Este artículo considera el tema de las tecnologías de representación de las ruralidades queer en el cine. Las autoras llevan a cabo un análisis pormenorizado de la representación de las disidencias sexuales y de género sostenidas en y a través de espacialidades rurales tomando como objeto de estudio tres piezas fílmicas producidas en el estado español durante las últimas dos décadas, a saber, Ander (2009), 80 Egunean (2010) y Elisa y Marcela (2018). A manera de conclusión, el artículo muestra (...) las tensiones entre dos marcos interpretativos desde los que afrontar los ensamblajes en que se relacionan las ruralidades y las disidencias sexuales y de género. Estos son el enfoque de las ruralidades urbanas que produce epistemologías de carácter identitariamente fuerte, y el enfoque de las ruralidades queer que permite leer las representaciones tomadas en cuenta como figuraciones posidentitarias y subversivas de la disidencia. (shrink)

Este estudo busca investigar o movimento constitutivo das articulações entre razão e emoção e a sua influência na educação contemporânea. Para tanto, busca situar novas contribuições a partir das pesquisas de Antonio Damásio para quem as emoções e os sentimentos, são considerados indispensáveis para a vida racional nos diferenciando uns dos outros, nos tornando únicos e nos capacitando a um repertório de respostas emocionais criadas a partir da interação entre o corpo e a mente. Também são utilizadas as reflexões do (...) filósofo seiscentista Baruch Espinosa, cuja contribuição para este estudo reside nos seus conceitos de afeto, liberdade e servidão. Assim, propõe-se uma movimentação no sentido de contextualizar o entendimento dos conceitos de emoção e sentimentos, culminando no desvelamento das suas reais influências no agir humano e na transcendência da visão construída a partir do paradigma epistemológico moderno. Para tanto, pontua-se, as perspectivas filosóficas entre a razão e a emoção que foram sendo produzidas ao longo do tempo e, no segundo momento, procura-se compreender as articulações entre emoções, sentimentos e consciência. Esses apontamentos resultarão nos elementos em favor da dignidade, da reverência pela vida e da liberdade de pensamento como valores a serem assegurados e defendidos na educação. E, dessa forma, provocam os seus atores a rediscutir o papel das emoções e sentimentos, reavaliando a pauta das suas ações. (shrink)

This book explores the phenomenological investigations of Edith Stein by critically contextualising her role within the phenomenological movement and assessing her accounts of empathy, sociality, and personhood. Despite the growing interest that surrounds contemporary research on empathy, Edith Stein’s phenomenological investigations have been largely neglected due to a historical tradition that tends to consider her either as Husserl’s assistant or as a martyr. However, in her phenomenological research, Edith Stein pursued critically the relation between phenomenology and psychology, focusing on the (...) relation between affectivity, subjectivity, and personhood. Alongside phenomenologists like Max Scheler, Kurt Stavenhagen, and Hedwig Conrad-Martius, Stein developed Husserl’s method, incorporating several original modifications that are relevant for philosophy, phenomenology, and ethics. Drawing on recent debates on empathy, emotions, and collective intentionality as well as on original inquiries and interpretations, the collection articulates and develops new perspectives regarding Edith Stein’s phenomenology. The volume includes an appraisal of Stein’s philosophical relation to Edmund Husserl and Max Scheler, and develops further the concepts of empathy, sociality, and personhood. These essays demonstrate the significance of Stein’s phenomenology for contemporary research on intentionality, emotions, and ethics. Gathering together contributions from young researchers and leading scholars in the fields of phenomenology, social ontology, and history of philosophy, this collection provides original views and critical discussions that will be of interest also for social philosophers and moral psychologists. (shrink)

En este estudio se analiza el cambio de clase de palabras en el mapudungun a través del procedimiento de derivación, desde la perspectiva tipológica de la formación de palabra (Aikhenvald, 2007). Las palabras, en la lengua mapuche, usan ciertos procesos morfológicos y sintácticos que posibilitan el cambio de clase de palabra, ya sea por la intervención de algún sufijo derivacional, por la propiedad polisémica de los mismos, o por el cambio de posición de la palabra respecto a una palabra principal. (...) Los procesos más productivos de formación de palabras suelen ser la composición y la derivación, no obstante, por razones de extensión, este artículo solo se concentra en la derivación y en el análisis de los sufijos -tu, -küle/-le, -meke, y -nge. This study analyzes word classes changes process in Mapudungun through derivation, from the typological perspective of word class formation (Aikhenvald, 2007). Words, in the Mapuche language, use certain morphological and syntactic processes that make possible word class changes, in either of three ways: the intervention of a derivational suffix, by the polysemic property of derivational suffixes, or by changing the position of the word with respect to a principal word. While the most productive processes of word formation often are composition and derivation, due to length reasons this article will focus on the derivation process and analysis of only the suffixes -tu, -küle/-le,-meke, and -nge. (shrink)

In the context of agricultural activity intensification and rural abandonment, neo-rurality has emerged as a back-to-the-land migratory movement led by urban populations seeking alternative ways of life close to nature. Although the initiatives of the new peasantry are diverse, most are land related, such as agriculture and livestock farming. A priori, neorural people undertake agri-food system activities in ways that differ from the conventional model, following the principles of environmental and social sustainability. We conducted a systematic review of the literature (...) on the neo-rural phenomenon with the main objective of examining how neo-rurality has been found to support agroecological transitions. The corpus of neo-rural studies was analyzed from a social-ecological perspective, and a Multiple Correspondence Analysis (MCA) was conducted to determine whether neo-rural agri-food system activities follow agroecological principles. The results indicate that neo-rural studies is an emerging research field that has received considerable attention in western countries. Diverse conceptualizations and terms have been used to address the phenomenon, but the literature agrees on political and environmental motivations and several barriers faced by neo-rural people. This population and in particular new peasants, are employing a wide variety of agroecological practices and strategies throughout the agri-food system. Overall, neo-rural people have been reported to contribute significantly to agroecological transition. (shrink)

This article describes the findings of a mixed method literature review that examined the perceptions of elderly patients and residents of a good nurse in nursing homes, hospitals and home care. According to elderly patients and residents, good nurses are individuals who have the necessary technical and psychosocial skills to care for patients. They are at their disposal, promptly recognising the patients' needs. Good nurses like their job and are sincere and affectionate. They are understanding and caring. They do not (...) hesitate to enter into a trust-based relationship with their patients. Knowing and understanding how elderly patients and nursing home residents perceive ‘the good nurse’ is crucial for providing quality care and for promoting better patient outcomes in geriatric care. (shrink)

The main objective of this text is to analyze some of the ambiguities that characterize Augustine of Hippo’s position regarding the so-called pagan culture in general and Greek philosophy in particular. As a matter of fact, the author of Confessions is situated in a mid-term, which I identify by the expression “the paradox of between”, for he does not totally embrace the position of Justin Martyr, who identifies Christian wisdom with Greek philosophy, neither does he claim the other extreme position (...) of Tertullian, who sees an antagonism or an insuperable gap between “Christian wisdom” and “pagan wisdom”, or between faith and reason. In the perspective of this paradox, three major questions will be examined: (a) the relation between philosophy and Christian religion, (b) the problem of the “platonic philosophers”, (c) the concepts of recollection and memory. (shrink)

Este texto tem dois objetivos principais: apresentar o conceito de “lei natural” e aquilo que seria a sua expressão como “lei escrita” e, depois, reinterpretar este conceito a partir de uma perspectiva nietzschiana. Para alcançar este duplo objetivo urge, pois, em primeiro lugar, traçar, nas suas grandes linhas, as vicissitudes que atravessou a teoria da “lei natural” ao longo da tradição #losó#ca até a sua culminância naquelas correntes do direito natural, típicas dos tempos modernos. Convém também assinalar que este conceito (...) encerra no seu bojo, como derivações, as noções de necessidade, de #nalidade e providência. Eis por que, para interpretá-lo e criticá-lo, são utilizadas algumas intui- ções e análises de Nietzsche que, ao longo de sua obra, não cessa de se referir, direta ou indiretamente, a estas questões e, também, àquela de acaso. Não se trata, portanto, de simplesmente apresentar uma crítica de Nietzsche aos conceitos de “lei natural” e “lei escrita”, mas, principalmente, de examiná-los à luz de seu pensamento. (shrink)

Neste trabalho investigamos a natureza da imagem tendo como objeto empírico os registros rupestres de tempos pré-coloniais localizados na região da Serra do Cipó, Estado de Minas Gerais, Brasil. Tradicionalmente estudadas pela ciencia arqueológica que interpreta tais imagens com o rigor metodológico e as teorías que lhe embasam, neste trabalho propomos analisá-las como resultante de uma triangulação entre corpo, meio e ambiente, tendo como horizonte teórico a Antropología da Imagem, de Hans Belting, e a Teoria da Cultura, de Ivan Bystrina. (...) Essa triangulação revelou que tais imagens, em sua relação de proximidade e distancia com o observador, possuem um valor de culto. Ou seja, mais que representações, essas pinturas articulavam sonhos e imaginações plasmadas na parede da rocha sob a forma de narrativas. (shrink)

Early Chinese thought enjoys a wide appeal, in the scholarly world as much as elsewhere, as people are keen on learning about the ideas of Confucius, Mencius, and other thinkers whose views have shaped traditional Chinese culture. In the study of early Chinese thought, emphasis has long been on what thinkers said, not on how they proffered their views. Even studies that do consider the how, tend to focus on logic and argumentation, rather than rhetoric. Fortunately, in the past few (...) decades growing attention has been paid to Chinese rhetoric which has led to an impressive number of publications. This work briefly outlines rhetoric in the West and in China. (shrink)

In his article, “The Unified Brain-Based Determination of Death Conceptually Justifies Death Determination in DCDD and NRP Protocols,” James Bernat argues that Thoracoabdominal Normothermic Regiona...

Polo‐like kinase 1 (PLK1) is a serine/threonine kinase that plays multiple and essential roles during the cell division cycle. Its inhibition in cultured cells leads to severe mitotic aberrancies and cell death. Whereas previous reports suggested that Plk1 depletion in mice leads to a non‐mitotic arrest in early embryos, we show here that the bi‐allelic Plk1 depletion in mice certainly results in embryonic lethality due to extensive mitotic aberrations at the morula stage, including multi‐ and mono‐polar spindles, impaired chromosome segregation (...) and cytokinesis failure. In addition, the conditional depletion of Plk1 during mid‐gestation leads also to severe mitotic aberrancies. Our data also confirms that Plk1 is completely dispensable for mitotic entry in vivo. On the other hand, Plk1 haploinsufficient mice are viable, and Plk1‐heterozygous fibroblasts do not harbor any cell cycle alterations. Plk1 is overexpressed in many human tumors, suggesting a therapeutic benefit of inhibiting Plk1, and specific small‐molecule inhibitors for this kinase are now being evaluated in clinical trials. Therefore, the different Plk1 mouse models here presented are a valuable tool to reexamine the relevance of the mitotic kinase Plk1 during mammalian development and animal physiology. (shrink)

The image of “the good nurse” is mainly studied from the perspective of nurses, which often does not match the image held by patients. Therefore, a descriptive study was conducted to examine oncology patients’ perceptions of “the good nurse” and the influence of patient- and context-related variables. A cross-sectional, comparative, descriptive design was used. The sample comprised 557 oncology patients at one of six Flemish hospitals, where they were treated in an oncology day-care unit, oncology hospital ward, or palliative care (...) unit. Data were collected using the Flemish Care-Q instrument. Factor analysis summarised the most important characteristics of “the good nurse”. We reassessed the reliability and construct validity of the Flemish Care-Q and examined the influence of patient- and context-related variables on patient perceptions. Using factor analysis, we grouped the different items of the Flemish Care-Q according to three characteristics: “the good nurse” (I) has a supportive and communicative attitude towards patient and family, (II) is competent and employs a professional attitude, and (III) demonstrates personal involvement towards patient and family. Median factor scores of Factors I, II, and III, respectively, were 8.00, 9.00, and 8.00 (varying from 1, not important, to 10, very important). In order of importance, Factors II, I, and III were identified as valuable characteristics of “the good nurse”. Gender, care setting, and province were influential variables. As perceived by oncology patients, “the good nurse” has a broad range of qualities, of which competence and professionalism are the most valuable. (shrink)

This chapter contains sections titled: Feminism and Philosophy: Introduction Philosophy and Masculinity Dichotomies: Derrida and Feminism Feminism and Philosophy Feminism in Philosophy: Two Conceptions Philosophical Commitments.

The present work addresses the aesthetic philosophy of Eduard Hanslick in order to demarcate it as an epistemological approach to music and a paradigmatic case for musical autonomy. The epistemological assumptions that guided the work On the Musically Beautiful and its most likely influences were analyzed. We conclude by presenting musical idea as an epistemological formulation strongly influenced by positivism and as a qualifying principle of autonomous musical perception. We add to this conclusion a disambiguation with Kant›s concept of aesthetic (...) idea. (shrink)

Tocqueville es consciente de que el proceso de individualización que acompaña a las sociedades modernas erosiona la cohesión social. Tiene claro que el aparato institucional no garantiza por sí solo que los individuos en las sociedades modernas salgan del círculo de sus intereses privados y se sacrifiquen en aras del interés común, sobre todo, cuando el poder, agazapado a la sombra del individualismo democrático, mueve los hilos para que los individuos confundan su seguridad con la inacción política y la paz (...) social con la paz de los cementerios. Si se quiere mantener el espíritu público en las democracias modernas habrá que encontrar herramientas capaces de infundir en los sentimientos y en la razón de sus ciudadanos los principios morales de un humanismo cívico, capaces de generar el interés por la «res publica». Tales son el interés bien entendido y la religión. Así, aunque en el plano personal las argumentaciones racionales acerca de la veracidad de las creencias cristianas no le sirven para creer en el Mesías crucificado, como sociólogo llegará al convencimiento de que la religión cristiana es necesaria para el desarrollo de una sociedad democrática que permita el pleno desarrollo de la libertad política y existencial de sus ciudadanos. (shrink)

The changes and general alarm of the current COVID-19 pandemic have amplified the sense of precariousness and vulnerability for family members who, in addition to the emotional trauma of the cancer diagnosis, add the distress and fear of the risks associated with infection. The primary objectives of the present study were to investigate the psychological impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the parents of pediatric cancer patients, and the level of stress, anxiety, and the child’s quality of life perceived by (...) the parents during the COVID-19 epidemic. The parents of 45 consecutive children with solid and hematological tumors were enrolled. Four questionnaires were administered to the parents at the beginning of the pandemic lockdown. A 75% of parents exhibited remarkable levels of anxiety, with 60 subjects in state scale and 45 subjects in trait scale having scores that reached and exceeded the STAI-Y cut off. The bivariate matrix of correlation found a significant positive correlation between the IES-R and PSS scores. There was a positive correlation between the PSS and PedsQL scale and a negative correlation between IES-R and STAI-Y. The results confirm that parents of pediatric cancer patients have a high psychological risk for post-traumatic symptoms, high stress levels, and the presence of clinically significant levels of anxiety. (shrink)

Neste artigo discute-se as induções e tensionamentos gerados pelo Sistema de avaliação e fomento da CAPES nos processos de produção do conhecimento dos Programas de Pós-graduação em Teologia. Problematiza-se a influência dos critérios de avaliação da CAPES na produção/veiculação do conhecimento no campo epistemológico da Teologia, tendo como aporte teórico o conceito de “campo” de Bourdieu. Constata-se que o campo de conhecimento teológico - que na sua origem e essência trata da fé e do mundo transcendente - gradativamente assume um (...) lugar no campo científico, na busca do reconhecimento/credenciamento e do protagonismo no ranking dos Programas de Pós-graduação com notas máximas na avaliação da CAPES. Para a análise, realizou-se pesquisa junto aos seis PPGT do país existentes em 2011 e um estudo de caso múltiplo em três desses Programas com conceitos iguais ou superiores a cinco e com cursos de mestrado e doutorado reconhecidos pelas suas igrejas – católica ou protestante –, em período anterior à inserção na CAPES. A coleta de dados teve como base os seguintes documentos: fichas de avaliação dos Programas emitidas pela Capes, proposta dos PPGT em análise, produção docente e discente veiculada nos currículos lattes, análise das publicações nas revistas científicas dos Programas pesquisados, além de entrevistas com 22 professores dos PPGTs, que analisam os ganhos, perdas e embates decorrentes desse processo de reconhecimento. Os resultados da pesquisa apontam que a inserção no Sistema de avaliação e fomento exigiu dos Programas mudanças, estruturais e epistemológicas, tais como: alterações nas linhas de pesquisa, nas temáticas das teses e dissertações, bem como transformações nos tempos e meios de veiculação da produção docente. Palavras-chave: Programas de Pós-Graduação em Teologia. Campo de conhecimento. Capes. Avaliação stricto sensu. (shrink)

Bernard Williams is a sceptic about the objectivity of moral value, embracing instead a qualified moral relativism—the ‘relativism of distance’. His attitude to blame too is in part sceptical. I will argue that the relativism of distance is unconvincing, even incoherent; but also that it is detachable from the rest of Williams's moral philosophy. I will then go on to propose an entirely localized thesis I call the relativism of blame, which says that when an agent's moral shortcomings by our (...) lights are a matter of their living according to the moral thinking of their day, judgements of blame are out of order. Finally, I will propose a form of moral judgement we may sometimes quite properly direct towards historically distant agents when blame is inappropriate—moral-epistemic disappointment. Together these two proposals may help release us from the grip of the idea that moral appraisal always involves the potential applicability of blame, and so from a key source of the relativist idea that moral appraisal is inappropriate over distance. (shrink)

Resumen: En este artículo reviso la interpretación de Eduardo Nicol de la teoría de la propiedad de Francisco Suárez. Para ello, presento la posición de Suárez acerca de la propiedad y la propiedad privada atendiendo dos cuestiones fundamentales. La primera es si la propiedad y la propiedad privada son derechos; la segunda es si ambos pertenecen a la naturaleza humana o no. Al final, argumento que la lectura de Nicol es insostenible, pues difícilmente puede admitirse que Suárez defendió algún tipo (...) de comunismo.: In this paper I revisit Eduardo Nicol’s interpretation of Suarez’s theory of property. To this purpose, I present Suárez’s account of property and private property focusing on two main aspects. The first is whether property and private property are rights; the second is whether they belong to the human nature or not. Finally, I argue that Nicol’s reading of Suárez is untenable for it can hardly be accepted that Suárez defended some kind of communism. (shrink)

Fricker shows that virtue epistemology provides a general epistemological idiom in which these issues can be forcefully discussed.

This paper explores the relation between rational authority and social power, proceeding by way of a philosophical genealogy derived from Edward Craig's Knowledge and the State of Nature. The position advocated avoids the errors both of the 'traditionalist' (who regards the socio-political as irrelevant to epistemology) and of the 'reductivist' (who regards reason as just another form of social power). The argument is that a norm of credibility governs epistemic practice in the state of nature, which, when socially manifested, is (...) likely to imitate the structures of social power. A phenomenon of epistemic injustice is explained, and the politicizing implication for epistemology educed. (shrink)

The book is an introduction to key concepts of Indian Philosophy, seen from the perspective of the influential school of Pr?bh?kara M?m??s? (flourished from the 7th until the 20th c. AD). It includes the edition and translation of R?m?nuj?c?rya's ??straprameyapariccheda.

The dual aim of this article is to reveal and explain a certain phenomenon of epistemic injustice as manifested in testimonial practice, and to arrive at a characterisation of the anti–prejudicial intellectual virtue that is such as to counteract it. This sort of injustice occurs when prejudice on the part of the hearer leads to the speaker receiving less credibility than he or she deserves. It is suggested that where this phenomenon is systematic it constitutes an important form of oppression. (...) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]. (shrink)

I shall first briefly revisit the broad idea of ‘epistemic injustice’, explaining how it can take either distributive or discriminatory form, in order to put the concepts of ‘testimonial injustice’ and ‘hermeneutical injustice’ in place. In previous work I have explored how the wrong of both kinds of epistemic injustice has both an ethical and an epistemic significance—someone is wronged in their capacity as a knower. But my present aim is to show that this wrong can also have a political (...) significance in relation to non-domination, and so to freedom. While it is only the republican conception of political freedom that presents nondomination as constitutive of freedom, I shall argue that non-domination is best understood as a thoroughly generic liberal ideal of freedom to which even negative libertarians are implicitly committed, for non-domination is negative liberty as of right—secured non-interference. Crucially on this conception, non-domination requires that the citizen can contest interferences. Pettit specifies three conditions of contestation, each of which protects against a salient risk of the would-be contester not getting a ‘proper hearing’. But I shall argue that missing from this list is anything to protect against a fourth salient threat: the threat that either kind of epistemic injustice might disable contestation by way of an unjust deflation of either credibility or intelligibility. Thus we see that both testimonial and hermeneutical injustice can render a would-be contester dominated. Epistemic justice is thereby revealed as a constitutive condition of non-domination, and thus of a central liberal political ideal of freedom. (shrink)

New genetic technologies promise to generate valuable insights into the aetiology of several psychiatric conditions, as well as a wider range of human and animal behaviours. Advances in the neurosciences and the application of new brain imaging techniques offer a way of integrating DNA analysis with studies that are looking at other biological markers of behaviour. While candidate 'genes for' certain conditions, including schizophrenia and bipolar disorders, are said to be 'un-discovered' at a faster rate than they are discovered, many (...) studies are being conducted on personality traits such as aggressiveness and anti-social traits. The clinical applicability and implications of these studies are often discussed within the scientific community. However, little attention has so far been paid to their possible policy implications in relation to criminality management and to Criminal Law itself. Similarly, the related ethical issues arising in the field of crime control, and the tensions between enhancing security for society and protecting civil liberties, are currently under-explored. This paper investigates these ethical issues by focusing on the views of those professionals – including judges, lawyers, probation officers and social workers – who work with individuals 'deemed at risk' of violent and aggressive behaviours. It also discusses and problematizes mainstream rhetoric and arguments around the notion of 'risky individuals'. (shrink)

There are two kinds of forgiveness that appear as radically different from one another: one presents forgiveness as essentially earned through remorseful apology; the other presents it as fundamentally non-earned—a gift. The first, which I label Moral Justice Forgiveness, adopts a stance of moral demand and conditionality; the second, which I label Gifted Forgiveness, adopts a stance of non-demand and un-conditionality. Each is real; yet how can two such different responses to wrongdoing be of one and the same kind? This (...) paper explains how, by showing that the basic role each plays in moral-social life is the same; and that one is conceptually and therefore historically prior to the other. The result is pluralism, with each kind of forgiveness represented as distinctive in both its psychology and its normativity; and yet an ordered pluralism—with Moral Justice Forgiveness revealed as the root kind, and Gifted Forgiveness a culturally contingent iteration. (shrink)

Most moral theorists agree that it is one thing to believe that someone has slighted you and another to resent her for the insult; one thing to believe that someone did you a favor and another to feel gratitude toward her for her kindness. While all of these ways of responding to another's conduct are forms of moral appraisal, the reactive attitudes are said to 'go beyond' beliefs in some way. We think this claim is adequately explained only when we (...) take seriously the fact that reactive attitudes are emotions. In this paper, we appeal to insights of the emotions literature to highlight one key way in which reactive attitudes go beyond beliefs: beliefs about a person and her morally significant conduct merely ascribe to the person the property of having performed a morally significant action, while reactive attitudes are ways of experiencing that person as having performed a morally significant action. We then suggest that appreciating this is a crucial first step toward understanding why reactive emotions play roles in our practices around responsibility that beliefs do not. (shrink)

Our understanding of social experiences is central to our social understanding more generally. But this sphere of epistemic practice can be structurally prejudiced by unequal relations of power, so that some groups suffer a distinctive kind of epistemic injustice—hermeneutical injustice. I aim to achieve a clear conception of this epistemicethical phenomenon, so that we have a workable definition and a proper understanding of the wrong that it inflicts.

When we hope to explain and perhaps vindicate a practice that is internally diverse, philosophy faces a methodological challenge. Such subject matters are likely to have explanatorily basic features that are not necessary conditions. This prompts a move away from analysis to some other kind of philosophical explanation. This paper proposes a paradigm based explanation of one such subject matter: blame. First, a paradigm form of blame is identified—‘Communicative Blame’—where this is understood as a candidate for an explanatorily basic form (...) of blame. Second, its point and purpose in our lives is investigated and found to reside in its power to increase the alignment of the blamer and the wrongdoer's moral understandings. Third, the hypothesis that Communicative Blame is an explanatorily basic form of blame is tested out by seeing how far other kinds of blame can reasonably be understood as derivative, especially in respect of blame's point and purpose. Finally, a new and quasi-political worry about blame is raised. (shrink)

We gain information from collective, often institutional bodies all the time—from the publications of committees, news teams, or research groups, from web sites such as Wikipedia, and so on—but do these bodies ever function as genuine group testifiers as opposed to mere group sources of information? In putting the question this way I invoke a distinction made, if briefly, by Edward Craig, which I believe to be of deep significance in thinking about the distinctiveness of the speech act of testimony. (...) The distinction is that between somebody’s functioning as a ‘good informant’ and their functioning merely as a ‘source of information’. The difference between these has, as he remarks, a crucial ethical aspect: What I have in mind is the special flavour of situations in which human beings treat each other as subjects with a common purpose, rather than as objects from which services, in this case true belief, can be extracted. In this paper I shall try to bring out the distinctive nature of the role of good informant in a way that helps to clarify what is at stake in asking whether there can be group testimony in the sense of genuinely collective testimony—that is to say, where the group testifier is a collective and not merely a sum of individuals testifying in one or another form of aggregated chorus. (shrink)

Empathy is a term used increasingly both in moral theory and animal ethics. Yet, its precise meaning is often left unexplored. The book aims to tackle this by clarifying the different and even contradictory ways in which “empathy” can be defined.