Modern politika tanımlarında hâkim kavramlardan söz etmek olasıdır. Bu kavramlar arasında; iktidar, şiddet, hiyerarşi, güvenlik, kaynak dağıtımı öne çıkanlardır. Politika, birçoklarına göre, iktidarın ve gücün nasıl dağıtıldığı ve kullanıldığıyla ilgilidir. Politika, salt iktidarla ilişkili bir biçimde tanımlandığında, şiddet, politikanın etkili araçlarından birisi gibi görünür. Hatta daha ileriye gidilerek, şiddet, iktidarın dışavurumu olarak görülür. C. W. Mills’in, “siyaset iktidar mücadelesinden ibarettir; iktidarın nihai biçimi ise şiddettir” ya da Mao Zedong’un “siyaset, kan dökülmeyen savaş; savaş ise kan dökülen siyasettir” sözleri, siyaset ile (...) şiddetin birlikte düşünülmesinin en tipik örnekleridir. Hükmetme sanatı, iktidar elde etmek ve iktidarı azamileştirme biçiminde tanımlanan siyasetin, şiddeti meşru görmesi kaçınılmaz görünmektedir. Bu tanımdan hareket edenler, en iyi ihtimalle, meşru ve gayrı-meşru şiddet arasında bir ayrıma yönelirler. Bu ayrım da şiddetin politik bir etkinlik olarak meşrulaştırılmasını onaylar. Siyaseti, iktidar ve şiddet üzerinden tanımlayan hâkim yaklaşıma dönük eleştiriler de vardır. Siyaseti başka türlü tanımlamanın imkânı olup olmadığı sorusundan hareket eden bu yaklaşımlar, alternatif bir politika anlayışı ortaya koymaya çalışırlar. Bu tip politika anlayışına sahip düşünürlerin başında Hannah Arendt gelmektedir. Sahte ve sahici politika ayrımından hareket eden Arendt, sahici politikanın merkezine eylemi yerleştirir. Eylem, insanların kendilerini gerçekleştirmesini, sahici kılmasını, diğer insanlarla birlikte yaşamasını sağlayan süreçleri başlatma ve kesintiye uğratma yetisidir. Bu bakımdan politika, birlikte yaşama, kamusal meseleler hakkında tartışma ve ortak dünya için eylemde bulunma etkinliğidir. Kamusal alanda, eşitlerinin gözü önünde eylemde bulunma kişinin benzersizliğini göstermesine neden olur. Bu bakımdan, eşitlik ve çoğulluk politikanın koşuludur. Arendt, sadece eylemi değil, “söz”ü de politikanın merkezine yerleştirir. Arendt için politik yaşam, eyleme dökülmüş söz üzerine kuruludur. Politikanın söz ile ilişkilendirilmesi, açıktır ki, şiddeti dışlar. Arendt’e göre şiddet dilsizdir ve hiçbir zaman politikanın merkezi olan eyleme dökülmüş sözün neden olduğu süreç başlatma ve yaratıcı olma özelliğine sahip değildir. Bu çalışmanın amacı, politikayı Arendt’le birlikte yeniden düşünmenin, yeni bir politika tanımı için sağlayacağı imkânları tartışmaktır. (shrink)

Yüzyılın başından itibaren, kıta felsefesi ve analitik felsefe arasındaki tartışmalı ayrımın ötesine geçmeye çalışan ve özellikle fenomenolojinin birleştirici bir rol oynadığı girişimlere daha çok rastlamaya başladık. İki gelenek arasındaki köprünün fenomenoloji üzerinden kurulması, fenomenoloji ve analitik felsefenin kökende ortak sorulardan yola çıkmış olmalarına, tarihsel gelişimleri boyunca yollarının çeşitli şekillerde tekrar tekrar kesişmesine ve kısmen de felsefeden beklentilerin benzerliğine bağlanabilir. Makale iki felsefe arasındaki gelgitli ilişkiyi “anlam” sorusu üzerinden ele alıyor ve son yıllarda özellikle zihin felsefesi alanında ortaya çıkan işbirliğinin arka (...) planını açık kılmaya çalışıyor. İlk bölüm doğuşlarında aynı sorundan yola çıkan, ama biri dilsel anlamı ve dilsel analizi merkeze alan, diğeri dilsel anlamın içinde ortaya çıktığı dilsel bilinç yaşantılarının analizine dayanan iki felsefeyi karşı karşıya koyuyor. İkinci bölüm fenomenolojide anlamın, sadece ifade yaşantılarına özgü olarak değil de tüm bilinç yaşantılarına içkin bir şey olarak kavrandığını; anlam kavramının bu şekilde genişlemesinin, analitik felsefeden gelen bir ilhamla nasıl bir yönelimsellik yorumuna yol açtığını açıklıyor. Üçüncü ve son bölüm ise fenomenolojinin, dilsel anlam ile dolaysız deneyimde kurulan dilöncesi anlam arasında varolduğunu ileri sürdüğü genetik ilişkiyi ele alıyor. Ayrıca sadece dilsel anlamı açık kılmayı amaçlayan dilsel bir analizle sınırlı bir felsefenin, bir deneyim kuramıyla tamamlanması gerektiği öne sürüyor. Fenomenoloji, bilinçdünya korelasyonunun özsel yapılarını ve bunların genetik kuruluşunu betimleyen bir felsefe olmasıyla, dilsel anlam sorusunu önceleyen, dolayısıyla da olanaklı bir dil felsefesini tamamlayacak olan bir deneyim kuramını ortaya koyma görevini üstlenebilir. Analitik zihin felsefesinde yürütülen güncel tartışmalarda fenomenolojinin bu olası katkısı fark edilmiş görünmektedir. (shrink)

Siyasal bir kategori olan kamusal alan kavramı, demokratik toplumlarda siyasal düzenlerin örgütlenmesi ve kurumların demokratik meşruiyeti açısından vazgeçilmezdir. İyi işleyen demokratik bir toplumun merkezi kategorilerinden biri olan kamusal alan kavramı, ilk kez modern burjuva kamusal alan modeliyle birlikte tartışılmaya başlanmıştır. Öznelerarası karşılıklı iletişimsel ilişkilerden doğan bu kamu modelinin herkese açıklık, eşit katılım, serbest erişim ve özgür söylem ilkeleri demokratik bir ilerlemeyi temsil etse de bu ilkeler, toplumsal cinsiyet eşitliği açısından pratikte tam olarak gerçekleşememiştir. Bu çalışmanın amacı, bir (...) taraftan, burjuva kamusal alanının, kadınların kamusal alana eşit katılımını formel olarak dışlayan, kamusal müzakere süreçlerine eşit katılımını enformel olarak engelleyen ve alternatif karşıt kamuların varlığını ve kamular arası ilişkileri ihmal eden cinsiyetçi karakterini tartışmaya açmaktır. Diğer taraftan ise kamusal alana eşit katılımı toplumsal cinsiyet eşitliğine duyarlı bir bakış açısından yeniden formüle etmenin yollarını araştırmaktır. Bu araştırmada, kamusal alana eşit katılımı yeniden formüle etmek için başvurulabilecek politik teorik yaklaşımlar tartışılmıştır. Bunlardan ilki, formel dışlamanın olmadığı kapsayıcı katılımdır. İkincisi, kamusal müzakere süreçlerinde, paranteze alınan toplumsal cinsiyet eşitsizliklerinin, açık açık temalaştırılması ve rasyonel eleştirel tartışmaya açılmasıdır. Üçüncüsü, kamusal müzakere süreçlerinde, rasyonel iletişim tarzının yanında, rasyonel iletişime katkı sunacak şekilde rasyonel olmayan iletişim tarzlarının da içerilmesidir. Dördüncüsü, tek bir kamu anlayışına karşı, çoklu kamulara ve kamular arası ilişkilere yer açan bir kamusal yaşam biçimidir. Çalışma boyunca özellikle Nancy Fraser’ın görüşlerinden yararlanılmıştır. (shrink)

Michel Foucault’nun çalışmalarının merkezi noktalarından birisini, Batı kültüründe insanların, özneye dönüştürülmesinin tarihini ortaya çıkarmak oluşturmaktadır. Diğerini ise, özneye dönüştürme tekniklerine karşı verilen mücadeleler, çeşitli iktidar tekniklerinin dayattığı bireysellik ve kimlikten kurtulmanın, özgürleşmenin imkânı oluşturmaktadır. İnsanları, öznelere dönüştüren süreçleri bir bütün olarak ele almak yerine, çeşitli nesneleştirme kipleri üzerinden incelemenin daha akıllıca bir yol olduğunu düşünen Foucault, çalışmalarında insanı özneye dönüştüren üç ayrı nesneleştirme kipine yoğunlaşır. Bunlar; kendilerine bilim statüsü kazandırmaya çalışan filoloji gibi araştırma kipleri, deli ile akıllı, hasta ile sağlıklı, (...) suçlular ile “iyi çocuklar” gibi “bölücü pratikler” olarak adlandırılan pratiklerde ortaya çıkan nesneleştirilme kipleri ve son olarak cinsellik gibi alanlarda bir insanın kendini özneye dönüştürme biçimindeki nesneleştirme kipleridir. İnsan, özneye dönüştürme süreçlerine girerken, iktidar ilişkilerine de dâhil olur. Çünkü bireyleri özne yapan iktidar teknikleridir. Özne sözcüğünün taşıdığı bütün anlamlar, boyun eğdiren ve tabi kılan bir iktidar biçimi telkin etmektedir. Bundan dolayı, özneye dönüşme süreçlerine karşı mücadeleler söz konusudur. Özne, iktidar ve şiddet arasındaki ilişkinin nasıl kurulduğuna dair düşünen Foucault, öznesi olarak tanıtıldığımız deneyimlerin kurulmasını gerçekleştiren bir iktidar alanı olduğunu, şiddetin de modern iktidarın kurumsal ağı içerisinde gelişen öznellik deneyimleri çerçevesinde her yere sirayet ettiğini belirtmektedir. İktidarın kurumsal düzeyde, düzenleyici ve denetleyici mekanizmalar sayesinde toplumsal ağın en uç yerlerine kadar sirayet etmesiyle birlikte şiddet, normlar, tüzükler ve prosedürler aracılığıyla belirli bir kapatma içinde gelişmektedir. Ancak, Foucault, şiddetin, iktidarın etkili bir aracı olduğunu kabul etse de, iktidarın esasını oluşturmadığını belirtmektedir. Bu çalışmada, Foucault’nun kuramsal çözümlemelerinden hareketle, özne, iktidar ve şiddet arasındaki ilişkiyi nasıl ele aldığı tartışılacak, onun düşünsel serüveni açısından önemli olan bu kavramların kendi tarih anlayışı bağlamında bir çözümlemesi yapılacaktır. Ayrıca, modern iktidar ilişkilerinin dayatmış olduğu öznellik deneyimlerine ve inceltilmiş şiddet araçlarına karşı verilecek direnişin imkânları sorgulanacaktır. -/- . (shrink)

Michel Foucault’nun çalışmalarının merkezi noktalarından birisini, Batı kültüründe insanların, özneye dönüştürülmesinin tarihini ortaya çıkarmak oluşturmaktadır. Diğerini ise, özneye dönüştürme tekniklerine karşı verilen mücadeleler, çeşitli iktidar tekniklerinin dayattığı bireysellik ve kimlikten kurtulmanın, özgürleşmenin imkânı oluşturmaktadır. İnsanları, öznelere dönüştüren süreçleri bir bütün olarak ele almak yerine, çeşitli nesneleştirme kipleri üzerinden incelemenin daha akıllıca bir yol olduğunu düşünen Foucault, çalışmalarında insanı özneye dönüştüren üç ayrı nesneleştirme kipine yoğunlaşır. Bunlar; kendilerine bilim statüsü kazandırmaya çalışan filoloji gibi araştırma kipleri, deli ile akıllı, hasta ile sağlıklı, (...) suçlular ile “iyi çocuklar” gibi “bölücü pratikler” olarak adlandırılan pratiklerde ortaya çıkan nesneleştirilme kipleri ve son olarak cinsellik gibi alanlarda bir insanın kendini özneye dönüştürme biçimindeki nesneleştirme kipleridir. İnsan, özneye dönüştürme süreçlerine girerken, iktidar ilişkilerine de dâhil olur. Çünkü bireyleri özne yapan iktidar teknikleridir. Özne sözcüğünün taşıdığı bütün anlamlar, boyun eğdiren ve tabi kılan bir iktidar biçimi telkin etmektedir. Bundan dolayı, özneye dönüşme süreçlerine karşı mücadeleler söz konusudur. Özne, iktidar ve şiddet arasındaki ilişkinin nasıl kurulduğuna dair düşünen Foucault, öznesi olarak tanıtıldığımız deneyimlerin kurulmasını gerçekleştiren bir iktidar alanı olduğunu, şiddetin de modern iktidarın kurumsal ağı içerisinde gelişen öznellik deneyimleri çerçevesinde her yere sirayet ettiğini belirtmektedir. İktidarın kurumsal düzeyde, düzenleyici ve denetleyici mekanizmalar sayesinde toplumsal ağın en uç yerlerine kadar sirayet etmesiyle birlikte şiddet, normlar, tüzükler ve prosedürler aracılığıyla belirli bir kapatma içinde gelişmektedir. Ancak, Foucault, şiddetin, iktidarın etkili bir aracı olduğunu kabul etse de, iktidarın esasını oluşturmadığını belirtmektedir. Bu çalışmada, Foucault’nun kuramsal çözümlemelerinden hareketle, özne, iktidar ve şiddet arasındaki ilişkiyi nasıl ele aldığı tartışılacak, onun düşünsel serüveni açısından önemli olan bu kavramların kendi tarih anlayışı bağlamında bir çözümlemesi yapılacaktır. Ayrıca, modern iktidar ilişkilerinin dayatmış olduğu öznellik deneyimlerine ve inceltilmiş şiddet araçlarına karşı verilecek direnişin imkânları sorgulanacaktır. (shrink)

The “black page” in Spinoza’s Political Treatise has been much discussed and interpreted. These can be roughly divided into three groups: Approaches that see the “black page” as an extension of Spinoza’s theory of the passions and imagination; approaches that maintain that Spinoza excluded women from politics not because of their innate weaknesses but because of their social conditions; approaches that maintain that he excluded women because he saw them as weaker beings, but this contradicts his certain accounts, especially in (...) the Ethics. In this paper, I take the latter view. My contribution is to argue that this contradiction is not unique to the Ethics. I pursue my reading along two lines, one ontological and one political. In the first, I focus on the continuity between the Ethics and the Political Treatise and show that the “black page” is also inconsistent with the ontology and methodology of the Political Treatise itself. In the second, I argue that the exclusion of women also contradicts the concept of the political absolute developed in this last work, since this concept problematizes any kind of exclusion and provides for political stability the strategic principle of increasing the number of decision-makers as much as possible. (shrink)

Misunderstanding Science? offers a challenging new perspective on the public understanding of science. In so doing, it also challenges existing ideas of the nature of science and its relationships with society. Its analysis and case presentation are highly relevant to current concerns over the uptake, authority, and effectiveness of science as expressed, for example, in areas such as education, medical/health practice, risk and the environment, technological innovation. Based on several in-depth case-studies, and informed theoretically by the sociology of scientific knowledge, (...) the book shows how the public understanding of science questions raises issues of the epistemic commitments and institutional structures which constitute modern science. It suggests that many of the inadequacies in the social integration and uptake of science might be overcome if modern scientific institutions were more reflexive and open about the implicit normative commitments embedded in scientific cultures. (shrink)

ABSTRACTAccording to the UNICEF report entitled ‘Ending Child Marriage: Progress and Prospects’, there are 700 million women who were married as children, and 280 million girls are at risk of becoming child brides. In Turkey, according to the reports written by feminist organisations 1 in 3 marriages there is a child. These figures are alarming and signal the need for further and urgent research in the field. In 2016 I made my first ever film entitled Growing Up Married. The film (...) explores what happens after child marriage by focusing on the stories of four women from Turkey and making their experiences visible and audible, in an attempt to contribute to and advance debates around this significant, complex and emotionally charged human rights issue which has often been discursively silenced. Working on a documentary film on forced marriage in Turkey poses challenges to me as a UK-trained and based academic, who focuses on theories around feminism and media rather than filmmaking practice. In this article, I critically reflect upon the process of making a documentary film, and theories around interviewing women to examine the tensions inherent within representing forced marriage on screen. (shrink)

How might social theory, public understanding of science and science policy best inform one another? What have been the key features of science-society relations in the modern world? How are we to re-think science-society relations in the context of globalization, hybridity and changing patterns of governance? This topical and unique book draws together the three key perspectives on science-society relations: public understanding of science, scientific and public governance, and social theory. The book presents a series of case studies (including the (...) debates on genetically modified foods and the AIDS movement in the USA) to discuss critically the ways in which social theorists, social scientists, and science policy makers deal with science-society relations. ‘Science' and 'society' combine in many complex ways. Concepts such as citizenship, expertise, governance, democracy and the public need to be re-thought in the context of contemporary concerns with globalization and hybridity. A radical new approach is developed and the notion of ethno-epistemic assemblage is used to articulate a new series of questions for the theorization, empirical study and politics of science-society relations. (shrink)

A conception of recognitional abilities and perceptual-discriminative abilities is deployed to make sense of how perceptual experiences enable us to make cognitive contact with objects and facts. It is argued that accepting the emerging view does not commit us to thinking that perceptual experiences are essentially relational, as they are conceived to be in disjunctivist theories. The discussion explores some implications for the theory of knowledge in general and, in particular, for the issue of how we can shed light on (...) the nature of knowledge is if we do not aim to provide conceptual analyses of knowledge in terms of true belief plus something else. Consideration is also given how we can best make sense of the practical value that knowledge has for us. (shrink)

ABSTRACT: So far in this book, we have examined algorithmic decision systems from three autonomy-based perspectives: in terms of what we owe autonomous agents (chapters 3 and 4), in terms of the conditions required for people to act autonomously (chapters 5 and 6), and in terms of the responsibilities of agents (chapter 7). -/- In this chapter we turn to the ways in which autonomy underwrites democratic governance. Political authority, which is to say the ability of a government to exercise (...) power, may be justifiable or not. Whether it is justified and how it can come to be justified is a question of political legitimacy. Political legitimacy is another way in which autonomy and responsibility are linked. This relationship is the basis of the current chapter, and it is important in understanding the moral salience of algorithmic systems. We will draw the connection as follows. We begin, in section 8.1, by describing two uses of technology: crime predicting technology used to drive policing practices and social media technology used to influence elections (including by Cambridge Analytica and by the Internet Research Agency). In section 8.2 we consider several views of legitimacy and argue for a hybrid version of normative legitimacy based on one recently offered by Fabienne Peter. In section 8.3 we will explain that the connection between political legitimacy and autonomy is that legitimacy is grounded in legitimating processes, which are in turn based on autonomy. Algorithmic systems—among them PredPol and the Cambridge Analytica-Facebook-Internet Research Agency amalgam—can hinder that legitimation process and conflict with democratic legitimacy, as we argue in section 8.4. We will conclude by returning to several cases that serve as through-lines to the book: Loomis, Wagner, and Houston Schools. -/- The link below is to an open-access copy of the chapter. (shrink)

I propose to consider the question, "Can machines think?" This should begin with definitions of the meaning of the terms "machine" and "think." The definitions might be framed so as to reflect so far as possible the normal use of the words, but this attitude is dangerous, If the meaning of the words "machine" and "think" are to be found by examining how they are commonly used it is difficult to escape the conclusion that the meaning and the answer to (...) the question, "Can machines think?" is to be sought in a statistical survey such as a Gallup poll. But this is absurd. Instead of attempting such a definition I shall replace the question by another, which is closely related to it and is expressed in relatively unambiguous words. The new form of the problem can be described in terms of a game which we call the 'imitation game." It is played with three people, a man (A), a woman (B), and an interrogator (C) who may be of either sex. The interrogator stays in a room apart front the other two. The object of the game for the interrogator is to determine which of the other two is the man and which is the woman. He knows them by labels X and Y, and at the end of the game he says either "X is A and Y is B" or "X is B and Y is A." The interrogator is allowed to put questions to A and B. We now ask the question, "What will happen when a machine takes the part of A in this game?" Will the interrogator decide wrongly as often when the game is played like this as he does when the game is played between a man and a woman? These questions replace our original, "Can machines think?". (shrink)

Confucian scholars express skepticism about rights. This skepticism is relevant to managers who face issues about the recognition of workplace rights in a Confucian culture. My essay examines the foundations of this skepticism, and the cogency of potential leading Western liberal responses to it. I conclude that Confucian skepticism is more formidable than liberals have recognized. I attempt to craft an argument that defuses Confucian skepticism about workplace rights while at the same time respecting the moral depth of Confucianism.

This essay explores some of the issues raised as regards the relations of philosophy and sociology of science in the work of Rudolf Carnap and Hans Reichenbach. It argues that Hans Reichenbach's distinction between the contexts of discovery and justification should not be seen as erecting a principled normative/descriptive distinction that demarcates philosophy of science from sociology of science. The essay also raises certain issues about the role of volition, decision, and the limits of epistemological concern in the work of (...) Carnap and Reichenbach and in some recent sociology of science. The relations of philosophy of science to sociology of science are seen to be more deeply rooted and more interesting than the Science Warriors would have us believe. (shrink)

This article questions the commonly held view that professional ethics is grounded in general ethical principles, in particular, respect for client (or patient) autonomy and beneficence in the treatment of clients (or patients). Although these are admirable as general ethical principles, we argue that there is considerable logical difficulty in applying them to the professional-client relationship. The transition from general principles to professional ethics cannot be made because the intended conclusion applies differently to each of the parties involved, whereas the (...) premise is a general principle that applies equally to both parties. It is widely accepted that professionals are required to recognize that clients or patients possess rights to autonomy that are more than the general rights to personal autonomy accepted in ordinary social life, and that professionals are expected to display beneficence toward their clients that is more than the beneficence expected of anyone in ordinary social life. The comparative component of professional ethics is an intrinsic feature of the professional situation, and thus it cannot be bypassed in working out a proper professional ethics. Thus, we contend, the proper professional treatment of clients or patients has not been explained by appeal to general ethical principles. (shrink)

It is often claimed that epistemological thought divides around the issue of the place of experience in knowledge: While empiricists argue that experience is the only legitimate source of knowledge, rationalists find other such sources. The trouble with such accounts is not that they are wrong, but that they are incomplete. On occasion, epistemological differences run deeper, raising the very notion of experience as an issue for epistemology. This paper looks at two epistemological debates which concerned not simply the place (...) of experience in knowledge but also the appropriate account of experience itself. The first episode is the rise of Marburg Neo-Kantianism in the 1870s – in particular the seminal work of Hermann Cohen in his Kants Theorie der Erfahrung (1871). Cohen's principal point was that Kant's significance as an epistemologist was in providing a new theory of experience, one that tied experience to exact science and led to a new stress on the formal conditions of exact knowledge. The second episode is Carnap's rejection of epistemology in the 1930s in favour of a program of the logic of science. My focus in each case will be the interplay between an epistemology focused on exact science as the locus of knowledge and a concomitant call for logical methods in epistemology. (shrink)

Anthropology is a discipline very conscious of its history. Alan Barnard has written a clear, detailed overview of anthropological theory that brings out the historical contexts of the great debates, tracing the genealogies of theories and schools of thought. His book covers the precursors of anthropology; evolutionism in all its guises; diffusionism and culture area theories, functionalism and structural-functionalism; action-centered theories; processual and Marxist perspectives; the many faces of relativism, structuralism and poststructuralism; and recent interpretive and postmodernist viewpoints. This is (...) a balanced and judicious survey, which also considers the problems involved in assessing anthropological theories. (shrink)

There has been an upsurge of interest in Rorty's contribution to philosophy in recent years, and his extensive influence is now widely acknowledged. Clear division of RR's work to give people a way in to the study of this wide-ranging philosopher. Five parts dealing with: (1) Rorty's early work (2) key texts (3) Rorty's unique pragmatist approach to key philosophical themes (4) reactions to, and appropriations of, Rorty's work, and (5) a selection of essays dealing with the practical application of (...) Rorty's work to a selection of issues in culture, ethics, and politics. The clear presentation of Rorty's diverse work makes the volume ideal for advanced undergraduate and postgraduate-level courses in philosophy (with strong potential interest from those studying Law, Literature, Feminism and Aesthetics, to name a few). (shrink)

The increasing use of transnational standard-setting bodies to address quality uncertainties and coordination issues across the global economy raises questions about how these bodies establish and maintain their legitimacy and accountability outside the sovereignty of democratic states. Based on a discussion of the legitimacy challenge posed by global governance, we provide an overview of mechanisms by which such bodies can defend their legitimacy claims and examine the actual mechanisms used by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB). While the IASB staked (...) its initial credibility on technical competence and independence, it has increasingly emphasized due process norms in its claim for support. Our analysis evaluates the IASB due process against the cultural benchmarks established by domestic standard-setters in the USA and UK and against a normative model of procedural legitimacy. These comparisons help us to understand the modifications that were made in the hope of due process adding legitimacy to accounting standard-setting beyond the state. They also reveal the broader political context of competing legitimacy criteria that confronts transnational standard-setters. (shrink)

Due process is the means by which ethical constraints are placed on administrative decision-making. I have developed a model of variation in due process and use this model to explore the implementation of “due process” norms by three standard-setting bodies that are created, funded, and overseen by the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants – the Accounting Standards Board, the Auditing and Assurance Standards Board, and the Public Sector Accounting Standards Board. I conducted two analyses: a comparative analysis of the implementation (...) of due process norms based on differences among the three cases; and, a critique of the due process norms followed by these boards based on their internal logic and a set of best practices identified in other contexts for due process by standard setters. I have presented evidence that due process norms are more fully developed, where standards are enforced by the state and the heterogeneity of users is greatest. (shrink)

Defining the Enlightenment as the "long eighteenth century," the Encyclopedia focuses on the entire range of philosophic and social changes engendered by the Enlightenment. It extends the conventional geographical boundaries of the Enlightenment, covering not only France, England, Scotland, the Low Countries, Italy, English-speaking North America, the German states, and Hapsburg Austria but also Iberian, Ibero-American, Jewish, Russian, and Eastern European cultures. Nor does the Encyclopedia of the Enlightenment limit itself to major centers like Paris in France and Edinburgh in (...) Scotland, but shares the rich lode of recent scholarship on "secondary" and "provincial" centers such as Berlin and Geneva; Philadelphia and Milan. The Encyclopedia of the Enlightenment brings a similar spirit of inclusion to the new theoretical and methodological approaches that have flowered in the humanities during the past two decades. Including feminist and various post-modernist reassessments alongside more traditional perspectives, the four volumes offer the broadest possible range of current knowledge. Accessibility combined with scholarly rigor make the encyclopedia the first choice for researching any aspect of the Enlightenment. Designed and organized for ease of use, its special features include more than 700 signed articles; annotated bibliographies following each article to guide further study; an extensive system of cross-references; a synoptic outline of contents; a comprehensive topical index providing easy access to networks of related articles; and high quality illustrations, including photographs, line drawings, and maps. (shrink)

In this new edition of his acclaimed autobiography — long out of print and rare until now — Alan Watts tracks his spiritual and philosophical evolution from a child of religious conservatives in rural England to a freewheeling spiritual teacher who challenged Westerners to defy convention and think for themselves. From early in this intellectual life, Watts shows himself to be a philosophical renegade and wide-ranging autodidact who came to Buddhism through the teachings of Christmas Humphreys and D. T. Suzuki. (...) Told in a nonlinear style, In My Own Way wonderfully combines Watts’ own brand of unconventional philosophy and often hilarious accounts of gurus, celebrities, psychedelic drug experiences, and wry observations of Western culture. A charming foreword written by Watts’ father sets the tone of this warm, funny, and beautifully written story of a compelling figure who encouraged readers to “follow your own weird” — something he always did himself, as his remarkable account of his life shows. (shrink)

The topic ‘ethics in politics’ might cover a multitude of sins. Here it will be restricted to the ethics of politicians in representative liberal democracies. The ethics of public servants will be left aside, as will be the ethics of politicians in other political systems. Plain criminal wrongdoing by politicians will also be outside our scope. The subject is still very large. It includes all those matters that reflect on a politician’s ethical reputation. Political wrongdoing can range in magnitude from (...) taking a country to war on inadequate grounds to fiddling with one’s parliamentary expenses. (shrink)

There is increasing concern about “surveillance capitalism,” whereby for-profit companies generate value from data, while individuals are unable to resist (Zuboff 2019). Non-profits using data-enabled surveillance receive less attention. Higher education institutions (HEIs) have embraced data analytics, but the wide latitude that private, profit-oriented enterprises have to collect data is inappropriate. HEIs have a fiduciary relationship to students, not a narrowly transactional one (see Jones et al, forthcoming). They are responsible for facets of student life beyond education. In addition to (...) classrooms, learning management systems, and libraries, HEIs manage dormitories, gyms, dining halls, health facilities, career advising, police departments, and student employment. HEIs collect and use student data in all of these domains, ostensibly to understand learner behaviors and contexts, improve learning outcomes, and increase institutional efficiency through “learning analytics” (LA). ID card swipes and Wi-Fi log-ins can track student location, class attendance, use of campus facilities, eating habits, and friend groups. Course management systems capture how students interact with readings, video lectures, and discussion boards. Application materials provide demographic information. These data are used to identify students needing support, predict enrollment demands, and target recruiting efforts. These are laudable aims. However, current LA practices may be inconsistent with HEIs’ fiduciary responsibilities. HEIs often justify LA as advancing student interests, but some projects advance primarily organizational welfare and institutional interests. Moreover, LA advances a narrow conception of student interests while discounting privacy and autonomy. Students are generally unaware of the information collected, do not provide meaningful consent, and express discomfort and resigned acceptance about HEI data practices, especially for non-academic data (see Jones et al. forthcoming). The breadth and depth of student information available, combined with their fiduciary responsibility, create a duty that HEIs exercise substantial restraint and rigorous evaluation in data collection and use. (shrink)

ABSTRACT: One important criticism of algorithmic systems is that they lack transparency. Such systems can be opaque because they are complex, protected by patent or trade secret, or deliberately obscure. In the EU, there is a debate about whether the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) contains a “right to explanation,” and if so what such a right entails. Our task in this chapter is to address this informational component of algorithmic systems. We argue that information access is integral for respecting (...) autonomy, and transparency policies should be tailored to advance autonomy. -/- To make this argument we distinguish two facets of agency (i.e., capacity to act). The first is practical agency, or the ability to act effectively according to one’s values. The second is what we call cognitive agency, which is the ability to exercise what Pamela Hieronymi calls “evaluative control” (i.e., the ability to control our affective states, such as beliefs, desires, and attitudes). We argue that respecting autonomy requires providing persons sufficient information to exercise evaluative control and properly interpret the world and one’s place in it. We draw this distinction out by considering algorithmic systems used in background checks, and we apply the view to key cases involving risk assessment in criminal justice decisions and K-12 teacher evaluation. -/- The link below is to an open access version of the chapter. (shrink)

Despite widespread agreement that privacy in the context of education is important, it can be difficult to pin down precisely why and to what extent it is important, and it is challenging to determine how privacy is related to other important values. But that task is crucial. Absent a clear sense of what privacy is, it will be difficult to understand the scope of privacy protections in codes of ethics. Moreover, privacy will inevitably conflict with other values, and understanding the (...) values that underwrite privacy protections is crucial for addressing conflicts between privacy and institutional efficiency, advising efficacy, vendor benefits, and student autonomy. -/- My task in this paper is to seek a better understanding of the concept of privacy in institutional research, canvas a number of important moral values underlying privacy generally (including several that are explicit in the AIR Statement), and examine how those moral values should bear upon institutional research by considering several recent cases. (shrink)

Julius Kovesi was a moral philosopher whose work rested on a theory of concepts and concept-formation, which he outlined in his 1967 book Moral Notions. But his contribution goes further than this. In sketching a theory of concepts and concept-formation, he was entering the philosophy of language. To make his account of moral concepts credible, he needs a broader story about how moral concepts compare with other sorts of concepts. Yet philosophy of language, once dominated by Wittgenstein and Austin, came (...) rather suddenly in the 1960s to be dominated by metaphysicians and philosophers of science trying to give an account of natural science concepts. How then does Kovesi’s theory of concepts fare when viewed in the light of this shift of interests? Does he have a theory of natural world concepts that can stand scrutiny? I will try to show that he does. To show this, I will focus on the concept of water. However, before doing this we need an outline of Kovesi’s account of what he called ‘notions formed about the inanimate world’. (shrink)

Students of the Enlightenment have long assumed that the major movement towards atheism in the Ancien Régime was centered in the circle of intellectuals who met at the home of Baron d'Holbach during the last half of the eighteenth century. This major critical study shows, contrary to the accepted views, that in fact, atheism was not the common bond of a majority of the members and that, far from being alienated figures, most of the members were privileged and publicly successful (...) citizens devoted to peaceful and gradual reform. Alan Charles Kors determines the coterie's membership and discovers it to have been a diverse assemblage of philosophes, men of letters, and scientists. Analyzing the thought and behavior of those members who lived past 1789, the author argues that the hostility to the Revolution expressed by the coterie's survivors was fully consistent with their world view. Originally published in 1976. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905. (shrink)