ABSTRACT As owner of the New Lanark cotton-mills from 1800, Robert Owen carried out a social experiment designed to transform the lives of his community of millworkers, through improved living and working conditions, free medical care and education. He intended to demonstrate how his ideas, if universally adopted, could transform society in general. Central to this experiment was his innovative and enlightened system of education in the Institute for the Formation of Character. This article looks in particular at the musical (...) life of New Lanark and explores Owen’s belief in the power of music to bind together people from different backgrounds, and to assist in the creation of a harmonious community. Lavishly funded musical activities played a major part in the curriculum, and in the life of the community as a whole. All this is well documented and fascinating insights into the lives of the New Lanark people are included in the travel journals and letters, some previously unpublished, of the many visitors who came to see Owen’s model community. (shrink)

It is with great sadness that we have to share with you the news of the death of Jim Arnold, MBE. Many of us knew him as the efficient treasurer of the Utopian Studies Society, and we are very grateful for his services to the society.His most passionate work, however, as the "the greatest conservator in Europe" was dedicated to Robert Owen's New Lanark.1 For thirty-six years, Jim was the director of the New Lanark Conservation Trust. Both he and (...) class='Hi'>Lorna Davidson, long-standing secretary to the Utopian Studies Society and the second director of the New Lanark Conversation Trust, were instrumental in elevating Owen's village to a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2001."The world is in his... (shrink)

Christianity changed the world for the better through the development of education, charity organisations, art, music, law and medical care among others. However, not all changes initiated by Christianity were positive. The Christian religion was also responsible for division, death, destruction and war. Focusing on the positive changes, nearly 500 years after the reformation though, it seems as if Christianity has lost its renewing and transformative powers. It seems as if society, politics and the economy are pressurising Christianity to conform (...) to the world and not the other way round. Therefore, the research focuses on the question whether Christians can bring about positive change and transformation to the current problems in society. What can Christians do to provide a religious response to current persistent societal problems? Change agents – people who drive positive change – are capable and competent, make use of networks, are visible and contactable and are often also outsiders in the communities they serve. Examples of the work done by change agents – Christians within their local communities – through small-scale community projects are showcased here to suggest possible ways forward for dealing with persistent problems from a Christian point of view. (shrink)

This study provides empirical evidence in relation to a growing body of literature concerned with the ‘socialisation’ effects of accounting and business education. A prevalent criticism within this literature is that accounting and business education in the United Kingdom and the United States, by assuming a ‘value-neutral’ appearance, ignores the implicit ethical and moral assumptions by which it is underpinned. In particular, it has been noted that accounting and business education tends to prioritise the interests of shareholders above all other (...) stakeholder groups. This paper reports on the results of a set of focus group interviews with both undergraduate accounting students and students commencing their training with a professional accounting body. The research explores their perceptions about the purpose of accounting and the objectives of business. The findings suggest that both university and professional students' views on these issues tend to be informed by an Anglo-American shareholder discourse, whereby the needs of shareholders are prioritised. Moreover, this shareholder orientation appeared to be more pronounced for professional accounting students. (shrink)

Christianity changed the world for the better through the development of education, charity organisations, art, music, law and medical care among others. However, not all changes initiated by Christianity were positive. The Christian religion was also responsible for division, death, destruction and war. Focusing on the positive changes, nearly 500 years after the reformation though, it seems as if Christianity has lost its renewing and transformative powers. It seems as if society, politics and the economy are pressurising Christianity to conform (...) to the world and not the other way round. Therefore, the research focuses on the question whether Christians can bring about positive change and transformation to the current problems in society. What can Christians do to provide a religious response to current persistent societal problems? Change agents - people who drive positive change - are capable and competent, make use of networks, are visible and contactable and are often also outsiders in the communities they serve. Examples of the work done by change agents - Christians within their local communities - through small-scale community projects are showcased here to suggest possible ways forward for dealing with persistent problems from a Christian point of view. (shrink)

This article is an imaginary Socratic dialogue between J. S. Mill and Michel Foucault, principally concerning educational assessment.

Nussbaum misconstrues the difference between Plato and Aristotle over what is real for a debate over a conception of truth. She seems to mistake Aristotle's arguments against Plato' version of realism as an argument against realism per se, though the texts do not permit such a reading. She claims Aristotle is convinced that realism involves a fatal “failure of reference,” yet she produces not a single text where Aristotle is even remotely concerned about such a failure of reference given the (...) commitments of realism. And nowhere is the crucial question of the relationship between Aristotle's antirealism and his method of appearances explicitly addressed or resolved.Nussbaum offers us a fashionable Aristotle. I have argued that, far from being attractive and obviously right on a deep and recent metaphysuical debate, Nussbaum's Aristotle is confused and inconsistent and thus that it is a good thing the texts do not support such a characterization. (shrink)

Feminists, like members of other oppressed groups, are likely to embrace many aspects of Albert Memmi’s profound analysis of domination and oppression. Even though feminists can find common cause with Memmi in many respects, nevertheless they are likely to find themselves at odds with what Memmi says and does not say about women.  .

There are no such things as minds, but people have mental properties, which is to say that certain psychological predicates are true of them. These properties are constantly changing, and such changes are mental events. Examples are: noticing that it is time for lunch, seeing that the wind is rising, remembering the new name of Cambodia, deciding to spend next Christmas in Botswana, or developing a taste for Trollope. Mental events are, in my view, physical (which is not, of course, (...) to say that they are not mental). This is a thesis that follows from certain premises, all of which I think are true. The main premises are. (shrink)

A mechanism is presented by which a classical system could be described by the laws of quantum theory. Conflict with von Neumann's no-go theorem is avoided. Experimental predictions are made.

Combining rigor and originality, Ricoeur's Fallible Man locates the possibility of evil in a self that is fundamentally in conflict with itself. The contributors to this volume shed light on an impressive range of themes from the most accessible of Ricoeur’s early writings that resonate with contemporary debates in philosophy and religion.

The De Officiis of Ambrose, Bishop of Milan is a key text of early Christian literature. Based on a work by the Roman writer, Cicero, it presents the first systematic account of Christian ethics. Volume 1 of this edition offers an introduction, the Latin text, and translation, whilst Volume 2 gives a full commentary. It is the first full-length study of Ambrose's work written in English in modern times.

L’article examine la notion d’autorité à partir de deux mouvements apparemment contradictoires : l’évolution du concept d’autorité parentale allant vers un apparent affaiblissement de cette notion et une certaine immanence de l’autorité dans le cadre judiciaire de l’assistance éducative. Les conditions de la manifestation de cette autorité sont explorées à travers les notions de cadre, de rituels et d’offre de pensée.

Following publication of the influential Flexner Report on medical education in 1910, the US built a health care system on a foundation of science that, by the end of the 20th century, provided some of the best medical care in the world. Now, at the start of the 21st century, we are in real danger of destroying those impressive achievements. The primary reason is the failure over many years to change our increasingly dysfunctional health insurance system. Chief among its problems (...) is reduced access to medical services as growing numbers of Americans lose health insurance altogether, and coverage for the rest is eroding. (shrink)

A la fin du XIXe siècle, l'image de la femme criminelle est devenue une obsession nationale en France. Partout on vendait des pamphlets et des gravures relatant ces crimes en détail. Même les journaux en parlaient à loisir. Tout en analysant la criminalité féminine de fin-de-siècle à Paris, Ann-Louise Shapiro raconte des histoires remplies de détails fascinants sur la vie quotidienne, le système judiciaire et la place des femmes dans la société. L'auteur explore plusieurs perspectives ..