We humans are a curious species. Of all the life forms that inhabit the earth, we alone strive to make sense of the world in which we find ourselves. For thousands of years we understood the world through stories. Our ancestors told stories of how the world began, how our people originated and came to be at this place, and how those people across the river or beyond the mountains came to be where they are. Some stories were of animals (...) and plants in our neighborhood, and their powers to help us, feed us, or cure our ailments. But in the last few centuries, starting in Europe and spreading throughout the world, a new way of understanding began competing with storytelling as a means of comprehending our world. Science supplanted storytelling largely because it empowered us to transform the world in ways that were unimaginable to our ancestors. We understand the world scientifically by describing the world instead of by telling stories about it. The stories our ancestors told no longer explain the world, but are data within the world, part of the world that science describes. Our stories have become myths, cultural artifacts that may be interesting and a subject of study, but cannot possibly be true. Yet even in societies that have thoroughly embraced science as a means of understanding the world, myths remain a powerful force. Myth and science exist side by side, often creating confusion and conflict. (shrink)

Business ethics courses have been launched with professors from business pulling on one oar, and professors of philosophy pulling on the other, but they lack a sense of direction. Let's begin with the basics: What is an ehtical decision? More fundamentally, why the interest in professional ethics in the first place?There are over 300 centers for the study of appIied ethics in this country-why? The events which face our society today are outside the business-oriented collection of shared beIiefs that set (...) our pubIic policy agenda. Cur beIiefs are too narrow, thus we see, understand, and control small slices of life.Business ethics should be the study of the structure and impact on us of what we call "business science," e.g., accounting, marketing, economics, law, etc., and the corresponding study of the process of what Carl Jung called individuation: learning to become one's own uniqueself in the face of these bodies of professional knowledge which have structured our lives and charted the direction for our sensibilities for too long. (shrink)

1. ʻArve naḥal, ḥashivuto shel kol Yehudi --2. Isur hitḥabrut ʻim reshaʻim--3. Ketsad la-ʻazor le-vaʻale teshuvah.

NOT SAUSSURE: A CRITIQUE OF POST?SAUSSUREAN LITERARY THEORY by Raymond Tallis London: Macmillan, 1988. 273 pp., £33 (£10.95 paper).

Discusses about selective engagement as the most desirable strategy for contemporary America, stating that it is the one that seeks to forestall dangers, not simply to react to them; that is politically viable; at home and abroad; and that protects US interests.

Desde que foram criados pelos sumérios há mais de 5 mil anos, os livros sempre aterrorizaram os ocupantes do topo de quaisquer formas de poder. Neles estiveram e continuam sendo guardados os sonhos, as ideias, os projetos e as ações da humanidade em todas as vertentes possíveis, sejam eles libertadores e instigantes para as transformações positivas do mundo e do próprio ser humano, sejam eles os caminhos opostos da destruição e da opressão. [...].

Abstract…observations of skylfull pylotts is the onlye waye to bring it in rule; for it passeth the reach of naturall philosophy. – Michael Gabriel, 1576 (Collinson, 1867, p. 30)Abstract The tension between empirical data and formal theory pervades the entire history of geomagnetism, from the Middle Ages up to the present day. This paper explores its early-modern history (1500–1800), using a hybrid approach: it applies a methodological framework used in modern geophysics to interpret early-modern developments, exploring to what extent formal (...) conjectures shaped observation and vice versa. A range of pertinent case studies supports classification of this entire period as proto-scientific, characterised by the initial formation of theories being largely disconnected from observational constraints, and their subsequent evolution being advanced primarily by their empirical falsification, and not necessarily associated with the introduction of an alternative. The few exceptional instances of purely data-driven discovery were essentially due to an improved signal-to-noise ratio. (shrink)

Mais de duas décadas após o seu lançamento, em 1999, o primeiro filme da trilogia Matrix tem neste segundo ano da pandemia do coronavírus uma atualidade atordoante. Em muitos aspectos, a humanidade vive dias muito próximos do enredo surreal descrito nos três filmes, que revi recentemente provavelmente pela décima vez. A diferença é que a realidade sombria vivida por bilhões de pessoas nos quatro cantos da Terra desde março de 2020 não tem uma versão amena como a existente dentro da (...) Matrix. (shrink)

A humanidade tem sido tomada por angústias tão sutis que, aos poucos, vai se dissolvendo – física e psicologicamente – como se estivesse sendo consumida de dentro para fora. Neste sentido a saída – ainda que imediata e provisória – é propor um jogo de Xadrez com a morte. Não à toa Ingmar Bergman escolhe o Xadrez como a forma da sua personagem desafiar “alguém” tão poderoso. O jogo é um chamamento à razão, à luz capaz de organizar as ideias (...) e dar um rumo à vida. (shrink)

Helps individual readers to overcome procrastination and build self-esteem Reveals how to create a culture of accountability, and how to hold someone accountable Gives leaders a step-by-step process for helping team members become more self-responsible Explains commitment reluctance and how to encourage self-responsibility among team members Uncovers why we blame others and shows how to defeat a blame culture Provides an easy read with no consultant-speak In recent years, HORN Training and Consulting was awarded the distinguished Gold Medal by the (...) Canadian Society for Training and Development for its leadership development program designed for one of the world’s largest international banks; and HORN is currently executing leadership development projects on a global scale for companies in the consumer packaged goods and pharmaceutical industries. (shrink)

Quando assisti pela primeira vez a “Sociedade dos Poetas Mortos”, em 1989 (ano de lançamento no cinema), a história protagonizada pelo saudoso Robin Williams me comoveu profundamente. Naquela época eu caminhava rumo aos meus 20 anos, quando a vida ainda parece uma areia movediça e o futuro, uma eternidade. Eu ainda estava na Faculdade de Filosofia da UFBA, em Salvador, preparando-me para ser professor.

O início da terceira década do século 21, tão marcado pela globalização tecnológica e virtualização das relações humanas, ainda mantém fortes laços com o obscurantismo religioso da Idade Média. Com outra roupagem, o fanatismo de muitos cristãos das mais variadas igrejas eterniza sentimentos e ações que acreditávamos superados há séculos. A intolerância religiosa, normalmente carregada de outras tantas intolerâncias na pauta moral, revela com clareza que a caça às bruxas nos tempos da chamada Santa Inquisição foi atualizada com sucesso. O (...) Brasil, por exemplo, vive um de seus piores momentos históricos neste sentido, principalmente pelos recorrentes ataques furiosos às religiões de matriz africana e crimes de agressão e morte contra as chamadas minorias sociais. (shrink)