Corporate social responsibility (CSR) refers to the duty of management to consider and respond to issues beyond the organization’s economic and legal requirements in line with social and environmental values. However, ‘management’ is constituted by real people responsible for routine decisions and formulation and implementation of policies. It can be said therefore that the ethical ideals and beliefs of these individuals – in particular their personal values – play an important role in their decisions. It is contended in this article (...) that the personal values of managers may contribute to the creation and maintenance of ‘CSR cultures’ in their organizations; that is, organizational cultures focused on ensuring environmental and social sustainability. Based on an exploratory study carried out in Brazil in 2008, this article explores the perceptions of five CSR managers in relation to the influence of their personal values on their work. The first part discusses the notion of CSR within the context of Brazilian society, the second provides a brief literature review on the link between values and organizational cultures and the third explores the perceptions of the participating managers, identifying the main thematic patterns that emerged in the study. (shrink)
In this paper, I aim to offer a clear explanation of what monadic domination, understood as a relation obtaining exclusively among monads, amounts to in the philosophy of Leibniz (and this insofar as monadic domination is conceived by Leibniz not to account for the substantial unity of composite substances). Central to my account is the Aristotelian notion of a hierarchy of activities, as well as a particular understanding of the relations that obtain among the perceptions of monads that stand in (...) relations of monadic domination and subordination. (shrink)
The paper proposes a novel understanding of how Aristotle’s theoretical works complement each other in such a way as to form a genuine system, and this with the immediate (and ostensibly central) aim of addressing a longstanding question regarding Aristotle’s ‘first philosophy’—namely, is Aristotle’s first philosophy a contribution to theology, or to the science of being in general? Aristotle himself seems to suggest that it is in some ways both, but how this can be is a very difficult question. My (...) answer is in some respects a version of one that goes back at least to the middle ages—i.e., that first philosophy is concerned with the gods (and to that extent offers a theology) because the gods are causes and principles of beings precisely insofar as they are beings. The more original aspect of my position lies in my claim that the sort of tension found in the Metaphysics is likewise to be found in many of Aristotle’s physical works. Thus, for example, the De caelo is (I argue) concerned generally with natural beings (= beings susceptible of change), but its discussions are focused largely on the heavenly bodies and the Aristotelian elements insofar as they admit of change with respect to place. Here I claim that the particular objects of discussion are dealt with precisely because they are causes and principles of natural beings as such. Something similar goes, I claim, for the De generatione et corruptione, the general concern of which is a particular species of natural being—i.e., natural beings susceptible of generation and corruption. In this way, I argue, Aristotle successively deals in his theoretical works with those causes and principles of (say) a horse which attach to it insofar as it is a being, those causes and principles of a horse which attach to it insofar as it is a natural being, those causes and principles of a horse which attach to it insofar as it is a perishable natural being, and so on for the lower genera under which the species horse is subsumed. (shrink)
According to Margaret Wilson, Leibniz is inconsistent when it comes to the question of whether one can have distinct ideas of sensible qualities, and this because he sometimes conceives of sensible qualities as sensations and sometimes conceives of them as complexes of primary qualities. When he conceives of them as sensations, he denies that we can have distinct ideas of sensible qualities; when he conceives of them as complexes of primary qualities, he asserts that we can. In this paper I (...) argue that Wilson is wrong to think that Leibnizian ideas admit of various degrees of confusion or distinctness. I also argue that although Wilson's problem admits of being reformulated in a manner consistent with a correct understanding of Leibnizian perceptions and ideas, this reformulated version of the problem admits to a satisfactory interpretive solution. (shrink)
Assuming that legal science, specifically with regard to interpretation, has to provide the tools to reduce the uncertainty of legal solutions arising from the use of natural languages by legal orders, it becomes a central matter to identify, in this limited domain, the spectrum of semantic variation (and its boundaries) that language brings to the definition of a norm expressed by a norm sentence. It is in this framework that the present paper, analyzing norm sentences as a specific kind of (...) speech act, examines the relation of the legal order to natural language rules, the limits of linguistic uncertainty, and alternatives of meaning as distinct possibilities of norms covered by the text (that are, because of this, still within what literal meaning is). Considering interpretation just as the linguistic decoding process, the reverse of the process of creating norm sentences, the paper also argues that subjects not connected with the relation between norm sentences and norms (mainly, normative defeasibility) are analytically distinct and should be removed from the field of language. (shrink)
A number of recent studies have called into question the traditional interpretation of Leibniz as an idealist beginning, at the latest, with the composition of the Discourse on Metaphysics (1686). In particular, in a recent book Daniel Garber affirms that between the late 1670s and late 1690s Leibniz maintains a realist doctrine according to which the created world is populated with extended corporeal substances. In trying to prove his thesis, Garber appeals to a document written in 1690 where Leibniz, addressing (...) an objection by Michelangelo Fardella, denies that bodies are composed of souls, declares that souls are substantial forms, and affirms that bodies are composed instead of substances. According to Garber, this shows that Leibniz then believed that bodies were composed, not of simple substances, but of extended substances possessing souls. Here I try to show that, to the contrary, the mentioned document (along with two others closely associated with it) support the traditional interpretation of Leibniz as an idealist in 1690. (shrink)
This paper contributes to those analyses that have discussed Hegel'sinfluence on Freire, and Freire's rethinking of Hegel. Yet, my narrative of the dialectic of conscientizacion, which I presenthere, is a novel attempt to read both thinkers simultaneously.Thus, in this paper I am exploring, and not didactically proving Gadotti's (1994) important, yet unqualified,claim that Hegel's dialectic ``can be considered the principaltheoretical framework of (Freire's) Pedagogy of the Oppressed.It could be said that the whole of his theory of conscientization has its roots (...) in Hegel'' (p. 74). And in thisexploration, I am not demonstrating Freire's ``expansion'' ofHegel's dialectic (Schutte, 1990), nor taking a positionon whether or not the dialectic of Freire's Pedagogy of theOppressed supersedes the Hegelian dialectic (Torres, 1976). Nor am I offering a ``comparison'' of the two dialectics(Torres, 1994). (Of course, having made these claims,I am, as it were, taunting the reader to deconstruct mypiece.) My aim here is to immerse, or insert, myself intothe Freirean/Hegelian dialectic itself. I attempt to situatemyself within that peculiar position of the dialecticianwho ``braids'' ideas through synthetic textual analysis.I use a third person descriptive perspective thatincorporates the ``voices'' of Freire and Hegel, and, thereby, weave a ``new'' synthesized account of theemergence of critical consciousness within the formaleducational setting. (shrink)
Changes in modern societies originate the perception that ethical behaviour is essential in organization’s practices especially in the way they deal with aspects such as human rights. These issues are usually under the umbrella of the concept of social responsibility. Recently the Report of the International Bioethics Committee of UNESCO on Social Responsibility and Health has addressed this concept of social responsibility in the context of health care delivery suggesting a new paradigm in hospital governance. The objective of this paper (...) is to address the issue of corporate social responsibility in health care, namely in the hospital setting, emphasising the special governance arrangements of such complex organisations and to evaluate if new models of hospital management (entrepreneurism) will need robust mechanisms of corporate governance to fulfil its social responsiveness. The scope of this responsible behaviour requires hospitals to fulfil its social and market objectives, in accordance to the law and general ethical standards. Social responsibility includes aspects like abstention of harm to the environment or the protection of the interests of all the stakeholders enrolled in the deliverance of health care. In conclusion, adequate corporate governance and corporate strategy are the gold standard of social responsibility. In a competitive market hospital governance will be optimised if the organization culture is reframed to meet stakeholders’ demands for unequivocal assurances on ethical behaviour. Health care organizations should abide to this new governance approach that is to create organisation value through performance, conformance and responsibility. (shrink)
This paper analyses the gender pay determinants between top and lower level of Portuguese employees. A relatively large data pool, for 2003, covering business functions hitherto neglected, sheds a new light into the factors that lead to the earnings of men and women. Our analysis combines human capital with internal-labour-markets theories. Our findings allow the identification of jobsegregation as one important source of the gender pay gap. Moreover, they confirm that earnings are determined by different factors and suggest a reasonable (...) opportunity for women to combine career and family. (shrink)
Resenha do livro de: Rodrigo Duarte, Adorno/Horkheimer & A dialetica do esclarecimento. Rio de Janeiro: Jorge Zahar, 2002. Colecao Filosofia Passa-a-passo 4. 70 paginas.
Los derechos humanos sólo adquieren sentido, para Julián Marías, en torno a la persona, una de las claves de su pensamiento. El ser humano es radicalmente diferente a cualquier otro ser, con su doble estructura analítica y empírica, permanente y cambiante al mismo tiempo, y se caracteriza por su existencia argumentativa, proyectiva y futuriza. Javier Pérez Duarte es doctor en Derecho, licenciado en Derecho y en Filosofía y Letras por la Universidad de Deusto, en cuya Facultad de Derecho imparte (...) clases de Filosofía del Derecho y de Ética de las profesiones jurídicas. Entre sus publicaciones cabe destacar Claves del pensamiento político de Julián Marías, El proyecto vital en la ancianidad, en torno a la figura de Norberto Bobbio, Personificación de las cosas y cosificación de la persona, un análisis sobre Georg Simmel en los inicios de la gran revolución industrial, El burgués emprendedor y el capitalista del éxito, un acercamiento al estudio de Werner Sombart de estas dos figuras representativas de la modernidad y Responsabilidad y arte médico en la «Ciudad Universal» de Hans Jonas, acerca de los nuevos peligros del desarrollo científico. (shrink)
Can there be a non-reductivist, source-based explanation of the use of normative language in statements describing the law and legal situations? This problem was formulated by Joseph Raz, who also claimed to have solved it. According to his well-known doctrine of ‘detached’ statements, normative legal statements can be informatively made by speakers who merely adopt, without necessarily sharing, the point of view of someone who accepts that legal norms are justified and ought to be followed. In this paper I defend (...) two theses. I argue, first, that the notion of a detached statement cannot be made to work, and that Raz’s problem is thus not thereby solved. But the problem itself, I also suggest, is a false one. (shrink)
The paper reflects on the true meant of the happiness, or, specifically, on the hermeneutic value for happiness in the Aristotelian vision, being identified it as an activity of the soul in accord with the virtue. For a person without knowledge the happiness is an obvious thing as the pleasure or the wealth, different of the conception given to the term for a wise who will establish for being the activity of the soul. In the integrations of the activities, the (...) ends can move, however the last end will be the happiness, gotten for the virtuous man - imperative logical. In such a way, to live happy is to make action/activities and, this is a conquest throughout the time, depending on the maturity for each person. A virtuous activity of the soul is required, being the too much goods instruments for itsaccomplishment. The “telos” of all the thought if assume as rational in the present time. But as to understand ahead of a process of reconstruction of the ethical values in a reality with so great diversity of certainties concerning what it is happiness? The subject is extremely involving, here it is that it searchs through new rules of the human behavior to establish a parameter on the life form, on what is to be happy. (shrink)
Using Leventhal’s (Social exchange: Advances in theory and research, Plenum Press, New York, 1980 ) rules of procedural justice as well as deontic justice (Folger in Research in social issues in management, Information Age, Greenwich, CT, 2001 ), we examine how personal value for diversity moderates the negative relationship between perceived discrimination against minorities (i.e., racial minorities and females) at work and the perceived procedural justice of minorities’ treatment by the organization. Through a field survey of 190 employees, we found (...) that observers high in personal value for diversity have stronger negative reactions to the mistreatment of women and racial minorities than observers low in personal value for diversity. These findings support and extend the deontic justice perspective because those who personally value diversity had the strongest negative reactions toward the discriminatory treatment of minorities. (shrink)
Using the scope of justice perspective (Deutsch in J Soc Issues 31(3):137–149, 1975 ; Opotow in Conflict, cooperation, and justice: essays inspired by the work of Morton Deutsch, 1995 , J Soc Issues 52:19–24, 1996 ), we examined whether and how the relationship between perceived discrimination against minorities at work (i.e., racial minorities and females) and citizenship behavior toward minorities can be modified by personal value for diversity. Based on a survey of 173 employees, unexpectedly, we found a negative relationship (...) between perceived discrimination against minorities at work and citizenship behavior toward minorities. However, consistent with our expectations and the scope of justice, we found that the negative relationship was attenuated for those high in personal value for diversity. (shrink)
A separation between interpretive and post-interpretive processes is central to Caplan & Waters's theory of language comprehension. This commentary raises some issues that are intended to help sharpen the distinction.
Pickering & Garrod's (P&G's) mechanistic theory of dialogue is a major advance for psycholinguistics. But the commitment to representational parity in production and comprehension is problematic. Recent research suggests that speakers frequently produce a structure that listeners find ungrammatical and have trouble understanding. If the grammars of the two systems are different, then the assumption of representational parity must be relaxed.
Any complete theory of lexical access in production must address how words are produced in prosodic contexts. Levelt, Roelofs & Meyer make some progress on this point: for example, they discuss resyllabification in multiword utterances. I present work demonstrating that word articulation takes into account overall prosodic context. This research supports Levelt et al.'s hypothesized separation between metrical and segmental information.
O presente artigo pretende dar sentido à afirmação feita, mais do que uma vez, por Paul Ricoeur, de que a sua filosofia poderia ser vista como um kantismo pós-hege-liano. Nesse contexto, o artigo procura abordar o pensar ricoeuriano mostrando de que modo ele se instaura e se desenvolve no horizonte kantiano de uma filosofia dos limites do saber. Essa abordagem é desenvolvida em dois momentos. O primeiro dirige-se à leitura que Paul Ricoeur faz da Crítica da Razão Pura de Kant. (...) O segundo centrar-se-à em três momentos fulcrais da Filosofia de Paul Ricoeur - a definição do seu projecto Filosofia da Vontade, a figura própria da sua Hermenêutica e o filosofema inovação semântica - evidenciando em cada um deles a ressonância da herança kantiana. /// Aim of this article is to to explore the meaning of Paul Ricoeur's persistent characterization of his own work as a post-Hegelian Kantism. In view of this end, the article demonstrates that Ricoeur's thinking is at once rooted and developed within the horizon of Kant's critical philosophy of limits in regard to knowledge. This can be shown by first considering Ricoeur's reading of the first Critique, and then centering on three decisive moments of Ricoeur's philosophy, to wit, the formulation of the project developed in the Philosophy of Will, the shape of his theory of hermeneutics, and his notion of semantic innovation that can be conceived as a philosophema. The Kantian influence can be seen to resonate in all three instances. (shrink)
Compreendendo a Metafisica como uma forma de conceber a realidade a partir da crença na dicotomia de valores - Bem x mal , Verdade x Mentira, Alma x Corpo, etc - Nietzsche pretende lançar 0 pensamento filosófico para longe dos muros metafisicos. Questionando a filosofia, náo em seu conteúdo, em sua verdade, mas em sua vontade, Nietzsche inicia e anuncia um modo de filosofar que está além da oposiçáo de valores, uma filosofia que está além do B em do Mal.
Este breve ensaio tem como objetivo apresentar, em linhas gerais, alguns aspectos da critica de Nietzsche à nocáo de verdade. Partindo do principio de que a raz áo n áo é uma fiel representaç áo do estatuto ontologico, ja que o pensamento racional é uma instancia que nasce das relaç áo es de forcas instintivas, para Nietzsche a racionalidade n áo descobre a verdade, ela inventa uma: a sua verdade. Assim sendo, por mais que ofereca demonstraçoes logicas, a raz áo (...) náo é capaz de sustentar uma verdade universal, mesmo porque como poderia uma coisa ser sustentada por ela propria? (shrink)
Este texto procura encontrar um princípio hermenêutico que dê acesso a uma leitura de unidade da obra de Ricoeur. Nesse contexto, experimenta a tese de que a filosofia ricoeuriana se deixa interpretar como um caso no interior do pensamento crítico de herança kantiana, como uma filosofia dos limites da razão, não no sentido originário, de investigação sobre as condições de possibilidade do conhecimento objectivo, mas por poder ser lida como uma pesquisa sistematica para encontrar as condições em que é possível (...) ao pensar, à discursividade, dizer, num saber constituído, a existência. Assim, tratar-se-á do significado "crítico" de Le volontaire et l'involontaire que, sendo a primeira obra do projecto da Filosofia da Vontade. lhe determina as condição de possibilidade, ao propor os princípios teóricos fundantes da constituição de um discurso unitário sobre o humano enquanto expressão de uma existência histórica e livre. /// Ce texte veut trouver un principe herméneutique qui donne accès à une lecture unitaire de l'oeuvre de Ricoeur. C'est dans ce contexte que l'on avance la thèse selon laquelle la philosophie ricoeurienne doit être interprétée comme un cas à l'intérieur de la pensée critique d'héritage kantien, comme une philosophie des limites de la raison, non pas dans le sens d'investigation des conditions de possibilité de la connaissance objective, mais parce que cette philosophie peut être lue comme une recherche systématique en vue de trouver les conditions dans lesquelles le penser, le discours, peut, en un savoir constitué, dire l'existence. On s'occupera donc du sens "critique" de Le volontaire et l'involontaire qui, comme première oeuvre du projet de la Philosophie de la l'olonté, assigne à celle-ci ses conditions de possibilité en proposant les principes théoriques qui fondent la constitution d'un discours unitaire à propos de l'humain en tant qu'expression d'une existence historique et libre. /// This text seeks to find a hermeneutical principle which permits a reading of Ricoeur's work as a whole. In this context, it is proposed that Ricoeur's philosophy may be interpreted with the Kantian tradition of the critical thought as a philosophy of limits for reason; this is not to be taken in the original sense of the conditions of possibility for objective knowledge but rather as sistematic investigation to discover the conditions which make possible thought and discourse concerning existence. It is thus that the "criticism" of Le volontaire et l'involontaire, the first work of his Philosophy of the Will. can be seen as determining these conditions of possibility by proposing fundamental theoretical principles of the constitution of unitary discourse is relation to the human experience, understood as historical and free existence. (shrink)
Resenha do livro de: ALVES NETO, Rodrigo Ribeiro. Alienações do mundo: uma interpretaçáo da obra de Hannah Arendt . Rio de Janeiro/Sáo Paulo: Editora PUC-Rio/Edições Loyola, 2009, 216 p.
Resumo: Este artigo busca compreender a situaçáo filosófica de alguns dos autores cujas vidas e cujos pensamentos estiveram entre Kant e Hegel. Romantismo alemáo foi como ficou conhecida esta época. Dentre seus primeiros autores, estiveram Friedrich Schlegel e Novalis, além de Hölderlin. Tais pensadores buscaram superar a crítica feita por Kant à pretensáo do conhecimento filosófico de alcançar a verdade absoluta, as coisas como sáo em si mesmas. Essa superaçáo, contudo, jamais conseguiu, para eles, completar-se – como aconteceria depois no (...) sistema de Hegel, para quem contradições só seriam aceitas como etapas do que chamou de dialética, cuja essência era, ao fim, solucioná-las na figura da síntese. Limitaçáo finita do homem diante do todo do ser, como firmara Kant, era o que ficava para trás com Hegel. Schlegel, Novalis e Hölderlin náo se contentam com a crítica de Kant, mas tampouco acreditam na síntese de Hegel. Parecem sugerir outro caminho para a modernidade ocidental, que náo se jogava na sanha hegeliana pelo saber absoluto sem despertá-la, toda vez, pela consciência crítica kantiana – e que náo se contentava com esta sem sonhar com aquela. Tal caminho é o que este artigo busca compreender. Palavras-chave: Hegel; Kant; Romantismo. (shrink)
In Brazil, every study involving human beings is required to produce an informed consent form that must be signed by study participants: this is stated in Resolution 196/96. 1 Consent must be obtained through a specific structured process. Objective: To present the opinions of women regarding how the process of obtaining informed consent should be conducted when women are invited to participate in studies on contraceptive methods. Subjects and Methods: Eight focus groups were conducted, involving a total of 51 women (...) living in the metropolitan region of Campinas. The women involved in the study were either participating in a clinical trial in the area of women's health or had participated in such a trial in the previous 12 months. A thematic guide was used to conduct the focus group discussions; the discussions were recorded, transcribed and a thematic analysis performed. Results: In general, the person who invites a woman to participate in a study should be a member of the research team but not the principal investigator. Information relating to the study should be given orally and in writing, both individually and in the group setting. Study volunteers should be informed about, among other things, the risks, possible side effects and discomforts, including long-term effects. The use of audiovisual aids to provide information was suggested. Conclusion: The process for obtaining informed consent was seen as a means of establishing a relationship between the volunteers and the investigator/research team. The information that the study participants expected to be given coincides with the requirements established under Resolution 196/96. The use of audiovisual aids would improve understanding of the information provided. (shrink)
Encontramos em escritos de juventude póstumos de Nietzsche uma reflexáo sobre a formaçáo da linguagem, sobre a formaçáo do pensamento. Segundo o jovem filósofo-filólogo, o pensamento racional, lógico, dedutivo, surge a partir de imagens, metáforas, metonímias. Todo discurso reconhecido como “científico” parte da imaginaçáo, que é uma atividade poética, artística e ilógica.
Abstract Instrumental variables estimation is widely applied in econometrics. To implement the method, it is necessary to specify a vector of instruments. In this paper, it is argued that there are compelling reasons to use the data for instrument selection, but that it is desirable to ensure the resulting estimator still behaves in the way predicted by standard textbook theory. These arguments lead one to propose three criteria for data based instrument selection. The remainder of the paper assesses the extent (...) to which these criteria are met by two algorithms for data based instrument selection. The first algorithm is the method of structurally ordered instrumental variables proposed in the context of economy-wide linear simultaneous equation models. The second algorithm is proposed in the context of the method of generalized instrumental variables, which is commonly used to estimate the parameters of Euler equation models. (shrink)
