Financing Public Schools moves beyond the basics of financing public elementary and secondary education to explore the historical, philosophical, and legal underpinnings of a viable public school system. Coverage includes the operational aspects of school finance, including issues regarding teacher salaries and pensions, budgeting for instructional programs, school transportation, and risk management. Diving deeper than other school finance books, the authors explore the political framework within which the schools must function, discuss the privatization of education and its effects on public (...) schools, offer perspectives regarding education as an investment in human capital, and expertly explain complex financial and economic issues. This comprehensive text provides the tools to apply the many and varied fiscal concepts and practices that are essential for aspiring public school administrators who aim to provide responsible stewardship for their students. (shrink)

The relation between quantum collapse, consciousness and superluminal communication is analyzed. As we know, quantum collapse, if exists, can result in the appearance of quantum nonlocality, and requires the existence of a pre- ferred Lorentz frame. This may permit the realization of quantum superluminal communication (QSC), which will no longer result in the usual causal loop in case of the existence of a preferred Lorentz frame. The possibility of the existence of QSC is further analyzed under the assumption that quantum (...) collapse is a real process. We demonstrate that the combination of quantum collapse and the consciousness of the observer will permit the observer to distinguish nonorthogonal states in principle. This provides a possible way to realize QSC. Some implications of the existence of QSC are briefy discussed. (shrink)

The unique relation between logic and truth is crucial for understanding Fregean conception of logic. Frege has an insight that the nature of logic resides in the “truth“, which he finally locates in the assertoric-force of a sentence. Though Frege admits that assertoric-force is ineffable in ordinary language, he coins in his conceptual notation for such a force a much-disputed sign, i.e., judgment-stroke. In this paper, I will try to demonstrate that judgment-stroke is not adequate for the task its inventor (...) has assigned to it. Accordingly, it is misconceived and inconducive to clarify Frege’s vague insight into the protorelation. The mistake of judgment-stroke for the sign of assertoric-force has its root in Frege’s ignorance of the significant difference between “judgment” and assertion”, which will be elucidated at length in the light of Husserl’s theory of “doxic-modification“. In the end, based on a further elucidation of the activity of assertion, I will advance a tentative interpretation of the vague insight Frege has concerning the protorelation. (shrink)

Business Ethics, the Environment &Responsibility, EarlyView.

In recent years, attention to researchers’ scientific misconduct has increased dramatically. Although existing research reflects a shared value that occupational calling is an ethical good (i.e., being more likely to make ethical choices), no empirical study has yet examined the ethical outcomes of occupational calling. Drawing on the integrated ethical decision-making model (I-EDM), this study first investigated _whethe_r occupational calling inhibits researchers’ unethical decision-making. Secondly, it examined _why_ and _when_ occupational calling relates to researchers’ unethical decision-making. The findings from a (...) four-wave survey, with 257 researchers working in research roles in universities in China, reveal that occupational calling (time 1) inhibits researchers’ unethical decision-making (time 4). Moral disengagement (time 3) provides an explanation for the negative link between occupational calling (time 1) and unethical decision-making (time 4). The moderated mediation analysis further shows that the inhibitory effect of occupational calling (time 1) on researchers’ unethical decision-making (time 4) disappears when the work-unit structure (time 2) is perceived to be organic. These findings provide meaningful theoretical and practical implications for research and practice. (shrink)

Marx's theory of alienation has some elements of an epistemology, but it is primarily a methodology. This is because alienation and the supersession of alienation are nothing but negation and a negation of the negation, a kind of historical dialectics. In using this methodology to analyze the contradictions between human existence and essence, Marx thoroughly exposed and criticized the callousness of relationships among humanity in capitalist society. On this basis, he considered socialist revolution and socialist production to be the means (...) for eliminating human alienation and for realizing human freedom, and thereby set forth an epistemology. (shrink)

In the Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844, Marx commented that beauty is "the objectification of human essence.".

As all past philosophies superseded religion, their systems were established on the basis of comprehending a true human essence. As Marx pointed out, after first elaborating various concepts of religion, politics, morality, legal philosophy, and aesthetics, philosophers then kowtowed and became the slaves to those very concepts. Such a condition should be completely altered. From the time when Marx voiced these criticisms and placed "man" at the center of world history, while also pointing out that establishing the position of the (...) subject is proof of human freedom—that is, of human essence—and from the time when Marx emphasized that the real human world, including various social relations, ideological states, and the natural world "possessed by man," is the product of human creativity and a human manifestation formed in history and developed historically, and that man should and can emancipate himself from all that, all previous notions of the human essence became outdated and were no longer worth being seriously debated. From that time on, the philosophy of "man" has transcended the realm of speculative philosophy and gained unprecedented significance both in practice and in reality, and has become an active, initiating force in the modern socialist movement. (shrink)

A recent issue of Topics in Cognitive Science featured 11 thoughtful commentaries responding to our article “What happened to cognitive science?” (Núñez et al., 2019). Here, we identify several themes that arose in those commentaries and respond to each. Crucial to understanding our original article is the fundamental distinction between multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary endeavors: Cognitive science began (and has stayed) as multidisciplinary but has failed to move on to form a cohesive interdisciplinary field. We clarify and elaborate our original argument (...) and reiterate the importance of a data‐driven evaluation of the current status of the field, which exhibits a marked disciplinary imbalance, a lack of a coherent conceptual core, and a striking absence of a consistent curriculum in the institutions that grant degrees in this domain. Half a century after the creation of cognitive science, it may now be a good time to revisit goals and visions for how to best approach the ever‐fascinating scientific study of the mind(s). (shrink)

Since environmental ethics research started in China in the 1980s, it has been deeply influenced by environmental ethics theory in the United States. Some Chinese environmental philosophers have adopted the key concept of intrinsic value to construct Chinese environmental ethics. However, in recent decades, the concept of intrinsic value has been criticized by scholars in both the United States and China. Many Chinese have found that environmental ethics in the United States that is founded on the concept of intrinsic value (...) is incompatible with Chinese philosophy and culture. They have begun a new effort that is aimed at developing a localized environmental ethics based on traditional Chinese philosophy. However, the Chinese scholars’ theoretical effort neglects the important concept of wilderness that is emerging from preservation and conservation practices in China. In this context, the emotion of wonder and its interrelationship with intrinsic value is the new paradigm for constructing a Chinese environmental ethics. (shrink)

By focusing on human virtues rather than the general morality of rational beings, Kant’s virtue theory presents systematic arguments from the perspectives of reason and experiential emotion, norms and disposition, spirituality and humanity, etc., which is of great significance to an overall understanding of Kantian ethics, thus clarifying misunderstandings from the past decades.

This volume provides a valuable discussion of Husserl's lifelong project of the critique of science which makes no attempt to conflate the pre-World War I ...

In the paper I trace the histories of four terms. All four words were originally translated from western languages or Russian, but have attained new meanings in China. The first is the "principle of the Party literature," an expression made by V. I. Lenin, which remained influential in China for a very long time. The change in its translation to the "principle of Party publication" eventually became a part of the ideological liberation of the early 1980s. The second is "imaged (...) thought." This term enabled Chinese literature to separate itself from the political ideology after the Cultural Revolution. The third is "subjectivity," a term originally translated as zhuguanxing, and then as zhutixing, which in the ears of Chinese philosophers substantially changed from a term with a negative sense, to one with a positive sense, and which paved the way for a philosophical revolution in China. The fourth is "ontology". The Chinese mixed the ontology criticized by Kant with the doctrine of noumena implied by Kant's philosophy, with ontology thus gaining its special meanings in Chinese philosophy and aesthetics. By presenting the histories of four terms, the author attempts to demonstrate how one and the same term can be ascribed different meanings in different cultures, and how it undergoes specific changes and historical transformations. (shrink)

We study the possible connection between self-consciousness and quantum process. It is shown that the self-consciousness function can help to measure the collapse time of wave function under some condition, while the usual physical device without self-consciousness can't. Furthermore, we show that the observer with self-consciousness can distinguish the definite state and the superposition of definite states under some stronger condition. This provides a practical physical method to differentiate man and machine, and will also help to find the possible existence (...) of self-consciousness in the animal kingdom. We finally give some further discussions about these new results. (shrink)

The paper investigates what type of motivation can be given for adopting a knowledge-based decision theory. KBDT seems to have several advantages over competing theories of rationality. It is commonly argued that this theory would naturally fit with the intuitive idea that being rational is doing what we take to be best given what we know, an idea often supported by appeal to ordinary folk appraisals. Moreover, KBDT seems to strike a perfect balance between the problematic extremes of subjectivist and (...) objectivist decision theory. We argue that these alleged advantages do not stand up to a closer scrutiny: KBDT inherits the same kinds of problems as alternative decision theoretic frameworks but doesn’t retain any of the respective advantages. Moreover, differently from other knowledge-action principles advanced in the literature, KBDT cannot fully explain the intuitive connections between knowledge and rational action. We conclude that the most serious challenge for knowledge-based decision theorists is to provide a substantive rationale for the adoption of such a view. (shrink)

We define some variations of the Scott rank for countable models and obtain some inequalities involving the ranks. For mono-unary algebras we prove that the game rank of any subtree does not exceed the game rank of the whole model. However, similar questions about linear orders remain unresolved.

Academic and public debates are increasingly concerned with the question whether and how algorithmic decision-making may reinforce social inequality. Most previous research on this topic originates from computer science. The social sciences, however, have huge potentials to contribute to research on social consequences of ADM. Based on a process model of ADM systems, we demonstrate how social sciences may advance the literature on the impacts of ADM on social inequality by uncovering and mitigating biases in training data, by understanding data (...) processing and analysis, as well as by studying social contexts of algorithms in practice. Furthermore, we show that fairness notions need to be evaluated with respect to specific outcomes of ADM systems and with respect to concrete social contexts. Social sciences may evaluate how individuals handle algorithmic decisions in practice and how single decisions aggregate to macro social outcomes. In this overview, we highlight how social sciences can apply their knowledge on social stratification and on substantive domains of ADM applications to advance the understanding of social impacts of ADM. (shrink)

Although several articles have investigated ethical product attributes, earlier research has not empirically examined different benefits offered by ethical attributes. This study demonstrates that ethical attributes have functional benefits as well as symbolic benefits. More importantly, when the ethical attribute benefit is congruent with the product category benefit, ethical attributes improve product evaluations. In addition, products with a higher degree of physical contact with consumers are affected more positively by benefit congruity of ethical attributes. For products with lower degree of (...) physical contact, benefit congruity of ethical attributes still has a positive impact, but not for consumers who have strong price–quality beliefs. (shrink)

Drawing on stakeholder theory and the concept of enlightened self-interest, we argue that firms that actively engage in corporate philanthropic giving also tend to demonstrate greater concern for investors’ interests by providing more transparent financial information and avoiding corporate misconduct. Moreover, the relationships between corporate giving, financial information transparency, and corporate misconduct vary significantly according to the firm’s ownership type, which affects the fundamental motivations for corporate philanthropy. In a sample of Chinese publicly listed firms from the 2003–2009 period, we (...) find a positive relationship between corporate giving and financial transparency, and note that the relationship is stronger for non-state-owned enterprises. We also find a significantly negative association between corporate giving and corporate misconduct for non-SOEs, but not for SOEs. Taken together, these findings suggest that responsibility to both stakeholders and shareholders is a vital part of building trust and reputations in China’s non-SOE sector. (shrink)