As emerging technologies support new ways in which people relate, ethical discourse is important to help guide designers of new technologies. This article endeavors to do just that by presenting an ethical analysis and design of technology intended to gather and act upon information on behalf of its users. The article elaborates on socio-technological factors that affect the development of technology to support ethical action. Research and practice implications are outlined.

Arnold J. Toynbee was not only a controversial historian, but also a beguiling internationalist. This article analyses Toynbee as an observer of international politics. In particular, it examines both his understanding of contemporary foreign politics and his constant search of a stable world order. From the idealism of his youth to the utopianism of religious origin that marked his final years, passing through his partial and temporary disenchantment with regard to his youthful expectations, this essay will follow Toynbee’s path in (...) the study of the international affairs of the Twentieth century. (shrink)

El propósito de este artículo es analizar el concepto de mentira moderna u organizada en la obra de Hannah Arendt. Con agudeza, Arendt pone de relieve una experiencia particular del Mundo Moderno, aquella en la que una comunidad puede falsear deliberadamente realidades conocidas por todos y tener la mentira como principio político. Esta comprensión pone al concepto en un registro diferente del tradicional de los arcana dominationis. Nuestro argumento intenta clarificar analíticamente el concepto, señalar su pertinencia y vincularlo a una (...) idea de auto-institución de las sociedades entendidas como colectividades históricamente activas. (shrink)

El presente artículo se propone indagar los problemas que hacen al déficit de legitimidad de lo que ha dado en llamarse la "justicia política", esto es, las respuestas judiciales frente a herencias de criminalidad política. Sugerimos que se trata de problemas estructurales que están en los límites de lo jurídico y que, por tanto, no constituyen una falla del sistema judicial en sí mismo. Con ese fin, sobre la base de los análisis realizados por Danilo Zolo y Hannah Arendt, examinamos (...) problemas estructurales en tres niveles: en la imparcialidad e independencia del tribunal, en el respeto de los principios, las normas y los procedimientos del derecho, y en el requisito de un elemento subjetivo para atribuir la responsabilidad penal de un crimen. Le propos de notre article est celui de s'interroger sur les problèmes qui produisent un déficit de légitimité en ce qu'on a appelé la " justice politique ", c'est-à-dire, les réponses judiciaires qu'on donne au legs de criminalité politique. Nous suggérons qu'il s'agit de problèmes structurels qui se situent à la limite du juridique et qui, par conséquent, ne constituent pas une faille du système juridique lui-même. Dans ce but, et sur la base des analyses réalisées par Danilo Zolo et Hannah Arendt, nous examinons trois types des problèmes : ceux qui tiennent à l'impartialité et à l'indépendance du tribunal, ceux concernant le respect des principes, normes et procédures du droit, et celui lié a l'exigence d'un élément subjectif dans l'attribution de la responsabilité pénale d'un crime. (shrink)

How can reformational philosophy help us reconceptualise the notion of security? In the field of Security Studies, theoreticalismsabound, each of them rooted in a different philosophical tradition. One of these approaches, “securitization theory”, portrays security in connection to five “sectors” that seem to reflect some of the basic aspects of the cosmos analysed by reformational philosophy. I consider the potential of this theory in an initial attempt to introduce a reformational approach to Security Studies. I also briefly consider some of (...) its shortcomings. Finally, I reflect on the basic elements of a reformational notion of security. At this stage I am not offering a new theory of security but merely beginning to sketch a new concept of security in light of reformational philosophy. (shrink)

We examine access to institutions and opportunity for entrepreneurs in a rising tech economy. A significant proportion of entrepreneurs and CEOs of tech firms in the American economy are either first- or second-generation immigrant minorities. Are these minority entrepreneurs assimilating into a rising economic elite? To what extent is the technology economy segmented by ethnic boundaries and sectors? On a range of empirical measures, including access to financial and social capital, firm performance, and normative beliefs on fairness and cooperation, we (...) find second-generation immigrant minority tech entrepreneurs to be strikingly similar to their white counterparts. This study sheds new light on the institutional environment of a new regional technology economy, whereby barriers of entry are high in terms of human capital but economic competition is structurally and culturally open to immigrant minority entrepreneurs. (shrink)

Past research suggests that death pushes some individuals to strongly promote religious worldviews. The current work explores the role of conceptual metaphor in this process. Past research shows that metaphors can provide meaning and certainty, suggesting that death may therefore cause people to be more attracted to epistemically beneficial metaphoric descriptions of God. In three studies, we test this possibility against competing alternatives suggesting that death concerns may cause more selective metaphor preferences. Using both correlational and experimental methods, we find (...) that death concern is generally associated with embracing metaphors about God. (shrink)

The study tests the hypothesis that conditional probability judgments can be influenced by causal links between the target event and the evidence even when the statistical relations among variables are held constant. Three experiments varied the causal structure relating three variables and found that (a) the target event was perceived as more probable when it was linked to evidence by a causal chain than when both variables shared a common cause; (b) predictive chains in which evidence is a cause of (...) the hypothesis gave rise to higher judgments than diagnostic chains in which evidence is an effect of the hypothesis; and (c) direct chains gave rise to higher judgments than indirect chains. A Bayesian learning model was applied to our data but failed to explain them. An explanation-based hypothesis stating that statistical information will affect judgments only to the extent that it changes beliefs about causal structure is consistent with the results. (shrink)

This piece outlines concrete cases of benefit sharing that occur in relation to the sharing of human (biological) samples. For example, it surveys Indonesia’s decision, in 2006, to stop sharing virus samples of H5N1 (avian influenza) with the WHO Global Influenza Surveillance Network (GISN). It also outlines some of the ethical issues that arise in these cases.

From past research it is well known that social exclusion has detrimental consequences for mental health. To deal with these adverse effects, socially excluded individuals frequently turn to other humans for emotional support. While chatbots can elicit social and emotional responses on the part of the human interlocutor, their effectiveness in the context of social exclusion has not been investigated. In the present study, we examined whether an empathic chatbot can serve as a buffer against the adverse effects of social (...) ostracism. After experiencing exclusion on social media, participants were randomly assigned to either talk with an empathetic chatbot about it (e.g., “I'm sorry that this happened to you”) or a control condition where their responses were merely acknowledged (e.g., “Thank you for your feedback”). Replicating previous research, results revealed that experiences of social exclusion dampened the mood of participants. Interacting with an empathetic chatbot, however, appeared to have a mitigating impact. In particular, participants in the chatbot intervention condition reported higher mood than those in the control condition. Theoretical, methodological, and practical implications, as well as directions for future research are discussed. (shrink)