Bu çalışmanın temel amacı 24 Şubat 2022’de başlayan Rusya–Ukrayna çatışmasında Avrupa merkezli medya organlarının ürettiği işgal söylemine eleştirel bir perspektifle yaklaşmaktır. Çalışmada Rusya’nın Ukrayna’yı işgal ettiğini öne süren ülkelerin Rus sanatçılara, sporculara ve yönetmenlere uyguladığı sert yaptırımlara yer verilmiş ve hemen sonrasında sosyal medyaya yansıyan bazı ifadeler eleştirel söylem analizi yöntemiyle incelenmiştir. 29 Nisan 2022 tarihinde Pentagon sözcüsü John Kirby’nin katıldığı bir basın toplantısında çatışmayı işgal söylemiyle sunarken aksi bir yaklaşımın etik ve ahlaka ters düşeceğini ima eden ifadesi etiğin de (...) eleştirel biçimde ele alınmasına zemin hazırlamıştır. Çalışmada Kant ve Hegel’in görüşleri üzerinden etik ve ahlak kavramlarının ayrıştırılması amaçlanırken bu filozofların bazı teorilerini Avrupa merkezci ve zaman zaman ırkçı bir bakış açısıyla kurguladığını savunan görüşlere de yer verilmiştir. Amaçsal örneklem yöntemiyle seçilen Eski Amerika başkanı George Bush’un katıldığı bir programda Ukrayna yerine Irak’ın işgal edildiğini belirten gafı ve eski Ukrayna başsavcı yardımcısı David Sakvarelidze’nin çatışma esnasında ölen Ukraynalılara sırf mavi gözlü ve sarı saçlı Avrupalılar oldukları için üzüldüğünü çağrıştıran açıklamaları üzerinden Avrupa merkezci ve ırkçı yaklaşımların günümüzdeki konumu sorgulanmıştır. Çalışmada başta ABD ve İngiltere olmak üzere bazı Avrupa ülkelerinin Rusya’nın Ukrayna’yı işgal ettiği söylemini, insan yaşamını önemseyen etik bir tavırdan ziyade politik bir refleksle ürettiği sonucuna ulaşılmıştır. (shrink)

Spor alanında çağının sorunlarını ve konularını güncelliği içinde, bilim ve felsefenin temel ilkeleri doğrultusunda takip edebilmek ve yorumlayabilmek önemli bir beceridir. Çünkü sportif olay ve olgular, sadece bilim ve felsefenin yol göstericiliğinde daha net şekilde yorumlanabilinir ve değerlendirilebilinir. Dolayısıyla bu çalışmanın amacı, spor ve felsefe ilişkisini konu ile ilgili olan literatürü imkân dâhilinde tarayıp elde edilen verileri birbiri ile ilişkilendirerek değerlendirmektir. Bu bağlamda çalışma, analitik metot kullanılarak yürütülmüştür. Filozoflar ve felsefeciler, özellikle Aydınlanma Felsefesinin başladığı Aydınlanma Çağı denilen 18.yüzyıldan itibaren toplum, (...) hukuk, tarih, fizik, metafizik, bilgi, bilim, din, ahlak, sanat, siyaset ve spor gibi alanlara yönelip bu alanların kavramlarını sorgulayarak yeni anlamlar yüklemeye başlamışlardır. Böylece felsefenin bilim felsefesi, bilgi felsefesi, ontoloji, din felsefesi, ahlak felsefesi, sanat felsefesi, tarih felsefesi, siyaset felsefesi ve spor felsefesi gibi alt dalları ortaya çıkmaya başlamıştır. Haliyle, spor felsefesi de felsefenin spora uyarlanmasıyla ortaya çıkan bir felsefe dalı olmuştur. Sonuç olarak; spor felsefesi çoğu kişinin zannettiği gibi bir spor dalı değil, bir felsefe dalıdır. Bir felsefe dalı olarak spor felsefesinin çeşitli boyutları bulunmaktadır. Spora felsefi bir bakış açısı ile bakmak olan bu boyutlar hakkında genel bir bilgi sahibi olmak, her spor insanı için gerekli ve faydalı bir durumdur. Çünkü bu şekilde spor felsefesinin temel işlevleri ortaya konulabilinir. Anahtar Kelimeler: Spor, Felsefe, Spor Felsefesi, Spor İnsanı. (shrink)

İslâm geleneğinin en akılcı fırkası kabul edilen Mu‘tezile’nin özellikle Kur’an kıssaları çerçevesinde tefsirlerde yer bulan israilî rivayetler karşısındaki tutumu merak uyandırıcıdır. Bazı çalışmalarda kimi Mu‘tezilî müfessirlerin isrâiliyyât karşısındaki tutumuna değinilse de İsrâilî rivayetlerin tenkidi söz konusu olduğunda Mu‘tezile’nin bir ekol olarak tutumu herhangi bir araştırmaya konu edilmemiştir. İsrâiliyyât üzerine yapılan son çalışmalarda isrâiliyyât eleştirisinin İbnü’l-Arabî öncesinde Tûsî, Mâverdî hatta Mâtürîdî gibi isimlere kadar geri götürülebileceği söylenirken tamamen Sünnî ve Şiî müfessirler üzerinden bir okuma yapılmakta Mu‘tezilî müfessirlerin görüşlerine yer verilmemektedir. Oysa (...) bu çalışmalarda bahsedildiği üzere erken dönem isrâiliyyât eleştirilerinin genelde ismet meselesi ekseninde yapılması, Mu‘tezilî müfessirler özelinde bir incelemeyi zorunlu kılmaktadır. Nitekim isrâiliyyât eleştirisinde ön plana çıkartılan Mâtürîdî (ö. 333/944, Mâverdî (ö. 450/1058), Tûsî (ö. 460/1067), İbnü’l-Arabî (ö. 543/1148) ve İbn Kesîr (ö. 774/1373) gibi Sünnî ve Şiî müfessirlerden önce Ebû Bekir el-Esam (ö. 200/816), Ebû Alî el-Cübbâî (ö. 303/916) ve Ebû Müslim el-İsfahânî (ö. 322/934) gibi Mu‘tezilî isimler tarafından isrâiliyyât eleştirisinin yapıldığı görülmektedir. Her ne kadar onlar eserlerinde isrâiliyyât kavramını kullanmasalar da bu eleştirileri bazen rivayetlerin kaynağına bazen de içeriğine yöneltmektedir. Daha sonraki Mu‘tezilî âlimlerin de belli âyetler üzerinden bu eleştiriyi sistematik olarak devam ettirdikleri söylenebilir. Çalışmada öncelikle hicrî 2-6. asırda yaşamış el-Esam, Ebû Ali el-Cübbâî, Ebû Müslim el-İsfahânî, Kâdî Abdülcebbâr (ö. 415/1025), Cüşemî (ö. 494/1101) ve Zemahşerî (ö. 538/1144) gibi müfessirlerin, israiliyata bakışına odaklanılmaktadır. Söz konusu müfessirlerin farklı israilî rivayetler karşısındaki tutumu betimsel analiz yöntemiyle değerlendirilmektedir. Ayrıca aynı dönemdeki Sünnî müfessirlerin bu rivayetlere yaklaşımına da atıfta bulunulmaktadır. Mu‘tezilî müfessirlerin isrâiliyyâta yaklaşımı ele alınırken; onların bu rivayetleri reddetmeleri, isrâilî rivayetleri yorumsuz aktarmaları, aklî yorumu isrâilî rivayetlere tercih etmeleri ve isrâiliyyâtla âyetleri tefsir etmeleri gibi farklı yaklaşımlar hususunda ayrıma gidilmektedir. Mu‘tezilî müfessirler eserlerinde birçok İsrâilî rivayet aktarsa da özellikle tefsir geleneğinde sorunlu bazı rivayetlerin te’vilinde eleştirel yaklaşımın ilk örneklerinin onlardan gelen tefsirlerde olduğu söylenebilir. Bu bağlamda çalışmada klasik dönemde isrâiliyyat eleştirisinde Mu‘tezilî müfessirlerin öncü olduğu, özellikle ismet-i enbiyâ ve ismet-i melâike ile ilgili bir takım rivayetlerin eleştirisinin ilk önce Mu‘tezilî müfessirlerle başladığı sonucuna ulaşılmıştır. Yine Mâtürîdî, Mâverdî ve Tûsî gibi Sünnî ve Şiî müfessirlerin kimi yerlerde söz konusu rivayetleri eleştirirken Mu‘tezilî isimlere referansta bulunmasına da dikkat çekilmiştir. Son olarak Mu‘tezilî müfessirler, küllî bir isrâiliyyât eleştirisi yapmasalar da bazı yerlerde söz konusu rivayetleri “Yahudi uydurması ve Tevrat kaynaklı” olarak tanımlamaktadırlar. Bu da onların referans noktaları kendi kelâmî anlayışları olmakla birlikte rivayetleri kaynak açısından da eleştirdiklerini ortaya koymaktadır. Nitekim sistematik bir isrâiliyyât münekkidi olan İbn Kesîr de Peygamberlerin ismetiyle bağdaşmayan kimi rivayetlere tefsirinde yer vermeksizin reddettiği görülürken mucizevî olayları abartılı şekilde resmeden bazı isrâilî rivayetleri yorumsuz aktarmaktadır. Dolayısıyla Mu‘tezilî isimlerin İslâm inancıyla bağdaşmayan isrâilî rivayetlere erken dönemde eleştirel yaklaşması ve bunları nazara itibara almaması kayda değer bir tutumdur. (shrink)

How veridical is perception? Rather than representing objects as they actually exist in the world, might perception instead represent objects only in terms of the utility they offer to an observer? Previous work employed evolutionary modeling to show that under certain assumptions, natural selection favors such “strict‐interface” perceptual systems. This view has fueled considerable debate, but we think that discussions so far have failed to consider the implications of two critical aspects of perception. First, while existing models have explored single (...) utility functions, perception will often serve multiple largely independent goals. (Sometimes when looking at a stick you want to know how appropriate it would be as kindling for a campfire, and other times you want to know how appropriate it would be as a weapon for self‐defense.) Second, perception often operates in an inflexible, automatic manner—proving “impenetrable” to shifting higher‐level goals. (When your goal shifts from “burning” to “fighting,” your visual experience does not dramatically transform.) These two points have important implications for the veridicality of perception. In particular, as the need for flexible goals increases, inflexible perceptual systems must become more veridical. We support this position by providing evidence from evolutionary simulations that as the number of independent utility functions increases, the distinction between “interface” and “veridical” perceptual systems dissolves. Although natural selection evaluates perceptual systems only on their fitness, the most fit perceptual systems may nevertheless represent the world as it is. (shrink)

Mu'tazila and Shīʿa (Zaydiyya-Imāmiyya) have common views on many theological issues except the imamate. This issue has been generally accepted by other Islamic scholars rather than Shīʿa and by Western researchers. That in this interaction between the Mu‘tazila and the Shīʿa, the Shīʿa is the side mostly affected. However, it is an issue that should not be overlooked that the Shīʿa partially influenced the Mu'tazila in ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭālib, over the other Companions. In this context, some persons from the (...) Baghdad Mu’tazila School such as Bishr b. al-Muʿtamir (d. 210/825), Jaʿfar b. Mubashir (d. 234/848), Jaʿfar b. Harb (d. 236/850) and al-Iskāfī (d. 240/854) argued that the imamate of Abū Bakr, who was less virtuous, was permissible although they considered ʿAlī as the most virtuous person after the Prophet. In addition, al-ʿAllāf (d. 235/849-850), al-Naẓẓām (d. 231/845), Abū Abdullah al-Basrī (d. 369/979-80) and Qāḍī ʿAbd al-Jabbār (d. 415/1025) along with Abū ʿAlī al-Jubbāʾī (d. 303/916), one of the chiefs of the Basra Mu'tazila School, and Abū Hāshim al-Jubbāʾī (d. 321/933) did not accept the order of caliphate as the order of virtue. This study focuses on the issue of whether the aforementioned affinity between Mu'tazila and Shīʿa affected Mu'tazila, especially in the interpretation of the verses associated with ʿAlī. In the study, the aforementioned problem was examined through the tafsīr al-Kashshāf of the Muʿtazilī mufassir al-Zamakhsharī (d. 538/1144). In addition to the importance of tafsīr, the fact that al-Zamakhsharī took lessons from Shīʿīte/Zaydī persons and he wrote the tafsīr with the support of Zaydī leader al-Wahhās (d. 506/1112) is effective in handling this issue through al-Kashshāf's tafsīr. In the first part of the study, first of all, the interaction between Imāmiyya and Zaydism, which are the two most important branches of Mu‘tazila and Shīʿa, is briefly mentioned. Then, Mu'tazila’s and Al-Zamakhsharī’s view on ʿAlī's position among other caliphs is emphasized. Al-Zamakhsharī, who is from the Basra school of the Mu'tazila, does not consider ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭālib superior to Abū Bakr, unlike al-ʿAllāf, Abū ʿAlī al-Jubbāʾī, Abū Hāshim al-Jubbāʾī and Qāḍī ʿAbd al-Jabbār, who are the leading figures of this school. In fact, the fact that he always observed the order of the caliphate while talking about the merits of the four caliphs supports the possibility that, unlike his predecessors, he accepted the order of the caliphate as the order of virtue. In the second part, it is questioned whether the narrations that al-Zamakhsharī included in his tafsīr of the verses associated with ʿAlī are similar to the narrations of the Shīʿīte/Zaydī/Imāmī tradition and whether he interpreted the verses in parallel with these narrations. In this respect, the tafsīr al-Kashshāf has been examined comparatively with the Sunni and Shiite tafsīrs prior to it. Eventually, while interpreting these verses associated with the Ahl al-bayt (members of the Prophet’s household), al-Zamakhsharī highlights the narrations that appreciate the virtues of ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭālib and his child. However, he also refrains from making comments that would be in line with the Shīʿa's belief in imamate. In particular, his tafsīr of the verse al-Aḥzāb 33/33 in the context of the Prophet’s wives is the greatest indicator of this situation. It has been determined that while al-Zamakhsharī includes the narrations highlighting the virtue of ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭālib and his children, he mostly follows the Sunni commentator al-Thaʿlabī. In particular, it has been seen that al-Zamakhsharī transferred the narration material in the interpretation of the relevant verses from al-Thaʿlabī's commentary almost in the same way. However, it is noteworthy that al-Zamakhsharī differs from him in some details such as linguistically supporting these narrations in some verses such as ʾĀli ʿImrān 3/61 and al-Māʾidah 5/55. An indirect influence can be mentioned because al-Thaʿlabī frequently narrates the narrations supporting the Shīʿītes in places where there is a Sunni-Shīʿīte conflict. Therefore, although there is no evidence that al-Zamakhsharī took these narrations from Shīʿīte sources, it is seen that he brought ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭālib-based narrations in Sunni sources into the fore. Even in the commentary of al-Ḥākim al-D̲h̲us̲h̲amī, al-Zamakhsharī's teacher in the line of Zaydi/Mu'tazili, the lack of Ali emphasis in the interpretation of the aforementioned verses supports our view. (shrink)

Şiî tefsir geleneğinde isrâiliyyât meselesini ele alan yazar Hüseyin Zamur, ilk yedi asır özelinde bir değerlendirme yapmıştır. İlk bölümde isrâiliyyâtın İslâmî kaynaklara geçmesinin sebeplerine dair genel bir tablo çizdikten sonra meselenin Şîa açısından nasıl görüldüğünü resmetmeye çalışmıştır. Yazar, ikinci bölümde peygamberler ve kavimleriyle ilgili ilk yedi asırda telif edilmiş Şiî tefsirlere yansıyan isrâilî rivayetleri değerlendirirken üçüncü ve son bölümde ise başta yaratılış olmak üzere muhtelif meselelere dair nakledilen isrâilî rivayetlere değinmiştir. Burada söz konusu eser, önce genel olarak değerlendirildikten sonra özellikle (...) Şiî tefsir geleneğinde isrâiliyat eleştirisinin başlangıcına dair bir sorgulama yapmaması, Şiî/Ahbârî ekol ile Mu‘tezile’den etkilenen Usûlî ekolün arasını tam olarak ayırt etmemesi ve dolayısıyla Şîa’da isrâiliyyât eleştirisinin arka planındaki Mu‘tezilî etkiyi gözden kaçırması son olarak da Şiî tefsirleri isrâiliyyât açısından Ehl-i sünnet’le mukayese ederken genellikle aynı dönemdeki Sünnî eserlerle değil de daha geç dönemli tefsirlerle karşılaştırması gibi usûl ve esasa dair bazı noktalardan eleştirilmektedir. (shrink)

It is usually the case that scientists examine either ecological systems or social systems, yet the need for an interdisciplinary approach to the problems of environmental management and sustainable development is becoming increasingly obvious. Developed under the auspices of the Beijer Institute in Stockholm, this new book analyses social and ecological linkages in selected ecosystems using an international and interdisciplinary case study approach. The chapters provide detailed information on a variety of management practices for dealing with environmental change. Taken as (...) a whole, the book will contribute to the greater understanding of essential social responses to changes in ecosystems, including the generation, accumulation and transmission of ecological knowledge, structure and dynamics of institutions, and the cultural values underlying these responses. A set of new (or rediscovered) principles for sustainable ecosystem management is also presented. Linking Social and Ecological Systems will be of value to natural and social scientists interested in sustainability. (shrink)

This essay attempts to give substance to the claim that the liar''sparadox shows the truth predicate to be context sensitive. The aim ismodest: to provide an account of the truth predicate''s contextsensitivity (1) that derives from a more general understanding ofcontext sensitivity, (2) that does not depend upon a hierarchy ofpredicates and (3) that is able to address the liar''s paradox. Theconsequences of achieving this goal are not modest, though. Perhapssurprisingly, for reasons that will be discussed in the last section (...) ofthis essay, a natural account of the truth predicate''s contextsensitivity appears to lead naturally to a version of the correspondencetheory of truth according to which the truth predicate can be understoodas a relation holding between a sentence and a salient set of contexts.The plan of this essay is as follows. Section 1 contains a generalaccount of context sensitivity. The purpose of this section is toisolate certain features of context sensitivity and formal methods oftreating them, which we will then apply to the truth predicate. Section 2then outlines two minimal conditions to be satisfied by a truthpredicate. In Section 3, I present a version of the liar paradoxthat results from these conditions and the assumption that the truthpredicate is not context sensitive in the sense described in sectionone. Finally, in section four, I provide what appear to be naturalconsequences of a truth predicate''s context sensitivity. Section 4 isadmittedly speculative and points in the direction for future research. (shrink)

In this paper, we empirically explore some manifestations of norms for the conduct of science. We focus on scientific research ethics and report survey results from 606 scientists who received funding in 1993 and 1994 from the Division of Molecular and Cellular Biology of the Biology Directorate of the National Science Foundation. We also report results for 91 administrators charged with overseeing research integrity at the scientists’ research institutions. Both groups of respondents were presented with a set of scenarios, designed (...) by fractional factorial methods, describing different kinds of scientific conduct that in the eyes of some would likely be unethical. Respondents then were asked to evaluate each of these scenarios for how unethical the behavior might be and what kinds of sanctions might be appropriate. We use the responses to consider the nature of consensus around norms related to the practice of science and in particular, similarities and differences between scientists and science administrators. Implications for policy are also discussed. (shrink)

Why have core knowledge? Standard answers typically emphasize the difficulty of learning core knowledge from experience, or the benefits it confers for learning about the world. Here, we suggest a complementary reason: Core knowledge is critical for learning not just about the external world, but about the mind itself.

Between 1900 and 1925, the American economy witnessed a remarkably successful effort to upgrade competition through associations. Unlike the prevailing interpretation of American industrialization, in which associations fell prey to antitrust and collective action problems, we find many associations that reinvented themselves from cartels to developmental associations. This transition marked two previously unrecognized varieties in economic institutions. In the first, associations joined markets and corporate hierarchies to create variety in American capitalism. In the second, associations used deliberation, cost accounting, and (...) benchmarking to enhance productivity and create varieties of collective governance. This article explains the origins of developmental associations, outlines their principles, traces their implementation in the commercial printing industry, and surveys their distribution and performance effects across 344 industries. Based on these findings, we revise conventional institutionalist assumptions about order and agency to make room for institutional diversity and actors’ capacities for reflexivity and learning. (shrink)

According to natural sciences, destructivity is related to the competitive state of the natural selection. In this sense, nature is considered like a battlefield where all creatures only seek for their own survival in an unending rivalry. However, that perception of nature was not invented by natural sciences insofar as this pseudo-reality of universal conflict was already present in philosophy as a reflection of the social structure of the 16th and 17th centuries. Scientists borrowed that vision of nature as they (...) observed the social structure in which they lived as universal and the state of war as an undeniable fact. This article aims to raise the question about the influence of political philosophy on the scientific paradigm and to understand the political and social source of destructiveness. (shrink)

In this paper, I consider Hilary Putnam’s argument for the prima facie acceptance of robotic consciousness as deserving the status of mind. I argue that such an extension of consciousness renders the category fundamentally unintelligible, and we should instead understand robots as integral products of an extended human consciousness. To this end, I propose a test from conceptual object permanence, which can be applied not just to robots, but to the innumerable artifacts of consciousness that texture our existences.

Educators are conflicted about whether school provides an appropriate space to teach ethics. Still, they want to develop the moral character of their students, and most of these efforts have used various citizenship values to address our frustration with students’ ‘lack of character’. Recently, a wave of work in the philosophy of education has rejuvenated discussion of Aristotelian virtue ethics, which forms the backbone for programmes that many schools are now adopting. Mark Jonas and Yoshiaki Nakazawa, however, argue that schools (...) should revisit Plato’s pedagogical methods, as well. If educators want to develop virtue in students, they need to understand the mechanism behind moral development. Guided by Plato, they argue that expert teachers use psychological, pedagogical, and philosophical reasoning to induce epiphanies in students, then guide them through virtue-oriented rehabituation. The goal of this article is to explore the legitimacy of Jonas and Nakazawa’s Platonic theory. I begin by describing the state of modern democratic education and its relationship to teaching ethics. I argue that character development is the appropriate route educators should take but that Jonas and Nakazawa’s theory only gives educators a partial understanding of how to do so. They give a plausible model for how our best educators are effective, but we are left wanting a much more robust, instructive picture. I suggest that we need a broader overhaul of the way we view education in a modern democratic society; character development must proceed from a different normative picture of the individual’s place in society. (shrink)

This article joins the debate over institutional change with two propositions. First, all institutions are syncretic, that is, they are composed of an indeterminate number of features, which are decomposable and recombinable in unpredictable ways. Second, action within institutions is always potentially creative, that is, actors draw on a wide variety of cultural and institutional resources to create novel combinations. We call this approach to institutions creative syncretism. This article is in three parts. The first shows how existing accounts of (...) institutional change, which are rooted in structuralism, produce excess complexity and render the most important sources and results of change invisible. We argue that in order to ground the theory of creative syncretism we need a more phenomenological approach, which explains how people live institutional rules. We find that grounding in John Dewey’s pragmatist theory of habit. The second part of the article explains Dewey and shows how the theory of habit can ground an experiential account of institutional rules. The third part presents a field guide to creative syncretism. It uses an experiential approach to provide novel insights on three problems that have occupied institutionalist research: periodization in American political development, convergence among advanced capitalist democracies, and institutional change in developing countries. (shrink)

Hidden within the office of the Secretary of War during World War II was a little-known agency called the Advisory Specialist Group. Strategically located between the laboratory, the factory, the battlefield, and civilian bureaucracy, the ASG solved the complex problem of reconciling new technologies and new military operations. In doing so, it combined incongruous domains of activity, contributed to Allied victory, and opened a channel to the problem-solving state. It is easy to overlook or misunderstand the ASG, because it was (...) born in processes, addressed problems, and took a form unfamiliar to historical institutionalists. Drawing on Padgett and Powell’s networked theory of organizational genesis and pragmatist theories of experimentalist governance, this article explains the ASG’s emergence, networked form, and experimentalist procedures. A founding moment for the problem-solving state, this case provides empirical and theoretical guidance to study its historical and ongoing evolution. (shrink)

Hydractinia echinata is a marine colonial hydroid, a relative of the more widely known Hydra. In contrast to Hydra, embryogenesis, metamorphosis and colony growth in Hydractinia are experimentally accessible and therefore, provide an ideal model system for investigating the biochemical basis of pattern formation. In particular, the processes involved in the transformation of the drop‐shaped freely swimming larva into a sessile tube‐shaped polyp are easily monitored, because this transfomation can be induced by application of various substances. Our results indicate that (...) the internal level of S‐adenosylmethionine (SAM), potentially the most important methyl donor in transmethylation processes, plays a key role in the onset of metamorphosis. It is also proposed that the internal level of SAM plays a pivotal role in the proportioning and spacing of polyps within the colony. (shrink)

Punishment and democracy appear to exacerbate each other’s worst features. The institutions and moral intuitions used to punish those that break the law can hollow out civic participation, distort the electorate, and undermine core democratic values. Likewise, many have argued the decentralized character of democracy is a key, albeit indirect, cause of increasingly punitive public policies that are divorced from any reasonable penological purpose. Given the effects of electoral politics, many have called for the separation, or general insulation, of state (...) punishment from public influence. However, recent empirical work on punitive attitudes and institutional design has begun to chip away at this common sense. This article contextualizes and qualifies the various mechanisms of policy feedback and public opinion formation thought by political theorists to undermine democratic participation in penal institutions and makes a normative case that insulating the public from penal law actively sustains injustice. (shrink)

This paper examines the ontological commitments of the second-order language of arithmetic and argues that they do not extend beyond the first-order language. Then, building on an argument by George Boolos, we develop a Tarski-style definition of a truth predicate for the second-order language of arithmetic that does not involve the assignment of sets to second-order variables but rather uses the same class of assignments standardly used in a definition for the first-order language.

This article analyzes the influence that violence holds over a subject’s ability to remember and recall, specifically within the confines of Uwe Timm’s Am Beispiel meines Bruders. Timm attempts to understand the silence and erroneous remembrances of the perpetrator generation and their aversion to the acknowledgement of collective guilt. The discrepancies between intergenerational conceptions of the past are marked through the intertextual nature of Timm’s text; the sharp contrasts between the self-censored narratives of the narrator’s parents and the unexpurgated accounts (...) of the holocaust found in survivor testimonials force a reevaluation of the family’s private history. The war journal of the narrator’s deceased brother provides the crux for Timm’s conflation of private and public communications, and it underscores the text’s programmatic acknowledgement of violence and the institutionalization of this recognition as the fundamental basis for remembrance. The intertextual composition of Timm’s text is read as an affirmation of Habermas’s theory of communicative reason. (shrink)