The moot point of the Western philosophical rhetoric about free will consists in examining whether the claim of authorship to intentional, deliberative actions fits into or is undermined by a one-way causal framework of determinism. Philosophers who think that reconciliation between the two is possible are known as metaphysical compatibilists. However, there are philosophers populating the other end of the spectrum, known as the metaphysical libertarians, who maintain that claim to intentional agency cannot be sustained unless it is assumed that (...) indeterministic causal processes pervade the action-implementation apparatus employed by the agent. The metaphysical libertarians differ among themselves on the question of whether the indeterministic causal relation exists between the series of intentional states and processes, both conscious and unconscious, and the action, making claim for what has come to be known as the event-causal view, or between the agent and the action, arguing that a sort of agent causation is at work. In this paper, I have tried to propose that certain features of both event-causal and agent-causal libertarian views need to be combined in order to provide a more defendable compatibilist account accommodating deliberative actions with deterministic causation. The ‘‘agent-executed-eventcausal libertarianism’’, the account of agency I have tried to develop here, integrates certain plausible features of the two competing accounts of libertarianism turning them into a consistent whole. I hope to show in the process that the integration of these two variants of libertarianism does not challenge what some accounts of metaphysical compatibilism propose—that there exists a broader deterministic relation between the web of mental and extra-mental components constituting the agent’s dispositional system—the agent’s beliefs, desires, short-term and long-term goals based on them, the acquired social, cultural and religious beliefs, the general and immediate and situational environment in which the agent is placed, etc. on the one hand and the decisions she makes over her lifetime on the basis of these factors. While in the ‘‘Introduction’’ the philosophically assumed anomaly between deterministic causation and the intentional act of deciding has been briefly surveyed, the second section is devoted to the task of bridging the gap between compatibilism and libertarianism. The next section of the paper turns to an analysis of folk-psychological concepts and intuitions about the effects of neurochemical processes and prior mental events on the freedom of making choices. How philosophical insights can be beneficially informed by taking into consideration folk-psychological intuitions has also been discussed, thus setting up the background for such analysis. It has been suggested in the end that support for the proposed theory of intentional agency can be found in the folk-psychological intuitions, when they are taken in the right perspective. (shrink)

As leadership is a key component in meeting the challenges of educational institutes, this study was designed to examine the challenges faced by the female leaders of the management institutes of Pune City, India. Data was collected using qualitative methods which included in-depth interviews with ten women directors. Analysis of the recorded data proceeded by means of a line by line microanalysis of the interviews, with the following five major themes emerging: (a) choosing teaching as a career, (b) shift towards (...) leadership, (c) impact of internal and external pressures, (d) challenges from the male dominated society, and (e) balancing personal and professional life. The findings of this study point to the need for further research into the challenges with which female leaders are confronted in the educational industry, as well as for comparative studies with men in similar positions, and for the findings of such research to be utilised by educational policy makers to facilitate effective leadership by providing the necessary support structures. Indo-Pacific Journal of Phenomenology , September 2008, Volume 8, Edition 2. (shrink)

Both neutrosophic sets theory and rough sets theory are emerging as powerful tool for managing uncertainty, indeterminate, incomplete and imprecise information .In this paper we develop an hybrid structure called “ rough neutrosophic sets” and studied their properties.

Philosophers have since long been relying on their own intuitions to shore up their own belief about agency and about the possibility of reconciliation with the domain of physical events that seems to be freewheeled by an underlying necessitarian process. In a certain philosophical circle, a trend has now emerged to put unprimed intuitions to test through psychological experiments, in order to figure out whether philosophers should exercise some temperance in bringing their own belief about agency to the fore, and (...) the possible sources of the intuitional dilemma. This paper aims to explore the folk concept of agency and figure out the implications of the extant empirical work for our concept of free will. (shrink)

As a result of the time‐ and context‐dependency of gene expression, gene regulatory and signaling pathways undergo dynamic changes during development. Creating a model of the dynamics of molecular interaction networks offers enormous potential for understanding how a genome orchestrates the developmental processes of an organism. The dynamic nature of pathway topology calls for new modeling strategies that can capture transient molecular links at the runtime. The aim of this paper is to present a brief and informative, but not all‐inclusive, (...) viewpoint on the computational aspects of modeling and simulation of a non‐static molecular network. BioEssays 26:68–72, 2004. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. (shrink)

در اين كتاب، جدالي سهمگين و در عين حال جذاب و بي مصالحه و سازش بين انسان "ميرا" و خداي "ناميرا" در ميگيرد. گفتگو ها و پرسش ها و پاسخ ها، آنچنان پربار و تجسم انگيزست كه خواننده بي قرارانه در انتظار پايان محاكمه ، فصل هاي كتاب را ميخواند و حضور خود را در جمع فرزانگان و جدال نويسنده و خدا احساس ميكند. ketab - sherkat ketab - شرکت کتاب - ketab.com - ketab corp.

From a purely theoretical perspective, the non-dual teachings of Advaita Vedanta are seen as irreconcilable with the teachings of Theravada Buddhism. However, the teachings of the Masters of the Thai forest tradition, based entirely on their own practice of the Buddha’s path which culminated in their liberation, seem to be quite in consonance with those of the Advaita Vedanta. In this paper, an attempt has also been made to show how some of the so-called ‘enigmatic and obscure’ Suttas of the (...) tipiṭaka also point in the same direction. The points of difference between the two traditions are also brought out. (shrink)

In this article, we shall define the addition and multiplication of two neutrosophic fuzzy matrices. Thereafter, some properties of addition and multiplication of these matrices are also put forward.

In this short piece of work, an attempt has been made to revisit the skepticism about free will, which has historically been directed to it due to certain mistaken assumptions about determinism and iron it out. Determinism is often conflated with fatalism, and this is where the skepticism about the possibility of agential autonomy and control begins. If fatalism is true with respect to volitional actions of agents, then there is no point in planning or choice making as fatalism dissolves (...) the idea of control. The main argument proposed in this work consists in showing that even though deterministic causation involves the possibility of a single unique outcome as a necessary consequence of the antecedent conditions and the governing laws of nature, the history of rational behaviour of every agent can be explained within a global deterministic kind of causal framework. If rightly interpreted, it provides a glimpse into how different courses of action remain feasibly open to an agent at a given time. The concept of free will has been outlined first to enable the reader to see later that looking at the doctrine of determinism with the right kind of mindset only reveals its pro-free will nature. (shrink)

The metaphysical possibility of agency at the phenomenal level, given the truth of a nomological and binding causal force, has long been a moot point in both Indian and western philosophical traditions. While an underlying implication of fatalistic resignation hangs over the possibility of phenomenal freedom within the ambit of the classical Indian interpretation of the Law of Karma, which forms the basis of the assumption that a fatalistic nexus of vāsanā (cravings for mundane achievements) and the ensuing karma (action-tendencies (...) to reach a mundane goal) circumscribes an agent’s choices, the western thought on the question of the freedom of choice has rather been preoccupied with the putative threat posed by the deterministic law of various nuances, such as theological determinism and logical determinism. A close analysis of the western philosophical debate surrounding free will reveals that the kind of linear causation that determinism supposedly entails is the primary reason for its being conflated with fatalism. The source of all the misgiving about determinism’s free will subduing influence is the oversight that it renders the agent’s rational endeavour a futile exercise in the same way as fatalism does. In this paper, therefore, an attempt has been made to disentangle determinism from fatalism. A key proposal advanced in this paper is that the causative force of the karmic law, admitted by most of the classical schools of Indian philosophy, may prima facie have a circumscriptive effect on agentic rational pursuits and choices. However, an intimate study reveals that this law does not preclude phenomenal freedom, although of a higher echelon. The classical Indian schools of philosophy admitting the undeniable presence of this karmic law allow the possibility of this seemingly inexorable causative force of the law being overridden by a more reason-guided pursuit, adopted by the agent, after an overhaul of his egoistic cravings. The model of agency developed in this paper is based on the claim that it is by way of undergoing self-determination that phenomenal freedom reaches its pinnacle. Drawing on the theories of volition and self advanced by some prominent classical Indian philosophical schools and the classical western philosophical theories of free will in the light of the deterministic threat, an attempt has been made to bring into harmony the rhetoric of both worlds, exploring the possibility whether phenomenal freedom can be salvaged through agentic self-determination and self-development. (shrink)

The European Legacy, Volume 17, Issue 4, Page 542-543, July 2012.

The term value may be defined as a principle or ideal of intrinsic worth or desirability. Values and attitudes relate a property of an external object (intrinsic worth) with an internal process (feeling). People impute worth or value onto objects, principles or ideals. The values are preferences, criteria or choices of personal or group conduct. They are general principles that guide an individual's decisions. These principles have an inherent organization and a rational basis to impart worth to objects and other (...) individuals. As society and culture are not static, there can be many changes in a society in the course of a decade. Changes in societal values are usually gradual when viewed from a distance, and are at both individual and group levels. Individuals have values which they express both in terms of stated beliefs and actions. The present article is an attempt to understand the impact of profession, represented by teachers of higher education and medical doctors, and dietary habits, categorized as vegetarians and non–vegetarians, on the perception of existing values and expectation of ought to be values in the society. (shrink)

The present study was aimed at gaining a broad opinion regarding bioethical reasoning amongst student fraternity. These students had been admitted to medical schools after completion of their high school . Ethnically all the students were of Indian origin though they belonged to a diverse socio-economic-cultural background. The mean age of students was 18 years and a total of 125 first year medical students were questioned in 1998 , using the questionnaire designed by Macer with some modifications. The observations revealed (...) the fact that even though fair amount of awareness regarding the wide perspectives of bioethics did prevail amongst many, yet some sense of ignorance was reflected as well. However, the respondents were divided on various sensitive issues like cloning, in vitro fertilisation etc. The results suggest enforcement of both individual and collective efforts to arouse the consciousness of students regarding bioethics and application of bioethical decision making to dilemmas posed by science and technology. (shrink)

Business and Society Review, Volume 127, Issue 2, Page 437-460, Summer 2022.

Este artigo apresenta o resultado de uma pesquisa desenvolvida no Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ensino de História da Universidade Federal de Uberlândia (ProfHistória/UFU). Nos limites do texto o objetivo consistiu em apresentar o processo que culminou na elaboração do Curso intitulado “Por uma educação antirracista: o estudo da história da África, cultura afro-brasileira e relações étnico-raciais” produzido como resultado da pesquisa desenvolvida no mestrado profissional, tendo como base e público alvo estudantes jovens e adultos. O estudo está fundamentado em uma (...) pesquisa qualitativa, com revisão bibliográfica em livros e artigos acadêmicos tendo como principais referências autores que realizaram estudos sobre Educação de Jovens e adultos (EJA) e Educação e relações étnico-raciais. Analisamos documentos que regularizam a educação brasileira e as leis antirracistas dedicando atenção especial à Lei de Diretrizes e Bases da Educação (LDB) 9.394/96 e à Lei 10.639/03, alterada posteriormente pela Lei 11.645/08 que estabelece a obrigatoriedade da temática História e cultura afro-brasileira e indígena. Recorreu também a um questionário diagnóstico aplicado aos jovens e adultos estudantes do Centro Estadual de Educação Continuada (CESEC Uberlândia). Conclui-se que para efetivar uma educação antirracista, o ensino de História da África e Cultura Afro-Brasileira não pode se limitar a ações pontuais. É necessário descolonizar os currículos. (shrink)

In this article, we first review the development of clinical ethics in pediatrics in the United States. We report that, over the last 40 years, most children’s hospitals have ethics committees but that those committees are rarely consulted. We speculate that the reasons for the paucity of ethics consults might be because ethical dilemmas are aired in other venues. The role of the ethics consultant, then, might be to shape the institutional climate and create safe spaces for the discussion of (...) difficult and sometimes contentious issues. Finally, we report how pediatric clinical ethics has evolved differently in a number of other countries around the world. (shrink)

Objectives Older adults are considered one of the most vulnerable groups to COVID-19. However, previous studies on emotion and aging have found that older adults report better well-being than younger adults in global survey and daily report. To better understand older adults’ well-being during the COVID-19 outbreak, we examined age differences in daily affective experiences in this study. Method Two hundred and thirty-one participants from mainland China aged 18 to 85 were recruited to participate in the 14-day daily diary study, (...) after a pretest. Their trait affect and demographic information were measured in the pretest. Their daily affect and stress levels were measured in the daily assessments. Results We found that older adults reported lower perceived stress related to COVID-19 in daily life, compared to younger adults. The negative relationship between daily perceived stress and high arousal positive affect and the positive relationship between daily perceived stress and high arousal negative affect was weaker in older than younger adults. Discussion These results provide initial evidence of daily affective well-being across different age groups in adulthood during the COVID-19 outbreak. Such information is important for developing interventions to promote better well-being during the COVID-19 outbreak. (shrink)

Commentary with supercommentaries on Śārīrakamīmāṃsābhāṣya of Śaṅkarācārya, authoritative work of the Vedanta philosophy.

This book is an essential guide for veterinarians, veterinary faculty and policymakers for understanding the core competencies of a fresh veterinarian. The book briefly covers competencies in preclinical, paraclinical, and clinical subjects including anatomy, physiology, biochemistry, veterinary jurisprudence, animal management & welfare including nutrition and breeding, infectious and non-infectious diseases, disease epidemiology, diagnosis, and treatment, prevention, control and zoonoses, surgical and other clinical interventions. The book further includes other competencies, including biologicals, anti-mortem, and post-mortem inspection, certifications, applied one health aspects, (...) review and analysis of scientific evidence, international trade and regulations, and organization of veterinary services. It also highlights the importance of effective communication, interpersonal skills, record keeping and management of a small veterinary hospital, health informatics, etc. The book breakdowns the must-have competencies of a global veterinarian into different topics and subtopics for easy comprehension and further learning. It enables the professional standard-setting & regulatory bodies and academicians in improved curricula designing and implementation and more importantly tries to bring uniformity in day one veterinary graduates’ competencies globally, enhancing the movement and employability of veterinarians across the world. (shrink)

In a recent opinion paper, it was argued that individuals with multiple retractions or a record of academic misconduct should not serve as editors, including as editors-in-chief, on the editorial boards of scholarly or academic journals. As a first step towards appreciating how such a policy could be applied in practice, the presence of 30 individuals listed on the Retraction Watch Leaderboard on editorial boards was screened. Six cases are highlighted to gain an appreciation of the potential reputational risks that (...) journals and publishers might incur by including individuals with a tainted academic record on editorial boards. Given the reputational, legal and other risks associated with this type of assessment and decision, more formal positioning and guidance are needed by global ethics policy-related bodies such as COPE, the ICMJE, and the CSE, even more so in journals that claim to follow these organizations’ ethical guidelines. (shrink)

Contrastivism is the view that knowledge is a ternary relation between an agent, a content proposition, and a contrast, and it explains that a binary knowledge ascription sentence appears to be context-sensitive because different contexts can implicitly fill the contrast with different values. This view is purportedly supported by certain linguistic evidence. An objective of this paper is to argue that contrastivism is not empirically adequate, as there are examples that favor its contextualist cousin. Thereafter, I shall develop a contextualist (...) account for the relevant linguistic data. The account consists of a contextualist semantics and some rules of pragmatics. The two parts combined show that contrastivism is neither sufficient nor necessary as a satisfactory theory of knowledge ascriptions. (shrink)