This study is concerned with the moral dilemma that stems from the digital manipulation of magazine ads to render models thinner. Exposure to the "thin ideal" has been linked to such damaging psychological responses as body dissatisfaction, loss of self-esteem, and ultimately to disordered eating behaviors. However, the artistic freedom of photo editors is a cherished value that conflicts with the concern for public health. Findings suggest that, although aware of the prevalence of digital editing, readers disapprove of its use (...) in rendering models thinner, and judge it to be unethical and unfair. Findings are discussed with regard to the role of education in helping readers discount manipulated images. (shrink)

Johns and Johnson analyze the invasion of Panama in order to explore the ways in which the War on Drugs has been used as an ideological justification for a projection of U.S. state power into Latin America. They characterize the Bush Administration's reasons for the invasion as cynical ideological rhetoric which covered up strategic interests the United States had in deposing Noriega and replacing him with a more cooperative regime. The authors particularly discuss the role of media coverage, including (...) the demonization of Noriega and the immediate adoption by the corporate media of the name Operation Just Cause, in legitimating the invasion and transforming it in popular ideology as a law enforcement operation. Finally, they examine the aftermath of the invasion in the United States--Bush's popularity ratings, the distortion of civilian casualty information, the macho celebration of the war--and in Panama--the destruction of the labor and independence movements, the puppet Endara government, and the increased drug trafficking through Panama. (shrink)

Samkara (c. 700 CE), the great Indian Advaitin thinker, was a commentator on sacred text and an Advaitin teacher. This book provides an introduction to the thought of Samkara, who is the most well-known and most perhaps the most authoritative Hindu thinker of all time. The author develops an innovative approach using Samkara's method of interpreting sacred texts and creatively examines the profound interrelationship between sacred text, content and method in Samkara's thought. In particular Samkara's teaching method is the main (...) focus of this book; it is a method that is based on Upanisadic truth and expects teachers to skillfully draw pupils towards it. This book will be of interest to students and scholars of Indian philosophy. (shrink)

Successful psychopaths, defined as individuals in the general population who nevertheless possess some degree of psychopathic traits, are receiving increasing amounts of empirical attention. To date, little is known about such individuals, specifically with regard to how they respond to ethical dilemmas in business contexts. This study investigated this relationship, proposing a mediated model in which the positive relationship between psychopathy and unethical decision-making is explained through the process of moral disengagement, defined as a cognitive orientation that facilitates unethical choice. (...) The results of the study supported this model, and implications for theory and practice are discussed. (shrink)

The United States is one of the most charitable nations, yet comprises some of the most materialistic citizens in the world. Interestingly, little is known about how the consumer trait of materialism, as well as the opposing moral trait of gratitude, influences charitable giving. We address this gap in the literature by theorizing and empirically testing that the effects of these consumer traits on charitable behavior can be explained by diverse motivations. We discuss the theoretical implications, along with implications for (...) charitable organizations, and offer suggestions for future research. (shrink)

RésuméCette revue résume les méthodes qui ont été utilisées jusqu'ici pour analyser les protéines et déterminer leurs séquences. Elle contient aussi quelques brèves indications concernant de nouvelles méthodes et certains problèmes qui restent à résoudre.SummaryThe goal of this review is to indicate the way in which the analysis of proteins and the determination of their sequences has been carried out until now. It contains also a short outlook concerning unsolved problems and possible new methods.ZusammenfassungDieser Artikel fasst einige Methoden zusammen, die (...) bisher erlaubten, die Proteine zu analy‐sieren und ihre Primärstruktur aufzustellen. Er enthalt auch einige Angaben über mögliche neue Methoden sowie über einige noch zu lösende Probleme. (shrink)

Proceedings of the Pittsburgh Workshop in History and Philosophy of Biology, Center for Philosophy of Science, University of Pittsburgh, March 23-24 2001 Session 5: Development, Neuroscience and Evolutionary Psychology.

Spirituality is a universal human experience. Within the process of development, the role of spirituality as a developmental asset is understudied in general and especially within majority world contexts. In this article, we frame advances in spirituality research and practice with youth around three pillars: (a) theory, (b) measurement, and (c) research about and evaluations of positive youth development (PYD) programs in low- and middle-income countries. We place PYD programs as associated with dynamic, relational developmental systems (RDS)-based models of human (...) development, describe spirituality and the “Big Three” features of effective PYD programs as aligning to promote thriving, and discuss spirituality as a strength, as a key asset, in the lives of youth. We discuss advances in developmental methods and measures for describing, explaining, and promoting spirituality and PYD and offer a case study that responds to a United States Agency for International Development call for action and evaluations of spirituality within the context of a PYD program in the majority world. Considerations for future research about spirituality and youth development are discussed. (shrink)

Στην πόλη Ρας Σάμρα (Ουγκαρίτ), πρωτεύουσα του βασιλείου της βόρειας Συρίας, και στο λιμάνι της Μινέ ελ-Μπέιντα βρέθηκε αρχαιολογικό υλικό που μαρτυρεί ρεύματα ανταλλαγών με τον αιγαιακό κόσμο κατά την Υστεροχαλκή περίοδο. Ωστόσο, εκτός από την κεραμική που αντιπροσωπεύεται σχετικά καλά, οι μυκηναϊκές εισαγωγές στην Ουγκαρίτ (πήλινα ειδώλια, αντικείμενα από φαγεντιανή) παραμένουν περιορισμένες. Επίσης η παρουσία ορισμένων θραυσμάτων από γλυπτό ελεφαντόδοντο που προέρχονται από χαρακτηριστικούς μυκηναϊκούς τύπους παρουσιάζει ιδιαίτερο ενδιαφέρον. Η μελέτη τους δείχνει ότι οι τύποι αυτοί είναι απομονωμένοι μέσα (...) στο πλούσιο corpus των ελεφάντινων της Ουγκαρίτ και ότι δεν μαρτυρούνται στο αντίστοιχο της Συροπαλαιστινιακής ακτής και της Κύπρου. Αντίθετα, αναδεικνύει τη συγγένεια τους με τα ελεφάντινα της Δήλου και, σε δύο περιπτώσεις, με δείγματα της κυπριακής χρυσοχοΐας. (shrink)

After a short history of the Akademie-Ausgabe der Werke Immanuel Kants, it is shown that the edition is incomplete in some essential parts: The central topic of the first part of the article is the Opus postumum. Here we have a new critical transcription which differs not only in the composition but even in many details. The second project is focused on Nachschriften of Kant’s lectures on Physische Geographie. The three volumes will show that Kant continually actualized the material for (...) this complex area of problems, for which he presented the outlines of a new academic discipline . The other central topic is the new edition of the three Critiques. The second part of the article demonstrates principle steps of critical editing using the example of Kant’s third Critique, the Critique of Judgment. (shrink)

Purpose – This aim of this paper was to highlight the awareness of ethical issues across the group of information systems professionals from a range of geographical regions. Design/methodology/approach – An initial survey was conducted that informed in-depth interviews with 26 IS professionals from across the globe. The study identified that around 70 per cent of the sample were over 50 years old. This provided an opportunity to consider age-related differences in perception regarding ethical awareness of both current and emerging (...) technologies. Findings – The project revealed that the more mature IS professionals had a significantly higher level of awareness and perceived understanding regarding the importance of ethical issues than the younger IS professionals. Research limitations/implications – The research was limited to IS professionals and so the findings do not generalise further. Future research would be beneficial to find out if the higher level of ethical awareness is also evident across older people in general or whether it is specific to technology professionals. Practical implications – IS professionals need to be exposed to high standards and expectations of ethical behaviour from senior colleagues, as well as embedding this within technical education. Social implications – Caution with regards to youth culture and youthitisation of the workforce needs to be exerted to avoid rash decision-making and short-termism, which could undermine progress and development. A change in the view of employers to older workers will also require a change in attitudes across Western society, particularly as demographics continue to skew towards an aging population. Originality/value – This paper provides new insight into the ethical awareness of older employees and goes some way to dispel the myths surrounding stereotypes of older workers as being fearful of technology and resistant to change. (shrink)

Moral horror is an extreme emotional response to that which violates things we regard as sacred. In Robert Merrihew Adams's view, horror is a response to badness and not to wrongness, and so one could properly regard some actions as horrible but not wrong. In contrast, I argue that horror, when directed toward actions, is only appropriate for wrong actions. The reason is that horror involves moral disgust, and agents who committed a horrible action would have self-disgust, that is, they (...) would be repulsive to themselves. I argue, with reference to killing in combat and in self-defense, that those who have done no wrong should not be in such a state. (shrink)

As a direct consequence of the sophisticated arrangement of its intrinsic neurons, the gastrointestinal tract is unique among peripheral organs, in its ability to mediate its own reflexes. Neurons of the enteric nervous system are intimately associated with enteric glial cells. These supporting cells do not resemble Schwann cells, the glial cell found in all other parts of the peripheral nervous system, but share many similarities with astrocytes of the central nervous system. Ablation of enteric glial cells in adult transgenic (...) mice has demonstrated that these cells are essential to maintain the integrity of the small intestine. Acute loss of enteric glial cells induces massive pathological changes with similarities to necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) and early Crohn's disease. These human conditions share some mechanistic similarities. Identification of enteric glial cell dysfunction/loss as sufficient to induce necrotic/inflammatory bowel disease may be important to understand the pathogenesis of both NEC and Crohn's disease. BioEssays 24:130–140, 2002. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. (shrink)

In this reply to Kent Brintnall's response to my essay on Georges Bataille and the ethics of ecstasy, I explore two primary questions: whether instrumentalization is inherently violent and non-instrumentalization is inherently non-violent, and whether there is a way to intervene in the world that avoids both “apathetic disengagement” and domination. I endorse the view that instrumentalization can be good as well as bad, and I suggest that it is possible to strive to intervene in the world without striving to (...) master it. I make reference to Sarah Coakley as a Christian theologian who advances particular practices that aim for non-dominating intervention in theworld. (shrink)

IEEE Vision for Smart Grid Communications: 2030 and Beyond Reference Model, directly overlays events in the power grid with communication performance on the same spacetime model, it ensures a perspective that verifies that any of the myriad of communication technologies chosen will provide the required support for the Smart Grid. For Corporate or Institutional Access, request a custom quote for your organization at www.ieee.org/smartgridresearch.