This paper aims to contribute to the present debate about business ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) that the Journal of Business Ethics is hosting. Numerous contributions argued theoretical frameworks and taxonomies of CSR practices. The authors want to ground in this knowledge and provide further evidence about how companies adopt CSR practices to address stakeholders’ claims and consolidate their trust. Evidence was provided by a longitudinal case study about an Italian food company that is one of the largest producers (...) of baby food. This company reshaped its corporate strategy along three decades through the adoption of CSR practices in order to win stakeholders’ trust about food safety and supply chain behaviour. The empirical exercise was informed by a literature review of the relevant contributions in terms of CSR business practices and levels of efforts to adopt them. In light of this review, the authors adopted for the research framework the taxonomy of business practices proposed by Spiller (2000, “Ethical Business and Investment: A Model for Business and Society”, Journal of Business Ethics 27, 149-160) and the levels of commitment towards CSR proposed by Stahl and Grigsby (1997, Strategic Management; Total Quality & Global Competition (Blackwell, Oxford)). The main findings are discussed in order to argue theoretical implications and identify further areas of research and debate. (shrink)

An educational philosophy that appeals to the immutable element in things, to their eternal properties, to the truths that hold in any age, and simply urges that empirical methods are not the only methods, really is defending a negative position.

The essay deals with the subject of the curriculum as it was elaborated by the philosopher Jaques Maritain during the period of his stay in the United States and condensed above all in the 1943 text Education at the Crossroads. Maritain, above all a political philosopher, intends to present a line of personal and social education to the generations emerging from the Second World War. It was necessary to rethink education not only in the theoretical field but also in the (...) operational one, in particular in the main formative structure of the community: School and University. The design that comes out is very structured: aimed at proposing a new order of studies both with regard to the School and the University. (shrink)

The paper responds to the recent calls for further evidence on corporate social responsibility (CSR) in small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs). Drawing on the extant literature, the authors identify four characteristics contended by academicians as peculiarities of SMEs’ approach to CSR: the intrinsic relationship between CSR and corporate strategy motivated by the need to continuously dialogue with stakeholders; the centrality of the entrepreneur's ethos in CSR decisions; the coexistence and the cross‐effect of economically instrumental and ethically motivated CSR policies; and (...) the finalization of CSR initiatives to specific firm growth objectives. These four peculiarities are explored in the case of an Italian medium‐sized company operating in the furniture industry. The outcomes show how the four peculiarities are salient in analyzing the CSR approach by the company and suggest areas for further research aimed at developing a thorough theory of CSR in SMEs. In particular, we deepen the analysis of the nature of the uniqueness of medium‐sized companies’ approach to CSR, providing possible interpretations of the reasons making medium‐sized companies’ approach to CSR different from both small and large companies. (shrink)

The paper responds to the recent calls for further evidence on corporate social responsibility (CSR) in small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs). Drawing on the extant literature, the authors identify four characteristics contended by academicians as peculiarities of SMEs’ approach to CSR: the intrinsic relationship between CSR and corporate strategy motivated by the need to continuously dialogue with stakeholders; the centrality of the entrepreneur's ethos in CSR decisions; the coexistence and the cross‐effect of economically instrumental and ethically motivated CSR policies; and (...) the finalization of CSR initiatives to specific firm growth objectives. These four peculiarities are explored in the case of an Italian medium‐sized company operating in the furniture industry. The outcomes show how the four peculiarities are salient in analyzing the CSR approach by the company and suggest areas for further research aimed at developing a thorough theory of CSR in SMEs. In particular, we deepen the analysis of the nature of the uniqueness of medium‐sized companies’ approach to CSR, providing possible interpretations of the reasons making medium‐sized companies’ approach to CSR different from both small and large companies. (shrink)

The paper responds to the recent calls for further evidence on corporate social responsibility (CSR) in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Drawing on the extant literature, the authors identify four characteristics contended by academicians as peculiarities of SMEs’ approach to CSR: the intrinsic relationship between CSR and corporate strategy motivated by the need to continuously dialogue with stakeholders; the centrality of the entrepreneur's ethos in CSR decisions; the coexistence and the cross-effect of economically instrumental and ethically motivated CSR policies; and (...) the finalization of CSR initiatives to specific firm growth objectives. These four peculiarities are explored in the case of an Italian medium-sized company operating in the furniture industry. The outcomes show how the four peculiarities are salient in analyzing the CSR approach by the company and suggest areas for further research aimed at developing a thorough theory of CSR in SMEs. In particular, we deepen the analysis of the nature of the uniqueness of medium-sized companies’ approach to CSR, providing possible interpretations of the reasons making medium-sized companies’ approach to CSR different from both small and large companies. (shrink)

Come si può intuire dalle parole contenute nel titolo e nel sottotitolo del volume di Giovanni Durbiano, la pertinenza del lavoro con questioni di ordine filosofico è qui dichiarata. Il tema del libro muove da una ricognizione di carattere storiografico dell’architettura italiana, ma più in specifico tratta del ruolo e dello statuto sociale, politico ed epistemico che il sapere e il fare dell’architetto hanno rivestito nella storia recente. Si tratta di un lavoro che possiede un carattere qua...

La dimensione finzionale e testuale può essere considerata come un laboratorio di osservazione sulla rappresentazione del futuro. Impiegare modelli e prototipi costruiti su modelli di narrazione fantascientifica rappresenta, del resto, una prassi accreditata nel campo dei future studies.L’articolo passa brevemente in rassegna alcune definizioni relative alla fantascienza, per poi concentrarsi sull’ ambito della fantascienza audiovisiva dedicato al near future: una immaginaria dimensione futura simile a quella attuale e per questo densa di elementi di inquietudine. Come casi rappresentativi vengono prese in (...) esame due analisi testuali: il film Ex Machina e la serie tv Black Mirror. Le analisi vengono affiancate da alcune proposte teoriche classiche - dal costruzionismo di Nelson Goodman alla trattazione di Paul Ricoeur sulla temporalità – sullo sfondo di una metodologia semiotica. Viene affrontata in breve la questione dei limiti concettuali nella descrivibilità del tempo, mentre alla dimensione spaziale nell’audiovisivo viene infine dedicato un ampio approfondimento che ne illustra il ruolo essenziale nella costruzione di un universo narrativo, nonché l’utilità nel costruire effetti di senso specifici per una efficace rappresentazione del futuro. (shrink)

O artigo busca discutir a filosofia do Brasil, seus desafios e possíveis soluções, a partir de uma abordagem interdisciplinar e histórica. O texto apresenta a análise da filosofia universitária brasileira, sua origem e atuação no século XXI, ressaltando que grande parte da produção acadêmica é pouco autêntica por ser uma exegese estrangeira. Além disso, é discutida a condição dos povos originários e dos negros escravizados, expondo como foram desumanizados pela colonização e suas condições de vida precárias e sua relação com (...) a maneira que nos enxergamos. A partir disso, o artigo propõe a reflexão sobre a necessidade de pensar a filosofia brasileira a partir de sua situacionalidade e historicidade, superando o complexo de vira-lata e criando uma produção acadêmica autêntica e original, que reflita nossa identidade e individualidade, sem deixar de dialogar com outras tradições filosóficas. (shrink)

Montaigne, no "De l'art de conferer", discute critérios que permitem distinguir os homens segundo suas capacidades (suffisances). A "maneira" de discursar ocupa o centro desta questão e entre suas qualidades se destaca a "ordem", que nos é apresentada, sobretudo, a partir dos desvios da "tolice" (sottise) e "obstinação" (opiniastreté), símbolos do dogmatismo e de uma errônea lide com os saberes que se apoiam na memória. Procura-se mostrar que a ordem se funda na assimilação e penetração do julgamento nas matérias que (...) garantem o nexo necessário para o desenvolvimento adequado da conversação (conference). Montaigne, in "De l'art de conferer", discusses the criteria to distinguish men according to their capabilities (suffisances). The "manner" of discussing is central to this issue and among its qualities "order" distinguishes itself. The "order" is presented to us by the exposition of its deviations: foolishness ("sottise") and obstinacy ("opiniastreté"). These inadequacies represent both dogmatism and an erroneous way of using knowledge based on memory. We intend to show how order is founded on a kind of judgment which assimilates and penetrates matters and subjects - being it the only way to assure the necessary connection to adequately develop the conversation ("conference"). (shrink)

Nos Ensaios de Montaigne, encontramos um dos mais célebres textos filosóficos sobre a morte voluntária, o capítulo 3 do livro II. Muitos comentadores qualificam o posicionamento de Montaigne como sendo o mesmo de Sêneca e de alguns autores antigos, qual seja, uma defesa da moralidade do ato de se matar. Outros estudiosos detectam no ensaio uma oscilação inconclusa do autor francês sobre o tema. Procuro, em contrapartida, apresentar argumentos que evidenciam que a opinião final de Montaigne é irrestritamente contrária ao (...) suicídio. Para tanto, é feito um mapeamento das várias ocorrências do problema do suicídio no livro que vão além do citado capítulo. Além disso, é ressaltada a distinção entre as camadas de escrita do texto em suas várias edições, contrapondo as inovações de Montaigne aos modelos argumentativos de suas influências clássicas. In Montaigne's Essays, we find one of the most famous philosophical texts on voluntary death, the third chapter of Book II. Many commentators assess Montaigne's position as similar to Seneca's and to some other ancient authors', that is, a defense of the morality of killing oneself. Other scholars detect an unsolved oscillation of the French author on the subject. However, I try to present arguments showing that Montaigne's final opinion is against suicide. Therefore, it is undertaken a mapping of the multiple occurrences of the issue in the book, which go beyond the said chapter. Moreover, the distinction between the writing layers of the Essais in its various editions is stressed, putting in contrast the novelty of Montaigne's argumentative models to his classical influences. (shrink)

The interpretation of Hegel has been a focal point of philosophical controversy ever since the beginning of the twentieth century, both among Marxists and in the major European philosophical schools. Yet despite wide differences of emphasis most interpretations of Hegel share important similarities. They link his idea of Reason to the revolutionary and rationalist tradition which led to the French Revolution, and they interpret his dialectic as implying a latently atheist and even materialist world outlook. Lucio Colletti directly challenges (...) this picture of Hegel. He argues that Hegel was an essentially Christian philosopher, and that his dialectic was explicitly anti-materialist in both intention and effect. In contrast to earlier views, Colletti maintains that there is no contradiction between Hegel’s method and his system, once it is accepted that his thought is an exercise in Absolute Idealism stemming from a long Christian humanist tradition. He claims, on the contrary, that intellectual inconsistency is rather to be found in the works of Engels, Lenin, Lukás, Kojève and others, who have attempted to adapt Hegel to their own philosophical priorities. Colletti places his argument in the context of a broad re-examination of the whole relationship between Marxism and the Enlightenment, giving novel emphasis to the relationship between Marxism and Kant. He concludes by re-asserting the importance in Marxism of empirical science against the claim of “infinite reason,” while at the same time showing how Marx did transform key ideas in Hegelian thought to construct a consistently materialist dialectic. (shrink)

The Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) represents a set of life-long disorders. In particular, subjects with ASD can display momentary behaviors of acute agitation and aggressiveness called crisis behaviors. These events are problematic for the subject and care providers but little is known about their occurrence, namely, possible relations among intensity, frequency, and duration. A group of ASD subjects (n=33) has been observed for 12 months reporting data on each crisis ( n = 1137 crises). Statistical analysis did not find significant (...) results, while the relation between crisis duration and frequency showed a good fit to a “power law” curve, suggesting the application of Self-Organized Criticality (SOC) model. The SOC is used to describe natural phenomena as earthquakes, bank failures of rivers, mass extinctions, and other systems where a type of “catastrophic events” is necessary to maintain a critical equilibrium. In a sense, subjects at risk of crisis behavior seem to fit the same model as seismic zones at risk of earthquakes. The employment of the same strategies, as those successfully developed for known SOC systems, could lead to important insights for ASD management. Moreover, the SOC model offers possible interpretations of crisis behavior dynamics suggesting that they are unpredictable and, in a sense, necessary. (shrink)

Le MST a connu de grands succès dans les années 1980 – 450 000 familles dans assentamentos (propriétaires) ou acampamentos (occupants) – et a servi d’exemple à de nombreuses mobilisations et occupations de terres dans le monde. Pendant l’ère Bolsonaro, le mouvement a connu diverses adaptations. Il a adopté le récit de l’entrepreneur agricole, influencé en cela par les évangélistes – de la « théologie de la libération » communautaire à la théologie individualiste de la réussite. Il a, par obligation (...) et répression, délaissé l’action d’occupation des terres pour le développement de l’agriculture biologique et la production d’aliments « sains », largement à destination des villes. Ainsi, il resserre les liens entre le rural et l’urbain et se rapproche stratégiquement du Mouvement des Sans Toit. (shrink)

By comparing developments in two southern Italian factories, this article contrasts “aggregative” and “deliberative” procedures in trade unions. In one of the plants, the preferences of some of the workers appear to have been changed by deliberation. The process of rational persuasion seems to have required, however, more than sheer circulation of information. Based on this evidence, the article argues that when a potential conflict of interests is involved, speakers need to provide evidence that they are animated by a “communicative” (...) rather than “strategic” intent. This implies validating their implicit claim to sincerity of communication. (shrink)

Based on field research at both the national and local levels, this article reconstructs the emergence of negotiated policy making in Italy in the 1990s. It argues that standard corporatist theory is totally incapable of accounting for the particular organizational mechanisms through which, at critical moments, that is, the moments in which policy change had to be introduced, consensus was mobilized among both middle-level union structures and rank-and-file workers in Italy. In fact, absent centralized organizational capacities, the Italian unions relied (...) heavily on democratic decision-making procedures. These procedures strengthened the unions' capacity to hold to their side of the bargaining in national negotiations through essentially two types of mechanisms, aggregative and deliberative. (shrink)

RESUMO O texto propõe, inicialmente, uma aproximação entre as visões de Aristóteles e Montaigne sobre a virtude da coragem, com especial atenção ao problema da morte heroica. Então, são apresentados alguns pontos de diferenciação do filósofo francês em relação ao legado aristotélico para, enfim, mostrar que uma das restrições especificamente montaignianas sobre a legitimidade de um ato de coragem acarreta uma limitação à ação do próprio Estado, o que deve ser julgado um elemento essencial à formação do pensamento político moderno. (...) ABSTRACT At first, the article proposes an approximation between Aristotle's and Montaigne's views on the virtue of courage, with special attention to the problem of heroic death. Then, some distinguishing points of the French philosopher from the Aristotelian legacy are presented, in order to show, finally, that one of the specifically Montaignean restrictions on the legitimacy of an act of courage entails a limitation to the action of the State itself; which must be considered an essential element to the shaping of Modern political thought. (shrink)

A partir de la situación crítica de la modernidad, el autor afirma que todo ser humano perspicaz y amante de la vida se pregunta con angustia por nuestro destino colectivo. Como una respuesta a esta interrogante, el presente artículo examina diversas perspectivas evolucionarias universales de amplia escala temporal, apoyándose particularmente en el enfoque de la Fe Bahá’í, desde la que presenta un análisis sobre el rol de la religión, para abordar finalmente aquellos procesos que podrían orientar a una sociedad civil (...) mundial hacia una espiritualidad encarnada en los procesos sociales, desde nuestra condición actual concebida como el momento de la gran bifurcación y de la era de las comunidades. (shrink)

L’article présente une réflexion sur la question du temps dans les processus de migration et mise au travail des travailleurs et travailleuses détachés dans l’agriculture intensive. Nous proposons d’analyser le rapport entre les temporalités imposées aux détachés pour répondre aux besoins productifs et leurs conduites temporelles. Il s’agit de comprendre comment les personnes détachées vivent ces temporalités, mais aussi comment elles se les réapproprient et/ou les contournent afin de les articuler aux espaces-temps de la reproduction sociale. Notre recherche s’appuie sur (...) une enquête qualitative menée auprès des ouvriers et ouvrières mis à disposition des exploitants par des agences d’intérim espagnoles dans trois départements du sud de la France. L’analyse, structurée autour des parcours migratoires, du système du détachement et des temps sociaux, nous permet de saisir les effets des politiques migratoires sur les parcours des saisonniers dans les temps longs ; de retracer des stratégies de dépassement des temporalités imposées, qui amènent à l’installation et à l’emploi direct ; d’identifier les tentatives de « faire communauté » à travers des initiatives commerciales et récréatives collectives développées dans les temps libres. (shrink)