A strength of liberal political institutions is their ability to accommodate pluralism, both allowing divergent comprehensive doctrines as well as constructing the common ground necessary for diverse people to live together. A pressing question is how far such pluralism extends. Which comprehensive doctrines are simply beyond the pale and need not be accommodated by a political consensus? Rawls attempted to keep the boundaries of reasonable disagreement quite broad by infamously denying that political liberalism need make reference to the concept of (...) truth, a claim that has been criticized by Joseph Raz, Joshua Cohen, and David Estlund. In this paper, we argue that these criticisms fail due to the fact that political liberalism can remain non-committal on the nature of truth, leaving the concept of truth in the domain of comprehensive doctrines while still avoiding the issues raised by Raz, Cohen, and Estlund. Further substantiating this point is the fact that Rawls would, and should, include parties in the overlapping consensus whose views on truth may be incoherent. Once it is seen that political liberalism allows such incoherence to reasonable parties, it is clear that the inclusion of truth and the requirement of coherence urged by Raz, Cohen, and Estlund requires more of reasonable people than is necessary for a political consensus. (shrink)

Originally conceptualized by Bandura as the process of cognitive restructuring that allows individuals to disassociate with their internal moral standards and behave unethically without feeling distress, moral disengagement has attracted the attention of management researchers in recent years. An increasing body of research has examined the factors which lead people to morally disengage and its related outcomes in the workplace. However, the conceptualization of moral disengagement, how it should be measured, the manner in which it develops, and its influence on (...) work outcomes are areas of continued debate among researchers. In this article, we undertake a systematic review of research on moral disengagement in the workplace and develop a comprehensive research agenda that highlights opportunities for theoretical and empirical advancement of the literature. (shrink)

We describe and report on results of employing a new method for analyzing lay conceptions of intentional and unintentional action. Instead of asking people for their conceptual intuitions with regard to construed scenarios, we asked our participants to come up with their own scenarios and to explain why these are examples of intentional or unintentional actions. By way of content analysis, we extracted contexts and components that people associated with these action types. Our participants associated unintentional actions predominantly with bad (...) outcomes for all persons involved and linked intentional actions more strongly to positive outcomes, especially concerning the agent. People’s conceptions of intentional action seem to involve more aspects than commonly assumed in philosophical models of intentional action that solely stress the importance of intentions, desires, and beliefs. The additional aspects include decisions and thoughts about the action. In addition, we found that the criteria that participants generated for unintentional actions are not a mere inversion of those used in explanations for intentional actions. Associations between involuntariness and unintentional action seem to be stronger than associations between aspects of voluntariness and intentional action. (shrink)

A concise and accessible dictionary of the key terms and concepts in Husserl's philosophy, his major works and philosophical influences.

Despite the frequency of stillbirths, the subsequent implications are overlooked and underappreciated. We present findings from comprehensive, systematic literature reviews, and new analyses of published and unpublished data, to establish the effect of stillbirth on parents, families, health-care providers, and societies worldwide. Data for direct costs of this event are sparse but suggest that a stillbirth needs more resources than a livebirth, both in the perinatal period and in additional surveillance during subsequent pregnancies. Indirect and intangible costs of stillbirth are (...) extensive and are usually met by families alone. This issue is particularly onerous for those with few resources. Negative effects, particularly on parental mental health, might be moderated by empathic attitudes of care providers and tailored interventions. The value of the baby, as well as the associated costs for parents, families, care providers, communities, and society, should be considered to prevent stillbirths and reduce associated morbidity. (shrink)

Les chaînes privées allemandes ne sont pas vraiment réputées pour le niveau élevé des débats qu'elles diffusent; la surprise est d'autant plus grande pour le zappeur qui, aux alentours de minuit, tombe sur ce genre de phrases : « La superstition économique est un peu comme l'éventail des vertus bourgeoises » ou « Les solutions se trouvent toujours dans la rue, dans le trafic. » Aucun doute : il s'agit d'une des émissions culturelles les plus remarquables - au sens plein (...) du mot - d'Alexander Kluge. Kluge a trouvé en Joseph Vogl un partenaire idéal pour sa technique d'interview si caractéristique. Le résultat de cette passion commune, ce sont plus de 40 interviews télévisuelles qui renouvellent le genre en profondeur. La digression, maniée avec un talent particulier, n'y est jamais gratuite. (shrink)

The present context in Europe and in the West, as well as in many parts of the world, is marked by a devastating attack on the Humanities and, by extension, on the ideal of the university. These assaults are visible and manifest in numerous European countries today and their implications are also palpable in France. We shall begin by examining the nature of The present context in Europe and in the West, as well as in these attacks, as well as (...) how and why they afect the ideal of the university to the point of provoking an unparalleled devaluation, perhaps even a negation, of critical discourse. Although we will also and in a certain way engage in what we could call – after Derrida – a “deconstruction of critique”, our aim will always be to inspire and thus ofer a novel future for critical theory. (shrink)

Intent and mitigating circumstances play a central role in moral and legal assessments in large-scale industrialized societies. Al- though these features of moral assessment are widely assumed to be universal, to date, they have only been studied in a narrow range of societies. We show that there is substantial cross-cultural variation among eight traditional small-scale societies (ranging from hunter-gatherer to pastoralist to horticulturalist) and two Western societies (one urban, one rural) in the extent to which intent and mitigating circumstances influence (...) moral judgments. Although participants in all societies took such factors into account to some degree, they did so to very different extents, varying in both the types of considerations taken into account and the types of violations to which such considerations were applied. The particular patterns of assessment characteristic of large-scale industrialized societies may thus reflect relatively recently culturally evolved norms rather than inherent features of human moral judgment. (shrink)

BackgroundAlthough the peer review process is believed to ensure scientific rigor, enhance research quality, and improve manuscript clarity, many investigators are concerned that the process is too slow, too expensive, too unreliable, and too static. In this feasibility study, we sought to survey corresponding authors of recently published clinical research studies on the speed and efficiency of the publication process.MethodsWeb-based survey of corresponding authors of a 20% random sample of clinical research studies in MEDLINE-indexed journals with Ovid MEDLINE entry dates (...) between December 1 and 15, 2016. Survey addressed perceived manuscript importance before first submission, approximate first submission and final acceptance dates, and total number of journal submissions, external peer reviews, external peer reviewers, and revisions requested, as well as whether authors would have considered publicly sharing their manuscript on an online platform instead of submitting to a peer-reviewed journal.ResultsOf 1780 surveys distributed, 27 corresponding authors opted out or requested that we stop emailing them and 149 emails failed (e.g., emails that bounced n = 64, returned with an away from office message n = 70, or were changed/incorrect n = 15), leaving 1604 respondents, of which 337 completed the survey (21.0%). Respondents and non-respondents were similar with respect to study type and publication journals’ impact factor, although non-respondent authors had more publications (p = 0.03). Among respondents, the median impact factor of the publications’ journal was 2.7 (interquartile range (IQR), 2.0–3.6) and corresponding authors’ median h-index and number of publications was 9 (IQR, 3–20) and 27 (IQR, 10–77), respectively. The median time from first submission to journal acceptance and publication was 5 months (IQR, 3–8) and 7 months (IQR, 5–12), respectively. Most respondents (62.0%, n = 209) rated the importance of their research as a 4 or 5 (5-point scale) prior to submission. Median number of journal submissions was 1 (IQR, 1–2), external peer reviews was 1 (IQR, 1–2), external peer reviewers was 3 (IQR, 2–4), and revisions requested was 1 (IQR, 1–1). Sharing manuscripts to a public online platform, instead of submitting to a peer-reviewed journal, would have been considered by 55.2% (n = 186) of respondents.ConclusionCorresponding authors have high perceptions of their research and reported requiring few manuscript submissions prior to journal acceptance, most commonly by lower impact factor journals. (shrink)

Hegel's conception of God.--Fichte's conception of God.--Schleiermacher's conception of God.--Mr. Spencer's unknown God.

Objective Although patients exercise greater autonomy than in the past, and shared decision making is promoted as the preferred model for doctor-patient engagement, tensions still exist in clinical practice about the primary locus of decision-making authority for complex, scarce, and resource-intensive medical therapies: patients and their surrogates, or physicians. We assessed physicians’ attitudes toward decisional authority for adult venoarterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VA-ECMO), hypothesizing they would favor a medical locus. Design, Setting, Participants A survey of resident/fellow physicians and internal medicine (...) attendings at an academic medical center, May to August 2013. Measurements We used a 24-item, internet-based survey assessing physician-respondents’ demographic characteristics, knowledge, and attitudes regarding decisional authority for adult VA-ECMO. Qualitative narratives were also collected. Main Results A total of 179 physicians completed the survey (15 percent response rate); 48 percent attendings and 52 percent residents/ fellows. Only 32 percent of the respondents indicated that a surrogate’s consent should be required to discontinue VA-ECMO; 56 percent felt that physicians should have the right to discontinue VA-ECMO over a surrogate’s objection. Those who self-reported as “knowledgeable” about VA-ECMO, compared to those who did not, more frequently replied that there should not be presumed consent for VA-ECMO (47.6 percent versus 33.3 percent, p = 0.007), that physicians should have the right to discontinue VAECMO over a surrogate’s objection (76.2 percent versus 50 percent, p = 0.02) and that, given its cost, the use of VA-ECMO should be restricted (81.0 percent versus 54.4 percent, p = 0.005). Conclusions Surveyed physicians, especially those who self-reported as knowledgeable about VA-ECMO and/or were specialists in pulmonary/ critical care, favored a medical locus of decisional authority for VA-ECMO. VA-ECMO is complex, and the data may (1) reflect physicians’ hesitance to cede authority to presumably less knowledgeable patients and surrogates, (2) stem from a stewardship of resources perspective, and/or (3) point to practical efforts to avoid futility and utility disputes. Whether these results indicate a more widespread reversion to paternalism or a more circumscribed usurping of decisional authority occasioned by VA-ECMO necessitates further study. (shrink)

Are small and large numbers represented similarly or differently on the mental number line? The size effect was used to argue that numbers are represented differently. However, recently it has been argued that the size effect is due to the comparison task and is not derived from the mental number line per se. Namely, it is due to the way that the mental number line is mapped onto the task-relevant output component. Here synesthesia was used to disentangle these two alternatives. (...) In two naming experiments a digit-color synesthete showed that the congruity effect was modulated by number size. These results support the existence of a mental number line with a vaguer numerical representation as numbers increase in size. In addition, the results show that in digit-color synesthesia, colors can evoke numerical representation automatically. (shrink)

BackgroundThe Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) provides access to unreleased government records that can be used to enhance the transparency and integrity of biomedical research. We characterized FOIA requests to Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) agencies, including request outcomes, processing times, backlogs, and costs.MethodsUsing HHS FOIA annual reports, we extracted data on the number of FOIA requests received and processed by HHS agencies between 2008 and 2017, as well as request outcomes. Processing times were reported in three time (...) increments, < 1–20, 21–60, or 61+ days, and trends in backlog status were also described. Information about costs and fees collected were aggregated.ResultsBetween 2008 and 2017, 69.6% of 530,094 HHS FOIA requests were received by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), 18.9% by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and 11.6% by all other HHS agencies. During this period, CMS processed 374,728 requests, FDA 114,938, and other HHS agencies 61,890. CMS and FDA reduced backlogged requests by 9396 (89.7%) and 4289 (65.3%), respectively, leaving backlogs of 1081 and 2279 requests at the end of 2017. CMS fully or partially granted 60.3% of requests whereas FDA fully or partially granted 72.4%. Of all requests to CMS, 82.0% were considered simple and 18.0% complex; 82.2% of simple requests and 54.9% of complex requests were processed in 20 days, and 5.6% and 29.9% were processed in 61+ days. In contrast, 60.2% of requests to FDA were considered simple and 39.8% complex; 28.8% of simple requests and 9.0% of complex requests were processed in 20 days, and 58.3% and 81.5% were processed in 61+ days. The costs to HHS associated with FOIA requests totaled $446.4 million ($809 per processed request), increasing from $28.1 million ($423 per request) in 2008 to $53.3 million ($1544 per request) in 2017. In total, HHS collected $8.5 million in fees (1.9% of total costs).ConclusionsFOIA is frequently used to obtain information about HHS and its agencies. With growing costs, minimal fees collected, and lengthy processing times, HHS agencies’ FOIA programs might be made more efficient through greater proactive record disclosure. (shrink)

International Journal of Philosophical Studies, Volume 20, Issue 3, Page 315-317, July 2012.

For two million years, members of Homo sapiens (and the species from which it emerged) have shaped to their purpose almost everything they found in nature. Yet we are still reproducing by sex. This is a poor method of conceiving human beings, because it surrenders many of the future child’s characteristics to luck. Both parents and children are better off the more parents control their children’s genotypes. The emerging technologies that enable this do not reduce free will and will not (...) eliminate human characteristics (such as certain forms of “mental illness”) that are worth preserving; rather, they will match types of children to parents who can appreciate them. Technological reproduction, not reproduction by sex, should be regarded as truly human. It is the application of the power of thought to human reproduction, and, like the application of that power to external objects and to memes, it will enhance our capacities. (shrink)

The following essay seeks to deploy, from Husserl to Levinas, the centrality of the problem of temporality. In truth, the understanding of temporality constitutes, properly said, that which identifies and differentiates all the authors of the phenomenological tradition. Which means: temporality is that from which all phenomenological breakthroughs are signified and given their very possibility. Our task is thus, through a reading of Husserl, Heidegger and Levinas, to reveal how temporality is reassessed in the history of phenomenology as well as (...) to show how the philosophy of E. Levinas opens, beyond Husserl and Heidegger but by rendering justice to them both, to a novel and unedited temporality: an irreducible temporality of alterity from whence 'presence' is suspended by another source of meaning than the intentional constitution of phenomenality. (shrink)

It is widely held that intuitive dualism—an implicit default mode of thought that takes minds to be separable from bodies and capable of independent existence—is a human universal. Among the findings taken to support universal intuitive dualism is a pattern of evidence in which “psychological” traits (knowledge, desires) are judged more likely to continue after death than bodily or “biological” traits (perceptual, physiological, and bodily states). Here, we present cross-cultural evidence from six study populations, including non-Western societies with diverse belief (...) systems, that shows that while this pattern exists, the overall pattern of responses nonetheless does not support intuitive dualism in afterlife beliefs. Most responses of most participants across all cultures tested were not dualist. While our sample is in no way intended to capture the full range of human societies and afterlife beliefs, it captures a far broader range of cultures than in any prior study, and thus puts the case for afterlife beliefs as evidence for universal intuitive dualism to a strong test. Based on these findings, we suggest that while dualist thinking is a possible mode of thought enabled by evolved human psychology, such thinking does not constitute a default mode of thought. Rather, our data support what we will call intuitive materialism—the view that the underlying intuitive systems for reasoning about minds and death produce as a default judgment that mental states cease to exist with bodily death. (shrink)

La présente étude entend tracer et analyser le déploiement de « la Vérité de l’Etre » afin de montrer en quoi celui-ci est indissociable, pour Heidegger, de ce qu’il appelle, dans un passage tardif des Cahiers Noirs, l’« auto-annihilation ( Selbstvernichtung ) » du judaïsme. Nous montrerons en quoi et pourquoi, chez Heidegger, l’« Histoire » de la « Vérité de l’Etre », en se déployant elle-même, produit aussi un antijudaïsme, indissociable d’un antisémitisme, sans précédent dans l’histoire de la philosophie (...) occidentale. En effet, le judaïsme, pour Heidegger, se voit brutalement exproprié de toute possibilité d’être, et, par conséquent, demeure résolument forclos de l’« Histoire » gréco-allemande de la « Vérité de l’Etre » pour ne séjourner que dans l’« inessentielle » machination et exploitation « indéterminée » du monde. Il nous appartiendra de souligner, depuis le « dispositif » heideggérien de la « Vérité de l’Etre » – un dispositif, contrairement à ce qu’en dit Heidegger, dès plus technique – en quoi le judaïsme se voit condamné à son « auto-annihilation ». C’est ainsi que l’antijudaïsme de Heidegger, inséparable d’un antisémitisme catégorique, est à comprendre depuis sa pensée philosophique elle-même. Ce qui exige de nous une relecture dès plus vigilante, dès plus intransigeante et un questionnement critique circonstancié de cette œuvre et du rapport qu’elle détermine entre l’« Histoire » de la « Vérité de l’Etre » et l’« auto-annihilation » du judaïsme. Ainsi, à aucun moment ne s’agira-t-il, pour nous, de rejeter purement et simplement la pensée philosophique de Heidegger. Car, c’est aussi par une relecture critique de cette même pensée, par une confrontation incessante envers ce qui s’y cache dans ses plis les plus obscurs et douteux, que peuvent aussi se révéler d’inédites possibilités de repenser notre tradition philosophique tout entière en l’ouvrant vers une tout autre histoire de la philosophie – tout autre que celle qui se sera consacrée et déterminée dans et par le « dispositif » heideggérien. (shrink)

Nous avons voulu exposé, à partir du dernier texte de Fichte intitulé « L’Initiation à la Vie Bienheureuse », ce qu’il conviendrait d’appeler la question de I’humanisme. « Quel est I’être de I’humanisme? » est ainsi la question directrice qui a accompagnée notre lecture du texte de 1812. Nous avons tenté d’indiquer à la fois la racine chrétienne et I’origine philosophico-rationnelle de cet humanisme, en y relevant d’une part les allusions à Saint Jean et en soulevant la notion centrale du (...) sacrifice, tout en maintenant la référence constante à la mouvance et à l’exigence scientifique du philosopher. En contre-poids à cette définition christiano-philosophique de I’humanisme, il nous a semblé necessaire de faire intervenir Lévinas, qui s’efforce de reformuler, ou de réinventer, face à cette tradition philosophique, la question de I’humanisme. Cette reformulation, cette réinvention, s’inscrivant manifestement dans la tradition hébraïque, tâche d’offrir une alternative à la logique sacrificielle de I’humanisme fichtéen, en orientant I’humain non plus vers sa « destination suprême en tant qu’humain » mais vers son « éveil - sans-destination, sans-vocation - à la responsabilité pour Autrui ».We wish to expose,from Fichte’s last text entitled “The way towards the blessed life”, what should be called the question of humanism. “What is the essence of humanism?” is thus the main question that guided our reading of the text from 1812. We have attempted to point out the Christian roots as weIl as the philosophical-rational origin of this humanism by gathering references to Saint John, and by raisingthe central notion of sacrifice, while constantly alluding to the mobility and the scientific exigency of the act of philosophizing. In order to counterbalance this Christian-philosophic definition of humanism, in seemed necessary to us to call in Levinas, who endeavours to reformulate, or to reinvent, in the face of this philosophical tradition, the question of humanism. This reformulation, this reinvention, manifestly in line with Hebraic tradition, seeks to offer an alternative to the sacrificial logic of the Fichtean humanism by orienting Humans no longer towards their “supreme destination qua Humans”, but towards their “awakening - with no destination, no calling - to the responsibility for the Other”. (shrink)

Nous avons voulu exposé, à partir du dernier texte de Fichte intitulé « L’Initiation à la Vie Bienheureuse », ce qu’il conviendrait d’appeler la question de I’humanisme. « Quel est I’être de I’humanisme? » est ainsi la question directrice qui a accompagnée notre lecture du texte de 1812. Nous avons tenté d’indiquer à la fois la racine chrétienne et I’origine philosophico-rationnelle de cet humanisme, en y relevant d’une part les allusions à Saint Jean et en soulevant la notion centrale du (...) sacrifice, tout en maintenant la référence constante à la mouvance et à l’exigence scientifique du philosopher. En contre-poids à cette définition christiano-philosophique de I’humanisme, il nous a semblé necessaire de faire intervenir Lévinas, qui s’efforce de reformuler, ou de réinventer, face à cette tradition philosophique, la question de I’humanisme. Cette reformulation, cette réinvention, s’inscrivant manifestement dans la tradition hébraïque, tâche d’offrir une alternative à la logique sacrificielle de I’humanisme fichtéen, en orientant I’humain non plus vers sa « destination suprême en tant qu’humain » mais vers son « éveil - sans-destination, sans-vocation - à la responsabilité pour Autrui ».We wish to expose,from Fichte’s last text entitled “The way towards the blessed life”, what should be called the question of humanism. “What is the essence of humanism?” is thus the main question that guided our reading of the text from 1812. We have attempted to point out the Christian roots as weIl as the philosophical-rational origin of this humanism by gathering references to Saint John, and by raisingthe central notion of sacrifice, while constantly alluding to the mobility and the scientific exigency of the act of philosophizing. In order to counterbalance this Christian-philosophic definition of humanism, in seemed necessary to us to call in Levinas, who endeavours to reformulate, or to reinvent, in the face of this philosophical tradition, the question of humanism. This reformulation, this reinvention, manifestly in line with Hebraic tradition, seeks to offer an alternative to the sacrificial logic of the Fichtean humanism by orienting Humans no longer towards their “supreme destination qua Humans”, but towards their “awakening - with no destination, no calling - to the responsibility for the Other”. (shrink)

Some eighty years after Husserl’s The Crisis of the European Sciences, yet another crisis looms over Europe. However, this haunting crisis – and one could here question the value of the word ‘crisi...