This paper presents a profile of the welfare regime in Lebanon which is posited on the twin precepts of human ethics and welfare particularism. It highlights the key role that moral values play in the conceptualization and implementation of social policy, as well as in the measurement of welfare outcomes. This is marked by the dominance of duty, traditionalism and elitism in the ethics of religious welfare in Lebanon. The paper argues that the social welfare regime in Lebanon overlaps with (...) the debates on the ethics of care and on virtue ethics in Western moral philosophy. This is also linked in with contemporary conceptualizations of religious ethics in Judaism, Christianity and Islam. The paper asserts that religious ethics is a valid endeavour in its own right and an ever more pertinent subject matter for the study of social welfare and social policy. This challenges the traditional dichotomy between reason and faith which has subdued the relevance of religion to public life. Indeed, religion, the nuclear family and clientelism networks are shown to play a critical role in Lebanese social welfare, such that, in spite of state incapacity, the welfare regime there cannot be considered rudimentary. The method adopted for this research was a large qualitative case study involving service providers and users at the Ministry of Social Affairs and five leading Christian and Muslim religious welfare organizations in Lebanon. (shrink)

Abstract : Background: Vegetable agriculture is very important to human continued existence and remains a key driver of many economies worldwide, especially in underdeveloped and developing economies. Objectives: There is an increasing demand for food and cash crops, due to the increasing in world population and the challenges enforced by climate modifications, there is an urgent need to increase plant production while reducing costs. Methods: In this paper, Lemon classification approach is presented with a dataset that contains approximately 2,000 images (...) belong to 3 species at a few developing phases. Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) algorithms, a deep learning technique extensively applied to image recognition was used, for this task. The results: found that CNN-driven lemon classification applications when used in farming automation have the latent to enhance crop harvest and improve output and productivity when designed properly. The trained model achieved an accuracy of 99.48% on a held-out test set, demonstrating the feasibility of this approach. (shrink)

Study on the concept of cognition and metaphysical theory of causation in Vedanta school in Hindu philosophy.

ABSTRACT:This article examines the issue of gender equality within Islam in order to develop an ethical framework for businesses operating in Muslim majority countries. We pay attention to the role of women and seemingly inconsistent expectations of Islamic and Western societies with regard to appropriate gender roles. In particular, we contrast a mainstream Western liberal individualist view of freedom and equality—the capability approach, used here as an illustration of mainstream Western liberalism—with an egalitarian Islamic view on gender equality. While the (...) article identifies an opportunity for this particular approach to reform patriarchal interpretations and practices of Islam toward gender egalitarian interpretations and practices, it also contests the notions of adaptation and well-being inherent within the capability approach. We suggest that a dialectical approach to understanding the relationships among religion, culture, and business provides a better guide to responsible business action in Muslim Majority countries than does the capability approach. (shrink)

Drawing on social cognitive theory, this study extends our understanding of the relationship between ethical leadership and employee work engagement, by exploring self-efficacy as an important mediating variable. In addition, we propose that the quality of LMX moderates the relationships such that the direct and indirect relationships between ethical leadership, self-efficacy, and work engagement are stronger when the quality of LMX is high. Data collected in two-waves from 373 respondents working in different manufacturing organizations of Pakistan supported our hypothesized theoretical (...) model. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed. (shrink)

This study provides a ‘pyramid of hate’ perspective on issues and challenges facing minority religious communities in social and political climates that bestow permission to hate. Previous research shows that adverse social stereotypes and biases, together with non-inclusive policies and practices at the level of the state, create an enabling environment that signals the legitimacy of public hostility towards a minority community. This paper argues that such climates of hate within and outside the workplace may be better understood by paying (...) attention to the multiple levels of hate, i.e., biased attitudes, biased actions, discrimination and violence. In its extreme form, such climate may lead to indiscriminate massacres and genocide. This contextual study draws on interviews with 76 Shia Muslim professionals and employees in Pakistan to provide a ‘pyramid of hate’ perspective on issues of bias, discrimination and violence facing them. The study unveils a range of experiences, from subtle bias and stereotyping to blatant harassment, discrimination and hostilities facing Shia professionals and employees in Pakistan. The study is unique as it integrates the notion of pyramid of hate into management and organization studies and advances this theory by examining issues of sect-based bias, discrimination and violence within one religion. (shrink)

The focus of this study is an examination of what it means to be a legal person and the role that the law plays in bestowing the legal status of being a person. This study highlights the underpinning rationalities and human interest that establish a hierarchy between person, defined as “human”, at a superior level to everything else, defined as “nonhuman”. In this respect, there is a core notion concerning human exceptionalism based on the rational sovereignty that justifies and consolidates (...) the mastery of nature. To understand the fundamental premises of legal personhood, it begins from the first usage of person in history and philosophy, since the concept of legal personhood has been established through historical and philosophical developments. Analysing the meaning of person through different conceptualisations can allow a deeper insight into the legal interpretation of personhood. As a result of such investigation, two main dualistic structures of legal personhood reveal: the person-property dualism and the human being-person dualism. Thus, legal personhood simultaneously includes personalisation and depersonalisation, and always operates in a hierarchical array. Although the division between persons and things in the concept of personhood is rigid, being a “person” or a “thing” is open to interpretation in different circumstances through legal practices of exclusion and inclusion. Recently, there have been an increasing number of court rulings and a tendency of legislation to recognise the legal personhood of natural entities as a legal way of conserving the environment. This leads to an interpretation that legal recognition is a matter of institutional interest and attempts. Nevertheless, legal practitioners mostly prefer to confer certain rights or the status of a legal person on nature without the consideration of legal personhood’s background as seen in the case discussed in this study - the Tierra Digna case in Colombia. While this study endeavours to demonstrate the anthropocentric standard view of legal personhood, its principal purpose is to indicate the malleable nature of legal personhood as a product of legal fiction. In this context, this study aims to conclude that law’s imaginary nature should be used for producing a new legal reasoning and for offering a real paradigm shift that is congruent with the plasticity of and the fluidity of nature. (shrink)

Crimes are increasing in our society as a serious worldwide issue. Fast reporting of crimes is a significantly important area in anticrime. This problem is visible in Iraq as people avoid information-sharing due to the lack of trust in the security system despite some contact lines between citizens and police in Iraq. Furthermore, there has been a little empirical study in this field. We proposed a multi-approach for crime reporting and police control to address these issues. First, this study has (...) two goals: investigating the adopted method in reporting crimes to police sectors to identify the gap and, developing a mobile application for crime reporting and keeping it undisclosed and exclusive for crime witnesses to report. The approach utilised 200 participants to develop the proposed app. Results have shown that the proposed system can quickly monitor and track criminals based on a cloud-based online database. In addition, the application user will specify certain details to be sent, such as location, case type and time. Other information will be sent directly by the system following the designed algorithm. (shrink)

This book offers a resolution of the paradox posed by the pleasure of tragedy by returning to its earliest articulations in archaic Greek poetry and its subsequent emergence as a philosophical problem in Plato's Republic. Socrates' claim that tragic poetry satisfies our 'hunger for tears' hearkens back to archaic conceptions of both poetry and mourning that suggest a common source of pleasure in the human appetite for heightened forms of emotional distress. By unearthing a psychosomatic model of aesthetic engagement implicit (...) in archaic poetry and philosophically elaborated by Plato, this volume not only sheds new light on the Republic's notorious indictment of poetry, but also identifies rationally and ethically disinterested sources of value in our pursuit of aesthetic states. In doing so the book resolves an intractable paradox in aesthetic theory and human psychology: the appeal of painful emotions. (shrink)

Despite a plethora of empirical evidence on the potential role of senior management in the success of corporate social responsibility in Western-dominated organizational contexts, little attempt has been made to document the various managerial mindsets toward CSR in organizations in Muslim-dominated countries in the Middle East region. To address this existing lacuna of theoretical and empirical research in CSR management, this paper offers a qualitative case study of CSR in three manufacturing firms operating in Iran’s auto industry. Based on an (...) inductive analysis of the qualitative data, three types of managerial mindset toward CSR are identified: conformist, self-seeker, and satisfier. While it is evident that these different mindsets of Iranian managers seek to serve managerial ends and short-term self-interests, they fall short of core values of Islamic ethics and CSR. (shrink)

Religion has been in general neglected or even seen as a taboo subject in organizational research and management practice. This is a glaring omission in the business and society and business ethics literatures. As a source of moral norms and beliefs, religion has historically played a significant role in the vast majority of societies and continues to remain relevant in almost every society. More broadly, expectations for responsible business behavior are informed by regional, national, or indigenous cultures, which in many (...) parts of the world are heavily influenced by religious belief systems and religious institutions. In this essay, we discuss examples of how religion has functioned as a macro social force affecting business and society, discuss some of the key questions and issues related to research in this domain, offer some observations about why religion may be problematic with regard to its effects on business, and conclude by summarizing the articles contained in the special issue. (shrink)

This study examined the influence of ethical leadership on knowledge sharing, the mediating role of psychological ownership, and the moderating effect of professional commitment between ethical leadership and knowledge sharing. Data were collected from 307 public listed Pakistani companies’ employees. Statistical analyses were performed by using SPSS Version 25 and AMOS version 22. The findings indicate a positive relationship between EL and KS behavior. Additionally, the impact of EL on KS was partially mediated by psychological ownership. Furthermore, professional commitment buffers (...) the link between EL and KS. This study contributes to the body of knowledge in the field of leadership by confirming the role of ethics. The results show that ethical leaders develop employee attitudes that contribute to employee KS behavior. Ethical leaders create and encourage a learning culture to enhance organizational performance. This study adds to the little data on the positive impact of EL on listed company’s employees and addresses the gaps in previous studies on the role of EL in changing environments. In addition, professional commitment as a moderator has not been previously investigated with ethical leadership antecedents. (shrink)

Grounding on person–job fit theory, we examined perceived overqualification relation with counterproductive work behavior by identifying job boredom as a mediator and job crafting as a moderator. Hierarchical linear regression and Hayes’ PROCESS macro-method were used to assess hypotheses in a three-wave survey of 317 textile sector employees. The findings show that perceived overqualification is positively related with CWBs. This study further examined the mediating function of job boredom and the moderating impact of job crafting in the association between perceived (...) overqualification and CWB. The findings suggest that job crafting moderates the positive relation between perceived overqualification and job boredom and the indirect connection between perceived overqualification and CWB via job boredom. The model was tested using 3-wave data; however, since the data were attained from a single source, questions of common method bias cannot be ruled out. Managers should look for changes in employee attitudes and promptly modify employees’ positions when they indicate that they have more experience, abilities, and talents required for their roles in their organizations. (shrink)

This article examines the development of the ritual of mubāhala, a category of oaths and mutual self-cursing, during which two individuals seek to confirm the veracity of their creedal position by appealing to God’s curse upon them. Based on a prophetic precedent embedded in Q 3:61 and reported as a challenge purportedly employed by the Companions Ibn Masʿūd and Ibn ʿAbbās, I argue that the practice of resorting to mubāhala in the Sunni tradition goes through two main phases of reinvention (...) and legitimation before its reappearance in the contemporary Muslim world. The first phase belongs to the anti-Monist controversies of the seventh to ninth/thirteenth to fifteenth centuries, while the second appears among reformist scholars starting in the late eighteenth century. (shrink)

Mitter's study argues that until the late Qing, concepts of international order and justice were alien to China's imperial rulers. Subsequently, however, in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, China perceived itself to be the victim in an unjust world of aggressive, powerful, Western states. Contemporary Chinese perceptions of a just international order have been shaped by such past experiences and encompass a strong element of restitution. Its justice claims start with the Chinese state itself rather than with the needs (...) of a broader global community. (shrink)

Research on human subjects is ethically justified when its anticipated results would ultimately benefit the society or public and not only the individuals participating in this research. Besides contributing to scientific knowledge, social benefits of scientific research may extend to all aspects of the public’s life including health, education, and security. In this paper, we aimed to discuss the social benefits principle as an ethical requirement for the conduct of scientific research in general and nursing research in particular. We critically (...) examined the current situation of nursing research in developing countries including its adherence to the social benefits principle and provided exemplars of both hindered and successful utilization of nursing research evidence in developing countries. We concluded that the utilization of nursing research evidence in clinical practice, education, and policy making is almost nonexistent and faces many challenges in most developing countries. Thus, most nursing research in developing countries are not currently meeting the social benefit principle of the ethical conduct of scientific research. We provided recommendations to promote the utilization of nursing research in evidence-based practice, nursing education, and health policy. (shrink)

This article presents a theory of how the consumption of Islamic products may promote morally consistent behavior over time. We identify and examine three unique meta-characteristics (MCs) of Islamic ethics: ubudiyah (subservience to God), akhirah (focus on the hereafter or the long-term), and tawado (being modest while doing an ethical act). In four experiments, we show that after consumption of an Islamic banking product, MCs produce moral consistency or repeat ethical behavior, which is one major objective of an ethical system. (...) We also show that the absence of MCs results in moral inconsistency, that is, unethical behavior follows earlier consumption of an Islamic banking product due to the mediating psychological mechanism of moral licensing. Hence, it is not only the enactment of general ethical practices, rather the enactment of ethical practices in the specific context set by the MCs through which Islamic ethical system promotes ethical conduct and prevents unethical conduct. The findings have implications for Islamic ethical system and Islamic banking. (shrink)

The correlation coefficient between two variables plays an important role in statistics. Also, the accuracy of relevance assessment depends on information from a set of discourses. The data collected from numerous statistical studies are full of exceptions. The Pythagorean fuzzy hypersoft set is a parameterized family that deals with the subattributes of the parameters and an appropriate extension of the Pythagorean fuzzy soft set. It is also the generalization of the intuitionistic fuzzy hypersoft set, which is used to accurately assess (...) insufficiency, anxiety, and uncertainties in decision-making. The PFHSS can accommodate more uncertainties compared to the IFHSS, and it is the most substantial methodology to describe fuzzy information in the decision-making process. The core objective of the this study is to develop the notion and features of the correlation coefficient and the weighted correlation coefficient for PFHSS and to introduce the aggregation operators such as Pythagorean fuzzy hypersoft weighted average and Pythagorean fuzzy hypersoft weighted geometric operators under the PFHSS scenario. A prioritization technique for order preference by similarity to the ideal solution under PFHSS based on correlation coefficients and weighted correlation coefficients is presented. Through the developed methodology, a technique for solving multiattribute group decision-making problem is planned. Also, the importance of the developed methodology and its application in indicating multipurpose antivirus mask throughout the COVID-19 pandemic period is presented. A brief comparative analysis is described with the advantages, effectiveness, and flexibility of numerous existing studies that demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method. (shrink)

Wittgenstein’s philosophical methods have had a wide influence in the fields of ethics and moral philosophy. The aim of the volume Ethics After Wittgenstein: Contemplation and Critique is to outlin...

The literature on Black youth culture, especially hip-hop culture, has focused primarily on the experiences of young men, with the experiences of Black girls being all but ignored. However, the recent appearance of Black women performers, songwriters, and producers in Black popular culture has called attention to the ways in which young Black women use popular culture to negotiate social existence and attempt to express independence, self-reliance, and agency. This article is an exploration of the representations of Black womanhood as (...) expressed in the music videos of Black women performers. The author first identifies themes that reflect controlling images of Black womanhood, then those that exemplify an expression of agency, and finally those appearing ambivalent and contradictory. Overall, the music videos express how young Black women must negotiate sexuality and womanhood in their everyday lives. (shrink)

This article is a preliminary draft for initiating and commencing a new pioneer dimension of expression. To deal with higher-dimensional data or information flowing in this modern era of information technology and artificial intelligence, some innovative super algebraic structures are essential to be formulated. In this paper, we have introduced such matrices that have multiple layers and clusters of layers to portray multi-dimensional data or massively dispersed information of the plithogenic universe made up of numerous subjects their attributes, and sub-attributes. (...) For grasping that field of parallel information, events, and realities flowing from the micro to the macro level of universes, we have constructed hypersoft and hyper-super-soft matrices in a Plithogenic Fuzzy environment. These Matrices classify the non-physical attributes by accumulating the physical subjects and further sort the physical subjects by accumulating their non-physical attributes. We presented themasPlithogenicAttributiveSubjectivelyWholeHyper-Super-Soft-Matrix(PASWHSS-Matrix)andPlithogenic Subjective Attributively Whole-Hyper-Super-Soft-Matrix (PSAWHSS-Matrix). Several types of views and level-layers of these matrices are described. In addition, some local aggregation operators for Plithogenic Fuzzy Hypersoft Set (PPFHS-Set) are developed. Finally, few applications of these matrices and operators are used as numerical examples of COVID-19 data structures. (shrink)

Understanding the impact of the p53 tumor suppressor pathway on the regulation of genome integrity, cancer development, and cancer treatment has intrigued scientists and clinicians for decades. It appears that the p53 pathway is a central node for nearly all cell stress responses, including: gene expression, DNA repair, cell cycle arrest, metabolic adjustments, apoptosis, and senescence. In the past decade, it has become increasingly clear that p53 function is directly regulated by poly(ADP‐ribose) polymerase‐1 (PARP‐1), a nuclear enzyme involved in DNA (...) repair signaling. Here, we will discuss the impact of PARP‐1 on p53 function, along with a recently described novel role for the reciprocal regulation of p53 regulated, PARP‐1 dependent necrosis following DNA damage. (shrink)

Religion (dharma) plays a vital role in the Hindu (Sanatana) quest for understanding and practicing harmony between nature and humanity that result into the formation of a cosmological awakening, i.e. 'transcending the universe.' The importance and applicability of such new consciousness is a sign in promoting global humanism in the 21st century, where environmental ethics and sustainability are the wheels of making the future more humane and peaceful. Arne Naess, who coined the term 'deep ecology' conceiving humankind as an integral (...) part of its environment, gives credit to Gandhi. Gandhi’s contributions help to re-awaken the human spirit to self-realisation, finally leading to revelation promoting human coexistence with nature sustainably, mostly through re-interpretation of Vedantic thought. Under the SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals) the ideas of Gandhi are recognised as a path that makes human coexistence stronger, feasible and co-sharedness, sustainable in peace and harmony with nature. This essay presents ecospiritual contextuality and its vitality concerning a sustainable perspective in line with Gandhi's vision and way of life. (shrink)

Recently, Quyn et al. demonstrated that cells within the stem cell zone of human and mouse intestinal crypts tend to align their mitotic spindles perpendicular to the basal membrane of the crypt. This is associated with asymmetric division, whereby particular proteins and individual chromatids are preferentially segregated to one daughter cell. In colonic mucosa containing a heterozygous adenomatous polyposis coli gene (APC) mutation the asymmetry is lost. Here, we discuss asymmetric stem cell division as an anti‐tumourigenic mechanism. We describe how (...) hierarchical tissue structures suppress somatic evolution, and discuss the relative merits of template strand retention to limit the accumulation of DNA replication errors. We suggest experiments to determine whether somatic mutations resulting in loss of spindle alignment confer an advantage within the stem cell niche. Finally, we discuss whether lack of spindle alignment constitutes an oncogenic event per se, with particular reference to studies in model organisms, and the timing of chromosomal instability in human cancers. (shrink)

With a view to consolidating the existing theory development and stimulating new conceptual thinking, this paper explores the implications of culture, religion, and the legal framework on women’s employment and their limited advancement in the hospitality industry, one of the important elements of the economy in Jordan. A related aim is to contrast the egalitarian Islamic approach to gender equality with gender discriminatory tribal traditions that restrict women’s employment and progression. Guided by religion, culture, and gender literature, this study uses (...) a qualitative, content-based analysis. Drawing on open-ended questionnaires distributed to a diverse workforce across four tourist locations in Jordan, the results portray how tribalism and Bedouin customs embedded in the participants’ interpretation and practices of their religion are maintaining gender gaps in employment and positions of power. The results also reveal that despite the Islamic guidelines towards fairness and justice in employment, the tribal and Bedouin traditions restrict women’s employment through patriarchal interpretations of Islam. Thus, the salient novelty and significance of this study were achieved through contributing to the theory development of the interrelations between religion, culture, and gender equality. (shrink)

A questionnaire survey of 408 households explored the role of socio-economic and cultural factors in rice (Oryza sativa L.) varietal diversity management on-farm in two contrasting eco-sites in Nepal. Multiple regression outputs suggest that number of parcels of land, livestock number, number of rice ecosystems, agro-ecology (altitude), and use of chemical fertilizer have a significant positive influence on landrace diversity on-farm, while membership in farmers’ groups linked to extension services has significant but negative influence on landrace diversity. Factors with significant (...) positive influence on diversity of modern varieties on-farm were number of parcels of land and of rice ecosystems, access to irrigation, membership in farmers’ groups, and use of insecticide. Within communities, resource-endowed households maintain significantly higher varietal diversity on-farm than resource-poor households and play a significant role in conserving landraces that are vulnerable to genetic erosion and those with socio-cultural and market-preferred traits. Resource-poor households also contribute to local diversity conservation but at lower richness and area coverage levels than resource-endowed households. Households where a female had assumed the role of head of household due to death or migrant work of her husband had less diversity due to lower labor availability. Landraces with socio-cultural and market-preferred traits are few in number but have potential to be conserved on-farm. (shrink)

This paper intends to enhance the great relevance that the promotion of reason received in the XIIth century. The main representatives of thought in this century can be considered, at least in a certain sense, as antecedents to what later was the European Illustration. Indeed their emphasis on rationality is huge.

This paper intends to show the evolution of Ethics on the High Middle Ages. The penitential books written in this period are taken as a basis for the reflection.