In Plato's dialogue of the Republic, politics is a concept questioned in the context of one of the most ancient problems of philosophy, that is, the relationship between theory and practice, and formulated as a paradox. Plato finds a solution to the paradox by establishing the city-state proximate to his theory and to put forward three conditions. The last of those conditions, as Plato calls it the greatest wave of paradox in his own terms, that the rulers must be philosopher-kings, (...) contains many clues about Plato's conception of politics. The aim of this study is to examine the implications of the philosopher-king condition in Plato's political philosophy. To this end, first, it is demonstrated that the political meaning of the philosopher's exit from the cave on the way to becoming ruler is apolitical. Secondly, it will be shown how the political activity of the philosopher, contrary to the nature of politics and in a way that excludes others, is reduced to both ascetic and cognitive activity. (shrink)

This paper examines Aristotle’s analysis of unenacted capacities to show the role they play in his discovery of the concept of actuality. I first argue that Aristotle begins Metaphysics IX by focusing on active and passive capacities, after which I discuss Aristotle’s confrontation with the Megarians, the philosophers who maintain that a capacity is present only insofar as it is being enacted. Using Heidegger’s interpretation as a guide, I show that Aristotle’s rejection of the Megarian position leads him to propose (...) that presence cannot be confined to activity. I also argue that this provides the context for Aristotle to realize that the relation between capacity and activity can be generalized as the relation between two ways of being. (shrink)

There are several passages in the Metaphysics where Aristotle explains ontological priority in terms of ontological dependence, but there are others where he seems to adopt a teleological conception of ontological priority. It is sometimes maintained that the latter priority too must be construed in terms of the former, or that the priorities in question are not both endorsed (or simultaneously endorsed) by Aristotle. The goal of this paper is to show otherwise; I argue that what is at issue are (...) two distinct priorities that Aristotle simultaneously endorses. (shrink)

Artificial intelligence and robotics is pervasive in daily life and set to expand to new levels potentially replacing human decision-making and action. Self-driving cars, home and healthcare robots, and autonomous weapons are some examples. A distinction appears to be emerging between potentially benevolent civilian uses of the technology (eg unmanned aerial vehicles delivering medicines), and potentially malevolent military uses (eg lethal autonomous weapons killing human com- batants). Machine-mediated human interaction challenges the philosophical basis of human existence and ethical conduct. Aside (...) from technical challenges of ensuring ethical conduct in artificial intelligence and robotics, there are moral questions about the desirability of replacing human functions and the human mind with such technology. How will artificial intelligence and robotics engage in moral reasoning in order to act ethically? Is there a need for a new set of moral rules? What happens to human interaction when it is mediated by technology? Should such technology be used to end human life? Who bears responsibility for wrongdoing or harmful conduct by artificial intelligence and robotics? -/- Whilst Kant may be familiar to international lawyers for setting restraints on the use of force and rules for perpetual peace, his foundational work on ethics provides an inclusive moral philosophy for assessing ethical conduct of individuals and states and, thus, is relevant to discussions on the use and development of artificial intelligence and robotics. His philosophy is inclusive because it incorporates justifications for morals and legitimate responses to immoral conduct, and applies to all human agents irrespective of whether they are wrongdoers, unlawful combatants, or unjust enemies. Humans are at the centre of rational thinking, action, and norm-creation so that the rationale for restraints on methods and means of warfare, for example, is based on preserving human dignity as well as ensuring conditions for perpetual peace among states. Unlike utilitarian arguments which favour use of autonomous weapons on the basis of cost-benefit reasoning or the potential to save lives, Kantian ethics establish non-consequentialist and deontological rules which are good in themselves to follow and not dependent on expediency or achieving a greater public good. -/- Kantian ethics make two distinct contributions to the debate. First, they provide a human-centric ethical framework whereby human exist- ence and capacity are at the centre of a norm-creating moral philosophy guiding our understanding of moral conduct. Second, the ultimate aim of Kantian ethics is practical philosophy that is relevant and applicable to achieving moral conduct. -/- I will seek to address the moral questions outlined above by exploring how core elements of Kantian ethics relate to use of artificial intelli- gence and robotics in the civilian and military spheres. Section 2 sets out and examines core elements of Kantian ethics: the categorical imperative; autonomy of the will; rational beings and rational thinking capacity; and human dignity and humanity as an end in itself. Sections 3-7 consider how these core elements apply to artificial intelligence and robotics with discussion of fully autonomous and human-machine rule-generating approaches; types of moral reasoning; the difference be- tween ‘human will’ and ‘machine will’; and respecting human dignity. (shrink)

On the standard interpretation of Metaphysics IX, Aristotle proceeds from the original sense of δύναμις and ἐνέργεια to an ontological conception of these terms. This should raise the question of what is not ontological about the former and what is ontological about the latter. To address these questions I discuss the commentaries by Heidegger and Menn, which alone come close to addressing these issues. But their readings cannot neatly distinguish between the two senses of δύναμις and ἐνέργεια that we find (...) in the Aristotelian text, thus compelling us to seek a better way of clarifying the standard interpretation, which I argue can be more precisely understood in the following way: δύναμις and ἐνέργεια in their customary meaning cannot be considered ontological in the sense that they have a particular locus among the categories, which is what sets them apart from their newer, ontological meaning. I conclude therefore that the text of Metaphysics IX can be understood as proceeding from an intracategorial conception of δύναμις and ἐνέργεια toward a transcategorial conception of these terms. (shrink)

As research on ethical consumers and consumption practices has continued to grow, a complimentary body of work concerned less with ethical consumption but more with ethics in consumption has emerged. Problematizing the divide between ethical and non-ethical consumption, this stream of research focuses on the domain of everyday and explores the moral struggles individuals face while engaging in ordinary consumption practices. However, the attention on the ordinary runs the risk of obscuring the contribution of the ‘extraordinary’ or the transcendental to (...) the ethical concerns embedded in the mundane flow of the everyday. This study addresses this blind spot and explores the ways in which religion is implicated in everyday consumption ethics. In doing so, I go beyond a view of religion as an individual trait and emphasize its role as a major institutional structure of the contemporary political economy. The empirical context of the study is the controversy over the so-called halal nail polish. The debate over the products’ appropriateness for Muslim women provides a fertile setting to explore how an ordinary object becomes an ethical problem amid changing relations between religion and market. In order to trace and analyse the linkages between daily practices and institutional dynamics I draw from the moral economy framework and discuss the multiple and conflicting moral repertoires that shape the ethical evaluations of the object. The study offers several contributions to the existing theorizations of everyday consumption ethics and moral economies of consumption. It also highlights the potential of interdisciplinary approaches in providing a holistic understanding of the ethical and moral dimensions of consumption. (shrink)

This paper offers an interpretation of Aristotle’s concepts of dynamis and energeia (commonly translated as potentiality and actuality), and of the thematic progression of Metaphysics IX. I first raise the question of where motion fits in Aristotle’s categories and argue that the locus of motion in the system of categories are the categories of doing and suffering, in which case dynamis and energeia in respect of motion can also be understood as the dynamis and energeia of doing and suffering. Next, (...) I argue that the analogy that Aristotle draws in IX.6 is an analogy between the dynamis and energeia of doing and suffering and the dynamis and energeia of substance. Finally, I try to show that it is this analogy between the kinetic and non-kinetic variants of dynamis and energeia—and not the distinction between end-inclusive and end-exclusive activities—that provides the key to understanding the structure of Metaphysics IX. (shrink)

Corporate social responsibility is often framed in terms of opposing constructions of the firm. These reflect, respectively, different accounts of its obligations: either to shareholders or to stakeholders. Although these opposing constructions of corporate responsibility are diametrically opposed, they are also much more fluid and mobile in certain contexts, since they can act as discursive resources that are deployed and brought into play in the struggle over shaping what responsibility means. They are less the fixed, ideological “signposts” they might appear, (...) and more like “weathervanes” that move alongside changing rhetorical currents. To show this, we analyse the Securities and Exchange Commission consultation process, and legislation, relating to the provenance of “conflict minerals”. We identify two dialectically opposed camps, each seeking to influence final legislation and with end goals in keeping with the shareholder/stakeholder dichotomy. One camp lobbied for firms to scrutinize their entire supply chain, constructing the firm as a “global citizen” with very wide social responsibilities. The second camp lobbied for a lighter touch approach, constructing the firm as a “trader”, with much narrower social responsibilities. We analyse the complex interplay between these two opposed camps, our contribution being to show how both deploy competing conceptions of the corporation as discursive resources. (shrink)

Is uncertainty, often brought about by loss, collapse, interruption, or disturbance in life, an entirely negative state that must be resolved as soon and as fully as possible by resettlement? Or, can we view uncertainty and loss as affective states that might open up new possibilities for friendships, solidarities, collectivities, and hope? As a response to Carla J. Maier’s ‘The Table and the Dancer’ this essay attends to affective and emotional registers of migration. It attempts to rethink the senses of (...) loss, uprootedness, and uncertainty as possible sources for affinities and hope, with a particular focus on the new migration from Turkey. (shrink)

We study the automorphism group of the algebraic closure of a substructure A of a pseudofinite field F. We show that the behavior of this group, even when A is large, depends essentially on the roots of unity in F. For almost all completions of the theory of pseudofinite fields, we show that over A, algebraic closure agrees with definable closure, as soon as A contains the relative algebraic closure of the prime field.

The model companion of the theory of fields with valuation and automorphism exists. A counterexample shows that the theory of models of ACFA equipped with valuation is not this model companion.

This article demonstrates a priori cosmopolitan values of restraint and harm limitation exist to establish a cosmopolitan “no-harm” duty in warfare, predating utilitarianism and permeating modern international humanitarian law. In doing so, the author exposes the atemporal and ahistorical nature of utilitarianism which introduces chaos and brutality into the international legal system. Part 2 conceptualises the duty as derived from the “no-harm” principle under international environmental law. Part 3 frames the discussion within legal pluralism and cosmopolitan ethics, arguing that divergent (...) legal jurisdictions without an international authority necessitates a “public international sphere” to mediate differences leading to strong value-commitment norm-creation. One such norm is the “no-harm” duty in warfare. Part 4 traces the duty to the Stoics, Christianity, Islam, Judaism, African traditional culture, Hinduism, and Confucianism. Parts 5 and 6 explain how the duty manifests in principles of distinction and proportionality under international humanitarian law. (shrink)

Bu makalenin amacı, Türkiye örnekleminde Tanrı algısı üzerine yapılmış ampirik araştırmaların sistematik bir incelemesini sunmaktır. Tanrı algısı çok boyutlu bir yapı olarak ele alınmış ve Tanrı algısının sosyodemografik ve psikolojik süreçleri içeren diğer değişkenlerle ilişkisi tartışılmıştır. Tanrı algısı ile psikopatoloji ve manevi bakım arasındaki ilişki de gözden geçirilmiştir. İnceleme sonucunda Tanrı algısının yaşa göre her zaman anlamlı bir farklılık göstermediği ancak ilişkinin olumlu yönde seyrettiği, yaş ilerledikçe Tanrı algısının daha olumlu olduğu söylenebilir. Cinsiyet farklılığına bakıldığında kadınların erkeklere göre daha olumlu (...) bir Tanrı algısına sahip oldukları, gelir düzeyi ve eğitim düzeyi açısından ise anlamlı bir farklılığın olmadığı görülmüştür. Ayrıca Tanrı algısının okul türüne göre (dini ve seküler okullar) farklılık gösterebildiği, Tanrı algısının oluşumunda anne baba tutumlarının önemli olduğu görülmüştür. Çalışmalar baskıcı, otoriter veya ilgisiz/ ihmalkar anne baba tutumları ile büyüyen insanların Tanrı algılarının daha korku yönelimli olduğunu, demokratik anne baba tutumları ile büyüyenlerin ise daha sevgi yönelimli Tanrı algıları olduğunu göstermiştir. Öznel dindarlık ve olumlu dini başa çıkmanın Tanrı algısı ile pozitif ilişkili olabildiği sonucuna varılmıştır. Sosyodemografik değişkenlere ek olarak, sevgi yönelimli Tanrı algısının daha iyi psikolojik sağlık, daha yüksek iyi oluş, etkili ve olumlu başa çıkma, olumlu benlik saygısı, daha düşük depresyon ve daha düşük psikopatolojik belirtilerle pozitif yönde ilişkili olduğu söylenebilir. Gözden geçirilen 55 çalışma içerisinde pek çok bulguya ulaşılmış olsa da incelenen değişkenlerin çok çeşitli olduğu, ancak her değişken hakkında genel bir çıkarım yapmak için yeterli çalışma olmadığı, bu nedenle halen Türkiye örnekleminde Tanrı algısı ile ilgili çalışmaların artırılması gerektiği düşünülmektedir. Son olarak, daha fazla araştırmaya ihtiyaç duyulan alanlar tartışma bölümünde ele alınmıştır. (shrink)

In this article, inspired by Whiteness Studies, I propose two concepts that allow us to see the question of ethnicity as well as the history of the Turkish Republic through the lens of privilege: Turkishness and the Turkishness Contract. By Turkishness, I mean a patterned but mostly unrecognized relationship between Turkish individuals’ ethnic position and their ways of seeing, hearing, feeling and knowing – as well as not seeing, not hearing, not feeling and not knowing. These ways and states of (...) Turkishness have been shaped by a set of written/unwritten and spoken/unspoken agreements among the Muslims of Anatolia. However, during the last 40 years, the Kurdish movement, by creating a military and civilian resistance with mass support, has challenged the fundamentals of the contract and therefore caused a dramatic crisis of identity and selfhood for Turkishness. (shrink)

The main thesis I put forward in this article is that the democratic theory needs an anthropological perspective which defines the human in plurality and signifies the possibility of achieving a fully inclusive rational consensus. I argue that a model of democracy in terms of cosmopolitan anthropology can help us to better envision the main challenge facing universal norms and principles today. How to create democratic forms of living together? I think we can answer this question by interpreting Hannah Arendt’s (...) theory of political action on a philosophical anthropological basis. It is common knowledge that Hannah Arendt is suspicious of ethics and warns that ethics and conscience alone cannot produce the conditions for peace. In the present paper, I examine Arendt’s philosophical project together with Kant’s philosophical anthropology and try to demonstrate its importance for plurality and living together in peace. (shrink)

Emerged as a movement within the evangelical wing of Protestantism in the 20th century, Pentecostal Christianity is a mystical religious movement that seeks holiness in a purely individual experience and emphasizes spiritual unity. This movement, assumed an important role in spreading Christianity to the world is claimed to be the second largest group after Roman Catholicism with its different discourse and organization structure. Its mystical aspect, especially affects churches in the northern hemisphere as well as the southern hemisphere and the (...) movement's activities are considered a harvest of new souls collected by the Holy Spirit. Therefore, this situation raises the question of what is the place of the movement within the Christian unity. For this reason, it is important to examine the participation of the movement in the issues of ecumenical unity since its emergence in the North of America.This article aims to reveal the relationship between Pentecostal Christianity and the global ecumenical movement and tends to provide a way of thinking about ecumenism encouraging Pentecostal participation in the ecumenical mission. Although Pentecostal movement defined as an ecumenical spirit has shown a negative attitude towards formal ecumenical processes in the early period, it has recently changed the way of approaching regional and international ecumenical negotiations. The aim of bilateral dialogues between Pentecostals and other historical churches seems to be on developing mutual respect and understanding rather than structural unity. The next will show whether these visible associations for now will become a realistic dialogue goal that includes structural unity in the future, or to form a spiritually invisible unity that moves freely in spirit without the need for a structural unity. (shrink)

The Scottish historical novelist, John Galt assumed that the origins of law rested on the anarchistic and primitive nature of human beings, who formed a society on a contractual basis out of the need for security. Although generally agreeing with enlightenment thinkers on the formation of society, law and human nature a divergence in Galt's thought appeared in the secular treatment of crimes. Adhering to prevalent Christian notions about sin and crime, Galt rejected a clear distinction between the two, and (...) between morality and law, such as were upheld by such enlightenment figures as Cesare Beccaria. Such a clear distinction failed in its analysis of the phenomena. He was at one with Enlightenment-influenced thought in its criticism of cruel punishments and advocated a humanitarian approach to the criminal, but he also emphasised education in Christian morality as the most appropriate means of deterrence. This divergence from more radical enlightenment views sprang from his lack of confidence in the capacities of human reason. Nevertheless, a fundamentally humanist philosophy and a belief in the importance of learning linked his conservatism with an enlightenment belief in human progress. (shrink)

Yakın zamana kadar dominant olan Newtoncu doğa anlayışı doğa bilimlerindeki gelişmelerle ciddi olarak eleştirilmeye başlanmıştır. Hiç kuşku yok ki bu eleştirel dönüşüm sürecinin başlangıcında Einstein ve Schrödinger fiziği vardır. Buna bağlı olarak biyolojide geçtiğimiz yüzyılın başından günümüze kadar gerçekleşen gelişmeler (evrimsel biyoloji, genetik, epigenetik, moleküler biyoloji, gelişim biyolojisi, ekoloji, fizyoloji konularıyla ilgili değişim ve gelişimler) biyolojinin temel kavramları olan fenom, genom ve çevre’deki değişimleri de içermektedir. Yeni bir doğa kavrayışını da beraberinde getiren bu süreçte biyoloji, bize canlıların çevreleriyle sınırları net (...) olmayan ve kompleks etkileşimleri üzerinden kendilerini dinamik bir halde sürekli olarak organize eden sistemler olduğunu söylemektedir. Canlıların, değişimini gözlemleyebileceğimiz kadar hızlı olan özellikleri de uzun süreler boyunca stabil halde gözlemlediğimiz özellikleri de süreçlerden oluşmaktadır. Canlılara ait tüm özellikler (fenomlar ve genomlar) kompleks bir ağ oluşturan diğer akışlarla etkileşimleri içinde akmaktadır. Bu yüzden, bir fenotipik özelliği etraflıca açıklama iddiasıyla yola çıkılıp, buna rağmen araştırmanın ve sonucundaki açıklamanın tek yönlü (sadece tek bir tür parametreyi dikkate alarak ve bir parametreye özellikle yoğun vurgu yaparak) yapılması sorunludur. Çünkü fenom, ancak bütüncül bir yaklaşımla ve fenom oluşumunun kompleksite ve dinamizm özelliklerinin farkında olarak etraflıca açıklanabilir. Bir fenotipik özelliğin etraflıca açıklanması iddiasının olmadığı durumlarda (ki standart bir biyoloji araştırması çoğunlukla bu iddiada değildir), sadece bir parametre dikkate alınabilir ve bu durum son derece anlaşılırdır. Bilim insanları her durumda (fenotipik özelliği hem etraflıca inceleme hem de tek bir parametreyle etkileşimini inceleme durumlarında) fenom oluşumunun kompleksite ve dinamizm özelliklerinin farkında olmalıdırlar ve açıklamaları da araştırma süreçleri de bu farkındalığı içermelidir. Burada araştırmacının zihnini belirleyen soru şudur: doğa bütünsel, stabil ve mekanik nedenselliğin egemen olduğu bir varlıklar alanı mıdır yoksa parçaların birbirleriyle sürekli etkileşerek yeni uyumlar ve ilişkiler geliştirdiği karmaşık ve akışkan varlıklar topluluğu mudur? Bu soruya karmaşıklık, akışkanlık, karşılıklı etkileşim ve uyum üzerinden cevap verilirse üzerine odaklanılacak olan kavram ne varlık ne fenomen, fakat süreçtir. Nitekim süreç felsefesi, biyolojideki felsefi problemler ve kavramsal incelemeler için çok kullanışlıdır. Bu durumun iki temel nedeni: 1) biyolojinin konusu olan şeylerin temel olarak süreçler olması ve 2) bilim insanlarının araştırmaları sırasında süreçler üzerinden akıl yürütmeleri ve bu yolla kavramları kullanmaları, açıklamalara, bilgiye ulaşmalarıdır. Bu çalışma, bu iki temel unsuru göz önünde bulundurarak ortaya çıkan yeni biyolojinin beraberinde getirdiği ve yeni imkanlar sunan yeni bir doğa anlayışına odaklanmıştır. Bu yeni doğa anlayışı, mekanik ve statik olmaktan ziyade kendi içinde stabil ama bütünüyle dinamik doğa anlayışıdır. (shrink)

There is a strong association between reliance on the promotional activities of pharmaceutical companies and a generally less appropriate use of prescription drugs. Pharmaceutical companies direct some of their promotion towards health workers who do not have the authority to prescribe medicines, such as nurses in certain countries. The aim of this study was to determine the impact that exposure to the marketing methods of pharmaceutical companies has on judgments made by nursing students about health worker—pharmaceutical company relationships. A cross-sectional (...) survey was carried out with 442 nursing students in Istanbul, Turkey. The exposure of students to the marketing methods of pharmaceutical companies, whether it be indirectly through observation or directly by first-hand experience, increases the probability that students will adopt rationales that underlie affirmative judgments of health worker—pharmaceutical company relationships. Based on the pervasiveness and ability of drug promotion to influence the perceptions of students, it is imperative that attempts be made to reduce its negative impact. (shrink)