In general, existential threats are those that may potentially result in the extinction of the entire human species, if not significantly endanger its living population. Among the said threats include, but not limited to, pandemics and the impacts of a technological singularity. As regards pandemics, significant work has already been done on how to mitigate, if not prevent, the aftereffects of this type of disaster. For one, certain problem areas on how to properly manage pandemic responses have already been identified, (...) like the following: (a) not being able to learn from previous experiences, (b) the inability to act on warning signals, and (c) the failure to reach a global consensus on a problem (i.e., in a timely manner). In terms of a singularity, however, it may be said that further research is still needed, specifically on how to aptly respond to its projected negative outcomes. In this paper, by treating the three problem areas noted above as preliminary assessment measures of a country’s capacity to coordinate a national response to large-scale disasters, we examine the readiness of the Philippines in preparing for an intelligence explosion. By citing certain instances of how the said country, specifically its national government, faced the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, it puts forward the idea that the likely Philippine disaster response towards a singularity needs to be worked on, appealing for a more comprehensive assessment of such for a more informed response plan. (shrink)

Diagnostic frameworks are essential to many scientific and technological activities and clinical practice. This study examines the main fundamental aspects of such frameworks. The three components required for all diagnoses are identified and examined, i.e. their normative dimension, temporal nature and structure, and teleological perspective.The normative dimension of a diagnosis is based on (1) epistemic values when associated with Hempel's inductive risk concerning the balance between false‐positive and false‐negative outcomes, leading to probabilistic judgements; and (2) non‐epistemic values when related to (...) ideas such as well‐being, normality, illness, etc, as idealized norms or ideal points of reference.It should be noted that medical diagnoses match the three necessary components, while some essential diagnostic frameworks – the taxonomies ofGordon andNANDA– in nursing lack some components. The main lack is normative as the most popular frameworks in nursing diagnosis seem to be descriptions of observed reality rather than normative and value‐based judgements in which both epistemic and non‐epistemic values may coexist. (shrink)

Sustainability reporting and assurance of sustainability reports have been used by organizations in an attempt to provide accountability to their stakeholders. A better understanding of current practices is important to provide a base for comparative and trend analyses. This paper aims to consolidate and provide information on sustainability reporting, assurance of sustainability reports and types of assurance providers. Another aim of this paper is to provide a descriptive analysis of these practices for a global sample, comparing results with previous studies, (...) and suggesting opportunities for future research. To accomplish these objectives, a literature review was performed, an analysis of the organizations included in the Fortune Global 500 2010 was completed, and results were presented and consolidated by country. These results demonstrate that all organizations analysed provided some type of information in relation to their social or environmental performance in their official website. The percentage of organizations issuing a sustainability report has been increasing in the last few years. However, the percentage of organizations assuring their sustainability report has stagnated. Types of assurance engagements include those performed by accountants and non-accountants, and new practices have emerged, namely the “mixed approach” and the “stakeholder or specialist review”. The analysis also shows that the practices of issuing sustainability reports and having them assured have become a world-wide phenomenon, occurring in developed, and emerging economies around the world. (shrink)

Delivery riders became frontline workers who assisted everyone in getting their daily supplies. They transported them to their destinations when the pandemic started, and everyone had to stay home to stop the COVID-19 virus from spreading. Thus, this study explores the experiences, challenges, and coping mechanisms of 15 Female Delivery Riders in Bulacan, Philippines. The study employed Heideggerian Phenomenology and Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). Further, the following themes arise: (1) The Realist, (2) The Accommodated, (3) The Vulnerable, and (4) The (...) Determined. These themes highlighted the experiences and challenges faced by the participants. Moreover, it is highly suggested that female employees should be given preferential assistance given their physical capabilities and role in the family. Thus, local government units should provide an alternative source of income that will allow them to have quality time with their family, especially their children. (shrink)

This study addresses the question of normative analysis of the value‐based aspects of nursing. In our perspective, values in science may be distinguished into (i) epistemic when related to the goals of truth and objectivity and (ii) non‐epistemic when related to social, cultural or political aspects. Furthermore, values can be called constitutive when necessary for a scientific enterprise, or contextual when contingently associated with science. Analysis of the roles of the various forms of values and models of knowledge translation provides (...) the ground to understand the specific role of values in nursing. A conceptual framework has been built to classify some of the classical perspectives on nursing knowledge and to examine the relationships between values and different forms of knowledge in nursing. It follows that adopting a normative perspective in the analysis of nursing knowledge provides key elements to identify its proper dimension. (shrink)

This study addresses the question of normative analysis of the value‐based aspects of nursing. In our perspective, values in science may be distinguished into (i) epistemic when related to the goals of truth and objectivity and (ii) non‐epistemic when related to social, cultural or political aspects. Furthermore, values can be called constitutive when necessary for a scientific enterprise, or contextual when contingently associated with science. Analysis of the roles of the various forms of values and models of knowledge translation provides (...) the ground to understand the specific role of values in nursing. A conceptual framework has been built to classify some of the classical perspectives on nursing knowledge and to examine the relationships between values and different forms of knowledge in nursing. It follows that adopting a normative perspective in the analysis of nursing knowledge provides key elements to identify its proper dimension. (shrink)

Nursing knowledge stems from a dynamic interplay between population‐based scientific knowledge (the general) and specific clinical cases (the particular). We compared the ‘cascade model of knowledge translation’, also known as ‘classical biomedical model’ in clinical practice (in which knowledge gained at population level may be applied directly to a specific clinical context), with an emergentist model of knowledge translation. The structure and dynamics of nursing knowledge are outlined, adopting the distinction between epistemic and non‐epistemic values. Then, a (moderately) emergentist approach (...) to nursing knowledge is proposed, based on the assumption of a two‐way flow from the general to the particular and vice versa. The case of the ‘placebo effect’ is analysed as an example of emergentist knowledge. The placebo effect is usually considered difficult to be explained within the classical biomedical model, and we underscore its importance in shaping nursing knowledge. In fact, nurses are primarily responsible for administering placebo in the clinical setting and have an essential role in promoting the placebo effect and reducing the nocebo effect. The beliefs responsible for the placebo effect are as follows: (1) interactive, because they depend on the relationship between patients and health care professionals; (2) situated, because they occur in a given clinical context related to certain rituals; and (3) grounded on higher order beliefs concerning what an individual thinks about the beliefs of others. It is essential to know the clinical context and to understand other people's beliefs to make sense of the placebo effect. The placebo effect only works when the (higher order) beliefs of doctors, nurses and patients interact in a given setting. Finally, we argue for a close relationship between placebo effect and nursing knowledge. (shrink)

The Catholic Church’s reflection on and assessment of the Covid-19 pandemic has developed in several areas. Inspired by the tradition of its social teaching, specifically by the values of the dignity of the human person, justice, solidarity, and the common good, a strong sense of responsibility—on the part of all to prevent the spread of the pandemic and care for the affected sick—was called for. This resulted in a series of interventions and documents on the various medical and spiritual issues (...) involved, particularly concerning the vaccines again Covid-19. In this short article, I draw out these insights from the official and universal reference point of the Catholic Church (i.e., Vatican sources in their various expressions and expertise). Interventions from other religions have also played a significant role during the Covid-19 pandemic as exemplified by the close relationship between certain religious actors and the World Health Organization. However, these alternative viewpoints, while important in and of themselves, do not find a suitable place within this work, which focuses on the Catholic Church’s perspective. (shrink)

This article explores the development of victim rights in sentencing through a comparative analysis of the rights of family victims in homicide sentencing proceedings across Australia, the United States, England and Wales and Canada. Of the various rights afforded to victims of crime, the use of family victim impact evidence in the sentencing of homicide offenders has proven most contentious, with various courts grappling with the weight such evidence ought to play in sentencing proceedings. In homicide cases where the family (...) of the deceased victim submits a statement, all Australian and international jurisdictions except the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW) have resolved to allow the consideration of such statements on the basis inter alia that family victims may incur harms potentially relevant to the sentencing process. New South Wales continues to reject such evidence on the basis that family statements may value the deceased’s life above that of another. This article considers the status of family impact statements in homicide cases by examining the treatment of family victims in sentencing law on an international basis, with particular focus on pilot schemes in England and Wales, where family victims have been provided personal counsel at public expense, for use in homicide cases. (shrink)

La riflessione di Timothy Morton si muove all’interno di quel ripensamento del rapporto tra soggetto umano e ambiente – dunque anche dell’umano in generale - che la scienza ecologica è venuta imponendo con sempre maggiore urgenza. A partire da Hyperobjects, tuttavia, Morton si è inserito in quell’ampia ed eterogenea corrente, spesso definita «nuovo materialismo», che nel corso dell’ultimo decennio, sebbene in modi differenti, ha inteso tale ripensamento sempre più come una speculazione eminentemente ontologica: una rinnovata comprensione del modo d’essere dei (...) viventi e della loro interconnessione, in quest’ottica, appare come la via maestra per rimodellare «ecologicamente» la soggettività. In opposizione a questo approccio ontologico ed attingendo a quello critico-decostruttivo sviluppato nel precedente Ecology Without Nature, in questo articolo intendo sottolineare la necessità di riconoscere, anche nell’ambito del pensiero ecologico, il valore costitutivo delle mediazioni epistemiche, linguistiche e sociopolitiche distintive del soggetto umano, ma soprattutto della dimensione di storicità che di queste ultime è il denominatore comune. La frizione tra i due testi di Morton consente infatti di mettere a fuoco l’insufficienza di ogni eco-filosofia che pretenda di ripensare la costituzione del soggetto umano semplicemente tramite l’elaborazione di una differente ontologia dell’ambiente. (shrink)

It has often been asserted that burnout is primarily linked to occupational-context factors, and only secondarily to individual-level and non-work factors. We evaluated the validity of this view by examining the links between burnout and an array of 22 work-situated, work-unrelated, dispositional, and intersecting variables. The study involved schoolteachers from three different countries: France, Spain, and Switzerland. Burnout was assessed with the Maslach Burnout Inventory for Educators. Most of our predictors were assessed based on widely used measures. In order to (...) assess sentimental accomplishment and familial accomplishment, we created two self-reported measures, namely, the Sentimental Accomplishment Inventory and the Familial Accomplishment Inventory. The SAI and the FAI both showed strong reliability and high factorial validity. Exploratory structural equation modeling bifactor analysis and Mokken scaling suggested that both instruments could be considered essentially unidimensional. The study results showed that neuroticism, job strain, skill development, security in daily life, and work–non-work conflict were consistently associated with burnout across the three samples. Sample-specific predictors of burnout included sex, age, unreasonable work tasks, weekly working hours, job autonomy, support in work life, sentimental accomplishment, leisure activities, support in personal life, and non-work–work conflict. Relative weight analysis indicated that neuroticism was the best predictor of burnout in each sample. Our findings suggest that burnout’s nomological network may not be primarily job-related. We conclude that the tendency to de-emphasize individual-level and non-work factors in burnout research is unwise. This tendency may constitute a roadblock in the development of effective interventional strategies. The implications of our findings for burnout’s conceptual status are discussed. The neuroticism-burnout link should be further examined in longitudinal studies. (shrink)

One influential explanation for the apparent shortcomings of Latin American philosophy is the “culture of domination” thesis, defended by Augusto Salazar Bondy (1926–1974). According to Salazar Bondy, the ultimate source of the problems besetting Latin American philosophy was to be found in the “culture of domination” that characterized Latin America countries and decisively shaped the philosophical activity of the thinkers working in those countries. In defending his thesis, Salazar Bondy introduced a number of ideas that remain useful for understanding various (...) aspects of Latin American philosophy. However, his commitment to a rather excessive determinism and his endorsement of a certain kind of essentialism ultimately undermine the plausibility of both the “culture of domination” thesis and his proposals for the regeneration of Latin American philosophy. (shrink)

In this essay I examine Hegel's treatment of religion in the "Philosophy of Right" with the aim of, first, clarifying his view of the proper relation between religion and the state and, second, shedding some light on a few of the remarkable implications of the conceptual approach that he introduces. I focus above all on Hegel's novel and suggestive treatment of fanaticism, which I argue, is of special interest as an illustration of his conception of modernity. The implications of Hegel's (...) views for religiously inspired political engagement are also discussed. (shrink)

This chapter contains sections titled: I II III IV References Further Reading.

This paper is concerned with the empirical schema of corporate philanthropy research. Whilst significant pieces of work have been produced of late, I argue the field could expand its empirical range. Drawing on novel contemplations in management research, I suggest narrative methodology as a style for the discovery of meaning.

This paper outlines issues of corporate philanthropy research. Of significant value is that normative prescriptions and non-empirical conceptual models lack thesupport of rigorous empirical research. Moreover, dominant methodological approaches embedded in the positivist tradition lack the depth required inunderstanding managerial involvement in corporate philanthropic programmes. Accordingly, this paper argues for new methodological insights. The research agenda should question the capitalistic nature of corporations, delve deep into management thought and recognise the affect of corporate philanthropy on multiple corporate stakeholders.

L’article illustre les particularités procédurales qui caractérisent enquêtes et procès pour les infractions liées au crime organisé. Les règles spéciales édictées pour renforcer l’efficacité de la lutte contre les manifestations de la criminalité organisée sont examinées séparément selon qu’elles affectent directement le droit de la défense ou qu’elles augmentent le pouvoir d’investigation des organes d’enquête (police et ministère public), créant ainsi un grave déséquilibre entre accusation et défense. Même si l’on réduit les droits individuels pour mieux lutter contre le crime (...) organisé, il faut respecter la dignité humaine. Les mesures qui attentent à ces droits doivent être adoptées par un acte motivé de l’autorité judiciaire, dans les cas et selon les modalités prévus par la loi, dans le respect du principe de proportionnalité qui ne peut justifier un sacrifice des droits de la défense lors du jugement. (shrink)

En el presente estudio se analizará la especie de presencia desempeñada por el ente no visible en “La mígala”, cuento de Juan José Arreola en el que la voz narrativa es afectada por los sucesos y no-sucesos. Tomando como base las propuestas de Jacques Derrida y Paul Ricoeur, se estudió la razón ausencia-presencia en los acontecimientos del lenguaje expuestos en el relato. De ello surge la resolución de la huella y el cogito, nociones descubiertas en este trabajo cuyo valor reside (...) en la deconstrucción del estar-no-estar de la mígala. (shrink)

Just war theory is currently dominated by two positions. According to the orthodox view, provided that jus in bello principles are respected, combatants have an equal right to fight, regardless of the justice of the cause pursued by their state. According to “revisionists” whenever combatants lack reasons to believe that the war they are ordered to fight is just, their duty is to disobey. I argue that when members of a legitimate state acting in good faith are ordered to fight, (...) they acquire a pro-tanto obligation to obey which does not depend for its validity on the justice of the cause being pursued. However, when the war is unjust, this obligation may be overridden, under certain conditions, by the obligation not to contribute to the unjustified killing of innocents. This is because the pro-tanto force of the duty to obey the law is best understood in terms of “presumptive”, rather than “exclusionary” reasons for action. This approach captures the insights of both the orthodox and the revisionist view, while avoiding the problems that afflict each of them. (shrink)

This article provides a strategic history of the role assigned by modern historians to visual representation in early modern science, an aspect of historiography that is largely ignored in the scholarly literature. Despite the current undervaluation of images and visual reasoning, historians in the 1940s and 1950s who established the 20th century concept of the Scientific Revolution, also assigned a conspicuous role to images, claiming 15th century art as a chapter in the history of science and identifying the first modern (...) scientists in artists such as Brunelleschi and Leonardo. My analysis of the writings that shaped the discourse on visual representation---by giants such as George Sarton, Herbert Butterfield, and Alexandre Koyré---shows that the handful of concepts introduced in these early discussions formed the foundations of the subsequent scholarly approach to early modern scientific images. However, close scrutiny during the 1970s defined these concepts as interesting but not as key elements for the emergence of modern science proposed earlier. The wave of social studies of science in the 1980s further diminished the importance of images, to the point that recent surveys of early modern science neither consider the role of visual representation nor include figures in their narratives. Several recent publications with suggestive titles such as The Power of Images in Early Modern Science promise to recover a significant role for images in the Scientific Revolution. The present inquiry into the earlier discourse seeks to clarify the historiographic framework into which these new efforts fit. (shrink)

In light of Jewish tradition and the metaphysics of time, we argue that God can and will change the past. The argument makes for a new answer to the problem of evil and a new theory of atonement.

Idealism is the view that reality is fundamentally mental. Idealism has been influential historically, but it has been neglected in contemporary metaphysical debate. This volume of 17 essays by leading philosophers rectifies the situation.

En La Verdad de la Ficción, Mario Presas compila nueve artículos de su autoría que, aunque fueron escritos en distintos momentos de su carrera y sin una conexión sistemática, están estrechamente ligados entre sí por una misma problemática filosófica: la apertura, a través del arte, a un tipo de saber que es propio de la experiencia estética. La tesis central que atraviesa a todos los capítulos consiste en sostener que el arte habilita una vía de acceso a la realidad que (...) no puede subsumirse ni reducirse a otros tipos de saber, en particular, al conocimiento científico. El autor sostiene que el saber que brinda la experiencia estética es insustituible en relación a la ciencia, sin que por ello uno de los dos tenga primacía sobre el otro. (shrink)

El presente artículo estudia cómo se diferencia el rol del concepto de perfección en la elucidación del concepto de belleza artística entre la doctrina estética de Baumgarten y la de Kant. Para ambos esta belleza está vinculada al fin del objeto artístico y el grado en que su configuración se arregla a dicho fin determina su perfección. Empero, de esto los filósofos extraen conclusiones conflictivas: en Baumgarten la aprehensión de esta perfección en el discurso sensible es belleza artística, mientras que (...) en Kant el juicio de belleza artística es influido por la consideración de la perfección del objeto, pero la perfección no determina la belleza artística. (shrink)

In this article I criticize a theory of political obligation recently put forward by Christopher Wellman. Wellman's “samaritan theory” grounds both state legitimacy and political obligation in a natural duty to help people in need when this can be done at no unreasonable cost. I argue that this view is not able to account for some important features of the relation between state and citizens that Wellman himself seems to value. My conclusion is that the samaritan theory can only be (...) accepted if we are ready to give up either the traditional notion of political obligation as a prima facie duty valid for every citizen, or the current view of the relationships that should exist between states, citizens and foreigners (the view according to which states should have special concerns for their own citizens). (shrink)

Globalization has created the favorable conditions for social, economic and cultural integration in today’s world; but also problems and challenges involving ethics and bioethics. In this context, beside the many benefits of global range, several challenges have emerged, requiring a specific reflection. These challenges involve general disciplines such as anthropology, medicine/healthcare, and ecology as well as specific aspects: in a broad range, those linked to social justice fulfillment, guaranteeing safety, promoting interreligious dialogue, building peace; in a narrow range, those related (...) to professional moral conduct, healthcare delivery, access to healthcare and equitable distribution of healthcare resources, and provision of treatment.Therefore, new priorities arise also in the teaching of ethics and bioethics in a globalized world.“Global conscience”: first of all; we have the necessity of providing moral knowledge, skills and attitudes, developing consciences to have a new ethical awareness, enabling first to recognize and then to face the challenge posed by the globalized world.“Universal values”: second; we must spread universal values, particularly anthropological values such as human dignity.“Common responsibility”: third; rethink and propose again responsibility in seeking a sustainable and integral development. Common responsibility must take into account both promotion of human beings’ dignity and preservation of creation, showing how all these aspects are absolutely interconnected. (shrink)

The first part of the paper presents three little arguments from theism to idealism. The second part employs these arguments to make sense of a puzzling doctrine of Jewish mysticism: the doctrine of divine contraction (heb. tzimtzum).

This groundbreaking volume investigates the most fundamental question of all: Why is there something rather than nothing? The question is explored from diverse and radical perspectives: religious, naturalistic, platonistic and skeptical. Does science answer the question? Or does theology? Does everything need an explanation? Or can there be brute, inexplicable facts? Could there have been nothing whatsoever? Or is there any being that could not have failed to exist? Is the question meaningful after all? The volume advances cutting-edge debates in (...) metaphysics, philosophy of cosmology and philosophy of religion, and will intrigue and challenge readers interested in any of these subjects. (shrink)