Biopolitics and necropolitics have used animals as a concept to illustrate a particular human biopolitical situation, much in the “tradition” of Aristotle’s provisional biopolitics. In the Western context, not only our understanding of politics but also tropology and the conceptual apparatus itself are haunted by this ancient legacy, which underlies a vertical ontology tied to processes of spatialization and containment, a vertical ontology that enables an intelligibility of figurative translation. The article considers tropological systems as systems embedded in particular forms (...) of governmentality, forms of the violent administration of life and death. To show how certain bodies are marked as animal or animal-like and used in the (metaphorical) processes of exclusion/inclusion, it focuses on Giorgio Agamben’s thoughts on Carolus Linnaeus and Zakiyyah Iman Jackson’s analysis of metaphorics in the most recent (r)evolutionary theory, symbiogenesis, developed by Lynn Margulis. Moreover, to radically disturb the graduated ontological premises of traditional stylistics and tropology, we move beyond existing conceptualizations of the body and the sovereign, all of which are based on de-borderization, intersections, movements, and transfigurations. (shrink)

Review of _On Biopolitics: An Inquiry into Nature and Language_ by Marco Piasentier (New York: Routledge, 2021).

Delusions of Feminism analyzes the fundamental characteristics of modern feminism. The starting point of the analysis is the changed social and historical context, in which modern feminism repeats and reproduces the theoretical tenets of feminism of the 20th century. As a result, contemporary feminism is unable to properly contextualize the situation of women today, just as it is unable to transcend its Eurocentric and colonial attitudes and other problematic characteristics.--Publisher's website.

In recent years, the ethical impact of AI has been increasingly scrutinized, with public scandals emerging over biased outcomes, lack of transparency, and the misuse of data. This has led to a growing mistrust of AI and increased calls for mandated ethical audits of algorithms. Current proposals for ethical assessment of algorithms are either too high level to be put into practice without further guidance, or they focus on very specific and technical notions of fairness or transparency that do not (...) consider multiple stakeholders or the broader social context. In this article, we present an auditing framework to guide the ethical assessment of an algorithm. The audit instrument itself is comprised of three elements: a list of possible interests of stakeholders affected by the algorithm, an assessment of metrics that describe key ethically salient features of the algorithm, and a relevancy matrix that connects the assessed metrics to stakeholder interests. The proposed audit instrument yields an ethical evaluation of an algorithm that could be used by regulators and others interested in doing due diligence, while paying careful attention to the complex societal context within which the algorithm is deployed. (shrink)

In this paper, we distinguish between different sorts of assessments of algorithmic systems, describe our process of assessing such systems for ethical risk, and share some key challenges and lessons for future algorithm assessments and audits. Given the distinctive nature and function of a third-party audit, and the uncertain and shifting regulatory landscape, we suggest that second-party assessments are currently the primary mechanisms for analyzing the social impacts of systems that incorporate artificial intelligence. We then discuss two kinds of as-sessments: (...) an ethical risk assessment and a narrower, technical algo-rithmic bias assessment. We explain how the two assessments depend on each other, highlight the importance of situating the algorithm within its particular socio-technical context, and discuss a number of lessons and challenges for algorithm assessments and, potentially, for algorithm audits. The discussion builds on our team’s experience of advising and conducting ethical risk assessments for clients across dif-ferent industries in the last four years. Our main goal is to reflect on the key factors that are potentially ethically relevant in the use of algo-rithms, and draw lessons for the nascent algorithm assessment and audit industry, in the hope of helping all parties minimize the risk of harm from their use. (shrink)

This article is a result of a unique project that brought together academics and military practitioners with a mind to addressing difficult moral questions in a way that is philosophically careful,...

U novije vrijeme smatra se da učitelji imaju ključnu ulogu u suočavanju s problemom vršnjačkog nasilja, a za kvalitetne intervencije važna je kompetentnost učitelja. Cilj ovog istraživanja je ispitati odnos kompetentnosti i percipirane ozbiljnosti nasilne situacije u predviđanju intervencija učitelja u slučajevima vršnjačkog nasilja. Istraživanje je provedeno na nacionalno reprezentativnom uzorku učitelja osnovnih škola u Republici Hrvatskoj, prosječne dobi 43 godine. Za prikupljanje podataka, uz upitnik sociodemografskih karakteristika, korištene su Vinjete te Skala samoprocjene kompetentnosti za rad učitelja na problemima vršnjačkog (...) nasilja. Uz analizu temeljnih odrednica kompetentnosti utvrđeno je da će učitelji koji su kompetentniji procjenjivati nasilje ozbiljnije od svojih manje kompetentnih kolega, a oni koji nasilje percipiraju ozbiljnije češće će i intervenirati. Rezultati pokazuju da kompetentnost ima značajnu prediktivnu ulogu u predviđanju intervencija, a u tom odnosu ozbiljnost nasilja ima moderatorski efekt. Najnižu vjerojatnost intervencije imaju učitelji s niskom kompetentnosti i niskom percepcijom ozbiljnosti nasilja, a najvišu vjerojatnost intervencije imaju učitelji koji imaju visoke razine kompetentnosti i procjenjuju nasilje ozbiljnim. Uz temeljno određenje kompetentnosti, ovaj rad nudi i relevantne smjernice za edukaciju učitelja. In recent times, teachers are considered to play a key role in dealing with the problem of peer violence and their competence is very important for quality interventions. The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between competence and perceived severity of a violent situation in predicting teacher intervention in cases of peer violence. The research was conducted on a nationally representative sample of primary school teachers in the Republic of Croatia, average age 43 years. In addition to the socio-demographic characteristics questionnaire, data was collected via Vignettes and the Self- Assessment Competence Scale for Teachers’ Work on Peer Violence Problems. In addition to the analysis of the basic determinants of competence, it was found that teachers who are more competent will assess violence somewhat more seriously than their less competent colleagues, and those who perceive violence more seriously will also intervene more often. The results show that competence has a significant predictive role in predicting interventions, and in this respect the severity of violence has a moderating effect. Teachers with low competence and low perception of the severity of violence have the lowest probability of intervention, and teachers with high levels of competence who assess violence as serious have the highest probability of intervention. (shrink)

In recent times, teachers are considered to play a key role in dealing with the problem of peer violence and their competence is very important for quality interventions. The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between competence and perceived severity of a violent situation in predicting teacher intervention in cases of peer violence. The research was conducted on a nationally representative sample of primary school teachers in the Republic of Croatia, average age 43 years. In addition to (...) the socio-demographic characteristics questionnaire, data was collected via Vignettes and the Self- Assessment Competence Scale for Teachers’ Work on Peer Violence Problems. In addition to the analysis of the basic determinants of competence, it was found that teachers who are more competent will assess violence somewhat more seriously than their less competent colleagues, and those who perceive violence more seriously will also intervene more often. The results show that competence has a significant predictive role in predicting interventions, and in this respect the severity of violence has a moderating effect. Teachers with low competence and low perception of the severity of violence have the lowest probability of intervention, and teachers with high levels of competence who assess violence as serious have the highest probability of intervention. (shrink)

Davidovic asks what gives the international community the authority to punish some crimes? On one prominent view some crimes (genome, torture) are so heinous that the international community, so long as its procedures are fair, is justified in prosecuting them. Another view contends that heinousness alone is not enough to justify international prosecution: what is needed is an account of why the international community, in particular, has standing to hold the perpetrators to account. Davidovic raises concerns about both (...) of these views and then defends her own account. On her view, the heinousness of the crimes is relevant, but what makes these crimes the business of the international community is that the community in fact recognizes certain norms against especially heinous crimes. If the international community fails to prosecute and punish those who perpetrate these crimes, this impunity undermines the rule of law, and thereby hinders the maintenance of peace the the protection of human rights. (shrink)

Accumulating data suggest that the eukaryotic cell originated from a merger of two prokaryotes, an archaeal host and a bacterial endosymbiont. However, since prokaryotes are unable to perform phagocytosis, the means by which the endosymbiont entered its host is an enigma. We suggest that a predatory or parasitic interaction between prokaryotes provides a reasonable explanation for this conundrum. According to the model presented here, the host in this interaction was an anaerobic archaeon with a periplasm‐like space. The predator was a (...) small (facultative) aerobic α‐proteobacterium, which penetrated and replicated within the host periplasm, and later became the mitochondria. Plausible conditions under which this interaction took place and circumstances that may have led to the contemporary complex eukaryotic cell are discussed. (shrink)

The rules as we know today in modern societies have their base in the Magna Carta from 1215. In that time people declared that the rights of the king and nobles must be limited and that was the first step toward as we know today “democracy”. The rights incorporated in the Magna Carta defined the limits what a state can do and also set boundaries in order to achieve equality between the state and the individual. The rights proclaimed with Magna (...) Carta found their path in the French Revolution from 1789 as “Liberty, Equality and Fraternity” became symbol of democratic freedom and afterwards gave value in the conventions and other international instruments. The main purpose that was achieved with Magna Carta from today’s perspective is that the rules have been implanted in the conscience of people, so they learn to obey and practice them. The Magna Carta rights are integral part of international conventions and on that way they have been taken from the states on national level so they become inevitable incorporated segment of the constitution and the laws of states. Those rights have achieved their purpose, because 800 years after their proclamation, some of them are still on force and have been provided in the constitutions of many countries including the Western Balkan countries. The rights that derived from Magna Carta concerning the rule of law, independence of the judiciary, equality before the law and prohibition of discrimination are integral part of the Constitution of Macedonia which makes efforts for their implementation into practice – because contrary, words will be just words on paper and nothing else. (shrink)

The Homeobox (Hox) genes essentially define body regions in all animals including humans – responsible for determining two arms, two legs, one nose and so on. This gene is shared by all living beings – from the snail to the elephant to humans – and it can now be manipulated into transforming certain parts of the body into others. We have observed such transformations, such as that of an amputated antenna into a limb, as far back as 1901, termed neomorphosis (...) (Morgan 1901), and it has only recently re-emerged as an area of scientific study. Spontaneous transformations and induced regenerations are fascinating research topics that are fast becoming a reality; some scientists are postulating that it may be possible that the hox gene could be central to limb regeneration in the future. This article will present the Hox Zodiac project, which attempts to introduce this subject and push the ideas further into speculation of mutation (i.e. humans and animals) into creatures that may resemble the mythical beings we know as fiction. The starting point of this wheel of life is the Chinese zodiac, consisting of twelve animals that are associated with humans. In the process of development, it became interesting to note that half of the animals on the wheel are those used in the lab – rat, pig, monkey, dog, sheep and rabbit. The ox, tiger, horse, snake and rooster are considered mythical and the dragon could easily fall into the category of a genetically modified creature that is to re-emerge in the future. Since medical and scientific testing on humans is strictly forbidden, scientists have virtually shifted to animals for all such studies. Thus, everything that is used on our bodies and minds is directly related to the animal kingdom. The pig heart and rat mind are symbols for the paradox of science that uses animals in ways that are at once disconnected while subconsciously connecting us more than ever by using research results in medical and food products we consume. Although the controversy of using animals in labs is widely known and often violently opposed, the artist in the lab questions how this research impacts our collective consciousness, especially with the growing trend of brain-computer interfaces and particularly synthetic telepathy. This relationship of the human to the metaphorical meaning of the animal kingdom brought to mind Jung’s research on metaphors, symbolism and archetypes, which became central to the Hox Zodiac. (shrink)

Responsible sustainable consumer behavior involves a complex pattern of environmental and social issues, in line with the view of sustainability as a construct with both environmental and social pillar. So far, environmental dimension was far more researched than social dimension. In this article, we investigate the antecedents of both environmentally and socially RSCB and willingness to behave in environmentally/socially responsible way. We include measures of concern, perceived consumer control/effectiveness, personal/social norms and ethical ideologies/obligation to better explain and extend the traditional (...) theory of planned behavior. Additionally, we test the impact of information availability about environmental or social impact on RSCB. Our findings on a representative sample of 426 respondents show that in general, antecedents of environmentally and socially responsible sustainable consumption are similar in their effect on consumer behavior, with personal norms, concern and ethical ideologies having the strongest impact on RSCB. When comparing both types of behavior, socially responsible behavior is more influenced by perceived behavioral control and possibly social norms than environmentally responsible behavior, while information availability plays its role for both behaviors. Sustainable responsible consumption can be achieved by embracing both dimensions of sustainability and consumers need to have a sense for both social and environmental issues. The complexity and struggles between doing what is good for environment and society could be the reason why consumers have difficulties achieving sustainable responsible consumption. (shrink)

Predmet ovog rada je Vitgenštajnovo razlikovanje i novo razumevanje pojmova znanja i izvesnosti u spisu O izvesnosti iz kojih proističe i njegova inovativna kritika skepticizma. On pokazuje da čitava rasprava o skepticizmu nastaje zato što i tradicionalni epistemolozi poput Mura i skeptik pogrešno shvataju prirodu takozvanih murovskih iskaza koji predstavljaju sadržaj naših osnovnih verovanja kao i naš stav prema njima. Vitgenštajn tvrdi da ovi iskazi nisu ni istiniti ni lažni već da funkcionišu poput pravila te da stoga ne mogu biti (...) ni predmet znanja niti podložni sumnji. Naš stav prema njima nije epistemički već je odraz praktične sposobnosti učešća u jezičkoj praksi. Vitgenštajnov najubedljiviji i najoriginalniji argument protiv skepticizma pokazuje da skeptik, formulišući svoje sumnje, dovodi u pitanje sopstveno razumevanje reči kojima se pritom služi. Na kraju se tvrdi da sam Vitgenštajn zastupa jednu vrstu naturalizma hjumovskog tipa. (shrink)

I argue here that certain species of war, namely humanitarian military interventions (HMIs), can be obligatory within particular contexts. Specifically, I look at the notion of HMIs through the lens of just war theory and argue that when a minimal account of jus ad bellum implies that an intervention is permissible, it also implies that it is obligatory. I begin by clarifying the jus ad bellum conditions (such as just cause, right intentions, etc.) under which an intervention is permissible. I (...) then turn to the claim that permissibility necessitates obligation, by first showing that whenever an intervention is permissible, it is also minimally decent. Second, I show that minimally decent actions are morally obligatory by arguing that the notion of minimal decency is a conceptual bridge between negative and positive duties. Third, I argue that performing minimally decent actions is necessary for a state to be just. Ultimately, my conclusion arises from the following observation: if a humanitarian crisis is bad enough for one to hold that it is permissible to breach sovereignty of a nation, then it is bad enough to hold that there is an obligation to intervene. (shrink)

In the age of information overload, the primary concern for many knowledge areas becomes the organisation and retrieval of data. Artists have a unique opportunity, at this historical juncture, to play a role in the definition and design of systems of access and retrieval, and at the very least comment on the existing practices. In this article I show how some personalities have foreshadowed and indeed influenced the current practices and huge efforts in digitising our collective knowledge. This article is (...) an effort to broadly contextualise the current atmosphere and environment that ‘information architects’ are confronted with. (shrink)

Lagrangian formulation of quantum mechanical Schrödinger equation is developed in general and illustrated in the eigenbasis of the Hamiltonian and in the coordinate representation. The Lagrangian formulation of physically plausible quantum system results in a well defined second order equation on a real vector space. The Klein–Gordon equation for a real field is shown to be the Lagrangian form of the corresponding Schrödinger equation.

The paper analyzes the impact of massive capital flows and possible sudden stops on current account reversals. The aim of this paper is to consider the relationship between sudden stops and current account reversals in the eurozone and to explain the possibility of a balance-of-payment crisis within a monetary union. Peripheral eurozone countries experienced significant private-capital inflows from the core countries, followed by unambiguously massive outflows. Due to this, peripheral countries ran sustained current account deficits while core countries ran surpluses. (...) At the end we analyze the evolution of current-account balances in the non-euro area EU countries and the peripheral euro-area countries, and we find out that current account deficits could be maintained over a longer period of time in the peripheral euro-area countries. (shrink)

Copious examples in the writings of Mongolian Buddhist authors demonstrate the significance of the Kāvyadarśa in the development of the Mongolian poetic tradition. Numerous versified eulogies, prayers, verses recited at the time of ritual offerings, benedictions in colophons, and other poetic works written by Mongolian scholars of the late seventeenth through the early twentieth centuries evidence their authors’ attempts to follow Daṇḍin’s principle of alaṃkāras and the influence of other theoretical principles of the Kāvyadarśaon their writings. Although the Kāvyadarśawas translated (...) into the Mongolian language in the first half of the eighteenth century, at the time of the formation of the Mongolian Danjur by Khalkha translator Gelegjaltsan, Mongolian Buddhist scholars had become well acquainted with the Kāvyadarśa through the Tibetan translations of this text and through indigenous Tibetan commentaries on it. However, it is plausible that already in the Yuan court of the thirteenth century, and slightly later in the fourteenth century, some Mongolian scholars had access to the Kāvyadarśain its first, complete Tibetan version, which was produced in the latter part of the thirteenth century. (shrink)

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:Reviewed by:Buddhist Literature as Philosophy and Buddhist Philosophy as Literature ed. by Rafael K. StepienVesna A. Wallace (bio)Buddhist Literature as Philosophy and Buddhist Philosophy as Literature. Edited by Rafael K. Stepien. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 2020. Pp. xi + 381. Paperback $26.95, isbn 978-1-4383-8070-1.The editor of the Buddhist Literature as Philosophy and Buddhist Philosophy as Literature should be commended for bringing together an excellent collection (...) of essays and producing the first comprehensive volume that offers a coherent study of the relationship between Buddhist literature and philosophy. This book is an ambitious and praiseworthy project, which covers a wide range of Buddhist literary genres produced in India, Tibet, and East Asia over two millennia. As a whole, the volume invites the reader to reexamine a centuries-long binary division between the categories of literature and philosophy, which have been often approached in academic studies as mutually exclusive. It does so by demonstrating that in the context of Buddhism, philosophy and literature continuously converge, diminishing the overarching binary and broadening their scopes. Most contributions to this volume demonstrate that Buddhist philosophy as presented and enacted in Buddhist literature is not limited to what some would consider a "pure philosophy." The volume is divided into the two, mutually mirroring sections, with each section containing six chapters. Chapters forming the section one, "Buddhist Literature as Philosophy," aim at broadening our perspective about literary forms, such as tales, novels, hymns, and court poetry, which have not been usually explored as the means of articulating Buddhist philosophical views. Chapters grouped in the section "Buddhist Philosophy as Literature" focus on Buddhist literary theories as philosophy of language and introduce the Buddhist biographical and autobiographical genres characterized by practical philosophy to further challenge our preconceptions of what it is that constitutes literature and philosophy. While some contributors endeavor to demonstrate the presence of rational, analytical reasoning in unexpected literary forms, other contributors problematize a strict distinction between literature and philosophy as inapplicable to Buddhism, which is undeniably cross-disciplinary.The first two chapters in section one, authored by Amber Carpenter and Sarah Shaw respectively, draw examples from jātaka stories to show us how Buddhist ethical lessons work in the narrative tales of the Buddha's former births. These two chapters also draw our attention to an accessible and engaging, [End Page 1] narrative manner that presents the Bodhisattva's philosophical exercises to the audience, a manner that stands in contrast to the a priori reasoning characteristic of philosophical treatises. In the first chapter, titled "Transformative Vision: Coming to See the Buddha's Reality," Carpenter analyzes two jātaka stories--"Bodhi the Wandering Ascetic" and "The Man Without an Heir"--taken from Āryaśūra's Jātakamālā. In the first story, a renunciant Bodhi, while repudiating the king's ministers who are intent on disqualifying him as a king's advisor on morality, makes metaphysical claims regarding the nature of reality, causation, and the universe, and provides the reasons and arguments. According to Shaw, by offering an insight into the Buddhist worldview and morality, jātaka tales have a transformative power not only with regard to ethics but also in transforming the reader's vision of reality. In the chapter "Jātakas and the Abhidhamma: Practical Compassion and Kusala Citta," Shaw suggests that a reason why jātaka stories are rarely discussed seriously in the way that they were intended is their literary format based in narrative and mundane situations. Analyzing the concepts of momentariness and kusala citta ("virtuous consciousness") in these stories, Shaw shows that by communicating the technical and insight-based Buddhist doctrinal elements, jātaka tales significantly contribute to Buddhist practical ethics. The Pāli Javanahaṃsa-jātaka, a tale about the friendship between a goose and a king, introduces the reader to some of the most complex Buddhist ideas such as impermanence, momentariness, and mental states, expounded in the Abhidhamma in extraction. Through her analysis of the Kurudhamma-jātaka and Mahosaddha-jātaka, Shaw further shows the integration of narrative literature and Buddhist philosophical tenets, of Buddhist tales and the Abhidhamma, of the relationship between the intention and consciousness... (shrink)