It is one of the main allegations impelled by feminist theorists against Kant's philosophy that the subject Kant placed at the base of his understanding of rationality is masculine, a Westerner and belongs to upper/middle class. In fact, there is considerable supporting evidence to promote this claim for mainstream Western philosophy in general and Kant's philosophy in particular. On the other hand, while reckoning with the history of philosophy, and examining whether it is possible to break away from philosophical concepts (...) and categories or not, is another matter of discussion. In this article, I try to focus on various possibilities that can reconcile Kant's philosophy with the demands of liberal feminism and an inclusive democratic participation principle. It is important that to discuss whether it is possible to make a new reading that can be reconciled with feminist demands by ignoring the misogynistic discourses in Kant's works, especially starting from the concepts of autonomy and personality. Today, many factors like traditions, prejudices, oppressive forms of government, etc. prevent women from taking part in public life as free agents and autonomously, and from being considered as “subjects with the status of rights”. Therefore, I argue that Kant's concepts such as autonomy, becoming a person and having the conditions for free action, do have something in common with feminist demands. (shrink)

Like the cracking of the genetic code and the creation of the atomic bomb, the discovery of how the brain's neurons work is one of the fundamental scientific developments of the twentieth century. The discovery of neurotransmitters revolutionized the way we think about the brain and what it means to be human yet few people know how they were discovered, the scientists involved, or the fierce controversy about whether they even existed. The War of the Soups and the Sparks tells (...) the saga of the dispute between the pharmacologists, who had uncovered the first evidence that nerves communicate by releasing chemicals, and the neurophysiologists, experts on the nervous system, who dismissed the evidence and remained committed to electrical explanations. The protagonists of this story are Otto Loewi and Henry Dale, who received Nobel Prizes for their work, and Walter Cannon, who would have shared the prize with them if he had not been persuaded to adopt a controversial theory (how that happened is an important part of this history). Valenstein sets his story of scientific discovery against the backdrop of two world wars and examines the fascinating lives of several scientists whose work was affected by the social and political events of their time. He recounts such stories as Loewi's arrest by Nazi storm troopers and Dale's efforts at helping key scientists escape Germany. The War of the Soups and the Sparks reveals how science and scientists work. Valenstein describes the observations and experiments that led to the discovery of neurotransmitters and sheds light on what determines whether a novel concept will gain acceptance among the scientific community. His work also explains the immense importance of Loewi, Dale, and Cannon's achievements in our understanding of the human brain and the way mental illnesses are conceptualized and treated. (shrink)

Biobanks act as the custodians for the access to and responsible use of human biological samples and related data that have been generously donated by individuals to serve the public interest and scientific advances in the health research realm. Risk assessment has become a daily practice for biobanks and has been discussed from different perspectives. This paper aims to provide a literature review on risk assessment in order to put together a comprehensive typology of diverse risks biobanks could potentially face. (...) Methodologically set as a typology, the conceptual approach used in this paper is based on the interdisciplinary analysis of scientific literature, the relevant ethical and legal instruments and practices in biobanking to identify how risks are assessed, considered and mitigated. Through an interdisciplinary mapping exercise, we have produced a typology of potential risks in biobanking, taking into consideration the perspectives of different stakeholders, such as institutional actors and publics, including participants and representative organizations. With this approach, we have identified the following risk types: economic, infrastructural, institutional, research community risks and participant’s risks. The paper concludes by highlighting the necessity of an adaptive risk governance as an integral part of good governance in biobanking. In this regard, it contributes to sustainability in biobanking by assisting in the design of relevant risk management practices, where they are not already in place or require an update. The typology is intended to be useful from the early stages of establishing such a complex and multileveled biomedical infrastructure as well as to provide a catalogue of risks for improving the risk management practices already in place. (shrink)

With agents relying more and more on information from central servers rather than their own sensors, knowledge becomes property not of a specific agent but of the data that the agents can access. The article proposes a dynamic logic of data-informed knowledge that describes an interplay between three modalities and one relation capturing the properties of this form of knowledge. The main technical results are the undefinability of two dynamic operators through each other, a sound and complete axiomatisation, and a (...) model checking algorithm. (shrink)

This article argues that Mariam uses its eponymous heroine's lived and embodied experiences of veiling to explore the impact of French secular legislation on Muslim schoolgirls' everyday lives in F...

Geçmişte yazılan ve kütüphanelerimizde çoğu yazma hâlinde duran pek çok ilmî eserin isim, müellif ve mütercimlerinin tespiti konusunda ciddî hatalar yapıldığı görülmektedir. Bu da bir kısım önemli eserlerin gün yüzüne çıkmasını engelleyerek sahip olduğumuz hazineden gereği gibi istifade etme imkânını elimizden almaktadır. Bu minvalde bazı araştırma ve kütüphane kayıtlarında 15. yüzyıl Osmanlı âlimlerinden Mûsâ İznikī’nin (öl. 838/1434-35 [?]), Ali b. Muhammed el-Hâzin’in (öl. 741/1341) Lübâbü’t-teʾvîl fî meʿâni’t-Tenzîl adlı tefsirini tercüme ettiği bilgisi yer almıştır. Aynı şekilde yine 16. Yüzyılda yaşamış bir (...) Osmanlı âlimi ve divan şâiri olan Muslihuddin Mustafa Sürûrî’nin (öl. 969/1562) tam bir Türkçe tefsir yazdığı iddia edilmektedir. Bu iki iddia, sonuçta aynı mütercim üzerinde birleşmeleri sebebiyle ortak bir noktaya sahiptirler. Bu makalede, bahsedilen iki eserin asılları ve tercümeleri etrafında bir araştırma yapılarak bunların gerçekte kime ait oldukları ve isimlerinin ne olduğu ortaya çıkarılmaya çalışılacaktır. Bu tür araştırmaların kütüphanelerimizdeki binlerce eser için âcilen yapılmasının bir zaruret hâlini aldığı âşikârdır. Zira bazı araştırmacıların bu tür yanlış bilgiler üzerine yüksek lisans ve doktora tezleri binâ ettikleri ve çeşitli makaleler yazdıkları görülmektedir. Bu makalenin maksadı, yukarıda zikredilen ve haklarında yanlış bilgiler ile bazı kapalı noktalar bulunan iki eserle ilgili bir takım yeni tespitleri ortaya koyarak hem ilim dünyasına katkıda bulunmak hem de bu alanda yapılacak çalışmalara olan ihtiyaca dikkat çekmektir. Doküman tarama, veri toplama ve veri analizi yöntemi kullanılan bu araştırma neticesinde şu sonuçlara varılmıştır: Mûsâ el-İznikī’nin tercüme ederek Tefsîru’l-Lübâb ismini verdiği eser aslında Hâzin’in Lübâbü’t-te’vîl’i değil Necmeddîn-i Dâye’nin (öl. 654/1256) Baḥrü’l-ḥaḳāʾiḳ ve’l-meʿânî isimli tefsirinin muhtasarıdır. Bundan hareketle tespit edilen diğer bir nokta da şu olmuştur ki günümüzde et-Teʾvîlâtü’n-Necmiyye ismiyle meşhur olan eser Dâye’nin kaleme aldığı tefsirin orijinal hâli değildir. Dâye zâhiri ve işârî tefsîri cem eden mufassal bir tefsir telif etmiş, müridlerinden biri olan Şemseddin Muhammed es-Savcı da, zâhirî tefsir kısımlarını çıkarıp sadece işârî yorumları bırakmak sûretiyle bu eseri telhis etmiştir. İznikī de işte bu telhisi tercüme etmiş ve eserine Tefsîru’l-Lübâb ismini vermiştir. Sürûrî’ye nispet edilen tefsirin de onun tarafından telif edilmediği tespit edilmiştir. Yapılan mukayeseler neticesinde bu eserin Ebü’l-Leys Semerkandî’nin (öl. 373/983) Tefsîrü’l-Ḳurʾâni’l-Kerîm veya Tefsîru Ebi’l-Leys̱ es-Semerḳandî diye anılan ve bugün Baḥrü’l-ʿulûm ismiyle basılan kitabının tefsîrî bir tercümesi olduğu ortaya çıkmıştır. Bu tercüme bazı kaynaklar ile kütüphane kayıtlarında aynı anda hem Ahmed-i Dâî’ye (öl. 824/1421’den sonra), hem İbn Arabşah’a (öl. 854/1450) ve hem de İznikī’ye nispet edilmektedir. Farklı kişilere nispet edilen nüshalar karşılaştırıldığında hepsinin aynı eser olduğu görülmüştür. Bazı kadîm nüshalarda görülen ferağ kayıtları ile yazma nüshalar üzerinde yapılan incelemeler bu tercümenin de yine İznikī tarafından yapıldığını göstermektedir. İznikī bu ikinci tercümesine Enfesü’l-Cevâhir ismini vermiştir. İlim dünyasında bu isim konusunda da bir karışıklık olmuş, bazı araştırmacılar onun Hâzin tefsirinin tercümesine verildiğini zannetmişlerdir. Ancak ilk devir yazmalarında bu ismin Semerkandî tefsirinin tercümesine verildiği açıkça görülmektedir. Kütüphanelerimizde Enfesü’l-Cevâhir’in muhtasar nüshalarına da rastlanmış ancak bu ihtisar faaliyetinin kimin tarafından yapıldığı tespit edilememiştir. (shrink)

This article aims to study Sufism (taṣawwuf) and inspiration (ilhâm), which is the main means of the mystical knowledge, in the thought of Ibn Taymiyya who is known generally as an exponent of a tradition grounded on the understanding of Salaf. He is considered by majority to be a rigid opponent of Sufism because of his unconventional interpretations of Sufi terminology. Also, since Ibn Taymiyya constantly offers the Qur’ān, ḥadīth, and the opinions of Salaf as the base of religious knowledge, (...) the idea that he does not lean toward inspirational and rational knowledge and he does not give a place for them in his epistemology came out and has grown in the course of time. As a result of our research, however, we realize Ibn Taymiyya admits the epistemological value of inspiration along with Sufism conditionally. While he divides Sufism into Early and Later periods, he examines inspiration in the context of knowledge (bâb al-ʿilm) which is considered to be a subcategory of supernatural events. Ibn Taymiyya, who believes that inspirational knowledge must be tested by means of the Qur’ān, Sunna, and the opinions of Salaf, without rejecting its reality, assesses the subject matter in detail through his own criteria. Therefore, this article, in which the subject is elaborated critically and descriptively, focuses on the approach of Ibn Taymiyya to Sufism and inspiration that is the basic element of Sufi knowledge. (shrink)

ABSTRACT In this article I discuss Bernardine Evaristo’s Girl, Woman, Other as a transmodern narrative that gives voice to a marginalised group of black women living in Britain. Written in a hybrid style that combines prose and poetry and eschewing punctuation and long sentences, the novel interweaves sundry stories from the late nineteenth to the twenty-first century set in countries ranging from Africa, the Caribbean, and America to Britain. This networked structure exposes transtemporal and transnational patterns of diversity, connectedness and (...) relationality, as well as the distinctive genealogy of black British women and their maternal empowerment. I argue that the resilience of the characters in the face of social, racial and gender marginalisation springs from their empathic relatedness and solidarity. This emphasis on the importance of care for the other highlights the need for improving not only women’s rights and socioeconomic opportunities but of benefiting humanity on a broader scale. (shrink)

Drawing on Anscombe, in this essay I argue that we should not take Aristotle to be a moral philosopher, nor a virtue ethicist. This is because contemporary virtue ethics has little to do with Aristotelian ethics. While contemporary virtue ethics (or aretaic moral theory, as one may call it) operates on the level of moral and thus categorical norms, Aristotelian ethics—an aretaic life ethics—is primarily concerned with pragmatic norms. The main question for Aristotle is what a good general conduct of (...) life is. The major concern of aretaic moral theory, on the other hand, is to provide a criterion of morally right action and hence to define the concepts of the morally right, the impermissible and moral duty in aretaic terms. This shows that contemporary authors assume a primacy of virtue, while Aristotle assumes a primacy of eudaimonia. I illustrate this distinction by addressing the question of how the virtues benefit their possessor. (shrink)

Although the political and consumer consciousness has turned increasingly green, many firms continue to resist the adoption of environment-friendly technological innovations—even in the face of higher costs, negative health effects, and stricter government oversight. This article examines how business owners weigh the trade-offs associated with environment-friendly innovations by examining the role of prosocial motivation in their decision-making process. We use primary data to overcome a common restriction in studying environmental innovations—the scarcity of relevant data—to analyze how business owners’ expectations, perceptions, (...) and motivations affect innovation in organizational processes and, consequently, the level of environmental friendliness of their products or services. We found that prosocial motivation had a significant negative impact on innovation adoption and that it is expressed differently under high and low levels of customer compatibility—possibly because business owners have a larger number of competing social objectives and priorities. Our results further showed that the innovation’s ability to satisfy downstream customer demands has the greatest impact on environment-friendly innovation adoption decisions by business owners. This study enhances our understanding of how business owners make innovation decisions based on competing business, environmental and social objectives and provides a foundation for future research in this area. (shrink)

There is a confusion over and inchoate understanding of how the past is made understandable through postmodernist historical orientation. The purpose of the article is to outline the characteristic features of the postmodernist movement in social sciences, to explain its confrontation with history, to document its critique of the conventional practice of history, and to discuss its implications for history education. The postmodernist challenge to the foundations of the discipline of history is elucidated with an emphasis on its epistemological underpinnings. (...) Implications of postmodernism for the teaching and learning of history are discussed. (shrink)

Infolge der tiefgreifenden Durchdringung unserer Lebenswelt mit digitalen Systemen hat sich die gesamtgesellschaftliche Anforderung formiert, diese Systeme gegen immer neue Formen von Angriffen absichern zu können. In diesem Beitrag zeigen wir, inwiefern der IT-Sicherheitsforschung hierbei eine zentrale Rolle zukommt, aber auch, dass im Rahmen dieser Rolle eine besondere forschungsethische Problematik entsteht. Weil IT-Sicherheitsrisiken strukturell neuartige Probleme für die gesellschaftliche Gewährleistung von Sicherheit aufwerfen, treten Forschende systematisch auch in die Rolle der Angreifenden. Dabei erhöhen Forschende durch den notwendigen Schritt der Veröffentlichung (...) gefundener Lücken die Gefährdungslage von IT-Systemen. Zugleich zielt die Entwicklung von Angriffstechniken normativ auf eine Stärkung gesamtgesellschaftlicher Sicherheit: die Sicherheitslücken sollen geschlossen und die Robustheit von IT-Systemen vergrößert werden. Hier wird ein Konflikt im Umgang mit IT-Sicherheitsrisiken deutlich, der einen Bedarf an ethischer Orientierung erzeugt. Im Beitrag zeigen wir, inwiefern sich in der Forschungspraxis auch bereits Anfänge einer systematischen ethischen Reflexion als Antwort auf diesen Bedarf herausgebildet und institutionalisiert haben. Da die Problematik im Umgang mit Sicherheitslücken aber noch nicht adäquat adressiert wird, vertreten wir die These, dass in der IT-Sicherheitsforschung der Schritt hin zu einer Bereichsethik für IT-Sicherheitsforschung erforderlich ist, um so adäquatere Orientierungsangebote für Forschende entwickeln und um die breitere gesellschaftspolitische Rolle der Sicherheitsforschung reflektieren zu können. (shrink)

The ayn-dayn distinction in Ḥanafī legal thought shapes directly many regulations related to the law of obligations, from the legitimacy conditions of the contracts to the principles of compensation obligation. Three aspects are important in understanding the formative function of this distinction. The first of them is what is the conceptual content of ayn and dayn in Ḥanafī terminology. The second of them is what kind of relationship there is between the qualities of goods and ayn and dayn. The third (...) of them is what kind of differences exist between ayn and dayn in terms of their effects on legal regulations. According to Ḥanafī terminology, in a debt relationship, dayn means goods that have not yet been delivered to the creditor, whether they are in the hands of the debtor or not, in terms of goods (gold, silver and money) that are not suitable for determination by determining. Dayn represents the identical goods that is under the responsibility of the debtor in terms of non-existing identical goods. In terms of existing identical goods, dayn represents the identical goods that exist in clusters but have not yet been determined individually. Non-standard goods are goods that are not suitable for dayn because they are not suitable for abstraction from their material existence. Ayn represents the existing and determined goods in terms of non-standard goods and existing identical goods. Ayn represents the goods received by the creditor in terms of gold, silver, money and identical goods that are in the debtor's obligation from the beginning. What stands out among the differences between ayn and dayn is that although destruction and damage can be considered for ayn, they cannot be considered for dayn. In terms of some legal regulations, establishing a relationship between strict liability and dayn and between fault liability and ayn is a result of this. The other important differences between ayn and dayn are the fact that dayn is only determined by delivery and that postponement and remittance are specific to the dayn. (shrink)

In Ḥanafī legal thought, ta‘ātī (mutual delivery of goods and price) has been seen as a sales contract without the need for an additional legal transaction. This situation raises the question of whether the delivery transaction took place after a void (bāṭil) or invalid (fāsid) sales contract can be considered as a new contract that is revealed through ta‘ātī. In this study, which we aim to answer the aforementioned question, first of all, the issue of what kind of relationship is (...) established between the definition of the sales contract and the legitimacy of the ta‘ātī is discussed. Secondly, the relationship between the principles of “When something is void, what is implicit in that thing is also void.”, “What builds on what is invalid is also invalid” and the delivery transaction that took place after a void or invalid contract is discussed. Thirdly, it has been discussed whether the acceptance of the delivery transaction after a void or invalid contract as a new contract is dependent on the fact that the first contract has been legally terminated. In Ḥanafī thought two approaches have emerged regarding the relationship between ta‘ātī and void or invalid contract. According to Ḥanafī jurists based on the above-mentioned two principles, the delivery transaction that took place after a void or invalid contract is not a new contract. The fact that the delivery transaction becomes a new contract depends on the fact that the first contract was terminated in a legal way. In the approach of Ḥalvānī and Kāsānī, the fact that the delivery transaction that took place after a void or invalid contract gains the quality of a new contract is not dependent on the fact that the first contract is legally terminated. This approach is very important in terms of making it possible for the idea that “Delivery that took place after a void or invalid contract has the quality of a new contract.” to attribute the classical Ḥanafī thought. (shrink)

This paper attempts to clarify the meaning of the term ‚professional’ in its current use in our daily lives, mainly by making use of Weber’s discussion of the Protestant work ethic and rationalization. Identifying professionalism primarily as a particular lifestyle, it questions whether professionalism is a virtue to be encouraged or an alienated way of life. Rather than conclusively answering this question in the affirmative or negative, it contends that professionalism is an evolving concept, and endeavors to capture and formulate (...) a favorable understanding of it which would foster less alienating and more fulfilling ways of doing business. It concludes by observing structural similarities between alternative managerial approaches and different conceptualizations of professionalism. (shrink)

This is the introductory chapter I co-authored with professor Kaya Sahin for our edited book, Political Thought in the Ottoman World (oxford University Press, 2024).

In On Not Expecting Too Much from Narrative, Lamarque (2004) challenges theories of narrative identity. For while narrativity might tell us something of interest about our selves, the requirements for this would be so strong that theories of narrative identity would not be able to meet them. In contrast, he identifies minimal conditions for narrativity, so that our identity could be of a narrative nature as well. But in that case, the concept of narrativity would be so weak that it (...) would hardly be able to tell us anything about ourselves. I first examine Lamarque's criticism of narrative concepts of identity. He shows that stories, understood in a minimal sense, are not found but told and that they establish a temporal relationship between at least two events. I then examine the concept of teleological explanations of action. Considering the problem of deviant causal chains that causalists are confronted with, they are at least a serious alternative to causal explanations of action. By doing that, I also attempt to render plausible the irreducibility of teleological explanations of action to causal ones. Subsequently, I outline some features of teleological explanations of action. Finally, I defend the idea that teleological explanations of action are essentially narrative explanations of action because they meet Lamarque's minimal conditions of narratives. I then make the case that these kinds of narratives are not trivial with respect to our personal identity but, on the contrary, are the prerequisite under which we can perceive ourselves as rational agents. (shrink)

Purpose This study aims to investigate and comprehend the key factors that affect citizens’ adoption of electronic government (e-government) in Nigeria. In addition, the exploration intends to assess the potential determinants that may affect the Nigerian’s behavioural intention (BI) to adopt e-government services. The findings can be helpful for policymakers and government officials to provide e-government practices effectively. Design/methodology/approach The research adopted a quantitative method using the unified model of e-government adoption (UMEGA). In this study, data are collected from 410 (...) citizens aged above 18 years old and analysed using partial least squares path modelling technique. Findings The results showed that performance expectancy and effort expectancy positively influenced attitude (ATT) towards e-government. In contrast, perceived risk negatively impacted ATT towards e-government. However, social influence did not have a significant influence. The results showed that ATT and facilitating conditions (FC) positively influenced the BI to use e-government services. The explanatory and predictive power of UMEGA in Nigeria accounted for 63.9%. Originality/value To the authors’ knowledge, no prior studies analysed citizens’ adoption of e-government in Nigeria. This study, however, filled this gap. This study has contributed to the current knowledge of e-government adoption in Nigeria, which policymakers and government officials can use. (shrink)

Increased and active involvement of multinational corporations in the promotion of social welfare, in developing countries in particular, through the facilitation of partnerships and cooperation with public and nonprofit sectors, challenges the existing framework of our social and political institutions, the boundaries of nation-states, the distinction between the private and public spheres of our lives, and thus our freedom. The blurring of certain distinctions, which ought to be observed between the political and the economic is most manifest in the gradual (...) saturation of the field of business ethics with rights-based arguments and analyses. In this article, I first argue against endorsing positive rights as having the same status as negative rights, and then try to demonstrate that, with the transportation of 'rights talk' into business ethics, the dangers of conflating positive and negative rights are superimposed on the dangers of conflating the private and the political. I conclude by presenting my own stance on the debate on what our basic institutionally sanctioned rights should be, and what the corresponding duties of multinational corporations really are. (shrink)

This book bears witness to the current reawakening of interest in Reid's philosophy. It first examines Reid's negative attack on the Way of Ideas, and finds him to be a devastating critic of his predecessors.

Particular social aspects of the nature of science, such as economics of, and entrepreneurship in science, are understudied in science education research. It is not surprising then that the practical applications, such as lesson resources and teaching materials, are scarce. The key aims of this article are to synthesize perspectives from the literature on economics of science, entrepreneurship, NOS, and science education in order to have a better understanding of how science works in society and illustrate how such a synthesis (...) can be incorporated in the practice of science education. The main objectives of this article are to argue for the role and inclusion of EOS and entrepreneurship in NOS and re-define entrepreneurship in the NOS context; explore the issues emerging in the “financial systems” of the Family Resemblance Approach to NOS and propose the inclusion of contemporary aspects of science, such as EOS and entrepreneurship, into NOS; conceptualize NOS, EOS, and entrepreneurship in a conceptual framework to explain how science works in the society; and transform the theoretical knowledge of how science operates in society into practical applications for science teaching and learning. The conceptual framework that we propose illustrates the links between State, Academia, Market and Industry. We suggest practical lesson activities to clarify how the theoretical discussions on the SAMI cycle framework can be useful and relevant for classroom practice. In this article, science refers to physics, chemistry, and biology. However, we also recommend an application of this framework to other sciences to reveal their social-institutional side. (shrink)