Being versus seeming.--Doing versus dreaming.--The aristocracy of service.--Emotion, intellect and action.--Love, fear, hate.--Freedom thru the truth.--The limitations of knowledge.

This paper undertakes to give a reading of Mary Johnston's 1908 historical novel entitled Lewis Rand. The novel tells the story of a young Virginia man who receives a Jeffersonian education - literally - Lewis Rand is educated by Thomas Jefferson "in person." The young man later breaks with the great man over the character of his own political ambition and the limits which would be put upon this ambition if he were to continue in his adherence to Jeffersonian (...) principles. These principles had undergirded his climb from poverty and obscurity to the position of "rising star" in Virginia politics. But when forced to choose between these principles and the future prospect of joining the ranks of the great emperors and conquerors of history, Lewis Rand opts for the latter, which meant in his case to opt for ambition over his personal intimacy with Jefferson (although at the last moment he pulls back at the brink of political action). Lewis's story is thus one concerning the limits of liberal democratic politics and the perennial dialectic between the politics of reason and the politics of tyranny. (shrink)

Henry Lord Brougham (1778-1868) belongs with Thomas Jefferson and Horace Mann in the United States and Egerton Ryerson in Canada as one of the great promoters and founders of public education in the English-speaking world. His most famous phrase is The schoolmaster is abroad and this quote symbolizes his belief that the fate of the modern, liberal society depends on free access to education for the population at large. It is not that Brougham any more than Jefferson failed (...) to draw a distinction between the education that was fitted for the gifted few and that suited to the general public whose lives would lack the leisure for intellectual pursuits of the highest difficulty and training. Rather it is that Brougham adheres to a philosophy of enlightenment which sees the interests of science and society as ultimately indistinguishable and which insists that the spread of knowledge about both the natural and social worlds carries with it no price in terms of individual or social morality. This paper gives an overview of Brougham's philosophy of public enlightenment including his views on the example of Benjamin Franklin. It then reviews the attacks on this philosophy from the Anglican point of view in the form of the Reverend E.W. Grinfield's A Reply to Mr. Brougham's Practical Observations upon the Education of the People and from the Roman Catholic point of view in Cardinal Newman's famous Tamworth Reading Room and Discourse on University Education. (shrink)

Before anaesthesia, surgery used to be agony. It’s hard to imagine that anyone could have been anything but pleased when painless surgery was introduced in the mid-19th century. And yet, although many welcomed anaesthesia, some did object. In Zurich, anaesthesia was even outlawed. “Pain is a natural and intended curse of the primal sin. Any attempt to do away with it must be wrong,” claimed the Zurich City Fathers. Painless delivery in childbirth was a particularly contentious issue. Some insisted that (...) “in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children” (Genesis 3:16). Others, like Doctor Charles Delucena Meigs (1792-1869), Professor of Obstetrics and Diseases of Women at Jefferson Medical College, believed that labour pains were “a most desirable, salutary and conservative manifestation of the life force.” There was even a belief, expressed in 1847 in The New York Journal of Medicine, that pain was vital to surgical procedure. (shrink)

It is widely agreed among broadly Anselmian theists that God is in some sense the 'delimiter of possibilities.' In other words, the scope of possibility is explained by the manner in which the universe emanates from God. However, existing accounts of God's role here—in terms of freedom, choice, or power—face serious difficulties. The present paper provides a new account of God's role as the delimiter of possibilities in terms of the different manner in which the non-actuality of non-actual states of (...) affairs is explained. Intuitively and metaphorically, we can think of the menu of states of affairs being 'whittled down' in successive stages of a process of divine decision-making, with the different species of impossibility corresponding to when and how the states of affairs are ruled out. I argue that this approach provides genuine contingency while also preserving the Principle of Sufficient Reason. (shrink)

This paper contributes to the debate over the so-called “easy argument for numbers”, an argument that uses evidence from natural language to support the metaphysically significant claim that numbers exist. It presents novel data showing that critical examples in the literature are ambiguous between two readings, contrary to previous assumptions. It then accounts for these data using independently motivated linguistic theory. The account developed rescues the easy argument from the primary challenges leveled against it in the literature and sets the (...) agenda for future work to determine whether or not the argument is valid. (shrink)

Business scholars have recently proposed that the virtue of personal wisdom may predict leadership behaviors and the quality of leader–follower relationships. This study investigated relationships among leaders’ personal wisdom—defined as the integration of advanced cognitive, reflective, and affective personality characteristics (Ardelt, Hum Dev 47:257–285, 2004)—transformational leadership behaviors, and leader–member exchange (LMX) quality. It was hypothesized that leaders’ personal wisdom positively predicts LMX quality and that intellectual stimulation and individualized consideration, two dimensions of transformational leadership, mediate this relationship. Data came from (...) 75 religious leaders and 1–3 employees of each leader (N = 158). Results showed that leaders’ personal wisdom had a positive indirect effect on follower ratings of LMX quality through individualized consideration, even after controlling for Big Five personality traits, emotional intelligence, and narcissism. In contrast, intellectual stimulation and the other two dimensions of transformational leadership (idealized influence and inspirational motivation) did not mediate the positive relationship between leaders’ personal wisdom and LMX quality. Implications for future research on personal wisdom and leadership are discussed, and some tentative suggestions for leadership development are outlined. (shrink)

Thesis summary BATISTA, Jefferson Pinto.The social doctrine of the Catholic Church and the foundations of social work: the graduation course of Social Work at PUC Minas.

El presente trabajo surge de la reflexión acerca del fracaso de modelos educativos exteriores aplicados en contextos emergentes sin considerar la realidad de cada pueblo. A juicio de Carnoy (1974) en los países subdesarrollados existe una fuerte tradición en copiar las formas culturales y modelos de sociedades de primer mundo, sin analizar las condiciones objetivas y subjetivas que determinarán el éxito o el fracaso. El objetivo de este documento es analizar los fundamentos ontológicos presentes en el sistema educativo finlandés con (...) la finalidad de identificar los principales referentes que servirán de base para superar problemáticas de la realidad educativa en sociedades emergentes. El documento presenta una revisión de tipo exploratoria, descriptiva y comparativa que por la naturaleza del estudio es de carácter bibliográfico y cualitativo apoyado en el uso de los métodos lógico-científicos (deductivo-inductivo) con sus respectivos procedimientos, y fortalecido con la aplicación de los métodos filosóficos fenomenológico-hermenéutico. La tendencia a la imitación y a la copia de modelos educativos ajenos a nuestra realidad ha dado como resultado sistemas educativos deficientes y que no responden a las necesidades concretas propias de la realidad educativa de las sociedades emergentes. Es preciso determinar el ser, el sentido y el significado del sistema educativo finlandés con miras a la localización de aspectos esenciales que podrían convertirse en pautas para repensar otros modelos educativos. (shrink)

Consisting of studies in Christian thought in relation to catastrophe, this book particularly looks at the ideas of Soren Kierkegaard and Karl Barth. When it was first published in 1940 this important investigation of ‘existential reality’ presented the view that the climate of crisis and catastrophe is also the essential climate of real religion. It addressed questions of the time surrounding war and religion. Calling for a rebirth of religion, this personal account tries to understand the thinking of Kierkegaard and (...) similar contemporaries and expose their importance in considering the nature of religion. (shrink)

Neste trabalho apresentamos uma experiência de estágio realizada em uma escola indígena Kyikatêjê, na região norte do Brasil e analisamos aspectos dessa experiência a partir dos conceitos de autoridade e espaço comunicativo transcultural. Para tanto, descrevemos de modo breve o contexto no qual a pesquisa de estágio ocorreu, destacando os objetivos do estágio, o período de realização e os professores envolvidos. Nesse relato, situamos o ponto de interesse que motivou a escrita do presente trabalho. Indicado nosso objeto de estudos, apresentamos (...) duas seções teóricas que caracterizam a perspectiva com a qual trabalhamos. Na primeira, expomos o conceito de autoridade, entendida a partir do Modelo dos Campos Semânticos. Apresentamos como esse conceito está relacionado à justificação utilizada na produção de conhecimento. Ao fazer isso, afirmamos que nosso interesse se dirige aos aspectos epistemológicos da experiência realizada. Na sessão seguinte, apresentamos o conceito de espaço comunicativo transcultural, como sendo aquelas situações de interação onde duas ou mais culturas se encontram e que a alteridade do espaço constituído nesse encontro, possibilita o compartilhamento de legitimidades entre elas. Após apresentar os conceitos teóricos é apresentada a experiência de estágio de modo a colocar em evidência a relação entre o estagiário, os professores e os alunos e não os conteúdos trabalhos. Na última seção essa experiência de estágio é analisada à luz dos conceitos apresentados. Apontamos na conclusão que o comportamento dos alunos advém de legitimidades constituídas na cultura da qual fazem parte, mas esse comportamento não indica necessariamente uma abertura para o processo de aprendizagem. Apontamos, também, que a criação de um espaço comunicativo que mobiliza as legitimidades da cultura Kyikatêjê na aula de Matemática, privilegiando os modos de produzir conhecimento dessa cultura, oportunizou uma mudança no processo de produção de conhecimento dos alunos. (shrink)

This paper takes as its focus the adoption by the Co‐operative Wholesale Society of what appears to be a socially responsible stance on food labelling practice and policy through the publication of a public report and a proposed code of practice.The central issue in the debate surrounding labelling is the question of ‘asymmetric information’ (when one party knows more about a product than the other). In order to function, markets need perfect information. The existence of asymmetric information gives rise to (...) ‘market failure’ which prevents the ‘free market’ from functioning according to the laissez faire model. It can be argued that regulation will overcome this problem. However, this paper counters this argument on several grounds. In the first part of the paper labelling is examined as a textual construction, and ethical dimensions are revealed through an awareness of discourse and signification, which gives rise to a view of packaging as a version of reality partially built through connotation and association.The second part of the paper examines political and regulatory concerns. Marketing and economic theories are discussed in terms of their impact upon ethical issues in food labelling. Sense is made of various arguments about the policy and practice of food regulation – particularly in the wake of the James Report calling for the establishment of a Food Standards Agency. Tactics for resisting regulation are also examined. The paper analyses the role and motivation of the CWS in taking these steps.Consideration is given to the issue of where responsibility for information giving and public health education might lie, and what phenomena act as barriers to increased public awareness and action on dietary matters. Finally the debate over food labelling is used as an example of why it is problematic (and possibly unethical) to promote the free market model as the only sensible alternative to other modes of economic organisation. (shrink)

Reiner Schürmann speaks of the end of Western metaphysics as the end of a mode of thinking that relies on an overriding metaphysical principle that establishes the economies that provide the space for permissible and impermissible actions. In its wake, he proposes a project of an-archy, of living without the reliance to the domination of one central metaphysical concept, but rather of kata physin, of “following the way things enter into mutual relations.” Kenneth Schmitz, in reacting to Schürmann, points out (...) that there are elements in Christian thought that can also provide new patterns of thought and action at the twilight of the end of metaphysics, namely, the notions of: charity, the Trinity, and mystery. I shall take up the second suggestion of Schmitz and attempt to articulate what the Christian notion of the Trinity can contribute to our understanding of thought and action after the end of metaphysics. I argue that through the theological detour of Thomistic Trinitarian thought, we can chart out new patterns of thought and action, specifically on the notion of the tri-personality of the Trinity, leading to the analogical understanding of persons-as-relations. Such a consideration not only provides a sharp rebuttal to Schürmann in his understanding of “hard unity” in terms of metaphysical principles, but it also helps us understand the place of man in the contemporary world: one of charitable relationality. (shrink)

This Article reinterprets the period from 1935 to 1973 as a “long exception” to the sustained pattern of legal hostility to labor organizing in the United States. While the National Labor Relations Act and the broader New Deal were once regarded as secure solutions to the “labor question” in America, in retrospect they only offered a partial, temporary, and extraordinary respite from state and corporate opposition to the collective interests of working people. The decades from the thirties through the seventies (...) witnessed the rise and fall of union density as well as the fall and rise of inequality that stands out in contrast to the rest of American history since the industrial revolution. However, because of the extraordinary circumstances of that era, the New Deal serves as a poor historical metaphor for those interested in labor’s revival. The circumstances that created the New Deal are unlikely to be repeated, thus the future of labor organizing and the law will look more like the deep and difficult past of American history prior to the 1930s than like the “modern” age of organizing and collective bargaining. (shrink)

There are fundamental differences between the explanation of scientific change and the explanation of technological change. The differences arise from fundamental differences between scientific and technological knowledge and basic disanalogies between technological advance and scientific progress. Given the influence of economic markets and industrial and institutional structures on the development of technology, it is more plausible to regard technological change as a continuous and incremental process, rather than as a process of Kuhnian crises and revolutions.

"The total amount of suffering per year in the natural world is beyond all decent contemplation. During the minute that it takes me to compose this sentence, thousands of animals are being eaten alive, others are running for their lives, whimpering with fear, others are being slowly devoured from within by rasping parasites, thousands of all k inds are dying of starvation, thirst and disease. It must be so." -/- —Richard Dawkins, River Out of Eden (1995).

Idealism is the view that reality is fundamentally mental. Idealism has been influential historically, but it has been neglected in contemporary metaphysical debate. This volume of 17 essays by leading philosophers rectifies the situation.

Esse artigo teórico tem como objetivo discutir o problema do suicídio praticado por homens e suas implicações para os serviços de atenção básica à saúde. Utilizou-se o método da revisão narrativa, uma forma de pesquisa que visa contribuir para a reflexão e a discussão sobre um assunto sem pretender reproduzir dados ou responder questões quantitativas específicas. Tendo como base os descritores “suicídio”, “homem” e “saúde”, identificou-se a partir das plataformas Scielo e Pubmed 56 artigos produzidos nos últimos cinco anos em (...) português e inglês, dentre os quais seis foram selecionados. A análise dos resultados indica que no Brasil as ocorrências de suicídio são mais elevadas nas Regiões Sul e Centro Oeste, onde cerca de 70% dos casos são de homens jovens que optam pelo enforcamento. Pode-se identificar como causa aspectos sociais, econômicos, relacionais, psicológicos e aspectos culturais que implicam transformações nas formas como a sociedade vê os homens e na necessidade de que eles reconheçam suas fragilidades. As masculinidades tradicionais precisam ser revistas a fim de que lhes seja possível reconhecer suas limitações diante da vivência de problemas emocionais, buscando-se superar sua recusa a buscar ajuda nos momentos de fragilidade e intenso sofrimento. Conclui-se que os serviços básicos precisam dinamizar suas ações e promover campanhas preventivas, participação da comunidade, facilitação do acesso a profissionais da saúde mental e diversificação de abordagens, compreendendo o suicídio praticado por homens em suas especificidades. Enquanto problema de saúde pública, o suicídio precisa ser abordado de forma preventiva com ações voltadas para o público em geral, sendo importante compreender sua complexidade no que se refere às questões das masculinidades. (shrink)

Religious identity has, in recent times, become an important point of inquiry because of the growing awareness of religious diversity. On the one hand, this reality of diversity has served as an impetus to return to the roots of one’s religion. On the other hand, others have called for a more pluralist stance, out of the need to open up to other traditions. In light of this polarity, I argue that one can commit to one’s religion while opening up to (...) the religious other in a way that does not threaten one’s own tradition. This is done through a hermeneutic analysis of the religious identity, taking off from Paul Ricoeur’s phenomenological hermeneutics – how this identity is formed and informed by the different significations of meaning within the tradition, and how the believer interacts with this tradition to construct his or her own narrative identity, through his or her imagination, mapping out the constellations of possible human action that root themselves in the necessity in encountering and working with the religious other, for this necessity is constitutive of one’s commitment to the tradition, embodied in the biblical narratives that call for this encounter. In sum, it is possible to be committed to one’s faith conviction while being hospitable to the religious other because it is constitutive of religion itself to encounter its other, and it is in this encounter that faith is truly understood as conviction. (shrink)

Despite the burgeoning interest in new and more complex accounts of the organism-environment dyad by biologists and philosophers, little attention has been paid in the resulting discussions to the history of these ideas and to their deployment in disciplines outside biology—especially in the social sciences. Even in biology and philosophy, there is a lack of detailed conceptual models of the organism-environment relationship. This volume is designed to fill these lacunae by providing the first multidisciplinary discussion of the topic of organism-environment (...) interaction. It brings together scholars from history, philosophy, psychology, anthropology, medicine, and biology to discuss the common focus of their work: entangled life, or the complex interaction of organisms and environments. (shrink)

Two strategies used to uncover neural systems for episodic-like memory in animals are discussed: (i) an attribute of episodic memory (what? when? where?) is examined in order to reveal the neuronal interactions supporting that component of memory; and (ii) the connections of a structure thought to be central to episodic memory in humans are studied at a level of detail not feasible in humans. By focusing on spatial memory (where?) and the hippocampus, it has proved possible to bring the strategies (...) together. A review of lesion, disconnection and immediate early-gene studies in animals reveals the importance of interactions between the hippocampus and specific nuclei in the diencephalon (most notably the anterior thalamic nuclei) for spatial memory. Other parts of this extended hippocampal system include the mammillary bodies and the posterior cingulate (retrosplenial) cortex. Furthermore, by combining lesion and immediate early-gene studies it is possible to show how the loss of one component structure or tract can influence the remaining regions in this group of structures. The validity of this convergent approach is supported by new findings showing that the same set of regions is implicated in anterograde amnesia in humans. (shrink)

The present work includes a discussion about the Kantian ideal of progress and its repercussions in the construction of a cosmopolitan education, by virtue of weighing its validity and the challenges it faces in contemporary times. The manuscript analyzes the Kantian postulates about progress to clarify the guidelines of a cosmopolitan education. The document is structured thanks to the bibliographic study and the consequent systematic review of an exploratory type and the help of the hermeneutical method. The approach to the (...) subject begins with the analysis of the enlightened ideals of a cosmopolitan, universal, humanizing education project aimed at fulfilling the ultimate purposes of reason, as the preferred path for human improvement and social progress. At the end of this work, the incompatibility between that ideal of Kantian cosmopolitan education, which promised freedom and self-control, and the current system that promotes an idea of ​​progress far from these principles is made evident. (shrink)

En las Enéadas, Plotino traza su visión sobre el alma y el cuerpo. Existe una lectura tradicional de Plotino, que encuentra en el pensador una desvaloración del cuerpo; esta lectura está basada en el protagonismo que posee el alma en relación con el cuerpo en el pensamiento plotiniano, y en la interpretación literal del texto del pensador; al contrario, se quiere trazar una valoración positiva del cuerpo en el filósofo. El objetivo de este trabajo es delimitar el concepto de cuerpo (...) en Plotino, entendiendo que este posee su indiscutible importancia y valoración positiva en el texto mismo del filósofo neoplatónico. (shrink)

En El puesto del hombre en el cosmos, Scheler presenta el instinto como una conducta predominante en el actuar de los animales y, de igual modo, observa que el hombre, en cuanto ser psicofísico, también lo posee y realiza acciones instintivas. La diferencia entre el hombre y el animal es el espíritu, ausente en el segundo y presente en el primero, por lo cual puede actuar racionalmente. Este artículo investiga la presencia del instinto en la constitución del hombre en cuanto (...) ser vivo, analizando cómo este se verfica en la conducta humana inteligente. (shrink)

Este trabalho tem como foco a filosofia de Schopenhauer em comparação com a proposta salvífica do cristianismo. Os grandes filósofos metafísicos que precederam Schopenhauer identificaram o objetivo maior do espírito com a realização de sua plenitude. Esta é indicada, paralelamente, no campo religioso, a partir da aproximação do homem com Deus. A novidade que este texto pretende apontar é que, diferentemente da tradição filosófica e religiosa do Ocidente, Schopenhauer realizou em sua metafísica um caminho para o espírito humano no qual (...) a sua “libertação” não coincide com a plenitude do espírito. Para este filósofo a libertação é atingida a partir de uma ascese radical, na medida em que propõe a mortificação/ aniquilação do ser como um todo. É um caminho que passa pela busca da nulidade da Vontade, visando sua suprema aniquilação. (shrink)

Evaluates trade-offs and uncertainties inherent in achieving sustainable energy, analyzes the major energy technologies, and provides a framework for assessing policy options.