The authors of Chapter 7, The Future of Work, have made a thorough review of recent labour market trends. In telling a global story, the authors provide a vision of the future of work that should guide policy initiatives for the creation of desirable jobs for all. This vision is one where economic growth is consistent with ecological sustainability; with full and fair employment and no discrimination; where workers control their time and tasks; and where there are inclusive labour market (...) institutions. The policies that the authors put forward to advance this vision include flexibility in the rules related to employment protection to avoid deeper segmentation of the labour market; the creation of social protection systems to cover all workers; the provision of broad access to education and skill formation at different stages of life; the guarantee of equal opportunities and non-discrimination; and respect for collective bargaining. (shrink)

RESUMEN Partiendo de algunas experiencias del presente, se retoma la interpretación nietzs cheana del resentimiento para explorar la complejidad y ambivalencia del fenómeno e iluminar cuestiones actuales. Así, se vinculan dos tendencias y sus implicaciones: cómo el resentimiento genera la fijación de una identidad amenazadora que lleva a la estigmatización de un otro, a la vez como una forma de rechazo de la contingencia histórica; y cómo el vínculo del resentimiento con la temporalidad, en particular con un tipo de memoria, (...) produce una incapacidad para asumirla creadoramente. Esta reflexión deja abiertas preguntas sobre cómo los cuerpos afectados por el resen timiento pueden revertirlo y dar lugar a formas más vitales de relación con el mundo. ABSTRACT On the basis of selected experiences from the present, the article revisits the Nietzschean interpretation of resentment in order to explore the complexity and ambivalence of the phenomenon and shed light on current issues. To that effect, it connects two tendencies and their implications: the manner in which resentment generates the fixation of a threatening identity that leads to the stigmatization of an other, which, at the same time, involves a rejection of historical contingency; and the manner in which the link between resentment and temporality, in particular with a type of memory, produces an incapacity to assume it creatively. This reflec tion leaves questions open regarding how bodies affected by resentment can twist it around and give rise to more vital forms of relating to the world. (shrink)

Este artículo busca sacar a flote y estudiar diferentes historias de la materia presentes en el río Magdalena en Colombia, a través de la novela _En el brazo del río _(2006) de Marbel Sandoval Ordoñez, y la crónica _Los escogidos_ (2012), de Patricia Nieto. El objetivo de mi lectura es analizar el fenómeno del río, mediante el concepto de ‘viscosidad porosa’, es decir, evidenciando el enmarañamiento entre cuerpos humanos y no humanos que se da en este y cómo estos reconfiguran (...) los discursos alrededor del Magdalena. Usando una metodología que parte desde los presupuestos de los nuevos materialismos y las humanidades azules_, _propongo una mirada desde una ontología relacional que reconoce la capacidad expresiva (creativa) y el potencial de acción (agenciamiento) del río. A partir de esto realizo una lectura atenta de las dos obras, identificando dónde se visualizan dichos enmarañamientos y cómo la forma de dichas obras literarias permite una reconfiguración del sentido del río. Esto me permite mostrar que las historias de violencia y riqueza que han configurado el Magdalena están, indudablemente, conectadas con la materialidad del mismo, de los cuerpos humanos asesinados que recorren el río en constante interacción con otros animales, o de las aguas del Magdalena entrelazadas con el petróleo que se filtra por el extractivismo de su subsuelo. Por lo tanto, en estos textos literarios el fenómeno del río Magdalena se complejiza y se densifica, permitiéndonos reconocer cómo nuestra realidad esta enmarañada con otros cuerpos humanos y no humanos que habitan nuestro mundo. (shrink)

How is women’s conception of self affected by the caregiving responsibilities traditionally assigned to them and by the personal vulnerabilities imposed on them? If institutions of male dominance profoundly influence women’s lives and minds, how can women form judgments about their own best interests and overcome oppression? Can feminist politics survive in face of the diversity of women’s experience, which is shaped by race, class, ethnicity, and sexual orientation, as well as by gender? Exploring such questions, leading feminist thinkers have (...) reinvigorated work on the concept of self and personal identity, as demonstrated by the discussions in this insightful volume.The concerns that animate feminist scholarship have prompted feminist philosophers to sideline the theme of individualism and to focus on the theme of intersubjectivity. In conceptualizing the self, the contributors to this volume highlight emotional bonds among people, the stories people tell one another, and the systems of categories and behavioral norms that unite and divide groups of people. Topics addressed include sexual violence and the self, the social self and autonomy, the narrative self and integrity, self-ownership and the body, forgetting yourself and your race, group membership and personal identity, grief and gender, sympathy and women’s diversity, emotion and emancipatory epistemology, and dependency and justice. This volume will be important reading for students of feminist theory, ethics, and social and political philosophy. (shrink)

This book tackles how and why 'landscape' (farms, gardens, countryside) set the scene in the first centuries BCE and CE for Romans keen to talk up and about (but also to scrutinize and understand) what it meant to be a citizen. It investigates what 'landscape' means now and reflects upon how contemporary approaches to 'landscape' can enrich our understanding of ancient experience of the interface between natural and artificial space. It encourages examination of 'landscape' from a range of angles, suggesting (...) alternative ways of thinking about what landscape represents. These methodological approaches (presented initially via a set of key terms and definitions and then deployed thematically across four chapters), combined with a detailed interdisciplinary bibliography and a series of case studies of literary texts and material sites, enable readers to use this survey as a starting point for developing their own in-depth study. (shrink)

En esta investigación se realiza un análisis sobre el estudio de la sociedad propuesto por Wilhelm Dilthey, con la finalidad de recalcar su postura frente a la comprensión de la humanidad. Presentar cómo ésta a través de la historia va estableciendo relaciones y formando agrupaciones. Un mundo socio-histórico lleno de vivencias que no necesariamente son experimentadas de manera individual, sino que también poseen una exterioridad que se visibiliza en la sociedad. Por esto, el objetivo es analizar cómo el ser histórico (...) se comprende y se relaciona con otros. Cómo puede sentir pertenencia en la cultura, poesía e historia en la que se desenvuelve. Además, demostrar cómo esta sociedad histórica no puede darse sin una relación de por medio, debido a que sin ‘socios’ la comunidad histórica no puede ser factible. (shrink)

La sociedad que está presente hoy en día es cambiante y para nada monótona. Por esto es líquida, según Zygmunt Bauman, pues en ella todo fluye sin detenerse y sin poseer límites. Es una sociedad en la que constantemente se modifican las tendencias según lo más actual. Todo está relacionado a un consumo que posibilita mantener o asimilar un estatus social que permite ser parte del mundo consumista. El parámetro de esta sociedad es consumir para después desechar, y aquí es, (...) donde los individuos deben estar preparados para el cambio. No pueden quedar fuera de las últimas tendencias o son marginados; por tanto, no pueden dejar de consumir. Así es como el trabajo constante y el valor del dinero se han convertido en estas ‘estrategias’ que le permiten a la sociedad prepararse para todos los posibles cambios que puedan surgir. Aspirando a un estatus social que por fin les permita terminar con el miedo que ha instaurado la liquidez consumidora. Debido a todas estas características de la comunidad, el objetivo de este escrito es analizar cómo las agrupaciones que no poseen los recursos necesarios para mantenerse a la par de las tendencias, quedan marginadas y deshumanizadas por no poder consumir y depender del resto; Convirtiéndose en el peor miedo de la sociedad líquida. (shrink)

Normal 0 21 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 One of the most important questions of moral philosophy is what makes a life a good life. A good way of approaching this issue is to watch the film Groundhog Day which can teach us a lot about what a good life consists in - and what not. While currently there are subjective and objective theories contending against each other about what a good life is, namely hedonism and desire satisfaction theories on the (...) one hand and objective list theories on the other, the film illustrates that at least one constituent of the good life can only be understood if we see it as having both an objective and a subjective side to it. Thus, the film shows that, in contrast to the beginning of the film, at the end the protagonist Phil has a good life insofar as that he finds something to do that suits him (the objective element), and comes to care deeply about it (the subjective element). (shrink)

RESUMENLa estructura desdoblada que adopta habitualmente la escritura de Chantal Maillard tiene un sentido intenso en el poemario Hilos. Este libro, que en parte surge como segregación del diario Husos, despliega una lógica estética contraria a toda interpretación metafísica. Para ello, los poemas crecen como ecos unos de otros y como reflejos de fragmentos de otros libros de la autora. En Hilos, la escritura teje una malla o red cuyos vórtices dibujan el mapa de un Texto en que obras de (...) otras manifestaciones artísticas (Gego), filosóficas (Derrida) o mitológicas (Kālī) vienen a explicar su urdimbre.PALABRAS CLAVECHANTAL MAILLARD, ESTÉTICA, GEGO, DERRIDA, KĀLĪABSTRACTThe split structure in which Chantal Maillard’s writing are regularly framed, has an intense sense in the poems in Hilos. This book, which comes as a segregation of the diary Husos, displays an aesthetic logic opposed to metaphysics. The poems are written as echoes and as reflections of other fragments of other Maillard’s books. In Hilos, the writing is a mesh or a network whose vortices draw the map of a Text explained by other artistic works (Gego), philosophical works (Derrida) or mythological expressions (Kālī).KEY WORDSCHANTAL MAILLARD, AESTHETICS, GEGO, DERRIDA, KĀLĪ. (shrink)

The question of what it means to be human has never before been more difficult and more contested. The human, with a complicated social history that his rarely been examined, remains entrenched in traditional Enlightenment thinking. Human, All Too Human considers how we might radicalize our notion of the human. Can the human be thought outside humanism? Any rethinking of the human places us immediately inside an ever-widening field of contrasting labels: animate and inanimate, natural and artificial, living and dead, (...) organic and mechanistic. These and other boundary confusions at the frontier of the human are the subject of this volume, as each essay takes up one of three disputed border identities: animals, things or children. Human, All Too Human examines how we explain our interest in anthropomorphism and our fascination with species categorizations. Essays explore what we mean by "things" and how the integrity of the human may already be compromised by them. The nine essays in this volume all attempt to rethink the category of the human, challenging some of our most cherished cultural classifications. By inviting us to place the traditions subject of knowledge in the unsettling position of object, these writers interrogate the boundary distinctions that, until now, have exempted the human from the vigilant analysis it so urgently requires. Contributors: Nancy Armstrong, Rey Chow, Drucilla Cornell, Diana Fuss, Marjorie Garber, Barbara Johnson, Cora Kaplan, James Kincaid, Harriet Ritvo, David Willis. (shrink)

Meyers examines the question of personal autonomy. She observes the effects of childrearing practices and sexual biases, and reflects upon the results in women. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR.

New Materialisms brings into focus and explains the significance of the innovative materialist critiques that are emerging across the social sciences and humanities. By gathering essays that exemplify the new thinking about matter and processes of materialization, this important collection shows how scholars are reworking older materialist traditions, contemporary theoretical debates, and advances in scientific knowledge to address pressing ethical and political challenges. In the introduction, Diana Coole and Samantha Frost highlight common themes among the distinctive critical projects that (...) comprise the new materialisms. The continuities they discern include a posthumanist conception of matter as lively or exhibiting agency, and a reengagement with both the material realities of everyday life and broader geopolitical and socioeconomic structures. Coole and Frost argue that contemporary economic, environmental, geopolitical, and technological developments demand new accounts of nature, agency, and social and political relationships; modes of inquiry that privilege consciousness and subjectivity are not adequate to the task. New materialist philosophies are needed to do justice to the complexities of twenty-first-century biopolitics and political economy, because they raise fundamental questions about the place of embodied humans in a material world and the ways that we produce, reproduce, and consume our material environment. Contributors Sara Ahmed Jane Bennett Rosi Braidotti Pheng Cheah Rey Chow William E. Connolly Diana Coole Jason Edwards Samantha Frost Elizabeth Grosz Sonia Kruks Melissa A. Orlie. (shrink)

Resumen: Spinoza afirma que las decisiones, elecciones y acciones de un agente son necesarias porque están determinadas causalmente. ¿Acaso los seres humanos no son agentes morales? ¿son sólo eslabones de una cadena de causas cuyo curso no pueden controlar y que los exime de las consecuencias de sus actos, así como de premios y castigos? ¿ser un individuo libre significa aceptar pasivamente lo que ocurre y abandonar la pretensión de modificarlo? Este artículo responde a estas preguntas mediante la distinción en (...) la obra spinoziana de dos conceptos de libertad, la verdadera libertad y el libre albedrío, así como con la distinción entre la responsabilidad civil fundada en el concepto de potestas humana -y no en la verdadera libertad, aunque la posibilita-.: Spinoza sustains that the agents' decisions are necessary because they are causally determined. But then, are humans really moral agents? Is it possible that they are only passengers in a train of causes, whose course they cannot control and exempts them from the consequences of their acts, of reward or punishment? Is accepting whatever happens and quitting the aspiration of changing things the hallmark of the free man? This paper answers these questions by distinguishing two concepts of freedom, real freedom and free will, as well as two concepts of responsibility. Civil responsibility is grounded in free will, whereas moral responsibility is not grounded in true freedom, but in human power. (shrink)

Some scholars have understood that Spinoza’s extreme rationalism, nominalism, conventionalism, and rejection of a semantic theory of truth make his philosophy incapable to use language for philosophical and scientific purposes; insofar he considered language a source of inadequate knowledge, falsity, and error. Thus Spinoza finds contradiction in his inevitable use of language to express his philosophy. This paper has four aims: first, propose an explanation on why language is inadequate knowledge for Spinoza; second, present differences between inadequacy, falsity, and error (...) in language; third, argue on the Spinozian use of the geometrical method as a solution for the adequate use of language in philosophical and scientific work; finally, show the problems and limits of this solution for metaphysical discussions. (shrink)

For Spinoza’s epistemology, an image is an idea that represents an external body as actually existent. This kind of knowledge is the only source of inadequate knowledge, falsity, and error. On the contrary, reason is adequate knowledge because it comprehends common notions, i.e, properties of different things. Intuition is also adequate knowledge because it conceives formal essences of singular things. The main example is the genetic definition of a sphere, an adequate knowledge form by the power of thinking of the (...) mind, without regard to existing extramental spheres. From these differences, some scholars conclude that imagination is always negative and should not deal with reason and intuition. But this conclusion will ban Spinoza’s epistemology from having adequate knowledge of existing individuals, such as Moses and the Hebrew State. In front of this view, this paper defends three theses: firstly, that the difference between the three kinds of knowledge is of genus, not of degree. Secondly, that adequate knowledge for Spinoza is a generic knowledge, i.e., insofar as S knows P insofar S deduces the effects, consequences, or properties of P. Thirdly, that adequate knowledge can include imagination through the proper use of the geometric method. In this case, imagination offers data to reason and intuition for having adequate knowledge of singular things that actually existed. (shrink)

Professional communities are experiencing scandals involving unethical and illegal practices daily. Yet it should not take a national major structure failure to highlight the importance of ethical awareness and behavior, or the need for the development and practice of ethical behavior in engineering students. Development of ethical behavior skills in future engineers is a key competency for engineering schools as ethical behavior is a part of the professional identity and practice of engineers. While engineering educators have somewhat established instructional methods (...) to teach engineering ethics, they still rely heavily on teaching ethical awareness, and pay little attention to how well ethical awareness predicts ethical behavior. However the ability to exercise ethical judgement does not mean that students are ethically educated or likely to behave in an ethical manner. This paper argues measuring ethical judgment is insufficient for evaluating the teaching of engineering ethics, because ethical awareness has not been demonstrated to translate into ethical behavior. The focus of this paper is to propose a model that correlates with both, ethical awareness and ethical behavior. This model integrates the theory of planned behavior, person and thing orientation, and spheres of control. Applying this model will allow educators to build confidence and trust in their students’ ability to build a professional identity and be prepared for the engineering profession and practice. (shrink)

We are currently seeing a revival of interest in Aquinas's moral thought among Christian ethicists, both Protestant and Catholic. Although recent studies of his moral thought have touched on a number of topics, the majority of these have focused on his account of the virtues and their place in the Christian life. Probing the questions of the relation of virtue and law, the role of reason and will, and the place of the passions in Aquinas's moral theology, I will examine (...) recent studies by Diana Cates, Pamela Hall, Simon Harak, James Keenan, Daniel Nelson, Daniel Westberg, and Paul Waddell. In different ways these studies return us repeatedly to the vexed and unresolved question of the scope of human freedom. (shrink)

In this paper I consider recent discussions within the representationalist theories of phenomenal consciousness, in particular, the discussions between first order representationalism (FOR) and higher order representationalism (HOR). I aim to show that either there is only a terminological dispute between them or, if the discussion is not simply terminological, then HOR is based on a misunderstanding of the phenomena that a theory of phenomenal consciousness should explain. First, I argue that we can defend first order representationalism from Carruthers' attacks (...) and ignore higher order thoughts in our account of phenomenal consciousness. Then I offer a diagnostic of Carruthers' misunderstanding. In the last section I consider further reasons to include mindreading abilities in an explanation of phenomenal consciousness. (shrink)

important source for the work has been the testimony of those closest to Wittgenstein. Literary executors, friends and students have all become essential tools for discovering more about Wittgenstein's personality and thoughts. That is the reason why many of their writings have been used to give a more accurate description of how the philosopher understood matters concerning the meaning of life.

Over the last few years, in part due to the political impact of terrorist activities, the debate on the moral significance of torture as a useful means of obtaining information from enemy combatants has arisen with an urgency not seen in many years. Stressing the importance of exceptional cases, the defenders of torture attempt to justify its acceptance by and back its use in the judicial system of Western democracies. Yet what is at stake here are the basic moral principles—especially (...) that of human dignity-on which our political convictions rest. Admitting of exceptions would change the value of these principles: what once werefixed guidelines for acceptable action now become alterable according to specific political demands, thus making torture into a morally neutral act. The current defence of torture in the West may be a symptom of the progressive absolutization of the State. (shrink)

“Literature and the Right to Death” is probably the most quoted of French thinker Maurice Blanchot’s texts. For decades it has been discussed by such important figures as Emmanuel Levinas, Jacques Derrida, or even the writer Paul Auster. Its importance is twofold: on the one hand, it is often considered an important gateway to Blanchot’s literary thought. On the other hand, it constitutes a substantial example of the new reception of Hegel in France after the Second World War. Although there (...) is no doubt about its Kojèvo-Hegelian inspiration and its center in what we could call “literary experience”, this article intends to explore another of its layers: its relation to the discussion around humanism and the Terror, as forgotten as it was central in France at the end of the 1940’s. We will thus try to lay the foundations for a new reading of this fundamental piece in Blanchot’s production. (shrink)

El presente trabajo analiza la construcción del espacio caribeño en la novela Rastro de sal de la escritora costarricense Arabella Salaverry. Este espacio se aborda desde dos perspectivas específicas: una, vinculada con la representación general del espacio caribeño. Este análisis se centra en tres relaciones concretas: conectividad/aislamiento, naturaleza/cultura, centro/periferia. La segunda perspectiva se interesa más bien en los espacios domésticos y su interacción con los personajes femeninos, a partir de las relaciones libertad/prisión e interior/exterior. Se concluye que, en Rastro de (...) sal, el Caribe se presenta como un espacio contradictorio, dinámico y desigual. (shrink)

There are theoretical and thematic shifts in African spiritual philosophy literature on the meaning of spirituality. On the one hand, traditional conceptions of spirituality are based on the dimensions of transcendence and supernaturalism. Common themes include ritualism, totemism, incantation, ancestorism, reincarnation, destiny, metempsychosis, witchcraft, death, soul, deities, etc. On the other hand, the evolving trend appeals to naturality and immanence. Common themes include sacrality, piety, respectability, relatability, existential gratitude, sacred feminine, etc. This work explores these recent and developing themes. It (...) aims to show that the understanding of spirituality in African modernity is increasingly linked to psychological traits expressed in attitude and behaviour as against traditional understanding that focused on cultural/ religious practices such as ritualism, ancestorism, and deities. The analysis reveals that recent studies link the experience of spirituality with wholeness and interdependence, and a recognition of one’s place in the connective web of other existents in nature. (shrink)

Diana Lobel takes readers on a journey across Eastern and Western philosophical and religious traditions to discover a beauty and purpose at the heart of reality that makes life worth living. Guided by the ideas of ancient thinkers and the insight of the philosophical historian Pierre Hadot, _The Quest for God and the Good_ treats philosophy not as an abstract, theoretical discipline, but as a living experience. For centuries, human beings have struggled to know why we are here, whether (...) a higher being or dimension exists, and whether our existence is fundamentally good. Above all, we want to know whether the search for God and the good will bring happiness. Following in the path of the ancient philosophers, Lobel directly connects conceptions of God or an Absolute with notions of the good, illuminating diverse classical texts and thinkers. She explores the Bible and the work of Plato, Aristotle, Augustine, Maimonides, al-Farabi, and al-Ghazali. She reads the _Tao Te Ching_, _I Ching_, _Bhagavad Gita_, and _Upanishads_, as well as the texts of Theravada, Mahayana, and Zen Buddhism, and traces the repercussions of these works in the modern thought of Alfred North Whitehead, Iris Murdoch, Alasdair MacIntyre, and Charles Taylor. While each of these texts and thinkers sets forth a distinct and unique vision, all maintain that human beings find fulfillment in their contact with beauty and purpose. Rather than arriving at one universal definition of God or the good, Lobel demonstrates the aesthetic value of multiple visions presented by many thinkers across cultures. _The Quest for God and the Good_ sets forth a path of investigation and discovery culminating in intellectual and spiritual communion. (shrink)

In this brief and powerful book, Diana Fuss takes on the debate of pure essence versus social construct, engaging with the work of Luce Irigaray and Monique ...

In Upheavals of Thought, Martha Nussbaum offers a theory of the emotions. She argues that emotions are best conceived as thoughts, and she argues that emotion‐thoughts can make valuable contributions to the moral life. She develops extensive accounts of compassion and erotic love as thoughts that are of great moral import. This paper seeks to elucidate what it means, for Nussbaum, to say that emotions are forms of thought. It raises critical questions about her conception of the structure of emotion, (...) and about her conception of compassion, in particular. Finally, the paper seeks to show how analyzing the structure, as well as the moral value, of the emotions ultimately requires entering the realm of religious ethics. (shrink)

This book is a unique exploration of the idea of the "second person" in human interaction, the idea that face-to-face interactions involve a distinctive form of reciprocal mental state attributions that mediates their dynamical unfolding. Challenging the view of mental attribution as a sort of "theory of mind", Pérez and Gomila argue that the second person perspective of mental understanding is the conceptually, ontogenetically, and phylogenetically basic way of understanding mentality. Second person interaction provides the opportunity for the acquisition of (...) concepts of mental states of increasing complexity. The book reviews the growing interest in a variety of second person phenomena, both in development and in adulthood, presenting research that shows how participants in human interaction attribute psychological states of a referentially transparent kind to each other. This review documents the spontaneous preference for face-to-face interaction, from eye contact to joint attention, from forms of vitality to communicative intentions, from interaction detection to joint action, and from synchrony to interpersonal coordination. Also looking at the implications and applications of the second person perspective within fields as diverse as art and morality, this book is fascinating reading for students and academics in social and cognitive psychology, cognitive science, neuroscience, and philosophy. (shrink)

In Unruly Words, Diana Raffman advances a new theory of vagueness which, unlike previous accounts, is genuinely semantic while preserving bivalence. According to this new approach, called the multiple range theory, vagueness consists essentially in a term's being applicable in multiple arbitrarily different, but equally competent, ways, even when contextual factors are fixed.

This paper compares the results of large-scale U.S. and U.K. surveys designed to identify managers' major ethical concerns and to investigate how firms are formulating and communicating ethics policies responsive to these concerns.Our findings indicate some important differences between U.S. and U.K. firms in perceptions of what are important ethical issues, in the means used to communicate ethics policies, and in the issues addressed in ethics policies and employee training. U.K. companies tend to be more likely to communicate ethics policies (...) through senior executives, whereas U.S. companies tend to rely more on their Human Resources and Legal Departments. U.S. firms consider most ethical issues to be more important than do their U.K. counterparts, and are especially concerned with employee behavior which may harm the firm. In contrast, the issues which U.K. managers consider more important tend to be concerned with external corporate stakeholders rather than employees. (shrink)

In this article we compare the experiences of women members of the board of directors of U.S. and Norwegian corporations. Based on the personal stories of two women directors from each country, we discuss similarities and differences in the role and characteristics of women corporate directors and the processes and behaviours they are involved in as directors within and outside the boardroom. We also investigate the role of gender-related dynamics in these two countries, focusing on board roles and processes, and (...) the visible and invisible board structures with which women corporate directors contend. (shrink)

Abstract:This essay develops a dialogue between Zhu Xi's thirteenth-century Neo-Confucian thought and Levinas' twentieth-century Western philosophy, around the notion of interrelatedness between individuals, between self and other. Despite the fact that Zhu Xi and Levinas belong to diff erent cultural universes and to diff erent philosophical spiritualities, and lived in diff erent historical times, they share the same interest in exploring, interpreting, and building interrelatedness, and therefore in ethics and ethical relationships. Through an intertextual and hermeneutical approach, the essay builds (...) a dialogue between diff erent cultural presuppositions underlying the essence of ethics and of ethical relationship: otherness and sameness. This dialogue allows one to become aware of the existence of transcultural concepts such as interrelatedness, and of their diff erent, cross-cultural meanings (e.g., interrelatedness is grounded in "sameness" in Zhu Xi's Confucian context and in "otherness" in Levinas' thought). (shrink)

In Thomas Metzinger, Conscious Experience, Schoningh Verlag. 1995. [ online ].

Genesis -- Natural habitat -- Dirt -- Water -- Sky -- Human geography -- Roots -- Home -- Neighborhood -- Commons -- Revelation.

A moral agent is an individual who is capable of choosing and acting in accordance with judgments about what is right, wrong, good, bad, worthy, or unworthy. Such individuals are thought to be free and hence responsible for what they do. The obstacles to freedom and responsibility raise philosophical problems in regard to moral agency.

Explainable artificial intelligence (XAI) is an emerging, multidisciplinary field of research that seeks to develop methods and tools for making AI systems more explainable or interpretable. XAI researchers increasingly recognise explainability as a context-, audience- and purpose-sensitive phenomenon, rather than a single well-defined property that can be directly measured and optimised. However, since there is currently no overarching definition of explainability, this poses a risk of miscommunication between the many different researchers within this multidisciplinary space. This is the problem we (...) seek to address in this paper. We outline a framework, called Explanatory Pragmatism, which we argue has two attractive features. First, it allows us to conceptualise explainability in explicitly context-, audience- and purpose-relative terms, while retaining a unified underlying definition of explainability. Second, it makes visible any normative disagreements that may underpin conflicting claims about explainability regarding the purposes for which explanations are sought. Third, it allows us to distinguish several dimensions of AI explainability. We illustrate this framework by applying it to a case study involving a machine learning model for predicting whether patients suffering disorders of consciousness were likely to recover consciousness. (shrink)