The human attempts to access, measure and organize physical phenomena have led to a manifold construction of mathematical and physical spaces. We will survey the evolution of geometries from Euclid to the Algebraic Geometry of the 20th century. The role of Persian/Arabic Algebra in this transition and its Western symbolic development is emphasized. In this relation, we will also discuss changes in the ontological attitudes toward mathematics and its applications. Historically, the encounter of geometric and algebraic perspectives enriched the mathematical (...) practices and their foundations. Yet, the collapse of Euclidean certitudes, of over 2300 years, and the crisis in the mathematical analysis of the 19th century, led to the exclusion of “geometric judgments” from the foundations of Mathematics. After the success and the limits of the logico-formal analysis, it is necessary to broaden our foundational tools and re-examine the interactions with natural sciences. In particular, the way the geometric and algebraic approaches organize knowledge is analyzed as a cross-disciplinary and cross-cultural issue and will be examined in Mathematical Physics and Biology. We finally discuss how the current notions of mathematical (phase) “space” should be revisited for the purposes of life sciences. (shrink)

In his seminal 1960 paper, the physicist Eugene Wigner formulated the question of the applicability of mathematics in physics in a way nobody had before. This formulation has been entirely overlooked due to an exclusive concern with solving Wigner’s problem and explaining the effectiveness of mathematics in the natural sciences, in one way or another. Many have attempted to attribute Wigner’s unjustified conclusion—that mathematics is unreasonably effective in the natural sciences—to his formalist views on mathematics. My goal is to show (...) that this reading misses out on Wigner’s highly original formulation of the problem which is presented throughout his body of work in physics as well as in philosophy. This formulation, as I will show, leads us in a new direction in solving the applicability problem. (shrink)

In his seminal 1960 paper, the physicist Eugene Wigner formulated the question of the applicability of mathematics in physics in a way nobody had before. This formulation has been entirely overlooked due to an exclusive concern with solving Wigner’s problem and explaining the effectiveness of mathematics in the natural sciences, in one way or another. Many have attempted to attribute Wigner’s unjustified conclusion—that mathematics is unreasonably effective in the natural sciences—to his formalist views on mathematics. My goal is to show (...) that this reading misses out on Wigner’s highly original formulation of the problem which is presented throughout his body of work in physics as well as in philosophy. This formulation, as I will show, leads us in a new direction in solving the applicability problem. (shrink)

Background The principle of human dignity is woven into the ethical principles of the midwifery profession, noted as both an obligation and a human right. Research Objectives The aim of this study is to explore the experiences of midwifery students regarding threats to women's dignity during childbirth. Research Design This is a qualitative study with explorative design. Participants and Research Context: The research was carried out in 2022 at Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, involving 32 midwifery students in individual interviews (...) that lasted between 30 and 90 minutes. These participants aged 21 to 28 years, with an average age of 23.5 years, provided their perspectives on the matter. Results Four key themes described the threats to women’s dignity during childbirth: 1) professional incompetence, 2) abuse of power imbalance, 3) caring only for physical and not mental health, and 4) structural issues within the healthcare system. Professional incompetence was characterized by outdated practices and lack of adherence to evidence-based medicine. Abuse of power imbalance was demonstrated in instances where the authoritative position of healthcare providers was misused, thereby disrupting the respectful care that women are entitled to receive. The disproportionate emphasis on physical health over mental health was evidenced by the disregard for mothers' psychological well-being during childbirth. Lastly, systemic structural issues emerged as significant impediments, revealing the need for system-wide changes. Ethical considerations: This study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Research Deputy at Kermanshah University. Participation was voluntary and the confidentiality were maintained. Conclusion The findings underscore the role that unprofessional behavior, ethical lapses in medical practices, and systemic challenges play in undermining maternal dignity during childbirth. These threats necessitate urgent attention and must be adequately addressed in policy development and program implementation to safeguard the dignity of mothers during childbirth. (shrink)

Social exclusion is an emotionally painful experience that leads to various alterations in socio-emotional processing. The perceptual and emotional consequences that may arise from experiencing social exclusion can vary depending on the paradigm used to manipulate it. Exclusion paradigms can vary in terms of the severity and duration of the leading exclusion experience, thereby classifying it as either a short-term or long-term experience. The present study aimed to study the impact of exclusion on socio-emotional processing using different paradigms that caused (...) experiencing short-term and imagining long-term exclusion. Ambiguous facial emotions were used as socio-emotional cues. In study 1, the Ostracism Online paradigm was used to manipulate short-term exclusion. In study 2, a new sample of participants imagined long-term exclusion through the future life alone paradigm. Participants of both studies then completed a facial emotion recognition task consisting of morphed ambiguous facial emotions. By means of Point of Subjective Equivalence analyses, our results indicate that the experience of short-term exclusion hinders recognising happy facial expressions. In contrast, imagining long-term exclusion causes difficulties in recognising sad facial expressions. These findings extend the current literature, suggesting that not all social exclusion paradigms affect socio-emotional processing similarly. (shrink)

In a paper titled, “The Unreasonable Effectiveness of Mathematics”, published 20 years after Wigner’s seminal paper, the mathematician Richard W. Hamming discussed what he took to be Wigner’s problem of Unreasonable Effectiveness and offered some partial explanations for this phenomenon. Whether Hamming succeeds in his explanations as answers to Wigner’s puzzle is addressed by other scholars in recent years I, on the other hand, raise a more fundamental question: does Hamming succeed in raising the same question as Wigner? The answer (...) is no. My goal is to show that Hamming’s reading misses Wigner’s highly original formulation of the problem.Through a close and contextual reading of Wigner’s work, as I will show, we are led in new directions in addressing and solving the applicability problem. (shrink)

Spirituality in medical education is an abstract multifaceted concept, related to the healthcare system. As a significant dimension of health, the importance and promotion of this concept has received considerable attention all over the world. However, it is still an abstract concept and its use in different contexts leads to different perceptions, thereby causing challenges. In this regard, the study aimed to clarify the existing ambiguities of the concept of spirituality in medical education. Walker and Avant concept analysis eight-step approach (...) was used. After an extensive review of online national and international databases from 2000 to 2015, 180 articles and 3 books in English and Persian were retrieved for the purposes of the study. Analysis revealed that the defining attributes of spirituality in medical education are: teaching with all heart and soul, Life inspiring, ontological multidimensional connectedness, religious-secular spectrum, and socio-cultural intricacies. Moreover, innate wisdom, skillful treatment, transcendent education, and environmental requirements were antecedents to this concept, with the health of body and soul, intrapersonal development and elevation, and responsive treatment and education being its consequences. The defining attributes provided in this study can assist physicians, instructors, and professors to develop and implement evidence-based, health based and comprehensive education plans according to the guidelines of professional ethics and qualification of using spirituality in practice. The clarification of the noted concept facilitates further development of medical knowledge, research, and research instruments. (shrink)

This article reviews the development of a new set of practices within modern medicine that can generally be called “cosmetic medicine,” practices that include cosmetic surgery, cosmetic dermatology, and cosmetic gynecology. I argue that the development of such fields indicates a fundamental change in the practice of medicine. After reviewing the possible explanations proposed for such developments, in order to indicate the social and cultural origin of the driving forces, I discuss the implications of these revolutionary changes for the perceived (...) goal of medicine. Of particular importance is the development of beauty as the main goal in cosmetic medicine. The development of the new fields supports the idea that... (shrink)

The present study aimed at investigating the status of cheating on exams in the Iranian EFL context. One hundred thirty two university students were surveyed to this end. They were selected through convenient sampling. The results indicated that cheating is quite common among the Iranian language students. The most important reasons for this behavior were found to be “not being ready for the exam”, “difficulty of the exam”, “lack of time to study” and “careless and lenient instructors”. The study also (...) indicated that the most common methods of cheating are “talking to the adjacent individuals”, “copying from others' test papers”, and “using gestures to get the answers from others”. It was also found that the student’s field of study, academic level, and occupational status had a significant effect on cheating whereas gender and marital status had no effect in this regard. Furthermore, it became clear that field of study and occupational status had a significant effect on students’ attitude toward cheating whereas gender, academic level and marital status had no effect. Finally, the study indicated that age significantly correlated with cheating and attitude toward cheating. (shrink)

The definition and measurement of the quality audit work has been the subject of many studies. Since the quality of auditors' work could not be observed directly except in ex post audit failures, prior researches adapted different proxies for measuring it. These proxies include firm size, reputation, auditor tenure, audit fees and other measures. This article reviews empirical studies over the past decades from all over the world in order to assess what researchers have done about measuring the quality of (...) auditors' work. Prior measurements are classified into two main groups; direct and indirect measure of quality audit and actual quality audit versus perceptions. This article contributes to the quality audit literature by proposing new measurement, which is developed based on the quality of auditors' work definition and theory of planned behaviour. (shrink)

In recent years, the amount of data in the world is growing rapidly. Data growth also occurs in the government sector. All ministries and institutions at every level are data producers. These government-owned data have a high potential if they can be used properly. Open government data can stimulate innovation and economic growth and enhance business models. In order to increase the willingness of citizens to use open government data and enjoy the benefits mentioned, the quality of open government data (...) needs to be improved. The quality of open government data encompasses a variety of dimensions and criteria. Also, the importance of each dimension and criterion in increasing the quality of open government data is different. Therefore, we are faced with a complex system that requires proper decision-making and management. In fact, we are dealing with decision-making in the complex management system. Given the importance of this issue, the purpose of this study is to provide a new and comprehensive method to improve the quality of open government data and increase the willingness of citizens to use the data by considering the complex network of citizens and organizations. For this purpose, library studies have been used to extract comprehensive and effective dimensions and criteria. The statistical population includes all articles related to the criteria of improving the quality of open government data and increasing the willingness of citizens to use the data. The probabilistic sampling method of simple random samples has been used, and 10 articles in this field have been reviewed. After extracting the criteria as well as the data of 112 governmental organizations and institutions related to each criterion from the open data portal, the complex network of citizens and governmental organizations and institutions has been analyzed in order to identify high-degree centrality organizations. Then, the data characteristics of the organizations that were most desired by the citizens were extracted using data mining techniques including the regression model. Also, field method and multicriteria decision-making technique including the DEMATEL technique have been used to express the solutions and identify the cause-and-effect relationships between the solutions. The criteria extracted in improving the quality of open government data and increasing the willingness of citizens to use the data are included: “data originality,” “license openness,” “up-to-datedness,” “data access,” “metadata completeness,” “number of data sets,” “format openness,” “nondiscrimination,” “understandable,” “number of categories of data sets,” “free,” “lack of missing data,” “data request ability,” “visualization,” “feedback,” and “data subject matter.” Based on the results obtained from the analysis of the complex network and the regression model, the criterion of “society subject” with a coefficient of 72.564 and a positive sign has the greatest impact on increasing the number of citizens' visits to open government data. After that, the criterion of “format openness” with a coefficient of 52.682 and a positive sign has the second rank in increasing the number of visits. Extracting comprehensive and effective criteria in improving the quality of open government data and increasing citizens' willingness to use data, calculating the weight and importance of each criterion by analyzing the complex network of citizens and organizations, as well as providing solutions, can help managers in decision-making and proper management in the complex system of citizens and government organizations. (shrink)

Hymenoplasty, practiced in societies wherein a woman's virginity signifies honour, is a controversial surgery raising a multitude of ethical issues. There is a dearth of research uncovering the views of physicians who perform hymenoplasty, especially in sexually conservative cultures, such as Iran. Interviews were conducted with five Iranian physicians who perform hymenoplasty to determine their ethical views on the surgery. The interview findings suggest that Iranian physicians risk punitive consequences if they are discovered to be offering hymenoplasty. However, some continue (...) to cautiously perform the procedure out of a moral obligation to protect the welfare of women seeking it, even if they are personally conflicted about the surgery. (shrink)

The present study was an attempt to shed light on the status of plagiarism in the Iranian academic context. It tried to survey the EFL learners’ perceptions of and reasons for different types of plagiarism. To this end, 132 EFL learners from different Iranian universities took part in the study. The data were collected through using a questionnaire specifically designed to gather information on plagiarism. The results indicated that plagiarism is quite common in the Iranian EFL context as different types (...) of plagiarism are employed by the students. Many students were found not to have a negative attitude toward plagiarism. The results also indicated that gender, marital status and occupational status did not have a significant effect on plagiarism, whereas academic level, field of study, and age played a significant role in this regard. (shrink)

Background:Spiritual development is one of the most important aspects of socialization that has attracted the attention of researchers. It is needed to train nursing student and novice nurses to provide high-quality care for patients. There is ambiguity in the definition of spiritual development and its relations, especially in the eastern countries.Research objectives::To explore the concept of spiritual development in Iranian nurses.Research design:Qualitative content analysis approach. Data were gathered from semi-structured interviews. Participants and research context: The participants were 17 Iranian Muslim (...) nurses selected using a purposeful sampling. The place of interviews was on their choice.Ethical considerations:Based on the principles of the Helsinki declaration, the focus was on preserving the participants’ autonomy, confidentiality, and anonymity. The participants were told the study purposes and trends, and their rights were emphasized; they were then asked to sign written consent forms. Formal research approval was obtained from Kerman University of Medical Sciences. Ethical approval was granted by the University Ethics Committee before the study was conducted.Findings:Three themes for spiritual development were defined: obligation to religion, commitment to ethics, and commitment to law. From the results, factors such as connection to the limitless divine power, personal and society-oriented ethical codes, and commitment to the law are proposed.Discussion:There are some differences between these findings and previous study, especially in the relation of the spirituality, religion, and law. Some studies, mostly Iranian, support these findings partially.Conclusion:The results suggest that it is better to teach nursing education based on humanistic principles, ethics, and law to the new generation of nurses to improve community health and development. More studies are needed to examine the relation between these themes. (shrink)

Background: Compassion fatigue and professional quality of life are important in health and professional ethics. Aim: This study aimed to determine the relationship between compassion satisfaction, compassion fatigue, secondary traumatic stress, and moral injury in nurses. Research design: This research is a cross-sectional descriptive-analytical study. The research community of this research was all the nurses of the teaching hospitals of Ardabil city. Three questionnaires on demographic characteristics, the Professional Quality of Life Scale (ProQOL), and the Moral Injury Events Scale were (...) used to collect data. SPSS (version 22) software was used for data analysis. Participants and research context: The study recruited 297 nurses randomly selected from five teaching hospitals in Ardabil city. Ethical considerations: Ethical approval was obtained from the Ardabil University of Medical Sciences ethics committee (with the code of ethics IR.ARUMS.REC.1401.198). Informed consent was obtained from the participants. Results: The results showed that the mean compassion satisfaction score of this study’s participants was 37.61 ± 8.86, the mean compassion fatigue score of this study’s participants was 28.73 ± 7.04, and the mean secondary traumatic stress score of this study’s participants was 29.95 ± 7.84. The mean score of moral injury among nurses was 31.19 ± 8.54. The results showed a negative significant relationship between compassion satisfaction and moral injury ( p < 0.001). Also, there is a positive significant relationship between compassion fatigue and secondary traumatic stress with moral injury ( p < 0.001). Conclusion: The results of this study show a negative relationship between compassion satisfaction and moral injury. According to the results of the present study, nurse managers should implement educational interventions, create ethical processes, and clear ethical guidelines to reduce moral injury and increase compassion satisfaction. (shrink)

Anthropology in psychology under the title of "personality theories" has been able to be effective in the field of behavioral studies and interpersonal relationships. The need to explain and analyze the true nature of man in the field of "being" - contrary to psychological personality theories that generally identify human nature in the field of "appearance" - caused this article based on Sadra's anthropological opinions and view According to Allport's trait theory, which is one of the pioneers of the trait (...) approach, it should be organized by descriptive-analytical method. The individualistic approach based on traits is the main feature of Allport's and Mulla Sadra's personality theory. The foundation of personality in both theories is based on the most profound characteristics of person; However, in the analysis of Mulla Sadra's philosophical texts, the quality of the appearance of these traits and why they influence the structure of personality and, accordingly, human behavior, have been explained. "Self" or ego, contrary to its abstract concept in Alport's view, is a real and existential thing in Sadrai's system. The dynamism and unity of Alporti's personality can be rationally explained by the rule of "unity of the known and the known" and "intrinsic volitional movement". (shrink)

Phronesis is a fundamental term in Ancient Greek Philosophical tradition. This term is based on »wise- ruler« in Plato and »legislator- philosopher« thought in Plato. Most of Philosophers and commentators of Aristotle work relate methodical use of this term to Aristotle. This affair is the result of the manner of these two philosopher’s expression. But their ambiguity shows phronesis less importance in Plato’s intellectual tradition.Phronesis in Plato is brightness that results from good perception. But in his last work, means Plato, (...) phronesis hasn’t only divine origin, but in the meaning of Grief and Political Knowledge, is the supplement of sophia that is the highest coordination between reason and desire in spirit. Phronesis in Plato is responsible for creating governmental- philosophical rules and practical judgment through experience and council. By this, phronesis owners can merge wisdom and politics and see better than others. So, sophia and phronesis aren’t synonyms in Plato, but their conceptual application are related to each other: as phronesis owner has practical wisdom- sophia in Aristotle thought. (shrink)

Peter Sloterdijk maintains that modern institutions and their fundamental ethos, namely self-discipline, training and the orientation to achievement, can be traced back to spiritual self-mastery and ancient ascetic models, exemplified in Christian monastic life. This article examines the bases of this claim and argues that Sloterdijk’s theory empties ascetic formations of their concrete content and removes them from their historical context. The ambition to derive the main features of modern society from a single matrix necessarily produces abstractions and self-serving definitions (...) with very little explanatory value. (shrink)

Interdisciplinary efforts from developmental psychology, phenomenology, and philosophy of mind, have studied the rudiments of social cognition and conceptualized distinct forms of intersubjective communication and interaction at human early life. Interaction theorists consider primary intersubjectivity a non-mentalist, pre-theoretical, non-conceptual sort of processes that ground a certain level of communication and understanding, and provide support to higher-level cognitive skills. We argue the study of human/neurorobot interaction consists in a unique opportunity to deepen understanding of underlying mechanisms in social cognition through synthetic (...) modeling, while allowing to examine a second person experiential access to intersubjectivity in embodied dyadic interaction. Concretely, we propose the study of primary intersubjectivity as a 2PP experience characterized by predictive engagement, where perception, cognition, and action are accounted for an hermeneutic circle in dyadic interaction. From our interpretation of the concept of active inference in free-energy principle theory, we propose an open-source methodology named neural robotics library for experimental human/neurorobot interaction, wherein a demonstration program named virtual Cartesian robot provides an opportunity to experience the aforementioned embodied interaction to general audiences. Lastly, through a study case, we discuss some ways human-robot primary intersubjectivity can contribute to cognitive science research, such as to the fields of developmental psychology, educational technology, and cognitive rehabilitation. (shrink)

BackgroundNursing documentation as a pivotal part of nursing care has many implications for patient care in terms of safety and ethics.ObjectivesTo explore factors influencing nursing documentation from nurses’ perspectives in the Iranian nursing context.MethodsThis qualitative study was carried out using a qualitative content analysis of data collected from 2018 to 2019 in two urban areas of Iran. Semi-structured interviews (n = 15), observations, and reviews of patients’ medical files were used for data collection.Ethical considerationsThis study was conducted in accordance with (...) the ethical principles of research and regulations in terms of confidentiality of data, anonymity, and provision of informed consent.FindingsThe main theme of this study was “unsafe documentation.” Two categories, “types of errors in reporting” and “reasons of errors in reporting,” and 12 subcategories were developed indicating factors influencing nursing documentation in the Iranian nursing context.ConclusionIn general, individual, organizational, and national factors affected nursing documentation in Iran. In this respect, hiring more nurses, application of reforms in the healthcare management structure, devising appropriate regulations regarding division of labor, constant education of healthcare staff, establishment of clinical governance, improvement of interpersonal relationships, development of hardware and software techniques for documentation, and provision of support should be done to improve the quality of nursing documentation. The above-mentioned suggestions can help nurses with a safe, ethical, lawful, and reliable documentation in nursing practice. (shrink)

Reviving the works of Persian Empire’s writers and grandees, both in terms of the newly discovered points in books and discourses and also including indications of their era’s social, political and cultural state, is highly essential and valuable; so much so that if no efforts are made on their correction and restoration, a vast part of this extremely rich cultural heritage will be buried among the manuscripts. It is incumbent on the scientific community to take steps, however brief, in order (...) to stimulate such precious works which in turn represent a cultural legacy.One of these works is Bayani Kermani’s Monsha’at, dated back to Iran’s Timurid and early Safavid period. Since he was a Timurid court clerk later becoming the Chancellor and has mentioned many important literary and political figures in his work, the correction of this book greatly contributes to the recognition the individuals and understanding the social culture and customs of the Timurid era.This paper briefly introduces Bayani, his works, and the remaining manuscripts of Monsha’at, hoping for it to be of some benefit. (shrink)

Background: Past research has highlighted the role of trauma in social adjustment problems, but little is known about the underlying process. This is a barrier to developing effective interventions for social adjustment of traumatized individuals. The present study addressed this research gap through a cognitive model.Methods: A total of 604 young adults from different backgrounds were assessed through self-report questionnaires. The data were analyzed through path analysis and multivariate analysis of variance. Two path analyses were conducted separately for migrant and (...) Australian groups.Results: Analyses indicated that cognitive avoidance and social problem solving can significantly mediate the relation between trauma and social adjustment. According to the model, reacting to trauma by cognitive avoidance can disturb the cognitive capacities that are required for social problem solving. Consequently, a lack of effective social problem solving significantly hinders social adjustment. There were no significant differences among the Australian, non-refugee immigrant and refugee participants on the dependent variables. Moreover, the hypothesized links between the variables was confirmed similarly for both migrant and Australian groups.Conclusion: The findings have important implications for interventions targeting the social adjustment of young individuals. We assert that overlooking the processes identified in this study, can hinder the improvement of social adjustment in young adults with a history of trauma. Recommendations for future research and practice are discussed. (shrink)

Jim Jarmusch's Dead Man is a modern myth. Like many ancient myths it seems to have the structure of a rite of passage analysed by van Gennep into three stages: separation, marginal existence and reintegration. Separation is precipitated by a traumatic event and the marginal state is characterized by extraordinary experiences and feats. However, Jarmusch's tale does not quite fit the ancient initiation pattern since the last stage, reintegration, is at least prima facie missing. This already undermines the social function (...) of initiation and warps the significance of the myth. The modern town of ?Machine?, where the marginal existence of Blake is sealed, looms in the background of the story of his final journey to the world of spirits whence he had come. But Blake cannot quite embrace the story in which he plays the protagonist. The story is cobbled together by the Native American called ?Nobody.? Blake sceptically resigns himself to his fate. Why does Blake do this? Jarmusch manipulates the generic structure of the initiation tale in order to say something culturally significant about the possibility of living a meaningful life in a world dominated by the machine. In other words, he tells a modern myth. What does his tale say? (shrink)

In Bioethics and Secular Humanism: The Search for a Common Morality, Tristram Engelhardt examines various possibilities of finding common ground for moral discourse among people from different traditions and concludes their futility. In this paper I will argue that many of the assumptions on which Engelhardt bases his conclusion about the impossibility of a content-full secular bioethics are problematic. By starting with the notion of moral strangers, there is no possibility, by definition, for a content-full moral discourse among moral strangers. (...) It means that there is circularity in starting the inquiry with a definition of moral strangers, which implies that they do not share enough moral background or commitment to an authority to allow for reaching a moral agreement, and concluding that content-full morality is impossible among moral strangers. I argue that assuming traditions as solid and immutable structures that insulate people across their boundaries is problematic. Another questionable assumption in Engelhardt’s work is the idea that religious and philosophical traditions provide content-full moralities. As the cardinal assumption in Engelhardt’s review of the various alternatives for a content-full moral discourse among moral strangers, I analyze his foundationalist account of moral reasoning and knowledge and indicate the possibility of other ways of moral knowledge, besides the foundationalist one. Then, I examine Engelhardt’s view concerning the futility of attempts at justifying a content-full secular bioethics, and indicate how the assumptions have shaped Engelhardt’s critique of the alternatives for the possibility of content-full secular bioethics. (shrink)

Bioethics mediation is increasingly used as a method in clinical ethics cases. My goal in this paper is to examine the implicit theoretical assumptions of the bioethics mediation method developed by Dubler and Liebman. According to them, the distinguishing feature of bioethics mediation is that the method is useful in most cases of clinical ethics in which conflict is the main issue, which implies that there is either no real ethical issue or if there were, they are not the key (...) to finding a resolution. I question the tacit assumption of non-normativity of the mediation method in bioethics by examining the various senses in which bioethics mediation might be non-normative or neutral. The major normative assumption of the mediation method is the existence of common morality. In addition, the four-principle formulation of the theory articulated by Beauchamp and Childress implicitly provides the normative content for the method. Full acknowledgement of the theoretical and normative assumptions of bioethics mediation helps clinical ethicists better understand the nature of their job. In addition, the need for a robust philosophical background even in what appears to be a purely practical method of mediation cannot be overemphasized. Acknowledgement of the normative nature of bioethics mediation method necessitates a more critical attitude of the bioethics mediators towards the norms they usually take for granted uncritically as valid. (shrink)

Regarding the exhaustive discussions of the fundamentality of existence versus the fundamentality of quiddity, it is a necessary preliminary to examine and analyze the first documented statement of the fundamentality of existence. Following this, we must inquire how the concept is obtained on the basis of which such a judgment could be formed. Then we must illuminate the meaning of propositions that state only that an object is or exists (ontological propositions). Finally, by explaining the meaning of the words “quiddity” (...) and “existence” and comparing them, indications are found of confusion between epistemological and ontological issues. (shrink)

There is an assumption in virtue epistemology that epistemic virtues are the same in different times and places. In this paper, however, I examine this assumption in the practice of medicine as a paradigm example. I identify two different paradigms of medical practice, one before and the other after the rise of bioethics in 1960s. I discuss the socially defined role and function of physicians and the epistemic goals of medical practice in these two periods to see how these elements (...) affect the necessary epistemic virtues for physicians. I conclude that epistemic virtues of medical practice differ in these two periods according to the differing epistemic goals and the socially defined function of physicians. In the end, I respond to the possible objections to my thesis based on the distinction between skill and virtue. (shrink)

This article discusses the politics of local Sufi group in Indonesia, the Shiddiqiyyah. It addresses the locality of Shiddiqiyah tarekat and its politics during New Order Indonesia and following the fall of the regime. It is argued that the Shiddiqiyah, a local tarekat with its roots in East Java and later successfully welcomes national reputation, is an example of a tarekat that utilizes nationalistic slogan to expand its influence as well as to protect the tarekat from heretic accusation. Through a (...) series of intensive fieldwork, the article argues that the Shiddiqiyyah has successfully maintained ideological patronage to the New Order Indonesia through nationalistic slogan which has been a core value of the group. The doctrine of nationalism has been translated in Sufi and Javanese idioms and become fundamental doctrine of the Shiddiqiyyah. (shrink)