Ansiklopedik tarzda kaleme alınan eserler, yazıldıkları dönemindeki ilmi seviyeyi göstermek ve muhataplarının ihtiyaç duydukları pratik bilgileri bir araya getirmek bakımından büyük öneme sahiptir. Zira bu tür eserlerin, hem müellifin çeşitli ilim dallarına vukufiyetini ortaya koyma hem de eserden istifade edecek kesimlerin ihtiyaç duyduğu bilgi birikimini tespit etme noktasında kıymetli veri kaynakları oldukları aşikârdır. İslam dünyasında erken dönemde kaleme alınan bu türdeki eserlerden biri de müellifin tek eseri olarak günümüze gelmiş ve şöhreti ile müellifini geride bırakmış olan Muhammed b. Ahmed el-Hârizmî’nin (...) Mefâtîhu’l-‘ulûm aslı eseridir. Bu çalışmada Hârizmî’nin bir bürokrat olarak kendi meslektaşlarının ihtiyaç duyduğu bilgileri bir araya getirdiği eserinde felsefeye ve felsefî ilimlere yaklaşımı incelenecektir. Çalışmanın planı, müellifin eserinde felsefeye ayırdığı bölüme başlıkları üzerinden düzenlenmiştir. (shrink)

This study examined the validity and reliability of a Turkish version of the Modified Moral Sensitivity Questionnaire for Student Nurses. After obtaining permission to adapt the MMSQSN into Turkish, the translation/back-translation method was used with expert opinions to determine content validity. Factor analysis was conducted to examine the construct validity and test–retest was performed on the questionnaire to determine reliability. Cronbach’s alpha coefficients were calculated to assess for internal consistency. Participants included 272 baccalaureate degree student nurses who took ethics lessons (...) prior to their clinical internship. The factor analysis revealed that even though the factor structure in the original scale was the same, relevant items were categorized with similar components, and factor loads were sufficient. The correlation coefficient in the analyses of test–retest scores was.66 for the total scale and the Cronbach’s alpha was.73 for the total scale. The translated MMSQSN is a valid and reliable measure of ethical sensitivity in student nurses in Turkey. (shrink)

Background Over the past few decades, moral distress has been examined in the nursing literature. It is thought to occur when an individual has made a moral decision but is unable to act on it, often attributable to constraints, internal or external. Varying definitions can be found throughout the healthcare literature. This lack of cohesion has led to complications for study of the phenomenon, along with its effects to nursing practice, education and targeted policy development. Objectives The aim of this (...) analysis was to uncover unique definitions of moral distress as found in the nursing literature and to examine the relationship between these definitions. Research Design and Context Morse’s method of concept clarification was applied given the large body of literature which includes definitions, descriptions and measurements of the concept in research. The steps include (a) conducting a literature review; (b) analysing the literature; and (c) identifying, describing, comparing, and contrasting attributes, antecedents and consequences of each category. Findings Each of the 18 included studies described constraints in their definition of moral distress, whether implied or explicitly stated. External constraints are widely described as obstacles outside of the individual, whether institutional, systemic or situational, while internal constraints are located within the individuals themselves and are described as personal limitations, failings or weakness of will. Conclusion Upon reviewing these definitions, we determined that the term ‘internal constraints’ is problematic due to the emphasis of responsibility on the individual experiencing moral distress. We propose an alteration to ‘internal characteristics’ that will assume less responsibility of change from the individual to place a heavier onus on systemic and institutional constraints. (shrink)

Nurses may, and often do, experience moral distress in their careers. This is related to the complicated work environment and the complex nature of ethical situations in everyday nursing practice. The outcomes of moral distress may include psychological and physical symptoms, reduced job satisfaction and even inadequate or inappropriate nursing care. Moral distress can also impact retention of nurses. Although research has grown considerably over the past few decades, there is still a great deal about this topic that we do (...) not know including how to deal well with moral distress. A critical key step is to develop a deeper understanding of relational practice as it pertains to moral distress. In this article, exploration of the experience of moral distress among nurses is guided by the key elements of relational ethics. This ethical approach was chosen because it recognizes that ethical practice is situated in relationships and it acknowledges the importance of the broader environment on influencing ethical action. The findings from this theoretical exploration will provide a theoretical foundation upon which to advance our knowledge about moral distress. (shrink)

The increasing number of companies providing internet services and auction tools helped popularize the online reverse auction trend for purchasing commodities and services in the last decade. As a result, a number of owners, both public and private, accepted the online reverse auctions as the bidding technique for their construction projects. Owners, while trying to minimize their costs for construction projects, are also required to address their ethical responsibilities to the shareholders. In the case of online reverse auctions for construction (...) projects, the ethical issues involved in the bidding technique directly reflects on the owner’s ethical and social responsibilities to their shareholders. The goal of this paper is to identify the shareholder ethics and responsibilities in online reverse auctions for construction projects by analyzing the ethical issues for the parties involved in the process. The identification of the ethical issues and responsibilities requires clear definition and understanding of professional ethics and the roles of the involved parties. In this paper, first, the concept of professional ethics and social responsibility is described in a general form. To illustrate the ethical issues and responsibilities, a sample case of bidding for a construction project using online reverse auction techniques is presented in which the shareholders were actively involved in questioning the ethical issues. The issues involved in the bidding process and their reflection on the shareholder responsibilities are described and analyzed for each stage of the process. A brief discussion of the overall process is also included to address the general ethical issues involved in online reverse auctions. (shrink)

Ludwik Fleck says that a thought-collective develops a thought-style which shapes the ways of perceiving the world and thinking of the world by its members. So how could it happen that at the end of 1900 Max Planck, whose thinking was determined by classical mechanics, managed to think that energy is quantized - the idea that contradicted the principles of Newton's mechanics? My answer is that Planck did not intend to think it.

Aydınlanma üzerine konuşmaya niyet eden birinin ilk kabulü, onun Avrupa‘da çıkmış olan bir ―durum‖ olduğu üzerine olacaktır. ―Durum‖ dedik çünkü Aydınlanma, hem ideolojik, hem siyasal, hem toplumsal, hem kültüreldir ve bu nedenle toplum içinde yaşayan bütün pratikleri etkilemiş ve etkilenmiştir. Yani Aydınlanma, yalnızca bunlardan biri değildir; o, hem düşünsel hem de eylemsel bir süreç olarak ele alınabilir. Bu eylemsel süreç bir şekilde Avrupa‘da başarıya ulaşmıştır. Ancak Türk Aydınlanması Avrupa odaklı hareket ettiği halde, kısmen başarılı olsa da genel olarak Osmanlı Devleti‘nin (...) çöküşünü hızlandırdığı kabul edilmektedir. Bu durumun sebebini ortaya koymak için ele aldığımız çalışmamızın asıl hedefi, bu iki aydınlanma arasındaki pratiklerin benzerlik ve farklılıklarını ortaya koymaktır. (shrink)

Yakın zamana kadar dominant olan Newtoncu doğa anlayışı doğa bilimlerindeki gelişmelerle ciddi olarak eleştirilmeye başlanmıştır. Hiç kuşku yok ki bu eleştirel dönüşüm sürecinin başlangıcında Einstein ve Schrödinger fiziği vardır. Buna bağlı olarak biyolojide geçtiğimiz yüzyılın başından günümüze kadar gerçekleşen gelişmeler (evrimsel biyoloji, genetik, epigenetik, moleküler biyoloji, gelişim biyolojisi, ekoloji, fizyoloji konularıyla ilgili değişim ve gelişimler) biyolojinin temel kavramları olan fenom, genom ve çevre’deki değişimleri de içermektedir. Yeni bir doğa kavrayışını da beraberinde getiren bu süreçte biyoloji, bize canlıların çevreleriyle sınırları net (...) olmayan ve kompleks etkileşimleri üzerinden kendilerini dinamik bir halde sürekli olarak organize eden sistemler olduğunu söylemektedir. Canlıların, değişimini gözlemleyebileceğimiz kadar hızlı olan özellikleri de uzun süreler boyunca stabil halde gözlemlediğimiz özellikleri de süreçlerden oluşmaktadır. Canlılara ait tüm özellikler (fenomlar ve genomlar) kompleks bir ağ oluşturan diğer akışlarla etkileşimleri içinde akmaktadır. Bu yüzden, bir fenotipik özelliği etraflıca açıklama iddiasıyla yola çıkılıp, buna rağmen araştırmanın ve sonucundaki açıklamanın tek yönlü (sadece tek bir tür parametreyi dikkate alarak ve bir parametreye özellikle yoğun vurgu yaparak) yapılması sorunludur. Çünkü fenom, ancak bütüncül bir yaklaşımla ve fenom oluşumunun kompleksite ve dinamizm özelliklerinin farkında olarak etraflıca açıklanabilir. Bir fenotipik özelliğin etraflıca açıklanması iddiasının olmadığı durumlarda (ki standart bir biyoloji araştırması çoğunlukla bu iddiada değildir), sadece bir parametre dikkate alınabilir ve bu durum son derece anlaşılırdır. Bilim insanları her durumda (fenotipik özelliği hem etraflıca inceleme hem de tek bir parametreyle etkileşimini inceleme durumlarında) fenom oluşumunun kompleksite ve dinamizm özelliklerinin farkında olmalıdırlar ve açıklamaları da araştırma süreçleri de bu farkındalığı içermelidir. Burada araştırmacının zihnini belirleyen soru şudur: doğa bütünsel, stabil ve mekanik nedenselliğin egemen olduğu bir varlıklar alanı mıdır yoksa parçaların birbirleriyle sürekli etkileşerek yeni uyumlar ve ilişkiler geliştirdiği karmaşık ve akışkan varlıklar topluluğu mudur? Bu soruya karmaşıklık, akışkanlık, karşılıklı etkileşim ve uyum üzerinden cevap verilirse üzerine odaklanılacak olan kavram ne varlık ne fenomen, fakat süreçtir. Nitekim süreç felsefesi, biyolojideki felsefi problemler ve kavramsal incelemeler için çok kullanışlıdır. Bu durumun iki temel nedeni: 1) biyolojinin konusu olan şeylerin temel olarak süreçler olması ve 2) bilim insanlarının araştırmaları sırasında süreçler üzerinden akıl yürütmeleri ve bu yolla kavramları kullanmaları, açıklamalara, bilgiye ulaşmalarıdır. Bu çalışma, bu iki temel unsuru göz önünde bulundurarak ortaya çıkan yeni biyolojinin beraberinde getirdiği ve yeni imkanlar sunan yeni bir doğa anlayışına odaklanmıştır. Bu yeni doğa anlayışı, mekanik ve statik olmaktan ziyade kendi içinde stabil ama bütünüyle dinamik doğa anlayışıdır. (shrink)

In pediatric critical care, nurses are the primary caregivers for critically ill children and are particularly vulnerable to moral distress. There is limited evidence on what approaches are effective to minimize moral distress among these nurses. To identify intervention attributes that critical care nurses with moral distress histories deem important to develop a moral distress intervention. We used a qualitative description approach. Participants were recruited using purposive sampling between October 2020 to May 2021 from pediatric critical care units in a (...) western Canadian province. We conducted individual semi-structured interviews via Zoom. A total of 10 registered nurses participated in the study. Four main themes were identified: (1) “I’m sorry, there’s nothing else”: increasing supports for patients and families; (2) “someone will commit suicide”: improving supports for nurses: (3) “Everyone needs to be heard”: improving patient care communication; and (4) “I didn’t see it coming”: providing education to mitigate moral distress. Most participants stated they wanted an intervention to improve communication among the healthcare team and noted changes to unit practices that could decrease moral distress. This is the first study that asks nurses what is needed to minimize their moral distress. Although there are multiple strategies in place to help nurses with difficult aspects of their work, additional strategies are needed to help nurses experiencing moral distress. Moving the research focus from identifying moral distress towards developing effective interventions is needed. Identifying what nurses need is critical to develop effective moral distress interventions. (shrink)

Moral distress is a common phenomenon among nurses and is related to the complicated work environments and complex nature of ethical situations in day-to-day nursing practice. Moral distress impacts nurses as well as patient care and the health care system. Few strategies have been identified for instructors to effectively engage with learners when communicating about moral distress. We discuss two key curricular and pedagogical strategies that should be utilized when learning about moral distress: difficult knowledge’ and ‘terror management theory’. Whether (...) it is with new nursing students or experienced nurses, there is necessary learning that needs to occur on moral distress. Difficult knowledge’ and ‘terror management theory’, when implemented, can provide a starting point for both the learner and the instructor to discuss the emotionally difficult and complex topic of moral distress. Knowledge about moral distress has the potential to mitigate its negative effects, therefore it is vital to consider educational strategies to teach nurses about this complex phenomenon. (shrink)

La 4e de couv. indique : "Les réflexions philosophiques se sont relativement peu penchées sur le concept de monde. Hegel et Heidegger ont été influencés par la conception kantienne du monde. Pour différencier le monde de la nature, ils mettent l'accent sur l'aspect historial du monde. Pour Hegel, le monde est d'abord un monde hérité, un ensemble de valeurs morales déjà réalisées, c'est-à-dire que le monde est un « héritage ». Ce monde est, pour Heidegger, le monde ambiant, et pour (...) Hegel, le monde engendré ou la « seconde nature ». Pour tous deux, ce monde est historial. Cependant, bien que le monde engendré soit créé par la société, la politique, la religion, le monde ambiant est un monde du Dasein quotidien.". (shrink)

Covid-19, yeni koronavirüs salgını, insanoğlunun karşısına birdenbire çıkmış ve insan bu felaket karşısında yaşamını devam ettirebilmek için belli birtakım kurallara bağlı olmak zorunda olduğunu görmüştür. Pandeminin getirdiği yeni kurallara bağlı olarak kullanmaya başladığımız maske de bu şartlardan biridir. Tarih boyunca somut olarak maske kullanımı insana uzak ya da yabancı bir durum değildir. Maskenin sözlük anlamlarına baktığımızda tozdan ya da kimyasallardan korunmak için kullanılan bir araç olduğunu gördüğümüz gibi, bir de soyut anlamda kendini ötekine farklı bir şekilde yansıtma veya aktarma durumu (...) olarak ele alınabileceğini görmekteyiz. Biz bu çalışmamızda maskenin soyut kullanımından hareketle günümüzde kullandığımız bir araç olarak maskenin, ortak yönleri olup olamayacağını değerlendirmeye çalıştık. Öte yandan içinden geçmekte olduğumuz bu salgın hastalıkların tarihte ilk kez bizim başımıza gelen bir şey olmadığını görmezsek ve bu süreci değerlendirmezsek, geçiş döneminden sonra pandeminin birey, toplum, ekonomi, siyaset ve devlet görüşleri üzerinde ne tür değişiklikler yapacağını kontrol etmezsek, salgın günün birinde bitecek olsa bile olumsuz sonuçlarla karşılaşmayacağımızı söyleyemeyiz. Çünkü salgın insanın sadece biyolojik yönünü etkileyen bir felaket değildir, aynı zamanda insanın diğer yönü olan psikoloji tarafını da doğrudan ve dolaylı olarak etkilemektedir. İnsan psişik yönü de olan bir varlık olduğu için bu yönün de ele alınarak incelenmesi gerekir. Pandemi koşullarında birtakım kurallara uymayı alışkanlık haline getiren insan şu ana kadar getirmiş olduğu tüm değerlerinden hızlı bir şekilde kopma eğilimi göstermeye veya bu duruma gönüllü olmaya başlamıştır. Kurallara uymayan insanlar ise sorumluluk almadıkları için bir ahlak varlığı olmaktan uzak hale gelmişlerdir. Çalışmamız söz konusu salgının, insanın günlük hayatında kullandığı somut ve soyut maske tanımlarından hareketle, değerlerine nasıl yabancılaştığını ve öte yandan ahlaki sorumluluklarını ne şekilde göz ardı ettiği üzerine eğilmeye çalışmıştır. (shrink)

İslamî ilimlerin eğitim-öğretiminde şiir kullanımının Türk İslam Edebiyatında bir geleneği temsil ettiği söylenebilir. Nitekim ta‘lîm için siyer, hadis, fıkıh, kelam, tasavvuf vb. İslamî ilimlerin konularına dair mensûr olduğu gibi manzûm eserler de telif edilmiştir. Bu durum ise Türk Edebiyatında el-esmâü’l-hüsnâ, siyer, kırk hadîs, akâidnâme gibi bazı manzûm türlerin doğmasını sağlamıştır. Bilinebilen eser sayısı itibariyle Türkçe manzûm tecvîdler de bu türler arasına girmeye aday niteliktedir. Bu bağlamda çalışma; Türkçe manzûm tecvîd müelliflerinden biri olan Şeyhî’nin hayatını ve “Nazmu’l-Ehem fî İlmi’t-Tecvîdi’l-Elzem” adlı eserini (...) konu edinmektedir. Eser; Türkçe manzûm tecvîd yazma geleneğini devam ettirmesi ve türünün başarılı örneklerinden biri olması hasebiyle ayrı bir öneme sahiptir. Çalışma, Nazmu’l-Ehemm ’in tenkitli metin neşrinin yanı sıra eğitim-öğretim faaliyetlerinde yararlanıldığı düşünülen Türkçe manzûm tecvîdlerin işlevini yazar-eser özelinde gün yüzüne çıkarmayı hedeflemektedir. (shrink)

The global pandemic has intensified the risk of moral distress due to increased demands on already limited human resources and uncertainty of the pandemic’s trajectory. Nurses commonly experience moral distress: a conflict between the morally correct action and what they are required or capable of doing. Effective moral distress interventions are rare. For this reason, our team conducted a multi-phase research study to develop a moral distress intervention for pediatric critical care nurses. In this article, we discuss our multi-phase approach (...) to develop a moral distress intervention—proactive, interdisciplinary meeting. Our proposed intervention is a sequential compilation of empirical work couched within a relational ethics lens thus should point to enhanced potential for intervention effectiveness. (shrink)

This essay argues for the importance of an organismic perspective in plant biology and considers some of its implications. These include an increased attention to plant-environment interaction and an emphasis on integrated approaches. Furthermore, this essay contextualizes the increased emphasis on the concept of organism in recent years and places the concept in a longer history. Recent developments in biology and worsening environmental crises have led researchers to study plant responses to changing environments with whole plant approaches that situate plants (...) in their environments, emphasizing the intricate and dynamic interaction between them. This renewed attention to the organism recalls the debates of the early twentieth century, when organicism was one of the three main frameworks in biology (along with vitalism and mechanism). Some scholars see this renewed importance today as a “return” of this earlier period. This essay argues that including insights from plant biology will benefit philosophy of biology research that examines the concept of organism and organicism now and in earlier periods. A comprehensive account of the concept of organism should involve a botanical conception of the organism as well as a zoological one (which is more frequently considered). Although this essay does not aim to present a conceptual analysis, it presents examples of how an organismic perspective can be useful for understanding concepts (such as phenotype, stress, etc.) and research processes (such as experiment set-ups, data processes, etc.) in plant biology. Philosophy of biology investigations that aim at a comprehensive understanding of the concept of organism can benefit greatly from examinations of cases in plant biology, both now and in the past. (shrink)

Este artículo examina la manera en que el diseño específico de las casas de baños de la Antigüedad tardía en la provincia romana de la Cirenaica, base de operaciones para la conquista islámica de Ifrīqiya, influyó en el desarrollo de los hammams en el norte de África y en al-Andalus. Los restos arqueológicos de los baños bizantinos/tardoantiguos y los primeros hammams son puestos en comparación para demostrar las grandes similitudes de su trazado general y dentro de este, del diseño del (...) caldarium en particular, lo que apunta a la pervivencia de los esquemas de construcción que sobreviven hasta el día de hoy en los hammams marroquíes. La característica más distintiva era la estancia rectangular para el baño de calor, calentada por un solo horno, y flanqueada por dos exedras que albergaban sendas bañeras rectangulares. Este diseño de hammam «occidental» era marcadamente distinto de los hammams contemporáneos en Oriente, que a su vez continuaron con el diseño tradicional de los baños públicos romano-bizantinos orientales. Contrariamente a lo que se presuponía, este artículo demuestra que el diseño «occidental» no se originó en los primeros momentos del Marruecos medieval y de al-Andalus, extendiéndose posteriormente hacia el Mediterráneo oriental, sino que se originó en el norte del África romano-bizantino, extendiéndose hacia el Oeste, para regresar, a través de la circularidad cultural, al lugar de origen con nuevas adaptaciones. (shrink)

The topic of the article is the way in which a human being can grasp its own body. The confrontation between Husserl's and Sartre's philosophy about meeting Another is my way of showing the radical change in our understanding of the problem of how we know our own body. According to Husserl both our psyche and body are given to us immediately. The body of Another is given to us by means of our own body. The psyche of Another is (...) made present through his body. This conception is inverted by Sartre. Both the psyche and the body are no longer able to grasp themselves. Yet this does not mean that Another is ungraspable. Knowledge of him does not require self-knowledge. The psyche of Another is given through his body, which is given immediately. Our own body needs the body of Another - it is contained in everything that is not itself. (shrink)

This article is an attempt to determine the status of transcendence within the works of Hannah Arendt. This topic belongs to a niche when it comes to the scope of interests of the thinker whose interests focused upon the philosophy of politics. However, since Arendt concentrated on the reflection on man and his culture, her ideas reach beyond socio-political issues. Drawing a picture of the world as a place created by people, and distinguishing it from the world of nature, she (...) draws indirect attention to what goes beyond it. In Arendt’s writings, the sphere of transcendence appears as what does not appear, yet it does exist and affects our existence in an even more noticeable way than the actions of politicians. For this reason, I attempt to determine not only the ontological status of transcendence, but also the status of a thinker who appears in Arendt’s writings as a mind. These tasks will require reconstructing the sphere of what does not appear, and the way it is connected with the sphere of phenomena. This will be done on the basis of an analysis of the activities that a person performs, and individual spheres in which her life takes place. (shrink)

The current study explored the extent to which children above and below the age of 7 years are able to benefit from either training in cumulative rehearsal or in the use of interactive imagery when carrying out working memory tasks. Twenty-four 5- to 6-year-olds and 24 8- to 9-year olds were each assigned to one of three training groups who either received cumulative rehearsal, interactive imagery, or passive labelling training. Participants’ ability to maintain material during a filled delay was then (...) assessed, and the nature of the distraction that was imposed during this delay was varied to shed further light on the mechanisms that individuals used to maintain the memoranda in working memory in the face of this distraction. The results suggest that the rehearsal training employed here did improve recall by virtue of encouraging rehearsal strategies, in a way that was not observed among participants receiving interactive imagery training. The fact that these effects were not mediated by age group counts against the view that younger individuals are either unable to rehearse, or show impoverished verbal serial recall because they do not spontaneously engage in rehearsal. (shrink)

Is there a logic of scientific discovery? Are there logical relations between the knowledge scientists posses as they start their investigations and new hypotheses and theories they formulate? Can such relations be retrospectively reconstructed? Most philosophers of science in 20 th century claimed that processes of inventing new hypotheses or theories are not governed by any rules of logic. They claimed that new hypotheses are products of “leaps of imagination” that cannot be logically analyzed.

This paper attempts to rethink the philosophy of Muhammad Iqbal (1877–1938) and challenge the still prevailing tendency in Iqbal scholarship to view it merely as an outcome of the influence of the ideas of various Western/European philosophers. I present Iqbal’s arguments in their particular historical and intellectual context to show that they developed in response to a specific philosophical problem and that Iqbal looked for a solution to that problem in Islamic tradition. I suggest that Iqbal’s philosophy is best understood (...) in the context of, and as a response to, the problem of nihilism as it was debated in modern German philosophy during ‘the pantheism controversy’ in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. To demonstrate this, I analyse Iqbal’s article on ʿAbd al-Karīm al-Jīlī to show his concern with the problem of nihilism, and his solution to it based on al-Jīlī’s Sufism. (shrink)

Artykuł dotyczy problemu percepcji. Przedstawiam w nim koncpecję"widzenia jako" Wittgensteina, oraz koncepcje myślenia jako odruchu Bohma. Wskazując podobieństwa i różnice w poglądach Wittgensteina i Bohma zmierzać będę do postawienia pytania o to, co sprawia, że nasze postrzeganie jest uwarunkowane. Po dokonaniu oceny tego faktu, w dalszej kolejności postawię pytanie o możliwość percepcji nieuwarunkowanej. Tym samym spróbuję odpowiedzieć na dwa pytania: czy istnieją powody, dla których powinniśmy wyzwalać się z tego rodzaju percepcji, a także czy i jak jest to w ogóle (...) możliwe? (shrink)

The first half of the 20th century witnessed the development of the classic eugenics. Some countries in Europe and the USA of different historical past, cultures and degree of development were universally attracted by the eugenic ideology. This raises few questions concerning the basis of its universal attractiveness for masses and its success. This article answers those questions indicating strong religious-like belief in the myth which served as a base for the eugenical way of thinking being older than this thought. (...) This myth narrates a story about the existence of “real people” who lived in the past, yet unfavourable circumstances caused their degradation, but who—with the assistance of physicians technocrats of the new society and through medical procedures—may be reborn. This paper aims at the reconstruction of the myth on the basis of the writings of Plato, Campanella and Nietzsche. As examples of its “realization” of the myth, I provide the activities of the institutions like Lebensborn houses in Germany and Nobel Sperm Bank in the USA. (shrink)

The advent in universities of managerialism with its drive for individual accountability through performance management systems is contentious. With the implementation of a PMS at a South African university, academic heads of department have been key players in the performance reward component of the PMS. This study, following a qualitative descriptive research design based on in-depth interviews, explores a sample of HoDs’ experiences and perceptions of the institution's performance reward system. Most of the participants are sceptical of the PMS as (...) they view it as a business-oriented practice that is not compatible with the nature and objectives of higher education institutions. They consider the reward strategy not only to have a limited effect in promoting high performance behaviour, but to be a cause of discontent due to implementation inconsistencies, nebulous award criteria, lack of transparency about ratings, and the negligible monetary value of the reward. (shrink)

If our thinking is socially conditioned, then how, at the end of 1900, did Max Planck, whose thinking was shaped by classical mechanics, manage to think that energy is quantized? After all, the idea was incommensurable with the principles of Newton’s mechanics. My thesis is that Planck did not intend to think about it. Trying to reconcile the time reversibility of the laws of mechanics with the time irreversibility of the laws of classical thermodynamics, he was constantly thinking according to (...) rules inherited from others. Trying to find a theoretical explanation of the formula describing the distribution of the energy of black-body radiation — arrived at by fitting theoretical parameters to new experimental data — he in “an act of despair” applied Boltzmann’s statistical concept of entropy. Then he noticed — on a sheet of paper — that classical and statistical formulas are identical if and only if the energy of resonators was a multiple of hν. What cannot appear in the human mind — as the mind is socially conditioned — can appear on paper. This gives a clear example of how computations in a “world on paper” can create new concepts. (shrink)