Online research in philosophy

The specialised vocabularies of lawyers, ethicists, and political scientists obscure the roots of many real disagreements. In this book, the distinguished American international lawyer Alfred Rubin provides a penetrating account of where these roots lie, and argues powerfully that disagreements which have existed for 3,000 years are unlikely to be resolved soon. Current attempts to make 'war crimes' or 'terrorism' criminal under international law seem doomed to fail for the same reasons that attempts failed in the early nineteenth (...) century to make piracy, war crimes, and the international traffic in slaves criminal under the law of nations. And for the same reasons, Professor Rubin argues, it is unlikely that an international criminal court can be instituted today to enforce ethicists' versions of 'international law'. (shrink)

This study explores corporate social responsibility (CSR) by conducting a cross-cultural analysis of communication of CSR activities in a total of 16 U.S. and European corporations. Drawing on previous research contrasting two major approaches to CSR initiatives, it was proposed that U.S. companies would tend to communicate about and justify CSR using economic or bottom-line terms and arguments whereas European companies would rely more heavily on language or theories of citizenship, corporate accountability, or moral commitment. Results supported this expectation of (...) difference, with some modification. Specifically, results indicated that EU companies do not value sustainability to the exclusion of financial elements, but instead project sustainability commitments in addition to financial commitments. Further, U.S.-based companies focused more heavily on financial justifications whereas EU-based companies incorporated both financial and sustainability elements in justifying their CSR activities. In addition, wide variance was found in both the prevalence and use of specific CSR-related terminology. Cross-cultural distinctions in this use create implications with regard to measurability and evidence of both strategic and bottom-line impact. Directions for further research are discussed. (shrink)

This article examines the clergy sexual abuse crisis in the Roman Catholic Church from an ethical point of view. The article uses the RRICC values model of ethical decision making (i.e., responsibility, respect, integrity, competence, concern) to review the behavior of Catholic bishops and other religious superiors as they have tried to manage clergy sex offenders and their victims. Hopefully, the recent press attention and resulting policy changes on these matters from the U.S. Council of Catholic Bishops will increase the (...) chances that future decisions will be ethical ones. (shrink)

For a complete theory of Boolean algebras T, let MT denote the class of countable models of T. For B1, B2 ∈ MT, let B1 ≤ B2 mean that B1 is elementarily embeddable in B2. Theorem 1. For every complete theory of Boolean algebras T, if T ≠ Tω, then $\langle M_T, \leq\rangle$ is well-quasi-ordered. ■ We define Tω. For a Boolean algebra B, let I(B) be the ideal of all elements of the form a + s such that $B\upharpoonright (...) a$ is an atomic Boolean algebra and $B\upharpoonright s$ is an atomless Boolean algebra. The Tarski derivative of B is defined as follows: B(0) = B and B(n + 1) = B(n)/I(B(n)). Define Tω to be the theory of all Boolean algebras such that for every n ∈ ω, B(n) ≠ {0}. By Tarski [1949], Tω is complete. Recall that $\langle A, \leq\rangle$ is a partial well-quasi-ordering, if it is a partial quasi-ordering and for every $\{a_i\mid i \in \omega\} \subseteq A$ , there are $i < j < \omega$ such that ai ≤ aj. Theorem 2. $\langle M_{T_\omega}, \leq\rangle$ contains a subset M such that the partial orderings $\langle M, \leq \upharpoonright M \rangle$ and $\langle\mathscr{P}(\omega), \subseteq\rangle$ are isomorphic. ■ Let M'0 denote the class of all countable Boolean algebras. For B1, B2 ∈ M'0, let B1 ≤' B2 mean that B1 is embeddable in B2. Remark. $\langle M'_0, \leq'\rangle$ is well-quasi-ordered. ■ This follows from Laver's theorem [1971] that the class of countable linear orderings with the embeddability relation is well-quasi-ordered and the fact that every countable Boolean algebra is isomorphic to a Boolean algebra of a linear ordering. (shrink)

Clinical psychologists' and nonpsychiatric physicians' attitudes and behaviors in sexual and confidentiality boundary violations were examined. The 171 participants' responses were analyzed by profession, sex, and status (student, resident, professional) on semantic differential, boundary violation vignettes, and a version of Pope, Tabachnick, and Keith-Spiegel's (1987) ethical scale. Psychologists rated sexual boundary violation as more unethical than did physicians (p<.001). Rationale (p<.01) and timing (p<.001) influenced ratings. Psychologists reported fewer sexualized behaviors than physicians (p<05). Professional experience (p<.01) and sex (p<.05) were (...) associated with confidence-violating behavior. Overall, 78% of the sample reported attitudes or behaviors associated with boundary violations. The behavior violations were correlated (r=.49). Actual violators rated vignette violators more leniently than did nonviolators (p<.01). (shrink)

THEOREM 1. (⋄ ℵ 1 ) If B is an infinite Boolean algebra (BA), then there is B 1 such that $|\operatorname{Aut} (B_1)| \leq B_1| = \aleph_1$ and $\langle B_1, \operatorname{Aut} (B_1)\rangle \equiv \langle B, \operatorname{Aut}(B)\rangle$ . THEOREM 2. (⋄ ℵ 1 ) There is a countably compact logic stronger than first-order logic even on finite models. This partially answers a question of H. Friedman. These theorems appear in §§ 1 and 2. THEOREM 3. (a) (⋄ ℵ 1 ) If (...) B is an atomic ℵ 1 -saturated infinite BA, ψ ε L ω 1ω and $\langle B, \operatorname{Aut} (B)\rangle \models\psi$ then there is B 1 such that $|\operatorname{Aut}(B_1)| \leq |B_1| = \aleph_1$ and $\langle B_1, \operatorname{Aut}(B_1)\rangle\models\psi$ . In particular if B is 1-homogeneous so is B 1 . (b) (a) holds for B = P(ω) even if we assume only CH. (shrink)

Do psychotherapists' unethical practices influence how they are perceived? The 202 Israeli lay and professional psychology participants rated systematically varied descriptions of effective therapists and potential clients under conditions of no difficulties (standard), practice without a license, and a previous sexual boundary violation on indexes of evaluation and willingness to refer. Participants completed a measure of important variables in therapist selection. Effective standard therapists were rated most favorably, unlicensed therapists were rated favorably, and therapists who violated sexual boundaries in the (...) past were rated least favorably. When results were analyzed by respondent characteristics, laypersons rated unlicensed professionals (p < .01) and sexual boundary violators (p < .0001) more positively than did clinical psychologists. Men rated the violators more favorably than did women (p < .05). Factor analysis of therapist selection measures identified professional and personal factors, but only the former were associated with ratings of "problem" therapists. The results underscore the gap between ethical standards and applied decisions made by professionals and laypersons. Further investigation is needed to ensure quality care in both professional and consumer approaches to psychotherapy. (shrink)

Dreyfus and Rubin's commentary on Division II of Being and Time raises three closely related puzzles about the possibility of authenticity: (i) how could Dasein ever choose to become authentic, (ii) how could authentic Dasein ever choose to take up any particular possibility, and (iii) how could anything <span class='Hi'>matter</span> to authentic Dasein? They argue that Heidegger has a convincing answer to the first two puzzles, but they find his answer to the third "indirect and not totally convincing" (D&R, (...) p. 332). I argue that they should find Heidegger's answer to the third puzzle far worse than "not totally convincing", given their interpretation of his account of anxiety, and that the answers they claim he has in response to the first two puzzles are not supported by the text. I then show that the puzzles arise from distortions in Dreyfus and Rubin's interpretation of Heidegger's account of anxiety. The puzzles dissolve once the distortions are identified. (shrink)