From the Symbolist period to the inter-war years, and in works ever more numerous as time went by, literature and medicine, both together and separately, constructed a discourse progressively focused on the enigma of the ‘third sex’. But how perceived? As an aberration, a mere legend, a mirage, a mental defect, a mistake of nature? The ‘third sex’ came to designate the sex of the indistinct, that which has no name, drawing within its sphere the primordial Adam, the angel, the (...) ephebe, the androgyne, the hermaphrodite, the transvestite, the effeminate male, the mannish woman, the pederast, the sodomite, the tribade, the Sapphist, the transsexual, the degenerate. Around 1900, to this unsettling tribe was even added the working woman who, as a result, was thought to have ‘abandoned her true condition’, and who thus had become ‘desexualized’ or ‘asexual’. In his preface to Willy's treatise on the Third Sex (1927), describing the Paris of Sodom and Gomorrah, Louis Estève drew attention to the part played by a now totally forgotten novel of the same name, The Third Sex by Ernst Ludwig von Wolzogen (1902), in the creation, handing down and popularization of this term. But contrary to what this title might suggest, Wolzogen does not focus on homosexuals in his book, but rather on those independent women, without husbands but with jobs, whom he refers to as ‘the neuters’. Neutrality conceived of as the effacement of the masculine and the feminine, perhaps as an effect of modern life? The theme has now come full circle in the corpus of reflection on the third sex, though it seems to have been applied more specifically to emancipated women, and singularly to lesbians. (shrink)

The third sex, which for a long period of history meant the androgyne and the homosexual, took on a new sense around 1900, when it was applied to emancipated women, who were featured by novelists and analysed by psychiatrists. Assimilated with lesbians, 'desexualized' by their modern way of life, they were labelled 'neuter', worker bees in a hive-state where 'female–male' markers were tending to disappear. Neither men in sex, nor women in gender (at least according to traditional assumptions), they constituted (...) a new 'battalion' which highlighted all the anxieties of the time: the involution of dimorphism, the threat of lack of differentiation and the 'extinction of the race'. But for those who accepted the label, neuterdom evolved from a pejorative concept into an instrument of a kind of liberation and the strategic means to set up creative space cleared of sexual stigma, until political cooption, aware of the resurgence of a 'superior species', changed its meaning and tipped over into the worst sort of excess. (shrink)

La psychiatrie est souvent présentée comme la science sexiste par excellence, les experts du psychisme ayant non seulement nourri les discours sur l’infériorité du « sexe faible », mais aussi très concrètement contribué à l’exclusion des femmes en acceptant « d’hospitaliser » celles qui refusaient de se conformer aux désirs masculins. Sans pour autant mettre en cause ce constat du rôle détestable joué par les psychiatres dans la répression des femmes, cet article propose de voir cette histoire sous un autre (...) angle en réfléchissant aux répercussions de cette prise de position sexiste sur l’agencement du savoir médical et, inversement, sur celui des représentations des patientes. L’exemple britannique montre en effet que les théories sur l’infériorité mentale des femmes n’ont pas été partagées par l’ensemble du corps médical et ont, en outre, parfois été fortement combattues par les malades – poussant ainsi à nuancer l’image d’un « pouvoir psychiatrique » univoque et tout-puissant. En retraçant les débats qui ont entouré l’émergence de la thèse du « cerveau faible » dans la Grande-Bretagne du xixe siècle, il s’agit donc de jeter un autre regard sur la construction (et la déconstruction) des catégories du savoir psychiatrique et de comprendre comment les sujets de ce savoir – les patientes – ont pu, par « en bas », influencer leur évolution. (shrink)

In this paper is examined the acceleration of convergence of alternative and non-alternative numerical and power series by means of an Euler-Abel type operator, that is defined earlier by G.A.Sorokin and I.Z.Milovanovic. Through this type of linear operator of generalized difference of sequence is achieved that alternative and non-alternative numerical and power series to be transformed into series with higher speed of convergence than the initial series. At the end of this paper is given the implementation of this method through (...) a numeric example. (shrink)

The current debate that surrounds the issue of patient rights and the transformation of health care, social insurance, and reimbursement systems has put the topic of patient responsibility on both the public and health care sectors' agenda. This climate of debate and transition provides an ideal time to rethink patient responsibilities, together with their underlying rationale, and to determine if they are properly represented when being called `patient' responsibilities. In this article we analyze the various types of patient responsibilities, identify (...) the underlying motivations behind their creation, and conclude upon their sensibleness and merit. The range of patient responsibilities that have been proposed and implemented can be reclassified and placed into one of four groups, which are more accurate descriptors of the nature of these responsibilities. We suggest that, within the framework of a free-market system, where health care services are provided based on the ability to pay for them, none of these can properly be justified as a patient responsibility. (shrink)

This article investigates account episodes in Italian family dinner conversations and illustrates how sequential patterns and participation are organized in terms of preferences indexical of moral ideology and moral order. Accounts have been mostly examined as speech acts abstracted from embedding sequential environment; this article shows that different design features of the priming move in account episodes retrospectively define different aspects of a situation as problematic and prospectively activate the relevance for distinctive remedial moves. On an ideological level, narrative elicitations (...) as priming moves and accounts as remedial moves index a moral perspective that promotes moral reasoning and thus the negotiation of norms. In addition, such moves realize a practice of morality that tends to be inquisitory vs condemnatory, offering the benefit of the doubt prior to guilt allocation. In conclusion, the discursive mechanics of accountability constitutes a medium for reproduction of, and innovation in, the moral order. (shrink)

This research paper aims to investigate. the impact of inflation. on financial sector performance in Western. Balkan. countries. The topic was chosen considering the financial sector’s fundamental role and its. impact on sustainable economic growth. This impact is measured through the effect that macroeconomic determinants of financial. performance such. as inflation, GDP. growth, general government final consumption expenditure, trade, and the lending interest rate have on credit to private sector as a share of GDP and broad definition of money as (...) a ratio of GDP, which were used to proxy financial sector development. The data are provided by the World Bank as well as the Central. Banks. of the respective countries, for the period 2002–2021. The research methodology consists of different panel regression models such as OLS, OLS robust, Fixed effects, Random effects, and Generalized method of moments (GMM). Findings indicate that domestic credit to the private sector and inflation are positively correlated, whereas broad money and inflation are negatively correlated. (shrink)

Introductory Chapter to the _Cambridge Handbook of Situated Cognition_ (CUP, 2009).

Extracting the regularities of our environment is one of our core cognitive abilities. To study the fine-grained dynamics of the extraction of embedded regularities, a method combining the advantages of the artificial language paradigm and the serial response time task was used with a group of Guinea baboons in a new automatic experimental device. After a series of random trials, monkeys were exposed to language-like patterns. We found that the extraction of embedded patterns positioned at the end of larger patterns (...) was faster than the extraction of initial embedded patterns. This result suggests that there is a learning advantage for the final element of a sequence that benefits from the contextual information provided by previous elements. (shrink)

Biographie de Simone Weil, philosophe, ouvrière, militante et résistante. De la guerre d'Espagne à l'usine, de l'exil à l'engagement au service de la France libre, un itinéraire ardent et insoumis. L'auteure a choisi de nous raconter cette destinée à rebours en commençant par la mort de la philosophe en 1943 à Londres. Contient une vingtaine de photographies en partie inédites.

Along with the developments in social, scientific, and technological fields, today’s conditions are constantly changing and becoming much more complex. Humans must keep pace with the rapidly changing world, meet requirements, and solve various problems encountered with minimal damage. One of the most crucial obligations is to preserve the delicate balance between nature and culture to make it sustainable for humanity. This study is carried out pursuant to semiotics with an interdisciplinary perspective dealing with the relation of culture with nature (...) and the role of humans, as a subject, in this relation regarding both natural and cultural heritages of Latmos. The study examines the subject’s acts and possible influences on nature, culture, and society in the region. It is seen that there is an uphill battle between two different subjects; the reason for this is a conflict of interest encountered on individual and social planes. On the one hand, one of the subjects is aware of the positive effects of preserving natural and cultural values on society and its future. On the other hand, another subject is unaware of all these or is aware of them but ignores natural and cultural values and destroys them for the sake of self-interest. (shrink)

It might seem obvious that dealing with death anxiety in the health care system is desirable. Hence, there are either voices that demand more research on how this openness can be fostered or those who consider this topic unworthy of further investigations because of its triviality. The idea behind both deficient perspectives is that the health care system as a communication system can assume the position of a second-order observer who can account for his deficits. However, in terms of Luhmannian (...) systems theory, external perturbations cannot force a functional system to reflect and change the structure of his communications in a certain way. The health care system as a communication system cannot do more than integrating the topic of death anxiety in terms of its functional perpetuation. For example, in hospitals, neither health care staff nor external counselors are able to address existential issues without being affected by functional and structural requirements of the hospital. We present an outline for the justification of the avoidance of death-anxiety related talk in the health care system by reference to systems theory and existential philosophy. (shrink)

Dede Korkut Stories are a national cultural heritage that narrates about events and challenges of Oghuz Turks in 10th-11th centuries. This period of time is important, as it was the times when Turks became Muslims. In this work, heroism, customs, habits and traditions, socio-cultural and moral life of the Turks before and after becoming Muslims are analysed. One of the topics addressed in this work is religious beliefs and worships of the Turks after became Muslims. In this context, the belief (...) in Allah appears to be the most emphasized type of belief in the stories. The theme of fate, which is included in the subjects of Tawḥīd (oneness of Allāh) is another theme mentioned in the stories. The stories also includes some expressions regarding particularly the Prophet Muḥammad as well as some other prophets. Jibrīl and ʿAzrāʾīl angels are also mentioned. As for the Divine Books, only the Qur’ān is namely addressed and other divine books are not mentioned. The beliefs regarding afterlife, such as death, resurrection, heaven, hell, pool of al-Kawthar (abundance) are also referred to in the stories. The Book of Dede Korkut is not a didactic work written to teach Islam. On the contrary, in the stories, Islam is discussed as an element of the spirit/essence of individual and society. The aim of this study is to investigate the representations of the beliefs of tawḥīd, prophecy and hereafter of the Turks, especially the Oghuz Turks with reference to narrations in Dede Korkut stories. It aims to discuss them in the context of six pillars of faith and evaluate from the Islamic belief point of view.Summary: The Book of Dede Korkut consists of twelve epic stories created within the oral tradition of Turkish Folk Literature. It is said that the origins of these stories, which are one of the oldest works of Turkish Folk Literature, went as far as 7th century. It is generally accepted that the Book of Dede Korkut, which narrates about Oghuz Turks who lived in 10th-11th centuries was transferred to writing after 15th century. There is no information found about writer/s of the Book. Dede Korkut, who considered being the narrator of the stories, is in fact a character in the stories. Dede Korkut plays qobuz, reads poetry, names children, mediates in marital affairs, resolves disputes, and leads religious rituals in the stories. Therefore, he stands out as a saint figure and considered to be wise man of the Oghuz Turks in almost every story, especially regarding social events. In this work, there are many expressions about heroism, customs, habits and traditions, socio-cultural and moral experiences of the Turks before and after becoming Muslims. The stories bear many traces from the earlier Turkish beliefs. However, these are not the issues of this study. The dates of the emergence of the stories, 10th and 11th centuries, coincides with the times when the Turks became Muslim. This situation makes the stories more important as they include rich narratives about the fundamental beliefs of Islam. Especially the belief in Allāh, which is one of the six pillars of faith, appears to be the most emphasized in the stories. In these stories, Turkish and Persian names of Allāh as well as His Arabic names and attributes are mentioned directly or indirectly.The belief in predestination and casualty related with Allāh's eternal knowledge and determination is another faith object that takes place in the stories. The issues regarding the predestination discussed in the stories as follows: the deeds occur with the wish of Allāh; Allāh decides whether the child male or female; Allāh predestines human lifetime, livelihood, time of death and calamities.There are also narrations about the belief in the prophets in the stories. Particularly the Prophet Muhammad's prophecy is prioritised. Adam, Noah, Abraham, and Moses are the other prophets mentioned in the stories. The successive authority of Adam and His story with Iblīs; the wife and donkey of Noah, not burning of Abraham when he was thrown into the fire, the speaking of Allāh with Moses and the staff of Moses are some of the expressions related with prophecy in the stories. Nimrod against Abraham and Pharaoh against Moses are described as negative personalities in the stories. In the stories, the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) is handled in a position that intercession is demanded from Him. Greetings and prayers are read for Him. His intercession is sought for forgiveness of sins and acceptance of prayers. He is exalted with some attributions, such as the holly Prophet Peace be upon Him, friend of Allāh, the leader of religion and the headman of religion. When the Prophet Muhammad is mentioned, it is felt that there is a high respect and an enthusiastic love. When he is addressed, the expressions indicating respect and affection, such as "His name is magnificent Muhammad" and "His name is magnificent Muhammad Mustafa" are used in the stories.In the stories, only the Qur’ān is mentioned among the divine books, none of the Torah, the Zabūr and the Injīl is mentioned. It is referred that the Qur’ān descended from the heavens and it is the word of Allāh and His knowledge, and it was copied (collected) by Uthman. It is described as "Magnificent Qur’ān".It is seen in the stories that there is also a place for the belief in angels and only two of the four great angels are mentioned. One of them is ʿAzrāʾīl, the death angel. It is one of the main heroes in the story of Deli Dumrul. ʿAzrāʾīl is described as an angel from the sky, who has red-winged, who takes the souls of living beings by the command of Allāh and kill them. It is also narrated that ʿAzrāʾīl takes the form of human and pigeon, and the struggle of ʿAzrāʾīl with Deli Dumrul. The other great angel mentioned in the stories is Jibrīl. In the story of Emre, the Son of Begil, it is described as an angel fulfilling the commandments of Allāh. Apart from these, there is no information about other angels and their characteristics, such as not being gendered, not to sin, and being created from light. Within the scope of invisible beings, the Devil is also narrated in the stories as it did not prostrate itself to Adam, and therefore it was repelled and cursed.The principle of the belief in Hereafter, which is one of the pillars of faith, is also dealt with in the stories. The ending, death, resurrection, reckoning, Heaven, Hell, seeing Allāh's face in Heaven, drinking water from the pool of al-Kawthar are some of the topics addressed in relation to this principle. While talking about Heaven in the stories, the words "Uçmak" (flight) in Turkish and "Behesht" (paradise) in Persian are mentioned in addition to Arabic "Jannah" (heaven).The Book of Dede Korkut is not a religious book written to teach the ʿaqāʾid (beliefs) of Islam or its practices. On the contrary, it is a work that narrates about people’s lives and social experiences. There is neither any specific verse from the Qur’ān nor sayings or the deeds of the Prophet (ḥadīth) included in the stories. However, the contents of many issues stated in the Qur’ān and ḥadīth are expressed in the stories. For instance, the statements from the surah (chapter) al-Ikhlāṣ (sincerity), such as al-Aḥad (the one), Allāh begets not, nor was He begotten, and not being any equivalent to Him are mentioned in the stories. Likewise, not burning of the Prophet Abraham when thrown into the fire, speaking of Allāh with Moses and giving the stuff to him as a miracle are also stated in the Qur’ān. As for the pool of al-Kawthar, the believers’ seeing Allāh in Heaven, ineffectiveness of the deeds without saying in the name of Allah are mentioned in ḥadīths. However, some information that is not rooted in the Qur’ān and ḥadīths, such as the stinging of Nimrod's arrow is also encountered in the stories. Based on the narrations in the stories, it seems possible to draw the conclusion that the Oghuz Turks mentioned in the Book of Dede Korkut adopted Ahl al-Sunnah (people of Sunnah) interpretation of Islam. However, it should be reminded that this implication will lose its meaning if it is proved that the original versions of the stories were redesigned according to the interpretation of Ahl al-Sunnah in the process of transferring them into writing. (shrink)

The review of literature on stakeholders reveals that there is need to understand more about firm-stakeholder relationships especially from stakeholders’ point of view. Market integration in the European Union (EU) provides an excellent context for increasing such understanding since it is creating opportunities and threats for firms and their stakeholders. This research aims to make a contribution in this direction by analyzing strategic responses of primary stakeholders to selected threat events in the history of Volkswagen (VW) since 1960.

La possibilité de transplantation d’organes a posé de nouveaux problèmes à l’éthique médicale aussi bien qu’à la médecine clinique. Deux systèmes tentent de résoudre l’un de ces problèmes, celui qui concerne l’approvisionnement en organes. Nombre d’États ont adopté le système « optin » qui cherche à répandre la conscience du problème et du choix personnel de l’individu de faire le don de ses organes. Un autre système, appelé « optout » ou « accord tacite », où tous les membres de (...) la société sont considérés comme donateurs potentiels, a été introduit dans certains pays. Dans ce système, les individus doivent indiquer explicitement qu’ils ne souhaitent pas donner leurs organes, faute de quoi ils sont considérés comme donateurs. En essayant de baser notre argumentaire sur les diverses justifications, nous soutenons que le système « optout » est plus juste, compte tenu du droit à l’accès aux soins médicaux nécessaires. Il devrait par conséquent être introduit à la place de « optin ». (shrink)

Die Möglichkeit zur Organtransplantation kreierte neue Probleme für die Medizinethik wie auch für die klinische Medizin. Eines davon, die Organbeschaffung, versucht man hauptsächlich mithilfe zweier Systeme anzugehen. Zahlreiche Staaten haben das ‚OptinSystem’ angenommen, das die Bewusstseinserhöhung sowie Selbstentscheidung der Einzelnen zur Organspende anzielt. Das andere System, das ‚Optout’ bzw. die ‚angenommene Zustimmung’, das sämtliche Gesellschaftsmitglieder als potenzielle Organspender ansieht, wurde von einigen Staaten übernommen. In diesem System sollen Einzelne ausdrücklich erklären, sie wollen keine Organe spenden, anderenfalls werden sie für Organspender (...) gehalten. Indem wir unser Argument auf unterschiedliche Rechtfertigungen zu gründen suchen, behaupten wir, das OptoutSystem zur Organbeschaffung sei eine gerechtere Option in puncto Recht auf Zugang zur notwendigen Gesundheitsfürsorge, und demzufolge solle es anstelle des Optin implementiert werden. (shrink)

The possibility of organ transplantation has created new problems for medical ethics as well as clinical medicine. One of them, organ procurement, is tried to be solved mainly by two systems. Many countries have adopted the ‘optin system’, which aims to raise awareness and make the individuals donate their organs by their own will. The other system, ‘optout’ or ‘presumed consent’, which considers all members of society as potential donors, was adopted by some countries. In this system, individuals should state (...) that they do not wish to donate their organs; otherwise they are considered as donors. By trying to ground our argument with various justifications, we claim that optout system for organ procurement is a fairer option regarding the right to access to healthcare needed, and therefore it should be implemented instead of optin. (shrink)

Mogućnost transplantacije organa je otvorila nove probleme kako u medicinskoj etici tako i u kliničkoj medicini. Jedan od njih, pribavljanje organa, pokušava se riješiti uglavnom pomoću dva sustava. Mnoge države su prihvatile ‘optin’ sustav, koji teži širenju svijesti o problemu i vlastitom izboru pojedinca da donira svoje organe. Drugi sustav, ‘optout’ ili ‘pretpostavljeni pristanak’, u kojem se svi članovi društva smatraju potencijalnim donorima, uveden je u nekolicini zemalja. U tom sustavu, pojedinci trebaju izričito navesti da ne žele donirati svoje organe; (...) u suprotnom se smatraju donorima. U pokušaju utemeljenja našeg argumenta na različitim opravdanjima, tvrdimo da je ‘optout’ sustav pribavljanja organa pravednija opcija, uzimajući u obzir pravo na pristup potrebnoj zdravstvenoj skrbi, te bi stoga treba biti uveden umjesto ‘optin’ sustava. (shrink)

Dans le cadre d’une approche pragmatique, centrée sur l’usage en contexte des formes linguistiques, nous opérons une disjonction fondamentale entre fonction d’exclamation et formes d’exclamation. Le corpus choisi illustre la grande diversité des formes d’exclamation en anglais, qui ne se réduisent pas aux exclamatives en what et how. En nous appuyant sur divers travaux pragmatiques, nous montrons que la fonction d’exclamation est éminemment complexe, liée à l’expression de la subjectivité du locuteur mais également à des paramètres intersubjectifs : elle exprime (...) prototypiquement un décalage cognitif entre un état de fait et des représentations, ou entre deux états de fait, mais elle peut aussi être motivée par des conventions sociales, ou participer d’un positionnement expressif particulier d’un locuteur vis-à-vis de son interlocuteur. (shrink)

This book represents the author's view of humanity.

La totalité n’est-elle que réduction à l’Un et sclérose de la pensée? Pour Alexandre de Halès et saint Bonaventure, la totalité bien comprise n’est pas incompatible avec une multiplicité réelle et favorise à la fois la consistance ontologique et l’intelligibilité de celle-ci. À partir d’une réflexion sur le « tout parfait » (Aristote) et le « tout de puissances » (Boèce), Alexandre forge un concept de totalité compatible avec la présence d’immensité divine et même, dans le cas de Bonaventure, avec (...) l’infinité et la simplicité de Dieu. Apparaît ainsi une conception hospitalière de la totalité, qui rejaillit sur la cosmologie et l’anthropologie. (shrink)

The purpose of this paper is to develop an understanding about the internal fraud and corruption problem in the Turkish construction industry. The reasons behind the internal fraud and corruption problem as well as the types of prevention methods were investigated; and as a result various recommendations were made. To this end, a risk awareness questionnaire was used to understand the behavioral patterns of the construction industry, and to clarify possible proactive and reactive measures against internal fraud and corruption. The (...) type of fraud experienced by Turkish construction companies was also surveyed in the questionnaire. The questionnaire was sent to 89 firms; and depending on the collected data, certain recommendations for construction industry professionals were provided. (shrink)

La présente étude propose de faire le point, à travers une sélection d’occurrences extraites d’un document commun, sur la manière dont la classe des pronoms est décrite dans une perspective cognitive. Il s’agit notamment de comprendre comment le traitement des pronoms s’insère dans une modélisation plus large du langage, et à l’inverse, comment celle-ci influence les perspectives sur la classe. Plus spécifiquement, hormis certaines modélisations de l’accès à la référence, c’est la Grammaire Cognitive de Langacker qui est considérée ici. Après (...) une définition du terme même de perspective « cognitive », l’étude met en avant les caractéristiques partagées des pronoms dans ce modèle. Elle propose ensuite un panorama des différentes sous-classes de pronoms. Elle fait apparaître notamment la centralité du pronom personnel et du démonstratif ; le rejet du principe de réagencement au profit de constructions ; le rejet du principe de pronoms « vides de sens » ; enfin, une extension de la notion d’impersonnel à we ou they. Le concept de « clivée en there », emprunté à Davidse et Reeve plutôt qu’à la Grammaire Cognitive, est également proposé. (shrink)

Cognitive Science, Volume 46, Issue 4, April 2022.

This article proposes to retrace the path of trust that Paul Ricœur has drawn across his works. If the concept of trust is never themed as such, nevertheless it unfolds in subtle ways in fields as diverse as ethics, morality, politics, and religion. We will argue that trust is a solid but fragile foundation for Ricœur’s recognition theory. Rooted in man’s structural disproportion, trust is a perpetual tension between the finitude of existence and the infinitude of mutual recognition, between the (...) ability and fallibility of the human being -it is thus a continuous search, always disappointing but always renewed, of a mediation between the self and the other, the hope of happiness and the reality of evil. The analysis of various forms of trust, including interpersonal and institutional forms, will then be coupled with a study of trust in practical terms, based on Ricœur’s approach to healthcare relationships, or the perception of foreigners. (shrink)

There is a strong association between reliance on the promotional activities of pharmaceutical companies and a generally less appropriate use of prescription drugs. Pharmaceutical companies direct some of their promotion towards health workers who do not have the authority to prescribe medicines, such as nurses in certain countries. The aim of this study was to determine the impact that exposure to the marketing methods of pharmaceutical companies has on judgments made by nursing students about health worker—pharmaceutical company relationships. A cross-sectional (...) survey was carried out with 442 nursing students in Istanbul, Turkey. The exposure of students to the marketing methods of pharmaceutical companies, whether it be indirectly through observation or directly by first-hand experience, increases the probability that students will adopt rationales that underlie affirmative judgments of health worker—pharmaceutical company relationships. Based on the pervasiveness and ability of drug promotion to influence the perceptions of students, it is imperative that attempts be made to reduce its negative impact. (shrink)

Despite decades of development, Actor-Network Theory continues to be characterized by a good deal of ambiguities and internal tensions. This situation has led to a suggestion that instead of one ANT it may be meaningful to speak of ‘the ANT multiple’. Following this line of reasoning, this article aims to create a map of the variety of positions riding under the ANT banner. Based on an in-depth reading of ANT literature, seven different interpretations of ANT are identified and subjected to (...) critical analysis while accommodating for the concerns of ANT proponents about the way ANT has been previously criticized. The results of the analysis serve to increase the reflexivity of both sides of the debate about their underlying assumptions, and provide suggestions how ANT could be employed, developed and criticized more productively in the future. (shrink)

Despite decades of development, Actor-Network Theory continues to be characterized by a good deal of ambiguities and internal tensions. This situation has led to a suggestion that instead of one ANT it may be meaningful to speak of ‘the ANT multiple’. Following this line of reasoning, this article aims to create a map of the variety of positions riding under the ANT banner. Based on an in-depth reading of ANT literature, seven different interpretations of ANT are identified and subjected to (...) critical analysis; it also accommodates for the concerns of ANT proponents about the way ANT has been previously criticized. The results of the analysis serve to increase the reflexivity of both sides of the debate about their underlying assumptions, and provide suggestions how ANT could be employed, developed and criticized more productively in the future. (shrink)