Whose values should count – those of patients or the general public – when adopting the quality-adjusted life year framework for healthcare decision making is a long-standing debate. Specific disciplines, such as economics, are not wedded to a particular side of the debate, and arguments for and against the use of patient values have been discussed at length in the literature. In 2012, Sinclair proposed an approach, grounded within patient preference theory, which sought to avoid a perceived unfair discrimination against (...) people with disabilities when using values from the general public. Key assumptions about general public values that beget this line of thinking were that ‘disabled states always tally with lower quality of life’, and the use of standardised instruments means that ‘you are forced into a fixed view of disability as a lower value state’. Drawing on recent contributions to the health economics literature, we contend that such assumptions are not inherent to the incorporation of general public values for the estimation of QALYs. In practice, whether health states of people with disabilities are of ‘lower value’ is, to some extent, a reflection of the health state descriptions that members of the public are asked to value. (shrink)

In the real world, many people suffer as a function of their subordinate position in social hierarchy. Deliberative, relativist, and essentialist political theorists have sketched philosophies of social criticism that alone are inadequate for criticizing some harmful social values, practices, and norms. Certainly, theirs are critical theories in the sense that they are actionable, coherent, and self-reflective. But they are not adequate theories of social criticism. They do not specify satisfactorily the roles, qualifications, and methodology of social critics (...) worried about the struggles and wishes of real people. I specify all three. Drawing from the practical experience of a wide variety of women activists, I generalize about the roles and qualifications of the social critic. In addition, I formally articulate a method of social criticism that feminists have been developing. Collectively, feminists--particularly Third World women activists-have pioneered a method of social criticism that allows them to criticize existing social values, practices, and norms that perpetuate inequalities. The method of social criticism I propose provides a discipline for ongoing questioning and evaluation of social practices by a society with the help of social critics. In the process of explicating my own philosophy of social criticism, I offer criticisms of the implications for social criticism of three political philosophies--deliberative democratic theory, Michael Walzer's relativism, and Martha Nussbaum's essentialism--and argue that feminist critics have managed to achieve in practice what adherents of those three schools do incompletely in theory. (shrink)

Vladimir Solovyov’s aesthetic theory has been the subject of much research. However, aesthetic views of the philosopher’s contemporaries are analyzed less frequently. The purpose of this article is to consider the views of Yuri Govorukha-Otrok on the aesthetic ideas of Solovyov in relation to the issues of national identity. Despite the discrepancy in the interpretation of such concepts as “culture,” “national idea,” or “truth” the very fact of the polemics between the philosopher and the literary critic proves the continuity of (...) the religious and the philosophical dimensions of literary criticism. This study analyzes Govorukha-Otrok’s critical papers of Solovyov’s work, allowing for the possibility to compare integral ideological and philosophical systems in order to understand the influence of Govorukha-Otrok’s views on the whole body of Solovyov’s ideas. (shrink)

Is there something wrong with the way we form beliefs about our surroundings? Most people assume not. But there is a character, the skeptic, who disagrees. What, exactly, is this skeptic claiming, and why should this concern us? We are, after all, just humans doing what humans do: forming beliefs on the basis of our faculties. In what sense could this be wrong, and how could it matter if it is? By considering the way in which the notions of vice (...) and criticism can express these questions, we can clarify them and discern some potential answers. These answers, I will suggest, can explain not only why we shouldn’t worry too much, but also the lasting appeal of skeptical problems. The idea is that we can accept, or grant for the sake of argument, that we fall short of some important standard while insisting that it is entirely unreasonable to criticize people, or ourselves, on that basis. (shrink)

장 보드리야르의 시뮬라크르론과 하우크의 상품미학은 플라톤의 존재론과 세계인식에 기초해 있다. 플라톤에 따르면, 우리가 살고 있는 현상세계는 참과 본질의 세계가 아닌 허위와 거짓의 세계이다. 이 속에서 생성되는 모든 인식과 사고, 이미지는 결코 진실이 될 수 없다. 이와 같이 현실세계의 시뮬라크르는 진실이라는 원본으로부터 괴리된 태생적 한계를 가지고 있는 것이다. 이와 같은 플라톤적 세계인식을 토대로 하는 보드리야르의 시각은 들뢰즈(Gilles Deleuze)에게서도 유사하게 나타난다. 아리스토텔레스의 관점에서도 시뮬라크르의 거짓과 허위는 현실세계의 현상적이고 개별적이며 고립적인 실체(ousia)의 반영으로 이해될 수 있다. 하지만 현상세계의 실체는 본질적이고 보편적인 것들을 동시에 내포하고 (...) 있다. 이 실체의 모순성의 통일은 보드리야르와 들뢰즈의 분석과 다르게 현실세계에 대한 새로운 해석의 관점을 제시하여 준다. 분명 현실세계는 진실되지 못한 거짓과 무규정의 카오스적 성격을 가지지만, 다시 이 속에는 진실과 질서적 가능성을 담지하고 있다. 이 실체가 가지는 진실성으로 인하여, 인간 의식의 능동성은 개별을 관찰하며 각 개별의 통일로서의 일반성을 발견하고, 구체를 분석하여 추상성을 추출하며, 특수를 분석하여 보편성을 이해할 수 있다. 이것은 현실세계에서도 인식의 상승단계로 나아갈 수 있는 근거가 되며, 시뮬라시옹의 무한 순환으로부터 인간의 의식이 벗어날 수 있는 토대가 된다. (shrink)

Music is an activity that needs to be acted out and “doing” music is a very embodied experience. That’s why the metaphor of motion is pervasive in Western class.

The first part of this work addresses the current state of critical theory, and questions the post-ness of the epistemological space after the event of theory as an institutional practice. The second part contains examples of the type of work theory has made possible, demonstrating the new directions opening up both within theory itself and in cross-disciplinary study as a result of theory. In this sense, post can be understood to be in dialogue with issues relating to postmodernism, post-Marxism and (...) post-feminism. (shrink)

조선 천주교의 발원지에서 태어나 일생을 보냈던 이항로는 가학(家學)의 영향을 받아 천주교의 확산에 대해 남다른 비판의식을 지니게 되었고, 저술활동 초기부터 천주교 비판에 역점을 두었다. 그는 처음에는 ‘도덕-공장(工匠; 기술)’의 구도를 택하여, 유학은 도덕이고 천주교는 공장에 해당된다고 보아 유학을 높이려고 하였으나, ‘도덕-공장’ 구도의 기원은 도가(道家)와 맞닿아 있기 때문에 기술이 도덕으로 나아갈 통로로 여겨질 수 있었고, 그에 따라 ‘도덕’도 도가적인 것으로 오인될 우려가 있었다. 이항로는 한유의 입론을 차용하여 도덕과 유가적 핵심 덕목을 결합시키는 한편, 알레니의 『만물진원』에 대한 비판을 통해 ‘공장(기술)’을 ‘형기(形氣)’로 대체한다. 그리하여 그의 만년 (...) 저술인 『벽사록변』은 ‘도덕-형기’ 구도를 정립하고 이에 따라 천주교가 비판된다. 아울러 리(理)는 무위(無爲)적 존재라는 천주교 측의 비판에 대하여, 이항로는 성리학적 상제관이라고 할 만한 것을 내세웠다. 이러한 ‘도덕-형기’의 구도를 뒷받침하는 것은 도기(道器)적 존재론으로서 이것은 이기론으로부터 다소 이탈한 것이었으며, 또한 도덕․인의의 절대화로 인해 인의예지(仁義禮智)를 제외한 성(誠) 등의 여타 유가적 규범의 정체성에 변화가 일어나게 되었다. 기존 연구는 위정척사 사상을 하나의 동일한 주체로 놓고 그것이 천주교와 외세에 대해 어떻게 반응하는지 보고자 했다면, 우리의 연구 결과는 이항로의 상제관과 도기론이 보여주듯이 천주교 비판 과정에서 이항로의 철학 체계도 일정한 변화를 겪었을 가능성이 크다는 것이다. (shrink)

In the Western classical tradition music criticism represents one of the most complex and influential forms of performance assessment and evaluation. However, in the age of peer opinion sharing and quick communication channels it is not clear what place music critics’ judgments still hold in the classical music market. This article presents expert music critics’ view on their role, function, and influence. It is based on semi-structured interviews with 14 native English- and German-speaking critics who had an average of (...) 32 years professional activity in classical music review. We present the first visual model to summarize music critics’ descriptions of their role and responsibilities, writing processes, and their influences. The model distinguishes six roles : consumer adviser, teacher, judge, writer, stakeholder, and artist advocate. It identifies core principles governing critical writing for music as well as challenges that arise from balancing the above six responsibilities whilst remaining true to an implicit code of conduct. Finally, it highlights the factors that inform critics’ writing in terms of the topics they discuss and the discursive tools they employ. We show that music critics self-identify as highly skilled mediators between artists, producers and consumers, and justify their roles as judge and teacher based on a wealth of experience as against the influx of pervasive amateur reviews. Our research approach also offers occupation-based insights into professional music review standards, including the challenges of maintaining objectivity and resisting commercial pressures. This article offers a new viewpoint on music critics’ judgments and recommendations that helps to explain their expectations and reflections. (shrink)