Food retailers are powerful actors of the agro-industrial food system. They exert strong lock-in effects that hinder transitions towards more sustainable agri-food systems. Indeed, their marketing practices generally result in excluding the most sustainable food products, such as local, low-input, small-scale farmers’ products. Recently in Belgium, several initiatives have been created to enable the introduction of local products on supermarket shelves. In this article, we study three of those initiatives to analyse if the development of local sourcing in supermarkets opens (...) up an opportunity for a transition towards more sustainable agri-food systems. We conceptualise transitions as a shift in governance and ethical values and adopt a pragmatist approach of ethics combined with the systemic perspective of transition studies, to evaluate the impact of these initiatives. Our analysis shows that they mainly contribute to the reproduction of the incumbent agri-food system. It also highlights that first, to be a driver for sustainability transitions, food ethics need to be systemic i.e. relate to a systemic understanding of problems and perspective of sustainability, including social justice. And second, it highlights that governance arrangements involving not only representative organisations of the various agri-food and non-agricultural actors, but also actors upholding ethical values that are currently missing in conventional supply chains and representing excluded and marginalised interests, favour the uptake of such systemic ethics by incumbent actors. Hence, systemic ethics and inclusive governance are key features for initiatives to contribute to a sustainability transition. (shrink)
With the ever-growing quality of observational data in astronomy, the complexity of astrophysical models has been increasing in turn. This trend raises the question: Are there still reasons to prefer simpler models if the final goal is an actual model-target comparison? I argue for two aspects in which astrophysical research may favor models having reduced complexity: first, to address the problem of determining the values of adjustable parameters and, second, to pave the way for a validation of the model based (...) on the modeler’s understanding of the scope of the model and the critical processes on the target’s side. (shrink)
This study identifies the relationship between local stakeholder pressures and Korean foreign subsidiaries’ corporate social responsibility. Analyzing the survey data of 177 Korean foreign subsidiaries yielded two important findings. First, local primary stakeholders have a positive impact on responsive CSR activities, but have no influence on strategic CSR activities. Second, local secondary stakeholders in host countries have a strong influence on both responsive and strategic CSR activities. Secondary stakeholders have more influence on strategic than on responsive CSR activities. This article (...) suggests a change in managerial philosophy toward primary and secondary stakeholders, which may have important implications for multinational enterprises in achieving greater success with the design of their CSR activities. (shrink)
The study of cultural evolution has taken on an increasingly interdisciplinary and diverse approach in explicating phenomena of cultural transmission and adoptions. Inspired by this computational movement, this study uses Bayesian networks analysis, combining both the frequentist and the Hamiltonian Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) approach, to investigate the highly representative elements in the cultural evolution of a Vietnamese city’s architecture in the early 20th century. With a focus on the façade design of 68 old houses in Hanoi’s Old Quarter (...) (based on 78 data lines extracted from 248 photos), the study argues that it is plausible to look at the aesthetics, architecture, and designs of the house façade to find traces of cultural evolution in Vietnam, which went through more than six decades of French colonization and centuries of sociocultural influence from China. The in-depth technical analysis, though refuting the presumed model on the probabilistic dependency among the variables, yields several results, the most notable of which is the strong influence of Buddhism over the decorations of the house façade. Particularly, in the top 5 networks with the best Bayesian Information Criterion (BIC) scores and p<0.05, the variable for decorations (DC) always has a direct probabilistic dependency on the variable B for Buddhism. The paper then checks the robustness of these models using Hamiltonian MCMC method and find the posterior distributions of the models’ coefficients all satisfy the technical requirement. Finally, this study suggests integrating Bayesian statistics in the social sciences in general and for the study of cultural evolution and architectural transformation in particular. (shrink)
Investigators agree that hope is an important coping skill for patients. Hope is stronger than optimism and influences one's physical well being. Suggestions and strategies that can be used in the clinical setting to increase hope begin with an admission of its important role.
This paper explores the epistemic status of models and simulations between theory, on the one hand, and observations, on the other. In particular, I will argue that the interpretation of an essentially invariant astrophysical model structure can change substantially over time. I will illustrate this claim using as an example the first 20 years of development of the Paris-Durham shock code—a numerical model of slow interstellar shock waves. I will show that the model’s interpretation and, in particular, its underlying representational (...) ideal—the modeler’s goal governing the development and the use of the model—changed notably during this period. Whereas the code was originally used in a purely exploratory fashion, it was later taken to represent and encompass the target phenomenon as completely as possible. It is noteworthy that during this transition the model’s change of epistemic status was never explicitly acknowledged or in any way articulated. However, the impetus for the change can, I claim, be found in the role that observational data came to play in the later publications. (shrink)
This study uses a quasi-experimental design to investigate what happens to individual socially responsible attitudes when they are exposed to group dynamics. Findings show that group engagement increases individual attitudes toward social responsibility. We also found that individuals with low attitudes toward social responsibility are more likely to change their opinions when group members show more positive attitudes toward social responsibility. Conversely, individuals with high attitudes do not change much, independent of group characteristics. To better analyze the effect of group (...) dynamics, the study proposes to split social responsibility into relative and absolute components. Findings show that relative social responsibility is correlated with but different from absolute social responsibility although the latter is more susceptible than the former to group dynamics. (shrink)
Educational philosophy helps to orient the educational development process of each country and develop the capacity of each individual in society. In the educational history of each country, there is always a process of preserving and transferring social heritages. The educational system prepares the next generation to enter society and imparts ideas, values, and beliefs that will shape young people’s thinking and behavior for the rest of their lives. Therefore, this article wishes to clearly and vividly clarify the importance of (...) studying Pragmatism’s educational philosophy to realize its present influence. At the same time, it is crucial to deeply understand the educational process of Pragmatism to derive meaning and clarify the primary function of educating Vietnamese people in the context of current global integration. The article uses the materialist dialectic method with broad and specific historical principles to evaluate Vietnamese education with opportunities and challenges in the current integration process by studying Pragmatism’s philosophical education. The article found that the theory of education by Pragmatism clarifies the role of social educational institutions – schools in the educational process. In parallel, it is a teacher with educational methods and programs that are the basis for educating learners to become comprehensive citizens in the future. And students are the goal and the product that the educational philosophy needs to implement. Research results, the article clarifies the need to develop an educational philosophy for Vietnamese people to build comprehensively in the socialist orientation in the current globalization context. (shrink)
In Andreka-Nemeti [1] the class ST r of all small trees over C is dened for an arbitrary category C. Throughout the present paper C de- notes an arbitrary category. In Def. 4 of [1] on p. 367 the injectivity relation j= ) is dened. Intuitively the members of ST r represent the formulas and j= represents the validity relation be- tween objects of C considered as models and small trees of C considered as formulas. If ' 2 ST r (...) and a 2 Ob C then the statement a j= ' is associated to the model theoretic statement \the formula ' is valid in the model a". It is proved there that the Los lemma is true in every category C if we use the above quoted concepts. To this the notion of an ultra- product Pi2Iai=U of objects 2 IOb C of C if we use the above quoted concepts. To this the notion of an ultraproduct Pi2Iai=U of objects 2 IOb C of C is dened in [1], in [2] and in [7] Def. 12. Then the problem was asked there \for which categories is the characterization theorem of axiomatizable hulls of classes of models Mod T h K = Uf U p K true?", where the operators Uf and U p on classes of models is dened on p. 319 of the book [3]. Of course, here in the denition of Uf and U p on classes K Ob C of objects of C we have to replace the standard notion of ultraproducts of models by the above quoted category theoretic ultraproduct Pi2Iai=U of objects of C. That is for any C and K Ob C we dene U p K exactly as in [2] p. 136, but a more detailed denition is found in [7] Def. 17. (shrink)
We assessed the attitudes, perceptions, and stereotypes toward Latino immigrants among 247 mental health professionals across 32 U.S. states. We also randomly presented two versions of an attitude measure that varied in their references to immigrants. Participants reported that they did not agree with the anti-immigration law Arizona SB 1070 and other similar bills. Also, greater multicultural awareness was related to positive attitudes and fewer stereotypes toward immigrants. Furthermore, participants who were asked to think about “undocumented immigrants” viewed Latino immigrants (...) more positively than those who were asked think about “illegal aliens.” Findings show the continued need for multicultural awareness and competence training for mental health professionals, which align with the American Psychological Association’s Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct. Limitations and future directions for research are discussed. (shrink)
The article deals with Kant's understanding of personhood and autonomy. It highlights the connection of autonomy and human dignity within Kant's appreciation of morality, and indicates how his distinction between the empirical and transcendental spheres enables Kant to extend dignity even to humans who are not actually autonomous. Turning to contemporary approaches within ethics that refer to Kant but omit this transcendental framework, it defends the necessity of a trans-empirical frame within the Kantian system and hints at consequences for bioethics. (...) It concludes that Kant works with neither an absolutist notion of freedom in terms of solipsistic autarky, nor an empirical freedom and autonomy that begin and end at certain points of time. (shrink)
A growing literature examines the organizational factors that promote women’s access to positions of organizational power. Fewer studies, however, explore the implications of women in leadership positions for the opportunities and experiences of subordinates. Do women leaders serve to undo the gendered organization? In other words, is women’s greater representation in leadership positions associated with less gender segregation at lower organizational levels? We explore this question by drawing on Cohen and Huffman’s conceptual framework of women leaders as either “change agents” (...) or “cogs in the machine” and analyze a unique multilevel data set of workplaces nested within Fortune 1000 firms. Our findings generally support the “agents of change” perspective. Women’s representation among corporate boards of directors, corporate executives, and workplace managers is associated with less workplace gender segregation. Hence, it appears that women’s access to organizational power helps to undo the gendered organization. (shrink)
