In this paper, we argue that the future of development in Africa lies in the shift from democracy in the conventional sense to technocracy, where the role of the expert is recognized and appreciated. We set out by presenting conceptualizations ofdemocracy and technocracy. Thereafter, we highlight the challenge posed by the demands of the information society to traditional concepts of democracy.

Drawing on his investigation of over one hundred mid-Victorian British newspapers and periodicals, Alvar Ellegård describes and analyzes the impact of Darwin's theory of evolution during the first dozen years after the publication of the Origin of Species . Although Darwin's book caused an immediate stir in literary and scientific periodicals, the popular press largely ignored it. Only after the work's implications for theology and the nature of man became evident did general publications feel compelled to react; each social group (...) responded according to his own political and religious prejudices. Ellegård charts the impact of this revolution in science, maintaining that although the idea of evolution was generally accepted, Darwin's primary contribution, the theory of natural selection, was either ignored or rejected among the public. (shrink)

This paper seeks to provide guidelines on how to respond to the ethical challenges entailed in corporate communication. It argues for the need for an ethical grounding for the practitioner of corporate communication, before critically examining the two broad ethical theories - deontology and teleology - and their place in ethical judgment. The authors underscore the importance of deontological ethics in the practice of corporate communication.

Discusses questions of causation, substance, and identity. Among the philosophers discussed are: Immanuel Kant, Thomas Acuin, Augustine, Plato, David Hume, John Locke, Socrates, Aristotle, Baruch Spinoza, Descartes, Leibniz, and Hegel.

Most of the on-going debate is about “how” to protect archaeological ruins, whilst at the same time allowing the general public to enjoy them. Today it is clear how important it is, from the actual planning stages of excavations, to interact with experts from other disciplines, who are working on their own findings and offering them up for collective enjoyment. Whatever might be feasible for an indoor museum is not always feasible with an architectonic ruin, as regards both presenting objects (...) with explicative apparatus that determines their significance, and exploring them in a new way when interpretations change or new ideologies are introduced. First of all, conserving excavations is the not the same as conserving a transportable object. In the past many countries in Europe preferred to “present” Roman remains simply as “gardens of ruins”, often endeavouring to stand them in sharp contrast with a more recurrent evocation of the original contexts of local life. Recently, with regard to the Roman tradition, there has been a noticeable inversion of trend in musealization operations, according to which the mere “contemplation of ruins” should be replaced by emotional contact with history. The main consequence of these new tendencies is the replacement of an informatics-based and didactic approach to musealization, in favour of a more authentically interpretative approach. Back-up resulting from experimentation in the fields of restoration and conservation becomes indispensible in implementing these new strategies for the musealization of archaeology. Continuous research and the progressive advance of conservation techniques have meant that the need to transfer archaeological remains has been avoided and an improved in situ “presentation” of these remains, both movable and immovable, can now be guaranteed. (shrink)

Graphical AbstractYeast mitochondria frequently mutate, and some dysfunctional mitochondria out-compete wild-type versions. The retrograde response enables yeast to tolerate dysfunction, but also produces ribosomal DNA circles (ERCs). We propose that ERC accumulation increases expression of the rDNA antisense gene, TAR1, which counteracts spread of respiration-deficient mitochondria in matings with wild-type yeast.

L’auteur de Représentations et normes liées à la masculinité : Construction d’un concept hier et aujourd’hui. Pour une masculinité positive dans une perspective biblique, Genève : Globethics, 2023, 327p. ISBN : 978-2-88931-511-6 présente ici le problème à la fois plus large et plus étroit des défis de l’éducation dans le contexte du genre. Ce défi éducatif est plus étroit car par éducation on entend un bagage d’expériences de formation, une sorte d’émulation scolaire précise, celle enseignée par le maître d’école, et (...) on ne fait pas référence, par exemple, aux traditions et aux mœurs transmises au sein de la famille, ni à l’édification et à l’élévation de l’âme associées à l’expérience religieuse. L’éducation et le contexte du genre peuvent aussi ouvrir un horizon plus large que la question du genre masculin, traité dans l’essai de l’auteur ; cet horizon ne reste pas moins un défi. Tandis que les « lois sont soit inconnues soit quotidiennement violées en faveur du respect des normes établies par la culture. » On assiste en RD Congo à l’augmentation de la vulnérabilité des femmes, processus initié en grande partie dans le milieu scolaire. (shrink)

Does “The Colbert Report” promote democratic values in American political dialogue? If so, does it encourage substantive criticism of political orthodoxy? Or does it just encourage the politics of cynicism, like so many other cable news shows? We claim that Stephen Colbert's style of political satire promotes democratic values of free, open, and critical speech because it reflects an ethical commitment that evokes the earlier spirit of criticism embodied by the ancient Greek philosophical tradition of _parrhesia_, or "speaking the truth" (...) fearlessly in public. (shrink)