, and which sees education as an intrinsically hopeful and future-oriented process. It argues that the properly utopian character of Halpin's project is subverted by his espousal of a currently fashionable pragmatism, represented by Richard Rorty and Anthony Giddens, which insists that ‘good’ utopias must be realistic and practical. Utopian hope for a better (...) world, in which a transformed educational process will be central, is ambushed by this pragmatism and reduced to managerialism. (shrink)

The role of government in assuring population access to affordable and appropriate health care represents a central question for any nation. Of particular concern is access to prescription drug coverage, not only because of the vital role played by drugs in modern medicine, but also because of their high costs. This article examines the sharply contrasting prescription drug coverage and payment policies found in Australia and the U.S. – strong political allies and international trading partners – and describes how key (...) U.S. interests have sought, through an aggressive trade agenda, to expand markets for U.S. goods and services, even when market expansions clash with other nations’ contrasting emphasis on social equity and fairness. Indeed, the nation’s bilateral free trade negotiations have brought the contours of this policy schism into sharp relief. (shrink)

I highlight and amplify three central points that McKay & Dennett (M&D) make about the origin of failures to perform biologically proper functions. I question whether even positive illusions meet criteria for evolved misbelief.

Congo Style presents a postcolonial approach to discussing the visual culture of two now-notorious regimes: King Leopold II's Congo Colony and the state sites of Mobutu Sese Seko's totalitarian Zaïre. Readers are brought into the living remains of sites once made up of ambitious modernist architecture and art in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo. From the total artworks of Art Nouveau to the aggrandizing sites of post-independence Kinshasa, Congo Style investigates the experiential qualities of man-made environments intended to entertain, (...) delight, seduce and impress. In her study of visual culture, Ruth Sacks sets out to reinstate the compelling wonder of nationalist architecture from Kinshasa's post-independence era, such as the Tower of the Exchange (1974), Gécamines Tower (1977), and the artworks and exhibitions that accompanied them. While exploring post-independence nation-building, this book examines how the underlying ideology of Belgian Art Nouveau, a celebrated movement in Belgium, led to the dominating early colonial settler buildings of the ABC Hotels (circa 1908-13). Congo Style combines Sacks's practice as a visual artist and her academic scholarship to provide an original study of early colonial and independence-era modernist sites in their African context. (shrink)

… [T]he question “valuable to what end?” is one of extraordinary complexity. For example, something obviously valuable in terms of the longest possible survival of a race would by no means have the same value if it were a question of developing a more powerful type. The welfare of the many and the welfare of the few are radically opposite ends.There is no question that genetic engineering in many forms… will come about. It is a general rule that whatever is (...) scientifically feasible will be attempted. The application of these technics must, however, be examined from the point of view of ethics, individual freedom and coercion. Both the scientists directly involved and, perhaps more important, the political and social leaders of our civilization must exercise utmost caution in order to prevent genetic, evolutionary and social tragedies. (shrink)

The prelims comprise: Introduction Public Policy Actions Strong Reactions to Human Cloning A Rational Approach to Public Policy.

IT IS A COMMONLY HELD VIEW that a clear distinction can be made between what a person does and what happens to him. This distinction is usually assumed, rather than argued for, and it is made to do some work--a load it seems unable to bear--in contemporary philosophy of action. Minimally, the thesis asserts that a man's actions are those things he does. This thesis is used to support the view that it is a conceptual error or otherwise inappropriate to (...) attempt to provide causal explanations of human actions. It is frequently argued that although what happens to a person is an event subsumable under causal laws, a person's action is not amenable to causal explanations. (shrink)

: The Advisory Committee on Human Radiation Experiments experienced some disagreements among its members in the course of its work. An epistemological controversy over the nature and degree of evidence required to draw ethical conclusions pervaded the committee's deliberations. Other disagreements involved the proper role of a governmental advisory committee and the question of when it is appropriate to notify people that they were unknowing subjects of radiation experiments. In the end, the Committee was able to reach consensus on almost (...) all of its findings and recommendations through a process that preserved the integrity of its members. (shrink)

An examination is made of the dispute between the proponents of rational explanation of actions and of the deductive nomological pattern of explanation. A rapprochement between these two positions is suggested, with the aim of accounting for the normative character of reasons for acting. It is argued that the disputed area is an area of intersection between facts and values, and that far from it being the case that the normative and descriptive components can be separated or isolated, the underlying (...) precepts are to be viewed as both explanatory (descriptive) and normative. The discussion is divided into two general areas: (1) the normative force of reasons for acting; and (2) the normative character of rationality. (shrink)

Any program seeking to provide antiretroviral treatment to the many patients in need is bound to confront ethical dilemmas. Dilemmas, as we know, are situations in which decisionmakers are faced with a choice between equally unsatisfactory alternatives. Yet those in charge must make a decision or establish a policy that takes one pathway to the exclusion of another. Reasonable people may disagree over the choice, arguing that an alternative selection would have been ethically superior.

En el siguiente artículo analizo con respecto a países con altos niveles de inmigración y en términos de legitimidad democrática, el reto que plantea la existencia en los mismos de sectores de la población que, por carecer de la nacionalidad del Estado de residencia, carecen de la plenitud de derechos y libertades que nutren el espacio de igualdad cívica en un orden liberal democrático. Centro mi análisis en el colectivo de los llamados "inmigrantes ilegales", que es el que está sujeto (...) a una mayor precariedad jurídica. A fin de superar la creciente disociación entre población y comunidad política exploro la necesidad de articular nuevos fundamentos de inclusión dentro del demos y propongo, entre ellos, el de la residencia y el arraigo social que generalmente la acompaña. La fuerza normativa de los fundamentos que exploro es, a mi entender, de suficiente entidad como para superar los reparos morales asociados al carácter "ilegal" del origen de la inmigración. Desde estas premisas concluyo con una valoración negativa de la reciente reforma de la Ley Orgánica 4/2000 sobre derechos y libertades de los extranjeros en España y su integración social que a la vez restringe el acceso a derechos y libertades de los llamados "ilegales" y dificulta los cauces de subsanación quasi-automática de su ilegalidad. (shrink)

Summary In this paper some claims of Professor Ricoeur are challenged. It is pointed out on historical grounds that counter to Professor Ricoeur's claim, most past philosophies are displaced, or ignored. The surviving canon is small and very selective. There is, therefore, substantial agreement on the large corpus which is rejected. It is also argued that Professor Ricoeur's contrast between philosophy and the sciences is too sharp since in the history of modern sciences there are always conflicting theories existing in (...) parallel. However, it is the case that in philosophy standards of “acceptability” are looser and not the rigorous ones of science. A philosophical theory may be appreciated for the problems it discloses, the richness and subtlety of its arguments, its strategies and the like despite acknowledged failings. Appreciation of incompatible theories is not irrational. The claim is rejected that the seeming irrationality is resolved by viewing each system as wholly autonomous. The apparent restriction of philosophy by Professor Ricoeur to global systems is also questioned.RésuméL'auteur conteste quelques affirmations du prof. Ricoeur. Elle montre, sur des bases historiques, que beaucoup de philosophies passées sont écartées ou ignorées. Le canon retenu est petit et très sélectif. Il y a donc un accord substantiel quant au vaste corpus qui est rejeté. Elle montre aussi que le contraste que le professeur Ricoeur établit entre philosophie et sciences est trop abrupt, puisqu'il y a toujours eu, dans l'histoire de la science moderne, des théories opposées qui coexistaient. Toutefois, il est vrai qu'en philosophie, les standards d' »acceptabilité« sont plus lǎches et diffèrent de ceux, plus rigoureux, de la science. Une philosophie peut ětre appréciée pour les problèmes qu'elle pose, pour la richesse et la subtilité de ses arguments, ses stratégies ou d'autres choses semblables et ceci en dépit de ses insuffisances notoires. Il n'est pas irrationnel d'apprécier des théories incompatibles. Elle rejette la thèse selon laquelle le fait de considérer chaque système comme totalement autonome supprime l'irrationalité. Elle conteste enfin la restriction — apparemment faite par le professeur Ricoeur — de la philosophie à des systèmes globaux.ZusammenfassungEs werden einige Behauptungen von Professor Ricoeur in Frage gestellt. Es wird gezeigt, dass aus historischen Gründen entgegen Ricoeurs Behauptung die meisten vergangenen Philosophien tatsächlich verdrängt oder ignoriert werden. Der überlebende Kanon ist gering und selektiv. Deshalb gibt es eine wichtige Übereinstimmung hinsichtlich des grossen Korpus', der verworfen wird. Es wird argumentiert, dass Ricoeur den Kontrast zwischen der Philosophie und den Wissenschaften zu extrem sieht, da in der Geschichte der modernen Wissenschaften immer rivalisierende Theorien nebeneinander existiert haben. Es stimmt allerdings, dass die Massstäbe für Akzeptierbarkeit in der Philosophie lockerer sind als die strengen der Wisschenschaft. Eine philosophische Theorie mag wegen der Probleme, die sie entwickelt, wegen des Reichtums und der Subtilität ihrer Argumente, ihrer Strategien etc. gewürdigt werden, obschon sie anerkanntermassen versagt hat. Die Würdigung unvereinbarer Theorien ist nicht irrational. Die scheinbare Irrationalität kann nicht dadurch aufgelöst werden, dass jedes System als völlig autonom betrachtet wird. Es wird ebenfalls Ricoeurs Einschränkung der Philosophie auf globale Systeme in Frage gestellt. (shrink)

The central purpose of this work is to compare the analytic possibilities that offer the quantitative and qualitative methodological strategies for the study of the corruption, just as this it is perceived and interpreted by the middle class of Buenos Aires. The data come from the pre-tests of a su..

Edición de lujo bilingüe castellano-inglés, editada en papel couché que contiene bellas fotografías a color del complejo arqueológico de Caral, incluyendo todos sus edificios y objetos, los cuales denotan la inteligencia, la prosperidad y los logros alcanzados por esta civilización. Los textos son breves.

This paper explores the tension between pragmatism and utopia, especially in the concept of "realistic utopianism". It argues that historically, the pragmatic and gradualist rejection of utopia has been anti-utopian in effect, notably in the case of Popper. More recent attempts to argue in favour of "realistic utopianism" or its equivalent, by writers such as Wallerstein and Rorty are also profoundly anti-utopian, despite Rorty's commitment to "social hope". They co-opt the terminology of utopia to positions that are antagonistic to radical (...) alterity. But this is not a necessary response to the utopia/pragmatism tension: Unger, who is explicitly opposed to utopia, in fact proffers a more sympathetic resolution based on the merits of vision, social improvization and collective learning. These may lie closer to the core of the utopian project as a vehicle for the education of desire than Unger himself recognizes. (shrink)